Recent reviews by Seth

It's a maybe that I chose to give a yes to, but as it stands it's completely understandable if you pass on this for now.

Descenders Next is the new game in the now-a-series Descenders franchise, and it should be pointed : it is technically not a sequel. It's a different take on the same formula, which is to choose a node, ride through a procedurally generated slide, and try to reach the finish line without wrapping yourself around a tree, a rock, or that one hill you landed on weird. Each wipeout removes one life (or several in the original if your crash is particularly nasty, not here), each completed bonus objective gives you one.

However, Next does this very differently : for starters, instead of having a roguelike-style campaign with progression, limited time to reach the end before night falls off and complicate things, and having a Boss Fight against a special jump at the end, Next forgoes all of that and presents a full map of the mountain range you're in. Then you go through as many nodes as you want before reaching a vista -typically a permanent, hand-made, racetrack or slopestyle - to "Bank" everything you earned in money and experience during your run. No boss fight, no long progression, here you can make it as long or as short as you want it to be, so long as you can reach a vista.

It doesn't have that satisfying climax against a really hard jump, but it's also a lot more chill. Again, same formula, different take.

The other major difference is, obviously, your vehicle. No bikes here, you get boards : snowboards or mountainboards. While the dual stick control scheme is about the same, there are obviously major differences between bikes and boards, starting with the biggest one :

There are no brakes on that thing.

Which means that it's quite easy to go very, VERY, VERY fast.

And eat that one tree while you're at it.

There's no better or worse options : it's just different.

The one drawback from the original Descenders outside of custom support is that multiplayer is a lot more barebones; you can't really do a campaign with friends here, you just ride with them on your own game. If you want co-op, the first one is still better for now.


Basically, treat it not as a sequel, but as a companion game to the first one. It does things differently, and that's okay.
For the rest of it, it's what Early Access is for, and RageSquid's track record on that is still very good.

While I fully recommend the original Descenders, that one depends on how you feel about its position as a companion game.
I'm good with it, but not everyone will.

About 2 hours in, and so far it is a "Yes, BUT".
The previous game in the series, Fights in Tight Spaces, was one of my comfort games, and at its core it is the same base concept - a deckbuilding roguelike with an emphasis on positioning, redirection, and punching people in the face - now with the added bonus of being able to slash instead. However, it is a different, medieval-fantasy-based take on the previous game

For every step forward, there is another step back.
The minimalist and slick style of FiTS was exchanged for a more detailed medieval world. In a vacuum, that part is purely down to personal preference.

The UI has also been changed and reorganized. Your resources - Momentum, Combos and the turn number - are still the same old, BUT they are positionned differently on the HUD. That one is for the most part a change of habit.

Hoooowever, all of this sometimes gets in the way of playability. The more detailed environment, the new UI placement, and sometimes even your hand of cards gets in the way of displaying certain enemies' stats if they're positionned a certain way (like, you know, THEIR HPs, which you KINDA need for obvious reasons), and require moving the camera around to actually see the bloody things. It happens irritatingly often, and the first game had nowhere near that amount of problems with that.

In the same way, what counts and doesn't count as a Kill Zone where you can ring out an enemy (and vice-versa) tend to be a lot less clear than in FiTS. You do have an option to display them, thankfully, but in fringe cases it feels less natural.

The other new mechanic, and the major difference in between FiTS and KiTS, is also the possibility to recruit other characters and fight as a party instead of a solo character. Now this system IS good, HOWEVER, it is also incredibly unweildy and clunky to use. You can't see your hand clearly as long as you don't have a character selected, and there is no keybind to switch around who you're playing, so you have to do this by hand _every time_, which gets annoying when the character selection is crammed in a side of the screen away from everything else. You can also click on the character themself, but the color code sometimes gets in the way too.
It's also surprisingly easy to think you've switched characters, only to realize that you popped a buff on the wrong character, or moved the wrong one... And in this game, a blunder like this means you're eating a lot of ♥♥♥♥ in the next turn.
Keybinds to switch around easier and a clearer indicator of who you're playing as at a moment's notice would gain a lot on that front.

Sound design is also all over the place. Some moves are fine, some others are either lacking a lot of punch, don't have the flow of FiTS's counterparts, and others again are completely borked, the Fireball being a prime criminal here.

Final default : it gets some time into a run - past the prologue - to be able to recruit your team.


So for now I've been pretty negative. And for my first hour, I've been skeptical. It was missing that... spark.

