Recent reviews by NightsofNi

This actually feels like playing the anime.

Very clever and cozy little focus tool. Nothing better than drowning out distraction with some 'toons and light gameplay.

Capcom lied. Upped the price, bonus content basically just pay to skip micro-transactions. So unoptimized, it doesn't run on the system reqs they say it does.

If you're going to get this game, just get the standard edition and make sure you're running it on Elon Musk's gaming PC.

Just plain fantastic little title. I've never quite played an experience so succinct in all it's facets, accessible to even the most novice of players, while satisfyingly exploring it's core concepts, story, and characters.

Turnip Boy was already a fantastic IP, and the addition of an arcade loop with "rogue-lite" progression elevates to something rarely seen in the indie space.

NOTE: This is very much a first impressions review, which may not cover all systems involved.

Having played games published by Roka before, I had an idea of what to expect. Polished, but not overly ambitious games with mostly settings and game systems that follow off of the tried and true. In other words solid AA tier products, that offer up a familiar and competent experience.

Spells and Secrets is no different in some ways, but in others uses those strengths towards a grander degree. The setting, music, and style is very much Harry Potter, but in an enjoyably generic way that might even be appealing for those who felt uncomfortable supporting Hogwarts Legacy. The walk cycle is a bit... weird, all things considered, but character design is solid enough and it's a small enough complaint where that's mostly chalked up to the nature of the game.

That even extends somewhat to game systems, sporting a similarly spell driven combat/utility system (with the addition of a stamina bar.) I daresay it's used even better in Spells and Secret's rogue-lite game loop than Hogwart's Legacy's prescribed arena battles. The multiple creative ways to deal with enemies is more in focus. Puzzles are better integrated and take full advantage of the elements in any single block's layout. The normally tedious battle challenges have more variation. It's honestly a rare case where the smaller, more focused generated runs are better than the open world design of the arguably "higher quality" outing.

It wouldn't be a rogue-lite without some deliberate barriers, however. It does feel like they could tweak the prices of certain things like spells to better match the pacing of the game. Cosmetics are doled out on a medal system (with unspecified accomplishments gaining you medals thought a run, which factor into different categories which arbitrarily seem to award you with new customization options.) However it's entirely expected for a game in the genre to have some amount of padding, and these haven't been issues that suggest they'll overstate their welcome.

Overall, I was looking forward to the game and it hasn't disappointing so far.

First impressions, but this is a refreshing take on progression in crafting sims already. There's no explanations, but each step dovetails from the last that makes discovery compelling. The start is a little slow (having to either manually or autoclick resources, for example,) but they don't last long enough before there's an upgrade that resolves it.

That and the movement is sooooo satisfying - more games should use simple wall climbing.

An actually balanced take on a soulslike. Few if any needlessly obtuse mechanics, lore that both manages to build the world and tell a story with the same mechanics, and with possibly my favorite character customization to date. Difficulty wise, it's not as hard as dark souls but that's both a blessing to a relative outsider with the challenge certainly there to get better.

I sat on this one for years and kind of regret that I did. DLC is a bit... lackluster, but also where those who do want a challenge can find it.
9/10 game, came for the waifus, stayed for the gameplay.

They say it's bad to wear your influence on your sleeve in game design. It's very easy to remind players why they enjoyed an older game; risks making them want to replay one of those games instead.

So how in the hell a Devil May Cry come Sonic Adventure come Crypt of the Necrodancer/BPM in a setting that is as much Jet Set Radio and Sunset Overdrive as it is Cyberpunk and Heart&Slash can come out of the gate, trigger those parts of my brain that endeared me to any of those titles, and not be worse the wear is beyond me.

From the makers of Ghostwire Tokyo no less. I owe Tango Gameworks an apology.

It fixed the major problem with the first one that it wasn't on PC. Solid crafting experience that actually molts story in with progress, with the charm of Dragon Quest. Excellent spinoff.

Decent bullet hell, and if you like sex appeal its certainly there. The dev likes to mash things together in an experimental way that doesn't always work but is nonetheless interesting to play, and this game is no exception.