Recent reviews by Disasterrific

My playthrough for episode I of Sonic the Hedgehog 4 had me consistently asking myself one question... "Why?" Why does everything look like someone spilled their Slurpee on the computer used to program it and this was all they could salvage? Why is "the fastest thing alive" the slowest thing on my screen? Why are the physics the video game equivalent of a dry heave with half the grace and none of the satisfaction after it's finished? Why was I one of the lunatics who spent more than ten hours of my life 100% completing this poopy bad excuse for a Sonic sequel just so I could put out a review when everyone else figured all of this out years ago? In the end, I had none of these burning questions answered, but at least I walked away with frustration and eye strain. I know that's not a positive but I'll take what I can get here.

In reality, this wasn't my first time having to live through Sonic 4. Way back when dinosaurs still roamed the earth, a friend of mine found a $10 Wii console at a farmer's market that had a bunch of downloaded games, one of which was Sonic 4, which I assume was why it ended up for $10 at a farmer's market. Anyway, being an enormous Sonic fan, I borrowed the Wii to play through the game, finished the story in a night and... quickly forgot it ever existed. Never doubt the human mind's ability to cover up trauma. But honestly, it left absolutely zero impression on my younger self. It was short, unattractive, sluggish and several other descriptive words commonly found on Danny DeVito's dating profile. In other words, it was everything a good Sonic game shouldn't be.

Our "story" starts because Eggman bad, I guess, so go stop him probably. What's happening here exactly? If I had to approximate a theory, the most bare bones Sonic plot ever conceived. You just... go. You go through levels, you collect Chaos Emeralds, you question your life choices and then it's over. I kept wondering what the point of this game's existence even was when every other mainline game in the series at least attempted to further what little plot had been introduced. It wasn't always much, but it felt cohesive at the very least. Here it just feels like all the newest employees at Sega got together for a secret board meeting and this is what they managed to squirt out. "People still enjoy that blue fella, right? What's his name? Solid the Beaver? Let's do another one of those and show the bosses what we're really made of!"

I've been avoiding talking about the gameplay to mitigate the Vietnam flashbacks, but I may as well rip that band-aid off now. Sonic games have always been about two very important things: giving you a good sense of speed, and having momentum-based physics that rewards players skilled enough to master them with optimal routes and faster completion times. Sonic 4 takes that formula and proposes to the player, "what if Sonic games had none of that?" Movement is atrociously slow, with Sonic's run startup feeling like he's running through oil-slicked banana peels. No joke, it takes a good five or so seconds for him to even get to a respectable speed, and even when you reach the fastest he can go, the actual physics will grind everything to a halt before you're given enough time to complain about it. Hope you like going top speed and still not being fast enough to clear loop-dee-loops or small inclines. If your one job is to make Sonic the Hedgehog go fast, it's probably best to not do the exact opposite.

So what did they do to alleviate these issues? Why, they reintroduced the homing attack, of course! Sonic moving to slow to start? Do a little homing attack to reach max speed faster than actually running. Weird jump arc getting you down during enemy encounters? Homing attack 'em and take accuracy out of the equation altogether! Oh but don't worry, there's still plenty of anger-inducing moments like swingy vines that don't go by momentum like every other swinging mechanic in gaming history, Sonic's ability to cling on the side of loops and slow your speed to a crawl, the spin dash being as useful as a rocket-powered doghouse, and much more!

Surely there must be something positive I can say about this game, right? Actually yes, there is! Two things in fact! This being a Sonic game, it's no shock that the soundtrack is honestly pretty stellar. That's almost always par for the course with the series at this point. Aside from a few repetitive tracks (more on that momentarily) I'd say most of the songs were bangers and worth a listen or three. The other thing worthy of praise is, for as crap as the actual gameplay can be, the level design is surprisingly good here. Lots of branching paths, decent ideas for level-specific mechanics, and a good sense of flow when you're actually able to keep a rhythm going. It damn near resembles a Sonic game at points, which is saying something. Not the most inspired level motifs the series has even had, but they get the job done and should at least be commended.

