Ulasan terkini oleh Silencio o Rebeldía

It looks like a metroidvania, it plays like a metroidvania, it WANTS to be a metroidvania… but it is not a metroidvania.

It is a strange game. From the fact that you gain new abilities from defeating bosses to the dungeon-style levels where you have to find the glorified red button (over and over again) to open doors, it seems to me that the devs had a metroidvania in mind but didn’t understand the key elements that make these games fun; exploration, progression and new abilities.

The combat is the cardinal sin; surely one of the blandest, most boring button-smashing games you can find, your character doesn’t do anything but monotonously swing his sword; there’s no combos, no jump and smash attack, no shield to defend yourself, no ranged attack and not even a health bar!

Truly, it feels unfinished. The art is good, the name is catchy and some of the movement abilities you gain later on (by the point everyone NOT achievement-hunting has already stopped playing the damn game) are kind of fun, but its repetitive nature and uninspired combat don’t do it justice.

I guess I’ll go for the achievements and forget about ever playing the game. Too bad.

Random is fair, random prevails and random rules!

THIS. NEEDS. A. SEQUEL.

Forget that EA published it. Forget that the card-battler combat is bland and repetitive.

The world is unique, dark and beautiful. Whoever thought to make dices integral to the game is a genius, both in its implementation as a companion and as the structure of the six realms of the Kingdom of Random.

This tale of two sisters begins when Odd is abducted by the evil Queen and it is your job as Even to travel the kingdom in search of her. The grand design of the Queen fits perfectly with her authoritarian demeanor as she rules with an iron fist and kidnaps children for her own nefarious schemes.

You will see poverty, war, class struggle and some of the most colorful characters behind this gloomy landscape. The narrator will guide you through the adventure as you befriend one of the long-lost dice of power and bring light to a kingdom shrouded in darkness.

As one of the best settings I’ve played, all I need now is a sequel or a prologue with the Kingdom of Random in full color and dice battles in every corner. The potential here in immense and I wish for more.

Overall, this is an easy recommend.

Before the larger, brutal Skaven from Warhammer: Vermintide came to be, there was a slim sliver of hope for the rats of this world in the form of King Rattus and his band of rodents. His untimely death led many to believe the rats would fall once again into morbid disarray and it is at this pivotal period that Tails of Iron takes place.

You take control of Redgi, smallest son of King Rattus but the feistiest of the lot… also the one who witnessed his brutal murder by the frog clan and their ferocious leader, Greenwart. It is you then, bruised and battered hero, who must rise and restore this bleeding, burning kingdom and fight its many foes for its survival.

The game provides quite the difficult journey and defending the bosses planned attacks will be your main form of offence. Watching the Crimson Fort, the Ranger’s lodge and Long Tail village in ruins but slowly being rebuilt in the background as you run your errands to fund the next expedition gives a nice sense of progression. The hand-drawn art is top notch and ends up give a pass to the fetch quests that ultimately plague the story.

It is unfortunate then - as a self-proclaimed rat chronicler, to tell you that even when you succeed in the war against the frog clan and declare yourself King Redgi of the rats, peace will not last… for soon after your death many moons after the events of this game, the acts committed by your revered father in the attic of the Crimson Fort would show its devastating effects, leading to the fall of rat culture and the rise of the despised Skaven. More mutant than rats, more deadly than frog kin.

The humans who witnessed the period of peace from King Rattus to King Redgi speak highly of its cultural achievements, but could never take off the shackles of discrimination against the rats rooted in the vicious waves of killings during the Hundred Years war, examined in detail in A Plague Tale: Innocence. Almost the entirety of France was swallowed by plague and vermin and the humans tried (and failed) to exterminated the rats for it.

I do not think the pests of A Plague Tale nor the Skaven from Warhammer truly represent the might of the rat species but this game, at least, shows its peak and true potential. Who knows if we’ll ever see another as noble as King Redgi; who knows if we’ll ever see rats not be vilified... but this is a start.

This game shows the middle period of rat history. Play it to learn more.

For being a game about beakfaced reaper scavengers that harvest the souls of those long gone…

this game is quite cozy.

Something about the music drawing you in and playing in your head afterhours and the quirky, strange characters that plague this gloomy tale and what about the office of course! The hardest workers should be the most recognized. They’ll drown in paperwork before talking to you though, that’s for sure.

The art is wonderfully detailed and the difficulty is just right (sometimes I would plough through everything while others I died more times than I swung the sword, so go figure) but one thing’s for sure, this games a keeper and this crows a killer reaper.

Favorite character? Between Jefferson and the grave digger, I shan’t decide. Loved the setting and loved the music. Death’s Door 2, when Acid Door?!?!

The ending reminded me of a few things I have to do myself.

“Bury the hatchet,” so they say. But the process of burying it can be just as daunting and painful as the events that created the hatchet itself.

The game lets you participate in someone’s grief, in their succumbing to it through sketch and narration, and it is through the main character, the nameless hero, that our narrator unfolds his memories and apprehensions chapter by chapter.

Although the gameplay was simple, the story had depth for such a short ride. Although the game was short, the art is simply stunning.

The biggest sins the game commits are its clunky movement and static camera angles… for such beautiful artwork, the camera should be ours to marvel and appreciate it.

