#provides a challenge for the player without it being boss level

[zefforuins]

SO looks like we’re gonna be getting MagnaGuards in Jedi Survivor!! Once the clone wars is over we really don’t see much of them so I’m really interested in how they’re going to be incorporated into the game

[beesmygod]

So I looked up lunacid and yeah it's a loving homage but i feel the level design is missing that fromsoft anticipation precipice that helps you orient yourself and help figure out where you wanna go. It feels like the game could be helping you anticipate challenges a bit more. Or providing a more telegraphed intended level progression.

I do like the ps1 style models, tho. Helps with the overall retro throwback to kings field style dungeon crawly rpgs flavor and I respect a game with a specific artistic direction and aesthetic goal.

the lack of vantage points or coherent level design makes it impossible to navigate anything without feeling like im fucking around a windows screensaver. i feel bad for ragging on it bc its clearly a labor of love, to some degree. it looks great, the boss fight (i guess theres only like 2??? er) was a hoot, tying game events/powers into the real world lunar cycle is a neat idea, and the music is really good. the models for NPCs and enemies are great except the demon girls have terrible designs lol. there's a "game manual" in the style of a 90s game manual that's aesthetically delightful and a great way to make the player work for information in a nostalgic style.

but it wont commit fully to either being a "kings field" inspired game with modern conveniences or conventions or a strict adherent to the format, warts and all. as a result, its a game that feels like a completely modern take but inexplicably has some of the worst gameplay mechanics for seemingly no reason other than "because old games did that". there are so many mechanics that exist seemingly for the sake of having the mechanic but with no rhyme or cohesion. mimics that only appear in one level, no way to sell or store items i wont be using, menus that are truly annoying to navigate, i literally just found out theres a compass thats turned off by default (????).

its missing refinement and struggles under the weight of the better games its clearly riffing on. dont remind me that i could just be playing bloodborne the whole time im playing the game

[grandprovidence]

Grand Providence development update 3/17/2024

Hello! This almost slipped my mind today but I am a vigilant person so to the updates it is.

The first mechanic is one that builds off of one I spoke about before, that being enemy types having general resistances and vulnerabilities. This mechanic being weapon oils and armor waxes. Armor waxes are items that temporarily add a damage type resistance to armor while oils can either add additional damage of a certain type or additional damage when fighting a specific creature type. Both of these items act as the reward that players can gain when they take the time to investigate an enemy before engaging it. They also act as a guide for new players. When a player sees an item that gives them a large boost towards damage against a specific creature they want to know what they’re about to fight to ensure their money or crafting items are not wasted. This leads to players investigating areas the enemy was seen in, asking people about the creature they may have seen, or studying an old dungeon for any hints as to what may be inside.

On the topic of enemies this is less of a mechanic but is still important to the gameplay of GP. That being the distribution of enemy types and the general levels of enemies players encounter. It’s a common piece of information that most campaigns of a TTRPG don’t make it to the later levels. This along with the fact that creatures with huge amounts of power being common makes them feel less special means that a good distribution of enemies is important. Because of that I decided to have almost 40% of the enemies be BR0 or BR1 with smaller percentages being in the higher battle ratings. I also divided the enemy types so that, in said earlier levels players are more likely to fight flora, beasts, and other humanoid creatures while in later levels players will be fighting divine, extrinsic, and magical enemies. This is twofold as a way for players to feel like their enemies have evolved with them while also allowing for a certain type of enemy to become more of a horde enemy as players continue through the game. A group of three flora enemies could prove to be a challenge to early adventurers while, later in a campaign, players can fight through a forest of thirty of that same enemy without breaking a sweat. This is to let players look back and see how far they’ve grown in strength.

The last mechanic is part of something larger. That can be said about all mechanics but this one especially. My game day post last week had me consider a lot about what games do to help game masters master their games and how I dislike letting people who are passionate enough about this hobby flounder when they aren’t level designers or writers. Because of this I am trying to make a way to take an idea for a quest or adventure, break it down into its smallest parts, and flesh out those parts so that none get left behind or neglected. My first step is to get an idea for a way to quantify an adventure. How grand is this? How difficult will it be? How much time will it take? One way is through experience and, due to grand providence not having scaling EXP, how it is assigned. Grand Providence plans for players to have around 1,000 EXP by the end of a campaign with an average of 12, 25, or 50 EXP per session for longer, average, or shorter campaigns respectively. Keeping that in mind a quest that gives 75 EXP in an average length campaign should take three sessions. To then allot this EXP I made the final mechanic of this week. For the combat, social, and exploration sections of an adventure I made EXP charts. These charts measure the overall difficulty of an encounter. Fighting a small group of minions, having a short argument with someone who doesn’t care much, or traveling a short jaunt to the dungeon? These are smaller encounters that should then take up less time in the session. Going up against a boss and their lackeys, convincing a king to change the march of their army based on little evidence, or racing against the continent on a time limit? These are all things that can take one or more entire sessions and should give an equal amount of experience to the characters. This mechanic will hopefully help run the adventures Providences have while also helping them know how many real life sessions said adventure will take, making it so one shots don’t spiral out into five session long adventures or vice versa.

My next step is the information both players and characters need. A good way to help the Providence know when players need a lead or how to give out information that could make or break a session from feeling well paced or not is proving to be difficult. If anyone has any advice on giving players information let me know, I always look forward to improving my craft!

[jeremy-ken-anderson]

Jerk in Games

So I watched the Extra Credits video on this topic, and I had a bunch of different angles on the discussion that they didn't bring into the video:

There are tiers that end up being way more impactful than simple +1/-1 if you hit them. These vary from game to game, but some of the best known are: a) 1-hit kills. These die in 1 hit. Once they're inside your attack range they're basically dead, so you don't have to worry much about what they can do to you unless they're swarming (and sometimes not even then, if your weapon has good aoe swings like a claymore or fireball) b) 1-combo kills. These die within 1 use of your main round of button mashes. For instance in FFXIV most overworld mobs die in less time than it takes to perform your opener, making them kind of so-so for rotation practice. For games with stagger mechanics this can sometimes make them similar to 1-hit kills if the target's alone, but you often care a lot more about the presence of other enemies and when there's no stagger mechanic this is very different from 1-hit. c) Multi-combo. In games without combos this is roughly equivalent to enemies you have to hit 6+ times. They aren't necessarily bosses, but they will often feel like a mini-boss regardless. The back-alley Executioner in Bloodborne is a fine example of this. All bosses, if you're not grossly overleveled, will also fall into this camp. Players might not notice enemies going from "surviving 3 hits" to "surviving 4 hits" in regular hit-and-run circumstances, but you can BET they'll notice that same disparity if they have a built-in 3-hit combo.

