Recent reviews by Jhu

Awful monetisation. The game play is amazing, probably one of the best fighting games to date but they absolutely screwed the player base over with the monetisation

It's pretty good.

This game is awesome, you need to get.

What are you still doig here?

An awesome combination of puzzles and music thats great fun to play and really cool when you hear your songs back.

As mentioned this is currently in its pre release stage however the content that is upcoming sounds awesome! I would recommend purchasing this, not only for what you get currently but also for everything thats on the horizon.

10 Second Ninja turns even the most casual gamers into perfection seeking machines with its addictive yet cruel take on speed runs. Never has solely completing a level felt so unsatisfying and unfulfilling as it does here.

The concept of 10 Second Ninja is simple, Robot Hitler has raised an army of robots and you are tasked to stop him. Using only a katana and ninja stars (you only get 3!) you are charged in clearing a map of the evil Nazi robots as quickly as physically possible. As the name suggests the overall time you are able to take per map is a slim 10 seconds, although you soon realise that completing the level is merely the beginning of your quest.

At the end of each zone you get a "boss fight" with Robot Hitler himself! Hitler will use his mouth lasers to try and kill you whilst you do your best to not only dodge them but to avoid the obstacles in the environment whilst going in for the kill. This little mini game at the end of each zone is a nice little break as it plays out a little differently to what you are used to with the previous levels.

10 Second Ninja not only gives you a completion time per level, it is also accompanied with a star rating system. Achieving the full three stars seems easy at first as the basic levels allow you to over perform with their simplistic layouts and easily avoided obstacles, however as you progress the game begins to really test you and you begin to be relieved at mere completion.

Although entertaining at first the game itself can become incredibly annoying to play and after a while you start to develop a strong hatred against those blasted Nazi robots! Controversially however I would say this is also one of it's biggest appeals. The taunting of seeing how painfully close you are to maximum stars provides you the drive you need to perform over and over again, shaving those precious seconds off your time. Maybe, just maybe, if you jump here and throw there you can grab that elusive third star!

Considering how much you end up listening to the background tracks they never get monotonous and annoying which is a flaw that so many similar titles have endured. The music is fun and light hearted that when coupled with the sound effects offers a friendly environment to perform mass Nazi robot murder. In fact I only have one gripe audio wise and that is within the cut scenes. I feel that they really would have benefited from a voice over, maybe a Siri-esc style voice for Hitler to add to it's comedic value. The only issue with that of course is you always have to bear in mind that Indie games never come with a big budget and voice actors are expensive!

I have played this title both on my PC and with a controller at EGX Rezzed and I have to say it feels much more natural on the controller. The controller allows you to react much quicker than the keyboard and the keyboard left me with constant hand ache because of how you have to position your hands over the keys. There is an option to remap the keys which I elected to take but I really would recommend the controller, purely because it will make your experience much smoother and pain free.

Overall the game isn't aweful, it does seem a little short lived but hey, what can you expect for only £6.99? Value for money is great here for initial gameplay, however after the buzz has worn off and you have perfected your levels, you really don't have much of a reason to continue playing. As annoyed as I was throughout, I just couldn't find myself putting this game down. It was far too addictive and once I was reeled in I was held there for many many hours. I found myself sneaking on every time I had a few minutes just to attempt to beat some levels that little bit faster. It's quirky, fun and enjoyable, everything you would expect from an indie title. Dan Pearce has done an excellent job with this title and I am looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table in the future.

6/10 - A great game, but short lived.

CloudBuilt is an intense, reflex taxing platformer that pushes the player to think and react with lightning speed. Pushing your reflexes to the limit this game requires skill, logic and a handful of bravery.


First experienced by myself at EGX Rezzed, Cloudbuilt instantly stood out amongst it's peers. It is fresh and clean with a unique look, hardly something you would expect from an Indie Dev Team. At first glance you may make the mistake of thinking it is all flash with no substance, however as you delve deeper you soon find the real appeal of the title.


