Recent reviews by orbitings

I really dislike forced multiplayer. I hate open ended, never ending 'season' based games. I'd also heard this just devolves into PVP / backstabbing in every match. So I expected to play this for 115 minutes, confirm my suspicions, and refund.

I played maybe 6 matches, and the only bad experience occured in the second match when somone shot me in the back right at the begining. I never shot at anyone (still havent). On the fourth match everyone was saying hi to each other, 'how's it going?', check out this cool gun etc. etc. Some were just dropping things at my feet as they ran by, no words said.
The extracts everyone was chilling, dancing, playing guitars and flutes.

Okay, so no PVP if you don't want, basically. Solo is absolutely doable, especially teh more you play and become familiar with the game and upgrade your loot. But I wasn't convinced it would satisfy me, considering there is no real ending per se. I sat on it at 115 minutes for a few days, and ultimately refunded.

But I kept seeing gameplay clips that looked fun and kept thinking about the game. I ended up re-buying it, and the above has held true over 60 hours. The gameplay loop is fun and addicting. Finding that next epic or legendary item, or even just the one you need to upgrade, could happen anytime really. Some of the best items I have found in nowhere stops in trash cans. I have been killed by other raiders exactly twice and that includes the one above. The other occured maybe 10 matches later. I was shot at once as a warning to stay away, ran away, and then no problems. Other than that everyone has been not only chill, but friendly and fun to talk to or even team up with for a bit shootin robits.

And really, that's where the game shines for me. Shootin robits. The robots are awesome, and tough. You gotta be on your toes, aim well, bring the right equipment, and know your cover. You can easily get caught in the open and get downed before you know it.
The gunplay is really fun and satisfying. So when it's fun to shoot the gun and fun to destroy the robot, that's a win. Then you get treasure on top of it all!

I've not even taken on the largest robots yet, and now I've heard more are yet to come.

The need to extract adds a layer of tension and planning that is unique in a game for me. The realtively tough survivability of the game means everything is potentially dangerous. I've died more times through carelessness than anything.

The level design and layout is really amazing. The vibes and atmosphere add a lot to the game. Sidetracking here but I've been a fan of the original Marathon series since the first game came out when I was a kid. I was super stoked to hear a new Marathon was coming as I've been hoping for that forever...only to be disappointed it was an extraction shooter. And while I like the art style of it, ultimately that game does not excite me at all. Watching some recent gameplay the wild PVPness of it all is just not for me. (And I'm frankly over first person shooters for the most part. They've gotta have something really unique to make me want to play it).

But this game, you can basically choose thanks to the aggression based match making. Wanna play chill? Just be chill (no shooting at raiders) for a few rounds even if that means you get killed. Eventually they will put you in with other folks who want the same. If you end up shooting them, they'll throw you back in the firefight lobbies.

I can recommend this to folks who don't usually play this type of game. At least do yourself a favor and play it for <2 hours to see what you think, and don't judge based on the hype or hearsay.

A really excellently crafted game full of puzzles that you can take at your own pace. Just when you think you've grasped all the game has to offer, another room appears that tells you othrewise. Some puzzles eventually reveal themselves to have been there the whole time, you just weren't looking for it, etc. Really fun and satisfying when you finally crack some of the codes. I'm 50 hours in i'm so glad for taking pictures of every single thing because you'll need to take that level of notes to keep track of it all and figure out some of the later stuff.

I didn't expect to take to this so fast, as I don't usually stick with block pushing games. But something about this is really engaging. Probably it's a combo of all of it. It's straight and to the point, no long exposition or tutorial. A quick intro and bam, you're playing and it's teaching you the rules through the environment and puzzles you first encounter.

As you go through, you eek out what blocks do what, pick up new abilities, and explore more of the world. A map with flagging to keep track of everything and a excellent soundtrack help keep the engagement. It's easy to pick up and play a few screens, or get involved for a few hours.

The puzzles are great. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming entering a room, but once you stare at it for a few seconds you can usually see the process. Or at least determine that you can't do the puzzle quite yet and move onto a new room.

Worth it.

The game really clicks after a few hours and after you flush out the world a little bit. You slowly start to understand the somewhat obscured mechanics (which i love in a game since it drives the mystery) and determine what is and isn't really a problem. Trial and error is useful, and dying doesn't have major consequences other than setting you slightly backwards on the map (but you keep what you found or whatever map was revealed). The puzzles are great and fun to work through, and the progression for the story made me feel like a detective. The conversation system is really neat forcing you use the built in notes system and pay attention to what people are saying.
The relic dungeons quickly get tough so building up your understanding of the world and your inventory first is paramount.

