Recent reviews by MerlinCross

I'd actually suggest this game; when the game is firing on all cylinders, it's actually really fun if you can stand the slower combat it goes for.

Sadly, it's turned to PtW with some of the suits being stupidly power crept, hackers have no fear of getting bans, the servers are made of hardtack and gum.

AND two of those problems are going to stick around.

TLDR: Pick it up if you are a sucker for platformers or like small charming games, with a few bits and problems.


Cursed Crackers is a fun small(at first) platformer with a colorful cast of interesting characters that... hmmm..., well I like them. I suppose I should get this started.

Story/World/Characters: You play as Belle with her friend Chime to get your boyfriend Clyde back from an old friend/rival named Bonnie. During your trip you'll be able to interact with a number of side characters from funny, to annoying, to charming, and to.... wtf.

The side characters are hard to grade as they run the gauntlet of tropes and character types but there were only a few that I rolled my eyes at. Though some are only there as exposition or lore dumps. And the LORE is pretty wide but also pretty.... shallow? I should expand on that; The LORE and setting info is enough to fit into a pretty big RPG or Tactics RPG. But the amount of info that relates to what you're doing(Saving Clyde) and what you're allowed to experience is quite small in comparison.

This leads to the world being large, lived in, and believable but also making you feel a bit like a tourist. And with how wide the lore goes, it feels like they leave out a few parts that could be useful to point out rather than leaving the player making their own connections at best(Which is a good thing) or confused and lost at worst(Bad).

For what's there, the characters and story are serviceable and I grew to like Belle more as I watched her help the other characters in the world.

Gameplay/Mechanics - The meat of the game and probably why most people are playing it.

Cursed Crackers is a platformer, with pretty good controls and movement. The stupid amount of speed you can build up with slide jumps and the rhythm you can build up by going through the stage is actually quite fun once you get going. Speedruns of this game are giong to be a sight to see I can tell you that if you're into it.

For a normal player/runs; it's okay. Belle can run, jump, and slide her way through the game. Bouncing on enemies, objects and other devices to get around. Chime is used to attack, get coins, turn on switches and even do a double jump. The danger is in the fact Chime goes flying and you have to wait for him to come back or call him back to your side.

The stages are paced pretty well in their difficulty though the checkpoints are at times pretty long slogs to get through, about three or so rooms/screens away from each other. That doesn't sound too bad till you see what the ROOM wants of you. Though with Chime, some unlocks, and 3 hits till death, you can cheese parts of the game pretty easily. At times I've gotten past or towards areas in ways that leave me thinking "Was I supposed to be able to DO that?"

Speaking of damage tanking; you get three hits till death, a check point seems to give you 1 hit back. On death, you lose out on a portion of your coins like Shovel Knight. These coins are usually used for side quests so losing them isn't a huge issue, and you can try to pick them back up if you choose.

Bosses felt usually fair though there's a few bosses where the RNG is a bit too much or have instant deaths. I would be a bit more harsh but at time of writing they are listening to player feedback and are trying to fix them so I'd rather not spotlight problems I believe are currently being fixed. Just keep an eye out for patch notes about Golem, Harpy, and Bonnie boss fights. The only big problem is that sometimes its hard to tell if you're damaging a boss the 'right' way or not.

Side content - Besides going through the main quest to save Clyde, you can do side quests and collectibles.

Side quests usually involve collecting items out in the stages like hidden books, locked away blades, or the several different tokens you can get. Others will require you to play mailman between NPCS, though the interaction between them and Belle was amusing to me. At times the NPC will send you off to a rather hard platforming stage to get an item but that's not really any different from getting to the end of a leave, save for the challenge presented(Like an auto scroller or a jump/platform focused one).

Doing this content is key to unlocks as you can pick up different colors for Belle and Chime, different portraits for the starting screen, OR Abilities. Some of these can be eh or useful while others break the game over it's knee. Along with this, you can unlock new stages and challenges so it's always a good idea to go out of your way if something looks off.

