Recent reviews by Vahn Seele

I'm not sure what drove me to pick this game up, but something about the style of the characters or the way the training worked really drew my attention. I found myself getting immersed in things, with some moments of frustration around figuring out how to advance time to earn more money. Once I figured things out, though, I can tell you that I was beyond hooked to this game.

The Good:

- The training mechanics are fun. I only have one or two that I just cannot do, which the game is kind enough to give you free points to spend on skills you may not be as skilled at. I found myself drawn to the Melee training, as well as the Defense and Agility. The other two were just kind of annoying, and it never felt like the archery leveled fast enough for the amount of work I put into it.
- The combats were rarely rigged against me, losses either due to a lack of leveling certain skills or buying certain upgrades.
- The progression feels natural, as if you were guided to take some items at certain points in the game.
- I found myself easily able to get distracted by this game, losing 18 hours in the span of three days to complete it.
- There isn't much story to speak of, other than "follow this path, do these things." The characters have some depth to them, but it's not a very deep game.

The Bad:

- The minigames are grindy. This is something I say, because there will be those that do not like this mechanic. For me, it was reminiscent to some of the minigames from the Fable 2 game from years past. There was a skill in playing them, and the skill developed in the minigames could make the main game easier. That said, the minigames can GREATLY detract from the progression if you either don't have the reflexes or patience to devote the time to it.
- The passage of time only happens when doing training or fighting. Maybe this was intended, but being forced to train seemed to feel a little backwards when I just didn't feel like doing the minigames. Passing time is important for gathering money from the museum.
- Once you finish the game, there's really not much left to do. I know there is an endless mode, but it just feels tacked on without much extra content. This isn't so much a bad thing, but more a realization I came to after finishing a round of the "Endless Game". Perhaps this just isn't my thing, but there's nothing really to do with the end game stuff except just gathering a lot of money that you cannot spend.

Overall, the game is fun. It's not a long-term play for me, as I don't see any reason to return to this game in the future without a content update of some kind. That said, getting me to spend nearly 20 hours on a game in three days is a feat in, and of, itself. All things considered, it is worth its price at the $15 price point if you are okay with minigames that have some diversity, frustration in some combat where you will be one hit away from ending it and you realize you have no dodges or blocks available to thwart that last bit of damage.

I'd give it an 8/10, with points taken off for mild frustration at a few stray apples that I SWEAR were not there when I was looking that direction a second ago.[/joking]

Beat Saber is everything that a rhythm game in VR could be, at this stage. There is an accurate system for scoring points, a leaderboard for comparisons. The scoring system is a little less rhythm, though, as striking things at the precise time of the song is likely hard to manage in a 3D space. Instead, it aims itself at more of a precision based game, measuring the angle of a cut rather than the timing.

That all said, I have had, and will continue to have, a blast with this game. It's also great for groups to take turns playing, a good entry title to get people comfortable in moving through VR. Just make sure you have actually cleared the playing space, because you'll likely use all of it.

Coming into this, I had not played the first game. There was no hype, as I found it the day before launch. The premise is interesting, and it drew me in. However, the experience I had was not quite what I was looking for.

Pros:

The scenery and sound is great. I will sing Ratica's song that she sings in her cage for a while. The voice acting was good, and I felt the voices were properly picked for the characters that they were set for. The story was great, but it hits a point where the story just seems to completely derail itself. Leading us to...

Cons:

The fighting in the game is okay. It has a bit of a delay, and there are some times that I feel like I am hit when an enemy was clearly farther back than the rest. Not to mention the repetitive scenes when failing a boss fight or an encounter. The story held up, until the end. I'm not saying all games have to have a good ending, and I'm definitely for some realism in a fantasy environment, but the characters had these moments where they just seemed to constantly contradict the nature that they were setup to have. In one scene, a character is super strict and very unhelpful. Unlock a vision, something that shouldn't have such a great impact, and the same character turns into a nice person, offering to help instead of merely calling you out for "having him do everything."

