Recent reviews by Cruncho

Change this name to Seratonin cause my brain was poppin off

Lies of P is my favorite game that's come out within the past year. It's by no means perfect, but takes the perfect parry emphasis of Sekiro and throws it into a souls-RPG system with really cool weapons and a beautiful, underrepresented aesthetic to boot.

Mechanics that stand out:
-Recharging your health pot when you are out by dealing damage
-Mix and match weapons (blade gives you size and damage type, handle gives you moveset and scaling)
-Fable Arts - Special weapon abilities bound to blade or handle, Similar to Elden Ring's Ashes of War but you get two
-Stagger/Fatal attack mechanic is very fun
-Armor is boiled down into a couple of equip slots which leaves you to fashion it up without worrying about stats
-I love the setting of this game

A couple of small pain points:
-Leveling needs to be done in the hub location, you can't do it at the checkpoints (past the demo chunk of the game)
-Perfect Parry timings can be rough to get used to at first if you come from a Sekiro background since the parry needs to be held down over the hit, not tapped
-A lot of disjointed and/or wonky attack timings - Need to approach new enemies with block to get a feel for the moves
-"Sneak" attacks are wonky and hard to pull off. Jump attacks feel like an afterthought
-It's not super clear how certain stats work, and some translations are a little off (cube anyone?)

IMO, most of those pain points are pretty easy to overcome besides going back to the hub to level (seriously, who thought this was a good idea?) and Lies of P brings enough new ideas to differentiate itself from other entries of the genre.

This game has managed to grip me in ways that very few single player games nowadays do, as well as inspire me to actually put a review out and for that, I give it a strong recommendation.

buff wattson

im malding

Man, finishing this game left me with those post-reading blues feelings.

In my opinion, the story is the strongest point of the game. I got really invested in the characters and their development, as well as the relationships that they built over the course of the game.

The art is going to be subjective, but I was a big fan of the pixel-art aesthetic, and felt that it was well executed. There was a surprising amount of detail, and it's clear a lot of effort went into the assets of the game.

The combat itself is interesting and functional, although certain areas of the game will feel like a chore to go through. When backtracking, enemy spawns and gates can be a pain. The variety is there, but there is still a bit of clunkiness with some of the minigames. The boss fights had distinct identities, and I enjoyed most of them.

Lack of a mini-map and a vagueness of where you were (not all areas have a popup telling you where you are) made the initial exploration feel a lot more rewarding, but backtracking for collectibles a pain.

I think that Owlboy is one of the better story-driven platformers out there and would definitely recommend it.

*spoilerish thoughts*
To expand on my opening sentence, I thoroughly enjoyed the lore that the game introduced, but the way that it ended left me wanting so much more exploration of the ideas they talked about. I can appreciate the conclusive ending, but would have much preferred a post-game free-roam as opposed to their solution of warping back in time.

A different sort of rhythm game, Sequence manages to incorporate some RPG elements into the gameplay. Sequence is a pretty fun game with solid soundtracks. The player has to battle enemies to get drops to build more equipment that provides bonuses, build new spells, or build a key to the next level. When battling enemies, there are three columns that the player must pay attention to; defense, attack, and mana. You take damage every time you let a stroke through defense, you attack by using a spell and hitting everything in the sequence in the attack column, and you get mana to cast more spells by hitting strokes in the mana column. A combination of solid music, unique gameplay, and a fun experience at a low price makes this game a recommend.

A fun RPG made by Bethesda, Fallout 3 has the fallout feel, with a post-apocalyptic world, crazy weapons, and different paths. Gameplay is different, but engaging in it's own way. If you enjoy RPGs, be sure to pick up Fallout 3.

Dishonored has an interesting, and more importantly, well executed concept. Gameplay is fun, with many different ways to play. Powers add some spice and fun to the game, and the scenes are engaging. Combat is challenging, and learning it is very rewarding. Story feels a bit short, and the fact that you can't continue playing from a save is kind of disappointing, but overall, the game is still a great one.

Fun game. The cast of characters have personality, the loot system is super awesome, and the story and quests are humorous and plentiful. If you're a completionist, the side quests can start to feel kinda grindy, but you can always take a break. If you get the chance, play with friends. Makes the experience so much more enjoyable. Engine feels solid, and there's an actual FOV slider, unlike it's predecessor. Highly recommend it.

Dust: An Elysian Tail is a sidescrolling RPG where you control the protagonist, Dust, and go on a journey to stop a mad general and discover yourself. Right from the start, you can see the effort that was put towards this game. The art is gorgeous, the gameplay and mechanics solid, and the whole game has a really polished feel. The storyline is engaging enough, and longer than many others in the same price range. Did I mention that this game was made by one person? Very impressive and enjoyable game, recommended.

Warning: If you strongly dislike anthro (animals with human characteristics) characters, this game may not be for you. If you can get over that, then get this game.