Recent reviews by 6480

Fantastic game. In depth combat system and surprisingly cool story,
As a fan of Team Ninja I knew what I was getting into in terms of the combat system, but the Final Fantasy portion caught me by surprise. Expecting a one dimensional romp, I found a sincere, pure and lovable adventure.

The good parts are really good. The combat system, while being easier than what Team Ninja has previously produced, is still engaging and fun, the boss battles being the highlight. It's the main part of the game and the reason I will keep playing after clearing the game's base difficulty.
There's a lot of variety, having dozens of jobs to choose, all of them with their own series of skills.
Good enough enemy diversity, using the Final Fantasy bestiary. You will see some recognizable beasts rendered in great detail.

It does have it's flaws though. The system is really complex, but the base game doesn't really require you to engage with all of it in the beginning. Then, when you need those mechanics, you may even have forgotten they exist. The game has an extensive "tips" section in the pause menu to freshen up on all of the mechanics.
The game showers you with loot, but nothing is important in the lower levels. To remedy that, the game has an auto-equip option of all the highest level items your character can carry and you can auto-dismantle the rest of the items.
The level design goes from good to serviceable. While the environments are varied, the maps are nothing more than a series of corridors that sometimes interconnect. Some maps can feel disorienting, but there is a clear indicator of where you are supposed to go, with visible quest indicators.
The performance, while generally good on system that meets recommended requirements, does suffer from the abundance of effects on screen at some points. It never affected my enjoyment of the game, since they mostly occur during finishing moves while you are invulnerable.

Recommended to both Team Ninja and Final Fantasy fans.

One of the most hostile games I've played. At times it feels like it doesn't want you to play it or enjoy it -- everything is lethal, even the lowliest of enemies can ruin your runs. But given enough time and patience, I think I ended up playing one of the best action games ever.

I rarely play ng+ in these kind of games, but I was pleasantly surprised to notice that not only enemy composition and placement is different, as you might expect, but also movesets and AI are improved in the new cycles.

After playing for 30 hours, quitting, coming back, restarting and finishing the campaign... I feel like I barely finished the tutorial.

One of the best metroidvanias.
Use dxvk to eliminate stutters.

Runs like 💩

An improvement on every front over the previous game, that was already magnificent.

Grime is an action-platformer that blends tight combat mechanics with Metroidvania-style exploration, delivering a satisfying and focused experience — though not without a few blemishes.

One of Grime's strongest aspects is its tightly designed map. There’s a real sense of interconnectedness, with shortcuts, hidden paths, and thoughtful level progression that encourages exploration without ever feeling overwhelming. It respects your time, never bloating the experience with filler, and wraps up at just the right length, hitting that sweet spot of “enough challenge” without dragging on.

The core gameplay revolves around a parry-centric combat system that feels both challenging and fair. Enemy attacks are well-telegraphed, rewarding those who take the time to read patterns and react accordingly. It hits a nice balance — tough enough to be satisfying, but rarely unfair.

Platforming also deserves a nod. It’s snappy, responsive, and often fun in its own right, complementing the combat nicely. Movement feels precise, and the game offers just enough variety in traversal to keep it engaging.

That said, Grime struggles with performance. Even after a slew of patches, stuttering remains a persistent issue, sometimes breaking the flow of combat or exploration at the worst moments. It’s frustrating, especially when the rest of the game is so mechanically tight.

The story is another sticking point. It leans heavily into the cryptic and surreal — which some might enjoy — but more often than not, it feels like it's obscure for the sake of obscurity. It’s hard to connect with the world or the protagonist when everything feels so abstract and underexplained.

And then there’s the visual design, which is a bit of a love-it-or-hate-it situation. The grotesque, fleshy aesthetic is clearly intentional and well-crafted — but also, let’s be honest, kind of repugnant. While it creates a distinct atmosphere, it’s not exactly a world you want to linger in for long.

Grime is a finely-tuned action-platformer that nails its core mechanics and respects your time as a player. If you can stomach the bizarre aesthetic and push through the technical hiccups, you’ll find a genuinely rewarding experience underneath the grotesque surface.

Fun

Nine Sols aims to deliver a Sekiro-inspired combat experience but falls short due to fundamental design flaws. While its world and atmosphere may have potential, the core gameplay is hindered by poorly executed combat mechanics and an overabundance of story that disrupts the pacing.

The biggest issue is the lack of properly animated attacks. Rather than fluid, readable enemy moves, the game relies on a couple of attack frames paired with oversized, disconnected hitboxes. This makes it impossible to react to attacks naturally, forcing players to memorize animations and hitbox timings instead of relying on skillful reflexes. Unlike Sekiro, where combat is a dynamic exchange of attacks, parries, and reactions, Nine Sols reduces its engagements to trial-and-error pattern recognition.

On top of the unsatisfying combat, the game bombards players with excessive storytelling that frequently interrupts the gameplay. While narrative can enhance an experience, Nine Sols forces too much of it onto the player, creating long-winded sections that kill the momentum.

Tunic excels in exploration and discovery, capturing a rare sense of mystery that few games achieve. Every new area and hidden secret feels genuinely rewarding to uncover.

Unfortunately, the combat is a major weak point, and its flaws become painfully obvious during boss encounters. Enemy hitboxes often don’t align with models or animations, your attack animations can't be cancelled, and enemies barely react to being hit—yet they can take a third of your health while you’re still recovering. At times, it even feels like inputs are being dropped, adding to the frustration.

After defeating one of these bosses, I found myself reluctant to continue, knowing there would be more of the same ahead.

Masterpiece.