Recent reviews by ErrantBlimp

Let me be upfront: I didn't like this game. Most of my time playing it was pretty unpleasant due to a number of questionable design decisions and gameplay issues. I don't intend to ever play it again, and I wouldn't recommend it over any similar titles on the market. My playtime only totaled 43 hours because I forcefully strived to unlock as many achievements as possible, and I got quite frustrated by the fact that I wasn't able to beat the last boss on the hardest difficulty level — more on this later. However, I can't bring myself to leave a "not recommended" tag on this one. There's something about WarriOrb, being the indie product it is, that intrigues me in a very unusual manner. Therefore, I wouldn't discard the possibility of people actually enjoying it for what it attempts to offer. Allow me to hopefully elaborate.

First of all, users have attached the tags "metroidvania" and "souls-like" to this title. Given the game's unforgiving nature, I don't have reservations regarding the latter category, but I'm inclined to question the former. WarriOrb is divided into three major Acts. Yes, the second Act is indeed the largest, but it is the only chapter to present three independent areas which can be tackled in any order. In contrast, Acts 1 and 3 are very much linear and restrictive. The few sidequests available in Acts 1 and 2 do not encourage exploration in a substantial way, and those three areas in Act 2 aren't exactly interconnected by elaborate pathways. Ultimately, players won't be searching for major secondary corridors and places during their playthroughs. The only features that might spur careful examination are the small alcoves — each containing an optional chest — hidden along the world's main routes.

Most of the game is composed of tough platforming segments interspersed with short combat encounters. The protagonist is some sort of spherical creature capable of rolling around and bouncing off surfaces. In fact, I suspect people will spend the majority of the adventure in ball form, since the guy's normal running speed is quite slow. Getting past each level requires mastering the bouncing ability in order to reach distant platforms, climb tricky vertical structures, and avoid lethal traps and chasms. Moving and leaping as a ball also becomes a necessity during battles, as certain enemies cannot be dodged otherwise. These movement capabilities are available to the player right from the start. Only in Act 3 is a new traversal technique acquired: your character learns to envelop himself in a bubble that allows him to descend slowly in a fall or float high when carried by upward windstreams.

Despite the absence of a metroidvania-style world, WarriOrb's combat still features some complexity. Many items and collectibles can be used to increase or modify your fighting skills. A small selection of melee weapons provides different swinging maneuvers and special power strikes to defeat opponents. Up to five crystals might be equipped at any given time to enhance your survivability with boosts to attack damage and speed, physical and magical defense, among other effects. Spells have varied purposes: they can injure enemies directly, buff the melee weapons, confer temporary offensive statuses to the ball form, shield the protagonist from harm, or simply heal him. These sorceries must be assigned to mana slots at a bonfire before you can use them — some have infinite uses with cooldowns, while others are to be recharged by resting. Since the ball-guy starts the game with absolutely nothing, you have to find all of this stuff in chests. You may also discover two rare types of containers in a playthrough: the red type bolsters your maximum health, and the blue one rewards you with more mana slots.

The first two problems that I can pinpoint are perhaps just minor nuisances, but they still count toward my final opinion. Even though most levels in the game aren't that labyrinthine, the lack of a proper map makes remembering important landmarks and exploring locations a bit more complicated. In addition, I found the sidequests to be somewhat vague and obscure, demanding an unreasonable amount of digging to be solved and completed. This ordeal was significantly bothersome, considering the nonexistence of any guides for this title. Since the game was released in 2020, its developers could have at least included more in-game clues and descriptions for each mission.

Now, WarriOrb is arduous. Sure, my evaluation is based on the hardest difficulty setting, but even then I think the whole experience is gruesome for the wrong causes. The platforming segments are excruciating for a simple reason: moving in ball form is wobbly and clumsy, and multiple obstacle courses require precise execution. Controlling your guy as he rolls and bounces around becomes quite tricky when you're trying to avoid chasms, projectiles and deadly spikes. Furthermore, you're expected to employ your ball maneuvers in combat situations, especially when escaping from tall foes is required. Enemies swarm you frequently, to the point that even bouncing high in the air isn't enough to avoid them. You will not survive without mastering the ability to quickly switch between normal and ball forms, as you constantly deliver quick attacks while still maintaining the height of your bounces. Failing to do so will most certainly result in defeat. In true Dark Souls fashion, each death sends the protagonist back to the area's bonfire, and I can tell you that these are few and far between. Yes, a temporary beacon can be placed anywhere on the map, allowing teleportation back to it from the bonfire, but this feature is entirely disabled on hard mode.

Enemies are the source of great suffering in WarriOrb. Their variety isn't vast, but those that exist will piss you off. The flying guys tend to be complicated because reaching them is hard — the tall monsters, on the other hand, may easily pin you against walls. The bosses are also a significant problem in this game. They all pack a punch, withstand a lot of punishment, perform difficult-to-avoid moves, and engage you in at least two phases. There are five of them, with the final bastard being the one who made me give up. Why, you ask? One of her moves, consisting of three homing projectiles, is nearly impossible to dodge in the precarious arena where we're forced to face her. On hard mode, each of her hits drains half of your health bar. I don't think further explanation is necessary.

