Recente recensies door (YouTube)Dragnix

Target Audience: Those wanting a good background game of strategy and improvement

Summary:

Witchhand is one of those 4x cards game that won't blow you away in any one particular way: and it's not supposed to be. It's a game that's going to chew up hours while you listen to podcasts or watch videos, and that's for good reason: it's reasonably well done from a strategy and control stand point. While the early game does get repetitive with a lack of variety, in the mid game strategies open up and you have a bunch of good options on how to succeed, but also how to fail. It make take a run or two to get an understanding of how to succeed, but once you get going it'll eat hours and hours of playtime. It's not going to have the complexity of some other 4X card games, but it has some slick presentation with good information indicators that don't get in the way, yet tell you what you need to know. Granted, if you're the type of person who hates “organizing” in any sort of way, this game will probably be a nightmare to you. You have to learn some about how to space things with the items

I do wonder if more randomization can be added for “event” type elements, to force you to adapt to newer situations in time, and there are a couple of scenarios that the game does seemingly not account for (yes, the insane quest of items that seems like you can't do I can do, and yet I can't fulfill it for some reason). In addition, adding more in terms of control of some of the advanced settings (beyond what's present here) would really go a long way for the game to really entice players. Nevertheless, as you can tell by my hours (even if about 10 was me leaving on the game overnight), there's plenty of reasons to play Witchhand, and plenty of more to come back.


Review Video: : https://youtu.be/eF9ZS0JT1Uk

Lists:
Positives:

• Good strategy that develops in mid-late game for variety in runs and good management structure. Strategies are diverse, yet the game will punish you if you get too focused on just one thing.
  
• Lock controls and AI when it comes to decided “where things go” is mostly on point. Good keybinds to make things easier.
  
• Strong presentation that gives you the information that you need, but doesn't get in the way.
  
• Slight differences in Witches pays off in subtle yet substantial differences in play.
  
• Very easy to pick up and put down
  
• Small touches like the ability to name towns adds to the uniquenesss of playthroughs.
  

Negatives:

• Some more randomization of more “key” events or roadblocks would go along way to really feeling the need to adapt to new circumstances.
  
• Early game will get repetitive due to the structure of unlocks.
  
• Games can be long when it comes to completion at times, feeling like you're spinning your wheels for something to happen.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those looking for an interesting twist on the typing game, or something completely different.

Summary:

This is one of those games that you're going to get frustrated with, but in what I think it's a good way. It's an interesting twist on the typing game formula: using the mouse in conjuction with typing, and really punishing the spamming of letters. It feels difficult: but it's more so the fact that you've got to be precise with keys and mouse movement, and if you're used to high mouse DPS, you may want to reconsider that for a game like this. I admit, normally typing games really are in my wheelhouse, but this one caused me a lot of problems: and I like that it did. It felt like a breathe of fresh air in several genres: including survivors.

The thing is, this is one of those reviews that will probably change over time, mostly because right now? I suck at the game. Like literally, I suck. I probably haven't seen some of the craziest stuff in it. It's still good design: I like the basic of the progression of enemies and what the game throws at you, and I like the tools/health system. It feels balanced. It's just my achilles heel when it comes to the way I play mouse/keyboard games, particularly the mouse.

But the thing is, I wanted to retry it again pretty quickly after every attempt, and I do see progress happening. The music is alright, the visuals are sharp, and it's one of those games I'll play here and there. It's one of my overlooked games of 2023.

Video Footage/Recommendation: : https://youtu.be/mrlAaLR5450?t=63

Lists:
Positives:

• A unique take that's frustrating but doesn't feel overbearing.
  
• Enemy types do provide a good change of pace/difference in strategy.
  
• Sharp Visuals provide good information to gather quickly without it being a strain to do so.
  
• Pick up and try again mentality works well here.
  
• Tools/Health system feels balanced for what the game is going for. Difficulty without keyboard smashing.

Negatives:

• I suck at it. Badly. Hard to really gauge exactly how good it is.
  
• Again, hard to complain because I suck at it, I don't know if more powerups happen, I still can't get THAT far into it.
  
• If you have a low frustration tolerance, probably not for you.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Everyone. Nah, seriously, Everyone. Well, unless you really hate metroidvanias, then why the hell are you looking at this?

