Recent reviews by Tonraa

Void Shadows is a must-have for anyone who's interested in starting Rogue Trader anew. It adds a lot of new content throughout every chapter, and alters existing stuff to include even more. Also, Kibellah.

Some even consider this DLC to be among the best pieces of content Owlcat Games has ever produced.

I stumbled upon SKALD while searching for small indie RPGs released recently. You know, to explore and chill. The pixel art caught my eye, and the screenshots gave me nostalgic Lands of Lore vibes. Boy, did I love Lands of Lore! The affordable price tag sealed the deal for me.

To my surprise, SKALD was far from a retro game and delivered a vibrant gameplay experience, a compelling story, and an astonishing atmosphere. Seriously, it felt like I struck gold. It's the kind of game that other titles should aspire to emulate.

SKALD is a classic party-based RPG with a partially open world. The player travels through various locations, completes quests, and defeats enemies. Occasionally, they solve puzzles and interact with NPCs. It might sound like a standard genre experience, but the execution sets this game apart from the rest in its genre.

🟢 Surprisingly Modern Gameplay
Don’t let the retro cover fool you! Beneath it lies a lively and modern gameplay loop, with solid character progression, an interesting magic system, and a remarkable combat tempo. With each level-up, you can genuinely feel the progression and strength of your characters.

Combat, in particular, is one of SKALD's strongest points. It’s fast-paced and challenging at times, but not teeth-grindingly difficult, at least on Normal difficulty. No foe is a threat to a well-built party here — unless they’re elemental slimes, of course…

Exploration is no less engaging than other gameplay aspects. Despite the simplistic visuals, locations are filled with secrets, loot, and lore tidbits. Remarkably, throughout my ~20-hour playthrough, I never felt the urge to rush through any location.

🟢 Top-Notch Writing
The premise is pretty simple: the daughter of some minor lord goes missing on a distant archipelago of a fantasy kingdom. The protagonist is tasked with retrieving her, whether for money, recognition, or an old friendship. However, things don’t go well: a sea monster sinks your ship, and something strange and sinister is afoot on the islands.

A familiar story, right? SKALD shines in its details: the plot takes several unexpected yet pleasantly predictable turns; text descriptions and dialogues are carefully crafted, avoiding information overload; the world’s stories and mysteries are perfectly balanced to maintain intrigue. Also, the game repeatedly proves that you don’t need an extensive biography to fall in love with its characters.

The person behind SKALD has been running fantastic TTRPG sessions for years, I’m convinced of this!

🟢 The Ending to Remember
I must mention that SKALD has a sudden and incredibly bold ending that took me by surprise. It’s not what you’d expect from a simple, classic adventure's conclusion. Well, maybe Lovecraft, but certainly not Giger. It was delightful!

Honestly, I sincerely hope the creator has many more stories up their sleeve. Stories of this world, or somehow connected to it. I want to know how the events of Against the Black Priory will impact the setting. Will they even, at all?

🟢 Summertime Eeriness
The game’s vibe is cozy, melancholic... and eerie! The developer masterfully builds suspense and horror using all available tools: narrative, locations, illustrations, and music — all creating a truly enchanting atmosphere that sticks with you for a long time.

Perfect for these warm summer evenings!

🟡 Excessive Combat, Sometimes
The sheer number of combat encounters the player can experience in the latter half of the game can frustrate sometimes. It’s my only minor gripe with this game. The story intensifies, and you’re eager to uncover all the chilling secrets of these barren lands… but then your party gets ambushed by dogs. Or crabs. Or slimes.

Defeating them isn’t challenging, and I understand the purpose: to trade resources for some precious experience… Still, I found myself shamelessly avoiding all optional battles towards the end of the game.

To me, Lethal Company is the best (and most refreshing) session multiplayer experience in recent years. Crafted by a single individual with immense passion, it's a terrifying and incredibly comforting horror game where, surprisingly, you need to chillax and fool around with friends.

