Recent reviews by Wastrel

Pure ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ adrenaline in the form of a game. The gameplay, sound, music, and visuals are on point for relentlessly restarting a level to climb the leaderboards. I wish I could grind it up and snort it.

(100 hours later and I may have snorted too much)

Just play it. And if you like it buy the DLC.

One of my most enjoyable experiences this year. Funny and surprisingly heartwarming.

I typically don't write reviews but I wanted to call attention to this game that most people probably will never see. BLACK BIRD is a side-scrolling shoot 'em up with deceptively deep progression.

In terms of mechanics, it's a very familiar setup: you got movement, Shot and Bomb at your controls, and your bird's hitbox is the visible eye at the center of the creature. Enemies drop green crystals that essentially level you up, giving you more damage and better coverage on your shot. There are pots holding worms that you can shoot to cycle between life/bomb/movement speed up. Get through four stages and their bosses and you'll get an ending.

As someone who's played through various bullet hell games, normal mode felt easily manageable, and I was wondering where the game sinks its fangs into you. After beating it, you get access to true mode...and THAT'S when the game's intent becomes apparent.

In true mode, the danger accelerates VERY quickly. The screen starts turning into bullet-filled chaos, some enemies start taking a lot of hits, and the stages are filled with more destructibles that give varying amounts of score. The mechanics become more evident as well: similar to Mega Man, you have 4 projectiles that can be fired at any given time, and if all 4 are out, you cannot fire until one of them disappears. This means that if you're close enough to an enemy, you can attempt to rapid fire shots by pressing the button as quickly as humanly possible. This makes positioning much more important when you need to take out high value targets. Not only that, but enemies will occasionally spawn and fire in response to cues in the music, allowing you to bait enemies into spawning in a specific area and anticipating their incoming shots. Bombs vary in strength depending on your form, and a well placed bomb nets you even more green gems, allowing you to get more damaging forms faster.

Not only that, but the reason for the depth becomes evident: the ending is strictly dictated by your score. Suddenly, the stages require an extra level of finesse, trying to max out your score combo by continually killing enemies, then finding and hitting the unique score targets on the map in order to get big points. In addition, bombs also get MASSIVE point bonuses from your combo, influencing your choice between getting life to keep the run going or taking a risk and getting bombs to round up enemies amid the chaos and blowing them sky high in order to get closer to a new ending.

Personally, I knew about Onion Game's penchant for an insane and weird asthetic, story, and intricate secrets from their mobile game Million Onion Hotel (which is also fantastic, but a MUCH different playing game). But even still, I was not expecting them to nail the gameplay of a shmup so damn well. Everything is in sync in this game, and I think it's one of the more satisfying shoot 'em up experiences available on Steam for both low and high experience players. If anything in here describes a game you'd like, then I know you won't be disappointed. If the price point is a little offputting to you, then keep an eye on this game for when it goes on sale.