Käyttäjän ✞Skyknighter viimeaikaiset arvostelut

When I first saw Blood Within, I was amazed by the art style and the setting that the game had going for it. From the gameplay I have seen, I was honestly impressed and looking forward to what I was about to play. With all that said, there are some issues with this game that I do need to address, and I’ll talk about them all here.

One thing I should mention about this game is that it was made by a single person so I wanted to see what one person could make for a game like this. I love 2D platformers, so I really wanted to see what this game had to offer.

Pros

• Good story that sets the theme of the game
  
• Nice pixel art style
  
• The soundtrack is decent

Cons

• Gameplay is very rough, jumping is very clunky
  
• Combat is sluggish, enemies give you no indication on when they will attack
  
• Some enemies can shoot you through walls
  
• Boss fights aren’t very special
  
• The game does not give you a reason to explore its world
  
• There are a few bugs

The story starts out with Captain Thorne, who is out on a patrol mission, him and two of his men have found that The Bloodstar, which protects the Earth from evil, has crash-landed on Earth and now demons roam the outer castle walls. Throne is not a match for the demons and is taken out until he is rescued by a Grey Man who gives him demon power to help fight them.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3294399137
The story for Blood Within is nice, it sets the game theme up very well and it’s interesting. I feel that there are some references to Berserk in this game as there are a few things that remind me of that series in this game.

Despite the story being good, Blood Within’s gameplay is rough to say the least. My issue mainly comes with how the game controls, it works on a basic level but when it comes to jumping, the game is rather clunky. You see, Throne jumps very slowly, and I assume this is because of the giant sword he is wielding. However, on certain platforms, he will jump faster and higher than usual to reach higher areas in the game.

I never really played a game where I don’t feel like jumping but I end up having to do it to progress through the game. Combat is also sluggish in a few ways as well; you have your basic attacks, but the issue comes with a mixture of two issues I have with combat. Enemies never give you any indication of when they attack, plus you have no way to cancel your attacks at all. There is a way to block an attack and if you time it correctly, you can even stun the enemy and get a few hits in.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3294398566
Although with how the game handles its enemies, it’s a bit difficult to engage in combat in any meaningful way. On top of that there are some ranged enemies in the game, and if they see you, they will of course shoot you, but they can also shoot through walls. Yes, that’s right, the ranged enemies have X-ray vision, and their projectiles can go through walls, and you can’t do anything about it.

The boss fights also aren’t very special either as they just have a few basic attacks that you can block to try and stun them. They don’t really add anything special and just feel like a giant enemy you yourself have to take out.

The world you explore isn’t all that interesting either, you see, it may not seem like it at first but Blood Within is a Metroid-venia type of game, or at least I think. As the game has these checkpoints that you can teleport back to, which I believe is meant for you to find stuff in the game. However, the game does not give you a reason to explore its world. I am currently playing Blasphemous 2 and Tunic while reviewing this game and those games encourage you to explore those games to their fullest. In Tunic’s case, the game doesn’t necessarily give you an objective either or any clues on its story. Dark Souls also does what both of these games do but has a world that you can also explore.

Both give you hidden items or abilities for you to find and use to help you in your next fight or to access new areas in the game. I know I shouldn’t be comparing games made by a team to someone who is a solo developer, but I think this is a good example of how a game makes progression. I don’t know if I am getting anywhere in this game, and I don’t know if I am getting anywhere in Blasphemous 2 either, but I know I am making progress somehow.

There are a few more things that this game does have that are good, like a skill tree that has different abilities for you to use. You will need Demon Essence to level up and to do that you need to defeat enemies. There is even a witch you can find in the game to reset your skill tree to try a different path and or upgrade system, so that’s a cool thing to mention. There is also controller support, the game may not say it but I was able to play on my controller with no issue whatsoever.

The pixel art style is also something I would like to add as something I liked seeing. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, 16 GB of RAM, I had no issues while I was playing the game, and it should be able to run on any PC.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3294397753
I did have a few bugs though, like some enemies clipping into the floor and the enemies that can shoot through walls that I mentioned earlier. Although none of these bugs are game-breaking.

Blood Within has some interesting ideas going for it but with how the gameplay and combat are handled, I can’t really see myself playing the game for much longer. HOWEVER, I am going to say this, as much as I am not recommending Blood Within right now, I think this game has potential. The developer is still updating this game and they are making DLC for the game as well, so there is some work being done as I am reviewing it.

For those who are curious, I would recommend keeping an eye on this game, as I do think there is something this could one day be a hidden gem if the developer listens to community feedback and continues updating the game.

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I have fond memories of playing Sonic Colors on the Wii and I enjoyed it for being a proper Sonic game. With Sonic Colors: Ultimate coming to Steam I have decided to go out of my way and beat the game. This is the port from the Switch version, which I have not played, but I have played both the Wii and the DS version. Although to be fair, if they ported the DS version of the game, I wouldn’t mind that because I love Sonic Rush’s gameplay.

