Recent reviews by apache

It's fine for a normal playthrough but gets increasingly frustrating the more you delve into it. First off, the parry window is too small. So small in fact that a common tip is to avoid attacks instead of parrying. While that is a valid strategy to approach fights, it makes them a slog and simply less fun compared to just parrying. Also putting parry and avoid on the same bumper on controller felt off. After 20 hours of playing I still couldn't seamlessly transition from a parry to an avoid when an enemy decides to throw in a grab attack.

I'm also not a fan of the progression system. It's unique but also convoluted. The game has huge camera problems in some stages and apart from a few exceptions unlocking new skills didn't feel impactful.

The presentation and moment to moment gameplay is good enough but it lacks the polish in its combat mechanics that for example Sekiro has, which Sifu is obviously inspired by. After my first playthrough I probably would've recommended it but going for challenge runs and trying to get gold stamps in arena challenges has soured my experience a lot.

Quite possibly the best combat gameplay in any game ever. Getting gud is immensely satisfying, more so than any other Soulsborne or Souls-like. It has a lot steeper learning curve than other games in the genre but once you get in the flow, it's a blast.

I don't really have anything negative to say about Sekiro except maybe the unnecessary grind to unlock all skills, although that's not relevant to the vast majority of players.

Absolute banger, FromSoft just doesn't miss. Some boss fights are kinda ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ in typical FromSoft fashion but thankfully nothing that gets your blood boiling. The game starts off slow but gets better the more you play it. Don't stop after the first playthrough, go for NG++ for the full experience, it's worth it.

One of those games where you struggle more with the controls than anything else. The control scheme (on controller) where you run and aim with the same joystick just doesn't work. By far my most deaths were due to me trying to aim and shoot something which makes me run in an unwanted direction and at that point the deaths don't feel like my fault anymore which makes it frustrating. Remapping controls is also not possible.

The actual platforming is pretty easy and the game actually becomes fun when you unlock the bounce ink which is way too late into the game. Checkpoints are too sparse and having to collect the golden ink every time you die becomes annoying fast.

The game isn't terrible and there were times I had fun but everything considered I can't really recommend it.

It's basically Chess except it isn't like Chess at all.

It lacks the polish and testing of actual Portal levels (unsurprisingly) but for being a community made mod it's honestly really good. A few levels have questionable design but most of them feel good to play and the time portal really adds an interesting twist to the Portal "formula".

We had a game breaking bug which caused mission items to disappear after respawning at a checkpoint and made progressing in the level impossible. Happened twice in a row and made us waste almost 3 hours.

+ Great art
+ Great soundtrack
+ Combat and movement feel smooth
+ Meaningful exploration

~ Story is okay - nothing too extraordinary but it was engaging enough (it's basically bird dark souls)

- No map & lots of backtracking if you want to get all secrets
- Lacking enemy variety
- Shallow upgrade system
- Unlocking the true ending is a hassle and not worth the time. It should've been a challenging bossfight imo.

Overall it was an enjoyable experience, although I probably wouldn't buy it for full price.

Still one of the best puzzle games out there. The rules are simple so it is easy to pick up but it gets quite tricky in the later levels. Tons of fun. Can recommend all three Hexcells games.

"Yuppie Psycho" starts off really strong as an office workplace parody with horror elements. It's visually appealing, the characters are memorable and likeable and I found myself really interested in the mystery aspect of the story.

Unfortunately, the ending(s) is really rushed. Also I think the whole subplot with the Sintra daughters could've been scrapped. it didn't add a whole lot to the game. I would've rather seen more of the "toxic workplace" theme.

All in all, it's a decent game. Took me around 8 hours to finish one playthrough.