Recent reviews by Hexelf

The Takover is a very mixed bag. For every good thing I can say about it, there's also something negative.
The music is good, as are the cutscenes. The graphics are technically high end but it completely lacks a cohesive style. I actually rather like the plot, but it throws in some completely nonsensical stuff simply for the sake of variety.

There are some interesting ideas - such as throwbacks to other Sega games, bringing guns to a street brawl, the rage mode and various combo mechanics - but many of the stages and bosses are really uninspired, hitboxes are all over the place and controls can be clunky.

Overall, when The Takover tries do to its own thing it's pretty good. When it tries to copy SOR2 however - it does so very crudely. When it runs properly, it runs really well. When you have issues, the issues are game breaking. Basically, for every thing it does well or in an interesting way, The Takover drops the ball somewhere else. Plus points for variety and an interesting plot, but it's a brawler so that's not really what you're here for, is it?

Is it worth getting on sale? Maybe. But it's nowhere near as good as other more recent PC brawlers like Fight'N Rage or River City Girls. Play those first.

Barely functional fighting game with awful menus. Combos exist but the controls are stiff, hitboxes are shoddy at best. The grappler girl can't even finish her normal throw properly because the last part keeps missing. Combat gets real repetitive quickly.

DOA is still Queen.

Gourmet Warriors is a translated port of a classic SNES Beat 'Em up called Gourmet Sentai Bara Yarou. Up until this point, this surreal food-themed brawler - made by the same team that gave us Cho Aniki - has been a Japan exclusive.

You play as one of three characters, the big wrestler Bonjour, the sexy martial artist Madmoiselle and the sci-fi ninja Tres Bien. At first blush, Gourmet Warriors is a standard 16-bit brawler. You walk from left to right and fight enemies as you
go. You've got your basic punch combos, throws, flying kicks and dash strikes.

What sets this apart from other games of the era - outside of the outlandish story and off the rails character designs - is the sheer number gimmicks and special moves. For one, there is a dedicated "pose" button, that makes your character flash the goods and strike various poses based on your directional inputs. You can perform an irish whip on opponents after grab them, bouncing them off the wall allowing you to time a big special move. You can also spike them face down into the floor and perform "top rope" flying splashes off their feet. You can even start a game of tag with enemies by performing a move that sets them on fire, and see if you can win the ensuing "flame war" by making sure they don't get to tag you back - which can easier said than done.

There aren't too enemy types around but they're varied enough to get the job done. You end up fighting basic brutes, sturdy robot heads, playboy bunny girls with mean kicks, mini men that are more about trolling your character than an actual threat, muscle men in diving gear and more.

To help you with these guys, you can find special power-up on most stages. Aside from giving you a helpful chunk of health back it creates a "shadow copy" of your character. These guys will have all your moves and will do their best to fight the enemies the same way you do, or sometimes stand around just flexing if you've got it covered. This can be very helpful, but don't expect them to stick around for an entire stage because they're not the best at dodging.

At the end of each stage is a boss. These bosses are all unique and range from a magician who can transform your character and force you to fight as one of the basic enemies to a Cyber Bunny who goes all Super Saiyan on your crew after you knock the first lifebar out of her.

If you defeat a boss, you get to sit down for a breather while your robot chef prepares a meal based on items you picked up in the stage. You have to come up with the recipe yourself by picking two ingredients from the list, and I recommend starting with veggies as they tend to conjure up dishes that give you a lot of life back. In Gourmet Warriors, you don't get automatic health refills between stages, so you better pick a healthy combo!

All in all, Gourmet Warriors is a short but fun ride. While you only have one life, you can pick the continue option as many times as you like - which puts you right back on the last section of the game that you were playing. Doing so will allow you to beat the game in less than an hour.

That said, there are actually a huge number of secret characters. Almost every basic enemy can be played if you know how to select them. And while their move sets are limited, there are some cool surprises in there, such as the playboy bunnies having their own super move.

