Recent reviews by Ryan Dorkoski

APE OUT is a masterclass in game design. This is a small package, but is bursting with clever design decisions and pure unadulterated addictive action. APE OUT is first-and-foremost an arcade score chaser, with a short yet interesting campaign that intends to showcase a series of different ideas. Each idea forces you to adapt and even rethink how to go about things. And every idea in here really works.

The artwork is nothing short of brilliant, and is used in many creative ways. For example, the second Disc skyscraper blew my mind. I just loved that. From the color palettes to simple-yet-clear textures to that wicked camera angle - it all creates an exhilarating atmosphere. Moving on. This title makes one of most creative uses of music that I've witnessed in ages. Maybe ever. Yes, it's nuanced and small - but also genius. I was sold with just the jazz level, and then it changed! That marching band 3rd Disc is powerful stuff.

But then we have some more nuance. I was watching the developer live stream, and they made some interesting comments. They mentioned that the rooms don't actually make sense because that's probably how it would feel through the eyes and mind of a confused and rampaging ape. Same idea for how everyone would appear to be an enemy. Now this is also a convenient narrative to excuse proc gen - but I don't care because it's also wildly interesting. And the proof is in the pudding - if there is one thing that is undeniable about this title - you truly do feel like a confused and rampaging ape. You only need the edge of your seat for this one.

Pros:
+ This is a brilliantly designed game.
+ The way the music is implemented is not only as fresh as it gets, but it both sounds outstanding and pairs perfectly with the gameplay.
+ This is very addicting.
+ Leaderboard support is awesome.
+ I find there is a good bit of strategy here; definitely less twitchy than some of it's comparisons.

Cons:
- We could use some QoL options like the ability to adjust volume while playing.
- When I use windowed mode, or really change any resolution settings it usually crashes and logs me out of Steam. I've learned to just not touch things.
- The main 'game' is quite short. While what is present is fantastic, maybe they could have added in a bit more. And then again, maybe it's good that it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

This is the first great game I've played in 2019. Worth full price.

I've been checking in and playing Beacon on and off for nearly a year now (I purchased on Itch). The same problems and design issues I took with my first experience still persist today. Frankly, as a casual player of Beacon, I couldn't tell you what has actually changed over the last year from just my in-game experiences. The whole thing feels like a case of style-over-substance. Obviously the asking price matters here.

Beacon wants to be the next big rogue-ish shooter, but I can't get past some fundamental flaws. First off, a word of warning: controller users are second-rate citizens here. I know the store page claims 'full controller support', but it is very much just emulating the mouse. Some games can get away with this, but not here. Not with something requiring this much precision. Even the developer recognized and acknowledged it's hard to beat a keyboard and mouse here (in one of my threads on the forum). I only complain about this because it didn't have to be this way. This could have been easily designed from the ground up as a controller-friendly game.

The art and aesthetic is brilliantly crafted, but I'm sorry to report that the game itself is just not that much fun. This has all been done before in better ways. The camera angle is decidedly awkward considering you can and will be rolling and falling off the narrow pathways regularly. Clicking for every single shot with the basic pistol is tedious. The developer told me they would consider changing this several months ago, but it still persists today. Finally, the performance has always been, and still is, quite bad. Even with Vsync on, this makes my gaming rig scream. I really don't see why, but it does.

Pros:
+ The artwork, universe, and overall aesthetic is cool

Cons:
- To a casual observer, the development is really slow
- The price-point is too high for something that has essentially been done a million times before
- Optimization continues to be poor; will it ever be improved? Who knows
- Using a controller hinders you
- Combat is uninspired
- Awkward camera angle and narrow pathways are not fun for me
- I'm just not compelled to play this

I bought into this based on the slick artwork, but from my experience over the past year - this gets a hard pass from me. Maybe there is a hidden gem deep in here somewhere, but I'll never find it due to the issues listed above.

There is a demo, but curiously I don't recommend it. I originally passed on this title after playing the demo, but later bought in after watching a streamer. It boils down to the demo not conveying the whole sandbox aspect.

The Coin Game is really neat. The best comparison is to My Summer Car, as said by The Carlz0r. What this means is that while we have a main gameplay focus on earning tickets from arcade games (with individual Leaderboards!), but there is also this whole sandbox going on. You have a fairly large island to explore and do odd and zany things. I delivered papers, got addicted to scratch-off tickets, and found a UFO. Things like that.