Then there's the story, which creeps up on you as you go along, and ends up to be quite horrific in an amazing way. The revelations you discover as you read books (pay attention to the bookshelves you see!) and talk to characters with the hidden conversation mechanic are excellent.

And I'm only just getting into the hidden magicks.

For a free game, it's incredible. It'd be worth $20 easy if they wanted. Do yourself a favour, and try it out. What's the worst that could happen? An amber-addled mind? Seeing some horrors you weren't supposed to? Accidentally stealing a ship and cannonballing a sea monster? Could be worse!s

I'm maybe 50% through according to the save file, and it's been a great metroidvania so far. It is really tough, with unforgiving bosses and tough zones to track through. Some parts and bosses made me go "seriously!?", in terms of their expectations of the player. The pathfinding can sometimes feel like you are trying hard to access a secret area, only to find it was the intended way forward. That being said, I'm glad I pushed through because perseverance was all it took. Bosses follow memorizable patterns, etc.

There are hints of secrets, and secrets upon secrets, which is also why I wanted to play the game after itching for more Tunic and Animal Well. So, I predict it will only get better in that regard. Though perhaps frustrating too, that's okay, it's still fun to see what the puzzles are like.

It's hard to describe the magic of this game. It's not only a fun metroidvania with clever and unique powerups and puzzles, it's a pepe silva style deep-thought puzzle conspiracy that by the end (or is it?) of the game you will be certain that every screen hides eldritch truths only the bunnies know about, and every column is a hint at a secret song. No other game has embroiled so many ideas into one, shoved them in your face, and then laughed at you as you never even noticed. It's wild, and you should play it.

An excellent combination of Dark Souls / Landstalker / Fez / Zelda / Hyper Light Drifter. It's beautiful, full of secrets, and has a fantastic sountrack that fits the vibe really well. The mystery of the game coupled with the intrigue of the manual pages, found as you go....good stuff.

Yes.

As an avid not terrible but not great disc golfer in real life (~920 rated), this game is great. It can definitely satisfy some of that disc golf urge, and considering you can play it when it's raining outside in real life, that's just amazing. Is it anything like actually playing a round? No, not really. It's it's own thing with disc golf on top.

Notable things
-has the jomez 'follow flight' on every throw and flight. It will show you how straight your pull through is! This alone is great.
-flight speed seems to be maxed out at 30mph? may be a bug on the speedometer, but regardless basically anything above a 60% throw in IRL disc golf is max speed in this game, so it is very easy to be able to drive 500+ feet with the right disc. That makes sense, it's a video game! it's a lot of fun. It also means throwing anything less than 25 mph (whatever that means in this game because that seems way off) is kind of hard to do. Instead, choose slower discs.
-at least for me, my irl 'flat release' backhand throw is somewhat hyzer in the game. I have to pull back a bit to what I would think is an anny release backhand throw for a flat throw in the game. It's not much, but coupled with the fact you are holding a weird controller instead of a disc it means in the end you aren't really doing the same exact motion as you do in real life. Is that good or bad? I don't know. However, the game at will show you how consistent you are very quickly, so it's good practice for that. And maybe my IRL shots are just bad? Well, you also have to release the trigger to release the disc, which is nothing like real life.

That being said, it really needs to have some spruce'n up in areas. There are a few bugs to fix and quality of life improvements that are desperately needed, which I can only hope/assume are on the docket since this is still early access.

PLEASE FIX:
-can't pause or access the menu in the middle of a hole. You have to finish out to restart/retire etc. Need a way to restart the hole at anytime like on mobile.
-the words "just tap it in" appear when parked under the basket, but with no way to actually tap it in. Should be a way to click "OK" and finish out hole without having to actually do it.
-game fairly consistently loses detection of the trigger being held for a split second right after choosing a putter when putting. It means a lot of false, 'dropped' putts because i step forward while holding the trigger to line up the putt and the game just drops the disc and it counts as a stroke. You learn to wait a second after selecting the putter and it avoids this, but it's annoying.
-occasionally drives will just hit an invisible wall directly in front of the release point of the disc, stopping after 1' or so.
-occasionally perfectly fine full drives will instead just pop out at "20 mph" or so and be super wobbly and spinning like a tornado, and go only 100'.

This game is amazing, and will make you a better person by beating it. Do yourself a favor and don't use a walkthrough ever, you'll thank me later.