Recent reviews by Xaelon

Poker but cheating is encouraged.

Cleverly designed mechanics make for a compelling gameplay loop with dangerous amounts of "one more run" energy.

Channels the great feeling of fighting the odds and winning big. Great fun if you enjoy gambling but hate losing money.

Originally I got this game for free as part of a promo years ago. I recently bought it on Steam a few months ago because of how much I enjoyed it and the amazing OST.

This game is just fun. It's genuinely a joy to play. I don't really like platformers but I adore this game anyway. It's that solid of an experience.

Fun movement abilities, fantastic soundtrack, legitimately funny writing, smooth difficulty curve and plenty of well-placed checkpoints. With the exception of the rare more experimental "race" sections, this game is a consistent 10/10.

I don't know what else to say. This is my favorite retro-style platformer, right up there with Shovel Knight.

Buy it. It's a great game.

I'm hoping that buying this DLC will encourage Cygames to make more content or a paid expansion.

Sony's response to the last review bombing was to remove the game from 3 more countries bringing the total amount of banned countries to 180. Somewhere around half of the world cannot play this game simply because Sony flipped a switch. The game was sold in all the banned countries for months too.

Check steamDB and see for yourself: https://steamdb.info/sub/137730/history/

I used to play all the time with a buddy and now he just doesn't get to play anymore even though he bought it just like I did.

Everyone needs to change their reviews back to negative immediately.

I purchased this game 4 years ago, beat what content was available and then decided to wait for the various gamebreaking bugs to be fixed. This never happened as far as I can tell.

I return to the store page today because I see the game's gotten some kind of a large update. Except that it's a paid DLC. That's right, this game is still pretty broken and the developer is releasing paid DLC.

I guess they don't care about this game anymore. It's sad because I enjoyed the time I spent with this game but it seems like it'll always be a bug riddled mess.

I will be avoiding anything this developer releases in the future unless a lot of the problems with this title are fixed.

This game is fantastic. Looks great, sounds great and plays great. I've been waiting for this game for a LONG time and I would say Cygames has delivered on all counts. Thank you for taking the time to get everything right.

Gameplay-wise I would say this game sits somewhere between PSO2 and Monster Hunter. The game feels less rigid and more forgiving than Monster Hunter as you are free to use the dodge or guard button to cancel out of a lot of attacks. You also have dedicated buttons for your character's skills rather than the MH approach of making them combo based. A lot of characters also have parry or counter moves that reward skillful play in various ways. The game also employs a stagger system where you can create your own openings by staggering bosses and eventually stunning them for about 10 seconds or so. When you counter a boss into a stagger and then knock them into a stun? It feels SO goooood! The hit feedback in this game is so CRUNCHY. I love it SO much!

I found the story, while short (roughly 10-15 hours), to be very enjoyable thanks to the excellent, highly entertaining, very cinematic boss fights. The game doesn't end after you beat the story though. There's an additional post game story chapter with more bosses and more difficult versions of what you fought during the story and there's even harder stuff after you're done with that. All the while collecting stronger equipment and materials to upgrade your characters.

That's the other neat thing this game does. It gives you a roster of around 20 characters and lets you make a party of any 4 you want. They're also all playable, fully featured characters each with their own gimmicks and distinct playstyle. It was hard to choose what 4 characters to build first because every single one of them seems cool and interesting. The AI itself for your party members is also very good. I find myself getting outscored by the AI when I play badly. Coop and matchmaking is also available for non-story quests too if you'd rather run with other players instead.

There is also a complete lack of live service features, and micro-transactions. You pay once and get the whole game with no restrictions.

I fully believe this will go on to be one of the most fun ARPGs released this year. I hope Relink gets a big expansion because I am 100% willing to pay for more of this game.

It's good honestly. Palworld is very much a case of "greater than the sum of it's parts". You've probably seen all the individual features before but not put together in this way.

