Скорошни рецензии на #NV

Intro of Castle in the Darkness
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'Castle in the Darkness' is a revival of oldschool action-adventure platformers full of tough bosses and hellish platformer sequences. It takes many ideas from the classics of the different genres (e.g. from the Metroid Games, Castlevania III, Ghosts 'n Goblins, Mega Man…) mixes in some interesting new elements and spices the whole dish up with some RPG elements, tons of secrets and a lot of Easter Eggs. The result is a quite tough cookie of a retro-metroidvania that is probably not the healthiest choice - neither for your controller/keyboard nor for your nerves (sometimes it will make you swear so much that even a pub full of sailors would be impressed).
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As the only survivor of the Royal Guard it is your duty to save the Kingdom of Alexandria from attacking monsters (and of course you need to save the princess as well). So you start running and jumping through the levels, armed with a sword, an armor and some magic while looking for treasures and secrets to make your journey easier. Which is quite necessary as the game’s difficulty curve jumps up quite fast and soon you have to face scary platforming sequences and unfriendly creatures. However as spikes kill you instantly (and the architect of the kingdom decided to put them nearly EVERYWHERE) they will probably be your toughest enemies and the stuff your nightmares are made of.

Often it‘s a wise decision to backtrack and look for different ways and areas aside from the main path that you may have missed before. (Luckily there are some Warp points which allow teleportation between several major stages.)
The amount of secrets and optional stuff is huge and if you look closely you can find lots of breakable walls, hidden entrances, fake spikes, optional areas and bosses and items to e.g. increase your health. Many of them are quite well hidden but aside from (more or less obvious) breakable blocks there are several hints to less obvious areas, secrets and abilities – keeping your eyes out in the levels is definitly recommended.

Befitting the oldschool-charm of 'Castle in the Darkness‘ the game comes with good oldschool 8-bit graphics and an (amazing!) 8-bit soundtrack that may bring out some nostalgic feels (- well, at least if you are not mad at some particular spikes and areas in the game).
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If you plan on finding all the secrets and getting all hidden items and stuff you will need some extra hours after finishing the game and it will bring you straight to some nightmarish jumping sections and plattforming areas where you have to start over and over and over and over… again. (At least it rewards you with a secret ending and a NG+ with additional stuff for completing the game 100%).

Always keep in mind: After dying a lot of times the amount of happiness when you finally suceed is way much sweeter:
'Great I finally got the last page from the Book of the Dead so now I can go back to the safe poin-…

"Here lies…
Died 0000560 times.“

(…oh crap, I forgot about ceiling falling spikes.)
You and this little counter on the death screen will become pretty good friends because you will meet each other very often.
There’s an achievement for dying 500 times. If you want to finish the game at 100% you probably won’t even need suiciding to accumulate this amount of deaths. In the end it said I died 560 times – mostly to spikes I guess.

Yes it can be very frustrating and even if you're used to challenging titles and tough sequences, you will probably end in hating the game or at least some areas as much as you like other parts. Ragequitting the game after dying for the 18th time on an area, isn't that uncommon. One or two additional save points in tough sections would really have been a blessing and could have ended in letting more of my nerves survive the journey.
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If you expect a difficult little retro-platforming action-adventure with some RPG elements 'Castle in the Darkness‘ will entertain you a lot, providing enough content for at least ~6 hours (for the 'regular bad‘ ending) while balancing between motivation and frustration. I rate it 8 out of 10 points and can say that it’s a great little game for the common ~5 bucks in a sale. However, if you're used to difficult games and you have no problems repeating same areas a lot, the game will be funnier for you compared with those who normally tend to choose 'Easy Mode'

This endorsement approved by The Reviewers' Union, providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.

You
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'Lone Survivor: The Director’s Cut' is one of these little games that shows how good indie titles can be.
This little pixelated horror adventure suceeds where many huge (Horror-)AAA-titles fail nowadays: Creating a deep and atmospheric experience full of creepy and mysterious situations without relying too much on (cheap) tricks like e.g. jumps scares behind every corner.

After the outbreak of an unknown disease the nameless protagonist – only called 'You' – tries to survive in this harsh and cruel world. He lives withdrawn in a lost apartment building, unsure if he is still sane or if everything he sees is only a hallucination. Due to the questionable mental stability and the omnipresent problem of starvation he doesn't know how long he may be able to stay alive. First of alll 'You' doesn’t want to die alone – therefore he starts exploring the apartments and looking for other survivors of the catastrophe.

