Recent reviews by blue

it's a touhou-themed slay the spire clone. i don't like calling games "clones" but at its core this is what this is, very derivative. it's not bad that it is, because it bounces off the idea well with its mechanics (mana types and mechanics associated to them) and is decently enjoyable to play.

not much more to say about it : what you see is what you get, pretty much.

it's more darksiders. that's really all that can be said, to be honest. it's a bit more focused than 1 in terms of gameplay, since it focuses more on exploration and combat, but at the cost of... random loot? which is a very strange decision. the game feels like it wants to be a looter but there's never really any moment where it commits to it. so it's just there because that was popular when the game was made, i guess.

in regards to the world, it feels better structured, relatively speaking. you get to use your horse as you travel to points of interest (using your horse in 1 kinda sucks) and clear dungeons and setpieces to advance the story. it feels a bit better because it drags a bit less than 1 does on that front, even if the traversal of areas feels like padding because there really isnt much to see other than the scenery and a handful of chests.

i do think the actual traversal of levels is annoying though because more often than not, the thing you need to climb to progress, or the bombs to grab to explode something are always just slightly out of range of the camera. not a deal breaker, but it does get tiresome with how frequently it happens.

overall, it's fine. just, "fine". perfect 7/10 game to put on easy and blast your way through as you're lightly challenged and get to do some alright combat. i don't regret playing it, but i don't see myself having another go at it after beating it.

with that said, i will echo what others say and also mention the game is buggy. it crashed a handful of times on me, audio stopped working, some climbing surfaces just refused to work, i had to reload the game because AI scripts broke, and so on. they're not deal breakers, but it's worth mentioning.

dark souls 2 is fun and insane and weird and that turns a lot of people off, and that's okay. you should still play it.

my review is based entirely on playing alone. in that aspect, for the king is... fine. there's nothing super wrong with it. the wandering on the map/battles are fine, enjoyable even. lots of menuing/customization possible for your run. replayable factor is a big plus, on top of the non negligible list of adventures available in game.

it probably shines better in co-op played as a tabletop-esque game. probably worth your attention or consideration at the very least! definitely not a bad time.

what a genuinely truly boring game. aeterna noctis is a game that wants to be the white palace from hollow knight for its entire run time. which is fine, challenging platforming in a video game is cool. unfortunately they made sure nothing happens, by showing they didn't understand what made that area good and fun. i don't care how cool the light arrow and the platforming challenges are, the game is dreadfully boring.

long sprawling areas where nothing happens. endless plains to simply cross and fight enemies. and this isn't even to talk about the completely artificial padding! please find my keys jingle jingle please come back to the library to get the upgrade after a trial. instead of putting a challenge right in front of you right after getting the upgrade to use it right away, like most games would.

does the game get better? maybe. i don't care to find out. i tried to get it a fair shake but if after 3 hours i was bored. get it if you can sit through hours of nothing ever happens to get to difficult platforming. i guess.

oh and the game runs inexcusably poorly. which is not a steam deck specific issue (what i played it on) but a global issue. it runs bad on everything.

the dev spent 10 years refining his idea of a tactical game and it shines through here. the scope is tight, tighter than voidspire but much much more engaging, both in terms of mechanics and story. there's just enough of a split between field exploration and combat, and the music bangs the whole time through.

combat classes and mechanics were refined immensely, though most of it centers around movement - blind restricts movements, spells require some lock down to go off for the ones on a timer, being able to decide turn order of your party greatly diversifies tactics, and diminishing how many abilities each class gets makes them feel more impactful.

i also greatly enjoyed the story in this one - it doesn't really compare to a lot of longer form rpgs because of the shorter runtime, but it expands on the creator's world touched in their previous games and really fleshes out a specific section of it. and it was really enjoyable.

if i have to give some criticsm, the difficulty is definitely a notch above most tactics game i've played. it's not the most impossible game i've ever laid my hands on, but it can feel a bit of a chore early when you don't really have any combo and fights can drag a bit on.

i'd still strongly recommend picking it up and playing it!

can't talk about alvora without talking about voidspire. of the two, it's the less grand adventure - the scope is more restrained as this game is a much smaller dungeon crawl over an actual adventure. it compensates with a bit more mechanical depth - more races, more classes, more equipment possibilities.

i think it's a decent trade-off but it fills a completely different niche than its predecessor. had to adjust how i play because the game also presents different combat challenges. overall though? a pretty decent time. had some fun with it! would recommend at least a look at it.

a trpg to its core. just enough customization yet relatively kept simple so that you do not get lost upon dozens and dozens of mechanics. tons of interactions to be figured out by simply testing or using the in-game look function. a real pleasure to play.

i did have a couple of hiccup (a boss' ai broke real bad on me several times, and i couldn't transition after reloading on a wipe on a different encounter, solved only by resetting the game) but nothing that outright made me want to stop playing until the end. had a lot of fun with this one.

it's more boltgun. cranked up. did you like the base game? then this is for you. if you didn't and got tired by the end, this is not for you.

it's alright, star of the show is the gunplay, which is pretty good. aesthetics are also really top notch.

unfortunately the game suffers a lot in the level design department - near the end of the game, there's a lot of simply tight corridors and small catwalks that serve as levels and there really isn't much meat on the bones for decent chunks of the third act. the game also forces you in general to rely on navigation (only accessible by mashing the dedicate button as it fades after some time) in some areas due to how similar everything can look.

i think overall it's still a fine game, at least worth consideration to play, but not an "instant buy" even if you're into the genre