Because that was the biggest thing I had with the game, just seeing what was around the corner or what they'd do next. Each zone or extra bit I unlocked was a moment of "The mad men really did this huh?". I can't speak too much on it as part of the fun is seeing it yourself but I kept asking myself during play "They really didn't need to go THIS HARD with what they put in the game, the mad lads". While I think I'm near the end of my own time with the game(about 10 hours maybe 12-15 if I keep going), just thinking 'ah I'm done' and then another layer is pulled back was.... refreshing to me.

Presentation - This is retro baby.

The game is great with it's presentation but only if you like pixel or 'old school' graphics. Honestly the game looks like something that could have been on Gameboy Color or Gameboy Advanced; and this is a good thing to point out. Everything looks crisp and colorful till you get to the darker muted stages that follow that washed out color palette as it should given the darker woods and ruins you're running through.

The music sounds great if perhaps a bit... tedious. The issue is that each world seems to have 1 main theme... just with a couple different remixes of them based on what part you're playing. Stages 1-3 share the same tune, 4-5 have a remix. With other sections getting their own different songs. While each one is entirely enjoyable, considering how long it can take to find all the hidden items or even get through some of the tougher stages, the chip tune can be a little grating for long periods.

One problem I did want to point out is the text. While I played on windowed and not full screen, the text at times was a little hard to read for dialogue.

Nitpicks
-Why do I have to sit through all the dialogue again when talking to NPCs?
-It can be a little tough to tell what is or isn't a platform at first, more so in areas that have background elements like pipes or ruins.
-Money is both largely useless... and a massive money sink for some of the NPC quests.
-Some of the unlocks could use better descriptions.
-While i'm one for secrets, at times I've stumbled into things that seemingly HAVE no purpose or possibly left over from testing the game. Some clarification as to WHAT or WHY things are there could help. Unless it's for DLC/Extra Content
-I have other nitpicks but some of that is lore/plot related but I will say this; it's not a deal breaker just minor 'wait.... hmmm' bits.

Final Words

Cursed Crackers; For Whom the Belle Toils is a solid indie title that knows what it wants to do; have fun. It's a great game by itself and with the huge world they've created, I look forward to seeing more of the story dealing with the Scales hopefully in another game, with or without Belle.

It's fast fun if you want, a pleasing exploration if you care, with a number of characters that I'm sure one will get a chuckle out of you. Are there problems? Sure but no game is perfect and none here are deal breakers. Does it stand up to other large giants in the space? No but you can clearly see them standing on said giant's shoulders and doing their own thing. Which is what Indie games should be.

Cursed Crackers; For Whom the Belle Toils gets probably my STRONGEST Stressed Recommendation and probably my Gem of the year. I haven't had such a huge grin on my face playing a game in years.

TLDR - Easier to get into now, still doesn't have a reason to keep you around. Not without a good discord group.


Launch Update - As of the Official Launch my stance hasn't changed, much. The game is easier to get into now, you're punished far less for bad builds or pacing in the first few minutes of the game letting you some leeway of testing or experimenting. The switch to three man teams is polarizing but a good one for newer players as Insert Early game here doesn't just ruin your day.

That said, the balance choices are odd(If hypercritical) favoring top pro play over average leading to some characters getting gutted while others remain pub stompers. Which is par for the course I suppose but the fact they haven't updated their net code at all leads to lags, desyncs and game breaking bugs.

I still think it has potentinal but until things are ironed out, it's still only enjoyable in short bursts, on call with friends, or simply playing the faster pased combat mode, Colbat Protocol.

At time of writing; Interesting fast pace take on Battle Royal, but complete disregard for new player learning and experience, cheaters, mishandled balance, and general lack of community make it a very hard sell. Keep on Radar to see it soar or crash and burn. It's gonna be interesting either way.

Addendum: June 22/2021 - Yeah no this game is still not worth it. It's all the bad parts of solo Moba and solo BR, complete with uninformed players, hackers, and elitists that will just go "k" when you bring up problems or say "Just play better".

I still think this game has promise but it's gonna take a LOT of cleaning up and too bad the devs are more concerned with putting in new characters than fixing issues.

Avoid or watch the dumpster fire.

*Warning - This was written for the Steam Summer Sales event 2019. As such this is a shorter less thought out review but I hope it gets the point across*

Pretty fun game but has some teething problems. The amount of paper work the game spoofs/mocks carries a bit into the game itself. How much fun you get is might be up to how much you can stand it or how well the dice gods favor you. Let me explain.

