gaming – Page 7 – Savior Gaming

Panzer Knights: Commander’s Edition Xbox Review

Did you ever wonder what it would be like to fight as the Germans, but as Japanese people, during World War 2? I didn’t think so, but with Panzer Knights: Commander’s Edition, you finally can. Pqube Limited sent me a copy of this one to check out, and I always love working with these guys because I know I am in for a treat, and Panzer Knights is no exception.

The game starts off simple enough; you are finishing your training to drive and command your tank unit. You will learn the basics of driving and aiming, switching ammo types, and calling for air strikes or extra supplies. After passing this test, the real game begins. Missions are typically: do this and this, with bonuses for side tasks. You can use this money to buy new tanks. This version does come with some extra tanks for you to use, which, of course, have their own strengths and weaknesses and can have a different number of crew members.

The only thing is, be ready to read everything because the voice work is in Japanese. It is really well done, and the characters are very well done and interesting. But in today’s world, I know some people aren’t a fan of reading alone with the subtitles. You don’t need to be an anime fan to enjoy this tank shooter; you just need to enjoy a good story and shooting things with a tank.

My only real complaint about the game is that it honestly does get a bit repetitive, and I would have liked a bit of variety in the game. I am not sure what could have been done to break it up; maybe some more optional mini-games or something. It is still an 8/10 title that I enjoyed; however, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Project Zomboid Steam Review

Project Zomboid has been on my radar for a very long time, so when I had the chance to get a copy from The Indie Stone, I jumped on it, unlike the zombies you see in most games and movies. Huge shout-out to them. This review is actually a joint effort, as my daughter Kaitlin logged more than a few hours into this one as well. When I would go to work or sleep, she would play; then when I had time, I would play. We actually had vastly different experiences but came to much the same conclusions.

For example, for a game that first released into early access around 2013 and has 42 builds, the game still looks damn good. Now I will openly admit, I am not an expert at the game. In fact, I am not even good at the game. After about 20 hours, I wouldn’t even consider myself “adequate” at the game; I have simply played the game enough to tell you if it is worth your money.

For example, the game runs pretty damn smoothly, and the controls take a bit of getting used to. This isn’t because they are hard; it is because there are a lot of them. You can learn the basics in the 10-minute tutorial. See, the learning curve isn’t a curve really; it is a whole damn mountain, and just when you think you have it down, you discover you have simply hit a plateau on which you are resting before you continue the climb. I say this as a compliment, because if you ever wanted a realistic zombie survival game, this is it. Every single decision matters. Your character will get bored, just like you do. You fix this the same way you do: watch TV, read a book, etc. You have to cook meals, fix a car, build a fence, and your character needs to know and practice these skills.

This, however, does come with some drawbacks. Not everyone wants to play a game like this, and it does lead to some frustrating moments. How hard is it really to make a damn steak? My 9-year-old can do it; why can the veteran character I created just toss it in the damn oven at 400 degrees ferienheit until it’s done? (Don’t worry for the people that don’t use freedom units, celsius is an option)

This all leads to what to my daughter and me is an 8/10 experience. The realism at times was its biggest downfall in many ways because it also meant I couldn’t do realistic things. I needed a certain knife to cut certain meat or a certain tool to fix a certain thing, which really meant I couldn’t do it the way I would in real life. Sometimes, in a pinch, any hammer will do the job. But is the game worth the $25? Oh yeah, this game will be in my rotation for a very long time to come. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Night Stocker Coming In September to Steam

Night Stocker is coming this September from Renovate Interactive, a small group of Ukrainian devs. It is a promising game described as a “cozy organization game” that will bring you straight back to the 90s. Your job is, in theory, simple. Take this chaotic mess and turn it into the store of your dreams. Arrange the store of tapes, games, and more into a neat and tidy store. In between, hang out and listen to music, and play with Monyo, the adorable cat. All while enjoying a fresh cup of coffee.

