Recent reviews by Murdy

Praise the devs and the publisher for bringing back the balance to the gaming universe! (along with few others)

Seriously - this is another example of what the gaming was and should be about.

Story - deep and very well written, i just love it. The beginning was very intense and moving

Gameplay and level design
- Instead off a huge open world, Expedition 33 uses a similar design as the old FF games and JRPGs, with several areas/zones connected via the central map.
- Single areas are more corridor-like in most cases, but with some secret areas to explore, shortcuts that could be opened and checkpoints where you can level up your stats and learn new skills.
- There are no maps for the zones, the only map you have is the map of The Continent (central area), so you have to rely on your own memory. But most zones are not so large that you could get lost easily :)
- A lot of skills to unlock via the skill trees, leveling up, attribute points distribution, weapon upgrades...classic RPG elements :)

Combat
- Well crafted mix of turn based and real-time combat, with active parry / dodge mechanics, elemental weakness system, skill chains etc.
- Some ppl may disagree, but i actually like the parrying and i won't say it's too hard (playing on normal, haven't tried the expert yet). If you struggle with parry timing, just try dodging, as it's way easier. But i like parrying much more :)

Graphics
- I love the overall game atmosphere, you can see that it's created with the love and passion
- The world is beautiful, with dreamy, almost abstract atmosphere. Some areas feels a little bit too bright and blurry, but i found the best settings with DLSS set to DLAA and post processing on epic.

Music
- Well crafted, the soundrack is just great and epic, it fits so well and it's creating an awesome atmosphere

Voice over
- (ENG, haven't tried French) - great job again, very well chosen cast, with some BIG names. Better than 90% of recent AAA production

Overall
- What a nice surprise! I haven't expected much, and i got one of the best and most atmospheric RPGs i ever played. For such a reasonable price, this is a no-brainer.

:)

*** Several edits made after the newest patch and more time i invested into the game ***
To be honest, i just bought this game because i was immediately attracted by the unique art.
And i must say that the Source of Madness is a very unique experience.

The art is just great. The game is dark and dreamy, just as the H. P. Lovecrafts world and books are.
Sounds and music are pretty good as well, as the overall flow of the Lovecraftian inspired world.

The enemies and combat:
The combat is as unique as the world design, but not only in a good way - and i think it needs some improvements to be more enjoyable, especially for the new players.
I understand that the slower combat is here for purpose, and i really like the movement and animations, with good old double jump and dash moves.
The combat itself is more about gaining advantage from your and enemy positions, using dashes to gain distance, and just like in DS series - don't be greedy. You have to have enough patience if you don't wana die fast.
On gamepad, you can move by left analog, while changing the spell direction with right analog (for some spells it's 360°, while some are only left 2 right) - this way, you can cast the spells in opposite direction you're running.
You can even cast 2 spells at one time, which is very effective considering you want to do max DPS.
Dash can provide a nice additional damage, some spells gives your dash a special effect, like fire bomb - with nice burn DoT, but it can damage yourself as well, so you have to use it wisely :)
Sometime it's hard to dash or avoid attacks, because of the confusing enemy movement, especially when you encounter multiple enemies at once.
Some enemies tends to blend with the environment, so you will find yourself confused in some cases, wondering if that thing in front of you is an enemy, part of environment, eventually a piece of another enemy you killed.
I have met enemies who went up to the highest roof or tower and it was really hard to kill them just because of it.
Sometime, you will have to put yourself at a disadvantage just because the enemy is stucked somewhere where you can't hit it.

DiffiCulty and Gameplay:
The game is hard. I found myself a little bit confused by overall combat flow and speed when i started. The learning curve is kind of high, but after few tries, my runs became much better, and not just because of the permanent upgrades i unlocked.
In the Source of Madness, you don't create your character and level it up. Instead of it, it comes with more unique "roguelite" system, when you have to choose a new Acolyte when you'll die, loosing all your items and gold, but you can keep all upgrades related to "skill trees" and you can keep your "souls", which makes unlocking of new classes and skills easier.
Permanent skill upgrades let you increase the ammount of healing flasks, ammount of dashes you can perform and lower it's cooldown, unlock new classes, starting items etc.
Every time you start the game, you have to start with new acolyte (one of the general unlocks let you choose from 3 different acolytes, with different stats and start items).
At the beginning, I found myself restarting the game often, just to "roll" the Acolyte with life drain/leech skill, which makes the HP management much easier. Now i'm rather using more DPS skills.
Speaking of HP management - the options to replenish your HP are very limited at the beginning. You have to unlock the healing flask through the skill tree, and the first unlock only gives you half a bottle. This, combined with sort of high damage enemies can do, kinda increases the diffiCulty - especially during your first tries. Good thing is, that HP (even healing flasks) replenish when you enter new zone (not the hidden / bonus areas) or boss area.
You can use the gold you collected to buy new equipment in shops (located in "combat zones"), which is really helpful, but just as gold, your items dissapear when you'll die.

