Cryophage Critiques

Where the magic happens and by magic I mean irreparable damage to the economy (As soon as I remember who I commissioned my profile pic from, I'll update this description)

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Video Game Review - One Turn Kill

"Crisp yet brief"

My most frequent complaint regarding the game industry revolves around over-saturation. Genres like rogue-likes and metroidvanias feel like they appear more frequently than people breathe. Of course, this over-saturation doesn’t make a new rogue-like automatically bad. An idea’s not inherently terrible, only its execution and creativity. One Turn Kill provides an interesting example of this, as it delivers a semi-deconstructed rogue-like experience bolstered by extremely solid yet saddeningly brief gameplay.

One Turn Kill’s presentation of said gameplay feels bloody fantastic. The pixel graphics are incredibly crisp, even during the buttery-smooth animations. These visuals work excellently alongside the energetic music to replicate the exact fantastic flavor of high-intensity gameplay found in the rogue-like genre’s finest. The only real flaw in the presentation comes from the oddly small and blurry card text, as everything else works extraordinarily well.

Despite its high intensity atmosphere, One Turn Kill’s gameplay primarily features enjoyably intricate gameplay. Every encounter revolves around deck management and synergy. Every fight starts with a deck of twenty cards, and using them requires drawing more cards. A card with a cost of five requires drawing five cards, and an empty deck means nothing can get played. Some abilities also require discarding cards in hand, further increasing their cost.

This establishes a fantastic system where the player establishes the perfect balance for their preferred strategy. High cost cards require filling the deck with a limited number of extra cards, and an over-reliance on low cost cards will leave you with nothing playable in hand. Finding a harmony between drawing and returning cards from the deck feels immaculately satisfying as everything comes together perfectly during difficult encounters.

The potential experimentation significantly increases once upgrades become available. Like most rogue-likes, the player slowly but surely upgrades their starting arsenal and abilities. However, these upgrades don’t just increase base stats. They add effects that fundamentally change how one engages with the game. These upgrades also act like double-edged swords in certain cases, but the game doesn’t lock you into using the potentially worse upgraded version. Unlike other rogue-likes, One Turn Kill lets the player fine-tune every element of their strategy instead of working with what luck delivers.

In fact, most of One Turn Kill tries to thoughtfully deconstruct rogue-likes in the best ways possible. Each fight’s difficulty can be adjusted separately from every other encounter, even outright skipped. The game doesn’t impose downsides for making combat easier, since rewards get dished out for clearing specific fights and runs on set difficulties. The player’s constantly encouraged to take on higher difficulties one step at a time, improving in skill and capability before the next challenge.

This gameplay loop does unfortunately suffer from one fatal flaw: it’s surprisingly short. The game doesn’t feature much raw content, only a few unique encounters and a similarly small selection of cards. The game can only provide so much experimentation and strategy from limited foes and mechanics. A second upgrade tier, a few more fights and cards, and higher difficulties would enhance One Turn Kill significantly.

However, One Turn Kill makes up for its lack of content with immense depth. The game squeezes every last drop of mechanical intrigue out of every single fight, as they repeatedly and precisely know how to derail one’s strategy. Every increase in difficulty completely changes how one approaches the fight, and every single encounter can easily end a run. Not once does any single fight feel like the game stacks the deck unfairly; every gimmick is easily manageable and easily capable of burying the player in crap.

One Turn Kill also relishes in pulling the rug out from under the player in the best ways possible. Fights on higher difficulties could throw anything from an interesting conversation to an entirely new mechanic, and these twists almost always feel like a welcome surprise. The game’s potential repetitiveness turns into something continually fresh, addictive, and exciting. Despite that, the game could still benefit from a little randomness hallmark of the rogue-like genre.

Instead of taking from the rogue-like genre, One Turn Kill unfortunately copies a common RPG flaw instead. Developing new strategies for later fights effectively requires upgraded cards, which cost upgrade chips. Chips mainly come from beating enemies or as rewards for winning on higher difficulties. By the time the player needs new strategies, most of those rewards probably got used to upgrade other cards. This means experimentation in the face of immense challenge requires grinding easier fights, which quickly becomes tiring.

It’s important to note how every genuine critique I have of One Turn Kill effectively boils back down to the lack of content, though. If my main complaint with a game revolves around wanting to play more, then the game genuinely cares about providing a fantastic experience. One Turn Kill delivers more than that in spite of its downsides. It’s a great start to a year hopefully just as full of banger titles as 2025 was!

I give One Turn Kill an 8/10!

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Video Game Review - Voidwrought

It’s one thing to make a game in a genre that is relatively oversaturated. It’s another thing entirely to make a game that—unfortunately—feels like it’s trying to build its reputation off of a different title. The beloved title Hollow Knight succeeded, and success inherently begets copycats.

The game Voidwrought initially seems like an example of this, as its animation feels adjacent to Hollow Knight’s. However, this game takes a reasonable approach to the genre by mixing weird ideas and tried-and-true mechanics with a solid understanding of level design to create a surprisingly enjoyable yet challenging experience that distinguishes itself from other titles.

