Recent reviews by Quetzalcoatl

The concept behind Vampire Survivor is quite simple: you pick a character and try to survive for thirty minutes swarms of increasingly tougher enemies, collecting gems to increase your level and obtain better weapons and equipment, and using coins to permanently increase all your characters’ abilities.
That’s it. Your character attacks automatically with every weapon you currently possess, and enemies can only damage you by physically touching your character; essentially, you only control where your character moves and which weapon/equipment they pick up when levelling up.
Do not be misled by this short explanation: despite its simplicity and apparent lack of interaction on the player’s part, Vampire Survivor manages to be extremely fun, and not only that, but the game will constantly leave you wanting more and more, urging you to play game after game just for the sheer satisfaction of trying new equipment combinations and find the most fulfilling way of shredding hordes and hordes of zombies, witches, vampires and other supernatural critters. Simplicity makes Vampire Survivor a game that is extremely easy to pick up but extremely hard to put down: more than once I found myself thinking of playing just one match and then going on for hours and hours on end, always thinking “I want more”.
It’s difficult to explain what exactly makes Vampire Survivor so captivating and addictive, it just is; for its current price (less than three euro as of February 2022) the game can easily gift hours and hours of fun, even more than more expensive games. It is also worth considering that the game is still in early access but receives about two updates per month, adding new characters or equipment, so the developers are definitely worth of support.

Also if you are Italian some equipment’ and characters’s names are hilarious, Porta Ladonna.

Indivisible is a mix between a platform and a fighting game: during the platforming phase you’ll encounter enemies on the overworld, who can be attacked (or will attack you in turn) to enter combat. During the combat phase you control up to four characters: each character is assigned a single key/button to attack and defend, and can use different types of attacks by inputting a direction when attacking. Each successful attack generates Iddhi, a mana-like energy used for more powerful attacks, and subsequent attacks ramp up the combo meter: the higher the combo, the more damage your characters will inflict in battle.
That broadly sums up the gameplay; you also get more powerful by collecting and consuming gemstones (your defence and the numbers of attacks you can make with the same character will increase, but the characters’ movepool will remain the same), and get new platforming options while progressing the game, opening up new areas to collect the aforementioned gemstones.

I’m really torn about this game because it really has potential: the storyline is nothing too innovative but it’s good and somewhat engaging, the characters are really interesting design and personality-wise (except one who constantly pops in to make quirky remarks - basically Chandler from Friends but much more annoying and way less funny) and the combat system feels rewarding (albeit repetitive after ten hours). The main problem is that this game feels unpolished, both from a gameplay and a script point of view.
Let’s start with the script: as said before the story is not bad, but not very good either. You never feel the sense of urgency this type of storyline should convey, and neither do the characters you’ll meet during your journey. Speaking of characters, apart for the “main characters” in your party (those whose are automatically recruited), the other optional characters have basically no screenplay: they will shortly introduce themselves after meeting them, reveal something about their past or goals after completing their personal mission, and share their intimate thoughts with the main character before the final battle. It is somewhat justifiable though, since there are a lot of optional characters and the story exposition is already long with the constant (and many times unnecessary) intrusion of the “main characters”.
Another screenplay flaw is the protagonist’s attitude: for the first half of the game she is a short-tempered, insufferable, irritable girl, then at the halfway point becomes much mature and tolerant, while maintaining the short-temper (which is plausible, a good point); this maturation however happens instantly: there is a traumatic event and the protagonist is immediately much more stable and mature. No introspection, no gradual growth.

