Recent reviews by ✞Skyknighter

The month of December is the month where I play shooters and if I am being real here, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, has to be the best third-person shooter I have played this year, single-player-wise. I have been getting into Warhammer 40,000 by reading the lore and I am also playing the first Dawn of War game. I got into the series thanks to Space Marine 2, but I haven’t played the game yet.

Pros

• An action-packed story that is in line with the lore
  
• Fantastic gameplay with some fun weapons to use
  
• Surprisingly difficult but fair difficulty
  
• Lots of enemy variety
  
• Nice graphics

Cons

• Sometimes you can get stuck in corners thanks to the enemies overwhelming you
  
• Online is mostly dead

After an invasion of Orks spelled with a k, the Imperial Military deploys a group of Space Marines of the Ultramarines chapter to reclaim the planet fully. The Orks have gotten some of the Imperium's cannons and are using them to prevent Astra Militarum from getting reinforcements.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393938376
The story for the game is really good, it’s full of action and the characters are all just great, the story is even in line with the lore of 40K, which is a nice touch. There was never a dull moment in the story, and it was just fantastic from start to finish, full of action and suspense.

Now War Hammer Space Marine is a basic third-person shooter, however, that’s not a bad thing. The gameplay is fantastic, there was never a dull moment in its gameplay, and all the weapons that the game gives you, are just fantastic to use. I never found a weapon that I did not like using as each of them had its uses in different scenarios, something that I will give the game praise for. You can also execute enemies with your melee weapon to regain lost health, which can be useful in a pinch.

The game also gives you opportunities to use these said weapons on more than one occasion which is something I really did like. None of them were really forgotten and they are all just fun to use. My favorite melee weapon has to be The Thunder Hammer, it does a lot of damage but at the cost of you only being able to use your pistol and assault rifle. It is hard to pick my favorite gun though as all of them just felt nice to use. I have never played a shooter where there has been no weapon that I did not like using, which is a first.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393938091
While attacking enemies, you will build up this meter, when full, you can activate it to do increased damage, and you will be healed while in this state for melee. However, there is also something else you can do with this rage meter. If you aim with your guns in this state, you can slow down time to get a better aim on your enemies, while also doing increased damage. This rage meter has two different uses, and it is a genuinely nice touch.

The game is also surprisingly difficult, and I love that it is this way, if you are looking for a challenging shooter, then I recommend playing on hard mode like I did.

There are tons of enemy varieties, each having its own move sets and ways to attack the player. Later in the game, the forces of Chaos are introduced, adding another layer of excitement to the game. This is something I highly enjoyed as it brought something completely new to the game and this game came out in 2011. I am not saying this is the first game to do this concept, but it is something I don’t see games often do in the modern day. For shooters mostly, however, if I am wrong then anyone can provide any other examples, I would welcome it.

As much as Warhammer Space Marine is fun, I do have two issues with the game, that doesn’t hold it back completely though. The first one is that sometimes you can get stuck in corners when you are dealing with a bunch of enemies. This can sometimes lead to your death but it’s not something that can completely screw you over.

Other than that, online is dead but some people are trying to get some games going so keep an eye out and see if you can find some people to play.

The graphics for the game are nice, it feels like you are in the 40K world, and I love it. 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 playing and the game ran very well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3393938857
Warhammer Space Marine is a fantastic third-person shooter that still holds up today. If you are looking for a fun shooter or are a Warhammer fan. Then I highly recommend you check this game out, it’s fun from start to finish. That also can give you a challenge as well, something that I did enjoy.

It is better to follow Life Needs a Little Sin then to live with one self

I am going to start off by saying that this review is going to hurt me while writing this, as I do think there is a great game here. However, in its current state, I can’t recommend Atomic Picnic, and this is coming from someone who has played a lot of shooters in their time. When I received a free copy for review of this game, I was hyped, the game looked fantastic and fun to play but a bunch of problems held it back from me enjoying it.

Pros

• Gameplay is fun
  
• The visuals are nice to look at

Cons

• The game’s balance is a mess, enemies will kill you in two or three hits sometimes
  
• There are too many projectiles for you to dodge sometimes
  
• Upgrades are very lackluster to use
  
• Enemies will spawn right next to you
  
• The game will not explain certain things and give little info

The one thing I will say that is good about Atomic Picnic's gameplay is that it’s good, the shooting is fluid, and your character moves very well. There are multiple characters for you to play as but I have been only able to play as one and I’ll explain why in a bit.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3384053794
All the characters have abilities that they can utilize in combat, you have a dash that you can use to get the move on enemies. When an enemy dies, they will drop experience points, which you can use to level up, from there, you can select from three different upgrades. These help you out in combat, slightly, while useful, a large majority of them are underwhelming and certain upgrades are just straight-up better or are required to even get decently far in the level you are in. I’ll get back to this sort of thing later on in the review.

The balancing in this game is terrible, enemies can pretty much kill you in a few hits and you don’t do enough damage to help take out the tanky ones. The enemies have attacks that can kill you in two or three hits if you are not careful. There are also way too many projectiles for you to avoid sometimes or too many enemies for you to really deal with at a time, due to you only having a single-shot weapon. You don’t have access to a secondary at all and are only left with one gun, grenades, and a special attack. The other characters may have something different to them but I haven’t had the chance to play them yet.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3384047818
Also, in case anyone wants to say to me that this is a skill issue, I just want to point out that shooters are one of the main genres of games that I play. I have played Team Fortress 2 for at least 13 years, played Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands on hard mode, and completed Warhammer Space Marine (the first game) on hard mode. Warhammer Space Marine is a much more punishing game than this one too. So in case anyone wants to question my legitimacy on this, I have the proof right here and I can show off more examples if necessary. Atomic Picnic advertises itself as a casual shooter, not a hardcore one.