Just like Hollow Knight, Voidwrought features incredibly tough boss fights. However, the game’s more challenging encounters feel exponentially more vicious. Bosses in other games typically revolve around mastering specific mechanics or a overcoming a fair challenge with skill. The enemies in Voidwrought are preoccupied with figuring out every way to annihilate one’s ankles. Surprisingly, this makes every tough encounter engaging, since the genuine difficulty of these fights makes victory feel extra sweet.

Unfortunately, the controls often pose more of a challenge than the fights themselves. The main character’s jump is quick and short, which prevents the player from adapting by adjusting how high they move. The basic attack also feels uncomfortable to use, as it’s more inaccurate than it should be. It’s unclear what causes this issue, but it inevitably results in the player taking unfair damage.

The abilities leave a lot to be desired as well. The best items in games like this are versatile, like something that allows for progress while expanding one’s moveset or arsenal. The only mandatory upgrade that meaningfully affects more than one aspect of gameplay is the slide, as everything else feels—or just is—too situational to realistically help in anything other than navigation. The game does feature a plethora of optional combat-focused abilities, but these metaphorical one-trick ponies don’t alleviate this issue and don’t add value to the upgrades one has to obtain throughout a playthrough.

However, the rough controls do not detract from the level design. A well-timed bounce off an enemy can grant one early access to new locations, and the game never blocks one from doing this. Additionally, it never feels like the player can reach locales horrifically out of sequence. The challenges faced in one area are just as tricky in other places, and most obstacles aren’t insurmountable because of a lack of upgrades. Voidwrought grants the player freedom on a level not typically seen from other games similar to it, since one can take on most areas with skill alone.

This works hand-in-hand with the game’s many surprises. For example, Voidwrought features random interdimensional tunnels that haphazardly teleport the player across the map. It will also often to suddenly catch the player off guard with one of its fiercer boss fights or give out an essential ability as a reward for doing nothing more than engaging with side content. It’s a pleasant surprise to see a game not only get creative with its rewards but also how those rewards get delivered to the player.

Voidwrought also respects the player’s time by opting to forgo explanation for its handful of game mechanics. For example, finding collectibles in the game will often present the player with nothing more than a phrase like “Devotees Summoned,” leaving them to wonder what exactly they just accomplished until they finally come across said devotees. None of the mechanics are so obtuse that they inherently require explanation, but some—like the devotees—are still obfuscated enough that figuring out what exactly they contribute feels immensely satisfying. Additionally, the lack of explanation adds a brilliant aura of mystery to the world.

All in all, I would give Voidwrought a 7/10!

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UFO50 Review

In the 80s and 90s, terrible bootleg game collections ran rampant throughout the game industry. These mostly featured bizarre versions of Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) games or the worst arcade games one could ever play, as the developers used ludicrously high game totals to make a profit.

An infamous example of this phenomenon was an NES game known as Action 52. Instead of filling out its roster with trash or stolen titles, its developers created 52 original titles to give their game actual value as a collection.

Every single game in it was terrible and under-developed.

While Action 52 was—to put it nicely—abhorrent and awful, its core idea held some merit. The concept could never work with the technological capabilities of computers from the 80s, but current advancements in game development could allow a savvy team to realize Action 52’s true potential.

The minds behind the recently released UFO50 sought to accomplish this with the style of games from the 80s and executed it with extraordinary excellence despite inherent problems with parts of their design philosophy.

UFO50 immediately slaps the player in the face with its overwhelming charm. The game presents itself as a collection of titles from the history of a fictional game company and fills each title lore outside of the game itself. Every game also presents itself as a dusty and aged cartridge, perfectly encapsulating the collection’s intended aesthetic and the main idea behind the entire collection.

Replicating design from the 80s inevitably raises the problem of reproducing cumbersome mechanics, but UFO50 mostly avoids this issue. Some games suffer from shoddy design—dodging rain is easier than evading the bats in Barbuta, and I’ve seen puddles with more depth than Magic Gardens—but most titles in this collection avoid this pitfall.

(Side note: Admittedly, I think the shoddy design in Barbuta could be intentional. It’s possible that the developers’ goal with that title was to perfectly emulate a cheaply challenging experience from the 80s. While that’s an admirable goal, my problem is that I don’t find that style of game fair or fun.)

Most titles go beyond avoiding basic issues and understand what makes NES-era games beloved enough to turn their experience into a rich and high-quality product. Games like Camouflage, Ninpek, Mini and Max, and Paint Chase all accomplish this to some extent. They nail their visual and auditorial appeal with vibrant colors, detailed sprites, and chipper yet crisp tunes. The gameplay balances simplicity and complexity, preventing the games from being mindless yet allowing anyone to pick up and play them. Each game is challenging yet fair, placing the onus of failure onto the player’s shoulders and encouraging them to keep playing.

The collection inherently fails to entertain at times, but this weakness becomes its greatest strength. The beauty of UFO50 is that nobody will like every game it has to offer, and that’s a good thing. The goal of this collection isn’t to appeal to everyone but to allow every title to be as niche as it wants so that it can blossom into an incredibly engaging experience.

