Recent reviews by Mikey

This is everything I needed from a remaster, it's a much smoother experience, Gary Schwartz (The Heavy) doesn't sound like he's speaking from under the blanket, the dialogues and music do not cut off during the gameplay - I can't recommend this enough.

And I know this is a VERY difficult task, but fingers crossed for Poker Night 2 Rerelease! Or Poker Night 3, that'd be as exciting!

This co-op horde shooter really is worth your attention. Grab a friend and give it a shot. You won't regret it.

If you're at least half like me, and enjoy Halloween for it's eerie-yet-goofy, cheesy-but-cozy atmosphere (think shows like Scooby-Doo or Beetlejuice, or video games like MediEvil),
then do yourself a favor, and GET THIS GAME.

HorrorVale is stuffed with content, oozes with charm, and doesn't get stale with its four-act adventure filled to the brim with a (and it's not a hyperbole) HUMONGOUS colorful cast of characters (both playable and non-playable), OVER HALF A THOUSAND of uniquely drawn enemies, surprisingly well thought-out stories, big and small, and lore behind the game's world... it's so much to even mention, just believe me when I say, the game's JAM-PACKED. Like, have you read "About This Game" section? No exaggeration there!

Especially with items, and that's mostly my only gripe. Since you collect so much stuff from fallen enemies, obtain brewing ingridients and then brew even more potions, get consumables, accessories, weapons and key items - it's A LOT, and a player could use a better sorting system to find them and make inventory navigation easier. SERIOUSLY.

Though really, I can't stress enough how much this game offers, from small time quests and mini-games to large scale challenges with secret bosses, and with all those dungeons and unique set pieces in-between!
I hold LISA the Painful as one of my favorite RPGs, have played and enjoyed such titles as OFF, Grimm's Hollow, Space Funeral, and OMORI, and I can see HorrorVale taking a seat among those games EASILY.

Snatch this game for yourself (and/or friends), and enjoy the bash!

great idea for a side project, promising execution of mixed presentation and sense of humor. Also my first WarioWare fan game I really had fun with

Of all "hardcore retro games", this demo's the most fair kind of difficult I've played so far (unlike those self proclaimed "hardcore retro" games, NG Ragebound gives you a chance to adapt to new situations as you run through them, and, with a little patience and thought, lets you kill each enemy one attack at the time). Looking forward to the full game and I might try the NES games.

MATCHMAKING FIXED!

I hopped to the game during early access (which was surprisingly more stable that most games nowadays) and quickly fell in love with its chaotic nature - Speed Freeks reminds me of those scrambly games where you just hop in and immediately get into the action, kicking asses and getting ass kicked (think Loadout (R.I.P.), prime era Team Fortress 2 or any other online deathmatch games).

First off, Orks. Who doesn't like Orks - those gorilla fungi dudes tailor made for battle in this battle-torn universe. Throw in very varied Wacky Races/Twisted Metal rides and that Mad Max esque setting and bam - you got yourself a beautifully insane premise.

Secondly, the dev team. I'm very aware of them because (while I'm not that big of a fan of racing games generally) I played Rollcage Stage II (game by core devs of today's Caged Element team) a lot as a kid, and GRIP turned out to be the worthy spiritual successor of that game. So when I learned that behind the Orky racing game are these dudes I was certain the gameplay's gonna be JUST fine.

And third... Uh, didn't think the whole thing through but let's mention unlockables and cosemtics - pretty familiar to how Deep Rock Galactic approaches the topic. Since you already pay to play the game, shiny stuff (and some rides) are unlocked through playtime and challenges. Some small dopamine sprinkles to keep you engaged, something to help you spruce your ride up since the game's focus is on those vehicles. And oh boy the amount of customization you got for those vehicles, especially painting the car parts!

If you too yearn for the old-school scrappy gameplay that's easy to hop into with surprising mechanical depth for skill expression, join us in great WAAAGH! in Speed Freeks!

Force Reboot seems to take elements from its inspirations and water them down. Movement just feels "nerfed" and its options don't work together quite well like in Ultrakill.
You're told to make use of your dashes, slides and jumps with kills to build up speed, but these options feel too short/stubby, and half of the rooms (which tend to repeat too often with same enemy placement) are too small to stay mobile in with enemies charging at you. Enemy weak points are hard to read with these graphics (not to mention these """PSX""" and post-processing filters that don't enhance the visuals but make everything less readable, some of the worst filters I've seen. They should be turned off by default). I find it hard to reflect projectiles with these visuals.
Guns' sound design lacks proper kick. Perk choice seem odd, some debuffs are too discouraging from choosing certain buffs (I get the idea of risk/reward, but randomly mixed buffs/debuffs really don't match half the time).

My review might be too harsh for just an hour of early acces game time, I'm aware. I still wish the dev will find enough success with their game and perhaps salvage at least *some* worthy feedback from this text.

April 11th update: THE GAME FEATURES A PIRATE CLASS WITH GUNS AND CANNONS. IN A MELEE-FOCUSED COMBAT SYSTEM. THAT'S NOT MORTAL SINS, MAN - THAT'S A SERIOUS SAM GAME. 10/10

I play the game every now and then to see what Nikola, the absolute unit, has changed within the game. And so far each update made the experience feel drastically different yet improved every time.

Mortal Sin is brutal, a single mis-step may spell death (from either foes or traps) and combat takes getting used to with specific combos, parry timings, and a vast list of classes, weapons, items, perks and effects.
The game is definitely one of those "once it clicks" stuff (something like God Hand or Sekiro from my experience), and when it does the combat puts in a violent trance of combo chains and parries so tense that having no more enemies to kill in a room feels like an alarm clock going off in the morning.
Becoming the whirlwind of death starts feeling like a drug, and once you're done fighting you follow the red line on the floor just to get into another scrap - which doesn't mean there's no side corridors and secondary stuff to find and do in the dungeons btw, quite the contrary.
The further you go and the more you level up, the more spicy stuff you unlock, like new weapons or gameplay-altering classes.

Mortal Sin is an action dungeon crawler like no other. If you think it looks cool - give it a chance, give it some time, and I assure you - it is that cool.

Come for Wario Land series design, stay for the Crash Bandicoot series love letter.
This game also made me listen to Nine Inch Nails to check the inspiration for the soundtrack.
And yes, the game is rough in places: the controls might feel really weird to get used to (dash>jump VS. jump>dash), some level gimmicks don't land (Pinball Mire), some need QOL (Hell Manor, especially that short and terribly looped music)...

BUT! The full package with animated and voice acted cutscenes, boss fight designs, many references and shared DNA of aforementioned games and more, the overall attitude and challenge straight from 90's video games make for such intoxicating experience I'm ready to forgive nearly everything and blindly recommend it, even if its rough "punk rock" nature is definitely not for everyone.

Give me a gun and some porridge and I'll rid Northern Hungary of cultists and coffee.