Overall:
Despite some current cons, i can only recommend this game, just for the unique experience it is. I think that it will be only better, as the new content looks promising, but i hope that the combat will get some improvements as well :)

This is just the true hidden gem.
It's clearly made with passion and love for classic argade games of the last century.
Soundrack is great, pixelart is amazing, it's as so hard as games used to be that time and it overall has a perfect flow of that era.
There are so many references to an old arcade classics, so if you're oldschool gamer like me, who played the arcade machines and owned Amiga in 90's, you may recognize many familiar stage and enemy designs, it's kinda nostalgic :)

It's pure 10 out of 10 even for those who never played the old classics, for me it's 10+ :)

Big thumbs up!

Moc příjemnej mix Soulsborne her se stealth mechanikama a vynikajícím combatem. Je to tak trochu offline Dark Souls říznutý Tenchu.

Obtížnost hry je klasicky vyšší (jak už je u FromSoftware zvykem), level design opět parádní, průchod zónama a zabíjení trash enemies mi připadá díky stealth mechanikám jednodušší než u Dark Souls serie. Většinu nepřátel můžete zabít zákeřně zezadu nebo třeba ze střechy na kterou se vytáhnete pomocí grappling hooku. Boss fighty můžou bejt celkem drsný, některé údery je potřeba odrážet, jiným uhnout, nebo je přeskočit. U obtížnějších bossů se budete muset naučit jejich pohyby a comba, nicméně hra nevyžaduje ultrarychlý reakce a perfektní timing, spíš trpělivost a stejně jako ostatní Soulsborne hry pevný nervy :)

Příběh je tentokrát servírován víc přímočaře než jsme byli zvyklí z DS serie, opět má několik různých konců a je hlavní motivací pro NG+. Sekiro totiž nedisponuje tako jako DS různými typy zbraní ani buildy. Jako hlavní zbraň je zde pouze katana, stat upgradů jsou zde pouze 2 typy. Upgrady provádíte pomocí dvou speciálních itemů (Prayer Bead - dropuje z minibossů a dá se najít různě po světě většinou ve skrytých lokacích a Memory - drop z main bossů) - první zvyšuje Vitality (HP) a Posture (něco jako stamina v DS, ale jen pro deflection), pomocí Memory pak zvyšujete Attack power. Jediná variabilita je tedy v používání různých typů protéz.

Celkově je Sekiro skvělá hra s výborně zpracovaným světem, level designem a s vynikajícím combat systémem. Bohužel oproti DS serii nedisponuje takovou replayabilitou, někoho zamrzí i absence online / PvP, což mě zrovna u hry jako Sekiro vůbec nevadí.

Nioh was one of few exclusives which almost convinced me to buy PS4, so i'm really happy that i can play it on PC now. My rig is kinda mid/low (Intel Core i5-3470 + 4GB GTX 960) and game runs smoothly on it, no crashes or any issues experienced so far.

GAMEPLAY:
- Gamepad highly recommended, but there is mouse+KB patch on the way :)
- Nioh comes to PC in complete edition - with DLC's previously released on PS4. It is an action RPG mix, mainly inspired by Dark Souls series, with some elements of games like Onimusha, Ninja Gaiden and Witcher. Game has challenging difficulty, great atmosphere and well implemented RPG elements.
- There is no "open world" in Nioh, the world map is divided into regions, each with it's own set of missions, including main story missions, sub missions and twilight missions (harder versions of missions which unlocks during your progress and changes randomly). You can find some kind of training missions in Dojo section (some of these missions also unlocks several skills in skill tree). Once you'll complete one region story missions, you can move to next region.
- Every time you level up you can improve one of 8 stats, you can unlock skills for each type of weapon, ninjustsu and omnyo magic. Actually, there is so many different stats that it may be confusing at the beginning, but there is kinda help button, which allows you to display what each stat means.
- Combat is smooth, with lock-on target, good variability of styles and special skills for each weapon. You can choose one of many guardians to gain special bonuses and Living Weapon (kind of ultimate which charges when you kill enemies), you can use omnyo magic and ninjutsu to heal, buff, debuff enemy and improve your style. Boss fights are sometimes hard to beat and you'll may find yourself little bit frustrated when you'll die too many times, but overall Nioh is not kinda harder than DS series, sometimes it feels much easier :)
- Itemization - you can craft, upgrade, reforge (change item special effects) and remodel (change of equipment appearance) your equip, craft several tools, disassemble trash armors and weapons to gain materials and so on.

