Tag: Review

Christmas Bloody Christmas (2022) Review

Christmas Bloody Christmas by writer/director Joe Begos, is a very odd slasher flick for me. It has all the staples of a slasher movie you would want: gory kills, campy acting that isn’t over the top, and a story that makes just enough sense to suspend disbelief but isn’t so far out there to make me just want to turn it off.

The story goes like this: a music store owner named Tori, played by the talented Riley Dandy, is convinced by her long-time employee, Robbie (the equally gifted Sam Delich), to blow off a Tinder date to drink and hang out with him instead. After a quick stop at the local toy store to visit some friends who have decided to stay late for a drunken sex filled night after hours at the store, they are off to the bar. The thing is, the toy store is where they are shown a somewhat creepy electronic Santa that is very popular because it does all the stuff a normal store Santa does, except it isn’t a real person. Personally, I took this as a shot at unfettered capitalism and how companies would rather get rid of an employee and use (quite literally in this case) repurposed military equipment to save money than hire an old man to play Santa.

At the bar, you can hear on the TV that there has been a recall on these Santas because some of them have been reverting back to their original programming. This obviously can’t mean anything bad for our drunk sex fiend friends back at the store, right? Yeah, they are about to get killed mid-coiatis. Tori and Robbie are leaving the bar around this time on their way back to Tori’s house, and assume they are just having a great time.

This, of course, leads to the eventual sex between our main characters, and this is where I need to give a shout-out to Joe. Movies like this tend to take sex scenes and turn them into an excuse to just show a ton of nudity for the sake of having nudity, and this is done quite well. Very little actual nudity ( and this is assuming you consider a thong nudity)

My only real issue comes down to the massive amount of false finishes with the villain. They start at around halfway through the movie, and I completely understand the concept of building suspense and building to a climax and building hope, etc. There does come a point when you are no longer building anything, and you are simply killing momentum for an audience.

I can only watch Mecha Santa get hit by so many cars or take so many shotgun blasts that “kill him” so many times before I don’t care if he gets up or not, and by the time Tori actually kills him, I didn’t care who died as long as the movie ended. I went from rooting for Tori to rooting for the movie to just end. I started out enjoying the movie, but by the end, I simply didn’t care. It isn’t the acting or even the story; it is simply a matter of how they chose to play it out. More deaths and fewer false deaths for Santa would have gone a long way. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Sonic Wings Reunion Playstation 5 Review

Sonic Wings Reunion is the newest game from Red Art Games, and they were kind enough to toss me a copy. The game is a sequel to Sonic Wings, which was released as Aero Fighters back in 1998 in the West. Now I have some interesting opinions on this game, but I won’t make you read all of that to get to the main point of all that. If you just want to know if this is worth picking up, the quick answer is yes. If you enjoy old-school arcade-style shooters, the game is great.

With 8 initial characters and more to unlock, local co-op, 8 stages, and stories to go along with each character, the content is definitely there. Moreover, the characters will interact with each other depending on who you team up together, Mao Mao and Chaika & Pushka, for example, talk about a singing competition they will compete against each other in (you will discover the winner if you finish the 8 levels)

The damage you do to cities as you fly through the levels and use bombs (that change based on characters) is also impressive. Many games don’t even bother with such details, but here they are pretty well fleshed out. Here is where the game gets a bit odd to me.

Each level starts by telling you to “Gird Your Loins,” which, by the way, is not some messed-up translation issue. This is actually a very old English saying, meaning to prepare yourself for a difficult situation or for something dangerous. The bosses range from things like a rocket to a mechanical gorilla. None of this is ever really explained; this is just the level of insane stuff the game gives you. Sort of like the Russian characters bomb being Russian nesting dolls accompanied by Russian dance music.

None of these are complaints, by the way. This is actually a list of why you should play this game. If games are meant to be fun, this game nails it. Even after I had decided I played this game enough to review it, I found myself wanting to play more. That, to me, is the sign of a good game. It is an 8/10 experience that lets you make it as hard or as easy as you want. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

 Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch Playstation 5 Review

It isn’t often that I play a tactical RPG where losing a battle doesn’t just make me cringe knowing I have to do this all over again. But not long ago, Kakao Games sent me a copy of Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch on PS5, and that changed. This isn’t your typical Tactical RPG; it is, at its very core, a roguelite.

Every move can be a life-or-death choice

The game starts out standard enough. You wake up on a beach, with no memory, and you must fight some undead with the help of some people who seem to remember you from the ship you were on. It isn’t long before this proves to be a battle you can’t truly win. So what is a dead man to do? Make a deal with a witch, become her champion, and rid the island of whatever is causing this problem as you set out in search of people mentioned in a letter that you feel are important.

Each of your friends has their own strengths and weaknesses, and you will be able to pick up more along the way to build your party from. Do you want a quick dagger wielder that can disappear and strike from the shadows? Emile is the perfect character for that. Want a more Paladin-like character that can heal and attack? Evie has you covered with her healing skills, but solid sword work.

