Recent reviews by renaissance

very enjoyable if you like the robocop movies. the game is nothing really fancy, it's essentially deus ex but you move at a slower pace. despite that simple concept, the setting helps elevate the premise and i did feel like a robotic policeman. there's a psychology stat which makes you better at talking to people, but roboguy is awful at speaking in the movies so i didn't put any skill points into that. i just put all my points into health and armor so i can be a tank. the funniest perk in the game makes enemy bullets ricochet off your body and hit themselves so i would constantly be strolling into combat and thugs would shoot their own legs off when they fired at me. there's a ton of references to the movies littered throughout the game, but i didn't find them overbearing. admittedly, the plotline and enemies aren't very original, but that doesn't stop the game from being well-written; the developers wanted to be very faithful to the franchise and it works in their favor. this is one of the better examples of a video game based on a movie and i had a lot of fun playing it. doesn't run very well though (unreal engine 5 LOL)

highly engaging, very unique, and flowing with atmosphere. while i had expected a simple game about controlling a troubled person's facial expressions, i ended up getting tangled into something more. admittedly quite repetitive since multiple playthroughs are required for full completion and further understanding, but i still enjoyed my time with the game. would definitely recommend for anyone who likes mystery games that feature branching paths.

i don't like pineapple on pizza

very tight game that's simple to pick up and play for a spell. threading spews of lead through groups is satisfying, and i enjoy watching the animations of the creatures. i found that staring at the reload bar to achieve active reloads ended up getting me killed sometimes, so i opted to rely on a rhythm for active reloading; this isn't very consistent however, as the window for active reloads is different each time, but at least it allowed me to keep my focus on the horde. overall, a fun little game that clearly had some heart put into it

an excellent and well-crafted video game, through-and-through. nearly every aspect has a clear amount of heart put into it, and i couldn't help but be enamored by the outstanding art direction, which is backed by an equally addictive soundtrack and charming NPC encounters. what's more is that the combat itself is incredibly smooth, the "bounciness" of the graphics (if one chooses to enable it) providing a satisfying battle scenario. i agree with others that some of the late-game boss telegraphs can be frustratingly tight and seemingly unfair, a consequence of the low-frame enemy sprites and FoV, but i feel this doesn't detract too much from the overall game experience.
overall, i wholeheartedly recommend this game to anyone who enjoys polished indie experiences and/or fisticuffs.

friend cannot see cup

outstanding humor

hylics 2 left me very satisfied with its charm and presentation. the turn-based combat, world exploration, and unique aesthetic had me engrossed within the game, and the soundtrack is superb. mason lindroth was even nice enough to upload all of the tracks onto youtube, but i look forward to the official soundtrack release. there have been some understandable complaints about the control scheme, but i found that using a controller and remapping all of the keys to my buttons made for a much better experience, even with only partial controller support.
i would say that hylics 2 was definitely worth the money i spent

very fun game, and definitely worth the wait of several years

if you liked chivalry, you'll love this as it takes what chiv offered, cleaned it up, fixed the ugly parts, added some new things, and repackaged it for a modest price

i'm glad i was able to be an alpha tester and try the game out early, i can easily see myself putting hundreds of hours into this. if you're not too familiar with first-person melee combat games, then try mordhau out and see if you like it, but it may not be to everyone's liking

i was going to wait until gods & glory came out to review hollow knight, but i think i'll just do it now
i'm a big fan of super metroid and those types of games, but i won't compare this to those games too much because i'd like to talk about its own strongsuits

put short, this game is incredible. when i paid about $9 (it was on sale), i was expecting a decent metroidvania that would keep me occupied for a little while. i did not expect this game to grip me as much as it did, both in appreciating its details and in the number of hours i put into it, as well as the hours i've yet to dump. i knew almost nothing about this game other than "it's a good metroidvania". i didn't bother to watch any trailers for it, and i went in completely blind. for just $10, this has been one of the most enjoyable and unforgettable video game experiences i'll ever have.

there's a lot to love in this game, from its hand drawn artstyle to its tight controls and everything inbetween. the music in this game is beautiful; christopher larkin (an actor and musician whose work extends outside hollow knight) did an amazing job capturing the feeling of each area and battle. i can't get enough of his soundtrack. all of the areas in the game look very pleasant, with so many different set pieces and backgrounds to gawk at, and all of the pretty particle effects that go with it. one complaint i have is that some of the foreground pieces can obscure your vision, but not enough to completely mess you up. in the case of deepnest, it's obviously supposed to make you feel claustrophobic and nervous, but this isn't exclusive to that area. i've noticed this in queen's gardens. all of the dialogue is well-written, which makes the characters seem more believable and their text boxes more pleasant to read, and the gibberish language that they speak when you talk to them helps with the immersion as well. it almost seems like a real language, with some of the words being consistent throughout the game with different characters.
the world is huge and full of content, but it doesn't suffer from this "bloat". everything is placed with care and attention, which makes all the areas and the entire map feel more alive. exploration in this game is a joy, and some of the best that this genre of video game has to offer. there's hardly any linearity, other than the required events and the upgrades you have to pick up. but once you get another new item, the world just opens up even more, with lots of goodies to find and things to fight. anyone that complains about the world being too big to explore or having too much backtracking is probably just a scrub lol

combat in this game also feels nice. everything works as it should, and the swinging of your nail as well as the sounds and effects that play when hitting enemies feels good. it's all properly bug-like. using the downward slash over and over is a little too good though, as enemies might not have a way to strike upwards. some bosses are a good challenge, and very exciting to fight.

overall, this game is just great. i don't think it's worth the $15 price tag, since it can offer over 40 hours of playtime, has had multiple free dlc updates, and has so much love and care put into every nook and cranny. it could easily cost about $30 and still be a worthwhile purchase. just going through every little detail and seeing the thought that was put into this game makes me appreciate it more and more, and every time i felt like the game needed something, it gave me just that. there's a lot to see in hollow knight, including the best character in the game, the dung defender. if you like metroidvanias then you should love hollow knight, and if this is your first footstep into the genre, other titles may pale in comparison. there's a lot i have to say about this game but i have that problem where you end up speaking only like 50% of what you have in your brain, so i hope i did a decent job of telling you how much i like this game

basically:
+great artstyle/graphics
+great soundtrack
+good controls
+plenty of bosses and enemies
+colorful characters that you'll probably end up caring about
+large world
+lots of different content
+the best game about bugs ive ever played
+its ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ good ok just trust me

-foreground set pieces can block your view sometimes
-the double jump has a slight delay, a bit annoying
thats all i got really, the game is a solid 9.5/10

as of writing this, hollow knight is only 1% away from having overwhelmingly positive reviews. hopefully i can change that