But everything clicked and expanded massively once the Party mechanic mentioned earlier comes into play.
The aforementioned clunkiness is still a thing and still need to be fixed, however, when you have a 3-men squad, your power level, duties, and tactical options are _massively_ expanded.

You play all your characters on your turn : they all share the same hand, the same Momentum, and the same Combo meter.
But, you do get an additional Momentum by party member, and a MASSIVELY expanded deck and hand when teammates are in play. So, although you do have 3 characters to protect and pay attention to, right off the bat, your ways of dealing with the presented situation are a lot more potent and consistent than in solo play.
Your characters also combo with each other, and will get a free attack of opportunity every time you trigger their conditions for it after one of your action. Kicking an enemy only for him to get nailed by your Rogue's ranged attack and then absolutely crused by your fighter's ♥♥♥♥-off axe is a special kind of satisfying.

Classes also play differently. For the time being, I tested the Brawler and the Warrior.
A FiTS veteran will feel right at home with the Brawler, because you're playing basically like Balanced Agent 11 back in the day. As the warrior, you do have to interact with the equiment mechanic, but the results are well worth it with either damage or utility up the wazoo, depending on your weapon.
Some cards are unaccessible to some classes. The good ol' Head Smash requires an Unarmed character, so Fighters and Rogues can't use those, but the Brawler can and will.

Oh, and the soundtrack is legendary, as always with nervous_testpilot.



All in all, Knights in Tight Spaces definitely need some polish in quite a few aspects.
However, the core gameplay and the novelties added by the new setting are making this one just as much of a potential hit as its prequel.
As soon as Ground Shatter fixes the clunkiness and passes some polish, it will become a worthy successor to Fights in Tight Spaces... Without necessarily replacing it. In my opinion, it's the best of both worlds.

Surprisingly tight for an Early Access title. The EA is quite advanced, and while there is still ways to go and zones to be discovered, it feels more like an early peek or a very extensive demo than an unfinished game - and I mean that as a compliment.
There is already quite a lot to do, it's "just" that the game doesn't have a couple of acts or an ending as of now. But don't let that discourage you, it's already quite lenghty, with that whole "one more run" thing going on, and an already satisfying gameplay loop.

Game is also fluid as hell, too - I have a good rig, and I'm pumping out 100+ FPS with everything on High without stress. One freeze that forced an exit to report, but that's really it. It terms of EA, it's one of the most polished I've seen on this platform so far.

The one default I have to deplore is the balancing being a bit weird on the player's side. Every weapon is weak to start with, and that's the vision for it : you have to work with it a bit to unlock its inner potential, and that's where they all differentiate from each other and shine brightly once you get the hang of their unique mechanics.
But as of now, I feel that not all weapons are created equal : a couple feel far too restrictive (be it in terms of damage output, versatility, or a falloff range that is way too short), or demand too much consistency from the player to get the most out of them... and more often than not, "the most" is not enough. That is compared to other weapons that are a lot more versatile, all-around useful, and a lot easier to use at their full potential / far less punishing if there's a miss.

But honestly, for the major part of it, it's fine. I dig the system. I don't like every weapon, but I don't have to. Even with the admittedly restrictive number of weapons in play, there's already a lot of fun things to play with and get good with.

The game is hard and will kick your ass every once in a while. It's not a downside, just a warning.

And another point of note : I LOVE the universe and the lore. It's gritty dark fantasy delivered through notes and ingame hints, but what's there is really cool. There's also a lot of gameplay & story integration : every time you level up, the witch you're hunting feels it too and reorganizes her defenses, which means every event/encounter position on the map is rerolled. Every time you fulfill a Gnosis, you get stronger with more options offered to you... And the witch feels THAT too, so she goes harder in trying to stop you, and the difficulty goes up. And so on. It's tight and I love it.

Hard recommend for me.

Y'know what ? Considering everything, it's not bad.
It's definitely a lower budget game that somehow got a lot of famous people involved for the voice acting, but for 16 bucks a pop with all released DLCs at launch, I've definitely known a lot worse and I have fun with it. A almost-3 hour session on my first outing is a rare thing for me.

