Recent reviews by Cryptican

Moonstone Island has me in a choke-hold. I have almost 19 hours at time of review, and I bought the game not even 5 days ago.

Yes, I know. I need to touch grass.

All jokes aside, this game is addicting. As everyone describes, it's a Stardew Valley x Pokemon x Slay the Spire game, which came across strange to me at first. See, I LOVE Pokemon and Slay the Spire, but Stardew never caught my interest. I own it on switch, sure, but I played maybe an hour. Something about it didn't click with me. So, when I saw this game streamed by a friend of mine on twitch, subsequently seeing those 3 games named in numerous reviews, I was halfway hesitant.

That was a week ago. It only took me 2 day to gave and buy the game, and I'm so glad I did.

Moonstone has a ton more than one may realize off the bat, and it's definitely a slowly paced game. Recipe unlocks are behind quest walls and dungeon chest RNG for the most part, and resources are definitely a time grind. But for me, I think it's the music, sound effects, and overall atmosphere that make it feel not as grindy as other games. The pixel art is super cute, and while the OST overall is great, there's a couple songs in there that have me wanting to buy the soundtrack soon. Both of those make breaking rocks and chopping trees less boring than it could be.

Spirits are definitely interesting. As far as I can tell, they have no evolutions, and I haven't seen any cards 100% unique to a spirit yet. They do have varying base stats but, overall, I think you could make a viable team with whichever spirits you like if you're just a casual player like me! That's my thought so far, at least. I was concerned at first at the low number of Spirits overall, but it seems like they are adding a few more with each update so, I have faith that they will continue to be expanded upon.

Not to mention, there is a shiny mechanic just like Pokemon. The base chance is .2%, which is higher than Pokemon and much preferred. I like being able to have a chance to find something rare, but without it being astronomical. I mean, I've already found 2, which just makes me want to play more to find more!

My only negative point at this time is just the number of mechanics - or pieces of mechanics - that aren't really obvious. I've found myself asking a lot in the Discord, which has been extremely helpful, but isn't perfect for anyone who may not use Discord. For example, the fact that you can move a little while on the Balloon isn't really clear, or the fact that the ring at the top left changes color based on the Spirits levels on the island compared to your party's.

Overall, this game is definitely a time sucker, but well worth it if it's even relatively up your alley.

Lethal Company is an amazing game I went into blind. I had heard the hype but hadn't checked it out at all, until a friend bought the game for me and asked me to play. Now, it's definitely Top 5 of my favorite games ever. Why? Simple:

It's endlessly funny, and offers a different experience each time.

Now, a couple important factors to my review: I am an avid modder of this game now, and play with new people daily. I think both 100% help move this game along. It's a great game at it's core to allow for this, but I can't say I'd be this amazed with the Vanilla experience alone.

Regardless, I am thrilled to see where this game goes. Highly recommend, especially if you have a group of friends to play with.

Stray Gods was a game I purchased expecting to dislike. I've never been a musical person, but I love voice actors Laura Bailey and Ashley Johnson, so I was intrigued. I watched the livestream VOD and decided to take my chances.

Without a shadow of a doubt, it was a great decision.

Stray Gods was absolutely amazing to play through. Almost 6 hours straight, until I reached an ending, and I'm excited at the idea of following every other path through again. More than once it caught me by surprise, made me sad, excited, and angry. The art is beautiful, and so are the compositions. And the story was compelling, and made me want nothing more than to keep playing.

My only negative comment, is that some of the dialogue options outside musical numbers feels arbitrary. Some are obvious to lead to romance or heartbreak, as indicated with symbols, but the rest feel rather pointless. And while I'm sure they do effect the narrative in some way - at the moment of the decision, it doesn't reflect that way.

Beyond that, I have nothing bad to say. This was an amazing experience, with an amazing soundtrack, that I do plan to pick up in the future.

Over a year ago, on March 22nd, 2022, I left a long review for DL2. It was something I stood behind strongly, in support of Techland and the Dying Light series, despite some negative aspects at the time. I still would have recommended the game to anyone. I even bought the game for some people.

Now, though, as of September 7th, 2023, I no longer support this game, and likely won't again.

Everything has been preached a million times before this update came to fruition, and even now, so I won't has out every detail. I'll just bullet point the ones that struck me the most.

-DL points. Just like every other company with ♥♥♥♥♥♥ digital currency, they are designed to keep you buying more. 500 points for $5 when the bundles you CAN'T buy in the store currently are 550 at minimum. And even then, they are looking to phase out flat priced DLC. Not to mention, if you buy the $10 package for 1100 points, you are going to end up with unused points one way or another. Wasted money until you spend more. Worse than if they just upcharged their DLC prices.

-Banning of "Cheats". Hear me out before you flip out on this - the segment on cheats includes mods. Things like spyware, I understand. Even the work arounds to accessing DLC without paying, I understand. But this is a PvE game. Primarily singleplayer, although co-op does exist. If someone wants an easier time... why should they not be allowed? At best, this ruling needs clarification.

-Continuous item nerfs, same issue as the above. In a PvE game with no PvP incentive, why does it really matter?

-General delays in promises. The Negan knife animation is my most recent example. It is now included with this update, or should be according to the notes (I forgot to check in-game, will update this later), but it was SUPPOSED to be on release of the paid DLC.

Overall, I'm disappointed for all the same reasons most other people are. Maybe if something changes, I'll be happy to support the game again. Otherwise, I guess I'll just be killing zombies when I feel like it.

Addictive and fun game, though quite challenging at times. I love the different aspects and quests but I feel like a training room to practice in or better explanation of how to get away from volatiles after the drop incident would be nice (it took me forever to learn how to get away)