Pros

• A classic Sonic-themed story
  
• Fast and fun gameplay
  
• Wisps felt fun to use in the levels

Cons

• Some of the Wisps are not satisfying to use
  
• You have unlimited lives in the game and not punished for your mistakes
  
• I experienced one crash in the game

The story for Sonic Colors starts off with Sonic and Tails visiting an Installer Amusement Park that Dr. Eggman has created. Sonic and Tails believe Dr. Eggman is up to something and sure enough, he is getting his robot minions to chase after these small aliens called Wisps. These aliens can give Sonic special powers by them going inside of him and it’s up to Sonic and Tails to save the Wisps.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289656478
The story of the game is simple and not hard to follow, and I think this adds the charm that classic Sonic fans will enjoy. The voice acting is really good, and I love how the characters all acted, it felt fun and enjoyable from start to finish.

The gameplay for Sonic Colors: Ultimate is not really different from its previous Wii version but there are some tweaks to the gameplay and one new Wisp for you to use. The game at its core is a platformer where you will go from point A to the goal ring. Along the way, you will come across White Wisps that will fill Sonic’s boost gauge. This will cause Sonic to go faster when you press the boost button. Sonic can do a homing attack which he can use to attack enemies and even has a new feature called Sweet Spot Attack. Where if you time it correctly, you will reward Sonic with boost energy for the boost gauge. To do this you have to time the attack just as the green circle overlaps the homing attack.

During the levels you are in, you can use the Wisps to access other parts of the level in various ways or to enhance the gameplay. There are eight Wisps for you to use that have abilities, not counting the White ones due to them not really having an ability. Each Wisp is in a corresponding world that you can visit. Once you are done beating a level with that corresponding Wisp, you can replay previous levels to collect these red rings. Each level contains five red rings, except for the Terminal Velocity stage. When you collect the red rings in the levels, you can unlock new acts in the Sonic Simulator. There you can beat those levels and get access to the Seven Chaos Emeralds, if you collect all seven of them, you can unlock Super Sonic.

The Wisps you can use in the levels have a variety of uses for you to use and some of them are fun. The ones I liked to use were Pink Wisps that turn you into a spiked ball and you can run over enemies. Green gave you a hover ability and if a trail of rings is in front of you, you can follow that trail similar to a Light Speed Dash in the previous games. Purple turned you into a purple monster that made you chomp over obstacles and grows bigger the more it eats things.

Overall, the gameplay is very fun, and I enjoyed it, it keeps the pace going and the worlds are very fun to explore. My two favorite areas are Starlight Carnival because the game utilizes Sonics' fast speed, and the area just looks nice to look at overall. Then there is Aquarium Park with its Japanese-like setting that just looked pleasing.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289656698
Although I do sadly have two issues with Sonic Colors: Ultimate and the first issue I have is that some of the Wisps, I am at odds with. Some of them just don’t enhance the gameplay in some ways, and I am more neutral on two. For the two Wisps I am neutral on the Cyan Wisp as that only gives you a laser-like boost ability, which is a one-time thing. Yes, it opens up some unique level of design, but the Green Wisp gives you a hover ability and an ability just like the Cyan one. So I personally am finding the Green Wisp the better one out of the two.

Then there is the Yellow Wisp, which will grant the drill ability and this one just honestly disappoints me. I say this because I loved the idea that this Wisp had and, in some ways, it does enhance the gameplay, but I feel at times it’s under-utilized.

Orange is ok, it gives you a rocket-like ability which is cool but it’s a one-time use Wisp only, although it’s more fun than the Cyan Wisp. The Blue Wisp though is the most useless ability in the game. It only lets Sonic access platformers with blue rings, and it can cause an explosion and make him invincible in the state but that’s it, it does not enhance the gameplay at all.

Now we have the Jade Wisp, which will turn Sonic into a ghost to pass through walls to access other areas, although none of the levels changed throughout this version and the previous one. This Wisp is also left underused, maybe it can access secrets that I am not looking for, but I never really found a use for it. Am I being too harsh on some of these Wisps and what they can do, probably but it’s just something that irked me I guess.

A change that this version made that I do not like is that you have unlimited lives, you are not punished for falling off a ledge or anything, and you are not punished for your mistakes in this game, which removes the tension the game has.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate looks genuinely nice, at least when referring to the playable levels. The graphics haven’t really changed much or have been enhanced, and you can start to see the age of the game in the cutscenes which feel a little dated. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, the game ran fine but I did come across one crash.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3289657224
Sonic Colors: Ultimate is an alright port, not a whole lot has really changed throughout the game, but it was fun to play. That being said, you can beat the game in about four to five hours at best and for 52.99 CDN, that’s not worth the asking price for the amount of content that the game has to offer. I highly recommend you wait for a sale before picking this game up unless you are a die-hard Sonic fan.

Because Eggman plus secretly built amusement park and reviews at Life Needs a Little Sin equals evil plot for us to foil, luckily for us, he is not very good at keeping things hidden

Anno: Mutationem is an intriguing game that I personally enjoyed even more than I expected. The game mixes environments in a 2D and 3D setting while exploring which I found to be very cool and creative. There is quite a bit for me to explain in this review, but I will go into detail with my experiences while I was playing.

Pros

• Interesting story with lots of mystery
  
• References from other games
  
• Fun hack-and-slash gameplay
  
• Lots of weapons for you to get and use
  
• Tons of side quests to do
  
• Beautiful pixel art style

Cons

• Parts of the story were forgettable
  
• Enemies sometimes end up being sponges halfway into the game
  
• The ability to weapon switch is too slow
  
• Level design near the end of the game suffers
  
• There is a glitch with changing costumes

The story starts with Ann Flores who is on a mission to find N540 to help cure her Entangleitis. Along the way, she finds out that her brother Ryan, has gone missing and she must now go and find her throughout the many cities he has been to. While also getting help from her best friend and hacker Ayane Misuno.