Now, there are negatives.
Performance is dodgy still, I'm not getting under 60 FPS but with a 4070 and 32 gigs of RAM I'd certainly hope so.
The AI, both enemies and allies, also need work. Sometimes the companions get stuck in a loop of wanting to loot stuff, and... I don't know, make a weird mating dance ?
And it's still missing a couple of QoL, notably being able to assign which teammate loots what. For now the game automatize everything and sometimes it messes up.
Also, got bugs. I got a duo of gangers being stuck at spawn during a Defense Mission, and I had to wait for the time out for it to unstick itself (I was playing defense at the time, so fortunately it ended up as a win for me).

But on the whole, I like it.
It is a new take on the genre, that takes a lot from the old (read : PAYDAY 2) and makes something new with it.

For a start, the SOLO mode is the main attraction. It is a roguelite style mode : you got an entire city to conquer, under a strict timer before Sheriff Chuck Norris busts your ass.
Both your soldiers (faceless mooks you deploy en masse for turf control, you get to play as one yourself) and team members (your ACTUAL crew members for heists) are on Permadeath mode : if you lose any of them, they're not coming back for that playthrough. Soldiers are replaceable... But your crew ? Yeah, no, you'll have to make do without them.
There's a lot of lower-scale skirmishes and jobs to deal with. If you want the bigger heists, you'll have to work a bit for them... But the payload is worth it.
At the start, you're limited : both your soldiers and crew members can only do one activity each for the day, so you do have to measure up what you're wanting to risk at any given day. Maybe going with a lesser crew size to be able to do 2 jobs in one day is worth it ? But it comes at greater risk... So there's some nuance to all of this.
One way to get around this is to get the Boss himself in play, but if he gets killed... It's Game Over. Again, risk and reward.
A lot of progression carries on from playthrough to playthrough. It is a roguelite mode after all.

One thing I really like is how solo-friendly the game is. AI hiccups aside, there are a lot of QoL built in : you can order your AI companions to take care of a guard or to loot for you, and they'll get to bagging stuff and making their way back to the escape vehicle on their own. You can also take over and switch to another member yourself if need be. There are a couple of archetypes to play with, so it may be worth it to switch to a more adapted member for the situation.
It's far from perfect, you're still missing some control over them and the AI has this tendancy to ♥♥♥♥ itself, but it's a welcome addition regardless.

Also, the music is serviceable.
The story and voice acting are on that... "So bad it's good" vibe. There are some characters I actually find charming, so it works ?

All in all, Crime Boss has a lot of potential with time, in a specific time and genre where all of their competition... All one of them... shat the bed something fierce. With time and fixes, it could be something even greater.
And hey, it's a low budget game. So why not ?

I've seen a couple of reviews mention this, and as you can tell from my title, it is very much true. Heading Out doesn't present itself accurately on its front page : while the trailers make it look like a rogue-like racing game with narrative elements, what you get is actually the inverse : a narrative game with racing game elements. You wake up at the wheel, your fears are chasing you : Drive like hell, don't stop.
What you will do most of the time is look at your point slowly moving onto a map, and answering choices or listening to the radio while on the road, going to your destination. Getting faster will cost you, literally : you CAN speed up to get by faster, but you'll guzzle more gas, which will cut into your money a tad more than expected. You also take more risks if a cop speeds by.

You only actively take the wheel if something requiring it happens, and you only get control for the time of a song and a radio break - and I ALSO mean that literally. The song length is actually your timer for the driving sections, and you'll get a narrative part on the radio where you still get to drive, but all tension is off. Just... drive and listen.

Also three things of note :
- The rogue-like part game is there, but it's truly not the focus. Events and races are randomized, sure, but you don't get like different builds or upgrades or stuff like that. You're as strong as you start as you will be later in a run. A successful run will get you to the following Act, with more distance to cover, some more dangers, and some more events.
- A lot of resources management. You need money to buy gaz and stuff like that, you need to outrun your Fear encroaching on the world map so time is a factor, you need to actually sleep every once in a while to regenerate your Focus... And you can buy some items for future needs. It is possible to caffeine and drug your way to staying awake.
- The game is... not hard by any metrics. I am playing in Balanced - the "Medium" difficulty - and considering pumping it up for my next run. There are a LOT of fail-safes in play. You get 5 Respawns per race if you wrap up around another car. Despite a Car Condition gauge, you can take an incredible amount of punishment without losing much. Getting intercepted by the police launches you into a Chase. Letting your Fears catch up to you "just" puts you into a Fear Race to escape. You need to actually lose those to fail your run, and... Well, even with the constant pressure, I find that the game is more than generous when it comes down to it.
Does a great deal to keep the tension up, but nothing else when it comes the time to actually strike. Like a movie monster turning into a wet fart.

