Tag: Reviews

Trolls Vs Vikings Reborn (Steam)

Trolls Vs Vikings Reborn was sent to me by the fine folks at Megapop. I have to say, I wasn’t sure what to expect besides it being similar to Plants vs Zombies and honestly, that is exactly how this place. You set a miner up to dig up rocks that act as food so you can feed more trolls. They all do something different, my favorite lets you move him back and forth as he punches Vikings.

The story itself isn’t bad, A mysterious figure convinces the Vikings that the trolls have gold lying around and they will be rich if they come over and take it. Vikings being what they are, invade. A little troll girl overhears the conversation and warns them. This results in the Trolls having time to meet the Vikings for battle, which looks like a yard.

Now this would be fine, plenty of games follow a similar formula as other games, but the formula needs to work and work well. Happily Trolls vs Zombies Reborn is a 6 dollar game, which while more expensive than Plants vs Zombies, is a new experience that plays just as well. It is a 7/10 experience for me. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Graduation Day (1981)

Graduation Day is a movie about a track star from Midvale High School who dies during the school year, and when her sister comes home to receive an award she won, a deranged killer suddenly starts killing everyone that was on the team. Apparently, someone isn’t so happy that they won and plans on honoring this young lady’s death.

The movie has exactly what you would expect from a 1980s slasher movie, boobs, cheesy death scenes, a teacher that is very inappropriate with students, and a blatant killer who isn’t the killer, and a huge tirade I want to go off on but I refuse to spoil a movie even if it is closing in on 50 years old. I want to make this even more weird, check out the following picture.

One of these women is Vana White

That is not a joke, one of those women is, one of those women is a young Vana White before she became famous as the woman turning letters on Wheel of Fortune ( she also failed to get out of contestant row in a 1972 episode of The Price is Right as one of the first 4 people) See, I teach as well as entertain.

Back to the movie, as a horror movie in the 80’s it is the right kind of bad. We have the cheesy death scenes, the needless nudity that is done tastefully but tasteless at the same time that we all enjoy but know the horror genre is better off without, and most importantly it is entertaining. I had fun watching it and that is all I ask for. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Also because it was the 80s, do not watch the trailer below if you have a seizure disorder of any kind.

Blow It Up (PS5 Review)

Blow It Up is a physics destruction game sent to me by Brain Seal. Anyone familiar with the Angry Birds craze will instantly know how to play this game and what it is about. You aim, fire, knock over a structure, and kill some aliens.

There are 7 different, let us call them people, to throw at these structures all with different abilities. Some will simply move faster others explode or act as a bombers and just drop bombs in a row. They are easy and quick to unlock.

The game admittedly does not look the best, but for what they are going for and it being a budget title I don’t think it is fair to expect it to. Graphically it looks as good as it needs to. The sound is also solid, with explosions being satisfying and walls crashing down feeling like they have some weight to them.

My only real gripe was occasionally if you want to restart a mission you failed to succeed I did experience a couple of crashes and freezes, this was easily avoided tho by being careful when you pause.

The game is simple, and kind of short, it is also only about $8 so realistically the real question is, is it worth that price point? It has around 70 levels which is more than enough to keep you occupied for a few hours trying to collect gold trophies on all of them, there are gold coins to collect as well. The platinum is pretty simple so for hunters that will be an incentive. All in all, it is an 8/10 game. I had fun with it, it did a great job capturing that angry bids feel without completely ripping off the game. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Monster Hunter Wilds (PS5)

What is there to say about this game that hasn’t been said by a million others. Is it beautiful? Damn right, it is. Does it control great? Absolutely. Did I drop eleven hours into it the day it launched? No, it was 10 hours 58 minutes, and 47 seconds. Thanks for counting Capcom.

Dude knows what this is and still almost dies because of it

Now, I do have to add this, I played on PS5 and supposedly the PC launch was horrific. I do have a friend playing over on PC, and he hasn’t had any complaints or run into any of the issues you will see on the Steam store. That isn’t to say they don’t exist, he just has a mid-range PC and maybe he is lucky.

Now that the Steam version is out of the way, back to the two other complaints I have seen. The story is easy, and the menu system. I can’t deny the easy part or say it is true, I have been playing Monster Hunter since I can’t remember when each game seems to get easier, and at this point, I haven’t been carted or lost a hunt in wilds yet, and I have finished the story. The menus are also easier to navigate than ever, however isn’t exactly a compliment because they have always been abysmal.

