Reviews – Page 6 – Savior Gaming

The Conjuring: Last Rites

The Conjuring: Last Rights is basically the perfect example of how to not make a AAA horror movie. As I do every year around my birthday, I crashed at @torstenvblog house, ordered pizza, and we watched movies. Nine this year to be exact, and I am sure you will be reading about the rest soon enough from him. This one, however, I insisted on writing about myself.

The movie itself mostly revolves around the Warren family and how Ed and Lorrain had a daughter, Judy. They had stopped their investigations for years by the time the Smurl family haunting had taken place, and they were focusing on Judy’s upcoming wedding.

This obviously has nothing to do with the Smurl house, but they did shoehorn Judy having visions and whatnot into this about the Smurl house and the demon that is haunting the family; they came from a mirror shown earlier in the movie connecting the Warrens and Smurls. This never happened in real life, by the way.

In fact, the entire movie never even bothers to make you care about the Smurl family. You spend very little time with them. The little kids are mostly shown running around, playing. The older kids scream a bit about how they can’t keep living like this, but outside of a few scenes, they never really show what this even is. We do get a couple of great scenes towards the end where one daughter finds a video from her birthday and is chased by a crazy ghost with an axe, and this is the same night we see the father molested by one. This, however, is after she screams about living like this; what was going on before then is very little that is even mentioned.

Even ignoring that I come from the same area as this Smurl house (I’ve literally driven past it more than once in my travels) and shared emails with people who lived there while working on a book and helping a friend with a podcast (decades of people who lived there have denied anything happening there, going all the way back to the 1980s) and even ignoring the fact I personally think the Warrens are probably frauds, the potental for this to be a good movie exist. The first two Conjuring movies are good. This movie, however, does everything wrong, and nobody should ever watch this pile of garbage. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) Steam Review

My Wife Threw Out My Card Collection (So I Bought a Dump to Find Them All) might be the game with the longest name I’ve ever reviewed, and was sent to me by the nice people over at Polden Publishing.

The game is quite simple, your wife tossed out your prized card collection, so now you are combing through the garbage dump you bought to find them all. So you spend your time filling a garbage bag with bottles, ammo boxes, and various other garbage, then tossing them into what appears to be a mimic for money. When you run out of energy, you grab some beer from a nearby vending machine to get more.

Every so often, you will come across something of real value that you can sell in the online store for a bit more money than the garbage sells for. This can be used to buy various upgrades, such as a bigger bag, more energy, better beer, or even a dog. This will let you rummage through your garbage piles faster, so you can find more cards or valuables.

You can also occasionally find birds and return them to their nest. The game loop can be fun, and honestly, for $8, you will get some decent time and laughs out of it. Nothing about the game is groundbreaking, but it is still a fun little title. Graphically, it is cute, and the sound isn’t bad at all. It is a solid 7/10 title that will give you a good bit of fun for the money you spend, and that is really all you can ask for. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Pirates Outlaws 2: Heritage Steam Review

Pirates Outlaws 2: Heritage is an upcoming deckbuilder from Fabled Game Studios, for which they were kind enough to send me an early copy. You play as a young child who survived a catastrophe and is following in the footsteps of their parents to be a famous pirate adventurer.

All the usual tropes of these games are here: build a deck, travel on a map to different locations, fight monsters that grow stronger over time, and try not to die. This time, it is all pirate-themed. Of course, you will eventually die, and when you do, you can spend gold on perks to come back stronger than ever and do better on your next run.

There are some added things this time around, however. You can get some different companions to help out, for example, my first one was a chicken. I picked him because he was cute. There is a black market that allows you to ban cards you don’t like using, or a workshop that enables you to upgrade cards, making your starting cards stronger.

Another nice touch to the game is that you have to manage supplies throughout your run as you sail around. This isn’t some huge issue; it isn’t a survival game after all. Pay attention and make stops here and there to restock, and you are fine. You can also heal in much the same way. The downside to doing this is that it takes time, and elite enemies can disappear while you do this, costing you valuable rewards.