Additionally, a surprisingly high number of these games are incredibly in-depth. Arcade games have clearly defined goals that prevent the game from becoming repetitive, titles like Mini and Max are filled with secret collectibles, and games like Night Manor explore genres one wouldn’t expect to see in a collection like this.

I’m not sure if a game like this warrants a rating. Covering this experience with an undisputable score of its quality devalues its core philosophy by judging everything as one whole package. I would instead recommend UFO50 to anyone who enjoys video games in general, as any one of its games could become a classic or cherished favorite with enough time.

Also, if you end up playing this game, make sure you explore the Terminal and the game descriptions. The developers REALLY cared about the little details...

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Gestalt: Steam and Cinder Review (Switch/XB1/PS4/PC)

Something I often mention is the necessity for certain games to make themselves noteworthy. Metroidvanias—and rogue-likes—with buttery-smooth pixel art can feel like they’re a dime a dozen at times, and someone’s hard work could easily get lost in unstable digital marketplaces.

I highly praise games for new approaches to commonplace mechanics, as they give the average customer a reason to look at them.

However, Gestalt: Steam and Cinder reminded me games don’t inherently require uniqueness to survive. This Castlevania-inspired Metroidvania’s best qualities come from finely tuned gameplay hallmark of the genre and other mechanics seen throughout similar titles.

The game shows its inspiration boldly, as several aspects of the presentation are from Castlevania. The pop-up damage text, the character portraits, and the little item pick-up prompts exude passion for games like Aria of Sorrow and Symphony of the Night.

These quirks aren't there for the sake of nostalgia baiting. Rather, they mix pretty well with the rest of the visuals. It’s a nice inclusion that informs veteran players that the developers understand what goes into making a Metroidvania.

Like Castlevania, combat in Gestalt focuses mostly on melee attacks. Designing close combat in a game like this can be tricky, but the game gives the player enough maneuverability options to balance fights accordingly.

Gestalt’s combat also involves breaking people’s defenses, but makes it work with the established gameplay mechanics instead of forcing everything to operate around it. Whereas games like Vernal Edge only had one way to get through combat efficiently, the player doesn’t have to rely on certain moves to make their way through Gestalt.

Additionally, there aren’t too many moves that weaken an enemy’s stamina. This allows players to approach encounters however they want, whether they shoot past an enemy or literally shoot past them. Combat always stays interesting during the game’s runtime and allows for smooth progression.

Player skill does little to mitigate the lack of invincibility frames, however. Rooms full of enemies will shred through one’s HP like a woodchipper eviscerates paper because there’s barely any time to recover.

The flow of exploration also gets interrupted in weird ways. The wall jump and ledge grab moves clash surprisingly often in the early game, making it hard to tell where one can reach.

Additionally, the loading zones between sections stretch beyond where the player might think they are. This makes going from one area to another in a vertical direction consistently clunky.

Some interactable objects also occasionally blend into the environment. It’s never an egregious problem—I only got tripped up by this once—but causes the player to be aware of their surroundings forcefully and not naturally through their curiosity and sense of exploration.

These faults are thankfully few and far between, as Gestalt often overshadows them thanks to its expert level design. Areas are crafted so that they inherently teach the player about important gimmicks and moves. For example, the Outskirts section immediately shows the player that they can use the bombs being launched at them to destroy weak floors and harm enemies. You don’t have to go out of your way to put two pieces of a puzzle together, as the moments that showcase these mechanics occur just from one’s instinct and natural movements.

Granted, I played with tutorials turned off, so it’s possible that I only noticed this due to a lack of in-game prompts. However, I think it’s still a strong enough feature to mention.

All in all, I give Gestalt: Steam and Cinder an 8/10!

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Zenless Zone Zero Review

As much as I enjoyed Honkai Star Rail, it quickly lost my interest. The turn-based combat clashed slightly with the “fun-in-short-bursts” gameplay quirks woven into its mechanics. Despite the developers’ best efforts to make it function, divvying up a game into bite-size chunks of content only works well when the genre can adapt to it.

Despite my concerns regarding Zenless Zone Zero’s potentially similar tedium, I tried it out anyways. However, its commonplace free-to-play mechanics meld with its hack-and-slash style to virtually eliminate the threat of boredom while letting its other aspects shine, for better or worse.

Zenless Zone Zero’s mission-based structure is more conducive to generating interest and engagement. It’s significantly more fun to boot up the game and complete a quick mission or two, instead of progressing slightly into a dungeon.

It also softens the impact of the sudden level requirements imposed on the player. Honkai Star Rail rarely brought up mandatory grinding gracefully, as it continually interrupted the narrative. Meanwhile, Zenless Zone Zero smoothly transitions the player from story progression to side content by adding it in the downtime between story missions.

I’d rather not have mandatory grinding. If it must be included, I’m glad they made it fun and something the player wants to do. Each mission is satisfying to blaze through thanks to their short lengths and rewards that feel like they actually do something when making characters stronger.

Exploration is equally enjoyable, as dungeon exploration is snappy, rich, and very rewarding. Each map could feature more secrets sprinkled throughout, but this lack of extra content doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

Each level also features satisfying combat encounters. Like how combat in Xenoblade revolves around pre-battle setup, fights in Zenless Zone Zero gain complexity from the characters one brings into combat. Squads gain buffs from the synergy between the characters they fight with, and every character makes the most of their limited movesets.

