Recent reviews by Flipper Is A Dolphin

Buy this game if:

✅ You're into metroidvania games, focused on switching and optimizing builds;
✅ You like exploring and backtracking, by also "bio-morphing" yourself into other creatures, each one of them has their own set of movement and abilities;
✅ You enjoy doing sidequests and optimizing / experimenting with your builds and weapons;

Don't buy if:

❌ you don't like changing builds often, as this will be required to overcome mandatory obstacles along the main story;
❌ you like to receive weapons, trinkets and abilities not too far into the main game;




1 - Great artstyle and varied gameplay thanks to the biomorphing:

Biomorph it's fun and aesthetically pleasing, even the cutscenes are animated like a cartoon...Let's talk about Biomorphing!
You can transform yourself into 18 different creatures, each one with their own set of abilites and mobility options, allowing you to experience a different
gameplay experience and as a result...making boss fights more diverse, making them much harder or easier, depending on your equipment of choice. Please note that biomorphing during boss fights isn't mandatory.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3219853967


2- what could have been done better, although eventually didn't ruin the game experience:

a) Boss fights are way too easy, especially with the "right" build and/or weapon;
b) Fast-travel points in few instances could have been placed in a more convenient way;
c) Some biomorphs, especially the slugghish ones, aren't suited for boss fights at all, as contact damage against you exists...and it's not lenient at all as you'll lose lots of HP when being touched by the bosses' hitboxes.
d) There aren't big secrets or heavy lore hidden or locked into sidequests, except for one;
e) The last boss and the wrapping up of the ending part of the game feel rushed, which is a shame as the main character and her sidekicks are quite compelling;
f) Some weapons and skills are being received and found too late in the game in order to allow them to be tested properly;


Verdict: 7,5

Time required to finish the main game: 13/15 hrs

Time required to complete it at 100%: 20-22 hours (no missable achievements, the game map will track automatically cleared areas)


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Buy this game if:
✅ You're into fishing and naval-themed games, with a strong emphasis on Lovecraftian horror tropes;
✅ You like exploring open world games and farming (by fishing over 150 types of fishes);
✅ You enjoy spending your time exploring while upgrading your equipment and reading lore while doing sidequests;

Don't buy if:

❌ you don't like repetitiveness, as you'll navigate the whole map countless times;
❌ you were expecting fighting or fishing bizarre and/or challenging creatures;



Even though steam's reviews for Dredge are extremely positive, please be aware before buying that:

1- It is indeed a nice looking game, but there's neither real horror nor implied horror mechanics. Do not buy the game if you were looking for thrilling moments or jumpscares.

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3156681392


2- All the upgradable equipment is made to make navigation and fishing much easier and faster, however I haven't personally seen anything original about it

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3156681172

3- Side characters aren't bad, but also aren't that compelling or engaging, even though there was lots of room to expand on their personal stories and struggles throughout the main story and some side quests

4- Why so many positive reviews then? Dredge is a nice indie, navigating and upgrading your boat and fishing tools feels rewarding, as each species has its own minigame that you'll need to overcome in order to be able to get your nets out and the fishes in, besides there aren't at the moment games such like these on Steam as Dredge is a nice mixture of navigation , open world and (simplified) commerce mechanics



Verdict: 7

Time required to finish the main game (without the DLC, which lasts 2 hours) : 9/10 hrs

Time required to complete it at 100% with the DLC: 20-22 hours (depending on luck)


Thanks for reading, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Buy this game if:

✅ You were looking for a sequel where a more direct / less subtle approach to stealth based areas is allowed and heavily encouraged;
✅ The claustrophobic environments from the first game weren't that much up your alley;
✅ Even though you've enjoyed the previous game, you are now looking for more linear and less stealthy game;

Don't buy if:

❌ You wanted to see a deeper and meaningful story;
❌ Character development is a "must have" when playing a sequel for you;
❌ You're not into games with a way stretched plot, made unnecessarily long;
❌ You've loved the first game graphic, horror and thrilling elements; they're mostly gone into this game, which is much more linear and cinematic;

Verdict: a stretched 7.5 (just for the voice acting and the graphics/environments)