What I do need to convey is that there isn't all that much content right now. The arcade games are good fun, but there are only a handful at this point. The island is large, but we only have one job of a paper route so far. There is a lot of potential, and I can easily recommend it in the current state for the small asking price, but you should know what you are getting into. I explored just about everything and got the Achievements I wanted all in under 2 hours. But I did have fun. I really hope this gets constantly expanded, because the sky is the limit with this one. It would be awesome to have a large community with Steam Workshop support.

Pros:
+I love this new niche genre of open sandbox with strange goals
+This is quite fun
+While there are only a few things to do, they are done right
+Individual Leaderboards for each arcade game go a long way here

Cons:
-Hopefully this project doesn't get dropped, and a ton of content is added over time
-There are plenty of rough edges (cars have no AI and just plow through you, arcades glitch out; things like this)

Yeah, this is a fun one.

Wraithslayer is an interesting take on the twitch-style arena shooter genre. Like most titles in this niche space (ie. Akane or Tormentor X Punisher), the experience is small, yet potent. The price-point pretty much says it all. If you are compelled to really put your skills to the test, you'll likely get a lot of mileage out of games like this. At this point, I'll buy anything Sean Young is involved in because the projects are always outside-the-box thinking with a more-than-fair asking price. This is no exception.

Essentially, this is a single screen bullet hell dodge-em-up with one central boss. You need to collect three 'orbs' and then you can use your body to hurt the boss. Three hits moves you on to the next phase. You die in one hit. The store page boasts 'procgen AI/boss battles', but unless I'm missing something, that is a bit misleading. I haven't found anything 'procgen'. I have found that there is a pool of boss attacks, and what order you get them in seems to be random. Other than that everything is pretty much the same, and that's fine. At first the movement system is super awkward, but after about 30 minutes I was getting much more dexterous with it. The whole thing is fun in a one-more-run kind of way.

Pros:
+Fresh take on the twitch-style arena games
+The price-point is more than fair
+The artwork and music is nice

Meh:
=The lore fragments are neat, but the story really doesn't feel like it fits the setting

Cons:
-No pause button, and I can't justify that here
-I think the term 'procgen' is misleading on the store page
-Your mileage really will vary depending on how compelled you are to play this style of game
-This is a neat idea that really could have been expanded into a more fuller experience

Wraithslayer is a neat and original indie game experience. Worth full price.

I have love for the sequel, but not so much for the original W4RR-i/o-RS game found here. This is very much a glorified spreadsheet with no story, game, or goals. I know that is stated on the store page, and sometimes that kind of system works - but unfortunately not here. And on top of that, the incredibly rough edges are insult to injury.

Essentially, you are given a short list of 'warriors' that have a few stats attached to them, and you pit them against each other. The outcome is honestly boring and quite predictable. Each row of the spreadsheet is one warrior. The list of possible input commands is horribly jumbled most of the time due to the limitations of the terminal window in which you are working/playing (and not jumbled in any consistent way, either). Mixing that jumble with some of the artsy use of ASCII and it just comes off broken. You can choose two warriors at random to fight, choose two directly to fight, or make time pass which alters some stats. As-is, the Achievements are quite easy to cheese and most end up being an exercise in spamming keys. It's kind of a shame, because with just a tad more complexity combined with some clever Achievement goals, we may actually have something to work with here.

Pros:
+ I like the crunchy indie style

Cons:
- Simply not enough content
- No compelling reason to play other than figuring it out - which takes about 5-10 minutes
- Achievements could have been a bit more clever
- Rough edges galore

I'm glad games like this exist, but this title could have benefited from baking a bit longer.

What a weird little broken toy to figure out. I like it. W4RR-i/o-RS: Descent is a small scope turn-based puzzle game. There is nothing 'RPG' about it, so take the store page description with a grain of salt. There isn't so much a story as there is a few small, abstract, and brief bits of text. The whole thing can be 100%'d in about 2 hours.

I'm not going to explain how it works because that is the fun of it; that's what you are paying for here. All I can say is that I found it quite interesting to first figure out how the system works, and then use that knowledge to complete the game. It does get grindy and repetitive towards the end, but hey, you only have to do it once.

Pros:
+The small entry fee was well worth it
+Nice combination of turn-based battles and puzzle elements
+It's fresh; there is nothing quite like this

Cons:
-Rough edges is an understatement
-Resizing the window is a major undertaking
-The 'music'/sound is terrible
-The ASCII artwork is terrible
-This could be a base for a much larger game that would be great
-It gets grindy at the end
-No keyboard shortcuts
-One Achievement is broken (or the description is wrong)

Yeah, I had a fun afternoon with this one. Cheers to indie games!