Sonic 4 was a huge misstep back when it released, and doesn't fare any better now that I'm older with more refined sensibilities in my cartoon hedgehogs. That probably begs the question of why I bothered spending ten hours maxing out the achievements for this flaming pile. Again, "why" is the question here. Why did I bother replaying the final boss gauntlet and its mind-numbing, repetitive music probably thirty or more times to get a no-hit run? Why did I grind out a thousand enemy kills in the first level when the game's buggy nature resets the counter after you shut it down? Why did I endure the final special stage over and over again just to get that stupid last Chaos Emerald, ignoring texts from my girlfriend who was probably checking up on my mental health and well being? I'll tell you why. It's because this game didn't deserve the satisfaction of beating me. Just like Crazy Taxi and Montaro before it, I was too stubborn to lose to this pathetically slow rodent posing as one of my favorite video game characters. At least it's over and I can say I experienced all it had to offer. It made the constant swirl of negative emotions feel a lot more justified.

Solid the Beaver Episode I: The Phantom Menace gets a no from me, dawg.

It feels like every time I recommend a game it always comes with some kind of huge caveat, and Pachi Pachi On A Roll is no exception. I initially saw this game as I was scouring the PS3 store for some classic titles during "The Great Closure Debacle of 2021" and it caught my eye. I mean... the two female leads caught my eye, but the idea of a pachinko and pinball hybrid had me intrigued. Considering Sony's stance on censorship, I wishlisted the Steam version, and one 30% price drop later I finally jumped in. What I got was... good. But also... not so good? Let me explain.

Pachi Pachi has you placed into one of four levels, each with its own theme, where you're tasked with playing pachinko in order to complete pinball-style missions and chase high scores. These missions vary from hitting certain objects with the ball, to destroying ones that block your way, and even some collecting elements are thrown into the later levels. However, the game's biggest draw is the ability to strip the two main characters, Robin and Fujiko, of different articles of clothing as you whittle your way through 3-star pegs that require multiple hits. Destroy all of them on the side that features the respective girl you're looking to undress, and you'll complete that mission on top of getting some eye candy. Let's be real, this is the reason everybody but the most dedicated casino-dwellers bought this game. Both girls are curvy, stacked, moan when you remove pieces of their clothing, and can be fully stripped after the most recent patch. There's no point in hiding this fact, the game's about boobs first and pachinko second. That said, there was a lot more here to enjoy than I first expected.

The actual gameplay itself, while simple, turned out to be surprisingly fun. Your typical pachinko fare, but fun nonetheless. You drop your ball from a moving crane arm, hoping to hit certain pegs or objects as it bounces down into different slots. The first level was relatively easy and had me concerned that there'd be no challenge when I found myself completing missions without even realizing what I was meant to be doing. However, the difficulty did ramp up later, to the point where the final level ended up causing some frustration due to the placements of hazards and the frequency they change how they're interacted with. There's also a mini-game element in some levels where meeting certain criteria will open up a unique side game, allowing you to increase your score. Nothing major, just a Breakout clone, some canon shooting game, etc. For the most part you'll just be dropping balls, completing missions to get more balls to drop, and trying to get a high enough score to unlock the next level.

Speaking of the levels, I mentioned earlier they were themed, which actually plays a pretty big role in how missions are tackled. The first level is a standard casino that serves to teach the player the basics of the general gameplay and not much else. As you move on, you'll get a western theme complete with a revolving cylinder that fires off bullets, and a passing train that starts a mini game when you get the balls into all the carriages. The space theme was my favorite, having you hit satellites to turn the asteroids into pegs, avoiding black holes and destroying UFOs. However, the aforementioned, medieval-themed final level was way more irritating than it had any reason to be. Vines that block your path and regrow when you lose enough balls, monster hands that constantly get in the way and grab your ball, tentacles that knock it away from where you wanted it to fall... it was just a mess. But I powered through and completed everything! Well... sort of.

That segue brings me to the negatives, and unfortunately there's quite a few of them. For starters, the game touts Robin and Fujiko as some kind of Lupin-esque master criminals, but absolutely nothing about the game indicates this. So if you're hoping for some semblance of story, you're only gonna find it in the game's description. Bug are also pretty prevalent, with odd physics in the mini-games, glitches that occasionally get your ball stuck, a weird fanfare that seems like it's meant to give extra points but just soft locks you from playing until it ends, and I even had a "crash" that booted me back to the main menu right as I was about to finish the infamously terrible final level for the first time. But my most hated bug of all, which seems to be a recurring issue with a lot of smaller Steam games, is that we have a bugged achievement. Not just that, but one that the developer was supposedly looking into fixing and has all but forgotten about several months later. It's why I now have yet another (assumed) permanently incomplete game on my profile. It seems the leaderboards are bugged too, showing only the first level's scores for everybody. Though it says I'm #12 worldwide so... go me, I guess? Couple all this with a short overall experience and a slightly-too-high price tag, and Pachi Pachi is gonna be a hard sell for most people, sex appeal or not.

