Recent reviews by blame

I have never played a game that makes me feel as cool as this does. DMC series, Shinobi 3 and Mega Man X are close seconds.

Just put the fries in the bag dawg, buy it and play it.

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GOTY 2024 for me so far, that is all

I've beaten the game now, so here are some more fleshed out thoughts:

Silent Hill 2 (2024) is a very faithful, modern take on the original, preserving much of its predecessor's otherworldly weirdness, terror, and sense of perdition. While it doesn't *exactly* match the bizarre vibe of its forebear, it comes close enough to be considered an equal in atmospheric psychological horror. A companion piece that further illuminates Team Silent's vision with a modern tint that I strongly recommend to both returning fans and those new to the series who have a love of horror.

There are a number of changes, mostly to the gameplay. Transitioning over to the third person perspective meant level design would need to be shaken up, and as such we now have vaulting over waist-high walls and crawling/shimmying through holes in walls, as well as more verticality to the combat. Combat itself is overhauled with dodging, TPS aiming mechanics similar RE2R (except James is even worse at aiming), and far more frenetic enemies. Puzzles are familiar and yet different; the game even has nods to the original puzzles, which just goes to show the level of detail the team operated on this game with.

Combat is the game's biggest departure: it occurs much more frequently now, and is often necessary to progress. In the original, it was possible to avoid it most of the time, and you also had less encounters. This change isn't bad per se--in fact it can be quite fun--but it does have some negative knock-on effects. Some segments that involve lots of combat end up making the experience drag a wee bit too long between scenes, which is unfortunate. I don't want to have to deal with enemies a 3rd time while progressing through the same hallway, man. Let me have the eerie urban exploration unfettered here and there, please?

Regardless, the combat is still a better fit for the game. James's swings are laboured and amateurish. When he stomps a downed monstrosity, he does so with yells soaked in desperation and fatigue. James's aim is terrible, barely able to keep steady enough to make a reliable shot. The only move in his kit that betrays this sense of incompetence are his swift dodges. If they were slower, or were somehow tied to a resource, it would really drive home the fact that James isn't this super capable action man. Instead, this point is more delivered by the difficulty of the combat. Only through the terror induced in play is James the barely-capable, desperation-driven man we've grown to love. Not in terms of ludo-narrative consonance. Not a huge deal IMO, I think detractors are freaking out too much about this. I saw an account on Twitter comparing this to RE4's combat, which is utterly delusional. Dealing with 3 enemies in this game is a panic-inducing nightmare compared to RE4's walk in the park. The game does well enough with the combat and I like it. Oo, and bosses are more interesting to deal with as well :)

Lastly as this segment concerns gameplay, the exploration remains intact. It's really cool to explore the different parts of the town and the buildings within them. Seeing this expanded version of the town you've grown to love is quite mesmerising. And the exploration itself is rewarding, with tonnes of resources, lore, Easter eggs, and key items to find.

And now for the story:

Very faithful to the original with minor alterations to locations and some dialogue. To give an example (SPOILER!): When James refuses to give Angela her knife back in her burning otherworld, she asks in both games: "Saving it for yourself?" In the original, James seems almost offended by the suggestion of wanting to commit suicide, which we know is unreasonable given the existence of the In Water ending. No, we could argue that this is James's want to posture as stronger and nicer than he is in front of others; his persona of days past. However, in the remake, James merely stays silent in response. This is telling us he is uncertain. He doesn't know whether he deserves to keep living. Given the head space he would be in after seeing the tape, I feel that this is the more reasonable reply and shows development of character. There are a few small changes like this that exist to either better aid the existing characterisation or to make the conversations seem more naturalistic. These are welcome changes in my opinion.

Speaking of changes, the performances are a huge improvement (overall, at least...): Guy Cihi did a good job as James in the original, but I've always felt his VO left something to be desired. Luke Roberts smashes it out of the park in this, adding so much depth of emotion to this tortured character. Angela speaks far more naturally than in the original, as does Eddie, but they both are still very good representations of the original characters. Angela, tragic as ever, and Eddie, terrifying and repugnant as ever. Now I know this is a huge point of argumentation for many in the fanbase, as many argue that the stilted nature of the voice acting is intentional with some characters in the 2001 game. To that I say, to hell with intention if the intended effect is not occurring, and it surely never occurred for me. I could never hear some of those exchanges in that version as anything but far beyond an artificiality human beings would act with--brokenness of characters notwithstanding. Laura is alright too.

It's not all sunshine and roses, I fear. There is one downgrade in performance in the remake, and that is for Mary/Maria. Monica Taylor Horgan's performance in the original is one of the greatest performances ever given in the history of games, and elevates SH2 (2001) from a very artistically sound game to a pure work of art. It is by no means an easy act to follow. But key scenes, such as where James finds Mary again in Otherworld Brookhaven, or upon reading the letter at the end of the game, just do not have the same train smash of an impact. Still, Salome Gunnarsdottir did a great job, I applaud her... but there's no matching the original for me.

Main issues are still graphical performance. I managed to get it running well enough on my machine which is literally the minimum spec for the game. However, this is Stutter Engine 5 we're talking about, so not ideal. I could look past the performance, but just keep this in mind. Stutter seems to be fixed on my machine, for now. Will update this review later... At least the game is gorgeous to look at, still! Great art direction and visuals.

