Recent reviews by [LUE] TormakSaber

It's good.

An excellent looting and shooting roguelike that takes the best parts of Borderlands, and shoves it into a roguelike framework, with different characters to use, skill trees to level up, and an exceptional co-op experience with friends.

Mecha Knights: Nightmare is a one man passion project merging fast, mecha action a la Armored Core, with the likes of Earth Defense Force, or Dynasty Warriors. It's quick, grounded only, and all about cleaving through massive hordes of monsters in a giant robot as quickly and efficiently as possible.

At its core, Mecha Knights is a wave clearing game. It's played through the course of 20 story missions, with several infinite wave survival missions added alongside. Through missions, you gain money, which allows you to upgrade your mech's basic statistics, and you gain parts that let you customize your mech - head, upper body, lower body, arms, legs. You can also hold one weapon in each hand and on each shoulder, and then you have up to 4 active and passive modules that all also provide benefits. There's a significant amount of customization available to you. However, I found that in practice, the style of the game held back the functional customization available.

Missions take place in large areas with cover and terrain, some destructible, and generally revolve around killing as many enemies as possible while not dying. Some add escort style protection missions or area holding missions into the mix. Most allies you have are stationary tanks, or other mech characters that are also for the most part stationary. Some missions also have special attacks you can call in, like railgun batteries, air support, and the like. Your allies on the ground do attack and holds off enemies alright, but normally they're good for one thing: Holding off aggro from yourself. The missions with mechs are exceptionally good for this because I literally never saw an allied mech die no matter how much damage they took. I think this is intentional given they need to be around for mission dialogue.

The story of the game is somewhat corny and hammed up, but it works for the game, which feels like it's trying to be a more movie-drama played up starship troopers or EDF than a serious, gritty war game, and that's totally fine. The voice actors feel ike they were told to go nuts with their roles, so you have these super serious gritty pilots contrasted by extremely high energy pilots. It comes off a little B-movie, but given the game's setting, it works well.

The game handles extremely smoothly - it is very arcade feeling, so if you're coming in expecting simulation controls, stay clear. Your mech turns and maneuvers on a dime, swiftly turns and aims, and suffers no friendly fire or collateral damage from its own weapons, so go nuts with the explosions. Energy, heat, and ammo management are all important, and will affect your loadout, though powerups are findable within missions, and can be called in with active modules as backup helicopter supply drops. The game is about handlnig giant hordes of chaff and massive, high HP monsters, so the entire game becomes about how much AoE and high target damage you can do as quickly as possible. This means weapons like rockets, bazooka, grenades, gatling guns, and missiles far far outperform anything like shotguns, and machine guns. Early on they're alright to use, but soon there's simply too many monsters to be using anything besides thermobaric tac-nukes, massive high-velocity railguns, and gatling guns, which far outclass any other "machine gun" available to you. (It also sounds really great.) While I would have loved to play around with other weapon types, there's simply no room for "Sniper" class weapons, or anything with low damage or low AoEs. There is also no melee option available, but that's understandable, it doesn't seem to be the vibe the game wants - melee is dangerous, stay at ranged.

Overall, I had a great time with the game, but I absolutely love Armored Core and Dynasty Warriors. I could see other people expecting a lot of replayability or a more simulationist bent getting frustrated. I treated it like the game I knew it was from experience going in, and had a blast. Avoid it if you want a "Mecha Game", because it's not that in the traditional sense besides the mech you're in - I'd really call it closer to Earth Defense Force / Musou series games.

Tabletop Simulator is a framework that allows you to use the built in system for a vast array of experience, from very simple games like checkers or chess that just involve manipulating static objects, all the way to fully automated and coded experiences for very complex games like Twilight Imperium, or Gloomhaven. The system also works for doing basic tabletop RPG things like Dungeons and Dragons, and the like - though I don't recommend it for that, personally.

Controls are easy and customizable, even if you have to do everything manually. Sometimes the whole thing does feel very "overly physic-ed", like just why do I need this much oomph when I move a pawn in chess, but you're able to lock pieces into places so it's not as big a deal.

