Recent reviews by Enek

(Updated Review as of 8/5/2020)
From someone who typically doesn't care for Rouge-Likes/Lites this game does things fantastically. The game started in a more middling state but has been on the up and up. Definitely worth a look if you enjoy FPS/Rogue-like/Lite RPG elements

+Stylish and beautiful to look at
+Fantastic replayability

*One area personally I'd like to see more of is story. I understand at this point we're early into the development of the game but outside of the tutorial, and even then, there's nothing of exposition into the world or what the characters are doing.
*Originally the game had some difficulty spike issues, I can't tell if they were ironed out into a more steady curve or if it's just the "git gud" factor. The first boss will still be a ballbuster for early players but once you get the hang of it only a few things left in the game will surprise you in terms of random player death.
*Also previously were bad rubberbanding issues and inconsistent parkour challenge rooms. These have since been fixed and changed into a more in control feel. The rooms are still challenging but it feels finally based on your individual skill/scrolls rather than if the game screwed you or not.

-Tons of guns and scrolls... and they still feel a bit unbalanced at present. You'll develop a group of favorites and pretty much never use anything else. Even getting a special modifier on a weapon you normally never use won't be enough to tip it over into usability. Scrolls are undergoing some rebalancing as of the last few patches and getting into a sweet spot, but there are still some "never use" options in the game.

I don't know what happened to the game I originally wishlisted this for eons ago, but this aint it. I also don't know where the recommended votes for this game are coming from either, but I suppose to each their own.

-The game was originally billed as a "Classic JRPG experience" only to bait and switch people with an official post saying it was now a Rogue-Lite apparently??
-Even viewing this game under the current lens of what it is and what's there, it's currently a menu driven, short on story, character, and world building breeze through that gave you zero attachment to any of the individuals or events on screen. Everything from the guild, to the members, to the airship are just given to you.
-The aforementioned airship desires it's own footnote since it's such a high selling point of the game now. "Skill based airship exploration" is short hand for controlling what feelings like a flying whale on roller skates as your ship bounces around, crashes, or just generally slides with every movement. Throw out any semblance of exploration either since every map is dry for content aside from a few nodes to maybe collect some resource, but mostly just contain highly unbalanced battles (we'll get to that in a minute). Topping off this problem of exploration is the fact that if you even for a moment leave the safety of flying over land, or fly too far over it even, a massive enemy swoops by to put an end to that pesky freedom and exploration.
-Combat was probably one of the only surviving aspects of anything even remotely jrpg which is unfortunately the highest praise I can give it. Turns revolve around waiting for timer bars to fill before you get to take your actions, but it's combined with this turn by turn modifier system which basically determines for you what you'll get to do, because if you aren't matching with it then you'll do piss all. This modifier also applies to enemies, so at times largely out of your own control enemies will just get to chain attacks on you with back to back damage increases, sometimes before you've even gotten to react, creating an intensely upsetting experience. Nothing about it felt consistent or ever in my control, and that's one swift way of killing any remaining interest.

TLDR; Don't go into this thinking it's going to be an RPG, because after waiting so long it breaks my heart to see what the game has become.

I spent a long time figuring out if I recommended this game or not and ultimately yes, as God Eater 3 is decently fun. That said there are a number of problems I feel worth pointing out. This game is not Mon Hun, it is not even Mon Hun's "Little anime brother". There's a few parallels like fighting larger than you enemies with ridiculously sized weapons, but God Eater is it's own niche. This is not a game I see myself playing through again however once I've finished through an initial run.

