Recent reviews by Cerys

Soulash 2 is an utter triumph with an extremely active developer, helpful community, and milestone-studded roadmap. Do yourself a favor and try the demo if you enjoy procedurally generated worlds, build theorycrafting, settlement management, or crafting. The art style might not draw you in initially, but the game makes up for it by providing the ultimate sandbox experience. If you’re like me and have found yourself wondering whether you’ve outgrown or lost some of your zeal for sprawling, non-narrative games, the depth of Soulash 2 might be what you’ve been looking for. For context, I’ve thought about my next build *while in line buying groceries* - and that’s a level of fervor I haven’t felt in years.

200 hours in, I’m still discovering new locations, fighting novel enemies, and learning about new facets of the game. I’ve only tried three of the (countless) character builds I’ve thought up, and in the short time since I’ve purchased the game, the developer has added a new race, a Cryomancy magic skill, and multiple new features. The thought of what Soulash 2 will become at the end of the planned roadmap is both inspiring and intimidating. I’m certain I’ll sink hundreds more (if not thousands) of hours into it. We can look forward to a family system, warfare, events, and victory conditions. I’m fully confident that the developer has the skills and drive to pull it off (and weave all these disparate elements together).

While playing, I’ve experienced the emergent storytelling and pride that comes with building settlements, killing dragons, and completing the arduous task of crafting a golem companion (along with its specialized gear). I’ve lost three characters: one to thirst, one to (accidentally) falling from an absurdly tall tree, and a final character to a fire elemental. Each of my character deaths were tragic, but they never felt unfair. Every time I create a new character, I have more knowledge of the early game and find myself cutting down foes that once terrified me. I’ve got many stories to share, but I’ll simply say that the game loop is addictive, immersive, and worthy of far more words than I could possibly put in this review.

Seriously - do yourself a favor and try the demo. You’re going to be completely lost at first, but I assure you that if you keep at it, you’ll encounter moments of progress that lead to a real sense of accomplishment and wonder. I can’t thank Artur enough for creating this game and continuing to devote so much of his time to it and the Discord community. In case you can’t tell, Soulash 2 is one of my favorite games of all time… and it’s still in early access.

If you're on the fence about this game, try the demo - it's long enough that you'll know if the game is worth buying.

During my first ten hours with this game, I fell into a comfortable loop of doing quests, searching out events, and improving my adventurers. I'd get excited when I'd find a shiny new adventurer with better traits than mine current roster, and I was having a good time. At that point, I didn't feel like the game warranted it's Overwhelmingly Positive rating. But around hour thirteen, I took stock of the massive number of options I had. The base management was engaging, I was unlocking more classes that I couldn't wait to try, and there was always something new on the horizon... and that was before I even got 'back' to questing. Ten hours later, I've unlocked *even more* QoL options and fun systems.

As of now, I'm 23 hours into the game and I'm having a stellar time. I imagine I'll sink a good 50 - 75 hours into my first campaign. The story could be better and the art isn't my style. Despite that, the tactical depth and meatiness of the management makes 'Our Adventurer Guild' a standout game in the TRPG genre. I haven't been able to put it down, and I've lost sleep over it.

Some tips I wish I knew,:
- Focus on a single party or two at the most unless you LOVE party management. I was playing this more like Darkest Dungeon and trying to have a roster with lots of options and traits. It makes the core game more tedious and you end up managing more than you need to.
- The time pressure from early story quests falls off. Don't be afraid to advance days to get your party to where you want it to be and give yourself a break from questing.

This isn't a great DLC. I agree with other reviewers who say the hype around this made it disappointing. The size and splendor of the main game area is so large that the DLC feels like a tiny pocket of the overworld that was set adrift. If you play this as a late game player, your movement abilities will trivialize the puzzles. I wish the devs would have said that some 'magic' force was inhibiting them until we fixed the circus.

With that being said, there are good cassette and sticker designs here and I think the price is fair to keep supporting the company that made one of my favorite all time games. I hope that future DLCs will have more content - perhaps an expansion to the ranger board or something else that adds to the late game.