So, why am I giving this a "recommended" label, despite such a dispiriting experience? Well, this game displays a world that is particularly outlandish in terms of tone and overall aesthetics. The crazy characters you meet and the places you visit are so whimsical that I was actually captivated by all the silliness. I could mention the fountain that was in love with a mirror, the dwarf that got locked up in a kitchen cell (why the hell is there a cell in a kitchen?), or the giant statue that was in dire need of a chair. The best one, though, was the ant merchant who dealt with microtransactions — his name was MerchAnt, by the way. Sure, this is all fluff that doesn't excuse the problems mentioned before, but I also recognize that some people might enjoy the challenges presented here. I honestly felt a real sense of accomplishment after beating most bosses without taking any damage. There's undoubtedly a target audience for this game, so slapping a negative sticker on it would be rather unfair to its indie developers.

Wrapping up, I think WarriOrb's graphics are OK and its soundtrack is forgettable. I didn't notice any major bugs while playing it, fortunately. This game is certainly not a masterpiece and you can skip it without much consideration. However, go ahead and try it out if you want to undergo a weird kind of masochistic adventure.

Look, I enjoy playing metroidvanias, OK? I've got plenty of them in my library, and I'm inclined to praise even those which aren't that worthwhile. Not this one, however. It took me a long time to finally write something about La-Mulana because this was such a unique and frustrating experience to me. The game's dreadfully unreasonable nature actually encouraged me to unlock its achievements, despite the huge pain in the ass the whole ordeal caused me — I remember reading three godamned different guides at the same time in order to complete all necessary tasks. Finishing it became a matter of honor, so to speak. That said, although La-Mulana does have a few merits, I simply cannot recommend it to the vast majority of players out there. Let's see why.

You're probably familiar with the basic premise already. The playable protagonist, Lemeza, is a dude that resembles Indiana Jones and the whole point of the game is about exploring a large maze complex composed of distinct, interconnected dungeons. This endeavor entails investigating loads of individual rooms, killing countless enemies blocking the way, collecting money, interacting with NPCs for information and assistance, finding equipment and quest items which will grant access to new areas, and solving numerous puzzles. You'll also face eight major bosses and multiple minibosses before fighting the main antagonist at the end. I'm not going to delve into La-Mulana's plot, considering that it is actually rather tangled. Suffice to say, I didn't pay much attention to it, since unraveling the whole story requires the careful scrutiny of cryptic clues, descriptions and dialogues spread around the entire maze. Honestly, I was too busy trying to overcome the game's gruesome perils to concern myself with this effort.

Now, to protect themselves against foes, players will be able to employ either main weapons or sub-weapons. The first category encompasses a bunch of melee arms, including an upgradable whip, and each one of them can whack stuff in a specific manner. Some might be useful in certain situations, while others are basically expendable. The second group includes tossable projectiles, bombs, a bunch of shields and a revolver. Most of these must be purchased with gold coins dropped by enemies. The melee weapons and the best shields, though, are hidden in different rooms all over the game. I'd say that ordinary minions can be dispatched with relative ease in La-Mulana, 75% of the time. The real challenges presented here are the bosses and their smaller lieutenants, who are quite tricky to deal with. You will struggle against them, and that is explained primarily by two factors: mobility and health.

To be blunt, movement in this game is awfully cumbersome. Lemeza's walking speed is sluggish and his jumps are difficult to control, given that sideways momentum cannot be adjusted after he leaps forward. Strangely enough, though, if a simple jump is performed while being stationary, the final landing spot may be slightly changed during the fall. This system instigates a lot of confusion, especially when you're desperately trying to avoid multiple projectiles or attacks. And to make the situation worse, the absence of a dodge or dash maneuver forces you to depend solely on jumping. Add to this the fact that there's no reliable way to recover health aside from resting in a pond located outside the maze. Sure, you might collect orbs dropped by foes to fill this secondary bar, which in turn replenishes your health bar, but that seldom happens when you really need healing. These issues make general combat very annoying, but I'd say there are worse problems in the game.

As I implied before, a major aspect of La-Mulana is the search for crucial objects. These are classified as either Usable Items or Treasures. The first group comprises quest items, the kind of gadgets that must be individually equipped or used to manipulate special devices or trigger important events in the playthrough. Treasures, on the other hand, bestow permanent passive skills to the protagonist, and they remain active at all times. Obtaining some of them is mandatory to access advanced areas of the game. You'll also scour the dungeons for NPCs that provide information, sell useful items or assume certain roles in specific quests. Exploring is indeed the activity that covers most of the experience here — and by doing so, players will tackle what I consider to be the main obstacles of the game: its puzzles.

I've played some puzzle adventures in my life that were pretty cerebral, including those old Myst titles of the early 2000s, yet nothing compares to what is thrown at the player here. The initial mysteries in La-Mulana are relatively reasonable: not exactly straightforward, but decipherable nonetheless, to the point that I actually managed to solve them in time with some diligent digging. I'm talking about the kind of problem that requires you to read somewhat vague clues to determine the logic behind a mechanism or the location of an item. The sentences were foggy, but I could still figure out the underlying solution after connecting the dots. This is how the game introduces players to the basic methodology of (1) search the whole damn place for scattered pieces of text and (2) write all that ♥♥♥♥ down on a notebook somewhere for further consultation. Believe me, this habit quickly proves to be indispensable.

However, from the second half of the playthrough onwards, the puzzles reach a ridiculous level of esotericism. I'm talking about translating phrases written in fictional languages here, or bringing a female statue to a room full of flying spermatozoa so that it becomes pregnant (I'm not kidding). Clues are first found in tablets or signs, but later on you're forced to pay attention to tiny little details etched on background murals and sculptures. As you advance in the adventure, the tips for specific puzzles get even more cryptic and start showing up in far away places, with no clear indication of the links between them. The game also has a large number of hidden rooms that, despite their importance to several enigmas, are really hard to find on your own. Moreover, I remember struggling with mysteries that required avoiding false doors and performing arcane tasks in the correct order all over the map. It's a gigantic, obscure mess that doesn't really bring any degree of satisfaction when (or if) you manage to crack it. Frankly, I ain't paid to deal with this kind of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, so I ended up resorting to guides — I suspect you'd do the same.