The story for Anno: Mutationem is really interesting, it has some moments with it that do make it shine and the characters are very lovable. Some of them I wish got more screen time as their designs were flashy and had some nice moments. I even loved the references that were shown in the game that were cameos to other games. You can find Jill from Va-Hall at the bar where Ann’s sister works, which I thought was a very nice touch.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287726897
That being said, I do feel that there were parts of the story that were forgettable. This is due to the fact that some moments felt like filler and just were not worth remembering. It’s kind of sad that this is the case as I do think the story is very interesting in it’s own way. There is not much for me to really explain on the story, so you have to take my word for it on this one.

Anno: Mutationem is a hack and slash platformer, along the way you will face off against enemies where you can use your weapons to take them out. You have your light attacks, heavy attacks, and a gun to use at your disposal. Along the way, you can find other weapons to use, but you can also find material to make weapons. You can also upgrade the weapons themselves so they can do more damage or give them a passive ability by using microchips.

Ann can also transform into this super form, it’s like Dante’s Devil Trigger from Devil May Cry. She will do increased damage, is faster, and will heal any damage she has taken, this form is very useful for taking out bosses and when you are overwhelmed with enemies.

My favorite weapon to use in the game are the twin blades, they aren’t the most damaging weapon to use but they are fast and do long combos that will deal a ton of damage. The gameplay is very fun, and I really enjoyed slashing enemies. There are a ton of weapons and guns for you to collect throughout the game, it really depends on what you want to use and how you use it. This is something I really like about the game, the freedom to customize your character.

The game even has a skill tree that you can use to help upgrade certain stats or give you new abilities to help you in combat. You will need skill points to get these upgrades of course, you can get them from defeating bosses or taking out enemies. There is also a parry system, although I never used this until like the later parts of the game as I forget it was even a thing for a time.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287725929
There are also a ton of side quests for you to go out and do, and they all have their own unique ways of doing them. You will be rewarded for doing these quests, so I recommend doing them if you are someone who enjoys side adventures in games.

While Anno: Mutationem is a fun game, I can’t deny that there are a few issues with the gameplay. The first issue I had is that some of the enemies or bosses can get really tanky sometimes, to the point where you can’t really do much damage to them. Some of them and mostly bosses, will have sheilds that you have to get through before you do any real damage to them.

There are also times where I wish there was a quick switch for your guns that you used, you can get your hands on a few different guns but there is no way to do a quick switch with a button press. However, I should note that there is an option where you can hold down the right stick on the controller to get a weapon wheel up and you can then switch weapons that way. Although I prefer to have a button that would switch the weapons faster.

The level design near the end of the game also suffers as well, the platforming in the game is not fun and getting through that part of the game can be a slog. One of those moments that I honestly did not like about the game. Also, there is a glitch where switching costumes are also bugged, I believe this was patched but I have never tested it as mine was stuck on this one outfit, and I never changed it.

The pixel art style that the game has is very beautiful and the areas that the game has are very detailed and feel alive. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, the game ran very well with no issues and should be able to run on low-end computers.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3287726409
Anno: Mutationem is a very fun game that I really did enjoy for it’s gameplay and story. The game is at least 10 hours long with lots of side content for you to enjoy in the game so there is lots to enjoy with it. The game is 28.99 CDN at full price and I feel that the game is worth it at that point for the amount of content that you can get. Although if you are a bit skeptical, then waiting for a sale is always fine.

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Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 (UMvC3) is a very special fighting game for me because I played this game a ton as a kid and thanks to a good friend of mine, I was gifted the game allowing me to relive my experiences of this game all over again. This game comes with all of the DLC characters, nine new stages, and gameplay updates.

Pros

• Very fun 3v3 fighting game with flashy combos
  
• A total of 50 characters for you to play as
  
• Tons of replayability
  
• Really nice soundtrack
  
• Beautiful graphics that make the stages very special

Cons

• Online is mostly dead

UMvC3 is a 3v3 fighting game where you can pull off some flashy combos to take out your opponents. You can tag out to switch out to a different character on your team at any point in the game and while one character is switched out, they will start to heal any damage they have taken in that round. You can also make one of your team members attack your opponent to help deal more damage. However, you have to be careful as they can be attacked and will take increased damage if they are.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3281609847
During battle, you can activate an ability called X-Factor, which is a speed and damage boost for your characters. The duration will vary between each character, and it will be more powerful depending on if the player has one of two partners KO’ed. It can only be activated once per match but besides increasing damage and speed, it will also heal you, cancel specific moves to extend combos, or turn the tables if you are losing a match.

There are a total of 50 characters for you to play as and they each have their own unique move sets and gimmicks for you to use in battle. There are a ton of team combos for you to make and utilize in the game. UMvC3 has a lot of depth to it as you yourself will have to learn at least three characters in the game. This adds some complexity as you have to know what is special about each character since this is not a fighter where you are playing as just one character. You have to learn at least three of them and because of this, I think UMvC3 has a lot of depth to its gameplay.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3281610073
Now in terms of characters, I am more familiar with the Capcom lineup, as I am not too interested in superheroes as a whole. That being said, there are a lot of characters that I do enjoy playing as. For Capcom, I like playing as Zero, Spencer, Amaterasu, Dante, and Vergil, who can pretty much destroy a team on level 3 Xfactor if given the chance. I love it that Lei-Lei is in the game from Darkstalkers but she is sadly the worst character in the game.