Despite the attempts at intricate design, the combat still ends up feeling a little too shallow. I found myself craving aerial combos, additional attack buttons, or any other Devil May Cry-like mechanic.

Variation helps stave off this repetition, but high-level recommendations—and the time it takes to increase an agent’s level—do their best to funnel people toward a preferred loadout.

Speaking of repetition, this game enjoys reusing environments. Despite the differences across the several hallows one explores—like rain or construction equipment—everything revolves around a core of bland white-and-gray cityscapes. It makes exploration feel lifeless and not in the way that wandering around an abandoned city block should.

It’s a shame most of the locales the player explores are drab because the game’s main hub area exudes personality. Sixth Street encapsulates a short yet rich slice of city life while still providing the player with all the stores and services they need.

The game’s atmosphere becomes fantastic due to the high-quality presentation. Character movement during animated cutscenes features a subtle bounce that makes everything feel more vibrant in a unique way, and it weaves perfectly with the funky soundtrack.

Zenless Zone Zero really goes out of its way to make exploration of New Eridu oddly restrictive, though. Certain events only happen at certain times of day, which only acts as a hurdle to step past rather than a means of making the city feel alive. The passage of time—as a gameplay mechanic—also constantly falls apart when the game freezes it for plot progression.

All in all, I give Zenless Zone Zero a 7/10 and would recommend it as a good starting point for those interested in the hack-and-slash genre if you’re able to resist the urge to buy microtransactions.

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Psychroma Review (PC/Switch/XBX/XB1/PS5/PS4)

One of the best elements of a horror game is a well-developed sense of mystery. It’s one thing to create a world with frightening monsters or terrifying concepts, but it’s another thing to draw out one’s curiosity and desire to comprehend the incomprehensible. Bizarre situations, otherworldly beings, liminal spaces, and other similarly baffling concepts can create fantastically scary games.

Psychroma is one such example of a game that left me with a handful of questions and a terrifying world.

The main draw of Psychroma is its ever-present and oppressive atmosphere of mystery and intrigue. Almost nothing in the storyline is directly spelled out, and most answers one will receive to the game’s constantly appearing questions come in the form of confusing moments and situations. It frequently drives one to keep playing to figure out what exactly is going on.

The confusion intermingles with the plot to bolster this tense atmosphere. The game will often pluck the player from what they were doing solely to slap them into a brand-new situation that leaves them just as baffled as the main character is at that moment. Everything is lost in a metaphorical haze throughout one’s playthrough.

The game triples down on its atmosphere with most of its scares. While there is a jumpscare-like moment or two throughout the experience, almost every fright leaves a strong impact. Even the scares that rely more on suddenness and shock still stick the landing, as the game often leaves one confused and disoriented afterward.

The ways the gameplay weaves together with the interpersonal struggles of the cast and the plot enhance the atmosphere even further. I especially thought the juxtaposition between some characters’ perspectives on their gender and the device that allows people to experience other people’s memories was a creative way to approach the topic.

This game unfortunately also suffers from a few unpolished elements. I noticed Haze’s dialogue portrait was still up when I received the “KeyB,” and you can accidentally spawn on top of a fire escape railing during the first Dr. Halloway memory. Granted, these are minor errors that seldom detract from the story or gameplay, but they’re noticeable enough that they could draw some players out of their immersion.

However, I felt these rough elements also added to the aura of uncanniness that permeates throughout every inch of Psychroma. From the game’s harsh color palette to the abrasive soundtrack and downright unsettling imagery, the game delivers no shortage of unease and uncanniness. I would argue that it gets close to rivaling the atmospheres of classic horror titles like Silent Hill.

I only wish Psychroma had just a little more content to offer. Aside from a handful of optional scenes and logs full of lore, the roughly two-hour main story is all the game has. I got every achievement on my first playthrough, I don’t feel like I had to dig too hard into the game’s secrets to do so, and I don’t think I missed anything.

Despite this, I want to replay the game, not only because of how excellently it conveys its plot but how it ends. The story’s gradually building feelings of dread, tension, and mystery reach exciting heights only to end with a whimper instead of a bang. Instead of leaving me dissatisfied, this caused the tale’s events to linger in my mind and pushed me to replay the game solely to find the information I needed to derive answers.

All in all, I give Psychroma an 8/10 and highly recommend it for horror aficionados looking for something with an interesting new flavor!

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Pooool Review (PC)

I’ve never been the biggest fan of 2048. The game does well at creating a simple yet satisfying experience, but I’ve always preferred adaptability and creative thinking rather than the forethought that 2048 requires.

I wasn’t expecting much from Pooool aside from a unique way to play 2048, but its premise twists the core concept enough to make an otherwise simple game intriguing and enjoyably replayable despite its minor flaws and limited content.

On a cursory glance, the game doesn’t seem too different from titles from Suika Game and 2048.

However, what makes Pooool’s gameplay distinctive and engaging is the physics. You can knock balls stuck between two similarly colored pieces, bounce things off the walls to hit objects, or launch balls at high speeds to shake up the whole board.