Overall, the workshop is the workhorse of the entire thing, with people making and creating games for people to use and play. It's an absolutely fantastic platform for both solo and multiplayer play, with a large amount of customizable table options for players and the ability to code in enhancements as needed. I can't think of a better VTT for general purpose board and table game use than this right here. It's not the same as playing in person, but for anything that isn't DnD or etc, I would happily use TTS before anything else.


EDIT: 1/14/2022: I no longer recommend this game and platform on any basis due to the company's stance on gay and trans identities. I do not support any company that does not believe in equity and equality and the support of a person's right to be their own person, no matter who they are. Trans rights, gay rights, all of them.

Terra Firma is a simple toy/tool that allows you to examine the effects of erosion and water-table changes and tectonics. It's more of a time-passing simulation than anything else, and is, for now, very limited in what you can actually do, simulate, and create. About all you can do is shove landmasses together, raise and lower terrain, and create water, and then watch the effects of time happen.

As it grows, it will continue to be more interesting, but at the moment it's mostly just a time waster for a night or so. It's also free, though, so no complaints.

Atlas Architect is more of a toy than a game. It allows you to create hex-grid maps, and would be useful for worldbuilders, or perhaps DnD or other tabletop players, on a basic level. It has a lot of room for growth.

For the moment its features allow you to, 1x1 grid at a time, create fantasy worlds with human, dwarven, and elven trappings, with different kinds of terrain, including swamps, snow, deserts, wastelands, farms, castles, forests, and the like. It's fun to play with, but if you're not looking to do actual worldbuilding with it, you should probably skip it.

Potential - very high for development, though!

A Bulletpoint DLC review:

-Adds a new start date: 200 AD, overhauled mechanics for Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, and a new faction - Liu Yan.
-Liu Yan's faction mechanic focuses on dynastic inheritance, setting up a faction for success, and standing aside for your heir, giving large bonuses for doing it in a timely manner.
-Cao Cao's new mechanics are "Schemes", expansive pseudo-assignments that have all sorts of effects, positive and negative, and are now the main way for Cao Cao to manage his credibility. The Scheme system is incredibly powerful.
-Yuan Shao's new mechanics revolve around making unique and specialized Captain Retinues, giving them unique abilities, like ambush, fire arrows, Sima Yi's White Water ability, Vanguard Deployment, replenishment in foreign territory, and more.
-The patch along with the DLC also introduces a Faction Council replacement for Han cultures - Bandits, Nanman, and Yellow Turbans do not take part. The new Faction Council offers a choice of missions every Spring which can be selected - some are domestic, and some affect enemies.
-Imperial Intrigue also makes it way into the game, where the Emperor's opinion of factions affects their standing in the world, offering satisfaction, corruption, and other bonuses or penalties, as well as missions given by the emperor ro assist loyal subjects, or defeat usurpers.
-Finally the Northern Army, available to Cao Cao and Yuan Shao, are a set of unique Followers that can be attached to a general, giving them the ability to recruit new, specialized Northern Army units.

Overall: Liu Yan, the Northern Army, and the new start date are, really, the only things the DLC locks. Everything else was pretty much free in the patch, and was the "FLC" for the DLC. It's a significant amount given to the game for free!
(A side note: The AI Cao Cao is ruthless with performing schemes on the player, and they are absolutely crippling. I would consider a mod to disallow AI Cao Cao from doing schemes, if you find yourself frustrated.)

Total War Three Kingdoms is the latest historical entry in the series. Total War, for those who do not know, is a grand strategy game, with an emphasis on massive scale real time battles with thousands of soldiers on each side. Three Kingdoms focuses on an ancient era of China, with larger than life heroic characters that have been romanticized in novels through the ages, as well as in many other videogames and properties throughout the years, such as the popular Dynasty Warriors and Romance of the Three Kingdoms series by Tecmo-Koei.

