Recent reviews by Sosich

Short game in which you seek answers by analyzing documents and photographs.

You assume the position of an analyst who must perform the night shift. The task is first tedious because all you do is review files and hunt for solutions, but you gradually learn a lot more working with the supervisor on the other end of the intercom.

One thing that should be noted is that there is no saving. This means you have to complete the entire game in a single session. It is not long, but it can still be frustrating when you are nearing the conclusion and have to leave abruptly or there’s a power outage. However, writing down the solutions allows you to speed up your next session.

The game places you at a desk. Your primary tool is the computer, but you can also click on a few other items. There are some notes and a radio where you can listen to a few stations. That is also where you should start looking for hints, because your first puzzle is figuring out how to get access to the computer.

A GPS locator and a decryption wheel are also on the desk. The wheel is simple to use; you move it left and right to match shapes and letters. These shapes are obvious and will be noticed quickly. The GPS locator is also very simple to use. All you need to do is enter four numbers, which can be a phone number or a location. It is usually a good idea to try inputting each string of four numbers because you never know what you will find.

After finding the credentials, you open your first file. There are five, and you go through each one in order. While the computer displays the tasks you must do in order to progress to the next file, the real documents are studied on the desk. All five folders are visible nearby, but you can only open the one that corresponds to the present task.

A file contains several pages and photos. Your duty is to sort through them and identify the data that has to be typed into the computer. There is not a lot of it, but you never know what might be significant. Files can also be rotated to provide clues on the backside.

You are not completely clueless, though, because the computer shows you what to look for. The three types are operator, data type, and value. The list of possible operators is shown, and data types and values indicate what to look for. For example, you may need to search for waveform and HZ values, or an animal and anatomy type.

Furthermore, you have no risk of failure, so you can try everything. When you enter the correct word or number, the game will mark "valid" to ensure you are on the right track. This allows you to brute-force your way through the majority of the game by just typing key terms.

The game contains two endings and a few hidden achievements. Because the game just takes a few minutes after you know the answers, obtaining the second ending is quick and simple.

Boring world does not stand in the way of fun gameplay and a large number of enemies, which result in an equal number of various and surprising skills.

The plot does not begin with an engaging backstory, villain, or threat to the entire world. You are merely a robot whose memory has been erased and is now searching for his father. Your AI guide is there to help you along the journey, but only you can see it. The story is revealed through comic book panels and an AI guide that shows up at various stages and who knows more than it says.

Your little robot is a classic platforming hero with all of the expected moves. It can jump fairly high, slide across the floor to slip into small areas, and attack. As is typically the case, you discover new moves as you explore the world and advance through the game.

Shooting feels great. The main reason for this is that you do not have to mash the attack button for each bullet; instead, you can hold the button for continuous shooting. Although the default attack only fires straight ahead, you may use the target button to lock yourself in place and aim at anything, including enemies below you. If you look for special orbs, you can improve your basic attack to fire a lot more bullets.

Melee attack is also available, and it creates a small circle around you that hurts everything inside it. It’s not very useful. It gets better later, when you upgrade and find new skills that increase the range and add the ability to destroy small projectiles, but I used it very rarely.

Shooting at enemies fills a bar. Once full, you can trigger a barrage of bullets that fills the entire screen in front of you. This is another skill that I barely used. What you can’t ignore is a much more vital called target. When you shoot at an enemy or obstacle and fill up a circle, you can unleash a powerful strike. This can be triggered from anywhere on the screen because it hits through obstacles and walls.

This skill is often used to break specific barriers, but because these attacks are elemental, you may have to figure out which one works. Target is also effective against bosses and is frequently the only method to defeat them when combined with elemental attacks. What’s more, some bosses have several targets you have to mark to even cause any damage.

The game's world is separated into twelve distinct sectors. Individual sectors are not that big, yet each has its own visuals and threats. Rooms within these sections, on the other hand, are quite monotonous and basic, with only a few platforms, enemies, and switches that open a door leading to game’s collectibles. Instead of a faint sound, switches could use a better feedback since you never know if you have located them all or if something has been opened.

There is a map, however it only shows individual rooms as squares and rectangles, not the whole layout. However, it remains extremely useful because it displays exits and other vital things when you locate the needed terminal. One opens up the entire section map, and two compasses show collectibles. There are secret walls as well, but they’re pretty rare. Another rare feature are characters with quests. This is just an excuse to look for something else in a sector besides the usual collectibles.