Void Bastards sees you as a Client(Prisoner) of a transport ship that's been damaged. You're sent out to gather supplies to repair certain systems in an ever increasing amount of paper work and protocol to start the FTL drive back up and leave. The weird nebula you're in has no limit to the amount of ships you can raid for supplies and the transport ship has about a Million clients so there's no rush.

FPS shooter there's not a whole lot to say. The goal is to get enough resources to make the parts needed for the FTL but said resources can go into upgrading your gear or making new ones. From a pistol to shotgun, LMG and energy rifle to an energy shield and robo kitty distraction tool. Each ship tasks you with getting supplies with each brand of ship focusing on different ones. The Hospital ships tend to carry more Bio resources and can even heal you while the cruise tend to have lots of clutter so large hauls but no real focus. Food and Fuel tend to be in demand as each movement uses 1 fuel and food or you can stay in place to eat and heal as your HP carries over.

Speaking of carrying over, it's possible for you to die. When this happens, the transport ship AI picks out another Client, gives them a random care package, and sends them on their way. Your arsenal and upgrades carry over but you might not start with bullets for your pistol, the AI giving you shotgun and LMG rounds instead. Your client also has different traits that hurt or help such as being a smoker that coughs alerting enemies or being able to run without making noise. These aren't game breaking but can alter how you play.

Each ship also has it's on rules, from the enemies you'll face to dangers. But due to the inside being randomized(The ships follow a same layout but the dangerous are randomly placed) this can feel cheap at times. Going into a ship that warns of fire hazards only to see all 3 exits from your starting point ON FIRE makes you wonder how badly the roll was. You CAN leave a ship at any time unless power failure or pirates have followed you on board, but still.

Enemies are varied enough and each one has their own weakness/tools to use against. Most guns/tools are pretty fun to use. Music is kinda... eh? Pretty good in the moment but doesn't really last post session. And there's a couple challenge modes/difficulty levels so there is some replay.

But the game is kinda grindy with how much you need to pick up and a death won't set you back but you'll be back in a more 'need to build up resources" spot as opposed to running and gunning like a madman. And after awhile the ships do feel pretty samey. Sometimes the dice rolls badly and you can't get a part because the ship is too dangerous. This means several more jumps to wait for another chance or grinding hard to build up resources to build the part. And while most the weapons are pretty fun, you're only allowed 1 of each(Gun, Indirect, Tool) and some are just... eh? The kitty bot has kinda bad pathing to the point it'll run back towards you. On the other side of the coin, the Zapper which stuns enemies feels WAY too useful to ever not use unless you're low on ammo.

I suggest the game though I can also see why some might not like it. Pick it up on sale if you have doubts but I did pick up Void Bastards full price and had a blast but I also had a very good run that saw me win on 1 client/life. So I didn't have too much restocking to do. DLC is in the pipe line and they are working on it with fixes so Void Bastards has a future so let's hope the feedback is put to good use and some issues get ironed out a bit.

Buy it.

TLDR: Decent indie with dreams of the stars. Only to crash with Tedium and not enough fuel(variety).

Let's get started.

StarCrawlers is... well you can see what it is if you scrolled all the way down here. It's a First Person dungeon crawling team building loot game. Played Wizardry, Might and Magic, or Etrian Odyssey? You have played StarCrawlers. Only it's set *Turns on EPIC Voice mod* IN SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!!! So instead of dungeons and caves, it's.... boring offices, astroid mining sites and factories. Eh credit to them.

I don't have too much to say on the Graphics and Sound. Decent but not enough I would say. Too few music clips and and sound bites, and the Dungeons are.... actually pretty nice. If you aren't doing the Random side Mission dungeons, which quickly become very bland and samey. Enemies also fall into this issue of Not enough. Bug, Big Bug, Small bot, flying bot, Big bot, and like 2 humans. You'll get pretty sick of seeing the same mooks again and again. Heck check the screen shots and vids. You'll fight basically nothing BUT that.

