Review: CryoFall

Charles Ombler
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Review: CryoFall

Gaming reviews are what happens when you take a game, pass it through a reviewer’s biases and get an opinion out of the other end. Everyone’s biases are different so everyone’s opinions are different which is where, for all their flaws, review aggregators like MetaCritic and OpenCritic come in. Take enough reviews and average the scores out and you should get a somewhat objective view of the quality of the game. No matter what a reviewer says, no review will ever be completely objective. I know that you, dear reader, understand that so, when writing a review, I don’t feel the need to outright tell you that I’m biased. However, on this occasion, in the interest of framing this review in some context, I’m going to make an exception and state my biases up front.

CryoFall, named after what happens when you trip and stumble into an industrial freezer, is a multiplayer survival game. I don’t like multiplayer games and I don’t like survival games. My experience of survival games is that they are 90% spending your precious and limited free time toiling away for resources using quite dull mechanics in order to build the thing you need to progress to the next bit of dull resource gathering, and 10% monitoring half a dozen survival metrics to ensure your character drinks every 5 real-world minutes. I don’t find either of those activities particularly compelling as they’re a bit too close to real life and gaming, in my opinion, should be an escape. In terms of multiplayer games, well, I don’t like other people and they’re unfortunately integral to the multiplayer experience.

With all of that said, I’d like to start on a surprisingly positive note. I rather enjoyed my time with CryoFall. I did play the game in the single-player mode which is in beta and not entirely recommended but I found it completely playable and didn’t see any flaws. This neatly covered off my dislike of multiplayer games from the off. And, in terms of my dislike of survival mechanics, CryoFall does a lot of things I approve of to mitigate my problems with the genre and keep the gameplay compelling and enjoyable.

The game does have a lot of the standard survival gameplay, which is obviously the thing that you’re looking for if you’re a fan of survival games or, if you’re me, it’s a necessary concession to the genre the game is part of. It has your mining/gathering, crafting, health, stamina, hunger and thirst meters and mobs to fight. We’ll get to the meat of the mine/crafting in a moment but I’ll add here that the hunger and thirst meters are quite harsh, they drain relatively quickly and the items you can get/make in the early game do not refill those meters very much at all. I also found the mobs unnecessarily hard when you’re starting out. My first death was to a weird lobster thing which, when accidentally aggroed by getting a little too close, hunted me to the end of the earth, moving at the same speed as me, without giving up and attacking me for very significant damage at a point in the game where I hadn’t yet been tutorialsed on how to build or use weapons to defend myself. It felt like an unavoidable death which was quite aggravating so early in the game.

So far, so generic survival game. But now we’re getting into the good stuff, the late-season redemption arc of CryoFall, if you will.

The game has two separate crafting mechanics. It has ‘crafting’ for making basic tools and complex resources which are used as ingredients for other recipes, then it has ‘building’ for making objects in the world like walls, workbenches and resource gatherers. These two systems are relatively complex and are tied into a technology tree that gets me very excited. This shifts the emphasis from the mining side of a survival game to the crafting side as there are an awful lot of things you’re able to make and the game really wants to show that off and give you access to them. You don’t have to mine that much at all (although when you do it is quite slow) and I found myself building quite a few things before running out of a resource and then only needing to spend a couple of minutes mining and gathering to be back in the black.

As mentioned, the tech tree is spectacular, taking you from the absolute basics of unlocking a sleeping bag and walls through to agriculture and all the way to exotic weapons. I find this compelling as it’s a clear and emphasised route of progression through the game. The tutorial is also fantastic, holding your hand through the early game and showing you what to build and in what order to make a nice starter base. The tutorial ties nicely into the tech tree, guiding you through unlocking and using some of the early branches. The combination of the guidance from the tutorial and the obvious possibilities on display in the tech tree hooked me into the game in a way that no other survival game that I’ve tried has. Only having two survival meters also endeared me to the game. I understand they have to be in there for the genre and I’m incredibly grateful the developers had the restraint to stop at just hunger and thirst.

All in all, these aspects come together in a way that reminds me of two excellent games. The aesthetic of CryoFall is very similar to Prison Architect, a brilliant creative management game that I’d almost call definitive. If you look at screenshots of the two games you’ll see the similarity, particularly with the blocky appearance of buildings. The other game that CryoFall reminds me of is Factorio, a construction game that looked at Minecraft, said ‘That looks boring, let’s automate all the stuff we don’t want to do’ and did exactly that. It focuses on building resource extractors, conveyors and assemblers to automate the whole mining and crafting process, an idea that CryoFall leans into a little with the objects it allows you to build and the detailed tech tree. A combination of those two games is an interesting idea and something I’m not going to pass up the opportunity to play. Someone gave CryoFall the secret to making a game specifically for me and if I ever find out who revealed that weakness to my greatest enemy, a survival game, there will be hell to pay.

So I think it’s fair to say that I enjoyed CryoFall a surprisingly large amount. Has it sold me on survival games? No, absolutely not. But I do think CryoFall is the exception to prove the rule. It was designed for me, with the ability to completely disable multiplayer and some fun mechanics to mitigate most of my frustrations with survival games. No matter where you sit on the spectrum from Minecraft-iac to Don’t Starve detester, I think CryoFall has something to please. I commend the developers for achieving such a difficult thing. Even better, in an awesome consumer-friendly move from the people over at CryoFall HQ, there is a free trial available on Steam that is the whole game, just limited to 8 hours of gameplay, for you to check out and see what you think before parting ways with your hard-earned cheddar.

Review: Gravity Heroes

Daniel Waite
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Review: Gravity Heroes

Mankind has an instinct to be at the top of the food chain, the alpha being. Our desire to be number one has made us do some truly horrendous things to the world. The aggressive reaction to any situation is usually down to fear, rather than the need to destroy everything that crosses our path. Artificial Intelligence is a creation of our own doing, and the more we push it, the better it becomes. Our lust for the next big thing will come back to haunt us, and no matter the firepower at our disposal, we will be powerless to stop it. Gravity Heroes explores what happens when Synthetics go rogue, and we no longer hold the alpha position.

Developed by Electric Monkey and published by PQube, this 80s and 90s inspired platform arena shooter will have your head spinning from start to end. A fast-paced and hectic affair, this solo or local co-op title allows up to four players to share a screen and destroy the robots that are running amuck.

Work together and eradicate the Synthetics.

Gravity Heroes will mess with your head!

Platform games are tough enough! Timing your jumps to perfection, killing your enemies, and overcoming any obstacles, increase the difficulty. So, when an additional element is chucked into the mix, it has the potential to be a fantastic idea or a step too far. What’s this extra element? Oh, just the ability to mess with gravity. Isaac Newton will not be a happy man!

We may have an upset physicist on our hands, but who cares. Playing with gravity was a great layer to add to this arena shooter. Flying around and shooting lasers at the nearest robot was enthralling! It gave you the ability to fire in all directions, even though you could only aim side to side. It was brilliant, but it messed with your head repeatedly. Leaping from one surface and being drawn to another took some getting used to. For much of the time, I was all fingers and thumbs, though this confusion didn’t diffuse the joy I was having.

When robots take over, you know it’s bad news.

The story is a simple tale of Synthetics gone mad. They are programmed to obey humans and never to hurt them. But shock horror, they break their programming and become the deadly high powered killing machines everyone fears. The only way to deal with this is to send in a team of up to four brave soldiers. Their job? To investigate the issue and wipe out any threat.

It’s a basic tale that doesn’t pull on any heartstrings and isn’t highly original. However, everyone loves when mankind comes back from the brink, and then allegedly learns from the mistakes made. Gravity Heroes’ main story is split across several locations, and each chapter comprises a few stages and a boss fight. The setup for each level is the same; spawn into a location, familiarise yourself with the space, and defeat wave after wave of angry robots.

The complexity of the situation is minimal as the Synthetics are restricted in their weapon aim as well. As long as you stay out of their line of sight, they can’t attack you. Seems easy, right? If only it were that simple. Kamikaze robots fling themselves at you, others fly towards you, and then there are the laser towers. Everything wants to destroy you. It’s you or them, and there can only be one winner.

So many enemies, what are you going to do?

Giant bosses and plenty of firepower.