EDIT: As of May 27th, 2021, Ca has announced all patching and development for Three Kingdoms is done. This announcement comes out of nowhere and after CA promised a Northern Expansion and Red Cliffs chapter pack, a promise they now fail to deliver on. This leaves the game without a titular Three Kingdoms bookmark, and without the defining conflict of the time period, Chi Bi. CA states they are working on a new Three Kingdoms game, which will almost assuredly be a small, Saga-size game focusing just on the three kingdoms bookmark. With all this in mind, I can no longer recommend the game in its current state

Total War consists of a map-level strategy game, where the player recruits units, builds city infrastructure, issues army orders, handles spying, and other empire-level decisions. The game has a very robust diplomacy system, more so than any other previous game, and it is very possible to win entire games without doing more than a hand ful of battles, conquering China by coin and a silver tongue. Alliances, coalitions, vassals serving you, and more, are all possible, and for those coming from the Warhammer series, will likely find the campaign map to be a little overwhelming in comparison, since there is so much more to do and manage on the diplomatic and espionage end.

The batle level tactics game is very similar to other games. Heroes maintain the Warhammer style single entity heroics, capable of destroying hundreds of enemy troops and getting into dramatic duels that affect the morale of entire armies. Being a historical game, the archer/infantry/cavalry line is much more succinctly drawn, and cavalry flanking and careful use of archers, while maintaining your inantry line, are solid tactics that will carry you through a great number of battles.

Overall the entre game's philosophy is carried through by the "Wu Xing" system, which is a system of 5 elements, Wood, Fire, Water, Earth, and Metal. These elements serve to divide nearly every facet of the game into compatible, synergistic groups, that make it easy for players to make decisions. Vanguards are Fire element, and Shock Cavalry are Fire Element, so Vanguards are very compatible with, and are the only generals who can recruit, high level Shock Cavalry. It's similar on the map level, where Wood technology makes Wood buildings better, and Wood characters give bonuses in line with making Wood buildings better as well. In general this makes it easy for players to jump right in - as long as you mostly math your colors, you can't go wrong.

The game is very character focused, much more so than Warhammer or any previous game. Officers must have their satisfaction managed, through ranks, titles, jobs, assignments, and more. How, and *Who*, you select to run aspects of your empire will have a drastic effect on how well your empire runs. The untimely death of an heir or even a faction leader in battle could have disastrous effects as your faction suddenly splits into a civil war, due to feuding factions fighting over who should take over. This lends a more personal aspect to the game, rather than impersonal lords who are levelled up and tossed into battle.

Overall, if you're looking for a complex diplomatic Total War, that offers the most interesting campaign-level strategy, there is no other game in the entire series that does it better. If all you're looking for is battles, fantastic or otherwise, you may be best served with the Warhammer series, as it's difficult to beat it in terms of raw battle variety.

Hollow Knight is a deeply moody game that sits on the threshhold of souls-like and metroidvania, taking aspects from both genres into one game. It is also a game that has no desire to hold back punches, and gets remarkably difficult in some of its optional content, demanding a level of mastery from the player in both platforming and combat. If you're looking for an 'easy' game, or a game that guides you in any degree beyond dialogues and looking at a map, then Hollow Knight is not for you.

Hollow Knight places you in the shows of a little bug, running around with a sword in a lost bug-kingdom. Soon, you get caught up in the goings on of that ancient place, as it falls to the grips of the "Corruption", a glowing, ghostly alien orange light that seems to infect bugs and turn them into insane, mindless creatures, but also offering them incredible strength. A taller beetle named Hornet becomes your sometimes-guide, sometimes rival through the area, along with other NPCs you'll come across. It's again, very similar to seeing the different NPCs throughout the Dark Souls game, and the comparisons come easy and often. You learn about the story in small cutscenes, snippets of dialogue, and item descriptions - something which likely sounds familiar by now.

The game has you roaming around the world, and swiftly gives you access to fast travel, and equipment to make traversing the world easier. Over time, you'll get access to double jumps, wall climbing, dashes, and more, giving you very swift movement throughout the world - though as always, backtracking will be happening, especially for those looking for high percentage clears. Combat is fast, and enemies generally have 0 i-frames whatsoever, meaning combat can be as greedy as you want it to be - something which will quickly get you kiled against the game's many bosses. Various battle techniques will become apparent, such as using your sword in the air to "pogo" off of enemies and spikes to bounce endlessly off their heads, or off of the spikes. This technique becomes mandatory later on for some content, so learn it early and use it constantly. Magic is very powerful, and I found great success using equipment ("Charms") that boosted my magic power early on, later transitioning into a pure sword ("Nail") focused build for very rapid, long range melee attacks.

