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While Yakuza 3 massively improved as a successor to the original Yakuza 2, it feels outdated, especially with the Kiwami treatment the first two games had. But it has some serious heart and contains a microcosm of the Yakuza series themes.

Yakuza 3 is honestly pretty skippable. While the story advances and some important stuff happens to characterize Kiryu further, it is self-contained, having no direct consequences.
Addressing the elephant in the room:
Yakuza 3 is the oldest "original" game on Steam. It is a remaster but not a remake. Many players start Yakuza 3 after having played Yakuza Kiwami 2. And this is the single largest time difference within the series between two chronological titles (on Steam):
Yakuza Kiwami 2 is a modern dragon engine game from 2017.
Yakuza 3 is PS3 title from 2009.
Ryu Ga Gotoku studios is a fast learner, and each entry improved massively in terms of quality. The exception is maybe Yakuza 6, as it was the first dragon engine to be released and shows clear signs of being rushed.
Yakuza 3 is the poster boy of the series for any growing pains.

Yakuza 3 has the single worst combat of any not remaked Yakuza. Enemies block too much, making battle too long to be enjoyable. Consider that damage in Yakuza 3 is relatively low: Most attacks are not impactful, leading to tiger drop and parry spam.
Even worse: Both skills have to be unlocked, and entire boss fights become unplayable without them.
I can not stress how underwhelming most boss fights are and how many random battles become a chore.
Improvable and unfinished is a theme that permeates all facets of Yakuza 3. Minigames are not working to such a degree that players have to cheese many activities to reach a win:
Billiard and darts are barely functional because of an oversensitivity bound to the right joystick. Do not even get me started on bowling. The margin of error is utterly ridiculous.
And mahjong...
Mahjong remained the same. Still, it pisses me off.
Even karaoke has some questionable design choices:
Why do new verses have instant button presses?

Yakuza 3 ties many of the themes together and showcases Kiryus softer side. His stoicism has become a famous quality of his character.
Yet Yakuza 3 shows him at his most vulnerable and directly ties it to interact with the orphans he is raising. It is controversial for Yakuza fans how much time Yakuza 3 "wastes" on these orphans.
I agree that they are annoying, especially on subsequent playthroughs. But when Yakuza 3 hits its respective highs, it sets the bar high.
And they are a part of it. Kiryu is a good guy who chose a bad hand.
Had he given up on being a Yakuza like was told him in the past, he would not have had to endure so many hardships.
But when does a human earn absolution?
Yakuza 3 has an answer to this problem:
It does not matter if someone has earned absolution.
One mistake can and sometimes will haunt your life and penetrate every aspect. There are only some moments we get to decide what kind of person we want to be.
Making Kiryu a vulnerable human is the single greatest achievement of Yakuza 3 and impossible to overstate.

Yakuza 3 is objectively a worse title than any other Yakuza title on Steam (as of writing this review in 2022), maybe even including Streets of Kamarucho.
But it contains story segments of the Yakuza series that have payoff unique to this game and makes me sincerely happy to have pushed through.

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Guilty Gear is janky, unfair, and fundamentally broken. There is nothing about this game that could justify a competitive scene. And the story contains some of the most ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ enemies in the history of fighting games.

So, you probably saw Guilty Gear Strive and the praise it received. And now you are wondering: maybe I should start the series at the beginning?
Yes, that sounds like a good idea.
It is not.
The Guilty Gear series is about the gameplay first, music and visuals second, and story last. Do not get me wrong: Guilty Gear has some decent lore that is incredibly fun to explore.
But even the developer of the game, ArcSystemWorks, realized that no one in their right mind should need to spend hours of their life playing old fighting games surpassed by newer titles.
Link to a great story summary series.
These videos were endorsed by ArcSystemWorks and have all the juicy lore you want, presented to you in a great format.
So there is no sensible reason to play the original Guilty Gear.