The biggest downside to this game, honestly, is that it is fun and can be challenging. The game doesn’t really bring anything new to the table or do anything we haven’t seen before. It also doesn’t do anything better than any of the other 50 games in the genre already available. To give credit where it is due, it also doesn’t do any of it worse. The game is fun, and I would definitely recommend it to fans of the first game in the series or the genre as a whole. It also isn’t a bad starting point for people wanting to get into the genre. But if you are specifically looking for something new and fresh within the genre, this isn’t it. It is still a solid 7/10 game that’s worth playing. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Vaesen: Castle of Gyllencreutz

As some of you may be aware, not long Free League Publishing sent me a PDF of their Starter set for Vaesen. If you want more details about what is in that, you can read about it here. A few weeks after that, I got home from work to a package on my doorstep, and it was the physical version of that same starter set and the core rule book. Now it is an excellent starter set, but I got to wondering, can someone with no experience playing this game, truly get a group together and play this game? So I gathered the women in my life together, a case of our prefered alchol, and got started.

Beautiful cover art for the core rule book. I didn’t use this for my experiment

The first thing I did was have everyone blindly choose one of the 5 playable characters that the set came with. My daughter decided to play as a rugged Soldier named Fronz who couldn’t read. I don’t know why she decided he couldn’t read, but I just went with it. The other ladies chose the 2 ladies in the group; they have names, but admittedly, that isn’t important. By not important, I mean I forgot their names.

Now, the Castle of Gyllemcreutz story that comes with the set is a great starting point that introduces you to the basics of the game. I don’t want to get too in-depth with what is involved with this story because it is easy to give too much away. Much of the story involves investigating a large castle to find clues on how to solve the mystery involving ghostly lights and missing people.

Dice rolls are all based on rolling a D6; players need to roll a certain number of 6’s to succeed. How many completely depends on how difficult the task is. There is also very little combat in this module, but the person running it could easily change that if they chose to. Nothing is stopping them, and all the information needed to do it is included.

But how did my players do? Well, they never were confused on how to play; they made their way through the castle with very little coaching besides trying to get them to stop goofing off, and the big finale of the whole thing was figured out before we figured out how to finish off a case of alcohol in 2 hours between the 4 of us.

I would absolutely say this starter kit provides everything you need to get you started playing Vaesen with limited or no experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Forever Skys PS5 Review

Forever Skys was released by Far From Home earlier this year on consoles after being in early access on Steam. They were nice enough to send me a copy recently to check out, and I have to say it is one of the more original survival games I have played.

All the typical survival types are here: gather food and water so you don’t die, build a bed so you can sleep. The usual suspects. Even having a special gun and scanner to discover new things to build isn’t new. It is all very well done, however, which is important.

What is new, however, is that instead of building just a base somewhere, you are building an airship. Yes, it is fully functional, needs engines and fuel, etc, to fly, and you will fly it yourself. It can be damaged, and you can fall off of it. You also gather food by fishing off the side of it.

The game really picks up when you have to find bigger and better things in the underworld. See, the game does have a story, and that story is basically to save humanity. And while you are pretty much safe while flying through the sky on your ship, traveling below the clouds is when it gets dangerous. This will require special preparation, because most things down there want you dead.

This brings me to my only real complaint about the game: getting around can be annoying if you are an idiot like me and don’t put the radar somewhere easy to see while flying. Don’t worry, I fixed it. Even then, a lot of the map looks the same regardless of where you go, and I just wish there was some sort of variety. The game is still an 8/10 survival game, and the ability to build and fly a ship from the start is nice. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Demonschool Playstation 5 Review

DemonSchool from Developer Necrosoft Games and publisher Ysbryd Games is a tactical RPG, and proudly wears its Persona and Italian horror roots on its sleeve. Thankfully, they sent me a copy to check out.

The combat is interesting; unlike most of these games, you won’t simply be moving a few squares, choosing an attack, gaining levels, and learning new skills. Every character simply knows the attacks they will know. You, of course, can learn new skills throughout the game, but these work like buffs. Your healer learns to weaken enemies, or your attackers can learn to also stun enemies, things like that.