+It's pretty to look at for the most part
+Runs well with *few* bugs
+There's a fun, action paced game in here

*It's VERY anime in story, lots of friendship, protect this small but ultimately world endingly power child
*The character creator earns a C+
*Weapon balance is disgustingly jank, but fun to try out

-Tons of different aspects in the game from "install skills" to "+1 modifiers" and all sorts of other terminology lending such a massive amount of customization and depth to you the character and player, must be a great thing right? Well the problem is how all of God Eater 3's info is presented to you, mostly in the fact that it's not. I haven't spent as much time googling outside a game in awhile as I have while playing this, and that's just for the google-able stuff. Whether by problem of translation or just poor design there's so much that will slip right by you or have you looking things up.
-The game is just repetitive to new levels of grind, and yes this is coming from someone that spent nearly a summer of unluck trying for a single Zinogre gem in a Mon Hun game. The stages are small, the bosses come right to you, and you're in and out in 2-5 minutes. There's no prep or build up, just fight fight fight.
-The bosses themselves are a pretty glaring issue on their own, not just in repetition of fight (The style is just.. here's this thing from the same ranks as before but now at Rank 5!). Every single one of them all adhere to the exact same design abilities of.. ultra agile both in attacks and movement, every single one has an aoe 'get off me' skill, they all hit very hard, and they all have health equal to damp cardboard; a strange surprise from the bullet sponge design more common these days. Just when a groove starts to get going in breaks and downs, the mission is over and you get to start all over again for the next one.
-Something about hitboxes in this game is just.. wrong. From the common getting hit by forward attack while you're behind a foe, to heal bullets harmlessly passing right through allies to no effect. Shoot twice, hit none, spam another 3 times and maybe get one.
-While in a multiplayer lobby if connection is interrupted for any reason at all, be it random disconnect, server hiccups, or your host leaves, everything slams to a stop and you are kicked back to single player and reverted to previous save; this includes cut scenes you just sat through, npcs you had to speak with, changes to loadouts made, ect, it all gets wipes to previous save state.
-In terms of other pace breaking features is the fact that while working through the story you will quite commonly be required to wander around the hub area and find npcs to talk to just to have the mission counter become active once more.

Wait for a sale, understand that there's a ton that won't go well explained, and just turn your brain off.

"Are you a ketchup guy, or a soy sauce guy?"

This will be broken up for newcomers to the series, and then a section for 4.1 veterans.

Those of you looking at an EDF game for the first time I want you to understand exactly what you're getting into; gratuitous explosions and the absolute quintessential "video game" experience you'll get these days. No where but EDF will you get giant insect genocide, going full Independence Day on aliens, and killing God. Four classes to choose from from the ever versatile Ranger who is as ground infantry as it gets plus a few tricks, Wing Diver who uses a jetpack to zip about and energy based weaponry, Air Raiders with their support based kits including team boosts, air strikes, missile strikes, and vehicle drops, and finally Fencer the power armor users and one man artillery units. Each of the four play in their own ways, and even within the classes individual load outs will differ your play from someone elses. "It's fun with friends" is a common statement these days but should never be the metric by which a game should be judged, EDF 5 will still keep you entertained on the chance you are flying solo.

For my 4.1 folks, this is essentially just *more* EDF, but when has that ever been a bad thing exactly? I do recommend picking it up on a sale or eventually price drop however. That said 5 offers a few updates to the formula that are pretty welcome additions including the following
-All classes have a dedicated "support/vehicle" slot now to increase their core in some in the form of Rangers body armors, upgraded power cores for Wing Divers, or frames for Fencer
-Weapons will upgrade over time with additional pick up. Find a favorite, keep doing missions and as you find more copies of it yours will grow in stats.
-Rangers can now sprint, increasing collection radius and generally zipping you from A to B a little faster and consistently than the classic side rolling
-Air Raiders got by far the nicest updates in the form of reload-based gunship strikes/cruise missiles/orbital strikes in addition to the battle credit call ins. The call in bombers now utilize a zoomed out aiming system instead of just blindly throwing a marking flare
-Wing Divers got a large change as well as *most* of their weapons now start at 0 capacity/magazine and are charged up instead. It's incredibly hit or miss sometimes but it's something you will get used to with a bit of play time. In terms of movement you now have a boost dash now which is just fantastic
-Fencers are now absolute speed and mobility demons if you run a boost/jump combo weapon load out

For the glory of the EDF

Kurtzpel in it's current form still feels very Early Access, which that in itself is not necessarily a problem but it leaves many aspects feeling half done or uninspired, things that'll get fixed over time right? This is the biggest and likely impossible hurdle for this game, is that unless there's going to be massive overhauls to the current system it's dead on arrival for me.