Well, I was not exactly telling the truth. There is one reason to play the original Guilty Gear: Being fundamentally broken makes the single player less of a fair fighter, but more of a cheese simulator.
Every fight is complete ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, the enemies input read and can block within milliseconds, yet this is the last remaining reason to play the original Guilty Gear:
Trying to find out what works in a game before over-sanitization
set in, and developers started to realize how to balance everything.
If no fight is fair, and you are supposed to lose in many scenarios, the victory becomes more fulfilling. Against the odds, with the back against the wall, Guilty Gear dares the player to try again and create their own ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ to counter the game until you finally beat it.
While the gameplay loop is monotonous and frustrating, it never feels like the game is unbeatable, just a little out of reach.
And when you finally beat these input reading, scum of the earth, spamming and hyper-armoring, frame perfect enemies, this is when Guilty Gear peaks, and you start to feel like a god.
Only to pick the next character and start getting trashed again.

A small selection of things that are wrong with the game and make it unviable for competitive play:
Instant-Kills are actual match-enders and "destroy" any fun for starting players
Most of the cast has at least one infinite combo
After losing 50% HP, supers do not cost meter
Justice and Potemkin are a menace to society
Potemkin completely sucks
You know what, watch this video

Terrible game, objectively broken mechanics, yet any enjoyment stems from that. You want to understand what design principles shaped the series in the future?
Then go for it, and try not to break your controller.

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Nier Replicant feels like a lesser version of everything that Automata did. While this is understandable for the remake of an older title within the same series, Nier Replicant feels dated despite being reworked.

Nier Replicant is the predecessor to Nier: Automata and is technically another sequel to the Drakengard series and was released originally on the PS3.
Nier Replicant is not only known as Nier Replicant, Nier Gestalt is Nier Replicant minus one change:
Square decided that (to appeal to a western audience), the main character is not a teenager but a father. The story is the same(except for some dialogue). Only Replicant got remade. Gestalt got lost in the annals of history.

Fundamentally, Nier Replicant sqrt(1.5) is a more polished version of the PS3 title with additional content and numerous changes, aiming to make the game less miserable:
Auto-Aiming, parries, fluid evasion, and quick-switching weapons are some of them. Elaborating more is unnecessary: Nier Replicant will not play better than that.
Additionally, the developers added some content that had to be cut in the past and created a new scenario that ties into Nier: Automata.
A true blessing as this is the best content in the whole game, by a fair margin. Words can not describe how much better the new content is than the old content. Sometimes the remake even breaks the immersion:
It feels like two games of different quality are being duct-taped together.

Nier Replicant is rotten to its core. A harsh statement, to be sure.
Justified, I dare say. While it is unfair to compare products, Nier Replicant and Automata share too many similarities. One can not get discussed without the other.
Nier Replicant lives and dies by its unique story, a strong cast of characters, and creative ideas. All of these qualities are "one-hit wonders". The moment a player knows what will happen, the game loses the majority of its appeal.
And Nier: Automata and Replicant share so many narratives beats that, after playing one of them, you will know what happens in the other.
Not because of covering the same story but because of a bankrupt idea vault, containing no new twists.
Replicant created, Automata refined.
Only one of them is fun to play, and it is not Replicant. Replicant is clunky, has boring and spongey enemies that are not challenging, and takes gimmicks for engaging fights. Even Platinum Games, the masters of hack and slash, were not able to salvage this ship.
After playing Nier Automata, Nier Replicant does not provide anything of worth.

Yoko Taro is a free spirit in terms of game design, this being his biggest strength while being his biggest weakness. This ambivalence becomes more apparent the longer you play any of his titles.
I have the theory that he wanted to make the game a chore to play, just like he did make Drakengard 1 feel bad, to invoke the feeling that killing is not fun. Replicant references multiple times how bothersome it is to help people and makes it intentionally tedious to get the message across.
A message that does not contain anything noteworthy. Maybe this is the point, but Nier Replicant creates anti-entertainment for a unique experience for a niche audience.

I can not recommend Nier Replicant for anyone. Just play Nier: Automata and never look back. While some qualities may draw you in, for your own enjoyment and sanity:
Just watch a walkthrough. You are not missing out on much.

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Final Fantasy III does hold up surprisingly well. While this version of the game is inferior in many aspects to the Pixel Remaster, it remains playable and even has some strong points.

Do you want to experience the roots of the Final Fantasy series, or do you want some classical JRPG action without the modern anime aesthetic?
If that is the case:
Final Fantasy III is a good choice, although not the best one. Final Fantasy V took many elements that Final Fantasy III has established, and improved massively upon them. Making FFV almost objectively the better game, but FF3 has some NES charm that can not be understated, and even carries into the 3D remake.

