Recent reviews by BoolXorElse

The Combat is fun but the RPG side of it is so unfun to endure. Exploring a mostly empty land for an hour collecting orbs isn't worth the cutscenes and combat being so good. The Fetch Quests are so boring as well. Just get Sparking Zero instead.

Sokoban and Dusk Combined. I didn't know how much I needed this game.

50 games for 25 Dollars. 50 Cents a game. I'd pay the same price for Night Manor alone. It is by far my favorite of all the games I've tried so far. Each one good and me too lazy to contextualize why they've all been so good. Each game shows a lot of care to make things fun. Even if I meet a game in a genre I don't look to play too much, I enjoy my time with it. This is a Must Have.

Initial Impression:

Had no issues running the game but some more options to tweak the experience would be nice. Enjoyed the Prologue Chapter so this is a definite play. Its fun.


After Completing the game:
This game is fun. Its not a perfectly crafted action game by any means but the different scenarios and elements never tire you of something to go back to and try differently. I started to get worried, thinking the game was going to drown me in saving classmates but it changed swiftly when things started to get monotonous to challenging me with the few encounters with Alive people through treacherous zombie odds.

Different kinds of zombies, all with relative weaknesses and advantages they exploit quite a bit. The boss fights are fun and memorable. Getting to the boss fights, you encounter the one major detractor on the game, and that's player agency. You feel as though you're open to select any which way you want to attack to defeat a boss but the intention of what to do shows up quite a bit to guide you through fights instead of letting you solve it yourself.

I'm pretty good at turning my ears off but the disembodied head yells at you what to do to defeat certain boss segments. I felt like that ruined a lot of the surprise of what to do in the game. I'd prefer to repeatedly fail instead of being prompted to shoot or cut with a chainsaw.

Its hard to think of other poor qualities of the game. Most of what else I experienced was plain fun. My favorite segments were all the ones where the game goes out of its element to deliver completely different game play scenarios. I had a lot of fun just shooting things but I got deeply annoyed whenever the 3 Kill Combo would pop on the screen. If anything needs to be fixed in a sequel, its probably removing that cutscene.

My Initial Impression:

For such a visually appealing game it sure doesn't answer the question for why this needed to be a game. Opening doors and collecting sparse items that have no recall to agency or intractability of their own is boring. I feel like I am fulfilling momentary bits of boredom until the game decides something needs to happen to fill the dead air. I'm excited to see where the game goes but right now I feel so exhausted trying to open doors, drawers and look at paintings. At this time, I can't recommend this.

After Completing a Run:

There wasn't a whole lot to what you could interact with. Some simple combination locks and some context clues that were good in the moment. I enjoyed the game more as I got further in. I didn't like repeatedly opening doors and drawers through bits where it was very difficult to see in the dark but the true shine of the game started to show in the well crafted rooms that became layers of puzzle and riddles. I preferred that and I think experiencing that was worth playing the game.

Glad I returned to finish this one. The haunting tale is so rich in visuals and excellent characterization. You really feel the hopelessness that captivates the entire ordeal.

On the front of gameplay, I feel the actual combat is pretty annoying to deal with. There is an understanding that horror games can create more tension with cumbersome and annoying mechanics. To shoot the guns you have to set the direction, hold the aim button then hit the shoot button. Once you get the hang of it, its pretty simple but it is not all that fun to execute. In order to use a melee attack you have to be in dangerous range of every enemy and time hits as they come toward you or exploit the enemies' attack to counter. The only redeeming quality to melee weapons is that they don't have an ammo requirement.

The true fun of this game is in deciphering the puzzles and decryption of the demonic language that is strewn about the game. I dislike long bits of action in horror games and prefer visuals, choice, lore and the overall atmosphere painted by the game. I don't hate combat in horror games but I feel the more enemies I have to fight, the more things creep into Dark Fantasy. Perhaps the gameplay would be better with a more Dark Fantasy approach, like a top-down Zelda sort of thing than a rich horror experience with subpar combat.

Atmospheric and fun 3D Puzzler. A demerit on the whole experience is how little platforming and overall danger was in the game. There are truly excellent sequences where you battle to restore Oxygen and bring power back to Earth. A bit more turmoil and this game would be the perfect lunar landing experience.

I've played every numbered Final Fantasy game but what has been a huge source of disconnect for me is the ratio of gameplay to cinematics, dialogue and exposition. In an Traditional RPG, so much lore is fine because the gameplay is slow paced itself. After fighting some enemies in this game, I feel such a surge of energy and overall resilience that comes crashing down when I have to experience the length of cutscenes, dialogue and exposition. Its simply too much the lack of interaction to stay interested.

Its not really a demerit on the quality of the features I don't like but kind of the feeling of eating pineapple on pizza. Its a horrible clash of otherwise good foods.

Initial Impression? Game is Amazing. If you were looking for something to tie you over till a new Devil May Cry game or just til Final Fantasy 16 is out on PC, this is it. Its fun, difficult and not terribly exposition ridden. You jump right into the action and the CG sequences are worth experiencing. I don't know how my opinion will change later but this purchase feels good.

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After having spent so many hours playing through the game, I have some contentions. I was frustrated at times but one instance is truly a problem. Somewhere in the game you're given a task that does a stat check of sorts. If you're unable to meet that stat check, you'd probably end up wandering around looking for what issue could be burdening you. Simply raise the effected stats until they work and you won't be hopping mad about what to do.

Beyond the minor frustrating bits, the game is excellent. It is exactly what I ask for in an action game. Not too much exposition, rewarding cutscenes and cool cinematics instead of mindless chatter. Its a damn action game so it should have cool moves and sick style.

Nothing felt better than being able to walk in fights to dare bosses to try and hit me. I often met a bitter end for being so eccentric but I enjoyed it so much. The combat is the most solid part of the game and its not locked down to any specific play-style.

My go to was just to get really good at dodging. It was so fun to experience a game that didn't put limits on how much you can dodge and do moves in general. The Stamina bar is the only real restriction but you could build the Destined One to use the lack of stamina as a tool.

How detailed you can get with how you want to play helps a lot with bosses. I've ran into considerable walls in terms of a few bosses but have been able to overcome them by retooling my character and concentrating on my dodge timing to get perfects.

If I didn't have to sleep I'd still be playing the game right now, it is a really fun experience and I think you're actually missing out if you haven't at least tried the game. This game really pulled at the nostalgia I feel for games like Demon's Crest, SOTN and Illusion of Gaia. Definitely a must play.

This game is fun.