Obviously, I have not played the game, but the premise is strong for many reasons. Many of us have played similar games and wished the lighting was different, and now we can change it. We have also wished the damn customers would just stop messing up our store. This allows many people to live out that fantasy of just designing the perfect store. I admit this won’t be for everyone, but for many it will be worth checking out in September. Check out the trailer from the Ukrainian game festival below, and take special note of Monyo riding a rumba. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Doloc Town 1.0 Steam Review

Doloc Town was recently released in 1.0. If you remember, I was sent an early access version by Redsaw Games to review. Now I am back after putting some time into 1.0 after getting early access to it, which I always appreciate.

You can read my earlier review if you want to get into some of the details of what the game is; I mostly want to focus on what is new. For example, the story finally has a finale. You can see how it truly all ends now. Don’t worry, your hard work won’t go away; you can still keep playing.

Another new thing is automation. I enjoy farming, but I don’t always love taking care of the farm itself. Now you can eventually set up machines to take care of all that dirty work for you while you reap the rewards. This, to me, is a huge game-changer because it leaves more time mid- to late-game to solve many of the quests, including the new three final quests and the new residential area to explore.

There are also new characters and enemies, and plenty of balancing issues. Now you may have noticed I haven’t mentioned any fixes for other issues, like the game running better. That is because the game has always played great. Even when I played in early access, I never ran into crashes or stutters. The game still has overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam. I once rated this game a 9/10 experience, and that has not changed. Why is it missing that 1 point, you may ask? Is it tradition because I have never given a perfect score? Am I being petty? No, the game does falter in one area. I don’t find the characters very appealing. They are cute, but overall, many of them simply exist in the world. In a game with what is a very nice story, the lack of intriguing characters is kind of heartbreaking. Regardless, the game is amazing. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Watch the first trailer for cryptid-collecting deck-building auto battler Portentum

Snowfall Games has revealed the first trailer of their upcoming cryptid deck-building auto-battler Portentum. Coming to Steam later this year, Portentum combines original hand-drawn cryptid artwork with deep deck-building strategy, letting you hunt for broken combos using legendary creatures from around the world, like Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, Mothman, the Chupacabra, and of course, Jimothy. If somebody’s uncle saw it in the woods in 1973, there’s a good chance it’s a card in Portentum!

Embark on each run by building a deck of 30 cryptids and mushrooms. Each cryptid is equipped with its own unique ability to deal damage, heal, summon a minion, manipulate the dice, and many other one-of-a-kind effects. Abilities can trigger upon a roll of the dice, another ally taking damage, or an enemy healing an ally. There are endless combinations and broken strategies to be discovered.

Once you’ve assembled your deck, head to the shop to deal a hand from your selected deck for that run. Spend gold to play cards from your hand, mobilize a five-slot warband, and then send your squad of monsters out to fight! Win ten rounds to achieve victory. Lose five, and you’re out.

Portentum’s meta is ever-evolving, as every warband you create joins the pool that other players face. As you keep playing and earning card packs, entirely new deck-building possibilities and obscenely killer combos will enter the fray, providing an endless array of strategic possibilities and challenges!

Portentum’s meta progression is built around long-term collection growth and competitive ladder play. Expand your card pool through booster packs, earned through gameplay or purchased via the game’s virtual currency system. These cards feed directly into both deck construction and strategic experimentation. This structure is supported by an asynchronous PvP system that removes queues and timers entirely, allowing you to engage in competitive matches at your own pace across multiple platforms and play sessions.

Ledgerbound Steam Review

Ledgerbound is one of those games I asked for, not knowing what to expect. I have never worked with OmniMegaSuperCorp, honestly; nobody has. This is their first game as far as I can tell. Thankfully, they sent me a copy.

The story is not simple in the most simple way possible. You work for an insurance company, and you not only love your job, but you are the best at it. You insure heroes in case things take a turn for the worse, and they die. Your job is to investigate and reenact those battles and prove they should have won, and show they were neglectful, so the company doesn’t have to pay those families the insurance money.

