Recent reviews by Relic Host

Wow, what an absolute masterpiece.
After finishing the game three times, I still can’t point to any real flaws. The only thing I felt was that most of the choices in the early episodes don’t have a huge impact on the ending or at least that’s how it felt to me.
Either way, it was truly incredible, I enjoyed every moment of it, and I’m already dying to see season two.
10/10

When it comes to value for money, this game shows the highest level of respect a studio can have for players. The $50 price tag in 2025 is honestly amazing for a game of this quality. Add in Friend Pass, which lets you play with your friends across different platforms, and the fact that there’s no Denuvo or annoying third party launchers that alone is a huge sign of respect toward gamers.

Story wise, I think it’s a bit weaker compared to It Takes Two and A Way Out, but that ending… absolutely mind blowing, creative, and emotional. I was honestly stunned.

Despite being made with Unreal Engine 5, the optimization is fantastic I didn’t run into a single issue.

My only real complaint is the lack of mini games. Unlike It Takes Two, which was full of fun little side activities, this one doesn’t have them but the amazing side missions make up for it pretty well.

With all the positives and the clear respect the devs have shown toward players, there’s no way I could give it anything less than a perfect score.

Thank you, Hazelight Studios.
⭐ 10/10

I honestly can’t believe how they managed to make this game even better than Hades 1.
Hades 1 was one of the most flawless games I’ve ever played and this one somehow tops it.
10/10

Graphics

Visually, the game can feel a bit underwhelming at first, but overall it’s nothing major at least for me personally.

Gameplay & Combat

Gameplay is solid and doesn’t need much explanation. As for combat, it feels somewhat “Souls-like,” which I didn’t mind at all. In my opinion, for a game focused entirely on melee combat with no firearms, it’s a smart design choice.

Weapons

There’s a variety of weapons available. Unlike Silent Hill 2 Remake, where melee weapons felt almost unlimited, in Silent Hill F weapons can break and aren’t permanently available. However, you can repair them using tools found throughout the game. Thanks to the well-designed combat system, the absence of firearms doesn’t feel like a drawback.

Enemies & Boss Fights

Enemy design is excellent they look fantastic and are genuinely challenging. Unlike Silent Hill 2 Remake, most enemies here have unpredictable movements, and since weapons can break, you’re often encouraged to avoid some encounters altogether. Boss fights are also very well designed and can be quite challenging on higher difficulty levels.

Puzzles

Much like Silent Hill 2, puzzles in this game have their own difficulty setting separate from the main game. Depending on your choice, they can be relatively easy or quite tricky and confusing. The number of puzzles feels just right not too many to become tiring, but not too few to feel lacking.

Performance

Despite being built in Unreal Engine 5, the game is relatively well optimized. There’s some stuttering early on, but it mostly goes away after the beginning.
The only real issue is that you can’t run the game at native resolution. Also not sure if this belongs here but the English voice acting doesn’t sync well with the character lip movements, which feels disappointing for a $70 game from such a beloved franchise.

Final Thoughts

Silent Hill F is a game that you’ll likely enjoy whether you’re a fan of Silent Hill or new to the series. I highly recommend it.

As a remake, this game is exceptionally faithful to the original, making it a highly valuable experience for fans of Kojima’s works. The remake allows players to enjoy Kojima’s masterpiece with modern graphics, improved gameplay, and an updated camera system. The only downside is the technical performance FPS often dropped below 50, and more optimization from the development team would have been appreciated.

Nonetheless, given the remake’s fidelity to the original and the high quality of its graphics and gameplay, this game comes highly recommended, and I hope performance issues will be addressed in future updates.

All these years of waiting for a game like this? It’s shameful.
The only positive aspect, if the game ever gets fixed, would be the gameplay, environmental variety, and world building. Even so, I absolutely do not recommend buying it.

Graphics
The game looks really solid visually. I kept asking myself multiple times: how is this only 20GB?!

Gameplay
Overall, the gameplay doesn’t differ much from similar titles, but the Merge system is a standout: enemies can absorb corpses of fallen foes and merge with them, doubling their health. To prevent this, you have to burn the bodies so nothing remains on the ground.

Combat
Combat can be broken down into four parts:
• Gunplay: Excellent and satisfying.
• Environmental Tools: Explosive barrels and fire canisters in arenas let you blow enemies into the air.
• Equipment: Mainly used to slow enemies or finish them off when they’re low on health.
• Melee: Unfortunately very weak and symbolic. No dodge, block, or parry; if you run out of ammo, you’re in serious trouble.

Enemies, Weapons & Bosses
Weapon variety is solid (not all weapons are story-based; some are found off the main path) and fun to use, though the shotgun could’ve been better. Enemy variety is great, and bosses are amazing. Even with some pattern repetition, fights are exciting, intense, and visually impressive.

Side Content
The game doesn’t have side quests, but optional paths are extremely worth exploring. They extend playtime and reward you with upgrades, ammo, and even new weapons.

Upgrade System
Upgrades cover armor, equipment (for burning enemies), and weapons.
• Armor and equipment require rare Cores.
• Weapons need Energy, which is plentiful throughout the game, though upgrades are expensive.
Collectibles called Valuables can be sold for extra Energy. The system is impactful and rewarding.

Music
Surprisingly sparse, but when it plays, it’s fantastic. I just wish there was more of it.

Technical Performance
Most of the game runs smoothly, but some areas—especially early zones—have frame drops and stuttering.

Final Thoughts
Without a doubt, Cronos: The New Dawn is one of the best games of 2025 so far and perfect for fans of Dead Space. I truly loved every moment with it.

As someone who really enjoys games with lots of exploration and puzzles, I absolutely fell in love with Hell is Us. Without a doubt, it’s one of the best games I’ve played this year. The atmosphere, music, story, narrative, gameplay, combat, and visuals everything feels like it’s been crafted to perfection. One of the most impressive things is the performance: despite being built on Unreal Engine 5, I honestly couldn’t find anything to complain about in that regard.

The only downside for me was the lack of enemy variety, but compared to all the positives, it hardly matters.

In the end, if you love deep exploration and complex puzzles, don’t miss out on this game.

If you enjoyed the Mafia DE, you’ll likely find this game right up your alley. The story is well-crafted, and the gameplay feels satisfying. Knife combat is engaging, though it can get a bit repetitive at times. The animations are somewhat lackluster, but for a $50 game, it’s not a dealbreaker.
There are quite a few cutscenes, but given the price, I can’t really complain about that either. The variety of firearms is decent for a $50 title. The visuals and graphics are genuinely impressive, stealing the show. Performance holds up well for a UE5 game, though you’ll notice some frame drops when transitioning from gameplay to cutscenes, which stand out briefly.
If this were a $70 game, I’d probably be more critical, but at $50, it’s hard to find major faults. Overall, considering the price, I’d recommend this game to anyone interested.

Enemy variety is definitely better than the previous title, and the weapon selection has seriously expanded there’s a lot more to play with. Visually, it feels next-gen and you can really tell they’ve stepped it up. The physics and destructibility are top notch, and the story’s actually pretty good too.
That said, I had a few issues. First, the soundtrack just doesn’t hit like Eternal sometimes it even cuts out completely, leaving you tearing through demons in awkward silence. Second, the game gets long and kind of exhausting. Chapters 12 through 18 drag quite a bit very repetitive and hard to stay engaged. But once you push past that, the game really picks up again after chapter 18.
Also, the lack of glory kills is definitely noticeable it takes away a bit of that brutal satisfaction the older games nailed.
Overall, if you don’t mind the length, pacing issues, and missing glory kills, I’d still say it’s worth checking out.