Nothing about FF3 is original nowadays, but it is the whole package of classical RPGs that FF3 provides. Most of the game is a great relaxing background activity and holds up so well. FF3 provides relatively short episodic scenarios, requiring the player's intervention to clear the overarching story.
FF3 is a pleasure to play through and infinitely better than FF2. I do think that FF1 still holds up better as it is just easier to play through and has a more coherent experience, but FF3 was by far the most ambitious of the NES trilogy, because of the job system.
While some jobs become obsolete, there is a decent challenge in trying new combinations, sometimes even for entire runs (Although I would not recommend it, FFV is also better in that regard).
There is honestly not much to say about FF3. It is a pretty basic turn-based JRPG before anime and Final Fantasy approximated each other.

A great video, if you do not want to read anymore.
So you have decided that you still want to play Final Fantasy III. This is understandable, but which version should you pick?
DS, Phone, PC, or the Pixel Remaster?
It is a trick question. The DS, phone, and PC versions are in terms of content identical. That makes it only about graphics and user input.
If you are not even interested in that, the question remains:
Pixel Remaster or 3D remake?
The Pixel Remaster is a somewhat dumbed-down version as the 3D remakes for Final Fantasy III and IV are notoriously harder than their SNES counterparts. If you are seeking a challenge, the 3D remake does provide it. I have to warn you though:
FF3 is also notorious for its final dungeon. Up until then, it's relatively smooth sailing. Most content in FF3 is clearable without risking a headache, and grinding stays minimalistic.
But the final dungeon is when this gets thrown out the window, and your hands become sweaty as you are probably risking multiple hours of progress and many levels as well as loot.
The Pixel Remaster is smooth sailing all around and tries to be more faithful gameplay-wise. I think the balance-related changes from the 3D remake are awesome, but the elephant in the room needs to be addressed:
The 3D remake is too slow.
Changing equipment, the victory screen, the battle animations:
Everything takes too long. And in a moment of utter degeneration Square Enix made this much worse. Changing a job (a regular act in FF3), makes the character weaker for up to ten battles. There was no reason for this change, and it sucks.
It did not need to be like this. Square Enix did not fix the port in that regard.
The Pixel Remaster is faster and has a better user experience all around.
Even the music in the remake is better, and discussion about the art style is about pure preference.
In short:
There are not many benefits to this version if you ignore the superficial characterization of the characters in the 3D remake. There is only one saving grace:
Additional content. Well, if it was good.
FF3 has, without exaggeration, the worst additional content of any Final Fantasy remake. The Iron Giant is contained within a minuscule dungeon, needs hours of grind to be beatable, and is not even fun to fight.
Last but not least, FF3 3D remake has the most time-intensive achievement in FF history:
Jack of All Trades
I spare you the specifics, but it requires leveling every job of every character to level 99. Reaching 100% in this version is magnitudes harder than obtaining 100% in the Pixel Remaster. It is a badge of honor and also madness. I do not recommend it if you are not looking for bragging rights.
It broke me.
To be honest:
If you are not in it for the challenge or to claim you obtained 100% in the hardest version of FF3, play through the Pixel Remaster.

I like FF3. It is a decent game. But do not play this version of FF3, if you are not in it for the bragging rights. The 3D remake of the game needs QOL changes which Square Enix will never provide. Settle for the Pixel Remaster and enjoy the experience. I beg you.

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Elden Ring is a good game and showcases FromSoftware at its best, but it is not their best product and falls flat at some points. Despite that: Not playing Elden Ring is somewhat of a crime as it indicates the next evolution step of the souls-like genre.

FromSoftware has made a lot of progress over time. The Souls series has been their magnum opus (sorry, "Armored Core" and "Kingsfield"), and up to this point, FromSoftware annihilated the competition. Nobody can make a souls-like on their level, and Elden Ring is the product of many years of hard labor as it was in production parallel to Sekiro.
And it shows:
Elden Ring is a well-thought-out game that combines many aspects of former titles. It built upon mechanics from every prior title and because of that Elden Ring feels like the complete package:
Great weapons, many secrets, bosses that pack a punch, and a lot more. If you have ever played a FromSoftware title, you know what you are getting:
A finished product without microtransaction and a lot of quality content.
Especially the amount of quality content is insane this time.
Elden Ring is easily bigger than each prior FromSoftware title and while some enemies get reused (example: there are 70 unique bosses and 170 boss battles),
Elden Ring always manages to surprise the player with a new idea.

