Recent reviews by Shadow Crescent

4 Hours Logged. Between this and Umamusume dropping on the same day. This might have to be a PC game. Its not a complete Persona 5 game, but if you want that, go buy Persona 5 Royal. However, as a mobile experience and being a gacha game (of course, I'm only 4 hours in and have not felt compelled to spend or get walled at any moment). It seems like by doing the story you do get free units as well.

I will say for passer bys who has not been paying any attention to the CN side, save your pulls for characters later down the line for the limited banner as we will get more that will more than likely power creep Joker (DPS moment lol) if you are doing meta stuff. That being said, it feels like I am playing a Persona game and this game will more than likely be a PC gacha for me like Honkai: Star Rail. Umamusume can be for the actual smart phone. Just what I needed. New gachas that can compete for my attention with NIKKE for once.

Play this game if you want a Free yet really good experience with Persona if you don't care about the gacha. If you do, totally understand. I will edit my review in the future if something does in fact change, but they nailed the release whole sale. Totally forgot it was a gacha for a good bit of the game.

Despite this being a demo, this is probably one of the best demos I have ever played. Even the demo has so much you can play for hours upon hours. The movement inputs are simple, but the worlds are procedural generated, so it creates new experiences and levels. I cannot wait to get the full game when I can! Hopefully, the devs can keep it going! I cannot wait for the full release! Landfall are the GOATs when it comes to addicting simple, yet fun indie games!

I am a bit late to doing this. However, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising is a game I'd highly recommend those who are new to the fighting game genre or need a casual fighting game that veterans can take a load off by turning the brain off and do some combos shenanigans.

It has been a year and some change since the game released, so I wanted to give my review to this game a year in. GBVSR is great to get into as the controls are not complicated, but you do get rewarded for doing motion inputs in faster cooldowns (Those who played DNF Duel when it was relevant for all of 2 weeks will understand this). However, the characters and the graphics look great! You will not find yourself being shortchanged in the animations with SBAs and SSBAs. I honestly like them better than Strive's animations by a mile!

Also surprisingly, outside of some...questionable choices (*insert among us round start music on Versusia Patch Buffs to Katalina*) the balancing is actually very spot on, and with the amount of characters to where any character can compete and win. They did a great job than what other games with half of the amount of the roster could do.

The netcode itself is pretty good for the most part. Player base still good (as of writing this), and they are treating this game the right way. However, I feel like the one big problem I have with this game is the gameplay elements of 66L and BC. BC [Brave Counter] (although as of writing this is speculated to be nerfed after a demo being released at Frosty this year) and 66L have been on a tear since the game released. You can play against it, but it will be very hgard to where you have to either DP or just take it holding the block button. It can be old very quickly.

However, outside of that, the climb is very good. It basically pushes you up till you hit S++ (a rank under master) before the test really begins. If you are wondering why, they did this change, because so many people were stuck in S and S+ to where S++ was a barren wasteland, and once you hit master, you cannot drop out of master, so they made it easier to climb all the way to S++.

All in all, I highly recommend Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising. The animations are great, outside of 66L and BC, the gameplay is extremely fun. I'd talk about Grand Bruise, but it is practically AFK simulator from time to time. It was rather novel, but it lost its luster over time. Good mode though.

There is a free version of the game if you want to try it out. Sandalphon also comes out at the end of February, so more content will be added soon.

EDIT:

Play this game. Plus, I made it to Master with Charlotta! If this dummy can make it to Master, so can you with the effort!

I mean. From just playing this.

I can't really recommend. If you want something more free to play, great character designs, and very lewd.

Just go play Goddess of Victory: NIKKE. Yea, there are no sex scenes, but you'll have a better time there.

I hope Mane 6 can break from this stupid publisher and make their own game and comeback from the ashes like they did with Fighting is Magic all those years ago.

Screw these higher ups man. This was actually a great game to play and pick up when I needed downtime from Granblue and Street Fighter.

I hope Maximum goes bankrupt.

Not a huge fan of FIghterZ, but I want to say RIP Toriyama.

You were the GOAT and changed many lives. Thanks for the memories and hope you watch on in Other World.

o7

I play a lot of Overwatch 2.