There's more. I should list a bunch of additional grievances I have against La-Mulana. Getting hit by enemies is quite irritating because every successful strike launches Lemeza backwards. Many levels are quite vertical in their architecture, so being thrown to the very bottom of a tall pit is a common occurrence. Speaking of the map, although there's a fast-travel system available, the waypoints aren't exactly numerous, which means that you'll have to backtrack constantly. I also disliked the fact that many dungeons are mirrored versions of others, and that distinct areas seem to be connected by nonsensical pathways. The amount of deadly traps that kill instantly is rather unreasonable, as well. Finally, saving progress is done at those waypoints I mentioned. This system naturally punishes those who do not return to them frequently, especially in a game that distributes death so gratuitously.

So, yes, avoid this game if you're just looking for a cozy metroidvania experience, or even if you're searching for something a little more challenging. Those merits I cited at the beginning? The soundtrack is very enjoyable — I still listen to a few tunes — and the graphics are kinda pretty, considering that La-Mulana pays homage to the NES era. At the end, only hardcore enthusiasts will find a way to appreciate this thing.

Ah, yes, rogue -lites and -likes. I don't usually play them, as I said in a previous review. This thing about dying and losing everything is kinda bothersome, even though the -lites diminish the losses when compared to the -likes. Nevertheless, I saw UnderMine on sale years ago and decided to purchase it because, frankly, it looked cute. Now, after playing this title for a while and seeing most of what it offers, I think I can provide a reasonable opinion about the product. I'm giving it a thumbs-up in goodwill, but consider this a mixed analysis — I found way too many nagging problems that disappointed me greatly. It can be alluring to some people, though. Let's take a look.

First, a basic summary. UnderMine revolves around completing a randomized dungeon that is divided into five major areas, each containing a boss at the end. Every run takes perhaps 90 minutes, if you're fast and lucky enough. A successful full run increases the difficulty level of the next. This mode is the -lite facet of the game, and you're expected to improve your character before facing further matches. After you complete your first run, the final boss arena is unlocked, but the story only requires you to kill him once in order to "finish" the main campaign. Although there's this optional slime boss that can be accessed through a door somewhere in this dungeon, reaching and defeating it is too much of a pointless hassle. For the masochists out there, the developers created a secondary dungeon designed to function like a true -like experience, forcing players to start each attempt basically nude. I didn't waste much time on this one, honestly, due to its unforgiving nature.

Now, UnderMine's gameplay is quite simple. The camera's perspective is top-down, à la A Link to the Past. Your little dude has a pickaxe for a weapon. It can be swung in close range or thrown in the direction of your mouse pointer. He can also jump, which serves not only to cross chasms, but also to dodge harmful attacks and traps. Aside from whacking foes with your Trotsky killer, you can use it to mine gold from certain rocks and walls. This money can be brought back to the main hub after beating (or dying in) a run, to be exchanged for consumable items and permanent stat upgrades for your adventurer. There's also a special currency, a purple crystal, which is seldom found and mined in the main dungeon. It is used to purchase tickets to the secondary dungeon and to acquire special recipes from select NPCs. These characters are encountered as you go spelunking in the mines, and they usually move to the hub after you complete their sidequests.

Three major elements influence your combat effectiveness and survival capabilities during a run: relics, potions and familiars. The first two are usually looted from chests and cannot be carried over to future runs, so you'll have to find them again constantly. Your familiar, on the other hand, is picked before starting the dungeon and stays with you until it is replaced with another. Relics, found in special containers, bestow special abilities or passive skills that are either extremely handy or practically useless. Potions show up in common chests, but can also be dropped by certain monsters or even looted from the special boxes. These are, obviously, consumed to provide a specific boon or temporary effect. Familiars may level up during a run and become more proficient at their job — their progress is reset in subsequent runs, however. The recipes that I mentioned earlier must be acquired before their respective relics and potions start showing up in the dungeon.

Not to be forgotten, you'll be constantly graced or punished during your runs by blessings and curses. Both are obtained in these altar rooms scattered throughout the dungeon, but they might also come from containers or be inflicted by enemies. Unlike the previous elements, these two are actually cumulative, meaning that you can get multiple blessings or curses of the same kind, potentially unleashing catastrophic outcomes. Blessings tend to stick with you until the end of a run. Curses, however, may be removed at altars for a health cost. Well, except the major ones, which really cause a lot of pain. This is where the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of this game begins, ladies and gentlemen, so let's talk about my gripes with it.

As you probably imagined, one of my complaints here is the accumulation of curses. Depending on the circumstances, enemies may flood you with them. This becomes a major issue when you are unable to find good relics and potions to counterbalance all the bad mojo. The compounded negative effects will severely cripple your character, making your life excessively hard, especially after completing many runs and increasing the difficulty of the dungeon to a significant level. Moreover, some of the major curses are so debilitating that catching them effectively ends the run, so you have to be extra careful not to get afflicted. This imbalance highlights another problem: the usefulness of each item and the chances of them spawning.

