Savior699

The Gate Must Stand Steam Review

The Gate Must Stand is a new tower defense game sent my way by Yogscast Games and Gamersky Games, both of which are always great to work with. The concept here is very simple: hack and slash your way through demons that are attacking your gate. Doing so will gain you experience and coins, which can be used to hire all sorts of help from the tavern, from different types of mages to guys with huge shields to distract enemies, and so much more.

Occasionally, you will be offered missions, such as guiding a transport to the gate, dealing a certain amount of magic damage, repairing the gate, or even keeping the gate at full health for a certain amount of time. These will reward you in various ways, such as increasing the level of your minions, giving you money or even just giving you free minions. These minions can then be placed on the map at key places to help you fight the enemies or combined with the same type to increase or promote them. For example, two level 1 fire mages to make a level 2 fire mage. Now, if the levels don’t match, they can still be combined to increase the level of the minion, which is nice. Once they reach level ten, they transform into an ultimate form.

Relics have all sorts of uses and will help you in all manner of ways, from increasing your speed or attack power to increasing stacks of bleed on enemies. These usually come from beating mini bosses or bosses throughout the run.

At the $10 price point, the game offers plenty of replay value and is quite fun. While the game is far from perfect, I really don’t have anything to complain about, except that it just isn’t as much fun as it could be. They really seemed to make the game harder than it needed to be simply to increase the time it takes to play it, rather than just making the game longer or adding more to the game to unlock. This will never sit well with me. The game is still a 7/10 experience and worth picking up. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent PlayStation 5 Review

Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent was sent my way by the fine folks over at New Tales, which I always appreciate. The game is the newest dungeon crawler on the console, and the first time console players get to explore the world of Terrinoth, from the Heroes of Terrinoth board game.

The full campaign plays out through 4 chapters, split into sections, each with its own theme. As you play, you will gather 8 players, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. They, of course, fall along the usual classes you would hope for, even if they aren’t named as such. For example, Aurta slings spells, Cedwin is an archer, and Kharaz will be smacking enemies with a shield bash and spitting fireballs like a dragon hybrid should.

It is hard to get into the story without spoiling things, but because it all ties in together as you go from place to place, suffice it to say it is very well put together. What starts as what should be a quick mission to get a stone back quickly leads to fighting things that shouldn’t even exist.

The real question with these games is always, how is the battle system, and lately also how does it compare to Baldur’s Gate 2. Honestly, if you are looking for your next 100+ hour experience exploring every nook and cranny of the world, rolling dice D&D style, this isn’t it. Each chapter plays out on a map, exploring and fighting battles, and in between, you can level up your characters, level abilities, switch them out, and buy and equip items.

Now, if you are looking for something to play for about 30-40 hours, where each mission is broken down into about an hour to an hour and a half, with a similar but easier to play ( but not easier to win) battle system, this is the game you are looking for. This is not, nor is it meant to be, the next Baldur’s Gate, but it is an amazing alternative that I think many will prefer. It is a 9/10 title that is worth picking up. My only real issue is the multiplayer; without friends to play with, I couldn’t find anyone to play with. With that in mind, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

My Time at Evershine – New Stunning Trailer Revealed Following Summer Game Fest

I will admit I am a little late getting this one out. Steamfest is quite busy, as you can imagine. My daughter and I have always loved the My Time series by Panthea Games, so any new information is always appreciated by us. The trailer is beautiful, and sets up what appears to be the biggest and most adventurous title in the series. Enjoy the trailer below, and be sure to wishlist it on your platform of choice, as it is coming to Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Steam sometime in 2027. (Stores currently available are provided as a courtesy; no compensation is provided to Savior Gaming by doing so)

Bellwright PlayStation 5 Review

Bellwright was sent my way by Snail Games USA, and I greatly appreciate it. I have been looking forward to this game hitting consoles for a very long time now, it seems. The release itself has been somewhat mixed, if I am being honest. I will start with the bad because the bad is quite annoying, but there have been a few patches since I was sent the game the day it released, and having played it most days since then, I can say many of these issues have gotten much better.

First, there has been an issue with saves, which, while I have never lost data, is easily fixed; it is annoying. Basically, the game flags the autosave file as having an issue whenever you pick anything up or use an item, and your system gives you an error message to close out. If you save your game manually, shut the game down, and reopen it, the issue disappears at least for a while. While the first few days this happened a lot, an update seems to have fixed this, as I have not had the issue the last couple of days.

My next issue is graphical; while the game mostly looks great, I have seen some weird things happen. People sawing wood well above where the wood is, people walking around without complete bodies that then suddenly return, which is completely cosmetic. If you see a bandit like this, you can still stab him in the chest.

The pathfinding also is not great for NPCs; I have had my townspeople get stuck on trees they could easily just walk around, for example. They don’t need constant supervision by any means, but occasionally you may have to help them out.