For Marvel, I actually liked playing quite a few characters, including Dr. Strange, Doctor Doom, Taskmaster, Super-Skrull, Dormammu, and Deadpool. I find it very nice that a lineup of characters I am not too familiar with ended up having some of my favorite characters to play as, which is something I like.

There is an arcade mode where you will go through a series of matches to get to the final boss of the game, that being, Galactus. Whoever gets the last hit on Galactus, you will get that character's ending, so let's say you have a team of Zero, Taskmaster, and Dante. Dante gets the last hit in Galactus, you will get Dante’s ending and his ending only. You have to go through arcade mode again to get Taskmasters and Zero’s ending. This may seem tedious, but I think it’s the opposite actually because this gives the game a ton of replayability and lots of single-player content.

The only con I would give for the game is that online is dead for the most part, although there is a Discord server where you can find people who want to play the game online. So, there is a community out there that wants to keep the game alive, plus the pro tournaments have some of the most fun matches I have seen.

The soundtrack for the game is actually really good and I was surprised to know that since I played when I was younger, I guess I just never realized it. My favorite theme in the game has to be Vergil’s theme, which is just a remix of his second boss theme from Devil May Cry 3.

The graphics for UMvC3 are beautiful and are very colorful, making the areas feel special. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while I was playing, and the game ran really well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3281610298
I was really happy that I was able to play Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3 again as it brought memories back from when I was younger. It’s good to know that the fun I had in the game has not died down and the nostalgia factor for when I was younger is still there. I may not be too good at fighters, but I can say that even if you are just trying to play the game casually, there is a lot to the game to honestly enjoy.

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After I finally beat Amnesia: The Dark Descent (TDD), it was finally time for me to play the next game in the series, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs (AMFP). This game at the time was not liked by the fans of the original game due to it not being like the first one. Frictional Games did not develop this game, as they were making SOMA then. Instead, The Chinese Room were the developers of this game, and it shows in some areas.

Pros

• A surprisingly good story
  
• The music and atmosphere are very well done

Cons

• Does not work well, as a horror game
  
• The gameplay is a big downgrade from the previous entry, being mostly a walking sim
  
• Resource management has been removed
  
• The lantern does not do a good job of helping me see
  
• Puzzles don’t feel enjoyable
  
• AI is very bad
  
• Lacks the sense of fear that the first title had
  
• Very dark and hard to see in some areas

Set in London 1899 on New Year's Eve, you play as Oswald Mandus who is a wealthy industrialist. He has recently returned from a disastrous expedition in Mexico where a tragedy struck. He was struck with a fever and had frequent dreams of this machine, he wakes up one night, months have passed, and he hears his two kids calling him to find them.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275704417
The story for AMFP is well thought out and I liked the narrative that the game had going for it. There are some small references to the previous game (although more on that later) that I did like very much.

Although I do have one issue with the story and it’s just not really that scary and, sadly, this is the case. I feel that something is here that the developers had but I just did not have that sense of dread or fear while I was playing.

AMFP is a walking sim and that’s it that's the game has going for it, It does not work as a horror game. I say that the gameplay here is a huge downgrade to TDD and a lot of things that I loved about the first game, are gone from this one. You go from point A to B and pick up objects to progress through to the next area. The resource management system has also been removed. There are no tinderboxes, and your lantern does not run out of fuel either, it just removed one of the mechanics that made the first game a survival horror game.

The insanity meter has also been removed as well, so you can look at the monsters without issue. Personally, I don’t mind that the sanity meter has been removed, you can make a horror game scary without it and it’s been done before many times.

Then we get onto the puzzles the game has, or what the game calls puzzles because to me, they aren’t puzzles, they are not fun nor are they enjoyable in the slightest. You are just inserting objects into a machine or something and that’s it.

The AI on the monsters is very bad, I can be right next to one and they won’t notice me and one of them just moved in a straight line at this one part of the game. Which I ran past, and it never noticed me whatsoever. There are very few encounters with the monsters in the game and this just leads to my next issue.

AMFP is just not scary in the slightest, I just did not feel any sort of fear or dread like I did in TDD. I don’t feel that a lot is against me as there is nothing really to this game that says this is an Amnesia game. In fact, the only thing that says this is an Amnesia game is that the Orb from the previous game is mentioned. However, it’s only mentioned a few times throughout the game

The game is also very dark, TDD was dark too but in AMFP I have a very hard time seeing things in the game. The lantern you get does not help you see in any way, and I just want the lantern back from TDD.

The graphics for AMFP is well done, the atmosphere is really nice, and The Chinese Room nailed it in this regard. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM I experienced zero issues while I was playing, and the game ran fine.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3275704663
In all honestly, if the name Amnesia, was not in this game's title, I may not have had this many negative things to say about this game. I think this game may have been good but with it carrying the name, it just feels like a disappointment. Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs does not work as a horror game and I think horror fans will be disappointed in this one, especially for those who just got done playing the TDD. Waiting for a sale or lucky find when the price is low is highly recommended.

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I first heard of Mother Russia Bleeds by watching this video on disturbing games and the game interested me quite a bit in its gameplay. Sure enough, it was on Steam and thanks to a friend of mine who gifted it to me, I was able to try the game out. The game reminded me of Hotline Mami a little bit with its themes.