The problem is the best heroes in the world, with the biggest and best insurance policy, were just wiped out with ease, and now the company you work for and love is about to go bankrupt paying out that premium. Your mission is to find a loophole that shows they should have prepared better, fulfilled a prophecy, and saved the world. Well ok, you want to save the company, but the world will also be saved.

Also, it is a dating sim, because why not? Personally, I think the dragon chick is pretty hot, but hey, I’ve always had a thing for dating people I shouldn’t, and the HR lady is definitely forbidden fruit.

All that is meaningless if the game is bad; luckily, the combat in this turn-based strategy RPG is anything but bad. Each character has their own element to worry about in the usual rock-paper-scissors system and their own weapons and abilities, meaning you will need to focus on your strategy every step of the way. It may seem like a good idea to rush in with the big guy and let your archer hide in the back, but if the fire guy rushes the water guy, it might be game over before you know it.

The real question is, should you play Ledgerbound? The short answer is yes; the long answer is absolutely yes. If you like RPGs, this game has basically everything you could want. Interesting story, interesting characters, romancing options, sexual innuendo, humor, and a fun battle system. Aside from one instance when the game froze, I never encountered any technical issues. This is an 8/10 title. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

[Deck13] Release Window Reveal For Bullet Hell Meets Retro RPG ‘Crystals Of Irm’ (PC & Consoles) ***BER 2026

Gamers who crave juicy, good old RPGs with a unique battle system should definitely keep an eye on Crystals Of Irm. Our game will grace PC, PlayStation 4, 5, XBOX One, Series S|X and Nintendo Switch later this year. To build up some hype among our fellow gamers, the release window reveal is backed by a flawless trailer and a signature Deck13 Spotlight move – Mark your calendars for ***BER 2026!

Deck13 Spotlight and developer David Schütze are thrilled to invite all players to the beautiful world of Crystals Of Irm later this year! Your party of three brave heroes follows the archetypes known from beloved classic retro RPGs: fighter, mage, and ranger. They will test their might by exploring dangerous dungeons and traversing the vast lands of Irm with its cities, villages, and towns (in first-person 3D!) full of citizens awaiting your assistance. A complex combat system makes the gameplay challenging but never unfair.

In Crystals Of Irm, you will lead a party of heroes – proud representatives of three unique guilds, each embracing a different combat style, but sharing the same quest: to restore the long-lost Crystals that must be united once again. But it’s no easy task. Legends speak of three horrifying dungeons where the Crystals were mysteriously hidden. Many before our heroes have succumbed on this glorious mission. Will you join them, or will you bathe in glory? Do not forget that the world of Irm is huge and unforgiving. You have a long way to go before you even touch the entrance to those horrific places…

May the Crystals shine for you, travelers!

But brave heroes also need some time to rest. Set up camp and gather your party around a hot pot of delicious stew. Fish in the lovely ponds around Irm, and enjoy vibrant, one-of-a-kind cities featuring unique characters in every single one.

Crystals Of Irm will put a smile on the face of every single retro RPG fan with its massive overworld map and first-person dungeon-crawling elements. The combat system adds some much-needed freshness to the genre with one-of-a-kind, movement-based grid battles. Suddenly, from classic systems, you will be pulled straight into modern, fast-paced battles, where movement is key to casting spells or unleashing powerful attacks. On top of that, just like in a proper bullet hell, your agility will be tested because the key to survival is dodging enemy attack sequences.

Kynseed PlayStation 5 Review

Kynseed has finally hit consoles, and Pixel Count Studios was nice enough to send me a copy. Truth be told,I don’t know the best way to describe this game. It is a lifestyle sim, you start out living in a shoe- yes, if you are familiar with your fairytails, THAT old lady’s shoe. You and your twin sister will be adopted. Your childhood will act as sort of a tutorial until you inherit what is known as the Kynseed, where you trade 5 years of your life for it. When you come out of what I can only describe as a 5-year time warp, your uncle is dead, and your sister is pissed. Congrats tho, you own a house.

