No More Room in Hell 2 was sent my way by Green Name Room Publishing, and I truly appreciate it. The game itself looks solid, but there are better ones out there, and admittedly, while the pathfinding could use a bit of work, the sound and weapons are very nice. The reason we all play these games is to kill zombies, and there are plenty to go around for the up to 8 people on each map.
This is the unique part of No More Room in Hell 2: while there is permadeath, you will lose your responder. See, you have two different types of levels: responder and account. The account level unlocks permanent passive perks and loadouts. These never go away and can be used by any responder you recruit. When you lose a responder, however, they are gone forever. This changes depending on the difficulty level. On easy and normal, they are truly only gone if the party gets wiped out, but higher than that, any death sees them killed without a certain item.
The 8 players will all start at different points on the map and simply raid the place for supplies, kill zombies, and do assorted side missions before extracting. Now, you can skip much of it and simply speedrun everything, but the supplies are how you advance most of your experience.
Now you may have noticed I haven’t said much about this game in a negative way, and it is because I don’t have a lot of bad things to say. The big one is that some of the hitboxes on the zombies can seem a bit iffy, most notably while using melee weapons. The worst part, however, is if you don’t have at least a couple of friends to play with; playing with random people is going to be super hit-and-miss. Some people can be very greedy and will simply watch you die when they could easily save you. However, when you find a good group, the game can be magical for a time. Until you find yourself repeating missions /within missions over and over again. The game is still a 7/10 and worth the $30 in my opinion, if you like zombie games. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Alpha Nomos is a roguelike with a musical twist. This one was sent my way by Iphigames IKE. The concept here is simple. You play as Cello, and you and her friends will fight to the music and kill magical puppets time and time again as you attempt to do, well, something. I like to be honest with you guys, and this review won’t change that. I am not good at this game.
The combat is heavily based on your ability to time your attacks to the beat of the music, and this is not something I am good at. The game does give you many tools to get better at this, and in the end I became better. This does not mean I was good enough to complete the game; I did not. I can’t tell you much about the story.
Here is what I can tell you. The game looks great. I love the graphics in the game. The characters are cute, and getting to know these charming little people is fun. The music is also well done, and it needs to be in a game whose entire gimmick is fighting to the music. Speaking of fighting to the music, the weapons are all based on musical instruments; for example, the starting “knives” are basically xylophones like the colorful ones kids play with. The second weapon I unlocked was a sort of saxophone sword, which was super cool and fun to use.
The upgrades are also interesting; many didn’t do me much good because they reward you for things like having good timing with the music, but I enjoy that they reward you specifically for being good at what the game is, and when I was able to time it right, the combinations became insane quite quickly. One I put together increased my damage for properly timing my attacks and dodges in such a way that I was in time with the music, while my weapon upgrade also increased my attack for doing a certain combo that ends in a special attack. My final upgrade attached a sort of sticky grenade that did AOE damage with each special. When I got it to work, it was devastating to enemies and bosses alike. Alpha Nomos isn’t for everyone; for example, people like me with 0 musical talent, and might be tone deaf. Those who are good at this sort of thing, however, can look forward to an amazing experience. Do not let my lack of skill dissuade you from what should be a great experience. 8/10, I will let this game beat me again. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Every so often, I get offered a game, and I think, this looks awesome. So I greedily accept it, start playing, and I wonder, “wtf is this?” for the first 10 minutes. Legion Breaker did this to me, and I can’t thank Baffled Engineer enough. See, I spent 10 minutes wondering why anyone thought being a lone wizard tossing magic at waves of enemies and dying quickly as your life points slowly ticked away would be fun.
I then spent hours playing it, choosing upgrades carefully. Watching as I gathered spearmen and archers. Somehow, I recruited a dog and gained earthen walls.
My lone wizard chucking a single spell was now a small army holding off a horde of enemies; my meager life points that quickly ran out were now enough to manhandle an army of the undead. That single spell now also called down lightning and threw a fireball to burn my enemies to a crisp. All for only $7. What started as 10 minutes of me wondering why I agreed to play this became an obsession with seeing what the next boss looked like or if I could max out the tech tree.
This kind of brings me to my only real issue. You could unlock everything in probably 8-10 hours, but you can see all the enemies in much less, not counting the final boss. After a certain point, the enemies are simply the same enemies, and even the new enemies are simply the bosses turned into smaller regular enemies. Just a little more variety here would have gone a long way and turned an amazing game into probably the perfect game in the price range.