Summary:

Up and down its content, Tevi is among the best metroidvania's in the genre, and I don't say that lightly with the sheer quality that's out there. Tevi takes the formula of Rabi-Ribi's metroidvania and bullet hell concepts, and takes it to the next level with a combat system that's deep, engaging, and really rewarding with the sheer variety of options that it presents. Boss battles are the highlight, forcing you to dodge complex strings of bullets while setting up your own combos in the process. Exploration in the environment may be slow at first, but will turn into some fantastic platforming challenges that won't turn into frustration fuel. It helps that the content here is beefy: coming in at 30 hours with 50% of the items collected on a Hard Run, and that's not hitting some of the extra content and other various things you can do.

The story while having links to anime tropes, does a great job of establishing the three main characters are a Trio that you want to see a lot more of in the future. They work off each other rather well, providing good humor and emotion while still being believable in the overall plot of the game. The game can get wordy at points, but you don't mind with some of the storytelling here, and the character portraits are fun to dissect while trying to determine what's really going on . The music is in the top 3 of the genre if not the best, almost every track does a superb job of capturing the area/feeling that its going for, and many of them will make their way to your daily playlist.

The minimal negatives which I feel are nitpicks are overshadowed by a package that will satisfy even the most hardened of critics, and is something that you need to play. Like now.

Video Review: : https://youtu.be/I5p56rlQ9Dw

Lists:
Positives:

• Fantastic combat with a skill/combo system with insane depth and options.
  
• Boss Battles are challenging but satisifying.
  
• Exploration felt varied and natural, even not minding trying to find every item, and items are placed well and not just willy nilly.
  
• One of the best OSTs....ever.
  
• Strong character presentation and visuals that will make you appreciate the small details.
  
• Fantastic options to help new and old players.
  
• Story is strong without taking away from the gameplay.

Negatives:

• Sometimes it can be a tiny bit wordy.
  
• That I want to play it again despite having other reviews on my plate.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Explorers that want to poke around strongly. Not for many others

Summary:

Brush Burial is one of those games that's going to have a real specialized audience. It's an immersive sim that has some elements that will frustrate, and the expectation of most players may not be met as an immersive sim isn't exactly the easiest to reach from a solo indie developer. Immersive sims try to give a lot of freedom, and when you run into roadblocks or expected outcomes that don't work out, you will start to get frustrated. And let's be clear: there are paths in Brush Burial, like talking and giving borscht that don't have a reason outcome, or attempting to complete things with more diplomacy, that will feel like they should be there. The game can sometimes fight it's own low fidelity look, and the repetition can start to really be felt when everything respawns even when you save and then close the game, and re open.

With that said, technically the systems at there are core do work reasonably. Movement, despite some jank at times, does feel interesting with the tail grabbing element. The inventory being limited forces you to make decisions about what to carry. But the biggest thing is the idea of discovery here. It may be a short map (well, actually I can't confirm that but I did what I could) but I kept on finding little things here and there even 6 hours in. Fighting is functional but does get old quickly, but trying to sneak around does have a feeling of old Thief games in some ways.

Look, this is for players who love to get lost, who love to try things, and won't be frustrated when it doesn't work. Is it for everyone? Hell no. But it gets the thumbs up despite being a game that a majority of people may not like. It's strong enough in that sub-category to get the recommendation: but only if you're dedicated to that play.


Video Review: : https://youtu.be/3p3oA8UEyCc

Lists:
Positives:

• Exploration can feel rewarding in terms of experimentation and wonder, even with some of the roadblocks.
  
• Mechanically works on each sub system, not a lot of technical problems from a design portion for each system.
  
• Low Fidelity look does bring some nostalgia to the table, can give haunting feelings.
  
• Inventory system being limited actually forces you to interact in ways that make the game better.

Negatives:

• One too many instances of a perceived solution not working out, and getting frustrated.
  
• Systems combining together is the games biggest weakness: it could use more fleshing out in the big picture. Focusing on one system more could have really pushed the game into better places.
  
• Combat needs a little more too it in the big picture.
  
• Stay far away if you get lost easily.

