Recent reviews by Vexing Vision

This pains me to write because I really, really want to like Cralon because I was so hyped for the demo. But the game itself refuses to let me.

From the inane intro sequence (we're the only demon-slaying mega-hero in the village, only to be foiled by a dastardly sinkhole) to the bland expressions of a character whos voice actor couldn't add some inflections and feelings to his voice as if there was a gun pointed at his head forcing him to remain calm and neutral at all times, Cralon suffers from weird design choices that are all over the place:

A lacklustre UI (yes, Demo, I know) contradicts a colourful and detailed environment that can be randomly interactd with - some items can be inspected and turned but not picked up, others look like you should be able to interact them only to find out that containers are only a thing if they're objects (you'll see what I mean in the first room), giving the impression the game is unfinished at a conceptual stage.

The dialogues are just bad. The English Voice Actor keeps mispronouncing words (it's "ragged", not "raged", sir, please stick to the script), the dialogues themselves are bland and unnatural with an unreasonable amount of info dumping without ever explaining why the non-scary prisoner guy is actually kept imprisoned, and why he chooses to remain so after all the doors have been opened and unlocked.

At this point I am assuming the narrative prepares for a "it's all a dream"-plot twist at some point in act 2, and you know these are never good.

I refuse to comment on the utter ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of a combat system, chalking it hopefully up as a "demo issue".

This is just a demo and a tutorial level, but if its any indication of this finished game, Cralon has a very, very long way to go before being enjoyable.

That demo is WAY TOO SHORT.

Loved everything about it. This is fun, and as an older generation person, I really appreciate the turn-based combat instead of panicky click click clicking. The environment could be more interactive - let me smash those bushes and interact with the nice glowly spot in the ceiling, please -, but otherwise this is going to be an easy day one purchase.

Clever gameplay that I wish had the rogue-like elements of XCOM. It's fun but the levels are more puzzles to solve than actual clearing out with your team of specialist wizards. That said, the writing is absolutely superb and it's incredibly enjoyable - and the setting is absolutely unique and very, very well executed.

The game is everything I always wanted the Tight Fights series to be. Clever, satisfying and lots of classes that play differently. Love it.

A boring generic story in a boring generic sci fi setting filled with boring generic random missions.
Combat is a bit fun and interesting with loading the ships, but it all boils down to feeling sameish very, very fast.
The "procedurally generated" map and missions and dialogue I suppose are just random without any meaningful or sensible algorithm behind.
What little tactical choice there is to play the game resides in deciding how far you can detour to avoid crowded enemy bases while still reaching the next station to fuel up.

The dialogues are fun, full of "I'm a starving poet"-energy that I enjoy. The landscape is gorgeous. The story seems interesting 12 hours in but everything paints (hah) towards "this is all a dream" or something like that - the world doesn't quite feel real enough. I am supposed this is intended.

But ugh. Gameplay is something to slog through. Fights look pretty and if your idea of a good RPG is playing Final Fantasy over and over again, I suppose you'll like the combat. Yes there's buffs and debuffs that interact somewhat interestingly with each other, but your choice of character development basically involves choosing which colour of sparks you want to create when hitting an enemy - it's repetitive and already boring right now.

It really doesn't help that someone in the design team must have thought that Quick Time Events are the hottest ♥♥♥♥ ever, like it's 2005 and God Of War just released, because that's basically all the battles are after you defined some basic tactics on how your party's skills interact with each other, and then its just learning at which microsecond to press "E" based on the enemy type. That's it. That's the grand roleplaying experience.

It's a nice game, but gods do I wish this had been an interactive story instead of pretending to be an RPG.

Whereas the first Defender's Quest oozes with charm and fun, this has a more interesting but less engagable set of characters. The way every character now is its own tower also makes this more of a puzzle game, with very limited tactical input.

All in all, it was an enjoyable run - but do check out the first Defender's Quest, which is superiour in every way but the graphics.

While I am not a fan of the pixel art (what's up with that weird vodoo doll image of the vulnerability ray?), I am absolutely in love with the clever gameplay and tricky combinations.

Despite the relatively few modules, there is a ton of replayability and enjoyment from this utter gem of a Slay-The-Spire inspired Rogue-Lite.

The wiring mechanic is something I haven't seen in games before, and it absolutely works after you wrap your head around it.

A poor Harvest Moon/Stardew Valley clone. Very little customization in how you want to progress, everything is following a set path, down to where your buildings are placed.

The NPCs all have the same three lines and are utterly indistinguishable.

The initially charming graphics hide the very poor gameplay, but become stale soon.

Stick to Stardew Valley.

I've spent a thousand hours in Mount & Blade 1. M&B 2 is everything part one was, only prettier and bigger. If you liked M&B in the first place, you need this in your life.

If you did not enjoy M&B's repetitive gameplay, maybe stay clear of this.

For me, rallying my cavalry troops to follow me, telling them to get into a wedge formation, then circling the enemy infantry, crouching my lance and just charging in never gets old, not after a thousand gameplay hours.