The game is still a 9/10 title, but it was damn close to getting that perfect score I have never given away. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Did you ever wonder what would happen if humans created a world where they didn’t have to work anymore, and the machines kicked them out? Dog in the Machine attempts to answer that question with one simple twist. Mans best friend was also replaced with robots, but they are still man’s best friend. Studio Chahut was nice enough to hook me up with a copy of this one, and I am glad they did.
The combat here is simple to learn. Your trusty mechanical dog wakes up and has to fight his way out. In true roguelite fashion, every run will teach you something and let you upgrade yourself for the next run and unlock more of the story. Unlike most games, the story actually means something this time around. I enjoyed learning where humans messed up this time around, and it isn’t a simple attempt at saying humans are greedy and evil and treated the machines badly. In fact, the dogs aren’t on your side only because they love humans; they were about to be destroyed themselves. Each new dog you control is taken from a room where they are decommissioned.
You will program your dog each turn in a totally stress-free manner. Take your time, see what the best actions are, and if you don’t like them, start over. The game is designed to let you see the outcome of your turn and, if you dislike it, reset it. This does not make the game easy. More than one of my runs ended early because I made silly decisions early that resulted in me setting off alarms I shouldn’t have or because I backed myself into a corner and let the machines pump out more and more enemies.
Another very nice touch is how you upgrade attacks. It isn’t always as simple as taking something from level one to level two. Sometimes it is taking your simple bite attack and combining it with your poison attack, now your bite attack also deals poison damage.
My one and only complaint is that many of the upgrades between runs feel kind of underwhelming at times. It is sitting at positive reviews on Steam, with one person noting they “came for the puzzles but stayed for the violence,” which honestly seems fair. It is a 9/10 experience that I have put fewer hours than I’d have liked into, but will be putting more hours than I should. Pick this one up, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
You may notice a small change to the tone of this review for Moonfrost by Oxalis Games, which they were nice enough to send me. Well, my daughter took an interest in what I do and wanted to take a crack at writing this review, so please let me know what you think and if you want to see more from her. As always, may the gaming gods bring you glory.
*This is not meant to be a recap or critique of the story. Though I do like the story, I want to focus more on the gameplay/art with this review. Its there, I like it. I just want to focus on chicken chasing.
“Why should I care about this game?” Well, first of all, don’t ask me how to live your life. I don’t get paid for that. Second of all; its really good. Okay, that’s all, folks!
Oh. You’re still here. Fine.
Art Style
I know a very common thing will be “cozy” and “aesthetic.” Screw that. The game has a nice fantasy feel, from the smaller details of the rocks you can pick up, the pond behind your house, all the way up to the actual town itself. Games in the genre seem to be scared by too much variation in the formula. Have a nice flower on the ground, maybe a streetlight, great, all done. But! Moonfrost isn’t afraid to have actual technology aside from JUST the occasional streetlamp. The main way you buy stuff is via vending machines; there are radios (that actually play music) both in town and on the farm, your menu is a cellphone, there are old phone booths (it’s just set dressing) and utility boxes. And the game is filled with these little tech details, and it never feels out of place or disjointed. This FEELS like a town in a world where people do have to worry about a giant crystal falling down on them.
The one major critique I have in terms of the art style is with the characters. They look/feel like CGI on a hand-drawn background. I’ll be having a lovely time, and then I see my character, who looks like a random cat or baby in a Renaissance painting. The character creator is lacking as well; it feels more like an illusion of choice. I do like the pronouns section; that will always be a win for me. But otherwise, it is definitely the game’s weakest point, I feel. The few options we do have don’t feel fleshed out, and it kind of feels like they had a different person make each option, even for the same item. I also think more skin tones would be very nice. The character creator isn’t finished, so upon official release it should be better. I think it would be a mistake to release the game without a better character creator first, as that IS a player’s first impression of a game. I hope with that, the character models (player and NPC) get better. That being said….don’t change the animals’ models. They are perfect little babies, and I NEED them all as figurines.
Gameplay
Okay, let’s address the elephant in the room. I hate fishing. In every and all games, not a single one has a fishing system I like. This game is not an exception. I feel like this game’s fishing system is more complicated than other games, but I am biased. There is a clicking issue; if you don’t click the exact right spot, the game will tell you that you can only fish at fishing spots. Even if there are fishing right in front of you. I can see you, you finned, splashy devils!
Another issue I have is with my inventory, and this is likely just user error. I like to pick up everything! I would love to see some sort of storage I can build and use for all my stuffs. I need it! What if I get a request for checks notes, 3 stacks of sunflowers?!
