Recent reviews by Perfice

Well... I finally finished it, and there isn't much to say about it. I can't really say it was a great game (like all the reviews suggest), but I also can't say it was a bad game either. This is one of those games where I must read through all the reviews just to try to understand why people adore it so much, and I just don't get it. There were some aspects of the game I really liked, but it always seemed like it was just on the verge of greatness but never could quite pass that threshold.

Early in the game it seems pretty good, and pacing to mid game is done well, but then it just seems to plateau and never get any better. You keep getting stronger and stronger after that point, but your enemies never really seem to get any more powerful. Most enemies mid to late game are easily killed with one or two shots with the shotgun, or even a few shots from the pistol for that matter. The story has the same issue, where it's interesting early to mid-game but never really gets any more interesting nor hits you with any strong revelations after that point. The ending is one of the most anti-climactic endings in a game I've ever seen; I'm not even exaggerating.

There is an ability called Combat Focus, which slows time for your enemies while increasing your damage, so it's basically God Mode. However, you rarely ever even need to use it, and I forgot I even had it most of the time. Legit, I only used it to kill two enemies throughout the entire game, and I only used it because I actually remembered I had it and it was just easier to use it than to try to stealth kill them at the time. On that note, there is a whole bunch of abilities or weapons you have that you rarely ever get the chance to really use to their full potential. Perhaps the GLOO Gun is very useful, but I only found use for the Huntress Boltcaster the one or two times they ever give you to activate a switch at range.

The game is labeled horror, but there were maybe a few good jump scares in there and that was about it. (They were decent ones though.) Some people say the Mimics are scary… but not really because they start becoming very rare and insignificant later in the game. You even get a device that identifies hidden mimics, but it shortly because mostly worthless as you start running into Greater Mimics (which are immune to the device) and less and less run in to the normal ones. There are tons and tons of bugs, and you’re extremely lucky if you don’t run into at least a few of them. People straight up disappearing and being marked “Safe” even when you never interacted with them, key enemies appearing on the other side of walls you can’t get to, and achievements that refuse to trigger when you’re accomplishing the requirements over and over.

As I mentioned, there are aspects of the game that I really enjoyed, so it wasn't all bad. People complain about this a lot, but I thought the Metroidvania aspects (going back to previous areas after acquiring abilities/items to access new areas) was well done. Also, none of the characters you find dead or alive on Talos I are just random background filler, they all have their own lives and stories attached to them that you pick up from the logs. Another good thing is that this was the most "play your own way" game that I have ever played, and you really had to get creative or at least pay attention to logs to make the best use of your abilities/items. You're able to play just as effectively if you go full combat as if you go full stealth, and even still get the "good ending" if you kill every enemy.

3/5
There was a lot of potential to this game, and I struggled for a while to put my finger on just what about this game I felt so disinterested in. When I said the game just kind of plateau's in the middle, I think I described the issue perfectly. You spend all game expecting some grand boss fight, or at least a bunch of thrilling moments, but they never arrive. I ended the game saving tons and tons of materials and ammo for some grand boss fight that never occurred. I guess the "big bad" is the Nightmare monster you sometimes encounter, but you easily avoid it every time by just sitting in place until it goes away. It’s a decent game, but you could easily skip this one unless it goes on sale.

Interesting artwork, gameplay is fairly unique, fast-paced combat, rewards you for improving your skill, very difficult.

I enjoyed this game for the most part, but it's one of those games which relies on your playing over and over and gaining proficiency in order to win without giving you anything that really helps you along the way. There are a few different items for you to collect, but mostly you're going to find the load-out you prefer pretty quickly and just stick with that. Also, there are no items descriptions so you have to figure it out for yourself, and I can't even remember if it ever explained what your backpack even does for you. As your backpack provides a major benefit to you, I think a simple explanation on how to use it might be worthwhile.

Death makes you start all the way back at the beginning of the game, which may be a bit too punishing for most people given the game mechanics. Games like Binding of Issac do the same thing, but there are tons of items you can pick up which will help you along the way. With Gonner, as I said, you pick your load-out at the beginning and you have little motivation to ever change it throughout the course of the game. I also could not figure out how to beat the very first boss without massively increasing in my skill level. This is probably a great game for people who truly love a challenge, but I personally do not have the time to play for hours and hours just to progress.

