Achilles: Survivor is an interesting project to critique. It doesn’t offer the best first impression, with no player onboarding whatsoever, subpar presentation, and a wall of stats for you to decipher. Once you get past all that, you’re treated to gameplay that’s far from engaging, threatening you to uninstall within your first few minutes.

And yet, it’s a lot of fun. The game reveals its complexities to those who stick with it. What may appear like a derivative isometric RPG is actually a thoughtful cross between the roguelike, bullet hell, and strategy genres. Sprinkle in a bit of Greek mythology, and you have a budget title that punches a fair bit above its weight.

While I do have praise for Survivor, it really can’t be understated how poor a first impression it makes. There’s no introductory cinematic, or really any presentational flair, just a static menu. Character selection and level up screens present like a mobile game, and I was shocked to find that it wasn’t available on iOS. 

This might be forgivable given that Dark Point Games is a rather small team, but the lack of tutorial is significantly more irksome. Instead, you’ll need to pause the game when you start a run, where you’ll immediately be overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of tracked stats. This is not a D&D character sheet, it’s a damn Excel project. Thankfully, the various charts, numbers, and achievements will start meaning something to you once you’ve sunk a few hours into the game.

After reading through the How To Play menu from within the pause screen (itself a small tome), you’ll finally have an idea of what Achilles: Survivor wants from you. You pick a character from Greek mythology and run through various levels, slaying creatures. Notably, combat isn’t the explicit focus; you will automatically attack enemies with skills on cooldown. Instead, you’ll be playing an intentional game of resource management.

Items like stone and gold will be gathered from the environment and killing high-level enemies. Once you’ve obtained enough, your stone can be used to create structures in the environment. These range in utility, from simply dealing damage to healing you and even helping you cultivate more resources. Regardless, they all give you a buff until they’re destroyed, and make it much easier to carve through the swarm of beasts that will soon flood your screen.

It’s this game within the game, the collectathon within the roguelike framework that makes Survivor so engaging. I’m very action-oriented in most games, but the decision to sideline traditional combat was an inspired choice. I’m much more excited to plan which structures to build than I would be mindlessly mashing buttons, and the sense of accomplishment you feel when the contraptions destroy all monsters without you even lifting a finger is fantastic.

Should you fail a level on your first attempt, there’s no reason to be dismayed. Succeeding and failing both give you permanent upgrade currencies. These will be used to enhance your stats across all runs, offering a better chance at succeeding the next time around.

Unfortunately, this also creates a paradox where by upgrading a character’s starting attributes, Achilles: Survivor can become a bit too easy. You’ll be able to breeze through most levels building structures at your leisure, and your abilities will wipe out any enemies that luck into getting close to you. This issue is alleviated as you get deeper into the campaign or increase a stage’s difficulty level, though the most dedicated players may be operating well beyond any challenge the game throws at them.

While I went in with low expectations, Achilles Survivor was able to clear them with minimal effort. Dark Point Games have proven themselves in my eyes, and created a solid experience worth the attention of genre fans. Despite minor balancing flaws, it’s a more than serviceable time-waster, one that I plan to sink many more hours into.

Grid Ranger is a fast-paced 3D shoot ‘em up that feels straight out of an arcade. The game is presented in vector graphics reminiscent of arcade games from the 80s. Along with the presentation, the game’s vaporwave aesthetic and heavy synth soundtrack makes it feel very unique in the shoot ‘em up genre. Grid Ranger was developed and published by Pixeljam on Steam and Itch.io.

Unique Controls
One of the unique aspects of Grid Ranger’s gameplay is the game is entirely mouse controlled. On the store page of the game, the devs promote the game to “level up your mouse dexterity”. I would have to agree on the statement just for the fact that I had to constantly steady my movement for certain segments of the game. Much of the game’s difficulty arises from controlling your character and avoiding projectiles and obstacles. I would constantly lose on levels where it involved a lot of precise dodging from obstacles. My downfall came in the form of twitchy mouse movements. Once you are focused and steady your hand movements, it feels incredibly satisfying to progress to the next portions of the game.

And since this is a shoot ‘em up, the firing is also interesting to discuss. Your character shoots from the front and both the left and right sides as well. These all shoot simultaneously, but the side shooting only really felt situational when going through levels. It only ever came into use when certain enemies attacked from the sides. However, these enemies are seldom seen and can be easily avoided by moving up.

Blasting Through a Retro-Future
The levels in Grid Ranger are both short and challenging. Levels are segmented into 3 different parts. The first segment is set at a fast-pace with an emphasis on dodging obstacles. Through those first segments, the boss, or Guardian, of the level appears only to throw projectiles at the player and leave. The second segment is slower paced, but there’s more of a focus on shooting enemies and destructible objects to make a path for yourself. Finally, the last segments are the Guardian fights. These can be pretty harrowing if not for the fact that if you die, you will have to start from the beginning of the level.