I really want to dunk on this game, but the truth is I actually had a really good time. Despite the problems, I found my biggest gripe in the end was that it was over too soon. There are definitely worse issues that a game can have than leaving the player wanting more. I felt it deserved at least some attention since there was some effort put in. It's why I'm recommending it in the end. If you can look past the price and minor annoyances, it's a fun little time-waster that I'll probably revisit now and then.

Let me be perfectly clear about something right off the bat here... I love memes. Like any sane human being, I also love memes involving any doge, doggo or straight-up good boi deserving of scritches. I wanted to make this known immediately because it brings me great displeasure to say that Montaro is one of the least enjoyable experiences I've had on Steam. On paper it all sounds great. A one-button "runner" game (or whatever a brisk walking equivalent would be considered) starring a lovable doge that has to avoid obstacles, collect coins and steal the pantsu from unsuspecting schoolgirls. What could go wrong! ...Where do I even begin with this?

Like most games in this style, you're constantly moving forward, given only the ability to left-click for a little jump. A basic run will have you doing your best to avoid things like birds, manholes, boxes, groups of angry chickens, etc. There's also banana peels littered throughout the level that will cause you to bounce off them and lose a portion of your dizziness meter, which is indicated by pairs of panties. What's the point of this meter? When it drops entirely, you suffer a form of Smash Bros.-style hit stun that leaves you unable to jump but can still run into oncoming obstacles. How do you prevent this? Why, by jumping when near one of the hundreds of schoolgirls that are apparently the only inhabitants of this fruit-loving, dog-hating city and stealing their panties, of course! There's also some slightly more advanced tech where falling from greater heights onto banana peels causes you to bounce higher to reach upper platforms, and doubles as attacks against the birds that dominate that portion of the screen. Collect coins, unlock more doges, rinse and repeat.

So what's the problem here? Seems pretty straightforward, right? Well every issue Montaro has comes from the fact that any run can potentially be amazing or terrible through absolutely no fault of the player. Because of the random placement of things in your path, you'll constantly find yourself coming upon situations where avoiding them is simply impossible no matter how skilled you are. Sometimes you'll be doing well, only to drop down from a platform and the super speedy chicken group comes to ruin your day because you landed on top of them with your low-mobility pupper that was already airborne before they showed up. Jumping on banana peels instead of running into them leaves you immobilized longer, meaning you could potentially run into a hazard off screen if you bounce for too long. I've literally had runs where I started and was greeted with unavoidable banana peels that proceeded to wombo combo me into a manhole. I could be the top Montaro player in the world, but because the game decided this wasn't the run for me, I was forced to restart. Moments like this are absolutely littered throughout this game, and only serve to make a bare-bones experience that much more frustrating. Oh, and I hope you like seizures on top of frustration because more often than not, restarting a run resulted in the screen rapidly flashing white for a few seconds like it couldn't handle its own graphical intensity.

I would have loved to just do a stupid, one-word meme review of this game, leave a thumbs up and move on with my life. But Montaro doesn't deserve even that much no matter how intentionally dumb it tries to be. It's boring to look at, "controls" like crap, the novelty wears off in seconds, and it doesn't even use its subject matter to the full potential. Even though I paid less than a buck for this on sale, I still feel ripped-off knowing someone out there is buying a pack of gum with the money I spent on their lousy doge game. Seriously, this should have been free. The three hours I pumped into this was out of pure stubbornness to not let the game's grindy, padded-out achievements beat me. Although the ONE SINGLE trading card that I got from those three hours shall forever stand as a testament to how little this game valued my time

Much bad. Very Suck.

Wow... I'm in a state of real shock here. I discovered Happy's Humble Burger Farm a few days ago from an E3 trailer and was intrigued by the premise. I then came to find a playable version was already available for some time, so I immediately jumped at the opportunity to try it out. I went into it with mild to low expectations, especially considering it was an alpha I was about to be playing. I figured I'd play a few minutes, get a jump scare or two, get bored and move on to something else. But what I ended up experiencing was an atmospheric, challenging and, at times, genuinely tense game that made my skin crawl in all the right ways.