The core idea is simple: players explore an abandoned complex on a distant planet supposedly devoid of life, aiming to haul as much loot (metallic junk) as possible. The drop-off must occur before midnight; any loot left beyond that point doesn't count.

The catch is that over time (and as the sun sets), staying on the planet becomes increasingly perilous. This applies to both the complex insides and its surroundings...

🟢 The Perfect Trip
Lethal Company is perfect for a group of friends seeking an enjoyable evening. The loot scavenged on planets contributes to the corporate quota. Within one quota, the group can visit three planets — or, conversely, explore one planet three times. Completing the quota earns players money... and a subsequent increase in the quota. Money is spent on gear and grants access to the most dangerous (and intriguing) planets where all the best loot is hidden.

Thus, within an evening, one group can repeatedly meet their quota, visit unique planets, and have a good scare. With each new flight, the stakes increase, as the death of all players results in the complete loss of accumulated loot within the current quota.

This necessitates team division and even leaving someone on board the ship! Over several hours, the party naturally falls into roles — thus enhancing the final result and creating unique gameplay situations.

🟢 Situation-Based Gameplay
Speaking of unique gameplay situations! Lethal Company is teeming with them. Thanks to level generation and the monsters’ uniqueness, getting bored in the initial dozens of hours is difficult. Players frequently find themselves in seemingly hopeless situations... from which they (sometimes) manage to escape!

This is all thanks to the margin for error that the creator embedded in the project at every level. Unlike Phasmophobia, Lethal Company is about fun and a unique experience gained through a sea of inevitable mistakes, ignorance, or chance. And many of these mistakes aren't punished immediately. There's always a chance to escape danger. Always a way out.

Yes, every monster implies a specific method of interaction — but survival is possible even without adhering to these tactics. Sometimes the most valuable loot is found by a single person, without a flashlight. Sometimes death and graying hair await players around the nearest corner, right by the front door. Predicting what situation Lethal Company will throw at you next is often impossible.

🟢 Spookies!
Despite the sheer number of fun and lively moments, Lethal Company remains a scary game even after 70 hours in. New players are afraid because they don't know what to expect in the next complex. Experienced players are afraid because they know exactly what awaits them in the next complex.

The horror sensation is reinforced by certain monsters — those that are difficult to get used to even after dozens of quotas. Some emit terrifying sounds, others always remain on the periphery, while with the third — it's better not to look at all.

The oppressive ambient and the well-crafted lore of the "corporate eldritch post-apocalypse" also contribute their small share to the player's goosebumps.

🟢 Fine Aesthetics
For a game made by one person, Lethal Company looks splendid. Anyone who isn't chasing unattainable realism and can appreciate style will feel very comfortable.

In general, coziness is one of the game's distinguishing features. The ship is crafted with such attention to detail that you want to return to it. The costumes look nice and simple. Different complexes and planets have completely different vibes. Monsters are discernible literally by a silhouette fragment around the corner. The list could go on.

🟢 Modding Company
I'm also positive about mods and their accessibility, as well as their impact on gameplay. Indeed, installing and setting them up will take some time, but the extent to which some mods enhance gameplay is worthy of the highest praise.

From Quality-of-Life improvements like an always-on radio to absolutely stunning ideas like partial mimicry with some monsters using players’ voice lines. Imagine getting lost in the corridor for a while, only to hear a good comrade's voice behind the wall... the fun is guaranteed!

Of course, not all mods are worth it. Some are dull. In terms of game design and visuals, most of the new planets and complexes are completely overshadowed by the original content.

🟡 Lack of Content
The game is currently in Early Access. A lot of content is still in production. It’s not a bad thing but a fact.

I believe in Zeekerss and hope that by the release, Lethal Company will double in content and receive a full-fledged storyline, hints of which are already scattered throughout the game.

However, it's worth noting that the gameplay fully unfolds only with a group of friends who aren't interested in playing efficiently. Ready to fool around? Welcome! Want to optimize and achieve the best results? Go down the hallway.

