Recent reviews by RobLi

The basic gameplay is fun & the humor is great.
The grind is insane though. For any upgrade outside of a run after the very first level you need at least 3 successfull runs to unlock (10 cats for an unlock), later on it requires 35 successfull runs (150 cats for one upgrade). In total you need to hand in about 1.000 cats to unlock everything. Most of those need to have a completed run with specific conditions and you can only take 4 cats to a run. One run lasting sometimes over an hour. Not to mention the chance of some of the cats dying or losing the run and the cats entirely.

Controller controls are awful.
There are some bugs with a controller and also with the Steam Deck:
You need to exit to the main menu regularly to exit the zoomed in view of your house for example (due to which you cannot place any outside cats in your home, that are returning from a run for example or new strays). Button prompts also sometimes won't work.
For keyboard I would also prefer to be able to press the numbers for using abilities. Like 1 for basic attack and so on.

The game does not feel like it has a story or a real goal. Since you need to do so many runs to achieve external rewards, it becomes repetitive. The 8 biomes and their enemies are not enough. You are supposed to play this game for hundreds of hours and fight the same enemies over and over again.
I'm done now. My patience has run out.

In the end the price is way too high for the game. Maybe 15€ but not 30€. That's just greedy.

I refunded the game as it was not my cup of tea. Although I did like it and think it has potential.

What I am personally missing:
- lack of full controller support is my main issue (currently you move a cursor around with the controller which feels poorly optimised)
- no roguelite elements in terms of upgrades outside of runs (you do unlock new grillmasters to choose from, but there is no skill tree or anything similar). For me personally this is a must for me to like roguelike games. I need a sense of progression.
- the music tends to get annoying over time (I liked it at first and it fits the tone of the game perfectly though)

What I liked:
+ art style is consistent and nice
+ the gameplay loop is fun
+ could be a perfect game for the steam deck (if it gets official support and better controller controls) or a mobile device
+ technically well optimized (I encountered no bugs or crashes)

Verdict:
You can feel the game has a soul and is fairly priced for what you get. But in the end it simply wasn't for me.

It's an okay game.
Initially I was positively surprised by its gameplay and world design.
Unfortunately the gameplay becomes a bit repetitive over time.
Additionally, the characters and dialogues are rather poorly written and uninterestingly as is the story. There are some big plot twists I did enjoy (comparable to NIER AUTOMATA), but I often felt bored and wished for an option to skip every conversation quicker than the functionailty the game offers.

Good game with addicting game loop. Would have expected more specific skills in the end game, but on the other hand I'm glad it didnt overstay its welcome.

even worth the full price

The game is a mix of 2 extremes.
Whether you like it or not depends on your personal preferences.

The Good
+ excellent gameplay (both for aggressive open combat and also stealth, although it forces you to play a certain way sometimes)
+ world design is stunningly beautiful

The Bad
- story telling is very mediocre and predictable
- characters have little depth and are one dimensional (relationships feel forced, I didn't feel anything for or against the characters and simply did not care)
- the writing overall is boring, people don't have anything interesting to say (plus you can't skip the many cut scenes)
- the open world is full of tedious busy work (optional but still)

I did like the game and would recommend it to people who know what they are looking for and don't mind the bad. But I would not recommend it to anyone. I very much feel that it does have the potential to be much better.

great game. story wise not as good as the previous one and in terms of gameplay I would have hoped for more changes/variety compared to the previous title, but nevertheless an impressive game worth every dollar. Also very well optimised for PC.

Well optimized for PC and great game in terms of gameplay, story, writing and soundtrack.
I truly can't believe this game is already 7 years old. It's visually stunning.

it's just more of the same.

The Good
+ the core gameplay is pretty fun (same as previous game)
+ the world design is beautiful
+ the voice acting is solid
+ there is a difficulty system to choose from (apparently choosing your own difficulty is frowned upon these days for many developers - critically side-eyeing elden ring)

The Bad
- the story is mediocre
- the dialogue is boring and the characters are one dimensional and bland
- quest design feels very uninteresting (go from a to b and kill/collect c)
- the weapon system is unorganized, you have tons to choose from and one gets overwhelmed with the options (Tomb Raider 2013 is a great example for expanding the weapon arsenal without it feeling too much)
- the game requires tons of grinding
- it feels like ticking boxes off a list

Unfortunately this game is simply more of the same. All good aspects about the first game are good in this one and all bad/mediocre things about the first one are the same here again. While I liked the first game, standards changed over the last 8 years. Unfortunately the developers did not try and improve upon a then solid formula, but simply copied it. The end result is another open world busy work title that expects 60+ hours of your time doing the same over and over again.
If you liked the first title and want more of exactly the same, you will be pleased. For me this is not enough and I can't convince myself any longer that I'm not just keeping myself busy without any level of engagement.

Supported the game on kickstarter.
I love the idea of the game, about learning how to deal with grief. With its core message it reminds me of Spiritfarer.
While the artwork is nice although simplistic, the gameplay itself unfortunately is very repetitive. I wanted to give the game a real chance but it started to feel like tedious busy work quite quickly.