Now, I do think this game absolutely does a few unique things within the genre. You aren’t on this big time crunch for really anything. You use your phone to look at requests, then you complete them in the same app. You can also deny requests and just wait a few minutes and BOOM! New requests! You don’t have to wait an in-game week and twiddle your thumbs. The farming system also takes a more “mobile farm game” approach. You don’t plant stuff and then wait 5 game days. You plant and wait a minute and now you have radishes! The whole game takes this “chilllllll bruh. Relaaaaaxxxx…this is your world, we just live in it” approach and honestly? I am IN LOVE with it. You even sleep for however little or long you want! If you sleep at all!
I really hope more games come up that have this very literal “All in your own time” pacing. I don’t feel rushed to do everything RIGHT this very second, and I don’t have to wait 5 days to get a radish. It is mildly annoying having to re-hoe farmland for plants, I will admit. But I’m not a farmer; I played the game and wrote this from my bed! You also chase after chickens to get their eggs! It’s fun! And it’s funny to think of this random amnesiac just chasing chickens and yelling, “GIVE ME AN EGG.” Resources also respawn fairly fast, so you always have stuff to pick up for all your hoarding- I mean. For all your job-related needs! We take our jobs here at Savior Gaming VERY seriously.
There is also a building system, and if there is ANYTHING I love. It is BUILDING, no matter the genre. I think every game can be, and is, improved by a building system. However, it doesn’t seem to play a big part in the gameplay? I would love to see more options be available at the beginning. Its just kind of there, which is great for the people who hate building! Just a personal Hell for me.
All in all? I am excited for this game to fully come out, and you can wishlist it on Steam. Its fun, the characters are great, the art style is to die for, and its pacing is actually like no other. I feel like I have a lot of freedom! I would just…feel freer with storage. Wink wink nudge nudge. (Please give me more storage for more stuff.) Should you get it? We already established that isn’t my job, and I just said you can go wishlist it! Do you always rely on random 21-year-olds to make financial decisions?? Seriously. Cut the cameras!
Endless Rails was sent to me by the people at Studio Monoblok, which is always appreciated. The game has a simple concept: use drones to defend your train from enemies as you ride the rails from one station to the next. Collect the money from dead enemies and use that to add train cars and upgrades to your train to hopefully get further and kill bosses, all the while collecting special coins to unlock permanent upgrades for the next run.
Parts of this work great; for example, the ability to move your train back and forth to avoid enemies and use your drones to kill enemies and collect the money. This does however start to fall apart however when you get to the next station and you lose money because you killed enemies towards the end and couldn’t collect it fast enough. I thought maybe there would be a permanent upgrade to remedy this, but there is not.
This is actually one of the bigger issues with the game; the permanent upgrade tree kind of sucks. You never really get to upgrade the range of your pickups or how much health your train has. You use it to unlock 2 new drones and some damage buffs for them. You will be relying mostly on RNG for what you get, and if you are unlucky, your run will end fast. Part of the game is simply figuring out which drone is best to start with, and yes, there is an objective answer.
I did enjoy the aspect of merging train cars to make them bigger to hold more upgrades on one car, and the ability to change the gun’s entire element this way is great. Many of the upgrades can also do things the upgrade tree doesn’t, but getting them is random and a matter of having the money.
So is the game worth the price tag? Well, the game is only $7, so yes, it is still a solid 7/10 game that will keep you entertained for a few hours. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Keep Driving from Y/CJ/Y Games is a management RPG they sent my way, and I am glad they did. Let me get this out of the way up front: I did not enjoy my time with this title. It had nothing to do with the game itself; it was truly a me issue. The game itself, is great. It sits at 4 stars on PlayStation; it has over 3,000 reviews on Steam and has a very positive rating. The story of a young man traveling across the country listening to music, plotting his own course, choosing his own destiny to get to a music festival is one that is as old as, well, cars.
With multiple endings, different routes to choose from, plenty of different situations to come across, and hitchhikers and people to meet, and even different cars and backgrounds to choose from to make the trip, the replay value is there. Truth be told, I can’t even tell you why I don’t like the game. Is it the random events where you have to pick items or skills to fend off things, and if you don’t have them, your car or energy takes damage? No, this mechanic is in other games I enjoy. Is it the management of trunk space where every item counts? Also no, I love this in many games. It also certainly is not upgrading most aspects of your car; I live for that sort of thing in my games.