While exploring the remnants of the 'good old times', 'You' will be confrontend with deep fears and mysterious situations, monsters and hallucinations, unsure what is real and what is just a trick of his own mind. Armed with a flaslight, batteries and a gun with very limited ammunition he makes his way into the unknown depths of the apartments, facing mysterious horrors while trying to keep the rest of his sanity and finding enough food to eat and time to sleep. The only 'true‘ friends he has in this apocalyptic world are a plant and a plush doll – but is it really a sign of sanity to talk to them? Who knows…

The story is short but well done and the dialogues make you actually care about the characters, their well-being and their behavior, questioning the situations that 'You' has to face in and what’s really happening in front of him as everything may change in the blink of an eye. And in the end every step and decision you‘ve taken may affect him.
Until 'You' will see the end of his journey it will take approximately four up to maybe five hours (I finished the game already two times outside of Steam, therefore my short gaming time is no sign of lacking experience). Fortunately the replay value is quite high due to many different endings based on your choices during 'You‘s' journey and a NG+ Mode with some additional content.
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To cut it short: It’s a pixelated game based on Flash Engine so you shouldn’t expect too
much – but for this it does quite a good job. The games‘ soundtrack is fantastic and fits most of the times absolutely perfect. It’s creepy and catchy at the same time, giving you the chills in the right moments.
The pixelated graphics are well done and you can see that the different appartmens, rooms and scenes were crafted carefully and with a love for details. The game feels like a great trip in good old 2D-Horror Games and has a deeper atmosphere than many huge titles nowadays.
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Unfortunately 'Lone Survivor' somehow feels bulky and using the inventory or selecting items can be quite annoying from time to time (just as using your gun in my opinion). The controls aren’t very comfortable despite some hotkeys, remapping them isn‘t possible and due to the restrictions of flash games there is no easy solution for controller support aside from third party software – a fact where the game would benefit from heavily. That’s kind of sad as the PS3-version has both controller support and achievements (that are somehow missing in the PC version).
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This game may give you the chills while taking you on a little journey about sanity, surviving and the horrors that are hiding either in the shadows or in your own mind. Sure, it has some flaws and edges but the overall experience is intense and it suceeds in creating a deep and nice atmosphere when 'You' tries to hide from the strange creatures or faces them – realizing that he’s actually out of ammunition. Moreover it has a brilliant soundtrack. Seriously.

I’d rate it 9 out of 10 points and definitely recommend the game - it's worth the money, even without a sale.

This endorsement approved by The Reviewers' Union, providing better standards for reviews and reviewers.

'Dungeon Lords Steam Edition' - maybe another way to call it would be:
'Okay boys, Dungeon Lords Take #4: Let's try not to screw it up this time. Lights, camera, action!'
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First the good part': This time it seems the developers care for the game as they released their first patch after the release. This one adressed several problems in MP - unfortunately the SP seems mostly untouched. So now it's important to see if they release more patches to fix bugs and glitches or if it was a one-time wonder.

'Fans' of the old Dungeon Lords:

This version is better than 'MMXII' but if there was a bug or glitch in the original version it's quite possible that it is still there and wasn't fixed. However the game is more accessible (there are e.g. finally tool tips for skills and spells), a quest log gives you some hints where to go and the randomized loot is quite interesting - so there are several positive changes. However maybe it would be better to wait some more weeks and see if the developers now actually care for their game and support SP and MP it or if it will be abandonned once more.

'Newcomers' who have never heard of or played the original game:

It's probably better to skip this game, there are better RPGs out there. It has its own charm (quite trashy and retro) but to find the positive things you have to dig deep in a game full of bulky and weird systems and design decisions.
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Oh Lord, that game is like an undead, It was a bit rotten the first time it was released in 2005 (and full of bugs), afterwards it came back in an 'improved' version (still a buggy mess) and some years after it returned from its grave with the 'MMXII' version (did I mention the bugs?) that had 'improved systems' (official claim) and some nice function additions - however at the same time they also screwed up the once good leveling and magic system and removed interesting features like identification, the whole exploring aspect or the penalty systems. I regretted buying this game quite fast.

Well so now here's the Steam Edition that is based on an improved 'MMXII' version and should finally act as a 'complete and finished' version. So do all good things come in... fours?

First there is to say that the original game was neither very good nor very polished but it had its own charm. 'Dungeon Lords' provided some very interesting concepts (e.g. the nice character and class system that I still remember in very good ways), challenging dungeons with good puzzles, interesting secrets (like the 'Demon Key' from 'Naga Temple') and had a great 'retro' feel. It wasn't very special but back then it entertained me quite good despite the many flaws.
Seriously there was a ton of bugs, terrible game design decisions and glitches: awful animations, missing loading screens, absolutely empty cities and buildings, nearly everything was unfunctional, figuring out stuff was made in hell (tutorial or explanations of the items/spells/skills... what's that?) and it felt like a bulky mess overall.
However I enjoyed it for quite some time back then and I still remember my badass Ninjutsu-Nethermagic character (Rogue + Mage class combination) in a good way.

Unfortunately they changed the game a lot back in the 'MMXII' version: they e.g. swaped the skill system for a cookie-cutter version, the new magic system was 'boring' and much stuff was still not working as intended. Anyway the worst thing was that they abandoned the 'new' game very fast and didn't care for updates or fixes for the problems.
Together with some others I voluntereed as tester and translator for the german version and spent many hours with translating the tool tips and looking for glitches and bugs (trust me, that list was long) but in the end it didn't even matter (many hours were wasted back then).