The game, however, is probably the best Monster Hunter to date in terms of gameplay. As an avid hunting horn user this thing has never felt better. They added a few things in Rise and added more here. It is no longer just a buff weapon but a full-on damage dealer as well, without the need to farm for decorations and gear. It isn’t a top-tier damage dealer of course but it is far more viable solo.

If you were considering buying this one but may have been on the fence, it is time to hop off the fence. Join the hunters’ guild and kill some monsters. They deserve it. Ok as always they really don’t and we are probably the bad guys for committing genocide. Regardless, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory,

X-Out: Resurfaced (Xbox Review)

X-Out: Resurfaced was sent to me by ININ Games a company you all know I love for their ability to bring games from the past to the modern era. (seriously if you guys are listening, The Guardian Legend is begging you for an update) and once again they have nailed this one. If you enjoyed the original don’t think, just go pick this one up. It is worth the $20.

This Boss almost cost me a controller

The game itself is a typical side-scrolling shooter straight from the Amiga days of computer shooters. You get some money, build a submarine, start on the left-hand side of the screen, move to the right avoiding bullets and enemies, and use assorted powerups and bullets of your own to make your way to the boss.

The game is beautiful and easy to control. Also, no game has pissed me off this badly since, actually, I don’t know when. BloodBorne review maybe, and I have beat Dark Souls 2 and Elden Ring since then. The game is not easy, and it is hard in the best way possible. There are no cheap deaths here. It is all skill, or lack of skill that will kill you. If you can’t “git gud” as they say, look up the cheat codes. Yes, those exist, just like the good old days. When ININ brought this bad boy from the past they left those intact.

This game isn’t for everyone, it is hard and it is a niche genre of game from a niche time in gaming. But for the people who love that period, it is a must-have for your collection. 9/10, best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Cattle Country (Steam Fest Demo)

Cattle Country is a cozy farming simulator tossed my way by Castle Pixel and the demo is fantastic. It has everything you would hope from a game that lets you live the farming life, cattle, crops, fishing, crafting, and over 20 people to get to know and love.

Don’t let that description fool you, you could easily see these amazing pixel graphics, see it is a farming sim, and think, is this trying to take on Stardew Valley for the crown as king of the mountain. We all know this is an impossible challenge, and Castle Pixel doesn’t even try. There are some obvious things in common that go all the way back to Harvest Moon on the Super Nintendo. For example two of your first quests are to meet all the people in town and harvest some crops.

The game itself tho more or less just sets you down to let you do what you want. On my first day, I went and met the guy who runs the blacksmithing place and we talked about his dreams that I interrupted. Then I decided to just break some rocks and knock down some trees. I don’t know why I chose this path, I simply felt like doing it. On day 2 I decided to plan more crops and cook some food while doing some fishing.

The fishing mini-game is actually very easy, simply cast out and hit a button and boom mini-game starts. As the bar moves hit it a couple times when it is in the green zone and you catch a fish.

For fans of the genre definitely go check out the demo. More importantly, for those reading this thinking PC players get all the great games, a PS5 and Switch version is coming out this year as well. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Flocking Hell (Steam Review)

I first checked out this game a few months ago, and you can check out Flocking Hell (Demo) if you want. Sextant Studios recently sent me a message and asked me if I would be willing to check out the game before its March 25th release date and I was excited to do it. In fact, it felt like the perfect title to kick off Steam’s Next Fest.

The game’s premise is easy, you and your sheep are under attack from Hell. You will play a sort of mine sweeper meets auto battler. You start with one square open and click on a space next to you to reveal another style that will grant you sheep. If you see a number, it will tell you how many cities are in that area surrounding it. You can then connect these cities with roads so they can send reinforcements to each other when the turns you get to prepare are over and the demons from hell attack.

these mines can be used to kill demons before the battle starts

As I mentioned in my last review, the card system plays a huge role in how the game goes. I have lost entire runs because I wasn’t paying attention to my turn count and instead of using a card that could have given me a huge boost to the power of my cities I simply clicked a space and revealed a new square.

