Recent reviews by Ectocooler

The developer ruined it's own story delivery by having A. not option to turn on auto-play of cut scenes and B. forcing subtitles on the screen (there are no subtitle settings at all so you are forced to have subtitles on the screen and your party NEVER shuts up).

Imagine this dialogue:
"Where do you want to go to lunch"
"today? The weather is nice so I was"
"thinking about eating outside!"
"That's a wonderful Idea but don't you think"
"that we might get stung by bees if"
"we were to eat outside and wouldn't it be"
"better if we ate indoors?"

Now imagine that same dialogue like this:

"Where do you want to go to lunch"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"today? The weather is nice so I was"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"thinking about eating outside!"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"That's a wonderful Idea but don't you think"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"that we might get stung by bees if"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"we were to eat outside and wouldn't it be"

*press button or wait 30 seconds to continue while characters stand in frozen poses destroying the immersion*

"better if we ate indoors?"


Having fun yet?!?!?!!

It's even more baffling given the story is mostly voiced acted, the voice acting is good, and they tried to implement some level of cinematography.

Then they ruin it completely by making it the most unbearable way to tell a story.

I will come back when they fix this absurdly glaring issue and then maybe update my review but as it is right now it's impossible to play.

If you like Bloodstain Ritual of the Night you'll like this.

Obviously if you are a core gamer this is an absolute must buy. Not only is the game incredibly gorgeous (Really pushes Unreal Engine 5) but it's over the top bananas (for all of your Asura's Wrath fans) and has the depth of combos that you'd find in a DmC game (the good ones) or GoW (I see a lot of people comparing it to GoW; not a fair comparison at all).

It has the combat system and many of the other systems of a Soulslike but it's definitely not a soulslike. It's a soulslike-lite haha.

It's also very on rails - at least at first (I only have 5 hours in at the time of this). It starts to open up but the level design is far more linear than what you'd find in a Dark Souls game and it's certainly not open world like Elden Ring.

It's a perfect mix between an on rails beat em up, a spectacle fighter, and a souls like.

It's also DEI/ESG/SBI free and the developer/publisher recognize that we don't want communism in our video games and SURPRISE SURPRISE the game is amazing for it.

More of this and less of the racist/sexist/evil/communism.

9/10 (still not Elden Ring but it deserves all the love and support it is getting).

If you think this final DLC is good, or even up to par, then you are deluded.

This is just more of the same with a very annoying mechanic that adds another annoying step before you can even damage enemies.

They should refund everyone and go out of business.

This game is incredible.

I'll leave this short and sweet: Lite on the survival aspect (might as well be survival-lite) but it's still a full featured survival game (base building, crafting trees etc). They just managed to take the tedium out of the survival aspect and they have so much going in the open world survival horror RPG game that it's 70 percent going out and having a fun adventure and 30% preperation.

Everything about this game is what Redfall wishes it could have been. This is a must buy for anyone; tremendously addictive game if you're into eldritch survival horror (yeah...like me).

What did I just play?

That is very impressive man. Kudos. Definitely buy and play this. Indie gem for sure and exactly what we need more of in the industry. There are moments that remind me of Bioshock Infinite's ending, Vanishing of Ethan Carter, or The Stanley Parable but with a slightly creepy atmosphere and a pretty engaging and easy to figure out CCG game (and thankfully the AI built decks are winnable with).

You will lose and there are punishments for losing.

Very much enjoyed my time with this one.

Great game. Absolutely needs ultrawide screen support. It's like playing a 20 hour long Anime. As someone who finds modern anime mostly cringeworthy and, generally, a mistake: I can actually see past the childish lunacy and get engrossed in the pretty generic but fun story because the production values are so high.

I went into the game thinking it was going to be more akin to the Tales series - only you thankfully get to fight enemies out in the world and not some instanced battle screen which JRPGs need to get over it's so tedious and samey fighting in the same 5 static areans blegh - but I was wrong; this is a heavily narrative driven playable anime with RPG mechanics. Didn't know I wanted this but I I do.

It just REALLY needs ultrawide support and other modern day PC settings (like a FOV slider etc).

I remember when Nintendo gave us a handle on the Gamecube instead of proper network support because they didn't feel that online play was the wave of the future (they literally said this).

It is not acceptable anymore Japan to be 5-10 years behind the curve (pun intended for all you curved monitor supporters).

