Recent reviews by Jollepoker

Got this game through humble bundle and I must say I'm happy I played through all the content in it (100% finished), but it is quite rough around the edges. One of the roughest parts, unfortunately, is the beginning. It is a bit confusing and felt a bit all over the place. The beginning area is also a lot more unpolished than other parts of the game which gives of a bad first impression.

Get past that however, and there is a neat, but short, game underneath (disregard my playtime, I was AFK for long periods of it. My 100% save file says 9 hours but I was messing about a bit as well). I'd say this game assumes that you are already quite well versed in platforming games as the game will not hold your hand and will present you with quite some difficult challenges.

Positives:
* Once you get past the initial beginning and the movement options starts opening up for you, you get a surprisingly fun and smooth movement experience in the game. Movement options includes your standard array of dashes, jumps, wall running and the like. No real surprises here to be honest, but what's there feels well tuned and easy to control. IT IS different from other games though. For example, if you come fresh from 'A Hat In Time' you'll notice that the controls feel very different even though the overall moves might be similar. It took some time to get used to but in the end I'd say the controls are very good and it even surprised me at times how well I was able to just fly through some quite difficult challenges. I can't stress enough how controlling your character is one of the most important points in a game like this and it is a VERY STRONG positive that it was done well here (again, beginning is a bit rough).
* Voids (small gauntlets) are great. They can be quite though, and probably really frustrating for some, but for me who is always seeking a challenge when it comes to platformers I enjoyed them quite a bit. They are quite punishing though and will send you back to the beginning of the Void if you fall (but you take no damage so you can keep trying until you give up or succeed). They range from easy "jump on platforms" to "is this hollow knight path of pain?". There is a "main quest" to beat them all, but I beat them before getting to the final boss so I'm not really sure if it is an ACTUAL requirement to beat them all before beating the game.
Negatives:
I want to preface this by pointing out that I will list a lot of negatives here but still recommend the game. Why? Because the overall experience is enjoyable, but there are a lot of flaws here.
* Overall I feel that there is a missed opportunity with the wearable items in this game. Tunics is just for decoration and does not really seem to affect anything. Weapons might look different from each other but seems to have no other abilities tied to them than damage numbers. Ideally, to make Tunics more interesting I would have liked to see at least some defense stats tied to them.
* I mentioned it above but I feel I need to put it here as well. The beginning area is rough around the edges. There are many parts where you can end up in situations that allows you to look through walls, get underneath objects (see through them due to them missing textures there), overall quite dodgy texture work at times and etc. It gets better in the later areas however.
* I feel that the game is not really built for the movement it provides you, especially not early on. I'm gonna put a spoiler on the next part since it is about specifics: Early on, before even entering the first temple, I was able to get the spin attack as well as all badges you can buy in the town and from the spirit hunter guy (due to Gems not really mattering, more on that in the next point). This caused me to be able to access parts I was "not supposed to" very early on and it always felt like I did things the game did not really intend me to do. I played through the later parts of the game with basically all movement related spirits and with them I was able to basically just fly over any challenge the game threw at me (which really didn't feel very intended. In the later parts of the game I feel like the game should at least assume I would find and equip certain spirits or at least have parts/paths that would require them.
* Gems don't matter. At all. It's just a grind really. You have to have a lot of Gems to buy things, but they are super easy to find and there is no real worry that you'll ever run out of them. Here's how to get a ton early on: This assumes you have bought and equipped the double gem badge. When in the first "town" area, with the start from the forest temple entrance, pick up all gems through this path: Jump down to the library entrance and follow the path with the ladders. Jump up to the highest ladder and then down to the flute playing guy. Jump up until you reach the ladder leading to the elevator guy. Enter his house and pick up the two gems there. Go out again and pick up the gem on his balcony. Then jump over to the balcony of the tailor and go up to the second floor. Pick up the gems on the bed. Go back to the forest temple, go in and then out and repeat. Infinite gems. You'll get about 3000 each run. I was able to do this before entering the temple for real but do keep in mind I had the spin attack at this point which helped with jumping over to the tailor balcony. With the badge, there will always be 800 gems on his bed, which is quite a lot
* Combat is average at best. I can honestly say I did not really enjoy it except for the bosses which were pretty neat. But then again, the neat part about them wasn't really the *press button to hit boss* combat but the movement before and after. Targeting is awkward and I ended up never really using the blocking. Maybe I just brute forced my way through but at least I could make due with healing and dashing to get away from enemy attacks.
* The game is not always super clear on what is happening. For example: You need to be close to an enemy in order to see how much damage you do to them (there is a ranged attack, but unless you are next to your enemy you won't see how much damage its doing). Another example would be when you buy things from stores. There is no sound accompanied with it so sometimes I was a bit confused if I actually bought something or not.
* There is no map. I don't really see this as a massive problem though but if you are the type of person that usually rely heavily on a map to get around or find a path to "that one specific room" then you'll probably find this a bit frustrating at times. The game world is not THAT big however so I was able to keep the needed parts in my head without bigger issues.
* Story was a bit all over for me. The overall story is quite easy to understand but the bits and pieces of it and the world building seemed to paint small dots rather than one big picture. There is a lot of "small" stories here, especially the side quests which just kind of "starts" and "ends" without really ever giving anything (story-wise).

