Recent reviews by Caliđa Myriad

̣Balatro is the poker roguelike where you buy strange jokers and customise your deck to combat increasing stakes and upping the antes.

Balatro is a deckbuilding rogue like based on poker where your goal is to play various hand types, spending most of the early game trying to build your deck while also setting up your economy, and focusing on trying to score as high as you can late game.

On the earlier stakes, Balatro does a good job at balancing luck and difficulty, and on every single deck you can easily score a win or even go endless if you are playing the white stake.

However as the stakes increase, especially around the point you get to purple stake - there is an increase in luck required rather than pure skill - nonetheless, we would say that this game is excellent even on the highest stake, the Golden Stake at providing an interesting challenge and truly testing your ability to make your deck work, and build up a strong economy as a backbone.

If you are a fan of roguelikes balanced around skill and luck, deckbuilding games, or poker in general, Balatro is definitely the game for you.
Balatro gets a 20.0/20.0 score in our book! This is a near flawless, excellent experience.
Linux Support: The game works flawlessly via Proton 9.0.

I will update this review as I play the game more, but in it's current state I can entirely recommend Lethal Company as a horror game that plays similarly to a rogue-like dungeoncrawler in terms of how it feels to roam the environments, however you are not the hero of this story, but rather the one trying to simply make it by.

Since I have not formulated my exact thoughts yet, I will simply say the gameplay and balance so far is pretty excellent, and the team gameplay potential and current state of the game has only good things to say for it's future.

Birdfont is a software built for designing and making your own fonts and typefaces, if you've ever loved the look or style of a specific font, be it in a book, game, work of art, or otherwise, this is a software that can help you design one for your own purposes! It is a relatively lightweight and elegant software with very few bugs and often using low amounts of resources.

Birdfont has a variety of useful features such as variable fonts, coloured SVGs and much more! If you've ever aspired to make a font, or perhaps a script for something like a fictional world or conlang, this is the kind of software you'd find especially useful to have!

As of Version 5.8.0, Diacritic Anchors have been officially added to Birdfont, which removes the only major downside Birdfont had when this review was made, meaning it's now possible to make practically any font for any typeset, script, or other purpose you may have. You may find information about this here.[birdfont.org]

Rating: 20/20; It is simple, lightweight and relatively bug free, from a previous of 18.5/20 in rating due to the addition of the last missing major font feature, Diacritic Anchors.

Iconoclasts is an incredible side-scrolling metroidvania-esque game.
The game has incredibly witty and good dialogue, with a simple yet very well written plot and story, with memorable characters, although some of the characters introduced near the end of the story (not spoiling what or who,) do feel very rushed and underdeveloped.

The gameplay is extremely solid, working like a puzzle solver and metroidvania in one, although some puzzles may overstay their welcome if you end up having to redo them more than twice.

In this game, almost every bossfight and generally just exploring the levels and finding secrets or in NG+ finding new ways to get them is a very fun experience! And this game has alot of secrets and in terms of the aspects of general gameplay, it performs very well.

Overall, after my first run and being a quarter way into my NG+ run (having not tried challenge mode yet,) I would say this game is incredible and a lovely experience, and I highly advise giving it a try if you love side scrollers, shoot'em'ups, metroidvanias, or platformer-puzzle solvers.

All in all, Iconoclasts is very phenomenal and gets a 19.4/20.0 rating from me. There are a handful of minor things in the game that were somewhat underwhelming the characters aforementioned at the end of the game who got unfortunately low story telling, and somewhat frustrating puzzles that are easy to mess up, or always reset on room re-entry that aren't very fun / timeconsuming to repeat. These are not major detractors because of how few and far they are, and how the rest of the game is great.

Much a-like to the original Spelunky, with new content for you to loot and shops to rob!

So far I would say I have a mixed opinion of Spelunky 2, so I'll start with the complaints I have about the game so far, and this list may grow or shrink depending on how far into the game I get.

• The clunky player hitbox - The player's hit box feels way too clunky compared to most games and the original, resulting in alot of wasted time grabbing ledges or getting hit when you really shouldn't.
  
• Moles - They need a nerf, they shouldn't be immune when coming out of the ground.
  
• Thorns in the Jungle, and Lava in Volcana - They should spawn much less frequently as it is now, they just seem to clutter the entire level to the point it makes it more obnoxious than difficult.

These are all factors of the game that I don't entirely agree with or like due to how they function or occur in game. And I overall think each of these needs some kind of addressment as they all feel like carry-overs from an earlier version.

Now with what I dislike about the game out of the way, I'll get onto the positives of this review (and hence my rating of positive), I would say despite these numerously spanned flaws the game is still fairly fun and much of a blast like the original game, with dozens of new areas, items, and characters for you to find and unlock.