See, this game has a gigantic amount of relics and potions, and they all provide specific benefits. As you perform runs, lots and lots of recipes show up. The urge to unlock them all will overcome you. Unfortunately, this isn't exactly the best idea, and I only realised this later in my playthroughs. In reality, some boons vastly outperform most of the others. The more you unlock different relics, the rarer it will be to find the ones that really matter. In other words, you might eventually put yourself in a position to be constantly overloaded with crap that won't contribute much to your survival, as the shoddy items end up taking the place of the good stuff. This problem is even more pronounced regarding potions. I saw myself finding loads of highly situational and impractical drinks, when all that I needed at those moments was a health elixir. Still, this isn't the issue that annoyed me the most.

Enemies in UnderMine come in many different varieties and may be quite dangerous. There's definitely no shortage of strange creatures to fight here, and you'll have to quickly adapt yourself to each new threat. Foes almost always hit hard and some can take a beating before perishing, forcing you to purchase those health and damage upgrades as soon as possible. Bosses, at least, become more manageable as you memorize their patterns, thanks to their methodical nature. Ordinary creatures, though, behave more erratically. Your poor adventurer, I'm afraid, will eventually find themselves struggling in general combat for two main reasons.

First, your repertoire of abilities is, as I implied earlier, rather limited. Get used to swinging that pickaxe, since it's basically the only weapon available. Sure, dropping bombs could help dispatch your foes, but the explosives might easily obliterate your character in the blink of an eye — you'll want to save them to remove obstructions anyway. Yes, you may find that good stuff and gain some handy powers, but good luck with that. Second, it is not unusual to enter a random room and suddenly get swarmed by an army of critters unloading a barrage of relentless attacks against the protagonist. Rest assured that your little jump maneuver often won't be enough to dodge them. I should emphasize this: expect the game to unabashedly pack small rooms with hordes of enemies. Because screw you, that's why. I lost count of the runs I failed due to this ridiculous design choice.

Wrapping this up, I should mention that UnderMine's graphics are reasonably appealing. I enjoyed looking at the colorful sprites and fluid animations, but the randomized dungeon layouts sadly became somewhat drab and repetitive as I progressed in the game. I noticed no audio issues, and while the soundtrack is serviceable, it's largely forgettable. So, if you enjoy rogue games, keep in mind the issues I exposed here.

I'm not much of an enthusiast of roguelikes, frankly. The whole premise of always playing randomized levels and restarting anew after dying causes me some degree of annoyance. I like the idea of carving out significant feats in the simulation and obtaining enduring benefits — in other words, evolving my avatar and the world around him in a perennial fashion is important. Some of these games are quite unforgiving, while others offer ways to permanently upgrade playable characters for future runs. While Moon Hunters forces you to start each adventure from scratch, it is also structured in such a manner that its playthrough cycles weren't that frustrating to me. But is it worthy of your time? I'm kinda conflicted about it, so bear with me.

The framework here is quite simple. Every run is composed of 5 days, each representing a level. In the first level, you get to visit one of the game's fixed towns, whereas the final boss is fought in the fifth. The three intermediary stages consist of randomized dungeons that take the form of forests, swamps, deserts, caves and mountains. All locations are represented on a worldmap that players get to visualize at the start of each day. The positions of each place and the paths connecting them are also randomized, so the sequence of levels is potentially varied. Moreover, a few unique areas containing specific NPCs can be explored if they show up on the map — they can be accessed before entering the dungeon instance that ends the day.

Now, Moon Hunters has some RPG mechanics. Seven main characters offer players some variation of gameplay with their particular attacks and abilities. Their strengths and weaknesses are measured by a simple stat system. You don't exactly level up in this game. Instead, individual stats can be improved through the completion of tasks in towns, dungeons and special areas. NPCs provide dialogue options that increase certain attributes depending on the player's choice. They also initiate subquests that require visiting different places and talking to other folks in subsequent days, with stat bonuses as rewards. Defeated enemies drop money, which can be exchanged at shops for additional passive upgrades. At the end of each day, characters are allowed to perform certain actions at a campsite, and these will spur random events and further stat boons. One of these activities is a rudimentary cooking minigame that utilizes ingredients found during normal gameplay. Each of the 100+ recipes gives a different number of points to your attributes.

Given the short length and the randomized nature of each run, I've always felt like I was running out of time to do things in my playthroughs. Failing sidequests was a common occurrence simply because the areas, points of interest and NPCs required to advance them would often not appear to me in a timely manner. Traits, a secondary aspect of customization, are gained by a character when he or she interacts with NPCs and special landmarks. Although they do not modify combat in any way, possessing them is mandatory to unlock unique dialogue options and specific sidequest developments. Considering that I frequently missed the opportunity to acquire their necessary traits beforehand, my quests failed constantly, and this bothered me a lot. To make things worse, there's also this constellation in the game's menu hub that serves as a barrier of sorts. To unlock the stuff blocked by it, players need to fill it with the spirits of characters that complete the campaign. Each spot in this chart asks for a toon with a particular combination of traits. As you can imagine, getting every spot filled was a pain in the arse. To me, this is certainly the most disappointing system of the game due to its unreliability.

Isometric games are among my favorite genres, but I wasn't very much impressed by Moon Hunters' features. Sure, you get to improve your character as you play, but most enemies are either dumb, easy to dispatch or unremarkable, with the exception of a bunch of lions and rhinos that do a lot of damage. Playable characters have few attacks and skills at their disposal and you can't really change their standard builds in a significant way. Exploring dungeons is also rather boring because they're usually bare and empty, only containing a few mundane buildings or altars and perhaps a lonely person, while also being quite large — this is a big problem, since most characters move slowly. The familiars you can find (if you get the traits to recruit them, that is) are of no consequence or real usefulness to the adventure. The campaign has just two or three straightforward minibosses that sometimes don't even show up, and that last boss I mentioned earlier. This final guy is always the same, by the way, regardless of your actions during the run. The only other boss in the game is fought in an arena scenario that you can access with a character previously saved in the constellation.

