Recent reviews by Kaleith

I liked the prologue demo back when it became available during one of Steam's previous events so I was looking forward to the early access release, and so far it seems to be more of what I liked from when I first tried it.
I saw they added a setting in the options menu to use a 16:10 aspect ratio which makes it perfect for the Steam Deck, I plan to play quite a bit on it as the save syncs between devices.

So far I'm only a few runs into the game so I have yet to unlock most of the new content; I can see that they now have multiple seasons as scenarios with different events and modifiers, and new characters with a few weapons specific to them, which should help with variety as well as challenge.

I look forward to seeing how this will shape up as it gets updated but for now I'm having fun, as a fan of the genre it's nice to see some new mechanics like harvesting innovate the familiar formula of bullet heaven games

The story takes a while to get going but once you start putting together the pieces of the puzzle the experience you get is up there with the best in the genre like the Zero Escape series.
The puzzles are a bit hit or miss, with some being completely cryptic and obtuse while others being absolutely brilliant.

I patiently waited for the full release and once 1.0 finally dropped I got treated to what is easily the best roguelite I've ever played, and a snap-pick for my Game Of The Year award.

Everything feels so ridiculously polished that it's hard to point out a single flaw. After the critically acclaimed Bastion, Transistor and Pyre, Supergiant Games once again confirms they simply can't miss.

I really liked the first game in the series and I was following the development updates for Light At The End, looking forward to its release. After playing this sequel though I'm left disappointed, and with very little hope for the series' future.

Just to list some of the stuff that awaits you:

• missing voice lines
  
• missing or switched subtitles
  
• missing animations
  
• weird sound volume glitches
  
• very inconsistent 3d model and texture quality, with very detailed items looking out of place in poorly detailed areas and vice-versa
  
• inconsistent use of lip syncing (you'd see characters moving their lips for some lines, just to talk with their mouths shut in others)
  
• atrocious aliasing with anti-aliasing "on"
  
• controller support is listed as "partial", which usually means "playable with controller but there's a game launcher that needs the mouse", but here it actually means "you simply can't do some parts with a controller and we won't even tell you when keyboard and mouse is required"
  
• in at least 2 cutscenes there are 2 3D models of the same character in it (to be fair this was pretty funny at least)
  
• weirdly worded puzzle prompts that don't really explain what you're asked to do
  
• several soft-lock bugs that force you to ALT+F4 and replay sections (it happened twice to me)
  
• awfully slow walking speed and lack of a "skip dialogue line" function to pad the game as much as possible (combined with the softlocks, this got me to 4.1 hours when it could have taken less than 3, good job!)
  
• you're thrown into a group of survivors, most of which are super annoying, and the game is too short to make you care for any of them, making anything that happens in the story lack any kind of punch or weight

It's obvious that the game was released in an unpolished, unfinished and untested state, so it feels like the devs might have found themselves in a bad financial position and had to release whatever they had as quickly as possible, without properly disclosing this as an Early Access or beta release.

While they seem willing to look into fixing at least the most glaring bugs - the softlocks might be fixed by the time I write this - I think it's inexcusable that they released the game in such a state.
Most importantly no amount of bug fixing will fix the one-dimensional characters, poorly paced story and general lack of content. To achieve that they'd probably need to fully remake this game, but I seriously doubt that's gonna happen.

It remains to be seen if the series will be abandoned after this game or if they'll try to complete the trilogy, but as I mentioned in the intro I don't really have any hope for it either way.

I had my doubts going into it as I kept seeing everyone trying to compare it to the Dark Souls games and pointing out how different Sekiro is. Turns out, different doesn't mean worse.

Sekiro's definitely my game of the year so far and my favourite From Software game, and is recommended even to people that didn't like some Dark Souls elements as long as you can deal with the unforgiving experience.

I can't comment on anything more than my early impressions which were positive: the game stands apart from other similar games thanks to a slick presentation and very funny dialogue. Unfortunately my playthrough was stopped a couple of hours in due to a progress-stopping bug (this was around a year ago)

After checking the forums I found a thread from the devs that promised a new version of the game ("Dragon Fin Soup: Extra Chunky Edition") which would have included a lot of bugfixes as well as much needed gameplay improvements.

