Análises recentes de Adanos

The Lost Crown is a pretty solid Metroidvania experience. Combat is smooth and fun with several flashy finishers that are cool to watch. Map exploration is great, and being able to make screenshot map markers is a welcome addition I hope to see used in future games.

I played through "Hero" difficulty and thought the experience was balanced and enjoyable. Bosses offer a fun challenge and I really appreciated being able to immediately retry rather than having to run back from a save point. The mid-game boss encounter is surprisingly punishing, but some strategic use of amulet bonuses helps considerably.

The game has many puzzles and challenges, and as a puzzle game fan I thought the designers did a good job in this area. Most are platforming based, some explore interesting mirror image mechanics, and a few rely on creativity and observation (my favorite). There are also optional tough challenges and time trials available to those with even more patience than myself.

The setting of semi-historical Persia continues to be pretty cool in this iteration, but the overarching story I found to be a bit lacking. Generally things could have been better explained and more interesting. As a fairly straightforward game (when compared to Blasphemous or Hollow Knight) it was strange that character decisions and plot points didn't always make sense. There is almost zero subtlety to much of the dialogue and many scripted encounters feel like something right out of a shounen anime; plenty of style but not much substance. The conclusion to the story was bewilderingly vague and honestly kind of disappointing.

On a side note, they spared no effort on the soundtrack which uses a full orchestra for some epic tracks that don't quite match Castlevania: Symphony of the Night but definitely have some of that power.

I would rate this a solid B+ for its fun gameplay, well designed puzzles, and average story. I'd recommend it to anyone who's a fan of the genre, but there are better ones out there.

What a surprising letdown.

First of all, the controls are awkward and not intuitive. I find myself consistently pressing the wrong buttons and having a hard time navigating overly complex menus. There isn't clear guidance offered on how to effectively use tonics and other consumables either.

The realism is high enough that gameplay feels laborious and complicated. There are too many things requiring maintenance and too many actions that need to be done manually. Why do I need to individually pick up the contents of every drawer? NPCs are too eager to start fights and combat is not very fun.

The pacing is slow, which wouldn't usually be a bad thing, but the story is not gripping me and the world, beautiful though it may be, already feels tedious to travel through. The general gameplay experience is one of feeling adrift, inconvenienced, and uninspired to progress. The detail and dedication that went into this game is evident, but I think I'd rather watch than play.

If you like Halo, it's kinda like Halo, but with mechs. Pretty engaging story and fun combat with extreme mobility.

Pretty, charming, and cozy despite its heavier themes. Focuses more on mood and metaphor than story which means you kinda need to be in the right mental space to fully appreciate the message. The frequent narration can be excessive and the diary entries rather vague, but the gentle hopefulness is part of its charm. I found the puzzles to be well-designed and enjoyable; not too challenging, but some are tricky.

As a direct continuation of the first game, the story and world building here are just as good and the gameplay just as enjoyable. They've added some new void abilities as well as bone charm crafting, but otherwise it plays very much the same. They shake things up during one mission with the addition of a very cool timeline jumping gadget which makes that level particularly fun and memorable.

In short, if you enjoyed the first Dishonored this second installment is totally worth checking out.

A short but sweet map manipulation adventure. There are plenty of games that expect you to creatively interact with the map, but creatively altering the map itself requires some different critical thinking, which is always welcome.

Swaying between relaxing and playful at points to wistful and forlorn at others, Spiritfarer is an emotionally charged ride. I think it gave me an appreciation for the beauty and grace that can be found in loss that I may not have had before. And yet I can only imagine how much more relatable and cathartic this experience might be for someone who has navigated the process firsthand.

The story is slow to come into focus, but the more you glean of it the more profound it becomes. The small glimpses you're shown into each spirit's life and struggle are enough to pull you in (for that hug), and though I felt a twinge of dissatisfaction as their stories concluded more quickly than I wanted them to, this is a story about impermanence and fading memories, so it feels genuine.

The gameplay is for the most part casual with roughly equal parts management and adventuring. Each spirit you take in allows you to advance in some way, and while progression is mostly linear you can encounter some in different orders. This can cause issues, as one spirit in particular is found through very different means than the others and I spent a good deal of time wandering around without a clue until eventually finding him by accident, which was a bit frustrating.

Also worth noting is that towards the end of the game, with fewer tasks to fill the time, the waiting involved for the various in-game timers becomes more noticeable. The repeat trips between locations, even with shortcuts, also start to feel a bit tedious. It's safe to say that several hours of my playtime were probably absorbed by waiting around to get somewhere or for something to happen.

But these issues aside this is a beautiful and memorable game that I recommend highly.

Excellent language-driven puzzle game about the importance of interconnection and cooperation for our survival. Clearly written in defiance to God's meddling in the Tower of Babel, I see this as an empowering story of human perseverance and triumph over dogmatic authority. I think the languages could have varied a bit more in syntax to make translation more of a challenge, but what they came up with was still plenty interesting.

Suspenseful murder mystery that requires diligent detective work to crack (seriously do take notes). The story is engrossing and involves a web of characters just vast and intricate enough to avoid becoming a chore to unravel. The plot twists are hard to predict and you'll be led astray several times before reaching the end.

A couple of puzzles lean a bit past tricky into obscure, but for the most part it was a fun and satisfying challenge to figure it all out. Good thing the story takes place several decades ago and everyone leaves physical journals lying around.

Movement and item interaction can be a little clumsy, and I fell through the world or got catapulted into off-limits zones a few times, but the rudimentary game design is adequate for the kind of game this is. Highly recommend!

I'd like to begin by saying that I believe Survivor is a worthy sequel to Fallen Order. Don't let the mixed reviews scare you away, it's a solid game.

I thoroughly enjoyed the continuation of the story and the visual quality is outstanding. While some character decisions don't seem entirely believable, betraying a degree of dramatic one-dimensionality, the characters are generally compelling and well written.

Exploration and gameplay are as enjoyable as ever, living up to my expectations of a Soulslike that is more enjoyable and respectful of my time than the Souls games themselves.

Combat starts to feel a bit cumbersome with many skills to use and so many blaster shots to interrupt every of them, but it generally feels satisfying and balanced. With the flagrant exception of Oggdo & Spawn with their bs speed and tongue attacks.

Beyond PC port issues (largely fixed by the time I started), the game ran smoothly enough for me with the occasional crash. Intro videos are still juttery and that "Optimizing Game Files" seriously needs a fix already.

I waited a year to weather the problematic release, and I'm glad I got to experience it as it is now. The future is uncertain, but I hope we see more of Cal's story in the future.