Recent reviews by Sharkpig

As a lover of Ender Lillies, I was super stoked to see Ender Magnolia pop up in the store.
True *chef's kiss* of a game here. Loved it from start to end.

For those questioning whether to buy the game, I would say it's a fantastic take on the Metroidvania-style genre. The jumping puzzles aren't quite as difficult and frustrating as you would see in say, Prince of Persia The Lost Crown... Which I consider to be a good thing in this case.

Combat is great, lots of ability customization and upgrade options, tons of equipment, different ways to approach combat...

You can even change the color of your cape!

Oh, and the music! Perfectly haunting where it needs to be in the creepy atmosphere, and weirdly catchy.

Definitely recommend this AND its' prequel, Ender Lillies

Ender Lilies holds its' own among a vast assortment of Metroidvania-style games.
It currently sits at an "Overwhelmingly Positive" review, and rightly so in my opinion.
The art style is beautiful.
The story is somber and complex.
The game-play is challenging, but also forgiving if you take the time to backtrack a bit and unlock secrets.
The music was so good and thematic, it instantly made its way onto my Spotify video game music playlist.

Overall, I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys Metroidvania style games.

Diablo with vampires meets Rust.

Base building with lots of cosmetic options is always a plus for me, and while the building system can take some getting used to, I think that this is more than a solid foundation for an early access game. There are tons of things to build and explore already, which is incredible considering some of the stuff we see in early access on Steam.

Combat is fun and fluid. You can use kiting tactics to take on larger groups or more difficult enemies on your own without the use of assistance from other players. As you kill difficult enemies, you unlock new skills and recipes to use (and there are quite a few of these). Your character's "level" is actually an item level. While you don't obtain experience when killing enemies, unlocking new recipes and equipping higher level gear will raise your item level.

There are bugs, of course. I'm running into issues with roofs actually blocking the sun (I'll be standing and crafting and just suddenly burst into flames indoors). My mates on the server I play on said it's a known issue, but I hope it's something that's high on their priority list to fix.

One specific mechanic that I want to call out for those who are considering buying this game.
Like Rust, you play on servers that can be either PvP or PvE. When you build your castle, you have what's called a Castle Heart, which you feed the blood of your enemies to fuel your crafting machines and maintain the overall integrity of your castle.
If you fail to feed your castle heart, it will begin to decay over time and your base will fall apart. Something to keep in mind for people who can't login every day and want to create a cool structure they can keep coming back to.
As you upgrade your castle heart, you are able to fit more fuel in the reserve which means you can go longer without worrying about your stuff decaying. At level 2, I can fill my castle heart and be good for five (real life) days without logging in to check on it and make sure the heart is fueled.

Overall, excellent value for the price ($20 in early access). Highly recommend it.

The fact that this game starts with a warning explaining that if it isn't installed on an SSD, you will experience frame rate latency and stuttering issues should tell you everything you need to know about the current state of Naraka.

Even just loading into the tutorial took me over fifteen minutes. Forget about loading into a proper game. I'm talking ten full minutes of stuttering, textures not loading, full stop lag, and unresponsive keys. And that is AFTER the game has already started in you're in a round. This game clearly isn't well optimized yet, from a networking standpoint and a technical standpoint. Which is a real shame, because it's a beautiful game with a very interesting concept and a fresh take on battle royale games.

I will be refunding this game and maybe picking it up later once they have worked out the major frame rate and latency issues.