Recent reviews by Cha1ner

Excellent game made by one developer. Worth at full price.

If you know the genre, this is a streamlined ToME.

If you do not, this is a rogue-like that focuses on making overpowered character builds. No hunger/thirst/sleep, just pure theorycraft. Each turn you can attack, move, stand still, or cast a deity power. It may look simple, but the synergies and combos come from abilities that trigger each time “something” happens, such as block, summon, deal damage, and many more. All 90 (!) skills are available since the beginning, so you can plan ahead or adapt during your run. There are also many items (with unique stats and unique skills) that can support or even define your build. Now it may look complex, but everything is well explained in-game.

And yes, you can make your screen explode by pressing one key :)

Nowhere Prophet is a roguelike deck-building card game, something like Slay the Spire meets Hearthstone.

You have two different decks: convoy and leader. The convoy deck contains your “creatures”. It is flexible since you can put in/out followers between encounters, so you can adapt to different situations. The leader deck contains your “spells”. It defines your main strategy, and you can add/remove cards every time you level up. Finally, the equipment will provide additional active/passive skills to further polish your build.

The more you play, the more convoys and leaders you unlock. It has 3 difficulty levels, so you can explore different convoy-leader synergies in easy mode and then ramp up the challenge.

The most refreshing (and controversial) game mechanic is that, when your followers die in combat, they get wounded. If a wounded follower dies in combat again, they are death for the entire run. Honestly, I was skeptical about this at first. But after playing more, I now see the advantages and the fun. Indeed, some followers are better when wounded since they are cheaper to play! Now, is it worth the risk? That’s for you to decide 😉

This is a hidden gem. I do recommend it at full price.

This game has great visuals and a good atmosphere thanks to the Warhammer Fantasy IP. But as a Diablo-like RPG, I cannot recommend it. It only has a handful of builds, and the itemization is not engaging at all. Even if you are not a hardcore ARPG player, it will get boring fast due to the lack of enemy variety and repetitive and soulless map design (the last act is essentially one map, which you play either backward or forward).

Get it on sale if you are a huge fan of the franchise.

Actual role-playing game where stats, skills, and choices have weight. I just finished my first playthrough without combat and I enjoyed it a lot! It is short but I do appreciate that, I am not in the mood for a >40h CRPG. I run into several bugs (expected because EA) but nothing game-breaking. I will definitively explore other storylines at full release.

Very solid idle/incremental game, even in Early Access. The progression between runs is satisfying and QoL features are already there. Also, no MTX, totally worth the price. I would warn that you cannot leave it completely unattended for several hours as other titles, but it makes for a nice second monitor game.

Honestly, just try the free demo for yourself (around 9 h of content). If at the end you get it, you will keep all your progress :)

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Midnight Protocol is a turn-based strategy/puzzle game. You role-play a hacktivist, Data. You build your own deck, interact with NPCs, and advance through the main & side missions. Think twice since your actions will impact both your reputation and the story. I really enjoy the UI, the keyboard-only controls, and how immersive it is. Everything is carefully designed in the sense that I do “feel” like a hacker.

If you are on the fence about it, try the demo; the game will speak for itself. Keep in mind that the demo is essentially a tutorial to show the basic mechanics. You will have more freedom in the actual gameplay, using a bunch of software (active skills) and hardware (passive skills) to approach the missions in different ways.

Kudos to the devs for creating such amazing and unique game!

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This isometric ARPG is a masterpiece.

The dual-class system and the thorough itemization allow for a vast build variety. The handcrafted maps are full of secrets locations and bosses. The faction and reputation mechanics give you even more goals to work toward. It is offline, play at your own pace. And there is no punishment for experimentation, one can respec skill points easily (I’m looking at you, PoE).

After all these years, still drawing breath, I see.
Thank you Crate for everything!