I love Street Fighter 6. If you are not planning on getting any of the skins, you will have a VERY good time with this game. However, I just cannot support the monetization scheme in what is essentially a $85 game (Lets be honest. Most people bought the deluxe edition for the season pass for the DLC fighters).

I can safely say that SF6 some how had a worse monetization scheme having to shell out $100 when Overwatch 2 had its LE SSERAFIM (K-Pop) collab skin line for half that price with the 50% coin sale they were having or even without that only $65 total...for 5 Skins, 5 Victory Poses, And 5 Emotes.

Don't get me wrong. It is still marked up to ♥♥♥♥, but in a world to where a company is beating Blizzard in terms of bad monetzation is very concerning to me. Do better, Capcom and actually price your stuff out right...

I mean hell....World Tour is right there. Didn't like it very much I'll confess, but at least you can get Outfit 2 for FREE there. Like... HUHHH???

With over 1200 hours in this game, I can tell you to avoid this game like the plague. Hell, if you are on Steam, go download Team Fortress 2. That game is way better, community is very funny to be around and it is so chaotic that honestly, you don't even have to worry if you are doing good or not. The only problem with the game is there are a bunch of bots and stuff still going around, but Valve is handling it.

Overwatch 2 has to be one of the most creatively bankrupted games I have ever seen in my life. The core gameplay and feel of the game is great. So, if you can't help yourself and still download the game, just play it casually on that front. Outside of that, everything around this once great game (2016 Game of the Year btw) has been either gutted entirely or turned into a greedy hellhole to power Bobby's yacht finances. Everything that made this game special to me is but a hollow shell of what it once was. You are better off spending your money else where. Hell, if you want to burn money on quality gameplay and good story telling... Honkai: Star Rail ...a turn based GACHA game is miles better than Overwatch 2. You spend money, you can have pretty waifus to look at while you play (if you play now, you can get Mommy Kafka).

Want to play a hero shooter? Go play Valorant or Apex. They aren't arena shooters, but they are far better quality than Overwatch 2 with being a tactical shooter (i.e CS:GO) and Battle Royal respectively. One of the most blatant cash grabs I have ever seen in gaming. Hell, I'd go as far to say that Activision Blizzard is the only company that can stoop lower than EA Sports when it comes to this. I would point people to go play Diablo 4, but Blizzard has already messed up a game that was going to be a smash hit in merely a month after its release.

Don't play Overwatch 2. It is not worth your time and money...especially the Invasion Bundle... That bundle is a SCAM. If you look up the missions on youtube, I guarantee you that you will not be missing out on much. 100% with a 1000%.

I was looking at the reviews for this game, and it seems to be a bunch of reviews that haven't been put up for about 6 months to a year now. Could be a Steam filter or something. However, I'm gonna fill the void and give a more up-to-date sort of view to the game as of January 29th, 2023.

So the reason, I gave it a thumbs up is due to the overall quality of the game compared to other H-Games I played, which are most likely lame Match-3 Games (Huniepop and Huniepop 2: Double Date being the only two exceptions to this... they are extremely good games), some matching game with art clearly took from google or something else rather lazy. For the price that this game is now in 2023, I can say for a fact that it has improved from how it was in 2021. I do rather enjoy the game and the X-Com kind of game play...and that's coming from someone who does not play a bunch of games. The SHMUP sections are always really fun to play, although I feel like handle control and more control over the flashing NEEDS to be implemented... like seriously in some sections I feel like I'm getting flashbanged and can't see anything.

The writing overall is still rather the same tbh. However, their recent chapter update with Fortune really did save it a bit (even though I will always love Sova). It was rough around the edges and... the fact that her dad was actually a slave trader, but he bought her to keep as a child.... That was kind of confusing tbh... I'll also say that the writing did have some chuckle quips, but some you will sort of groan at for a bit. I remember in a dev blog that they mentioned they were going to handle the writing better. ...I guess you can say its better... How much better...? Ehh, only about a step or two up I guess. Its whatever. ...But its also a H-Game... So my standards for actual plot was already lower than every new Pokemon game that drops.