Regarding the gameplay, that’s where I found major issues: the most bothersome happened at least thrice while fighting enemies positioned on stairs or near cliffs. The enemies were either stuck moving up and down the stairs, blocking the flow of battle and basically softlocking the game, or falling down the cliffs on the platforms below, capable of attacking my party but rendering me incapable of attacking them or defending. Luckily the game allows you to always return to the last checkpoint, which is usually a few minutes back, somewhat mitigating the problem.
Still talking about the combat, the game is inconsequential in this regard: for the first two or three hours it will be difficult, mainly because you’ll not be used to the combat system, then it will become more engaging, rewarding and challenging for the first half of the game. From that point on, it will just became tedious, as the enemies will not pose any challenge to your party up until the final battle, where the difficulty increases again. Another aspect that makes the first hours of the game difficult is that the combat is never properly explained, and the moveset of every character you encounter is only touched on briefly: for example, the game simply tells you to press a key to defend when attacked by an enemy, but does not tell you that you can press the key more than once to block multiple, consequential attacks (I discovered that only during the final battle).
Regarding the platforming section, that’s perhaps the worst aspect of the game: the overworld is huge, but despite this feels empty. There are only a handful of characters (most of them are useless and serve no purpose), cluttered in the some small areas, while the rest of the world is composed by large platforming sections; even the enemies tend to dwindle afteryou explore an area for the first time.
There is also no reward for exploring hidden areas apart for those gemstones, most of which you’ll discover by pure chance rather than intentionally, and the overworld map is rather confusing, most of the times being more of an hindrance than an help (I often stumbled upon a dead-end while trying to reach some places I’ve visited before because the map pointed out those sections were interconnected while in reality they were separated by impassable walls) The other only reward in exploration is the completion of characters’ quests; most of them add a bit of backstory to them and a huge amount of experience, but are often not worth the hassle since many of them are not pointed out on the map, leaving you to wander blindly or to use a guide to complete them; they also become available right before the end of the game, making them more pointless since your characters really don’t need that experience (although I’ll admit some of the stories were nice).
Another major inconvenience is that you only unlock a form of fast travel halfway through the game, and even then it’s restricted only to one single place for each major area, usually far away from the story related-sections (although just before the final battle this fast-travel is upgraded in the form that you can teleport to these single locations from every save point).

To put it simply, Indivisible it’s not a bad game, but needed much more polish; unfortunately, the studio behind the game was disbanded, so it’s unlikely that we’ll see any improvement in that regard (along with the huge additional content that was promised during the Kickstarter campaign).

Path of Giants is a puzzle game in which you control three adorable explorers in search of a legendary artefact in a snowy setting. The game is composed by 17 levels (one of which is unlocked by collecting every single coin in the first 12 levels), each one is composed by sub-levels, which consist of a short puzzle: every explorer needs to reach a specific platform which shares their colour. Explorers can’t jump, but can use other explorers to propel themselves up or down platforms, or (in later levels) maneuver platforms to allow other explorers passage or even using weight scale-like platforms to get over great eights. After each level, there is a short traditional puzzle in which you have to connect three colored panels by rotating the various directional panels located between them.

This basically sums up the game; although it’s very short (less than five hours to complete all levels), it’s very enjoyable: the general atmosphere is quite relaxing and the puzzles have a good degree of difficulty as they are quite challenging, but never too hard or stressful. I would totally recommend this game to those players who really like puzzle games but don’t feel like to commit too much, or those players who like a soft but relaxing challenge.

In conclusion, I would say this game is one the puzzle games that most resembles the real word definition of puzzle: a not too long mentally engaging activity which requires a little bit of effort to complete and that can be used to steam off after or before more challenging/stressful activities.

One Deck Dungeon is the digital version of the board game of the same name: it adds some new characters in form of DLC and four difficulty levels, plus a new game mode, but the mechanics are unaltered.

The game is based on rolling dices: there are four type of dices (pink, yellow, blue and black) and each character can roll a set number of them. A character can increase the number of dices at their disposal by defeating enemies: each enemy card has a set of boxes that must be covered with the die or the dices of the corresponding colour and number to avoid suffering penalties or even losing the game. When the characters survive an enemy encounter, they can claim the enemy card to either gain some abilities, to claim experience or to increase the number of dices at their disposal. Some enemy card can also grant a new potion for the heroines (the characters are all ladies); those are used either to heal any wounds an heroine had previously sustained or to activate a specific effect that can aid in battle. Each game consists in the exploration of a three-floor dungeon, where every floor has some specific effects (those effects are cumulative), and the battle with the boss at the end of it. There is also a form of progression since every game will award some points to the heroines who explored it, even if they failed; those points can be used to learn new abilities (which are basically required for more difficult dungeons).

The mechanics themselves are simple, but learning them and applying them to their extent can be difficult, the hints and tutorial are not easy to follow, but after two or three games you shouldn’t have any more doubts about it. However, keep in mind that while easy to learn, the game is brutal: don’t expect to win easily, especially on the first two or three hours of game, and even after that a bad dice roll or an unfortunate encounter can mean defeat. This game requires much patience and a bit of luck, and it’s not made nor recommended for those players who like control of every single aspect of the game.
Another important aspect of the game to keep in mind is that not all heroines are equal: there are some combinations that almost break the game, while there are some characters who feel almost useless.

