Recent reviews by FriendlyFirePewPew

Great little rogue-like with simple but challenging mechanics. It sometimes feels unfair, but that's just the difficulty ramping up and forcing you to make tough decisions. A good little gem to keep installed on the Deck for quick sessions.

Fun little metroidvania steampunk combo of a game. Everything is very tight and very little bloat to the game. All the way to the end its pretty cathartic to just explore and mine, though I do prefer the procedural maps of Steamworld Dig a little more.
Great short game to play on a handheld.

A simple, straight forward platformer. It's not setting the world aflame with new mechanics or items, but it does all the core things right. Great art, cute story. Tight gameplay loop that is tough but fair.
Also great on steam deck for quick sessions.

Once you get over the urge to rush in to most combat situations and prep for a stealthy engagement, it's a pretty fun game. Has it's janky moments, but a solid take on the stealth combat genre.

all the fun of L4D2 with swords, bows, and dwarfs that run so slow you just wanna leave them behind.

Having a good time now that I've got it running consistently. Had to enable it in windowed mode, i think, due to multiple monitors.
Gameplay is fun and the story is pretty great so far. Just got to the second planet though, so we'll see in a few more hours.

Only a few hours in and its a fun metroidvania with a slight souls-esque bent to things. The world is interesting and the design has been fun-difficult. Not going to make you rage quit, but there's a level of concern when you die.
Looking forward to continuing the adventure!

I have rarely reviewed games on Steam, but I feel like I should briefly share about this one.
TL;DR - I loved this game for its storytelling and focus on a few gameplay systems that were very well done.

Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is one of my favorite games of all time.
1. Gameplay wasn't blowing my kilt up, but it felt fair. Poorly timed attacks could be painful, but not disastrous like in Dark Souls. I didn't feel punished for over-anticipating an attack or pressing the wrong button. I'm not sure if that was the auto-difficulty setting kicking in, but even after dying I didn't feel the urge to rage quit. I also have to praise the sound design. This game should be played with headphones for the full effect. Senua is struggling with mental illness, and this gave a glimpse into how it can manifest for those who have not experienced it.
2. Story was told in a way that filled in gaps and played with expectations. Its not a completely novel story idea, but it has heart and made me empathize with what Senua was going through. it also asks questions about growing up and parenting that can be tough to face.
3. It didn't get in the way of itself. I'm assuming the developers wanted to focus on the mental health aspect and they didn't let mechanics or bloat overshadow that. its a short game, took me 9 hours, and it doesn't really stray from telling the story of Senua. There aren't side missions to do or special powers to get distracted with. I applaud the focus on storytelling and a very straightforward combat system. Especially after playing two Assassin's Creed games.

I die so often, but keep going back...why?

Great couch or online multiplayer. Wish I could figure out flying though.