Recent reviews by Chaoss

At first, I hadn't really seen or heard anything about the game. I just happened to hear the name and how good it supposedly was, so without properly checking I booted it up... and got a pleasant surprise.
Nine Sols offers a challenging yet rewarding experience with its skill-based combat and atmospheric world design. While the exploration isn't as deep as titles like Hollow Knight, the game still rewards curiosity with meaningful collectables and hidden details. What makes exploration stand out is the attention to the background storytelling. Once you understand what a specific area was used for, you begin to notice small details that enrich the atmosphere.
The narrative is told mostly through conversations and collectables, which gradually reveal the lore of this strange and often unsettling world. Character development is a highlight, with strong relationship-building moments and interactions that can even be funny at times, balancing the otherwise grim tone.
Combat is tight and heavily focused on parrying, to the point where the game often feels like a 2D Sekiro. It's fair, though demanding, and keeps pushing you to improve your timing. The bosses are decent, if not particularly memorable. Many serve more as skill checks to reinforce newly learned mechanics rather than epic battles. That said, the final boss stands out as a truly intense and memorable fight.
Visually and thematically, Nine Sols strikes a balance between extremes. It mixes brutal gore and creepy imagery with surprisingly cute and beautiful moments, particularly when leaving the comfort of your home area to return to the cruel outside world. This contrast makes the journey more impactful.
The length feels just right, though the full price may be a bit steep. It's an excellent choice to pick up on a sale. On the technical side, performance is smooth, with rare bugs and responsive controls, making it feel smooth and enjoyable from start to finish.
Overall, Nine Sols is a strong entry in the Souls-like genre, especially for players who enjoy parry focused combat and atmospheric storytelling. While it may not reach the heights of the legendary titles in the genre, it delivers a challenging, well crafted adventure worth experiencing.

Masterful precision and brutal challenge. Not for the weak—don’t dare to hesitate.

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A perfect game to start a legendary trilogy. Don’t you dare go hollow... friend.

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An official game built around jolly cooperation—what more could you ask for?

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Tails of Iron is a very story-driven game with a simple but effective narrative. Throughout the game, the narrator is always explaining what’s happening, which gives it the feel of a book-like story while making the game more immersive. One of the cooler aspects of the game is that as you progress, the background of the areas change. The world around you evolves, with houses and paths being restored, which makes the journey feel more meaningful.
The combat is simple but not too easy. Fights are almost always planned, meaning enemies won’t just endlessly chase you if you run past them, if you’re even able to. However, while the combat starts off fun, it becomes repetitive over time, especially since many boss fights have almost identical movesets. The hitboxes can also feel unfair at times, which adds some frustration.
The game has a lot of "side quests", but they tend to be the same over and over again. They don’t feel very creative, making them more of a chore than something exciting. The overall structure is repetitive, with a lot of walking back and forth. That said, there’s a small twist towards the end of the game that adds some freshness to the experience.
It’s a short game, and while it’s not worth it at full price, it’s definitely worth picking up on sale. If you’re looking for a story-driven experience with solid combat, Tails of Iron is worth checking out!

The Last Hero of Nostalgaia caught my eye with its intriguing “pixelated” style and interesting concept, so I decided to give it a shot. It’s not a game I hear talked about much, so I wanted to try it out and share my experience.
The game is set in Nostalgaia, a world collapsing into pixelation as its heroes and memories fade away. The humour really stands out too. Plenty of witty dialogue and cheeky nods that made me chuckle. There are some familiar looking areas like the fire link shrine as a main hub, which I really enjoyed!
The world design is another strong point with limited fast travel, you’re forced to pay attention to the layout and interconnectedness of the areas, which I really liked. It makes exploration feel meaningful, having to remember places, unlocking shortcuts and not mindlessly teleporting from point A to B. That said, the game is riddled with glitches. I’m still not sure if they’re intentional or not, but sometimes they worked to the game’s quirky charm… other times they were just frustrating.
Unfortunately, the combat left a lot to be desired. It doesn’t feel smooth or satisfying. Same goes for the bosses-kind of a letdown-too easy and lacking the punch you’d expect from a “Souls-like”. The storytelling takes a major turn at one point and I have to admit it caught me off guard in a good way. It's an interesting twist that adds depth to the narrative.
As for the price? I’d say wait for a sale. While the game has its moments and offers a unique experience, it doesn’t feel worth the full price given its shortcomings. If you’re looking for something humorous and a little offbeat, it’s definitely worth checking out.

The Last Faith brings a great experience to the 2D Souls-like genre, blending gothic aesthetics with punishing gameplay.
The game's visuals are nothing short of stunning, with beautifully detailed environments in a dark, atmospheric style. The music also underlines the game's atmosphere with a fitting soundtrack in most areas, adding layers of melancholy to further enhance the overall experience. The story is good and fits perfectly into the dark-themed world of The Last Faith.
However, the game's map system leaves much to be desired. It could really use some quality-of-life improvements, like better controls and making it clearer overall. Over time, you do get used to it, but it could be more user-friendly from the start. Most of the enemies look amazing and have interesting movesets. Unfortunately, there are some areas that are just bombarded with enemies, which disrupts the pacing and makes exploration feel more overwhelming than rewarding. Aside from the sometimes unclear progression where you're supposed to go next, there is an abundance of hidden walls and secret paths, which can make you feel like you're missing out on something important. While this adds to the game's mystique, it can also create frustration for players who aren't keen on hitting every wall as they explore.
Despite these drawbacks, The Last Faith offers a visually impressive, challenging, and fun experience that will appeal to fans of the genre. It's definitely worth checking out if you're interested in a beautifully crafted 2D adventure!