For those who seek a challenge and a very addictive game I would seriously recommend to try One Deck Dungeon, or at least watch some gameplay (even of the board game) on the Internet. I do not recommend this game to players who don’t like to grind (the most difficult dungeons require a bit of a grind on easier dungeons), those who don’t like to see their efforts nullified in the matter of seconds, or those who despise RNG and luck-based mechanics. Finally, for those like myself, who already own the board game, I would recommend the game only to those who really loved it and maybe find a bit of a chore to organise all its components to play; as I already said, it’s basically the board game with achievements and a bunch of new DLC characters.

Star Wars Empire at War: Gold Edition includes both the original game and the expansion “Forces of Corruption”; set during the Galactic Civil War (the Original Trilogy Era), the game offers three main game modes: Skirmish, Galactic Conquest and Campaign (the first two also available in multiplayer).

Skirmishes are similar to the classical RTS battles, except instead of sending your workers to collect resources, you gain a certain amount every second; this amount can be increased by controlling structures on the map with the infantry units you’re provided at the start of the battle. More and more powerful units can be recruited by researching technologies from your base, which you have to defend to avoid being defeated by the AI or the enemy player.
Skirmishes can be fought both on land and in space; while space skirmishes are truly exciting, giving you the possibility to command powerful ships like Darth Vader’s flagship, the Executor, and attempting very interesting manoeuvres, given the emptiness of space, I found land skirmishes a bit annoying, for two main factors; the first one is given by the maps layout: most of them are in fact composed by long and tight passages, making manoeuvring large group of units very difficult; meanwhile, the other is caused by the AI behaviour and pathfinding: larger units, like the AT-AT or the Rancor, will have difficult times moving from one positions to another, and most of the time instead of moving they will start spinning endlessly on their position (a subtle reference to the infamous “I’ll try spinning, that’s a good trick” line?), or sometimes stand perfectly still when the enemy is firing at them from a few centimetres away.

The Galactic Conquest mode is instead a two (or three, in the expansion) player mode in which every human player or AI takes the role of one of the three main factions: the Galactic Empire, the Alliance to Restore the Republic, or the Zann Consortium (a criminal syndicate who, sadly, made its only appearance in this game). Each faction starts with a bunch of planets under its control: each planet can host a certain number of structures and troops, and provides resources and abilities to its owner; naturally each faction has its own structures and troops, with more advanced troops unlocked by technological research (also differing between the three factions). The goal of this mode is to control the whole galaxy by eliminating the other factions, fighting both space and land skirmishes on each of their planets. This is the mode I personally enjoyed the most, as it unites elements from RTS and 4X games.

Finally, the three Campaigns (one for each faction) are very similar to Galactic Conquest, with the only difference that, instead of simply conquering the whole galaxy, you have to complete certain missions (basically skirmishes with complex objectives) in order to unlock more planets to conquer. The two campaigns from the base game follow the events of the Galactic Civil war from approximately four or five years before Episode IV, up until the Battle of Yavin (ending of episode IV) from the perspective of the Alliance and the Empire, while the campaign from the expansion narrates the Zann Consortium rise to power in parallel to the Galactic Civil War (definitely the most interesting, and fun, of the three).

At the end of the day, Empire at War is a very enjoyable Star Wars themed RTS (the best of its kind, given the shallow competition), that is definitely recommended to any Star Wars fan, but that not adds any particular innovation to the genre, appearing less appealing to anyone who’s not particularly fond of the saga.

Before getting to the review, let me preface by saying that I had huge problems with running this game on Windows 10: despite exceeding all the requirements, I experienced numerous crashes that obliged me to reset the whole PC; after trying some existing solutions, the only thing that worked for me was a mix of them, and I had to run the game as administrator, in XP compatibility mode and after manually disabling bloom in the configuration file. However, this type of problem seems to be very rare (I only found four or five topics online), so I won’t count it as a flaw in this review. You’re still warned, though, that this could also happen to yourself.