3/5

This game builds off everything that made Arkham Asylum great and adds even more content and features. There are far more combos you can pull off in combat, and most of the gadgets are useful. Combat itself feels much more fluid and easier to control while adding in much more mobility and better upgrades. There is an open-world map with enemies that respawn and tons of side quests that feel like their own personal addition to the story. Riddler Trophies are now much harder to obtain, while you now must hunt down informants to piece together their location instead of just picking up a map. Overall, it's pretty much just Arkham Asylum, but better and more polished in every way.

4/5
I Am Batman.

I played this game when it first came out on XBox and I loved it. Seeing as I hadn't played it in a while, and I never got the achievements on Steam, I figured I would play through it again. Ten years later and this is still one of the best games that has ever been made. The game is very true to the Batman series, and you will fight many of his iconic enemies while stealthily eliminating Joker's goons. Combat is basic, but you really do get to feel like the Batman as you play through the game.

4/5
Many games like this do not age well with time, but this is not one of those games. It is well worth the money spent.

I'm not sure why so many people had bad reviews of this game, I thought it was pretty great. Essentially, the game is similar to Layers of Fear, but with a cyberpunk atmosphere and side-quests. I suppose the game may be pretty short if you don't search around for everything, but for me the game took around 13 hours to complete. That's pretty decent, if you're as engaged with the game as I was. Some people complain that it's mostly a walking simulator with a couple of jump scares, but I think you'll enjoy it if you enjoyed Layers of Fear.

5/5
I really enjoyed the atmosphere, and the true-to-nature homage to 1984.

I would only really buy this DLC if you buy it in the bundle, or if you just really want to explore more of the story. For the price tag, I do not think it is worth it for how short it was. I think I was able to complete the entire DLC in about an hour and a half? Well, to be fair, I said the main game was still worthwhile when it took me only 5 and a half hours. I suppose this game has the same amount of worth per hour played.

There are still many areas of horror, as there were in the original, but I don't feel like they were quite as impactful. You play as the main characters daughter and relive all your childhood memories of your parents. I think the ending depends on if you choose to favor your father or your mother in every memory. However, many times a choice is made for you just by doing nothing, which is confusing since you often can't figure out what you're meant to do before it proceeds for you. Overall, I still enjoyed it as a nice add-on to the main story, even though it isn't quite as good.

3/5

After all the amazing reviews and awards and praise this game has gotten, I really was expecting a lot more out of it. Especially with the price currently being at $45, and it only took me 13 hours to finish the entire game without rushing through and searching for secrets all over and everything. With the price, and game play being somewhere between a "meh" and an "it's alright", I just MUST give this game a thumbs down. I wish I could be more generous about it, but I just do not see anything redeemable enough about this game to make it worth $45.

The first major issue about the game is that it is very very linear, with MAYBE two areas in the entire game where you have a choice on which path to take. I am not even exaggerating that at all; off the top of my head I know of only one area where it gives you ANY kind of choice on what to do, but I'm sure there is at least one other one. The game is so linear that a lot of the time your character literally tells you what to do and holds your hand massively. Even with passing by enemies, there is very little choice on how to pass by them and it is almost always beneficial to just kill every enemy you meet. It really feels like the game just plays for you a lot of the time and it leans very heavily on the "adventure" aspect of the game with very little emphasis on game play.

As far as game play; the game is mostly a stealth game where you either must sneak past/kill/distract enemies to get past them. Most stealth games give you way more options on how to accomplish this though, while this game makes it very clear what exactly the game wants you to do in order to progress. You can somewhat get creative in your game play, but you're mostly just wasting your time if you choose to think outside the box rather than doing exactly what it is very clear they want you to do. There are a few achievements you get from... kind of but not really thinking outside the box, and sparing enemies rather than killing them. I think it is only like two achievements in total though.

Enemies are incredibly easy, as well. A lot of the time you can sneak past an enemy which is pretty much staring directly at you if there is a small box with holes in the way. When you're forced to fight an oncoming enemy, they all walk very slowly towards you to give you plenty of time to kill them or run away. You can also craft and upgrade, but a lot of the stuff you craft is completely obsolete in the next chapter of the game. This is a minor spoiler (you can see all the upgrades you get at the beginning of the game), but there is something you craft which only purpose is to make someone take their helmet off, which you barely ever even need to use to begin with. However, you can upgrade your stones later to knock helmets off in one stroke, without having to craft anything.