Regarding NPCs, I found most of them to be rather uninteresting, despite their varied designs and tribal backgrounds. The only character that is properly voiced in the game is the main narrator, who spells her lines during major cutscenes. All other conversations are text based, and they do not convey much of their interlocutors' personality and motivations. It feels as if these NPCs only exist to reveal some tiny trivia about the game's lore and to offer enigmatic hints for secondary quests. Speaking of the story, I couldn't really grasp it, honestly, nor could I remember specific details. The manner by which facts are presented to the player is just too obscure and vague. You don't find books or manuscripts that flesh out the story, either — which is a shame, as I think there's potential for something nice here.

On the technical side, this game's art style is probably its strongest factor. I enjoyed the pixelated visuals of enemies, magical effects and environments, even if they ended up being repetitive. Animations are also nicely fluid. Special mention should be given to the painted portraits of most living beings that appear during conversations. The artists did a good job with them, especially when it comes to their use of colors. As for the audio, I can't speak much of it. I didn't notice any glitches affecting it and everything sounded as you would expect in a fantasy setting, but the soundtrack was barely noticeable. I don't remember listening to any exceptional tunes. However, I did verify glitches in a different department: multiplayer.

Moon Hunters was designed to support up to four players in a single run. I wasn't able to experience much of this mode because, unfortunately, the servers were plagued by buggy code that caused constant crashes. From what I could understand, this issue was more frequent and severe when the party was composed of people from distant parts of the globe. Still, I didn't see much of a difference in terms of actual mechanics while playing with other folks. Teammates can revive each other and enemies basically spawn with more hitpoints. That's it, nothing that substantially changes the loop.

After all this criticism, you must be asking why I'm vouching for the game. Well, I believe this is one of those titles that would warrant the creation of a "neutral" recommendation tag on Steam. Regardless of its flaws, Moon Hunters manages to be a minimalistic action-adventure title that actually works reasonably well, considering the scope of the project. It isn't meant to be a deep, engrossing RPG — it's not supposed to tell a grandiose tale or display an expansive world — and that's OK, as long as the systems in place provide a concise but smooth experience. Therefore, I think that most roguelike fans might still enjoy at least a few playthroughs.

My initial contact with the LBA franchise was in 1998, when I bought Twinsen's Odyssey from a newsstand. It was the first Zelda-like adventure game that I had ever played and it turned out to be fundamental in shaping my appreciation for the genre as a whole. Twinsen's world quickly became one of my favorites for all of its zany characters and endearing charm. I never got to play its predecessor as a child, though — hell, I didn't even know that there was a prequel to Odyssey in the first place. Only when I grew up to my teenage years did I find out about its existence. After playing it, I realised it wasn't as entertaining as the second, but I still enjoyed the experience. I've waited many years to play another one of these games, so you can imagine my enthusiasm when Twinsen's Quest finally came to be. But is it a worthy remake? Let's see.

LBA's plot is a straightforward tale of rebels resisting a tyrannical government. The game's world of Twinsun is divided in two hemispheres that are separated by an icy mountain range and bathed in constant sunlight by two suns. The planet is home to four main species of sentient creatures, which resemble human beings, rabbits, elephants and spherical humanoids. The megalomaniacal Doctor Funfrock rises to power and imposes a global dictatorship, creating clones and monsters that enforce his will upon the population. He seeks to harness the power of the Sendells, a race of magical beings who reside within the planet and protect it from harm. Twinsen is the heroic protagonist, who discovers his father's past as a wizard of the Sendells and utilises the powers passed on through his lineage to fight back against the tyrant. The main alterations made to the original plot were the inclusion of Luna, Twinsen's sister, who motivates him to save her from kidnapping, and the fact that Zóe, his love interest, assumes a more active role in the resistance movement. It's a story suited for children, honestly, and it's still as charming as it was back in the day, in my opinion.

One of the most iconic elements of the original games was their sound design. I'm not exactly an expert on audio engineering, but I liked the work done by 2.21 here. Everything sounds good enough, despite the occasional glitches — more on this later. You can even hear some of the classic effects in this remake, like Twinsen's jumping sound and the peculiar bubbly throw of his magic ball. The voice acting is also pretty well done, with Twinsen sounding much like he did in Odyssey and Funfrock coming off as a crazy prick. People complained about Luna's childish demeanor, but I didn't mind her presence in the story — she's young and I suspect she'll have greater development in a potential sequel. I also think the soundtrack deserves proper applause, given that the catchy songs I liked so much at the time were gracefully rearranged.

The first big and obvious change we see in this remake, however, is the new visual style, which confers a more colorful and detailed appearance to the game's environments and characters. I've always considered the original's graphics to be rather drab and dull looking, so I quite liked this fresh coat of paint. Granted, there was some criticism thrown at it, particularly regarding the design of certain objects. I can agree that sometimes, depending on the camera angle, things may look rather odd or confusing, but overall I think this art style contributed to a nice reimagining of the story. Some folks complained that the vivid colors erased the aspect of decay inflicted on the world by Funfrock's regime, but I could still see signs of degradation in the streets and buildings of Twinsun. My only real gripe in this department is the frequent occurrence of visual glitches.

