Recent reviews by Scrumpy

I held tab for 4 hours before realizing there were other buttons, thank you Sseth

This is a game that evokes the feelings that roped us all into the horror genre many years ago, while standing up on it's own as a testament to creative content. Play it because it makes you think of Silent Hill. Enjoy it because it's Hollowbody.

Alright, I'll concede, maybe games really do cater to the male fantasy

This game is simultaneously a spectacle to look at and also a tool to instill agoraphobia, claustrophobia, and nausea somehow all at the same time

Edit, and a real review here. This game is phenomenal. The scale of each level and the environment designs are truly something to behold, and each level feels very unique. I want to be crystal clear though, this is not a strictly a "vibe and hop around" game. The premise is simple, find your way from point A to point B, but that's filled with stamina management, butt-clenching jumps, lots of deaths and resets, and some frustrating "how do I even GET THERE" moments. But, that's what makes this game unique. I can understand the comparison people have made to Celeste, and it's certainly a reasonable comparison, especially after you unlock a few upgrades. But I also believe it stands on it's own as a truly unique game that almost sets out to give you a platforming experience with a one-of-a-kind atmosphere.

Look. This review is here for that Bungie employee that survived the layoffs, and is still pouring their heart into a game they know they might be moved off of in the coming years. Thank you.
This game symbolizes 10 years of my life for me. It's a story through and through that I felt like I was a part of, and that because a part of who I am today. My guardian "was me", and it felt that way. To that end, this game was everything.

We all know the state of current events. Pete Parsons and likely other executives have made poor decisions, and it's cost this game it's continued future in one way or another. For me, I'm sad about it, but I'll let you have your own opinions about it, whether that be anger, apathy, whatever. I want to recommend this game though for it's story. Despite the sunsetting, and despite the chunk being cut out of it, The Light and Darkness Saga is an incredible story, and The Final Shape gave something I honestly didn't expect out of a 10-year multi-expansion game: closure. I genuinely feel like my story is done now. I fought my way through 10 years to get to this point, and now my story's come to an end. And I'm happy with that. I'm happy to move on. I'm sure I'll return to it occasionally, so long as the game lets me log in, I'll hop on every so often.

Play this game if you want to experience some of the best story, gunplay, action gameplay, and voice acting in a video game, ever. This game should be the gold standard for FPSes in all those categories. Unfortunately, please don't play it if you're looking for the ongoing MMO experience that it once was, at least currently. But maybe hop online so that one Bungie Employee's hard work isn't for naught.

FIRST THING'S FIRST: TAKE "EARLY ACCESS" WITH A GRAIN OF SALT HERE. THIS GAME HAS MORE THAN SOME FULL RELEASES ALREADY. Stuff to come, as stated by the dev, is further story development and some bonus stuff (hell yeah built-in randomizer). But this is already further 2024 proof that us FPS fans are eatin' good right now.

Been looking forward to this game for a very long time, and it's everything I wanted it to be. GZDoom wizardry delivers again, and in the best ways possible. Gunplay just slaps, every gun packs a visceral punch and the game surprised me with a pretty cool but straightforward upgrade system. The enemies are WICKED even on normal difficulties; be prepared to be flanked constantly and while the firefights themselves can get frantic, approach each encounter with a lot of caution. It doesn't take much to suddenly be overwhelmed.

Easter eggs galore, but not in the "HAHA dId YoU gEt ThE jOkE" kind of way. Pay attention to the environment, you'll notice little things everywhere that blend right into the setting and scenery.

Also: Dev was absolutely not kidding in saying "Not Recommended for Anyone" for the Selaco Must Fall difficulty. You are almost guaranteed to set a new record for speedrunning your death in this game. The game becomes a outright survival horror game. You'll see what I mean.

I love this game.

The very definition of this game is "if you think you can do it, you likely can in some way" and that's also the very playstyle of D&D itself. This game is a masterpiece.

Alright.
So here's the deal.

