Overlooking some clunky collisions, an overuse of enemy shooters and mages, and some clumsy platforming sections, I can say that I completed an excellent Soulslike. The longevity reaches more than acceptable levels. The story is intriguing enough to encourage progression, even if just to discover what other devilry Hexworks has hidden around the corner. Talking about a title like this is never easy. There’s always a risk of remaining in the shadow of the Souls tetralogy, which still casts both shadows and light on a large portion of its descendants. Taken on its own, Lords Of The Fallen is fun, engaging, intriguing, and above all, it works.
Crawling on a precarious beam with a thirty-meter drop to the sea below, swimming in a flooded duct, climbing a damaged ladder battered by storm winds, making our way through a destroyed and completely dark compartment… The mental assault on the player is continuous, relentless, and unforgiving. Still Wakes The Deep grips us in an oppressive hold and refuses to let go until the end. The story’s rhythm is heart-pounding; we will have no peace or respite throughout the adventure.
In the beginning, the vast majority of doors will be locked. Often we’ll know where to go, but it will be cryptic to understand how to get there. We’ll collect items and keys of dubious use, trying to make sense of them through the diaries and documents we find around, sometimes very well hidden. The homage to the early Resident Evil chapters was greatly appreciated. Personally, the game managed to take me back in time, making me feel disoriented and confused again. Hats off.
The puzzles are well-designed, the controls are responsive and precise, and the environments are always extremely well-crafted, colorful, and rich in detail. Music and sound also does well, especially the ambient sounds. My impression was that of playing a sort of Limbo, which we have discussed before, or Another World, an old glory for the Atari ST, but with less dark atmospheres and much more inspired by sci-fi like Star Wars.
Combat and exploration are entirely automated in Loop Hero. We need to be able to influence the world and the enemies around us to turn the challenges the game throws at us against itself. And this cannot be achieved without a good dose of tactics, courage, and adaptability against the whims of Lady Luck.
The game makes its storyline its main strength throughout its short but intense duration. Although anyone who has played BioShock will undoubtedly notice the similarities, such as the isolated location in the middle of the sea where scientific research knows no bounds, a brilliant and revolutionary experiment gone awry, and the protagonist’s connection to one of the minds behind the experiment, Close To The Sun manages to establish its own identity within minutes, distinguishing itself from the giant created by Irrational Games and showcasing the developers’ great creativity.
Despite having consumed my fair share of survival horror, I must admit that some sections of Jawbreaker managed to unsettle me a lot. The game handles the oppression and distress of the situation quite well, thanks also to excellent graphics. The police station is truly enormous, and even with the help of the map, it won’t be easy to navigate. The inspiration from genre classics like Outlast and the early Resident Evil games is clear, as admitted by the developer himself.
The graphical style of this game is hauntingly beautiful, in the sense that it remains fixed in the player’s mind like a spell, just to stay on theme. And the ambience sound is no less. Take a moment, and take the time to listen to the chatter and laughter of children, the flow of a stream, the wind caressing the leaves, the call of a distant bird. The quality of the audio catapults you into the scene, ensuring constant and powerful immersion, especially with the help of a good pair of headphones.
Who hasn’t ever jokingly entertained the remote possibility of being trapped in their own mind? The brilliance of the game is in the way we can manipulate the environment. You know those dreams where physics and optics make no sense and seem to follow their own rules? Well, imagine being able to dictate those laws yourself. And you’ve got Superliminal.
Once familiarized, we will appreciate the frightening variety and depth of Scarlet Tower. Eight playable characters, very different from each other and highly customizable, dozens of passive abilities and runes… Just this is enough to describe the extremely high longevity and the desire of the developers to leave complete choice to the player. Yes, it’s repetitive, it’s true, but if taken in small doses, it becomes a pleasant and rewarding pastime, chasing the distant goal of reaching the final levels.
It’s impressive how after dozens of hours of play, you come across situations never seen before, or you manage to build an entirely new deck. Among attack, defense, support cards, or even curses that hinder battles and our ascent, we have almost endless possibilities, even in the synergy that sparks with the use of potions and the possession of relics. It’s almost a pity to win a game because when starting over we will lose our powerful deck that allowed us to triumph.
Every mistake, every waste of valor points, every death of an ally, every failed mission, serves as a teacher. There are few videogames (and I assure you, being a hopeless lover of the most difficult games) that manage to convey such a sense of triumph and achievement as Wartales. We as players grow alongside our characters, treasure the harsh lessons taught by the game, devise ever more imaginative tactics to bypass or nullify the obstacles in our path, and eventually come to dominate the game.
Emerging on the verge of death from a dungeon, with the party on the brink and afflicted by a chain of debuffs, without supplies or potions, and returning triumphantly to the fortress to sell the loot and invest all the earnings in new equipment and upgrades, provides a unique satisfaction, one capable of curling the corners of the mouth into an involuntary smile.
Don’t underestimate Doki Doki Literature Club! Whether sensitive to the subject or not, this game hurts. Dan Salvato manages to give so much personality, so much life to sprites, that you’ll perceive them as people, empathize or even associate them with someone you’ve known or heard of. And seeing the slow, agonizing nightmare he’s prepared for them (and for you) is painful.