Deadly Days: Roadtrip was sent to me by the fine folks at Pixelsplit Games, which is always appreciated. This rougelike has a very basic premise that is simple to get behind. Take your yellow school bus to each level, kill zombies while you collect loot, and gather enough fuel to make it to the next area. Rinse and repeat.
The concept being simple doesn’t mean the game is simple, however, as there are plenty of things that can go wrong. You have a radar that will guide you to where the treasure is, and while most zombies can be killed with one or two shots from most guns, there are plenty of more powerful zombies. My favorite is the football player zombie that charges at you.
The graphics are cute and, as you can imagine, are simple pixel graphics that really set the tone well. The controls are simple; you move the same way you do in most PC games, and the character shoots automatically. You do have the option to use the mouse to click on zombies or items you want to shoot at, specifically. This is a nice touch for when a special zombie or crate shows up and you want to target that first.
Each run gets a bit easier as you collect power-ups in between runs. These are bought with special items and are permanent. These allow for deeper runs and make collecting more items easier. It makes for a satisfying game loop. With a price point of $15, very positive reviews (450 total reviews), it’s hard to argue with this being worth the money. A solid 7/10 early access title. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Trails From The Sky 1st Chapter was sent my way by Gung Ho Entertainment, which is always appreciated. Now I know some people just want to skip to the good stuff how how is the game, is it worth buying? It is a Trails game. If you enjoy the series, feel free to stop reading, spend the money, and just start playing; you won’t be disappointed. If you are on the fence, maybe stick around.
The first thing we need to touch on is the fact that this isn’t some epic reimagining of the original Trails game. It is more along the lines of an update that fixes some old issues and makes it more modern. It also gives many people their first chance to play the Trails games from the very beginning.
The combat itself also takes a lot from Trails Through Daybreak in that you can pretty much swap from real-time and turn-based battles, which many people will appreciate.
Estelle and Joshua are interesting characters, two Bracers who are a bit naive and get caught up in things they really didn’t mean to, and of course, need to save their home. Liberl Kingdom is as beautiful as ever, and if you don’t mind the one main complaint that I have had about all of these games, it is basically the only complaint I ever hear about them.
However, it is still a slog to play at times due to the immense amount of story that you will sit through with no break. Some people love this aspect of the game, but I complain about this and get asked if I am crazy. Other people I say this to, and they agree completely. There is no reason not to buy this 8/10 game if this doesn’t bother you. If it does, it is still worth playing. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Folly of the Wizards is the newest roguelike from Numbskull Games. They tossed me a copy of this one, which is always appreciated. The story is quite simple: you are one of four wizard apprentices attempting to defeat evil, but you aren’t exactly a good wizard. You are simply the apprentice and the wizard who happens to be around. That’s right, this is a comedy.
The game takes place in procedurally created dungeons, so no two runs are ever the same. In fact, besides starting in the same room with a guy who has no issue feeling sorry for you, you don’t really know what you are walking into.
My only real issue with this game is the button layout. While the game looks beautiful, and the sound and music are great, the button layout is atrocious. The jump and dodge buttons being on the trigger just feel awful to me, and with no way to change it, it took a lot of getting used to. In the first few runs, I died before the first boss.
It didn’t take long to get used to it, however, and after that, I was making deep runs consistently and taking out the first few bosses without issue. I mention the controls not because they are somehow impossible to get used to, but because, as of now, they can’t be changed on console. I don’t know if this will ever be an option, but I do know that for some people, this might be a deal breaker.
It shouldn’t be, however, letting this get in the way will make you miss out on what is a great all around game. Unlike most roguelikes, there isn’t a huge time sink per run; you can make it through a dungeon in probably 5 minutes or so, meaning each run can be quick and entertaining when you just want something to fill some time. It is a solid 8/10 experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Trailer Park Tycoon: Racoon Ranch was sent my way by the folks over at S-Grade Games, and I am, of course, grateful for the chance to check it out. The game itself is quite simply a store simulator.