The inspiration for this post was the fact that the simplified example said "you have a weapon that does 3 damage and want enemies to die in 3 hits, so you give them 9 hp." But actual DpB - damage per button-press - is more like [ability damage * weapon damage * level-related effects] and the player isn't just finding new weapons but also leveling in a more or less effective manner and using abilities that do or don't synergize with the weapon they're wielding. And in many games giving the player this kind of command over how much damage they tend to deal per swing is the point. Consider Kings Call, where there are 3 layers to the player's chances of success in a match: There's how powerful their cards are (basically how much number-boosting stuff they've collected so far), how well they've constructed their deck, and how well they're timing their moves and placing their cards on the field. All 3 legs of this tripod are important; to make it feel like an actual game, to entice the player to spend cash, and to give tools with which to solve the puzzles that are kind of the point of the game. You HAVE to have characters gain power in a way that feels like it tips over the "kills in 1 turn less" value or it'll feel meaningless, and then provide challenges that allow for that shift in power to not instantly break everything.

Often you're dealing with general relative stats; That is, enemies are surviving more hits AND your ability to survive their hits is decreasing at the same time. Especially in action RPGs this can get swingy in a real hurry, because at the same time as you have to worry at all about whether enemies get to hit back, they start doing enough damage to kill you in 3 hits and whoops wouldn't you know it there are 3 of them on screen shooting at you at the same time. And the same stagger mechanic that lets you combo one of them to death in isolation also means if you get hit by 1 arrow you will get hit by 3. This kind of thing leads to the "rocket tag" scenario of high-level 3.5 D&D and 1st-ed Pathfinder. An enemy that can survive the blender that is your level 15 fighter for 2 full rounds of attacks is likely powerful enough to kill one or more members of your party in those same 2 rounds.

Anyway. Just some extra thoughts I had on the Extra Credits. Go give 'em a watch.

[thegayfromrulid]

Since you're mood for writing...

SAO gang x reader in a spooky event!

The gang must survive the haunted house as they prepare for a challenge. Will the gang survive the night, or they'll forever lost from the headless knight, The Hallow Echo

I apologize for the wait! I'm wrapping up a really big paper this October, but I wanted to get this one done before Halloween! I hope that you enjoy! Link to AO3 version below, and Tumblr version below the cut!

AO3 Link: The Hallow Echo

         “I-I don’t know if I can do this any longer!”

         “I-It’ll be fine! Just a b-bit longer, guys!”

         “A-are you sure?”

         “Kyaaaaaaa! Something touched me! Something touched meeee!”

         “You’re fine! Just bear with it! You’re fi–aaaagh!”

         Perhaps, at this moment, you’re wondering how it got to this point. All of your friends are trying their best to find one another in the pitch-black space while also keeping their guard up; this certainly wasn’t how the morning started. In fact, it had been a normal Saturday morning of just lying around in bed until a very excited text game through the group chat.

         Kirito: guys! theres a horror event happening tonight!

         Lis: waaah Kirito why did u wake me up for this

         Kirito: we should totally do it!

         Asuna: Kirito-kun, you *know* I don’t like this sort of thing…

         Silica: im not scared!!!! i have pina! <3

         Lis: ofc u would say that Silica

         Silica: ;-;

         (Y/N): ig im down. what time?

         Klein: yeah, deets kiri-bro!

         Sinon: wth are we all yelling about @ 10 on a Saturday???

         Silica: spooky event…

         Kirito: starts 10pm and runs til bout midnight. meet at the house in 22 @ thirty til?

         Asuna: Kirito-kun! Come on!

         Sinon: you don’t have to join, Asuna

         Lis: ofc she does!!! dont wuss out Asuna heh

         (Y/N): haha yeah, ill be on. see ya then.

         Since Kirito had been a bit sparse with the details, you did yourself the favor of looking up what he meant. Alfheim Online was hosting a single-day event for Halloween that took place on a special map. Players could enter the space in groups to take on the challenge, giving each group their own scrambled map. There was no chance they’d run into any other groups during the challenge, so it wasn’t a fight for a single prize. Basically, it was a haunted mansion that was being disturbed by a field boss-level enemy called The Hallow Echo. No description was provided about what this mysterious boss looked like, but players would enter the house and be trapped inside of it for the duration of the event. They had two options for completion: survive the time limit without dying (flight) or defeat The Hallow Echo and escape (fight). The rewards were different for the two completion styles, with defeating the boss as having more desirable prizes.

         The intensity of the quest mentioned that it was somewhere between medium to very hard depending on the overall stats of the party that entered and whether they chose fight or flight. It was designed in a way that ensured that the players who chose simply to play the evasion game could still get something out of it, even if higher level players wanted to challenge the difficult boss monster and reap the rewards of a battle well fought. You assume that the group will likely be trying to defeat the boss monster; if Kirito suggested it, then there’s definitely a cool prize he wants from the rewards. It’s an exciting event to look forward to.

         At a little before 9:30 PM that evening, you log onto ALO and confirm that you’re in the log cabin. You typically log out there, but every so often, during a big quest you can’t be peeled away from, you’ll stay at an inn in the closest town over night so that you can get back to it faster. You’re relieved to find that you did, in fact, log out from within the cabin. Kirito appears to have already beat you there. He holds up his hand for a high-five. You grin and give him one.

         “Glad you could make it, (y/n)!” he says.

         You let him know that you’re excited to start the quest. It’s been a while since something big has happened that everyone could show up for. The others start appearing, the chatter in the little player home increasing until the last member, Agil, shows up. He had to wrap up some things at his café and bar before logging on, but the gang is finally all here. Asuna opens up a map with an uneasy look on her face and shows everyone where the haunted house appeared. Everyone checks their inventory to make sure they have enough potions, and then you’re off.

         The haunted house itself it about a ten-minute flight from the cabin. It doesn’t take long for everyone to get there, and a small crowd of players has already started to gather around it. There’s a timer display in front of it, counting down to when the event will start. A few people are trying to shove their way to the front, but you know there’s no reason to do this. After all, every team will get their own map separate from the others. There’s no limit on how many people can enter at once; if that were so, they’d have to make more than one version of the house. The exterior is dark and gloomy, and the weather around it seems to have turned from a clear, moonlit night into a stormy one, with flashes of lightning cracking close enough to the top of the house that it might sound rather alarming from the inside.

         “Ohhh, this is gonna be so good!” Lisbeth exclaims.

         Asuna awkwardly chuckles.

         “You don’t think there are any astral-type monsters in there, do you?” she mutters.

         Kirito reaches down and grasps her hand, giving her a soft look.

         “I’ll make sure they don’t come after you,” he says.

         Sinon rolls her eyes.

         “Get a room, you two,” she says.

         Lisbeth laughs and smacks Asuna on the back.

         “We’ll be fine!” she says.

         The timer finally hits zero, and players all dash forward to enter the haunted house. Each party is sent into a separate map, so there’s no worry if some members are faster than the others. They’ll all end up in the same map as long as they’re registered in the same party. The speedier members of your party arrive first, so when you enter the space, Kirito, Asuna, and Leafa are already taking a look around the dimly lit hallways. Sinon trails in right on your tail. Lisbeth practically pushes Silica into the space, and Agil and Klein trot in behind her. Alice, for some reason, is bringing up the rear, her hand perched on the pommel of her sword as if expecting something to attack the group from behind. An NPC appears out of the shadows when there’s been about thirty seconds of no new entries to the space.