Let’s move on to the good, because I don’t want people to think I hate this game. It is quite the opposite; I actually love this game. I have played a few games like this, and this is the best. You can build almost anywhere on the map as long as you aren’t too close to a town, and once you start, you aren’t limited to where you started. The game encourages you to recruit a lot of people and build in a lot of places. You can even build new roads and send people out with carts to move things back and forth, with one person acting as a sort of merchant and others acting as guards. If you want to build a main settlement and a few others that do nothing but chop wood, mine rocks and copper, or hunt, and then have people that simply deliver those goods to your settlement to be processed and sold, you can.

The difficulty is also fully customizable from the in-game menu, so if you find you hate dealing with bandits and just want to build an epic city, feel free to turn off raids and make bandits hang out where they live. Want to turn the world into a war zone? Crank those things up if you want.

The story itself is quite simple: you return to your home in the Lowlands to find out the meaning of a sigil found on the body of your murdered uncle. This takes place years after some sort of war or rebellion, which you will quickly find out more about, so I won’t ruin it for you. Truthfully, I don’t know a ton about the story anyway. I spent my first 20 hours building and researching things, and doing missions for local people to make a town trust me. Why, you may ask? I wanted a pet cat, a warhammer, and to build a town hall as fast as I could. I have a cat and a warhammer.

Before this gets longer, the issues do take away from some of the enjoyment, but the game is still great. My only other complaint is that the game didn’t launch on console with multiplayer, but much of the balance is still designed for it. Now this is easily circumvented with a few townspeople, and it is coming with a future update. The game is a 7/10 title, which, with a couple of updates, will improve even more. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

One Fenix Down Steam Demo

One Fenix Down recently had a demo as part of Steamfest, and I decided to check it out. The game started out as just something someone who loves RPGs started making, and it eventually turned into far more, now under the umbrella of a studio called Regalcraft Games.

Game told me not to fight this guy, so I did. Maybe don’t do that.

The game is a classic old-school turn-based RPG, through and through. From the graphics to the audio, everything about this feels ripped out of the 90s. Playing with a controller is basically mandatory. The game will tell you to use one when you boot it up, and I didn’t argue. The game demo doesn’t even feature voice-overs, and to my knowledge, there are no plans to add them; the game is better for this.

In true 90s fashion, I can’t pronounce this dudes name.

The combat feels great, sitting at my computer playing it, ironically sipping a monster, wishing I got more sleep last night, reminded me of the days I was up, swearing to my mother I was looking for a save point while I tried to grind out one more level, while I was right next to one. She honestly didn’t know what they looked like.

I don’t know how the full game will turn out, but the Steam page boasts about having over 40 hours of gameplay and over 14 playable characters, and considering the demo had 5 playable characters, 4 with unique skills and abilities, I believe it. Full disclosure, the 5th may have as well, but the goal is to NOT use him in combat, so I didn’t. He did have weapons and such equipped, so he is capable of battle. If the demo is any indication of what’s to come, I look forward to the planned September release date. As you know, I don’t give demos a score, but this one is worth trying. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dragon’s Brew Steam Demo

Dragons Brew is one of the many demos I have been asked to check out recently. This one is from Isolated Games Publishing and Radic Creative. The concept is very simple but quite new to me. You run a little board game and cafe shop. The demo lets you run 2 game days and will show you how to do much of what the game has to offer, from buying supplies, making coffee, and baking goods to buying new games.

The controls are quite intuitive on a mouse and keyboard, and while a controller option is not available in the demo, it does seem that it may be coming. The really important thing is that the demo functions very well; I never had any graphical issues, and the only two issues I really had are easily fixed. One occasionally, when I made coffee, it would simply disappear rather than going to my inventory. Also, something telling you there is a map would have been nice intead of randomly finding it in the menu would have been nice.

There are also plenty of things to work toward in the game as you improve your store, new games, recipes, and furniture. The full game is expected to release sometime in quarter 4 of 2026, so check out the demo. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Dino-Ducks Mayhem Steam Review

Dino-Ducks Mayhem was sent my way by Duckosaurs Games which I always appreciate. Dino- Ducks Mayhem is a Twin Stick shooter with bullet heaven type gameplay, and honestly has an interesting concept. You pick one of two ducks, with more to unlock later, and two ducklings to help you out. You can unlock more of these later as well. You then traverse the map killing enemies, collecting coins to buy things from a truck that occasionally shows up, collecting shards to upgrade them at a forge that also shows up occasionally and fighting mini bosses or jailers to free ducklings.

Now the artwork is honestly very nice, and it is truly the standout thing here. Each duck looks interesting and different, this goes for the ducklings as well. The weapons are also pretty nice and feels like they matter. the ability to create new weapons based on the ones you pick up or to collect things like rocks or bottle caps to combine with your weapons at the forge to create bigger and better weapons and upgrade their levels is a nice touch as well. It is great to see how they truly feel stronger.

The game does have some issues whether you play with a mouse and keyboard or an Xbox controller. The game itself absolutely plays better on a controller, but the menus function better with a mouse. This makes it hard to just sit back and play the game when the menu becomes hard to navigate with a controller. It isn’t that the game is hard to play with Mouse and Keyboard, its just better with a controller.

The early part of the game is also very slow paced, this isn’t good or bad, this is for you to decide on. I rather enjoyed the slow walk up to being surrounded by enemies myself, but I know some people won’t like this. This game however makes it work.