There can be victory in Defeat

There can be victory even in defeat, however. You have two hearts which means two chances to win. When you lose you get to pick a card that can show up when you play. These cards do things from making cities bigger to revealing cities or just revealing spaces. Revealed spaces give you more space and let you not waste turns revealing the map. More sheep means stronger mines or more roads to connect cities. This leads to stronger defenses. It also can just mean finding a city sooner which means it has longer to grow.

Now comes the part you all know is coming, do I recommend this game. Yea of course I do, look how cute those damn sheep are. The demo was fantastic, id have paid money for that if it were the right price if they tossed it into early access. The game has come a very long way since then. Small things to improve quality of life or to just make the game more user-friendly. As you will see this week I have played quite a few games for this event, but this one might hold a special place in my heart and I think you will feel the same way. check out the demo and maybe Wishlist it before the March 25th release, Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Border Pioneer (Steam Review)

Border Pioneer is the second game you can get in the Yogscast Games bundle I mentioned yesterday. They sent me a review copy of both games to play, you can get the bundle here.

Now these two games are quite different, while one was a card roguelike, this is more of a city-builder tower defense title. You get a turn or two to build farms, towers walls, etc. After that enemies will show up and hopefully you kill them. This will cause them to drop their chest. The chest contains cards that can be used to build new buildings. This is the basic flow of the game.

There are a number of characters to unlock, my favorite gives you a chance to spawn temporary fairies when you kill enemies. These are extremely helpful in the later stages. Other characters do things like give you food one time if you run out or make mages stronger. There is a great variety in characters.

Yogscast Games has a habit of making some amazing games, and this is one of those games. I can’t truly explain why. It is a pixel game that sounds good and looks ok, but the game is just pure fun. I quickly lost hours to this game and will probably lose plenty more. I can not recommend this or stray-path-129797 enough. The games are amazing. it is definitely a 9/10 game that I can’t complain about. Best wishes and may the gaming ods bring you glory.

Stray Path (Steam Review

If you had come to me and pitched the idea of a game that combined Freecell and a roguelike before playing Stay Path, I probably would have thought you were insane. When I saw some screenshots, I still wasn’t sold. Then Yogscast Games sent me a video, and having played their other games, I figured I would give it a shot, and thankfully, they sent me a review copy.

What transpired was hours of gameplay that I would not trade for anything. As a very famous public figure in the gaming community is notorious for saying, it just works. Each card gets an attack and defense, just like your character, of which you have a few to choose from. They either take damage or outright die. If they die you take no damage usually, if they don’t they hit you back assuming your defense isn’t higher than their attack. This goes on until you clear all the cards, die, or reveal a card that lets you move on to the next area,

Good luck the first time you run into this guy

Each character starts with their own stats that differ slightly and they all get their own possible starting relics. They all have their own benefits to start with and there is no truly wrong answer so let your personal play style guide you. It is far more important that you pick the right upgrades when they are offered and use your two-item slots wisely. It may seem smart to always keep healing items with you, but some enemies deal damage before you hit them, and having an arrow to kill them outright is more important than healing.

You start with three emblems slots unlocked and by scoring more points in runs you can unlock more slots that make runs easier. Emblems are unlocked by doing different in-game things to get the stuff you need to buy them, for example, defeating bosses or reaching new levels. This is also how you unlock new characters. Points are plentiful at the start so unlocking characters and enough emblems to have choices is easy out of the gate.

The game is a 9/10 must-buy for fans of the Roguelike genre, and you won’t find much better $15 bucks. That being said there is a Steam bundle for about $25 that you won’t want to miss that includes both Stray Path and a game called Border Pioneer that I will also cover. If you don’t want to go read that review, it is a slightly different game that also costs $15 and is amazing. Best wishes and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Fraternity Demon (1992)

There are bad movies that are fun to watch, and there are bad movies that are worth it just to say you have seen them. Then there is this fucking movie. Trixie Bowie plays a lust demon summoned by some college students because they didn’t know what a spell they found did. The guy that left it in a pile of papers knew, he apparently figured summoning her would grant him some sort of authority as well as get him laid.

The movie is as good as the concept, and by that I mean Ms. Bowie made this movie and this movie only then retired. Or maybe she went and did porn I don’t know honestly I wrote all this to say, never watch this movie. Seriously here is a YouTube review from someone else saying basically the same thing with some movie clips. (it does have some brief nudity) Best wishes and may the gaming gods brin you glory.