Buckshot Roulette is a minuscule project that offers a gaming experience for just an evening. The entire game unfolds within the confines of a single room, which the player enters just moments after starting. In a way, it resembles Inscryption, but with Russian roulette and a shotgun.

🟢 Shell-Shockingly Good Gameplay
The gameplay is immediately understandable. Each round, the shotgun is loaded with a (not-so) random number of live and blank shells, while the player and the Dealer receive a random set of items to interact with the said shotgun. The goal is to defeat the Dealer in three consecutive rounds.

Essentially, it's a game of probability control. Simple as can be, yet horribly addictive.

🟢 Banger Soundtrack
I'm convinced that small conceptual projects created by one person often boast amazing soundtracks. Buckshot Roulette is no exception. Mike Klubnika composed 7 tracks for the game, and the main menu theme will stick with me for a long time.

🟢 Killer Vibes
Despite the events unfolding at one table, facing a single opponent, the game consistently hints at a world existing beyond. The nightclub. The prize. GOD.

One can only speculate about this world’s current state. Love it!

A small game with addictive exploration, unique lore, and a lingering, utterly magical atmosphere. The kind of game you fondly remember months and possibly years after completion.

Lunacid is a King’s Field-like action game with light RPG elements. The player crawls through complex, cleverly interconnected dungeons, killing enemies and leveling up often. And sometimes gets scared. Quite scared! This is not surprising, since before Lunacid, Akuma Kira, the developer, released the terrific Lost in Vivo, which I still haven't managed to approach.

🟢 Exploring Feels Excellent
Exploration is the main, and excellently done, feature of Lunacid. Most locations feel almost perfect. Enemies, loot, secrets, shortcuts, resting rooms, vibes - all aspects contribute to the overall pace, which rarely lets go. Often you want to return to old locations, run through them once more, and meet both some NPCs and enemies again.

🟢 The Vibes Are Real
Dreaming is the key aspect of the game's plot. And it's amazing how much Lunacid can convey the feeling of dreams through gameplay. The game often throws you from dark fantasy into something unreal. This is emphasized by the quirky and a little weird NPCs scattered throughout the world.

No matter how scary this strange underground world is, you can always return to Wing’s Rest. Where pleasant music plays. Where you are always welcome.

🟢 Conceptual Lore
I have a weakness for unique, handcrafted video game worlds. Sometimes they can raise questions. Often they are written unclean. But the amount of love poured into them by the author leaves no doubt. Lunacid is one such example.

A dream world that has sunk underground. A place where talking slugs live side by side with gothic vampires, not far from oceans of blood and ancient beings who have witnessed eternity. Only here, the reward for completing a room full of undead may be a hall with televisions and a special videotape.

🟢 Moon Phases
The eponymous and key mechanic of Lunacid, as you might guess from the name, is directly tied... to the phases of the real moon. Progressing during a full moon will differ from progressing during a new moon. This affects enemies, loot, and certain story bits. And while the moon's influence may not be as significant as one might hope, the mere fact of its influence on the gameplay process is astonishing.

🟡 Combat Could Be Better
Regrettably, fights are the weakest aspect of Lunacid. After getting the hang of the combat system and upgrading a couple of favorite weapons, the game loses some of its shine. Not that it's a major flaw, but it would be nice to see at least some enemies posing a challenge comparable to the final boss.

🟡 Some Levels Are Lacking
Some locations simply lack content and polish. Fortunately, there are few within the game. And the cool locations easily overshadow the weak ones in your mind even a month after playing through them.

One of the most complex and interesting video games set in the Warhammer 40k universe. A solid CRPG, Rogue Trader proves that this setting can (and must) be shown from a different, role-playing perspective. Every Warhammer 40k CRPG that comes next will be compared to this game, it's inevitable.

The review will be updated once I finish the game.

