While I fell out with the Hunger games saga- I didn’t really see a point in prequels to the series- I was surprised when I saw this trailer drop. The second prequel follows a young Haymitch Abernathy, as he was plunged into the the 2nd Quarter Quell, the 50th anniversary of the Hunger Games. The visuals are pretty striking. I love the creepy ass imagery of the Capitol people and the bright colors of the arena but the trailer sets a ominous tone. I honestly might check the prequel books out now before the movie drops. May the gaming gods bring you glory.
VR Playtest News | Survival Horror Game Dread Meridian
Dread Meridian is a VR survival game, and they were kind enough to let me know that they have a playtest coming up on PC VR, META Quest 2,3, and 3S. Here is a quick blurb from their Steam page so you can learn more about it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Dread Meridian is a VR survival horror adventure across the frozen wasteland of Oglanbyen.
Play as Daniela, a researcher who ventures to a remote arctic island in a desperate search for her missing twin sister, Isabella. Scavenge for resources, solve cryptic puzzles, and battle unimaginable creatures while unraveling the mystery of her disapperance. Will you pierce the veil surrounding Oglanbyen, or succumb to its terrors? Test your wits against the twisted creatures that stalk the lands. Planning is key to survival on the lost island.
Effulgence RPG – ASCII-3D-powered sci-fi RPG hits Steam Early Access Dec 2 (demo available)
After checking out the demo for this, all I can really say is, go check out the demo. It is essentially a turn-based RPG combined with Monster Hunter. You go into battle and kill enemies, then use those parts to build bigger and better weapons. Effulgence RPG has a demo available, and it is well worth checking out.
Key features at a glance
- Text-only visuals – the entire game (characters, environments, effects) is built from text symbols.
- Tactical turn-based combat with a PING system that controls turn order and timing.
- Convert enemies into gear – harvest raw parts from defeated foes and print new weapons and items.
- Short satirical dialogues and a slightly absurd, darkly humorous tone instead of a heavy epic story.
- 3D-style globe map built from symbols, with locations gradually unlocking as you progress.
It should be noted, and the Developer has been very up front about this, that the December 2nd release into early access will be a very compact version of the game because they want to focus on player feedback for the first part. There is also a supporter DLC during early access that will be completely free to anyone who gets the game before the 1.0 release and won’t become paid until after that. (Those who got it free will have it free forever.) So go check it out, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Deep Space Exploitation Steam Review
Deep Space Exploitation is a deep space mining game sent to me by the developer JuhrJuhr, don’t ask me how to pronounce that. Corporations in the distant future have managed to essentially bring back the days of the company store, where you work for them, and, while buying everything from them, with little to no other options.
This is learned early during the tutorial when your ship is damaged by the drop off ships’ negligence, yet you are basically told it sucks to be you, and you have to pay for the repairs yourself. Now it is possible to complain and get some of the money back, but nothing is really as simple as it is made out to be.
Other fun things, you need to buy bullets to mine asteroids for gems that you sell for money, then you buy bullets and upgrades to mine more gems. Yes, you are buying them essentially from the same people you sell the gems to. This creates a circular system where you barely make enough profit to keep you going. Just like the days of the good old company stores.
This may not sound like a fun game loop, but you would be wrong. Juggling your finances to break free of this loop is very much a possibility. Deciding when to buy these upgrades is part of the challenge, and while there is no story exactly, you are essentially writing your own. Can you succeed where so many others have failed?
Truth be told, I could not, but I had a blast trying over and over again. The controls are nice, graphically, these 2D games are a fun throwback, and the controls are pretty tight for a $9 game. I won’t try to sell you on this because the game isn’t for everyone, but if you enjoy a game that will be fair but challenging and just let you work pretty much how you want, this one is a nice one to check out. It is a nice sleeper, 8/10 title. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Skyformer Early Acess Review
Skyformers is a game where you play as a robot, sent to an inhospitable world by your creators to terraform it to their liking. It was also sent to me by a solo developer, Weatherfused, which is always appreciated.
The premise is quite simple. You build small things to mine things like iron, and small factories turn that iron into something usable, and drones to take that iron from the mine to the factory. You can then use that iron to make other things that will keep your little robot alive, or help you mine other resources and build bigger and better things, and that will help you make the planet more livable for the creators that sent you.
This obviously doesn’t make the game easy. Terraforming a planet is a nightmare in theory, and doing it in a game logistically, while much easier, still requires you to think through the process in great detail. The number of times I forgot something simple, which brought my entire system to a grinding halt, is more than one.
The art style is also nice; it’s cute and simple, but it won’t drag your PC down trying to run it. I appreciate this because it seems like everyone is busy seeing if something can be done as opposed to asking if it should be done. This art style serves this type of game well. Watching the storms roll through my base was still a treat.
Another nice little treat, the lack of having to deal with all the damn belts. It’s nice to have a futuristic game that lets me just fly materials around instead of messing with conveyor belts.
