Recent reviews by Michael T Moreno

dude...
do you know when people talk about a game being dated, and your like... "yeah, that doesnt really bug me..."?
THIS IS THE TYPE OF DATED THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT!!!!

the combat and platforming is great, the story seems cool and the delivery is pretty... thor... BUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT...

I CANT SEE ♥♥♥♥!
I GET STUCK WAAAAAAY TOO MUCH! and that's getting stuck in a room trying to figure out what to do for like 30mins+ like wtf!? why are their no light cues or something that allows you to ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ SEE PATHS???????

i spent no joke, a collective two hours stuck trying to figure my way out of places only to realize most of the times it happens, theres a switch or a cracked wall... that is covered in soooo much shadow that it's almost impossible to see. I usually throw my weapons randomly or run around spamming ctrl after 20 mins being stuck in a single location trying to figure out how to progress...

the ability to see is not the only issue, some progression is locked behind killing all enemies in an area. this can be an issue when the enemy is an idle crab that you mistake for level geometry because its idle in the corner of a room. when crabs are idle you dont see claws from afar or while in motion... they just look like rocks... if you can even see them.

I seriously hate that I hate this game. it's sooooo fun when it's moving; but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ does it halt your progress A LOTTTT!

sure you can play with a walkthrough... but...
♥♥♥♥ THIS GAME!
DONT BUY THIS!
THIS GAME GIVES ALL OLDER GAMES A BAD REP!
it's rare for an old game to be this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ rigid and hard to progress through because of deisgn choices and no handholding. dont get me wrong, i have no issue with no handholding and little sign posting... if the levels are built well. and while the levels and atmosphere look, sound and feel amazing here... they are not good video game levels.

DO NOT PLAY THIS!
and if you must, play with a guide.

♥♥♥♥ THIS GAME!

incredibly overlooked. such a wonderful relaxing adventure that takes a series of puzzles and somehow creatively weaves all puzzles into a massive world to explore. a world filled with quirky characters and unique personalities that stands out somehow in this oversaturated gaming landscape as highly original and unique.

the qol is great here... both unlimited undos and a room reset. the controls are simple and intuitive, though require a bit of getting use to as you would accidentally cast spells instead of move... but thats why the undo button is there. I absolutely loooove the art here. the character design is so minimalist and unique... kind of like an experimental French visual novel called "cave! cave!". just beautiful. i seriously cant get enough, especially when stressed out. the puzzles are nav puzzles similar to hitman go, but are tile based rather than moving to set nodes on a visible waypoint line.

this is a must buy. this dev deserves your time with this game. its soooo original, unique and engaging. the narrative and lore is sooooooooooo fun and intriguing... and ... let me stop gushing here...

BUY THIS!

it's soooo unbelievable that it has taken me this long to finally get around and play this game... I love this!

it feels great to play. there is a lot going on... but after about two levels out of the short lineup, it becomes more natural feeling.

a lot to know...
- you can hold the jump button to actually fly for a bit... then press it again while in the air and boost again... and again... i think endlessly.
- boss health bars indicate how many phases they have. i know, obvious to most... but with so much to keep track of on the screen, it was easy to miss for me.
- while it seems like a run and gun shooter at first, it evolves to a suuuper creative bullet hell "shmup" with both free fly areas and linear on rails flying areas... it's really well done.

aaaand so on lol.

this is a definite must play. its pretty short but the replay value it pretty up there simply because it feels so good to play, and that feeling has you replaying the levels on higher difficulties almost as if the game never ended lol... even though you are actively choosing to rerun levels through the menu lol. thats how good and fun the game feels to play.

the bosses are the core and a MASSIVE highlight. they are creatively designed and some levels are built around the bosses in creative ways. every boss setup level wise is awesome. my favorite bosses are the 1 on 1 showdowns... especially with the samurai guy. very cool.

a run on easy mode is pretty short... but satisfying. it really develops an itch in you to replay the levels in the best way. i wouldnt say it has that "just one more try" feel... it's like that... but more... ehhh... it's less about you wanting to get through the levels and more about you wanting to parry more BIG stuff and fly around lol. veeery unique. while the minion parrying doesnt really feel like much... parrying bosses is AMAZIIINGGGG... the feedback is the best here.

but let me just wrap this up...
this is a definite recommend.

- short
- highly replayable
- unlockable characters, modes and weapons.
- difficulty levels add more complexity to boss fights with new combat moves and stuff.
- the gamefeel is through the roof...
- outstanding multi-phase boss fights...
- unique genre switching(kind-of)

A TOTAL RECOMMEND!

it's silly, but I constantly run into that typical yugioh issue when playing any other "dual monsters" game outside the original 1998 game, "You just overcomplicated this game..." lol.

this is an issue i run into whenever i try my damnedest to get into yugioh after middle school... this is way too complicated... it does not need to be this complicated... what the hell dude lol.

this sound negative, and it kind of is... but I actually HIGHLY RECOMMEND this game... at full price. there is just sooooo much here for everyone. if one game doesnt gel with you... most likely, there will be at least two here that does. currently, I am in love and addicted to "duel monster 1998", "capsule monsters" and "dungeon dice monsters". soooo much fun, very easy to hop in and out of aaaaand very addictive game loops.