Now I can talk about the upgrades, they are very lackluster, and the good ones, don’t do enough to help you. Some of them are just mandatory for you to get anywhere in this game. You can level up the upgrades to offer more utility, but the problem is that, even then, they don’t do enough to help you. Some of them are also not very interesting or not worthwhile to use either. There isn’t an effective way to heal yourself, there are these green crystals that can heal you and an upgrade that gives you a small chance to heal yourself when taking out an enemy, although it only heals one HP.

There are a select few upgrades that are cused, that offer an extra benefit but at the cost of reducing the stats on your character. The issue with this is that it’s not worth it, if your stats get lowered like damage, you are just shooting yourself in the foot because enemies are pretty tanky. Sometimes enemies will spawn right next to you, the devs did state that they fixed this issue but sometimes I do get some enemies that will still do it. There is also no indicator of where you are taking damage or when enemies are around you. Enemies are so tanky that some require an entire magazine to take out.

There are also zones you can go to but the game won’t explain what to do in them, this game has a bunch of stuff that they don’t explain. There seems to be a lot to this game, but the lack of explanation makes this entire game hard to play. There is one thing that can make this game easier to play and that is having some friends to play with, although I have none that play this game, so I am out of luck.

Atomic Picnic does have some very nice visuals, the colors are very pretty and look good. I tested the game on an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3GB, and 16 GB of RAM, I had no issues while I was playing.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3384048051
Atomic Picnic is a fun game, but it’s held back by a bunch of design problems that are preventing me from enjoying it. I do think this game has some clever ideas, but it needs more time in the oven. If you want a game that makes you fight a bunch of enemies with worthwhile upgrades, then Vampire Survivors is the game for you, and it’s priced at 5.99 CDN.

However, I do think this game can be worth it when more updates come out, the devs do seem passionate about it and are still updating it. While I don’t recommend Atomic Picnic now, I do think the game will be much better when it’s worked on more.

Looking for more reviews like this one? Then follow Life Needs a Little Sin

Hello there my friend, were you like me and never played Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep because you owned a Wii when you were younger? Well Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands was released a decade later so you can play that instead of getting Borderlands 2 and the DLC in its bundle.

For those who have been living under a rock, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is a stand-alone game and not a DLC. That being said, though, this game could have probably been a DLC for Borderlands 3, but we get to pay $80 CDN for, at best, 16 hours of gameplay if you only focus on the main objectives.

Pros

• A character creator option
  
• Fantastic looter shooter gameplay with lots of loot to collect
  
• Six different classes for you to utilize with powerful abilities
  
• Lots of side quests and content

Cons

• The writing for the story is very bad
  
• End-game content is very lacking
  
• Crosshair is not centered

The story is set after the events of Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep, you are playing the game with Tiny Tina and her two friends Frette the Robot and Caption Valentine. The story is your typical DnD setting and then you slowly realize that this game's writing is awful.

Nothing interesting ever happens in this game in terms of story, the characters are all just there. While fine and interesting, the setting could have been written much better, and the fantasy element was not taken advantage of. Why just DnD though? You’re telling me that you couldn’t fit in a Magic The Gathering reference, LOTR, etc. The genre has evolved outside of just DnD. You can make DnD the focus of the game but only just having DnD is leaving a big hole in something. There are references in the game, one of the side quests pays homage to the Witcher and there is a side quest where you take out these small blue enemies that’s a reference to The Smurfs. The Witcher is a fantasy series, so it does fit very well here. There are a few others, but I just felt they could have taken advantage of this, just my thoughts.

It’s not like the characters are even any better either, there is pretty much no one in the story that is even remotely interesting besides Tiny Tina but that is because she has been part of the Borderlands story since B2. The only character I actually liked, was the main villain, The Dragon Lord because he was a parody of a main antagonist. Besides that, Valentine is also a character that I liked and was fun but that’s really it. Everyone else is poorly written and I am just waiting to move on from that character, for the game to only introduce me, to another character that I will not care about.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3381227161
The good news for Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is that the gameplay is actually really good and pretty much saves the game as a whole. It is a looter shooter and there are a lot of guns for you to collect and there are a few different rarities for them as well. Since this is based on a DnD campaigning, you do have access to magic spells that you can use to help take out enemies. The spells have a variety of effects that can help you in combat, by either damaging your enemies or activating a passive ability that your character has.

There is a character creator and there are a ton of customization options for your character, and you can even change your character mid-game. You can change anything at any point in the game too, your gender, voice, or even appearance, the options that the game gives you for your character are fantastic.

There are six classes for you to choose from in the game, I played as the Graveborn, who has a demi-lich fiend campaign and can deal dark magic attacks. The class pretty much has a built-in nuke that just deals a ton of damage. Since it’s one of its special moves, it allows it to release a burst of dark magic at the cost of some of your health, however, you will be healed for the total life you have lost. At level 20, you will unlock an ability to have a subclass with you, I choose the Clawbringer as they get a wryvn campaign that deals elemental damage. All of it just really depends on how you want to play the game.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3381225609

There are also lots of side content for you to do, like side quests, exploring dungeons, or fighting hidden bosses. It’s really interesting what you can find or come across in the world you are in, there is also an overworld too, which does have a few things you can do but nothing too big.