Each step of the way, you can choose where to go at a fork in the road. Some lead to much-needed healing at camp sites, or a raven you can get relics from. Others will have merchants or NPCs to interact with. All will force you to make a decision on where to go next, most of which will lead you to your next battle.

Most maps are small enough that battles are quick and painful for everyone involved, rarely letting you walk away untouched. Don’t worry, if you lose a character, they will be back for the next fight, minus most of their health.

Customization also plays a huge part in the game; rather than gaining new weapons, you can choose who to give orbs to, which upgrade weapons and armor. At each level, you are also given a choice of a new skill to learn or a possible skill to upgrade. These are random, but you can reroll for a few gold, and certain items increase your odds of getting better skills, just like promoting units allows better starting skills.

The only major flaws I found in the game are, quite honestly, the grind. In any game like this, you expect a grind, but unless you are constantly making deep runs, it will take you a very long time to even unlock all the characters, and even longer to make them viable to use. I never felt a need to switch from the starting characters because I felt like I was being punished by doing it. This is a shame because those later characters are some of the best written in the game and have amazing stories. You don’t truly miss anything by not using them, but it would be nice to do so without suffering.

That being said, fans of either the tactical RPG or Roguelite genre would do well to at least play the demo, because the game is fantastic. It truly is a hidden gem, 9/10. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Lost Rift Steam Review

Lost Rift on Steam is the newest Early Access title from People Can Fly, and they were kind enough to toss me a copy to check out, which I am always thankful for.

I am going to be up front about a few things right away. The game is sitting at mixed reviews on Steam out of around 650 reviews. Many of these reviews have the same complaint, and I won’t sit here and try to convince you that they aren’t valid. The game, from the start, is pitched as PVPVE. Meaning you start on a player vs environment island. You can safely wander around it, gather supplies, and build a base in relative safety.

There is, however, an extraction shooter element to it. Meaning you HAVE to go to the PVP zone at some point to get better stuff to craft certain things. There will be tougher AI enemies and real people there, and they will attempt to kill you and take your stuff. None of this is hidden in the game description, and many of the complaints in the negative reviews are about how this exists in the first place. If this isn’t something you want, the game isn’t for you.

I did, however, say that it wasn’t without merit. Just because they warn you that this is what the game is doesn’t mean that it is all done well. The idea that you have to run into AI characters with guns while armed with a very underpowered bow is odd. Not many people are taking an arrow to the head and just walking away after all, yet somehow I have seen this happen quite a few times in Lost Rift.

The game is solid and looks pretty decent, but it won’t be turning any heads. The sounds are worth listening to, and the little things I found were important. People in the distance do make noise walking around. The game was, however, clearly meant to be played as a group, and as I didn’t have one, death came frequently. The NPC that warns you about this was not kidding at all.

Is Lost Rift worth the $25 it costs to pick up? Honestly, this one is weird for me. The game is still very early in early access and has a ton of potential. If you are /going to play with a group, yeah, it is a 7/10 experience. There is definitely fun to be had here. If you don’t have a group to play with, however, this is one game you probably will want to skip. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Aethermancer Steam Review

Aethermancer is a creature battling rogue-like from Offbrand Games that they were kind enough to send me. I wasn’t really sure how to feel about it at first, since, honestly, there are a million games out there that make you fight creatures nowadays.

Aethermancer has a nice twist, however, since now you do it in runs instead of as one overall quest. Each time, you can purchase upgrades to make future runs easier, as you would expect from this sort of game. Creatures you capture, of course, can be summoned through special means. You can even choose your favorites by talking to a woman in town to make sure they are always available to you.

Your starter is always your starter, and there are four to choose from with different abilities to choose from. Personally, I chose Nixie because she can heal and dish out poison damage. This isn’t a hard niche to fill, however, and if you don’t choose Nixie, you aren’t locked out of these aether options. My friend over at @mrjfeliciano chose Cherufe the fire/earth starter and found a healer pretty quickly. I found a fire/earth combo pretty fast myself, so there is no real disadvantage from who you choose in terms of elements available to you.

The story is solid but basic; you are simply investigating an area between life and death, but I won’t spoil more than that. The important part is how the game functions, and with more than a few hours into the game, I can say I never ran into any weird glitches or frame rate drops playing on my laptop. In a time where companies seem to want to optimize games as little as possible and focus on high-end machines, Aethermancer seems to have done the opposite.

Far be it from me to enjoy a game this much, then see very positive reviews on Steam from over 600 people, and disagree. It’s a niche genre to be sure, but for those who enjoy these types of games, and at a $22 price point, the game is as much of a must-buy as a game can be in 2025. 8/10, please enjoy, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

HELLCARD Steam Review

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.

Quartet Steam Review

Every so often, I come across a game and I think, damn, I need to play that game. Not because it looks amazing graphically. Just because it looks like one of those games I used to play when I was a kid. You remember the type, you would rush home after school, pop it into your Super Nintendo, and just lose yourself until your parents inevitably said, “Hey, time for dinner,” or “Get to bed.”

