Recent reviews by Chamix

Kinda crazy that JRPG's peaked in 1995. That's not an insult to JRPG's after 1995, but it is a testament to how peak this game is.

Out of 50 games, I know I want to Gold at least 35 of them. Every game is unique and well crafted. There is no shovelware in this collection. GG's

Stupid. Fun. Stupidly fun. Funnily stupid? SEVERELY underrated.

The other Kyle Thompson game in my library. Cute, silly, good music, master of game design and philosophy. GG

Kyle Thompson is becoming a notable name for me in the gaming industry. The two Kyle games I've played have been incredibly silly with a cute art style, but masterfully crafted in terms of game philosophy and gameplay. They don't introduce anything new to the genre(s) but they are refined to perfection. Also, the music is incredible as always.

In terms of story, I constantly asked myself what the point of this game was. It really did not add anything new. It felt like all of the weird stuff was just weird.

But in terms of gameplay, it was a massive step up. I may have thought the story was kinda pointless, but everything else was incredible. GG

Go into it blind. My piece of advice is don't look up the answers for anything until after you beat the game and get the true ending. Super stylistic and surprisingly dark. For a game that barely uses real words, it manages to convey what it needs to you. Some fights can be a lil janky but other than that, it's a masterpiece.

Super stylistic art style, cool dungeon-synth soundtrack, full game experience, bug free, and constantly updated. Not to mention this game is completely free. 60hrs for a free game like this is insane.

I'll always appreciate a good rpg that makes me pull out my notes. Good game!

I was in denial when the first trailer came out. "This looks way too good to be true." The graphics, the combat, the setting, the polish... I knew it was fake. It HAD to be. I mean, Game Science (Devs) is a Tencent owned company. Their track record is a failure of an mmo and a couple of mobile games... So please explain to me how they dropped the most polished Souls-Like I've played (and I've played a lot.)

Wow. I only just finished the second chapter and it's already so great. I will update this review if the rest of the game turns out to be less-than-stellar.

So quick summary;

PRO's: Insane polish, build variety, graphics, world-building, story presentation (a somewhat-better version of the FS storytelling approach,) characters, VOICE ACTING (S+,) MUSIC, combat, and bosses.

CON's:

Linear. It's pretty much a straight path. The level design itself is pretty good but it's nowhere near the level of expertise that we've seen in FS games. To be fair, the game isn't as structured towards the encounters in-between boss fights compared to a traditional souls-like or FS game. This has a bigger emphasis with bosses than standard enemy encounters. So, while the level design isn't comparable to a FS game, it works for this game.

What doesn't work is how cryptic some of the secrets in this game are. So, while presentation for story and quests is leagues better than a FS game, the secrets in this game are... rough. Luckily there's a journal that helps you track your progress, making it a good checklist before moving on to the next chapter, but some of the secrets are just so bizzare. On the bright side they are extremely rewarding. You'll almost always get an upgrade material or power boost from exploring/completing quests, but you'll see some really great content too.

Progression. A lot of skills in the skill tree are absolutely huge upgrades that you'll see affect your build almost immediately. Then there's the skills that are just "Increase health slightly, increase mana, etc." I'm sure this is great for min maxers but putting points into these skills early on is setting yourself up for failure (and I haven't even unlocked a respec yet.)

Conclusion: Yeah it's good. I wish we saw more games come out of _____. Or just art in general... *sigh* Well, we have this game at least, and sheesh is it good. It's also apparently pretty long. ~90 bosses or something.

Edit: There is a respec... You've been given access to it from the beginning of the game. So while the upgrades are still mostly unrewarding, there IS A RESPEC so it's okay to mess up. It's also free. The only "catch" is you have to be at a "bonfire" for it. That's it.

Peak