To get the obvious question out of the way, yes this game looks like Pokemon but that's where the similarity ends. The game is a survival sandbox with base building, automation and simple third person shooting wrapped up with compelling creature taming mechanic. There's no real story either. You can find little logs to read from other people that have visited the island but that's about it.

Pals serve two purposes in this game: they can work at a base or they can fight battles with you. That's not all though. Each Pal also has a special ability. Some act as mounts, have a special combat skill, or produce resources when they're at your base. It provides a heavy incentive to catch every new monster you see because chances are they're good for something. The creatures in this game also have randomized passive perks which adds further incentive to catch duplicates of stuff you already have since maybe it'll roll a nice set of perks.

The map itself is pretty nice too. It's big. Big enough that seeking out a ground and flying mount ASAP is pretty much required. It's a little bit on the empty side but there are little hidden things to be found. The eggs you find are particularly cool because sometimes they give you monsters you haven't seen yet.

EDIT:
I have a few more thoughts after beating the game. The BIG thing this game needs is the abilities to set work priorities in a menu. If they can add that and iron out the AI's pathfinding that will make managing your base MUCH more enjoyable. My least favorite part of the game was needing to visit each of my bases every in-game day or so to queue up more crafting and make sure no one one stuck. If they fix that I would have no gripes at all.

There's a very good reason why all the reviews for this game tell you play it blind and I agree with them. To share many details would spoil what is a very unique experience. I've never played anything quite like this game and I doubt you have either.

In this game you are an archaeologist. You fly your little spaceship between each of the solar system's very unique planets and explore them. The mysteries you find on each planet are the heart and soul of this game. Each planet and the secrets they hold are so cleverly designed it would be a crime to spoil any of them so I won't.

The game is 100% exploration and problem solving. No stats and no grinding. As long as you're ok with that you'll likely enjoy every minute of this game.

Just buy the game, dive in and let your curiosity drive you.

I didn't play this game during EA but I kinda wish I had because it's is really fun. The demo does a great job of letting you tinker with the game's foundation while also showing you where it goes.

Against the Storm reminds me of games like Oxygen Not Included or Factorio but very condensed. Instead of playing one colony for a 100+ hours you make a bunch of cities and only spend a few hours on each of them. That wouldn't be enough of a hook by itself but what buildings you have access to and the passives you end up with are random. That combined with a pretty constant stream of unlocks and meta-progression makes for a rather compelling experience assuming you enjoy logistics and resource management.

The random pieces the game hands you while you build each city are impressively well designed. At least one of every option I'm given is useful and enough challenges are doable with what I have. Finding the way forward is just a matter of pausing the game and considering the options I have. Coincidentally the moment when everything clicks into place also tends to be right when you win too. You get that nice feeling of satisfaction from having your system work well enough and then it's time to move on to the next city and start over.

The win condition for each settlement is simple: earn enough rep by any means necessary. The loss condition is also very simple: take too long without earning any rep and you lose. I normally despise being on the clock in games but I don't mind it in this game because earning more time is simple. It provides enough pressure to keep you on track but never feels unmanageable.

It's also got a great UI, good graphics and nice ambient music that changes based on what season it is.

I don't know what else to say. Everything about this game seems to be executed very well.

A great retro-styled dungeon crawler with robust SMT-style unit customization and combat. Just try the demo. It includes the entire first major dungeon and will give you an excellent idea of what kind of game this is.

If you're not familiar with SMT it works like this: you can recruit the monsters you fight, fuse them together to make new monsters or give their attacks to other party members. There aren't a lot of restrictions with what you can do with your units in this game and catching sleepers is simple enough. If you run into an encounter you don't have the tools to deal with all you have to do is head to the nearest terminal and find the right sleeper for the job.

All of the sleepers I have encountered so far have been nicely balanced with each area providing a steady influx of new units and new abilities.

It's got big dungeons each with a little gimmick to make them feel distinct, and lots of different units to collect and tinker with. Well worth the $10 if that sounds interesting to you. No need to take my word for it though. Try the demo instead.