Overall I think the game could have been polished/improved in a lot of areas (and a bit more lengthy to be honest. There is talks about 6 gods but only two gods are given temples in the castle? What happened with the other 4?.) While I find that quite frustrating, the overall experience was still enjoyable for me and thus I give this game a positive review. Do keep in mind though that there is a large crowd I would not recommend this game to. You need to be the type of person that enjoys platformers, metroidvanias and who don't mine, at times, challenges that can be seen by some as frustrating. You also need to be able to overlook flaws and be in it more for the platforming rather than anything else.

I can't recommend this DLC enough if you are someone who likes brutally hard extra challenges in 3D platformers. I see everyone complaining about the new chapter being short and while this is true, it is contrary to popular belief not really the main content of this DLC. The main content here is the Death Wish mode which remixes old stages with new challenges and forces you to play in new ways (speedrun stages, clear upgraded harder bosses, don't get hit, don't jump and etc) while also adding some new content in the form of rifts. I've also seen people call this lazy DLC content but having played through most of the death wishes, there has been a lot of effort put into these challenges and the changes needed to the stages to support them (making some stages harder for example).

The range of the challenges on offer are quite big. Some are quite easy while others feel down right unfair (in a good way). If you are someone who was barely able to get through the main game, then I don't think you'll find much you'll enjoy here. If you are someone seeking a challenge, then this is where you'll find it. For the record, I've spent much more time with this DLC than the Nyakuza DLC. While the Nyakuza DLC offers a better chapter than the one on offer here and more cosmetic rewards, this is the DLC you want if you want harder challenges.

A very refreshing take on the rhythm. Good song selection (if you like these kind of songs) and very well made beatmaps. Simple but also surprisingly fun. Animation can seem a bit intimidating at first but I found it easy to time button presses to onscreen animation fairly quickly. There are definitely places in some maps where the animation can really screw you over, but for this game it honestly feels like part of the challenge and I love it. Higher levels can get very intense (especially for being a two button rhythm game). The cheaper option to buy here includes A LOT and if you are on the fence of buying this, consider at least spending the money on the base version. Honestly, looking at what is included in the full version right now, almost 50% of the game is included in the base version. This will hopefully change with time as more songs are included however I feel like it is very generous of the developer to include so much in the base version.

I have a love/hate relationship with Even the Ocean. Loving the developers last game, Anodyne, I was expecting something with the same style. While you can clearly tell these two games share the same authors, they don't seem to share the same level designer (even though they actually do).

This game and Anodyne is vastly diffrent in all areas but two. If you loved the story in Anodyne you'll love the story here too, it has a lot of interesting and unique things going on. They also share a similar end game (minus the collection stuff, which Even the Ocean does not have). Other than the writing, you wouldn't be able to tell these two games were made by the same developer.