Trine is a platform game in which the player controls three different characters, each with his own abilities, to overcome a series of puzzle to reach the end of the level, while fending off skeletons and trying to avoid stage hazards; each character can improve his/her abilities by collecting enough experience, which can be found by defeating enemies or by searching collectables in the levels: most of them in plain sight, others hidden behind some riddle or a test of skill.
The mechanics of the game are very simple and almost immediate, and levels are nor very long or very difficult, neither in the puzzle resolution or enemy/stage hazard presence or aggressiveness, so it’s definitely recommended to those who seek a not particularly difficult or unforgiving platform.
For those who instead seek a challenge, there is Hardcore mode, an extra option which disables saving during levels and prevents dead characters’ respawns at already visited checkpoints, sometimes making progression in the level impossible if the character required to perform a certain action has previously died. Hardcore mode does not increase enemies’ attack or defence (instead regulated by the difficulty chosen for that particular level), neither their intelligence (they will still fall into pits or attack their allies), making combat a simple matter of shielding yourself and waiting for the enemies to maul each other. It goes without saying that puzzle difficulty does not changes between Normal or Hardcore mode, so you can easily tell that the latter is just added artificial difficulty, punishing the player harsher for its mistakes but not increasing the general level of challenge at all.
Keep in mind that the game is very short: even on Hard difficulty and Hardcore mode, it should take about ten hours to finish it while also obtaining all the collectibles. It shouldn’t be a problem, though, as the game is particularly engaging on his own, especially if you like fantasy or are a fan of brightly and vivid settings, which the game is full of (and it is probably one of its major feats).

Valkyria Chronicles is a turn-based strategy game with some RPG elements; in a conflict heavily inspired by the European theatre of both World Wars, you are assigned a small squad and the task to liberate your small, neutral country from the evil invading forces: the typical “Hero’s Quest” we’ve already seen in many similar games (the Fire Emblem series most of all resembles this game both in mechanics and storyline).
The plot itself is maybe one of the game’s biggest weak spots: it’s extremely linear, and some of the supposed “plot twists” are easily predictable even if you aren’t really paying attention (the interface itself can easily spoil some major events); the cutscenes between each chapter are also particularly long and mainly consist of two or three of the main characters talking to each other via portraits, similarly to some older Fire Emblem games (although all of these sequences are fully voice acted, so that’s certainly a good point) about the current events, each one with a set personality that follows some typical anime stereotypes (for example, you have the rude girl who is actually caring but it’s afraid to show her true feelings, although for good reasons this time, or the socially awkward guy who is very intelligent and can elaborate some complex plan to resolve a set problem etc.): those dialogues generally explain what’s happening to the benefit of the player, or what course of action they should follow, sometimes pointing out the plain obvious. If I have to be completely honest, I found these dialogues very, very boring, to the point that, more than once, I seriously considered skipping the storyline altogether to finally get to the point and handle the next mission; this is however caused by the fact that I don’t particularly like anime tropes in general, so you should take this last paragraph with a grain of salt: one who instead appreciates it might find the storyline appealing.

However, if you, like me, aren’t particularly fond of anime culture, I still suggest giving this game a try: it’s very engaging and the mechanics are immediate; you’ll learn the pros and cons of every type of soldier in a matter of minutes, and how to properly use them in mere hours of playtime.
The difficulty is not too much unforgiving: soldiers wounded in battle can die, but you have to seriously commit to lose them; you can also save your game every moment during a battle, so that you can retry immediately if something goes awry. Another appreciated mechanic that reduces artificial difficulty and adds variation is the experience system: every class of unit (Engineer, Scour, Shock Trooper, Lancer and Sniper) you can field has almost a dozen of individual soldiers, each with their own abilities and flaws, and, most important, personality (every single unit you can use has a wide variety of fully dubbed lines, making them feeling much more alive and real), and you are actually encouraged to swap and try them to find the combination more suited to your play stile: every experience invested in a single class is immediately gained by every soldier belonging to that specific class, thus rendering grinding for experience much less painful and absolutely not mandatory.
Do not be mistaken, though. Valkyria Chronicles can be pretty brutal, especially in the last missions or the hard skirmishes, which will seriously put you down on your knees if you are not careful, but will never be downright impossible: for every mission, there are many tactics that can grant you victory; it’s up to you to elaborate the most efficient/fun one.
With that being said, there is still one little flaw that affects gameplay, and although not game-breaking, it surely can be annoying: the AI is very inconsequential; sometimes enemy units will just move back and forth continuously during their turn, wasting too much time, or, when capable of easily killing one of your units, will just run away and leave them be. As said previously, though, that’s nothing that’s should ruin your experience, provided you have the patience to wait for the enemy AI to stop fooling around.

The Escapists is a pixel-art strategic game, which puts you in the shoes of a prisoner trying to make his way to his escape; this simple premise is the prelude to a more complex game: every prison requires a different strategy and a different approach, you’ll need to stash your items carefully and hide your traces to avoid being discovered, thus having to restart plotting your escape from scratch.