outside those, the games introduce waaay too many "unknown variables" that can result in insta kills of your monsters. the only way to plan for things like "types" and "alignments" is to just pack your deck with a mix of monsters. eliminating specialized or focused straight forward strategy.... hell it eliminates most strategy being that its a set of unpredictible variables that can ruin your game. it's weird. then, summon rules are further complicated... and so on. the ironic fun in these frustrations in this collection is that it walks you through game by game how the card game became so damn convaluted and rediculously, needlessly complex. it helps you understand your not crazy for feeling things seem more complicated than they did when you were a kid... or younger... this collection proves that yes... THEY DID lol.

all that said, I'm always willing to learn and just... "try" to get into it all... and in the end they are all very fun games especially since you are still doing what made the series so popular in the first place... collecting cards/monsters. the collecting is great, reviewing your cards and building your deck is very rewarding and fun. god i love this collection. I do wish "forbidden memories" and full art galleries were included... and the ability to rotate the game boxes(also feel the lack of the "gameboy branding hurts the art a bit lol).

I highly recommend this collection at full price because it provides enough varied content that everyone will find at least 2 games they will like and possibly very easy for those people to bury HOURS into those games they enjoy. this collection is so much fun, especially in an age were deckbuilder cards games are so popular. i find the simplest form of "duel monsters" soooo much fun, and hope to finally get truly invested in the future titles of "duel monsters"... but the love of three games in this collection that are surprisingly very unique and varied experiences from each other, really makes me such a fan of this purchase.

BUY THIS.

God i have always loved the ost to this game...

the game... ehhhh not so much lol. it's an interesting concept, really cool abstract approach to rhythm based games... but it's a bit... it can get messy lol.

it's fine when you get the hang of it.. but its more of a stray in regard to beat and runner in the sense of accessibility. it takes a lot more effort and patience to get into the groove of it, even then it's not like those where you can "first time complete" a session after learning the mechanics and... "level layout"(in a more abstract way lol, lacking of a better phrase here). in runner, after a few levels you can get into a trance and complete levels on your first try if your... "in it" lol. this is more abstract visually and a lot harder to read as the stage progresses...

so I can easily recommend it for the soundtrack and the novelty of trying gameplay wise... but it's not a great game really. well... in the sense of fun or engagement. it is cool though lol... if thats of any value.

YES, if you buy the bundle...
NO, if you just buy the game...
(though i think oddly enough the game comes with the ost in the folder without buying the ost, i could be mistaken though... i have it but it says i dont own the ost... im listening to it as im writing this soooo yeah... i have no idea whats happening with this ost thing lol. probably an oversight)

definitely a great experience when I first played it waaay back when i bought it... im sure its still awesome... im just... confused... i thought it was released?

I recommended it back then... hopefully that still holds up. it was such a really awesome survival open world player driven experience with a really fun pvp for a player who never engages with pvp to any degree. I barely engage with co-op... but here the pvp was so much fun with other players roleplaying medieval knights during tdm... huddling togethers creating a sort of phalanx with shields and swords sticking out lol.

that was fun lol. the single player experience was the best, and where i spent my time as i tend to do. the player shop made it possible for me to attain that knight armor i wanted without the exstentive wait.

so much fun back then.

(copy/pasted from the bottom)
YOU ♥♥♥♥♥♥ UP SOUR REAVER, GREAT WORK...

RECOMMENDATION:
newcomers: do not buy this at any price!
fans: worth it for the bonus content, but at no more than 10$.


THE REVIEW:

... Sigh...
♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥...
god ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ damnit...
almost every remaster introduces minor tweaks that break the game they are restoring...

SIGH...
i'll just keep it short. The physics engine introdudes game breaking bugs at various points of the games. Its easy to dismiss it at "oh... Its a 25 year old game on modern hardware... It wasnt built for this but tge remasters make them more playable with less setup."

To that i say...
the original 1999 and 2001 steam version run perfectly out of the box, even supporting controllers. There are no game breaking physic glitches out the gate like this. I play through the original a lot! i never ran into game breaking bugs!

some positives:
look, everything everyone says about the visuals and QoL additions are awesome... The ost is still there, the prerendered cufscenes are clearly literally rerendered with all the original assets but polished... They look amazing and the prerendeed cutscenes all look and feel modern day theatrical and cinematic. The night and day system is awesome. And etc.

this is a fan's dream. There was serioudly a lot of love here... Waaaaay more than most remasters. Its very noticible, espppppecially in comparison.

the issues show up in the gameplay.

look, i bought this for the bonus content... And that alone is well worth 10$ at most... But you broke soul reaver and soul reaver 2... Great work.

but at the end of the day, the visuals and additions mean nothing if you cant get through the game to experience them.

this is a great bit of dlc for fans... But not worth grabbing for newcomers, at all.
that 30$ price tag is ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ crazy for two freshly broken versions of amazing games... Get the originals.

final thought:
YOU ♥♥♥♥♥♥ UP SOUR REAVER, GREAT WORK...