Pros

Intriguing narrative that can become incredibly intenseBeat-em-up mechanics provide a lot of fun and excitementA fantastic soundtrack that enhances the overall experiencePixelated art style is beautifully executed

Cons

AI teammate’s performance leaves much to be desired

Set an alternative 1986 Russia Soviet Union, the story starts at a camp, where a fighting tournament is being held. The four champions, Sergei, Ivan, Natasha, and Boris (you can choose who to play) are getting ready to fight. Before the fight, Vlad comes in and warns them that the government is allied with a group known as the Bratva and they must overthrow them. After the fight, the group is later interrupted by government forces and captures the four champions.

About a month later, the party wakes up and finds out that they are being experimented on with a drug called Nekro. A performance-enhancing drug, which can reduce pain, and increase strength and aggression but is highly addictive. It has various side effects, and the four champions must find out why they were chosen as test subjects and find out what’s going on.

The story for Mother Russia Bleeds is very interesting and can get intense at certain moments. The story reminds me a bit of Hotline Miami in some regards, which I liked. It just picks up from there and gets twisted the more you dive into the story.

Mother Russia Bleeds is a beat 'em up that will make you go from point A to point B beating up enemies along the way. Along the way you will come across enemies that will try and block your path, some will carry weapons that you can pick up and use. They do have a durability limit and dropping them can actually damage them as well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271109025
The only exception to this is guns, I think, I have never seen a gun in the game get destroyed as I used all of its ammo by the time I stopped using it. Although guns pretty much took care of enemies as it killed them in either one or two shots.

You have four characters to play as in the game and each character has their own stats and different moves for you to use on that character. If you have a few friends, you can play the game in local multiplayer or by remote play.

There is also a scoring system in the game, the more varied your combos are, the higher your score is. If you are playing with friends, you can have a competition to see who gets the most points while playing the levels. If you don’t have a friend with you though, you can have an AI partner join you. Also, you won’t have to worry about them stealing your chips, or pop, or soda. whatever you call your drinks.

During the levels, you will need to heal yourself and to do that, you need to use the drug Nekro. Although it can not only heal you but put your character in a Berserk state depending on how you use it. In your Berserk state, you will deal more damage and knock enemies back upon finishing your combo. You only have three shots of Nekro and to get more, you have to get it by the enemies you knock out that have Nekro. In other words, you must extract it from a dying body and who knows where that person has been and what germs the Nekro has.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271109401
There is also an arena mode for you to go and play, if you make it to round ten on any of the ten stages, you can unlock a different variant of Nekro. These different variants have different effects and are named after alcoholic drinks.

The only issue I have with Mother Russia Bleeds is the AI, while the AI partner is helpful it will make some dumb decisions. Like if you are knocked down, the AI’s first objective is to get you back up. The issue here is that the AI will ignore everything around them just to get you back up and will not attack enemies, so when this happens, it’s a game over.

The pixel art style that is shown is very nice and beautifully done and I loved how the areas looked in the game. The only odd behavior that I experienced was that the game set me as player 2 when I used a controller. I didn't easily see how to change this back to player one, but it did not affect the gameplay.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3271107377
I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I had no issues while I was playing, and the game should be able to run on low-end PCs.

The soundtrack is also something I would like to praise as well, it just sounds fantastic, and the songs that are played fit the game’s theme. It reminds me of Hotline Mami in a few ways of how that soundtrack was.

Mother Russia Bleeds provided an absolute blast! At its full price of 19.49 CAD, it’s a worthwhile investment. There’s so much to appreciate in a game like this, and I relished every second of the experience. I recommend this game for those who like beat 'em ups and games like Hotline Miami.

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Helldivers 2 (HD2) is a game that has problems, but I still find myself enjoying it despite the flaws. I was late to the hype train when this game came out because I was hooked on Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but I finally got around to playing and here are my thoughts about Arrowhead Game Studios's latest title.

Pros

• Fun multiplayer-based gameplay
  
• Tons of weapons, perks, and abilities to utilize
  
• Lots of cosmetic options to choose from
  
• Beautiful environments for you to traverse

Cons

• Missions are repetitive, with nothing unique to them after a while
  
• 177 countries cannot play the game due to Sony's PSN issue

HD2 is a 3rd person shooter where you are assigned to missions to take out alien threats. You will either fight Terminds or Automations, with those factions being on corresponding planets for you to explore. You can select a mission for you and three other players, and these missions will have a certain number of objectives to complete. There are also side objectives in those missions that provide bonuses upon completion.

Shooting in the game is genuinely nice and all the weapons that you have access to are fun to use. Each weapon has its own purpose, but everything is up to your own personal preference in terms of useability.

Before starting a mission, you can select your gear, weapons, Stratagems, and Boosters to help you and your teammates secure objectives. Boosters are applied for the duration of the mission which enhances the resources available, and they can be used every mission, although only one person can equip one at a time, as they cannot stack.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262488369
Stratagems are abilities that the Helldivers can call down to help them on their missions, they can have a wide range of abilities for you to utilize. There are offensive ones that can either call down eagle or orbital strikes, defensive ones that can give you turret guns to help hold your ground or support ones that will give you a weapon for you to use.