So yeah. The game is not really what you can think it is.

Is it bad ?

Absolutely not.

The story is interesting and intriging enough to follow around, wanting you to get to the next Act. The stories you get on the road are a neat picture of the world, and as your place as a runaway drifter - you're involved into the lives of these people just long enough to make an impact. The presentation is phenomenal. The voice acting and narration are really good. And the music, considering it's central part as a timer in gameplay, also does a good job of setting up an ambiance and pumping you up.

And most of all, there's nothing quite like it out there. It is very unique in what it tries to achieve.

If you know what you're getting into, that's a Recommend from me.

EDIT (06/05/2024) : As of today, Sony announced the PSN measure will be walked back. No more mandatory account.
There's still stuff to be done in regards to the country restrictions however, but I reckon it will be done a bit later today.

For now I'm walking back my review and switching it over to a positive one - the game is more than worth it.
But I'll be watching to flip the switch again if Sony does a funny.

----- ORIGINAL NOTE (for archives) -----

I'm doing my part.

Not playing much these days, but still. The game itself is incredible.
Corporate greed on Sony's end means that soon, you won't be able to play without PSN accounts.
Already annoying on its own, and borderline dangerous considering Sony's less-than-stellar track record when it comes to cyber-security, but it also means a LOT of players around the globe won't have access to the game anymore for a number of reasons.

I'm not directly implicated in this, I did already linked my own account, but it costs nothing to take a stand here aside from writing these few lines.

Don't buy it, and make your opinion known. Do it for the other Divers.

After playing on and off since release and coming back for the last update, I'm going to say this :

Darktide finally became a real little boy.

It took damn long for it too, but now, I actually have no qualms recommanding the game. While it's still not perfect by any stretch (you can still cross this game off if you intend on playing solo or never going with randoms, because that ain't going to happen anytime soon), it's going along quite nicely, and that last update is the latest enhancement to a series of changes and updates that finally cemented DT as a game that can stand on its own merits instead of just being a weird off-shoot of Vermintide.

Purely on the gameplay side, the game did not fundamentally change. This is not a bad thing, because the actual gameplay has always been the best part of the game.
Everything else has been refined during the last year to get into a condition that can enhance said gameplay.
You're no longer depending entirely on RNG for your gear : it's still there, but supplements have been added to work around or alongside it if you have the resources to spare.
Level 30 characters do have a purpose : they can nicely get resources up for your other operatives, since all currencies are shared between all your characters now. Auric Missions works as Endgame-style content for fully levelled, fully kitted-out operatives too.

And of course, the last update with the class overhaul is a game changer in and off itself. Two characters from the same class can have vastly different abilities and focuses. More variety to play and theorycraft with.

There's still no real stories to speak of, but there's been additional cutscenes added to explain what each vendor does, and adds up nicely to this grimdark world.

Now the fundations are there.
And, aside from brainfarts coming from FatShark, the future is looking bright (ironically) for this dark and dangerous world.

EDIT (5/04/2024) : Nevermind, I'm done. We're more than 6 months in and they missed the mark by a mile.
Great gunplay and music can not save faulty foundations nor baffling decisions at a core level.

Even to this day, there are still basic QoL missing. We're talking functions like being able to un-ready yourself, talk to people, and change your loadout once you're in a lobby. To say nothing of being able to play offline when solo... But good news ! It's coming up soon in an update ! .....It shouldn't be hyped as an update. It should already be in there. And if it requires that much work to get it in there, it means the foundations are faulty as hell, which still doesn't make any sense when you consider that the direct predecessor had all of that already, and from the start.

In the same way, whatever changes they've made honestly feel more like band-aids than anything else. That very much includes the EXP update. Maybe waiting for a bigger patch ? I'm not waiting my breath for that one.

And the more I think about it, the more I see faults with the gameplay at a fundamental level... Payday 3 wants you to face tankier enemies, wants you to be careful with your ammo, wants to make the Specials like bosses in their own right.
There's nothing wrong with all of that.
But there IS something wrong with doing that and expecting players to face the same number of enemies than in the previous game. Especially when your ammo is slashed in half at the start of a run.