Now why do I have a love/hate releationship with this game (while hate might be a strong word). Here's a list:

* I love it because of the story but I hate it for it's pacing problems.
* I love it's dark/light mechanics but I hate that it isn't really used outside speedrunning.
* I love the overall gameplay but I hate that it's way too easy until the very end.
* I love the big overworld and the exploration but I hate that it practically holds no secrets.
* I love all the world-building fluff content but I hate that it really has no gameplay significance.
* I love the clever level-design that teaches you things by gradually making things harder but I hate that most mechanics are tossed away never to be seen again after just a short stage.
* I love it as a speedrunner but I hate it as an explorer.

And now for a regular pros and cons list:

Pros:
* Great but short story with intresting characters. Lovely setting and interesting world.
* Wonderful art. The character portrait might not be for everyone though but I love them.
* Great music. Really fit's the game and gives atmosphere.
* Good and interesting mechanics. Each level brings something new.
* A lot of settings that can really tailor your gameplay experience. Are you a speedrunner? You'll love this game for it's settings. Are you just here for the story? The settings can help you with that too. Just wanna have a look around the levels? There's a settings for you too. There's also different modes that you can play if you only want to experience a certain part of the game (only story/only game play).
* The post game is great. It really gives an insight into the development of the game and funny comments from the developers as well!
* The game recognized my quite odd controller right away without me having to make any special settings. This is quite rare! The standard control settings were perfect! I didn't even have to rebind the buttons!

Cons:
* Quite short. I don't think it would've hurt to make it longer or at least add the next con:
* No secrets. You're given a big world map but it could've just as well been a menu choice of locations. There's nothing here except locations you need to go to (with three exceptions). There's no secrets in the stages either.
* There's some pacing problems present here between gameplay and story. Sometimes it feels like there's a huge story chunck that ends with little game play and sometimes the other way around. This even threw me off once, thinking I must have missed something.
* Since most mechanics are only seen once, it's quite sad when you find a really fun mechanic that you'll probably never see again. Case in point, my favorite mechanic was the bounceing laser balls that you could reflect with your shield and mirrors. This was only included in one of the shortest stages in the game however and then never seen again.
* The main mechanic of balancing light and dark energy is only really relevant in speed runs or as a life bar. There's no ledges that you need high light energy to reach and there's no gaps that you need high dark energy to jump over. You only really use it to not die platforming (by, for example, getting a lot of light energy before going through a field of dark energy).

Pros/Cons:
* Levels are clearly designed for speedrunning. This means that they are too easy if you take your time but might be hard if you're squeezing milliseconds in a speedrun. This is of course a pro if you are a speedrunner but takes away some enjoyment if you're just here for a game to play from start to finish.

Other than the above the only bug I found during game play is audio related. Sometimes the dialog and/or SFX sounds dissapear until the next music loop (which is also delayed). Not a huge issue but it can be take away you're focus.

Overall I enjoyed this game despite it's shortcomings. You'll definitely enjoy this game more if you're a speed runner than an explorer though. If you're like me and remember the developers from their last game Anodyne, you won't find much of the same here. Don't worry if you aren't an ace with platfoming, this game is probably not too hard for you and even if it is you can still get through it with some settings. Perfect game to give to your non-gamer boyfriend/girlfriend to make them interested in your hobby.

Don't mind me. I'm just here to increase the rating, because this game is the best..

So after giving this game 88.7 hrs (according to right now) I have this to say:

I love this game. The combat is amazing and the dungeons are great. However, this game could've been so much better than it is currently (even though I will keep playing it).

CONS:

• The quests are not engaging at all. No matter the quest, if it's in a dungeon you'll clear it pretty much automatically just by finishing the dungeon. Also, if you like to complete ALL quests, you'll be sent to the same dungeons about a thousand times over. Main quest especially. I had 8 possible dungeons I could visit at one point. It first sent me to the first dungeon, then the second, then the first, then the second, then the second again, then the first, then the third and then all those three. It gets repetitive really fast.
  