Like its past iteration, Twinsen's Quest is an isometric action-adventure game not dissimilar from Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. Twinsen gets to explore different towns and islands, talk to NPCs and collect quest items to complete missions. He is also able to acquire money to purchase a limited amount of stuff, but there is no character customisation or build variance. Players fight monsters with melee attacks and with the signature projectile weapon mentioned earlier, the magic ball. Combat is pretty simplistic and sometimes cumbersome, and it is often advisable to simply avoid confrontations altogether because dodging enemy attacks is a bit unreliable. There aren't any character stats or level ups, but the magic ball is upgraded three times over the course of the campaign, allowing Twinsen to face stronger opponents.

While the levels, quests and foes created for the original title remained basically the same, the remake did change the mechanics of gameplay in a significant manner. Now, two major things were reworked. The first one is the movement system, which became much more streamlined. Back in the original, there were four stances that defined how Twinsen would move himself, requiring players to constantly switch between these stances in order to walk, run, fight or sneak around. This posture framework was entirely replaced with a fluid system of walking, running and punching, while sneaking was completely phased out. This caused some controversy, but I never really considered sneaking to be of much importance before. Also gone are the tank controls, by the way — Twinsen now moves in the direction of the pressed key — and I liked this adaptation. Finally, the second big change was the subtraction of the game's mana bar, which determined if the magic ball would bounce on surfaces. With magic points removed, the ball always bounces now. This made the remake a bit easier, I'd say.

Unfortunately, I came across numerous flaws during my playthroughs. None of them really prevented me from finishing the game and unlocking its achievements, but they were disappointing and indicative that this project could have spent more time in the oven. The first category of problems comprises the visual and audio glitches. I mentioned them quickly earlier: explosions fail to appear when enemies perish, the magic ball gets stuck in the environment, NPCs fail to vocalize their lines, subtitles do not display what the characters are really saying, and so forth. I also include here the shoddy quality of certain animations, or the complete absence of them. Twinsen seems to be rather stiff and awkward in his movements, and there are no animations for embarking on and disembarking from vehicles and boats. These particular issues, of course, aren't game breaking, but then we have the second category: combat flaws.

Despite the fact that the controls were overhauled, I still found Twinsen to be rather sluggish, and this made him more vulnerable. His dodging maneuver takes some time to be executed and frequently fails to save him from projectiles. The new aiming system for the magic ball can be unreliable depending on the topography of the level. Many times I struggled to throw it in the correct direction when Twinsen was in an elevated position. The AI of enemies sometimes simply stopped functioning, which made them non reactive to my attacks. I also felt that the lock-on mechanism constantly disengaged from my targets if I moved just a bit away from them — not to mention that dodging while locked on simply doesn't work adequately. These problems are quite annoying and require correction, but aren't as severe as the ladders that catapult Twinsen outside of the level, or the statue in the Temple of Bú that got stuck on top of a pillar, forcing me to reload a previous save.

So, yes, although this remake could be more polished, I still think it's a worthwhile experience. I consider it a fun introduction to the franchise because its merits outweigh its flaws. Hopefully the developers learned some valuable lessons with this project and will use them to create a more robust reimagining of the second game. I'll be looking forward to it.

I remember purchasing Septerra Core for the first time back in 2002. It was the first JRPG (even though it was developed by an American studio) that I had ever played. I was eleven years old and had no experience with titles of this genre. After a couple of hours trying to find my way around the first levels of the game, I returned the disc to the store out of frustration with its mechanics and difficulty. Regardless, Septerra's characters and world made an impression on me in an enduring fashion. A year later, I ended up buying the game for another attempt, and this time I played and pushed through until its end. Despite the flaws that annoyed me quite a bit, I still considered it one of my favorite games back in the day. Now, two decades onward, I booted it up to evaluate how well it aged in comparison to modern titles. Frankly, my opinions about it haven't really changed, so let's see why.

Looking at its graphics, Septerra heavily resembles the JRPGs released for the Playstation 1. Characters and NPCs are all made of 2D animated sprites and move around static environments in an isometric perspective, and key occurrences are presented by the occasional pre-rendered cutscene. At the time the visuals here were pretty nice, although I'd say the game's resolution might be a bit low even by the standards of the day. Most major characters are nicely designed with distinct forms and aesthetics, but ordinary NPC and enemy models are frequently recycled with alternate colors. The larger bosses tend to be unique in their appearances, at least. However, the limited resolution and technical shortcomings of the game tend to restrict the scope of the events shown on screen. My take is that the camera seems "zoomed in", in a way. You won't get to gaze at expansive landscapes, nor face monumental creatures, unfortunately.

In a superficial analysis, the world of Septerra is perhaps its most striking feature. I don't think there's anything quite like this setting in any other game released to date. The planet is composed of seven superimposed layers that rotate around a core structure, with each one possessing its own continents. Nations, factions and tribes are spread across these layers, and they are all in different states of societal, cultural and technological development. An important aspect of the lore is the existence throughout the planet of multiple species of large bony animals called Helgaks. They all have the capability to float in the air and are raised and herded by the peoples of Septerra, who use their carcasses in the manufacturing of biomechanical flying ships. It's a science-fantasy story, with magic and advanced technology closely intertwined with the energy produced by the clockwork mechanisms that keep the whole world alive and rotating. It is this unique setting that made me admire this game so much, because its gameplay can be quite problematic.