The story is... okay, and I like the idea of a game based during the black plague. However, you're going to run into a lot of things that happen in the story that make no sense at all. Characters often seem too easily swayed in one way or another and their personality seems all over the place. Someone mentioned maybe it is because they're teenagers, but just about every adult character is doing the same exact kinds of things. As I mentioned, you're going to run into a lot of things that you're going to find make no sense at all.

2/5
I considered giving this a 3/5, but I just can't do it with the price the way it is. There are so many other games you can buy which are far better than this game. A lot of those games are less than half the price of this.

This is another game I am willing to come back to again later, because it is one of those games that I really WANT to love. Especially seeing how much other people love it, I WANT to love it just as much as them. No one likes feeling like they wasted their money on a game they were highly excited to play.

After playing for about 2.6 hours (at the time of writing), I think I must agree with one of the top negative reviews. The review I am talking about is a review that states that the controls "just FEEL unresponsive". Whenever someone makes a statement about the controls, I see a lot of fans ask if that person used a controller. Yes, I used a controller, and I still feel like the controls just FELT unresponsive.

You may notice I keep putting an emphasis on how it "FEELS unresponsive", rather than it IS unresponsive. Allow me to explain: what I am referring to directly is the dash mechanic, and not really any other combat mechanic. Many people have also complained about the shooting, but that seemed fine for me on controller. What makes the dash mechanic FEEL unresponsive is that you must time your dashes just right or you will stop dashing and literally get dog-piled by all the nearby enemies.

I am not sure exactly what the timing is on those dashes, but I think it was within either 1/4th or 1/2th of a second. To me, this was far too punishing for the horrible crime of "just not being absolutely perfect always". The combat relies VERY strongly on the dash mechanic, and even the "double dash" upgrade did not seem to offer a very substantial relief for this timing issue. So, when pressing the button for dash, it would FEEL unresponsive, even though it would respond perfectly if I hit the button with absolute precision. This created the illusion of janky and unresponsive controls, because I am just not THAT perfect at hitting the button at the exact right time always.

When not in combat, I could get the timing well. However, in the middle of combat there is so much going on that it gets difficult to time the dashes with the precision required. Many times, in combat, I would do very well and get the timing right and it would feel great. However, there is only so often you can die from missing the timing just once in combat before you start to feel frustrated. As another top-rated negative view stated: it just FEELS more frustrating than it does difficult.

2/5
To be clear, I wouldn't rank myself as an "expert gamer", but I do consider myself a little above average. I am at least good enough at these types of games where I purposely seek out the "difficult" tag from time to time. Everything else I loved about the game, even the common complaints; such as the vague story and difficult secrets. Personally, I loved how the story was done and the secrets amused me well. However, I cannot give this game a good recommendation because I just feel like the absolute precision required for the dash mechanic is a little too punishing for my tastes.

After finally beating the game 100% (minus 1 achievement), and beating every boss without getting hit, I think I am ready to remake my review of it. I had previously played Momodora III and Momodora IV (Reverie Under The Moonlight), and I highly enjoyed them as well-made Souls-like platformers with decent difficulty and platforming. Also, I had just played Blasphemous before this game, and I was disappointed with its clunky controls and its dependence on "cheap kills". If you want an example of what I mean by "cheap kills", imagine the ole "bat over a pit" artificial difficulty which dominated old pixel platformer games.

This game does a decent service in staying true to the Momodora series but doesn't quite live up to it. The bosses generally are too easy, where you can pretty much spam attack on them and manage to win. Defeating bosses without dying gives you a special overpowered item which makes all subsequent bosses easier and easier. Also, there is now a leveling system which has its benefits and disbenefits to it. Leveling generally doesn't dramatically increase your damage and defense until you start getting very high in levels. The good thing about this is that you will be leveling like crazy, unless you just avoid all enemies. I finished the game in 8 hours and level 70, but that was with getting all secrets and available items.