A platform shooter wouldn’t be much fun if there weren’t ridiculous amounts of firepower, and some gargantuan bosses to defeat. Gravity Heroes doesn’t let us down on this front. Assisted by a friendly robot, you will receive a range of power-ups per level; grenades, armour, first aid, and guns, lots and lots of guns. This additional arsenal of weapons can be the difference between success and failure. Choosing the right one can be tough, but you’ll have fun experimenting as you blow your foes from the sky.

The end bosses are massive, aggressive, but also predictable. Their attack patterns are soon worked out. Once you know what you are doing, patience and some luck are all you need to succeed. Most of the bosses are as ridiculous as the story, so you’ll enjoy seeing what the developers have come up with for the finale of each chapter.

Predictably pixelated, but wonderful to look at.

The moment I see the phrase “inspired by the 80s and 90s” I know I’m in for a pixelated ride. This wonderful retro look worked perfectly. The sprites were colourful and detailed enough to be enjoyable to look at. Each of the weapons had a unique appearance, which made selecting the right one for you an easy task. Each world had its style and used a variety of colours, platforms and backgrounds to make them all appear different. The action heats up considerably in the latter stages, and the screen gets overloaded with enemies. But when this occurred, I experienced no slow down or issues that impacted the performance.

The quality wasn’t unique to the visuals. No, the audio joined in with its electric, upbeat sounds and aggressive tones. The metallic edge to the music enhanced the space/robotic theme. With simple but well thought out sound effects, the audio complements the graphics and the gameplay, even though it doesn’t overpower the other elements.

A forcefield won’t save you.

A well-designed tutorial, simple controls, but hard to master.

With the world constantly spinning, this isn’t the easiest game to control. Changing your heading at the push of a button easily confused me and made it challenging to master. Electric Monkey tried to overcome this with a thorough tutorial, but this didn’t make my mind work it out any quicker. The difficulty doesn’t reduce the fun, it simply makes the later stages much harder to play.

With a campaign and an arcade survival mode to play, there are various reasons to return to play. Each can be attempted solo, or with up to three friends. Unlike the PC version, there is no online mode, so it’s retro in look and its couch sharing gameplay. The survival mode is as expected; wave after wave of robots must be annihilated. Eventually, you are overwhelmed and it’s game over. It was great fun, even if it doesn’t stray away from the usual format. The campaign gets progressively harder, and this is where the co-op action works so well. Teamwork and tactics make mincemeat of the Synthetics, even though it was tough to orchestrate a plan when you are ignoring gravity. 

Gravity Heroes was a pleasant surprise. 

I’ve played countless retro-inspired platform games, but none like Gravity Heroes. It behaves more like Smash TV’s arena gameplay than your standard platform outing. It centres its focus on its gravity-defying mechanic and arena shooting over its platforming label. Easy to pick up, but tough to master. This will keep you playing for hours and will demand you return because of its replay value. I recommend it, so buy it here! No one wants AI to take over, and when the Synthetics go rogue, a team of heroes must step up and eradicate the threat. Do you have what it takes to join this admired group? 

Review: Suzerain

Davide Roriz
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Review: Suzerain

Suzerain is one of a kind. Ever since its release back in December of last year, I’ve seen a lot of people describe it as a “political simulator”, but I honestly think that couldn’t be further from the truth. While I understand where such claims come from, I really wouldn’t compare Suzerain to a game such as Democracy, which is what I’d call an actual “political simulator”. At its core, Suzerain is exactly what I’d describe as a text-based narrative-driven game, very much like a choose-your-own-adventure kind of experience.

Suzerain puts you in the shoes of Anton Rayne, the 4th President of Sordland. The game is heavily inspired by the political climate of the world during the Cold War era, but everything in it is entirely fictional. There are various different countries, cultures, nations, global superpowers, and organizations that are completely made up, but they’re obviously inspired by others that exist in the real world. In this aspect, Suzerain’s world feels extremely believable, as everyone has their political agenda and is fighting for survival. There’s no-nonsense going on here.

Now, in regards to the game itself, the entire game pretty much takes place on the same screen, which is the map of Sordland and the surrounding regions. Although there might not be much to see besides that, there’s certainly plenty to read. The game does an exceptional job at providing optional background information for those that would like to know more about the game’s world. There’s a full-blown Codex, and every now and then, you’ll see highlighted text references to locations, organisations, characters, and just the overall history of the world, which you can click to learn more about them. As someone who likes to spend their time reading codex and lore entries in most games, I can definitely appreciate this extra step as a means of immersing myself in the world of Suzerain even more.

Despite a few grammatical errors here and there, the writing itself is pretty good. It didn’t really matter if I was just reading through some random thing in the Codex, or if I was having a conversation with another character. The writing always made me feel as if I was there, where everything was happening. Even though the game only offers a visual representation of its map and character portraits, I could actually picture, in my own head, the scenarios being described. Therefore, just like that, it was as if the game was actually unfolding in front of me, instead of just being text on a screen that I was reading. When a game manages to pull that off, you know it’s doing something exceptionally well.

It was definitely not the gameplay that managed to keep me hooked throughout my 20+ hours playthrough. If you are looking for something mechanically challenging or engaging, then this certainly isn’t it. Where Suzerain excels, is in telling an extremely compelling narrative that evolves as you make various choices. These choices are presented to you in various different ways, simple replies to other characters during dialogue, signing bills, proposing laws, making promises and fulfilling them, choosing between several investment opportunities in the form of infrastructure, siding with different political factions, managing the governmental budget, and so on. There are plenty of these, and simple choices that may make you feel like everything is going to be alright, might come back later to haunt you. The game is full of twists and surprises.

I mentioned that it took me around 20 hours to complete my first playthrough, but in truth, your playtime will vary depending on how fast you can read, and if you do want to read the entirety of the game’s Codex, which I personally recommend. There are also numerous small classified reports and newspaper articles that you can also check out. With that said, if you just go for the main story, I estimate that it would probably take most people about 15 hours to complete their first playthrough. Subsequent playthroughs will most likely be shorter, unless you’re going to make sure that you read through everything that you’ve already read when you first played through the game. 

Speaking of which, Suzerain is a great game in terms of replayability. Still, despite being eager to play through the game again and take Sordland and my presidency in a different direction, I do find it discouraging that I’ll have to sit through hours worth of text just to get to the point of making the choices that actually matter. It would’ve been nice to have some sort of timeline feature that would allow players to expedite the process of replaying the game, but I understand that this would probably require a significant investment in terms of development resources. 

Given what the game offers, I honestly think that Suzerain is a steal at full price. The game offers a pretty unique and exceptionally captivating branching narrative through a vastly simplified political game framework. Furthermore, Sordland and its characters have left a lasting impression on me, and while there are certainly a few moments where the story takes too long to develop, the constant stream of hard decisions that you have to make to make sure that you keep your country and your presidency afloat manage to keep things interesting throughout the entire game. I highly recommend Suzerain to anyone who’s into games with a great story and characters, as long as they don’t mind reading. However, if you are looking for something that leans more on the strategic and management side of things, then this will most likely not be up your alley.

Review: Boris the Rocket

Daniel Waite
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Review: Boris the Rocket

Protecting your country is not a job, but a way of life. People will sacrifice their freedom to keep their land safe, and these individuals are heroes. If you had the chance to step up and be counted, would you? How about if it was forced upon you for a minor indiscretion, how would you feel then? Boris the Rocket looks at the latter option, and what it means to put your motherland before everything else.

Developed by toR Studio and published by Big Way Games, this adventure simulator title will have you; laughing, screaming, and stressing as matters get out of hand. Basic logic skills, a great memory, and good planning are all key to surviving the icy Russian environment. If the cold doesn’t kill you, the deadly missiles falling from the sky will! Follow your instructions and protect the honour of your motherland.

Boris the Rocket soon gets out of hand.

Several countries in the world don’t like you expressing your feelings. North Korea and Russia are the two lead contenders. So when Boris bad-mouthed the Russian government, he knew the KGB would knock on his door sooner, rather than later. Arrested, and given little choice, he agrees to man a missile defence station, protecting the land he “loves” from hostile attacks.

It all seems simple, right? Wrong! You are but one man, and you are expected to complete every task alone. Man the radar, load the missiles, check the details, destroy the targets, make ammunition, the list goes on. At the start, it’s hectic but manageable. Later on, it becomes a stressful endeavour, and many dials, details, and problems arise. You must deal with the issues before the bunker blows up.