Everpath: A Pixel art roguelite has too many issues for me to get behind right now. The artwork is fantastic, but nearly everything else needs a good bit of work. For starters, the movement feels like you are on ice. Yes, I've heard this is going to be worked on - but getting movement to feel right and work right isn't a simple thing. We'll see. Next, there is no controller support right now, and I find WASD plus the number keys to be a chore. You have to push the number keys quickly in the heat of battle, which leaves me wrestling more with controls than monsters. The combat system is overly simple, and is mostly an exercise in spam clicking. Most of my time was spent kiting and circling around enemies. This is a product of small one screen arenas.

Again, the artwork and animations are remarkable. I do hope more assets are planned to be added, though. The first three levels were exactly the same, and there really wasn't much variation within them, either. The procgen is very much a tile toss. I fought two minibosses which were the exact same troll. This is the kind of stuff that really needs some TLC and refinement. Will it get there? We'll see.

Pros:
+Beautiful artwork
+The price-point is obviously not an issue; in fact it's too cheap

Cons:
-Movement is bad
-Strategy really boils down to circling and kiting enemies
-Each screen is an arena that really feels too small, and this is also related to my strategy note above
-Managing WASD and the number keys is a chore
-While the assets are remarkable in quality, we need more
-The procgen level layouts are ho-hum

I get that my expectations shouldn't be high for a four dollar game. I do get that, and maybe the creator just wants to make a simple proof-of-concept roguelite. If that is the case, then I guess I can't argue. But if the goal is to create something addicting and fun and fresh - then hopefully some of my points above can be useful. I wish the developer the best for a successful Early Access campaign.

Is Comet Crasher the next big thing? Nah, but it's pretty fun, quite addicting - and paying is optional. This is an arcade score chaser that does just enough right to keep me coming back for more. What I'd really like to happen is a sequel with better artwork and some tighter platforming controls. And maybe slight rebalancing that rewards just a tad more skill and strategy. But otherwise this is good stuff.

Cheers to indie games!

As far as their work in video games goes - this is hands-down Ridiculon's best soundtrack. They just took some awesome classical music and did all kinds of crazy wonder stuff with it. This runs the gamut from gritty 8 bit jams to some heavy metal ballads. Too awesome. And I have to say that at first I thought the soundtrack was small because I'd keep hearing the same classical themes playing - but there are actually several variations of each song here. In-game I was probably too focused to make mental notes, but it's super obvious when checking out the soundtrack files.

Great stuff.

Pocket Rogues isn't particularly bad, and the price-point is surely fine - but it's just too standard in it's design. What we have here is a permanent upgrade system like in titles such as Rogue Legacy or Immortal Redneck, mixed with some vanilla aRPG dungeon crawling. And it's all just a bit too slow for my tastes. It felt like the runs were watered down by being far too easy until you hit a wall. I would prefer a more potent experience where I die sooner and earn more gold in the meantime. Tighter loops; shorter runs. Now I'm sure this is a labor-of-love project with modest ambition - and I appreciate and applaud that. I just don't find it compelling and therefore can't recommend my friends run out and put down their money.

While we've been over this before - I have to again reiterate that this particular type of permanent upgrade system is tricky in that it doesn't so much reward skill, as it does grind. You grind to get permanent upgrades and buffs, in turn to grind to get further in the dungeon. It can work, but in general this is my least favorite way to manage upgrades. The upgrades are all standard, too. We have stereotypical upgrades like damage buffs, and classic playable classes. This is an easy and free opportunity to make this title stand out from the sea of dungeon crawlers out there.

There are rough edges. Sure, it's an Early Access campaign. I get that. Controller support is pretty wonky right now. Many of the enemy sprites are muddy and really hard to tell what they are. The enemy AI is quite bad (they get stuck on corners and walls). Building your fortress sounds great, but it really just boils down to a tech/skill tree. Level design is nothing special. Again, I'm not trying to hate on a pet project, but all these things add up to something I can live without.

Pros:
+I can't argue with the price
+I do like the idea of a bite-size aRPG rogue-ish game

Cons:
-There is nothing fresh here
-Overly standard dungeon crawler
-The enemy artwork is muddy
-Controller support needs a good bit of work
-The dungeon crawling is a bit too slow, and runs too long for my tastes

It isn't about the money with this one, it's about your time. I do wish the developer the best with this and any future projects - but this gets a hard pass from me.