Recent reviews by Glitch

Developed by Crystal Dynamics and released in 1999, Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver is an action 3D platform game with emphasis on puzzles, almost metroidvania like in some points, with a third person perspective that can be rotated. This is the second game of the series, but considering the completely distinctive style, it feels like a rebirth to the series, although the story is a continuation of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain.

From the events of the first game, Kain lived through millennia and innumerous transformations that changed the once human into a vampire and made him transform the world around him. Human kingdoms are but a memory of what they once were by the action of 6 lieutenants vampires Kain created, and the pillars of Nosgoth were twisted as a symptom of the decay of the land.

You play as Raziel, one vampire lieutenant that evolved past Kain by gaining wings. For that transgression, your wings are ripped away, and you are cast into The Lake of the Dead, but instead of oblivion, Raziel is reborn by the will of The Elder. Like some older games, a good portion of the lore is explained in the manual so reading it may be a good step towards understanding the story.

The game consists of basic mechanics used in each segment of the story being tied directly to the story progression. The manipulation of puzzles and the navigation of obstacles is one of the main game mechanics, achieved by switching to the spectral realm to the material realm and the glide ability. Another section of the game consists of the combat, achieved by Raziel automatically facing the nearest enemy and using any weapon available, attacking them. Although not a vampire anymore, Raziel still needs to feed, not with blood but souls, another important part of the game.

Progression is also achieved by gaining new abilities devouring the souls of you brethren vampire lieutenants, deformed by time into unspeakable forms. As a metroidvania those new abilities will allow you to reach new segments of the story and seek out useful artifacts in your quest.

This game features an impressive art style, where each new area has a new theme, weapons, and enemies, giving each a unique feel. Another high point is the voice acting, that combined with all the environmental storytelling creates a memorable story.

As the time of writing, the game has been removed from sale but if you already own the game, or if its listing is reinstated, I recommend the game, although the game does have some points that feel dated and even making it to work can be challenging.

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Released in 2023, Risk of Rain Returns is a side scrolling rogue like platform shooter just like the original game with reimagined graphics. The main mechanics are kept the same, with difficulty being determined by the time spent in game and items being randomly distributed throughout the maps.

There are different characters to choose, each with different skills that can be unlocked in the trials, a new section of the game whereby completing specific challenges in special maps you unlock said skills. As a rogue like, repetition is something expected. With each new attempt makes the game feel more fluid and achievable, and as you progress you unlock more items that will make surviving an easier task.

The game consists of navigating the levels to find the teleporter to the next level while looking for chests containing equipment and fighting hordes of enemies that drop money and experience points. You can choose to try finishing each level as fast as possible so the difficulty won’t increase as much, or you can explore the map to gather all the available items and look for the secrets. Hidden in the game are the artifacts that can change the game, but you do have to look for them and some are very well hidden.

You can also learn more about the lore of the items, enemies, characters and even locations of the game on the log section.

Overall, Risk of Rain Returns is an improved version of the original, even with some accessibility options, making the whole experience a bit easier but not removing the value of the original game. There are also plenty of achievements to unlock, making the progress a bit easier.

Considering the impressive art style, the same soundtrack of the original game, and the almost infinite replay value, I highly recommend Risk of Rain Returns.

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Developed by Hopoo Games and released in 2013, Risk of Rain is a side scrolling rogue like platform shooter with one very inventive mechanic, the longer you stay alive in the game, the harder the game gets.

With many characters and equipment to unlock, there are many ways to play RIsk of Rain. You can try going through levels as fast as you can, or you can try to level up as much as possible and collect all the available items, each play style with its own challenges. There are also a few levels and level variations with secrets, adding to the replay value of the game.

With an impressive art style and a superb soundtrack, this game has a lot to offer, and for all those reasons I highly recommend it.

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Vampire Survivors can be described as a bullet hell action rogue like, and it is a lot of fun. It has simple controls and an interesting artistic style, but like most apparently simple things, this game hides a complex system of weapon evolutions, enemies, and maps.

