Recent reviews by Pinballwiz45b

Gifted from a friend.

A very worthy sequel to the first game; this has some familiar mechanics taken from the first, but gameplay-wise, you can tell Supergiant has done their homework on what they can improve from an already excellent formula. Many new combat mechanics, different resources, and plenty more to discover breaking into Tartarus, and that's just scraping the surface.

Death to Chronos.

Tetris at its core, right? Sure, there's Marathon play in this like many other Tetris games available, using standard rotation rules, but that's about all this game has in common.

TGM4, and overall, the TGM series, is NOT your ordinary game of Tetris. It runs a level and rotation rule separate from standard guidelines, and throws in unique twists at higher levels of play. Speeds will increment very quickly within your first few minutes -- this game truly tests your stacking and speed. The TGM series of games, since 1998, was mostly exclusive to arcades in Japan, until now, with ports to PS4/Switch and a brand new installment breaking that trend.

There are several other modes, some not for the faint of heart. Konoha is fairly easy with big pieces and recognizing full clears; Asuka and Master are reserved for the top players. There's also an in-game textbook where you can learn how all the controls and rotations work.

$35 looks steep at first, but as someone who's looked forward to a TGM release on Steam for around a decade, I knew I had to take the leap. There were issues at launch, but ARIKA has been especially responsive over the past week. Even if I only have a couple hours in as of writing, I got my first 999 clear. I look forward to improvements in my play -- hungry for more.

Forced to purchase this through the Platinum Pack, and disabling this DLC is redundant.

The reward tables aren't inherently bad, but it's money wasted if you wind up being a great player and unlock these games on your own.

New bugs and issues are now appearing in the latest set of Age of Pinball tables (3/27/2025: Developers pulled through. I'M FREE!).

Zaccaria is removing achievements from Steam -- HOWEVER, they're moved to the backend, and Reward tables can still be earned this way. They are using an in-game leaderboard tracker for this, so it retains your highest earned in-game, and you don't lose your earned tables.

Much the same as Babylon and Zombie Pinball, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but with the added frustration of inconsistent achievement unlocks. I have accomplished all of the requirements that I've still yet to unlock -- Epsilon, Zeta, Easier, and Kill Them All, but they are VERY conditional or inefficiently programmed.

A criminally underrated set of originals -- especially considering the old FX3-style physics are yet to be applied. Once this gets the FX3 physics model, I highly urge everyone voting this down to take another look.

Samurai's Vengeance looks similar to Champion Pub at first glance, but Zoltan Hegyi's unique scoring system paves way to some of his future designs, and the battles here feel very satisfying to finish. Increasing skill levels can be a big help, so long as surviving is a key factor.

Verne's Mysterious Island (not to be confused with Fantastic Journey, with similar inspirations) has you taking on Lincoln Island itself, completely based on the novel. The tight layout adds to the difficulty, but rules knowledge around collecting resources, crafting tools, and accessing/clearing modes are keys to victory.

A mix-and-match between Peggle and Slay the Spire,, but it plays really well for what it is. There is some variety involved with each of the four characters, plus the combinations of orbs that can be utilized throughout the run, Cruciball (Ascension) mechanics, and relics that can help (or sometimes hinder) the run.

It's a good game for sure, but some achievements depend a little more on luck and may not be reliable to find every single run. I've yet to delve deeper into Cruciball and much of the base levels are easy to deal with, so I'll need more time on this before providing an updated review.

Released in December 2018, all commitments are not fulfilled within a reasonable timeframe. The following are still not available as of November 26, 2024:

Board Pack 3 (Coming Soon)
Classic Pack (Coming Soon)
Memorial Pack (Coming Soon)
Exclusive Season Pass Content (Coming Soon)
Get access to ongoing exclusive bonus content only available with the season pass (TBA).

Steam's new Season Pass DLC rules apply as of November 20, 2024 -- DO NOT get this DLC by itself.

2/26/2025: THEY FIXED FUNHOUSE AND BRIDE! There are lingering audio issues, but those pale compared to the below. Get those billions!

Just for context from the original issue below: They're both the same picture.

https://www.twitch.tv/pinballwiz45b/clip/WimpySpotlessSquirrelPJSalt-gdENkZFRX7JD3Bk5

ORIGINAL: Mixed at this moment in time. FunHouse's Million Plus issue led the way to a botched emulation on this table, where the heartbeat sound is spammed and the Big Wheel is inaccessible, on the occasion that it happens. There are workarounds to get out of this, but neither tilting out, nor draining and getting a ball to the plunger lane, are ideal cases -- both lead to square one of getting back into multiball.

The game plays really well, otherwise. If you know how to deal with this issue and finish a game with the above conditions, by all means, go for it. Otherwise, tread with caution. I will provide an updated review once the above gets resolved.

More details provided on this link below:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1IM-9pAu08m0zmdPUETCnqluRcLUtkqF0Gvg_pinjk-s/edit?tab=t.0

There is much of the same Demon's Tilt experience here in XENOTILT, but with newly added features and action in the game, you'll easily tell the developers learned from their first game. XENOTILT is even more chaotic, and the EX minigames do not disappoint at all. The new Crisis mode puts a new spin on the game, and the Sudden Death barrier warrants wise play as it slowly ascends at the tail end of the run.

I'll definitely be putting more hours into this; hopefully will end up scoring into the trillions.

Purchased this game 11 years ago, never really got the hang of platforming mechanics after reaching the Hospital/Chapter 2, and especially after unlocking the first Glitch level. Never got further after 5 hours of play.

Fast forward to today, started going through my backlog. I have a much better appreciation for this game and learning as much of what this game has to offer. This is after I started speedrunning Pac-Man World 2, playing many more platformer-based games in general, and becoming the Boshy.

17 hours later, I've unlocked about 80% of the game, nearly finished with the Dark World set of levels. This includes recently unlocking The Kid (thanks, Boshy!), finishing "The End" light world, and receiving 70+ bandages. This game gets very challenging, but patience and perseverance, are two of the many things needed to succeed in this game. Each level clear remains just as satisfying as the ones before.