Recent reviews by CalamityKitz

Fantastic game. Review has been changed to positive now that Sony has stopped with this ridiculous debacle. In fact, I'll even go further and write an actual review real quick.

It's a four-player cooperative shooter, though friendly fire is absolutely a thing and you will die at some point due to your team - this is intended because it's often hilarious. You will fight two enemy factions, Terminids (giant Starship Troopers-esque bugs) and Automatons (Terminator-esque robots). Missions drop the following:
- Requisition Slips (needed for buying Stratagems, which include things like calling down Orbital Strikes, dropping nukes on things, calling down heavy weapons, summoning mechs, etc.)
- Samples (needed for buying global upgrades for yourself and your team, these are shared equally across the entire team so don't flip out if someone steals "your" samples, they NEED to be evacuated under any circumstance)
- Super Credits (premium currency, drops freely on maps as a semi-uncommon drop). You can purchase SC using actual money, and it's in bundles that actually make sense. Example, a Premium Warbond costs $10, so you can purchase exactly $10 worth of SC.

Mission flow involves deciding where to land on a planet, choosing your loadout (one primary weapon, one secondary weapon, one grenade, and four stratagems), completing objectives, then getting the hell out bycalling in for an extraction and holding the position until your evac shuttle arrives.

You are squishy, and weak, and capable of breaking arms orr legs. You are not a superhero, you cannot tank lots of damage and you will die a lot. HOWEVER, your weapons are powerful as ♥♥♥♥, your stratagems make you feel like a god, and you will feel like a superhero with that sweet-ass cape that's aasigned to every Helldiver.

The fact that I'm writing this before work shows how much I enjoy this game, and how great Arrowhead as a dev has been overall. Definitely worth the money. Anyway, you're still reading this. Stop reading this, and go be democractic.

For an Early Access game, it's in a great state and certainly playable. Here are a few key points that stuck out for me:

1) Graphics: Great, the ghosts look sufficient creepy and the detail/textures are great. No real bugs from what I've seen, though the textures can infrequently look a bit fuzzy if you shine the light on them a certain way. Characters themselves look good, though I hope the devs adjust the first-person hands to reflect more feminine, differently-colored skin tones too. Understandable if that's lower on the priorities though.

2) Gameplay: I enjoy the gameplay loop - you isolate which room in the house is the "Ghost room" and then figure out which ghost it is using your tools (Demon, Yokai, Poltergeist, Revenant, Wraith, etc). A nifty checklist helps you narrow down your choices. Each time the ghost messes with you, you get a chance to uncover some evidence - though you also lose sanity. Lose enough sanity, and the ghost goes from Casper to Kreuger - you'll either have to outrun it, or become ghosty num-nums.
Once you correctly isolate which type of ghost it is, you can then complete optional side objectives for extra rewards. If you're feeling particularly ballsy, you can even try and exorcise the ghost. There are also hidden things that can sometimes be found, like Ouija boards and Tarot cards - along with secret rooms, too.
You can also buy equipment from the shop, too. Things like tripod video recorders, cameras, candles and crucifixes help make the job easier - though be warned, you'll lose them if you die. So, uh, don't die. Fortunately, there is a "permanent" set of tools that you can't lose, so you've always got what you need to get the job done. You also won't lose your clothes and cosmetics when you die (apparently they've got their own ethereal Hot Topic and don't need to Skyrim strip us, yay).

3) Audio: Ranges from dead silence to "Nopenopenopenope" real fast. Aka, the audio cues are great - you'll hear footsteps, creaking, whispering, spooky-pooky ambience, screams, etc. There is no music, so it keeps the game sufficiently atmospheric. Speaking of...

4) Atmosphere: This game is rich in the atmosphere and ambiance it sets. Right from the get-go, you know you're not supposed to be here, and the map feels oppressive, hostile in its every creak and groan. The game uses darkness and light to make rooms feel creepy, and oftentimes you'll be without light (remember your flashlight, it's the pipe-looking thing - don't go without it!). As the ghost starts to reveal itself more and more, you'll just, feel the dread. Again, no music - helps set the tone.