Three years ago, the world was introduced to Cyberpunk 2077. Some people absolutely loved the game, while others, including myself, were left disappointed. Overall, a decent story was marred by numerous open-world issues and game design flaws. Instead of a magnificent cyberpunk RPG, I got... a mediocre action game with a compelling story. I played it for a bit, took a breather, and set it aside for a rainy day. It needed to ripen.

Patch 2.0 and Phantom Liberty have shown that it has indeed ripened.

🟢 The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes
The primary storyline is the standout feature of Phantom Liberty. Well-crafted. Intriguing. It’s a political thriller with characters you can't trust, but you'll have to trust them all. Trust them and make a choice. One of several.

It's pleasing that the story doesn't require a warm-up and immediately "hits the ground running," raising the stakes to their highest and unveiling previously unseen aspects of the Cyberpunk 2077 dystopian world.

🟢 Grand Work on Mistakes
Yes, Patch 2.0 brought a slew of welcome improvements to the game. However, with Phantom Liberty, the developers went further, addressing the rough edges of the original story.

The pacing is significantly better. Navigating through Dogtown raises no questions — it's the only district in Night City where I navigate comfortably. Level design is also top-notch; I can count on one hand the times I got lost during the indoor gameplay segments.

I must highlight the side quests and gigs separately: they are all of significantly higher quality compared to the OG side content. On top of that, some of them are placed outside of Dogtown, which is great.

🟢 Vastly Different Endings
What surprised me greatly was the difference in ending sequences. They are quite long, with varying quests, locations, and even gameplay elements in them being radically different, ranging from action to survival horror.

This is one of the very few stories where I recommend trying out another path after completion. Or maybe all of them. Piece by piece, it feels like you're assembling a fascinating and diverse puzzle.

🟢 Preem Soundtrack
An absolute gem. Ghost in the Shell vibes; synthesizers and a choir. Exactly what the original game lacked. Planning to listen to it for a very long time. A very long time, I mean it.

🟡 Dogtown's Doggish Performance
Dogtown. The combat zone with a distinct Eastern European flair. The most luxurious parties. The most dangerous thugs. The most terrifying techno catacombs. And the biggest performance issues in the whole Night City! Modest in size yet capable of FPS lowering — that's how you can describe Dogtown. Even on a clear day, it manages to lag worse than the city center.

I'm sure that future updates will address the frame rate issues. It's not even a major problem, really. However, it does make me grind my teeth in frustration at times.

Blasphemous. The game that I bought and immediately forgot about a thousand years ago. The game that I didn't expect much from upon my return, but ended up having a whole lot of fun.

I never considered myself a hardcore fan of the Metroidvania genre: for various reasons, I couldn't beat Hollow Knight and Ori, and the more "classic" games like Bloodstained didn't click with me at all. However, this game sucked me in literally an hour after starting, and didn't let go until the very (true) ending.

🟢 Well-Paced Exploration
Amazingly smooth difficulty curve combined with the non-linearity of the world and abundance of secrets, from items to entire locations, provides an extremely enjoyable gaming experience.

Character stat progression is absent in the game at all, and currency is spent on rare weapon upgrades and potions. In the case of potions, there is a permanent loss of one for each upgrade. Cool decision, design-wise.

The meta elements here are quite interesting, as the most useful upgrade the player receives is obtained through donating currency at a local church, which, upon reaching a certain threshold, grants the most convenient fast travel in the game. Although initially, it may seem that these donations are pure flavor.

🟢 Awesome Combat
The combat system is simple and quite intuitive. In most cases, opponents — regular mobs and bosses alike — are perfectly readable. Their animations are clear and well-optimized, with precise timing that allows the player to parry or dodge in time.

I would also like to mention the boss fights. In the worst cases, they are... pretty standard. In the best cases, they are astonishing. I swear, I will remember Sierpes and Crisanta for a long time. Especially the latter’s second phase which is mostly based on perfect parrying.

🟢 Lore & Aesthetics
The reason for my return to Blasphemous was its absolutely unique style, which is emphasized by an intricate and complex story with Spanish cultural and religious references. The imagery is so cool that it stays in my mind long after I close the game. And it will stay, I’m certain of it.

