Recent reviews by Nightheaven

This is a long-established transport tycoon that has entertained more than one generation of gamers and still does so. I played this game extensively before it came out on Steam.

It's free.
It's still fun.
It's addictive.
It still gets updates.
It can be heavily modded.
It takes up little space on your hard drive.
It supports single-player, co-op, and competitive multiplayer.

What else do you need to be happy? Just play.

On the other hand, I miss some of Chris Sawyer's Locomotion features. In that case you may want to buy that game and check OpenLoco. As for the rest, OpenTTD is almost the same game. Also, if you want to play a similar tycoon but with the amusement parks, check OpenRCT2.

I've been a fan of the franchise since the first game, back in the golden age of indie gaming.
And it pains me to speak negatively about this game, and yet there are reasons for it.

Risk of the Rain 2 is overall a good game that managed to move from 2D to 3D without making any significant mistakes in design and style. And yet, the technological leap has come to require more powerful computer hardware. This is fair, but I must say that the endgame is so cluttered with enemies, items, and special effects that even having a decent computer doesn't solve this problem. This issue could be successfully ignored if you didn't stay in the game for too long. It's a bit absurd, but bearable.

Also, the second part of the game makes the same mistake as the first, not allowing the player to save progress halfway through the game, as is possible with, for example, Barony or Dead Cells. These games are also roguelikes.

Things got worse when the original developers sold the franchise to Gearbox. This company has long forgotten how to make fun action games and is also known for questionable business practices. As the icing on the cake, Gearbox was bought out by Take-Two. With hopes of decent new official content fading, my eyes turned to the modding community.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first DLC, but I was dreading the second one, knowing that it was being made by Gearbox. However, my love for the franchise was strong enough to give the DLC a chance. Unfortunately, I was "lucky" enough to be born in the wrong country, so it was unavailable for purchase at the time of release. However, this was to be expected, since I already mentioned that Take-Two is in charge of everything. Their policy is, frankly speaking, obvious.

This isn't the first time I have encountered sanctions. They have never surprised me or even particularly saddened me, although I do feel some annoyance from the change of the franchise owner. I can still bypass these restrictions by using third-party services and resources, but I just don’t want to do this. I don’t want to overpay in vain and support this company with my wallet. By the way, ironically, I can still buy the soundtrack from the game and its DLCs. Thanks, I guess.

By the way, the new DLC turned out to be not as rich in content as it was expected, and also contains noticeable bugs. The situation with the game's performance, unfortunately, has not improved either.

I love the game but I don't like the current owner. I miss Hopoo Games.
Weighing all the pros and cons, I'm not ready to recommend this game to others.

P.S. By the way, Chris Christodoulou is a cool guy and his music is amazing. He always does his job 100%.

Considering that this is the developers' debut game, many can only dream of such a start.

Obviously, everyone is trying to compare Crime Boss to Payday. It's definitely better than Payday 3, there's nothing to think about, but in terms of content, Crime Boss is not as big as Payday 2 yet. And I hope that's just a temporary thing. And I have every reason to believe that my hopes aren't in vain.

However, mistakes were made. The initial emphasis on single-player played a cruel joke on the developers, since a significant portion of the audience were refugees from Payday, accustomed to multiplayer. This mistake is being actively corrected, but the first impression for many players is spoiled.

I like the music. Both: original soundtracks and their selection of licensed music. Thanks for Stereo MC, by the way. The soundtracks perfectly reflect the setting of 90's as it should be. In addition, the surroundings and the characters are implemented in a appropriate way too.

Talking about the characters, some people may say that the dialogues and cutscenes are cringy but it's okay. They're cringy in a good way. It brings me joy to see some goofy replics. On the other hand, Chuck Norris didn't manage to fulfill his role of being himself as a Sherif Norris. I don't know if it's because he's too old or he just didn't try hard enough as a voice actor. As for the rest of actors, they did a really great job. (Say hello to Michael Rooker and Michael Madsen!)

There're much left to be desired:
1. Modular weapon customisation.
2. Rougelike gamemode adaptation to multiplayer.
3. More playable content. Basically, heists.
4. Tier 3 perks for multiplayer boss customisation. Added! Yay!
5. Some rebalance or restrictions towards the robots from DLC Cagnali's Order. They're almost everywhere. Personally, I don't like the whole idea about robots but it's still tolerable.
6. Fix some typos and bugs (and I believe the process has begun).