The goal in each sector is to defeat a boss, which unlocks a useful skill that allows you to travel to other regions of the map. Your next goal is marked, so you always know where to go. If you wish to make things simpler for yourself, sections includes optional bosses that unlocks skills that you probably will not be able to do without. By the way, bosses are not that hard. They have only a few attacks, and don’t change much after you take half of their health.

Enemy diversity is plentiful, so you will always meet something new. Each has its distinct attack, but they do not require many rounds to kill. Elements matter so you’ll switch a lot for later enemies, but you can deal damage with any element. Besides a small amount of health, enemies also drop essence, which is important for upgrading. Upgrades consist of three stats: vitality for health, power for damage, and target for faster targeting. You may upgrade at any moment from the main menu, so there is no need to look for special spots.

Saving is done at terminals. Aside from healing you, each terminal includes a log that provides more about the story. Saving also causes enemies to respawn, although in an unusual fashion. Instead of respawning when you save, you must change rooms for it to take effect. So, if you save after clearing a room, it will remain empty until you switch.

What I like the most is that the game includes minor elements that allow you to track your progress. You can find them all on the main menu. For example, you can go through logs, letters, concept art, and unlocked moves. The criticism is that the colors for locked and unlocked entries are too similar. Instead of an immediately noticeable entry, everything is dull and difficult to spot.

The most appealing features are the bestiary and skills. The first time you defeat an enemy, you will gain access to an entry that includes a brief description, its vulnerabilities and powers, health, and the amount of essence it provides. The bestiary is a pleasant addition, but it has no effect on your gameplay.

Skills, on the other hand, do. There are 90 different skills that improve a variety of aspects, like damage and defense against specific enemy types, essence magnet, and granting necessary skills for progression. Skills begin with a series of question marks, but you uncover their description and criteria after defeating the first required enemy. This shows you exactly how many enemies you need to hunt.

Because a skill can be locked behind up to three enemy types, you will not know what it is until you kill the right enemy. However, killing enemies is still not enough because a skill requires one of the four crystals, which are hidden in the world. Some are hidden behind doors, others in small puzzle rooms, and vital ones are guarded by bosses. Once a skill is unlocked, it will stay active at all times. There’s no need to put it in a slot or decide which one to use.

You’re going to need every help you can get. It might not look like it at the beginning, but the game can be quite brutal. The further you go, the more damage you get from enemies and hazards. Although you can increase health further by collecting health orbs, a single hit from an enemy can take your entire bar.

Story somewhat tricks you into giving you an objective of killing a boss, but you barely do any damage against it and it can kill you with a single shot. That’s why it’s important to explore every exit and room because you never know what skill you might get next. For instance, you can find game-changing double damage, faster firing rate, wall-jump that lets you go up any vertical wall, and even a skill that lets you keep your progress after dying.

The game includes a variety of achievements. Except for finding everything and exploring the entire map, I am not a fan of achievements that want you to play in a specific way. One complete game from beginning to end is enough for me. Sadly, even if you find and do everything (including the good ending that doesn’t unlock the achievement), you’ll still be left with around 30 achievements meant for speedrunners, sequence breakers, and daredevils who play on the hardest mode and without saving. Another bad news is that there’s no new game plus in which you could play the harder difficulty with all skills.

At the end of the day, the game has great gameplay, interesting skills, and enough fun that lasts for around 10 hours. The only things stopping it from reaching top tiers are monotonous world, limited number of characters and game’s lore, and too many annoying achievements that force you into several playthroughs.

This action metroidvania is one of the best in recent memory, thanks to fluid gameplay, strong mechanics that integrate both guns and melee weapons, and breathtaking art in practically every room.

You play as Shin, a demon hunter. You don’t learn anything at the beginning because you start with a routine demon extermination mission. However, the events that unfold here contribute to a far larger enigma. It is about the Holy Union, a group you work for that exterminates demons. However, they can go too far and exterminate even normal humans who appear a bit different.

Controls are simple and do not need finger gymnastics. Aside from basic movement, you can attack with two weapons, jump, dodge, and use a special skill. There are two types of weapons: firearms and melee, and you can link any of them to the two attack buttons.

Melee does not require much explanation because you simply hit the button to strike what is in front of you or mash it several times to form a combo. It is also possible to slash diagonally or upward. The bulk of melee weapons are swords, although you may also encounter a whip or another weapon.