FromSoftware games are often too tiring for many players, as there are two components to them: mechanical skill (the ability to dodge perfectly) and knowledge (knowing the elemental weaknesses of enemies and how to cheese or use mechanics against them). Learning takes time and becomes somewhat of a grind.
Elden Ring follows the path of Sekiro and Dark Souls 3 to be more mechanical focussed, yet it rarely becomes overbearing as many bosses have non-trivial abusable weaknesses. That makes 80% of the main story relatively doable, even if you are not the most skilled player.
Now, for the monumental change:
Open-World.
FromSoftware nailed their first open-world. Every place in Elden Ring provides a point of interest that makes exploration extremely rewarding. And any area the player visits has the potential to make the player more powerful and help them to beat the main story. Rewards create a natural incentive for exploration, but everything is achievable by "getting good". Elden Ring is probably the most beginner-friendly FromSoftware title because of that.

Elden Ring is not without problems. Currently, the game is in dire need of rebalancing for almost everything. Pure strength builds are terrible in PVE, magic is broken but not engaging to play, and Dex lacks weapon variety at the beginning of the game.
PVP is another hell hole:
Eclipse Shotel, one-shot magic, the Reduvius dual-wield, and some more builds are so cheesy that PVP is currently not fun to play.
Everything mentioned up to this point can be fixed. Change some numbers, make some things less obnoxious, and we set to enjoy hundreds of hours in Elden Ring.
This one is not so easy to fix:
The late game of Elden Ring does not feel good. FromSoftware approached the endgame with the idea to create their most difficult game yet, and it shows. Many enemies will start to need two hits with decent armor as armor is almost useless in Elden Ring (like in Bloodborne or Dark Souls 3).
And bosses can and will straight-up murder some builds with one hit.
Poise is useless and provides almost nothing. Too many enemies have hyper-armor on most of their attacks which are difficult to read as their telegraphing tries to bait you with delayed attacks.
What are "delayed attacks"?
A delayed attack is defined as the situation when the player sees the enemy starting to charge the attack, yet the enemy will hold the charge longer than the player expected or will even attack when the player begins to dodge pre-emptively. This technique is confusing, and can only be countered by exactly knowing the attack patterns of the enemy.
FromSoftware overused this technique this time around. Late in the game, even standard enemies will use delayed attacks and have so much hyper armor that fighting them is harder than fighting some bosses. I am not exaggerating.
The other change compared to former titles is that many enemies have long attack chains with only a few opportunities to strike in-between, making some bosses a lot more cinematic and impressive, although it costs interactivity. Almost every late-game boss in Elden Ring suffers from that, becoming somewhat unenjoyable over time.
Other problems have to be categorized as open-world problems:
A lot of the content becomes too trivial if the player does not clear dungeons, at an adequate time or the potential to miss out on many side-quests as many of them are missable.
Additionally, some assets get reused a lot and the small dungeons lack variety and feel like a chore if the player decides to clear them. Often the loot is not even worth it.

Elden Ring is a great game, but it is not perfect. It strikes a good balance between old elements, and the integration of open-world in the souls-formula is nothing less than impressive.
I do think that some things were lost:
Especially the final bosses, areas, and optional dungeons of Elden Ring were somewhat disappointing and felt off.
Elden Ring will undoubtedly be a game for the history books, solely some little hiccups kept it from becoming a masterpiece.

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Master Duel is a great way to experience Yugioh online, but it still lacks some basic functions that other freeware has. But it is the easiest to set up. Additionally, it will sustain a healthy player base as an official product.

This part is not about the card game, but how good it feels to play Yugioh on Master Duel. Yugioh is one of the most unbalanced and greediest card game of the big five (in ascending order):
Yugioh = Pokémon TCG = Hearthstone < Magic < Legends of Runterra.
The biggest benefit of Master Duel is that it is only a little more greedy than Legends of Runterra. Cards can be crafted via disenchantment and enchantment by using resources. That means that no pack is a waste.
Adding to this: The solo modus and leveling provide some decent cards which are great for building some first decks.
Yet there is a shadow to this:
If you build jank and waste your resources, you are in for a dark time. The only constant way to get more gems (for buying more packs) is to win ranked duels. A piece of advice:
Look up meta decks and make at least one of them. Even if they are hard to play, you at least got one decent farming deck then. Then, begin to build any other fun deck, you might imagine.
Also: Read about secret packs and how they work. Because it is important to not waste too many gems.