MULTIPLAYER:
- you can play missions in coop mode, later in the game you'll unlock clan battles, where you can join one of many clans and fight for glory points to help your side. You can play PvP battles, gain glory points through item donation, coop play or killing enemy revenants in missions. You can spend these points for equipment, items and transforamtions, which allows you to transform into one of many other characters.

OVERALL:
Nioh is great game with a lot of content, great atmosphere, smooth gameplay, great sound and good replay value. Recommended! :)

At first, i have to say that i'm playing this game with my gamepad (Xbox, Thrustmaster GPX lightback), which works just great, but if you don't have gamepad or you just don't like to play on it, you will not be happy with Toukiden 2.

This is just awesome "monster hunting" game. While Kiwami was more like MH clone with different setting and combat mechanics, Toukiden 2 feels more like mix of Kiwami, Way of the Samurai and sometimes i just feel some Dragon's Dogma flow.
Open World is great improvement, you can use portal stones to travel to distant bases (you have to discover 'em first), so you don't have to travel all the way every time. There is a day / night cycle, including tasks which only can be done in certain part of the day. Quest system has been also improved, now you can accept quests from ppl you meet in town or during your travels through open world.

PROS:
Story - very good imo, game is more story-driven than Kiwami.
Gameplay - monster hunting for materials and Mitama, crafting, equipment and Mitama boosting. There are "duty" tasks which leads you through story line, side quests, missions and more :)
Combat - imo much better than in Kiwami, Demon Hand (kind of grappling hook) is great improvement, bonus skills from Mitama as well. Thanks to Demon Hand mechanics, you can finally hit Oni upper parts even with long swords, hit flying Oni or just reach any target very fast. You can choose from 11 different types of weapons, each with it's own style.
Music - well, music is great, but you can hear many same tracks as in Kiwami
Graphics - seems a little bit outdated, but some sceneries looks very good, definitely better than Kiwami.
Voice acting - only Japanese, but really good

CONS:
Subtitles - sometimes you'll find that there are no subtitles for some audio lines, usually when your companions are chatting on the way, so it's nothing gamebreaking, but i'd just rather know what are they talking about .)
Settings - while you can set gfx settings in game main menu, you have to restart the game otherwise some settings as light shafts on/off won't work (so it's better to set it up in settings window before the game starts)
Controls - no mouse support (i never tried it, but that's what most negative reviews says)
Display - it does not support 4k (1920 x 1080 max, 60 fps cap - i don't care about this, but i think it's good to mention it for anyone who cares)

Overall: awesome story-driven monster hunting game, much better than it's predecessor.

This game is just awesome! :)

It's like a mix of of 2D RPG, metroidvania, fighting game and bullet hell with crafting and kinda "monster hunter" elements. I really like the art, it looks original and really fits to postapocalyptic world setting. It feels a little bit like Odins Sphere but with different setting and not so deep RPG elements.

Combat - well crafted. You can use double (even triple later) jumps, boosts and air boosts (kind of fast dashes, you can even improve it's distance or add homing through point investment). You can use swords, guns, broadswords (2h great swords combined with gun), shurikens (great fast and deadly weps), crossbows, combinations of 1-h sword and gun or dual swords. Also you are not limited to 1 weapon set, later in the game, you'll get skill which allows you to manage 2 different and switch them even in missions (combat).

Skills - you can manage 5 different skill sets, each with maximum of 200 points invested. You can improve your attacks, learn new abilities such as sword shield, homing boost, max air jump increase, you can raise your imunity to several efects such as burn, paralyze, freeze etc. up to 100%, increase your HP and stats and so on.

Craft - craft is really good, sometimes you need to grind to get rare materials, but it's not that bad since combat is really enjoyable. You can craft and upgrade weapons, armor, accessories and costumes (avatar armor and head gear with no stats / effect). Once you beat the game main missions and final boss, you can start with "endless" mission where you can gain some special materials and boost your weapons even more with extra stats.

