Tag: Games

Gold Gold Adventure Gold Steam Review

Gold Gold Adventure Gold is an early access title with an extremely catchy song sent to me by a company whose name I think someone was stoned when they came up with, not judging, I have made some amazing decisions that way. But huge shout out to Can can can a man for hooking me up with this one.

Seriously, I love the song. I could give you the early access trailer, but I won’t; you are getting this one. Enjoy.

Anyway, now that I have attempted to make you listen to a song and said I thought the guy who named a company was a stoner, let’s move on to why you are here. The game is all about building a city, inviting heroes to live there, and then using those heroes to go out on missions to kill monsters and go on adventures to make you money. Think Majesty for those old school gamers.

This game has a ton of potential; it even has a built-in way to make sure you, even if you run out of money, have a hero available in the form of a pet. You can choose between 2 as of now, and it evolves as it levels up into a much larger creature. Make sure you pet him and give him love, by the wa,y so he does what you want. That isn’t a joke; there is an in-game mechanic that allows you to pet and brush him when he does things you like.

We all know what this looks like, but it’s a forge

The main way to progress through the game is to build different buildings, places to recruit heroes, a forge so your heroes can improve their weapons, or a place for them to train.

The premise is quite simple, and the game works fine about half the time. I lost my first game, however, because of a weird glitch. Most of my heroes either got stuck on a wall and couldn’t attack the enemies, or were shot through the walls and were killed by the enemies. Both scenarios made the walls completely useless.

The game did pay me back with my first win. Which also came when on day 2 of 6, a level 40 spider came and killed all my heroes while I was attempting to upgrade my main building. This caused them to not be able to attack my main building at all because of the fence that gets put up around it. They were forced to just stand next to it, then attack the farms that pop up automatically. 6 days later, I won my first game.

The game is a lot of fun, but most of my games have come with some weird issue. Only those 2 were of the sort I would consider game-breaking, but both soured the experience quite a bit. The game is at best a 6/10 experience. It has a lot of potential, but it needs a bit more time. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Chained Echos- Ashes of Elrant Review

Back in 2022, Deck13 and Mathias Linda tossed me a copy of what I can only describe as a masterpiece in Chained Echoes PS5 Review. Fast forward a few years, later they offered me a copy of the DLC Ashes of Elrant. I took my own advice from my review of Echos and ran to say yes. But could lightning strike in the same place twice?

Well, let’s get the facts out of the way: it costs about $10, which falls in the middle of DLC prices. It costs less than most season passes or expansions, but more than most cosmetic packs. This price point nails it perfectly. You can easily spend 10 hours on the DLC just taking in the sights, trying to finish up the new board, and playing the new mini games.

I won’t say much about the new character, not because I don’t enjoy him, I love this dude. I won’t say much because it would spoil the story, and I can’t think of a way to explain him without doing so. What I will say is that he never left my party, he is relatively simple to use, has some great abilities, and his character arc itself is fantastic to see play out.

Speaking of the story, this is another one that is hard to speak about. It takes place before the very end of the main story, and you select it from the title screen. You can just hop right in if you want. It involves the Crimson Wings being hired for an important mission that also happens to pay far too well to pass up. (Small spoiler alert, for once in this situation, you actually do get the money)

The story primarily focuses on certain characters over others, making some of them sort of just feel along for the ride, but the lore we get is great. Many of the in-game changes this time around are much appreciated as well. No more searching for crystals out in the wild; monsters just drop them. They are all just one level now and can just be equipped at will from your inventory screen.

Another interesting addition is that you can increase stats from these sorts of glowing wells, and every area pretty much has one or two for you to find. This, combined with the new Party Point (PP) system, lets you unlock things like a fishing minigame or the chance to do damage before the battle starts.

There are a few downsides this time around. Part of that PP system, for example, lets you increase the size of the green overdrive bar. If you took your fully leveled characters into the DLC, you can basically just destroy everything when you start in overdrive mode. It is nice to feel like a god however. Which brings me to my next point: the DLC is self-contained, the new character and the changes stay in the DLC, away from the base game. So if you love the new character, you won’t be able to bring him back to the game and enjoy him there. The same goes for all the weapons and stuff you gather there, since you lose anything you have in the main game when you load it over. (don’t worry, it’s still in your game over there)

So did lightning strike in the same place twice? Chained Echoes is still my highest rated game ever, and the DLC is a respectable 8/10. The lore is great, and while I’m not a fan of all of the mini games, or that it is a self-contained experience, it did give me more of what I wanted at a fair price. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ritual of Raven Steam Review

Ritual of Raven from Team17 is a story-based farming sim that they were kind enough to send me to check out. It is truly one of those games that you will probably love or hate, and I find myself playing it, thinking at parts this is great, and then at others wishing this part did not exist.