Well, it is the current master rule. This means that this version of Yugioh contains almost all cards and supports every rule of the physical card game.
Keep in mind:
Modern Yugioh is more similar to Solitaire than you might expect, and I can not stress enough that certain decks are just unbeatable in most circumstances. If you keep this in mind and enjoy this form of gameplay, Master Duel will keep you engaged and offers over 20 years of questionable card design and power creep.
Also, meta decks are rampant in ranked because it is just the best way to accumulate more gems. Future events may increase the incentive to not play a meta deck, but currently, this is unclear. If Duel Links is anything to go by, it will be "good enough" albeit grindy.

-Import decklists via codes
-Having separate queues for different formats
-The ability to disable animations (which are too long for pros)
-Making duel puzzles
-Tournament Mode
-Quick interaction mode (=using cards without clicks to confirm)

It is a fine version of Yugioh and it attracts a casual crowd. If Master Duel gets frequently updated, as there is no reason for Konami to not cash out on the booster packs this digital game sells, it will survive for a long time.
And if you are not a hardcore player and just want to enjoy some (relatively) casual rounds, this is the way to go.

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Turnip is a contemporary game that will age like milk. It only interests people who are overly attached to the current internet humor. This will no doubt not last longer than 5 years. 
But there is a worthwhile discussion to be had.
 
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is a “basic game” in the best way possible. It has been influenced by past puzzle adventure titles, which were very successful. Especially A Link to The Past and maybe a little of Portal blend into a good mix. Albeit, Turnip Boy comes a little short in terms of quality and quantity.
So if the gameplay is not the reason to play Turnip Boy what makes and breaks this title.
Look at the title
It is the jokes and presentation that add up to the charm. In a bygone era, flash games were the hot ♥♥♥♥ for a youth that did not want to spend money on games. And these games were made by people in a relatively short time. Flash games embraced (nowadays cringe) humor as a main selling point. Because humor does not cost money. And references are even cheaper as they do not need much brainpower to produce.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is the modern version of this.
Is that a merit?
To be honest: Yes, it is. Some players will connect with the references turnip boy is making. And having a decent laugh nowadays is difficult for some people. A personal tangent:
I also like to make ♥♥♥♥♥♥ jokes about different subjects. While they are lacking, some people can forget their daily worries and have a dumb smile.
Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is the master of this.

It does not leave much of an impression. Everything in this game gets presented really well, but it does feel like it does not support much or something good. Like somebody made the best slideshow about the interests of a subreddit. It may be funny, yet it probably only contains inside jokes which can not be explained. This is passable for a presentation if you know your audience. But for a game, it means that it will alienate a big audience.
Which is fine. Not every game should be made for anybody.
But this is the defining feature. It defines what makes Turnip Boy good. If this was taken away, only an empty shell of half-decent content would remain. And of course, this is unfair to say as many games have specific selling points. But Turnip Boy relies way too much on this single trait. 
While it is the reason for the success it had, the humor will age like milk.
And this makes it hard to recommend playing Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion. Just watching the highlights is good enough. I do not feel enriched after playing the game itself. 
Now keep in mind that Turnip Boy only lasts 3 hours and asks for 15 dollars (or 12,5 euros). I can go to a cinema and watch a great movie for that price. Turnip Boy just wants to punch too heavy for its price point.

Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion is not bad, far from it. But it is a contemporary game that will become an artifact of an era but will lose its audience over time. The longer the review stays up, the closer Turnip Boy will come to be an intangible experience for a general audience. 
But if you are that specific internet audience: It can be worth picking up.

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“Bloodstained is a good Metroidvania” would be the most fitting description I can use for this game. It does nothing outstandingly well, yet everything is polished enough to be considered above average.