+The actual gameplay mechanics can be quite fun
+It's very anime stylized which given your individual tastes can be a plus or minus in this case

-Do not go into this game expecting an MMORPG experience. There's a hub space, missions select, and item upgrade/creation area. There's no land roaming, everything in mission queue based into single fight arenas, no leveling up your character (just their abilities). The bosses themselves while can be neat get old very quickly. Being forced two player queue this is the kind of thing that would have shined having smaller enemies join in to break up the near constant pace of the battle, but outside of them using one of their super moves it's just combo-dodge, rinse repeat ad infinitum.
-I'm giving items it's own sub section to talk about because it's that's glaring a problem for me. Also following the "This is not a classic mmorpg" is the items your character equips, as they don't matter. Each piece gives a stat boost of some kind but I've had sneezes more potent than the combined value of my gear bonus to my character, and this isn't even discussing how new weapons are the same value as your basic starter one. Everything about the items instantly removes one of the better gameplay hooks and loops of this style of game, and instead moves them into feeling more like playing dress up rather than character equipment; a fact that actually is good since of course you can microtransaction buy new gear sets and items and it avoided being completely pay to win..... except...
-Early Access and it already has "DLC Karmas" which is the name this game uses for character classes. The fact that this content is in the game and paywalled at this point of 'early access' is more telling than realized, as it indicates to me anyway that they already have a formula set and intended to set to into whatever is considered official release.
-The NPC Affinity system is shallow and I'm uncertain why it's marketed as a gameplay point other than to show off a screenshot of the elf ranger with big tits. If you're lucky randomly after missions one of the games core NPCs will show up to deliver a few lines of dialog before you pick one of the pointless lines of random dialog in return and earn "Affinity" with them, that's it. Do this enough times and you get stuff the next time you encounter them. This is a plus and minus as gear is worthless outside of looking good, but some of them give you new abilities for certain classes.
-For those of you still reading, the single WORST decision I have seen in an "MMO"-ish game is locking PVE group content behind PVP ranking. To play with my two buddies who were also trying the game out it required either playing a custom mission which gives NOTHING for rewards, or earning "D Rank" to queue a big multi-man mission queue that would accommodate all of us. So naturally I thought "OK, just gotta grind out some missions and get that." and several hours later I notice my rank hasn't moved at all. In classic modern gaming fashion now I have to look basic resource info up online since it's not in game and discover the aforementioned PVP.

This brings us to the closing statement where I'll simply state that until this game determines what it wants to be this game is an interesting take on combat with horrible implementation and a dead end gameplay loop.

Don't let the promise of a co-op RPG in an open world style fool you. "It's fun with friends" should never be the metric by which to purchase a game and there's a myriad of reasons almost right from the start.

+The game certainly doesn't hand hold. You will be given notes and directions with nothing but your wits and sense of adventure to lead you; no giant glowing markers on your map to follow. That's the single most positive review point I can give it and I wish there was a better game centered around this.

-The world is vast but shallow and empty for the most part
-Inventory management will be the larger bane of you than anything else in this
-The combat is slow and clunky, terms like poise or stagger are pointless when most foes super armor through hits only to return ten-fold. So many aspects just feel archaic and outdated for no other reason than complication and feeling more 'hardcore'. Stamina is slow to regen, magic is difficult just because, I'm sure someone thought themselves just a little baby genius with the whole dropping your backpack to roll at all idea
-The 'make your own adventure' style of game this seems to be going for is at odds with the fixed story it presents ultimately making both pointless
-A highly loss sense of identity pervades in exactly what this game wants to be, as it disincentivizes you from making and carrying money, or any items of worth on you when death means dropping it all along with the other general weight requirements. This in itself wouldn't be a problem but the game also tends to then spawn you in entirely different areas because "you were dragged off". Better hope you got dragged with your stuff because there's a chance it won't be there when you return for it.
-Running
-More running
-Seriously, keep running
-The character creator is horrifying enough to reclassify itself as a scary game

Wait for a sale if you really want to give this game a go.