No, I truly can not tell you why I didn’t enjoy Keep Driving. It is an $18 masterpiece dedicated to letting people relive road trips in the early 2000s that I wish I could enjoy more, and it functions well. It deserves the praise it is given, it is an 8/10 experience that I wish I had more fun with, and I believe most of you will get more mileage out of than I did. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
The Walking Dead: Streets of Survival was sent my way by Trailmark Games which is always appreciated. If you enjoy The Walking Dead, you will enjoy the story here because it is the story you already love, though admittedly if you don’t know anything about the walking dead this game is probably best avoided. It starts pretty much in spoiler country, I worry about telling you where it starts in case someone is late to the party and still making their way through it. Suffice it to say Rick isn’t in a good place, and him, Michonne and Daryl will be making their way through walker infested tunnels, settlements and a bunch more places and the war with Negan rages on. All of them are playable characters, including eventually Negan.
At this point I feel like you either know what you are getting into with the story, or you just don’t care about this games story anyway, either way you really just want to know if the game plays well. First, this style of game normally has multiplayer. Don’t expect to run around with friends here, this is solo only and there are no official plans to add it later.
Aside from that, the graphics do a fantastic job of telling the gritty story but not going over the top with gore and keeping the game grounded in its purpose. While the controls can feel a bit stiff at time and are the weakest part of the game, they aren’t bad by any means. They are simply better done in other games in the genre, they however aren’t the worst either. The sound however is very nice. Gun shots have volume to them without sounding obnoxiously loud, melee hits sound bone crunching without sounding needlessly grotesque for no reason. They truly have caught the feeling of the show by making the game feel violent, but not for no reason.
Most importantly, every character feels different and nobody feels useless. Their special abilities and skills are all worth using without making you wish you weren’t stuck using Rick over Daryll for example on certain levels. The game is an 8/10 experience with plenty of things to collect and find over multiple playthroughs on various difficulty levels. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
It’s that time of year again, everyone. Train Sim World 7 is out, and DoveTail Games has once again set me up with a review copy. If you missed my coverage of that, you can find it here. I said last year that if you haven’t got a chance to play a Train Sim World game, that 6 was a great place to start, and this year makes the game even more approachable than ever. They have added a control scheme for those who want to use it, so you can now control the major stuff of the train easily from the controller. This is fantastic if you just want to relax and check out the beautiful scenery, and it is beautiful.
For those that enjoy the more hardcore simulation style of the games, don’t worry, they haven’t changed it on you. By all means, turn the UI off, stare at the dash, move every control knob and stick on the train, and fully immerse yourself in the experience of hauling a massive machine through Bavaria or Yorkshire. Or be like me and stick to the in-between and leave the UI on so you have the extra help and maybe crash the train a few times in Florida. Seriously, letting me drive a train is the worst thing to happen to Florida since Florida man discovered bath salts.
The game isn’t perfect; however, it is fun. When you get to certain areas, you will notice they did manage to push the PS5 (at least the base model) to its limits at points. There are some noticeable slowdowns here and there when things get super busy, mostly on the German routes. Kind of seems like the Axis once again lost to the Allies here, considering the British and American routes rarely suffer these issues. I jest, come on guys, the war’s over; stop making these jokes.
The game is a lot of fun, and fans of trains will have a lot to work with, and I am not 100% sure what carries over from the previous year’s game, but I know some things do, which is pretty cool. For me, the game is an 8/10 experience, and fans of the series will enjoy it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire is an odd game. It is a sort of action roguelike almost mixed with a tower defense, and it was sent my way by Jandusoft. These guys always send me interesting stuff and this was no exception, and I always appreciate it.
Voltaire: The Vegan Vampire as about the youngest son of Dracula, Voltaire and his decision to commit the ultimate sin, going vegan. The game doesn’t say that I am by the way. He is a vampire and he is taking up gardening, its weird that his two uncles Frank and Stein even allow it, let alone act as the games quest giver and tutorial.
I digress however, it doesn’t take long with their help before you are growing weird crops, doing alchemy, and feeding Cthulu by day an by night fending off your fathers hordes, protecting your crops and every so often killing one of his generals and then leaving your homestead for a slightly safer place only to repeat the process.
This to me is kind of what made the game not that much fun unfortunately. You build a few things and before you know it the week is over and it is time to move on to the next place. You do have the option to stay an extra week if you want but the game does make it clear this is not a good idea. ( you should still try it however) and much of the time you are still struggling to keep your hunger down.
The game does look and sound nice, and I love the humor. Unlocking the boss rush mode and the extras is also a nice touch, with plenty of extras like different classes with new abilities and different outfits allows for plenty of replay ability for a reasonable price of only $20, but for me I would wait for a sale on this 7/10 title. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