         This NPC is an elderly woman with spindly grey hair sticking out of a tightly wrapped bun. She’s wearing clothing that you would expect to see the proprietress of a traditional Japanese inn wearing, which seems a bit out of place for the fairy world setting. It isn’t quite accurate, though; the cut of the fabric is wrong for a kimono or yukata, making it more of what one would imagine a quick, from-memory sketch of Japanese traditional clothing looked like from someone who’d seen it perhaps once. The designs on her dress also could be European in nature. Its coloring is either a dim blue or a grey, but it’s hard to tell in the low lighting. She bows at you all, and Kirito walks up to her. She starts to talk as soon as he initiates with a “hello.”

         “Weary travelers, I’m afraid that this abode isn’t the friendly stay that it used to be,” the NPC says. “For years, I offered beds to those traveling across Alfheim, and I fed my tenants enough to fill their bellies for the road ahead they had to travel. As of late, however, there’s a disturbance in this house that keeps me from keeping adventurers overnight, so I’m afraid I can’t arrange beds for you this evening.”

         It was a natural enough way to start a quest. Kirito prompts her for more.

         “What kind of a disturbance?” he asks. “Is there any way we can help you out?”          The old woman scrunches up her forehead and sighs.

         “There’s something haunting my home,” she laments. “It’s too much to ask of you, but if you would be willing to check it out for me, I’d be willing to pay you quite handsomely if you can get rid of it.”

         A quest menu popped up in front of Kirito. He clicks the button to accept the quest, and then a darkened map appears in the corner of your vision. It seems like the map needs you to walk around in order to see the pathways. You suggest splitting the group in half. Everyone else agrees that this is a good plan, since the goal of the party is to locate The Hallow Echo and defeat him. You go with Kirito, Asuna, Silica, and Lisbeth. The other group of Sinon, Agil, Klein, Leafa, and Alice goes to the left, while you all go to the right. Along the path, there are smaller monsters that don’t take too much work to defeat as a team.

         But things change when the lights all go out.

         An echoing, guttural voice laughs in the halls. You can’t tell from which direction it’s coming; it’s all-encompassing. A light flickers in front of you for a moment as Kirito, you think, holds up a torch. In that moment, you lay eyes on its form—The Hallow Echo, a knight decorated in a dark armor that soaks up the blackness around it, with a sword hovering dangerously close to your own neck that is dripping with something wet and thick. A lone detail stands out in the center of the light; a gaping, dark hole sits where the knight’s head should be. As soon as you note this, Kirito’s torch is extinguished with a sizzle and a hiss, as if something licked its fingers and pressed them against the tip to put it out. The group lets out a collective scream, and they all leap backwards to avoid possibly getting hit by the knight’s weapon.

         “Was that it?!” Lisbeth shouts.

         Metal clangs against something solid in the dark, most likely the wall.

         “That’s DEFINITELY it!” Kirito shouts back.

         A yelp comes from your left. It sounded like Silica.

         “Headless…why did it have to be headless?” Asuna mutters.

         “How the hell are we supposed to defeat that thing in the dark?” Lisbeth asks.

         Another clang slams down. It sounds like it hit the floor this time. Silica shrieks and you hear her jump up to her feet and start running. She winds up bumping into you.

         “S-sorry, (y/n)!” she stammered.

         You tell her it’s all right and give her a gentle pat on the head. The same echoing laugh as before greets you again, still feeling as though it’s all around you.

         “Listen to the sound of its footsteps!” Asuna cries out. “When it’s close enough, attack it! If you hear it stop for too long, then it’s getting ready to use one of its attacks. Jump back if you hear no footsteps for more than six seconds!”

         Despite her fear of the ghastly, Asuna takes full charge of the fight immediately. Her prowess as a leader always comes out in situations like this. Her methods work well for a bit, and as the group fights, you run into the others, who join in on Asuna’s strategy. Everything seems to be working well, up until you see The Hallow Echo’s HP fall into the last bar. Suddenly, his footsteps vanish all together, and his echoing laugh zooms around as if he’s floating through the air around you.

         Suddenly the battle changes from a physical one to a true test of courage. You can feel things making grabs at your body in the dark. Touching the walls often renders a slimy, unpleasant texture. More than just the one laugh surrounds you; other voices echo in the halls, and sounds of chittering or scurrying accompany it. Now in an astral form, The Hallow Echo flies around you and sometimes through you, sending a cold chill inside of the space he passes through.

         “I-I don’t know if I can do this any longer!” Asuna finally wails.

         There’s a grunt from Kirito as he swings at the specter flying past him. You can hear a metal “clink!” as his sword hits the core inside of the ghastly figure.

         “I-It’ll be fine! Just a b-bit longer, guys!” he reassures you all, though the words were most likely directed at Asuna more than anyone else.

         “A-are you sure?” she stammers back.

         Another thud comes from behind you.

         “Kyaaaaaaa! Something touched me! Something touched meeee!” Silica cries.

         Someone else hits the core.

         “You’re fine!” Leafa cries. “Just bear with it! You’re fi–aaaagh!”

         An arrow whizzes past your ear and hits The Hallow Echo’s core. The light from the arrow gives you enough space to swing at it. Your sword connects with the core inside, and this time, instead of just hitting it, it slices through it with a sound like glass shattering into hundreds of tiny pieces. White light bursts from the spot, and everyone can see The Hallow Echo in his full form once more as he dissipates into a black mist and gets swallowed up by the center of the light where the core burst. Everything is pitch black for a moment, and then the hallways light up with the same dim candles that you’d first seen when entering the haunted house. Right on cue, the elderly NPC walks up with her hands clasped together.

         “Oh, thank you!” she cries. “How ever can I thank you for taking care of that monster for me?”

         Kirito lets out a strained laugh.

         “I-It’s our pleasure,” he says.

         A few of the group members chuckle at his statement. The NPC waves her hands and points them at the group.

         “Will this be enough?” she asks.

         You all get a dialogue box showing you the quest rewards for beating The Hallow Echo. The prizes, as mentioned in the notice for the event, are quite handsome. A large sum of yrd is given, as well as some crystals that are useful in smithing. Everyone receives a weapon in their specific class that has quite high stats. Some rare potions are present as well. As you all leave the haunted house, high-fives are shared for a job well done.

         As you log off for the night, you know you can rest well, as The Hallow Echo has been defeated, and the limited time quest didn’t escape your grasp.

         Well, that is, unless he returns for revenge next year…

[flamingtunapictures]

Honest "Death’s Door" Review - *7/10*

Tl:dr - A good game that delivers a challenging and polished souls-like gaming experience, however its choices in story/world building; repetitive dungeon structure; and lack of simple navigational tools detracted from a thoroughly enjoyable adventure for me.

The Good Things About Death’s Door

Overall Presentation - A clean, polished game with well developed systems and beautiful art. Combat is challenging but not impossible, and visual style is graphic and engaging without being too juvenile. Characters are fun with a good balance of gritty and whimsy.

Music - Wonderful soundtrack. Each area boasts a variety of fun thematic instruments. I found tunes and arrangements very reminiscent to Okami.

Gameplay - Challenging combat that rewards patience, with a variety of ranged and melee weapons a player can interchange fluently in battle to fit their personal fighting style. Puzzles are balanced, never crossing into so-hard-lose-interest territory. The game can be 100%-ed in a reasonable time without guides if one chooses to do so.