This one has a bit of a twist to it, however. Instead of buying things from an app, you play as a raccoon that creates things all on their own. For example, you start out turning apples into apple juice. You do this by watering a tree that grows apples, then turning the apples into juice. You then sell this in your store, which you can customise however you choose.
The game itself is quite easy to manage and control, with numerous animals to interact with and engage in conversation. There is also a shooting mini-game that I was not a fan of. It felt out of place, and the controls for it just didn’t feel right at all to me.
That is really my only complaint about the controls, which is surprising for a game of this price point (just under $12). Other areas of the game have some small issues, but many of them are being taken care of as we speak. In fact, some I had were taken care of before I could even write this review. For example, an early issue I had with the mini-game for the cash register staying above my head is just gone now. Show management could still use some work, for example, when you open and close your store, it’s completely up to you and is nice, but even with employees, there seems to be no way to close your store automatically and send employees home when product runs out.
The game is still solid for its price point and is sitting at very positive reviews with 59 reviews in. It is a 7/10 experience that will improve even more as the game is worked on. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Frostpunk 2 on PS5 was sent my way by the fine folks over at 11 Bit Studios,and I have to say, it is greatly appreciated. As a huge fan of the first Frostpunk, getting the chance to play this before release was a special treat.
Fans of the original will already know how it plays out, and it does continue the story of the first game. Now that you have saved your people, you are old, and the torch, so to speak, must be passed on. Things aren’t going great 30 years after the “great storm,” but your people are alive. Now it is up to someone else to expand the resources and keep the people alive.
The campaign consists of 5 chapters, which basically act as a tutorial for the real challenge of Frostpunk 2, which is the Utopia Builder. The game will even tell you when you try to play that it recommends playing the story first.
The actual gameplay is a bit different from the first one. For example, you no longer build individual buildings; you build districts, such as for housing or food, etc. At first, I didn’t like this, but after an hour or two, I realized this really freed me up to bite into the political and law systems.
These new systems take center stage in a lot of areas; for example, you can now pass entire edicts to change how your people behave or how they work. It will also improve your standing with the different factions within the game. Don’t ignore these factions, or you will find yourself out of a job and lose the game. Even one being too upset with you can have devastating consequences.
Another great piece of advice that it took me longer to notice than I would like to admit: if you think you have enough of anything, produce more of it. While you could get away with producing slightly more than was needed in the past, this won’t fly here. One snowstorm can ruin the entire run when it brings your economy to a crashing halt.
The one thing to touch on is how the game functions. Well, at first I was actually disappointed, there were some issues with the controls and cut scenes that made the game awful to play. These issues were sorted out well before release, however. This actually doesn’t surrpise me because 11 Bit Studios has always been solid about fixing issues. Frostpunk 2 is on my list of games I will be playing for a long time to come. 8/10, and well worth the wait. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Formula Legends on PS5 was sent my way by 3DClouds, which is always appreciated. There are a couple of things you need to know going into this game and going into this review, for starters, while I enjoy racing games occasionally, I am not what you would call a huge fan. I am also certainly not a fan of watching racing. I know enough about the sport, but it just isn’t my thing.
You should also be aware that this is not an officially licensed game, so it does not feature real racers or tracks. None of this prevents the enjoyment of the game, mind you, but for some people, this matters. What matters to me, however, is how the cars look and feel. They look great, by the way, graphics are not something I can complain about here.
The rain soaks everything, just like life
The sound is also pretty spot on; the cars sound powerful regardless of the era you play in. Cars from the 1960s sound powerful and vintage, while cars from the modern era roar down the track, much like they do on TV. I do wish they sounded better when they hit things like dirt and walls, probably because I hit them so much.