• The translation in this game is horrible. I gave up pretty fast reading anything (and it's a lot of text), since it doesn't make any sense because of grammatical and linguistic errors. There's a lot of other errors with the text as well, such as more than 50% of quests I've done points to the wrong dungeon (in the text, they are correct in the quest log)
  
• Voice acting is lacking in more ways than one. Many characters aren't voiced and many cut scenes aren't voiced. Others are, and that's where the weird stuff happens. Some keeps their original asian voices while some has new english speaking voices. Overall, I think the game should make up it's mind if it wanted to keep the original voices or add new ones, it just feels half-done.
  
• This game can be played without paying a dime, but you gain so much from spending some money on it. Because of that it's pretty much P2W. You can basically only get "costumes" (stuff that looks better than the gear you have) by spending money. This would've been fine, if it wasn't for the fact that these costumes have stats! Pretty high stats too! This is also a problem since I want to use costumes I think looks nice, but I'm pretty much forced into using costumes with better stats instead.
  
• If you have a problem with female skimpy dresses, this game is probably not for you. My archer has such short skirt you can basically see her whole butt at all times. I don't really mind though, but I know many do.

So these cons above could seem to be a deal breaker. So why am I recommending this game? Because of all the pros:

PROS:

• Amazing combat system. I've been playing as an archer and I'm in love with everything. This is the main point of the game it's done incredibly well.
  
• You can definatly feel your skill level go up when you play this game. Playing makes you better and gear truly makes a difference.
  
• Lot's of customization options for your characters looks and playstyle. It's great and it really feels like I can play the game just as I want to.
  
• Quite generous events. You'll get a lot of stuff doing them and it's pretty much only worth buying anything during an event since you can sometimes more than double your moneys worth.
  
• Seems to have a somewhat kind and good community. Everyone I've talked to have been quite nice.
  
• Very good oppurtunities for the single lone wolf player (such as me). Pretty much everything but the late game is doable solo even at the hardest difficulties. As a archer anyway, haven't played the other classes.
  
• You can get rich by playing the auction-house game if that's what you are interested in. You'll probably need a special P2Get auction house ticket to do it though.

These pros make a very enjoyable game. It does have a lot of shortcomings though which I hope (but doubt) will be fixed in the future. I'm enjoying it, so I'll give it a thumbs up. You'll have to test it out for yourself though to see if the cons are too much for you.

Portal Stories: Mel is a lore-friendly (seems like it anyway) HUGE mod for Portal 2. I can't believe the effort that went into this thing! For the most part it feels really professionally made. This could've easily been sold as an expansion pack or something for the original Portal 2. I at least would not have been dissapointed if I purchased this!

If you've played Portal 2, you'll be right at home with this mod. It has the same segments, such as the normal tests and out-of-testing-enviroment-exploring.


PROS:

• Huge content for a mod. I probably spent more time playing through this than the actual Portal 2.
  
• Professionally made. This feels like playing actual Portal 2 Valve created content.
  
• Tests are harder than in Portal 2. This means that if you play Portal 2 first and then jump to this mod, the difficulty will ramp up (at least it felt like it to me). I've read some people say they thought the puzzles were "impossible" and that they had to no-clip through them. They aren't impossible, just really hard, and that is as it should be :)
  
• Beautiful enviroments, a lot of time has been spent making things pretty
  
• Great voice acting. No, the voice actor for Cave Johnsson isn't the original voice actor but he did a great job anyway. The only way this could be any better would be if the actual voice actor played this role.
  
• An interesting lore-friendly storyline that ties in this story with the original.
  
• Many and interesting achivments. Sure, you get some by just following the story (just like in the original Portal 2), but many requires you to find hidden areas or do other things.
  
• Great attention to detail. Small easter eggs (none achivement related) hidden here and there. Makes me happy when I see something :)
  
• Wonderful cut-scenes!
  