Despite my initial impression, the shrines were also fun riddles to solve. I loved the local pub's “hearsay” method with “Jefferson” at the Sunken Sailor. It was a fun touch of flavor and helped make the shrines feel tangible.

3 major criticisms for Death’s Door

(-.5 point) Game progression is extremely linear and dungeon structure lacks core differentiation. Each dungeon’s objectives are structured the same way: you explore an area and fight through mini-boss rooms to free 5 crow souls. These unlock the next power upgrade via almost identical combat challenges. This is followed immediately by ascension to the final stage of a dungeon; concluding with the boss fight. While each dungeon offered their own unique puzzles and layouts, the lack of variety in objectives started to feel more like a checklist than an exciting opportunity for discovery. It’s worth noting as well, the game is linear (Urn Witch > Frog King > Betty) as each previous level provides you with a necessary upgrade to access the next challenge.

(-1.5 points) The lack of a map made the experience of exploring vast areas (extremely) frustrating. This frustration was exacerbated in the world-scouring post game collect-a-thon. The fact that a map was not even an option was incredibly infuriating to me. I understand the creators of the game declared their creative choice “promoted as organic of a gaming experience as possible,” and aligned themselves further with the “souls-like” label, however it does not feel like an infallible decision. Take Hollow Knight as a compare and contrast. Maps were provided throughout the game but the player was also given the choice of how much they wanted to engage with, or take advantage of the map. Maps had to be purchased, making it entirely possible for a player to forgo it completely if they chose to do so. There was also a balanced trade-off of forfeiting an equipment slot to attach the Wayward Compass charm for effective use of the map. Death’s Door doesn’t even give you the option.

(-1 point) The game’s narrative feels a little hollow, lacking in any commendable character depth or motivation. Essential world lore is also delivered too late, is confusing, and detracts from the drama’s overall impact. I finished the game feeling underwhelmed by the plot despite the game’s (self)positioning as a prolific drama. (Spoiler Alert)

I found myself floundering to feel anything for the final act, or to really make sense of the world’s logic and lore between the end of act 2 and beginning of act 3. From what I understand (having 100%-ed the game) the world, since coming under the rule of the current Lord Of Doors, became a place of stagnation… Most, if not all (?) creatures were living unreasonably long lives (past their “due dates”) because the Lord of Doors cut off death itself from the worlds, and subsequently the Crow Commission (who had assumed Death’s role of reaping souls). With no no one reaping souls, nobody was actually dying? But then why was the Grey Crow aging with the threat of death looming over him? Or why did all the crows who got cut off from the commission die? Or how were the free-crow’s movement for that matter, that promoted the natural order of embracing death, actually fulfilling their own creed? I should not be this confused or have this many questions at the explanation of the state-of-the-world after playing the game for 20 hours.

Secondly, many of the significant “reveals” in the 3rd act felt rather underwhelming. Starting with the “Free Crows” movement (a tropey rebel group that “fights the system”). Their presence and justification provided almost all the context to the world’s supposed stagnation. Thus, their late-game reveal (almost the end of act 2) caused me to completely reevaluate and question if I had understood anything from the soft world-building up to that point, and not in a good way. Their motivations felt rather generic as well, and lacked any kind of originality or robustness. Additionally, the pacing between defeating the Grey Crow and the sudden “call-to-arms” from the Free Crows felt very jarring and like the story was just trying to quickly wrap things up. It did not feel very justified.

Death’s reveal was equally underwhelming. His reveal should have felt like a reward for the arduous efforts it took to open his door. His reveal should have left me feeling like I finally had answers… but because I was not aware the world was supposedly “stagnated” (?) until moments before I encountered him, his presence felt confusing, and a little insignificant to me.

As for the final two bosses, the Grey Crow and the Lord of Doors, another reviewer captured the narrative's failure best: It felt like the story was telling me to care about these characters more than actually giving me substantial experience with them to want to care about them. I found myself not caring about the final boss’ motivations and just wanted to finish the game. 

All these things considered, it really boils down to me not finding the lore of this game’s world particularly compelling.

Even the “truth” revealed after completing the post game did not feel like it added any significant detail or insight into the story. For how much effort it demanded to unlock, it was another narrative disappointment.

One exception exists however with the Gravedigger. He was by far the most compelling character. His sad story was the only one that drew an actual reaction from me when I realized just who “Monty” was (hint, look at the shiny-thing locket you find). His final battle was the most satisfying and his emotional departure felt wonderfully delivered.

In conclusion, Death’s Door is a quick (10-20 hours, including post-game) adventure challenge that offers a polished gaming experience, pleasant visuals, and catchy soundtrack. Combat will leave you gnashing your teeth if you don’t employ a little patience, solidifying its position as a “souls-like” game. I would definitely say it’s worth your time if you enjoy games like that. If you’re looking for a more compelling world-lore, convicting story or just better navigation support however, I would recommend something like Hollow Knight instead.

[shadowcrash10]

GAMES PLAYED IN 2022 - RANKED

11) Knack 2

Boring, standard gameplay, visual presentation, music and story. Not much here, but a kid may be into it, especially with the co op carrying a lot of the weight.

10) The King of Fighters XV

More King of Fighters, it's solid but lacks innovation and single player content, while also being very expensive as of now. The visual presentation is a stark improvement from XIV, and the roster is very strong.

9) Chibi-Robo!

Cute and unique, provides a lot of cool ideas coupled with genius sound design, a surprisingly cool story and memorable characters. Could have done with a more focused second act, but it never stops being fun.

8) Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

The peak of the series to me, with amazing art direction and great combat led by a simplified control system that still gives all the depth you want. Mechanically engaging all around, with a great roster to boot. Online isn't so hot though.

7) Final Fantasy VII

The glowing reception paints an accurate picture of a touchstone of the medium, with one of my favorites storylines in an RPG, alongside a dynamic, customizable fighting system, great music and a fun world to indulge. Only criticism comes from the lack of a few quality of life implementations, omissions that were common at the time.

6) SoulCalibur II

A great showcase of a single player-focused fighter, with fun controls and mechanics, a cool roster and great music, with lots of content to explore. Weird and funny mission design is coupled with light RPG elements to provide some extended playtime, and it very much works.

5) No More Heroes

A very funny game, maybe the most funny I've played in a while. It has simple combat controls that shine through in the focused, challenging boss fights, pitting the protagonist against a great roster of characters. Everything is punctuated by banger music and stylish visual direction. The loop of doing part jobs in a hub world for money to enter in new levels might turn some off, but it helped me further connect with the story. The ending is also great, a complete left turn.

4) Sonic Frontiers

Sonic's next 3D formula kicks off to a great start, with controls and level design that complement each other to create open stages that are just fun to move around. The combat is also surprisingly varied, carrying along some of my favorite boss fights in any game. An emotional, fascinating storyline and amazing score complete the package. There's a noticeable lack of polish, and the latter half of the game feels rushed, but the strong pacing and base gameplay manage to hold the game and carry it to the finish line, which - while controversial - absolutely satisfied me. Looking forward to what else they can do with this take on Sonic.