These physics inject skill-based gameplay into the formula and makes every move important. Where getting smaller pieces in games like this can be incredibly frustrating, in Pooool they allow the player to shake up the entire board in innumerable ways.

The gameplay loop is also more inherently engaging than similar puzzle games. Whether one escapes a close call through absurd luck or a careful and precise shot, continuing a run imbues the entire experience with a rich sense of satisfaction.

However, the game still surprisingly becomes frustrating on rare occasions despite the versatility of the smaller pieces. Late-stage runs tend to get drowned in smaller pieces as they make everything crowded when they get unrecoverably stuck in the back.

It feels weird to complain about something that sounds like an integral part of the gameplay, but the number of runs that ended because of the absurd number of smaller pieces I received is noticeably high.

It almost felt like the game wanted me to start a new chain of pieces halfway through two different chains.

That’s about it in terms of content for Pooool. There are some pleasant customization options for backgrounds, color schemes, and the balls, but that’s all it has outside of the main game and its simplistic achievements.

While there isn’t much content in Pooool—and honestly, I think the price could be a little lower—it does deliver the exact experience it sets out to create and makes itself worth it for that alone.

All in all, I give Pooool an 7/10!

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Persona 3 Reload Review (PC/PS5/PS4/XSX/XB1)

It’s brutal to access some games as companies make a habit of disregarding their legacy. For example, Persona 3 features several editions, yet no definitive version.

Ignoring emulation as an option, one can either shell out for the original game or contend with Persona 3 Portable’s PSP-complacent sacrifices.

This tumultuous history places incredible weight on the recently released remaster Persona 3 Reload. Intriguingly enough, Persona 3 Reload leans away from acting as a definitive version and favors overall gameplay improvements to make its already fantastic content even better.

Persona 3 Reload features the franchise’s quintessential turn-based gameplay. Mechanics like the One More system and Persona Fusion are as enjoyable as they’ve always been, but they stand alongside new additions like limit breaks and unfettered access to Persona 5’s Baton Pass ability.

Unfortunately, these new mechanics shift combat slightly too much in the player’s favor. Mini-boss fights become significantly less menacing when one can eradicate them with limit breaks, and early-game enemy encounters feel lifeless as the gameplay initially lacks enough variability.

Thankfully, these issues were mitigated excellently thanks to the exemplary design of various encounters. A decent handful of foes feature enough tricks up their sleeve that targeting weaknesses—or hoarding limit breaks—doesn’t guarantee success, and bosses introduce enough gimmicks to prevent the player from settling into one set strategy.

Some of these mechanics inevitably feel cheap—charm-inflicting enemies act as a constant pain—but it hardly ever feels unfair.

Giving the player immediate access to the baton pass mechanic—unlike how Persona 5 handles it—also makes the gameplay incredibly engaging. By the time one reaches July, every fight develops into a fast and frantic puzzle, a knot to untie in just the right way as the player picks apart weaknesses until they can perform an all-out attack.

The entire gameplay is punctuated by a fantastic aesthetic and UI. The Persona series knows how to imbue its games with style, and Persona 3 Reload is no exception. All the menus feature a lot of visual flair, but not to the point that the player must visually parse through the graphics to find the menu.

The soundtrack is great, but that’s to be expected from the Persona franchise at this point.

However, Persona 3 Reload’s best achievement comes from its exemplary writing.

The game can take all sorts of people—from the kind-hearted to the awful and everyone in between—and give them a personal story that could make even the most stone-hearted people sympathetic and teary-eyed.

The social links feature enough content that some party members don’t get dedicated social links, but this helps more than it hinders. It forces the story to address each character arc throughout the overarching narrative, which makes their struggles engaging and impactful as they intertwine with the plot.

The struggles of Persona 3’s cast hit much harder than those seen from other Persona games because it never feels like character development is getting relegated to optional content avenues.

As for the story itself, I appreciated the angle it approached Persona’s unique concepts. The plot’s origins are incredibly engaging and raise interesting questions regarding the lore of the franchise. Additionally, events that seem like they’ll accomplish nothing for the next 20 minutes end up progressing the plot.

There’s still a handful of moments that do nothing but waste the player’s time—I found myself bored and cringing during Operation Beach Fling, for example—but the game hardly ever shies away from plot progression.

All in all, I give Persona 3 Reload an 8/10 and I would highly recommend it…on any platform OTHER than the one I bought it on (PC). I made the mistake of purchasing one of the better editions for the OST, and it turns out I can’t do anything with it. Save your money and buy on console!

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Rabbit & Steel Review (PC)

Making a hard game often presents more difficulty than anything the game itself has. The line between fair challenges and unfair nonsense is thin when making something brutal to master. Impressively, Rabbit & Steel not only treads this line with minimal error but does so while innovating two different genres and expertly leaning into its strengths to eliminate its flaws.

Rabbit & Steel’s core gameplay revolves around bullet hell gameplay set against a rogue-like structure. These two styles mesh perfectly as they revolve around perfecting one’s gameplay and continually making progress.

