ABOUT Robilar's Reviews

A simple and nice place to collect reviews and offer PC/Deck curation

Welcome All!

I have spent the last two years on Steam focused exclusively on games played through the Steam Deck (as of April '24). I will be mixing these moving forward between the Deck and my mid tier desktop (with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 512GB NVMe SSD) with more of an emphasis on PC.

I don't consider review scores to be particularly useful. I prefer to simply describe my experience and state whether I think a game is worth your time or not. As to review format, I've decided to simplify and generally write as if we were speaking about the game in question.

My focus will always be providing an honest and fair snapshot of my gaming experiences via these reviews and any relationships I may have with devs or publishers will not factor into how I judge my experience with a game.

I do want to spend a moment on the topic of subjectivity vs objectivity in reviewing. A concise exploration of the difference as follows:

Facts versus feelings. An objective review focuses on the facts and data-based information, regardless of the person’s feelings. A subjective review focuses on a person’s unique feelings and experience.

In my opinion, the idea that reviews should be strictly objective is both false and flawed. If reviews were strictly objective, there would only ever be a need for a single review per thing being reviewed since objective data doesn't change based on personal experiences and preferences. In contrast, a strictly subjective review can only be based on personal feelings and bias. Thus, the ideal review provides both objective data and subjective experiences. That is what I strive for.

I will try to be responsive to queries from readers, devs and publishers in a timely fashion. Sometimes things do slip through the cracks though, so don't hesitate to double check if you haven't heard from me. Things such as messaging ending up in a spam folder and Steam's notification system not working does happen from time to time.

Also, I have no interest in reviewing games that are adult/sexually themed. Due to the volume of such games on Steam and the incredibly high volume of review requests I receive for such games, it is worth clarifying here.

And just some general advice for developers. Don't send licenses to curator connect programs without at least looking into a group's review history. More often than not, whether or not a group owner/admin has reached out to you requesting a license, games will typically just end up as a +1 in someone's Steam library. Always be selective with whom you offer keys and licenses to. It's also okay to follow up with a group/reviewer if you haven't seen a review posted for a key/license they've accepted, within a reasonable amount of time (generally a month or so).

Please send any 'review availability' queries or general questions to peterfaden@gmail.com. Or add me directly here on Steam.

Cheers!

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RECENT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Dysmantle and Underworld DLC Impressions

16 June, 2023 - robilar5500 | 0 Comments

I've been playing **Dysmantle** lately on the *Steam Deck*. Perfectly functional on there. I do think after about 30 hours, I'm ready to take a break however. Which is not a statement about the game's quality, but rather just the fact that I need a change of pace from its OCD triggering nature. I imagine I have another 20 hours at least before finishing the main story. That said, I did wrap up the expansion I own, **Dysmantle: Underworld**, which you can access pretty early in the game as part of your exploring. I'd say that part alone I invested 10 hours into (plus 20 or so into the main game story).

So, a little about the base game. It is a top down ARPG, with a splash of Soulsborne, and a fully destructible world, hence the name Dysmantle. In fact, destruction is how you'll get consistent xp. It's a tiered system where you get xp when you destroy anything, when you store the materials you get from said destruction, and I want to say when you pick up the items as well, although it's kinda all blurring together, so that last part might be wrong. You also gain xp through defeating enemies, using skills such as fishing, etc...

Through the xp system, you level up and gain a buff chosen from a few options each level (this part is reminiscent of the rewards system in the *Borderlands* series). Leveling up also unlocks item recipes, from weapons to clothing to persistent skills (such as lockpicking) to buff trinkets. However, to craft them, you need materials you've been collecting from destroying things and defeating enemies. Additionally, one resource category is food items, which can then be combined using recipes found during the game. These recipes create single use dishes that give permanent buffs.

The Soulsborne aspects come into play with the campfire checkpoint system which also functions as character management, unlimited resource storage and fast travel location. You also find relay towers which are basically transport hubs which also give options such as allowing you to stop enemy respawn in an area. The combat is dodge strike dodge strike or the inverse, with a fair amount of strafing/circling necessary as well, although there is also limited ranged options also. If you die, you leave behind a skeleton from which you can retrieve any craftables you had on you at the time.

Speaking of craftable materials, you do have a limited amount of storage on your character for consumables as well as equipment slots. Your backpack can be upgraded. Your equipment slots upgrade automatically, periodically, as you level up.