Overall, the gameplay is really fun and enjoyable, it’s a basic FPS at its core and that’s really it at the end of it. Although I do have two issues with the game, the end-game content for the game is very lackluster. There are these Chaos Gate Challenges you can do but it’s just you fighting waves of enemies until the meter fills up. You can of course get better loot and enchant or reenchant weapons but that’s it.

Other than that, the crosshair is not centered, and I did not find out about this until 30 hours into the game and it has bothered me ever since I found out about it. The good news is, that you can change it to be centered in the options menu.

The graphics are pretty nice, the areas all look colorful and give off this fantasy-like feel. 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 with the game's performance, and it ran very well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3381227322
Overall, Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands, is a good game but not a good good game, if you are looking for some mindless fun or are a fan of the Borderlands series. This game is a good purchase if you get it on sale. Paying full price for this game is just not worth it and there are better games that can give you more for your money. It’s a good game, like I said before, just not a good game that you would only maybe play once and that’s it.

What do you want? Chop-chop, I'm a very important and busy man with my own name and reviews to do at Skyknighter's Sleepless Nights

When Amnesia: Rebirth was announced, I was really looking forward to it and I was glad that the series was back. So I bought it on the day of release and I played it, after I was done, I personally was not satisfied with the end product. Although this was when I did not touch SOMA, now I have, so did anything change? No, nothing has changed at all and I am even more disappointed in this game than I was before.

Normally I don’t replay games that I don’t like but I never actually went and reviewed this game yet, so I made an exception. I did replay the game for a tad bit but I just couldn’t complete it and I did try but Amnesia: Rebirth does everything that a horror game should not do.

Pros

• References to the previous game Amnesia: The Dark Descent, were nice
  
• The graphics are really beautiful

Cons

• The story is not interesting at all, with nothing interesting being shown
  
• Puzzles aren’t really fun
  
• You are not punished for your mistakes
  
• The game is just flat-out, not scary, and is just outright boring

Set 98 years after the events of The Dark Descent in the year 1937, you play as Tasi Trianon, after waking up from a plane crash, you find that your crew, your husband Salim has disappeared and has been struck with amnesia. Tasi later discovers that she has a Traveler's Amulet with her, which lets her walk between different dimensions. She also later finds out that she is six months pregnant after waking up.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3356840922
The story for Amnesia: Rebirth is something, my major issue with the story is that it’s uninteresting and boring. On top of that, the developers decided to answer questions or things from the previous game, which is fine but the whole mystery with the orbs and other stuff was what made it interesting. Having those questions answered here takes away something that made me love the first game so much. As a matter of fact, A Machine for Pigs also does this right as well. It leaves the player in the dark about everything.

The characters I also just flat out do not care for, there is no one interesting and none of them really make an impact on the story. Tasi is not an interesting main character, she talks too much in the game and it feels unnecessary. The previous two games did it right and one of those said games has nothing to do with the series as a whole.

The gameplay remains the same but has been downgraded, one of the new mechanics the game has is matches, you can light these up to guide your way through darkness. It’s like a portable lantern that won’t last as long but can light up places like torches. There is a lantern you can get your hands on but it’s not great. I thought I would never say this but I prefer the one from a Machine For Pigs.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2278570413
There is puzzle-solving, but they aren’t that fun the whole game is boring. This is probably the worst offense this game has, as games should be fun. I honestly really have nothing else to say on the puzzles either as there is not much to them. Yeah, you may have to think for a bit when solving them but that’s all that there is to it.

But now I can talk about two other issues that I had, that are combined. You are not punished for your mistakes and the game is just flat-out not scary. Which besides being boring, is another problem for a horror game. There is no suspense, no sense of dread or fear, and you aren’t giving the feeling, that a lot is against you. If a monster catches you, you are sent back to a spot in the area you are in. The encounter may not be repeated anyway either so you don’t even get a chance to learn what you did wrong.

The only horror that the game will give you, are these white flashes when monsters chase you but the issue here, is that they are pretty much jump scares. This is honestly quite disappointing, as Frictional Games went with a very lazy way of trying to scare the player. Although it did use to be worse, as these flashes with the loud noises appeared every few seconds, that’s since been patched to no longer do that though.

The monster's designs are creepy though, there are also a few different enemy types that will chase you. Something I will give the game credit for is having a good enemy design and I think Amnesia: Rebirth takes the cake on something like that. I also did like the references from the first game, I liked them a lot as it was one of the few moments that made this game an [bAmnesia[/b] game.

But that’s really it in terms of positivity for the gameplay. There is so much wrong with it that I am just disappointed with the end product.

The graphics for Amensia: Rebirth is actually very nice to look at, I found the areas very beautiful and atmospheric. 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 playing and the game ran really well.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2263529896
When I first saw Amensia: Rebirth, I was really excited for me to only be met with disappointment. A Machine for Pigs at least had some good moments in it like its story and atmosphere and the atmosphere here is fine too but everything else is just a mess. I actually had more of a good time in A Machine for Pigs which is something I thought I would never say ever. I am aware I am in a minority here but I know for a fact, I am not the only one having these kinds of issues in the game. Only get this game if you are curious but if you are someone who really enjoyed the first game, skip out on this one.