With limited visibility to the dangers you must overcome, this is a game of luck, skill, and timing. Each day begins with instructions, a parcel of goodies, and a new challenge. The cold and emotionless voice expresses its gratitude and tells you to get on and work. It has a sense of Groundhog Day as the structure is repetitive. But, don’t fear, you’ll be chasing your tail too much to tire of the action.

So many dials.

So many instructions to master and dials to monitor.

Life as a rocket engineer would never be easy, but this is ridiculous. Different speeds, colours, distances and altitudes have to be noted. Labels on the missiles denote its sender, and you quickly discover that some are from friends and other foes. You fear shooting the wrong projectile, as you don’t want more enemies. So, it takes a razor-sharp focus, a memory like an elephant, and a high level of planning to succeed.

Don’t forget to add in the side quests, the never-ending sirens, and the requirements to make more rockets. This is a game that doesn’t want you to relax, you must be alert throughout as failure is only moments away. I loved its high-pressure approach but rued my luck repeatedly as I forgot which button to press, ran out of ammo, and messed up my role in maintaining the bunker.

Though defending your metal house is key, this isn’t the only objective to complete. You must search the facility and surrounding areas for clues to help find items that will aid you on your journey. Brew Vodka, upgrade facilities, use the mine for resources, and build a super rocket to put Russia back on the map. Few of the tasks are completed in one day, and you must create a plan and stick to it. Unfortunately, this is easier said than done, and you usually go off on a tangent as you explore the icy tundra.

The freezing cold and unwanted visitors.

You shouldn’t only fear the missiles falling from the sky. No, there are far greater dangers closer to home. Boris must work in harsh conditions, whilst walking through ice storms to collect items, searching for his daily parcels, or traversing from bunker to bunker. There is a high possibility that you will freeze as you walk from one area to the next. You must be quick, or dress appropriately, either way, it’s another challenging area to monitor.

Alongside this, you are not alone. Shock horror, other animals live in the woods you call home. At some point, you may come nose to snout with these beasts. Unsurprisingly, a plump, moustached Russian man looks to be a hearty meal. So, it’s advised, where possible to stay away from the wildlife for your safety.

Delicious food to keep you going.

Typically Soviet in an icy paradise.

If you were to picture a stereotypical Cold War Soviet scene, what would you see? Mountains of concrete, Vodka, old-school electronics, and a beautifully icy world. Boris the Rocket ticks all these clichéd images and delivers them in a tongue-in-cheek manner. You’ll chuckle as you explore, and the moments of lighthearted relief help to ease the immense amounts of pressure you’ll feel.

Viewed from a first-person perspective, you see a colourful, cold, and industrial world laid out before you. It’s an odd mix, but I loved it. Now, don’t come into this expecting the highest quality graphics, because you will be disappointed. The presentation is good, but it’s a bit rough in places. You need not worry, though, as you will run around like a headless chicken, with no time to look at every object you pass.

What I enjoyed, however, was the excellent typical Russian soundtrack. An array of songs plays out across each working day, giving you the energy and focus to power through your tasks. I laughed when I heard the Tetris music, and any moment that Boris spoke. His witty one-liners described the dangers he was facing, but I couldn’t help but chuckle every time. The sound effects were also good and matched any action you undertook; the delightful noise of footsteps crunching in the snow, cooking food, listening to the siren wailing, and more.

The daily parcel for being a good boy.

Thank goodness for easy controls.

With so much madness, and Boris’ workload going from bad to worse, this could have been a nightmare to play. Luckily, the controls as easy to pick up and understand. A small tutorial is offered at the start of the game, but this still leaves a few questions unanswered. A little trial and error during the first few days will allow you to become an expert at firing missiles. A helpful notebook is at your disposal, and for the moments that your mind goes blank, you may refer to it for helpful tips.

Boris the Rocket is addictive. There is something satisfactory about blowing enemy missiles out of the sky, and Boris gets to do this every day. With a core aim to focus on, and many side quests to try, there is a lot to do to complete this title. A large achievement list will be difficult to finish, and I can’t see many hitting the 100% status. You’ll search for; Matryoshka Dolls, food to cook, supplies to make missiles, and a bear to feed vodka. It’s silly, maddening, and will demand you return to play.

Boris the Rocket took me by surprise.

When I started Boris the Rocket, I didn’t know what to expect! I hoped for a fun game that would keep me playing for a short time. What I found was a complex title that challenges you throughout. It doesn’t have a triple-A presentation, but it doesn’t need to. The gameplay is great, the game’s difficulty increases on a gradual and fair curve, and you’ll laugh throughout. A title that is likely to go under the radar for a lot of gamers, but you shouldn’t let this slip you by. I was glad I played it and recommend you buy a copy here! You need to atone for your despicable behaviour, so why not become the best missile defence engineer Russia has ever seen?

Review: Karakuri-kun: A Japanese Tale

Krissy
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Review: Karakuri-kun: A Japanese Tale

Karakuri-kun: A Japanese Tale is an educational RPG where the player can learn an overview of Japanese history during the Edo period.

Gameplay:

Karakuri-kun was created with RPG Maker, so the controls are pretty self-explanatory. With that said, you are thrown into the game with no tutorial or explanation. At first, you play an old man who is a dollmaker, and then you control one of his creations that was mysteriously brought to life. With the lack of character name boxes and just a lack of information at the beginning of the game, I didn’t realize that the doll’s name was Karakuri-kun until after a random battle happened.

For one thing, battles happen too frequently, and I almost died walking 2 feet from the doll maker’s house. In addition to this, there was no explanation on how to battle and no understanding as to why you’re even fighting. I did manage to find a player manual during one battle, but if selected, it counts as an attack, so I died before I could even finish reading it. I think the battle system is decent, but I wish it was more polished and had a proper tutorial.

Outside the random battle system, Karakuri-kun is tasked with talking to everyone to learn more about Japanese culture and history so she can prove that she’s not just a doll. While the purpose of the game is to learn Japanese history, it feels unnatural and forced in the space of the game.

For one thing, there was no natural dialogue or interactions in this game. I would have imagined Karakuri-kun had to ask people if they could provide some history because she needs to learn more about their culture. But instead, everyone starts randomly rehashing history as you talk to them. Also, the history lessons from the characters felt like reading a Wikipedia page rather than someone talking.

Overall, for a game that relies on storytelling, it’s not very well written. For example, the characters refer to Japan as Nihon but then later they just say Japan. The random use of Japanese words, sometimes in parentheses and sometimes not, just felt sloppy. On top of this, there were countless spelling mistakes, and overall the writing was inconsistent.

Pros:

  • Nice graphics and looks pretty.
  • I can tell the developers were passionate about wanting to make an educational experience for players.
  • It’s only $3 which is pretty fair.

Cons:

  • For a story-heavy game, it’s not well written. There are countless spelling mistakes, inconsistencies, and stunted English.
  • Overall the game felt incomplete without any game tutorial/guide, no name boxes, moments with no music, characters without dialogue, and glitches.
  • There were too many pop quizzes! If I wanted to experience finals week again, I’d just go back to school.

I never knew I would ever have to dread the words “pop quiz” ever again, but thanks to Karakuri-kun, I got to relive the horrors of quizzes all over again. There were way too many quizzes, and they weren’t well-paced either. At one point, there were three pop quizzes one after another, with about ten questions each. I don’t know how anyone would find that fun.

Conclusion:

To be honest, Karakuri-kun: A Japanese Tale felt like a Game Jam game; because of the glitches and bad writing, it just didn’t feel like a polished game. The fighting felt random, the history lessons felt forced, and the quizzes were excessively boring. I wouldn’t recommend this game to anyone, but if you feel inclined to try it – it’s only $3. 

Entertainment: 2/10

Replay value: 1/10

Graphics: 6/10

Sound: 3/10

Kid Friendly: Yes

Platform:PC (Available on Steam)
Developer:JBO Media, Angel Star Studios
Publisher:Angel Star Studios
Released:March 19, 2021
MSRP:$2.99
ESRB:N/A

Review: NieR Replicant

Daniel Waite
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Review: NieR Replicant

The future is a bright and exciting place, and it’s full of surprises and should fill us with hope. Now imagine a distant future where life is hard, technology has gone backwards, and a deadly plague runs riot. This is the picture of our future painted in NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… it is the prequel to the well-received NieR: Automata, and a remake of NieR Replicant that was originally released to a Japanese only audience.

