Recent reviews by orels

I really enjoyed my time playing Pacific Drive.

It's a nice combination of Extraction elements (without the shooter part), roguelite, and narrative/visual approaches similar to something like Deathloop.

Finsihing the story and most other things ended up taking me around 30 hours which was, honestly, more than I expected.

I'd say, if you are into things like Stalker or Metro universe-wise and the idea of driving around on a customized station wagon with a bunch of areas to explore, anomalies to find, and upgrades to unlock sounds fun - you should pick it up!

I've seen people complain about the save system, but I feel like a lot of it comes down to the game not really communicating that you can quit mid-run and it will save everything up to the latest level entrance (which was addressed in a recent patch!), so you can spend a minute to run to the next level and be saved again. In my whole playtime, this was never really an issue, and I was able to play for 30 minutes and stop, but I felt like it was worth mentioning anyway.

Overall, really liked the game and I'm curious what the devs will do next!

Roboquest was a really unexpected discovery for me.
While I've seen the early trailers and it looked pretty interesting, I was almost expecting it to fall flat and be just "one more fps roguelike"

But the variety of classes and their respective skills, guns, perks and challenges have kept me going.
The progression system also felt very well integrated, helping you get closer and closer to the end each time.

I just beat the final boss 20 hours into the game, and there is still some things I want to try and explore, including all the little side-challenges.

The unique tracks per each area that ramp up as you get closer to the buss to culminate in an epic finale is also worth pointing out. Bought the soundtrack later too as a result, as I really didn't expect it to be as good as it was.

Overall - if you like fps roguelikes (roguelites?) this one is definitely worth checking out. Fun, fast-paced, with a good variety of things to try and builds to discover. Hope there will be DLCs or other updates, because I'd love to play more of this!

A gorgeous little game with a ton of attention to detail with all the animations and sounds. Super satisfying to play.

The puzzles do get pretty clever at times too, and I might even do another run just to find all the things.

Since there is no text of any kind - story is left to your own interpretation, which I didn't mind either

Not much else to add. A great little puzzle/adventure game, with awesome style and music

Deadlink was a bit of a surprise for me. Caught it in a random YouTube video, the gameplay looked fun but I didn't expect much.

7 hours in, and while it is definitely just a matter of time until i get my first "full" run, which seems like that will mark the end of the actual "content" of the game as far as new areas and bosses are concerned - there is still plenty of upgrades left and I barely played 2 of the 4 classes.

I think its a very strong roguelike, with pretty satisfying combat and challenging scenarios. And while individual classes can get a little same-y, since each one of them seems to have 1 or 2 core "busted" builds, it is still interesting enough for me to keep grinding runs to unlock all the upgrades.

Overall, I definitely recommend Deadlink if you're into games like that. Its snappy, high action, with some great mobility options and neat implants that help keeping the runs fresh every time.

Edited on July 3rd 2023.

Now that the rework update is out of open beta - I'm cautiously optimistic about the game. The update brought back much more interesting timed levels instead of just arenas, and added a much improved mapper with solid automap and manual mapping abilities. While the game isn't perfect and I hope more of the fun levels are going to be added and the music list expanded beyond what we have / the mapping community will start to thrive.

So while it still needs a lot of work, its already miles better than the initial launch. And if you like rhythm games, and especially if you enjoy mapping them yourself - you should probably check out GunJam

Original Review:

I haven't been so disappointed in a while. The demo for Gun Jam was a highlight of 2022 for me, but the full release just falls completely flat and its a shame.

The linear "checkpoint"-style levels with bespoke tracks tuned to the level timings (or so it felt anyways) got basically replaced by 3 arena-style levels that last way too long and just become boring. There is one checkpoint-style level left, but due to any song being playable on any level it doesnt have the tight feel of the demo anymore.

Another big thing is that it feels like the main tracks arent manually beatmapped anymore, the shots are way more sparse and they do not feel like they align with tracks too well, as if it is just auto-mapped the same way you can auto map your own tracks now (which is appreciated).

Its just such a letdown overall. The demo felt pretty tight in terms of rhythm, and the checkpoint style was the highlight, mixing fast navigation while shooting enemies to fit into every section on time, together with more open arenas that would come around during very fitting parts of the song.

The worst part is that you can see how it was in the 3rd steam trailer and judge for yourself.

The UI also somehow got a downgrade? While it can be treated as less intrusive - with everything glowing on screen - its harder to see now that numbers dont have a backdrop, and instead are just floating white text on the screen.

There are also bugs, or what feels like bugs anyways. You can clear arenas without killing all the enemies somehow? The boss healthbars do not update, enemies get stuck on things and you can't find them sometimes. Also the gun sounds feel way undertuned and hard to hear. And the icons for beat types (single hit vs hold) arent clear or explained. There is also no tutorial whatsoever, even tho the demo at least showed controls on screen and provided basic objectives to get you started.

TL;DR This release of gunjam feels very undercooked, and just plain worse than the beta. I don't think I'm going to be refunding because i played the beta so much I feel like I got my fun out of it, but I dont think I'm going to be playing the main game until major changes are made

Some of the best 20 hours I of playing a videogame I had this year.
Not sure what else to even add. If you like what you see on the trailers and screenshot - you should just get it and go on this adventure yourself.

I really wish there was more, but I'll treasure what I've got either way...

Neon White is definitely a highlight of the year for me. After a Demo that left me very excited about the gameplay, but a bit meh on the story - the final game turned out to be everything I hoped it would.

While the story is fairly simple, its satisfying to watch it unfold and open up dialogues and side missions with all the characters in the game.

And the gameplay is definitely a huge highlight for me. I do not remember the last time the movement in game felt so satisfying. The levels flow incredibly well, and mastering them feels like you're just following a perfectly orchestrated play.

There was also way more content than I expected. After beating the game - there is still plenty to strive for, and the game even offers a neat twist on all of the main levels in a form of an extra Level Rush mode.

If you like going fast through levels, listening to some nice music - then you should definitely check out Neon White.

This was pretty good. While I personally would like a bit less blur in some sequences, overall style was great, and the puzzles were a fair balance. Altho some of the things felt a bit too stretched, and the inventory management is a bit daunting too.

Overall - still a pretty nice experience for waht it is, and definitely exceeded my expectations. If you're looking or a fairly short escape room / puzzle story - Oneiros definitely delivers on the promise.

While the pacing of the intro is odd, and it is definitely way harder to run than you might imagine based on the visuals - Deathloop is definitely worth all the wait. Incredibly stylish locations, cool skills and perks to discover, captivating world with many secrets beyond the main storyline and a fairly intense and snappy gameplay.

I wasn't expecting to enjoy this game as much as I did, and I would recommend it to anyone who might enjoy a weird mix between Dishonored and Hitman.

Definitely a highlight of the past couple years

As good as it gets