Recent reviews by Saurus

This game follows on from the original Crypt of the Necrodancer in story, but not gameplay. This is not Crypt of the Necrodancer 2 - this is an entirely new entity that wants to be treated as such.

If you are wanting a rhythm game, then you will not be disappointed. This game offers it all, from beginners new to rhythm games to sadistic rhythm masters; it offers intense challenges to those who seek it, but also guidance for those who want to enter the rhythm genre.

As for the game itself, I have some compliments and some suggestions.




Compliments:
-The game makes you feel like a rhythm King/Queen. The way the rhythm is presented in gameplay is not only smooth (as you'd expect in a precise-timing RHYTHM GAME) but it flows very well. I tell it with sincerity when I say that it feels like my fingers are dancing on my arrow keys to some of the official songs given.

-Each song slowly introduces the mechanics perfectly that it feels natural to encounter them in the story. After beating a boss, a new "enemy" is usually introduced in a very natural way.

-The boss fights are genuinely a lot of fun. Even if they are reserved for story mode only, I thought they were a very creative way to incorporate "bosses" into this rhythm game. Even playing them in hard mode first time around, learning the patterns was very possible and I enjoyed the learning process.

-The game progresses very naturally. The easiest enemies are introduced first, then the more complicated enemies are introduced later. It makes you feel like you are progressing as you are learning the core of the gameplay.

-Workshop support for custom songs is a no-brainer, but it deserves to be complimented nonetheless. The game would last a month tops with no custom songs, so I'm glad that it was thought of, even if it would be expected of such a game.

-No desyncs! Not once did a run into a desync between video and audio, any bugs, or anomalies whilst I played. This game is perfectly sound.




Suggestions:

-The story mode has strange difficulty spikes. I played through the campaign on "Hard" and found that I'd struggle for half a day one a single song, only to finally beat it and then blaze through the next two song without issue. It's less the BPM that are the issue and more the combination of monsters the game throws at you. Despite the game only having three different buttons to press, the way the monsters are presented can be downright confusing even in 50% speed practice mode.

-It would be nice to have a modifier that detects any missed combo and failed you. There is currently a modifier that auto-fails on any missed "perfect" note but not a step down where any note is accepted as long as it does not break combo. I'm currently trying to "full combo" all hard songs, and I don't mind if I get a "great" or "ok" on some of them.

-I need more of the minigames. There are two different variations - one for medium, and one for hard. The minigames, to say the least, are FUN. The Rhythm Heaven inspiration is not lost on me. Even the Space Channel 5 reference in the mole-dance minigame. As a Rhythm Heaven fan, I can only see these minigames used in an "Endless" mode or atleast, slowly progressing in difficulty. I was somewhat disappointed to find that there are no "impossible" difficulty minigames nor variations on replays of the minigames. Although the game's focus is on the Rifts, I would love to see some sort of implementation of the minigames into the workshop, Or atleast some sort of Endless mode for highscores. There is so much love that has gone into these and it would be a shame to see them locked behind a specific mode in the game that some players may never see if they chose to not play the story mode.

-The story is weak. Very weak. Crypt of the Necrodancer didn't have much lore to begin with, but if you are investing in creating a "Story Mode", then some expectations exist. With how many "Story" segments I saw as a I scrolled down upon loading up the "Story Mode", I expected there to be deeper interactions. At the end of the day, it's just Cadence running around and talking to characters from the previous game, doing a few songs, then saving them from a boss from the previous game.
In the game's favour, it is purely harmless. I did not buy this game for a story, I played it for the rhythm game. And that's exactly what I got. The gameplay is fantastic enough that I don't mind the lack of story in the "Story Mode"




Overall:

This game is fantastic. Worth the price, and worth the wait for release. I had eagerly awaited this game's arrival for quite a while, and I thought I had hyped myself up perhaps a little too much. But upon release, I had non-stop fun with the game. Even if you aren't familiar with the original "Crypt of the Necrodancer", you can have a lot of fun with this game.
Definitely worth picking up if you are a rhythm game fan.

What at first appeared to be a simple Unity asset swap game, ended up being quite an authentic and genuinely involved experience of the Backrooms. Thought went into this game. Whilst your first 10 minutes may make you think "What the hell did I get myself into it", give it just a bit more time. I played this with two other friends, and when the game got good, it got GOOD. We were invested in both the atmosphere and the puzzles.
For £4, it's not exactly a triple A experience, but for what I got, I was more than satisfied.

