Recent reviews by zooksman

I like this better than ROR2- its much harder and really requires u to know the limits of your character in every respect. But theres also characters that are easy enough to just have a fun time with if you dont feel like trying too hard (loader, drifter, merc)

This game owns so damn hard

Theres a character u will click with in this game almost guaranteed, which is pretty sick

This game is so, so much more fun than it looks- there's a truly insane amount of build variety, and the increasing challenge levels feel VERY satisfying. The game is labelled "early access" but except the lack of a non-endless mode, the game feels almost completely finished and very polished in its current state. I really dont think I'll ever get tired of it just because there are so so many different builds you can create which have entirely different ways of wiping the screen of enemies.

This is easily my favorite autobattler to play on a regular basis. It takes the depth of a game like Teamfight Tactics, and combines it with elements that make it fun to play singleplayer. By incorporating roguelike elements (more honestly, Slay the Spire mechanics), it transforms a game like TFT that is designed to be played multiplayer into something that can be enjoyed singleplayer, over and over again.

If you're someone who's played TFT in the past, then look no further, you are free of your curse. This is just a more fun version, with way more combinations and the ability to really lab things out. It's the only autobattler game I've felt really scratches that itch. You've got so many more items, more champions; although synergies aren't a thing in this game, you really quickly realize that carefully selecting 5 champs on your team and considering how their abilities work together is just more flexible than the synergy system. But the mechanics and stats are instantly familiar to someone who's played TFT or even any moba in the past.

If you haven't played Auto Chess or TFT in the past, then the game will probably seem a bit overwhelming to you. I can't really speak to whether you'll enjoy this type of game or not, but this game certainly does a good job of introducing you to the mechanics slowly. The base difficulty of the game is extremely manageable, giving you room to learn about what is there.

Overall, the game feels extremely polished and well-made in its current state, and I could honestly enjoy it for a very long time because of the infinite combinations of winning boards.

THIS GAME IS GOOD AND THE DLC IS GOOD

I personally prefer Risk of Rain Returns and the original game over this sequel. This game is much less challenging and requires me to "make my own fun" to keep the game from becoming in later levels. There is lots to discover and unlock, but ultimately the disappointing endings don't make this a super replayable game for me, especially due to the lack of challenge on Monsoon difficulty. While Eclipse difficulty definitely ups the challenge, I hate the way that those changes are implemented, which makes certain items, strategies and characters irrelevant at the highest level.

TL;DR: If you want a deckbuilder with an extremely high level of complexity, and enjoy playing slowly and thinking through your decisions one by one each fight, this is a game for you. If you are a casual deckbuilder player who likes to explore the depths of crazy synergies, I would look elsewhere.

This is tough to write, because there is so much heart, love, and creativity put into this game, and the developers clearly have a keen understanding of what makes the deckbuilder genre of game so fun to play. Right off the bat I was blown away by the incredible aesthetics, and care and detail put into different areas of the game. At first, it was fun to try out all sorts of different synergies and mess around without too much fear of losing, and I loved how unique each of the different character designs were, each with their own unique dice pool.

But unfortunately, the complexity of this game scales in an exponential way, and ultimately I just found myself exhausted and wishing for a run to be over less than halfway through. I won't go too in-depth about the mechanics, other reviews cover that quite well. My primary issue is not with any of the particular mechanics in the game, but rather the sum of all of them combined with each character's unique dice pool and enemy attack systems, all building up into a truly dizzying and nearly inscrutable gameplay experience.

As other reviews have mentioned, it often doesn't feel tempting to draft new dice when there are two levels of variance. Firstly, you have to draw the right dice in the right order, and secondly, you have to roll the right face. I have no issue with the amount of RNG this introduces; rather, it just makes me feel like I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing when I add dice into my deck. It is impossible for me to tell if the deck has the right balance without having played hundreds of hours to judge by feel. This is true of most deckbuilders to a certain extent, but Astrea compounds this issue by having a complex and overly punishing enemy attack system.

Battles, especially multi-enemy ones, are much longer than in a game like StS on average purely because of the amount of variables to consider. As a result, if you don't take a large amount of time to plan out your turns, it becomes really easily to just lose instantly due to a chain reaction of enemy effects and overcorruption triggers. Unlike the HP system in StS, Astrea relies on a three-heart system, which means it is particularly punishing to lose a heart in an easy battle just for playing a little bit too fast. I feel like I need a PhD to understand the systems of this game and how they all work in tandem with each other, all within the context of fitting them into a balanced deck.

While this game really attracted me initially, I have to say it just feels like more mental effort than it's worth for me, especially when even on really strong runs you can easily lose if you don't think through everything extremely carefully. This level of mental overload is not for everyone, and personally a game like StS is the limit for me in terms of complexity. Astrea, I would say, seems as if it would be several times more complicated than StS at the highest level. Eventually, it just becomes a chore where I know I can win battles as long as I don't make a major mistake, but I am my own worst enemy, and that's just not engaging, and pushes me away from the game.

I hope the devs can cut down on some of the complexity of the core mechanics. It feels very difficult to change at this point, but in particular the enemy Overcorruption system, while unique, is very daunting to a new player and just introduces a level of complexity that I think this game, with its cute visual style, is a poor fit for.

Good DLC with more content than I expected based on the description. The two new characters are super cool and unique, and I like them much better than the characters from the previous DLC. The new weapons are very strange but cool in concept. The two new Bizarre Dream modes continue to add a ton of fun and replayability to an already replayable game.

I particularly love the base game changes, especially the ability to hold 3 backup weapons in your inventory. That really eases the annoying feeling of wanting to explore cool new builds while not wanting to drop an already good weapon. I'm glad they thought of this QOL feature and a few others that came free with the update.

Full review here: https://gbatemp.net/review/i-am-setsuna.483/

Pros:

+ Simple yet breathtaking visuals
+ Fantastic music
+ Refined combat system
+ Deep and interesting characters
+ Immersive story

Cons:

- Uneven difficulty
- Too much backtracking
- Overused music

Overall: 8/10

Like an experienced chef with a garden of spices, I Am Setsuna borrows from classic RPGs in many areas without feeling like a fan game or a ripoff. While minor flaws detract from the experience, the brilliant presentation and nostalgic gameplay are enough to make Setsuna worthy of standing with its ancestors.

How do you make one of the best shooters of all time better? By remaking it in gorgeous HD visuals and giving it a wonderfully crafted soundtrack to create an amazing video game experience.

This is the perfect way to give life to a game that while amaing in its time has suffered from aging poorly due to its heavily outdated visuals. This mod manages to capture all the magic of the original Half-Life game in a way that is attractive to new players of the franchise as well as old fans, all while heavily improving on core aspects of the game.

How is this different from the free alpha version? Its visuals are greatly improved in my opinion, it features online deathmatch multiplayer matches, and it is in very active developement. This version will be receiving the final stage of the game, Xen, whereas the free alpha will not. It's definitely worth the $20.