Normally, I would list some bad things about the game here, and I am happy to do so. But honestly, they are really more about my preferences. For example, if you build things up too high in altitude, according to some reviews, they get destroyed once you get so far along in the forming process. I didn’t experience this, but the game should really mention that. I also hate that I can’t simply teleport between ground level and my little air station directly. I understand why from a story point, but it is still annoying.
More importantly, I never experienced any weird crashes or bugs, and while the game may not be as fun as, say, Factorio to me, it is definitely more user-friendly. It is also a 7/10 experience, and fans of the genre will probably find it worth the $18. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Pigeon Simulator Xbox Review
Pigeon Simulator on Xbox is an interesting game sent my way by the people over at TinyBuild. I always love working with them and appreciate the game. The concept is built on the joke conspiracy theory that pigeons aren’t real and are essentially government spy cameras. To build on this, you play as a pigeon that works as a government agent who protects the world from supernatural threats.
After a quick tutorial on how to spot these ghostly threats and how to deal with them, for example, how to poop on them or how to use gadgets to lower the chaos meter, the game thrusts you into missions to find haunted objects to bring back to a specific spot to earn money as a reward. This money is used to buy upgrades or items to help in missions. Speaking of future missions, once you fail a mission, everything resets.
The game functions decently enough, the controls aren’t great, and neither are the graphics, but they also aren’t bad. It is all just average. There are just a few things you need to know when playing this game. First, don’t bother playing it solo. It can be done, but it is not fun, by any measure of the definition of fun. You will need at least one friend to find any real enjoyment here, but preferably at least two.
The second thing you need to know, this entire game’s existence is really just based around the idea that you and your friends are going to screw around, collect objects, and have a good laugh. If you and the group you play with are the type to take everything super seriously, you probably will not have a good time. Not that taking games seriously is wrong by any means, that just isn’t what this game is made for. You are a pigeon crapping on people and using a grappling hook to haul haunted objects to an extraction point. Clearly, this isn’t a game made for serious people.
Is it worth $15? For some people, it will be. With the right friends, there is some fun to be had here; it is a decent 6/10 title. Just be aware that, without friends to play with, the game is best avoided. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel Playstation 5 Review
Before I get too far into my review, I do have to give a huge shout-out to Grindstone for tossing me a PS5 copy of Jotunnslayer: Hordes of Hel to enjoy. The game has been out for a bit, but they still threw me one. There is a huge update coming out on December 4th to the PC and Console versions called The Fall of Alfheim. It will add all sorts of new things, such as a new realm, a new god, and even a new class. If all that wasn’t enough to give you a hint, the game is fantastic. But keep reading anyway, I worked hard on this.
The first thing to know is that the game has a story; you can absolutely ignore it. Just like in all these horde survival games, one exists but there are bare bones. This time around, I actually suggest paying attention to it. It takes place in a dark Viking underworld, and you battle your way through mountains of enemies with the help of Norse gods. Each god offers up special powers and perks, such as Thor lending you Mjolnir and lightning powers. Each run unlocks stones you can use to unlock new powers from the gods, or permanent upgrades from them that apply to all of your characters.
These same stones can also be used to apply upgrades or unlock new powers for specific characters. I personally would wait to do this until you discover your favorite, as the god powers are far more universal and helpful until you decide who you want to spend more time with. While there are an infinite number of upgrades you can unlock, this does take time.
Each level has multiple difficulties and its own set of modifiers you can unlock. This leads to a ton of replay value, and once you unlock insane difficulty and all the modifiers, you can practically customize your experience anyway you choose. Want enemies to return from the dead? Feel free. Want to act like a coward and make runs super easy? There is a modifier for that. (Seriously it calls you out for it)
Unlike many of these games, it isn’t as simple as surviving for 10 or 15 minutes. The goal isn’t to survive a set amount of time at all; the timer is actually a countdown. You have that amount of time to complete a set number of missions and summon the boss. (Don’t worry, once he is summoned, you can fight it as long as you need to.) This is a nice change of pace from the usual setup.
Truly, if I had any complaints about this game, it’s that unlocking the actual weapons for everyone is a huge hassle, and half of the outfits are locked behind DLC. This wouldn’t be so bad if there were more outfits, but there is such a limited number that I feel forced to buy them if I want anything other than a very basic look. This doesn’t take away from the overall enjoyment of the game; the outfits have no real purpose outside of cosmetics, but I am pretty sure I will never try the majority of the weapons because of how big of a hassle it is to unlock new ones.
Is the game worth buying? Absolutely. It is still a 9/10 experience, one of the few must-buy games of this genre I have played. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
The Spell Brigade Steam Review
The Spell Brigade was kindly sent my way by Bolt Blaster Games and is an online co-op survival horde game. Think Vampire Survivors with magic and wizards. You can unlock a few different little wizards and dress them in fun, different outfits. Don’t worry, this is done by doing things in-game. You won’t be harassed by a dozen different pop-ups when you start the game, screaming buy our premium currency. In my first run, I unlocked two new outfits, and I wasn’t even sure how to play.