I'm going to start off by saying that Remnant From the Ashes is easily the sleeping giant of 2019 for games. I knew practically nothing about this game pre-launch, hadn't heard much from it in the time leading up from reveal to release, had no idea of the release date prior to some streamers playing it early, BUT HOO BOY STRAP YOURSELF IN. Remnant to me is the same kind of experience as Earth Defense Force is, which.. is likely a confusing sentiment but stay with me for a moment. This is as much of a video-gamey experience as it gets these days, the kind that you just want to sit down and play, and play, and play without interruption; the true time passer, the true escape, the true entertainment style of game.

+No lootboxes
+No microtransactions
+No ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ EGS exclusive
+A clean co-op experience that doesn't just nullify the games difficulty
+Everything from movement, to shooting, to sound design are just on point
+With many different events, bosses, items tied to different maps it means you won't see everything in single play through, making rerolling your world necessary. This *can* drag on but even it has it's benefits to gameplay beyond just hopefully encountering new events.

-The samey nature of each biome can drag on and makes getting lost easier because of it
-Playing in a full squad can create some ammo balancing constraints that *can* be worked around but we commonly found ourselves calling out the need more than anything. I want to shoot monsters, not ration my long gun for the next 5-10 minutes.
-Bugs are few and far between, but until they get patched some of them can be an annoyance; from less egregious things like lingering particles on the screen or enemies getting caught in the floor, to essentially reset required ones like disappearing inside of the labyrinth (seriously that place is a death trap) or an occasional freeze/crash.

*"Dark Souls with guns" is obviously going to be the ♥♥♥♥ meme here as well so for the DS player looking at this game, this next section is for you. You lose nothing on death but your position in the level, a fact that means bashing your face into any specific boss will only promote growth, not loss.
*People seem to complain, and that's exactly what it is.. complaining, about the difficulty either being too hard or too easy, with the former turning people away, with a note of things like adds on bosses. Some of them can absolutely be a bit ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ yes, but the nature of adds is so a full party can't just mouse over bosses weak spot and left click. They're also the mechanic to supply ammo in said fights; a necessary evil, and not even one worth complaining about. Apply some of that old Dark Souls can-do of "git good"
*Certain bosses award a different item depending on how you beat them or specific actions taken in the fight, keep an eye out on the Wiki as we didn't learn of this until a hot minute in of playing.

TLDR; Amazing game easily worth the shipped as reduced price point. Like anything, only gets better with friends. The devs seem interested in continued support of the game for a time and nothing makes me happier should they come through on it. Now excuse me while I go reroll for Blink Thief some more...

TLDR; The writing and constant back and forth trekking of a bland and uninteresting landscape just kills it for me. It's a no from me dawg.

+New weapon type and element
-But lasers kind of suck, on top of just being extremely hit or miss
-Fire is now also a dead element

+Enhanced player movement
-Everything is still often obnoxiously just out of reach anyway
-Boss rooms are very "tower" designed now and offer plenty of chances to be constantly knocked back by enemy attacks or just misstep yourself
-On the topic of environments, the oxygen management loses any and all tension the moment the game gets going as everything will just absolutely spit oxygen at you anyway.

I'll be honest, from the start I didn't know what to expect going in as this is my first EDF, and getting started this game almost lost me. After some brief growing pains though mostly on the keyboard control side of things for menuing of all things, one thing became quickly apparent as I sat down and played with a buddy; this was the classic couch co-op style experience that oft feels lost to the ages. No exceptional load times, menus are quick once you've gotten the feel, game play comes at you *usually* fast.