In terms of enemy types, they each have their own methods to be taken out but there will be tougher variations of them depending on the difficulty you selected for the mission. These stronger variants will usually have their weak points on their backs, so teamwork is especially important when taking them out.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3261532403
There are a ton of weapons you can use to help take out enemies, with even more available by spending medals. You can get these medals by completing objectives on missions and can also use them to unlock cosmetics for your character as well. Boosters are also unlocked by this method.

At the end of each mission, you will be awarded experience points that work towards increasing your level which unlocks even more weapons as your level rises. You can also upgrade the ship you are on by collecting materials in the missions you play.

With all of this in mind, the customization options in HD2 are fantastic with a vast variety of options for you to choose from. Although specific armor is preferred for certain missions as they do have passive abilities attached to them. Although everything else is up to you in what you want to bring with you on the missions you play.

Despite all this praise, there are in fact two issues that I want to address with the game.

The first problem I have is that the mission structure remains the same throughout the game. This problem can be avoided when you are playing with friends, and I will admit that it’s not a huge issue but still something I wanted to bring up, especially for solo players.

However, the biggest issue that I have is not with HD2, rather it’s with Sony. HD2 was supposed to be a part of Sony’s PSN program. This would force the player to connect to the PSN servers before they could play the game. People took issue with this, rightfully so in fact. This is due to Sony not having a good record of accomplishment with keeping people’s data safe, but the big issue is that a large majority of countries don’t have access to PSN. This means that a lot of countries would not be able to play HD2.

Fortunately, this decision was later reversed thanks to the protests from the HD2 community. However, even with Sony reversing their initial PSN mandates, a total of 177 countries still cannot play HD2. This was last updated on May 11th, 2024, from the research I have done. If anyone has any updates on the number of countries that can play the game, please tell me and I'll update this review.

I’ll admit though, this entire con could lead to a negative review but it’s not Arrowhead's fault for this, it’s just Sony being Sony. Imagine you buying a game but three months later you can’t even play it, the idea of how this can even be a reality is mind-blowing. 

HD2 is a beautiful game, the planets you visit are all colorful in their own ways, and they each have a theme corresponding to them. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM. I did have to play the game on low settings to maintain a solid 30 FPS, so you will need a decent computer to run this game at reasonable frame rates.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3262489481
Despite my rant regarding the PSN debacle, I can easily say that HD2 is a fantastic game even with my nitpicks. I recommend this game for anyone who wants a fun third-person shooter to play with friends. While the missions may get repetitive and such, I can’t deny that HD2 is one of the best shooters I have played, and I highly recommend it for those who want a casual experience.

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The story starts out with you, an unnamed protagonist (you can choose their name) who wakes up with no memory of themselves. They are introduced to a woman named Kat who tells the protagonist that they are on a reality TV show where they can choose to date between five women. There is a catch, however, that being, if the protagonist fails to find a love interest, they will be killed.

With five different girls to choose from, will our protagonist manage to find love on this gameshow they have to take part in? Or will they die lonely and never get a date at the end? Or is there something else going on the island that they or the other girls don’t know about?

Pros

• A somewhat charming story with some decent humor
  
• Five different girls to pick from, each with their own unique traits
  
• Nice art style

Cons

• I don’t know if the main character you play is either a self-insert or a main character
  
• Your choices do not matter in any meaningful way
  
• Has an option for voice acting but there is none

There are quite a few characters in this visual novel with a total of eight unique endings in total. With that said, the visual novel does have five unique women for you to choose from, all of which have their own personalities and special traits associated with them. The story is in fact charming and has some decent humor in it. There are also references to other sorts of media that I have noticed.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253611317
The story is rather good and there is some good stuff enjoy in it. The dates that you go on with the characters you choose all felt unique and it’s something I like. The comedy aspect that was included was also nice as it broke away from the typical romance stuff that usually romance visual novels do and I applaud the developers for that.

All of the characters are likable in their own ways and are well-developed. Except for Yui, she is meant to be the childhood friend and animal lover but her character does not really go past those traits and is left empty. Other then that, everyone who you can date felt like well rounded choices.

The two characters that shined for me the most were Terra because she has green hair and wears a Pink Floyd shirt so she has quality taste in music, and is also a gamer. Then there was Violet, a women who is a very skilled cook and can be cold sometimes but is just as beautiful.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253610025
You have the ability to date all of these women on separate dates but the order in which you initiate the dates is up to you. I actually ended up liking Aillie more than I initially thought I would which was a welcome surprise.

Although not everything in the visual novel is perfect, and I do have a few issues with it. The first issue with the visual novel is the fact that I can’t even tell if the main character is meant to be a self-insert or an actual character. I want to say self-insert because you can play as any gender, although that’s kind of contradictive as you are giving three genders, he/him, she/her, or they/them. I am aware that the visual novel can’t put all genders in but originally, those three options were not included on release.

Find Love or Die Trying was free to play when it came out and you just assumed your gender from there on with no options. You were just thrown into the visual novel and that was that. Now this pronoun issue is not really much of a problem on the grand scheme of things but there are times when the character that should of been self inserted, is not.

This is because there are moments where the character just feels like a character, that is fleshed out. I am going to bring up Yui again here because I said she is meant to be the childhood friend. Well, I don’t think having the self-insert character and a childhood friend you have known since you were younger works here. I understand that the character that you play does have amnesia but that serves a different plot point.

