Recent reviews by HiP Søppel

Akira Yamaoka....

release the whole collection on steam

Sea of Thieves can be a blast with friends, but you will likely find yourself getting bored with trying to complete the more challenging things in the game, due to the only reward being cosmetics for your character/ship. This game is really what you make it, and it is very hard to “make” fun without playing with a group of friends. Ultimately, I would not recommend people to buy Sea of Thieves unless you know you will have a group of friends that will commit to playing with you. Otherwise this game may just end up another game of the day within your friend group.

If you find yourself on the fence about Sea of Thieves, just bite the bullet and get the game pass (Windows Store) to decide if you will play a game like this long term.

Sea of Thieves is an open world, multiplayer focused, pirate game by Rare. The game recently rereleased for steam; I played the game when it originally released alongside the PC version of the Xbox game pass, so this gives me a chance to see if the game has evolved in any major ways since I last played. It is fantastic to see “Microsoft Studio” games releasing outside the Microsoft store, even if it does seem to be much later than anyone would like.

Multiplayer seems to be the focus and draw for a game like Sea of Thieves. The world seems empty and hollow without seeing other players, friendly or otherwise, this discouraged solo play for me. It is sad to see a game like this be hindered by the multiplayer focus; This does just seem to be the byproduct of the games industry constantly pushing out unfinished games with the lure of “our players are the game”. I had a ton of fun while playing with friends, collecting loot from islands, playing sea shanties, fighting a kraken, or just sailing on the open ocean. Sadly, none of this really felt the same while playing by myself.

Visually, Sea of Thieves was surprising. The cartoonish aesthetic fits perfectly and I really couldn’t imagine this game without it. The character designs can seem a bit unpolished, but I think this just leans into the rough aspect of living on the open seas. The water physics are phenomenal and work as you would expect them to, no matter what you try. Sailing waves, swimming into a storm, or collecting floating loot, the water physics just work.

The major reason I couldn’t find myself getting engrossed is the lack of meaningful player progression. The main thing to work towards is cosmetic items and getting more missions to grind. There are a metric ton of cosmetic items to earn and while that is nice, the only difference from someone who has played the game for 1000 hours and someone like me with 20ish… is visuals. With cosmetics being the only player progression, you may expect there to be no in-game micro transactions, but sadly there are… more cosmetics.

-HiPFiRED

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MVUzGTazck

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPauWoCdFDw

**Key was donated from the developer to review**

Fortified is a tower defense game similar to Orcs Must Die’s gameplay. The coolest aspect of Fortified is definitely the art style/direction, as I am sure that is the exact reason you are looking at this game. Thankfully the art style is not where this game stops being awesome, Fortified takes the Orcs Must Die’s gameplay and does it complete justice with a few awesome twists. Another great thing this game does surprisingly well is the skills and upgrades system. There is many different ways you can upgrade and “level” each of the characters to suit you play style, and it’s easy to respec if want to change it as well. With the addition of online co-op Fortified gets even more interesting. Trying to build synergies between the different characters is fun and rewarding. At the $15 usd price point it will be hard to find a better game.
-HiPFiRED

• Amazing aesthetics and style
  
• Solid gameplay
  
• Multiple ways to play each character
  
• Easy to change the way you play
  
• Varied weapons and enemies to kill them with.
  
• Insane price point for what you get
  
• Online co-op

• Can get repetitive
  
• Lack of varied modes
  
• No further info on future content

To start off: Scrap Mechanic is so early in development I do not think anyone can give a complete review of it. With that being said I really had tons of fun playing this game. (Link in the description of gameplay and review) Right now there is only creative mode with a terrain map or a flatworld and with having limited blocks/items in the game I can’t say Scrap Mechanic is worth its $20usd price tag, unless you are willing to bet it will become something great with the addition of features and updates. There is not much more to say about this game, but I can’t wait to see what the devs have instore for updates and future content. I 100% WILL be updating this review once more content is added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPaBNRv_FmQ

**Key was donated from the developer to review**

Party Hard is in the same family of the highly acclaimed Hotline Miami. The main difference between these two games is the fact that Party Hard is a slower paced stealth game, but besides that they so incredibly similar. Party Hard has an amazing art style and soundtrack. Just like Hotline Miami it also has an incredible funny story. To sum it all up Party Hard is about ta serial killer who kills people who are being loud at parties because he just wants some quiet. The only thing that I could honestly dislike about the game is the voice acting sounds like it’s all done by the same person. Besides that Party Hard is a incredibly fun game that everyone should try.

-HiPFiRED

• Fun Story
  
• Great Art Style
  
• Awesome Soundtrack
  
• Slowed Down Stealth Hotline Miami Gameplay is Tons of Fun
  
• Semi-Randomized Levels
  
• Unique Gameplay Mechanics

• Voice Acting isn’t the Greatest
  
• Killing Everyone Takes a Long Time Sometimes

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**Key was donated from the developer to review**

Among the Sleep is a horror game where you play a 2 year old. Without spoilers, the game takes a look into the bad situations a small child could get into, through the child’s eyes. The atmosphere is absolutely amazing and the game as a whole is a gem. Among the Sleep is not without fault though, I did find the game very short and the graphics were a little weird. (The graphics may have been a deliberate decision made by the developers) Although 20$ is a bit expensive for how short this game was, I would say I would still pay it for the great experience. As with all horror games I would highly suggest you playing with headphones on max volume. Without spoilers, I would like to say that the ending is thought provoking and really made me thing about how young children may perceive the world around them.

-HiPFiRED

• Thought provoking story
  
• Amazing atmosphere
  
• Unique take on the horror genre
  
  

• It’s a bit expensive for how short it is
  
• Graphics a bit weird at times

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**Key was donated from the developer to review**

Cross of the Dutchman is a really cool action/adventure game based upon the folk legend Pier Gerlofs Donia. The setting of Cross of the Dutchman is incredibly amazing and the art style perfectly supplements it. The simplistic art style is really awesome, but Cross of the Dutchman isn’t without fault. There is nothing that would make me not recommend the game, but just a few things that would greatly improve this game. During the cutscenes you are forced to read the dialogues, but I think that if triangle studios would add a narrator to the cutscenes. Another thing that I noticed while playing was the combat is a bit clunky at times, but the more I played the more I got used to it. I was able to get used to the combat. The only other thing that I criticize about Cross of the Dutchman is that it is short, but again it’s not overpriced for the length of the game. (I would just have liked to play more of the game) With all of that being said I would highly recommend picking Cross of the Dutchman up based upon the setting and the neat art style.

-HiPFiRED

• Based upon legend (Incredibly interesting story)
  
• Memorable moments
  
• Upgradeable stats
  
• Neat art style
  
  

• Clunky combat at times
  
• Short

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