In the description of the game it shows a short gif of your character pulling off a long combo against a minor enemy, but you're not going to be pulling off anything like that since your character is so overpowered compared to the minor enemies. Where Blasphemous went wrong (in my opinion), was its over-reliance on those "cheap kills", where minor enemies in between bosses attack you when you're most vulnerable. This game makes the enemies in between bosses very easy to kill, but its decently satisfying, especially when you hit them with a counterattack. Boss fights are not too difficult and can be cheesed easily, but you can add a layer of difficulty if you want to beat them without getting hit. You can also add a layer of difficulty to it on your second playthrough as the enemies are harder, and you can use items to increase the difficulty.

4/5
I have read through the negative reviews, as well as the negative comments in the discussion boards. I will say that many of their complaints are valid, and the currently sitting "85% Recommended" seems like a fair score. The combat and gameplay are overall satisfying, and it has a decent number of collectibles to find, but there really isn't much justification for its price tag. Momodora III only cost $2, and Momodora IV only costs $10; you could buy both of those (which are each individually better than this game), and still have some money left over for another game. There just isn't much reason to buy this over anything else, unless you want to support the developer or just want another Metroidvania to play and don't care that the game is overpriced.

Not many games have ever terrified me as well as this game has. My heart was legitimately pounding in my chest and my hair was standing on end from start to finish. Seriously, I have played a lot of horror games, and I am hard-pressed to remember any that I could honestly feel my hair standing on end while playing. When I knew something was waiting right behind me, I would get very nervous and avoid turning around to see it. In game, I was turning on every light that I could find just to lighten the mood a bit and ease my tension.

The game only took me a little over 5 hours to complete, but most people I see can beat it in 3 hours. Myself, I was opening every cabinet I could find and searching for every secret and memory. It also likely added some game time that I was too nervous to enter rooms properly and generally accomplished everything I could prior to opening a door. Also, many people complain it is not worth $20 for such a short game, but trust me, if you play fully immersed (as I did), it's not going to feel like only 3-5 hours. Honestly, I am not sure I was even able to ever escape the game after I turned it off!

This is one of those games I was so entranced by that I had to delve into the negative reviews just to see what anyone would possibly ever dislike about it. So, the negative reviews typically argued that the game is not scary because there is no real danger, as there are no enemies. Okay, fair enough, and I even had to think long and hard about why it is that I found the game scary, when I knew from early on that there were no enemies in the game. Hell, even I have a review on Among The Sleep stating that the game is a horrible horror game due to the same logic.

So, due to that existential statement, I am over here wondering what it is that made this game so absolutely horrifying to me. I think what it is must be the atmosphere and how truly immersed I became in the game. Many people may not have done all of this; but I played in the dark with headphones on, searched every cabinet and shadow, and gazed at the unnerving paintings at the wall for extended periods of time. For me, I felt fully invested in the main character as though I was not just playing a game; but as though I was the character himself living through his dementia.

That is also probably another point as to why I found this game so extremely frightening. To make it clear; yes, the game is mostly nothing but jump scares with no real danger or chase scenes or anything. When the danger is completely removed, what can possibly remain to create fear? I thought on this for a while, and I think you can compare it to how things like mental illness can terrify you, even when you know there is no actual danger to you. For those that have never dealt with mental illness, you can compare it to seeing a ghost. If you believe in ghosts (I personally go both ways on the issue), most people also understand ghosts cannot harm you. Despite this, people are still terrified of ghosts (myself included, even though I am still not sure if I even believe in them).

Overall, I think that is how atmosphere and immersion can go a long way into making a game with no enemies become one of the most terrifying experiences I have ever had with a video game. Scratch that, it is not even limited to just my video game experiences. This has been one of the most terrifying experiences I have had in my life. Again, I play horror games all the time; it is my favorite genre. Not only games, but I read books and watch movies and any kind of horror I can get my hands on I read or watch it. Yet this game is making me have an existential crisis over here and has opened a dialogue with myself about the subjective nature of horror and "how could anyone not like this game" and all sorts of stuff like that.

5/5
This has been one of the most intense horror experiences I have ever had in my entire life. For me, as a horror aficionado with years and years of playing "all the best horror games ever made" with lights off and headphones on and everything, that is saying quite a bit. I cannot even get over how much I enjoyed this game. I wish I could just keep going on talking about this game for hours, but unfortunately, I must end my review at some point. Long story short is that I recommend it.