Recent reviews by King Crimson

This is the tale of a man named Jordan and his adventures through the Darkest Dungeon with his allies Mackenzie, Alex, and Cleric 1. It all begins with an expedition that Jordan wasn't ready for. His allies, arrogant, as they decide themselves too good for the lower level dungeons. He has no fear nonetheless, as he is a mighty crusader with a penchant for the light. He feels almost as if it buffs his attack, for no reason at all. Jordan and his allies venture down, and after a hearty set of rooms they enter a dead end. Behind them, shadows dart and bones creak. They are caught off gaurd, and quickly spend a turn doing nothing but positioning themselves. During this time, the already unstable duo of Mackenzie and Cleric 1 are pushed too far by the monsters of the abyss, and lose their minds. Cleric 1 has become practically uncontrollable, and Mackenzie refuses to stay the front, where she is most effective. Alex is not prepared for such a burden of taking damage, and becomes insane as well, causing him to curse his allies as he tries to move to the back. Mackenzie and Alex are fighting over control of the back, while Jordan is now the sole force of sanity in the group. Taking multiple lucky strikes, both he and Alex have become gravely wounded, and the Cleric must decide who to heal. Out of control, criminally insane, and slightly selfish, the holy desciple saves Alex while Jordan must stand at the front of the pack, heavily wounded and facing a miriad of unholy creatures. Taking every blow, Jordan is felled at last to the strike of a slavering ghoul. Faced with imminent defeat, the mad crew still has enough sense the retreat. Demoralized and raving mad, the group returns with no gold to show for it and a set of members for the sanitarium. Jordan was the first adventurer under my control to enter the graveyard. 10/10 I saw myself die.

So here's the thing. Lethal League technically doesn't have a lot of content. I'm about 8 hours in and I've already maxed level and beaten the arcade mode once. But we have an old saying in the male community. "It's not the size, it's how you use it". This game is horrendously fun in multiplayer. The controls are tight and the netcode is top notch quality. The game relies on two things to make multiplayer fun: Satisfaction value and reaction time. Luckily, it nails both of them. First of all, I'll actually explain the game. It works in a small square room (One of five maps) and a ball spawns in the middle. Every time a player hits the ball, it becomes his color and it cannot hurt him, only his enemies. While hitting the ball he can also do two things: Aiming the ball up or down and activating his special ability. The special abilities add some depth due to learning how each should be used to the best effect. For example, one characters special allows the ball to travel through walls for a little while. At first I only tried to fake people out with it on the ground, and catch them unawares. But over time I learned that if I applied an aim to it I could cause it to go flying through the ground and the cieling at an angle, which is incredibly hard to perdict and dodge accordingly. Alright, on to the aforementioned satisfaction value. As the ball gets to higher and higher velocites, each smacking of the ball results in the player smacking the ball for not only about 5-6 seconds straight, but also the screen freaking out to high hell. So basically, every time you hit the ball, it feels like you just punched through the earth. Additionally, the music is some of the best I've ever heard in a video game. The tracks are nice and varied, with each track seemingly blending in with the endless sounds of the ball getting smacked into the fifth dimension. The one aspect which can devide people is the art style. It's a simplistic art style, no doubt, but some will find it attractive and some will find it boring. It's really just a matter of opinion. All in all, it's a blast with friends and the soundtrack is amazing, but if you just want to find a good solo experience, I don't know why you're looking at an arena fighting game.

Don't get me wrong. Unturned can be a great game at times, but at others it falls short. We'll start with the negatives. For one, it's pretty hard to figure out, and is kind of unintuitive. I wandered around pretty much getting my face pounded in until I found a weapon, at which point I got my face pounded in slightly less. It also seems as if anything making sense is thrown out the window in the face of more difficulty. The biggest example I saw is the zombies actively avoiding me as I shot them to rip down the crops I had planted. It makes zero sense and it only serves to make the game harder, and in multiplayer you have enough to worry about already. That's another thing. The community is rancid, with nothing but what seems to be people who want to take their fully-equipped rage out on the nearest person who can't beat them. Another complaint I have is that the spawns are random. This might seem like it brings variety at first, but it quickly becomes "Can you find a good weapon? Okay, now can you find non-irradiated food? Okay, now can you find a canteen?". If you don't get all three of those, you can just throw in the towel, because that life isn't going anywhere. Finally, I had some sort of problem with the lighting on my computer. While all of my friends could see decently well during nightime, it was pitch black for me even if I had the brightness on my computer set to max. As for pros, it's definetly got some. It has some really varied locations, and scavenging through each of them really makes for some good adventures. It also has really good atmosphere, and I was legitimately frightened by blocks at some points. Ammo is scarce, which forces players out of areas to go explore and scavenge. Cars actually have differences, with some having huge fuel tanks and some simply moving much faster. Equipment is varied and interesting, with each tool or weapon having different uses and stats. Overall, I can recommend Unturned to anybody who wants to have a good time with their friends, but if you're just looking for a solo survival experience, it can get boring quickly due to it's repetitive nature.

Fun game, with a few downfalls. For the most part, it does everything excellently. The landscapes are varied and interesting, and it's quite hard when you first get into it. It's only big downfall is it's combat. When compared to its big brother Terraria, the combat is boring and repetitive, and the weapons barely help, as some weapons aren't very well balanced when compared to how many materials are required in order to craft it. One big draw is its multiplayer, which is server based. The community is quite nice, and finding a server shouldn't be too much trouble, so that aspect is working well. Overall, it's a great game from an exploration and building standpoint, just don't get it if you're looking for some deep combat mechanics.

Infinity Wars chose a desperate time to release. With the recent release of the Hearthstone open beta, many people will be swarming to that and overlooking this TCG. Unfortunatly for them, they'll be missing out on an amazing game. Firstly, over Hearthstone, it actually has a comprehensive single player. It also has numerous factions, all of which have definitive styles of play. Most of the cards are well balanced (With a few exceptions, Verore Death Worshipper anyone?), and it's possible to get cards quite quickly. Additionaly, it has mechanics that shake up the usual set-up that was introduced by Magic:The Gathering, and they work wonderfully. Microtransactions might be a slight problem for some, as not all of the shop items can be bought with in-game currency, but it doesn't stick out too much. There's also a slight problem with the tutorials, as they require you to beat minor puzzles to get through them, and some people might not have the time for that. The biggest problems I've had with the game are glitches. It is an early access game, yes, but it constantly worries me. Firstly by appearantly losing my level 2 reward, then by temporarily getting rid of my progress, it can get pretty annoying. Overall though, Infinity Wars wins my vote over with it's varied card types, interesting mechanics, and beautiful animation.

Risk of Rain is an interesting concept for an interesting genre. Surprisingly though, it pulls it off almost perfectly. The items are varied and interesting: Some providing simple stat increasements while others provide more interesting benefits.For example, the item "Tough times" provides a bonus to defense, but the item "Headstompers" deals damage to enemies you land on. Risk of Rain also has an interesting character system, which has quickly become a staple of the rougelike genre. And with the staple "Rougelike" comes the unforgiving difficulty. This game is hard, and don't let anybody tell you otherwise. I also like this game's progression system. Each run, no matter how bad it is, has a chance of unlocking a character. Of course, there are some characters that are unlocked in other ways, like beating certain bosses, or just simply winning the game, but it's amazing when your otherwise pointless run nets you a new character. Overall, Risk of Rain is a great buy for fans of hard games, 2d shooters, and rougelikes, but if you're just looking for a casual game that let's you sit back and relax, Risk of Rain might not be for you.