However, the tedium of repetition appears immediately. Every area—except the first and last sections—features the same fights in the same order. While this is mitigated by the randomness in areas one visits during a run, one still duels the same foes every time.

While a lack of replayability would condemn any rogue-like to an early grave, Rabbit & Steel lessens this by focusing on its other mechanics. Most fights have multiple attack patterns, and the difficulty in dodging these attacks can vary wildly depending on one’s class. Combined with the plethora of builds crafted from combining classes and loot, this grants the game innumerable experiences from one fight alone.

Fights only become more complex and challenging when playing on multiplayer. Despite the higher offensive capabilities of a group, enemies bring more HP and attacks where players take damage for other people’s sloppy maneuvering to the table.

Whether one plays solo or with others, every fight becomes a dance of precise positioning and offensive output. The game continually demands group cooperation and encourages players to consider adventuring with friends or by themselves.

The presentation also works perfectly alongside the gameplay. The storybook-like style and modern Final Fantasy-esque soundtrack are great at creating an atmosphere that doesn’t distract or detract from gameplay while remaining distinctive and delightful.

Rabbit & Steel also brilliantly encourages the player to keep pushing forward with its design. Clearing an area often unlocks something, whether it’s a new class, loot, or songs from the game’s OST. It’s a system that rewards every step towards progress and encourages one to try again even if they’re stuck on the same fight and haven’t finished a run in ages.

Gameplay loops like this live and die by balancing, and Rabbit & Steel keeps the challenge fair thanks to its loot. One will only end up with six of the dozens of potential items by the time they reach the final boss, and that equipment doesn’t always help. However, terrible RNG doesn’t guarantee defeat and good luck doesn’t automatically grant victory. Player skill often—yet not always—stands above one’s luck, which is impressive to see from a game where higher difficulties introduce strict timers and nearly unavoidable attacks.

The smoothness of the gameplay also makes fights feel fair. Moving your character is swift, snappy, and satisfying. Encounters like the boss of King’s Arsenal take perfect advantage of this tight gameplay as they flood the screen with attacks that are tricky—yet not impossible—to dodge.

Some parts of the game demand borderline ludicrous reflexes, though. For example, the boss in the Red Darkhouse loves to use attacks that give the player about three seconds to determine how to evade an attack that will cover almost the entire screen. The game rarely fails to put the onus of improper dodging on the player, but moments like this fight feel like the equivalent of someone tossing a brick at the player’s head and then shouting “Heads up!”

All in all, while the repetition threatens the longevity of the overall experience, the game provides enough high-quality gameplay and variation that it shouldn’t be a problem for most people. I give Rabbit & Steel a 9/10!

[cryophagecritiques]

Duelists of Eden Review - (Steam)

DISCLAIMER: One Step From Eden is one of my favorite games of all time. As such, I must acknowledge the fact that I may be biased towards its sequel, Duelists of Eden. However, I think this review accurately conveys what I think about the game, separate from my personal feelings and potential biases.

Genre shifts often lead to utterly confusing releases. Franchises can take their well-known gameplay and throw it out for something different, like Final Fantasy confusingly replicating Devil May Cry-style combat and the Sonic franchise’s persistent identity crisis. However, sometimes a genre shift allows the mechanics and style of prior releases to flourish in new and exciting ways. Duelists of Eden accomplishes this, as it constructs an excellent fighting game off the mechanics and gameplay of predecessor (One Step From Eden).

Duelists takes the numerous spells of One Step From Eden- the first game’s strongest aspect- and decides to give players full access to every single one. Whereas spells provided replayability and randomness in One Step’s rogue-like gameplay, Duelists gains variation and adaptability by letting players slap together whatever combination of 8-to-10 spells their heart desires. Deck-building in Duelists feels akin to developing party members in RPGs like Octopath Traveler; the game provides all the tools needed to create absurdly powerful strategies.

Although Duelists builds heavily on One Step, it doesn’t quite play like its predecessor. Combat still features 4x4 grids and a pool of mana that restricts spell-casting frequency, but Duelists introduces several new actions to increase gameplay depth. Amassing shields and attempts to evade enemy fire are replaced with dedicated block and dodge buttons, and each character now features two unique attacks. These mechanics allow the combat to feel less like back-and-forth slap fights and more like the brutally fast-paced bouts seen in mainstream fighting games.

The unique attacks not only make every character distinctive but also allow the crossover characters to feel livelier. The attacks these guest stars bring to gameplay function like one familiar with their origins would expect them to, but none of them feel like they got haphazardly dropped into Duelists. At the risk of sounding vapid, Queen-- from Quantum Protocol-- plays like how I’d expect Queen to operate in One Step-style combat.

Additionally, none of the characters feel restricted by their unique attacks. Neera’s attacks encourage builds involving frost damage, but a frost deck with Selicy feels just as effective. Queen and Hazel revolve around building structures, but one can use a deck building off these attacks or a deck with spells that work in conjunction with these attacks. The only thing preventing a deck from being effective in combat is how effectively one can develop synergy between their play style, spells, and character.