Looking for more reviews like this one? Then follow Life Needs a Little Sin

With Halloween approaching it was time for me to load up on some horror games for the season and I decided to start on an interesting game. The Coffin of Andy and Leyley chose to throw in a bunch of taboo topics into one game yet only one of those said topics gets everyone's attention. I am of course not here to talk about those said topics but what I can tell you is what this game has to offer in this review. That being said if you are someone who is not comfortable with extreme taboo topics, then I recommend you stay far away from this game.

Pros

• A very unsettling yet very good story where your choices matter
  
• Multiple endings for you to get
  
• Fantastic hand-drawn art style

Cons

The game tackles these taboo topics in a very lazy way

Andrew and Ashley Graves are siblings trapped in their apartment for three months without food all thanks to a quarantine after this apparent outbreak. They must try and survive the harsh circumstances they are in, all while trying to keep themselves occupied without getting bored.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346469315
That is all I will dive into for the story, as this is a story-based game, there will be times when you will be given a choice and this can lead to a certain ending that game has. Currently, the game only has two endings but that’s because the game is still in early access. There is some light puzzle-solving but that’s really all this game has going for it.

The story is generally good though and I did like the whole mystery sort of thing that the game had. There is a lot I want to know about the outside world yet a lot of it is left out which is something I did like about the game. In all honestly, when something did come up, I was curious on where the story would go next, which kept me invested in it. It is also a black comedy as well, there are a few charming moments that are there. Andrew and Ashley are in a toxic sibling relationship. This is the game's main focus, which I suppose helps with the other themes that the game has, although I’ll get onto it, in a bit.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346476623
There are multiple game over based endings in the game for you to get, although to get these endings, you need to make certain choices that the game gives you. There are only two main endings so far but the game is still in early access so there is a chance that more can be added.

That being said, I want to talk about one of the core issues I had with the story: the character development between Andrew and Ashley. The issue I have with the two characters is that they aren’t exactly likable and by likable, they are just terrible human beings. Although that is the intent of the game, it goes onto another issue I have that I will tie into for it.

The main issue I have with The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is that there are taboo themes that the game wants to tackle, however, it does it in a very lazy way. I feel that they were just all included just to be edgy in some ways. These topics include but are not limited to cannibalism, child endangerment, child abuse, child neglect, child abandonment, parricide, murder, satanic rituals, and the most infamous one that is talked about, incest. Which are mainly shown for shock value, although. Two more episodes plan to be released so these topics may be explored more. There are also a few other themes that the game will tackle but I already listed enough of them as is.

The art style for The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is well done, it’s one of the main things that made me want to play the game. If you ever find an artist who takes commissions and can draw in the art style for the game, I highly recommend commissioning 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 had no issues while playing and the game should be able to be run on any computer.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3346472363
The Coffin of Andy and Leyley is a very odd sort of game, while I myself did find the topics that the game wanted to showcase lacking. I can’t really fault the game 100% due to it being in early access. I actually think this game is pretty good, you just have to know what you are getting yourself into with what the game has. If you can manage it, then this is a good purchase 12.99 CDN.

As much as you love feeling sorry for yourself, it is time for a little interlude it is titled: Follow Life Needs a Little Sin for good quality reviews

Now you may be asking me this exact question, Skyknighter, how in the world are you going to review a game that just makes you click a cookie? Well if you are seeing this review, that means I was able to actually do it. I know this may sound odd that someone has decided to step in and actually go and review this game that potentially a lot of people may not read but let me tell you something. There is a lot more to this game, than one may think and I actually do want to share my thoughts on how this idle game, has a lot going for it.

Also while I am reviewing this game, I am actually playing Cookie Clicker, so this should give you an idea of how this game has taken over.

Now I will be tackling this review completely differently than my usual ones. There is no section on pros and cons section. This is because the game is called Cookie Clicker, there isn’t really much for me to say on that part. So you click the cookie, and that’s it but after some clicking, you can unlock a cursor, which will do one click every ten seconds.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336215134
After that, you will keep clicking, until you unlock more towers to produce more cookies, you can get more towers by spending cookies. Along the way, there will also be upgrades on the top right corner of the screen. You can also spend cookies on these upgrades, and all of these will produce more cookies.

There are also Sugar Lumps you can get as well and you can only get one Sugar Lump every 24 hours. Sugar Lumps are also used to upgrade your towers, and they can produce more cookies, I should note that Sugar Lumps will still grow even when the game is turned off. It is recommended to pick up the Sugar Lump on time, you do have four hours to pick them up once they are ripe. If you don’t, it will auto collect if you collect it early though, there is a 50% chance of you getting nothing. No matter what though, after the Sugar Lump is clicked on, a new one will be in its place and you must wait another 24 hours. You may go through a phase like me where you put the game down and you come back with a ton of Sugar Lumps.

It’s not until you unlock the temple, that things start to get a little interesting, you see, the temple allows you to worship these gods, and they can also provide you the bonuses. These will help you get more cookies but some of them will also give other benefits as well. It’s best for you to experiment but some of them are really really good. Now we can talk about my favorite tower in the game, the wizard towers.