This brings me to my biggest issue with the game. The controls don’t always feel like an F1 car. Some aspects nail it. If you are at a stop and just put the pedal to the metal, you are going to spin the car out. Don’t stomp the brakes because you will lock them up and lose control. The issue is that it doesn’t seem consistent; some turns you can ease into just fine, but other turns, this doesn’t work, not because the turns are vastly different or you are moving at a different speed, the car just suddenly handles differently.
This also happens with accidents. Small bumps into or from other cars seem to create an odd stick where you can’t remove yourself for a brief instant. This also happens with walls, where a small bump will send you from well into first place into dead last with no recovery.
The game is still fun, and these flaws really do only come down to more of a “skill issue.” The game is far from easy. It is a 7/10 experience that I will probably continue to play when I am bored. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Hellcard, published by Skystone Games and developed by Thing Trunk, is a cooperative rogue-like deck builder that was recently sent my way. Don’t worry, you can pick this bad boy up on any console as well as Steam.
So, how do you play hellcard? Same as every other card builder. You pick a character, a basic warrior, mage, or archer to start ( you can unlock another by winning your first round or through DLC), and go it solo or find others to play with. If you decide to play solo, you can get NPC characters to play with that you will control. There is no real disadvantage to playing alone in terms of being overwhelmed by enemies.
The battle map will be split into sections based on how many of you there are (up to 3), but you aren’t obligated to stick to your lane. As a mage, for example, I found it prudent to use my area of effect spells many times to level the enemies close to the archer I was teamed up with, since his abilities were weakened against enemies within melee range. In return, this allowed him to use his distance to kill the enemies approaching me. These small details really set the game apart from other deckbuilding games.
Another nice touch is that each person individually picks a path to walk as you descend further down. I might pick a path that allows me to heal, while someone else picks a path for more cards. So while my area may have me fighting skeletons, someone else may bring spiders for us to fight. When we win and reach the rewards, we can select one reward from each location. So now, we can heal, get a card, and a relic. Or maybe we all chose to heal. Communication is beneficial to determine how a run is going to progress.
I can’t say Hellcard is the best roguelike or cardbattler I have played, it really isn’t. It is a solid one, however, that brings enough new things to the table that make it worth the $25 price tag. It’s graphically nice, and the sound is well done, and all in all, a nice 7/10 experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Void Crew has finally made its way to consoles, and Focus Entertainment was nice enough to send me a couple of copies, so @torstenvblog I could check this bad boy out. We are both extremely grateful. Void Crew is a rogue-like space adventure. You can play solo, with ships designed specifically for this play style, or you can gather friends (up to 6) and see how far you can go. With different objectives that will see you doing things like raiding ancient space stations for loot, escorting friendly ships while they void jump out of dangerous areas, and so much more.
This map is how you decide where to go next
Since I have been playing before launch, I can honestly say the tutorial will help get you started with the basics. It does a fantastic job teaching you the basics of getting your ship up and running, and how to use the weapons system, repairing the ship, and how to fly. Everything you need to know. The day the game launched, however, there were entire groups of players from PC that had groups dedicated to nothing more than teaching step by step not only how to play the game, but how to excel at playing the game.
I, of course, joined a couple of these groups. I wanted to see if this was a toxic community or not, and it was very eye-opening. Every group I joined was friendly and welcoming. Mistakes were not only corrected in the best way possible, but instantly forgiven, and were followed by a hilarious story about their own example of how they made them.
I was struggling with hard-level missions when I first started, almost afraid to even leave normal-level missions. Now playing solo, I look for the best rewards possible, not at the difficulty level.
Now, a great community means nothing if the game isn’t good. With a 4 out of 5 stars ranking on PS5 and a very positive rating on Steam, with over 5500 reviews, it’s hard to argue that the game isn’t good. Graphically, the game is beautiful, and the controls are great. The rewards for leveling up are points to put towards your favorite style of play, whether it’s piloting, gunner, etc. These can easily be changed even while on a run with enough slots to have multiple builds, you don’t have to worry about needing to worry.