Time required to finish the main game: 15 hrs (advice: do not play at the lowest difficulty setting);
Time required to complete it at 100%: 22-25 hours (a NG+ is required to max out skills and tools);




1- Let's start with what's great: scenery and voice acting:


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3035675484


Hugo's and Amicia's journey touches now more cities, verdant bluffs and pictoresque cities from the South of France and (i guess) northern Spain, leaving back (for the most part) those chaotic and rotting places you've seen in the first game;
Voice acting remains suberb and the details, animations and costumes kept being well done and a real pleasure to be seen;



2- What...feels really out of place:


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3035675860


a) The change in scenery and atmoshpere is for sure a welcome surprise, however this messes up the whole story a lot . Forget getting into the Bishop's laboratory and the older battlefields, those are completely gone to push Amicia into a whole different character;

b) Amicia (especially in NG+, even at the highest difficulty level) becomes a war machine, thwarting/ negating the stealth mechanics in some chapters;

c) All The Rune's family members are grown into their role....probably too much, becoming even more bonded and self absorbed than before (yes, even their mother) but heavily influenced by one another, swinging from temper tantrums to other destructive, nonsensical and homicidal tendencies with too much ease;

d) The plot was too stretched: out of the 17 chapters which constitute the game, only 7-8 were actually impactful and needed, both from the gameplay perspective and from the story and lore side, which felt well shown visually, but poorly explained.

e) The developers focused too much on making Amicia a "war+men-killing" machine, while rushing, "sandwiching" and compressing her emotivity and emotional intelligence into the last 4 chapters, making the story progression too fast and badly designed. Sometimes the game itself felt like a Nexflix series, while completely forgetting what made the franchise great: the stealth mechanincs, the complex level design and the deep - yet troublesome - relationship between a brother and a sister, bonded by a tragic fate. This...didn't seem needed, as Amicia was already a great character, despite her flaws and traumas.[/b]




Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Buy this game if:
✅ You're into games that have short runs which can last up to 30 minutes, as you'll drive a spider-robot which can drill resources while being attached to a gargantuan wall while battling against parasites and aliens;
✅ You like space games, customizing weapons and skill trees while gathering resources and shooting;
✅ You're a fan of animes/mangas such as AoT, Made in Abyss (related to politics/ discovering the truth beyond the surface);
✅ side note: excellent pricing, as the game is worth more than its current price;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3002858789

Don't buy if:

❌ you don't like repetitiveness;
❌ you believe spending 5$ on a precise looped game isn't acceptable;


https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3002858912


Verdict: 7.5

Time required to finish the main game: 12/ 15 hrs (depending on luck/skill)
Time required to complete it at 100%: 18-20 hours


Thanks for reading, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Buy this game if:

✅ You're into metroidvania alike games, HEAVILY FOCUSED ON FARMING resources;
✅ You can withstand a long,hefty text-based storytelling;
✅ topics such as: mental issues, family and other adult oriented subjects are up your alley;
✅ you're ready to invest at least 20 hours into the main game;

Don't buy if:

❌ the above points don't apply to you;
❌ repeated and unoptimized grinding aren't bearable to you (there's indeed a high chance that they won't);
❌ you were looking just for a swift and aesthetically pleasing and light hearted game;
❌ you've had or you're gonna grieve for the loss of someone you love and/or you were close to;


Verdict: 6,5 (a really stretched one) WITH STRONG CAVEATS, please see below

Time required to finish the main game: 20/ 25 hrs (advice: keep a guide with you,even when not going for game achievements)
Time required to complete it at 100%: 33-35 hours (strongly advising to play with a collectible/missable items' guide)


1- what is this game? what's the core gameplay?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2995812784

This is...a beautifully looking game, no doubt; Charon (the former spiritfarer / psychopomp ) now needs a well deserved retirement. Now's your turn to take these "lost" souls into the Void/Everdoor/Last Step.
What will you do for at least 20 hours is to drive an upgradable ship between seas, storms and islands in order to gather souls, hoarding resources and completing (too) many errands for your guests and acquaintances, while trying to keep
them happy and well fed.