So now there's this 'new' version and I've been looking at it with a lot of critical thoughts in mind. However I thought 'Can't be worse than the last version' and started another 'adventure'. That was some hours ago...

... and I can say it's better. Way better than the MMXII version and in most parts better than the original version. I didn't encounter any huge bugs or crashes (the small ones they belong to the game like heat to fire), they finally added necessary options and higher difficulties, changing your weapon manually is possible once again and the map's hidden again.
Besides there is also the good stuff from 'MMXII' like the way better interface, hotkeys for spells and items, randomized loot and tool tips. They improved the weird systems to make them kind of okay (I'd still kill for the old character and class system) and overall it's running quite smoothly (in comparison to the 'whole time stuttering' and the awful loading times of the earlier versions'...).
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So... can I recommend the game? Well that's a difficult question.

The 'Steam Edition' version is definitely 'okay' and way better than the last one but it's necessary to see what the developers will do with all the feedback and the information they are now able to get from the players. Will they fix stuff (e.g. the problem with the lines/voice of NPCs: if you click at a person several times he will repeat his whole dialogue that many times. That's absolutely awful ingame) or abandon the game like the last version? They released one patch that adressed the MP but I would prefer improvements to the SP.

In addition it's 'Dungeon Lords' - that game was a special kind of trashy RPG and will stay that way no matter what you'll do. The animations are awful, the world's empty, the story has more clichés than an 80's movie, the technical aspects are totally outdated, it feels horrible in so many ways...
... but damned, I still kind of like it. It's such a special game. In a way somebody would say 'Oh he's such a special boy'. I'd rate it a 6 out of 10 (maybe only because the original version was one of the first RPGs I've ever played and there are some good memories besides bugs and glitches...)

I trend towards a recommendation, but mostly for players of the original 'Dungeon Lords' who didn't already hate it back then. However the recommendation depends totally on the question if the developers are willing to continue the support for the game. Else it will fail the same way as its 'parents'. There's much stuff to fix but deep down there's potential for a nice entertaining oldschool RPG. Maybe you should wait grabbing it until the developers show that they now care for their game and support it with fixes and patches...

And for most of the others ones, who have never played or even heard of 'Dungeon Lords' (probably 85%): Skip it, there's better stuff out there. Way better stuff. There are too many bad design decisions and bulky systems to bother with until you may see some positive aspects. However the RPG has definitely potential for some hilarious and funny times - and if it only be due to bugs, glitches or weird things happening and you raging about everything.

Grigori
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(Don’t mind my time here on steam, I played the game for several hundred hours back on PS3 in 2013, slaying Grigori, Daimon and the Ur-Dragon countless times)

It was a shame that there was no PC port for several years as this game was one of the few that I really missed after leaving console gaming. This explains why I was more than just happy when noticing that there will be finally a port in 2016 - and now it's here, waiting for new adventurers, explorers and dragonslayers.

What’s new compared to 'Dark Arisen' (2013)?

• Improved textures and graphics
  
• Unlimited Framerate
  
• Reduced graphic glitches (pop-up and tearing)
  
• Pawn chatter can be deactivated (Harpies! - Harpies! - Harpies! *mute*)
  
• No more japanese voices and Berserk armors sets due to licensing issues
  
• New achievements for Bitterblack Isle

What’s new compared to the original 'Dragon’s Dogma‘ (2012)?

• Same points as above
  
• The content of the 'Dark Arisen' expansion which features a huge end-level dungeon with lots of loot, new enemies and bosses and a quite dark atmosphere
  
• Slight monster changes in the main game (new types introduced in DA were added to specific areas)
  
• An improved fast travel system (usage is cheaper and there are more possible waypoints hidden along the main quests)
  
• All former DLCs are included (several armors and stuff that actually looks quite good) as well as the Eternal Ferrystone (can be found in the storage after arriving in Gran Soren)

So now there’s the important question: Can I recommended the game?

In general I’d say 'absolutely' as I love the game. However there are some negative points that are hard to ignore. If you like...

• Badass battles in a DMC-styled fighting system with lots and lots of action…
  
• Boss fights that are actually interesting and feel different compared to normal enemies aside from their DMG and HP (concepts like climbing them to reach weak points makes the fights way more interesting)…
  
• A diversified class and weapon system with unique skills, augmentations and abilities that allow your character to fit your personal playstyle…
  
• A superb character creator (height, weight, eye color, scars… there are many options for creating badass characters that don’t look like ugly goblins that were hit with a spiky mace (like in many other titles))...
  
• Exploring a huge world full of monsters to slay and treasures to loot with nights that are dark and full of terror (at least early on)...