I do have one complaint, and it is kind of a big one. It is being worked on, and if you go to Reddit, the devs are willing to work with you if you are hit with this bug. It isn’t game-breaking by any means; it is simply annoying. But occasionally, when you quit the game, regardless of whether you simply close it out or you quit to the main menu ( quitting to the main menu first does lower the chances of it occurring), you will lose levels and the cosmetic items you received from those levels. I lose some cool stuff that way. Don’t worry, it is being worked on, and since there are no paid cosmetic items or anything like that outside of a founders pack you can buy you aren’t at risk of losing any real money. It doesn’t seem to be widespread either, but it is something to be aware of.
Do I recommend Void Crew? Absolutely. Even with the issue I mentioned, the game is a 7/10 experience. Once that is fixed, it will be 8/10. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Update: Just a small update to note the devs on Reddit are very active as they work to fix the issue with level and process loss and make an effort to go in and fix each person’s loss by increasing levels and giving loot crates to people,and you are not limited to a one time help.
Rise of Industries 2 was sent my way by Kasedo Games, which I always appreciate. I was especially looking forward to this one because I love games like this, so getting to review it is even better.
This game immediately hit me with things I wish more games like this did on console, for example, UI scaling. Not enough of these games come to consoles, realizing players don’t all sit directly in front of the screen like PC players. I didn’t have to use this function, oddly enough; one of the few times a game includes this is when I don’t need it.
The game is also graphically beautiful. I loved watching the little cars drive around and flames shoot out of industrial buildings. There are a lot of little things like this; you can tell Kasedo Games put a lot of love into the small details of it.
The tutorial, which is separate from the campaign and sandbox, does a great job of teaching you to play the game. It walks you step by step on how to build a functional complex, whether it’s to mine iron, or change that iron into steel, or something else entirely, like creating VHS tapes. It is the 1980s after all. This is all extremely well done.
That is to say, it is extremely well done until it’s not well done anymore. Eventually, you are going to have to work with the menus, find out out to research new technology, transfer stuff from one complex to another, or just buy and sell things. This is something you will see over on Steam reviews, or in other reviews, time and time again. These menu systems are horrible and just a pain to navigate and use.
I don’t even truly know how to begin to explain them. Sometimes you will need information that is on multiple different screens in different places, that can’t be left open, so you need to bounce back and forth. (This is true regardless of platform) Meanwhile, getting to that information will require you to click on multiple pictures of coal or iron, then scroll around. Again, this isn’t exclusive to consoles. What is exclusive to consoles is how you get between the sections is kind of a mystery. There is a dedicated button to tab between pages, but between sections within the pages? That is almost a rage-inducing guessing game. Sometimes you can just hit left or right and get there. For others, it isn’t so easy.
I enjoy Rise of Industries 2, but I should LOVE Rise of Industries 2. However, what should be an 8 or 9 is busted down to a 6/10 experience due to the horrible menus and frustrating design choices. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
This won’t be my typical review, but Avalanche Studios Group was nice enough to hook me up with a copy of the new DLC for The Hunter: Call of the Wild. ‘Pump, Flip, and Fire’ Weapons Pack DLC is available wherever you play the game and consists of a .22 caliber rifle, a .257 pump action rifle, and a .410 folding shotgun.
Now, are these three guns worth $5? That depends on what you are looking for. If you think these guns are going to magically make you a better hunter, or that they will be overpowered wrecking machines, then no, they aren’t what you are looking for. None of these will allow you to drop a moose without a well-aimed shot. In fact, none of them are even designed for that; they are made for small ( the .22 and the shotgun) or medium game (.257 and again the shotgun, depending on ammo)
I would say that if you enjoy hunting in general, they do add an element of realism and versatility to the game. Longer ago than I care to admit, my dad took me hunting for the very first time, and we went for squirrel with his .22. This brought me back to that time. This DLC isn’t made for everyone, but the people that it is made for will enjoy it. It’s DLC done well, 8/10. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 