Although short, if you got your fill from the 3 main levels there is Hardcore mode. In this mode, you replay the main 3 levels, but there are some slight changes to the levels as well, such as the player character having 4 hit points instead of 3. The layouts of the levels are altered and sport a different background color to show it’s WAY more intense. But that intensity comes from the heightened speed and the increased amount of enemies and projectiles. If you thought Normal mode was difficult, Hardcore mode turns it up to an 11.

Lastly, there is the Infinite game mode. It is exactly what it sounds like. You play through an infinite gauntlet of the previously mentioned 3 level segments. It’s pretty fun if you’re someone who enjoys going for high scores.

Final Thoughts
Grid Ranger is a challenging shoot ‘em up with great visuals. Though harder to get used to, the mouse controls for this fast-paced shoot ‘em up was executed well. Unfortunately, the game is very short with only 3 levels. Grant it, the game is only $4 USD, so I wouldn’t expect a large amount of content. It only has the main 3 levels and an infinite mode, so there’s not a lot to do after playing through all of it. For what it is, it’s an enjoyable shoot ‘em up experience that had me coming back for more every time I died in a level.

Few game genres have dominated the last decade as much as the soulslike. FromSoftware created the basic concept in 2009 with the release of Demon’s Souls, before rocketing to meteoric success with Dark Souls and the more recent Elden Ring. Other developers have begun to catch up, releasing acclaimed titles aping the formula, and many of the signature design characteristics have been gradually incorporated into more traditional action titles.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers represents an interesting development within the genre’s proliferation, given that it comes not from any high-profile western or Japanese teams, but from China. While not an established player in the AAA games space, the Leenzee team from Chengdu proves to be more than up to the task, drawing from the cultural aesthetics of the Ming dynasty and delivering a solid entry into the soulslike canon.

Combat is obviously the main focus, and you’ll be immediately comfortable if you’ve played similar games. Animations are deliberate, forcing you to commit to your choices. A stamina meter governs all of your actions, which means you’ll need to constantly pay attention or risk not being able to evade because you overextended a melee combo. It’s not my preferred combat system, but it functions properly and lays out clear rules for the player. Your stamina can also be upgraded, allowing for a slightly smoother play experience if the default proves too restrictive.

Performing precise dodges will grant you Skyborn Might, a resource that allows you to perform magic and enhances your equipped skills. This adds a bit more flavor to combat, since you’ll be able to attack from range or unleash increased damage up close. I appreciate the developers incentivizing skillful play, but the dodge timing required can feel a bit inconsistent at times. However, this is somewhat negated by your skill tree; certain upgrades will unlock new avenues to earn Skyborn Might, better tailoring the experience to your preferred weapon type.

Leenzee really impresses with their level design. You’ll spend most of your time searching for shrines (where you enhance your character and reset the world state), but that never takes away from the grandeur of the environments. Wuchang is set in a connected world with an impressive variety of locales. The verticality is also admirable, with plenty of secret areas to find should you explore every nook and cranny.

As you progress, you’ll encounter various NPCs who will give you hints about the world or ask you to retrieve certain items. This environmental storytelling represents the majority of Wuchang’s narrative ambitions, mirroring its progenitor, Dark Souls. It’s a technique that has never been my cup of tea, but those who enjoy it will be well served. If nothing else, it will make great fodder for YouTube lore videos.

Playing the game on PS5 Pro, the graphics are noticeably rougher than you would hope for. Character models can appear very pixellated during gameplay, which is disappointing to see in an otherwise gorgeous experience. Thankfully, the frame rate is steady on performance mode, ensuring a smooth play experience. It’s worth mentioning that the PC build was mired with technical issues at launch, though several patches have been released to alleviate these problems.

I’m not someone who has spent a lot of time with games like this, but in my limited experience, it doesn’t seem Wuchang is adding anything meaningful to the genre. It feels like Leenzee set out to create Dark Souls wrapped in traditional Chinese aesthetics, and assuming that was their goal, they should be very proud of themselves. The team’s only previous credit I could find was a VR title, and this game is a significant upgrade in both scope and global exposure. With that being said, other devs have been making games like this for years and have brought their own ideas to the table, making Wuchang feel a bit like well-trodden territory.

Leenzee has built an excellent foundation with Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and proven themselves as worthy competitors in the soulslike space. Although the game may not deliver meaningful innovation, it was able to nail the trademark combat and exploration fans have grown to love. The future is bright for these developers, and a sequel could propel them to new heights.