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A dazzling, snappy, and charming action rougelite.

Wizard of Legend is an 2D action fantasy rougelite. The player battles their way through the Council of Magic's Chaos Trials to earn the title of Wizard of Legend. Wielding "arcana," magical skills representing six different elements, the player must complete four stages filled with aggressive enemies, devious traps, and powerful bosses. Should they fall in battle at any point, they'll need to start over from the beginning, but the layout of the Trails changes between each attempt.

Like most contemporary action roguelikes, Wizard of Legend allows the player to choose a loadout of basic abilities before embarking on a run, but the unique specialty of Wizard of Legend is the ability to set four individual abilities (arcana) for use before going on a run, rather than restricting an ability moveset to a particular weapon. As the player progresses through the game, more arcana will be unlocked, allowing players to create thousands of combinations of skills for every run. Additionally, more arcana can be found during runs of the Chaos Trials, along with helpful items and somewhat-helpful cursed items which add a decent amount of variety between games. The visuals of each arcana are beautiful, and their sound effects and hit stuns are extremely satisfying during play.

The combat itself is very fast-paced and snappy. Hitboxes are tight and projectiles are fast, creating a high-octane and thrilling experience. Hit stuns and fast execution of arcana allow players to inflict devastating combos on enemies, but the same is true for the opposition; bad positioning can lead to the player getting caught in an extremely powerful opposing combo. Bosses are extremely well-designed, with clearly telegraphed attacks that nonetheless require precise timing and strategy to dodge, requiring a good balance of both strategy and reflexes to defeat them.

The other aspects of Wizard of Legend, while not taking up the spotlight like the arcana and combat systems, are all great in their own right and deserve mention. The soundtrack, composed by Dale North, is full of energetic tracks perfect for fast-paced action combat that blend electronic beats and leads with gorgeous usage of strings and brass. In addition to the beautiful effects of the arcana, character and environment designs are portrayed in beautiful pixel art, brimming with detail. NPCs don't play a large role in Wizard of Legend, but the few lines of dialogue that each are granted are brimming with charm and personality.

Overall, Wizard of Legend manages to cement itself as a fantastic title to stand among its contemporaries in the action roguelite genre. I would recommend Wizard of Legend to anyone who likes 2D action combat, experimenting with different movesets, and wizards!

P.S. I sincerely hope that Wizard of Legend 2 will continue to embrace the components of the first game that have solidified it as a unique and bespoke experience, and not try to copycat another, more popular game in the genre...

A challenging old-school dungeon crawler that rewards note-taking and experimentation.

Demon Lord Reincarnation is a traditional dungeon-crawler in the fantasy genre. The player must defeat the reincarnation of the titular Demon Lord with a party of adventurers recruited in the dungeon. Along the way, the player will need to carefully map their exploration through the dungeon, participate in turn-based tactical battles, and replace any unfortunate adventurers that should perish during the journey.

The gameplay mechanics of Demon Lord Reincarnation are relatively simple and straightforward. The player explores the Demon Lord's dungeon, recruiting adventurers who participate in turn-based battles and make use of unique skills to gain tactical advantages. Winning battles awards experience points which are used to increase the statistics of the individual party members, which will eventually make them powerful enough to challenge the Demon Lord. There isn't anything particularly novel about these mechanics, but they create a fun, streamlined experience that make it easy to jump into the game without needing to spend too much time deliberating on tactics or party customization. For those that like experimentation and discovery, there is a reasonable amount of hidden mechanics related to combat that can give curious players a significant tactical edge.

Each floor of the dungeon is navigated in the first-person, though scarce details and labyrinthine corridors necessitate the use of mapping out one's exploration using tools outside the game, like pencil on graph paper. This adds an additional element of interactivity, that is equal parts zen and exciting. Though this sounds contradictory, it's undeniably enjoyable in a way that many contemporary dungeon crawlers aren't able to capture.

There isn't much to say about aesthetics. The music and sound design are serviceable, and the first-person environments aren't very visually interesting. Noteworthy, however, are the character and enemy portraits - these gorgeous sprites paint pictures of both heroic adventurers and terrifying creatures that stimulate the imagination in spite of their basic 2-bit color.

Demon Lord Reincarnation pays homage to the dungeon crawlers of old while being a respectable bite-sized entry in the genre that stands on its own. I would recommend the game to both fans of old-school crawlers and anyone who has wanted to give one a try.

An inspired strategic and narrative experience from the mind of a true visionary. In short: a masterpiece.