To add a quick side note, I must commend the voice actors of this game, who managed to bring the protagonists and main villains of the story to life in a very talented way, especially given the technical limitations of the time. Voice work like this wasn't common in JRPGs back then. Not all characters are nicely portrayed, though. Most minor NPCs were probably voiced by the devs themselves.

Now, speaking of mechanics, the system here is pretty similar to those of the JRPGs of that era. Most of the time, players will pick a party of three combatants out of nine available allies. You get to explore different towns to talk to NPCs, advance the story and purchase equipment and consumable items to face the game's dungeons. The adventure is largely linear, but some minor secondary quests can be taken and completed, especially when the stereotypical airship is unlocked in the second half of the game. Battles are all turn-based, structured around the management of ATB bars — one for each party member — which are divided into three segments. Regardless of how many segments are filled, only a single action can be performed at a time by the character, be it a physical attack, a spell, or an item. Two or three segments of the bar can be accumulated to either increase the damage of your attack or spellcast, or unlock advanced special moves.

The magic system deserves special mention. It's based on unique cards that cast a single spell when used individually, like an elemental attack or a buff. They can be combined, though, by two or three characters to produce special effects. Summoning deities is done this way, and their attacks can be quite effective. Mana is displayed in a single bar and shared by all party members. Some guys are more magically inclined and will cast more potent spells — they'll also offer more points to the team's mana pool. Honestly, you'll end up using these spell-minded folks to play most levels, because casting magic is of great importance to save time in this game, and you will definitely want to save time while playing Septerra Core. My only gripe with this system is that the cards must be found as you advance through the campaign, and some of the most useful ones only show up at its final stretches.

Overall, it all sounds fine and dandy in theory, but here is where the pain begins.

All combat encounters drag for an unnecessary amount of time. Common animations are morose and cannot be skipped. Summoning deities requires at least two characters' bars — their grandiose animations also cannot be skipped. ATB bars take too long to fill up, and certain party members, like the robot dog, are simply unbearable to use due to their sluggishness. Running away from battles doesn't work most of the time. Ordinary enemies have too much health and interrupt you constantly with their attacks. They also frequently appear in groups of three or four. And my ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ God, the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ misses. You will miss your attacks constantly, like, a lot. I cannot stress this enough: missing your actions in this game is extremely common, regardless of your levels and equipment. Given the fact that most dungeons, especially those in the second half of the game, are quite labyrinthine and chok-full of enemies, all the missed moves and slow battles will quickly make trudging through them an irritating chore.

Another minor issue relates to the story. Even though I like the protagonists and the plot of Septerra Core, their escapades over the course of the game can be rather frustrating. Maya, the main heroine, is a likable, benevolent, courageous and intelligent person, but she's awfully unlucky in her quest. She often finds herself on a mission to complete an objective, but her efforts are repeatedly thwarted by the main villains, despite the assistance of her comrades. It's a cycle that repeats itself constantly, and sometimes we get this impression that progress isn't being made in her struggle. I remember the moment when, after a long series of arduous tasks, Maya finally obtains the first half of a supremely important artefact, only to lose it in a rather dumb encounter at the end of a dungeon. It's not a game breaking problem, but it's kinda annoying to see the story presenting so many setbacks.

So, yes, judging this game is a complicated endeavor to me, considering its importance to my childhood. I'm giving it a positive review, but I believe that this is one of those titles that would warrant the creation of a "neutral" recommendation tag on Steam. It's a creation of an era, and possesses many of the flaws that marked the products of those years. As I said before, the main attraction of this title is the creativity of the world of Septerra and the charm of its characters and whimsical plot. Be advised, though, that the game mechanics here are indeed quite dated. If you choose to play it, you'll be transported to 1999, and this is going to be a hardcore old school experience in every sense of the word.

My endorsement for Stardew Valley is definitely not necessary given its gigantic amount of positive reviews. Still, writing this text in November of 2024 (and now updating it in November of 2025), I feel like I should be another voice asking for this game to be nominated for the Labor of Love Award of this year (of 2025). Mister Eric Barone has poured his life and soul into creating a masterpiece when all odds were against him, proving that excellence and long term relevance do not really require large budgets and triple A studios. The impact of this game on the industry has been profound, motivating other indie developers to realize their vision and truly believe that a small project can achieve success in a time when expectations are so elevated. Moreover, the enduring support given to Stardew Valley over the years in the form of large scale patches and additions deserves proper recognition. Few titles enjoy this level of care.

As I said, highlighting the game's merits is basically redundant at this point. It is, as the massive acclaim suggests, good. Very good. The amount of worthwhile content here, from activities, items and locations to professions, characters and quests, will probably keep you entertained for dozens, if not hundreds of hours. It also has a prolific community that created high quality mods and expansions which greatly extend the game's life and allure. Achievement hunters will have their hands full here, as well. If you're looking for an experience that can be relaxing, accessible and deeply complex at the same time, your money won't go to waste with this purchase.

So, yes, do buy this game, and please nominate it for the award I mentioned earlier. I believe this is also about sending a message to the industry at large. There's too much crap getting undue attention and obscuring the real gems nowadays. We have to recognize the good stuff that's still being made or supported and reward it accordingly. You can do this with your wallet and your vote. And Eric, thanks for all the hard work. You made it.

This demo was a pleasant and reassuring short look into the full remake. Sure, there were a few minor bugs and perhaps some control mechanics and visual cues require a little bit of fine-tuning, but these issues will be corrected with the final release. Graphics and overall art style were appealing and colorful, bringing the world to life with a nice amount of cartoonish detail. While enemies continue to be challenging to fight, controls were modernised for a more fluid movement system, turning combat into a better experience. I also liked Luna, the new character, and her presence here is promising in regard to story development. Looking forward to the full game.