While guns deal slightly less damage than swords (of course, this depends on what you have equipped), they are enjoyable to use because to the auto-lock feature. You can disable this, but the experience will be less fluid. Although you can use the aiming laser by holding down the fire button and aiming diagonally up or down, you may lose valuable seconds when attempting to target an enemy. A slight hassle is button mashing because you must fire each bullet individually. The only exception is the machine gun.

Weapons require reloading, although this is never an issue because it happens automatically when jumping and moving around. An interesting design choice is that guns deal greater damage from closer range, encouraging you to approach an attacker like you would with a sword. However, the difference is only a few points, so it is not a big deal.

Your particular skill is a sword known as Lux. It is a demon that takes the form of a lady and saves your life, therefore you are stuck with it. It is also incredibly useful. Although each use costs mana, the game manages this rather well by recovering mana when you attack with regular weapons.

Aside from lunging forward to attack and sap enemy health, you can also use it to create a shield that stops projectiles, stick it into walls to create a platform (with some limitations), and restore objects in the environment. These restore points are visible and primarily allow you to create platforms.

The only danger are areas with infrared light that damages Lux. Such areas can be dealt with in a simple way: since Lux can travel through walls, you stick the sword in the ground or wall, go through the dangerous area by yourself, and then recall Lux. All you need to pay attention to is that the path between you and Lux is not dangerous.

The map follows the metroidvania template. Its layout, divided into grids and squares that gradually unveil as you explore, will be instantly recognizable to any fan of the genre. It does not expose everything, but you will notice crucial locations such as save points and exits that lead to uncharted areas of the game.

Save points are terminals that do not require user interaction. Simply walk next to one, and the game will save. This will also restore all lost health and remove status effects. Another feature I enjoy is that your current objective is marked, so you know where to go next. In addition, you can accept side tasks from the save terminals. They normally ask you to eliminate particular demons or find something in a designated area, but they all reward you with extra money.

Classic fans of the metroidvania genre may be a bit disappointed because exploring does not feel particularly interesting. One reason is that nothing feels out of reach because of your abilities, and the other is that treasure, such as things and gear, is displayed as a floating bubble in a dead end of the map. There are no puzzles going to it; it is simply an empty room. There are additional doors locked with puzzle pieces spread throughout the game's world, but these offer no surprises other than greater loot.

Enemies include numerous forms of demons. There’s a lot of them, and you can see their names and levels of health. By killing an enemy once, you have access to some basic information about it in the encyclopedia. Aside from health and experience points, an enemy bears a question mark, indicating that it drops something. It is based on luck, so you may just have to kill one or a hundred to obtain it.

The encyclopedia could use a better interface. Instead of merely choosing something from a list, you must scroll through all entries. This is inconvenient if you require information from the bottom of the list. The encyclopedia also provides information about characters, items, and weapons. While character information is valuable, goods and weaponry feel more like a list of found items, as you do not learn anything new.

Enemies also give you money, but you do not have to worry about any coins dropping out because they are automatically awarded with each kill. Money can be utilized at your base to purchase new equipment or vending machines located in save rooms. They sell consumables that restore health, mana, and resolve status effects. Depending on your playstyle and Lux usage, you may only require this sometimes.

Your character gains experience points with each kill. Leveling up increases your damage and damage by a few points. Despite the lack of armor and other clothing, the game does offer equips to boost your stats slightly. You can only have one, but they are an effective technique to increase damage or health/mana recovery.

Leveling up also grants a skill point, which can be invested in a small but extremely useful skill tree. Here you can find traversal skills like slide and air dash, as well as a critical ability that eliminates backtracking and allows you to immediately teleport to any explored square on the map.

Since enemies respawn when you switch rooms, you may easily pick a grinding place and continue for as long as you wish. By the way, room switching is among the best. It only affects opponents, so if you kill one and then rapidly swap rooms, the new enemy will spawn while the previous one is still dying. This also prevents the loss of enemy drops by ensuring that they remain even when changing rooms.

The world, pixel art (backgrounds are simply wonderful, and you discover something new in each room), and animations are among the best. It all begins with your character's graceful movement and progresses to a variety of fascinating enemies. Although they are demons, they appear in a variety of shapes, some more malevolent than others. Most basic ones are easy to defeat, but boss fights may be difficult until you grasp their attack patterns. Although not particularly difficult, they need some tricky dodging and Lux use.