Target Audience: Strategic players who want some action

Summary:

Yes, you may look on the surface and see Gunhead's weaponry and FPS backdrop: it'd be easy to think it'd be an action packed shooting fest. But it's not: but that doesn't mean it isn't a lot of fun. Anyone who played Cryptark will understand the type of game Gunhead is: a game which puts your strategy and planning above reaction times. Rushing through will get you killed, but being smart and observant, you'll start to make progress. It feels great to get through all the enemies without taking damage, with good variation of enemies and different objectives. Granted, it takes some time to get used to, and the fact is this is a game that's designed for a controller (giving the weapon loadouts, it controls movement great either way). But once you understand what the game is going for, and make mistakes and learn from them, you'll find a game that you're going to love from a strategy standpoint.

Are there things that can be annoying/I would change? Perhaps. Radar can be hard to deal with at times from a visual perspective, and the bosses could use more of an oompf on them. But the thing is, it's hard to really focus on them when in the same breathe, the overall experience succeeds. One of the biggest things that I took out of the game was that the game designers knew when to restrict the power and balance on mechanics. Sure, feeling overpowered at times can be fun, but knowing that explosive weapons can be hell in enclosed spaces for examples helps limit them at their core, and it feels like that across the board when it comes to each mechanic. It feels like a game that was played a 1000 times to make sure that not one thing was too broken: and that's really appreciated.

Is Gunhead going to blow your socks off? No, there's no one feature that makes you ooo and aaa: but it's a game that I could see eating up time week and week: still having tons of fun, but also making you feel fantastic when you succeed, or stupid when you fail because of your own fault. It's well worth the price of admissions, and is a worthy successor to Cryptark.


Video Review: : https://youtu.be/2NDMEB7UX9c

Lists:
Positives:

• Great balance and focus on strategy and smart but reasonable movement. Game understood that restricting certain elements and not being traditional in some ways helped in making the game better as a whole.
  
• One more run mentality, but not to the point where you can't put it down from an addictive standpoint. Great for runs here and there.
  
• Feels put through its paces from a QA standpoint. Limited bugs (1 that I can't guarentee was other software interferring),
  
• Atmosphere captured well especially when getting snuck up on, or dealing with multiple enemies.
  
• Good ebb and flow of combat overall.
  
• Good variety of weapons, items, enemies, and layouts to keep you coming back.

Negatives:

• Sound design not impactful enough.
  
• Bosses could use some oompf.
  
• Radar can be hard for some people to really take advantage of.
  
• Could use a touch more visual variety.
  
• Do wonder if the game would be taken up a notch with restricting the ability to change out weapons without going back to the base/mid-mission.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those who really want a linear beat em up with references. Really

Summary:

Look, I try to be understanding of the fact that small indie teams may not have the resources or the knowledge to fully pull off their vision. It's admirable, and sometimes it doesn't come together, and this is definitely the case for Vengeance of Mr. Peppermint. The repetitive gameplay without the movement in the vertical direction gets old very quickly with repeated enemies. The combos help, but there's a lot of confusion about why certain elements activate (intermission randomly, health recovery) and there's some really confusing decisions about the implementation (why do enemies get hit off screen appear on the other side?).

The story is also....confusing. Very very confusing. The translation element comes into play a lot, the dialog feels very unnatural and read through a translation tool, and that's despite the fact that the game is trying to be weird about its story to begin with. It's nice to see all the references to movies like Kill Bill and The Raid, but it also feels like it's trying to be more “hey look we referenced this” rather then making its own thing.

Its also buggy, or just strange in its implementation. Characters will spawn in and be unable to hit you, sometimes enemies all get up at the same time in a creepy “wait, why have they been on the ground for the last 5 minutes”, and at one point the game just stopped taking my input. There were points where in menus up would mean down.

In the end, where the game suffers the most is the playability. It gets old very quickly, with the repetition not even making it past the second stage without reasonable changes to the formula. It felt like the game had a lot bigger ambitions at some point, and the remanents were still present in the game.

It's a pass, sadly.




Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/vm12MS6qsRk

Lists:
Positives:

• References to Kung-Fu films definitely appreciated, even if some of the characters are a little too close to their counter parts.
  
• Reasonable Visuals.
  
• Weird at times in a good way.

Negatives:

• Repetative gameplay gets old well into the first hour. Lack of reasonable gameplay variation leads to button mashing, and not a lot of strategy.
  
• Questionable decisions on implementation (weird Intermission mechanic, enemies going from one side of the screen to another) ends up frustrating.
  
• There's no sense of fairness (you can be juggled in the right circumstances without having chances to get up, and vice versa) that makes you think it's worth the effort.
  
• It's repetitive. I'm doing this to make a point.
  