7/10 without ultrawide monitor support. Likely 8.5/10 with.

This game is really really really good. I didn't like it at first - YEARS AGO - because I thought it was a poorly done Dragon's Age rip off with barely anything to do but now I realize it's not like that at all. It's not even a soulsborne-like RPG either. This game is it's own thing and once you get over the opening - which is a slog and I think a reason why a lot of people abandon this gem - the game picks up and is absolutely amazing.

There are some gripes that I have though - like the fast travel system and some UI and UX issues - but the fun to be had in this game far outweighs them. I cannot wait for Dragon's Dogma 2 to come out.

If you're a fan of Elden Ring you need to play this game since it understood a lot about creating a living open world - without Ubisoft levels of random markers and ♥♥♥♥ to do - and it's cool to see that kind of design a decade or so before Elden Ring came out.

It's just fun running around in this world and fighting things. Once you realize how the story is doled out (a few main mission 'objectives' at a time and a TON of 'goals' you can just ignore and let auto complete through osmosis then you can lock in on the story and the pacing picks right up.

Also, fighting giant monsters and climbing over them Shadow of the Colossus style never gets old and all the abilities are amazing; even if the weapon and armor variety leave a lot to be desired.

I also like how the game simplified leveling up since it's a lot like Skyrim where you level up stats by playing the game and you invest into new abilities that you can swap out at any time but you need to go to a special NPC to do it.

Good game.

Obviously yes: play this game. If you're a fan of Soulsborne games and have yet to play Dark Souls - the game that arguably kicked it all off - then you owe it to yourself. Just understand a couple of things:
1. This is not Bloodborne/Sekiro or even DS3/Elden Ring; learn to slow down, breathe, and take every encounter one at a time.
2. Do not put points into resistance - it's a garbage stat
3. Purchase the items that allow you to repair/upgrade at bonfires (it's a life saver)
4. Don't feel bad if you look up where to go now and again - the game really does not hold your hand - and make sure you read all of the items.
5. You will make it through Blighttown. Just take it slow, be calm, know that it won't last forever.

If you're a fan of SoulsBorne games - particularly Dark Souls 3 - then you're definitely going to want to check this game out.

Of course, you need to take into account that a lot of people are having issues with the game in terms of performance and that is why I am thankful for Steam refunds. Personally, I have had no issues except for a few framerate hitches but that is very seldom and has to do with loading into a new area and should be something the developers can fix with a performance patch in the future. Outside of that, the game has been buttery smooth at well over 100 FPS with only minor dips due to loading issues. I'm running the game on an i7-10700K, 32GB DDR4 RAM at 3600mhz and a 3080ti on a asus z490 gaming mobo. Settings are at 100 percent ultra with DLSS in performance mode (it defaulted and I didn't care enough to change it).

As for the gameplay: it is a million times better than the 2014 Lords of the Fallen which I would have given a 5/10 and is a game that I DO NOT like. This game feels nothing like it and is much more aking to a spiritual succesor to DS3 over LotF 2014 (and it's so much better off for it).

Think of this game as being to Dark Souls 3 what Lies of P is to Bloodborne; a spiritual succesor that hits most of the marks but doesn't 100 percent live up to it's predecessor.

Overall, the bosses are easier than in Dark Souls - though they are no slouches and can be damage tanks for sure - but the level traversal tends to be a lot harder. It's something about the mob density and just the cheapness of some of these encounters. I have felt myself frustrated in certain level sections way more than I have on the bosses.

I won't get into all of the game systems that are similar to DS or Bloodborne since there are too many to count (it's a Soulsborne/like through and through with level/world design ripped right out of Dark Souls 3) that has a new major mechanic and that is the soul lantern device. It allows you to peer between the veil of the living and the shadow realm (Axiom and Umbral respectively) and you can even pass from Axiom into Umbral freely but you can only pass from Umbral back to Axiom at idol locations that are destroyed upon use (but respawn when you rest at 'bonfires'). You can traverse obstacles in Axiom by lifting your lamp to peer into Umbral so you can pass through walls or traverse gaps but often you'll be forced to pass entirely into Umbral to complete more 'complex' puzzles (they are all pretty simple) and, thankfully, the idol statues you need to traverse back to Axiom are often close by.