It isn't without it's bumps however, as some missions can be downright impossible to complete depending on the weapons you bring. The aforementioned menu learning curve I encountered feel like a strange product of a less than stellar PC port, even if the game does run more than fine once you're in missions. Many weapons and vehicles are downright sluggish and frustrating to control, whether it's very drifting aiming on a mortar or the hell that is trying to operate a helicopter just to give examples. And beyond that there's some downright unfair difficulty spikes at points.

And yet despite sometimes upsetting controls or recycled banter and stages, the one thing that kept bringing my buddy and I back was the new and exciting equipment unlock for each class. Whether something ends up a shining paragon of alien slaying justice, or an actual dumpster fire, each new unlock was like a mini present on Christmas morning as we rushed to equipment to see what it was. The classes themselves along with their equipment all being radically different from one another, there's something for everyone depending on how you like to play.

In closing, this is the quintessential buddy shooter game with some progression elements that just hit the mark and scratch that itch. I can only hope that the PC manages to get Iron Rain (please?) as I'm sure I'll pour many more hours into that as well. EDF!

After recently going on a heavy bender of this game I've got my words in order for anyone who is looking through reviews and wants an easy paced, casual outlook on the game that's not so much about end game hardcore focus.

At a glance Chronicon looks like discount Diablo, the truth is this could not be further from this view. Don't let the art style be the deciding factor here, because what the game offers is easily one of the better RPG, dungeon crawls I've had the joy of playing through recently.
-4 classes, each with their own sub-specs and ways of building a character; and within those Mastery levels to further build and diversify your character. The biggest advice I can give about this is try a little bit of each of them, as the character I ended up playing the majority of my time in the game thus far was not the first one I picked up to try, nor even the second.

-Trying new builds and play styles has never been easier as the game does not hard lock you into your build path, constantly stressing you to follow a cookie-cutter guide for meta viability or any such. You can switch abilities as desired, respec both skill points and mastery with a quick stop to the potion vendor, and share a storage between all your characters.

-There is constant fountains of loot, which in the start will end up in constant trips back to town to sell, until you start using the loot filler (default Q key) to weed out the trash from the gold. The steady flow of items gives that nice sensation of always on the look out for something new until you get decently on through the game. Many items you'll find are usable only for a certain character as well so while it might seem restrictive, it actually helps streamline the comparison process.

-No item stat is useless. Seriously, every stat in the game is useful in some way, and it's impossible to get 'dump stats' on items, merely less optimized ones for a build you might be running. This problem because significantly less however once you advance through the story and unlock certain functions in game. When a dungeon crawlers biggest issue is too much loot and trying to find just the right one.. it's a loot game done right.

-There's a story. Nah it's not the best story, it's not going to win any awards, but there's enough there that if you aren't skipping through it, it's neat to follow at least and have a sense of purpose in the world. Even the side quests which in this kind of game are simple "Kill X amount of foes in this place" have a rhyme and reason for doing so.

-Even currently being in "early access" I had not run into a single bug during my time playing, not a one. To top this off the Dev is fairly active on the forums, which gives good feedback not only for community but for the future of the game moving forward.

Now since we're being fair, I will also point out a few less than perfect points to give it an honest review.
-It can be super easy to lose track of your character in big fights with particles and spell effects going off. And while not commonly an issue, it's still something worth noting.

-Enemy variety suffers a bit, while each act does have it's own unique enemy types you will quite commonly see the same type of foe. Much of the diversity in enemies comes from their champion qualities and such in this regard.

-And while this is more of a personal flaw I feel rather than anything the game does wrong, even though the gear will change throughout the time playing for your character, nothing about them will visibly change. What you see is what you get the whole time.

So for final word, those that see this game and think "10 dollar dungeon crawler" I recommend giving it a try before writing it off. If you like Diablo, if you like Grim Dawn, if you like Path of Exile, then there's a surprising level of depth at play here waiting for you.