…I can definitely recommend the game to you. From my point of view these are the key elements where 'Dragon’s Dogma‘ really shines and makes tons of fun. Casting massive maelstroms or meteors, shooting enchanted arrows or smashing foes with a two meter long sword is absolutely entertaining and may keep you going and ignoring some downsides. Just one more ingredient to improve my armor, only this little area to explore…

However if your focus on RPGs tends more towards…

• A brilliant story full of twists and remarkable events where you can’t wait what’s happening next…
  
• Interesting characters with lots of personality and a great development…
  
• Profound dialogues full of meaningful decisions…

… well… I guess you‘d better skip this game and look for sth. else as the game doesn’t really shine bright in these categories. More an expiring torch in a storm than a dragonflame.

The story has some good moments (especially towards the end) but most of the time you will either ignore it and kill stuff far away from the main quest or you’ve probably forgotten all about what’s happening, slicing up stuff on the main path and just don’t care anymore about the 'why'. In addition the lip synch is mostly awful, most of the characters are as flat as a piece of paper and have nearly no development at all and there are at most one or two meaningful decisions that… don’t have a lot of impact in the end.
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There's one more topic that I want to mention: Modding.
It’s a shame that there is no official mod support - sure, Gransys is huge and has several nice areas but many places feel deserted and the game would benefit a lot from custom quests, new dungeons or additional challenges. Luckily the modding community on e.g. the Nexus is quite active and already released several (small) interesting mods. Bringing back the japanese voices or improving the graphics with better textures? No problem! Small changes to armors, weapons and stats can also be found, however huge mods, like e.g. new enemies, quest lines or areas can't be done that way.

Capcom didn’t add any new content to the game however they reduced the awful pop-ups ('Oh look it’s an empty field – five seconds later: I’m right in a group of goblins that poped-up instantly and smashed me to mash), the tearing and the lags and added options for unlimited FPS and to mute pawn chatter (finally, our little fellows were quite annoying sometim-... 'Harpies!' 'Soaked to the bone!' 'Look master! Wolves!' ... 'Harpies!').
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Overall it's the same great game I already enjoyed back on PS3 with slight improvements. Sadly these changes only comprise technical aspects and no new content. However I still have a lot of fun and I'd buy a 2nd part (no MMO!) of 'Dragon's Dogma' instantly because the first one entertained me for a long time and I’d rate it gladly at least 8.5 out of 10 points, despite all the shadows and downsides. Grab your sword, daggers, staff or bow and let's start the Dragon Hunt fellow Arisen!

Geralt of Rivia
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'The Witcher III: Wild Hunt‘ has won so many awards and has been praised by so many people that it’s kind of impossible to miss or ignore this game. It’s the third part in the videogame series based on the books by Andrzej Sapkowski and represents the end of the famous videogame trilogy of Geralt of Rivia, a.k.a the White Wolf or the Butcher of Blaviken. To cut a long story short: The game lived up to every expectation I had and exceeded them with ease. Even the games‘ minigames are better than many full-price titles – yeah exactly, I’m talking about you Gwent, you awful little drug that I can’t get enough of…

The main story connects to the events of the second Witcher game 'Assassins of Kings‘ and brings the overall story started in the first part to an end. Witchers are infamous monster hunters, magically improved mutants that are simultanesously feared and needed in a world threatened by dark creatures, evil spirits and living nightmares. Geralt of Rivia is a famous specimen of this kind and thought for a long time that his former friend and love, the sorceress Yennefer of Vengerberg, was already dead. However during the recent events in Loc Muinne he learned that this was not the entire truth and so he decides to start a new journey to finally find answers to his questions.

A huge world with fascinating lore and characters awaits the White Wolf - the sheer quantity of places you can visit, persons you can talk to and monsters that have to be slain would be enough to fit in several other games.
This world is not only packed with interesting stories, dialogues, quests, fearsome monsters and an insane amount of details behind every corner, moreover it is convincing and far away from all the happy fantasy clichés you've already seen a hundred times. There is neither black nor white, just many shades of grey. Elves are neither the glorious archers nor the kind tree people, humans not the friendly guys that accept every race the same and dwarfes are no gentle stone-loving miners. In this world you have to make choices that you won’t like and to live with the consequences. Morally ambiguous is the description you’re looking for.
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Regarding the technical aspects this game conquers Mount Olympus easily (despite the much complained 'technical downgrade‘) as it is one of the most beautiful RPGs I’ve ever seen, with amazing sunsets/sunrises, spooky nights and gorgeous views over detailled landscapes full of nature and terror - this game is definitely gorgeous.

You want to see some examples? Let me show you some screenshots taken from the game using Reshade/E3FX and the free camera from the console:

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=639380403

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=657195325

http://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=626638385

In addition to the stunning visuals there is also brilliant music and fantastic voice acting that will catch you during dialogues or pumps you up during the fights. Together with the exquisite characters, the superb dialogues and all the deep little stories the game suceeds even more in creating a credible fantasy world.
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So now there's the question: Are there negative points at all?
Yeah some minor flaws: Talking to every person and looting every stash is kind of unsatisfying as there is no wide variety of things that you may accomplish or find this way, so after some time you will visit mostly the important places and persons while ignoring the rest. Furthermore if everything else may be a 10/10 for me, the fighting mechanic is not as fantastic as the rest. It has definitely improved since the second part but it’s still somewhat 'special' as it lacks unique aspects, a good feedback for the hits and suffers every now and then from targeting problems, camera angles, weird controls or some questionable hitboxes.
That now may sound worse than it actually is - from my point of view it's 'still' an 8 out of 10. In addition I encountered some small visual glitches and sound errors during cutscenes but they were so small and disappeared after reloading, so I don’t even care about this at all. Compared to the games‘ size and content there are nearly no problems at all and everything runs more than just smoothly for me.

