Recent reviews by Charede

I need to get back on this game ASAP but I had so much fun playing it! What I saw was well thought out and engaging to play. I'll update this review when I have had more time on the game and flesh it out with more information but so far can highly recommend as it is a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Awesome in every regard!

Disclosure: I was given this product for free for the purpose of making content about the game.

Overall I have enjoyed my first experience of Ascended. It includes a lot of quality of life and other updates including changes to building, baby dinos roaming the map which you can interact with, new berries to just name a few. These changes refresh things are are enjoyable as well as some visual updates which look great. However, it is important to note this game clearly needs further optimisation as the game does not run smoothly. I managed to dial it down and get it running relatively smooth but my rig is relatively beefy so clearly they need to do some work on this. There are a few bugs for example I could not stack foundations properly but overall it isn't too buggy from what time I have spent on it so far.

Ark is a multiplayer IP with a heavy focus on cooperation via tribes. Playing solo is an option of course but for many it is a social experience. If you intend to get a server you need to know that hosting is exclusively locked to Nitrado. This fact is not mentioned on the Steam store page at the time of writing this. The game does include their own official servers but many like myself will just want to play with friends, in a controlled environment or will want to customise the experience with mods etc.

I know many communities who run severs for games including Survival Evolved so to see them engage in this anti-consumer practise is highly disappointing and for many like myself takes away from the experience. If the devs really care about their community and enabling it to continue to thrive I would urge them to drop the exclusivity for hosting. I just want to make sure people are aware of this fact as it may impact on your purchase decision and for me as a player it detracts from the experience and will impact on my willingness and ability to engage and enjoy the product so hence it is pertinent to include in a review.

Given the bugs, optimisation issues and the horrible server exclusivity policy I would suggest sticking with Survival Evolved for now.

TLDR: The game is really fun and the updates to the game are great and deeply appreciated. Performance is however iffy and clearly needs optimising and I am highly disappointed in the server hosting exclusive to Nitrado which impacts my ability to engage with and enjoy the multiplayer functionality of the product.

Disclosure: I received this game for free in exchange for livestreaming playing the game.

House Builder is an enjoyable experience which will take you around the globe to take on various building challenges and using a variety of building techniques.

Pros
- Enjoyed the variety of locations; some of which go to different time periods and their associated building techniques.
- Enjoyed exploring different building techniques and processes which are less familiar to me.
- Game is very relaxing.
- A significant variety of tools you can utilise throughout the various projects.
- Game enables you to take on demolition not just building.
- Tutorial is very good in helping players get started.
- Option to play more competitively by focusing on time taken to complete a project and seeing if you can beat your times.
- More content is still being added to the game further extending gameplay.
- Workshop enabled.
- Multiple languages available.

Cons
- Some of the processes were a bit repetitive. However, your character can level up which increases building, carry, and processing capacity which somewhat mitigates this.
- In early access so there are some bugs but I didn’t run into too many personally.

Disclosure: I received this game for free and played it as part of a paid sponsorship. I was not required to make a review but I wanted to as I enjoyed the game and felt I had information which might be useful to other gamers considering getting the game.

Patch Quest is a charming game that will take you on an adventure to escape a labyrinth and discover more about the island. Along the way you will meet a huge variety of fearsome foes but do not fear you are not alone! With your handy lasso you can befriend the monsters that inhabit the island and have them fight alongside you. In doing so you can wield a range of special abilities which unlock a vast array of tactical options in your journey to survive.

- The game features per run progress as well as top level meta progress.
- A huge range of monsters to discover and learn about. Monsters can be levelled up to unlock extra abilities opening up new tactical options.
- As part of the meta level progression between runs the player has a base in which you can keep pets and plants you have collected on your journey of discovery.
- The overall premise of the game is simple enough but well executed and there is plenty of motivation to keep playing and progressing.
- Map tiles are randomised so no two runs are the same which will keep you on your toes.
- Monsters and bosses are challenging and give a rewarding experience when you defeat them.
- General map tiles help you learn more about the island inhabitants and your overarching mission.
- Monsters are well designed and feature mechanics that make them stand out.
- The map features different biomes which each come with their own unique environmental challenges.

- Visuals are simple but effective and in doing so when the screen is very cluttered with a lot of monsters attacking you can still easily see where you are and understand the situation so you can react in a tactical manner.
- Sound is well done but I cannot comment on the soundtrack as I had it turned off.

- The game performance is solid and I did not experience any issues.

This game is charming and thoroughly entertaining and will test your skills. I loved how much there was to explore and the constantly evolving nature of the world as I found new things on my runs. Loved being able to fight alongside my pets and having them level up alongside me and learn new abilities which could add new tactical choices was the icing on the cake.

Disclosure: I received this game for free as part of a paid sponsorship.

Rogue Invader is a thrilling game full of the player's success and failures. The game has a fantastic opening that sets the tone and stakes very well & characters are well voiced and help drive the players desire to succeed.

Performance
- The game plays very smooth with minimal overhead. Just bear in mind if you click out the game cut scenes will carry on; audio remains fine but the visuals may be impacted.
- No fps issues plays smooth.
- UI & environment is responsive; no issues with clicks not being registered & game is very responsive no input lag.

Audio & Visuals
- The game features a great soundtrack which is tactically used to build the stakes & maintain atmosphere.
- The monochromatic graphics are striking. There is a surprising level of detail contained within the visuals and the use of dynamic backgrounds and shading is carefully crafting to create fun and engaging places to explore.