5) Customization/Progression: You can customize your character's gender, hair, skin tone, and clothes. Colors have a slider, which is really nice. Additionally, you can buy more clothes in the shop, as well as new safe houses, furniture, and even a kitty cat! I cannot confirm if you can pet the kitty (yet).

6) The Grind: Yes, the game is grindy. To level up, you need 100xp, and each successful identification nets you 20xp and 600 cash - I cannot provide info for secondary objectives or other maps, since I haven't done them yet. Tripod camera costs about 1500, if I remember correctly? So it does take time to get things. Also, the maps and difficulties are locked by level - Easy difficulty is forced on you until around lvl 5, if I remember correctly. The second map does not open up until lvl 3, and the third map is at lvl 10. You will be playing the abandoned house quite a bit.
All that being said, I've played it alone and with a friend, and it hasn't gotten old. Even though we know the layout of the house by now, things are randomized enough that we've yet to play the same mission twice. Plus, the game is scary as hell, and it adds to the fun. And for me personally, I like grind and progression.

7) Frustrations: At times, some evidence may be a bit slow to appear. The devs have stated that two particular tools, the ESG and Easel Canvas, will be receiving buffs soon. This is great news since they can sometimes sit there and do nothing (though moving them around does help).
It's also tough to understand at first. Phasmophobia veterans will feel more at home, but newer players (like me) will have NO clue what the items do or how to use them, or what the gameplay loop is even supposed to be until you try and fail a few times. For example, the Spirit Box *requires* a microphone to talk into it. I didn't figure that out at first, though the idea is really cool.
There's a very cool in-game guide in the main menu that helps explain what the tools are, though I feel it should be somewhere on the player's tablet for quick reference, too. The tablet's got its own guide though, and that one is pretty great.
Also, try to play with friends. While it's possible to play solo, having a second pair of hands makes things much easier. Plus, if the ghost is chasing you...just outrun your pal. It can only kill one of you at a time >:)

And that's it! I'm excited to see more of this game, and hope the devs can properly support it throughout its development cycle.

Consensus: FUN

As someone who kickstarted DFS, I have to admit that I'm impressed with the game so far. Considering this is Grimm Bros.' first game, it's a lot of fun and has a lot of charm packed into its story. It's got flaws (the UI, the crafting), but roguelike fans should still get a kick out of it.

PROS:
- Three game modes (Story, Survival, Endless Labyrinth)
- Two difficulties (Normal and Hardcore/Permadeath)
- Unlockable characters in Endless Labyrinth
- Controller support (and it feels great now, thanks to patch)
- Pets to collect, up to two in your party
- Crafting and fishing systems to play around with (fishing bug has been patched)
- The dungeon areas have a lot of little secrets
- Devs are listening, taking in feedback, and releasing patches to fix major issues

CONS:
- Crafting UI is awful.
- Menu system needs to be reworked
- Not enough information in battle
- Dungeons can feel "cluttered" and sometimes tricky to see/escape
- A lack of keybindings
- Storage space is small

SUBJECTIVE:
- The game can be difficult as hell (For me, a huge pro)
- The aesthetics (bright/vibrant colors!)

Having put some time into it, I can definitely recommend this to fans of the roguelike genre. The combat mixes in melee with ranged. Pets provides some tactical advantage since it allows for flanking/backstabbing, and they have leveling independent from your own. You've got a rage meter, magic spells, and a crafting system to play around with. Scattered throughout the dungeons themselves are traps, switches that benefit or harm, rare merchants that sell crazy stuff, switches that create surprises when hit in the right order, and more.

And now to clarify some of the cons.

Most of these are small gripes. Admittedly, a lack of keybindings does hurt the game, especially since you're forced to navigate the (rather simple) menu in order to access Inventory, Equipment, Magic, etc. Adding keys to individually open up these specific menus would be great, but it's a small issue since the menu is easy enough to navigate. Also, you DO have storage space - but it's not terribly large and you may run out of space fairly quickly. Fellow packrats, be warned.

