Recent reviews by Dabaz

I don't want to spoil this game - I highly recommend going into this as cold as you can. Do not read anything and do not watch.

It's a game with surprising depth that is about survival in multiple ways.

fun

The best types of roguelites are replayable not because you have to do it but because the drive to unlock and move forward is so strong: that is Ball x pit.

I don't like to read anything about how to play games like this, but to try to see how quickly I can piece together what I am supposed to do and what is driving me to perform the gameplay loop. As with most roguelites, each death you go just a little bit further then before.

The mark of a great game in my eyes is how much I can pick up what strategies and combos make the most sense naturally in the flow of playing the actual game. Ball X Pit does this in spades. It is addictive because the drive to go just a little bit further, combined with the games mechanics and systems, make you want to keep going.

Great game.

I haven't gotten to put too much time in yet but I've loved what I did. The overall aesthetic, music and vibes. The actual gameplay and how the levels evolve is awesome. Can't wait to play more.

Also runs on Steamdeck!

Pizza Tower has numerous level to it. There is the game itself, which I'll get to shortly; there's the community that sprouted up and expanded the world or created a variety of mods; and then there is the lore, which, although somewhat simple, is also fun.

As a game, Pizza Tower fits into the sweet spot for more: it is easy to pick up and understand, but truly mastering it takes time. There is a game here for those who speedrun with ultimate precision, just as it works for those of us (like me) who are playing to get better but only for my own enjoyment. There have been numerous games after Pizza Tower that have tried to mimic the speed and other aspects of the game, adding different twists. So far, although some have come close, they haven't hit the sweet spot that Pizza Tower fills.

It is simple in nearly everything and yet has depth to it; easy to play, hard to master. It also has great sprite work and music that bring you into the experience. As I mentioned, there is also a fairly vibrant modding community that have added everything from cut content to entirely new levels and characters, meaning that even beyond the core game itself, there is even more out there.

It's also a game that's had a stream of updates since launch, some for bug fixes but others, like the Noise Update, taking a concept they'd worked on for years but wasn't good enough for release and polishing it to add yet one more way to replay. It's a great game for anyone that enjoys precision side scrollers and speed, like a mashup of Sonic and Mario (2).

The game is claiming it's installed but it never downloaded and I can't actually play it. 10/10.

To call this game early access is a travesty. Knowing that there's an actual company behind it gives the possiblity of hope, however not yet. If you want to check it out because it's free to play...I'd probably wait. The infinity loading screen alone is a huge chunk of the gameplay.

POSTIVES

• A slightly different take on the BR genre.
  
• The basic concept of getting money per round, utilizing that money to buy items (both weapons and armor) is interesting.
  
• The overall tone seems like it could end up being viable.
  
• The weapons do have statistics that show you things like their damage, which is helpful before you have familiarity.
  
• It's still in early access so it could improve.

NEGATIVES

• Weapon Spawning Is Pretty Terrible. I was in a match for 2-3 minutes before I found a weapon (not including the vending machines that I was unable to use because I lacked money). This happened twice and in both instances I immediately was killed by the time I found a weapon. I feel like the current weapon/item spawning is just really poorly executed.
  
• There are several weird sound issues. For instance, even when I stopped walking I could hear my own footsteps for a few seconds after. Coupled with the way other players sound, one of the hallmarks to a BR game, I literally had no idea if someone was or wasn't around.
  
• Half the buildings are empty squares with no textures. The other half are mostly identical. I imagine this is the kind of thing that would be fixed with more time, but it's incredibly off putting right now.
  
• In general, the game sort of looks like somebody just loaded up test assets and was playing around with building a level. Again, early access. There are some slight positives in that some of the building assets are kind of interesting, but mostly they are just square blocks.
  
• The monetary system is an interesting concept but between the lack of current stability with the game client coupled with the terrible drops, actually upgrading your characters clothing is extremely expensive.
  
• The guns do not feel particularly good. Additionally, whether it's latency or poor programming, there were scenarios that happened multiple times where I did something like shoot a cash register, only to have the bullets go past it. A few seconds later it would explode.
  
• Infinity loading screen.
  
• There are multiple armor levels, similar to PUBG, but because of the previously mentioned spawns it feels like a half-implemented feature. Finding any armor so far has been difficult and even when I was fully armored, it felt like it made no difference.
  
• Sometimes the E button just outright doesn't work.
  
• There's a ton of other graphical and aesthetic glitches. Again, I would chock this up to early access and something that may get fixed.
  
• The fun idea of the "new" concepts are only interesting for a few minutes before it just feels like a poor-man's mashup of Fortnite and PUBG.

I think that this is a game that could at least be interesting. It seems clear that they wanted to throw a game up and start collecting money on it to help further their ability to develop it. The issue I have is that for me, especially as all these BR games are now coming out, this feels like the weakest way to do it. If this game had come out a year ago, a lot of the issues and problems would probably be acceptable, especially as a free to play game. Except it didn't.

I know PUBG has it's own issues. Fortnite had some as well (although that already had a pre-existing game to build off of) but has had tremendous strides in terms of patches, etc.

Can Radical Heights be a good game? I mean, I could win the lottery, so anything is possible. But what exists right now, outside of a group of very specific players looking for something that's I guess theoretical cross between PUBG and Fortnite, before the other games in this genre come out, give it a try.

Unforunatly, with what's being offered now, it needs at a minimum months of work to be a viable game. Right now, at best, it's a concept. This doesn't even feel like an alpha.

Holdfast: Nations at War is a fantastic game for being in early access. At the moment, for a game that's only 2+ months old (in early access), the amount of variety is pretty impressive.

Pros:
- Really fun boats.
- The modes around boats, but especially coastal siege, are super enjoyable. Although I wish individualized positions were a bit more relevant than just "now you have a different weapon", the roadmap shows some incredibly interesting choices they want to make going forward.

- Line Battles
- Although it requires you some level of coordination, there's already regiments popping up that are fairly detailed and feature line battles. In general, the line battles are enjoyable and feel somewhat realistic (or as realistic as I imagine them to be).

- Variety
- Maps, weapons, modes: choices. There's a variety of choice. Individual characters have their own abilities, with some of the more interesting ones being musicians (who have music they can play), carpenters, surgeons, and others that aren't entirely fleshed out yet but the core is there. The first time you select say a drummer, and play music while your team marches, it just really entertaining.

CONS:

- Rifleman are just too OP right now. The accuracy, even if historically accurate, is just too much. Additionally, because of limited numbers of slots (typically ten per spawn points), it means you're often stuck with something that is not only less accurate but generally not nearly as fun.

- This is a pie in the sky type thing, but I really wish there was an "Arcade Mode" as well as a "Extreme Simulation Mode". Right now, the gameplay straddles the line and is fun, but it would be cool if in edition to "Standard" it had either or both of those. Maybe arcade mode doesn't require full reloads at that speed where as extreme limits the amount of materials and makes the necessity to work as a group better. I don't know, just spitballing, but it would be cool.



Overall, for an early access game, I've had more fun in Holdfast then many full featued, AAA games over the past year or two. If you're contemplating buying this game, it's worth it. Even in this early access state, I've had a lot of fun.

Fun and immeserive, Stardew Valley is enjoyable for those looking for that old Harvest Moon fix.