Despite I acknowledge all these issues, I just adore this game and I wish good luck for INGAME STUDIOS folks. And yeah, I should mention that Crime Boss community is generally wholesome. It's a rare thing nowadays. Let's keep the community that way.
Publishers'/devs' move with DLC giveaway was a totally cool business move.

Well, new adventures await, buddy!

This is a cute and kind of simple game that reminds me of Getting Over It with Bennet Foddy. And yet, this one is quite unique and original.

I bought it with the only purpose – to play it in co-op with a friend of mine via online. Unfortunately, online co-op is unstable and too sensitive to ping which is crucial for that kind of gameplay. As icing on the cake, there are some UI/UX bugs. For example, I couldn't interact with the game inferface by unknown reason which was solved by restarting the game client. Restarts are a common thing here to be honest.

Almost forgot to mention, the checkpoints are quite rare in the game, that's why restarts may be painful to be made. So, yeah, Bread and Fred likes to punish its players a lot. But that would be okay if not those problems I described before.

Consider to play this in singleplayer or in couch co-op if your guts are strong enough.
Personally, refunded this game.

The game has a couple of main advantages: design and deceptively simple gameplay.

But first things first, starting with design. Despite the fact that I am fairly indifferent to Asian settings, I fell in love with the style of Samurai Gunn 2 at first sight. This is a bright mixture of Japanese folk motifs with elements of modern pop culture, which does not even hurt the eyes. The pixel art is not primitive, the color scheme is pleasing to the eye, the drawings are magnificent, and the music is appropriate. And I almost forgot about the icing on the cake! The authors of the game hid a manga inside that reveals the lore of the game. Unfortunately, at the time of writing the review, the manga was not finished yet, but it once again confirms the cool style of the game.

And now about the gameplay. The best way to describe it is that it is easy to learn but hard to master. My favourite type. The moves of a typical platformer, the moves and tricks of a typical fighting game. Together they create something exciting and dynamic, which is ideal for PvP with friends and party games. A typical fighter can fight with a sword and shoot up to 3 bullets in his life, but there are practically no “typical” fighters here. In this game, each fighter is unique and has several tricks up their sleeves, which adds variety to the battles. Among other things, simple game mechanics hide additional capabilities that players discover themselves in the process. Deflecting bullets, creating super projectiles, tricks to move around the map using sword swings and much more. There are techniques that you want to learn, but it will take some time.

I highly recommend purchasing it, but keep in mind that despite the presence of PvE content, PvP is still at the forefront. I think Samurai Gunn 2 is a bit underrated and it deserves to be known.

Risk of Rain Returns is basically just Risk of Rain but much better at almost everything.

But I must warn fans of the second game that the experience of playing the first game is noticeably different. You shouldn't have the same expectations that you had for the second part. Even though Risk of Rain Returns is a newer game than Risk of Rain 2, it still retains the same game mechanics as its older predecessor. Returns gives players a lot of new content since the first game, including new challenges, playable characters and items. Absolutely the entire visual has been redrawn and noticeably improved. The game really became a pleasure to observe.

I would also like to mention the music of the game. Chris Christodoulou is the permanent composer of the entire franchise, who managed to gather a crowd of fans due to his distinctive style of music. And as for me, the music in the first part of the game is even better than in the second, but with some exceptions. Therefore, I think that there is no need to complain about the quality of music in Risk of Rain Returns.

And finally, the game is really difficult in places. Some challenges are even too difficult. If you are afraid of difficulties in games, but at the same time want to close your gestalt, this game may not be for you.

Good luck and invite your friends! It's more fun with them.

ULTRAKILL is one of those games that relies entirely on the gameplay, when both the plot and graphics are secondary elements. This does not mean that there is no plot here, and the style failed to use simplified graphics to its advantage.

The game encourages the player to kill enemies as sophisticatedly as possible without limiting his arsenal. The player's ammunition is unlimited, although some weapons have cooldowns.

Bossfights are memorable and extremely dynamic. Especially in cases where the boss is comparable in size to the player himself. The behavior of the bosses in all cases obeys its own traceable logic, so the game encourages you to adapt and learn.

I would also like to mention the music.It's great. Really. Perhaps the beginning of the game does not give great impressions, but the situation begins to change dramatically for the better after the bridge level. I won’t go into details so as not to spoil your impressions.