The gameplay feels alot more fluid and quicker than the original - and it generally feels smooth, while still having that Spelunky-esque difficulty kick we all know it for in the first game.

Restarting in this game is one of the most common things out there, but one of my favourite parts is how shortcuts allow progression and no longer disable it, making it easier to discover new areas or practice them aswell as unlock new content without being punished for it.

I would also say I really enjoy some of the new mechanics/changes like being able to whip-kick off of walls, and bombs/ropes being infinitely more common, it feels less like a sacred resource and more like something you should use when you need to use it or want to use it. I also like some of the progressional landmarks this game has as it really makes you notice how far along you've come.

In general, all Spelunky 2 needs is a bit of finetuning and minor improvements but otherwise it's a fantastic game that's soon to have co-op!

If I had to rate Spelunky on a scale of 0.0 - 20.0, I would give it a solid 16.5 - it's got it's flaws but it's by no means a mediocre game, and will be one you return to numerous times even after completing it. This review score is prone to change as I have yet to beat the entire game. But as of now, this would be my review for this game.

Ever had aspirations to do Pixel-Art? Whether as an Artist, Illustrator, Game Developer, Digital Graphics Designer, or even just for fun or friends? Then Asesprite is a great program for all your Pixel-art needs. Loaded with easy to understand keybinds, many features, ease of animation, the all-powerful Onion-Skin, and many other small tools to assist your ambitions!

Asesprite is an extremely light-weight, featureful, easy to understand, and versatile program for all and any purposes involving Pixelart, from simple 8x8, all the way to massive 650x650 depending on the requirements. Some of the key features of Asesprite include;

• Layers and individual animation per each layer - aswell as Layer Groups for bunching together layers.
  
• Simple-Stroke Brush With Circle and Cube shapes, and a Spray-Brush, with RGBO (Red, Green, Blue, Opaqueness) customization! - Don't forget brush sizes!
  
• Free-range colours, Black-White, and Indexed Colour ranges!
  
• Circle, Cube, Straight Line, Polygon, and other knack tools for assistance with geometrical shapes or angle-support!
  
• Selection Brush, selecting all elements upon the current layer, aswell as allowing resizing, instead of movign an entire layer at once!
  
• Many other features, such as editing Canvas Size, Exportation and Image Conversion, Onionskin, and much more!

In general, Asesprite is an intensively versatile program with many features, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to look into Pixel-Art. And I have absolutely zero issues with it - not to mention the amazingly helpful, and active Devs and Community surrounding Asesprite on Steam! This gets Asesprite a 20.0 on a scale ranging from 0.0 - 20.0, with 0.0 representing 'Sham/Scam', and 20.0 representing 'A program that everyone could make use of'!

An extremely fun, intricate and in-depth puzzle-based game where the player changes the rules of the game on the fly - and can even make new rules as they play through each level to solve them.

In Baba Is You, there are many statements which can be made by the player to progress through increasingly complicated puzzles with many new variables and statements being added - Statements work similar to code, for example 'Baba Is You' makes Baba the player - 'Skull Is Defeat' will make skull destroy anything that 'Is You'. 'Flag Is Win' wins the level when anything that 'Is You' touches it. 'Rock Is Push' makes rock pushable, and it stop if it's against a wall, 'Keke is Move' will make Keke move in the direction it's facing. With many other variables like 'Not', 'Near', and 'Facing'.

The game is both simple to understand and learn, but extensively indepth and complicated - with the world map area's each teaching you different mechanics - where some can be more difficult than others for you due to how it challenges you to think differently for each area. - So while one area may be a total breeze to your way of thinking about the puzzle, another could have you stumped for days on a solution - maybe even taking in hints. Infact - this game has quite alot of shocking variables, and far, far more than may initially meet your eye... With some insane statements which have complex properties. I will leave you to discover these, however.

UPDATE AS OF FINISHING THE GAME!
This game has an astounding amount of depth - and somethings I outright got surprised by and did not expect to see occur. Especially in some of the later areas of this game - this game is absolutely impressive - and while the last areas are amazing, having to do the same thing over and over - and swapping out does get a bit repetitive... However, I can really overlook this in the grand scheme of what's actually going on. Overall, I would still recommend this game - if you plan to take it to completion just know that small tidbit.


Overall Baba Is You has been an extremely fun experience to me, without any real glitches or errors - and if you love puzzle games or brainteasers - you will love this game, with it's adorable pixel-esq, boiling art-style.
Which makes it's rating, on a scale of 0.0 - 20.0; 0.0 being 'a meme of a game'... Baba Is you gets a solid 20.0! -- I would endlessly recommend this game to you, and your friends - with not just hours, but tons of replayability and speedrunning potential aswell - with 3 save slots to boot for you and your family. There is no other way to put it other than 'Perfection in a game'.