Inscryption is a strategic roguelite cardgame that additionally incorporates elements of the traditional adventure game genre alongside an intriguing narrative with a dash of horror. The player engages in a tabletop-style card game where they collect and upgrade a deck of cards to participate in tactical battles in a series of levels, culminating in a difficult final encounter. Along the way, the player has the opportunity to learn more about their mysterious gaming partner and the environment in which they find themselves in.

The first thing that should be mentioned among Inscryption's many positive qualities is that it boasts both a narrative and meta-narrative that are exceptionally well-written. Secrets and intrigue abound that uncover important features and tactics about the card game, but also challenge the player's perception about the game itself. As the game progresses, these discoveries compound into a legendary paradigm shift that stands among the titans of video game narratives. It is of the utmost importance that this review stays vague when discussing the narrative elements of Inscryption, as they are meant to be witnessed firsthand with no prior context, and they deliver an incomparable experience.

Due to how core and intertwined the narrative is with the other gameplay elements of Inscryption, this review must continue to be vague when discussing them as well. The card-based gameplay is deeply tactical and satisfying to participate in, with a host of significant and somewhat randomized choices the player can make each run in order to maximize experimentation and replayability. Beyond the card game, there are curious interactable puzzles to solve which can add new features to the card game, and these puzzles blend in seamlessly with the rest of the game world.

There is much more about Inscryption to be praised; it is a beautiful symphony of every single aspect of game design, culminating in a truly unforgettable experience, and I wouldn't dare to spoil these elements for a prospective buyer. If you like card games in any capacity whatsoever, or if you like puzzle-based adventure games, or if you like groundbreaking narratives that push the boundaries of storytelling in games, do not pass on Inscryption - it is a masterpiece in all of those areas and more.

Frustrating, shallow, and uninspired mini-games and puzzles hold back an otherwise incredible creature battler RPG.

Coromon is a science fantasy creature collector role playing game. The player takes on the role of a newly-hired researcher with the goal of learning more about Coromon, a group of over 100 unique species of fantastical creatures. Finding themselves thrust into a globetrotting adventure, players can expect to collect a variety of creatures, customize their skills and party for strategic battle, and explore a variety of aesthetic environments... when they're not being forced to participate in horrendous mini-games or inane puzzles.

To start on a positive note, Coromon's creature collection and battle mechanics are among the best in the genre. There are a large variety of creatures to customize one's party with, and each creature family feels unique with their own distinct strengths and weaknesses. Creatures can memorize four skills to use in battle from lists of skills unique to each creature (adding more skills to their lists as they level up or use certain items) alongside a special passive or active trait. When considering skill and trait loadouts, there are thousands of combinations to choose from when customizing Coromon, creating deep, tactical depth. Battle mechanics are intuitive, though the in-game guides are also great at explaining mechanics in detail if the player doesn't completely grasp them at first. Also noteworthy is how reasonable it is to "retrain" aspects of your Coromon that are normally notoriously difficult in other creature collection games.

The art and music for Coromon is nothing short of exceptional. The game is illustrated with beautiful pixel art in every corner of the world of Velua, with animations that breathe life and personality into every creature and battle skill. The variety of tracks in Coromon is a pleasant surprise, with memorable musical themes throughout the experience. Composed by Davi Vasc, the combination of synthetic strings, brass, and even electric guitar alongside bright piano melodies creates a soundtrack that perfectly services the different moments of the game and becomes instantly nostalgic.

Unfortunately, this is where the positives for Coromon end. Though I typically restrain myself from using the first-person perspective and histrionic language in my reviews, I cannot understate how utterly detestable the narrative experience in Coromon is. While the writing of the narrative delivered via dialogue and worldbuilding is serviceable, the player character's participation in the game world's events manifests in unpolished out-of-genre gameplay, the inclusion of which feels utterly inane. For example, one chapter of the game's narrative involves infiltrating a palace in a desert country, and requires the player character to traverse a heavily-guarded barracks building without being spotted by enemy NPCs. Upon being noticed, a Coromon battle is not triggered - instead, the player gets a game over screen and must restart the segment from the last checkpoint they reached. This shallow "stealth" gameplay (and I am really reaching to use that term here) has no place in a creature battler RPG like Coromon. Though it may have been designed as a way to add variety to the game's narrative, it only served to make me miserable and desperately wish to get back to the main gameplay of Coromon. This is only one example of such an unenjoyable diversion, others include a more frustrating variation of the board game Mastermind and a series of mind-numbingly dull fetch quests in a snowy village, which felt like artifical time wasters as opposed to fun gameplay, and these side errands must be completed in order to progress through the game.