While in Umbral, you gain a sort of insanity meter (think of it kind of like the wanted meter is GTA) that increases over time. The higher the meter gets, the more enemies that begin to appear, the more difficult those enemies are, and the more souls you get when defeating them (there is a multiplier). It means that, over time, being in Umbral becomes increasingly difficult - leading to inevitable death - but the rewards for being in it increase; it's a great place to farm souls to level up or for crafting items.

If you are in Axiom and you hold up the lamp to peer into Umbral you can see enemies that exist in umbral and they can see you too. If one of those enemies manages to attack you while you're peering into Umbral, it will pull you into umbral which is a fun little risk/reward for bringing up the lamp too often. Luckily, if you really need to use the lantern the game will indicate it by making it glow, making your controller vibrate, and having floating butterflies congregate in a specific area. I like when games can introduce player guidance seamlessly in the world without a message popping up displaying a button prompt you're supposed to press.

There are 2 gimmicks with the lamp that feel gamey and I do not like since they pull you out of the experience and remind yourself that you're playing a game. It's in these moments that I realize I'm completing a simplistic puzzle in a video game.

1. Soul Syphon: there are enemies that have increased armor and health regen due to having a small little floating blue thinggie tethered to them in umbral (The enemies are in Axiom and the blue thing buffing them is in Umbral). In order to remove the buff, you need to bring up the lamp to peer into umbral, locate the little blue floating thinggie - which is usually close by - and you need to use the soul syphon ability (pressing RB while holding the lamp with LT) to syphon the blue floating orb thinggie which will kill it and stop the buff. It feels very gimmicky and breaks immersion and can be extremely frustrating when the enemy chases you across the map and you realize the blue floating orb thinggie didn't follow so it's on the other side of the map - in Umbral - and you need to locate it and syphon it just to have a chance of defeating a single mob in front of you. Don't get me started on the times where there can be 3-4+ enemies all with the buff coming from a single blue orb and they might as well be invincible, while beating your A$$, as you scramble around trying to find the blue orb to syphon it. Not fun.

2. Soul Flay: this is used in the most gamefied gimmicky way and I have never once thought it was necessary. There are 2 pointless uses of this (and one OK) that feel more akin to a Zelda or DarkSiders game than Dark Souls and I honestly hope that they remove this ability from future games because it's pointless and a waste of development resources.

A. Sometimes you need to soul flay dead bodies placed in umbral to collect items. This requires going into Umbral - since you can apparently hold the lamp with one hand and soul flay with the other, and it's just one extra unncessary step when you can just walk up to the dead body and press a button to pick up the item.

B. Sometimes you need to use it to move platforms. No thanks. Never has there been a video game that had slow moving platform puzzle mechancs that was rewarding or fun. Jak and Daxter used to do this kind of crap back in the early 2000s. We're beyond this. Thank god Fromsoft hasn't done this. If you want platform puzzles make platform puzzles. Don't try to introduce slow moving platform puzzles into the soulslike genre; it has no place here. Idea should have been scrapped.

C. You can soulflay enemies by pulling their souls out of their bodies. While the soul is outside of their body you can damage it - which builds up white damage on the enemy - and it immobilizes them. I like this ability and it's fun ripping their soul out of the body so that it floats over a chasm and when their body rushes forwad to meet up with their soul they fall to their death. Still doesn't justify A or B sucking A$$.

While I do like Umbral - and the visual differences between it and the land of the living - I never once came up to a missing bridge/platform in Axiom - that required me to go into Umbral just to cross it - and thought "this is meaningful and rewarding gameplay". In reality it's something you do just to progress and you immediately look for an idol statue that will bring you back into Axiom before too many enemies build up and kill you. I do like when you come up to a body of water in Axiom and have to shift into umbral - where water doesn't exist - to continue because thouse areas only exist in umbral, are expansive, and it feels like their is a good lore justification for why you need to be in umbral to be there; it's not just a puzzle gimmick but a unique location that only exists as space in Umbral.

In summary: I think the game is pretty great (8.5/10 easy), I look forward to putting in a lot more hours, and I am excited for Lords of the Fallen 2 (the proper sequel) and it's incredible how much the publisher learned between Lords of the Fallen 2014 and this game. It's a night and day difference between the two and this game definitely belongs in the pantheon of good to great Soulsborne games. Hopefully they fix performance.