Your choices also do not matter at all at any point in the visual novel. You can pick any options and choices for one character and throw the thought that you are affecting the story right out the window. This underlines the entire plot point of you being on a reality TV dating show and it also ruins all of the choices you made throughout the visual novel as well.

The art style for this visual novel is very well drawn and colorful, with the detail on the art and characters being very nice and pleasant to look at. I do like how the areas were drawn and how the character models were designed. It all felt nice but there was that hint of something else is going on. I tested the visual novel on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I had no issues while I was playing and it should be able to run on any PC.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3253611723
Find Love or Die Trying is a fine read if you are looking for a casual romance visual novel. Despite its flaws, the story overall is fun to go through. It will take around 2-4 hours to complete depending on your reading speed but for $5.99, that’s not bad of a price. If you are still on the fence with picking this one up, the inevitable Steam sales are always right around the corner.

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Do you want a new Jet Set Radio game? Well unfortunately Sega forgot about that series until recently because they just announced a new game. Although Team Reptile decided to make their own game called Bomb Rush Cyberfunk (BCR), a very interesting game that takes a lot of inspiration from the Jet Set Radio series.

Pros

• Simple but extremely fun gameplay
  
• Lots of collectibles to go out and find
  
• Fantastic soundtrack that is nice to listen to
  
• Very beautiful cel-shaded style and graffiti signs

Cons

• The game is very vague in teaching you how to play
  
• Combat is rough around the edges
  
• Some of the levels are linear

The story starts out with Faux, who is locked up in a cell and woken up by Tryce who is trying to escape. Faux agrees to escape and to help Tryce become All City until Faux is killed by DJ Cyber who cuts his head off. However, the body did not die and Faux assumes a new identity called Red but does not know anything about his past and must find out more about himself by becoming All City.

I don’t know how to necessarily describe the story fully for this game as there is just too much to talk about. BRC is pretty thick on its storytelling as it will have these moments that will probably confuse you, until later. That’s not to say that the story is bad in any way, it has some moments that are generally good and enjoyable. I do enjoy the characters and the rival gangs are all charming and have their own personalities to them.

Now if I am in any way being vague or confusing about what I am trying to talk about, well that’s the kind of story you're getting yourself into. While it may have some issues when you are playing the game when you are done with it all, it starts to make sense, but it will still have these issues. I do feel that Team Reptile made something to appreciate in the game but there is just something missing from it.

Now the gameplay for BRC is the best aspect of the game as it blends in this nice feel-good kind of gameplay that is more of a relaxed experience. You will be going around the levels in an open-world setting. You aren’t forced into the missions immediately and instead; you can complete the game at your own pace by exploring the areas of the game. In each area, you will see a set of graffiti that you need to paint over and put your graffiti on it. You want to do this so you can challenge the main gang of that area and you do this by getting rep you also need to complete these mini-challenges to get access to the Crew Battle.

Crew Battles involve you scoring more points than the rival gang and you have to do it on a two-minute timer. Now to get points, you have to grind on rails and do tricks, you can also go on some walls and such as well, you have to do tricks on the grind rail to get your points up. You will also have to build up this multiplier and to do this, you have to bounce off the corners of the rails. This builds up a multiplier that you can score more points in, you can keep a certain rhythm loop by tricking in a small circle. However, the game does encourage you to seek out more corners to build up a higher score and this is something that I love. The game wants you to explore its levels, which can lead you to find some of the game's secrets.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3237347750
Now BRC is an extreme sport and a platformer and I say platformer very loosey. As there are these mini-platform levels you have to go through at the last part of every chapter. They are pretty fun to do and at times I wish there were more of them, although the developers would have to make more levels and the game would end up being longer. You also have access to a superpowered backpack, which can be used for your boost meter. You build boost by doing tricks on rails or collecting these small ball canister things called Boost Chargers.

There are also three different Movestyles in the game, there is a skateboard, inline skates, and BMX. Skateboards can be used on fire hydrants by jumping on them to make them extend vertically. Inline Skates can be used to break patterned glass on floors by sliding on them, and BMX’s can be used to weigh down panels in front of doors with its symbol. None of these features will ever really come up, or they never came up to me, so really, you are only changing what you are using and the tricks you can pull off. Although riding a BMX is the fastest way to travel on the level without going on rails, skateboards, and inline skates are slow for traversal although, they are faster than walking but not by much. Any character can ride any of these, so if you want to play as a certain character and ride a BMX, you can.

Speaking of characters, there are ways to unlock new crew members in the game, although the game itself is vague on telling you this. This is fine, you can unlock several other crew members, but you have to complete their respective challenges to unlock them. You also need a certain number of rep to even trigger the challenge. There are also a ton of collectibles you can find, like graffiti, cosmetics for your characters, and music. This adds some flare to the game as you can go look at every nook and cranny for a secret.

Although BRC does have a few issues with the game that I did find throughout my time playing. The game is vague about teaching you how to play, it can give you the basics, but it won’t teach you certain stuff on it. A good example is in the very first mission of the game, where you are thrown into a combat segment, although the game never teaches you how to attack enemies. On top of that, combat is also one of the game's weakest aspects, due to it not having anything special to it. The mechanical enemies are where combat can get interesting, but you need to get a high wanted level for that to happen, and there isn’t much of a point in getting one, as there is no reward or feeling of getting one.