In brief:

The story is okay. It will not have a fairytale ending, and it's not worth playing through a second time on a different difficulty hoping for a better ending. As much as I like to support a developer that put their heart and soul into this, I can't help but feel that this game isn't for me, or others who will feel the same as I do.

Perhaps I was hoping for a 3D version of Dust, or something with the same spirit. This just seems to lack that same spirit and soul, lending itself to become a repetitive game of "try every path to get all the information." There's no deduction to be had when there's not a time limit, or a chance to fail.

I hope others might find some joy in this game. I just can't give it my approval.

This game feels to be heavily inspired by games like Gauntlet and Diablo, taking the good of both and maybe a little bit of the bad of both, as well.

The basic premise of the game is a dungeon crawl. It's rogue-lite, in that, you have to die to leave the dungeon. There are no checkpoints to go back to. You are in it to the end, as the exit is sealed up behind you. You can, however, send back your gold and ore to the town to be used on reconstruction and purchasing upgrades.

The beginning part of the game can be a little tedious, and the options for customization get a little bit more vast as you play, but there is no lack of depth to the strategy that you can put into a character.

It is a great game to play with friends. If you can look past the pixel art, which doesn't bother me, then you are looking at a real gem here. A slightly pixelated gem, but still a gem.

There is a bit of a grind to it, though. That's the same with any roguelike or rogue-lite. You'll find yourself slowly getting to the higher levels, unless you are lucky enough to either get the right collection of items or have a very high level friend to take you to the top. Either way, the game is worth it for those that like a bit of a challenge and want to enjoy gaming with up to 3 friends. There are ways to push it beyond 3, but I don't recommend them.

The developers are still putting out content, having just released some in the last week. They seem to be very committed to adding more to this, and the change that they make might seem small, but some of them have made a huge differenc ein the way that I play.

I don't quite remember where this game came from, as I am a pretty avid subscriber to Humble Bundle. It probably came from one of those. That said, this review will short.

Hue is a game that explores the ability of incorporating colors into puzzles. Say you need to get through a blue wall. If you have the blue piece of the ring, you can get through it. This can apply to just about any object, making just about anything of color invisible. This gets more and more complex as you go, as there are lasers, balloons on crates, springs that change color when you step on them, even boulders of various colors rolling after you.

There were a few moments where I had to use the "Restart Level" button from the menu. This does detract from the experience, and it gave me this feeling that I had done something wrong, when I had merely been going through the process of trying to solve the puzzle. There aren't many levels that will do this to you, as I can only count about 2 or 3 that were particularly specific in how the game developer wanted it to be solved. Most times, you are never painted into a corner that says you can't undo what you've done. Because you are able to push and pull crates with the action button, it gives you a lot of forgiveness in pushing things too far to one side, or needing to drag a crate here or there.

The music is amazing. It seemed to capture those moments that were dangerous, without overplaying itself. It also blends well into the background, so that solving the puzzles doesn't become difficult with a distracting background music. The voice acting is also great. There is a feeling of real emotion in the words, and it helps to draw a connection to the characters, as well as give a new insight, through the writing, on how we perceive colors.

I won't give away too much more with this game. It didn't require me to go outside of the game to find solution for it. I recommend it to those that are keen on solving puzzles of a creative nature. Few puzzles deal with the idea of making an object passable, while not moving it in the slightest.

Once in a while, you come across a game that has a concept that, while not unique, implements all the qualities and features you'd come to expect from a great multiplayer game.

Positive:

The game is fast, furious, and a hell of a lot of fun. The concepts are simple, and, once you figure them out, you can easily transition between roles with ease. The design is cutesy, simple, and implements the roguelike feel without that hatred of dying a cheap death. Very rarely have I had a feeling that I wasn't in control of my character and died to a cheap trick.

Negative:

The game gives off the feeling of an indie title. While this can be a good feeling, when you've gone through and played several times, you can feel that there is nothing new to offer you, aside from a new playthrough with a different set of hurdles.

Overall:

The game is good, but I will say it is not for everyone. If you like Terraria, Minecraft, and enjoy a good roguelike game, Magicite is a game you'll definitely be happy you paid $10 for.