While I loved the aspects of Coromon that were related to the core promise of the game - creature collection and tactical battles - the amount of other nonsense in the game is so vast and frustrating that I was unable to complete the game. While I do not regret my purchase, and I believe that Coromon has made important strides for the future of the creature collector genre with its innovative mechanics, I cannot in good conscience recommend anyone to actually play this game, as I don't think they'd be having fun half the time.

An immersive an unique - though buggy and repetitive - tactical adventure.

Wartales is a low-fantasy turn-based tactical RPG with open-world exploration and light survival elements. The player manages a mercenary band and adventures across the various regions of a war-torn continent, finding fame and fortune along the way. Between small skirmishes and larger battles, the player will need to make sure the band earns enough food, wages, and resources to keep its fighters healthy, paid, and safe.

Combat in Wartales is deep and satisfying. There are a handful of different classes available to your adventurers, with each class having multiple specializations to further customize them. The unique skills and strengths of each unit create meaningful decisions when moving them on the battefield and engaging with enemies, whether that be through control-heavy melee attacks, powerful ranged attacks, or various support abilities. Although Wartales is relatively light when it comes to active abilities in combat, a unit's basic attack skill changes depending on what type of weapon they have equipped, leading to a large variety in tactical playstyles between even units of the same class. There is a moderate amount of enemy variety to keep things interesting for several hours of play between humans, animals, undead, and beastly monsters, though the variety does start to stagnate after completing a few regions in the game.

Speaking of regions, each of the seven regions in Wartales boast their own self-contained narratives that piece into the conflicts of the larger continent. Although these narratives are not particularly inspired, and there are very few interesting NPCs that stick around for longer than a few conversations, they provide enough variety from one another to keep things feeling different from region to region. For example, one region tasks your band with assisting in the solution of a refugee crisis, while another region recruits your adventurers to investigate an important political assassination. In all these narratives, players have the ability to make decisions that impact their outcomes, though these can feel somewhat hollow or unfulfilling since they don't impact the narratives of the other regions.

The light survival mechanics of Wartales are quite enjoyable, and add a lot of immersion to the experience of managing a mercenary band. Units can specialize professions such as blacksmithing, cooking, or mining to generate important resources for the squad outside of combat. Prioritizing basic necessities or equipment improvements, spending additional time to gather materials as the deadline for a quest approaches, or deciding which injured unit should get the last bottle of medicine that the party can afford are just a few of the important and meaningful decisions players will need to make as they travel the continent.

Although the core gameplay loop of Wartales is gripping enough to entertain for tens of hours, Wartales is at its best when it's introducing new locations or customization options to discover, such as the ancient ruins dungeons or quests that unlock rare weapons or new specializations. However, these eventually dry up before the game's narrative content, which can make finishing the last region or two feel like a chore. Additionally, it is not uncommon to encounter occasional frustrating bugs that may require the player to restart the game. In particular, in October 2023, I encountered (and reported) a bug that softlocked my game unless I reloaded a much earlier save, and at the time of writing this review, this bug unfortunately has not been fixed.

Despite its content that eventually overstays its welcome and occasional bugs, Wartales is a fantastic adventure that I would recommend to lovers of tactical RPGs - especially those that would rather flex their agency with meaningful choices instead of be beholden to some kind of sophomoric narrative.

A classic and nostalgic adventure, but fails to learn from the past's mistakes.

The End of Dyeus is a fantasy open world action adventure game reminiscent of classic titles from the NES and SNES era, but in a 3D environment. Players explore a world filled with a variety of enemies, treasures, and secrets in their quest to find the mysterious Dyeus.

The world design of Dyeus is quite strong. Immediately upon entering the game, the player has complete freedom to choose where they want to go, and there are plenty of incentives to stray from the main paths and explore. Almost no second of exploration is wasted as the world is jam-packed with various enemy camps or interesting geographical features that contain treasures or secret tidbits of lore. Many areas contain enemies that will be too difficult for the player to defeat at the start of the game, but as the player obtains better equipment, those areas become more manageable, offering a sense of progression in an otherwise completely open world.