Some of the levels are also linear, when you are playing this game for the first time, this is not an issue. Although you may notice it on your next playthrough or while you are playing the game, Millennium Mall and Mataan are the two worst offenders for liner levels. There isn’t much to explore in those levels, my favorite level though is Pyramid Island, as it had a lot of twists, turns, and alternative routes to get to areas.

The art style for BRC is absolutely beautiful! I love the game's art style and the direction it chose, the cel-shaded art style and the mix of graffiti art blend perfectly together. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, and 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while playing and the game should be able to run on low-end PCs, the soundtrack is something else I liked as well.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is a very fun game that I really enjoyed playing. Despite a few issues I had with the story, I still loved my time with this title, but the gameplay is where it shines the most. The game takes around eight hours to beat, if you don’t focus on the other objectives the game has. I would wait for a sale for the game though, as 51.99 is a lot of money for content offered unless you are a fan of [bJet Set Radio or any extreme sports games, then you could feel good about picking it up at full price.

When it comes to fighting games, I tend to usually enjoy my time with them despite not being too good at them. I play them and I have fun, that’s that. I am also someone who likes to play niche games that no one has really touched. Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Sisters EXTND (Arcana Heart 3), is one of those games that has not gotten too much attention out there and I sure enough decided to go check it out.

I should note that I understand I do not have a whole lot of time and I have a good reason for this. However, I should note that mechanically, Acana Heart 3, is pretty good in that regard and I think the game plays very well. It’s just how the game presents itself in how to teach the player to do things, which is what holds the game back. I should also add that I have not played any of the previous Arcane Heart games, so I have no idea how the others played. 

Pros

• Wonderful cast of playable characters
  
• Gameplay is incredibly fun
  
• Beautiful pixel art style that is genuinely nice to look at

Cons

• Does a very poor job of giving tools to help teach the player mechanics
  
• The Arcane System isn't explained
  
• They removed trails mode and arcade mode from the game
  
• Online is dead for the most part

The game takes place in a fictional futuristic Japan, where a dimensional distortion occurred in the Kanto region of the country. This was caused by a being known as Angelia Avallonem this event is known as The Great Kanto Incident. The group known as The International Holy Spirit Institutions suffered greatly after this, although it’s been healed in the last two months.

The story for this game is decent, I don’t know much about its lore because I haven't played the previous games. I think there may be a hidden story that is interesting in this series somewhere, but this game does not really provide an interesting story for me to be invested into it.

Arcane Heart plays like a typical fighting game, although the game does in fact have two unique mechanics tied to it that that I will explain. This game is an airborne-based fighting game, you have a homing mechanic that will allow you to home in on the opponent, it will automatically track them with a single button press and there are certain actions that are performed by using this feature.

There is also a wonderful cast of characters for you to play as well and two new characters were added into the game recently. The gameplay overall is very fun and I actually do think this game is a solid fighter, however, there are a few issues that hold this game back. I should state this again, this game is good mechanically but how the game goes about it, is where the issues lie.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3220379978
I am going to put you in this scenario, you start the game and pick a character, ok we are starting out simple. Then, as soon as you are done picking your character, the game then shows you this.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3220378831
You are now asking yourself, what is this, what are these things and why do I have to pick one of them? These things you see on this screenshot, are called Arcana Spirites these give you passive-based abilities and can also determine your special move. Certain characters are tied to certain Arcana Spirites but the game never tells you which one goes to whom, although this is fine as you can find certain combos to go with others. 

Although the game never explains to you what each of these Arcana Spirites do or what special moves it grants to the player. The only way for you to know any of this is to go on the internet, which is not really something I would think to ever do for a game like this. Melty Blood Actress Again Current Code has three Moon Styles. That being Full, Half, and Crescent Moon Style, did the game tell you which Moon Style fit for which character? No the game did not but that was fine, as there are only three of them. Also, characters could use a different moon style to change how they functioned. They probably weren’t recommended but it was something you can do and the game actually explained to you what each style did.

Arcana Heart 3 has 25 Arcana Spirites for you to choose from, You don’t need to match the one the character is associated with, as you can choose a different one that may work better for that character. However, with the lack of how the game tells you this, makes this game a little complicated. I am not saying that having 25 Arcana Spirites is a bad thing, in fact I welcome it for giving players more options to play the game. But the lack of explanation that the game gives you on these things, is what makes me not like how the developers did it.

Although that’s not the only thing either as there are missing features that were taken out as well. There is no arcade mode and trails mode has been removed as well, trails mode taught you how to play the game. I am baffled on why this feature which teaches you how to play the game, was removed.

Online is also completely dead, so if you are looking for some matches, you may have to get someone who is willingly able to play the game. I also heard that the net code is bad, but I can’t attest to this due to my not finding any matches.

The pixel art style that the game has is genuinely nice and well done with an arcade-like feel. The animations are also well done. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, AMD Ryzen 5 1500X Quad-Core Processor 3.50, 16 GB of RAM, I experienced no issues while I was playing, and the game ran fine.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3220380374
Recommending Arcana Heart 3 Love Max Sisters EXTND is a bit difficult for me. On one hand, it plays fine and the game is fun but with how the game goes about handling the mechanics and the removal of game modes, this prevents me from fully recommending this game to others. Arcana Heart is a niche fighting games series, with its first two games selling poorly, so seeing this one get treated like it is, is honestly quite sad. If you are still curious on what this game has to offer, then I recommend picking this one up on a sale, other than that, I would skip this one.

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