Recent reviews by Cervantes

The gameplay is very close to the Saturn/PC original, almost a 1:1 conversion - on one side, it lacks the complexity added by the sequels, especially Orta; on the other, it is respectful to the original game's pacing and its simple but addictive mechanics. While the new visuals may be a hit or miss in some areas (more detailed, but on the low budget side and with a slightly different art direction from the original), the optional new soundtrack was composed by Saori Kobayashi, composer of Saga and Orta - and, as expected, it is a great reimagining of the original music.

This is among the best character action games available - pretty much a boss rush version of Metal Gear Rising with a beautiful visual style and very tight controls. Recommended!

Great port of one of the best action games ever made.

Great game, and the developers have updated it constantly with new, substantial content.

I actually recommend the first part of the game, the Forge Lands. It looks nice, there's a good balance between fights and puzzles and the boss fights are kind of creative, even if they are mostly copies from better games ("Oh, hi, Shadow of the Colossus!"). But after that, there's only padding, fetch quests and infinite gray lands, and swarms of enemies that take 1 million hits to die. Sadly, the padding part is much bigger than the good one. :(

I don't understand why developers think their games must be so long. A short, creative game is better than a long and boring one.

Awesome game. It plays like ICO (except you control both characters), while its themes and some elements are reminiscent from Limbo (kids journeying through in a ruthless world). Also, like those games, it's a short one (around 3 hours or so, depending on how fast you take to solve the puzzles), perfect if you just have a few hours and want to experience a great game. The story is very, very nice, and told mostly through the scenery itself (again, like ICO and Limbo); the few dialogues are in a fictional language, so they're understood more through the characters expressions - and they're very expressive, as the animation is also good.

This game is very challenging, but really satisfying. First thing: this isn't the Xbox version. The game was entirely rebalanced and a lot of problems were fixed, so the strange things from the Xbox (like the monsters getting much more powerful as you level up) version are mostly gone. Second: most people are approaching this game like it was a standard jRPG. It's not; it's closer to strategy-rpg games - the game that I think is most like this one is the awesome Dragon Force (for the Sega Saturn), with bits of Yggdra Union and Shining Force. You control groups of characters instead of individual units, and their actions are based on the current context and on what they are used to do - a group will only, let's say, use recovery magic if it's necessary, if there's a capable mage in that group, and if the group has done that a few times before. As more as you use your habilities, they will appear more as options to any particular group. That means you can never rely on a single particular hability - maybe the "revive" command won't pop-up in this turn; maybe the magic you wanted can't be used right now, and you have to adapt your strategy. This game is as much about being prepared (choosing the right units to each union/group, choosing the right commands in battle so they level up to use your preferred habilities) as it is about adaptation to a given situation. I really like this game, as it's different from the traditional jRPG formula. The story is also nice, and the art direction is awesome - plus, the graphics are still amazing, considering this was released a few years ago.

Great game, really recommended.

This almost seems like a lost Treasure game, something in the vein of Gunstar Heroes, Guardian Heroes, Silhouette Mirage, Alien Soldier etc. Huge and creative bosses, really fast action, neat extras, beautiful pixel art... This game has everything. I can't believe it was made by just one guy (Konjak) - it's kind of awesome to see an indie developer that is really trying to make awesome games (and that has a deep respect for classic game design). It just saddens me that hacks like Jonathan Blow and Phil Fish make each only one game (the deservingly nice Braid and the holy-s***-what-a-stupid-and-ugly-game Fez) and get treated like a messiah, while Konjak consistently makes creative and beautiful works and still don't get any awards, funding or media attention from the so-called indie scene.

I want my games awesome, and Konjak makes them so. Buy this if you like creativity and challenge in your games too.

The very first Tomb Raider was great, and so is this: beautiful scenery, puzzles well designed, a lot of climbing, jumping, exploring, and Lara's massive... guns.