Combat in Dyeus is extremely simple. In addition to basic movement, the player can attack or block... and that's it. There are a variety of weapons and accessories in the game that slightly change the player's approach to combat or give advantages against certain enemy types, but nothing that significantly shakes up the combat formula throughout the game. Even so, combat is fast and snappy enough to never feel too repetitive or tiresome, though it can make some enemies feel unfair due to fast attack patterns that are unblockable and don't have clear telegraphs.

Towards the last two-thirds of the game, Dyeus begins to suffer from two major flaws. The first is progression-related. Enemies start become so tough that only a specific shield can be used to block their attacks, and this shield is hidden in a red chest somewhere in the game world. Red chests contain powerful items in them, but require red keys to open them, which are also scattered around the world. It is entirely possible to open up the wrong red chests with the keys you find and be unable to progress in the game until you find another red key to open the specific red chest with the specific item you need inside. This system does not synergize with the openness of the world and leads to a frustrating feeling of being "stuck" in a game that otherwise gives the player a lot of freedom.

The second major flaw is that the last two bosses of the game are incredibly difficult and frustrating in ways that equipment upgrades don't really solve. One of these bosses is a flying enemy whose attack patterns become faster and leave the player less time to retaliate as its health decreases. Its AI also doesn't safeguard against starting these attacks in areas where the player has no time to dodge them, leading to frustrating experiences where the player is doomed to die no matter how well they've been fighting up to that point. There is a particular weapon that can be used to greatly help in this fight, but again, it is locked behind a red chest and very difficult to find, and it doesn't guarantee that the boss will play fair and not use its undodgeable attack patterns. The other boss has similarly frustrating attack patterns but is even faster, and the player's equipment selection is even more limited, requiring them to either abuse the world's geography in order to "cheese" the boss fight or simply get lucky that the boss doesn't use certain attacks.

A third, albeit more minor flaw, is that there are a lot of unexplained mechanics in The End of Dyeus. When acquiring a new piece of equipment, only an attack or defense value is shown to the player, but all of these pieces of equipment have hidden properties. A few of these properties are referenced by obscure hints in notes scattered around the world, but many of them are completely invisible. For example, there is a particular weapon that allows the player to damage the second boss through their thick armor, but this feature is unintuitive and not hinted at by any in-game means (that I could find, anyways).

The graphics and music are serviceable, and manage to create a variety of unique locations and moments. There is no dialogue, very little monologue, and no friendly NPCs (outside of silent shopkeepers), so narrative is extremely light, but this isn't particularly important for a game focused on exploration, which is what the game does best.

Although there's a lot to be enjoyed with The End of Dyeus, there are enough points of frustration that make it tough for me to recommend for most players. Still, old school gamers with a lot of resiliency for being lost (or who don't mind using walkthroughs to make sure they obtain the necessary progression items) will probably enjoy this game.

Deep, immersive, and extremely satisfying.

The interactive fiction genre, despite being one of the oldest genres of PC games, has always been a niche subgenre, but that's no reason to give Roadwarden a miss; it deserves a place in the mainstream. By combining RPG and survival mechanics, a vast and detailed world to explore, and an engaging open-ended narrative, Roadwarden solidifies itself as a gem of not just an often overlooked subgenre, but an incredible title in its own right.

The player controls a titular roadwarden - a half-adventurer, half-pathfinder tasked with securing the dangerous roadways of the northern peninsula, establishing alliances with the locals for your powerful merchant benefactors, and uncovering the land's painful and guarded history - all within a time limit before summer ends. Your character's background is customizable, including their motivations for becoming a roadwarden and the skills they learned from their previous endeavors, all of which has an impact on the way your character interacts with the world. As you journey through the peninsula, you'll have to make choices between acquiring resources for your own survival, helping the various tribes, and fulfilling your obligations to your bosses back in the city, and all of these choices affect the narrative in a significant way.

Roadwarden's writing is excellent. Descriptions of environments, characters, and situations are detailed without being monotonous or redundant, character dialogue overflows with personality, and exposition is kept to palatable amounts without being overwhelming. All characters feel individually distinct from each other while still sharing similar characteristics, such as their tribes or motivations. Conversations feel realistic and most characters react to information in a realistic way (unless they're hiding a secret that you don't know about yet).

Pixel art graphics teeter between the border of serviceable and fantastic. Environments and landscapes are beautifully detailed, but there is almost no character artwork, and the few times humans or animals do show up in the artwork, they look significantly less detailed and out of place. Maps of labyrinthine areas are both functional and artistic, as well as a clever lighting system that helps you keep track of your position while exploring. The sound work is phenomenal - almost every location has a unique music track accompanying it that helps differentiate one area from another, and atmospheric sound effects do an impressive job of intensifying the immersive feeling, regardless of what kind of environment you're in.