The word Metroidvania is a combination of the originators (Metroid and Castlevania). Over time this genre has been popularized by Indie developers as the money needed to produce a Metroidvania is on the low side for a game.
But nothing never caught the mystique of the original titles and especially Castlevania Symphony of The Night and Super Metroid has become the platonic ideals and whenever a Metroidvania gets released, the first question is:
Is this game as good as one of them?
As of writing this review, Metroid Dread is going for a victory lap, yet Bloodstained was the first spiritual “sequel” by the maker of Castlevania Symphony of the Night: Koji Igarashi. While not the only responsible person, his name has been deeply connected with the word Metroidvania. As such a subcategory of Metroidvanias is called Igavania (Metroidvania that with a gothic theme, castle, and RPG mechanics). You are allowed to guess what specific genre Bloodstained belongs to.
In terms of criteria for an Igavania: Gothic theme and RPG mechanics. Yet I would say that this name was coined by marketing. Especially Bloodstained is something that “suffered” from superb reception, even at its conception. The Kickstarter campaign was extremely successful and instead of the targeted 500k goal, Bloodstained reached 5 million freedom dollars.
Spoiler: This does not show at every corner of Bloodstained.


Bloodstaineds greatest asset is the gameplay but it also lacks many problems.
The basic principle is that shards exist and they provide you powers. Every shard has a type and of every type one shard can be equipped. Almost every enemy drops its own unique shard.
This is insane and makes (as well as breaks) the game. Do you want to go for a magic build? Possible. Strength? Possible. Speed? Also possible. Multiple different weapon categories stand ready to be utilized and everything is more or less viable.
Where is the catch? It is too much and most things can not be used with reasonable effort. Shards have to be farmed and upgraded. Some shards are easier to be farmed and some are easier to be upgraded.
Sometimes shards are easy to be done for both. Of course, the attention-paying reader will realize:
Don’t I need only one shard?
Well, no. Shards become stronger, if you have more of them in your inventory, up to a maximum of 9. So you need to farm the shard multiple times and have to upgrade one single shard to the max.
This means that your first run will always be: Which shard can easily be farmed and maxed?
And after that most players will not go for a second run in New Game + which makes much of the toolbox useless. Bloodstained suffered from that approach because the game itself becomes unpolished over time: If everything needs to be viable but you do not have the time to make specific challenges for different builds. This means that most enemies become objects to be damaged rushed and smart approaches are unnecessary. If your build provides range and damage, you already reached perfection.

And this idea of creating much without depth is noteworthy at anything that is not the soundtrack (the OST slaps).
The visuals can be great yet sometimes the textures look like early PS2. The story has potential but it remains flat and uninteresting. The characters have great introductions but they are never given the time to properly develop. Duality is the name of the game, nothing can be in this game without being not polished.
Still: Throwing so many new things at the player at any moment is interesting and creates an adrenaline rush of exploration and curiosity: Any step is interesting and will be rewarded with something. Even something like a wall can be
It is difficult to express how good this part is and this makes Bloodstained a great game although it also stops it from reaching the status of a masterpiece.

Bloodstained is short of being a masterpiece because its ambition could not compete with its possibilities. Yet the experience is magical and provides exactly what (I) needed. The need and longing to visit the next corridor and find something new carries this game and makes it so good.
Everything else is neat and may become more relevant with the sequel.

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From the makers of God Eater: A decent enough souls-like that does not many new things, but more often succeeds with the new ideas, but also fails to deliver on the fundamentals.
If you really need your souls-like infusion and do not mind anime, Code Vein can be a decent experience.


At this point, everyone knows the Souls formula:
The player has limited healing and needs to conquer areas, from checkpoint to checkpoint, finally reaching a boss that claps the player.

Not only scarring physically but also mentally. After a cycle of repeatedly dying and getting good, the player succeeds and repeats these actions in the following area.
There is nothing wrong with a simplistic loop, but it is the execution that is relevant.


Code Vein is a lot more conventional in terms of storytelling and lore implications than Dark Souls. There is nothing wrong with this approach, but it suffers from the usual anime tropes: overbearing dialogue, lack of subtle changes, and oversexualized designs.

Especially the last one overstays its welcome:
There is a definitive horniness to everything. Especially the chest area of female characters has been hit with the enlarge button and jiggle physics. These prove that in the Code Vein-universe five fundamental forces exist.