All of this is conveyed through pixel art. As a simple human being, I love pixel art. I draw pixel art. I am inspired by it. Here it is of high quality only. Some backgrounds are begging to be used as wallpapers. And certain music tracks will definitely make it into my playlist and serve as background music for role-playing games.

🟡 Well, Platforming
To me, the only problem this game has. And it is highly subjective. The only thing to ever compete with the bosses is… iron spikes. Carefully placed literally everywhere, they are ready to annihilate you the moment your reflexes go numb for a single second. And considering how much jumping this game offers…

However, suffering is the way. The Souls series told us.

Небольшой игре — небольшое ревью.

Проект, что лежал в моем бэклоге со времен динозавров, What Remains of Edith Finch является достойным представителем жанра “симуляторов ходьбы”. Спокойный, красивый, с претензией в меру. Не ожидал от игры глубокого экспириенса — и был приятно удивлен, получив малый, но искренний душевный отклик.

🟢 Идеальный темп
История завершается ровно до момента, как может наскучить. Эмоциональные качели появляются в нужных местах. Мини-игры развлекают тогда, когда приедается ходьба. Не вспоминаю ни одного сегмента, где начинал зевать или посматривать на часы.

Сравниваю со схожей Dear Esther, у которой это совсем не получилось.

🟢 Простая и приятная история
Звезд с неба не хватает. Комплексно не выглядит. И все равно западает в душу, дергая самые разные ниточки. Коллекция уникальных триггеров. И хотя не все члены семейства Финч вызывают сложные эмоции — те, кому это удается, справляются на все сто. Приятно.

🟢 Общая завершенность
От игры в целом остаются только положительные впечатления: сюжет закончен и белыми пятнами не выделяется, текст читается легко и хорошо перемежается с геймплеем, музыкальное и визуальное оформление на высоте. Придраться просто не к чему.

Поклон в сторону Giant Sparrow.

Приятный линейный детектив, который цепляет в первый час и не отпускает до самой концовки. Никакой сверхсложной истории и миллиона аллюзий — все просто и понятно. Знатоки южной готики и штата Луизиана наверняка получат от процесса больше удовольствия, однако и обычный Игрок ничего не потеряет.

🟢 Безумный сюжет
Начинаясь как вполне классическая история о блудном дитя, NORCO быстро скидывает маску, обнажая нечто уникальное, на грани сюра. За время прохождения я несколько раз ловил себя на мысли о том, в какие же странные, абсурдные и жуткие события влипают герои истории. И насколько это увлекательно.

🟢 Сочный текст
На высочайшем уровне. Отдушина после Citizen Sleeper. Диалоги читаются живо, описания не утомляют. Запутанный мир игры раскрывается должным образом. Порой чувствуется стиль Disco Elysium — и это очень круто.

Игру стоит брать хотя бы ради этого.

🟢 Актуальный киберпанк
Одна маленькая NORCO говорит о темном, технологическом будущем нашего общества значительно ярче, чем Cyberpunk 2077. И темы она поднимает более интересные: экологический кризис, криптовалюты, интернет-культы, семейные травмы. Знакомые по сеттингу корпорации и андроиды идут лишь фоном.

Хотя сравнение некорректное. При всей зрелищности, Cyberpunk 2077 не сумел подсветить ни одной важной киберпанк-темы.

🟡 Рваное начало
Первый час игры кажется тяжелым. Много экспозиции, мало интерактива. Игрок не знает этих персонажей и может потеряться в потоке новой информации. А там и до кнопки выхода из игры недалеко.

Будьте к этому готовы.

🟡 Мини-игры на любителя
Порой можно наткнуться на ключевые и опциональные мини-игры со своим собственным геймплеем. В лучшем случае они позволяют немного выдохнуть и узнать мир NORCO с другой стороны. В худшем случае они ломают темп игры и вызывают фрустрацию.