Where Roadwarden shines most of all is in the amount of agency the player has over the narrative. After a brief introduction scene, the player has full control over where they go and what they'd like to do. There is no "right order" to do things, and players will enjoy finding ways to efficiently explore or complete quests as they race against a time limit. There's also a moderate amount of enjoyment to be have in replaying the game; although major events don't change between playthroughs, different choices can be made during these events that can significantly affect the narrative, and it's possible to ally with different villages or make others your enemy to experience different perspectives of the story entirely.

Ultimately, Roadwarden confidently meets every expectation anyone could expect for an interactive fiction/RPG hybrid. I recommend this game to anyone who enjoys text-based adventures, and even people who normally don't, especially if they're looking for a world full of depth and player agency.

Simplistic nostalgia wrapped in a unique, stimulating world.

Reminiscent of the classic era of JRPGs, Franzen is a short narrative adventure featuring turn-based combat, a larger-than-life plot, and a dark, bizarre fantasy world featuring the signature strokes of the creative auteur Scumhead. While hardly groundbreaking, Franzen delivers an entertaining and immersive experience at a great pace.

The game tells the story of Franz and Lefsa, a married pair of technomancers studying the energy coming off a dark phenomenon known as the Scream. In classic JRPG fashion, a journey that starts with a simple errand soon expands into a globe-trotting adventure featuring powerful foes, unexplored locations, and volatile politics. The plot of the game is largely unremarkable, but the world-building and character interactions are detailed and realistic; character dialogues are kept brief but are overflowing with personality. The game is paced extremely well - although the entire game can be completed in 3 to 4 hours, each scene and level is packed with enough narrative depth to make a completely satisfying story.

Combat mechanics are extremely simple. Characters take turns in combat, and can take actions to attack, perform skills, use items, defend, or change their position on the battlefield, which causes them to deal/take more/less damage. Skills can be used to deal damage, heal damage, raise allied stats, inflict status effects, or remove status effects. As for customization, each character can be equipped with five pieces of equipment, all with very simple effects. There is also an elemental affinity system, but there are only a few elements with basic affinity interactions. There is no level up system, but items can be used to permanently raise the stats of your party. Despite this simplicity, it doesn't hinder the Franzen experience, but engages the player between story scenes.

The artwork in the world of Franzen is metallic, bleak, and in many cases, unnervingly creepy, but that's what's so charming about it. The Gigeresque monsters and allies encountered throughout the game are striking and solidify the unique feeling of the world. The soundtrack evokes nostalgic feelings of classic JRPG titles while still feeling fresh and inspired. The harmony between the character designs, environment art, and soundtrack create a feeling of immersion that can comfortably stand alongside JRPG masterpieces.

Overall, Franzen excels at its mission to provide a quick. unique, and entertaining adventure, though RPG veterans may be disappointed by the lack of depth in its combat system and character customization. I recommend Franzen to anyone who enjoys narrative RPGs and truly unique worlds.

Deep customization and fulfilling tactical battles overshadow a lacking narrative.

Symphony of War: the Nephilim Saga is a high fantasy turn-based tactical RPG in which the player controls an army of units as part of a military campaign. Each scenario in the campaign features different objectives for your squad to accomplish, which will require varied tactics and squad compositions, especially for players who are interested in completing optional challenges. In between scenarios, players can customize their squads by recruiting units, equipping them with artifacts, changing their classes, and investing in upgrades through a tech tree.

The greatest strength of Symphony of War comes from how deep its customization is. Instead of controlling individual units on the battlefield, Symphony of War puts the player in charge of several squads which are each composed of individual units. Squads will have different strengths and weaknesses depending on the type of units they contain. For example, a squad could be composed entirely of mages in order to shred through highly-armored opposing squads, agile light infantry in order to ambush foes in rough terrain, or a balance of different unit types to allow a squad to be capable in all situations. With over 15 different unit classes and a variety of way to further customize squads through artifacts which improve stats and bestow special effects, there are tons of ways to build squads and customize one's army. The only limitations are one's creativity and tactical prowess.

