Recent reviews by mAce

If you liked the gameplay of Elden Ring, then you'll probably love this.
The gameplay loop is very simple, but very addicting, and while I do wish there was a bit more to this game in terms of content, I still feel like I got my money's worth.

An excellent take on the Soulslike formula.
Some of the side content feels like filler, and not every level is equally good, but the incredible combat and the amazing boss fights made it very easy to see past that.
The spear, in particular, is incredibly fun to use once you unlock its full moveset.

One of the best fighting games currently on the market, and one that's actively being updated and improved upon. A lot has changed since launch, and it's very clear that the developers are listening to feedback and changing what needs to be changed. I only wish that these updates would come more frequently.

Very solid Soulslike with a unique twist on resource management.

Hitting an enemy builds up a gauge that will provide minor passive buffs, and getting hit will lower it. You can, however, also choose to spend meter from that gauge to use special moves, such as ranged attacks, AoE attacks, counters, etc. This means that you'll constantly be switching between spending your gauge and then rushing to build it up again, since you take bonus damage if your gauge is below a certain threshold. It's very easy to go ham throwing big, powerful attacks against an enemy, only to find yourself getting smacked around because your gauge ran out. It's a very neat gimmick, and it gives the game it's own, unique identity.

Other than that, as others have pointed out, the level design is pretty dang good, definitely another highlight of the game. Almost every area will have a shortcut to unlock, and there is plenty of exploration to be done. There are optional bosses to be found, too!

Unfortunately, I do have some gripes with the game. Mainly that the default ending is dreadful, and you will likely lock yourself out of unlocking the alternative endings without realizing it. It's a really sour note to end the game on, especially since there's no reason for it. Very odd choice, and one I'm not a fan of.
Also, one minor gripe: the game practically throws Strength and Quality weapons at you, but Technique (Dex) and Spirit (Faith / Int) weapons are oddly rare. You'll be using your starting weapon for quite a while if you don't plan on speccing into Strength.

Even with those caveats in mind, though, I'd still recommend giving this game a try, because there genuinely is a lot to like here.

A not-quite-turn-based, deck building card game with insane depth, an incredible soundtrack, and an intriguing, engaging story that'll push you to keep going so you can see what comes next. Fights will frequently end up feeling almost like puzzles, with you desperately trying to figure out how you can squeeze out a narrow victory, only to be met with an even harsher foe the very next stage.

If you can handle the difficulty and are willing to learn a complex battle system, then I cannot possibly recommend it enough.

A friend of mine pointed out to me that I must have Stockholm Syndrome from other gacha games (notably Fate/Grand Order), because I was genuinely weirded out by how generous this game is with its gacha mechanics.

If you're a fan of Project Moon games, this is well worth a try. There's no need to worry about endgame content if you're only here for the story, so while there is grinding to be done, it's entirely optional (though you do miss out on substantial rewards).

You can't fix her.

I died a lot in the tutorial
I died even more on the first real boss.
I love this game.

Armored Core 6 is an incredibly fast-paced action game with an utterly absurd amount of customization, both in terms of visuals and, much more importantly, your gameplay experience.

Want to be a super fast lil' guy that can jump across the battlefield and run circles around your enemies while dicing 'em up with a sword? You can do that.
Want to be slow, clunky, four-legged behemoth that launches an endless barrage of explosives while hovering above your foes? Got you covered.
Maybe you just want to be a literal tank. Maybe you want to be a FAST tank! Hell, maybe you want to be a pile of walking junk parts that just punches and kicks! Anything's possible, and I absolutely adore it.

The difficulty is extremely erratic, admittedly, and not every mission is a winner, but my God, when it everything clicks, it's just magical. I genuinely don't remember the last time I've had this much pure, unbridled FUN in a game.
If you can handle the difficulty and the steep learning curve, you're gonna have a fantastic time.

I bought this game after seeing a lot of people recommending it, even though I was a bit put off by the graphics, and I am so glad I did.

I think this game is an absolute masterpiece. I can think of no other word to describe it. Calling it a diamond in the rough would be doing it a disservice, because the only thing rough about it is the localization being just a little bit spotty at times (but never enough to be an issue, I have to stress).

The gameplay is fairly basic, but it evolves as you get further and you can customize your loadout a fair bit. In the beginning, your moveset is quite limited, but you will quickly find yourself unlocking more options that dramatically increase your versatility, as well as alter your approach to combat. One of the greatest strengths of the combat system in this game is that you can re-allocate your stats at will at zero cost at almost any point in time. If you want to be more tanky at the cost of your damage output, you can do that. If you want to have far more potent magic, but be squishy, you can do that. Want to make your attacks obscenely powerful at the cost of dying in one hit? You better believe you can do that. It offers an insane amount of freedom when it comes to how to approach any given fight, and I frequently found myself changing my stats and weapon loadout to better suit a new challenge.

The music, weirdly, is phenomenal. One of my favorite tracks in the game, I discovered, was a vocaloid track from almost a decade ago, which was pretty shocking. The variety of songs and how well they are used really caught me off guard, and there is a surprising amount of certified bangers included. If you had a vocaloid phase, or just listen to a lot Japanese music in general, you'll probably like a lot of the songs this game throws at you.

Graphically speaking, it's obviously not gonna win any awards, and the animations are a little on the stiff side, but your character's armor and weapon actually do affect how their sprite looks. Literally every single weapon and armor piece, and even some accessories, dramatically alter your sprite, which is a frankly absurd amount of effort to put in. I went through most of the game using sub-optimal gear just because I liked how it looked.

Lastly, I have to mention the story, and I have nothing but praise for it. I very rarely get invested in stories, but this one caught me hook, line, and sinker. I've ruined my sleep schedule staying up late to play this game because I just had to find out what happened next. I implore you to go in as close to blind as you can, so that nothing gets spoiled for you, because the twists and turns this rollercoaster of a story throws at you are genuinely some of the best I've seen in any video game, ever.

The sheer amount of content is also staggering, and it's all well-made. There are some instances of bosses being reused, but it was never distracting or even close to being a bother. I cannot stress enough just how much content is crammed into this game, and how it just keeps going and going long after I thought it would be over.



TL;DR: I love this game more than I can possibly express with words, and if you have even the slightest interest in this type of game (or even if you don't and are just feeling experimental!), you owe it to yourself to give it a try.

This game has recently been receiving a ton of negative reviews, and that's almost exclusively because a lot of people are upset that the (completely free) DLC characters that have just been announced are guest characters from Fate/Grand Order instead of returning characters from prior Melty Blood games (or from the new Tsukihime visual novel).

Please do not let this affect your views on the game itself. It is a very clear case of review-bombing, and it's so very frustrating to see.
While I am not fond of some of the game mechanics myself and think the netcode isn't perfect, this is still a fine fighting game with a lot of nuance and depth, as well as some of the best support I've ever seen for any game, period. It is easy to pick up and learn, has an active user base, a solid OST, plays very well, and it's clear that the developers are listening to feedback and working to improve the game itself. I only play it casually, but I can easily recommend giving it a try if you're in the market for a new anime fighter to try.

It is mind-boggling to me that people would complain this much about new content being added for free, even if they disagree with the choice of content. These are the 7th and 8th DLC characters added to the game, and just for the sake of comparison, the season pass for Guilty Gear Strive costs 25€ and contains only five characters.