Recent reviews by NiceTry05

Short and simple.

This might be the best game I've played in the last 5 years.

While AAA and first party games are going up to $80, this was a day one steal at $45. GOTY contender for sure.

This developer deserves all the accolades that they are receiving. Give them your support.

I don't think there is a SteamWorld game that I have not liked. I have not played SteamWorld Quest but the rest have been great.

*Quick backstory*

When I was younger probably around 10 or so years old, my gaming experience was limited to Nintendo and Coleco Vision. We would go to visit my cousins across the country in Minnesota every other year or so. Those are some of my best memories from my childhood. On one of the trips my cousin Jesse introduced me to his glorious computer which played games! I can recall sitting in one of the downstairs rooms just completely enthralled by this new machine. I can recall seeing King's Quest, Police Quest and....SIM CITY. I owe a debt of gratitude to my cousin for formally introducing me to PC gaming. Thanks Cousin!

Sim City and the different iterations through the years have been some of my favorite simulation games. SteamWorld Build uses a similar formula as a city builder. You build residential houses for the citizens, and then have to manage to keep them happy by meeting the requirements for each class of citizen. The formula works great and is similar in aspects to other city builders. It has all of the similarities of residential, commercial and industrial buildings. You don't have to worry about smog or crime, so it is more of a "lite" city builder mixed with resource management.

The progression is very nice in this game just as it was with both SteamWorld Dig games. As you progress along you will eventually unlock an underground mine and this is where the game really picks up and shines. Your citizens can then be used in 4 different roles underground; miners, prospectors, guardians and mechanics. You manage them and they will all work together to get those mines up and running. There are tons of resources in the mines that you will have to manage in order to supply all of the buildings and the needs of the overworld. It basically is Sim City above ground and SteamWorld Dig with a lot of resource management underground. The formula is very addicting and was exactly what I was hoping for.

A normal play through will take about 10-14 hours depending on how fast you want to take it. I did complete 100% completion of the achievements, and for the most part it came organically. There are a couple of achievements that were a bit excessive (road length and cutting trees), but both of them weren't too extreme. There are different settings and themes and as you play through those you will also obtain permanent unlocks that help you in future runs. This helps keep the game fresh for multiple play throughs.

Overall 9/10 - A very good simulation/resource management game.

First off it is a shame that this studio was closed down by Microsoft in 2024 after releasing an awesome game like this. The silver lining is that they have been acquired by another studio and should remain intact.

Goofy, silly, funny...All of these are appropriate adjectives to describe this game. On top of that, the game is great. Music is embedded in all of the levels of this action/rhythm based game and the more you stay on beat the better you do. You are also graded with how you do on every battle, and even though I completed the entire game without getting higher than an A, I still had a great time. S is the highest score that you can get from a level, so I'd still have some practicing to do with the timing. The game runs fantastic on the steam deck. I played 90% of the time on the deck as a portable game.

There is a pretty deep level of intricacy with the combo system, and there are a good amount of advanced moves to learn. The cell shaded graphics give it a nice tone and gives off a living comic book vibe.

The icing on the cake was be able to jam out to "Whirring" by the The Joy Formidable on one of the levels near the end. Finding a hidden gem like this in the game gave me goosebumps and really made me happy to experience it. This is a very solid game and deserves more attention.

I love deckbuilders, however I do not love this game.

First off the performance is all over the place. I'm playing with a 4070 super and Intel 13700kf and I get all sorts of performance drops. This is nothing new as it would also occur on my older rig. Randomly when walking around it appears that the game will go into slow motion. I've also played it on the Steam Deck and you'll be lucky to maintain 30 fps. Another issue on the deck is that the cards are so big that they block the enemy's information half of the time, which is very annoying.

Gameplay-wise it's a decent deck builder but just comes off as extremely bland to me. Blocking works differently than most other games in this genre where it will block a full attack regardless of the damage dealt. Within 2 or 3 battles you'll be getting 5 attacks thrown at you at once with limited ability to block.

To give this game a fair review I would probably have to put in several more hours, but that is one of the problems... I can't bring myself to do it. This is at least the 3rd time where I've tried to get into it but just can't. I'll be shelving it for a 3rd and probably final time.

This was in my backlog and I finally decided to try it.

For those familiar with Kairosoft mobile games, this is pretty similar with less building options. You just manage a weapon shop which the main point is to sell items and make money. There is a lot of progression to unlock but the formula is basic. Make gear and sell it to get enough to advance to the next tier of items. This will also unlock new characters by making requested items. Gear workers up and send them out to battle for new supplies. It is all autobattle so no skill is required.

Overall it's a fun Simulation/Management game which I recommend if you are into the genre.

There is an issue with achievements not recording on Steam deck, so most of my play through has been on my PC.

I had originally played a few of the Kingdom Rush entries on my mobile phone a few years ago. I went digging through the backlog and realized that I owned the original entry on Steam. It is a very good Tower-Defense game and is quite a bit more difficult than I remember. There is quite a bit of added content since I had last played also. Very addictive and easy to pick up for a few minutes or hours. It is easier with a mouse/keyboard, but it also pretty easy to play on the steam deck. I used the community profile controls, but touch screen also works.

Recommended for those that like a challenging tower defense game.

Heavy Slay the Spire vibes...which is a good thing. This is my favorite deck builder that I have played since Slay the Spire. The combat is almost identical, but with different characters and different moves. Throw in some map exploration and tons of unlockables and we have a standout. Highly recommend after 7 hours played. I've enjoyed this more than Monster Train and Tainted Grail. They seemed to have hit on something special with this one.

This is also still a part of the January 2024 Humble Choice bundle which is an excellent value. Only a few more days left to grab it.

I am not that far in but it's a pretty decent souls-like 2d thus far. I am posting this early to repeat what another reviewer states...Do not go north to the snow area first. I almost quit due the difficulty. Go south were you can and it's a much more manageable path.

I wasn't sure what to expect when I started this game. I had it recommended by a friend. I am very glad that I took up the recommendation. There is a lot of meat to this game, and to my surprise there is quite a bit to complete after you beat the final story boss also. You have city building/management aspects and the adventure portion of the game kind of plays out like an old school top down Zelda game. The game play is very addicting and is one of those types of games where "one more run" keeps you up until after midnight. There are some rogue-lite qualities as there are permanent upgrades with random generated maps. There really isn't that harsh of a penalty when you die except that the faith of your cult may be lowered, but it is easy enough to bring back up without being frustrated.

Awesome game. A solid 9 which I'm planning on finishing 100%.

It's a decent 2d souls-like, but the game uses bosses as recycled enemies later in the game. This tends to end up being pretty annoying and repetitive. It's not a bad game but it's also not a great game. It hovers around the decent to good range. There are some different play styles that you can try with your normal strength, finesse (agility), or magic build. There is some weapon and attack variation through the different gear to be found throughout the game.

However, putting a parasite that goes directly into your inventory was just a horrible design decision. There is no way in hell that I find searching through my inventory for a parasite any fun. Mind you this is as your life drains and the game action still rolls in the background as you fiddle through the menu screens. This design alone was enough to dampen the small amounts of fun that i was having which ultimately makes me feel that this is more in the "decent" range than "good" range.

I only would recommend on a steep sale. There are much better alternatives to try.

*Edit*

I slept on it for a night and attempted to play again the next day. I ended up un-installing. The game progressively gets worse the farther you get. The enemies are now all recycled bosses that are stacked next to each other. Not to mention a bunch of cheap hidden traps thrown in. Hard to recommend this game at all. There is hardly any fun to be had. It ends up being a repetitive snoozefest.