These have spells to give you benefits in cookie production but the one upgrade to look out for is spawning a Golden Cookie. Golden Cookies will give a bonus cookie production, the two best are Frenzy and Click Frenzy. These two upgrades will give you a batch of cookies just by clicking and it just feels so good because you can get more upgrades for your buildings.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336215966
However, I should warn you that both the temple and wizard towers have negative side effects when using their effects. For temples, those effects are passive, so the side effects for those upgrades will be passive as well. Wizard tower spells can backfire and give you a negative effect instead of a positive one.

There are also banks you can utilize as well for your cookie empire, and you can mess around with its stock market. There are some interesting things you can do with these buildings and it’s something I like about this game. Oh and the soundtrack for it is also really good, it was made by C418, the same guy who did the soundtrack for Minecraft.

The garden can even give you plants that you can harvest for benefits for your cookie factory as well. Oh and one last thing I should mention is that you are growing cookies as well and if you are asking how any of this makes sense? Well if you can go back in time and get cookies before they are even eaten, turn atom, and light into cookies, and for some reason, you can make cookies just by chance. So, if you can do that, then anything is possible so if you think you can make cookies from it, then it should be possible.

Well, that wraps up this review, I know it’s weird that I have made a review for an idle game like Cookie Clicker. However, if you managed to read all the way to the end, I do appreciate it, means a lot to me. I do in fact recommend this game for wasting your time or to play something when you are bored. Or you just want to play this game and get 100% compilation then you are in for a long journey.

Looking for more reviews like this one? Then follow Life Needs a Little Sin

Hello there, my good friend, do you love cute anime characters? Do you like Mario Party? Do you want to waste 59.99 CDN plus tax on a game? If you said yes to all three of these then Umamusume: Pretty Derby - Party Dash is the game for you. I have vague knowledge on Umamusume and when I found out that a game from it for Steam was coming, I was somewhat curious. Well eventually I got the game and I got to play it finally and it’s something you can learn about all my experiences about the game here in this review and the 59.99.

Pros

• Very fun gameplay with four distinct mini-games to play
  
• Lots of decoration options for your dorm
  
• Beautiful pixel art style

Cons

• The gameplay can get very stale after sometime
  
• Grind for unlocking characters for your custom team is very time consuming
  
• Price is very high for the amount of content that the game has

The Spring Fan Fest is on and with it comes to Slap Dash Grand Prix, where there are four main events for the four teams to compete in and that’s it, that’s the story. Now I will admit I am not an Umamusume expert in the slightest so I have no idea if there is some hidden lore I am missing but the story for this game is pretty much bare bones. There are four teams for you to play as and each one of them has their own story with seven chapters in them.

That’s not to say it’s not bad, I know this may come off as a shock but the characters are all different and they have unique personalities to each of them. Their designs also stand out and make them special, so there is that, which is nice.

You have four different minigames for you to play from, you have Hurtling Hurdles, Blazing Baskets, Dodgeball Demolition, and Gourmet Gauntlet. Hurtling Hurdles makes you go from point A to point B, dodging obstacles and using items or power-ups to give you the edge on the race. It’s basically Sonic R with Umamusume characters slapped on and it’s 2D (and dare I say in some aspects it’s better key word, some aspects).

Blazing Baskets is a basketball mini-game, it’s just that, a basketball game, that has more depth and character to it than any of the recent NBA games. Alright look, you can disagree with my Sonic R take but I make a point here. Whoever has the most points after three minutes or scores 300 points first, wins the match. Sometimes a special basketball will pop up and have additional effects to it or a hazard will appear on the court to hinder players.

Hurtling Hurdles and Blazing Baskets are actually my two favorite minigames to play as they are simple yet enjoyable. It show cases what the game’s charm is and I like it for that, 

Dodgeball Demolition is just dodgeball, there is nothing really more to say to this one either. Each character has a health bar and if a character runs out of health they are out, you win by either having the most health out all characters present after the time limit. Where each character gets a certain amount of points. Or you win by knocking everyone out, in which case you win by being the last one standing

Although sadly this minigame has the most issues out of all of them due to the bad hit boxes, as even if you jump over the ball you can still get hit. Or the fact that you can’t defend yourself even if you have a ball with you. You can only catch them and some characters have abilities that when you hold to charge it for a more powerful throw, the ball will sometimes home in on you.

The last minigame and probably the odd one to be put on here is Gourmet Gauntlet, in this minigame, you have a team of two. One person is the server, while the other is the eater, and the server must give a bunch of food to the eater. You can chain a combo by feeding the eater food on the same color of plates. If you give them a different color of plate, the combo ends, the only way for you to switch color plates and keep the combo going. Is by feeding the eater food on a rainbow plate. Whichever team has the most points at the end of the timer, wins the game.

Each character has a special move they can use to help them gain an advantage during the competition. You can gain these moves by the charge meter filling up, which it can do after a set timer and such. Although some of these special moves are reused on some of the characters, so they are not all different.

Each character also has stats, these stats help their performance on certain minigames, with some characters they are the best choice when it comes to a certain minigame. The game will tell you this by having a golden thumbs-up mark on that character when selecting them. Which if I am being real here, this is a game I never expected to have this sort of thing but, oh well, it’s here.