NieR Gestalt as it was known in the West tells a similar story to the remake, with some changes made to the lead characters. In 2010, PlayStation and Xbox One were treated to the original Replicant version, and a mere eleven years later we are all blessed with the opportunity to try a modern rethinking of the Japanese exclusive title.

Developed by Toylogic and published by Square Enix, this glorious looking RPG title mixes Hack ‘n slash, puzzle, adventure and action elements to take you on a challenging journey across a dangerous and forlorn landscape. The world that you live in is set over a thousand years in the future, but the people all live frugal and basic lives. It’s a weird combination, but as the story progresses you learn about the fate of the people, and how they exist this way.

One of the many stunning sights that await you.

NieR Replicant chucks you straight into the action.

I find it frustrating when a game takes forever to get going! You’ve switched it on, played for a few hours, yet you are still none the wiser. NieR Replicant is certainly not guilty of this faux par. You open with the two main characters fighting for their survival. You control the self-named male who protects his sister Yonah from dark forces known as Shades. It introduces you to the emotive plot which I admit got to me immediately. From here you learn the fundamentals that form the mechanics for the rest of the game. Fight after fight ensues, and magic is flung left, right and centre. This is all thanks to the help from a talking book known as Grimoire Weiss. At the end of the prologue you are flung forward 1,412 years and here is where the story begins.

On the face of it, NieR Replicant appears complex, but in reality, it’s a simple tale. It revolves around family, honour, and love. Your sister Yonah has a disease known as the “Black Scrawl”. This deadly infliction slowly attacks its victim, making them weaker as it takes over their body. There is sadly, no known cure. This is until the hero and his travelling companion Grimoire Weiss hear a bard singing a long-forgotten tune. The song tells of a cure for the deadly disease, all you must do is collect the hidden “Sealed Verses”. These evil and magical entities are protected by dark powers and are guarded by gigantic Shades. Each of these bosses is controlled by Grimoire Weiss’s nemesis, Grimoire Noir.

The Black Scrawl

You will venture across many locations; Seaside towns, scrapyards, a suspended city, a desert town with its own rules, and more. Friends are made on the way, and two adventurers will join you. They help any way they can to solve the mystery behind the “Black Scrawl”. Each of the heroes has its agenda, and they appear unhinged and reluctant to aid you. Yet they each add something to the team to ensure that you are victorious in your endeavours.

How do I kill that thing?

Fast battles and plenty of fetch quests.

What this can’t be accused of is lacking in things to do. Every town you visit offers new quests to take on, people to assist, and events to complete. You can relax by fishing in any body of water, speak to the townsfolk and undertake quests. These comprise: collecting resources to sell for a profit, or you can simply stick to the main storyline. Many of the side quests are intrinsically linked with the main story. So you cannot avoid going off on a tangent, and when this happens you must go with the flow and enjoy the crazy ride.

For all its tasks and many quests you undertake, there is sadly a distinct feeling of deja vu. Many of the jobs involve; collecting X amount of items and returning them to the vendor, or killing a certain monster. They became tiresome but were a well-paid venture. This helped to fund new weapons and allowed you to buy equipment that you otherwise couldn’t afford. What was annoying was the fragile delivery quests! These involved dashing from place to place trying not to get hit. In just a moment, you’ll understand why this was so frustrating.

No matter where you travelled, monsters, animals, and obstacles blocked your path. The simple task of travelling from one town to another was fraught with danger and became an arduous task. The aforementioned delivery quests were challenging, as you could rarely avoid conflict. Fortunately, though, each battle you faced was over as quickly as it began. Flailing your weapon around like a mad man, combined with shooting magical bullets, made any fight an enjoyable and simple affair.

Dungeons and puzzles.

I was brought up playing RPG’s. So I expected it to be full of difficult dungeons comprising many overpowered beasts and challenging puzzles. Fortunately, NieR Replicant doesn’t let you down, mostly. Unlike the open-world adventure that you have on the various plains, deserts and other settings, the dungeons follow a more linear and restrictive approach. Paths are blocked by magic or broken doors, and you are only free to go where the developers wish you to explore. It was a tad annoying, but it kept you on track and prevented you from wasting your time. Still, I was desperate to know what was hidden behind locked doors, especially when the map showed hidden chambers.

I enjoyed the variety of puzzles on offer. They teased you with some simple tests, and these gradually increased in difficulty as the game wore on. There were moments I squealed in agony as I failed for the nth time. Yet, these small setbacks will not put you off. You will grit your teeth, put on your big boy pants, and try again. Equally, the bosses that you face have a gradual increase in difficulty. I found none to be overly challenging, but they add enough meat on the bone to make them a worthy opponent.

Defeat this to gain a Sealed Verse.

NieR Replicant has a rich world and touching story.

What I loved about NieR Replicant was its stunning world full of; different landscapes, beautiful scenery, and an array of interesting people. The fetch quests were tedious, but they allowed you to visit places that you may have otherwise overlooked. Exploring each town thoroughly was one of the main pleasures of playing this game. Labyrinthine setups have you walking around in circles, and until you either; purchase a map, find one, or are gifted one, you must keep exploring. You could easily rush through the game, and no one forces you to amble around each location you visit, but in doing so you can see what makes up this intriguing world, and the unique people that inhabit it.

I’ve already admitted to loving this story from the prologue, and it was hard not to fall for its emotionally charged charms. Each of the main characters and there are an awful lot, add to this web of mystery. The plot is well written, and each person you interact with adds depth. Sadly, it doesn’t compare to its sequel NieR: Automata, but it matters not. You will lose yourself in the moment, and this is helped with the incredible graphical and audio presentation.

A beautifully designed game.

I was instantly in awe of the wonderful world that has been created for NieR Replicant. The modernisation of an eleven-year-old game is always going to challenge, but Toylogic has done an amazing job. Every element of the visuals is stunning! From the animation, character design, text style, and landscapes, nothing was missed. Sprawling and sparse plains make the NieR universe appear massive. Standing upon a towering bridge overlooking the scenery below is a jaw-dropping experience. The mixture of environments ensured that the constant back and forth never bored you. It doesn’t quite reach the heights that its sequel achieves, but it’s spectacular, nonetheless.

For me, the crowning glory of this has to be the amazing and dramatic soundtrack. There is a lot to like about this powerful score of emotive laced songs. Every scene and adventure is accompanied by a mixture of touching and upbeat tunes. It’s hard to put into words how great the music is. But it’s one of the best soundtracks that I’ve had the pleasure of listening to. The sound effects are also to a high standard! The swishing of your weapon through the air, the blast of each magical spell, and the OTT screaming is brilliant.

The city in the sky.

The prologue is the tutorial.

It was a clever decision to have the prologue as a tutorial. The short opening gambit allows you to familiarise yourself with the fundamentals with little impact on the rest of the story. The simple control system takes little time to master, and I was destroying enemies, and flinging magic like a pro in no time. Three difficulty settings help you get into the swing of things. I began in the easy setting but found this to be too simple. I’d advise you to forget the lowest tier unless you are new to the genre. The controls are responsive, and well laid out and make playing the game a walk in the park.

If you played the original, you’ll be aware that it was full of replay value mainly because of its five endings. NieR Replicant Ver.1.22474487139… adds to this with an extra finale for hardcore fans to enjoy. Hours will pass, and you will still be nowhere near the finish line! It’s a brilliant title that you’ll happily lose your life to, even if it’s just to listen to the glorious music. A large achievement list will take a considerable amount of time to unlock, so completionists will have a challenging time defeating this game.

NieR Replicant is worth every penny.

I’ve mentioned several times that it doesn’t match up to its sequel. Sadly, this is true, but NieR Replicant is worth investing both your time and money in. With stunning graphics, excellent audio, simple controls, fantastic characters, and an amazing story, you need this in your life! I recommend it, so buy your copy here! Can you explore the vast world, collect the “Sealed Verses” and save your sister from the “Black Scrawl”?