To be honest there is only only real downside that I have with the game: My journey with Geralt will end some day and it set new standards regarding characters, lore and dialogues that future RPGs have to be compared with - and this will be a tough struggle for many of them.
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So in the end, would I recommend the game? Yes – and no.
It’s a fantastic RPG with an amazing amount of content, exquisite characters, dialogues and interesting stories, so I’d recommend it for everyone who has even the slightest positive attitude towards RPGs or the fantasy genre in general.
However at the same time I wouldn’t recommend the game for anyone who has only little time to spare, doesn’t want to be immersed in a massive world full of lore or just wants to rush the story - this game needs time. A lot of time. However it pays off by providing a brilliant experience that will take you on a journey that you’ll never regret or forget...

…or to be more precise let's call it 'a journey you’d like to forget'. Just to experience this masterpiece again from the start and to get these great feelings again (damn I even ignored the fast-travel option and turned off the minimap and the quest hints willingly for many hours (I’ve been lost so many times) to enjoy the world and the quests even longer).

I rate it gladly 9.5 out of 10 points.
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Let's end this review with another badass quote of the White Wolf:
'I'm a Witcher. Heard you wondering about my swords. Well, one's for monsters, the other for humans.'

The Emerald Herald
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The 'Soul' series is known for harsh difficulty and rewarding gameplay in which dying is mostly the players' own fault for making a wrong move at the wrong time.

In difference to many modern RPGs the lore is kind of hidden as well as it's neither presented in amazing cutscenes nor illuminated from every perspective.
The player has to actually read dialogues and item descriptions, revealing piece by piece of the backgrounds and the story.

In 'Dark Souls II' the main recipe of the series stays the same: A lonesome traveler in a kingdom (haunted by an undead curse) starts a journey full of fighting, exploring and dying. The player will get crushed by hammers and axes, pierced by spears and arrows, cut by daggers and swords, melted by fireballs, cursed by hexes-... there are definitely lots of ways to die and you have to face all of them if you want to survive and see the end of your journey.

There are many negative aspects that stick to 'Dark Souls II' since its release. Many of them are still somewhat present but with the three DLCs, the 'SOTFS' edition and several patches many aspects have changed. I don't want to make another huge review about the game's content (you could easily fill several pages about lore, characters and stuff), so I'll make it 'short' (well okay - it's still quite long) and focus on some main points that bothered me in many reviews.
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The changed enemy positions in the 'SOTFS' edition and the great levels of the DLCs shall provide some nice challenging experiences for anybody. From my point of view the difficulty level has the right balance between 'challenging‘ and 'frustrating‘. Sure there are some annoying parts, some ganking and some cheap deaths, but it never feels too easy or so hard that I think I may never be able to do it. Even the 'Fume Knight' and the 'Frigid Outskirts' are manageable. And for players who still think it's a piece of cake: Fortunately there is a convenant for you mad ones that increases the overall difficulty even more.
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The 'Soul' series was never known for the best graphics of the generation but all the time the overall picture was great and the 'charming' atmosphere made you forget about some of these muddy textures. 'Dark Souls II: SOTFS' is not breaking with this 'rule' but the improved graphics of the 'SOTFS' edition are definitely a good improvement and especially armors are now very detailled. (However with texture modding and ENB and stuff you were able to get nearly the same results out of the original 'Dark Souls II')

The varied landscape in combination with huge buildings and massive monuments of the past (and several nice particle effects) really creates some admirable places where you are able to forget the hopelessness of your journey and immerge into Drangleic – at least until an invader stabs you.
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They say it's no real 'Souls' game, just something else. Sure it’s neither Allant nor Gwyn, neither Boletaria nor Lordran. However Drangleic has several memorable moments, names and characters as well. The story and the lore are atmospheric and well done and I get nearly the same feeling as in the other games. Especially the DLC stories and areas are totally brilliant. They could be imagined as different Archstones and small parts of the world that create an exquisite overall picture, be it the Brume Tower or Frozen Eleum Loyce.
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I'm a huge fan of the 'Souls‘ series and I've spent several hundreds of hours in the different games: I‘ve visited Boletaria and fought with King Allant, walked in the Valley of Defilement and felt like a demon myself after killing Garl Vinland and the Saint Astraea. I’ve travelled through the holy city of Anor Londo, met the former Lord of Sunlight and brought peace to the legendary knight Artorias and the darkness known as Manus in a time and world long forgotten...