Oh, and the audio is awesome too! I think I prefer the original in places, but the music and sound design is still terrific in this! I was ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ my pants with a high degree of regularity.

Overall, 9/10, highly recommended. Fantastic companion to the original flawed masterpiece

This is the best action game I've played since DMC5. Just be aware that it is more old school. Approach it like an old school beat-em-up where timings and expectations are very strict. And don't take everything too seriously. Then you'll have fun

Wish I could give a mixed response, as this is a good piece of software, despite my disappointment. My heart leans towards "Not Recommended," but I know for a fact tonnes of people will love this and with good reason. Hence, a positive recommendation. Decent palette tooling and manipulation, good animation tools, pixel art friendly tools like pixel perfect and rotsprite algs, and brushes, extensibility, etc.

But coming from Pro Motion NG, it feels as though I've gone from driving a lambo on the Autobahn to plodding through a jungle on foot. Some of it is habit, but other things just inherently take more clicks, even with remapped bindings.

Props for native Linux support, but I'll rather deal with Wine + Pro Motion NG.

But what should you do? I'd say, try out the demo for Pro Motion for a bit, keeping the manual open and referring to it as necessary. If you can't stand the workflow, just go with this I guess. I just think Pro Motion is 5000x times.

All the survival horror trappings with beautiful, cinematic presentation and best-in-class gameplay. If that weren't enough, the game has a spiraling, surreal maze of a narrative that is emotionally impactful and thematically consistent. It somehow resonates on a core level with everyone I've seen who has played it, without being literal or linear in plot. In this respect, it is much like a David Lynch film--that is to say, logically confounding yet deeply resonant emotionally on a level most media does not quite achieve. The symbols, the music, the art and cinematography, it all seems to speak to your soul. You'll find a plot, but to understand fully you have to work for it. And as you work for it, you will find that it keeps unravelling like an eldritch tome of unspeakable horror and knowledge that can never be entirely understood. But the more you understand, the more the puzzle clicks into place, the more the threads attached to the puzzle pieces pull on your heart. The horror of alienation, of depression, of failed dreams, and of horrid cancer, all eating away at you and your very being. Until barely a husk remains.

Remeber our promise.

(EDIT: My playtime is low because I have two playthroughs on XBOX Game Pass. I bought it to further support these developers)

This game had a tonne of heart poured into it. Great, but some flaws. DNF for the time being (you'll see why below), but I'm certain I'll get a hankering to fire it up and beat it proper at some point.

Pros:
+ Very satisfying, free-flowing movement.
+ Gorgeous pixel art, animation, and art direction.
+ Tense combat encounters with tough but well designed enemies: you need to make use of all of your abilities, prioritise enemies, and think on your feet. Heavy attacks can stagger enemies in vulnerable wind-ups as well as deflect enemy projectiles, and the dash is an oh so satisfying gap closer.
+ Good level design; effective use of terrain and new hazards to make you evaluate each situation a little differently. It plays a huge role in enemy prioritisation.
+ Heavy OST
+ Customisable game speed and difficulty in the options (you'll see a number of reviews call this game too hard: just enable additional pickups and turn the bullet speed way down, should be easier then :) )
+ Some fun guns (Cross Grenade my love <3 )
+ Interesting boss fights
+ Decent meta-progression

- Besides the early-game meta-progression, the roguelite aspects very lacking; stats and perks feel very inconsequential at the end of the day. Some perks genuinely feel as if they're nearly completely useless. I can see the original intent in their design, but they're so ill-applicable for most situations, or so generic that you'll always end up with them. Stat increases are cool, but so minor that you barely feel the impact. It's there for sure, and does make a difference, but it is very minor. There are some exceptions, like the floor is lava perk (my favourite, although I almost always die with it because I just jump and wallrun into bullets lmao), or one of the hidden perks later in the game that lets you sacrifice half your max HP for 50% extra sword damage. Now there's big ones.
- This lack of variety makes the game a bit tedious to revisit in later runs, as very little actually changes. No wacky builds and so on. Pair this with larger maps more suited to the roguelite formula a la Isaac, Synthetik 1 and Gungeon. Traversing rooms with arena combat after arena combat. It really starts to drag after the first few hours.

Overall, I recommend this game, despite the issues I've had. If you aren't the best with action games that require fast thinking and fast reflexes, just tweak the difficulty in the settings right at the start, rather than fumbling around too much.

Looking forward to whatever else these guys make!

the mega manning of isaac: x

Great game, look forward to the full release. Combat is okay, not interesting to me but the where the game shines in my opinion is aesthetics, exploration, lore, and atmosphere. There was nothing quite like going through the exploring some of the game's areas for the first time. It's managed to recapture how I felt the first time I played Dark Souls, or at least the parts I were genuinely enamored with, which was this enveloping spectrum of discovery. Beauty, wonder, dread, and horror, all lurking around the next corner. And it's all for you to figure out.

Genuinely. The game doesn't hold your hand and you'll have to experiment and try things to progress. Only really got stuck twice and had to result to old mate Google.

If the above sounds appealing, pick it up. There's a dozen hours (probably more, I've put it down for now but there's definitely ♥♥♥♥ I missed) of goodness for about 7$ and more to come.