All things considered, it is more art than game and I would have it no different.

This is one of those platformers that is so precise that its awe-inspiring AND brutally unforgiving. I respect the work that went into it; most levels can be beaten without stopping our heroine in her quest for platforming goodness.

I liked collecting crystals and finding secrets in every level. I liked that the only way to beat a boss was to do it hitless but where the game truly shined, in my humble opinion, was when trying to do every level flawlessly – then, it became a speedrunners dream.

The most important part of creating a good platformer is trust; every platform, every step and jump has to be measured to mere inches to provide an optimal experience. Many times, when playing Kaze I felt the levels has just the right amount difficulty to make it challenging but also rewarding.

And as such, I salute the developers… it’s a throw back to the 90’s with exquisite pixelated art and rich platforming variety. The powers of each mask meant you couldn’t play every level the same and added more layers to the gameplay and heck, you can even become a shark!

Now let's be honest; who doesn’t get a little excited when you can get 50 jumps in a row, with pinpoint accuracy and without hesitation? It’s platforming crack, I tell you and as such, I give it a recommend.

It’s quite a ride…

One that borders on the philosophical, the existential and the insane.

Far more an experience than a game; something for those that don’t care if it doesn’t make sense, that regardless will try to prevail, that will ponder a while in the end – rather than blame the devs for an unsatisfying finale.

Personally, I do not regret my experience even if it wasn’t what I was expecting… but then again, what was I expecting? From a walking simulator in a car? I enjoy a narrative, even it is a weird and trippy one like the one in Hitchhiker.

And who knows? Sometimes life is nothing more than a box of raisins so go ahead and have a taste.

Essentially it boils down to expectations; if you come with a desire for puzzle and sketched eye candy then you are in for a treat. Anything else and you will regret your purchase... now onto the review:

Everything underneath his room was either rusting, living or covered in thick layers of dust from the years of neglect. It is a peculiar world where I felt safer with the flashlight our humble protagonist clumsily left behind. He looks like the studious-type and therefore wholly unprepared to face any foe that could overpower him (such as mechanical dogs and flying jellyfishes) so it is best to avoid confrontation at all costs.

Understanding that the devs are Amanita, you should already know what you are getting; a unique, colorful (or rather colorless!), beautiful world that focuses on its twisted, hand-drawn hallways rather than the gameplay. Yes, the gameplay can be rather dull if you seek non-stop action but if a simple puzzle game set in the darkest corners of a makeshift castle is what you’ve come to expect, then please step in into the world of Creaks and try to make it all make sense.

Verdict upon completion; play it until the end, you won't regret it! The art only gets better with every step.

Although I concede that the gameplay could’ve been better, the places where Narita Boy shines it does so as bright as the light of the trichroma. It succeeds in its 80’s themed artwork, electronic music and poetic lore.

Putting combat aside (which quickly becomes repetitive although the bosses add variety) the ebb and flow of spirituality and computer-speak is sublime… at times describing the malignant code of a devious program and in a flash diving into the balance of the three houses upheld by meditation and neon lights.

In this regard I feel the game has three layers; like a computer program speaking about itself, there is the land Narita Boy traverses, the code written for this land to exist and the life of the coder himself which deeply influences the other two. Many times I wondered if the flashbacks were biographical in nature or if the Spanish studio created this vibrant world in a lazy afternoon. Either way, the result is impressive indeed.

To realize that the Creator had sold the Narita One console for riches and fame, while playing his Narita Boy game is a great way to break the third wall. When I saw him on the cover of Time magazine it felt real, especially when he describes his life from childhood to the present with such sadness and subtlety.

Now on my second playthrough to catch those pesky achievements, I can appreciate more the direction the game is taking. A crazy 80’s pixelated world seen through the eyes of a boy hero fighting through lines of computer code, what could go wrong? Its an experience, and simply for all its layers of complexity I give this wonderful, trippy title a recommend.

By the way, taken straight from their website: "Every asset of the game is individually designed and painted." Impressive, huh?

I must preface this by saying the trailer did not prepare me for what was to come. What I thought would be a simple adventure within a snowy landscape turned many a time into an unsettling predicament.

Yes, you are big sister protecting little brother from a magical and dangerous world but the themes used to express it can be very twisted, most highlighted by the origin of the Nokken in the pond and the use of children in Rörka's rituals. I do not know much about Scandinavian folklore so perhaps these are just adaptations of age-old folktales from the North.

The characters are vivid, the monsters wild and the scenery’s white. You play as a young girl by the name of Tove from the humble beginnings of her sleepy house to the giants-inhabited enchanted forest and lastly, to the raven clad Utangard. In the face of danger, Tove will not stop at nothing to assure the safety of her family while grief-stricken by the death of her mother.

A classic point and click with modern infusions, the gameplay is what you’d expect - even if the puzzles can be a bit mind-numbing at times. The game auto saves (which is good) but you cannot go back into other sections if you missed achievements (which is bad) AND YOU WILL because some are very easy to miss.

But…. if you don’t care about meaningless trophies and enjoy a good point and click, then I recommend this wonderful tale of strength and determination; no matter the cost, no matter the odds, no matter the monster in your wake.