Overall, scenarios are not tactically difficult, but optional objectives and challenges allow players to customize the difficulty of their game. There's also extra settings that can adjust the difficulty of the game, such as permadeath for any of your units that should fall in battle. This makes Symphony of War a great game for both tactical veterans and casual players looking to try out the genre in a stress-free way. The enemy AI is very predictable, which is both a pro and a con; it allows the player to make better tactically-informed decisions by anticipating what opposing forces will do, but it also makes some scenarios stale, especially in the latter half of the game, where enemies play extremely defensively.

Narrative is Symphony of War's weakest point. Characters are relatively shallow, as are their relationships. A shoehorned romance system and optional unit conversations add little depth to gameplay and even less to the characters themselves. The plot is generic JRPG-like fare in which a chosen group of heroes must defeat a powerful evil force, and while there are some mildly interesting twists along the way, the cutscenes are overall nuisances that feel like extended loading screens before the next scenario. The artwork, music, and sound design are serviceable, but nothing special.

From a gameplay perspective, Symphony of War is a breakthrough in the fantasy turn-based tactical RPG genre and a must-play for any fans of similar games. Its customization options are unrivaled and I had so much fun spending hours in the army management menus customizing my perfect squads, and would highly recommend this to anyone who fantasizes about builds for characters in their RPGs or people who love watching their carefully-designed tactics execute on the battlefield.

Engaging narrative and character customization options held back by clunky combat and awful level design.

CODE VEIN is an action RPG where the player takes control of a custom-created Revenant - an undead human who needs to feed on living human blood in order to survive. The game boasts a wide variety of features, such as a fully voice-acted narrative, high-octane real-time combat, multitudes of options for customizing your character, and a wide variety of environments to explore, but only about half of these meet an acceptable standard of quality, making for a clunky and inconsistent experience.

Starting with the things the game does well, it must be noted that the character customization options in this game are phenomenal. An extremely detailed character creator allows players to design almost any type of human they can think of, and a plethora of costumes and accessories allow them to give their characters a unique sense of style. Throughout the game, players will acquire "blood codes" - combat archetypes through which new skills can be unlocked. By obtaining many blood codes, players can obtain a multitude of skills that result in thousands upon thousands of different ways to build their character's combat prowess, and the game makes it easy to change skills and stats at any time, encouraging experimentation.

Additionally, the game's narrative is interesting and manages to stay engaging throughout its ~25-hour main story, in spite of having a silent protagonist. The supporting characters are well-developed and have relatable struggles that they learn to overcome. The blocking and direction of the cutscenes are cinematic, and the voice actors' performances range from great to serviceable. Tons of lines of dialogue were recorded for the player's companions, who appropriately react to the player's actions during gameplay, deepening immersive feeling.

Although it's incredibly satisfying to experiment with different combat loadouts, the actual combat of CODE VEIN is pretty hit-or-miss. Players obtain "ichor" by landing basic attacks on enemies that they can later spend to unleash their powerful skills, which keep battles more interesting than they would be if players could spam their strongest skills all the time. However, enemies deal high damage, move quickly, and many of their attacks launch with breakneck speed and little wind-up, requiring the player to sometimes predict when to dodge in advance of an attack instead of reacting to an wind-up with a dodge, which creates a frustrating experience. Furthermore, many skills and actions the player can take during combat have significant animation locks, easily punished by the quick attacks from enemies, which can discourage the use of many interesting combat options the players have. With practice, players can circumvent these issues, but they create a steep learning curve that feels more irritating to climb than it does satisfying. The game is difficult in ways that aren't intuitive, and learning how to account for this is a long part of the process to "get good" at it.

The design of CODE VEIN's levels are, unfortunately, inexcusably terrible. Aesthetically speaking, most areas in CODE VEIN look aesthetically identical, save for some slight changes to the color palette between ruined cities or monochrome cathedrals. Many levels are very confusing to navigate; although there is a map that tracks the player's movement through a level to help them see where they've been and where they have yet to go, the map does a poor job at communicating vertical differences and there are often very few environmental details for players to use as landmarks as they navigate identical looking empty hallways and corridors. Enemy and trap placement are interesting at first, but quickly become repetitive and predictable due to how little differences there are between one level and the next (with a few exceptions).

There could be a fantastic game somewhere within CODE VEIN's programming, but unfortunately it's muddled by its desire to copycat the industry leader in the ARPG genre instead of standing on its own original ideas and mechanics. Overall, I enjoyed my time with CODE VEIN, but I probably wouldn't recommend it to most players; only to people who have a passion for dark, punishing ARPGs that allows them to look past the inconsistent combat and poor level design.