Story - story is good - i mean like background story for this kind of game. Nothing epic with movies and tons of cutscenes, story of Earth's Dawn is about few pictures displayed and narrated simply by text and Japanese voice actors (very good imo).

Music - i really like it, great tracks

Overall: original action mix with really good combat system and great and original art. Gem! :)

I'll start with my specs and settings for Berserk, cos it actually looks good and run smooth even on my mid HW:
CPU: ivy i5 3470
GPU: GF 960 4GB
RAM: 16 GB
drive: SSD HyperX Fury 250 GB

Settings:
1920 x 1080 60Hz, Full Screen
Environment: LOW (this setting actually affects FPS and it's not so much visible)
Depth of Field: OFF (i just hate this effect in any game)
Light Shafts: OFF (game actually looks better with this setting off)
Radial Blur: OFF
Everything else: ON + MAX

Berserk is one of my favorite anime / manga, but i think that this game is enjoyable even if you don't know much about Berserk series at all, because you can enjoy the epic story even more. But Berserk manga and anime is just awesome, so you should definitely read & watch it :)

Gameplay is classic "musou" style (if you have no idea what it is, it's about killing hordes of enemies, capturing bases and completing several tasks during battles), if you know Dynasty Warriors series, One Piece Pirate Warriors, etc, it's pretty much about the same, so do not expect some kind of epic RPG experience, this is action hack&slash musou game with soft RPG elements. Single missions are filled and connected with story movies and imo it just works great.

PROS:
Story contains:
- Golden age Arc
- Black Swordsman Arc
- Conviction Arc
- The Hawk of the Millennium Empire Arc
...so it's dark, epic, full of blood, death, love and philosophy :D
Gameplay - smooth, action and brutal bloodbath musou game with soft RPG elements such as level up system, upgradeable equipment (3 slots for acessories), secondary weapons, armors and mounts unlockables
Music - great
Voice acting - only JPN, but top notch

CONS:
Mounted combat - it's not actually bad, but it's just kinda weird (imo mounts moves too fast and feels kinda "soft"), i'd like it more "heavy" :)
Lip sync - kinda inaccurate sometimes

MISC:
Controls - i'm using my gamepad (Thrustmaster GPX Lightback) and it works just great, you can remap buttons without any problem. But i have no idea how / if it's playable on keyboard, because many ppl says that there is no mouse support.
Boss Fights - some boss fights are incredibly annoying. Not impossible or extremely hard, but just annoying because of skill spam mechanics .)

Overall: great and bloody musou game with Berserk universe settings. Best Berserk game ever :)

Skvělá retro střílčka ve stylu oldschool "bullet hell" arkádovek. Hra je trochu repetitivní, chcete-li nasbírat všechny upgrady a cards, ale v kombinaci s perfektní ratelností, příjemnou grafikou a kvalitním soundtrckem je "grind" celkem v pohodě. Obtížnost je ideální, získání všech medailí základní obtížnosti vám odemkne "hard mode", podaří-li se vám získat všechny medaile i v hard modu, odemkne se obtížnost "insane", kde teprve začíná challenge :)
Pro každého kdo má rád shoot'em'up gamesky a rád se pobaví i nad jednoduchou arkádovkou můžu jedině doporučit. Hra navíc nabízí žebříček score, takže můžete porovnat svůj "skill" s ostatními, nebo se pokusit o nejvyšší score v pravidelných turnajích :)

I když možná HC fanoušky nepotěší, že je hra tak trochu mimo RE universum a kromě absence klasických postav přichází ve zcela novém FPS pojetí, mě tohle demo celkem mile překvapilo.

Atmosféra je hutná, občas jsem si připadal jak při hraní survival klasik jako Silent Hill a RE, tekovej ten pocit kdy by člověk nejradši zůstal zavřenej v pokoji a nikam se nehnul :)
Demo má několik různých konců, podle toho jak hrajete.
Je patrné že série se snaží vrátit k původnímu pojetí survival horror adventury (prohledávání místností, sbírání a používání různých předmětů, kombinování, atd.), alespoň podle dema to na žádný bullet fest zatím nevypadá, což může být pozitivní zpráva pro ty, komu se RE serie od 5. dílu zdála moc akční.

Nejlepší představu si ale myslím udělá každý sám, někomu to sedne jak prdel na hrnec, někdo nad tím ohrne nos, ale zkusit si to může každý zdarma :)