Each map hides weapon and items that will improve your chances of survival but expect to lose most initial runs. As most rogue likes, the learning curve can be frustrating but with experience, and upgrading stats and unlocking characters makes the game easier and even more fun.

For a relaxed and fun experience, I highly recommend Vampire Survivors.

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Developed by BioWare and initially published in 2003, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is a third person turn base roleplaying game set in an old Star Wars universe. A mechanic used in this game is the moral choices, usually diametrical opposing as the Jedi and Sith, to determine character’s alignment to the Force.

After customizing your character, you are presented a classic opening crawl presenting the story presenting the story so far. Being set 4000 years before the Galactic Empire, it is familiar for all the expected Star Wars element but also incredibly new with new characters, planets, and mysteries to solve.

As many roleplaying games, the game starts with your character waking up. The first segment of the game functions as a tutorial, presenting all the main mechanics and battle system. The battle system is composed of a queue with selected actions, that being attacks, force powers, and item. The interaction of computer terminals, doors and robots is also something present throughout the game and explained in the first segment. Progressing along the story, the second segment of the game presents more character interactions with consequence to the force alignment and outcome of certain events, it also functions as a slight increase of the difficulty curve, with new enemies.

With the unveiling of the story events, various locations can be visited, equipment improved, and new party members met. Overall, Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic may show the artifacts of being (at the time of writing) 2 decades old, but with a story majestically written I highly recommend this game.

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Developed by Sorath and released in 2016, Devil Daggers is a first-person arena shooter where the main objective is to survive and to do so you are equipped with daggers that shoot out of your hand. There are 2 main shooting forms, a continuous stream of daggers and a short explosive burst mode.

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Even though the order of enemy spawn is always the same as the enemy’s attack patterns, this game is incredibly challenging. There is a constant balance of shooting, absorbing the demonic crystals, and dodging in a dark arena.

To achieve the highest survival time, you have a few tools at your disposal. Jump to gain speed, control crowds with different firing modes and learn the enemy patterns to better avoid them.

If you want an impressively hard game, I can easily recommend Devil Daggers.

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Developed by Re-Logic in 2011, Terraria is a 2D sandbox game. At first, this game seems like an action platformer game with some building and crafting mechanics, something that was present in many games developed in the same period, but as the player explores the randomly generated worlds items can be discovered, along with the realization that there is more hidden beneath its apparent straightforwardness.

As you start the game, you can create a character, and among choices like clothes and hairstyles you can choose the difficulty, where journey offers a distinct experience than the others, where you start with more equipment and mechanics geared toward a more creative play style.

You can also choose between classic and mediumcore that change between money or items dropped upon death and hardcore, where your character, as the game puts it, dies for good. This is not the only choice before starting the game, you can also customize the world you’ll play, starting off with names, that can be randomly picked, the seed that holds secrets of its own, the size of the map ranging from small to large, the initial difficulty and the main force against the player, the corruption or the crimson, that along with specific enemies also present unique items.

With all that set up, the player spawns close to a guide and a new world to explore. While mining and fighting, new weapons, armor and tools become necessary and something unique to Terraria, building houses for the characters spread throughout the world.

As the player explores the world, bosses can be found and those too hold the key to progress in difficulty and item availability. Tiers of better equipment can be created making challenging enemies less imposing. Events like goblin invasions, pirate attacks and other special event can happen, and they too bring unique challenges and rewards.

Overall, there are many things to be discovered in Terraria, and as many other ways to enjoy it, so this game is highly recommended.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Welcome to the Unterzee, a dark vast ocean of possibilities. Explore horrors beyond description on this top-down exploration survival role-playing game where food, fuel, and sanity are commodities that must be tightly controlled to keep your crew alive and your boat afloat. Sunless sea was developed by Failbetter Games in 2015 and released on the same year.