The 'Souls' games were always full of memorable moments and from my point of view 'Dark Souls II' is no exception in this category: On the top of the castle I fought the Mirror Knight under a rainy sky, I’ve challenged the proud samurai Sir Alonne in a duel and travelled to a castle sunken in a sea of fire - At the end I was finally able to meet a king who has lost everything.
It was definitely a remarkable journey.
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In comparison to the precursors some decisions and changes aren't entirely positive, like e.g. the high amount of bonfires, the immediate teleportation ability or the simplified upgrade system. Some parts of this old 'gloomy desperation' and helplessness that haunted you in the other games are missing - but there are also positive changes that improve the gaming experience: The 'SL1 invader twinks', the 'Dark Wood Grain Ring' rolling (a.k.a. the Ninja Flip) and the lag-stabbing insanity of 'Dark Souls' are nearly gone, respecing your character is now possible and the sheer amount of different weapons, spells, armors and items (Fashion Souls!) is simply amazing and enables many different builds and styles. In addition some of the items that had to be farmed for long hours in the Original 'Dark Souls II' (e.g. Visible Aurous Set) can now be aquired more easily in chests and treasures.

And above all... since 'Dark Souls II' the game finally features beards - praise the sun for this milestone! \[T]/
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From my point of view make the changes of the 'SOTFS'-Edition the games' atmosphere and lore more coherent and provide challenging new fights and changed enemy positions.
The DLCs of 'Dark Souls II' are simply amazing and provide exactly what Souls veterans are looking for: fantastic levels with shortcuts and hidden paths, new interesting stories with remarkable characters and challenges from which even the toughest veteran may burst into tears.

Still 'Dark Souls II‘ is not perfect and overall more a Titanite Chunk than a Titanite Slab. However it’s still damn good and keeps me interested even after over 100 hours. It’s probably an 8.5 out of 10 - well at least if your nerves and your will are strong enough.

So in the end… it is time to meet your fate Bearer of the Curse. Take a last look at the bonfire, your last anchor in this sea of darkness. Pick up your sword and your shield and move on into the unknown. And never forget your Estus flask…

...you’ll need it. Trust me.

You remember all these times you were playing a 'regular' racing game and that "!$%@ car passed you right before the finish line? Of course it blocked the whole road and you were out of nitro so in the end you were only able to score the infamously annoying 2nd place...

Well 'Gas Guzzlers' solves this problem by adding some machine guns, shotguns or some friggin rockets to your car. An opponent is right in front of your car and blocks the way? Here it's a perfect opportunity to pump some metal into this target on wheels and turn it into a burning pile of scrap. EAT THIS!

It's definitley a very entertaining and quite solid arcade/action-racer with several fictional cars, routes and weapons, that features many interesting gaming modes as well as a small tuning system and... Zombies (DLC)! I mean hunting zombies with a nice sports car and some built in shotguns: That's the real manly way to do it!

Sure the cars don't drive very smoothly, there is no real story in the campaign mode, the music is just some generic rock stuff, there is no splitscreen (and the multiplayer is kind of empty) and the whole concept is copied from several other games but it is combined quite well, makes a lot of fun and is at least worth to look at in a Sale. It's like the indie child of 'FlatOut', 'Mario Kart' and 'Twisted Metal'. The one with Zombies. And rockets. And railguns. The one you always wanted because of... (explosive) reasons!

Moira Goibniu
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'In a world where demons and angels fight each other it’s humanity that suffers as their souls get devoured by both sides to form their armies. There is no end for the war and only a small group of outcasts, renegades and cursed ones takes the adventure to stop this madness once and for all, not knowing what awaits them in heaven, hell and in between.'

The story is more than just solid and comes up with different twists, fantastic ideas and a cast of crazy-but-interesting characters and leads the (Anti-)Hero(es) through a lot of different environments and areas. Exploring is truly satisfying as the player can explore a huge map with lots of dead ends, hidden items, forgotten treasures and several optional bosses and areas to stumble upon.

The positive aspects go on with an exquisite design with a love for details, a great soundtrack and a surprisingly deep fighting system that allows the player to create some really badass battles. The level of difficulty is definitely quite high and even in 'Easy Mode' you will die a lot at first. Though as you progress you can see how you get stronger and better, creating long and devastating combos to annihilate hundreds of enemies in no time.