Intense and insanely satisfying to win

I thought I'd update my review after beating the game, so here it is:


---GAMEPLAY---
This is an XCOM game through and through. If you're familiar with either of the previous main entries, then you're familiar with this game's mechanics. However, there are new features which spice up the existing formula such as the new "Breach Mode" and an overhaul to the turn system, now doing it unit by unit rather than one team followed by the other. This highly diversifies the gameplay and brings an interesting new strategy on who to target. At first I thought this thinking would be overwhelming even for someone who has played both XCOM games, but I learnt how to use this information effectively surprisingly fast. Furthermore, the Breach Mode is pretty fun. Instead of the stealth mode you had in XCOM2 at the start of specific missions, that is now gone with each mission now starting with a breach. These breach points are interesting, but I feel are less intuitive than the stealth mechanic of lining all your units up in strategic positions ready on overwatch as units patrol. The breach points are randomly chosen with your choice coming from which door you want to enter with different risks and benefits. This can supply a small bit of strategy as you can use breach items to help your entry or have a specific unit go first if they have a buff. I found quickly though that a specific unit combo works well almost every time for breaches and it just comes down to where the enemies have decided to spawn, as you have no hindsight of that apart from a number indicator before you breach. It feels real to a breach, but it's not as fun as stealthing you way around enemies you can see. But, I do think it's still a great addition!


---STORY---
The story I believe takes a hit this time. Whilst it's hard to live up to the scale that was the human race going extinct in XCOM2, I believe more could have been done with the story as it feels lacking. The scope is much smaller, restricted to a single city which is not necessarily bad as the three main factions which take up a majority of game time each bring their own miniature storyline. I enjoyed these stories, but they never felt as impactful to the main story in any way. There are points where you may feel like the bad guy however, which was done pretty well. I actually got a bigger kick out of the extra dialogue randomly scattered throughout the game between squad mates, news reports and ads playing. They genuinely helped build the world and made it far more believable on how aliens and humans thrived in the past 5 years. Overall, the story felt a bit emptier, but XCOM's main storylines have never been as big as the stories you make up for your squad, so that's understandable.


---ATMOSPHERE---
I'll admit, I'm not a fan. If they added like, 10 more years onto the timeskip then it would make a bit more sense, but the atmosphere of Chimera Squad is weirdly upbeat retro. I know this is what they were going for and they nailed it on the head, but it doesn't feel very XCOM. The eerie nature and battlefields you played and experienced in both XCOM 1 and 2 is what made the series shine in my opinion. It wasn't just kicking alien butt, the music, lighting and battlefields reminded you that what they were doing was seriously f*cked up. It was almost a horror in that sense. Chimera Squad takes a completely different turn from the previous entries. The developers may have wanted a brighter tone for this game which is totally fine for new ideas and inspiration. Looking at depressing death and firefights for many years must wear you down, but it personally did not do it for me having a casual alien in jeans sell me stuff like literally nothing went down 5 years ago. The chatter between certain squad members can be unbearable however. The delivery is fine, but they are trying WAY too hard to make themselves sound fun and quirky. I'm looking at you, Terminal.


---VOICE ACTING---
Great delivery as ever, but why the hell do the aliens speak fluent English? Couldn't you have put a filter on their voice, it would have made them so much more unique. I eventually got over it, but when you compare your sectoid friend's voice to the raspy warning shouts from enemy sectoids after you shoot them, it just isn't close.


---OVERALL---
This game is great. It plays great, the story is alright, and the voice acting is good minus the uncanny voices the aliens have. It is definitely worth picking up if you're an XCOM fan, and absolutely worth picking up for the cheaper price. If you had to pick only one of the three main line XCOM games to play, however , I'd choose XCOM2.

Timeless game. I've played this one years back, all the way when you downloaded it from the website. Always love coming back to this game every once in a while

Such an amazingly unique and fun game. You could say that it was a lovechild of Minecraft and Left 4 Dead, but it's something more than that. This game is the product of an orgy consisting of good game elements

Best C&C game easily, if only there was another game in the series

Activated a bomb I had at the start of a new round, everyone blew up and all landed on spikes
10/10

Angry Russian Simulator
11/10

My family keeps talking about me getting a life
Still can't find that mod on the workshop