Recent reviews by Ethrin

I'm sorry, but I just can't be bothered.

Maybe just not the game for me and not what I'm looking for right now, but that's fine. I wouldn't recommend it to people who want to have more of a hands-off approach to gameplay. The first 5+ hours have been a constant hand-holding and rail-roaded experience where I just haven't really enjoyed it.

The monster designs are fine. I would have preferred a more dynamic art style than mostly everything being a tone of mud brown/moss green. I only made it to the second biome, but I'm sure it changes later? But looking at all the game screenshots, they're all desert themed, which... is by far my least favorite locale.

I'm probably just writing this while in a bad headspace, but this game isn't for me, and I guess I don't care for the Monster Hunter formula, despite this one being - supposedly - the most newbie friendly. I don't think they balanced the 'newcomer feel' with people who are more familiar with games / action rpg genre.

This is a great demo. The game has amazing bones and I would highly suggest to anyone who is interested in trying out a RTS.

The biggest thing that I would like is rebindable keys!

This game wasn't for me, as much as I was thinking that it might be.

I realized that with shorter amount of time that I have to play games, that just being "thrown into a world and forced to figure it out." is not something that I am wanting from a game right now. It saddens me to say it, but if this game came out when I was younger and I had the time and mental energy to learn it all, it could have been a good one for me.

As an older gamer, I need a little bit of direction. In this game, in the current state, there's little to none of it. I died three times before knowing that there were spell scrolls in my inventory that I had to learn. How was I supposed to know that they were there? :/

Anyway. I hope the best for this game. I hope they finish it, and maybe I can play it during a chapter of my life where I'll have more mental energy to devote to it.

Game & Review in progress...
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I haven't touched the surface of this game, but I'll say that Atlus did an awesome job with this one. So far, the pacing of the early game vastly outstrips any Persona game that I've played so far. It doesn't take long for the story to really get going. I'm also enjoying the gameplay and discovering the things the game has to offer.

Currently playing on Hard, and I think it's at a great difficulty so far. I'm excited to play more and to continue uncovering the things that this game has to offer.

I recommend but with some caveats.

I really enjoy the overall gameplay, where it's fun to boot up the game on my Steam Deck and zone out while playing the game. Some of the characters are really cool, with my favorite one being the merchant whose health is a shared resource with the gold you pick up. It really makes you think about when to buy items vs. saving money to be able to have enough damage / health to survive.

The main criticism is that the runs feel very similar, most of the enemies are the same (with different skins), relics are often repeated (especially at the start of a run), and bosses often have invulnerability windows to draw out the fight.

The game is feeling really drawn out, but there's a lot here to chip away at over a long period of time. I'd probably buy any DLCs that come out because I do enjoy a lot of the core experience.

Wishlist / Random thoughts:
- I wish there was a way to customize runs without feeling like you take a disadvantage from gaining the meta-resource.
- The Ragnarok mode doesn't really add enough variety to the levels other than "make it harder"
- More Easter Eggs / Discoverability / Exploration things would be cool
- A hero meta-level up catch-up mechanic would be much appreciated to cut down some of the grind
- A "turbo" mode would be cool -- my runs typically take 20+ minutes.
- A more intense 10-15 minute mode would be neat. Something that requires you to be really strategic with the places you go on the map as maybe you'd struggle to get to all the landmarks before hitting a boss.
- Boss rush?? 🤔

I recommend the game from the amount that I've played (99% on bnet), BUT...! I refunded the game on Steam because even though I bought the expansion on Battle.net, it did not apply to my Steam account.

TLDR - Pick a platform and stick with it, your expansion purchase does not carry to other platforms.

Will give a full review later, but I can't recommend this game highly enough. Here's some quickfire thoughts and advantages it has over others in the genre:

1. Don't have to worry about running out of resources
2. Easy to "scrap things and start over" without feeling like you've wasted so much time and have to set up tons of infrastructure again
3. Starts simple & expands
4. No enemies or pressure
5. Awesome soundtrack
6. Guided objectives to keep you focused on a goal
7. Upgrades & progression systems to keep dopamine flowing
8. Copy & Paste along with Blueprints as a feature unlocked relatively early in the game
9. Fun to tinker with designs and blueprints to optimize for constraints like speed vs. size

Yes. 100 times yes.

Super polished, easily worth the asking price as it is now. Those who loved Hades, I would suggest buying this without consideration. Supergiant does great work, and their passion for their games continue to show through all the little nooks and crannies. The game (so far) plays slightly slower than the first, which is a welcome change. It's still fast paced, but now it's just a touch more deliberate. Having the cooldown on the dash helps a lot.

Really fun game to play 1v1 casually with friends

Great mix of Smash, Dead Cells, and Hades with a splash of other Roguelite mechanics. Heavily recommend if you like any of those games. If you like two or more of those games, this is a must-play!