This game is a masterpiece. It's not as crunchy as Siralim, but it makes up for it with engaging puzzles, innovative gameplay, and a delightful story. The combat is fun, the difficulty is solid, and bootleg hunting is more addicting (and rewarding) than shiny hunting ever was.

I took 50 hours to beat Cassette Beasts my first time, and I was running into new mechanics every few hours. I cannot commend the devs enough for doing what Gamefreak and others have failed to do in the past years. The creators of Cassette Beasts put their entire heart and soul into this project, and it shows. Grab this game now, you won't regret it.

This is undoubtably one of the best games I've played in my entire life. Cultist Simulator contains everything the store page promises and more. This game is infused to the brim with atmospheric lore, maddening puzzles, and an unparallel sense of discovery. I can't emphasive the last point enough. While most developers are content to hide their suprises behind an easy to miss alley or a second ending, Cultist Simulator has entire systems waiting to be unlocked. With each playthrough, I look at cards differently and smile ruefully at my past follies. This delicate balancing act does inspire a level of frustration if you get stuck in a rut, but it makes the eventual pay-off even sweeter.

To those looking to purchase this gem of a game, I recommend that you engage both your curiousity and patience in equal measure. You will die to despair, an ailing body, and your inability to keep your covert activities secret from those in authority. You will then be born anew with a few more scraps of knowledge that will push you even further.

If you enjoy the occult, puzzles, and permanent death, this game is a wonderful foray into a unique world that will occupy your mind long after you exit the game.

While I haven't reviewed many games on Steam, I had to make an exception for Eden Rising: Supremacy. I've bought into plenty of Early Access titles that have made me swear to never believe in the hype again. Thankfully, Eden Rising has bucked the trend and made me believe that developers can produce EA games that are full featured and fun - while still having plenty more in store for those who eagerly await the next patches. Below is the story of the one crucial moment that made me a believer, and even though it's a bit long, I hope it will give people sitting on the fence an idea of what the world has in store for them.

Firstly, I've spent a long time looking for an open world game that will let me get in over my head and suffer the consequences. Eden let my friends and I do just that. I'll paint the picture for you - we've played about 10 hours collectively at this point and we can hardly complete the main objective of the game (sieges) because we keep getting sidetracked by the open world and all of the secrets within. I had scouted a particularly fiesty band of 'mutant' enemies and I managed to convince my friend that we simply HAD to explore. Sure, the mutants would definitely kill us, but we might find a new weapon type or that healing item we'd been hunting for. He agreed to go with me and we sat at the edge of a cliff and stared down a wasteland full of mutant enemies - medusas, gorgons, and creatures that I had never seen before. I sprinted across the landscape, convinced that if I dodged just enough hits and zigged and zagged the right way, I might reach that unknown horizon. The mutant enemies tore me down quickly and my (wise) friend who had been waiting in the wings tried to resurrect me. The enemies spotted him and he barely managed to make it back to a safe hiding place. This continued for awhile until he was finally able to resurrect me. We were both critically low on health and the ranged mutant enemies would undoubtably kill us in a few hits. Still, I pointed out next destination on the horizon. We had made it this far, we had to go on. And so we did. We sprinted, panicked on Discord voice comms, and even used stealth to get to that checkpoint. We had no healing or siege supplies left but we had crossed the forbidden landscape successfully. I was jubilant, but the adventure wasn't complete. We had made it this far - why not take on the biggest enemy we could find?

15 minutes later, the rest of the crew joined us and we spent 30 adrenaline filled minutes fighting a world boss that we weren't at all prepared to take on. The four of us laid down our siege weapons - the boss shredded them within a few attacks. We tried attacking from range and promptly died. We tried attacking from melee and found ourselves bombarded by a spore-based arsenal that crippled our fighters and made us feel like ineffective ants facing an insurmountable enemy. I lost count of the times my allies rezzed me and I saved them. Finally, after 30 minutes of panic, we defeated the world boss.

The joy in that moment was similar to defeating a final boss in other games. Eden didn't prompt me to go on that adventure or kill the boss. The developers gave me an open world and let me dive in - even if I didn't have the armor, weaponry, consumables or understanding of the land that was needed to take on the boss. If you're looking for a game where you can explore, get murdered by gorgons, AND fulfill that tower defense itch - Eden is for you.