From here you can sort of do whatever you want. Go fishing, mine some ore, become a blacksmith, buy a store, buy many stores, help out around the village, start a family. Hell, go buy a kid. Sorry, I meant adopt a kid from the old lady in the shoe for 500 gold.

Combat is also an option; you can tell how hard combat will be by the name of the forest you are fighting in. Don’t worry, it isn’t hard to figure out. The best method is to do a bit of everything, but honestly, the game truly does not care what you do when you continue through the story and have to increase your reputation; pretty much everything will increase it.

The game has beautiful pixel graphics and functions very well; the real question is how fun it is, and the problem there comes down to how fun you find what you do in it. I love fishing, and the mini-game for blacksmithing is quick and simple. While the cooking could be better explained, once you get the hang of it you will be whipping up meals in no time. This is a 9/10 title that has been locked on PC for far too long, and is worth every penny of the $25 price tag. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Forsaken Realms: Vahrin’s Call Steam Review

Forsaken Realms: Vahrin’s Call was sent my way by the nice people over at Titan Roc, which I always appreciate. I think to truly understand why the game has mixed reviews on Steam, we have to understand what this game is not. It is not the next Fable, despite what the trailers may suggest. I don’t know why anyone went into this game expecting a 60-hour epic adventure with towns, dungeons, and side quests. This was never even suggested. You are simply a mercenary searching for your next adventure to make some money in a war-torn land.

Now, for starters, the game is beautiful, especially when you realize this game was made by a small team. I believe it was 7 people, and for most, if not all, it was their first project. Together, they made a handcrafted world for you to explore and live in. They also put a story together that manages to be both cohesive and yet allows you to feel like a mercenary who isn’t really some powerful chosen one by god, just some guy looking for chances to make money.

If there was anything bad to say about this game, it’s that while the checkpoint system is nice and it is refreshing to be able to die in a game without being punished, just reload at the last checkpoint and try again, it’s that the combat is clunky and it doesn’t matter how you play. If you want to play with magic, arrows, sword and board, or a giant sword, it will take some getting used to. My first two deaths were because I dodged or healed, and my character just didn’t do anything.

This can be worked around by being a bit more defensive than you otherwise would be, and it is far from game-breaking as some would have you believe. The price point, however, $35, does give me some pause on recommending the game. As my long-time readers know, I love indie games and have supported many over the years both with my reviews and by purchasing others. Forsaken Realms: Vahrin’s Call can be beaten in about 15-20 hours, and while fun does have its issues, and at $35 is a bit steep. It is a 7/10 title that, unless you are a hardcore fan of the genre, you will probably want to wait for a sale. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Far Lands PlayStation 5 Review

Far Lands on PlayStation 5 was sent to me by Axyos Games, a company I have worked with a few times in the past on games like Ebola Village and Apartment No 129. The good thing about Axyos Games is that you always know what you are going to get. The bad thing about them is it will never be a fantastic game. Far Lands continues that trend; it is an open-world survival game where you survive a plane crash and find yourself with nothing but a rock. Do not lose this rock until you use it to mine some more rocks and wood, or you will have problems.

If this game is starting to sound familiar, it is because it is basically the premise of most other survival games out there. You will also get attacked by zombies, only a couple different kinds, and very quickly run into guys with guns. Yes, if you are quick, you can kill them with the aforementioned rock; they don’t track you very well with the gun if you get close. None of the enemies are very smart, truth be told.

I know this sounds like I didn’t like the game, and I still haven’t even touched on how bad some of the animations are. I don’t know who designed the horse riding animations, but those look like something from the N64 days. Not liking it actually could not be further from the truth; you see, what they made was a FUN game. Yes, the game is clunky and adds nothing new to the genre. The game isn’t all that good-looking, but you can build some interesting things if you want; just looking around is fun in its own way, and there aren’t many survival games out there for $15 that function well and also offer this many ways to customize your base.

This game definitely isn’t for everyone, and the best way to play this is with friends who don’t take it seriously. It is a 5/10 game if I ever played one. I can’t hate it though. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.