For anyone who's ever worked at a fast food joint before, you'll know how stressful it can be to get orders out in a timely manner while remembering all kinds of menu items and recipes. Well imagine that scenario, but you're the only available employee for all positions, it's the middle of the night, and your restaurant's lovable mascot turns homicidal the moment you start performing poorly at your McJob. That's the general idea of Happy's in a nutshell. I think they managed to find a really great middle ground between the horrors of a minimum wage job and the actual horrors of... horror games.

You'll start each shift driving to work, opening up the restaurant, taking orders, doing your best to get them to the customers before time runs out, and then closing up shop. The first few days are relatively low pressure since any strikes against you don't seem to account for much except for demoralizing your own sense of self-worth. This is a good thing since it can be a real challenge meeting order requirements until you're familiarized with what the game expects of you. Things like item locations, machine placements, and the best overall methods of maximizing your output (i.e. making sure bags are opened for items, fries and nuggets are made, not burning patties, etc.). Eventually you'll also be tasked with additional jobs like plunging the toilet and taking out the trash built up out back, which must be completed in much shorter time frames on top of pleasing customers.

As if all that wasn't anxiety-inducing enough, Happy the Humble Heifer will eventually begin stalking your burger-flipping ass if your backroom shenanigans start turning her fine dining establishment into a laughingstock. One too many infractions means you'll go from an already tense situation of dealing with the general public, to having the world's most frightening night manager docking your pay by prematurely ending your life before the direct deposit hits. That'll save during tax season!

While I had a great time throughout my entire playthrough, I did have two minor issues that could honestly be considered nitpicks at best. The visuals are excellent and really sell the atmosphere well, but there's one little irritant about them that took me out of the experience a bit. Textures adopt this pixelated style when viewed up close, which is meant to be reminiscent of a PS1-era graphical style from what I've heard. It doesn't look bad, exactly, but it feels way too reminiscent of Valheim, which is a game where I also felt the stylistic choice hampered what would otherwise be more visually striking. Just a personal gripe, but I do think a grimy and more realistic look would suit this oppressive setting better.

The other nitpick is that the time frame given to getting food out and taking care of additional tasks is just the slightest bit too unforgiving. I understand it's to make the situation way more stressful, and it works, but even after I became incredibly proficient at maintaining the restaurant at a good pace, I still ended up with Happy lurking around every corner, which felt entirely out of my control. A few additional seconds could do wonders here, just to help players get their bearings and decide what tasks would be best to tackle first.

I highly recommend this one for both horror enthusiasts and anyone who appreciates a game that can accurately capture the simulated mundanity of a part-time job. I loved exploring this small but delightful world they created, from the dreary city on the way to work, to the Mickey D's-style play area I scoured for collectables. I'm anxiously awaiting the full release, where Happy's entire band of animal friends can chastise me for forgetting to put the urinal cakes in the bathrooms!

There is no game, only Zuul.

As someone who's dealt with anxiety for a good chunk of my adult life, I went into Fractured Minds with some level of expectation that it would manage to recreate the crippling and often debilitating emotional state it can leave a person in. While I wouldn't say it necessarily failed in doing so, it certainly didn't evoke any familiar feelings either.

My 100% (achievements included) run clocked in at just under a half hour. The idea here was to allow the player a short glimpse into the mind of someone suffering from mental illness, anxiety disorder, etc, from a first-person perspective. The problem I had, however, is that the conveyance of this felt far too obtuse to get the point across an any significant way. Some moments felt like an accurate reflection from a visual standpoint, but others just seemed like set pieces that worked on a more personal level for the developer than a broad interpretation in which every player will empathize.

The only reason I'm not recommending Fractured Minds is solely based on the fact that, in the short time I played, I felt almost nothing and had very little enjoyment. I applaud the initiative here, and I do feel like the overall message is important no matter how they conveyed it. But at the end of the day this is still a product I paid for and didn't have a good time with, despite that message. It's clear that this was a personal story that isn't always going to resonate with its entire audience, and that's okay. My lack of a recommendation is for myself, and not necessarily for you. It doesn't diminish the struggles of its creator any more than your own anxieties and disorders diminish who you are.

Press Any Button is a hard game to explain. On one hand you've got an A.I. (fittingly named A-Eye) creating their own game while simultaneously trying to learn about human existence in the hope of improving their creation. On the other hand you've got a poignant and somewhat heartrending narrative that tackles some dark and oftentimes heavy subject matter in the short time it takes to complete.

