Recent reviews by Flaeor

Where do I begin? Derek Yu and Mossmouth have done it again. Spelunky HD is still one of my favorite games of all time, and Spelunky 2 is now right there next to it complementing it in every way. Standing on the shoulders of a giant, Spelunky 2 is a tribute to its roots as it creates a masterpiece giant twice as tall. Expanding on virtually every game element from the first for increased replayability (when it was already infinitely replayable) and adding a "back layer", diverging world paths, and even more endings, Spelunky 2 continues to forge its own path. It's the quintessential roguelike platformer playground where every player choice matters every second for unfathomably infinite permutations. Over 100 hours in, and I just want more. Spelunky 2 is extremely challenging and still feels extremely rewarding when you pull off what seemed impossible. A crucial bonus, again, is how fun it is both to play solo and with co-op play, with a very different dynamic for each. Whether you bring your friends, or go solo, I simply cannot recommend Spelunky 2 highly enough. Warning: it's OK to die; just one more run...

Absolutely love this game. It's easily my favorite DCCG. Coming from Hearthstone and want to know what sets it apart? This is based on probably a hundred or so hours playing the game using the Bethesda launcher. Here are the major differences from Hearthstone to get you started:

1. Rewards, in general, are much more generous. This is partly because of point #3 with bigger deck sizes and can have 3 copies of many of the Legendaries. You get like 10-50 gold and a spare card (can even be Legendary or a pack!) every 3 wins instead of just 10 gold. WAY better. End of season rewards... I forget how HS works, but you get a ton of gold and soul gems and like 1-3 packs for end of season purely based on what rank you are. In addition, they release a new card every month, and you get 1-3 copies based on your rank as well! 1 copy at rank 9 or better, 2 copies at rank 5, 3 copies at rank 1. You can craft monthly cards anytime after that for ones you've missed, but you'll never find them in packs.

2. Generally less RNG than HS. The randomness that is in the game (for the most part) has some interesting control, and not totally random. The really RNG cards typically aren't competitive, but still fun to throw 1 or 2 in your deck at times.

3. Solo Arena. Basically like Versus Arena, but against enemy AI. You earn cards in a similar fashion, same type of 30-card draft, but against enemy AI with random lane and game start effects. Rewards are similar to HS as well. Guaranteed pack for playing, even if you lose all 3. Infinite time to play, THIS COUNTS FOR QUESTS. There is no timer for playing, so you can take forever or walk away to do something if you get pulled away. I think you can even log off and it will pick up right where you left off if you join back in. Same goes for Practice mode, which I'll go into later.

4. Constructed decks have 50-70 cards, with 1 Unique copy of each Legendary allowed. If it's not Unique (the Golden circle at the top of some Legendary cards), you can still have 3 copies of a Legendary card, or any other card except ones marked Unique.

5. Constructed ladder. You win, you gain a star. Lose, you lose a star. However, you can't go down in rank in a given month. You go down to a separate 2-star constellation (rank) called Serpent. Below rank 5, a Bonus Round will randomly be in a given match. In that match, the winner gains 2 stars. The loser still loses 1.

6. Now for the big ones. Lanes. There are 2 of them. Yippee... you say sarcastically. But really it changes the play a LOT more than you'd think. I've heard it helps the defender. Left lane is normal. The right lane is, by default, the Shadow Lane. Every creature played here gains Cover for one turn. This can be played around and affected. Some cards can Move, or switch lanes, as part of their lane effects. Trust me when I say: 2 lanes are better than 1. I was made a believer.

7. The other BIG one. Prophecies and Runes. Here's where things get really interesting. Each player has 5 runes to start the game, at 5, 10, 15, 20, and 25 health. When your health drops below 25 for any reason, no matter whose turn it is), you draw a card. If it has the Prophecy keyword, you get to play the card IMMEDIATELY (even during your opponent's turn), for no magicka cost, if you so choose. You can also choose to put the card in your hand. This rule goes for both players with all decks in every game type. This obviously has HUGE implications. Because there aren't many cards with Prophecy, breaking Runes in and of itself is an important decision every time. The only exception to this rule and all others is, if any player ever drops below 1 health for any reason on any turn, the game is over. Prophecies can be skipped in this way, if 6 damage is done in one attack, the last rune is "skipped". Knowing what class and colors you're playing against is key to playing around potential effects during your turn. Speaking of colors and classes...

8. Card colors / classes / card synergy / creativity. There are 5 colors, Red (Strength), Green (Agility), Blue (Intelligence), Yellow (Willpower), Purple (Endurance), plus Neutral (gray). Each color has a general theme, but can play any archetype (won't be top tier, but a taste of it). This is for balance, variety, synergy, and creativity. For example, Purple cards generally are stickier with slightly higher stats. Many Green cards are reactive or mobile (can Move between lanes). The 10 classes are all combinations of 2 of the 5 colors, plus Neutral cards can be in any deck. The Summon ability will activate any time that card comes into play, even if another card summons it. This makes for MUCH more card synergy than Battlecry in HS, which only activated when the card was played from your hand.

9. You can play Practice mode to get soul gems. 5 for a win against Easy, 10 against Normal, 15 against Expert. 300 gems per day cap. A Legendary every 4 days if you max it. Not bad with very fast aggro decks like mono red. You play against a random class with standard lane effects and starting conditions.

10. Chaos Arena is very fun and helps shakes things up once a month for the weekend. Random lane conditions and special conditions even on top of that sometimes. It's the first "new" game mode they've introduced.

11. A few new keywords. Haven't played HS in a while so some of these may be dupes. Breakthrough lets you overkill a creature into their face for damage. Pilfer activates any time the creature damages the enemy hero. Regenerate brings that creatures current health back to maximum at the beginning of your turn. Drain gives your hero back the same amount of health as the attack damage it deals.

12. No Secrets (Prophecies fill that role), but Supports instead. These are either limited use or perpetual, until removed. There are a few cards that can remove Supports. They typically either buff all your creatures while in play, summon a creature per turn, or buff 1 of your creatures with limited uses.

13. A few cards trigger if you have more health than your opponent. You may have noticed that 2 lanes and Runes / Prophecy tend to favor the defender, but clearly this favors the aggressor to maintain balance. These mighty few let aggro decks maintain momentum through all those extra (and potentially free) cards.

14. Heroes can never attack. Can't equip your hero with items. No hero powers. This makes cards, card draw, and X/1's more valuable since there are fewer ways to kill them without requiring a finite resource.

15. Card costs in soul gems (shards in HS). Legendaries in TESL cost 1200. Epics cost 400. Rares cost 100. Commons cost 40 (I think).

Conquered a bored Saturday at home, became king of our Blanket Fort that got us through the third Blizzard of 2015. Solid action and skill-based combat, rewards you for doing what you do (even if it's bad), and is a new staple of any couch gaming experience!

3 friends and I assembled into our blanket fort that we constructed in our living room, and eagerly awaited the download. Upon booting the game up, we all picked our classes. I picked Valkyrie, because I like protecting my friends. At first, I was quite frustrated at how often I was dying. I was supposed to be the Tank, right? That's the Valkyrie's specialty. Once I stopped crying and learned the intricacies of my 4 main moves, I'm a beast. I definitely die the least, and I protect my teammates through countless waves of beasties.

tl;dr 10/10. Learn to play through the first couple of hours, and you'll be in for a great co-op couch gaming experience that both scratches that nostalgic itch of Gauntlet and evolves to be action-packed - if you die, it's your fault.