The aim of the game is simple: reach the end by overcoming the obstacles that lie in your path. Sounds easy enough right? Wrong. There is no one clear path to take to complete a level, players must rely on their keen observations to carve a path out of the wasteland in the sky and put their bravery to the test. You have a variety of techniques at your disposal to help you reach your goal, such as wall running and double jumping, each of which depletes your energy bar at the bottom of the screen. The energy bar itself fills up steadily over time or as an alternative you can collect the yellow orbs that are dotted around the level which give you instant replenishment giving you immediate access to your abilities.


The fact that you get penalised for death with a time penalty is also an excellent addition. Rather than the level ending you return to the previous checkpoint with the timer back to what it was when you hit it. A three second penalty per death is added to your final time when you have completed the run, so it's worth bearing in mind that fast is good, but clean is equally as important.


It can at times be overwhelming with the constant feeling of being on the edge, having to strategically place every jump, every boost, every wall run, but then again, that's also a major part of the appeal. Playing through those levels over and over again mastering the tricky sections trying to shave those narrow seconds off your time can become incredibly addictive. Before you know it one quick game can turn into many in the hunt to improve your standing.


Although it is a difficult game to achieve perfection, the casual gamer in you can just take pride and a sense of achievement from merely completing the levels, some of which are not as easy as they first appear! The game handles well and responds to every whim which is integral to a title such as this. A death by game mechanics is a rarity, usually blame falls at the feet of the player.


None of the sound effects and soundtracks were out of place in this extreme environment, really giving the player that feeling of being involved in something out of this world. The pace of the music was very fitting building a lot of momentum that really spurs the player on in the hostile habitat.


I did unfortunately experience a few issues whilst playing the game, one of which being the music at some stages did seem to completely lose control of itself and become white noise of nonsense pulsing away in the background. I experienced very few issues mechanically as most of my issues were caused by player inaptitude which I soon overcome with a little practice and dedication.


Overall Cloudbuilt is a very exciting and nerve racking game all rolled into one. It offers excellent replayability with the speed running aspect to its levels, however it does not alienate casual gamers. Retailing currently at £14.00 on steam the price can appear to be rather steep, however playtime alone that can be gained from the title more than warrants the price tag.


7.5/10

Ku:SOTM is a point and click action and puzzle game in which you control Ku, a 12 year old troublesome boy who is sent on a quest to retrieve a ring of power to keep your village sustained with energy. Filled with puzzles, combat and set in a unique world it's surely a winning recipe, right?

When you first emerge from the tunnels you are greeted with a colourful, friendly village full of interactive characters (make sure you speak to them all and you will be rewarded with an achievement). Speaking to them provides you with information about the main protagonist Ku who is an unruly youth constantly getting himself into trouble. Your first mission is to head out to find the leader of the village. Once you speak with him about the ring that went missing, he explains that it is the main energy source for the village and without it they are doomed. That is where your quest begins, you are ordered to head into the wilderness and hunt down a replacement ring from the North.

As you travel through the lands you are pitted against a variety of enemies and puzzles that block your path. You must hack and slash your way through your foes and chain together combos in order to do more damage and finish them off quicker.

The combat system actually turned out to be a lot of fun as it involved quickly stunning enemies, getting as many hits in as possible and then diving back out before you get hit. This can lead to some very tense albeit short battles that involve you having to be brave and tactical. The Combat Arena takes the combat to the next level pitting you against constant hordes of enemies to win score based on the number of enemies you defeat and rounds you clear. There are 4 levels to be played within the Combat Arena, each of which gets progressively more difficult. There is a leaderboard function on the game also, for you to compare your standing in the world however it was not working at the time of writing.

As I mentioned the game does not revolve entirely around the combat, there are in fact puzzles to solve in order to progress through the game. Although incredibly simple to solve they do offer a well needed variety to the game. They usually involved dragging an item with your mouse, or hitting certain posts to open a door, nothing too challenging but fun all the same.