Beginning the game, you start a new character, and those choices will define objectives and challenges that the zee will present to you. At first, you will be faced with a lot of reading content, but if you allow yourself to be immersed by the story, the setting and all the details, this game has an incredibly interesting story to present.

The game may have many objectives, but managing your ship, your crew, hunger, fuel, stories, cargo, and many other resources makes an already tense story even more stressful.

This game may not be for everyone, it can be overly complicated, unfair in some points, but if you are seeking a challenging experience, Sunless Sea is an excellent choice.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Updated and re-released in 2017 by Double Fine Productions, Full Throttle was initially released in 1995, developed by LucasArts. This game is a point and click adventure game with some driving action segments. This remastered version allows the choice of graphics, commentary tracks on specific moments throughout the game and concept art that is unlocked as progress is achieved in game.

Unlike other classical re-releases of LucasArts games, Full Throttle doesn’t include a hint button, but it does allow the highlight of interactable objects in each scene. Another thing that may differentiate this from other LucasArts games is its theme, that can be more aggressive than the monkey island games, for example, considering the heavy use of weapons throughout the game.

In a futuristic and slightly dystopian setting, you control Ben the leader of the Polecats, a motorcycle gang. While riding, the gang encounters a hovering limousine and in it the president of a traditional motorcycle manufacturer and the vice-president. Unkown to Ben, stumbling into this limousine thrust him into an investigation that will have immeasurable consequences.

Explore a vast highway, fight enemy gangs and investigate a conspiracy while using your motorcycle, items, and weapons available. The contrast of traditional motorcycles and hovering vehicles makes for a striking visual style, alongside the beautifully drawn character portraits and sceneries.

Full Throttle is an amazing adventure game, one that may present a higher difficulty for some timed puzzles, but still very much enjoyable and highly recommended.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.

Planescape: Torment, initially released in 1999 and developed by Black Isle Studios, later re-released in 2017 by Beamdog is a role-playing adventure game. The game is presented in an isometric view, where the player controls a crew of up to 6 characters at a time by simply clicking on the desired destination, object to interact, or character to talk.

The enhanced version presents a few additions, on the “alter senses” tab in the main menu, where they are marked with an asterisk. From gameplay adjustments to sound, many aspects can be tuned to better suit each player experience.

Starting the game, and after company logos, an introductory cutscene is presented, one that shows the main protagonist of the story, Nameless one, being pushed on a slab in a dark structure. Strange visions flash before your eyes, disconnected at first, as the Nameless one regains consciousness.

Gaining control of the game the player is introduced to a floating skull named Morte, and another crucial factor of the game, there are but a few spoken lines and the majority of the game is presented by text. Although it may be strange today a game not being fully voiced, there is an immersion that can be presented to the player as the characters are introduced but the interpretations of the lines are made by the player. Another possibility is the storage limitations of the initial release and the amount of dialog present in the game. Regardless of the way they are presented, all the spoken dialog is well acted and the dialog, alongside the great amount of lore presented create an intriguing universe ready to be explored.

Another mechanic presented soon after the start of the game is the choice of action. Different from most role-playing games, conflict can be almost completely avoided, which leads to interesting situations and character interactions. These interactions are, in fact, what really differentiate this game from most others. Each crew member you can encounter has development arches directly connected to the Nameless one and the player choices do influence the outcome of every situation.

As traditional role-playing games, there are character classes with specific equipment, but there aren’t many choices on this aspect, that is compared to other games.

An important part of the game, spread throughout all the interactions is the rediscovery of the character. In the beginning of the story, the Nameless one wakes up from death with no memory other than words recorded onto his skin, but as the player progresses through the story much can be learned from the setting of the game, the forgotten past of the Nameless one, and what he can become.

With its unique nature, this game is truly a classic that I highly recommend. Allow yourself to be immersed in the beautifully designed maps, seek all the forgotten memories and secrets hidden in Planescape: Torment.

If you enjoyed this review, I would like to invite you to visit Backlog log my curator page for recommendations and reviews.