It's a great game. Genuinely the most fun zombie-slaying, round-based, co-op shooter out there. There's weird builds, medic can straight up carry a game, a clot grabbing a commando with a minigun is the very definition of "choosing one's own fate", and every other person you meet online is going to be a pyromaniac Firebug who tanks your frames, and you're going to have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ of fun in doing so.

But, the elephant in the room is the fact that the microtransaction store is the most convoluted, god-awful UI imaginable and will always be there in this game.

I want you to know that you can ignore it. Got a rich friend? Gaslight them into buying the actual content pack DLCs and mooch off of them sharing the lobbies. Buy this game when you and a small group of friends want to kill zombies and ♥♥♥♥-talk each other when someone falls behind on the scoreboard. Or suffer with them in the harder difficulties. Your best bet to enjoy this game is to pretend that cash shop doesn't exist until the very moment you find your favorite gun and want to make it sparkly.

The game's fantastic. The cash shop is not. And just... idk. The CEO's comments are a problem, we know. But support the people who made a fun game.

My first case was a learning experience for me, as I chose to skip the tutorial and learn how to be a detective for myself. I was investigating a case of a corporate murder: the victim was left with a calling (business) card that complained about not getting a promotion and having to prove themselves. The business card had the same purple card as the victim's spouse's company. I had a lead.

The victim's spouse worked for a company of SEVERAL disgruntled employees. I snuck in at night, took every ounce of information I could on all the workers, deduced that it was a "Samuel Trejo", and went about tracking them down. Everything seemed to line up, same apartment block, recently on probation at the job, incredibly abrasive when approached... all signs were pointing to this. It seemed perfect, kill the spouse as an intimidation tactic to get the promotion.

But something wasn't adding up. That would be far too obvious. The spouse would immediately know who committed the murder. But the business card, it CAME from the spouse's business....

But then I realized it was a red herring. The murderer had grabbed one of the business cards of the spouse's business to throw off my trail, and they had succeeded. It wasn't an intimidation tactic, it was a straight up act of retaliation. The employee and killer was from the victim's very own company.

It was at this point that I discovered the fingerprint scanner (remember, no tutorial). I sprinted back and scanned the crime scene, found a fingerprint on the business/calling card. Ran to the victim's company and bought myself a guest pass to look around. There it was, a matching fingerprint, sitting right on the name placard of "Baran Naifeh". I snuck into city hall that night and ran the check in the government database - it was a match. I broke into the suspect's apartment while he was away and found a note describing the murder, seemingly written in a sick and twisted manner to reminisce on the fear of the victim. I had my evidence. I submitted my case, and after one fee for mispelling the name (whoops), I got the case solved and closed. Badabing, badaboom. I had solved a case due to a revelation and it felt GOOD. I went to the diner to celebrate and saw an advertisement for an apartment I could buy while munching on a hamburger.

At this point I sat back from the game, and realized it expected me to stay in the world, to keep solving crimes. To watch as these people and businesses went about their lives, and to participate in this incredibly deep immersive simulation. It was wild, this was now a world that would have conflict and I would learn to resolve it.

So I immediately started a new "Very Large" city, created a character I wanted to stick with, and got ready to dive in.

Get this game, seriously. ImSims are getting better and better because of indie devs, and this one shines bright among such great titles already. It's fascinating to play, and that "eureka moment" is pure bliss. It's fun, it pulls you in, and you genuinely feel like you're a part of the world. Just the feeling of having a game where you can interact with everything and everyone is one thing, but having all those interactions mean something is even more impressive. Thank you to the dev Cole for such a wicked cool game.

There is, undeniably, a witty thing to say at the beginning of this review pertaining to "plenty of [video game] fish in the sea," and "finding the right one", but I certainly can't write it in an eloquent way. The point is, this game is incredible. And as credibility for it's merit, I have SEVERE thalassaphobia, and I love this game. For a game that requires you to manage your time in each day, I never felt I wasted a day. I feel like I've only scratched the surface of what's going on in this game, and can't wait to keep playing. Please, by all means, support these devs and enjoy this game.