The whole game is controlled by only the mouse which in fairness was all the game needed. You left click to move and attack, right click to roll/dodge and hit the middle button to fire your stun laser. Unfortunately the controls do feel clunky at times, especially when you are in the middle of combat and you really need to react quickly!

Musically the game felt very vacant and desolate. The music that was playing in the background was generally quiet and didn't really create much of an atmosphere. A large portion of the time I found myself concentrating more on the sounds of my own footsteps than the music itself. The only real exception to this is when you are in the village and you stand near someone playing an instrument.

Artistically is where the game really shows it's true potential. The artwork in this game is brilliant with some very interesting character designs, however the graphics really don't do them justice. Its a shame really as the game shows some true artistic potential which really hasn't been utilised.

Overall I think the game had a lot of potential but unfortunately it wasn't able to capitalise on it's strengths. The price at time of writing is £3.99 on Steam which isn't too steep but it could do with being longer. Taking only around 2 hours complete you barely feel as though the game has begun when the end credits begin to roll.

5/10 - Fun to play while it lasted but could do with polishing.

Set in India in a fictional universe you follow the struggle of a selection of characters all trying to make their way in a world that is crumbling around them.

As soon as the game begins you feel a sense of importance that other games can only dream of recreating. Full of the sensation that every decision, no matter how trivial it may first appear, could bring dire consequences. Whilst playing the game you take control of a diverse cast of characters from the highest of royals down to the lowest of peasants. From the off you have decisions to make, each of which can affect how the person you are speaking to, or even the entire city will view you. You are very conscious of this and it quickly becomes something that weighs down on your mind whilst conversing with the ensemble of NPCs in the universe.

I approached this game with the thought that I wouldn't get sucked in, I would be rational and logical and beat the game easily, uncovering all of the "best" outcomes for my characters. I soon learned how foolish I was. I ended up with quite a few VERY bad outcomes from what appeared to be good decisions at the time due to my lack of consideration of effects it may have even though at the time I had thought I considered all of my options. Just as an example of how these decisions can really affect you, here are some of the things that happened to me from some trivial decisions, don't worry I'll refrain from spoilers. I got mugged, I nearly got killed for going on a walk (I mean come on, it's a walk!), I nearly got murdered by my own family (how lovely of them) and I murdered someone out of the blue! Yeah exactly, crazy right?

When conversing with people, unlike other games you aren't just skipping through text to try and get to the end as quickly as possible so you can continue to run around, you are analysing everything about the situation, is this person a threat to you? Do they have a weapon? Are they as loyal as they say they are? Would it be worth standing up to them now or biding your time? One thing that makes this more difficult is how every person seems to have an individual personality and will react differently to situations, so you can't just walk through the game by being "nice". Some people are political and will walk rings around you unless you choose your words carefully and consider hidden subtext behind what is being said, others are more upfront and prefer you to be honest and direct, a difficult line to walk when you don't know which people fall into which category! As I found out they don't have to be noble to be silver tongued.

Graphically this game has a simple but beautiful art style, it's a very pleasant place to explore with continuity throughout. Generally the game flows nicely and environments represent the areas that they are designed to depict.

The music on this game is actually one of my favourite things, although it follows the same style throughout the game, it never gets tedious and is actually really nice to listen to whilst you are playing. It's light and happy when it needs to be but it is equally tense and suspenseful when required, providing the perfect backdrop for the emotional rollercoaster that you are riding. My only small negative however is there seems to be a large lack of sound effects and I couldn't help but feel that a lot of scenarios and situations would have benefited much more with a little bit more audio work.

In summary Unrest is a truly outstanding game, holding a huge appeal with its depth and emotional attachment it doesn't suck you in with cheap gimmicks it has true substance. You feel as though you are truly part of your characters lives by forcing you to sit back and consider your options at every turn. If you want to run around spraying at 12 year olds online then this game isn't for you, however if you want play a real game that can only be described as an artful then I would download this immediately. You will be amazed at how quickly you will be absorbed into this diverse world, full of substance and insecurities. Just remember this, decide wisely!

The Digital Gamer