As someone who enjoys writing in-depth reviews wherever possible, it brings me no joy in deciding to keep this one brief. The reason for this is because I feel the game works best when experienced blind. I will say that gameplay consists almost entirely of placing platforms under falling objects, which becomes surprisingly difficult very early on, even for a seasoned gamer like myself. Everything else, however, I think needs to be played firsthand.

It should be noted that the aforementioned heavy subject matter delves into some territory that a lighthearted game such as this may not be the best means of conveying properly. I do think the message is important, and the developer's heart was certainly in the right place. It's just a difficult thing to tackle, and the approach taken may come off a bit too positive considering how the issues surrounding it are typically more difficult than Press Any Button's "solution" might imply. I personally didn't feel this way, but I could see it coming across as overly simplified by those who have dealt with similar situations. Consider this a spoiler-free trigger warning for those with heightened sensitivities.

I do recommend Press Any Button for the experience, if nothing else. If you have any interest, I'd grab it sooner rather than later. It's currently free as of this review, but soon will become a paid game, at which point I'd only recommend it as a way of supporting a developer willing to take a chance on something unique rather than on the merits of the game itself. Two or three dollars max would be my cut-off point here.

This may actually be my favorite version of Pac-Man to date! It takes the simple, familiar maze formula of munching dots and avoiding ghosts, but ramps up the risk/reward factor exponentially by introducing some subtle mechanics that really keep you on your toes while forcing you to make split-second decisions.

You're put into a maze where you're constantly forced to move upward due to a corruption engulfing the portion below you. The pellets you eat are counted at the top of the screen, but keeping a consistent chain going without any breaking it in between is where things get interesting. The pellets are multiplied as the chain goes on, and can be further multiplied by fruit, each with varying multipliers of their own. Why does getting a higher pellet score matter? Well the more you munch, the more is put toward unlocking important pickup items that can be used as an offense or defense against pursuing ghosts. The problems arise when you realize there are some breaks in the pellets, meaning some paths will inevitably cause a lost streak.

The elegant brilliance of this gameplay loop is that there's always a choice to make on top of the already reaction-based style of Pac-Man. Do you give up a good pellet streak and try for that nearby item to clear out the half dozen ghosts coming up? Or do you risk losing your whole run with some slick, last second maneuvers? Is it worth it to go down that dangerous path to grab a fruit multiplier? Or should you just go for the Power Pellet and worry about upping your count when there's more safety?

The further you get, the more ghosts, items and path choices you'll be forced to deal with. Factor all this in with the ghost's movements and speeds still being dictated by their colors, and items having all kinds of functions from a laser beam that shoots in front of you, to turning Pac-Man into a moving bomb. There's currency to collect for upgrading pickups to make them more potent. There's a loadout functionality so you can select three of the items you feel will best benefit your run. For such a tried and true formula like Pac-Man offers, 256 does a lot to make the classic feel fresh again.

I grabbed this on Humble Bundle for only a buck, but I do feel a few more dollars would have been perfectly acceptable for what's on offer. I always appreciate a new spin on a game we all know and love, especially when it's pulled off so effortlessly.

Barney's movie had heart, but Dinner with an Owl had dinner with an owl.

My first exposure to League of Maidens went something like this:
Steam: "Hey you! You look like a pervert!"
Me: ".............. Go on."
Steam: "Check this game out! It's like DC Universe Online, only OFFLINE!"
Me: "So it's a superhero game?"
Steam: "Kind of... Only instead of superheroes you play as these busty chicks that--"
Me: "SOLD!"

In all seriousness, I gave the game a try due to how often it showed up in my recommended lists. I was reluctant to do so after quickly becoming burnt out on DCUO with only a day or so of playing, and the title alluding to League of Legends (a game I've had absolutely zero interest in) wasn't doing it any favors either. But I pressed on and gave it a fair shake before jumping to any conclusions. The end result was... mixed to say the least. I've had a love-hate relationship with League of Maidens over the 17 hours I put into it. I can acknowledge there are some good ideas here. But for every one of those good ideas, two more bad ones gang up on it, steal its lunch money, and imply impure relations with its mother.