3) Resident Evil (2002)

Couldn't ask for a better introduction to survival horror. While the creepy atmosphere and jump scares are absolutely on point, the strength of the game is on its replay value, making sure it has a shelf life long after it stops being scary to the player. The puzzle design is smart and the story is fun to figure out. An absolute masterclass.

2) Doom (2016)

Provides old school design sensibilities with a modern touch, making a game with the best of the past and present. Everyone already knows about the soundtrack, but it's still worth noting what a classic on its own it became. The gameplay loop is extremely well calibrated, leading to an aggressive play style fitting of the story and main character. Everything in the presentation helps solidify the core feelings of the work, in what feels like a very focused, hand crafted piece. A joy from beginning to end.

1) Rayman Legends

Everything I could have asked for and more. My expectations were quite high and I came out as satisfied as I wanted to be. No bad levels, no lesser moments, a game that left no aspect of it without oozing polish and creativity. Absolutely recommend it.

[theautisticgamer]

How Forgotten Land Revived Kirby

It's been about a year now since Kirby & the Forgotten Land came out and I replayed it to get a retrospective before the release of remaster Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe. However it was surprisingly in going back to my first Kirby game all those years ago that I finally understood what I wanted to blog about Forgotten Land.

There was nothing wrong with the formula that Return to Dreamland introduced back in 2011. However, HAL's fear of deviating from that successful formula that caused the series to struggle with being stale and disinteresting by the time Star Allies released in 2018. Every game of the decade felt like the same game under a new coat of paint, and Star Allies (the fourth game to follow the pattern) put multiple nails into the coffin. The Kirby series was far from dying, merchandise sold like hotcakes after all, but the games had grown stagnant and a big shake-up was needed for the next game.

And HAL delivered. Despite the development team's fear of jumping into 3D gameplay, they took the challenge head-on without turning back just like Kirby himself would have. The result was a massive success. This is the part of the story we all know, but transitioning Kirby into 3D was far from the only change made that made a huge impact on the series.

It was great to see Forgotten Land take a different approach to the settings they created. Instead of basing worlds on biomes, the biomes became a backdrop to new settings. These new settings were based on deteriorating architecture being reclaimed by the overgrowth of nature, with architecture and types of facilities changing between worlds. The concrete and steel jungle of World 1 is nothing like the brick architecture of World 4, for example. Malls, amusement parks, resort hotels, all mysteriously vacant and piquing curiosity without saying a word and simply displaying the settings themselves.

Piquing curiosity wasn't HAL's only success. They sought to pique imagination as well when making the game's gimmick mechanic, Mouthful Mode. They retool Kirby's powers in such an intriguing way with this mechanic as much as they retool the items Kirby swallows. Suddenly old everyday items hold new purpose and function in ways that look ridiculous, and yet it's that very ridiculousness and playfulness that makes the game spark a piece of childhood imagination that I thought I'd lost. What's also nice about Mouthful Mode is that I don't have to dispose of my copy ability in order to use them, and can resume using my copy ability as soon as the gimmick segments are over.

Forgotten Land made sure that the increase in price from $40 on a 3DS to $60 on a Switch was worthwhile (something I think Star Allies failed miserably to do). Levels are long and have a lot to explore, and on top of finding Waddle Dees, additional Waddle Dee Achievements are gradually unlocked, allowing for replayability, with a pretty decent postgame content too.

Probably one of the best things HAL did, however, was revamp the difficulty. Kirby games are notoriously easy and bosses tend to be beatable with little effort or thought. Not so with Forgotten Land. While it still remains an easy game overall, it is a much more difficult Kirby game than we've seen lately. Boss battles are complexed by the no-longer-infinite hover mechanic and the new dodge and guard mechanics. The bosses also maneuver very quickly compared to previous Kirby bosses, keeping the player on their toes by encouraging them to diversify their strategies and learn the new mechanics without necessarily forcing them to do so. Treasure Road also provided a lot of challenge, with additional challenge via some of the strictest time-goal challenges I've seen in games. If Kirby players want challenge, it's here for them. And for the players that don't, they are catered to as well, with power boosts and items available for purchase as well as the easy mode for the game called Spring Breeze.

There's something in this game for everyone.

Kirby & the Forgotten Land did more than give Kirby a new coat of paint while still managing to make it feel every bit like a Kirby game. I look forward to seeing more Kirby games like Forgotten Land in the future.

[pinchraccoon]

Cuphead Mini-Review

Recently on my stream as per the request of my chatters, I played Cuphead on my stream. I'd played it a bit before, and reached maybe halfway through the game, but this time I intended to hunker down and play the whole game.

For those unfamiliar, Cuphead is a 2d platformer primarily focused on boss battles inspired by 1920-30s rubberhose cartoons and movie tropes that are confidently considered "retro." Players can expect difficult but fair gameplay across the board, and hand-drawn animation with a whole lot of style and soul for the whole game.

I can confidently say that Cuphead is a very good game, but you've heard that before. Cuphead features tight, polished gameplay, extremely strong visual and audio design, and every character has a ton of design origins to dissect and reasons for the attacks they make. I had a lot of fun looking at every boss and figuring out what each of their attacks were references to and I really think that visuals and stylistic choices are Cupheads greatest strong suits. My favorite boss in the game is Cala Maria, for the reasons above. (also she's a pretty lady and I'm a little bit of a hopeless gay)

There isn't a lot to say about Cuphead that hasn't already been said, especially considering that I didn't play the DLC content added last year. If it seems that I rag on the game a bit from here forward, I assure you it's because I love this game, and not because I feel that it's a game-breaking experience.

Roughly halfway through Cuphead I reached a boss named Grim Matchstick, who has something of a reputation among players for being a skill gate, I have no issue with the bosses' design, I'd like to clarify, instead I have an issue with how the game around him and how that game provides you tools to potentially deal with him.

In Cuphead, the player has access to six different types of primary fire, of which the player can have two equipped at once. These are unlocked by purchasing them from a vendor, who takes a currency that is only found, and is finite, within levels known as 'Run n' Gun' levels.

These, unlike the rest of the games, are somewhat traditional difficult platforming levels, and frequently intend to prey on player's bad habits and frustrations. They are without a doubt the hardest part of the game, no boss gave me quite the same amount of trouble as the RNG's did on average.

My issue with the RNG's aren't that they frustrated with their difficulty, but instead that the coins found within them are finite, and that the rewards for doing them can be wasted on any given fight.

What can make Matchstick difficult is that he is best challenged using very specific gear, and without that gear, which becomes missable, the fights become significantly harder because you lacked the foresight to look ahead to bosses you'll fight before you have the opportunity to earn more coins and buy more types of shots.

This is my only issue with Cuphead, and I found that the RNG's insistence on existing makes the game such that certain challenges become far harder in ways that aren't your fault.

I feel that the game might be better without these levels, and while their inclusion does provide a degree of gameplay variety, the purpose that they serve I feel is an overall negative toward the game in general. I would much rather have had 6 more bosses in exchange for the 6 Run and Gun levels, but I've seen other opinions. I am not a game developer, of course, this was just my impression.

