Recent reviews by Racke

In my Steam library, I have at least 10 great games that I haven't found the time to play yet and I am sure I'd love them - classics like Ori and the Blind Forest, Mark of the Ninja, also AAA titles like MK11 and Doom Eternal. All of those are taking a back seat because of this game.
This freaking game. This lovingly crafted 3$ gem. For one, everything is so well balanced that for such a small game, even at 30+ hours of gameplay there's still stuff to do, and runs still feel fun. You wanna unlock all the achievements, you wanna collect all the characters and powerups. You wanna kill freaking Death.
The other thing is, it is sprinkled with so many beautiful little touches - the secret characters and stages, the old school game references, the sometimes dumb jokes, the Italian names and puns (for the record I don't know any Italian but still really dig the whole vibe) - it all just feels very homey and nice. Also if you've got it during Early Access (which is still going on as I'm writing this), you get to follow the development of the game and really look forward to the next patch because it's gonna be actual new content.
In the end, it is so unpretentious that it just feels like a game, like it's 2000-something and I just got Abe's Oddysee on a CD or discovered a flash game on Kongregate that I love. I'm not losing hour-long matches to salty 12-year-olds, I'm not farming for resources until 5 AM, and I'm not looking at complex character build charts to follow the latest meta - I'm just playing a video game for myself and enjoying it. And in this moment in video game history, that feels like nothing short of a miracle.

A beautiful game, a huge immersive world where every little thing is thought through and interconnected. Many different unique areas brilliantly designed to connect to the puzzle theme of the area.

There is a prominent review which feels like the puzzles are all the same "line-and-grid" type, but I beg to differ - while there are areas with multiple puzzle screens (which I enjoyed a lot as well, even if it were just these I'd still find it worth my time), the line-and-grid premise I'd say just sets up a basic language the game will communicate with you. Most puzzle solutions will require you to actively think outside of the box and utilise the environment around you in a creative way.

All in all a 10/10 experience for me, still can't stop seeing lines and circles and patterns everywhere.

Titan Souls is a beautifully drawn and designed indie game, and for me it sits on the high shelf among my favourite indie titles I found on Steam such as Hotline Miami, Shovel Knight, Super Meat Boy, Towerfall Ascension, Rogue Legacy, Volgarr the Viking, La-Mulana...

The game is essentially a huge boss rush. Gameplay-wise, the mechanics are simple but polished to perfection - you have one arrow which you can shoot or pull back if it's lying on the ground. Besides that you can dodge-roll and run. This limited move-set is used very creatively in the many boss fights, and figuring out a new fight and its Titan's weak spot is an interesting challenge every time.
Pacing is pretty chill - you spawn, go to a boss room of your choice, and try to kill the Titan within. More often than not you fail, respawn and try again. I've seen a lot of criticism on account of having to walk back from the checkpoint to the boss room every time you die, but I had no problem with that. The walks really aren't long as some reviewers suggest, and I felt it actually made me take every attempt with a bit more gravity - rather than just insta-spawning and trying a million times, I had the time to go "ok, this is the one!" for every try on the Titan. I feel the game would lose a lot of its intended pace if you'd just spawn right back into the fight.

Speaking of the walks, aesthetically I find Titan Souls really really pretty. The whole game is essentially one huge interconnected world, broken down into a few smaller themed areas, each one containing 2-4 accordingly themed Titans. Via their names and visual cues, every Titan has an unspoken backstory, and the world-building the game does with almost no dialogue is very cool. Every fight also has an original musical theme, which are all great. When not fighting, you are accompanied by chill music while you're wandering around the ancient landscapes, and with touches of cryptic lore scattered around, the whole setting really feels epic.

Right now the game often goes on sale so if, like me, you've felt like this is a game you'd enjoy but never got around to picking it up, just do it - I'm sure it'll be worth your while!

A great example of a unique mechanic done exactly right. It has enough unlockables (levels, suits, challenges) to keep you hooked and spice things up, while not detering from the tight core gameplay. The music and the visuals are great, with emphasis on the design of the protagonist, who is rocking the coolest set of eyebrows I've ever seen in a game. A clean 10/10.

Probably my favourite game on Steam. The artwork, music, sound fx, level design, control layout and response, the difficulty - everything is brilliantly thought out and fits together perfectly. Love it.

Just finished it again. I cried all the way through "Still Alive".
This game easily transcends into art. It's just so good.

Beautifully drawn, exceptionally funny, and utterly enjoyable.
Also perfect for co-op. It's just a lot of fun.