Edit 10/13/2024: 2.21 recently updated this demo with a patch that corrects a number of bugs, including the malfunctioning ladder at the pier. They also added the shrine below Twinsen's house. Good work.

Ever since my days playing on the Sega Genesis, I have always enjoyed isometric games. In my opinion, this particular perspective and its top-down view work nicely by enabling fluid exploration, unobstructed controls and engaging combat. Some of the issues that plague third person titles, such as cumbersome cameras and movement, are not usually found in this subgenre, at least not in my experience. After many years of not paying attention, I finally took the time to try out Bastion. Intrigued by its screenshots and trailers, I thought this would be a pleasant ride. Unfortunately, although competently made, this game has a number of design decisions that made me disappointed, and therefore I cannot recommend it. Here's why.

Graphics-wise, Bastion is pleasing to the eyes, considering its launch date and overall direction. The artists did a nice job creating all these hand drawn objects, creatures and environments. I like seeing colors in games, and this one does not shy away from utilising them in a harmonious and effective manner. Animations are swift and simple, serving the game's cartoonish art-style quite well. Looking at this game's scenarios and effects, I couldn't help but remember my time with Little Big Adventure 1 and 2, which was an endearing feeling. My only gripe in this department is that, sometimes, large clutters of objects made grasping certain levels a bit difficult. Other than this point, there's nothing to complain about here.

Frankly, I don't have the technical credentials and knowledge to analyze in detail the sound effects of any game. I can say, though, that they are reasonably convincing in Bastion, if not a bit repetitive in the case of enemies. I haven't noticed any issues with chopped audio during my playthroughs, as everything works as intended. The only voice actor of the game, who voices the narrator, does a fine job in conveying his lines. Understanding them, however, is an issue depending on the amount of action currently on display. The soundtrack, despite its varied instruments for each level, didn't manage to entice me with any memorable tunes. Some songs became quite grating after a while, actually.

Bastion is an isometric action-adventure game with light RPG mechanics. Its gameplay revolves around traversing linear and unconnected levels, defeating multiple enemies in real time combat and collecting key itens used to restore a small village which serves as a hub. To dispatch foes, players have access to a selection of melee and ranged weapons, alongside a shield for blocking and parrying strikes and projectiles. Dodging is possible, but jumping is only allowed in a particular section at the end of the game, serving no higher purpose. To strengthen the protagonist, a number of beneficial traits and abilities can be purchased and allocated to perk slots. These slots are unlocked by leveling up, which is accomplished by killing hostiles. Money can be obtained from combat and the completion of minor side tasks and challenges.

Here's what bothered me. Beating levels in this game is a neverending trudge of walking on floating platforms. Everything is positioned either on small arenas or on connecting platforms that emerge as you approach their edges. Predicting the path ahead is bothersome because you aren't able to see it properly in many sections, despite the game's linear nature. I had this constant feeling of unease while moving since you're always at risk of falling down a precipice due to the narrowness of each floating path, which also made engaging foes a clumsy endeavor. Exploration is nonexistant, save for the occasional dead end with a collectible. Given that levels aren't logically connected between themselves, the world felt uninsteresting and irrational.

Combat is rather simplistic. This isn't necessarily a problem, but you're only allowed to carry two weapons at all times, and there isn't much to them. Players are restricted to performing regular swings or shots, as there is no elaborate combo system. The sole variation here is the possibility of using a single, mana dependent special ability, and most of these require specific weapons. Dodging is hardly useful as something more than a travelling technique -- your character moves around slowly and dodging constantly speeds you up a bit. The shield is effective against single targets, but proves itself unreliable in the presence of groups. Considering that walking space is constantly limited, facing these groups can be a problem, which brings us to the matter of difficulty.

The difficulty level in Bastion is entirely measured by the amount of shrine idols you apply to your playthrough. These idols can be unlocked as you progress into the main story and act as modifiers, increasing the challenge of combat in some way. Playing with no idols is a cakewalk, but when most or all of them are activated, enemies become gruesomely resistant and deadly, and not always in a reasonable way. Yes, you can upgrade your weapons at the blacksmith and change your loadout of perks, but I quickly found myself outgunned and cornered by these fully upgraded foes. It all feels artificial, as if the difficulty system was an afterthought. As a side note, I also think that the roster of enemies is a tad small. You end up fighting the same guys over and over again.

The story in this game is, well... I don't know, honestly. I could not follow nor understand it, and I suppose it is meant to be somewhat vague. Another gripe I have is that all actions and events are constantly explained and exposed by the narrator in his monologues. The problem is that most of his lines, as I implied before, are delivered during gameplay, often in combat situations. Perhaps I'm not a good listener, but I couldn't pay attention to them while battling hordes of enemies and trying to find my way around nonsensical floating levels. I just don't think that shoving tons of dialogues during action sequences contributes to an engrossing storytelling direction. The game presents these side characters that seem to be important, but their lack of expression and diminished presence made me indifferent to them.

So, yes, I don't think Bastion is an unmissable experience. You can tell the developers worked hard to make something worthwhile, and you can definitely indentify some shining aspects, which I respect. However, there are too many nagging flaws here for my personal taste. It might be worth a playthrough if you like isometric games, though. To end my review, I advise completionists to be cautious. Unlocking all achievements requires beating a bunch of special arenas with all idols activated. If you are unwilling to use cheese tactics found on Youtube guides, be prepared to suffer greatly.