Killing enemies will see them explode into blood

The other interesting thing about the combat is that you move in directions, not to spaces. This may sound odd at first, but it works out very well and creates an interesting dynamic. This becomes even more true when you realize characters like Namako will move through a group of enemies, stunning them just to end up on the other side of them. Faye can then attack that same group and create a combination attack with Namako.

Bosses create an entirely new situation, however. They are all very large and have their own gimmicks to overcome. Many, if you stay in a certain zone for too long, will kill you in a single shot. This works in both directions, however, and trapping an enemy there will also kill them. Each boss has their own reason for existing and is part of the story attached to them.

Now you will notice I haven’t touched on the story yet, and that is intentional, as I don’t like to risk spoilers. You play as Faye, probably one of the only people left in the world who knows about a prophecy that demons will return to start the apocalypse. She journeys to this college on an island in an attempt to stop it. She teams up with Namako right away, another person with demon hunter blood in her family, despite her initial refusal. There are several tone shifts throughout the game, and they are all amazing.

The writing can be a bit cliché and silly at times, and it won’t be for everyone. The game, however, is a solid 8/10. The battles can be a bit redundant, but I enjoyed them. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

JDM: Japanese Drift Master

JDM: Japanese Drift Master has finally come to Xbox after being long available on Steam, and Gaming Factory was nice enough to send me a copy to check out. First thing I have to say is the game is beautiful. There is just no way around that fact. The map is based on real-world Japan, and just driving around it, you can see the inspiration and even some real-world places. Just driving around, drifting for no reason, can be fun. The cars themselves are some of the best I have seen in a video game.

The story itself plays out in Manga-style cutscenes. Don’t worry if you have never read one; the game has a handy help system for that. This, I thought, was a nice touch and really just steered into the Japanese aesthetic. More games really need to do this, I think.

All of that truly doesn’t mean much if the controls aren’t good. As someone who isn’t huge on racing games but has played some, they are fantastic. You have two different modes to choose from. A more arcade-style for an easier beginner person, and a sim mode where pretty much all the help options are disabled. This makes the game more approachable for everyone.

Now, some of you may be wondering, does the game support steering wheels? The answer is no. It was designed for a controller and does not support steering wheels. This may be a deal breaker for some of you, and I understand that. I do find it odd myself, considering it is a single-player game and they don’t have to worry about someone having an advantage in multiplayer.

At the end of the day, it is a 9/10 racing game. Drift fans will love it, many of whom have long waited for their chance to play this game that has been trapped on Steam. Is it easy? No, there is a ton to learn and get used to. But it is beautiful and fun to play. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Duskpunk Steam Review

Duskpunk is inspired by tabletop games and is definitely a mature title, not because of its visuals, but because of the images that will spring to mind by the words on the screen. Sent to me by Clockwork Bird, this title is not for the faint of heart. It is both challenging and grotesque in how it plays how, and I mean this in the best way possible.

My first play-through saw me as a soldier, missing part of my memory nursing an injured leg that I would soon lose. Struggling to survive and even find food in a world at war that didn’t care. I won’t go too deep into specifics, but suffice it to say, even the clergy offered me drugs to help me get by and ease my suffering. Every choice is life or death at times, from gambling in hopes of gathering enough money to eat to choosing where to sleep.

There are some downsides, however, while the story is fantastic and every character I came across is interesting and well thought out, dice rolls can be brutal even on the easiest setting. The game seems to be built on making you fail since many even simple decisions require multiple dice rolls to succeed, but only one to fail. Even a small injury to a stat can be game-ending. I don’t say this to discourage anyone, but gathering resources while racing against the clock and fighting dice rolls won’t be for everyone. After multiple play-throughs, I am still enjoying the game, but I can understand why some people would not.

This is one of those games that fans of this genre need to check out. For example, if you enjoyed Citizen Sleeper, you will likely enjoy this as well. However, if you don’t like games like this, I don’t see this being the game that changes your mind on the genre. At a price point of $20, it is an 8/10 that fans of the genre should’t miss. 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.

Yes, those books are flying, yes, they are dangerous. No, you can not read them.

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.