RECOMMENDATION:
newcomers: do not buy this at any price!
fans: worth it for the bonus content, but at no more than 10$.

Ill say... rushed, cheap, possible asset flip, low effort mobile port...

But...

It actually pretty damn fun... like most bullet heaven style "survivor-likes"... though this one bucks the bad survivor like pitfalls by actually providing escalating challenging scenarios, the power feel hits well because your forced to move a lot in some scenarios, pick your targets in an order that works for you in some and with character and weapon unlocks. The structure is not survivor like as its short levels... 100+ probably... your not getting levelup mods in level. You are mostly picking a weapon and character at the start, leveling them with coins after each level and pushing from level to level... lol what whole description has "level" a lot... srry. Anyway. Its fun... for preferably "free"... buuuuut if you missed the giveaway... its great for a 1$ or less.

A fun time, and a deeeeep discount recommend!

dude... wtf?

1. THIS IS NOT VR, just know that. if your coming from the quest for a more solid pc vr experience with more flexibility and customization... NO!... NOPE!

VR!? WHAT!? why would you expect that???

2. graphics are quest "2" quality...
3. performance is fine... not stuttering, lags, frame dropping etc... but there really isnt anything going on for that to be an issue... you would expect there to be some hardware stress... none, because nothing is happening here... the characters are pretty much ps2 npcs.
4. waaaaay too buggy to be available for purchase... even though it works fine on quest... no resposes, no voice acting... I.. I really dont know what the f**k this is doing on steam for sale. it's to early for early access dude... no.
5. literal "NO EFFORT" vr port, but it feels like a no effort mobile port. the menus and ui... i mean, esc doesnt bring up the menu... just asks you if you want to quit. tab brings up the popup game window unchanged from the quest. and the settings are there... no deep pc options. no graphics settings... so no bumping up to "ultra". to toggle window mode... "Alt+Enter"... etc etc....

DO NOT BUY THIS "NO EFFORT GARBAGE"! STICK TO THE QUEST VERSION IF YOU WANT TO TRY IT.... BUT EVENT THAT FEELS LIKE A CRIME TO RECOMMEND EVEN THOUGH IT IS LEGITIMATELY BETTER... but yeah... DO NOT BUY THIS!

DO NOT BUY THIS! I HAVE A DECENT MACHINE AND VR GAME ON IT AS WELL AS NEXT GEN FLAT STUFF WITH NO ISSUES... THIS IS NOT A CASE OF, "it didnt work for him, but it could work for me..." NO! DO NOT BUY THIS! SERIOUSLY...

NOOOOO!

VERDICT(copy/pasted from bottom):
THIS IS A MUST PLAY FOR EVRYONE. fans and non-fans of dungeon crawlers alike. This is THE MOST ACCESSIBLE AND GAMEPLAY RICH DUNGEON CRAWLERS IN OUR MODERN GAMING LANDSCAPE!

IF YOU CATCH A SALE, ITS A MUST BUY NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!! SERIOUSLY!

ANECDOTAL/DETAILS:
One of the best dungeon crawlers out... an extremely surprising gem for me. recommended to me long ago by an old friend. this game places "drawing your own maps" at the front and center with it built into the game with an extensive amount of tools to do so to your own personal liking. having the mapping aspect as a built in accessible near mandatory function makes this game less stressful to most, and incredibly relaxing if you like since you are truly learning your environment... documenting points of interest, creatures and etc which is like i said, a major part of the experience.

this version of the game has a ton of Quality of life features added to it along the lines of "auto fight", quick saving and etc.

building your party is not as intimidating as other dungeon crawlers... especially the ssi dnd games. the classes are interesting enough, the art is gorgeous! I wish I could buy an artbook for the game. AND THE SOUNDTRACK IS BEAUTIFUL!!!!!

THIS IS A MUST PLAY FOR EVRYONE. fans and non-fans of dungeon crawlers alike. This is THE MOST ACCESSIBLE AND GAMEPLAY RICH DUNGEON CRAWLERS IN OUR MODERN GAMING LANDSCAPE! again, for both fans of the hunt and crawl aaaaand for those just looking to chill... this game is a true innovation with built in tools for an approach the console gamer has been excluded from for decades now.

i cant say it enough... the mapping aspect is THE BEST PART OF THIS GAME! you actually feel like a cartographer... oh also, this game is not bogged down by the typical anime japanese hours of dialogue in between gameplay. this is more along the lines of a game from the main line shin megami tensei series where Gameplay is first and foremost, while story is present and deep, but delivered without bloat. you spend a lot of time actually playing than you are stuck reading walls of text. such a fantastic game.

IF YOU CATCH A SALE, ITS A MUST BUY NO QUESTIONS ASKED!!! SERIOUSLY!

oh... also the skill trees are solid with a fun approach to unlocking certain skills with clearly communicated via visual node lines of the prerequisites and etc.

theres a lot more to praise... but i'll end it here.

BUY THIS!!!

ADDITIONAL NOTE:
I WISH THEY SOLD THE SOUNDTRACK WITH THE GAME!!!!!!!!!