Recent reviews by Reksel

TL;DR: I've had the pleasure of playing 8 hours of Code Vein. I can highly recommend this game if you're itching for a "Bloodborne" game that isn't The Surge, or Remnant.
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Code Vein is yet another Souls game after 3 days since The Surge 2, and a month (and some days) since Remnant. How does this game stack up?
- If you have come for a "successor" to Dark Souls / Bloodborne, you're going to be disappointed.

However, if you're into Anime / Weeb then you should feel at home here. Highly customizable character creation will make you able to customize to your liking for hours, or even days. You can truly be creative, and make monstrosities, and I wont be surprised we're going to see articles, or even a few memes sprouted from this. It isn't as deep as SoulCalibur, but its a close contender.

Once you start the exploration part and combat, you will immediately notice you have a companion with you. This is "forced" in the first part of the game up to the 1st boss, and companions makes the game hilariously easy from what you're used to in a Souls game. This is optional, thankfully. Playing solo can be brutal.

There are many "Blood Codes" (Classes) to acquire, and "Gifts" (abilities) to unlock, and these Gifts can be "mastered" so other Blood Codes can use 'em via Quick Slots. This results in a pretty great customizable experience tailored to your combat style.

This game has an actual story with actual cutscenes, unlike Souls games that has hidden lore. Animation is also even done by Ufotable, same studio responsible for Demon Slayer, so there must be voice acting, yes? I'm currently playing with ENG voice acting, but you have JP voice acting for true weebness if you prefer that. Characters are your typical run of the mill types that isn't memorable.

You may also have noticed this game supports coop, and well... This isn't exactly "True coop" - It's similar to DS3. You send a "Distress Signal" and if you have paired up with the same password, you can group up. However once your partner dies, or you die, you all get send back to your world. You also cannot interact with the Mistle (Equivalent to the Bonfire) nor open Chests. This largely only serves as a "Help Me" - Stuck with a section? Get help. Stuck with a boss? Get help ... and I am a little disappointed with this, its not a big deal overall, but disappointed.

This game is also an accessible "Souls" game - If you've been on the fence of trying a Souls title, but despair at the thought of the brutality of the games, then this game is a good entry. Companions are hilariously powerful. Where I was stuck for almost 2 hours, I breezed through in minutes... That's a difference of difficulty...

Oh, did I mention there's NG+? I also read there's supposedly a higher diffculty, but after 8 hours, there is only so much I can cover. Will update later.

This title doesn't revolutionize the "Souls genre" - But it isn't bad either. - 8.1/10

I normally don't leave reviews, so here we go.

Remnant: From The Ashes is developed by Gunfire Games that also made the Darksiders franchise.
- Gunfire Games has since been acquired by THQ Nordic as of August 2019


Oh boy... Remnant was a surprise release for myself personally this month. I was a bit skeptical, but I jumped in and I was hooked for the VIP weekend.

The game is hilariously similar to Souls-like games (Bonefires? Check, Misty Walls to boss encounters? Check, etc) but with GUNS! - But this game can also be compared to Darksiders as well as they take a similar approach to gameplay here. There is enough details to the lore of the world, and the voice acting is well done. You will definitely get for what you paid for if you're craving for another "Souls / Darksiders experience"

What it does different over the other games is that whenever you die, you actually don't lose anything. It is merely just halting your progress, and it even includes Drop-in and Drop-Out coop! - But be respectful! There is Friendly Fire, but looting Scraps, Iron, etc is way faster than solo. Purchasing from Shopkeepers isn't shared, so be mindful. If you fancy destroying mobs / bosses with 2 other friends, then you will have a fun time! - However be warned as your progress isn't shared by the host.
- That doesn't mean the game isn't solo friendly. It's very solo friendly. Mobs merely just increase in numbers and take more damage with more players.

I even found myself wandering through forests, into subways / sewers, into deserts, and alien infrastructure, and I found myself "Where the hell am I going?"

Bosses can be punishing and you will be dying over, and over, until you learn their patterns, the same thing happens when you rush and don't take things nice and slow. There are also "miniboss" type creatures that will come after you, and make you go into a "Oh ♥♥♥♥" moment

Once you have acquired enough Iron, you can upgrade your existing gear to deal more damage and take more hits. Same method you do with Scrap on top of that is acquiring "Mods" that gives you passives, or actives that assists you in fights.
- You also level and acquire Tomestones for Traits that you can spend on more HP, Stamina, more Mod generation, and many other perks that you unlock later on.

