Recent reviews by ScorpiusG

Memoir is a short, but pretty neat puzzle title. You will guide a deer-like child to solve puzzles by pushing each object to the right place. It starts out easy and straightforward, but it slowly introduces new mechanics to make later puzzles harder to solve. There's not much to say about the story because there is little to no context given in-game. Although, the peaceful music and environment sets the game's atmosphere rather nicely here.

If you like puzzle games, definitely give it a shot.

OneShot is an interesting puzzle/exploration game. You guide a child in this mysterious and dark world in which you (yes, you) have to cooperate with to learn about the world and solve its mysteries. It's hard to write this review as saying any further about it will likely result in spoilers. However, I can say that you'll need to pay attention to things you encounter along the way if you wish to see everything. I highly recommend this if you enjoy puzzles and exploration.

Also the child is adorable.
Praise the sun.

Murasaki is an obscure shmup that lets you shoot to activate shapes using either of the two characters available. Have the activated shapes touch others of the same shape to cause an explosion, damaging enemies and erasing bullets in the blast. (This mechanic is identical to the one in Irisu Syndrome because it is made by the same person.)

In addition, there is a deep story that you can uncover as you clear stages and fulfill achievement conditions. Beating all the stages is no easy task. Good luck.

Also the dialogue seems weirdly bugged (can't tell who's speaking at the right times in some parts), but this is not much of an issue as they're mostly short.

Such inspiration. :')

Branching Paths is a documentary movie about the indie game scene in Japan, starring names familiar and unfamiliar to everyone outside. It's pretty similar to Indie Game: The Movie, but with much more focus to game developers living in Japan.

I personally enjoyed the movie as a growing game dev myself, and I have no problems with it. Though; if there's a con you want me to name, it's Keiji Inafune... which is like 1% of the video. Still, it doesn't bother me that much.

If you're at least having some interest in how game devs in Japan role, then definitely get this and watch it in its entirety. HOWEVER: It's highly recommended to get the movie from Playism for a hassle-free downloadable-for-offline use, as buying it here on Steam only allows online video streaming.

Update (16th August 2015):
I'm changing this to Not Recommended for reasons explained below.

It seems that an update breaks the game, allowing you to shoot absurdly more bullets than you normally could. As a result, most bosses can be shot down in about half the time you're supposed to take (or even less depending on your shot type). Also for some reason, pressing certain buttons makes the character shoot in a specific direction instead of my desired direction. I'm not sure if it's due to the strafing settings (I chose the third one) or it's because I play the game with the gamepad/controller. Either way, this NEEDS to be fixed before I can recommend this game again.

Until these issues are patched out or someone can recommend a solution, I do not recommend getting this game. Sorry.

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ORIGINAL REVIEW (Recommended at the time):

Diadra Empty is an obscure and awesome free-roaming bullet hell shooter unlike most other games in the recent years.

The game allows you to use up to two different weapons to shoot stuff, in which you will even unlock more as you keep playing. You are also allowed to dash to be temporarily invincible to cover against most bullet waves and can be used as an attack. Should you get hit by an enemy or a bullet, there's a Defense mechanic where shields you from losing a life once until it recharges back to full. The game also has an upgrade system where you use up gathered coins to power up certain things such as your weapon shots or movement speed. You will definitely be playing this game more times not only to unlock more weapons to choose from but also to unlock other game modes (haven't tried them yet as of this review) and as well as more useful tips in the main menu. There are a few bugs here and there (Results Screen displaying incorrectly is one of them) but none of them affects the gameplay so far. Also, you should NEVER hit the Escape button if you play this game with your keyboard.

The soundtrack is also pretty good and it blends in with the game's atmosphere.

There's not much else I can say here and it's extremely hard for me to express the game in words. I'd recommend watching the trailer in the store page to see it for yourself (There are a few gameplay videos of this game on YouTube, but there's also a longplay of it by Rockin' Android if you're interested.). I don't know if there is a demo present, but you're free to explore around to find it. This game was on Steam Greenlight but there was no mentioning of the game's release for over a year. Thus, the game became obscured within the depths of Steam.

This review may be updated once I've play a couple more times in this game and/or something else happens here.

Freedom Planet is by far the best platformer I've touched in a long while and I personally love this to death. And while it does have the style of a Genesis game, it's NOT a Sonic ripoff by any means.

Using one of the three playable characters, the gameplay involves high-paced rushes and close-quarter combat. Each character has its unique skills and playstyle, with one being able to dash in mid-air while another can wall climb as examples. Each level has its own unique mechanic to use, and as well as its own boss that requires certain strategies for each character. The game also has four difficulty settings, with Casual and Easy for those into the story, and Normal and Hard for hardcore gamers.

Speaking of which and without spoiling too much, the story is actually pretty dark to the case that I would not recommend for those under 13 years of age, despite having the comical appearance. The voices are pretty good and well-suited for their respective characters (with Lilac's voice actor, Dawn, being the best).

Lastly, the soundtrack. It's AWESOME. Woofle has not only just made soundtracks for the game, he revises some of them to fit the game perfectly with the help of Strife and Blue Warrior, and it's freakin' great. (For the record, Woofle also made cool arrangements for Hitogata Happa and Bunny Must Die: Chelsea and the Seven Devils soundtracks.)

If you're thinking about getting this game, but not convinced of buying it, you can grab the demo on the official website. If you want the soundtrack, get the one on Bandcamp for top-quality soundtracks if you can. (Some of the tracks in the Steam DLC have a lower bitrate for those who care. Otherwise, it doesn't matter too much.)

No, please don't waste your time on this. Razor2 is a complete joke as compared to many better shooters you can grab in both the arcades and online.

Gameplay is very poor and unpolished as it gets repetitive, cheap (as in enemies coming in from behind unexpectedly), and boring (predictable and lame enemy patterns, and bosses take FOREVER to kill without appropriate weapons or upgrades).

Even as a fan of shooters (like me), it's still not worth it.

...I guess the ONLY possible reason for grabbing this is the orchestrated music, but still no. The music is so incredibly loud that you will not be able to notice over 50% of the sound effects in this game (voices included).

Long story short: Save your money for better shmups.

La-Mulana is an amazing exploration platformer that has many wonders and secrets for you to discover, and every discovery will take another step towards the goal. Unlike most other platformers, this one is more puzzle-based and anything else is skill-based (boss battles especially) making its challenges fair and possible.

I highly recommend this for platformer fans, but please bear in mind to watch the "Beginner's Guide" video or to read the manual before playing the game.

I'll definitely look forward to this game's sequel, because this game definitely deserves it because of how well it's made.