It's important to note- at the time of writing (March 8th)- Duelists still needs polishing. While the main game seems free from critical issues, one will inevitably notice the occasional minor hiccup. It’s a game still in progress, albeit one that feels close to completion. However, Duelists of Eden- to the extent of my knowledge- was mostly programmed by a single person. The state the game launched in and the fervor- and speed- with which the developer fixes problems is nothing short of miraculous and impressive!

Speaking of the Gauntlet mode… It’s ok? A lackluster single-player mode in a game primarily concerned with online multiplayer does not make the overall experience terrible. However, Gauntlet mode lacks the panache seen from other fighting game single-player modes like Classic Mode from Super Smash Bros, and the overall dryness of Gauntlet mode feels odd. However, any awkwardness derived from Gauntlet mode quickly washes away due to the quality of the gameplay.

All in all, I give Duelists of Eden a tentative 9/10- which may become a 10/10 as the game progresses and my thoughts have more time to digest- and I highly, HIGHLY recommend it for its cheap $5 price tag!

[princeofspirits]

I've had some Legends-style starter evos in mind for a while, so I decided to design them in honor of today's announcement! Which one would you pick?

Cinderace is Fire/Psychic (playing cards theme), Primarina is Water/Poison (cabaret theme), and Meganium is Grass/Bug (avant garde/fashion theme)! I had a ton of fun with these and I can't wait to see which starters are ACTUALLY available in the game!

[cryophagecritiques]

WitchHand Review?

Ok, so I wrote a review for this game. However, I feel like it's not my best work, and I don't want mid-tier writing to represent this game.

So I'll just say this:

WitchHand's core gameplay mechanics and ways every element becomes interconnected create a fantastically engaging experience that has stolen hours of my time in the best way possible.

Despite some issues I have regarding repetition, this strategy game is easily one of the best games I've played so far this year and I highly recommend it!

[cryophagecritiques]

Paper Lily: Chapter 1 Review (PC)

Considerable amounts of well-known horror games surprisingly originate from the RPG Maker software. Developers can take this program and craft terror from an entirely different genre. However, these games often end up restricted by their gameplay and fail to deliver a terrifying experience. Lackluster precedents do not mean certain styles cannot produce a satisfying product, though. For example, Paper Lily: Chapter 1 crafts a frightening experience with satisfying exploration-based gameplay while sticking to its self-described “horror RPG” style.

Whereas most RPG Maker horror games infamously suffer from tedious & infuriating trial-and-error mechanics, Paper Lily enhances this gameplay style by making it about exploration rather than horror and harsh punishments for failure. Progression rarely restricts itself to one set path; puzzles usually feature multiple solutions, routes can suddenly open and close, and consequences mostly involve losing access to a new path instead of a game over. It forces the player to think carefully and logically- since every choice could carry consequences- without drawing their ire.

This lack of severe consequences is just one way the game encourages the player to explore everything. For example, one will almost always obtain seemingly unnecessary items during a playthrough, leaving the player with several questions about things they missed out on when they reach the end of the game. These two elements draw out one’s curiosity and inspire them to replay the game and find new paths and events. These repeat playthroughs usually net some reward, whether it comes from entirely new sections or other secrets.

When the game does punish the player for their choices with a game over, it never feels cheap. The bad endings one encounters during a typical playthrough always feature some elements explaining why things went awry. For example, an early-game section features an easily discoverable bad ending that initially seems like the game tried to fool the player. However, the ending only occurs if one neglects important details mentioned in the dialogue, and the game does not try to hide any information from the player. One only needs to give situations like this some thought to progress forward unscathed.

Paper Lily’s horror elements are not always on par with the exploration, however. Every terrifying moment runs counter to a handful of goofy scares, some moments veer away from scariness and towards edginess, and the game frequently dampens the shock of a sudden game over with a screen best described with the term ‘bloodsplatter.jpeg.’ It’s an experience of extreme highs and lows, but thankfully the better moments far outweigh the worse parts in quality and quantity. Additionally, these scary moments are some of the most bone-chilling in the entire genre due to their ability to shock without tropes like loud noises.

Paper Lily also breaks away from the typical RPG Maker format by excellently developing its presentation and mechanics. While the menus and textboxes feel typical of RPG Maker projects, little details like the smoothness in character movement, the brief but uniquely presented tutorials and surprising shifts in gameplay that will not be spoiled in this review constantly showcase the level of time, care, and quality that the developers exhibited towards this game while creating it. Not every mechanic feels satisfying to use- using items feels frighteningly uncomfortable, for example- but none of these severely detract from the presentation or experience.

All in all, I give Paper Lily: Chapter 1 an 8/10 and highly recommend it- if you can handle the serious topics the game touches on- especially since it’s currently free! Just remember to consider supporting the developers if you can.

[cryophagecritiques]

Portal: Revolution Review (PC)

NOTE: As of writing this review, I have only played up to halfway through Chapter 5.

With Valve refusing to craft a title involving the number three over the last decade, people inevitably created new experiences for the long-starved fandoms of their franchises. Whereas these creations typically featured unique levels and mods utilizing already-released games, not many fans take on the onus of creating an entire game with these tools. However, Face Software recently released their take on the Portal franchise with the mod Portal: Revolution. This mod stands out among other fan-created projects by creating an entire experience packed with new mechanics and a semi-successful attempt at recapturing the spirit of the original games, built on the iconic second game.