Another thing that adds to difficulty is that the tutorial explains only the most basic method of escaping, but doesn’t teach you how to properly plan your escape: for example, the tutorial simply tells you to escape by cutting the vent in your cell, and then leaving the prison, but doesn’t tell you that if you don’t cover the cell bars with sheets or place a bed dummy in your bed, the guards will discover you and ruin your plans. Effectively, the true tutorial are the first hours of the game, in which, with trial and error, you’ll understand the basics of the game and the crafting system.

However, don’t let this premise scare you: once you’ll understand the basics (either by playing, or by reading the well furnished wiki) you’ll find that The Escapists is an exquisite strategic game who doesn’t require too much concentration and as such is perfect for relieving stress: there is no game over and in case of failure the penalties aren’t too rough (in the worst case, your tunnel will be destroyed or your contraband confiscated).

The only thing this game requires from its players it’s patience; patience is the key to successfully play The Escapists: it requires patience to gather the items required for the escape, to raise your stats to the required threshold to assemble these items and to finally set your escape in motion. As such, if you lack patience, this game is probably not recommended for you; otherwise, The Escapists will award you patience and planning with a strong adrenaline rush during your escape, and a much stronger sense of accomplishment and satisfaction after regaining your freedom.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger is a first-person shooter which draws inspiration in Western movies such as “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”: this should be more than enough to convince anyone who’s interested in the genre to play this game.
However, Gunslinger is not another mere Western-inspired videogame: it’s much more, and even people who are not very fond of this genre or even FPS as a whole should give it a try.

Gunslinger offers three main game modes: a story mode, a duel mode and an arcade mode; the story mode follows the quest for revenge of Silas Grieves, an old and bitter gunslinger (hence the name of the game) who resembles Clint Eastwood’s Man with no name: although short, it’s impossible to not appreciate the fast action crowned by the spectacular and picturesque scenery; from fighting the Natives in the forests of the American wild lands to bank-robbers in your most typical frontier city, you’ll be left breathless, either from the fast-paced action or the variety of the landscape; the story is also filled with historical nods and some surprising twist, especially towards the end.
The duel mode, instead, puts you against some of the most infamous outlaws of the history of the West in a challenge that will truly break your nerves: the duels feels so intense you can almost think it’s your own life on the stake, but will reward you with a strong sense of satisfaction and adrenaline rush after you’ll successfully draw and shot first (hopefully not missing your target!).
Finally, the arcade mode is similar to old-school FPS like Doom or Quake, in which you try to complete some portions of the story’s levels in the fastest way, while also trying to get the highest combo possible: some concentration is required if you want to best your friends’ scores (the game offers the possibility to compare your score with your Steam friends), but you’ll mainly find yourself running and shooting like a maniac, having maniacal fun.

The only real flaw of this game it’s its duration: even after completing all the three main modes (of which the storyline twice if you want to obtain all of the achievements) you’ll very difficulty reach a playtime of more than twenty hours; however, for its price and especially for the intense fun this game offers, this is a flaw that can be easily overlooked.

The historical aspect of the game is marvelously made, and it's its best selling point: if you like history and especially Egyptian history, you will enjoy the game and the various informations contained in it.

Regarding the game itself, it's a different story: Predynastic Egypt is a turn-based strategy game more similar to a board game like Risk/Risiko than a proper video game like Civilization: you merely move your workers on the map, deciding which type of resources they have to work, and that's it.
Sure, it lacks the depth of other strategic games, but it's still a very nice, unpretentious game.

It's not for everyone, though: Predynastic Egypt can be very difficult (the tutorial is extremely short and doesn't fully prepare for what lies ahead) and unforgiving; on the higher difficulties, that means that you'll have to follow some precise strategies to ensure victory, severely limiting your game freedoom.
And this is perhaps the game's biggest flaw: freedom and repleability. The game (logically) takes place always on the same map, with the same starting position, the same trials, the same victory conditions and the same terrain yeld for every single campaign (also every game will always see the same number of tribes, albeit randomized in position, goods and attitude, and the randomized events will always happen on the same turns), meaning that you'll need to adopt always the same strategies to win. leaving very, [very] limited space for creativity and improvisation.

Despite this burdensome flaw, I still reccomend this game for history enthusiasts or for everyone who wants to spend some hours with a relaxing and educational game.