The game can stand shoulder to shoulder with the classics and doesn’t make the mistake of trying to be hard just to fit a certain group. It’s accessible and available to all. In conclusion, this game is one of the best metroidvanias I’ve played.

Challenging puzzle game where you move two knights at the same time.

There’s no story or big reveal in this game. All you do is progress from one puzzle to the next with the stars of the game: two knights that are controlled at the same time.

You progress through stages that contain two similar dungeons, one for each knight. The goal is to bring them both to the exit while defeating enemies and avoiding traps. Both have to stand on the door tile at the same time, so there might be some maneuvering required near the end. Each stage is a maze with traps, such as arrows shooting out of walls and spikes on the floor, and slime enemies. Some run away from you, while others attack and explode when defeated.

Visibility is limited because it all takes place in dark dungeons. Fortunately, you can light torches when you move next to them. Although they won’t show the entire stage, they’ll make the layout a bit more easier to figure out. You won’t get lost since stages aren’t big, and dead ends often hide money.

To add action to the simple puzzle mechanic, knights have an attack and a special move. However, both are limited and can’t be used all the time. While normal attack can be considered free, since you don’t actually need anything to use it, hitting three times in a row makes you tired and unable to attack for a few seconds. On the other hand, special attack needs coins to work. Each knight has its own special power, but they’re not very useful.

Knights gain experience with each kill, but each has its own experience bar. Once they get enough and level up, their stats increase. There are five stats, including strength that increases damage and vision that increases line of sight. Level up increases stats automatically, but you also get to pick stat upgrades as a reward for beating a few stages.

The game’s rewards are images of nude girls. You unlock one for each completed stage, and there are a few extra images rewarded for reaching a high score. Strangely, I had all images already unlocked. This “bug” might also be connected to achievements, which don’t seem to be working.

The plot follows Mari, who is tasked with gathering leaves and restoring trees. The whole thing is rather straightforward and does not go into great detail on the game's world or characters. The only information you receive is from your teacher, who says a few words for each restored tree.

After completing a tutorial stage, which soon reveals that this is a pure platformer game with only a jump button and wall-jumping ability, you arrive in the main hub. This is made up of four world trees, each leading to a different room where you can enter stages.

Because trees are locked by the number of leaves in your possession, you must collect them in stages. A tree has a number of stages, but each stage has exactly three leaves. To unlock the next tree, you must gather all of them. Worlds differ and provide new mechanics like wind and ghost platforms, but everything still relies on platforming abilities.

Grabbing all of the leaves is not too difficult because you do not have to do it all at once. You can easily grab one, leave a stage via the exit portal, and return later. Furthermore, a stage contains multiple exit portals that also serve as checkpoints.

Although the time in the upper left corner may lead you to believe that you must move quickly, you are free to take your time and ignore it. This is only for speedrunners and those looking to finish a stage with the highest rank. However, in order to get a rank, you must collect all three leaves in a single run.

Another thing you’ll find in stages are berries. Their only purpose is to open a new stage within each tree. Because the largest chunk is received for achieving a rank, you are motivated to do your best. It is possible to grind berries as they reappear when you retry a stage, but it takes too long.

Focus is on speedrunning. You can play it as a regular game or move straight to one of the four worlds. Unfortunately, achieving the highest S rank is virtually impossible on your own. Instead, you have to go with a co-op option in which the second player plays a bird with invaluable abilities.

When activated, the skill creates a small bubble around the bird, rendering all threats harmless to the main character. So, if you have a string of spikes across the floor, you can use a bubble to walk straight through them. While you can play both on your own, because the bird is controlled with a mouse, achieving the highest rank will still require a significant amount of practice.

Overall, the game is short and does not take long to beat. But if you want to reach the highest ranks and get all achievements, you will need to devote a significant amount of hours to the game. Some achievements are tricky because you have only one chance. For instance, there's one for always talking to the teacher - he moves when you beat a stage so it's very easy to miss him, one for not dying, and a few for beating each world fast. Personally, since I am not into speedrunning, I am fine with finishing at my own pace.

Sail around the world and improve people's diets in this surprisingly deep management game.

You take the role of an intern in the Harvest department. Your department is just one of many that oversees their field across many different Earths. One day, you receive a message from the Leader, the god of all gods, that one God of Harvest has not been doing its job.