There are four different characters with slight changes in the story and unique weapons, skills and attacks available, an additional 'Arena Mode', the insane 'Goibniu Mode' for the mad players and a deep character system with skill trees and lots of equipment options, weapons and spells. Your first run will need approximately 8 up to 10 hours but all the different characters, hidden secrets, the difficulty levels, a ranking system, the leaderboards as well as some quite hard achievements can keep the fun up for a long time. Especially as there are several viable builds per character, e.g. a „Minion & Dark Magic“ Vladyn or a „Shot’em up“ version with focus on his Shotgun and Agility, or how about a „100 Demon Arm (Melee)“ build? Fight the enemies the way you prefer it.
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Certainly there is also some shadow among all this light, but from my point of view all the negative points can be listed quite shortly: the variety of enemies could have been bigger, the difficulty changes sometimes to a quite frustrating level and some platforming passages are annoyingly difficult and require perfect timing – but all this is complaining on a level that most games I’ve played have never achieved.
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From my point of view this game is a hidden gem that really shines brightly among so many average titles as it showed me how wrong several of the prejudices for Indie games (e.g. lack of polishing, mediocre gameplay elements, missing updates and abandonment from the devs…) can be: Some superb Metroidvania-mechanics with lots of areas and content get combined with an 'Easy to learn but hard to Master‘-fighting system, deep RPG elements and an interesting story with likeable characters. This is a fantastic overall package that entertained me for more than 60 hours, but there is still enough stuff left to do for several more runs in the future.

Definitely at least an 8.5 out of 10 - and in regard to the fact that all of this was created by only two persons and it brings honor to a genre long forgotten by the huge publishers I’ll happily add another bonus point (…Yes, I absolutely love this game!) and recommend it for everyone who likes some good 2D-Action-RPG full of fighting and exploring – just like in the good old times with lots of Metroidvanias.

Damon
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'We are executioners. Professional killers hired by the state and high ranked clients to do jobs that no one else should ever know about. Monsters, maniacs and creepy mutants – everything is real in this world and we try to keep it a secret. The ‚Dark Matter‘ curses everything it comes in contact with, transforming it piece by piece into the abominations called 'Wires'. Do you know where this ‚Dark Matter‘ comes from? From the moon! The dark side of the moon to be more precise. It is ruled by a mysterious man and this person gathers the darkness to take over earth. Sounds like solving this problem is the perfect job for you Mondo, isn‘t it?‘

Are you confused? Yes? Then remember this feeling, you’ll get used to it: welcome to the world of ‚Killer is Dead‘ – where everything is possible and possibly wants to kill you. Playing as a professional executioner called Mondo Zappa you start slicing your way through so called ‚Wires‘ to find the truth behind the mysterious ‚Dark Matter‘, a lady in red and the dark ruler of the moon. It’s a typical Suda51 game – at first you don’t understand anything that is happening and after reaching the end you stopped believing that you would ever understand what is going on. However at least you can enjoy some great fighting scenes, some unusual locations and of course… beautiful women.

The things about 'Killer is Dead' that really stand out from the crowd are the special art style and the visuals: Not only the setting and the atmosphere, but also the fast fights and some really badass scenes create a nice overall picture and hide the fact that e.g. the textures are pretty much just average. Lots and lots of blood, beautiful and stylish fights, fast-paced animations and the usage of different art styles in cutscenes create some amazing scenes and a nice, totally weird atmosphere (and due to all the blood it looks like it's directed by Quentin Tarentino). This atmosphere is also supported by an easy but badass looking fighting system (that unfortunately lacks some depth) and an amazing soundtrack - there are some really entertaining and catchy tracks that keep you pumped up while slicing enemies into itsy-bitsy pieces or blast the right onto the moon. The twelve main missions with a weird but at least solid story will entertain you for approximately 5 or 6 hours in the first run, but to keep the executioner in you entertained there are also five difficulty levels, different side quests and twenty challenges. And of course there are beautiful ladies waiting for our beloved Mondo if he needs to relax after some missions. He’s the real Prince Charming – riding on a shiny unicorn and armed with a katana and a mutated dark arm that can turn into a plasma cannon. Yes he has his own unicorn. Business as usual.

Unfortunately these good points can’t hide some of the problems that the game really suffers from: First the fighting system is ‚easy-to-learn‘, has a nice feedback and looks badass, but unfortunately it has the depth of a small puddle – this professional killer don't really has a huge repertoire of awesome moves, so most fights will feel the same to you. Furthermore some side quests are a real pain and you definitly notice that the game is only a port and has been developed for consoles - few settings, some problems like crashes and there may be even possible game-breaking bugs (fortunately I didn't encounter any problems while playing). Another point is the story itself: it is solid, has some great scenes and introduces interesting characters, but at the same time it holds back with information and tries to throw out some profound quotes and meaningful conversations. They should question moral aspects, actions and behavior of the characters but most of the time it ends with weird sentences that aren’t actually making any sense and leave a quite confused player (to be honest: without reading some background information in the ‚Theater Mode‘ you won’t understand what is actually happing for at least 50% of the time, sitting there and asking yourself why exactly everybody is freaking out, what is actually happening or what the symbols and figures (e.g. the planets) the game uses from time to time actually mean. But hey, at least you can enjoy the nice scenes and beat the crap out of bosses.).
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In the end this game is a double-edged sword katana – fast and badass fights without much depth meet linear levels without many secrets and an extraordinary story that tries to provide meaningful dialogues but often ends with a confused player just slicing up everything he meets. All this is happening in a weird atmosphere, with special art-style and some really great cutscenes that cover up some 'meh' textures.