Review: Gods Will Fall

Daniel Waite
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Review: Gods Will Fall

Games are supposed to be relaxing, and a fun distraction from the daily grind. Whether it’s losing yourself in a medieval world or joining friends on the battlefield, it’s meant to help you laugh and unwind. Yet, there is a breed of gamers who don’t want this serene experience. No, these insane individuals want a hardcore frustrating journey! They’re not happy unless they are screaming with rage, or cursing developers for their impossible stages. These players love Dark Souls, Super Meat Boy, and Okunoka Madness. Curiously, I think I’ve found another game they can add to their list, Gods Will Fall.

Developed by Clever Beans and published by Deep Silver, this is a dungeon-crawling rogue-lite RPG that’ll make you scream. Set on an ungodly island, your small band of heroes must risk their lives to save humanity, no matter the cost.

Gods Will Fall is brutally hard to play.

I love a challenge as much as the next person, but I also like to win as well. Gods Will Fall doesn’t care about your feelings, or your desire to win. All it cares about is destroying you, your team, and your self-esteem. It’s an agonisingly frustrating game that’ll make you wince with pain as you fail repeatedly.

You may think, “why on earth would I want to play that? It sounds terrible!” I would normally agree, games that smash you at every opportunity rarely interest me, but, this got me hooked from the moment I loaded it in.

The god’s blessed humans with life, but it came at a high price. Every man, woman, and child must worship without question! Those who don’t will die a slow and merciless death. This torturous existence has lasted a millennium, and mankind has had enough. Every person who could wield a weapon boarded a vessel to battle the gods on their island. Unhappy with this uprising, the boats were sunk. Thousands of lives were lost that day, and only eight heroes survived. It’s a much smaller army, but it’s an army, nonetheless.

The pathway of destiny.

A gloriously simple concept.

For all its harsh ways, and trust me, there are lots. Gods Will Fall is gloriously simple to play. The concept when stripped back is a basic dungeon crawler finished to a high standard. To keep things interesting, Clever Beans chucked in some RPG elements and a healthy dose of rogue-lite mechanics. It’s a wonderfully cooked up concept, and its straightforward idea makes it so addictive.

The aim of the game is easy (in theory). Make your way around the island that houses each of the gods. Invade their habitats, destroy their minions, and take down each deity you find. In reality, you’ll face the minions, lose your life, and return to your band of warriors empty-handed.

Here’s the glorious thing about Gods Will Fall. If you die in a dungeon, you become trapped in that land. The only way you can be freed is if you destroy the God who is in the seat of power. If you cannot overthrow them, the hero is trapped forever. If all your people are captured, it’s game over, and you must begin again.

Tread carefully.

RNG heroes and intertwined stories.

When everything is out to get you, that’s bad enough. But chuck in RNG for all main aspects of the game, and the difficulty skyrockets. Whenever you begin a new game, you have a fresh group of fighters. Each has unique skills, weapons and traits that help or hinder different situations. Familiarise yourself with each setup and attempt to get the best out of each one.

On top of this, you’ll have to chance your luck with which God is the easiest to defeat, and which will annihilate you. You’ll pick a dungeon and hope that luck is with you. Once you step through the fog into the catacombs, you’ll discover your fate. No dungeon is the same, and what was easy on the previous save, could surprise you on your current playthrough.

If you have ever played Dungeons and Dragons, you’ll appreciate the random curve balls that are thrown into the plot. Gods Will Fall incorporates this with twists to each character’s relationship. If one hero is captured, another may quiver with fear, or they’ll become stronger because of a sense of loyalty to them. These sudden changes in stats must be observed, and using them at the right time can help secure victory.

The tunnel of doom.

So many gods, each as evil as the last.

You’ll begin your adventure wondering who each of the gods are, and what they look like. This curiosity soon turns into hatred and fear as each one picks holes in your team. They all have; special powers, strengths and weaknesses, and you must take your time, observe their pattern of attack, and pounce when their defence is down.

I won’t cover all ten gargantuan beasts, but I will highlight two of my favourites. Carnoccus the giant hog with his sharp tusks and charging attack, he will be a pain in your a*£e. And then there is Osseus, the God of the bone realm. This gigantic spider will pierce your armour with its long spindly legs and will have you dodging left, right, and centre. There are eight other deities, each as nasty as the last. Once you meet them, you realise that the heroes may have bitten off more than they can chew.

Gods Will Fall has a classic look and atmospheric sounds.

I loved the isometric viewpoint that was used throughout. This bird’s-eye perspective enables you to have a clear view of the troubles ahead, giving you the chance to plan your approach. The art style is reminiscent of a mix between Diablo and Baldur’s Gate. Its dark and seedy look enhances the deadly situation the warriors find themselves in. The variety of environments were fantastic, as was the selection of enemies that matched each realm. Visually, it’s not the most up-to-date game, but you won’t bore of its content, and it works well to deliver its oppressive theme.

The dramatic and energetic soundtrack matches the dire situation the fighters find themselves in. It’s an odd combination of depressing tunes and an upbeat tempo. You know you must overcome the evil in front of you, but there is also a sense that failure is inevitable. Chuck in the clanging of swords, the shrieks of rage, and squeals of each monster you face, and you quickly become absorbed in the world in front of you.

Dodge the hell bird.

It’s all about the timing.

Let’s recap on what makes this tough; RNG everything, limited warriors, negative traits, tough enemies, and brutal bosses. Will one more aspect hurt? Victory is all down to perfect timing. You must observe your foes, block their attacks, or dodge their advances. Anything short of perfection will bite you in the behind. This was the brutal cherry on top of a mountain of harsh cake. But I loved Gods Will Fall because of it.

Luckily, a fantastic tutorial is offered in the first cave. This teaches you the fundamentals, and why you must adhere to them. You can do this tutorial every time you start a new save. But, I found it to be tedious after a while, so I skipped it. However, a word of warning, even at this early stage, all the game mechanics are being used. Therefore, if you fail in the training dungeon, it’ll capture you. So do not fail!

The ease with which you’ll pick this up, combined with its addictive gameplay, makes this a title that oozes replay value. Hours of your life will be lost to saving humanity, and that’s before you consider the achievements. I would guess a full completion will take around forty to fifty hours, so not one for the faint of heart.

Gods Will Fall will drive you crazy.

No one likes to lose, but you will repeatedly when you play with Gods Will Fall. You’ll scream, swear, throw your controller, and claim never to play it again! However, you can’t let humanity down. This is a game that’ll get under your skin and will make you smile with its little quirks. No playthrough is ever the same, and that is why I recommend it. If you like what you’ve read, buy it here! The gods will not stand for this uprising, but humanity will not rest until it is victorious.

Review: Kunai

Grzegorz Cebera
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Review: Kunai

Described by its developer TurtleBlaze as a fast paced action platformer Kunai manages to deliver on that promise and still has more to offer. With a blender pitch this game could be described as equal parts Strider and Megaman Zero with some metroidvania elements. The player controls an anthropomorphic tablet ninja called Tabby as he creatively traverses the environment and fights evil robots using various tools and abilities.

Set on a post-apocalyptic Earth populated with humanoid robots and ruled by an evil robot army the game opens when resistance fighters break into an abandoned laboratory and activate Tabby. Following that the plot focuses on him getting stronger and helping the resistance to defeat Lemonkuss, the leader of evil robots.

The plot isn’t very intricate and seems to exist mostly for all the great action to be built around. Even though the premise sounds serious there isn’t anything to convince the player of that. Most of the dialogue seems self-aware, often constructed for comedic effect, filled with wonderful, dry humour and references. Combined with the unapologetically gamey action it creates a lighthearted atmosphere.

Controlling Tabby is very responsive and fluid with the character never feeling too slow or too fast and even just his early moves allow him to run, jump and slash through terrain and enemies alike without stopping and with style. Throughout the game the player will unlock several weapons and tools which will allow for beating more complex environments and enemies. Each weapon is capable of attacking in four directions around the player and has further upgrades which improve passive stats of a weapon or unlock additional moves.

The main weapon available to the player from the start of the game is a sword capable of rapid slashes, deflecting projectiles and restoring health on kill. It is very satisfying to use with Tabby taking a step forward with each attack making it easy to advance towards enemies without getting hit by their projectiles. However at the same time when the sword connects the resistance of an object pushes Tabby away in the opposite direction. This encourages the player to take advantage of movement and carefully place their attacks instead of just slashing rapidly if they want to dispatch the enemies quickly.