The music and sound effects are wonderful, especially in the Deepnest, a downright spooky and spine-tingling area of the game. While jump scares aren't built into the game, there are several points where the game works to make your skin crawl - but just as many other places where it wants you to admire an ancient kingdom, deep, deep underground, covered in dust but in many ways unharmed by time. Every area ha a color pallette unique to it, and area transitions are readily identifiable - at all times the player is alwys perfectly aware of where they are, and how areas connect to each other, which is critical for a metroidvania. It's also doubly crucial, as seeing where you are on the minimap actually requires you to use a Charm equipment slot, which you can only do at a bench/"Bonfire". This is a controversial decision, and I'll openly admit I spent the vast majority of the game with it equipped to make my life easier.

There is a very large amount of sequence breaking that can occur throughout the game. It is wildly open even from the very start, and openly welcomes attempts to circumvent its usual progression. For those who play metroidvanias to do things like that, as long as you've got the skill and guts to pull it off, Hollow Knight is willing to accomodate. There is also a vast amount of optional content in the game, both story related, and non-main story, in the form of several DLCs, including boss rushes, and an entire side story about a mysterious carnival. The game also commits my least favorite thing about metroidvanias, which is "invisible walls with nothing around to point out that you can walk through them", so be ready to press against walls from time to time, looking for side entries and special hidden areas.

I would recommend Hollow Knight to anyone looking for a thoughtful, and challenging Metroidvania, especially for anyone who is willing to put in the time to do all of the optional and extra content - there is a wealth of things to accomplish and see, and it'd be a shame to leave it half done.

Alwa's Awakening is a cute, retro-designed Metroidvania that can be completed in a handful of hours. It uses a few mechanics for the entire game, and doesn't overstay its welcome, and tells a simple story about saving the world from an evil beast and its henchmen. It also deviates very little from the traditional metroidvania formula, so if you're looking for something different, Alwa won't offer it.

Alwa's Awakening concerns the tale of the priestess Zoey, who wakes up and is told about the world being under the control of evil. She sets off to find a magic staff, and several magic gems to power it up, so she can save the day. The staff is your main source of attacking, as well as interacting with the world's puzzles. You gain the ability to make blocks to jump on and set off buttons, bubbles to jump higher, and fireballs to attack at ranged. You also collect a variety of the usual metroidvania 'obstacle trinkets' that specifically alow you to bypass otherwise unpassable obstacles in the world. The world is well put together, and fast travel exists, though it's a bit sparse and inconvenient at the best of times. If you don't have careful routing, you can find yourself doing a very significant amount of backtracking, especially if you're trying to collect all of the Blue Orbs. (which do nothing but harm bosses at the beginning of battles - they do nothing else but make boss fights easier)

The game has some replayability value, especially if you're trying to go for the various challenges and achievements, and is speedrunnable if that's your thing. The game's retro aesthetic and chip tunes are consistently done and pulled off well, for a cohesive experience reminiscient of an older day game, rather than one badly mimicking it.

I do have some smaller gripes with the game: It has a huge amount of instant death traps, and you will, if you're not careful, spend a lot of time simply walking back to where you were after dying. Fast travel wasn't quite as robust as I'd hoped it would be, leading to a lot of walkin around - even with increased travel abilities, it still takes time to run around.

The game presents a competent, by the books adventure focused Metroidvania. Each boss focuses on a specific part of the game's puzzle solving attributes, and the final boss pulls it all together. It colors safely within the lines, and does so in a relatively pocket sized amount of time. For any fan of the genre, it's an easy recommendation, as long as you don't get frustrated by the lavish amount of instant death traps - and a few specific points in one area where you are required to bust through and pass through invisible wall sections with absolutely no way to discern that you're supposed to do so.