Because you are the only one around, you are tasked with taking care of it. You are not a full god, so you can not truly force people to do your bidding, but the Leader provides you with a toolbox and a few pointers to get started. It does not matter if you choose a male or female persona.

The game involves going around the world, visiting major cities, and learning about food. The overarching goal is to assist people gain access to the finest nourishment through commerce and production. There is a story that connects everything together through visual novel-style sequences and text, but there will be no major surprises. And don't worry about the language because the English translation is decent.

The first phase is not that complicated. When you first arrive in a new city, you should ask about the market, tavern, and guild about the local cuisine and the kind of food they produce. You accomplish this easily by clicking on people. In addition, you could inquire in the tavern about the local businesses that govern the marketplace.

The game's book contains information on all unlocked ingredients, spices, grains, and other items. There are almost 50 different sorts, each with a brief description of where it originates from, how excellent it is for nutrition, and what circumstances are required for optimal growth. There is another book available that contains general nutrition information, although it is not particularly relevant.

Once you have learned everything there is to know, you may begin planning your trade. You already have the ship from the start, so do not worry about it. What you must pay attention to is hiring enough sailors to complete the journey and keeping them alive by purchasing food. If there is insufficient food while at sea, sailors will die. Since everything costs money, you must conduct business.

The idea is simple. You buy local commodities, which are generally inexpensive, and transport them to another region of the world, where you sell them for profit. One thing I should mention is that you can save at any moment, making it very simple to correct a terrible journey. Especially because your ship can be attacked by pirates.

Because ship cargo space is restricted, you can only purchase a small number of items. However, as you go through the game, you can extend your fleet by purchasing new ships and increasing the number of slots. Ships have diverse properties, such as the quantity of cargo holds and crew, and each city sells a unique ship.

Your flagship is always the same, but you are joined by important characters. When you complete their quests, they unlock various perks and additional options that make the game very deep.

Another fascinating fact is that cities in different parts of the world have distinct appearances. Although you visit the same few spots in each city, it is not boring because people wear traditional attire and the scenery is varied and colorful. There are approximately 15 cities around the world, so there is much to see.

As previously stated, the objective is to improve cities' diets by changing people's eating habits. While the first section focuses on trade, the second section ensures that the city has access to the necessary goods. This is accomplished by constructing appropriate manufacturing facilities and plant lands.

Both are linked since plants are required to breed a variety of animals. There are also numerous other constructions available that allow you to process anything into other items. Monthly usage and production data are available, allowing you to plan. Another important thing are recipes you learn from key people. Once you prepare them in a certain city, you can promote them and raise people’s diet.

Overall, this a very deep and not very difficult management game. It can get repetitive after a while and you’ll have to spend a lot of hours to see the end, but it’s definitely recommended.

The next part in a series revolving around fantasy scenarios.

Disclaimer: Because most adult visual novels, or visual novels in general, use the same engine, I won't go into detail about the technical aspects. All you need to know is that it comes with the ability to save the game at any moment and skip every bit of text right from the start. Of course, using this feature for your first playthrough is not recommended because it defeats the entire purpose of visual novels. Also, since all titles in the series have the same mechanics, reviews are pretty much the same.

The game’s purpose is to present a sexual encounter or fantasy between unlikely characters. It is all very linear, with no choices or locations other than the forest. Sex scene has several positions and animations, but you don’t get to choose. There are also a few moans here and there. While it is understandable that images are graphic, the same can be said for text, which cannot exactly be read in public.

This isn’t for those who want to rush through the story and only watch images. One reason is that there’s no gallery. And the other is a high price when compared to content that can be finished in around 30 minutes. The story is definitely there and satisfies a fantasy scenario, but it might be a good idea to wait for a discount.

Puzzle game where you have only nine lives to beat it.

Although the game is in a foreign language, which means you will miss the story entirely, it can still be played. The whole thing is very simple. Your objective is to solve puzzle rooms by activating switches to unlock the exit door.

This is done by switching between a living and dead cat. The mechanic is that once you press the button that kills the cat, you transform into a ghost capable of flying and passing through specific walls. The good news is that you can resurrect yourself right on top of the ghost's location, but the bad news is that you lose one of your lives.

The challenge is that lives do not replenish, therefore you must complete each room by using only one life. If you lose everything, you will have to start over. However, the game is short and contains only a few rooms. There are two endings, but if you go for a few runs and become acquainted with the puzzles, you can complete the game in less than 10 minutes.