Game play Mechanics, Characters & Story
- The game has a fantastic opening sequence that sets the tone well.
- Characters are compelling & the voice acting of the alien and commander set the player up for wanting to succeed no matter what. The characters have great banter too and gave me some lovely chuckles.
- In roguelites the only continuity between runs is often upgrades or now being able to access items you picked up on previous runs. Rogue Invader does also do this but in addition goes a step further in a meaningful and tactically impactful way. Rogue Invader adds continuation between runs for environmental damage/changes. The player can use this to form tactics & play it to their advantage. With bad planning this can also work against you too so there is an element of risk and reward. In addition this works well and is thematic to the story as the aliens adapt and rebuild so the changes to the environment are not permanent and will shift which means you cannot stack environmental advantage and will have to adapt to new challenges you run into.

Conclusion
Rogue Invader is well worth your time. This game has been lovingly crafted and this really shows in the stunning visuals, audio and how mechanics are implemented to compliment each other and allow player agency & a vast array of tactical options. Runs vary enough to avoid things getting stale and enemies act in an intelligent manner. The base is nice for some down time between runs and enables preparation as well as opportunities for the alien to sass you some more which I really enjoyed. I look forward to playing this more I want to get to the end. This game is well worth a look for those looking for a fun retro vibe game, something tactical, or you like some characters with banter while still being in an awesome story with stakes and a compelling adversary.

Disclosure: I received this game for free in order to cover the game for a paid sponsorship.

Cafe Owner Simulator is a fun and engaging restaurant management game. I enjoyed the initial set up and the struggle of taking a ruined building and making it into a glorious restaurant. I appreciated the variety of what I could offer on my menu as well as the skill tree and story.

Disclaimer: I received this game for free and played it as part of a paid sponsorship.

Mineralis is an intriguing game which plunges you into a world devolving into chaos. I only had the chance to play the first few hours of the game but in that time I met an array of interesting characters with which my interactions and choices influenced how I learned about the world I was exploring.

Game performance is solid with the only issue I found being that ever time I booted the game it would revert to windowed mode. I tried the game with both keyboard and mouse and an Xbox controller and found both worked with no issues.

Combat is meaningful and encourages combos, buffs, debuffs and cooperation between the characters the player controls.

I was still very early on in the story but was finding it interesting and always wanted to learn more. Found some drops of humour which I appreciated.

Disclosure: I am a content creator and played this game as part of a paid sponsorship.

RUNGORE is a very fun, fast paced card game. The game was entertaining, very challenging and I appreciated the random element of it to keep each run interesting. It gave me plenty of opportunity to use new strategies to solve how to beat each encounter. There was, however, enough predictability (limited pool of cards and certain bosses being fixed) so I could plan and make key decisions.

I appreciate each class/hero has its own distinct design and own cards which relate to its style of play/strengths and the player has a choice in what they focus on.

Having access to loot to upgrade was also nice and sometimes added to the need for changing strategy mid-run. Resource management is clearly very important and planning a good combo of cards and then executing it was very rewarding.

Some enemies were far more challenging than others but over repeat runs I was finding new ways to tackle them and it created some minor roadblocks which tested my ability over the course of the entire dungeon to plan and manage resources accordingly as well as handle surprises and not panic spam cards in desperation.

I also appreciated the tutorial character, encounter creature designs and death screens; humour was on point and really added to the experience. Funny enough had an encounter with a traffic cone in Saints Row recently which did damage to me so we had a bit of a riff that the traffic cone I kept running into was that one seeking revenge.

From a technical standpoint the game worked well bar when the application was unfocused. For some reason, it turned the capture to very large pixels. This is however a content creator specific issue and should not affect someone playing this game in general. Overall the game ran fine; no crashes or glitches in mechanics etc.

This game has great charm and I highly recommend.

Disclosure: This product was given to me for free & the game was played as part of a sponsored livestream.

Summary
Rocco's Island is a quirky puzzle adventure game which will appeal to both casual and more challenge driven players. The game places a heavy emphasis on its characters which are robust in personality expression and visual design. The game caters to both story driven players and those who are more puzzle challenge orientated. Do note however it is a bit of a slow burn game and the introduction of new mechanics is very drip fed. This does however, allow you to indulge in the initial plot set up with greater ease which I feel is important in setting up your objectives and building your connection to the protagonist. The puzzles also do not feel forced and fit the world which is built up as you explore and these puzzles do change in nature adding more mechanics which prevents stagnation/disinterest in them. The strength of Rocco's Island lies in the story, visuals and world building.

Story & Difficulty
Rocco's Island has been a fun experience so far. I have yet to finish it but from what I have played so far it has offered an engaging story; there is lots of intrigue which keeps my interest. There is also an interesting array of characters you meet on your journey. I like the fact you can customise your experience with the difficulty options so those not looking to be too taxed by the puzzles can engage with the story without being heavily roadblocked. I do appreciate the option for more challenge through both the higher difficulty setting and the doomsday timer mechanic which plays into the desire to survive and succeed in your task.

Performance
From a performance perspective the game runs well for the most part. I did notice it was a little slow booting up and on occasions I had issues with clicks not registering during the mini games.

Visuals
The game looks great. I appreciate the art style and the little details you find around the world as your explore. The character design is in particular good and helps emphasis the characters attributes and personality.

Puzzles
The game has a selection of puzzles with the largest focus being on match games using coloured gems. There is also sliding tiles to generate numbers and riddles. There may be more but I have yet to get that far. With regards to the coloured gems this is not kept stagnant additional mechanics are added to keep these interesting which I appreciate and also progressively add more challenge without it being too much right at the start.