2- Grind. Grind and more grind...however this is not Stardew Valley. Many quality of life changes could have been implemented easily:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2995812936

Hoarding resources and travelling back and forth between locations is the core gameplay...and needs to be done...countless, countless times; sadly some aspects of travelling,hoarding and forging aren't opmimized, few important examples:

a) you can't delegate any minor task to anyone, all must be carried by your hands directly, even after fully upgrading your working stations;

b) there isn't a quick menù to keep track of your items' collection progress, while there's a handy one for building and upgrading structures;

c) the mission tracker doesn't have an option to quickly prompt you to a specifical location on the map, meaning that you'll have to manually search and pick it most of the time;

d) you can't quick travel once you enter your ship, either you take a bus which will take your ship into a nearby fast travel station or you'll have to enter the driver's cabin and reopen a menù;

You get my drift here...there's A WHOLE LOT OF CLICKING AND MENUS, even into the dialogues, which sometimes are way too long winded.
Luckly some characters really do shine in terms of animation and personality, if you've got yourself invested into the story, there's a high chance you won't forget this game.


Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Shorter version

Buy this game if:

✅ You're in love with and you want to dive into a heavily story driven Western game (which feels like a tv-series sometimes)
✅ Open world exploration,shooting, side questing, item collection and completing ( sometimes long) challenges is something you’re interested in:
✅ In case you want to enjoy online features at its fullest: you’re willing to spend 10€ or you local currency into it to avoid unfun early game grinding;

Don't buy the game if:

❌ (IMPORTANT) your PC’s spec aren’t meeting even remotely the average suggested requirements, as having proper graphics, light and game effects improve drastically the in-game experience and activities such as: shooting, resource gathering and hunting;
❌ when playing open world games, you often engage only with the main mission stories and skip/leave aside the optional game content;
❌ you’re looking for a straight online matchmaking or for a refined experience, as that mode was sadly abandoned and not further developed years ago. You’ll find more about online in the detailed section of this review down below;
❌ (IMPORTANT) you don’t want to have a Rockstar account which is active and online while you’re playing as it’s mandatory;

Verdict: 9

Time required to finish the single player game campaign: 30 hours
Time required to complete it at 100%: 200/250 hours (took me 250 including online achievements)

Longer version:

a) realistic and historical american environment

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972922065

RDR2 takes place by the end of the 19th century, in an imaginary area that could be generally summarized as a mix of Louisiana, New Mexico and Nebraska (or any other US state filled with a mountain type of environment).This excellent mix of different biomes is filled with hundreds of animals of all species; fauna itself is “real” in the sense that their behaviour and daily (and nocturnal) life are well represented and very close to reality (i.e. you’ll see owls flying into the night mostly, different temperatures etc…). You’ll really feel like living in a beautiful yet hazardous country, enhancing even more the immersion and the narration.

Another great touch of realistic fauna: when hunting animals, different weapons and ammunition, along with the animals’ body parts that will be hurt will lead to different results when hunting, for example shooting a rabbit with a shotgun will destroy the carcass, while using a bow with a precise shot or headshotting it with a low calibre rifle will allow you to skin the animal properly and get a higher quality pelt and more edible meat quantity.

Funny side note: horses will p00p. A lot. Often. Consider yourself warned.


b) Clothes, voice acting and face cameras:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972367589
Given how accurate and detailed the clothing (of all kinds, even the pijamas!) is (and not only that) the immersion is made much deeper, thanks also for the countless hours spent by the developers’ team and the actors/actresses while animating the characters while in game and during the cinematic cutscenes;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972965029

c) Narration and gameplay: (dis)honorable choices and (grey) remarkable characters:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2972612738

RDR2 has a “honor bar” system, which goes up when helping people, being honest or being merciful and goes down while being the opposite, impacting both how NPC perceive you, in part how the game will end and how your companions and surroundings will interact with you; all the characters…are quite remarkable and deep, the whole roster of people have all their own story and background, even those who don’t see much screentime or play an important role in the story…it’s almost impossible to not be or become somewhat fond of them or even not remotely interested in their stories and epilogues.