Gameplay...is about the same. X-Com like levels are pretty good. Although, I wish they made the Manticore upgrading and unlocking more streamlined. I used to know how to do it, but it is one of two things. It is either hidden or I'm just blind af lmafo. Overall, still the same strategy. Although, I will say (and it could just be a me thing, so disregard this if you yield different results) some stages feel very hard to complete just to progress in the story. Again, could be that I don't know how to unlock the different Manticores...so consider this as a nitpick. At least you are not forced to complete stages, after three tries, you can just skip it and move on. Nice touch. The SHMUP sections are always the best. The team around that did a fantastic job with level design and shooting enemies and such... However, I still have several complaints about it. First things first, turning the F3NIX around can be a real pain sometimes, especially when dodging things headed your way. Snappier movement will make things 100% times better. Secondly, for the love of God that is almighty, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE add an option to change the reticle color. It can be so easy to lose it during the chaos sometimes and can be extremely confusing to reposition yourself, because you also control your direction that way too. My third and final big complaint is either chill with all the flashing lights or give us an option to lower the intensity of them. They can be pretty blinding sometimes and pulls back game play...a ton. Also, in the Sova update, they added some sort of drinking mini game to where...you have to drink with the beat. My thoughts on it?

Don't play the minigame (as of writing this). It has jank controlling and who ever made that needs to re-evaluate or even overhaul it... or remove it. It sucks. Fun in concept, absolute trash to control.

So from 2022 and the last review (that I can see) being March was the Taron update, well we received two new waifus to rail being Sova (who I call an alcoholic Poppy) and Fortune. Overall, the character dynamics in this game are really well done. The VAs did an outstanding job with them as well. Each character has their own distinct personality and about someone for everyone... or you can just rail em all and not give a flying hoot, but that is your choice haha. Sova is my favorite out of them all. No ♥♥♥♥♥ given, to the point, wields a big hammer and basically girlbossing? Ay yo. My point is there is someone for everyone here.

I mean... its StudioFOW... an animation studio known for this... if they were not high quality then I would have several questions. However, they are high quality. A bunch of detail and they have been adding more control to the game. However, no free control (there is control, but it is so locked in place you might as well not even us it unless you can nab a very good angle). My biggest complaint though (and I'm gonna mega grill em here) is the fact that most of them are still...like...GIFs... I remember in a dev blog that they mentioned they were going to make them better and not feel like GIFs... What in the actual ♥♥♥♥ is this then? I mean they are very good quality GIFs don't get me wrong. However, these animations outside of the golden ones are like those videos you see online that are really just GIFs, but they get voice acting and SFX added to em? Yea, that is what they are in this game. The golden ones too? They only serve to speed up the animations or really into separate, but also "seamless" transitions into more gifs. Look guys and gals, I'm not asking for a full fledged movie here, but come on. For a game that has been in EA for now almost 2 years, something has to go up. Again, good quality. Very good quality, but come on. Do better and be more creative about it. The are also adding outfits for the ladies as well too... though tbh...it seems to be like a soonTM.

In 2023, is this game worth your $30 in EA... no not really. If you manage to catch it on sale... if it ever DOES go on sale I can say you will get a bunch of mileage from it. Subverse is not a very long game. It is merely about what...maybe around now possibly a 4-5 hour game. Which is not bad if you don't do additional exploring and all that. However, its characters are one of a kind and you WILL fall in love with one. Or not, I dunno lmao. I will also say for an EA, the communication has been up, but it seems like things haven't really been uh....up to par with what the communication has been speculating too. I know they don't have a lot of man power, but I've seen other games with solo devs like Toby Fox who made Undertale with in 2.5 years. I know, I know. Pixalated game and Subverse is a 3D game, but come on. You all can do better. Is it worth $30? No. However, if you do cave into your horny thoughts and buy the game, will you find some enjoyment... yea you definitely will. My review is overall mixed.

My final rating for this game though: 6.5/10. Slightly below average.

As an H-Game though compared to other H-Games on Steam: 8.5/10. Look, once this game can beat Huniepop and Huniepop 2: Double Date (Match 3 games that have PICTURES as their H-Scenes btw LMAFO), then we can talk. But it is still really good and well prices compared to other games of its quality like Honey Select 2: LibidoDX...which does not have a lot of the features in the original game....and its $70... Anyway, yea. Thats my long winded review of Subverse. ...Never thought I'd go this in depth about an H-Game... wild.

