Recent reviews by Achelon

The platforming and puzzles in Gris aren't challenging and there is no fail state, but that's not the point of the game, the point of the game is to be a sensory experience and a story about something we all relate to: Going through grief, the game tells a beautiful and harrowing story in that regard and the art direction is phenomenal, if you don't mind a shorter game that is more about being cinematic then I feel like Gris offers an unique and immersive experience.

While you should be aware that the game may feel like a slower crawl than expected due to it being story and dialogue heavy, the game is also very engaging with possibly one of the best combat systems in a Metroidvania, boss fights are showstoppers but also the real gems of the game.

The game stays true to its Sekiro influence as the game is non-negotiable about its parry mechanic, it is both your main defense and main offense, the game gives you three different types of parries and manages to put a lot of variance into its combat because of it, by the time you master boss fights you'll feel like you're using every tool in your arsenal.

The art is simply phenomenal and the lead artist of the game ought to be given some kind of award.

Be mindful that the game is a bit buggy and glitchy but the developers seem on top of fixing any glaring issues with the game.

As long as you don't mind a difficult game with a parry-heavy focus, there is a LOT to enjoy here.

A lovely experience with plenty of content to offer, while it is a bit mild on the metroidvania side of things it has plenty of exploration and combat to dive into, the game just feels smooth and flows really well, fans of the bullethell genre may find it a bit on the easy side but it's a great entry point.

Amazing gameplay, you may have to fight a bit with the controls and core mechanic at first but once you get a grip on it it really flows, great presentation, great level design, great story that grips you from the very first minute, if you loved Katana Zero you'll love this as well.

After playing Wings of Vi for a good while I decided to do a proper review.


Usually I'd mention gameplay first, but I think the difficulty this presents will be the largest single deciding factor on whether you'll like it or not.

Wings of Vi is a very brutal experience, you'll likely find that the difficulty ramps up faster than you can learn the game, meaning you'll have to crank out repetitive grinding to overcome some areas, boss fights especially are showstoppers, as they're both tanky and spammy, so you'll need to dissect their patterns to nigh perfection if you want to progress. However Wings of Vi never pulls cheap shots, everything is approriately telegraphed so the amount of foresight required to beat obstacles is sparce, however if it's a laid back sunday platformer you're looking for, I'd look elsewhere.

Note that the game does have difficulty settings: "easy" is a lot more gratious, but by no means any kind of autowin, Grynsoft has voiced an interest in trying to soften the experience on "easy" difficulty to accomodate a broader audience though, I'll update this review if any significant progress happens on that front.


The platforming elements of Wings of Vi are heavily vested in both precision, timing as well as resource management: Using the right actions, at the right spots and in the right amount. You'll mainly be working with two mechanics: Jumping and fluttering. Jumping is a familiar friend and it works as you'd expect, with the exception that a lot of obstacles will require you to drop off the edge and then jump to manuveur below a platforming section, midair jumps of this sort count towards the same charge as a ground jump does, so learning the distinction of when to use one or the other becomes a vital choice. The flutter works as a sort of midair glide with a slight amount of lift, which you'll want to use when you want a greater amount of horizontal (rather than vertical) traverse.

While the platforming elements are mainly static, the combat feels somewhat more dynamic and RNG-based, where you have to learn the behaviour and patterns of enemies and react to them rather than use memorization. The boss fights have some RNG too, where which pattern (and subpattern) the boss cycles to is randomized, but the patterns themselves can be dissected and memorized in full, the boss fights are extremely engaging and fun, with a weighty feel of tension to them as you slowly and surely wear them down after having practiced the ordeal religiously.

The controls are extremely tight, midair control has a nice sweave to it, the flutter works as a counterstop, falling speed is light and feather-like, though the resource management part of the controls may feel unintuitive at first.


The game has a very pleasant and vibrant aesthetic with sleek-lined and fluid spritework, the music has delightful chiptunes and groovy waltz, sometimes with a bit of an apocalyptic intermix, the sound work is meaty and gritty to accomodate the demonic side to the story and the dialogue is witty and charming.


Wings of Vi is a well-realized platformer, with tight controls, difficult but imaginative platforming and a pleasing style, it's a grand adventure through a variety of themes, a little quirky and self-ironic and shouldn't be missed by any platforming fan looking for a challenge, highly recommended.

If you're a platforming fan, you owe it to yourself to play DeadCore.

It's a somewhat challenging FPS-platformer in the vein of Portal. Movement is very smooth and jumping has a fair bit of airhang to it to help you know your bearing, you always feel in control and the only jarring thing I can point to is some mild annoyances with narrowing down your hitbox at first.

The platforming challenges are imaginative and diverse and the level design is solid: levels have a very dynamic and animate feeling to them, where you in contrast feel like a manipulator, dissecting and disrupting the world around you. DeadCore is also quite branched, both in terms of official alternate routes as well as hidden shortcuts that can be found through exploiting dashes and rocketjumping.

One thing that bears mentioning though is that the levels lean heavily towards the GMOD near the end, where you activate gravity panels and flip in a variety of angles to get to otherwise unreachable locations, if motion sickness is an issue to you or you have a general apathy towards disorientation in platformers, then it's a valid concern and something that may put you off the game.

Otherwise, intriguing atmosphere, smooth controls and high quality level design, definitely recommended.

Even though Dustforce can be unforgiving and brutal to newcomers, no other platformer musters such a stunning display of beauty and fluidity once mastered.

If you don't mind honing your skills and being patient about progression, this game will certainly fall right down your alley, recommended for people who happily welcomes a challenge.