Oh and as with many Japanese games, the game comes with plenty of overtly sexual themes. And not just the booty of the main character Madamoiselle.

A fun diversion with intense gameplay. It's a simple premise - exit the screen in any direction... ANY direction. If any of the vines or unearthly machines touch you on the way there, you die instantly. Great music, interesting visuals, best played in short bursts. For one buck, it's worth it for the music alone.

Best
Ending
Ever

This version is even better than the Windows Store version.
- Full controller support even for PS4 pads without mods.
- All DLC is included for free.

Not just one of the best examples a super hero game done right, even in the future Arkham City will stand out as one of the best games of this entire generation.

This game is... dangerous.
And easily one of the best visual novels I've ever played!
If you love the genre, you owe it to yourself to play this story and learn what is behind the facade of these delightful girls!

I͕͈̙̪͙͈t̮̮̲'̸͔͚͎͈͖s͡ ͡f͚͢ͅŕ͉ẹ̷͈͔̥̲͖e͉̠̞͎ ̧̫̯t̫̖̝̬̟̦͓ơ͖o̧!̡̱̺͇̞͔͕ W͔͈̫̬̣ͅh̘̞̘̘͚͇͍y҉̫͙̤ ̶̼n̡̖o̤͞t͖̩̗ͅ?͚̗

While the game keeps getting better with each major update, it's hard to recommend Street Fighter 5 as a whole.
As a fighting game, it's fine, with a great selection of really diverse characters, interesting mechanics, really good character balance and more depth than people give it credit for.

The problem is the overall package that said fighting game mechanics come in. While the combo trials and character tutorials are well above average for the genre, Street Fighter 5 on PC is laughably poorly optimized and still lacks many key of the key features that you would find in literally every other game in the genre - the complete lack of an arcade mode being the most noteable. The game also comes with disturbingly long load times, heavy emphasis on DLC-schemes and it won't work well with a surprising amount of controllers.

The story mode is shallow, the survival mode manages to be both exceptionally repetitive and almost entirely luck-based,
and once you're done with them, all the game really has to offer is a variety of training modes and playing others online.

If you have a high-end computer, are primarily interested in playing online and you're fine with things like regular balance overhauls that can completely change the meta, using vanilla Xbox controllers or sticks and a heavy focus on DLC - this game might be for you.

But don't be surprised if you lose interest after a few hours when you run out of things to do.

Fans gave this game a hard time when it was first released, but I never understood why. The developer id have consistently given us some of the most iconic shooters in the entire genre, and while Rage is not the best game they ever made, it's very, very good!

Make no mistake, this game is NOT like Fallout - it's 90% traditional FPS that simply allows you to have a say in how many missions you take on and in what order. There is also some mandatory racing, but it's not that hard to get the hang of.

The plot is largely forgettable, simply providing context for the universe you're in. As it is, the setting is heavily inspired by the Mad Max-universe where you play an enhanced human fighting against a variety of evils such as ravaging gangs, fanatical mechano cults, dangeros mutants, zombies and the like.

What makes Rage stand out is the idTech engine and megatextures joining forces to create an extremely detailed universe, where even random NPCs are exceptionally well designed and animated. Rage also features a truly great selection of id-approved guns, all of which can fire a variety of ammunition, and a variety of useable items that you can carry into battle.

The player can dispose of enemies at close range with the classic id-shotty, build exploding RC-cars and drive them into a group of enemies from a safe distance, throw out neck-seeking razor sharp boomerangs, mow down enemies with an actual vehicle, or nail enemies to walls using the rebar launcher as they explore the wasteland. Once your options have expanded a bit, the game can be a LOT of fun, and the AI really helps too as it is smart enough to really keep you on your toes.

I highly recommend getting The Scorcher's DLC as it gives you access to one of the most fun weapons in the game, gives you even more to do in the main campaign and also a sexy sidekick to oogle if you're into that.

Overall, a very, very solid shooter from a legendary developer.