Another tool available to the player through most of the game is the titular Kunai. These work as a pair of grappling hooks with Tabby able to launch them diagonally up left and right allowing him to swing off ceilings, cling to walls and climb quickly. The environments facilitate their use and often require being precise with them to cross obstacles. The other weapons and abilities add even more options to combat and traversal. They range from standard things like a double jump to SMGs that let Tabby hover when continuously fired downwards. All of those are easy to combo together allowing the player to get more and more creative as the game progresses and also their usefulness rarely overlaps with each having its niche.

There is a good variety of enemies in the game. It never feels like there could be more enemy types or as if some enemy is underused. All of them are distinct from each other having unique abilities as well as behaviours. The game starts off with very simple enemies and gradually introduces more complicated ones as well as various combinations of enemies keeping the game challenging and the difficulty curve smooth. Each section of the game also has a boss battle that requires the use of an ability or weapon that Tabby just acquired with the level before the boss doing very well at preparing the player for it.

The game has very well rendered 2D Gameboy Advance or Nintendo DS era style graphics. The environments use monochromatic colour palettes with each biome using a different one helping to distinguish them. The player as well as NPCs have heavy blue accents while enemies, attacks and danger in general use red. All of the above combined with smooth animations makes everything very easy to distinguish even during more visually intense fights and also very pleasant to look at.

I found sound design to also be reminiscent of old games meshing well with the visuals and it is just as well made. Sound effects for all the actions are all distinct from each other and all of the enemies have unique sound ques letting the player know what is coming even if they are off screen. All the biomes in the game also have their own theme music which helps them in having a unique mood. However the music can get a bit repetitive and I didn’t find any tracks that stuck with me except for the main menu theme which still didn’t stand out by much.

There are no technical problems as far as I can tell, everything appears to work as intended. My biggest complaint about the game is that the final boss is a moderate difficulty spike and I had to try several times to beat it while the rest of the game was a smooth ramp up. However in the grand scheme of things it is a minor complaint and could be excused as the final test for the player and the moment the game was building up to. Another issue for me was low replayability. There is no new game plus or alternative difficulties that would make me want to replay the game even though I had a lot of fun with it. I think a new game plus with remixed enemy placement including tougher enemies appearing earlier and more just enemies as well as remixed boss battles would have been perfect for this game and enough to make me play again right away.

Overall it is a great game. It is reminiscent of some great action-platformer classics while standing on its own and in some ways even surpasses them. I think it is worth it’s price but it also has a free demo so you can make sure it is something for you.

Two Minute Review: Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series

Andrew Edney
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Two Minute Review: Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series

Here is our two minute review of the Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series.

Designed for your DSLR or mirrorless camera, the Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series lets you quickly capture and transfer high-quality photos, including Full-HD and 4K UHD video with speeds up to 160MB/s read, and up to 120MB/s write. These cards dramatically accelerate workflow from start to finish maximizing your creativity.

This card leverages UHS-I technology to deliver read speeds up to 160MB/s (1066x) allowing you to transfer high-quality photos and 4K UHD video with ease. This card is Class 10, UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) giving you the performance you need to shoot faster and longer.

Never miss the action. The Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card allows you to capture high-quality images and extended lengths of stunning, Full-HD and 4K UHD video with write speeds up to 120MB/s.

With its UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) ratings, the Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I Card SILVER Series lets you stay on top of all the action with sequential burst mode shots.

Features

  • High-speed performance – rated UHS Speed Class 3 (U3) and Video Speed Class 30 (V30) for your DSLR or mirrorless camera
  • Leverages UHS-I technology to deliver read speeds up to 160MB/s (1066x)
  • Quickly capture high-quality images and extended lengths of Full-HD and 4K UHD with write speeds up to 120MB/s
  • High-capacity options –– up to 512GB
  • Designed for durability in harsh conditions
  • 10-year limited warranty

Final Thoughts

If you need to expand the storage on your devices and you want something fast and reliable then you will need a SDXC card. Lexar is a very well known brand with a history of supplying high quality products and the Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-I cards SILVER Series is no exception.

The card is fast and works really well, this is the card to look at and consider for your needs, after all you will want to keep everything safe on the card and this card certainly delivers. It works especially well when used to record 4K UHD content.

This is yet another great card from Lexar!

Lexar Professional 1066x SDXC UHS-Icards SILVER Series is available this month for purchase online at an MSRP of £26.99 GBP (64GB), £45.99 GBP (128GB), £84.99 GBP (256GB), and £155.99 GBP (512GB).

You can learn more from the Lexar website.

Review: Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville

Kara Phillips
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Review: Plants vs Zombies: Battle for Neighborville

Battle for Neighborville is a refreshing new addition to the Plants vs Zombies franchise. The title introduces a whole new look for PvZ and welcomes several new game modes for you and your friends to enjoy. Being the third addition to a series of extremely popular third person shooters, this game has a lot to live up to. But it’s safe to say, Battle for Neighborville does just that. Fan favourite elements from previous PvZ games are brought forward and intertwined with new elements, so whilst appealing to old time players, there is a refreshing new air. 

New game modes

All the base modes fans are familiar with are reimagined in a new style. But Popcap takes it one step further by introducing all new competitive game modes. The title also presents the ‘social hub’ where players can experiment with new builds, and explore new PvE zones. These areas have a variety of activities for you to enjoy, like platforming challenges and puzzles. These activities can be completed either solo or co-op, with split-screen mode available on consoles. 

The social hub is enjoyable just to hang around in alongside taking part in its spectrum of activities. There are simple things to love, like dance contests and the shooting gallery. This feature definitely showcases the bubbly personality behind Battle for Neighborville. Between friendly games and the sandbox style battle arena sitting nicely between home bases, everything ties this bright game together. Little details are implemented to reinforce this, like neon signs which perfectly fit into the aesthetic and cartoonish sound design. All of this flows neatly into the roster of characters available for play. 

All new classes

As well as new game modes becoming available, half a dozen new classes are introduced from you to choose from. With seven points to spend for customisation, this element is great for players who wish to optimise their class to their own play style. Which also makes for a unique gameplay each time you change class. Further customisation can be taken by unlocking cosmetics for your characters. These elements can be unlocked using in-game currency, but more ‘extravagant’ items can be unlocked with premium currency. Which is kept behind in-game purchases. 

Regarding the online PvE campaigns, they can become a little boring and repetitive over time. The multiplayer maps make it a little difficult to map out where the chaos is occurring. This factor is easily overlooked when you’re playing alongside the new roster and utilising your abilities though. The new roster is extremely amusing and makes for some comedic co-op moments. 

Final thoughts

As a whole, this game will be familiar to those who loved Garden Warfare but want a new lease of life in the Plants v Zombies franchise. It’s chaotic, frantic, and so enjoyable with friends. The franchise has once again produced a charming title which will always leave you waiting around for another match.

Review: Demon’s Crystals

Daniel Waite
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Review: Demon’s Crystals

Don’t you just hate it when your peace is ruined by hordes of rampaging monsters? You are living the calm and serene life that all demon’s dream of, and then suddenly all hell breaks loose! Demon’s Crystals paints this picture perfectly as the Urican demons have their afternoon ruined by an army of unwanted guests.

Developed by Byte4games and published by Badlands Publishing, this isometric twin-stick shooter is hectic, repetitive and full of violence. A variety of weapons, power-ups, special attacks and defence orbs are available for this team of four demons. You must defeat wave after wave of bloodthirsty monsters ensuring that you stay alive to fulfil each task you are given.

Demon’s Crystals won’t challenge you mentally.

When I first play a game, I want to know that it’s going to test me mentally and physically. I want to have to work on my accuracy and reactions. I also need to be tested logically or tactically. If I get none of these things, I soon get bored and switch off. Sadly, Demon’s Quest doesn’t test you on a mental level! Most of the gameplay requires a small amount of skill, and a huge slice of luck. Power-ups spawn in random locations, though you get the same ones for each stage. Your enemies leap from the ground like a salmon heading upstream. This makes them slow to react to you, so killing them is like shooting fish in a barrel.