The crafting UI, on the other hand, is just plain bad. Your learned complex recipes (gear and such) are on the left-hand side and this is fine. However, simpler recipes such as creating planks out of raw wood, or the number of zinc required to make an ingot, are absent. Either memorization or documentation is needed for these, unless I'm missing something obvious. Additionally, you can only craft one item at a time. When crafted, it's required to move the finished product out of the "completed" slot before crafting the next one. It's tedious as hell and really needs to be modified.

Additionally, the menu doesn't need an Inventory screen. It's redundant when compared to the Equipment screen. Combat, while a lot of fun, also just doesn't give you enough information on your enemies and pets. You can't check individual pet HP, you can't scroll through enemy HP to prioritize them (a problem when in a crowd, since it could be a bit tricky to make out which bar belongs to who). I'm still wrapping my head around terrain bonuses, which would have benefitted from some kind of mouse-over or something. In short, the UI needs love. Lots of it.

CLOSING:
Overall, I personally feel that the game feels FUN despite its flaws, although (once again) you need to be a fan of roguelikes. This game is *hard.* If you enjoyed Dungeons of Dredmor, Izuna, Shiren the Wanderer, etc. then there's a good chance you'll enjoy what's here.

That and the idea of Red Riding Hood traipsing through the woods, cheerfully murdering monsters is an idea that appeals to me.

As stated before, this is Grimm Bros.' first game. It's kinda rough, it's by no means perfect, but it's a solid title. I gave the devs my money and put my faith in them, and I've got faith that they'll keep updating/supporting this title by making it shine even more. Patches have already been shoved through the pipeline and they're checking their forums as well as Steam's.

Will update this review as necessary.

Edit: Added some details on the dungeon-crawling and removed the detail saying that DFS has farming. There is NO farming, I was writing this at 4am and had just finished a surreal dream about Kevin Costner. Also, my biggest cons have been patched, so huzzah! DEFINITELY recommend it now!

The Metroidvania game we've been waiting for.

Very fun brawler-style combat, lots of secrets to uncover, powerups are pretty awesome (wuzzup chi-cken how you doin), and the music/atmosphere is top-notch. Animation is gorgeous.

AND IT HAS LOCAL COOP. Shame about no online multi, but for a game like this, it would've been a bonus.

Besides the added content in the STCE, obtaining new powerups now boast 95% non-seizure-inducing backgrounds! This is a huge step up from the base game, since grabbing new powers meant a trip to the neurosurgeon!

Pollos/10, one of the best Metroidvanias in a long time.

My major beef with this game is the lack of online multiplayer. Yes there's local and sure it's still fun, but the lack of online functionality KILLS what would've been a definitive DW experience. Get this only if you're fine playing on your own or with local friends.

Also the button layout is wonky and you'll Cancel out of menus now and again, so be warned. Gorgeous game otherwise, mindless hack n' slash with (admittedly very light) strategic elements.

7/10, still recommend. Solid game.

If you enjoyed SimCity, you'll love the hell out of this. Also, Steam Workshop support for mods.

Only downside, no multiplayer.

YES/10

--How to Understand Endless Legend--
Take one each of the following:
- 1 Sid Meier's Civilization
- 1 RPG-like quest/gearing system for individual units
- 1 overworld map divided into regions, similar to the board game Risk
- 1 system of unique factions that function/play differently ala Warhammer 40k. Also Hero units with skill trees

Combine all four, stir lightly, serves up to eight players. The fact that Civ is fun but gets somewhat repetitive over longer games while THIS keeps my attention riveted until the very end should say something.

FOR THE EMPEROR/10

2D coop platformer, with many opportunities for shennanigans, lots of unlockables and weapons, and a good couple dozen levels. With a level editor! Combat is slightly ♥♥♥♥♥♥, though. Kitten/10