All in all Dino-Ducks Mayhem isn’t a bad game, there are just better games in the genre, some are cheaper even. I have a hard time recommending a game that still needs work at a $15 price point when other games exist that do it better. It is a 6/10 title that only fans of ducks should buy. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Solarpunk PlayStation 5 Review

Solarpunk is a relaxed survival game made by just two people and sent my way by Rokaplay. I would be lying if I said this one wasn’t on my radar for a while. Everyone who follows Savior Gaming knows I am a sucker for a good survival game, and Solarpunk ticks all my boxes. I can relax, craft stuff, fly an airship, build a house as small or big as I want, and just all around do whatever I feel like doing in my own time. The question is, does it live up to my expectations?

Well, if you don’t feel like reading this entire thing, feel free to go and spend the $23 and buy it; you have my blessing. If you want to know more, keep reading. Starting out, you are tasked with the usual: collect some rocks and sticks, build some basic equipment, chop down some trees, collect some berries, we all know the drill. You will quickly be researching new things, however. This is very intuitive. It is as simple as using the research table and bringing what it asks for, such as wood or glass, depending on what you want to research.

I won’t bore you with the minor details; if you’ve played one survival game, you know how it all works. Where Solarpunk shines is that you can bring friends to do all this and build insane structures while checking out other islands. In between this, you can build things like solar panels and things to water or mine minerals for you. All of this starts to unlock pretty fast as well; these aren’t late-game items you need to grind for.

Now I know I make the game sound damn near perfect, and well, there are a few complaints I have. If you are playing alone, things will take a bit of time and get a bit repetitive. You will need to chop down and replant a lot of trees to build things, for example, and it feels like more so than most survival games. The same goes for most resources. Watering things before you unlock sprinklers is also a chore since you will need to refill your watering can quite often. This wouldn’t be so bad, but you will need things like watermelons to trade and berries to eat, as well as cotton for building, and all this takes some time. The game is definitely better with friends.

None of this makes the game not worth playing. I loved playing the game and will be playing it more, but it is worth mentioning. It is an 8/10 title. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Underchoice Steam Review

Underchoice is the newest title from Targem Games, and they were kind enough to send it my way to check out. Underchoice will see you running a vault as an overseer. Every choice you make will determine if your people survive, since the outside world is no longer safe to live in. They are playing fast and loose with no longer safe to live in, however, since people will be showing up asking to live there, and someone does occasionally drop bombs that may or may not land close enough to cause damage to your vault.

You will start out choosing some people to live in your vault, each with different skills and randomly assigned negative traits. I find this works really well and makes every run feel different. The person you pick to create food might end up as a smoker. This requires you to buy cigarettes from the trader who shows up weekly. Speaking of weekly things, every week you will be given some sort of update from the company that runs the vault.

The art style is great, honestly, it is probably the best part of the game. It truly has a lot of potential, with multiple endings, a good number of people to unlock, and a decent number of things to see. I wish it were a game I could put more time into.

The issues with the game kind of start popping up after an hour or two. You will quickly see just about every event possible. By the end of my second run, I felt like I had seen it all, and when there were still more people and endings to unlock, this stopped being fun when things were just repeating already. On the bright side, the game is only $8, so I can’t be too upset by the price point and the amount there is to do. It won’t be for everyone. If you enjoy games like Papers Please and the like, this will be a fun way to spend a few hours. It is a 7/10 game, particularly because it has a nice price point. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Open-world survival prequel Smalland 2: Lost Realms announced

Maximum Entertainment today announced Smalland 2: Lost Realms, the next chapter in the beloved miniature-scale open-world survival adventure franchise.

Launching this year on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Epic Games Store, with Nintendo Switch 2 planned for 2027, Smalland 2: Lost Realms expands upon the original game with a larger world, deeper progression systems, creature companionships, and more, all while maintaining 10-player co-op.

Set ages before the events of the original Smalland: Survive the Wilds, Smalland 2: Lost Realms transports players to a mythical era before the Giants arrived. In this vast new adventure, players will explore a sprawling world filled with elemental creatures, forgotten civilizations, and mysterious lands waiting to be rediscovered.

As a member of the Smallfolk, players must journey across the Lost Realms to uncover ancient secrets and confront a dark prophecy foretelling a catastrophe that threatens the future of the world.

Players will traverse diverse regions, each featuring unique cultures, resources, and challenges. Whether venturing alone or alongside friends, survivors can establish outposts, forge trade routes between distant lands, and build thriving networks to help their people evolve in these diverse environments.

Smalland 2: Lost Realms introduces the following features:

A new crafting system
New water and climbing mechanics
A wide variety of vibrant new environments brought to life with enhanced visuals, greater detail, and improved environmental effects thanks to Unreal Engine 5
Enhanced ability to tame and bond with a variety of creatures, forming powerful companionships that provide unique abilities and assistance throught their journey

Smalland 2: Lost Realms will launch this year on Steam, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and the Epic Games Store, with the Nintendo Switch 2 version coming in 2027.