• An original soundtrack which is amazing. I'm seriously in love with this music and it really goes hand in hand with the original Portal 2 music.

CONS:

• Some bugs exists (check below for examples).
  
• The introduction might be a bit long for some and might make people turn away before the good stuff appears.
  
• Unfortunatly, I think many people get stuck at the beginning of the game. I was actually about to give up (or at least check a guide) before I made it. The rest should be easier to understand though, but I think the first "puzzle" really should be somewhat easier to figure out.
  
• There was a puzzle that depended on the way a cube fell out of a cube-dispenser, at least in my solution. This meant that half the time my solution worked and the other half it didn't. RNG solutions is really frustrating and I hope this wasn't the way the test was supposed to be solved.
  
• I managed to "cheese" my way through at least two of the puzzles. It was obviously the wrong solution but it worked anyway.
  
• Even though this mod is huge and expansive, it doesn't really bring anything new to the table. I almost didn't want to put this as a con as the mod really is quite amazing, but for such a huge mod it kind of felt weird that no new puzzle elements were introduced. Just goes to show what you can do with what's already there I suppose (and it's done great), but for those of you that want a new gel, a third portal in the portal gun or a new type of cube, you won't find it here.

This mod is not without it's problems though (which may or may not be fixed, I have no idea). A few bugs I've encountered:

• Getting stuck in some weird places, requiering a save-file load to get out
  
• Getting out of bounds because an elevator didn't close it's doors
  
• Being able to jump to places one should not be able to and because of that getting weird results such as falling through meshes without collision.
  
• Voice lines sometimes being repeated when a test is "finished" without leaving the test chamber. This happened to me once when I finished a test chamber the wrong way (opened the end door but couldn't reach it). When I opened it the correct way, the voice clips played again.

I want to note that these bugs are few and far between though. Watch out for them though, as they can be quite annoying.

Overall I recommend this game to anyone and everyone who owns and enjoy Portal 2.

Are you REALLY using Steam without knowing what this game is?

Shame on you.

I love these types of games. These games makes you really think outside of the box. This specific game is actually quite amazing and I wouldn't mind seeing more of it or more like it. It resembles some of the funnier flashgames I played years ago, but in a more professional way.

PROS:
+ Nice graphics
+ I ♥♥♥♥ my pants at least twice, parts of this game is really terrifying
+ For the most part good and quite genius puzzles. These puzzles don't hold your hand, which I like.
+ Very satisfying when you figure something out. Makes you do a "AHA" sound whenever you find something new.
+ Cheap

CONS:
- Math puzzles. A big chunck of the potential playerbase can't pass these. My biggest con as it isn't based on problem solving but on math knowledge
- If you solve puzzles at a relative fast pace (or check a guide online), this game is fairly short. For the price though, this might be OK.
- Little to no replay value when you've solved everything (unless they add more endnings, because then it's wise to replay everything).

I recommend this game to anyone who likes to figure stuff out.

Never played Catan before and decided to give this a try. While the game seems intresting and fun, this game made it a frustrating experience. As a newcomer I really had no idea what to expect and so I wanted to do the tutorial. Turns out the tutorial doesn't really tell you anything. It just dropped me into a new game and expected that I know what to do and what the goal of the game is.

UI is frustrating and does not really say what anything means either. It's kind of a trial and error where you have to see what happens during a game and learn it until next game. Not completly unlike learning a new game, playing with people that don't tell you all the rules right away. Difference is I guess that I expect more from a singleplayer PC game.

Also: The dice are really slow rolling. It felt like half of the game play was watching the dice roll.

I can't recommend this game until:

* A proper tutorial is introduced to the game
* You can change window resolution
* The UI becomes more informative
* The UI becomes faster and less clunky.
* Multiplayer is added (why isn't it there already?)
* The price is lower. Seriously, with the graphics and content this game offers, it shouldn't cost more than 6€ at most (currently it costs 15€)