Portal: Revolution does a decent job of encapsulating the feeling of the original Portal titles. The graphics look as fantastic as Portal 2’s- since Revolution is a mod of Portal 2- and the original assets mesh perfectly with their surroundings. Everything feels crisp and as lively as an abandoned testing facility can feel. The mod even features slight improvements on the gameplay, as lasers can no longer kill the player (Granted, I cannot say if this is a bug or a feature, but it’s a welcome addition nonetheless) and the game derives as much content out of a half-functional portal device as possible, using this to create three chapters full of challenging puzzles!

The only problem with recreating the atmosphere of Portal arises due to the difficulty of replicating the wit and charm of the original titles. While the characters in Portal: Revolution provide interesting perspectives on the events of Portal 1, they lack traits- such as GLaDOS’ sarcasm, Cave Johnson’s madness, and Wheatly’s foolishness- that make them intriguing and humorous outside of what they contribute to the plot. Additionally, while the voice actors do a fantastic job, the delivery of certain lines and the attempts at witty dialogue again pale in comparison to the original games.

What Portal: Revolution did recapture from the original titles was unfortunately the overall structure of their plot. The story beats of Portal 2 and Portal: Revolution feel too similar to each other, as they both start with the player character waking up in a bedroom, attempting to accomplish some goal before they can escape, ending up in the underground sections of the compound and exploring several old test chambers while accompanied by a disembodied, prerecorded voice, and so on. While the events offered by Portal: Revolution are dissimilar enough from Portal 2 to provide a unique adventure, those familiar with Portal 2 may find themselves with a sense of Déjà vu.

However, the game utilizes its perspective of the events of Portal 1 to craft superb levels for the player to explore. A handful of levels involves the player breaking free from the typical level design of most Portal puzzles, whether this comes in the form of breaking into multiple rooms to progress forward, exploration revolving around intricately designed and ominous halls, or the utilization of objects like breakers. Granted, Portal 2 also features segments like this, but Portal: Revolution utilizes them more often and with better design to boot.

All in all, I give this game an 8/10!

[cryophagecritiques]

Undertale Yellow Review (PC)

The fangame scene can feel like the chaotic wild west at times, as one can discover creations with drastically differing qualities. Everything from countless recreations of infamous viral horror games to absurd ideas like Super Mario Bros. but with the gun from Portal exist thanks to those with both passion and skill. However, developers occasionally take these traits to extreme heights and craft a game with quality on par with the series that inspired it, such as “Another Metroid 2 Remake” and “Pokemon Emerald Rogue”. The recently released “Undertale Yellow” joins this upper echelon of fan projects by creating a thoughtful and detailed expansion to the concepts and world of the original game, albeit while repeating said original game’s mistakes.

The creators of Undertale Yellow brilliantly recapture the spirit of Toby Fox’s masterpiece. The comedic moments, new locales, intriguing characters, heavenly soundtrack, and bullet-hell gameplay all mesh perfectly with what one would expect from the original game. The several details throughout the experience help accentuate the game’s atmosphere and showcase the development team’s understanding of the original material, as the plot approaches familiar concepts from new angles.

Undertale Yellow also provides fantastically difficult yet balanced encounters that do not seem impossible to overcome. Whether one pursues peaceful paths or opts for more violent routes, bosses all feature hard-to-evade attacks that do not typically feel impossible to dodge. Aside from some tough encounters, it always feels like one can only ever blame themselves for failure, and they need to become skillful enough to overcome any challenge the game throws at them. Combined with fewer fights wherein the player cannot lose and the balancing of difficulty via limited healing items, the gameplay of Undertale Yellow stands miles above the original game’s.

The game makes each route equally interesting, and significantly more engaging than Undertale’s non-true ending routes. The pacifist route’s endings both feel emotionally charged, the neutral route’s ending adds some interesting depth to the lore, and the game’s darker routes not only reproduce the original game’s unsettling atmosphere but add a hint of moral ambiguity via the player character’s ethos of unflinching justice. In fact, Undertale Yellow’s best aspect comes from how it handles the main character’s ideals, and how they stay true to those ideals regardless of the choices made throughout a playthrough.

Disappointingly, the game still makes the same mistakes the original game did regarding its darker story routes. If one wants to see the game’s darker outcomes, one must kill every enemy in an area before moving on, which combines with the lack of variation in regular enemy encounters to quickly generate an aura of tedium. This literal and figurative grind- which only becomes more unbearable when one runs out of encounters in a room and must find a different locale to fight monsters in- feels like the game gatekeeps a portion of its content behind a barricade that boasts an unnecessary toll of time. Thankfully, the snappiness of the overall gameplay cuts down on the time spent chasing after these darker story routes.

All in all, I give Undertale Yellow a 8/10 and HIGHLY recommend playing it!

[thecraftgremlin]

We need to embrace the fact that the tumblr userbase is aging. What’s everybody’s favorite kitchen appliance?

[11111111111101111111111-deactiv]

This spatula

Idk why

[orangesideirrational]

[11111111111101111111111-deactiv]