Recent reviews by yeah_write

I sank an absurd number of hours into Dead Cells across Steam and Switch (I loved it so much I bought it twice). It's my favorite rougelike, and still one of my go-to games when I'm traveling with my Switch or Steam Deck.

The influence of Dead Cells here is obvious, and to me that's a good thing. There are countless farming sim games out there and people love them for being exactly like Stardew except for ONE thing, so why not with rougelikes? There are enemies, mechanics, and weapons that feel right out of Dead Cells, but there's enough different/new here that it feels like playing something fresh, and not just DLC for that game.

Here are three that stuck out for me:

First there's the art style. It's inspired by French artist Moebius, and it looks fantastic. Rich colors (with thoughtfully chosen palettes for each biome), expressive art and character portraits, and snappy, impactful animations make this game a joy to look at.

Next is the music. This soundtrack has unseated Clair Obscur for game soundtrack of the year for me (totally different vibes of course). The middle eastern fantasy-style music layered on top of dope beats is such a good combo. Also it appears that the BPM of most (maybe all?) the tracks is at the same pace as the Prince's gait, which is an amazing detail and really helps you get in the groove as you rapidly move about the environments.

That movement is the last big thing. It took me a few runs to really grasp the movement system, and I think that's partially because of my familiarity with Dead Cells. It feels enough like that game that I was trying to play it in a similar way, but the Prince is far more nimble. His vault replaces Dead Cells' roll, but he also has a kick that can be used to interrupt enemies and parry projectiles, a wall run ability, and a dash, which can be used in the air and on the ground. Once you wrap your mind around it (I remapped the buttons several times until I found something I liked), it feels great! The speed at which you can zoom up walls, vault off poles, cross chasms and dodge traps is exhilarating. It all feels very Prince of Persia.

There's so much more to like than just those three things. There's a solid story that takes the "brash young Prince" trope most of the PoP games have, and gives him a reason for being so brash (which also serves as the narrative backbone for the entire rougelike structure). There's the fact that you can actually beat a run in a reasonable amount of tries, but the story and unlocks keep you coming back for more. There’s all the fun costumes and nods to other games in the series, the platforming challenges, the cool medallion system, and more.

If you like Dead Cells and you also like Prince of Persia (and I love both), this game is a must have. I hope this gets the same level of expansion/support as Dead Cells, because the only real downside is that I’m not even fully finished yet and I know I’ll want more.

Overall I like this game, but after 11 hours I'm not sure how much more I'll play.

The good
-Fast, fluid and responsive movement. I've played an insane amount of Dead Cells on Switch and felt at home jumping and dodging here. This game just feels good to control.
-Building out the rooms is a cool idea and has some neat trade offs with the curses. Also really appreciate being able to just teleport instantly between rooms you've cleared.
-I love the gothic art and character design. Animations look good too--you'll see the three hit combo a gazillion times, but it looks cool! The dice is a unique weapon.
-Bonus trials are a nice addition and some of them present some tough challenges.
-Some really cool upgrades like the echo dice that show up on dash or enemy death.
-I like Bernardo and his costumes and his absolute refusal to break character.

The bad
-The structure of the game is in three acts (each with its own biome). After you complete an act, stronger enemies (as well as enemies from that new biome) will show up in act 1. The boss from act 1 will also be stronger, and will have new attacks and patterns. This is a neat idea in theory as it makes the early levels you have to run through again feel a little fresh, but the new enemies are damage sponges. Before it might have taken 15 minutes to get to the act 1 boss, but now its double that time. Once you've unlocked act 3, you'll face even stronger versions of enemies in act 1 and 2, and their life bars are enormous. Just getting through rooms feels like a slog, and most runs you feel under powered, even with all your potential upgrades. The act 2 boss after unlocking act 3 becomes a frustrating chore to fight, and takes so long to get to that dying makes you hover over the uninstall button. Feels like it might have been better to make the enemies easier in act 1 and 2 after you've cleared them, and just throw in more challenging boss patterns or room types or something, maybe more risk/reward with how you build the dungeon. This game goes from "Dang I died...I'm gonna try just one more run!" to "Ugh I died...I think I'll stop playing now, or maybe stop playing forever."

-Would have been cool to have more weapon variety or maybe elemental effects that interact with each other. Maybe even ways the dice could transform for new animations. Like maybe the dice multiplies into several small dice forming a whip and your three hit combo becomes a fast six hit combo. Or your dice grows and looks like a sledgehammer, giving you a slow and strong two hit combo.

I'm a thumbs up overall because I enjoyed my time playing this over the past week between my desktop and steam deck (it runs okay enough), and if there are updates, I'll definitely jump back in. It's sorta like Destiny 1, the base level gameplay, the fundamentals, are really solid. With the right improvements I'd enthusiastically recommend, but for now, consider the caveats above!

What a fantastic game. If you like games like Fights In Tight Spaces, Intro The Breach, or even Hitman Go, you'll like this. Here's what really stood out to me:

• Flexible tactical gameplay. There's always more than one way to accomplish your goal, and like the other games I mentioned, it's very positional. It's so satisfying to set up a chain reaction.
  
• It's hilarious. This game has tons of clever writing with heart. It walks up to the line of being too quippy or flippant, but never crosses it. There's an injection of earnestness that made me care about the characters and stay invested in their arcs.
  
• The world building is very cool. From the way people unlock their magic, to the fascinating geopolitics, everything feels thoughtfully constructed. I'd totally read a series of books set in this world.
  
• There's A LOT here. I beat the campaign in about 15 hours on normal difficulty, then dabbled in some of the optional missions. There's also endless mode challenges and a level editor. If you want more gameplay after the perfectly paced campaign ends, there's a ton of it here.
  
• The additional challenges in each mission are totally optional, only unlocking more costumes, but they really can be quite challenging. I enjoyed the way they forced me to think about using the character's abilities in new ways.
  
• The low detail graphics have just the right amount of creative flourish and character. What would feel dull with less capable art direction feels vibrant and inspired here.
  
  This is definitely one of my top games of the year. It has lots of amazing individual parts that all come together to make a really solid, high quality game.
  

Rogue Legacy 2 is a game that understands it's own...legacy.

The first game was an early success in the rogue-lite genre, and the sequel builds on that. But it also understands the legacies of the games that succeeded since then. Games like Hades and Dead Cells pushed the genre forward, and their influence can be felt here, in a very good way.

If you liked the original, you'll like this. It's similar, but with an added layer of thoughtful polish on just about every aspect. More build variety, more customization, more diverse biomes, more attention to detail in the graphics and animation, more wacky traits--it's got everything the first game had, but better.

While ACC: India certainly looks better than China (or at least has more style), it's not a better game. In fact in many ways it's worse. More instant fail scenarios, more timed scenarios, more enemies that cannot be stealth killed, more of the stuff most didn't like about the previous game--it all adds up to an experience that's more frustrating than fun.

The controls are still just as mushy as they were in ACC: China, and the story is just as insignificant. I appreciate the visual flair, but I'm not sure that's enough to save this game for me.

I would have put China at a solid 7.5/10 and this one at a 6/10. It's still fun in spots, but I can't recommend it. Maybe they'll fix some of these issues with ACC: Russia.