This review might say no, but I'm more so in the middle of the pack when it comes to recommending this game with more so a net negative look on the game. To state some background before you all look at my hours on record. I've been playing Elsword since its release during Grand Chase's fall off on the Main Client instead of on Steam. Why on Main Client? Because for some reason KOG didn't have the bright idea to incorporate Steam integration to my knowledge. Played it all the way up to the Elrianode update and come back every here and there with more recently for Eve's 4th Job path update. Elsword is a very polarizing game for my eyes, and I'm gonna let you be the judge and jury on whether to at least play.

Elsword, despite popular belief, has stood up to the test of time still feeling rather fresh every time I come back to the game. It always feel nice to log in and start screwing around with the characters. Speaking of the characters, Elsword really accomplishes character design and how each are distinctly played from one another among their job paths also playing more uniquely from each other. You will get a good time and good mileage out of this game. I really love the music as well too. It is not the best sort of OST in the world, but it is good enough to jam out to. However, what I really enjoy is the PvE. I'll explain my reasoning why PvE over PvP in the next section. While it is just spam skill.mp4, I love just nuking enemies with skills and seeing just everything die. At least to me, it has the same feeling of getting the nuke in CoD: MW2(2009 not 2022) and watching things go insane. I'm sure a lot of people enjoy that kind of style as well too. The community is still active and very passionate in sharing info about the game among with some of the sets in the shot being aesthetically nice if you want to nab one. However, there is caveat to that, which I will mention in the next section as well. So put that wallet back in your pocket.


While Elsword has really good gameplay, very nice visuals, and very nice feeling controls. ...This is also KOG we are talking about. Just like how they did Grand Chase and Kurtzpel, Elsword is a Pay to Win game to the most hysterical level. Surprisingly, they did tone it down from how it was on release, but it is more on a level to where it is more bearable now instead of everything getting nickeled and dimed or you have to go do grinds. Those locked skills in the skill tree back in the day? You had to do an even longer grind. That isn't the case anymore. Getting through the class change quests are not as bad although, the master class quests needs some talking down, but if you are a casual player like myself. Its not unneeded. That tangent aside, that nickel and diming moved towards the PvP scene harder. To go into more detail to why I like PvE more than PvP, because PvP is so laughably unbalanced that I consider games like DNF Duel to be like the most balanced game in the Fighting Game market compared to Elsword PvP lmao (if you know you know) or more so like your average Blizzard balancing on steroids. Unless you are willing to shell out a ton of cash to get into PvP, I say AVOID AT ALL COSTS . Endgame is a real struggle to get into as well. It all points back to the shop. Remember when I mentioned in the Good that the shop had good looking costumes for characters...yea they also give you a competitive advantage. Why you may ask? It is due to extra stats on the gear and more importantly extra socket slots to give you even more stats. I mean KOG does give you costumes like the Spa towel and stuff, but... treat that as cosmetic. The shop costumes are the big leagues and give you actual leg up in the end game. No costumes or extra accessories. You are gonna have a really bad time. Not to mention extra stuff for QoL things. I did hear they are trying to improve it. but I don't buy it lmao. As a side note, if you are a lore nerd, I'll have to say this game is not for you. Story is about as good as the story out of something like Street Fighter or something...not compelling, mediocre...eh. In short, heavy Pay to win elements in the Endgame (so like your raid regions) and PvP and the story is not good.


Elsword to me has been that game to where if you are looking to kill some time level a character up to level 99 and have fun nuking every enemy insight. Plus, test your speed running prowess in some dungeons and secret dungeons (which are pretty fun ngl), I'd say give the game a chance and see how you like it. However, you are looking to get into the game and get into the endgame and you are not some kind of grind addict like the average Destiny 2 player or you are looking for that Free to play PvP MMO, Elsword is not the game for you unless you are willing to shell out some cash to get that edge or to at least get into that tier in a timely manner.

However, as a MMO as a whole and given to what has all been said... Do I recommend Elsword? Nah not really.
But do I regret playing it and coming back from time to time to get that dopamine rush again? Nah, I really don't.