Blasphemous 2, the sequel to the amazing game Blasphemous, takes place in the dark and brutal world of Cvstodia. The game has significantly advanced and refined many aspects from the first game. Blasphemous 2 excels in storytelling, plunging players into a grim and dark setting. The narrative is compelling, giving the players a clear purpose and goal as they explore the tortured landscapes. The world-building is amazing, adding new areas as you progress where you least expect it, perfectly balancing the brutal nature of the game.

The combat system in the game has significantly improved. While the original only featured one weapon, the sequel introduces three weapons: Veredicto, Sarmiento and Centella, and Ruego Al Alba, each with unique abilities and their skill trees, adding depth and variety to the combat experience. As you traverse the world, you need to use the different weapons, which makes exploring very fun, keeping the gameplay fresh and engaging. Due to that, you get to adjust the weapon best suited for your playstyle. The game adds many new enemies, but also a lot that we already know from the first game, which is fine. Sadly, there aren't that many unique execute animations, which is unfortunate because they were insanely satisfying. The game strikes a perfect balance in difficulty. It's challenging but fair. You can't really get too strong, even after exploring a lot, so no worries on that topic. What was really annoying were the dialogues or the wait times every time you enter a boss room, but the runs were very short, so it's fine.

The graphics are just as amazing as in the first game. Beautifully crafted, disturbing, and realistic, capturing the brutality without holding back. The soundtrack is very nice but not too special. No bugs encountered, and hitboxes seem fair.

Overall, the game is a fantastic sequel that builds on the foundation of its predecessor. With improved combat, stunning visuals, and much more, the game enhances a lot that made the first game great. I can highly recommend this game! Pricing could've been a bit lower, but it's fine. It's a must-buy on sales!

Blasphemous review: [https://v1.steam.hlxgame.cc/id/Chaosskiller/recommended/774361/]

Salt and Sanctuary is a gem for Souls-like fans, offering a dark and immersive experience that hooks the players from start to finish. I was pleasantly surprised by the game's atmosphere. The game does not visually hold back, from splashing the background with blood to the disturbing bosses. The bosses are often unexpected and are rather easy, due to the simplicity of the combat. The leveling and progression system is flexible, allowing you to customize your character to suit your preferred playstyle. While the gameplay may seem straightforward at first glance, it quickly reveals its depth and interconnectedness of the world. Suddenly you start to recognize areas again and unlock shortcuts. The game could really need navigational tools though. While the interconnected world is a joy to explore, the lack of an in-game map can make orientating a daunting task. While online maps are available, they often contain spoilers and ruin the joy of discovery and exploration.
Despite the simplicity of the combat and the map issue, the game is amazing, and I can highly recommend trying it out yourself.

Lords of the Fallen stands out as a solid Souls-like game, heavily inspired by the original Dark Souls. The game has stunning graphics and an immersive atmosphere, though the optimization issues initially hindered mine, and the experience of many other players. Recent patches have addressed these concerns, making the game more accessible to their audience.
The exploration and gameplay mechanics are satisfying and enjoyable. However, the bosses often disappoint, lacking the complexity and excitement expected in such encounters. The very first boss still almost feels like the best one, throughout the entire game, which should not be the case. You would expect more from a game, that is heavily inspired by the Dark Souls franchise, since it’s a crucial point, and should be something to look forward to.
Despite this, the game introduces a unique mechanic with its Umbral world concept. The ability to transition between realms adds depth to exploration and introduces new challenges. The Umbral lamp mechanic allows players to manipulate the environment and find more ways to explore. One can either choose to enter the Umbral world by will, or will be dragged into it after death, and therefore will be granted a second chance. While in Umbral the world not only changes appearance, but there will also be new and more enemies, which become aggressive the longer you stay in Umbral. I think it makes the exploration unique, although it makes you feel like you’re missing out on items whilst you are not in the Umbral world. You even have the possibility to place your own safety points with so-called “vestige seeds”, which can make boss runs very accessible and exploration way easier if needed.
Unfortunately, the multiplayer aspect of the game isn’t really the most pleasant thing about the game. While the option to engage in multiplayer activities is easily available, there are quite some issues with the matchmaking, but more so the players. Even after waiting for a very long time, I have not managed to join any other player and help them out in their world, and that one time I did, I got disconnected. Invasions are even worse, most players either disconnect shortly before dying to deny you any rewards, or disconnect as soon as you invade, it goes for both sides. For the co-op, I have to admit that the game does a really good job. It never disconnects a player from the host, even after defeating a boss, you even have the possibilty to rest at a verstige. You could basically play through the entire game as co-op in one run, which I think is very cool.
Despite all of this, Lords of the Fallen stands as a worthy entry to the Souls-like genre. Although the bosses aren’t the most notable thing about the game, it’s still a worthy recommendation for players that seek a dark and challenging adventure.