Overall though, Cuphead is a fun and interesting experience that I would recommend to anyone looking for a challenge. If you have the option though, don't buy it on the Switch, it's perfectly passable, but higher framerate and shorter load times will certainly be felt if you play on PC or other more powerful consoles.

[mailperson]

Some quick takes on dark souls 1 due to my recent revisit:

-I stand by a few areas being kinda lackluster and uninteresting for fromsoft games (undead burg looking at you). Oddly dark souls 3 has this exact same issue with the front half of the game having the least interesting and bland areas assuming you do carthus catacombs before the cathedral of the deep.

-Anyone who complains about DS2 bosses being bland or forgettable must be blanking on what many fights are actually like in DS1. Most bosses just have an extremely transparent gimmick in place of actually engaging combat (Pinwheel, Moonlight Butterfly, getting the drop on asylum/taurus demon, Ceaseless Discharge, Iron Golem both with and without Tarkus, Bed of Chaos, need I go on) and the rest are standout fights equal in quantity to 2’s (though I’ll admit DS1 has better presentation for the top tier fights). Capra would be right at home in the track of levels down the Majula pit. I’m not saying it’s a flaw for there to be so many gimmick bosses though, I actually like it on occasion. It beats DS3’s philosophy of “the only way forward is through”

-related ds3 comparison that’s getting its own post

-I actually found a few areas at least anecdotally I’ve heard people despise that I enjoyed both the first time and now. Specifically tomb of the giants and Sen’s fortress. I like lost izalith but I know that’s exclusively bcs I use the back entrance and go back for the centipede demon later. Anor Londo I hated the first time but that’s only because there’s so many giant long fucking corridors and both bonfires are really far from either objective point you could wanna get to despite not actually having too too many obstacles between them.

-Having the knowledge of the game makes for some extra fun traversal changes. Going down the catacombs and the tomb of the giants to rescue Reah’s gang before the lordvessel makes for a fun challenge of traversing the tomb backwards without warping. Also Blighttown’s back entrance >>>>>> the entrance via the depths

-put a bonfire right at either entrance to new londo ruins and it’s a perfect area idc. It doesn’t need a midpoint bonfire unless you were to expand the level but the elevator from firelink just takes too long, it’s particularly grueling if the fire keeper’s MIA. Put it by the valley of drakes entrance up on the ramparts or whatever if the firelink side would be too close to that existing bonfire

-What did the developers have against letting the player SEE in this game. Why is it that cast light and the skull lantern literally only provide actual further illumination exclusively in the tomb.

[ceardaw]

Let’s Get Aware About special Wow Classic Season Of Discovery Boost

WOW Classic Sod Boost is an expert and efficient in-game service designed to help you meet your gaming goals quickly and efficiently. Offering flexibility, customization and expertise; as well as maintaining all in-game gains such as levels, items and gold while your boost duration lasts. Perfect for time constraints!

Customization

WoW Classic SoD boosts can be an efficient way to advance without expending too much time or energy. They enable you to achieve your goals more rapidly, such as leveling up, unlocking runes, or gearing up for raids more quickly - saving both time and frustration by eliminating boss wiping.

MMOGAH WoW Classic SoD Hourly Farm service provides a flexible and customizable boost experience. You can select the number of hours that the boost lasts and direct our boosters towards specific activities or retention of any in-game gains made during it - plus extended boost durations come with special discounts! WoW Classic sod boosting are designed to optimize the enjoyment of playing WoW. These services offer various customization options and advanced support services, including personalized gameplay and individual support services for advanced strategies and raid mechanics.

Flexibility

Many players who discover WoW Classic may find the game tedious and unfulfilling, taking too much of their time grinding for gear and experience while performing mundane tasks; additionally, some of its toughest encounters may prove challenging and frustrating to overcome.

To address this, the game offers Season of Discovery rune boost services which allow players to bypass grinding and punishing content. These services can be purchased using various payment methods including cryptocurrency - providing an ideal solution for those wanting to experience classic WoW gameplay but lack either time or skill to do it on their own.

Season of Discovery boosting services provide players with essential runes that enhance character abilities such as dual wield specialization and wild growth, as well as unlock new system spells such as shuriken toss and demonic pact metamorphosis - elevating the gaming experience to a whole new level.

Expertise

Leveling up in Classic World of Warcraft takes both time and effort, often forcing players to compromise on gameplay style or character level in order to keep pace. MMOGAH level boosting services offer an easier and quicker solution by offering more convenient ways of reaching desired levels faster.

WoW Classic SOD raids demand advanced player skills and knowledge of encounter mechanics, making MMOGAH an invaluable way for players to gain insight on advanced raid tactics and game strategies from top-tier veterans, while receiving post-boost guidance and support.

Transparency

When it comes to boosting services, you want a service you can trust with your WoW Classic Season of Discovery boost needs - not one which conceals their identity or uses questionable methods which could cause your account to get banned. At MMOGAH we pride ourselves on being completely transparent about their services; that way you know they will take good care in taking care of all of your boosting needs!

Ask the booster for a live demo of their skills and expertise to demonstrate them to you, providing an ideal way of learning advanced raid mechanics and class-specific tips from experienced players. Furthermore, this allows you to see how the boost works so you'll feel more at ease with it once it starts - thus making this service safe and trustworthy option for many players.

[alln64games]

Diddy Kong Racing

PAL release: 21st November 1997

JP release: 21st November 1997

NA release: 24th November 1997

Developer: Rare

Publisher: Nintendo

N64 Magazine Score: 90%

Pretty much all racing games on the N64 so far have the same problem: there’s not a lot of progression for a single player, and you can do everything in a couple of hours. Some of them focused on being great in multiplayer (like Mario Kart 64) but there wasn’t a lot of choice for singleplayer.

Which is where Diddy Kong Racing comes in, as it has a very meaty singleplayer campaign with an adventure mode where you find tracks within its hub world.

It’s a neat area to explore, although a lot smaller than I remember it being. You’ll find four doors with balloon requirements (which you get from winning races or finding them in the world), with a fifth world hidden until you defeat five bosses. They start out simple at first: you have to win each race individually then defeat the boss in a race. Do that, and it gets much more challenging.

You’ll be tasked with finding 8 coins in each race. However, finding them isn’t enough as you still have to win, and then defeat a harder version of the boss. Diddy Kong Racing is a difficult and brutal game and you’ll need to learn its tricks (such as letting go of the accelerator just before boosting) to have a chance of winning. Once you defeat a boss a second time, you then complete in a tournament across the four tracks. There’s also a key hidden in one level of each world to unlock a battle mode challenge. Oh, and also time trail challenges.

Once you’ve done all that and defeated the evil Wizpig, it’s time for Adventure Two. This is a mirror mode version of the game, although the silver coins are now in more difficult places. Of course, this amount of content wouldn’t be anything if the game wasn’t fun to play.

And thankfully, it is fun. Levels use three vehicles: car, hovercraft and plane. The car and plane are very easy to use, while the hovercraft is more difficult. When you repeat tracks (or choose to play outside Adventure mode), some levels let you pick your vehicle – with some restrictions on a per-level basis – and it’s great having multiple types of vehicles racing alongside each other.