This is something I hate.

A good example of something I love is the story. It starts with you being sucked through a magical portal into a world where magic is real. A witch has lost her familiar, and she needs help getting it back. To do this, she needs your help, and you get to learn magic, something your created character is very excited to do.

This brings me to something I hate. To grow, water, and harvest crops, you need to use a little robot. These robots are programmed with tarot cards. Each action has to be planned out, including where and how they move and what they do when they get there. You can then retrieve items from their inventory.

I love the freedom to design my own garden and area

This didn’t take away the joy I found in designing my own little area of the world, or meeting Raven, my own familiar. Getting to know Raven, despite his very literal name, was great. Seeing the countryside and watching the story unfold is fantastic. I never really felt rushed by the game to get things done. To me is the sign of a true cozy game, not feeling rushed to get things done, so I can just relax. While some aspects of the game aren’t for me, the game is still a nice little time killer. 8/10 experience. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Death Relives Review (All Platforms)

Death Relives is, at its core, a survival horror game, much like Amnesia or Outlast. It was sent my way by the fine folks at Nyctophile Studios, which I always appreciate. It is also worth pointing out that I got to check it out on Steam, Xbox, and PlayStation 5.

The story and gameplay are the same across all three, and the controls are also the same. You spend the game dodging an ancient Aztec warrior while trying to rescue your mother with nothing more than an old spirit gun and dagger for protection. You will spend most of your time hiding with the aid of an old skin cloak, which hides you from the ghost sent by the Aztec warrior to find you. This will also help you kill those ghosts and collect their blood.

This blood is important because it keeps you alive when you use a certain object to help you solve puzzles and navigate your way through this mansion. Run out of blood and you die. This only matters if you kill the warrior, however. He does come back a bit stronger each time, so when and if you kill him is completely up to you. Sometimes it is worth it just to get a puzzle out of the way, for example.

This game, however, was far from enjoyable for me. On Xbox, there were definitely some graphic issues with tearing and such above doorways and such, and a few crashes. PlayStation also shared these graphical issues, but the crashes didn’t exist. Steam users didn’t seem to have either of these issues, and I didn’t notice them myself.

More often than not, while crouching behind a table, the warrior would see me anyway, despite the in-game tutorial telling me that it would keep me safe, and unlike most games where these challenges felt like an achievement to overcome, I usually just felt grateful it was over.

Speaking of things that I was grateful to be over, the game is short; you can beat the game in under 5 hours, and that is being generous. The companion app to the game can be helpful, but it is not completely necessary. All this being said, I am in the minority, it seems, for disliking the game. The game was 6/10 experience for me personally, but Steam users are enjoying it, and even PlayStation users are rating it 3/5 stars. For me, the game was just so painfully average that I have no interest in playing it again. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master Steam Review

JDM: Japanese Drift Master was sent my way by Gaming Factory, which is always appreciated, and I do like to be up front about that.

The game itself attempts to be a super realistic racing experience that plays as well with a controller as it does with a full racing setup. They wanted to combine the everyday player with the more serious enthusiast and make a game both could enjoy.

The map is massive, and would feel right at home with any more open-world game like your Grand Theft Auto titles. This also leads to the downside where a lot of it is locked behind missions, causing you to miss out on a ton of beautiful scenery.

The driving took me a bit to get used to as I went into it thinking it was just another racing game, which couldn’t be further from the truth. The game does offer driving schools to teach you everything you need to know, and my biggest mistake was going into this without doing those. Between wanting that raw experience and thinking I could just drive like I do in any other racing game, I made the game far harder than it needed to be on myself.

My biggest, and only real complaint about the game the options for the starter car are extremely limited. By this, I mean there is only one car. Combine this with a relatively empty. It should also be noted that I played strictly with a controller, and most of the negative reviews you will see on Steam have to do with steering wheel integration. The game is a solid 7/10 experience, and drifting fans will love it, I think. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Back to Dawn Steam Review

Back to Dawn was finally released from early access as version 1.0, and Spiral Up Games was kind enough to send me a copy for review. Big shout out to them, as always, for doing that.

The game itself is a prison escape RPG. You have two different characters to choose from. I went with the recommended first-timer route of Thomas the fox. A news reporter who, when given the chance to take a bribe to bury a story to help out a major business and political leader, makes the morally right choice. This, of course, lands him in prison for a crime he didn’t commit.

Your job from there is simple: be a good inmate, work your inmate job, and get to know everyone. Don’t forget to be where you are supposed to be when you are supposed to be there to avoid problems, and when the time is right, get the hell out of jail.