Luckily it asks you to be accurate, and to react to dangers around you. The stages that you must explore are extremely small arenas. You are restricted to where you can move, and you must work within the boundaries to complete your goals. The goals comprise; collecting crystals, killing a set number of foes, or a combination of the two. This doesn’t change throughout the game, except for the end of world boss fight. Sadly, this lack of variety allows boredom and repetitive gameplay to creep in. It’s a weak point to the game that could have easily been overcome with some creative thinking, instead you are left with a sense of deja vu.

Time to mow them down with a Minigun.

It’s all about the team of demons.

The Urican demons love their crystals, and they have always been at the top of the food chain. Three mysterious beings appear one day to bring chaos and disorder to this calm kingdom. The once peaceful beings become aggressive and destructive, and it’s your responsibility to banish the mysterious creatures and restore order to your homeland.

You have the option to select any of the four demons at your disposal. There is the choice to play this solo, or you can ask friends to join you in a couch co-op session. You will be asked to venture through three worlds; The Graveyard, Forest and Castle. Each has location specific monsters, with a unique appearance. In reality, they are the same enemy as found on other stages, instead they are skinned to look differently, but their actions are nearly identical. This lack of creativity was disappointing, and I would have liked to see more thought put into the foes that you face.

Plenty of power-ups and pointless levelling up.

One element that I loved in Demon’s Quest was the selection of power-ups and special attacks. Giant rockets, machine guns, boomerang bullets, and more are available. The special attacks will freeze everyone in sight, set the world on fire, or allow you to spawn a friendly creature to aid you temporarily. You also have floating orbs that match your firepower, and mow down the monsters in seconds flat. Lovers of the shooter genre will adore the selection of wacky guns that can be found and equipped.

The array of extra elements was something I expected to see, but one thing that still confuses me is the levelling system that has been implemented. As always, killing monsters and destroying buildings will score you XP. This is automatically added to your experience bar, and quickly you level up. But oddly, it made no difference to your strength, health, or speed, It was an odd thing to implement, especially when it was a pointless task.

Send the monsters back to their graves.

The wave of monsters soon becomes a challenge, unlike the main bosses.

The unpredictable nature and tough exterior of the grunt soldiers makes fighting them a bit of a challenge. You must dodge projectiles, traps, and other enemies, while aiming for the stage goal. Sadly, there isn’t the same difficulty when you face each of the main bosses. Their attack patterns are predictable, they swipe and miss you repeatedly. The largest risk is when you don’t know what they are going to do, this will lead to many mistakes, and players trying to win by trial and error.

If you get bored with the arcade main story, Demon’s Crystals has others to choose from; a solo survival, and a plethora of local multiplayer modes. You won’t be surprised to hear that survival is a standard affair. Destroy wave after wave of enemies, while living for as long as possible. Once you die your score is calculated and this is then compared to a global leaderboard.

The multiplayer modes add variety to the gameplay, with six to choose from; Survival, Verses, Deathmatch, Kill the enemies, and two crystal-based games. Each adds a different challenge for you and your group of friends to face while sharing a couch.

Demon’s Crystals is an older game, but it still looks great.

With its isometric viewpoint, colourful landscapes, and varied and accurate environments, this is one game that has aged well. Demon’s Crystals character models have a cartoon style that holds enough detail to make them interesting to look at. With hectic action, and untold amounts of missiles and projectiles flying around the screen, it would be easy for this to have performance issues. Thankfully, it ran smoothly, and I had no issues when I played.

A dramatic audio sounds in the background as you slay each monster you face. It’s upbeat tone and sinister tunes demonstrate the danger the demon’s face. A basic choice of sound effects was just as I expected. They worked well, but didn’t wow me. The guns blare out, and the buildings go boom when they collapse as the bullets repeatedly smash into them.

Neither the graphics nor sound effects will leave you amazed. But they worked together to deliver the theme to a good standard. Both have fared well over the years and are comparable to modern indie titles. 

Can you defeat the giant skeleton boss?

A twin-stick shooter with a simple approach. 

When all you have to focus on is moving and aiming with each of the analogue sticks, you know it’s going to be simple to play. With responsive controls, and accurate aiming using the right stick, this was a pleasure to play and easy to pick up. Strangely, no tutorial is offered, and this left me confused when using special items. I’m still unaware if they are automated, or if you control them. Until I find out, I’ll continue mashing the buttons, hoping for the best result. Other than this, you’ll have no issues in what turned out to be a comfortable and fast-paced game to play. 

Demon’s Crystals may be repetitive, but its variety in game modes add replay value. You are sadly restricted to local multiplayer only, and this reduces its appeal considerably. A challenging achievement list adds a reason to return if you are a completionist. Fun to play casually, I can see this as a game to play between other titles. 

Demon’s Crystals delivers basic, but fun gameplay.

You will not be challenged to an in-depth multi-layered experience if you try out Demon’s Crystals. Instead, you are guaranteed a fast-paced murder spree that is colourful, loud, and fun. If you have enough friends to take part in the multiplayer modes, you’ll enhance your experience, otherwise you’ll have a casual title that will keep you entertained between bigger games. I enjoyed my time with it and recommend that you give it a go. If you like what you read, you can buy a copy here! You can’t sit back and allow three strangers to ruin your life, gather your weapons and defeat each wave of enemies you face.

Review: Cardaclysm

Brendan Dick
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Review: Cardaclysm

Cardaclysm is another card battler, but that’s not a problem. In a year seemingly blessed by hit-after-hit of Indie roguelikes, this one is no exception. It’s playable—absurdly playable, actually, but only for a couple of hours. Cardaclysm is deceptively addicting, and oozing with charm, but ultimately bogged down by a dearth of content that leaves it feeling repetitive.

The gameplay is fairly straightforward. You battle enemies, gather cards, and escape each level, briefly returning to the solace of a tavern filled with merchants and quest-givers. Though that can sound fairly workman-like, Cardaclysm feels anything but. Unlike most deckbuilders and roguelikes, the game actually allows you to entirely set the pace. If you don’t feel like fighting the boss; you simply don’t.

In fact, Cardaclysm‘s boss fighting system is one of the most ingenious points in the game. It’s a unique spin on an aspect of deckbuilders that I never would have thought possible. After you’ve defeated all the enemies in a level, the boss spawns from the entrance portal and begins to stalk you. If you feel you’re ready to try to beat it, you turn and face the boss. If not, jump through the portal and into the tavern for a break. Although being chased by a giant sword-wielding skeleton would fill any player with anxiety, it actually performs in the complete opposite manner. It allows you to fully prepare before attempting to progress, something that games like Slay the Spire and the like don’t grant a player.

I hate to say it, but Cardaclysm‘s negatives are neatly tied into some of the more successful aspects of the game. The enemy design is perfect. Nearly every encounter elicits a Dungeons & Dragons sort of feel—something enjoyably familiar yet not derivative. The tried-and-true centaur makes an appearance. A poisonous scorpion crawls out of the desert. Even an enemy that looks vaguely like the piranha plants from Super Mario Bros manages to hit the mark. At the risk of sounding like a petulant child, when the enemies begin to repeat an hour into the game, it’s even more disappointing because given the impressive variety already in the game.

There are about three biomes that the game procedurally generates. Sure, no two levels are truly identical, but for all intents and purposes, they are. Eventually, facing the same enemies, and gathering the same cards gets old. To make matters worse, like most deckbuilders, the game gets progressively easier. If you were to draw out the difficulty, it would appear parabolic. There is a certain level of challenge in the middle of the game, as the enemies outpace your cards and boosts, but eventually, you’ll crush them every time.

Here’s the issue. In an effort to aid the player and instill a bit of variety, the development team has accidentally made things a bit too comfortable. Since you’re progressively always getting stronger, and at a relatively quick rate, it’s never a question of if you’ll beat the game, but when. Yes, this is fairly standard in the genre, but it’s nonetheless disappointing. There’s no question that Cardaclysm is at its best when it’s at its most difficult.

I hate to focus solely on the gameplay, but deckbuilders live and die by their mechanics. Cardaclysm is undoubtedly beautiful. The animation and the graphics are a win. It’s part of what makes the enemies so enjoyable. Also, the soundtrack is hauntingly beautiful. There are definite comparisons to be made with ENDER LILIES. The composition is largely dominated by a single, lonely voice, and echoey tones that lend a sort of isolating feeling.