However, you maybe asking me, Skyknighter, there has to be more to this game than just four minigames and cute horse girls, right? Well, there is a little more, there is a hidden fifth minigame that’s a roguelike, although I haven’t really touched it there is the dorm decoration room feature. This actually has to be my all-time favorite thing in the game, decorating your dorm room is very fun and there is lots of options to customize it. To get these things, you will need to get coins, which you get after completing the story missions the game has. You can even have your very own costume team but to get these, you need to recruit tickets, which you can get a few on completing certain story missions.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3336217154
Although that being said though, this game does have some issues with it that I need to talk about. The fact that there are only four minigames and a hidden fifth one, is not really a justifiable price for 59.99. I mean that is a lot of money for a game like this and it hurts for me to say this because, this game is actually pretty fun. I know I have beaten the price for the game in this review before and such but you can’t deny that 59.99 is a lot to ask for. I thought Super Hot was bad on it’s price but this game and SPYXANYA: Operation Memories (which is priced at 66.99 and has 15 minigames) came out. Although to be fair I have not played the Spy X Family game, it’s still asking for a lot.

To grind to unlock all the Umamusume characters is also a chore to do, as grinding for the tickets can be time-consuming. Although you should be able to get your dream team because the final few missions of each team story will give you some. So you should have a full dream team complete by beating the third story in the game. You can also buy these tickets with the coins you get from the missions.

The pixel art style is actually really good and the animations that are in the game are fantastic, the characters are all voiced with their original cast as well (which may explain the price maybe). 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 smoothly and should work on any PC.

So, despite the fact that this game costs 59.99, there is an actual good product here, would I recommend it though? At full price, no I wouldn’t but on a sale, maybe but if it’s just low enough and you have food on the table for the next few weeks, then yes. However, that’s asking for a lot and you have to be a die-hard Umamusume fan. I will admit that I did get this game for free but I would definitely think twice before getting this at full price. The thing is, the game is fun and I would actually recommend this game if it was cheaper but that’s sadly not the case.

When Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth (LADIW) first trailer came out, I was really looking forward to coming back to the turn-based JRPG gameplay that the game was going for. I was really excited to what the game improved on with Y7 and what new features that the game had in store for it. With that said, this review will also be a bit hard for me to cover in certain aspects, as I don’t want to spoil anything on the game.

Pros

• A very interestingly crafted story with fun characters
  
• Fun turn-based gameplay
  
• Unique jobs that can give you a variety of moves
  
• Lots of side content to do in the game
  
• Fantastic soundtrack that is nice to listen to
  
• Beautiful graphics that make the areas feel alive

Cons

• The story loses some of its charm near the end
  
• New Game+ and other difficulties locked behind a DLC

Ichiban Kasuga was working at an average job until he one day gets let go from his said job and cancled by a Vtuber on in one day. This is due to a callout video made by a Vtuber named Hisoka Tatara and because of this Kasuga, with his two friends, Nanba and Adachi, decide to go to the Seiryu clan, to find answers. Along their way, they meet ex-yakuza members and meet Jo Sawashiro, who then tells Kasuga to go to Hawill and find his mother. Although there is a lot more going on then one may seem.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3333939084
The story for LADIW is pretty good, I really loved the new characters and the returning ones were also nice. I honesty think even telling one of my favorite characters is spoiling the story too much, besides Tomizawa, who is a cab driver and was just a cool character. The story has that classic crime drama that the series is known for.

However, the story does lose some of its charm near the end of the game, as it falls off a tad bit although this is only a minor issue that I noticed. Everything else with the story is great but near the end, it kind of just goes away, although they do leave off with an interesting note for it’s next game.

LADIW’s gameplay mainly remains the same from the previous entry but there are some changes that I really loved that the game added. Besides Kasuga, everyone will now pick up objects to attack people if they are near them. So if you ever wanted to see Nanba throw a bike at someone, well now you can. You can also use MP to cast special moves to deal more damage, buff/debuff someone, or heal. Overall, the gameplay is very fun and your characters can learn lots of moves to help them in combat.

During combat, you can also time the enemy's attacks so you can block them to do less damage. One of the newest things to combat for enemies is that they can be in a guard state, when they are in this, they will take reduced damage. To get them out of the guard state mainly, you have to use a grab attack, in which they will be taken out of that state. Your teammates also have a radius on their attacks, they can attack any enemy at any range but if they stay in the radius, they will do extra damage on that attack.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3333941765
Jobs are back as well and there are some unique ones that are with each party member. This time around, all the jobs in this game are very good and there isn’t one that is bad necessarily. However, there are some jobs that are ok for the most part but aren’t bad, it is up to personal preference but I never really came across a bad job in this game for any character. Especially Joongi Han or Seonhee where their main jobs were just straight up broken.

If you want to switch jobs but keep a certain move, you can do it with a move transfer feature that the game has. Which is very useful to create the ultimate character with the best job with some of the best moves in another job. Although you can only do up to five moves in total completely. So make sure you have the moves that you want to use and keep note of them so you can make the most of them.

There is a ton of side content that the game has in it and some very interesting ones at that. The first one I would like to bring up is Sujimon, which is this game's version of Pokemon, where you battle Sujimon trainers and challenge gym leaders. Then there is Dondoko Island, where you manage a hotel resort, it’s like Animal Crossing to an extent. So as you can see, You have three games in one, Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, Pokemon, and Animal Crossing. There is a lot to the gameplay that I have not explained but I can’t fit it all into this review, I do talk a little more about this game in my video on it (will be out soon, ran into some problems}. I also rated all the Yakuza games that I have played so if you are interested in that, keep an eye out for it.

Although despite having all of this great stuff in this game, Infinite Wealth has one glaring issue with its gameplay or the game as a whole. New Game+, is locked behind a DLC and so is hard mode, in other words, you only have access to one difficulty for the game. The game isn’t that hard either but the fact that a basic game feature is locked behind a DLC just proves Sega’s greed.