You'll notice right from the start the LoM wears its "adults only" warnings like a badge of honor. In fact, the game actively encourages players to create their ideal woman as oversized and ridiculous as they want (more details on that later). You've got your standard character creation affair like faces, arms, legs, hands, body, etc. But then you're introduced to your control over the more feminine assets and suddenly it becomes the wild west up in here.. Breast and butt sliders allow an unapologetically insane degree of customization, ranging from size, shape, jiggle, length, width, and everything in between. I literally mean everything too, but going into too much detail here makes me think I'll end up with a strike on my Steam account. Let's just say we're on Cyberpunk 2077 levels of tweaking you can pull off the further down you go.

Now that you've created your perfect super waifu, what do you actually do with her? Well your character is part of an organization utilizing "War Maidens" as a means of defense against an apocalyptic threat (after the fall of the previous champions). At least I'm pretty sure that's what's going on. This is actually one of the major problems I had as soon as I got into the gameplay. For as much as it touts its goofy, sexual nature as a selling point, you quickly discover it's juxtaposed by a narrative that plays itself almost entirely deadpan serious. A few characters break the fourth wall here and there, and you'll hear some naughty language thrown in, but it's still a jarring tonal shift from the creator to the gameplay proper. So while characters talk about the looming threat of death, your cartoonishly-proportioned main character with over-inflated beach balls on her chest will be happily bouncing about as she runs between objectives.

Gameplay itself is also a mixed bag. Depending on your class, you'll have an assortment of different tools at your disposal. Since I went with the standard, Warrior class, I had the basic sword and gun combo to work with, on top of additional offensive and defensive powers tied to that class. I can't say how the other classes work in comparison since I didn't test them out, but all of them have the power of flight, which is pretty dope. Combat is simplistic, with basic sword swipes and gunshots with varying types, ammo, upgrades and what have you. What I found more interesting were the additional powers you have, including an AOE attack that basically decimated most minor enemies in one shot. I found myself just waiting for that to cool down and repeating it to make short work of them.

In typical MMO fashion, you'll go to quest givers, kill mobs of enemies for XP and loot, get money and drops for crafting or upgrades, etc. It's a fairly standard loop, but quickly becomes tiresome for reasons I'll get into shortly. In an average session, you'll typically do your daily assortment of repeatable missions, further the story by entering a city zone and helping NPCs, fly to different strongholds to clear them out, spin a wheel every 15 minutes for a chance at random loot, accomplish daily tasks to keep your streak going, and more.

Let me be clear here, League of Maidens has an overwhelming amount of things to do and keep track of at any given time. In fact, even the main menu looks like someone ate a huge bowl of free-to-play and barfed it out onto your screen. There's dozens more little details I missed because of how much there is to remember. This plays into the biggest issue I've been building up to, and ultimately what killed nearly all my hype at this point: This game is blatantly... shamelessly... unabashedly predatory with its use of pay walls. Want more of the absolutely necessary inventory space? Better fork over the dough for the many expensive Premium Memberships you'll have to pony up for again after the time runs out! Want more clothing options for the girl you spent hours customizing? Premium! Want more XP per stronghold? Premium! More slots for Maidens? Another slider to make the oversized knockers even MORE insanely huge? How about just plain nudity? Yup, you guessed it! All of these are walled off or gated entirely unless you dish out the cash. Oh, and did I mention each individual customization item must still be purchased with this Premium in-game currency even after having this feature unlocked? You could just buy these things outright with the currency, but you're looking at even more spending this way from what I can tell. There's no sugarcoating it... It's a scam. A scam for every teenage boy out there whose parents forgot to filter their Steam account and got a hold of their credit card.

I truly hate being negative toward this game. I mean that in the sincerest way possible. I say that because I saw a lot of potential here. The groundwork of something much better has been laid, and I believe can still reach that point. From what I've been told, this was the work of only three people, which is an outrageously commendable feat that deserves recognition. The graphics on the Maidens themselves have a staggering, beautiful level of polish that some AAA games haven't even matched. Animations are great and clearly had a ton of work put in. Voice work is mostly well done, the soundtrack is surprisingly top-notch, and even the gameplay itself doesn't feel bad to play outside of all the monetization lurking around every corner. There's just a lot of work to be done to not have wasted all this potential.

Despite a mostly negative review, I do still want to recommend this game. Between the small team that worked on it cranking out something surprisingly robust, and the fact that it's free, there's no reason not to at least try it for yourself once. I still believe something great can come from this if some changes are made in favor of the players. There's clearly passion behind this project, and if that passion is fueled by more than monetary gain it will end up a better product in the end. Don't give up on this one!