Recent reviews by Sound of thoughts & lights above

I want to kill myself and other guy 👍

Children of Morta - are you ready to deal with both a bond formed in a family at the surface and tons of monsters underground?

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 8/10 ► Scenario
The story is heart-warming, you'll be smiling the whole way through. Each successful run is valuable and desired while it gives some crumbs to the story.

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 5/10 ► Visual (graphic & style)
Textures are pretty generic and intentionally low-detailed. You may not recognize Children of Morta screenshots among other games with a similar style.

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 5/10 ► Sound (music & environment)
Sounds are generic as well - no recognizable melodies or sounds if you aren't a huge fan of the game.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▌ 8/10 ► Optimization
Children of Morta is running well on a PC that matches recommended system requirements, even when a lot of new spell particles and enemies appear at the same time. But should be noticed requirements are pretty high for the given graphic and might be lower.

▐▓▓▓░░░░░░░▌ 3/10 ► Gameplay
The game process is boring even in co-op because of tons of bugs. A low variety of spells and weapons are strictly bound to characters. Each next run will be extremely similar to the previous one due to the low variety of room types and dungeon patterns. The story quickly becomes the only motivator to start a new run.

▐▓▓▓▓░░░░░░▌ 4/10 ► Content
The completed main story + 2 DLC are already released and might be more! But Children of Morta is a great necessity in huge gameplay extensions as well, not a story only.

▐▓▓░░░░░░░░▌ 2/10 ► Innovation
Children of Morta is a typical rogue-like hack-n-slash with all familiar mechanics that provide nothing conceptually new. You may skip this game if you are a new-experience hunter.

▐▓░░░░░░░░░▌ 1/10 ► Support
Co-op is bloody broken, for non-host players in particular - you will face will crushes or soft-lock bugs a couple of times per each gaming session. Almost any in-hub
activity is accessible by the host only, so any other players have nothing to do in-between runs. Bugs didn't go even after a couple of major updates with DLC.

Conclusion
Children of Morta was developed either for quality story enjoyers or fans of the genre. Gameplay is mediocre and gets lost easily in the ocean of rogue-like's, so you probably should choose another game if you cannot play similar runs again and again with only the story as your final destination.

Total Children of Morta XO score ► 4.5


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Genesis Noir - Point-and-click experience like nothing else you faced before.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▌ 8/10 ► Visual (graphic & style)
The whole game palette is limited to 3 colors: backgrounded cosmic black, silver white & accent solar gold.

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 5/10 ► Sound (music & environment)
Ambient jazz & blues perfectly fit the noir atmosphere, but all characters are merely moaning during conversations, which is a bit of vibe-killing.

▐▓▓▓░░░░░░░▌ 3/10 ► Gameplay
Typical point-and-click with some new mechanics, but nothing special: interactive items are typically highlighted or, on the contrary, well hidden you will tire to find without any hint.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░▌ 6/10 ► Scenario
Be ready: story here is a roller-coaster of metaphors like in a good arthouse movie. Not for everyone, but you will like it if you are familiar with the genre.

▐▓▓▓░░░░░░░▌ 3/10 ► Content
The main story only + DLC which is a separate story.

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 5/10 ► Innovations
Genesis Noir brings new ideas into point-and-click genre but shouldn't expect anything mind-blowing.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░▌ 7/10 ► Time taken
5-7 hours average for the first playthrough (w/o DLC) - enough to enjoy without boring cyclic stages and any form of grind.

Conclusion
Genesis Noir is definitely worth trying you you prefer stylish adventures with a complex plot with some innuendo and simple gameplay rather than story-poor attraction you can play without any thoughts.

Total Children of Morta XO score ► 5.29


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Vampire Survivors - retro-styled bullet-hell where you even do not need to aim. But will it help you to survive for 30 minutes?

▐▓▓▓░░░░░░░▌ 3/10 ► Visual (graphic & style)
This game looks like it has been developed in 80s, max supported screen resolution is 1024x748 or similar, so visual part is not what you will buy this game for. Sprites are pretty simple but the style concept is sustained.

▐▓▓▓▓░░░░░░▌ 4/10 ► Sound (music & environment)
8-bit sounds & environmental music as it should be. Nothing special, just definitely what do you expect from this type of games - it sound like you run game on Atari console.

▐▓▓▓▓░░░░░░▌ 4/10 ► Gameplay
A lot of ways to play: you can choose one of millions builds due huge count of items, characters, map activities and so on. But, honestly, game starts to boring you pretty fast because you don't need to aim as was mentioned before. All spells and weapons shoot automatically to a specific direction or to closest enemy. All you need to do (and all you actually can) is just WASD time to time.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░▌ 6/10 ► Content
A dozens of different characters, a lot of items and upgrades. All characters have different passive bonus and unique start weapon, but all of them feel the same after 5 minutes of the run. Each map is kinda empty - points of interested are pretty limited and cannot flip your run entirely.

▐▓▓▓▓▓░░░░░▌ 5/10 ► Innovations
Vampire Survivors doesn't bring something conceptually new into genre, but you still can found here several well-made mechanics we all love.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▌ 8/10 ► Time taken
20-25 hours for all stages walkthrough & all weapons discovering. But you need beyond of eternity to fully complete Vampire Survivors with all events and activities.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░▌ 6/10 ► Support
Frequent patches with bug fixes from developer, Game is running well but you still can faced with annoying hitbox issues which can be critical for it's genre.