The graphics for this game are beautiful and I loved how the world that you are in is detailed, each area felt real and it’s like I was in its world. 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 I was able to play it just fine, on medium settings.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3333942218
The soundtrack for this game is just fantastic and it even rivals Y0’s soundtrack, my favorite songs in the game are Camouflage, Barracuda, and Giftiger Füllhalter. These songs just sound so damn nice to listen to and I highly recommend you check them out when given the chance.

Infinite Wealth is one of the best games that I have played this year and I am glad I was able to experience it in all its glory. I recommend this game to all Yakuza fans, especially for those who enjoyed Y7. You will have a great time with this game and the side content will make sure you are hooked and are playing the game for hours on end.

And make sure to follow Life Needs a Little Sin for their good quality reviews, brudda

When it comes to games getting a sequel, I never really saw Blasphemous ever getting one, but it seems I was wrong because of the first game's true ending. It pretty much said that the devs were working on a sequel so with all of that said, Blasphemous 2 has come out. Despite me having a number of issues with the first game, I enjoyed it quite a lot and was actually some what looking forward to playing the sequel. Although with all of that said, I do think the devs of The Game Kitchen, took a step forward but a few steps back.

Pros

• Fun metroidvenia gameplay with a lot to explore
  
• Three different weapons for you to use, each with unique abilities
  
• Actually useful upgrades
  
• Nice side quests for you to do
  
• Lots of collectibles for you to find
  
• Nice pixel art style and animated cutscenes

Cons

• Two out of the three weapons are underwhelming to use
  
• The same enemies are reused most of the time
  
• Bosses were underwhelming and just did not feel fun to fight
  
• The world is not really fun nor memorable in this game

The story for Blasphemous 2 is a bit interesting because there is actually a story that makes sense here. The Penitent One is resurrected and is tasked with retrieving these three regrets, he must go and defeat someone by the name of Eviterno. Who is trying to get the Miracle’s new child born so the Miracle can be prevented from returning.

I am conflicted about the story of this game, but it is nice to have a story that makes sense. It does take away something that I think the first Blasphemous got right and that’s the mystery that the story had with it. This game does have mystery to it but not as much as the first game had and I think it’s missing from this game.

An interesting thing to note for Blasphemous 2’s gameplay is that you have three weapons to choose from instead of having one weapon with you. Although you can only select one from the start, you can eventually find the other two. This also gives you access to what secrets and hidden items you can get from the game.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3330696210
The weapons I went with first were the Sarmiento and Centella, as they were a sword and dagger combo, as they are usually my preferred weapon of choice in hack and slashes because they can do high amounts of damage with their combos. Although I’ll get back to this whole combo thing later down the line in the review. Overall though the gameplay is very fun

The three weapons that you have access to, each have a unique ability for platforming. Sarmiento and Centellia give you the ability to teleport from certain mirrors, you can access other platforms, you can also chain to other mirrors and you will need to attack that mirror in quick succession to get to other mirrors.

Veredicto is the slowest of the three weapons but it does the most damage out of them all. It has the ability to attack these bells that will give you access to these platforms that will disappear after a few seconds. This is my favorite weapon to use when it comes to the platforming as I do think the devs took advantage out of it, unlike the other two. Also if you time it just right, Veredicto can actually damage enemies twice in one attack. I have no idea if this is a glitch or not but it’s something I did like.

Ruego Al Alba is the last weapon and is pretty much my favorite out of the three, I’ll get onto why soon though. This weapon is the most balanced out of the three but it’s the least useful for platforming, as it only gives you the ability to destroy these walls. However, now I can go onto why this weapon is my favorite and I will also be talking about one of the biggest issues I have with the weapons in Blasphemous 2. Ruego Al Alba, can combo, the other two weapons can’t, you only get a basic attack for those two.

This is very odd, as this is a platformer/metroidvenia, so you would expect all three of these weapons to combo, even when you put upgrades into these two weapons. As a matter of fact, in the later parts of the game, Ruego Al Alba just out-classes these two weapons, it’s sad because I like the ideas they had for the gameplay.

Although speaking of platforms, that’s one thing the game has improved on, so there is that, no more broken ladders in this game. The upgrades you can get have also gotten a major overhaul and are actually useful. There are upgrades for your weapons, weapon memories for new abilities and more. The abilities you can get also have changed in some ways, instead of them being for combat, they are instead used for platforming, which is something I did like.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3330697430
There are also some side quests for you to do and they can offer some very nice rewards, like some upgrades or abilities. There are a ton of collectibles for you to go out and find and the game does encourage you to go out and explore its world.

Although that’s really it I have to say on some of the other positive stuff because I have a few more negatives that the game has. One of the issues is that the enemies are just sometimes reused. The only difference that these new enemies have is that they have a different elemental attack that they can use and are reskinned. They end up being a bit boring to fight, just like the bosses. However, the boss fights are another issue here and in my opinion, are the worst aspect for this game. They aren’t fun to fight and are just giant sponges, the only two bosses I actually liked were Bendicta of Endless Orison and this may be a hot take but Odon of The Confraternity of Salt were my favorite bosses.

Although that was it, sadly the rest are pretty bad, with Evterno. Father of the Penitents is the worst boss. It has an easy first phase, a massive difficulty spike in phase two that makes you do things the game has never thrown at you and you can’t afford to make a mistake due to you not having many opportunities to heal. All of this combined makes this boss not very fun but the worst part is his unskipable dialog that he does every time.