And now the double kicker... Servers took an abysmally long time to get fixed. We're talking between 2 weeks and a month, IIRC. I get it, ♥♥♥♥ happens.
But then Helldivers 2 came in with the exact same problem, and fixed it (for the most part) in less than a week, while keeping players in the clear. And that game has a legitimate reason to be Always Online, so.... What's the excuse there ?

Oh, and I STILL get about a minute of waiting time in solo play, plus a time limit on how long I can spend on the lobby before a force-start. The server charge DEFINITELY isn't the problem anymore, so again, no excuses there.

.... And yeah, they put up a 20-bucks DLC pack that just feels like a slap in the face. I don't want a DLC, I want my money's worth.



Maybe they can salvage the game.

Maybe.

But as it is, I'm done trying with that one.

------------ ORIGINAL REVIEW (23/09/2023)

I really don't enjoy writing this, but at this point, might as well do it and hope someone takes the good lessons out of that.


You know... I like Overkill, I really do. To me they feel like a bunch of people with great ideas that know how to make a game, but they get bungled up in the most stupid stuff that drags everything down.
Through highs and lows, through scandals and successes, the Payday franchise is still going strong, and Overkill makes it work... Sometimes, despite their best efforts. No, I haven't forgotten about Raid or Walking Dead.


Look, let's get this out of the way.
The "game" part of Payday 3 is actually really enjoyable, and different enough from the two previous games to actually justify the number increase.

Stealth has been completely reworked and feels nice to do, with skill checks for lockpicking, way less "all or nothing" mechanics, and while it's still possible to get a ♥♥♥♥-up cascade, it just feels better compared to its predecessor. Pseudo-stealth is also a thing that exists again, where you get yourself nicely into position before going loud.
The loud part of the game is just as satisfying. Popping helmets is still as fun as ever, and the guns have a great feel to them. But, there's also been a complete shake-up in how you actually play. The most significant part is armor : gone is its Halo-style regeneration. You only get a partial refill if that, because it can also break down completely, and filling it up again is as big a commitment as a Medic Bag. This alone changes your approach of the game completely, but it's not the only difference : you also start at about 50% resources, and ammo management is a big deal. On the upside, there's a lot less waiting around for the drills or maintaining F on stuff, you spend most of your time actually doing things or shooting things.
As for the enemies, they're more deadly than ever : everyone has new strengths and weaknesses. The Bulldozer is a bloody monster, and the most dangerous it's ever been.

More tactical, more lethal, less waiting around, less wacky builds. That should sum it up.

So the gameplay itself is good, but unfortunately...
Payday 3 is completely bogged down by really weird design choices, lack of Quality of Life that were already resolved in the last game (especially regarding bots and lobbies), and shortsightedness that stopped being weirdly endearing long ago at this point.

Quick aside : The content or potential lack thereof is not the issue here. Of course Payday 2 has a lot more content to its name than its successor, but then again PD2 also started on the shorter side, and had 10 years to get where it is now. If anything, what little I've gotten yet is serviceable, bigger in scope than Payday 2's starting heists.

But EVERYTHING ELSE that is not inside a heist... From the menu UI, to the servers, to the progression system, to the mandatory 3rd party account to even play the thing... Everything else is jacked.


Let's get the servers out first.
So there is no offline, and there is no P2P. EVERYTHING depends on servers and matchmaking.
Even solo with bots.
If the servers go under for any reason... You cannot play. Even on your own. And it seems there was no precautions on Overkill's side outside of "They won't crash". Whaddyaknow, launch day comes around, the servers are under.
Outside of the whole week-one-usual-server-issues we are now accustomed to, on a more fundamental level, having to matchmake for a solo game with bots just doesn't feel good. Neither is the fact that if/when the servers close out for good, the game is basically unplayable. Or having timers everywhere, or being unable to access/purchase stuff once you're in the prep phase.

Progression is entirely dependant on challenges. You DO NOT level up by doing heists. You level up by completing challenges. Again, this doesn't feel good, and Halo Infinite is a perfect example on how a battle pass with only this kind of progression is horrible, NEVERMIND YOUR ACTUAL LEVEL.

And the UI is... a mess of bindings and menus and all of that stuff. Again, Payday 2's were serviceable enough for that, why the backtracking ?

So... yeah. As much as I like the gameplay...

Only two hours in for now, and not that far into the game as of yet (pretty much all of my runs have been stopped dead in their tracks by the first Trial of Valor. One would say I should leave it until I am more experienced in the game. One would also say I am a stubborn person.), but it definitely has qualities readily apparent right from the start.