Conclusion
Vampire Survivors is worth to try only if you like rogue-like/bullet-hell games, or if you are fan of retro-games. Nothing will surprise you here otherwise.

Total Children of Morta XO score ► 5.14


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Bright Memory: Infinite - magnificent memorable experience but short... Anyway, it is worth trying!

▐▓▓▓▓░░░░░░▌ 4/10 ► Scenario
The scenario is just wtf: black hole catastrophic, alien-being made weapon, special forces of the future, ancient samurais, Bond's car chasing, and so on. The total setting flips every 5 minutes.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░▌ 9/10 ► Visual (graphic & style)
The graphics are just beautiful, the game is full of colorful effects, shadows, and light... And it runs well, optimization is good enough to play with eye-candy graphics and good performance.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░▌ 7/10 ► Sound (music & environment)
The shooting & environment sound good as for FPS, dialogues are kinda "indie" but ok - it won't take you out of the atmosphere.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓▓▓░░▌ 8/10 ► Optimization
Bright Memory: Infinite performance is unexpectedly great, the game runs smoothly without any noticeable FPS drops even when the gloomiest hell happens on the screen.

▐▓▓▓▓░░░░░░▌ 4/10 ► Content
4 weapons with ultimate fire modes, dozen of levels, 8 upgradable skills, a dozen of enemy types, couple of bosses.

▐▓▓▓▓▓▓░░░░▌ 6/10 ► Innovation
Breathtaking impact on the game industry. The single person (with minor help) had made the game better than most AAA-tier franchises.

▐▓▓▓░░░░░░░▌ 3/10 ► Time taken
Just 1.5-2 hrs avg for a full walkthrough... But you need to finish the game 3 times for all achievements (skill-tree & weapon will have been saved between runs).


Total Bright Memory: Infinite XO score ► 5.86


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Valheim - Overrated early access that looks it oriented on low-end devices but it's not.

░░░░░ Visual (graphic & style) - Visual is awful, just hard to watch at the screen. Game is looks like it should be well-optimized with low requirements but no - game spiking once per couple of seconds, frequent fps drops, overall performance is terrible even on high-end devices.
▓░░░░ Sound (music & environment) - Simple samples, "indie level".
▓▓░░░ Scenario - Story is pretty formal, usual case as for open world survival game with crafting mechanics.
▓▓▓▓░ Content - A LOT of crafting/building options, infinitely expanded world.
▓░░░░ Innovation - Typical sandbox, nothing conceptually new.
▓▓▓▓░ Time taken - limitless sandbox, you can spend here as much time as you have.

(2.0) Valheim

Road 96 - Can you imagine novel & roguelike at the same time?

▓▓▓░░ Visual (graphic & style) - cell-shaded colorful style with mostly cartoonish animations. Look ok, but sometimes it's hard to take it serious.
▓▓▓▓░ Sound (music & environment) - very atmospheric sound environment, a lot of music that fit well, characters with recognizable & remarkable voices.
▓▓░░░ Scenario - most of player choices are just a fiction and change nothing. Characters stories are simple (sometimes good, sometimes bad, but nothing special at all), Whole story is, obviously, for teens.
▓▓▓▓░ Content - dozens of different scenes with different characters, I had got only couple of same levels for first game & new game+.
▓▓▓▓░ Innovations - tempting attempt to mix incompatible genres worth to look at.
▓▓▓▓░ Time taken - 10 hours average for one walkthrough.

▓▓▓░░ (3.5) Road 96

20 Minutes Till Dawn - stylish & well-responsive top-down shooter you should look at.

▓▓▓▓░ Visual (graphic & style) - only 3 colors are enough, retro vibes detected.
▓▓░░░ Sound (music & environment) - basic sounds for all player actions.
░░░░░ Scenario - here are no scenario yet, waiting for it in full game!
▓▓▓░░ Content - 4 unique charters, 7 unique weapons, A LOT of skills & perks, but world looks very scantily: only few types of monsters & bosses. We need more!
▓▓▓░░ Innovations - fresh & stylish realisation of well-known genre. Nothing conceptually new, but ok.
▓▓▓▓▓ Time taken - dozens of hours may be spent to test all builds, get all achievements, reach max level etc. And all it just at early access!

▓▓▓░░ (3.4*) 20 Minutes Till Dawn

* - Scenario criteria is ignored

Warning: I got addicted to this game.
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Maquette - another proof that unworthy game cannot win BAFTA award.

▓▓▓░░ Visual (graphic & style) - cell-shaded colorful style, cute & simple.
▓▓▓▓░ Sound (music & environment) - sweet ambient sounds, dialogues sound real.
▓▓▓▓░ Scenario - just a heartbreaking storytelling...
░░░░░ Content - only main story here (prepared walkthrough).
▓▓▓▓▓ Innovations - how story has been told... how puzzles have been designed... It's just awesome.
▓▓▓▓░ Time taken - 3-4 hours for a full walkthrough, enough to fully enjoy & don't become tired.

▓▓▓▓░ (4.0) Maquette