Overall this game is special and typically SUDA51: Not for everybody, it would have definitly benefited from some nice polishing, nevertheless it's entertaining enough to maintain your attention and excitement for several hours. I’d call it a solid 6 or 7 out of 10. If you like freaky stuff mixed up with badass scenes focusing on style and even more weird stuff that's happening all over the screen you can add some more points.

And after finishing this review I feel like ending it with Mondo‘s words:
'Killer… Killer is Dead.‘

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'Mercenary Kings‘ is an interesting recipe: You take a portion of 'Mega Man‘, add some elements of ‚Monster Hunter‘ and spice it up with a pinch of 'Metal Slug‘ or 'Contra‘. This may sound like a very odd combination and the reviews are quite ambivalent about the qualities of the game but especially in co-op this game is a blast.

The story itself can be told quite fast: The bad guys called „CLAW“ (they have the brilliant slogan „CLAW is law“) kidnapped a famoust scientist and conducted some evil experiments on a solitary island. To end this madness the military sends a super special unit – the KINGS. No, the story won’t win a creativity award, but it’s solid and full of humor. The crazy characters are quite likeable and several conversations are actually interesting and bring in some plot twists. But you can be honest: You won’t play this game for the story…

…you want these guns. And the knifes. And the ammo. All the good stuff. The gameplay can be compared mostly to a mixture of 'Mega Man‘ (jumping and shooting) and 'Monster Hunter‘ (crafting and grinding): First you have your own hub where you are able to buy items, upgrade your equipment and accept the missions. These jobs bring you into larger areas where you have to fullfill goals e.g. killing or capturing a boss, gathering materials or resucing some hostages. So you start running and jumping through the levels, avoiding obstacles on your way (like e.g. lava, needles and other evil stuff). Meanwhile you're shooting at everything that walks in front of your weapon while looking for hidden items and loot.

The level design is well done, the different areas and layouts allow for some nice exploration and the amount of traps and enemy types really brings some nice variety to the quite repetetive goals. Of course: at the end of several mission there's a boss waiting for you and these buddies provide some nice challenging moments. Most of the time simple button mashing ends in an early death and you really have to understand the patterns and to find a good strategy. Though when you’re finally able to defeat that annoying difficult boss (I look at you 'Metal Woof'!) and he drops the material you were looking for – that’s some pretty great feeling.

Talking about materials: On your journey you’ll stumble across many different ingedrients and materials that can be used to craft individual gun parts, knifes and bionic mods. The amount of different parts is tremendous and they can be combined to fit your playstyle, whether you’re the tanky dude with the shotgun or the spray’n run submachine-type. Crafting new guns, mixing the parts and farming for materials is the core element of the game – and it’s very entertaining.

In terms of the visuals and the sounds I have to admit that the design and the style is gorgeous (I’m a huge fan of well done pixel-graphics). The environment and the characters are detailled, the animations are perfectly fluid and the overall picture is simply great. And in addition there is an amazing soundtrack, that features some really catchy tracks.

I could go on talking about even more positive points, like the splitscreen multiplayer, the co-op mode or the omnipresent humor. But the negative points of the game can’t be hidden this way: the amount of different areas is very limited (there are over 100 missions but just like 8 different areas, so you will re-visit some rooms and places quite a lot) and after a short amount of time the missions can get quite repetitive (there are only like six different goals). Moreoever some time limits in the missions seem to be set totally random, sometimes you finish with half an hour left and sometimes with barely 3 seconds. That’s also due to the fact that some bosses 'escape‘ randomly after a short fight and then you have to search them again (probably not the brigthest gaming mechanic). Besides your characters appearance lacks some good customization aspects, aside from 12 different color schemes (approximately 75% of them look awful…) for the two characters there’s nothing more. Some unlockable characters (e.g. the 3 other members of the KINGS) and areas after finishing the main game would have been a huge plus.
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Yes, the reviews and opinions for the game have been quite ambivalent. I think the problem is that many bakers and players expected a ‚pimped up‘-version of 'Metal Slug‘ with all its core points and elements. And with these expectations the game may disappoint easily. I bought it in hope to get a mixture of 'Mega Man‘ and 'Monster Hunter‘ – and I’ve never regret buying it because the game entertained me instantly.

All in all I guess the game would be a solid 7 out of 10 (or maybe a 6 if you dislike good old Mega or grinding) due to all the negative points (that are clearly there), but… I love the game. Sure I would have loved to enjoy even more areas and to customize my character to look different than my partners, but hey... - I had a machine gun that fired some caustic missiles, which bounced of walls, splitted in little pellets and exploded on impact. That was one hell of a weapon. And I’ll never forget my shark-shaped-knife that shocked enemies on contact.

These two things alone have to improve the score by at least two points. Because of… reasons! And explosions. And think of the knifes! And the dogs in mecha-dog-suits. Yeah, never forget mecha suit Doge – ‚Metal Woof‘ ready for action!