Quartet on Steam (consoles coming Q4) is that game, and the great people over at Something Classic Games were kind enough to send me a copy to check out.

The first thing to get out of the way is the combat; it is very fluid and easy to get into. Nothing fancy is going on here either. If you love old-school turn-based RPGs where your strategy matters, the combat for Quartet is something you are going to enjoy. It clicks all the boxes. Exploiting enemy weaknesses, defending to lower damage, restoring AP (ability points), buffing your characters, and debuffing enemies. Most battles, you can just power through but bosses and higher difficulties, these buffs and debuffs will make or break your battles.

Speaking of battles, this game won’t waste your time with random battles. You can see the enemies on screen, and if you feel like you need to level up, you can usually find more to fight, but mostly, you will always be at an appropriate level to get where you need to go. I rarely say this about a game in 2025, but Quartet really tries and succeeds at respecting your time. Maps aren’t small, but they also aren’t huge for no reason.

This brings me to one last point. The story, you guys know, I am not going to go into a ton of detail about the story because I don’t do spoilers. Just know the story deals with magic, a government conspiracy, and a poor cook named Ben who just wanted to go to work. The game starts by letting you choose between one of four characters to play as for their introductory story. While you play through all of them, I recommend starting as Ben. He doesn’t have the best story exactly, but what he does have is the best mixture of story and humor, and that is where this game shines.

Nobody bodyslams the train

There are a few things I would have liked to have seen, maybe some more interactions between certain characters, but truly, for a game that you can beat in about 20-25 hours, I understand what they were going for. Something they may have left out in favor of a shorter experience, and I can’t be mad about that. This was a 9/10 experience for me, and I will be playing through this again. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

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.

The Wandering Village PS5 Review

The Wandering Village on PS5 was sent my way by Stray Fawn Studio, for which I am grateful. I had previously played this on Xbox, and I must say that there seem to be some substantial changes over that time. The opening, as an example, now includes a beautiful anime-style video that wasn’t there at first.

The game takes place on the back of Onbu

In a world being rampaged by a poisonous plant, your tribe finds itself on the back of a massive creature called an Onbu. This traveling giant is content to ferry you around and let you live on the resources that grow on it. In turn, you care for it and guide it, if you can get it to trust you.

The game is a classic city builder at its finest, and a solid story has been naturally built in. As the people living on the last known living Onbu and the only people traveling the world, it has fallen on you to collect ancient seeds that might be able to be planted to fight back against the poisons that are destroying the world.

The game looks magnificent, and the controls are great. My only gripe is that a few times when trying to click on certain objects, the camera angles get a bit weird, but this is a minor annoyance and never really ruined the gameplay for me. Just watching my characters build things and live their lives as my lumbering creature travels the world to different biomes is a nice experience.

Another nice experience is the characters you meet along the way, many feel desperate for your help without coming across as sad and pathetic. They are hopeful while still giving off a sense of urgency. It is a nice touch, you don’t often get. At a $30 price point, I have no complaints about this game, and with everything just being included by the in-depth tech tree that is still small enough to allow multiple play-throughs on various difficulties, there is a lot to love here, definitely a 9/10 experience for fans of the genre. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Scum Steam Review

Scum recently transitioned from early access to 1.0, and Gamepires sent me a copy, which I greatly appreciate. SCUM prides itself on being the most realistic open-world survival game on the market, and honestly, it might just be. Where most games are happy to let you just eat anything to refill your hunger, what you eat matters here.

The story is no slouch either, you find yourself on SCUM island, a place for criminals to work of their crimes by entertaining the masses. Death doesn’t save you, as you are revived and sent back to the start of your attempt to be the last one standing. Ok, so that part doesn’t really make any sense. To be fair, none of us is playing a game with a genitalia modifier for the story anyway, right?

A few words of warning, the requirements to play this game are hefty. For the first time ever, my laptop struggled, and it struggled hard. I have more than the minimum requirements, and I still find myself messing with settings. Also, ignore the negative reviews you find on Steam for the most part. Many of them are long-time players, with over 1000-2000 hours, complaining about what isn’t in the game or how their ideas weren’t used, etc. While some of them are perfectly valid, they do ignore the fact that the game is incredibly detailed.

The multiplayer aspect is amazing, the base building is very in-depth, and while the learning curve is pretty steep, you are rewarded with a one-of-a-kind experience. Everything needs to be balanced in this game, from your diet to weight management with your inventory, but not to such an extent that I ever felt like the game was a chore to play.

I do have a few small issues, and you will see these are pretty common complaints. Melee combat is basically as clunky as it gets. The learning curve is also huge, making the game pretty much impossible to just dive right into. The community also isn’t always exactly the most inviting, either. You can find great people in it, don’t get me wrong, but others are pretty much the definition of toxic and take the last man standing part very seriously.

So is it worth the $40, however? As a survival fan, absolutely, it is a 7/10 experience that I don’t regret for a moment. Just maybe avoid it if you don’t have the time or patience to learn it. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.