The world is actually quite vast and exploration is essential in completing tasks and progressing the story quests. There is also an initially steep learning curve which can seem daunting. The intro to the **Underworld** DLC had a pretty ominous feel to it, which the main game also has to a lesser extent. To access this DLC, you will find a tomb network which will have you wondering uf you're about to die at every turn lol. However, in practice, there are no enemies and you'll eventually walk through a portal leading you to the Underworld, where you'll find a pretty vast world and a lot of notes explaining how you weren't the first to travel here. Your predecessors were a large expedition who became trapped here, built several towns and basically began living their new lives until dying horribly. Your goal in the Underworld is more or less to find out what happened and potentially stop it from happening again. I think I enjoyed this more than the base game actually. I've seen it get panned in its reviews, but for me, I enjoyed the setting more than the base game's setting.

Anyway, it's been a lot of fun, but as mentioned at the start of this, I need to take a break. The destructible world definitely triggers an OCD need to do exactly that, but for me, it reached the point where it was becoming excessively compulsive lol.

Anyway, TLDR. Really fun if hella grindy game. I feel it's worth a look and definitely worth a purchase during a Steam sale. There is enough content just in the base game to probably get 80 hours out of the game, and you could sink another 20 hours into the Underworld DLC if you're thorough. I think I'll buy the other expansion during the Summer sale and use that as an excuse to get back to the game.

Cheers,
Robilar5500

Lies of P Demo Blind Playthrough Impressions

10 June, 2023 - robilar5500 | 0 Comments

It’s basically Bloodborne 2.0, and that aint a bad thing. If you’ve been hoping for Bloodborne PC, this is it so far as the demo takes you into the game. I’m just past the first boss ATM. I'm sure the Bloodborne comparison will become something of a meme lol, but I'd say the comparisons are obvious. It also does mix in some Sekiro via the emphasis on parrying.

You’re obviously Pinocchio, but you are also the hunter. Puppets have massacred everyone and so far, you’re tasked with fighting your way to a hotel (which serves as the game's hub), where the first boss of the game waits. You do get a mini boss earlier in the level. The main boss fills a lot of the screen and is pretty fast, so it is representative of how the full game will be most likely. After the first boss, you are introduced to some hub NPCs, crafting, and a bit of story. You then can continue on to the second and presumably final boss in the demo, although I'm not there yet.

There is one ‘bonfire’ along the way to the hotel, another in the hotel and one more just as you leave the hub, called Stargazers, which you use to level up, fast travel, and manage your inventory. The weapons aren’t trick weapons in Lies of P best I can tell, although they do feature a couple special moves each. The rapier is the current OP weapon lol. You are introduced to three different weapons that have different skill focuses. Basically Dex, Str, or balanced between the two. You begin with one. There is also one merchant along the way, who will sell the other two to you. There is also a weapon degrade and repair game mechanic. You also have a mechanical arm which can also be used as a weapon, with an additional trait being added in the hotel. Armor is likewise upgradable and is effectively where Fashion Souls will start up.

The first merchant sells electricity buffs and throwables, hinting at what the boss is weak to. There is a hotel merchant as well. The hotel merchant sells energy recharges and a more generic throwing consumable. It seems like there will also be spells, but not in the demo best I can tell. There is exploration and unlockable shortcuts. I didn’t find any secret areas. There are also notes to be found, and landmarks also typically feature a small description to be read.

The UI will be familiar to you if you’ve played BB or any of the FS Souls games. The artwork and graphics is very much an homage to Bloodborne, but in gothic Pinocchio style lol.

I’m gonna wrap up this run through the demo on my Steam Deck today. Basically Bloodborne 2.0 with a splash of Sekiro as I mentioned, and quite a bit of fun. You will probably want to invert the horizontal/vertical stick controls btw. I will also note that both the dodge and parry mechanics can use some tweaking, but the attacking is pretty much on point. Also, at this time, encumbrance doesn't seem to be a factor despite it being there. I'd definitely expect this to be tweaked before release.

That's it so far. I'm sure people will have a spectrum of opinions, but this is where I'm at with it. I am interested in reading your opinions as well. I do think that while pre ordering is a foolish anti consumer endeavor, there is a solid chance I'll be buying this week one or two assuming the full release doesn't backslide. As it stands, I'm appreciative of the demo being available early enough to serve as a beta test while also showing is that is in fact a game the development team is confident in. And, it is fully Steam Deck compatible at the moment. I expect we'll see the Verified tag soon enough.

Cheers.