Do I recommend this game? Definitely yes, if you crave more Darksiders / Souls game.

Most of my game time is from the Open Beta.

- I normally don't leave reviews, but i'm making an exception here.


The Positives:

1) Party type game similar to Duck Game, Stick Fight, etc.
2) 80s vibe & colorful
3) Unlockables with new skins / maps / heroes
4) Very engaging dev team
5) Easy to pick up / Hard to master
6) Gamepad RECOMMENDED - Playable with only a mouse, so that's a plus
7) Gameplay can be Tactical with split second decisions.

The Negatives:

1) Absolutely no one playing. You NEED friends to play, or join Discord and get notified when streamers play.
2) Movement controls can feel weird due to balance between K+M & Gamepad
3) Certain "Power-Ups" can feel broken (I'm looking at you Fast Reload)
4) Doesn't contain enough to make you keep playing for an extended period of time.

Hot Shot Burn is another entry into the "Party-type" games. I can only really recommend this game to anyone if you have friends to play with, otherwise you will have a bad time as you will struggle a lot to find anyone to play with.

The developers are very engaging with the community, and they promise future content. I hear there's going to be another map, and another hero that is getting shown off during Gamescom? Don't quote me on that though.

So what exactly is Hot Shot Burn? It's a criminally underrated game that reminds me a lot of Duck Game, Stick Fight, etc. Yet another 4 player party mayhem.
The game has an 80s vibe with lots of Synthwave tracks, and you will be battling it out on colorful Arenas that changes up the gameplay with mutators spawning every now and then. It has a tactical feel as you do split second decisions to get more points than your enemy by eating Nachos, or get Kingslayer, or Survive the round. Killing is only half the battle. (There's even Necro scores)
- And you may be thinking now that your opponent has scored the maximum points, but they still need to win the next round. This can result in having all 4 players getting the maximum 50 points, which results in a Sudden Death match. So even if you're lacking way behind, you can still catch up and win.

There are no picks up at all, with the exception of Fast Reload, Death Ring, Shield, etc. You're stuck with the basic loadout of your "Hero" - Heroes do different things and requires skill to fully utilize them. Certain Heroes are easier to play than others and you will mostly get roflstomped by Luna or Umad that has a much lower skill requirement


Can I recommend this game? Yes. If you got friends that wants another, but different party type game over Duck Game, etc.

1) Will this game be able to compete with the Rogue-Like giants? No
2) Do you crave a new Rogue-Like game / experience? Only your wallet can say yes.
3) Colorful, 80s vibe, humor
4) Variety? Yes
5) Leaderboards? Yes
6) Daily Challenges? Yes
7) Gamepad RECOMMENDED


Starting off by saying that I normally don't leave down reviews, but for this game, i'm making an exception.
- I only have 3-4 hours put down into the game, and mostly just watched gameplay from CrapAttackTV from the Early Access.


RAD has a bit of a sarcastic humor to it considering they experienced 2 apocalyptic events. (Sounds like they really want to be wiped off the face of the earth, huh?)
This game can only be really compared to Binding of Isaac, and i'd have to say that you should only grab it when you're really desperate for a "New" rogue-like experience.


You're forced into mutations quite often, making decisions into a certain build almost IMPOSSIBLE, so you have to make do with what you're given, but this also gives it a bit of a flair of variety when playing and dying over, and over. Sometimes you just don't have any control and just die from bad RNG. If you dislike failing from purely RNG, this game is not your cup of tea.
- However, there are items that can be bought that enhances your passives. Want to be immune to poison, fire, electric, etc? Want to buff your crit chance, or walking speed? There are enough "Endos" that enhances passively "that gives a sense of a build"

What about the rest of the game? Enemy variety comes with experience as you progress further into the game. When I came to World 2-1, the enemy changed to bigger, more dangerous of what you already know, but also added new ones, and new way to get to your objective. I haven't personally seen 3-x world yet though.

The world is bright, colorful, and vibrant. It can almost be blinding for some people, and you will be stuck with an Isometric view that only zooms out when needed for larger encounters.
- The music adds in and gives it an 80s type of vibe with Chill/Synthwave type flow, and the dialog gives me a Transistor vibe to the game.


Do I recommend this game? Yes, and no.

K+M is iffy as hell, I can only recommend a Gamepad.
RNG can ruin the flow of the game

Only buy if you really crave another new Rogue-Like games and understand what a Rogue-Like is. There are better games out there, but if you're a die hard Rogue-Like fanboi, then I do recommend it.