One let-down in DKR are the characters. None of them are bad in terms of a design perspective – and this is the first appearance of Banjo (without Kazooie, although some of his voice clips sound like her) and Conker, but they’re a bit too varied in terms of ability, so the game’s difficulty will very a lot based on who you pick, with Pipsy being the best for hitting boosts (plus the silver coins).

The weapon system sets itself apart from other kart racers. Instead of giving you random items, the balloons providing items are colour coded for specific items. Collecting one of the same type you already have will also upgrade the item.

Diddy Kong Racing is still a great game, and the only kart game that’s come close to it for single-player is Sonic Racing Transformed (which also had three vehicle types, but it was specific to the part of the track you were on). It set itself apart from Mario Kart 64 and I actually prefer this one.

And if re-thinking the whole racing game ‘thing’ wasn’t enough, Rare have set a whole new standard for in-game graphics. Even the simplest tracks positively bulge with background extras, from lumbering dinosaurs to beautiful timber-framed houses to wallowing whales.

- James Ashton, N64 Magazine #10

Remake or Remaster?

If not a sequel, then Diddy Kong Racing deserves a remake. It would look gorgeous with a Mario Kart 8 style sheen to it and some updates to the control and balance would be great, with some additional options. While it would be nice for all characters to return, I’d still be very happy with the game even if they had to replace most of them. The Switch seemed perfect due to the system’s potability and how it doesn’t have its own Mario Kart.

Official ways to get the game.

There is no official way to get Diddy Kong Racing

Re-releases

2007: Diddy Kong Racing DS (Banjo and Conker replaced with Dixie Kong and a tall, teenage Tiny Kong, coin challenges replaced with tapping balloons).

[dravidious]

You're more amazing than tuesday

Etrian Odyssey is a fun series but is plagued by the near-universal problem of "Making all the numbers bigger is the same thing as progression right?" so I wrote a bunch of opinions

Primary Objective: Get rid of number inflation while maintaining the game's mechanics (FOEs, equipment, etc.) as much as possible.

Number inflation is the process of increasing multiple numbers in a game over time in such a way that they cancel each other out and the gameplay never significantly changes. For example, increasing the player's attack power, but also increasing the enemies' health, so that enemies still take roughly the same amount of time to defeat. This can be done through level ups, equipment, or both. I despise number inflation, because it tries to give the illusion of getting stronger while avoiding any real change. By having the number increases cancel each other out, the increases lose all meaning, and so should be removed entirely for simplicity's sake.

To remove Etrian Odyssey's number inflation, the following major changes will be made: 1) Level ups will no longer increase stats, except for TP and possibly HP, and 2) Late-game equipment will not be stronger than early-game equipment. Naturally, monsters' stats will be adjusted to account for lower player stats.

When the number inflation is taken out, the equipment system loses all use, because keeping up with the enemies' inflating stats was the only reason to get new equipment. To add some real use to it, EO4's forge system will be implemented; equipment can have forge slots that can be filled with misc upgrades like agility up, poison, elements, etc. Equipment can also have boosts pre-forged in, or have skills attached. With various numbers of forge slots, pre-forges, and skills, there's plenty of design space to make unique equipment and incentivize players to use it.

FOEs are an interesting example of a mechanic that relies on number inflation to function properly; early on, FOEs are deadly obstacles to be avoided at all costs, but later become enemies that you can actually reasonably fight. Without number inflation, balancing FOEs is difficult; make them too strong, and they'll be stronger than the stratum's boss, which feels very wrong. Make them weaker than the boss, and they're probably fightable immediately, ruining the feeling of them being a deadly and terrifying threat when first encountered. The second option is better; they'll be powerful enemies that are fightable, but you risk losing a lot of TP or even wiping, so they're usually best avoided.

The primary reason for number inflation in games is to give a feeling of getting stronger. Number inflation is the laziest and most boring way of accomplishing this, especially since it's indistinguishable from the enemies simply getting weaker as you level up; enemies that were once terrifying threats are now no more threatening that the foes you fought at the start of the game. You don't feel stronger, the enemies just feel easier.

Fortunately, Etrian Odyssey provides a far more tangible way of getting stronger in the form of skills. Learning new skills gives you access to new tools, expanding your options in combat and allowing you to handle situations in new ways. Going from picking off enemies one by one with basic attacks to wiping them all out with a fiery explosion is a true growth in your capabilities. As you get deeper into the labyrinth, new and tougher challenges are thrown at you that test your mastery over your growing toolkit. And most of all, the skills you have are the ones that you CHOSE. All of this makes them a much better way for the player to get stronger than a treadmill of passively-growing numbers that never change anything.

[supervgboy]

Super Mario Bros. Wonder - My Thoughts

Some spoilers ahead. Nothing pertaining to the final area or post game secrets.

Gameplay:

Solid gameplay and good character control, and I love how character abilities were handled with this. Every normal character plays the same mechanically so you don't have stuff like 3D World and NSMBU Deluxe where one player is forced to be a character with a unique ability or movement that outdoes everyone else. And the action badges let you use unique abilities without being restricted by character choice. The expert badges also provide a lot of challenge for people looking for it. I ended up using these the most in post game. Trying to beat most of the 4 and 5 star levels with these equipped gets real nerve wracking. I do wish each player can choose their own individual badges in local co-op, but I imagine that would be very difficult to implement.

The online and offline multiplayer is also handled very well. No online lag and and less possibility of griefing (which is something I was greatly frustrated with when playing multiplayer in other games)

Levels:

Levels are stellar and were all memorable in some way, mainly thanks to the Wonder flower effects. I do wish most of the gimmicks and enemies weren't one offs, but I bet they're fleshing them out in future games. The talking flowers weren't as annoying as people were thinking they were. They even got me laughing a few times.

Bosses:

Obviously having Jr. be all the palace bosses can get tiring, but I think they did a good job keeping things fresh with the Wonder Powers. None of them play the exact same. The new airship bosses are also very cool, though there's much less variation compared to Jr's fights.

One thing I do wish for is that things were consistent in terms of boss fighting. World 3 and World 5 don't have a palace or airship level, and therefore don't have a world boss so to speak.

Maybe before reaching the end of W3 and W5, after the trials are beaten, right before the final stage, that's when bosses interrupt (not sure how it would work in World 5 given its setting).

Visuals+Music:

The visuals are on point! One of the best looking Mario games I've played! And I love all the little details they added with enemies too. They didn't really have to, but the little touches in animations and the sound design made the characters seem more alive. I absolutely love the music and sounds too. I dunno if it was listening to the same old NSMB themes from the Wii Era for so long, but all the music of Wonder is stuff I wouldn't be sick of listening to for extended times.

[first-impressions-gaming]

Loot River

Developed & Published by straka.studio

Release Date 2022

Tested on Xbox Series X

MSRP 24,99 USD

Roguelite, a genre that bases itself on repetitive gameplay that becomes a fresh experience with each run. You die, you repeat, your goal is to be better than your last run, and as you go, you progress and you’ll reach the point where you can beat the game with enough effort. Personally, roguelite genre and souls-like games which are too hardcore are not my cup of tea, you can say that I cannot stand up a game which defeats me over and over again and I start at the very beginning with the hope of ‘let’s beat this game in this run once and for all’. Loot River has nice twist for it though, let’s get to it.