The overworld is also at times not very interesting to explore, even with the new abilities and collectibles I can get. There isn’t really a reason to go and revisit the areas of the game due to them all being interesting.

The pixel art style is something I would like to praise the game for, even the animation during the cutscenes were also nice, even if a little odd for this game. 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 very well, should be able to work on any computer.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3330696946
I am at odds with Blasphemous 2, while I had a ton of issues with the first game, I still enjoyed it but in here. I had more good to say but the cons outweigh the pros, I am kind of sad because deep down, this game is good. If you do want to pick this game up, I recommend you wait for a sale but if you are someone who really liked the first game, you may be a little disappointed here.

And you may die, perhaps even rot away before my very eyes, but Life Needs a Little Sin will not help you

World of Horror is a very unique horror game with its style of gameplay, it’s a rogue-like with a choose-your-own-adventure style. The game also takes inspiration from Junji Ito’s work and the Clthul Mythos as well and blends them together into a very nice horror game with some interesting ideas.

Pros

• Creepy atmosphere that works very well
  
• Interesting gameplay where choices matter heavily
  
• Multiple endings you can achieve
  
• Fantastic black and white pixel art style

Cons

• No character development in the story
  
• The game can get quite difficult with RNG
  
• UI is ok, there is a little too much on the screen

I’ll be handling this review in a unique way because the story and the gameplay are tied together. The old gods have reawakened, the world is in a spiraling mess, in hospitals, abandoned classrooms, quiet apartments, and dark forests. Strange events have been occurring and it’s up to you to solve these cases to try and prevent the inevitable.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3313225628
You can play as 14 different characters and each character has a unique story to them and different mysteries for you to solve. Though, the characters themselves don’t have any sort of development to them. Although to be fair, I don’t think that was the intention of the game fully, as I believe they wanted to focus more on the atmosphere of the game.

However, to unlock certain characters, you need to get certain achievements in the game to get them. Which may require you to do a few runs on certain things because the game randomly generates what happens for certain events. Although even with all that, it should be possible to get them even with what I just said.

Now the game has three specific phases to it, the Planning phase, the Investigation phase, and the Combat phase. The Planning phase will be at your house where you can do things, like take a bath, go to the lighthouse, or choose your next mystery. That’s where the Investigation phase begins, and you are free to select the location to go to.

The game does have a set path that it recommends you go to but you are free to choose wherever you want to go to. The game has these random events that will determine what the player does and what kind of effect they get. Each location you go to has a certain event associated with it and an option for you to choose from. To solve cases you will need to find certain clues and to get these clues, you will need to resolve a certain event that the game gives you.

The events as a whole are random and there are certain scenarios where the ending is obvious, it’s still random on what the game gives you. Then there is combat, the game is turned-based, and you have offensive, defensive, support, and spiritual abilities. All of these actions are arranged in a 9x9 grid and some abilities are only available for certain encounters. You will need to prepare a sequence of attacks and click the LAUNCH SEQUENCE button for the game to do the actions that you want.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3313226708
You have at least 200 time units to use on certain actions and each action will use a certain amount. Once your sequence is over, the enemy can then attack you, you can reduce the damage you receive by using defensive actions. You can also cast spells and use throwing items, but they are not tied to the action sequence or the time unit. So you are free to cast as many spells or use as many throwing items as you want.

All of these actions have some sort of mathematics to them but that is a whole other thing to explain in this review and would take way too long for it to do that. Once combat is over, you will gain experience points, and some enemies will give you certain items. You can use the experience you get to level up certain stats. Some enemies can also alter certain actions for you, like ghosts for example. Where your attacks won’t be able to hurt them unless you are playing as certain characters as they can or by hurting them in another manner.

When leveling up, you can select one perk from three, there are generic perks that are available for all characters in the game. However, there are also character-exclusive perks that you can also select for a certain character. Each character has three or four perks unless you are playing as Toshiaki Wakematsu, who has six unique perks to him.

There is a ton that World of Horror has to offer but I just can’t explain everything that the game has. Although there are two issues that I do want to address with the game, the game can get quite difficult on its RNG. Now this is a minor issue as some people may enjoy the complete randomness that the game has to offer. Although with that said, there are just some things that the game will throw at you that can completely kill the run so be careful.

The UI that the game has is ok, I do think it’s a little cluttered as there is so much on the screen to click and such. This is also another minor issue but just a little something that got to me in some ways.

Although the issue I want to talk about mainly is the developer of this game, they have been known to say things and then just disappear. Now you may have known I said there were achievements earlier in the game, well there are no Steam achievements, but they were promised that they would be in the game. There was supposed to be an update in March for this game, but March has come and gone and we are in the mid to late month of August at the time of this review. The game is still very fun but those are the issues that the game is plagued with that do hold it back.

The art style that the game has is very beautiful and creepy, the black and white pixel graphics make the areas unsettling. 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 any PC.
https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3313227545
All in all World of Horror is a fantastic love letter to Junji Ito and to the Cthulhu Mythos. The game has a very nice horror-like charm to it that will be sure to please any horror fans. There is even mod support for the game so if you want to install some mods to enhance your experience in the game, they are there to make the game more fun.

Looking for more reviews like this one? Then follow Life Needs a Little Sin