The narration is extremely fluent and hits hard thanks also to its main protagonist - Arthur Morgan – which is one of the best fictional video games characters I’ve ever seen in my experience due to his versatility, his falsely crass (yet extremely fun at times) attitude, his sarcastic comebacks and his overall growth, in every aspect.


d) Red Dead Online, few important points to mention :

This game mode is set up in the same world that you’ve spent your single player campaign, sadly whether you’re going to play to get the online achievements only or to just enjoy it for the sake of it, my advice is to buy some online currency and unlock two specific roles (collector and bounty hunter) to be over with the online as quickly as possible. To be more clear and specific:

1- there are microtransactions, worsened by the fact that the cost of each item on online mode is multiplied excessively in comparison to its single player counterpart;
2- is it possible to farm online currency with daily and weekly activities but in a really slow pace, which really doesn't go well with the nature of RDR2 online which allows for free roaming, but becomes chaotic pretty quickly;
3- there are many griefers and cheaters on online servers, which can slow your progress, even though changing servers usually gets your rid of those annoying people;
4- the online gamemode could have seen some more love, sadly GTA online was/is too profitable to be put away in favor of this one, probably harder to be managed/modded and rectrated due to its historical setting;
5- as soon as you'll join online mode you'll be swarmed and overwhelmed by ingame messages,tutorials, tips and quests, making the learning curve quite brutal. I'd recommend playing 5-10 hours of single player campaign before going online;
6- most of the fun online is made by roles, which are "licenses" which will unlock you key rewards, new activities and game modes. Sadly those are behind a paywall, literally.
7- some online items (example: clothes, horses and equipment items) aren't included into single player mode, which is a shame, but this happens when the online experience isn't as well thought of as the single player one;


Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Buy this game if:
✅ You're into running/climbing andgames;
✅ You're interested into animals, primates in particular, as you'll play as a gibbon;
✅ you want to delve deeper into subjects such as climate change, animal rights and biodiversity;

Don't buy if:

❌ the above points don't apply to you;
❌ you believe spending 12$ on a 1.5 / 2 hour game is not acceptable;
❌ you're going for an easy and/or enjoyable 100% completion, as there's some rng and some repetitiveness involved


Verdict: 6,5

Time required to finish the main game: 1.5/ 2 hrs (depending on skill)
Time required to complete it at 100%: 9-10 hours (depending on skill and on the 8th day daily run achievement)


Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Shorter version:

Buy this game if:

✅ You're familiar with game titles such as: Bastion, Darksiders, The Binding of Isaac or Dead Cells;
✅ You're not familiar with the above titles and/or you're looking for an isometric hack 'n' slash type filled with roguelite elements;
✅ You're interested into knowing more about ancient Greek mythology;
✅ You can withstand some grinding and resource grinding;

Don't buy the game if:

❌ (IMPORTANT) if you're sensitive to bright lights and shiny colours;
❌ you don't enjoy bullet hells paired with good - yet cumbersome - effects, as your screen will be filled with them;
❌ you'd rather jump into action immediately after a game rather than pre-planning a run and hoarding many, many resources needed to upgrade weapons, skills, relationships with side characters and cosmetics;


Verdict: 8,5 with some "caveats"

Time required to finish the main game: 30/40 hrs (depending on luck and skill)
Time required to complete it at 100%: 60-75 hours (took me 75hrs)

Longer version:

1 - how does the game look like? Beautifully hand drawn!

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936480523


2 - Things to keep in mind before buying the game:

a) Excellent narration: dialogues are extremely well written and voiced, in my 75-hour gameplay i've never regretted witnessing a single conversation or character, which are all likeable even given their own godly quirks and mythological role;

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2936653919

b) Greek lore : is well presented and sometimes even playfully mocked and handed out to the player in original ways;

c) Fatherhood and trauma: these two topics are really the core engine of the narration (for a good part of the main game). If you didn't like God of War' subjects on Steam, you might not enjoy these in Hades, as you'll notice some similarities;

d) Customizable / Optimizable runs: you'll rarely feel that a run is lost from the start, as when you'll progress you'll have some chances to turn around your gameplay by changing skills, abilities and synergies at shops, random encounters and other hidden areas and arenas;

e) Grinding: is made "bearable" by the narration which delves deeper each run and by the fact that switching weapons and weapons' secondary aspects is highly encouraged and rewarded. There is quite the grind although, it might take your at least 15 hours to grasp the flow of the game and how it works in all its aspects. If you won't like the game within its 10 hours of gameplay, you'll might be even tempted to quit it entitrely.

