Recent reviews by CodingRiver

If you enjoyed Dying Light 1, you'll enjoy this game. It improves on almost every aspect of the original, though not without its issues. The story is sub-par, and combat could be a bit more fluid, but the parkour feels absolutely amazing.

For those new to the series, first off, no, you do not need to play Dying Light 1 to understand Dying Light 2. The day/night mechanic is probably one of the best aspects of the game, because it essentially gives you 2 games in one. At day, you can run around without a care in the world, vault kicking enemies off of rooftops, not really worrying about dying, and it lets you feel like a total badass. At night though, the tables are turned, and you must calculate every move and operate more stealthily.

This game is FUN, just like the first one was, and Techland has a great track record of continuous support of their games, as the first Dying Light received it's final update just a few weeks before the launch of Dying Light 2, and they have promised at least 5 years of content updates for Dying Light 2.

Performance wise, I have no issues, 4K raytracing ultra, with an RTX 3080 and i7-10700k. I will say, however, disable fullscreen optimization on the game's executable.

Performance: This is one of the best PC ports currently available, period. Getting a smooth 4k 60+ fps, with every setting maxed, DLSS Quality, on a RTX 3080 and i7-10700k. Absolutely no stutters what-so-ever.

Visuals: As someone who has played this game on PS4, I am honestly envious of anyone getting to experience this game for the first time on PC, as the game is absolutely GORGEOUS. No, the graphics options aren't as extensive as something like RDR2, but the level of detail in this game on ultra settings is phenomenal.

Gameplay: Combat in this game is insanely fun. Challenging, but also fair. The difficulty levels range from essentially being a piece of cake, all the way to dark souls on steroids, yet every difficulty level is also well balanced. I will say, this game was designed to be played with a controller, and combat shows it. You can play with M+K, but you will have a much more enjoyable time playing with a controller.

Story: From a purely cinematic perspective, this game is an absolute masterpiece. Even if you're not someone who usually enjoys melee-combat focused games, put the game on easy and play it, because it's a story that everyone must experience.

Bottom Line: Get this game. At $50, it's a steal. This is one of the greatest games of the generation.

Edit 3/2022:
Figured I would give an update since my early access review. This game has absolutely exploded in popularity and is essentially a must-have for any VR owner. The amount of songs in the base game has VASTLY increased from the 10 or so songs the game had at launch. Plus, the DLC add-on packs are usually pretty well mapped and priced reasonably ($2/song or you can get all the songs in a pack for about a 30-35% discount). Not to mention, modding support for this game is outstanding, and adding community-made tracks is pretty painless. The game has increased in price to $30 from its $20 early access price, but for the amount of content that's been added (new songs, new play modes, new level layouts, etc), the $10 increase is worth it. I still very much recommend this game, especially if you're looking for a workout.

Original Review:

I can't put my finger on why, but for some reason this game is so much more fun and addictive than audioshield or sound boxing, even though this game only has about 10 songs available and audioshield and sound boxing both have all of youtube at their disposal (although the developers are supposedly adding in a level editor very soon). Despite that fact, the 10 songs that are available are highly addictive and this game is a total work out. I'm usually covered in sweat after just 1 or 2 songs. Don't let the supposed lack of content fool you, this game is ADDICTIVE. Highly worth the current $20 price tag.

I'll be frank, this game is not for everyone. If you hated Dark Souls because of the difficulty, then this game is probably not for you. While this game is very visually pleasing, and has the best soundtrack of any game (in my opinion), it is DIFFICULT. You will fight the same boss sometimes 50+ times before finally beating them. But there are 2 flavors of difficulty: difficulty that's frustrating, and difficulty that's rewarding. Cuphead is definitely the latter. Yes, there have been many times where I have come close to throwing my controller across the room while screaming every obscenity known to man, but it's not because the game did something that frustrated me. I did something that frustrated me. Perhaps it was a pattern that I should have predicted due to previous playthroughs, but failed to. Or maybe I screwed up on my timing and ran right into the enemy. The point is cuphead is very much a game of learning from your mistakes and figuring out why you died and what you can do to avoid it next time. That feeling of success when you finally beat a boss you've tried 100 seperate times to beat is absolutely overwhelming. Also, this is the first game I've actually bought the soundtrack for.

Replaying this game makes me realize just how beautiful it is. An average playthrough will take around 11 hours, with lots of cinematics in between. The gameplay alone doesn't warrant getting this game, in fact the gameplay is probably the weakest part of the game because it is just too easy. At the beginning it requires proper strategizing, but as you progress with more powerups, armor, and weapons at your disposal, fighting becomes less of a challenge and more of a chore. Even on the hardest difficulty, the final boss battle is just annoying more than it is challenging. But honestly if you're expecting complex game mechanincs and Dark Souls level difficulty from a South Park game that is essentially a parody of Skyrim, then I don't know how to help you. The beauty of this game comes from the humor and the cinematics. The cinematics alone probably total to 2.5 or so hours if played back to back.

Don't get this game if you're looking for exciting new gameplay and a challenge, you won't find it here. However if you're a fan of South Park and are interested in seeing how Trey and Matt parody the game industry, you will not be disappointed.

7.5/10 current $30 price point is fair if you're a diehard fan of the show, otherwise it would probably be best to wait for a sale

Bought a Xbox One Wireless Controller (no bluetooth) along with an adapter for Windows. I honestly don't see what the issue is with everybody saying it doesn't work. I followed the directions in the FAQ (Enable device in Steam Link through VirtualHere, start streaming, then sync to the adapter) and it works just fine. No lag and controller works as intended.

Unfortunately I must give this game a negative review for now, as the game frequently crashes after about 20 minutes or so. As soon as this issue is addressed I will change my review

Star Trek fan or not, this is a must have VR title. Cross platform play means wait times are generally short. Graphics are well done, and text is easily readable. The campaign can be completed in a few hours, but the beauty of this game is the multiplayer aspect. The best moments of the game are when you're being bombarded by klingon ships and the captain is yelling to warp out, and you have to yell back there's not enough power. It truly brings you into the universe

I spent about 5 minutes in a bathroom shooting every roll of toilet paper I saw because I was certain I saw a mimic transform into one.

10/10 Would obliterate toilet paper again

I want to love this game. I've been looking forward to it ever since I first saw it a few months ago. I love games like Limbo and Inside, and this game looks gorgeous.

First, the pros:
GORGEOUS! This game has some of the best graphics I've seen. The lighting is terrific, and at a few points was I legitemately terrified
The sound design is stunning. Very little music is used in this game, and that's actually a good thing. The game uses music only when most appropriate.
The gameplay itself is pretty fun and entertaining.

Now, the minor con:
Controls are sometimes difficult, especially with a controler, since it plays like a platformer. You might think your jumping for a ledge, but instead you miss entirely and fall off and have to restart from the last checkpoint

Now, the major con, and yes, it's enough to warrant a "do not recommend" for this game:
Lack of checkpoints

Save points in this game are made by checkpoints. What makes games like Limbo and Inside work is that their checkpoints are essentially after every little puzzle and jump. Accidentally jump off a cliff, and the game brings you back to essentially a few moments before. Unfortuantely, Little Nightmares only has checkpoints at the beginning of each level. Accidentally jump off a cliff or mistime a button click? You might be sent 5 minutes prior and have to redo everything up to that point, which happens a lot, considering my previous point of difficult controls. It gets to the point where you're starting a level over for the 5th time because of some minor misclick you made, and is just flat out frustrating. I really hope the developers update this game to either allow manual save points or add more checkpoints.

Tldr: Gorgeous game, but difficult controls and sparse checkpoints make the game frustrating more than fun