The combat system is incredibly fluid and a blast to play with. You have three options readily available : Attack, Bash (also doubles as a Dash of sorts), or Kick. They all chain into each other, and chaining them into a specific order triggers a Combo. So Kick >> Attack = Thrust, or Bash >> Attack = Power Attack (also available by charging Left click, but you can guess doing the combo is faster and more damaging). You unlock other abilities, and Combo chains, as you progress into the game.
Aside from using the Bash more defensively, a Parry is the backbone of your defensive abilities. Some spells also help on that front. Of note, you can not jump.

Mortal Sin also keeps the loot and build system simple. Every item you find has a level, associated stats, sometimes a funky effect, and that's it. Nothing too grounbreaking there, but it doesn't need to, and the effects are fun (turning your basic kicks into a roundhouse is still funny to me).
You also find red and blue orbs all around, which fuel your HP Potions and Repair Potions respectively. Although the game is somewhat gentle at the start, you will get wrecked quickly if you're sloppy, so proceed with caution.

Progression is on a "milestone" system : the first time you clear a certain level, the game gives you the unlock associated with it right away. It does encourage you to go for other routes on a new playthrough to unlock everything. On death, the XP accumulated can also unlock a new class, with their own strengths and weaknesses.

Honestly, the package feels super complete for an Early Access Game already.

I just have a couple of cons to report :

-Some weapon types just... don't play with the strengths of the melee combat system. Spears basically have a normal attack and a thrust doubling as Power Attack. No charging up, no special effects, no other moves, nothing. Same with the magical maces and other spell tools : they're just doing one thing, which honestly makes them feel sorely lacking compared to the weapons making full use of the system. At least it's the case at base level : I'll update ya if I'm wrong after some more prog.

-There are instakills. Getting impaled by a spike trap or falling into the abyss just end your playthrough instantly.
Now, to be fair, the first one is incredibly obvious and telegraphed, and the second one only occurs in bonus areas you don't need to get into. And it is normal to get punished on such missteps. But I'll admit it's the only kind of deaths that I find really frustrating. Considering the roguelike nature of this game, I'm not sure an instant kill is a good thing, especially when the combat itself can get punishing. If at all possible, I'd settle for a hefty cost in HP, but not instantly killing you. It's not a dealbreaker by any means tho, really.

(EDIT : As of me updating this review, the instakill pit has been removed from the game entirely.

All in all, a solid pick and a gem with maaaybe some need of polishing, but a really good start for an Early Access title. Recommended.

tl:dr; Go into this one blind. It's short with about one hour of playtime, but it is SO worth it. The games mechanics changes from stage to stage, leaving you partially blind the first time around until you get it, and the stage mechanics are varied enough to make it feel like a different game every time.

Hard recommend from me.

-----------------

Look, I'm not a horror-liking guy, like, at all. I like creepy stuff, but not outright spook.

And I gotta say, I enjoyed my time with It Steals immensely. I ended up clearing it in one sitting, although taking more time than I'd care to admit alt-tabbed and speaking to people in between runs. So I reckon the actual run time of the game must be closer to an hour than what I played here.
There's also a couple of bonus modes I need to do as well, but those will wait.

It is a very interesting game. A small one, granted, but one that's well worth the experience.
Every game mode has some unique mechanic in its gameplay compared to the others, and gets a very different experience overall.
It strikes a fine balance between you figuring it out through in-universe hints & your own stumbles, and guiding you if needed. Either through small guides in the menus, or with very in-your-face game messages.

There is, however, one common theme about every level: The monsters tend to avoid you the same way you avoid them.

The guides are only accessible if you died at least twice to a stage, so you do have to at least try and figure it out on your own first. The game will fill in the blanks if you need it to afterwards.

Is it spooky?

Well, yes, but in the same way that... most horror games out there. That crippling fear you have will probably not survive the first Game Over. But it's not a flaw; very few games actually pass that test.

If anything, the different stages means you do get to experience that fear to a lesser degree every time you start a new level and get thrown blind into a new stage.

And what you're left otherwise is a simple, but solid little game with each stage requiring something different. Even as the fear disappears, the middle-of-the-road challenge of each stage, the unique mechanics from each of them, and the general ambiance of the game is great.

And honestly? I find those monsters... endearing. I've warmed up to them a bit after playing their game with them.
I also got a genuine belly laugh from one of them.

Seriously, go into this one. It's great.