Everyone in jail has a story to tell, and getting to know them will at least let you know who won’t be helping you out. They will, however, have information for you. The narrative is fantastic, and the controls and visuals are great. I went into this expecting the escapist with a bit more of a story to it, and this is anything but that.

The game features various branching story paths, and it is entirely possible to fail at your escape and need to start over. The game is insanely well done, and with over 6000 Steam reviews, it is still sitting at very positive reviews.

No game is perfect, however, and it can get repetitive, and the start is very slow. This will turn some people off, and I can’t blame them. Once it gets rolling, it is a lot of fun, but the first hour or 2 can be a bit rough at first. The game is still an 8/10 experience, however, maybe even a 9/10 if this is your preferred genre. Back to the Dawn is also available on Xbox and with Game Pass. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 God of Weapons PS5 Review

God of Weapons on PS5 is a game I have played before on PC and Xbox. Ultimate Games, however, was kind enough to send me the PS5 version to check out, and I figured, like my many nights of one more run with it, why not give it one more run.If you want to know how I felt about the Xbox Version, by all means, check that out. God of Weapons Xbox Review

As I said in my previous review of the game, if you have played any action rougelike, you know the general game flow. Choose a character. I like the ranged characters, start weak, move around the map, kill enemies, and level up. In between levels, buy better weapons and items, repeat all while hoping the stronger enemies don’t kill you. When they do, buy permanent upgrades that make the next runs easier, and when you finally win, move on to more challenging difficulties that have bigger and badder bosses and enemies.

The game has plenty to unlock and doesn’t offer anything new to the genre, but it is still probably the 2nd best game in it. The PS5 version is also my favorite version to play. It is absolutely a 7/10 experience and worth playing. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Square Enix Announces Octopath Traveler 0 

During today’s Nintendo Direct, SQUARE ENIX unveiled two new games in development at its internal studio, Team Asano: OCTOPATH TRAVELER 0, an HD-2D turn-based RPG featuring a standalone story set before the critically-acclaimed OCTOPATH TRAVELER, launches on Dec. 4, 2025

Endzone 2 Steam Review

Endzone 2 was recently released from early access to 1.0, and Assemble Entertainment was kind enough to send me a copy to check out. I always appreciate this and like to get it out of the way upfront, as most of you know by now.

The game has been met with mixed reviews on Steam for quite some time now, and with a city builder, this is always one of those things I see and take with a grain of salt. We, as fans, are usually quite picky. One thing is out of place, and we tend to be a bit mad about it. Let’s look at this piece by piece and see where maybe this comes from.

The Endzone 2 takes place right after the first Endzone. Humans are now resettling into the world after a nuclear apocalypse, and the world is a bit irradiated. No, it isn’t the story, as cliché as it is, cliché is for a reason; it works.

This brings us to the controls; they work. They work well. Even if you read the Steam reviews, nobody complains about the controls. The controls are what you would want: fluid, easy to use, and pretty intuitive. No, they aren’t perfect, but nothing is.

This brings us to graphics. Yes, this is pretty universally the issue. I have mentioned in reviews before my hatred for this idea that darker is the only way to get across a dark and gloomy atmosphere. This game breaks the rule of feeling that way. The vast majority of the time, while playing the game is so dark, especially seeing anything is a nightmare. Even messing with my monitor settings only did so much.

All in all, if you enjoyed the first game and can get passed how dark this game can be, there is no reason why you won’t love this one. For me, I will stick with the first game as this game dove far deep into saturating everything in darkness to be enjoyable. It was a 5/10 experience that I have no intention of repeating. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Just a Shadow Game (Steam Preview)

Just a Shadow game is an upcoming ritual deck builder from publisher Neon Doctrine that is planned to release sometime in 2026. They were kind enough to toss me an early demo, and I have to say, this is another title on my list of games that shows a ton of promise. The good news is that by the time you read this, you can play that same demo.

The concept is pretty simple. You get a deck to start with, and with each area you win, you can upgrade it with new cards. Each card represents a sort of building or tower that summons fighters for you or attacks the other side for you. Each turn will see your little ritual summoner traverse your section to activate towers to send your forces to kill your enemies’ captor; in turn, you must protect yours. The first side to kill the other’s captor wins.

This sounds pretty easy and straightforward, but the amount of strategy needed is very real. The controls are also very nice, and graphically, the game does an amazing job of making everything look sinister without simply drowning everything in unneeded darkness, which I think is a mistake far too many companies make.

This is another title you should be trying the demo out for and keeping a close eye on. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.