Huge improvement over the first title in terms of production and story, however the English translation remains a significant challenge.

Despite the fact that the game continues after the first game, you do not need to know the entire story because the introduction explains the important points. Long story short, you are a scientist who experiments with time travel with a colleague. However, when the colleague dies, you use the experiment to contact your past self and change the outcome. This results in ramifications, new individuals being involved, and a murderer.

You eventually save everybody. This does not last long, as an unknown girl delivers a box to your door and runs away. Inside is a picture that leads to a house with an unusual device. Once used, the device opens a time portal that send you back one hundred years. Because you actually travel through time, the stakes in this game are higher than in the first game.

Another thing that’s raised is the production. Instead of generic apartments and a few modern but empty locations where only the main characters appear, there are now busy streets and residences with extras hanging out in the backdrop that make the whole thing look like a movie. The entire presentation is complemented with atmosphere, items, and clothing from that era. Compared to the first game, this one looks like a blockbuster.

The gameplay remains the same. All you have to do is watch the scenes and make decisions that lead you down numerous paths through the plot. This time, the story spans eight chapters. It is much more engaging because it takes place during wartime. Romance still plays a part, but so does suspicion, betrayal, and violence. Along the way, you will encounter both new and familiar faces from the first game.

When you finish the current chapter, the new one becomes available, but you may track your progress using a really useful storyline. Scenes in the storyline unlock as you watch them, and you may simply return to any previously watched scene and make a different choice.

Because you are stuck in a dangerous time in history, this is an important element because many decisions result in a premature ending or even death. It is part of the experience since you never know which option is safe. Fortunately, watching the same scenes again is simple with a button that allows you to skip them and move faster through the plot. The only prerequisite is that you have viewed the scene once.

English translation is a typical issue with such games, and this one does not make it better. Although you will not be utterly lost, the translation is not very useful. The main causes are literal translations and a lack of refining for the English audience. Most of the time, you are baffled by what the characters are saying because it does not make much sense. Grammar issues are frequent, with connected sentences starting with capital letters and no punctuation. While it’s nice to be able to experience the game, it deserves more.

Exploring different paths will reveal more details about the key characters. These can be found in the manuscript section. However, the biggest extra feature are tarot cards. This unlocks after three hours of gameplay and lets you collect cards with character’s images on them.

Although the feature is entirely optional, it allows you to sell and buy individual cards on the Steam marketplace for real money. Cards are found in boxes and can be obtained in a variety of ways. The first is to finish a chapter, however this will only give you eight boxes. The second option is to open the game every day for a free box, the third is to just purchase it, and the fourth is to enter a gift code.

Gifts are tied to another unique feature. It is called "communication" and it is a space where all of the game's players can exchange messages. You can write whatever you wish, although it is typically used to drop gift codes. Unfortunately, these options will only provide you the most common box containing common cards. If you want something better, you’ll have to use real money. But because they vary in rarity, some boxes and cards can be quite expensive.

In conclusion, the studio behind the game is doing great work. Although this is still a FMV drama where gameplay is very limited, the story and production make up for it.

It attempts to heighten the stakes through unusual design choices, which unfortunately do not convert into a pleasurable experience.

The short introduction tells you nothing about what is happening. One moment you see a robot lying on the floor and an obviously irate man activating some harmful files, and the next you are controlling that robot, designated CF5. Later, you discover that you are in a facility infected with a virus that has rendered robots dangerous. It is now up to you to fix this.

The gameplay is similar to an action shooter and is extremely straightforward, with no complex moves. Your primary focus will be on movement and shooting. Although this makes the game perfect for a gamepad, I preferred to play using a keyboard and mouse. It simply felt easier to aim.

Shooting all over the place is not advisable. The first reason is that firing too many bullets in a succession may overheat your gun, forcing you to wait before using it again. This might be a major issue when you are surrounded by enemies. The second and more crucial point is that you can carry a limited amount of ammunition.

If you run out, you are already dead because you have no other way of attacking. Ammo may drop from enemies and crates, but it is extremely rare. Your only hope is to find terminals where you can buy ammunition, which requires enemy cells. You get one ammunition per cell, although foes often drop more than one cell. One unusual design choice is that you can only buy one bullet at a time and not fill up your entire ammo storage. If you’re at zero, this can take quite a while.