PREVIOUS REVIEW SCORE: 19.5 - PRIOR TO FINISHING GAME


UPDATE 1: Fixed grammar and repetitive words in 'OVERVIEW' (For example, [...], for example), added 'and' before ([...], 'facing') -- ('if stop' -> it stop)

UPDATE 2: Final review score after finishing game, updated opinion

P.S: Thanks mum, for getting me this game ^v^

Do you love classic tower-defense games, did you play Bloons TD1/2/3 a while back and loved that experience? Then you'll probably love this one too!

This game is a pretty addicting blast of fun, based off of the old 2007 Bloons TD1 concept many of us may recognize, this game closely compares to many tower defenses; with one crucial difference compared to many others. Instead of the enemy having health directly; you are popping Bloons that will contain progressively smaller and weaker units. From pinks to reds, with many special Bloon types such as Ceramics - that do infact go off of a health based system, Leads, and the formidable MOAB-class Bloons, with many difficulties ranging from the forgiving Easy, all the way to the challenging Impoppable mode, with many unique gamemodes to boot such as Deflation or Magic-Monkeys Only.

To pair with this, there is a thriving amount of community-made challenges and content, with daily features of two challenges made by the community. And if that isn't your cup of tea, there is always Co-op mode which unlocks at level 20, which is equally as fun as the normal game, if not more with friends. And as for leveling, do not worry about the microtransactions in this game - they are not at all required, and having played the game for two weeks in total play time, at most. (as of writing this), I can easily say that the microtransactions are for those who want to speed up the game, and there are plenty of ways to speed through the game without them. There is no point where the game "slows to a crawl" thus requiring them.


Rating score, on a scale of 0.0 - 20.0, this gets a 16.2!, as an experience this game will be fun to most, and will easily be a game many people will return to multiple times either out of nostalgia, or simply for the experience. What this game lacks in content, it makes up in replayability and sheer fun in that replayability. This is a classic title that you may recognize from the 2000s!

If you love our classic Barony Title, and would like to add additional classes with unique abilities, and new races to play as - all for the small price of this expansion DLC, I would absolutely recommend it!

This DLC adds an impressive four-new classes, with four respective races to add synergy to current classes, and the new classes - these new classes have a wide variety of unique trait strict to them -
Accursed suffers a terrible curse, and Mesmer is a charmer of man and monster, brewer is well... a drunken idiot, but nonetheless a charming alchemist, and lastly the conjurer is a student of forbidden arts.
While I'm not here to talk about the contents - I feel that is all I need to say, if one of these sentences happens to catch your eyes - then this DLC is for you! Even if none did; this DLC pack is well worth the money, and comes with hours of play time, almost doubling your current playtime!

On a scale of 1 - 20, with 1 representing something so bad it's great, 5 representing something horrible, 10 being average, and 20 being genuinely one of the best DLC out there; This is ranked as a solid 20! I would absolutely recommend this DLC to everyone and anyone. It's content is great, and it will last forever. There is nothing bad about this DLC!

This game is a blast, the gameplay is thrilling, especially with a group of people, or with friends - and especially more so if you take it with a gram of roleplay! If you would love the idea of a team-based co-op game, where interaction and communication are key (as in the 1.0 trailer), this game is for you - and if you're the more roleplaying type, I can especially recommend this game to you. Nothing is funner than taking your roles to the maximum in this game!

For comparison, it's a unique game lots like Barotrauma - where you're in a deep sea vessel, and you work alongside your peers to reach the bottom or as deep as you can, where many horrors and sea giants lurk in the dark, mysterious waters well below.

Choose the vessel of your choice, the Crevette - the main vessel for exploration? What about the Requlin - a military vessel with two guns? Or perhaps you're naive, and love to ram sea critters with the Espadon?... Perhaps your vessel is not what you worry over, but rather it is what you bring? Are you more of the engineer? A wrench is for you, or perhaps you like to ensure you can protect the crew? Bring a sword, or a gun! Perhaps you want to help the team out more directly, by tending to the injuries they sustain? Bring a medkit, or any other state-of-the-art medical item!


Final rating and score for this game is 17.4! Upon further construction from the developers, and talking with them on the review of 1.0, I have come to full understanding with some of the things in 1.0, and what balance issues I had are being addressed, in prior to such, I will be updating my review score to 17.4. This is in the higher side of the spectrum, and definitely stands out as a title that will be returned to multiple times.
At one point, this game had scored 16.8, and for a short while in misunderstanding had dropped to 11.4.

If you wish to see the thread in question, You can see it here!
(Score works off of 0.0 - 20.0, 0.0 being 'so bad it's good', and 20.0 being 'one of the greatest of all time')