Recent reviews by marks.done

This game is something special. Being a fan of climbing for so long, I've always wanted a game that can deliver that balance of risk & reward and this game nails that feeling - from the way you plan your route, to the ways you are forced to improvise when your grip gets shaky. And just enough story on top of this to add a fair amount of emotional weight and some consequence. And lastly, the sense of scale and accomplishment knowing that you can conquer great heights, one movement at a time!

I would highly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys a challenge and a sense of overcoming that challenge!

+ The fun comes from accomplishment. There is nothing that gets between you and the gameplay. This is ultimately a puzzle game with several solutions, and the reward is finding your own!

+ Never even had a stutter. This is even more impressive given that you can view your entire route at any time while climbing, even all the way to the base of the mountain. This helps deliver on the immersion and overall sense of scale

+ The draw distances reward your checkpoints with stunning views over incredible distances. The art style makes the different surfaces of the rock (edges, rounded walls, cracks, etc) very clear and gives some confidence in decision making. The weather and time mechanics add so much to the stylized visuals, and cave systems make you feel isolated from the outside world.

- I am personally not a fan of the "cartoonish character designs, but this is a very very minor complaint.

+ Honestly this is difficult to rate. There is not a ton of incentive to replay this game, but I immediately want to. This goes back to the comparison to actual climbing, where I imagine ways I want to improve my route, my pace, my inventory management, etc.
+ There are multiple choices/endings, but you can reload from any save & at any time.

- Different difficulty options don't change the gameplay much.

+ The story is fairly light, but very effective for what it is. Well paced story beats keep the emotional weight, and small choices keep the player engaged in their own narrative. And thankfully, all cutscenes are skippable if you just want to climb.
+ Voice acting and writing are all well done and believable.

- There are some story moments that are a bit annoying in my opinion, and the ending is a bit of a let down for me.

Overall 8/10
A fantastic game about grief and how it affects everyone differently. Interesting combat, deep build system, and incredible art design. I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in a story rich single player game.

Fun Factor 7/10
+ Combat is addictive and varied
+ Build diversity, enemy variety, and original mechanics keep things interesting
~ Exploration is somewhat rewarding but can become pointless late game
- Platforming in unnecessarily painful
- Once you settle on an OP build, combat can get repetitive quickly

Performance & Bugs 9/10
+ I don't think I ever dropped a single frame on the highest settings
+ Controller and M+KB are both viable
- Exactly 1 crash, minor visual bugs, and very easy to get characters stuck in terrain

Visuals 9/10
+ Incredible art design, every location is a work of art
+ Interesting character and enemy designs and fantastic cut-scene direction
~ Combat animations are amazing, but animations outside of combat can look janky

Replayability 5/10
+ NG+ can be started at any point after completing the primary story
~ No achievements or completion tied to new game+
- No real reason to play new game+ unless you missed something in the first playthrough

Story 10/10
+ One of the best stories in modern gaming - the game rewards your attention to details
+ Every character is interesting and has incredible depth
+ Several unexpected twists and multiple endings that all feel justified

Overall 7/10
Enjoyable combat with rewarding exploration and visual flair. Creative boss design and upgrade path keep things interesting. Platforming sections can be very annoying and story is generic, but the action setpieces are exciting. Easy to 100% in about 60 hours, and about 30 hours for a normal playthrough.

Fun Factor 8/10
+ Responsive and fast paced combat
+ All difficulties reward player skill
+ Exploration is rewarding and engaging
- Combat isn't very flexible and can become repetitive
- Dodge feels slow and makes follow-ups feel stiff
- Few platforming specific sections are very annoying

Performance 8/10
+ Decent performance options allow tuning to hardware
- I sometimes get micro-stutters with no clear cause or solution

Visuals 10/10
+ I would argue this is the game's main selling point
+ Beautiful graphics, cut-scenes, animation, and "character design"
+ Incredibly creative visual design style, from the enemies to the weapons

Replayability 5/10
+ Additional collectibles, abilities, enemies, and equipment in new game+
+ Short main storyline and no difficulty achievements makes for easy 100%
~ Multiple endings, but they are annoying to obtain and not entirely rewarding
- Overall quests, npcs, and gameplay are mostly unchanged.

Story 3/10
+ Cool setpieces and cut-scenes
- Painfully generic story
- Predictable story beats and twists
- MANY LONG & UNSKIPPABLE cut-scenes

Art

Possibly the best snowboarding available on Steam. If you're looking for a more realistic physics based snowboarding game, this is it. No pre-defined animations and a ton of freedom to create your own style.

+Intuitive and simple controls
+Mostly physics based axis rotations
+Fantastic modding support and community
+Seamless cross platform multiplayer

-Grind and snowmobile systems are a bit janky
-Character customization and design

Maybe the only skateboarding game that can give the feeling and satisfaction of being in complete control of a skateboard. Complete customization of physics and control mechanics means you can dial everything to your liking and it still feels rewarding. If you can get past the surface level jank, this really is the best skate game on Steam.

I have never played a game as well made while also containing so many complex systems that all work together to deliver a highly custom narrative worth playing again and again.

One of the most creative, innovative, original and, most importantly, fun games I've ever played. I would highly recommend this game to anyone with a computer.