Gameplay is kinda interesting but also kinda falls short.
Pros:
- Your "stater" character gets to select some options that give you some extra stats or starting gear. Not ground breaking but nice to see.
- 8 Classes to pick from(only 7 can be your stater character). Lots of options to pick and build from.
- Visable enemies on the map
- Secrets rooms to find. At times your party comp can unlock new rooms such as hacking or breaking down a door
- Lots of gear to pick from with different effects, buffs, and upgrades.
- Side Missions and different Factions! Get gear and upgrades from the Factions as you do quests!

Cons:
- Oh dear god the combat takes so long.
- The Shield and Armor system makes certian weapons unviable for combat.
- Some builds and even characters are unviable as well. You can still clear content but between finding secrets and dealing damage, it might take you longer.
- Dear GOD you can break the game with a Hacker to the point of combat being far too easy. Takes time to set up though.
- Low enemy varitey makes it feel even more of a slog
- Randomed rewards mean you can be stuck with a lower teir weapon/armor that might keep up but having to toss away 20 armor to get something you want is...
- Secrets are either easy to find, or somewhat obtuse.
- Faction Grinding takes WAY too long.

EH?:
- Bugs. I haven't had many, usually sound or a graphics hicup, but I also won't pretend they don't exist. Milage may vary.
- While the grind for Factions is insane, it's not really required.
- You can find and get some really good accessories and gear for people, though that requires find all the pieces and getting to a spefic Dungeon/Ship/Biome and having a certian object there. Not required, but just annoying to have space taken up. Pass maybe?
- Story, it doesn't really grab my attention. You have to find out what happened to everyone on a Cruise Liner and I would have prefered that to be the main draw. But it quickly dumps power plays, glatical rule, backstabs and shadow ops along with pushing the limits of ethics when it comes to.... agh it's just a blur to me.


And that's probably the worst thing I can leave off on. It's just a blur. I can't recall too much about it other than the same goons in the same hallways and the same music. Just tedium and repeating the motions.

I can't Suggest StarCrawlers. Though I want to. It's a Dungeon Crawling game, an RPG in SPACE! You don't see many of those and want to support such ideas. But StarCrawlers just doesn't have enough to make it win it's Space race. I hate numbers just as much as most people, but Steam doesn't have a "Handwave - Eh" score. 5.5/10. Which mathmatically means, Slighty above average.

-Rogue Like with a number of RNG elements to mess you over.
-Scaling is horrible on enemies, leaving you rarely feeling stronger
-near endless reinforcments for bosses(20+) + Terrain makes bosses a gamble at times
-Still has a few bugs
-Very quickly can spiral into a loss with no control
-Have to do a lot of out of game research to know what's up.

..... Still here? Great. Get the game.

I'm serious. Everything you just read, STILL get the game. It's a blast! Name another game you can insult sheep to the point of breaking their spirit?

+Consistanct cartoony artstyle that fits the theme and local
+Music is pretty good(I like the area music more than battle)
+Lots of things to find, explore and do
+4 classes, 5 characters each, party of only 3; that's a lot of room to try out combos
+Outside of bosses, the battles flow by really fast letting you get back to exploring.
+They are continuing to update this.
+When things click, they really do just CLICK. Be it understanding or having an actually good run
+Contains a guy so pompous, you will slug your screen.

This, for as much flack as I gave it at the start of this, is very much a hidden gem. And I flack because I care.

What are you waiting for, those sheep aren't going to get sad on their own! Get to it Explorer!

I want to like this game. I do. I'm usually a fan of Rogue 'Likes" but this one. THIS ONE.

-Some Rooms outright rigged against you(Including one of the bosses)
-Hit detection is busted
-Which leads to being stunlocked to death
-Cheap does not equal 'fun diffuculty'
-Most upgrades won't help you
-Little to no progression leaves you feeling the same each run

Now there are pluses, a few of them

+Music pretty good
+Sprites are nice
+Some of the puns/guns/items are chukle worthy and fun to see

But this is just too much. You basically need a perfect run to get anywhere. There's a reason those kinds of rogue games are still DEAD to this day. Avoid, pick it up on sale for much cheaper, or grab something else. It's interesting that table flipping is included as feature, since that's the majority of what you as a player will be doing.