The gameplay itself is simple to learn, so simple in fact, you walk around and let your wizard kill things while you collect experience. As you level up, you can learn new spells and passive abilities. Which you choose is completely up to you, of course. I did find some are better than others. Especially when objectives start to pop up. These were simple things, sometimes like finding and killing a specific enemy, and others it was to roll these balls to a location before time expired. I hated that one. Nothing truly bad happens if you fail; you just lose out on some experience.
From a functional standpoint, I never ran into any issues. Playing with random people was simple; I never got disconnected, for example. Graphically, the game is solid and free from any glitches, and the sound is about what you would expect for a game that costs $10. My only real issue is, I never found the game to be fun. It was a pretty slow pace, and the enemies just sort of felt the same. Except for the rampaging bulls that occasionally come across the screen, and when they do, your only real option is to find a gap they leave or die almost instantly when they hit you. This feels like a pretty cheap mechanic for a game such as this.
I will add this caveat to my review. I am in the minority with this opinion. With almost 10 thousand reviews on Steam, it is sitting at very positive reviews, and while I did not enjoy my time with the game, most other people do. The game is a 6/10 for me, but don’t take my word for it. Try the demo out before making a choice. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Anima Gate of Memories: I & II Remastered Playstation 5 Review
Anima Gate of Memories: 1 and 2 remastered is one of those series that, when they were originally released back in 2016, I didn’t get to experience. Anime Project was nice enough to send me a copy to check out, which is always appreciated.
The games themselves are action RPGs, but I use the term very loosely. You have a health, stamina, and magic bar; you gain stats and levels occasionally, and weapons do increase your stats, for example. You won’t, however, be grinding out levels the old-fashioned way.
The game itself has gotten some nice visual upgrades, and the characters, along with the backgrounds, have all received extensive work. You can see that the attention paid really shows they cared about this project. The controls have been revamped as well; they are fluid and feel nice, mostly. There are a few platforming parts that just feel wrong. Worse, being attacked by enemies during them is beyond frustrating. Nothing feels worse than falling down a pit and losing a bunch of health due to poor game design.
The story in games like this is honestly what makes or breaks it. There is nothing new here, and that’s fine because it isn’t a new game. The story of 2 linked beings is always interesting when done right, and this time it was done right. I loved the start, having to chase the Red Lady, only to discover your friend may not have been your friend after all. Her ritual leads to even more questions that truly just keep the ball rolling into more questions than answers.
Now all these questions are eventually answered, but discovering those answers isn’t easy; however, they are worth it.
The real question is, would this game be worth it for everyone, and my answer is honestly no. If you like this sort of game, it is worth the $30. Most people, however, will want to wait for a sale, if at all. There are simply better games. It is a 6/10 experience for those who don’t get the nostalgia boost. Fans of the original.l however, will love it, admittedly. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) Review
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024), the sequel to Beetlejuice (1988), is a movie I avoided for about a year. See, I have fond memories of the original, having seen it with my parents a long time ago. In fact, it is one of the first movies I remember watching with my dad that wasn’t named Godzilla. Hearing Michael Keaton say “Nice Fucking Model” while kicking over a tree will forever be etched into my head as probably the first time I heard the word in a movie. ( I laughed so hard he rewound the movie for me.)
Now I adore Jenna Ortega. I have always enjoyed her work. But I was skeptical about her playing this role because I wasn’t sure it was a role anyone could play. Winona Ryder as Lydia Deetz is such a great character. I didn’t see her having an estranged daughter driving her nuts as something that could feasibly be pulled off. Boy, was I wrong.
There were some problems with making this movie that were pulled off well. For example, how do you have a haunted house while not bringing back the characters that played those ghosts? Well, you give them a happy ending. No, not that kind, you sickos. Lydia found a loophole between movies that let them move on. Have a main cast member who shall remain nameless, convicted of horrible sex crimes? You horribly kill him and make him a running joke of the movie.
I don’t want to go into in-depth with the story; this would bring us deep into spoiler territory. But I enjoy that Lydia and her daughter, Astrid, don’t get along because Astrid quite honestly doesn’t believe in ghosts. She thinks her mother’s life’s work is a scam. Of course, her grandfather and grandmother could confirm it’s true, but Gramps is busy bird watching, and Grandma is a crazy but job artist and nobody would believe her anyway.
This brings me to Delia Deetz, the ever-amazing Cathrine O’Hara. Look, I don’t really know what this woman is on, or not on, but this woman is just fantastic. She plays crazy as well as anyone in the business. Even better, she plays not crazy just as well. I am not even sure Delia is crazy; it might just be an act to sell art. That is the beauty of Cathrine.
Bottom line is this movie is as good as the original, and I hope we get a third, and it better be called Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
Savior Gaming 