If you like these visual aspects (or at least they do not bother you), Code Vein looks alright:
Most areas use the same assets repeatedly, but every place has a relatively distinctive identity. Traversing anything in Code Vein is boring because of that. Nothing catches the eye. At least the music is pretty good and keeps the spirits up while mostly nothing happens.

There is an argument to be made that the characters are somewhat of a saving grace. While their arcs are not unique, some of their stories were gracefully subverted. It is just a slog to get the whole picture because the presentation of any character's past is too slow.
At least they are very distinctive in their designs which is one of the strong suits. Argue with modern anime design all you want, often modern anime characters are visually extremely memorable.

Last but not least: I have to applaud the character creator.
It is indeed the true final boss of any player. This makes Fashion Vain a viable option and maybe generates 20% of the player's interest.


Code Vein is conventional in its level design. While a linear approach works, CV does not utilize strengths and adds to this the unpopular Dark Souls 2 popularized idea of spamming enemies against you in ambushes.

Code Vein Does not support this approach with varied enemies. They feel and are similar in design, killing the variation in the process. As a result: encounters are just pretty bland. None of them create memorable scenarios that require brainpower to solve. I consider most areas filler to test your tools.
Some levels even become obnoxious and are frustrating mazes that are long stretches of the same corridor.

The weapon sandbox of Code Vein is impressive as there are three things to consider:
Multiple blood codes exist that contain abilities that can be mastered and then used with other blood codes. Blood codes decide the stats of the protagonist because the player does not level individual stats. That means the player can use any build at any time, just by switching the blood code.

The equipment decides the style of the actual gameplay. There is not much to say here. It is remarkable in one aspect: Armor is relevant for the drain, parry, and backstep animations.
The equipment provides perfect synergies with particular blood cores. Complete freedom does not exist but testing out what works is fun while it lasts.

Code Vein generates the most fun when it lets the player run wild, but this fun gets blocked by longwinded and arduous unlocking of skills which takes the momentum out of the game.
The other problem is that Code Vein lacks the polish of the Souls series in terms of sound design and the feel of weapons. There is no real impact to any action which cheapens that effect and personal satisfaction.

Code Vein often stops itself from becoming a great experience by sabotaging its own strengths while lacking polish around the Souls-basics. If there ever is a Code Vein 2, I hope that the responsible studio learned from their mistakes. If that happens, Code Vein 2 could become a great game.

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OneJump is based on a good concept but falls short in terms of execution. It just lacks the necessary polish and does nothing good enough to justify playing it.

OneJump is extremely simple and easy to understand. You move a block to the left or right on a line and have to hit targets via jumping. A jump that does not connect with a target will end the current run. Later on, obstacles will start to fall randomly, and hitting them also equals death.
The general concept is excellent and works well. There are two relevant modes:
Infinite Runs that center around high scores
VS Mode against other real players
First of which is the most relevant. A skill difference in such a game is constant and nigh impossible to overcome because it needs practice and luck. This makes the VS Mode more or less obsolete.

The game has some glaring problems. The first one is that the Infinite Runs are boring to play through as restarting runs wastes a lot of time. The first two stages are too easy and have no real engagement to offer. But at first, they will dominate the time invested in the game.
The higher stages also are way too hard. While the skill curve is steep, the jump from stage six to stage seven is a ridiculous roadblock. At this point, I lost interest.
Another terrible problem is that blocks (bad and good) spawn randomly. This makes it possible to instantly die from a bad block that spawned at an unlucky place.
There are some neat tricks to learn. An example is that good blocks offer protection from bad blocks. Another one is that no new waves of bad block can spawn if the current wave has not run its course.
There is nothing more to learn.

The music is just a little too much. I understand that generic tunes have to be used for such a "small" game. Yet the soundtrack does not feel fitting.
In terms of bugs, I encountered some, but they were not game-breaking. OneJump still lacks the polish I would hope a focussed experience like this would have though.

OneJump does too little to be actually a game worth playing. While the premise holds potential, OneJump can not deliver on it. It lacks the selling point and reason why I would play it over any other arcade game.

Първоначално публикувано от author:

As of now, meme curators dominate Steam. So consider following me for reviews that actually cost me some time (and effort) to create. I don't think this will change much, but the majority of my readers are not followers. I am still going to pump my heart into these reviews.
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