Overall, this is a great first-person shooter for those who aren't afraid of a challenge and want to focus on shooting rather than puzzles or searching for supplies. However, you can find a puzzle here, but this is an optional element of the game.

I highly recommend it.

I have always treated Tetris with disdain. A nondescript, unpretentious game that is unable to captivate me with something.
To be honest, I was wrong. Despite the fact that this is really Tetris with some deviations from the classics, this game is able to keep the player in front of the monitor.

I don't know whose merit this is: the design and visuals of the game, or the very fact that Tetris is not in vain considered an immortal classic among games. Nevertheless, the bright and bewitching design and the proven gameplay complement each other perfectly.

The most exciting part of the Tetris Effect is the multiplayer. The developers have an unusual approach to how to make the game of Tetris not only competitive, but also cooperative. And if they told me that there are bosses in Tetris, I wouldn't believe it. But the bosses are here and it's amazing! Unfortunately, the community for some reason avoids the co-op mode.

I wish this game had a Steam Workshop to diversify the gaming experience, but alas, I have to get around with what I have.

Overall, I can recommend this game. I speak as a person who didn't like to play Tetris at all.

Truly unique game and setting. Gameplay may remind a solid mix of old RPG, military and economic strategy, sometimes even stealth. I wouldn't recall any similar game to this except something that could be the same wacky mix of genres like Mount & Blade games.

Briefly, you choose your start. The classic one is being a wanderer with nothing but a rusty sword in the middle of the world. Then you're free to do anything you want because this is a kind of sandbox. The difference is that there's a kid who can break your limbs or even tear them apart and leave you die among bandits, soldiers, predators and slave mongers. Kenshi world is cruel and you're no Mary Sue so dying is like a piece of cake. Still you have a chance to become an unstoppable killing machine living through the hell and pain and set your own goal. Which one? Wanna build your own base? Kill every world boss? Destroy every country and state? Solve the slavery issue one way or another? You decide.

Samurai~ish post apocalyptic setting surely play its role of immersion. Just like in old RPGs, you have to do some research, reading and asking question in order to learn more stuff about the world around. And I'd say the result is worth it. As I said, it's unique.

If you like this project, then you'll be glad to know that Kenshi 2 is being developed.
P.S. Don't let that awful UI to spook you out. You're better than this.

Буквально симулятор поверхности стола. Вероятно, лучший на рынке.

Очень актуальный инструмент для настольных игр в силу различных причин, будь то жизнь в разных городах и странах или ограничения на мероприятия в связи с вирусными инфекциями. К слову о самом инструменте, он располагает довольно обширными опциями по организации почти любых настольных игр, начиная с классических шашек и шахмат, заканчивая сложными стратегиями и ролевыми системами. Лично играл в тот же покер, проводил сессии D&D и Savage Worlds и баловался другими настольными играми.

Благодаря достаточно широким опциям кастомизации предметов и стола, можно перенести в виртуальное пространство почти любую настольную игру, но сказать честно, на это уйдет некоторое время и силы, если кто-то ещё этого не сделал до вас и не загрузил свои труды в Мастерскую Steam.

Минусы тоже есть, как же без них

Несмотря на то, что игра буквально создана для игры на расстоянии, зачастую высокий пинг может сыграть злую шутку в некоторых играх. Игра построена на физических взаимодействиях, поэтому пинг всё же играет свою роль.

Игра в знаменитую Дженгу практически невозможна. Да, увы, но местный принцип взаимодействия с предметами не располагает к игре. В качестве альтернативы можно предложить только Реверсивную Дженгу, где вы строите башню, а не разбираете по кусочкам.

Из-за комплексности игры и наборов, иногда могут возникать проблемы с прогрузкой большого количества ассетов. Впрочем, если повезет, вы не столкнетесь с этим феноменом.

Несмотря на всю мою похвалу разнообразия опций, для некоторых целей игре всё ещё не достает функционала. По крайней мере, я рассуждаю с позиции настольных ролевых игр, где организатору нужно готовить к каждой сессии материал. И иногда приходится использовать некоторые топорные методы и костыли, чтобы подготовить очередную партию игры, особенно это касается энкаунтеров. По этой причине некоторые отдают предпочтение другим платформам, как, например, Roll20 или Foundry.

В целом, отменная вещь, если вы не одиноки. В одиночестве разве что паззлы собирать.