• Story feels like you're reading it through a third party translator and can be a garbled mess at times.
  
• Very buggy. Not crashy, but behaviors that don't make sense, controls that don't respond, or even enemies that spawn that you can't interact with.
  
• it's repetitive. Have I made my point yet?

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Imaginative Players who like Visuals

Summary:

Honestly, I wish this game was a lot better then it was. Its visuals and world design is great, and is definitely the shining star of this experience. Sure, you've seen elements like it before, but the combination of the strange creatures and the good detailed artwork still will drive your imagination. The environmental storytelling does a good job of constructing something that will make you feel like a kid, daydreaming about going on adventures.

Sadly, that's the bright spot. The actual point and click elements are below average, feeling either too much like the game points you too much to the solution, or way not enough. Rarely did I feel smart completing a section, mostly because frustration would usually set in. Logic at times can seem off, and the game's transition from mobile to PC doesn't do it any favors. Click hints that cycle as oppose to hihglight all things gets annoying, the lack of keybinds can be frustrating, and the game's all for nothing nature with its hint system makes it feel like you're being curated through it as opposed to you exploring.

Look, the sad thing is, I want this game to sell well. I do, because I want to see more of the artwork and drawings. But from a strictly game standpoint: it fails to deliver, and there's so many games that do it better. Especially at 10 dollars: despite the game not being horrible. It's just, there's too many better ones out there.


Video Reivew: : https://youtu.be/VbbnuvmxBnA

Lists:
Positives:

• Imaginative visuals that make you want to see more of this strange, interesting world.
  
• Can create a dystopian atmosphere that makes you want to explore.
  
• Some good puzzles at times.

Negatives:

• Puzzles don't give the satisifaction of completion: usually being too broad or too specific to really make you stress your brain cells.
  
• Color scheme can start to lose detail especially with the pulled back angle at times, making you not notice interactables, or even understand what you're looking at.
  
• Hint system being all or nothing is frustrating, want a poking in the right direction as opposed to an IKEA step by step guide.
  
• Highlighting interactables is a chore and can even cause more confusion at times.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Those Who Like Roller Coaster Rides/Survival Horror Players

Summary:

Daymare 1994: Sandcastle is one of those games that will stick with you, and not in 100% positive ways mind you. The game does have problems, don't get me wrong, and I understand why at the time of this review that the rating is mixed. It's one of those games where you have to take the games faults with its positives: and even then it can be hard to justify that price tag. But, what I will say it's a game that stuck with me during the entire time I played it.

I disagree with some of the reviews regarding the speed of the enemies being a huge negative against the game: the focus on the use of the frost grip to crowd control on top of the clunky yet usable combat system enhances the feeling of facing a foe while still being able to fight them off: the game feeds you enough resources to help but not enough to be comfortable. The game's pacing in the first 2/3rds is great, and the game always catches you with a zombie out of nowhere to put you back on to your heels. For an indie game, it's pretty great looking, and the story while lying in the B horror movie class of story, does have layers to it.

The last third of the game, things start to fall off the rails. The great pacing seems to go out the window, the enemies/encounters don't feel as balanced, and there's one room in particular that I can safely say took several points off my review just because it still exists. It really does feel like at points content was cut in this last third, as jumps in story and progression feel weirdly missing.


Video Reivew: : https://youtu.be/o0LI_kmIB_o

Lists:
Positives:

• Survival Horror elements work well in keeping you on edge and not feeling comfortable: jank and speedy enemies included.
  
• Pacing in the first 2/3rds of the game really is fantastic.
  
• For a non-triple A studio, reasonable work with the Unreal 4 Engine, and some good details on environmental/models.
  
• A love of survival horror is present: references left and right exist and will be appreciated by lovers of the genre.
  
• Reasonable sound design and directional sound.
  
• B movie story has reasonable layers to it. Ending is dumb in a Nascar crash kind of way.

Negatives:

• The one room listed in the video. A huge misstep in the game's design, where controllers will be broken.
  
• The last third falls off the rails in terms of pacing and feels like things are missing at points.
  
• Would have liked to see one or two more enemy types in the big picture, and maybe one or two more bosses.
  