As a typical roguelit, Loot River does not attempt to invent the genre from scratch, you’ll see the usual suspects here: your character stats, the upgrade points as you level up, your gear (weapons and rings), modifiers, the map, merchants that you can purchase items and equipment from between runs.

One of the first things that I spotted on the screen as I started the game is the timer at bottom-right, this gave me the chills that there’ll be players trying to beat the run record all the time and competing for speedruns, I mean, there’s already a “leaderboard” at the main menu. 

I’d like to mention interactions between runs before I talk about the game, so between runs you can interact with a few NPCs, Soap is a self-described alchemist, to whom you can invest health points and receive the double amount after a successful run. Freya is a blacksmith-like fella, you can see your weapon unlock path and unlock weapons with earned “knowledge.” Hoby is a merchant who sells rings and weapons but his offers are too limited, you won’t find there diverse range of gear, compared to games such as Dead Cells.

Casual players may be put off with the difficulty and challenging enemies, that’s way the game offers “easy mode” which turns the game into more of a hack-n-slash type of one, this way enemies have less health and they deal significantly less damage to you. You may say “then what’s the point of being a roguelike game if I turn on easy mode?” Frankly, I’m not a hardcore gamer, meaning I don’t like my patience to be tested in a game I just would like to enjoy myself and enjoy the game itself without being frustrated with it. If going roguelite is your jam, then you won’t be enabling “easy mode” option and go with the default one. My point being, if Loot River didn’t have difficulty option and the game wouldn’t have grabbed me and most probably I would have quit it within half an hour. Providing an easier mode and making it accessible to non-hardcore audience is a smart choice. I, for one, love the environment layout and hack-n-slash quick combat. From this perspective, the players of this game will be divided, people who use the easy mode and those who don’t. A roguelite and a souls-like game lays the foundation in pushing the player to be better than their last run, you die and you try once again and you don’t stop until you overcome and defeat the boss or a certain level and you try to keep up with your gear and all the equipment combinations and whatnot. Loot River is much more friendly towards the player because you can pick up and get going much more easily even at your first run. And the other highlight is that each level lasts around ten to fifteen minutes depending on your movement speed etc, this makes the game more approachable to a vast player base, for example I wouldn’t like to commit half an hour or more to a game at one sitting if I’m looking for a quick game session, for instance I consider games like The Elden Ring, a hardcore soulslike, to be a game that needs to be played at least an hour in one session and not just pick up and pause after ten minutes. In today’s world our time is pressed even more, games which don’t require us to commit a long playtime at one sitting are preferred and Loot River is one of them.

Check out the movement in the clips below:

The game has a simple and easy-to-read UI:

This is the hub area:

Loot River presents unique movement mechanic that may seem too surface-level at first, yet it’s awesomely smooth and it offers a fresh combat experience thanks to it. The gameplay doesn’t pressure you to “git-gud”, it indirectly teaches you to get around the map more fluidly by getting used to moving blocks and traversing on them. Procedurally-generated maps work so well with the mechanic that, you’re approaching to enemies at your own pace, this gives you the choice to pick a more aggro or more strategic playstyle. 

[thegamecollection]

"MECH SOME NOISE FOR ARMORED CORE!"

Hello, TGCollectors! As you'll know from our social coverage we're currently in Cologne for 2023's edition of Gamescom! It's great to be back and as video game enthusiasts like yourselves, we appreciate how lucky we are to call this work!

Right, enough with the gratitude attitude and lets get down to business. Thanks to our friends at Bandai Namco we were yesterday able to jump the queues and get hands on with none other than this week's hottest launch - Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon!

FromSoftware's longstanding expertise in mech games with their signature action gameplay and unconditional LOVE for making players grind with everything they have for a victory, means that Armored Core VI should in theory be a huge hit... and after yesterday's experience we can say that the guesstimate was right! This heavy mech-al entry transitions incredibly from theory onto the screen and is as every bit as good as it seems! Let us tell you a little more about it.

Upon beginning the demo and before flying into the mission, I was first able to choose from one of three AC Data Names that offered a base level customisation for my mech. I went with '4LEGS' because why have 2 when you can have 4, right?! This badass looking machine boasted some serious artillery with rockets on each shoulder, which even in my fairly limited gameplay experience of FromSoftware titles, I knew I'd be needing...

Once this was done and I was ready to gun, my mission briefing gave an in-depth drop on the area I'd be tackling, the enemies I'd be hitting and the objectives I'd be seeking:

Client: Balam Industries.

Mission: Inspect Central Ice Field/infiltrate Grid 086

Combat Zone: Western Belius

Enemies: Outlaws known as 'Dosers' and arms dealers known as RaD.

Once I'd loaded up on knowledge and proceeded to blast off, I was introduced to my own alias, 'Raven', which was provided by my radio accomplice known as 'Ayre'. A voice over the airwaves that offered me help and motivation for the battles ahead. I asked our Bandai friend for more information on Ayre but he wasn't able to give much away without revealing more of the story - so that's something we'll need to find out more on as we play through post-launch!

Now for the controls. I'll happily tell you that taking my mech for a spin did not exactly come naturally to me and that I expected it to play differently in my head. This is NOT a criticism, this is a FromSoftware game. After getting my brain around the hovering, dashing, and relentless smashing into walls and steel girders like it was my first day on the job (it was), it kinda started to click.

Sadly it didn't click in time for me to take a proper pasting from enemies within a minute of take-off. Those rocket cannons I mentioned were called immediately to action but the only thing worse than my flying skills was my aim. It's a good job I had the game's medi-packs known as "repair kits" which could easily be utilised by pressing up on the pad to restore my health.

After clearing out the first waves of outlaws, I began to get a feel for the flight. I found myself gliding around from level to level, getting to grips and honestly just having fun with the process. Did my minor improvements with controls make things easier in battle? Nope. Those repair kits come and go fast!

Upon meeting the first mini boss called "Invincible" Rummy, my 4LEGS didn't really stand much of a chance. In fact my maiden death in Armored Core VI was a quick one (like the next 5 or 6 that followed in the demo) and was served cold. That grind we expect from FromSoftware reared its challenging head within minutes and I was NOT prepared. However, the feeling of beating this bugger a try or two later was one of accomplishment... Until of course I remembered that these mini-bosses are just an appetizer and the main course was en route. About that...

The boss in this demo begins taunting you early in your approach. "Cinder" Carla is the name and being a massive pain in the mech is her game. Each blast door I opened, every corner I turned, it all brought me closer to an inevitable and absolute hiding. She's an evil, gear grinding gauntlet from which there is no escape. Four attempts were made, four swift servings of death were my reward. I didn't give up, I simply ran out of time. Would I still be there trying to fly around and somehow cause an iota of damage right now if I could? YEP.

My time with Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon was brief, but you bet I'll be mechin' up for lost time when the game launches tomorrow 25th August!

This is your last chance to pre-order here! Secure before 2pm for same-day dispatch and earn an EXTRA £10 REWARDS at shipment!

Fly safe, Team. Not that it will help ya.

-Jack