Cardaclysm is a classic example of a game that falls just short of its potential—and its frustrating. The creativity is all there. It’s polished far better than most Indie games of its sort. I encountered almost no bugs at all. It’s just a shallow amount of content that ultimately hamstrings an otherwise flawless game.

Review: Persona 5 Strikers

Christopher McNally
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Review: Persona 5 Strikers

Ah the Persona series is one of those where if you have ever experienced any of the series then you’ve surely lost hundreds of hours to it. Generally a combination of role play and turn based action the various versions of Persona have delighted fans for many years. This time round Persona 5 Strikers is a crossover of the Dynasty Warriors franchise and and the original Persona 5, it’s actually based about 6 months after the events of Persona 5.

The general plot of Persona 5 Strikers revolves around the Phantom Thieves (Persona 5 Strikers is a game where it will benefit you to have played the original Persona 5) getting back together to go on a camping trip. As can be expected things do not quite go to plan and you end up finding yourself in a mysterious situation that needs investigating. The mystery involves an alternative version of Tokyo and peoples desires manifesting in chaos causing issues across the world.

Persona 5 Strikers main protagonist is Joker who is able to wield multiple different “personas”, these personas come from enemy drops or beating bosses located in dungeons. The personas can be fused together to create new ones to help you on your way. You can form a team of up to four members which always has to include Joker. In the real world you can only control Joker whilst in the dungeon areas you can control any of the team members. If you’ve ever played Persona games then the dungeons mechanic won’t be new to you. You either hide or battle in the dungeons until you reach a point where you have to leave which is when the dungeon alert hits 100%.

Persona 5 Strikers uses the Dynasty Warriors real-time combat. If you’ve ever played a Dynasty Warriors game then you’ll be aware how those fights end up. There is a lot happening on screen during these fight sequences, literally hundreds of enemies can appear on screen and you have to smash through them to reach your goals. When using your Persona’s you will use the traditional choosing a command sequence though.

Now the issue with Dynasty Warriors games is that they are an acquired taste, some may enjoy the constant button bashing and stringing of multiple combos but others kind find it very repetitive and this is the case with Persona 5 Strikers to an extent. What benefits Persona 5 Strikers is that the elements it lifts from Persona 5 still work really well whether that’s the story and characterisation. As you progress in Persona 5 Strikers you’ll enter new cities which each have their own look and allow you to explore them which adds to the fun.

Graphically Persona 5 Strikers looks lovely like most Persona games do. During the fight sequences sometimes you may not fully appreciated the environments you are battling in because there are so many enemies on screen. The enemies are quite varied in look and the bosses come across particularly menacing. Musically Persona 5 Strikers isn’t quite as polished as Persona 5’s score but still does a fine job of setting the mood appropriately. In terms of length Persona 5 Strikers will probably take you about 50 or so hours to do everything including side quests. Some of those side quests unfortunately follow the classic repetitiveness of backtracking over previous areas.

Persona 5 Strikers is a well developed title which brings the original Persona 5 story into another chapter with a few issues. If you’re a fan of Persona games then Persona 5 Strikers is right up your street however the Dynasty Warriors battle mechanics and slow beginning means you’ll have to see past some of its shortcomings to fully appreciate it.

Review: Crime Opera

Daniel Waite
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Review: Crime Opera

No matter where you are in the world, crime is inevitable. The severity varies, and there are always victims. Male, female, old or young, it doesn’t discriminate, yet we forget that the families of the criminals are as much a victim as the person on the receiving end. Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect looks at these family bonds and weaves them into a dark tale.

Developed by Crime Opera Studios and Ratalaika Games and published by Eastasiasoft Limited. This is a dark story about loss, family, misogyny, and crime. The first part of a six novel franchise, Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect allows you to read its prose as either; a Kinetic novel (no story choices), or as a Visual Novel (dialogue choices that alter the plot). I chose the first for my initial playthrough, and whichever you choose; the theme, characters, and plot follow the same path.

Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect is an uncomfortable tale.

Be warned, this isn’t a Visual Novel that follows the usual happy-go-lucky theme. It depicts a horrid representation of a crime family that views its female counterparts as lesser beings. The misogynistic dialogue runs deep throughout every chapter. Moreover, it isn’t restricted to just the adults of the family. No, every male character has this behaviour ingrained in their DNA, making this a tough plot to swallow.

The story comprises twenty four chapters and tells the tale of the Gallo family. It opens with a BBQ, a chance for everyone to rejoice. From here you instantly understand that this isn’t a normal family. Talk of violence, sex, and crime are commonplace, you instantly know it’s going to be a dark trip from the opening gambit.

The death of the family Matriarch sparks an attempted take over from ex-business partners. Gerald and Xander, who now head the family must defend their honour. The six children witness; murder, kidnapping, and other crimes. The plot revolves around their viewpoint and the strengths and frailties of these family bonds.

Look away, nothing to be seen here.

I liked the idea, just not the delivery.

I love a good crime drama, the grittier the better, mostly. The idea of delving into the world of two mafia bosses intrigued me. Though, I knew that taking this leap would take me outside of my comfort zone. I predicted this male-dominated landscape would belittle the females. However, I wasn’t prepared for what I read. Honestly, I was shocked from the offset.

The open discussions revolve around; beatings, sexual assaults, and the undermining of every female character. Sadly, it was a tough read. This is before you consider the many crimes the fathers deliver to their front door. I think what got me most was the validation the developers wrote in via the minors in the plot. The boys were accepting of the role they played in the family structure, and happily went along with it. Sometimes, they got off on what they saw. It was all very strange and made for uncomfortable reading.

Let’s put that to one side for a moment.

If I put aside my discomforts surrounding the plot, let’s look at how the game works. With two modes to play, you can take the traditional approach and observe a kinetic novel. Or you can play it like a Visual Novel and feel in control of how the plot unfolds. I genuinely enjoyed the choices, and the developers did well when they made this decision.

I also like the; chapter structure, pace and flow of the plot, and the characters (even if I didn’t agree with their outlook on life.) The chapters were constructed in such a way that you could observe the family bonds forming and breaking as the deep and dark plot gripped you.

The levels of crime were disturbing, as was the way the children dealt with their problems. From the aforementioned belittling of counterparts to the unnerving visions of imaginary friends, and the conversations that follow. It made me uneasy! But I was intrigued to see it evolve.

It looks a lovely day for a mafia family walk in the woods.

A grimy atmospheric tale with visual and audio to match.

Visual Novels are renowned for their simple yet striking images. Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect delivers on this aspect. With well-designed sprites, easy-to-read text, and varied landscapes to enjoy, it was nice to look at. This doesn’t mean it’s perfect, however, because sadly it is not. The developers took the odd approach to fade the characters in and out as they took turns to speak. It was distracting, unnecessary, and cheapened the visuals.

I enjoyed the visual presentation even with its faults, but I loved the emotive audio. No matter its style or tempo, it matched each scene perfectly. Altering from sombre and melancholy tones to aggressive songs, it worked brilliantly with the text. Add in some loud sound effects, and the audio successfully brought Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect to life.

Relaxing to play and some replay value.

Even with its disturbing plot and character traits, this was relaxing to play. Its simple control setup allows you to turn it on, start it up and watch the story unfold with little effort. I understand that the lack of action won’t be to everyone’s liking, but for a break away from frantic shooters and competitive sports titles, this will tick most boxes.

Visual Novels usually lack replay value. Yes, you get to alter the plot and potentially impact upon relationships. But the outcomes rarely alter. The two gameplay methods, add replay value. Yet, it’s a shame the simple achievement list doesn’t. If you play the game from beginning to end, you’ll have your 100% completion status.

Is that blood on the wall?

Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect is a tough sell!

When a game uses a disturbing theme as its driving force, it’s going to be a tough sell. Crime Opera: The Butterfly Effect has taken a gamble, and I’m not sure it’s paid off. I liked so many elements of this game, but cannot overlook the horrific incorporation and acceptance of its misogynistic endeavours. I accept the developers were simply attempting to highlight the overbearing influence that the men have on this male-dominated culture. But it could and should have been delivered more subtly.

If the developers reduce the misogyny, it will make the series much more palatable, while retaining the dark and seedy crime drama. Even with its flaws, I recommend you buy it here! Being born into a life of crime is difficult. Build relationships and find your place in the family hierarchy. 

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