• I still don't know what that ending was. From a coherent aspect though, it's a bad ending.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Masochists

Summary:

Look, I hate to dump onto what was probably a disappointing launch for the developers here. There's obviously talent on this 2 person team, as the drawing quality and the visuals do have something that captures an alternative old cartoon. They have some good mechanics in the controls and shooting. But it's also obvious that the devs bit off more they could chew: and it really shows in the small details. Where it's not obvious where safe spaces are when dodging certain elements, almost like it needed a few more passes to understand if the player can reasonably figure out if they can avoid damage. It's things like the inconsistent rule set, where colors first mean you should hit them with that spell.....and then it doesn't....then it does. It's the pace of combat that's really inconsistent: this is something that Cuphead really got down well, and here it feels really start and stop at times.

This is consistent where the little things that make a game work like this has issues. Sound is one of the biggest problems: where indicators of hits or not are sometimes there, and sometimes not. The information that a player would use is inconsistent: and that's a death note for a game like this: if the player can't expect consistency: they are going to get frustrated. Sure, there's some good boss patterns and some interesting platforming sections, but they feel ready to fall apart rather then being solid.

It's a test of frustration, and not a frustration that fuels you forward to try to overcome it. It frustrates you in ways that makes you just want to play something else, sadly.


Stream Footage: : https://youtu.be/6fKqCXMJnkA

Lists:
Positives:

• Colorful drawings and worlds that do bring a sense of whismy
  
• The game does have moments where it's firing on all cylinders and it can be fun.
  
• For a two person team, this is a reasonable product, and I do think they did some good work here....but......

Negatives:

• Inconsistent rules lead to frustration in moment to moment gameplay.
  
• Feels like it hasn't gone through it's QA paces. There's definite elements that feel off, where damage indicators aren't present, or there's an animation that's seemingly not playing.
  
• Difficulty feels more of a system breaking then of design. Lots of “oh, come on” moments. Problems with giving information to the user.
  
• Sound Design in general feels lacking and lacks any sort of oompf.
  
• Feels very limited when it comes to playstyle: there were ways with different weapons and charms in other games to slightly change: here it's very by the numbers.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator

Target Audience: Arcade Players/ Star Fox Lovers

Summary:

So you wanted a roguelite star fox game to play? Yeah, you're in the right place. Granted, there's definitely improvements that can be made as the game goes along to expand the replayability and to take the game to an even higher level, but the fact of the matter is is that Whisker Squadron Survivor has the feeling of space battles, arcade gameplay, and one more run nature down relatively well in its early going. The controls and procedural level design work hand in hand that feel right: using the available tools to dodge in and out of various enemies. Runs may start slow, but they ramp up with numbers and projectiles, and the sheer numbers of projectiles and enemies can make for some exhilarating sequences and tense filled gameplay. Granted, I did want more levels in the big picture, but the arcade nature and procedural generation did enough to keep my interest and feed a one more run mentality.

Where the game starts to shine is it modifier system, where the game allows for more “arcade” shenanigans like speeding up the gameplay 2x, or even having gravity effect bullets. It feeds the replayability element, and I hope that the developer does more with it and lets it fly with ridiculous things. The visuals can get over bearing at times with the sheer amount of information on screen, but for the most part you can tell what is going on when you need to. Music is good, sound is good, although the music will get repetitive despite the tracks being catchy.

Really, this is one of those games that I will keep on coming back to as Early Access goes on, and I really think that if you add even more weapons/enemies/etc to it, it could be the defining “Star Fox” type experience in the roguelike genre. Even if that doesn't happen, it's still worth the price of admission and time now, but it has the potential to be so much more.


Early Access Review Video: : https://youtu.be/_6IjLwQUApE

Lists:
Positives:

• Star Fox type gameplay is familiar and addictive: shooting down enemies and boosting through gets the dopamine receptors going.
  
• Controls are exactly where they need to be for level design. Responsive enough for the levels without being too forgiving, and allowing for some high level play.
  
• Good mix of roguelite elements to change formula up.
  
• Modifier system really can change things up and pushes the game into play now territory.
  
• Base music tracks are action packed and can end up getting stuck in your head.

Negatives:

• 2 Levels start to get old even with procedural generation.
  
• 3-4 Color presentation can start to wear on eyes, especially with the pink sky in the first level.
  
• Really, the biggest negative isn't a negative to stop you from buying, it's just that more enemy variety, more levels, more everything would take the game to an absolute must play. It could be the shining star of the indie experience with that.

If you want more reviews/information regarding games I've reviewed, visit my curator. Dragnix Curator