Trusting that thread I put the game aside, checking back from time to time to see if there were any news.

More than a year passed since the last dev posts, so it's safe to say that that promise is not going to be fulfilled and that the game is abandoned to its current state.

DFS had a lot of potential but it can't be recommended at this point.

Ori and the Blind Forest is a Metroidvania at heart, with a nice balance of combat, puzzle solving and exploration.

As many other games in the genre, an array of new abilities is slowly unlocked during the course of your journey that let you overcome previously impassable obstacles and let you explore further.

The game also offers an experience and level system that rewards you with skill points, which you can then spend to buy passive bonuses from a skill tree.
These passive bonuses go from simple stat boost to power-ups for your abilities and to brand new powers, like the ability to breathe underwater or to see hidden items on the map.

This gives the game a nice sense of progression and keeps things fresh, as every time you learn how to do something new, you'll immediately be prompted to use it to

The presentation is absolutely stunning, with a great use of color and light effects that help give fresh and distinctive looks to each of the zones of the game.

Besides the titular forest-y and tree-y areas there are also mountains, ruins, volcanoes, underwater areas, swamps and caves, each with their own color palette and music accompanying them.

The music itself is another strong point of the game, with a variety of orchestral pieces good enough to be listened to on their own.

I've seen multiple people complaining about the game's difficulty or being scared from trying because of it.
I have to say it's definitely a valid concern, as I've found myself struggling multiple times because of how unforgiving some platforming sections are or due to how much damage certain enemies can quickly dish out.

Still, the controls are responsive so I've never really felt like the game was to blame whenever I died. I just needed to git gud :3

I can't really find anything to complain about, so it's definitely recommended as long as you're ok with an action platformer with some really challenging sections.

I've had it on my wishlist since release, I was overjoyed when I received it as a gift from a friend and I had to dive right into it.

3 playthroughs later, time to sing its praises... except, it's actually hard to do so without spoiling anything.

The gameplay is not too different from other similar story-based RPG Maker, with some light puzzle elements in-between talking and exploration.
What makes the game different is the fact that it's heavy on meta- elements (which I absolutely love) and it smashes the fourth wall from the very beginning, making it clear that you, yes YOU the player are as much of a part of the game as any of the other characters.

The story of the game starts with Niko, a kid with curiously cat-like features, that after waking up in a foreign and dying world is addressed as "The Prophet" and tasked with restoring the world's Sun... which is actually a lightbulb.
You, as the literal god of the world, are asked to guide them and aid them in his quest, trying to understand the world and its inhabitants in the process.

I'm not gonna spoil anything more about the game, I can just say that it was a very unique experience that I would recommend to anyone that enjoys meta narratives in games like I do.
I was also surprised by how much the game makes you care about its world and its characters, starting with Niko themselves.

If you pick it up, make sure to stick around and play the game a second time on the SOLSTICE route (which you can access after beating it once). It really explains a lot and completely fleshes out the story.

Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons is often named as one of the best example of games that use the tools proper of the video game medium in a way that no other does.

The main "gimmick" of the game is the fact that you control the titular two brothers at once, using one analog control stick and one "action" button for each.
This mechanic, alien at first, quickly becomes second nature, letting you fully enjoy your travels through beautiful scenery following the brothers on a quest to find a cure for their dying father.

Talking about storytelling, that's another way Brothers sets itself apart from most other games, as the simple, fable-like story is told using gameplay and rare in-engine cutscenes.

You find out the personality and quirks of each brother by the way they interact with each other and with the people and creatures they encounter during the journey. You understand the power of their brotherly bond by the way they help each other out solving puzzles or getting out of difficult situations. All of this without ever having to read or hear a single word.

I would 100% recommend Brothers - A Tale of Two Sons if it wasn't already clear enough, as the way the game marries its storytelling to its mechanics is truly fascinating and definitely worth the 2 to 4 hours needed to complete it.

"Why don't you come to the planetarium?
The beautiful twinkling of eternity that will never fade, no matter what.
All the stars in the sky are waiting for you."

Beautiful art and music paired with a bittersweet story make this a well-worth read for people looking for a huge amount of feels packed in a short (~2.5-4h) kinetic novel package.