f)Gameplay modifiers; those will change the gameplay deeply, giving you an alternate experience and allowing you to regrind those resources to get to the higher and funnier challenges offered by the game;

Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Do ❌❌❌not buy ❌❌❌ this game if you were expecting:
✅ a noire game;
✅ a thriller and a thrilling story with anthropomorphic creatures;

This is what you will get instead, a beautiful looking game where the beauty and the squallor of the city get lost in:

1- predictability: shallow and predictable dialogue with multiple options which yield to the same main plot points and ending;

2- animal protagonists? They don't matter. The fact that all the characters are animals from different races doesn't actually mean anything and won't impact the story at all;

3- inconsistent topics Backbone started with let's say...topic "A" and ends with topic "Z" without any intermediate steps or proper cutscenes and dialogue;

4- severed and stitched plot the narration is uglily smudged and interrupted, in the sense that you'll feel that someone decided to deviate the game original plot and purpose;

5- the average budget joe protagonist banal main protagonist, which doesn't need and has any actual detective skills as multiple choices' dialogues are extremely scripted;

6- There's only one puzzle in the entire game, while during the rest of story you can easily exaust every text and action option available;


Verdict: 4

Time required to finish the main game: 3,5 hrs
Time required to complete it at 100%: 7 hours

If it wasn't for Backbone's graphic style and music i would have rated this game even lower.
Ironically speaking, this game is called Backbone, yet anything good came from it, nothing in this mess of a game seemed effectively connected and not even a sensical structure seem to emerge after hours of gameplay.


Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/

Buy this game if:

✅ You're familiar with the franchise and you enjoy building two characters by (also) tailoring their equipment and skills;
✅ You're not familiar with the franchise and you're not looking for an isometric hack 'n' slash type game;
✅ You're interested into knowing more about Norse (and ancient Greek) mythology;

Don't buy the game if:

❌ you don't want to play an open world game which revolves around topics such as: parenthood, hard childhood and abandon along with violent scenes and gameplay;
❌ you enjoy fighting hordes of enemies instead of enganging smaller groups of foes;
❌ you aren't into items and skills' optimization;
❌ you've loved the cinematic QTE boss kills from GOW 3 as in this game they'll be almost absent;

Verdict: 9

Time required to finish the main game: 15/20 hrs (depending on which difficulty setting you've decided to play)
Time required to complete it at 100%: 40-45 hours (my case)

Longer version:

1 - where does GOW start from?

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2906705146

Kratos, after the events of the previous chapter of the serie has become a wifeless dad living in Midgard , which is the Earth of the Norse cosmology. One day, his and his son's life revolving around gathering and hunting into forests abruptly changes.


Here's another spoiler free example:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2906705862


2 - here's why the game has been so unforgettable:

a) Character development - Kratos has reached another level of complexity and maturity, both from his physical and emotional standpoint. Think of him as a veteran who came home after being deployed for too long while being left alone with his own regrets,remorse and traumas;
b) Fatherhood and trauma - Kratos himself isn't the only protagonist as his son plays a key role both for him into combat;
c) Norse lore - Storytelling has multiple ways of unraveling itself: via main/side characters, their own thoughts, fears,through panels, paintings, tapestries, cinematics and written notes, always making the narration fluid and diversified;
d) side activites - missions very often lead to remarkable rewards and well thought cinematics and dialogues;
e) immersion - all the few side characters are all well written and deep rooted into the sotry and lore; it's easy to relate even to the most evil ones given how well the acting and the voice acting has been curated;
f) scenery and navigation - the world is amazing, epic yet never reduntant, the backtracking is never dull as there are well placed fast travel points;

Thanks for reading and for bearing up with me, leave a comment below if you have any questions or observations, have an amazing day/night, feel free to follow my other reviews at: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/32344423/