Recent reviews by DJ_Fu (Open Source)

The story is needlessly edgy, has next to nothing to actually do with the Backrooms, and relies almost entirely upon cheap jumpscares for the quick "gotcha" moment, which is a shame as it seemed to build an actually unsettling atmosphere.

But that's not all. The controls are complete jank, your camera begins to vibrate oddly when you move for an extended period of time, mouse smoothing is on by default, the jumpscares come with ear-splittingly loud noises that are more infuriating than scary while most of the other sounds become too quiet to hear, the microphone mechanic was so broken that I could speak while streaming it and never trigger it, the whole thing took literally an hour from start to finish, and it ran like absolute ass.

I got it for free, and I seriously want a refund. Do not buy.

If you have not yet played this game, you are only doing yourself a disservice.
Please, don't look anything up. Play through the game, then play again, and one more time. Trust me.

Pros:
- Tight controls and unique combat animations with good timings.
- Visuals are lovely.
- World-building is very comprehensive.
- Every weapon is viable, including the starter weapons.
- Using elemental attacks as traversal is very unique.
- Automat animations are very well done.

Cons:
- NPCs shove exposition down your throat constantly through long-winded dialogue and cutscenes.
- Elemental attacks stop being viable in boss fights relatively quickly.
- Starter weapons are some of the strongest in the game, leaving little point for variety.
- Best armor can be acquired a little under halfway through the game for little to no penalty.
- Boss fights lack impact or cinema, feeling like nothing more than large enemies with flashy attacks and an arena.
- All human NPCs suffer same-face syndrome, and have poor facial animations.
- Level design is confusing, with many dead ends that take time to realize they are such.
- The entire ending.
- Everything to do with Louis and Cagliostro.
- Robespierre's rise to power with absolutely no reasoning.

The problem is that I want so badly to like this game. It looks and feels nice, but the negatives are simply too glaring to deny. The devs needed another few months to cook this one, for sure.

I bought it for $11, and I got my money's worth, but do not buy it at full price under any circumstances.

Storage limits make me wanna punch Todd Howard in his stupid face.

Game's pretty good though.

Genuinely one of my favorite survival games. If you don't have it, buy it.

This game is good if you:
- Are tired of starting as a dude in a forest
- Hate punching trees
- Want to rebel against corporate
- Remember Half-Life fondly
- Wondered how the Black Mesa scientists survived the resonance cascade
- Thought SCP: Containment Breach shouldn't have been a horror game

Only issue I have is that they're releasing it in this pseudo-episodic manner, but it's pretty worth the wait, honestly.

It's like Runescape, but in small discrete areas, and missing the charm of its art and musical style.
Kinda makes you wonder how OSRS makes us enjoy the grind, because Andrew doesn't know either.

I've played many a soulslike, and enjoyed almost all of them. Tried this one for stream since I got it for free, and I genuinely cannot figure out who this game is for.

It has some good and interesting mechanics, but they're held back by what the game does wrong.
I like the multiple character premise, but instead of giving each one some unique mechanic, they simply divide up the standard soulslike moveset between them. One has a ranged weapon and can backstab, one casts spells, one is regular swordbro, one is spear-user, etc.
I like that the magic system relies on rechargeable heat instead of MP or cast limits, but the magic feels slow, low impact, and the heat regen is abysmal.
I like that the level upgrades affect all characters, but they're all barely-noticeable increases, the highest I ever saw was 5%.
I like that the "poppable souls" also give health and have a secondary use, but it makes them primary heals when the normal heal *takes away health from the other three on your team*. It doesn't refill, it SHARES.
I like the follow-up attack system, but there's no gap-closers for melee characters, meaning you only ever get use out of it going from melee to melee or ranged to ranged.

Add onto that the fact that it's riddled with bugs, bad animations, unskippable exposition forced down your throat with every new character, slow and clunky combat, nothing more than the illusion of exploration in levels, and a convoluted story that explains precisely nothing to you from the beginning and expects you to be okay with that, and I really can't recommend this game to anyone at all.

TL;DR: Game has good ideas, but nothing is executed well. Shame, really, as it has promise. I got it for free, and still kind of want a refund.

So much style. So much music. Move to the beat, and the beat will move you.

Everything about this game just feels out of place. The story feels hacked together, the gameplay is boring at the best of times, and the combat just feels awkward.

I've purchased this game four times. I regret none of them.