Enemies are many types of robots. As you make progress through the facility, you will face several sorts. Most take many bullets to knock down, and there are even larger ones that are bothersome bullet sponges. Frontal attacks against these guys are frequently fruitless because you will run out of ammunition before they drop.

The best approach to defeat some opponents is by stealth. All you have to do is approach from the back and deactivate them. But stealth is not great. The first issue is that there are no visual cues to indicate whether an enemy sees you. There are far too many occasions in which you are "hidden" at first, just to catch everyone's attention when you take a step forward. You can’t extend your view beyond what you see on the screen, so there are surprises because you simply don’t know what’s in front of you.

The second issue is that explosive spiders appear unexpectedly near you. This happens at random and ruins your stealth or prevents you from retreating. Nothing is worse than rushing back with low health and having one of these spawn on top of you. Although they do harm other robots, it is a meager comfort.

Because enemies love to pursue you, the only way to escape and make them forget about you is to take the elevator or go somewhere they can not reach you. Elevators, in particular, are very useful since enemies will stop before them and become an easy target.

Death occurs frequently and is painful because you lose half of your cells. You can recover them by returning to the point of your death, but this does not help much when you have to deal with all of the opponents that respawn. The only good news is that healing items are plentiful and may be found in the ever-present crates.

Although you do not have to worry about saving because the game automatically saves when you reach a checkpoint, this does not help much. The worst thing is that respawn does not refill your ammo. If you save in a perilous spot with minimal ammo, you can easily lose a large number of cells trying to get away. Of course, it is easy to get them back. And to be fair, losing them is not that big of a deal because you only use them to buy ammo.

If that is not challenging enough, you also have to worry about the robot's battery. It depletes even while walking, and a larger portion is taken away when you conduct more energy-demanding activities such as sprinting. If you run out of juice, you die immediately. One move is to deliberately die right after a save point to respawn with full energy, but you will have to deal with respawned enemies.

The energy mechanic is quite divisive because you are forced to explore at normal pace and avoid dodging. The game tries to rectify this using batteries found in crates. You only need to shatter them by walking over them, and the battery will be grabbed automatically. These crates are the same ones that occasionally carry ammo and health, but you may not discover any when you need it most.

When combined with the shooting mechanic, you have restricted options. For example, you cannot run for a stealth strike because running wastes energy. Then you can not run away because you will die of weariness. When you run out of ammunition, your only alternative is to stand there and be killed by an enemy. You can run and try to find crates, but ammo drop depends on chance.

The game is divided into sections. Sometimes you are offered to go back to the previous one, but there’s no point. The goal in each section is to push through enemies and often linear path to reach a boss. Despite the absence of a map, the stages are pretty fine and manageable even when you have to find something. Annoyingly, all stages are very dark.

Most of the bosses are larger and more powerful robots that do not require any unique strategy. You simply shoot until they die. Only a few bosses have a technique for defeating them, such as the robot that only reveals its weak area after you destroy three holograms.

They are not particularly difficult, but the ammo mechanic ruins them. If you miss too many shots or do not bring enough ammunition, you will not be able to defeat it. Also, because bosses' strikes require a lot of dodging, you can quickly run out of energy. The rare crates in the boss arena can solve that, but if you run out of resources, you can simply stand there and die.

The first impression is not great, but as is typically the case with these games, you obtain a few of upgrades that marginally improve the experience. These are obtained from defeated bosses or along the path. So, for example, you can reduce energy consumption or temporarily transform into an extremely fast robot that does not require energy. However, this does not boost the overall fun factor unless you are tenacious enough to struggle through the game's design choices.

Sadly, the developer ruined all the fun towards the game with a bad stunt. The recent event promises 50$ gift card to the first 50 people who complete the challenge. This appears like a cheap attempt to lure people to buy the game, which isn't worth the price.

I decided to take part in their challenge with the review copy I received from the developer. After posting the visible achievement and my Steam name on their discord, I received no reply or message.

But later that day, when another member posted a screenshot that doesn't even lead to its own Steam account, they immediately receive the prize from the developer. When confronted, the "winner" said they have two Steam accounts because quote: "this is us account linked, i just have another one in different region to buy games cheaper".

I'm sure the developer will try to pull some excuse related to the image I took, but it's all irrelevant because they reacted to the image and didn't comment anything about it being wrong or invalid. A shame that someone would spend so much effort on a game and then destroy all chances.

This same message has been posted in game discussion with images.