Recent reviews by Avicou-12

This game was a surprise, and probably my favorite thing I’ve played this year.

Nine Sols shakes up the standard Metroidvania formula in a few ways to absolutely excellent effect.
A deeply cohesive visual style, buttery smooth combat with an in-depth parrying system, and an impressive narrative arc more than compensate for a few slightly rough spots of platforming shenanigans and over-tuned enemy encounters later in the game.

Absolute recommend.

Still Wakes the Deep is a technically impressive, but narratively unfocused, horror-themed walking simulator. I was entertained enough that I played it all in one sitting, but I don’t recommend paying full price. I got it around 40% off and I think that’s a fairer value.

The game’s setting is astounding in scale and attention to detail. It’s one of the most immersive games I’ve ever played. The oil rig is this monumental structure that feels as big as a small city. You will feel so small playing this game.

Music, voice acting, and sound design could not have been better, and I mean that. The dichotomy of live strings and vocals with a huge mechano-synthesizer was a pleasure to listen to, and really kept me hooked. It intertwined seamlessly with the industrial noise going on all around you.

The character’s voices sold me on their stories immediately, the passion and authenticity in their delivery was balanced very well with the actual script. Speaking of characters, I want to thank the design team for making these people look normal. They look like people who work on an oil rig. They’re not fashion models or Overwatch characters.

The gameplay itself is barebones, because it is just a walking simulator, but I was very focused on the narrative and environment. I found it quite refreshing that there was no lore bits or collectibles, you just… play the game. While I do find the level sequences quite short (usually under 10 minutes), the result is that a real full game released in 2024 using Unreal Engine 5 is… just over 10 Gb. Astounding.

I found the story to be simple and pretty predictable, but reasonably well done. There’s not any real character development, as too much of the player character’s backstory is exposed in the beginning, but this is more survival focused with elements of a backstory rather than a Genuine Emotional Journey. The characters make a few decisions and things happen, good enough.

However, you do not make a decision. Not once. You are railroaded through the entire game, aside from the very beginning where you explore a small section of the map and meet the crew. Every single doorway not directly related to your current objective? Blocked, broken, locked.

I mostly didn’t mind this in the moment, to be honest, which is why it sits here as a neutral point. But on retrospection, it would not have been much extra work to hide some horror or a short optional passage behind a door you have to make the decision to open.

The game is not scary. Like at all. I get scared pretty easily in games that I’m not even half this immersed in, and the reason is, as nicely as possible: The monsters look unfinished.

I do appreciate that the thing that takes over the rig, this indescribable Lovecraftian entity, does stay that way the entire time. It’s not hinted at in a series of journals, no one tells you a folk tale their Mammy told them when they were wee, no one even really comments on how it looks both inviting and incredibly dangerous.

But the monsters you encounter all look like chewed bubble gum. They have some distinguishing features, but they’re basically without rhyme or reason. Extra eyes, extra arms, antlers (in the ocean?), and a few of them have gut-tentacles they use to get around. One of them is different, but its design is so bad I laughed out loud at it when it started chasing me. Utilizing an approach like Shadow over Innsmouth, where they are more subtly disfigured into having fish-like features, would have been much more effective, because they would at least resemble the characters you meet in the first part of the game.

In fact, most of the gore, gut meat, and other viscera strewn about the place looks like it’s from a Playstation game, and it’s 10 times more noticeable when you’re running Ultra graphics and the environment around you might as well be coming from a GoPro.

All my pulse increasing experiences came from the environment. Missing a jump or having to swim through dark and creaking machinery underneath the rig were much scarier than being chased by an under cooked meatball. The only time I felt scared by “A Creature” was the 1st section, where you are avoiding it through meandering corridors blocked by pipes. I was fortunate enough to not see it at all, to the point where I thought it was just pre-scripted sounds and dialogue. It does have an actual in game model, but it looks like nothing.

Overall, the game is ambitious. A lot of the more material aspects of that ambition are realized, and while the shortcomings are noticeable, they didn’t hamper my enjoyment that much.

Way to ruin everyone's fun, SONY.

Blasphemous 2 is the sequel to one of my favorite games to come out in the last 5 years or so. If you’ve played the first game you pretty much know what to expect.


More fluid pixel art makes combat feel super smooth. Great new enemies, returning enemies, and overall boss and environment visuals are super spectacular. The tone of this game is less dingy/grimy than the first one, but it goes in a different direction, with a lot more variety of background than “non-descript tunnel”. Carlos Viola once again killed it with the soundtrack, please buy it on Bandcamp.

Continues the story of the Penitent One, returned from death to stop a new threat and with new NPCs will help you on your journey. As with the first game, most of the lore is maintained in collectibles. The only thing that jarred me was that the cutscenes in this game are not pixelated like the first one. They’re a very simple and sanitized 2D render. I didn’t like it at first, but the rest of the game more than makes up for it.

Combat is way more varied than in B1, and it’s this game’s biggest strength. You choose one of three weapons to start (Rapier gang), and find the others in the “early game” areas as you progress your way through combat encounters and environmental puzzles. Each weapon feels different, but is strong and satisfying in their own way. Similarly, prayers are pared down from the first game to enhance their strengths and differences. Most of them are returning from B1.

Rosary beads make their return, going from general gameplay enhancement to your primary source of damage mitigation. The “relic” system from B1 is entirely replaced. You get several permanent new ways to traverse the game without having to constantly equipment swap. Your new combat enhancement comes from weapon skill trees, as well as altarpieces, which provide passive stats and synergies (look out for secret playstyle changing synergies! They glow gold!).

There are fewer enemies that make me say “♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥!” when I die to them. There are more “squishy” enemies that die in one hit, and there are more mini-boss style encounters. The bosses each have interesting gameplay gimmicks that tread different ground from the first game. All the non-final game bosses are pretty easy with the right weapon and prayer set up. The final boss stretch is quite tough, but not quite Crisanta Phase 3 tough.

Overall, Blasphemous 2 is a must play for any fan of the first game. I look forward to the NG+ options and DLC.

Gotham Knights is the most mixed-bag game I’ve ever played and not dropped immediately.
I wanted the experience of being these characters, and I got it, for better or worse.

Pros:
The game is fun to play, and the story’s plot is pretty engaging up until the last few hours.
The night-to-night gameplay loop allows you to explore the city, fight crime, and complete challenges on your terms. The fact that you can choose to main a character or switch every night is a huge plus. There’s plenty of enemy variety, and each character feels and plays very different.
Gotham City is dope. It’s big, it’s colorful, and it’s memorable. I don’t care that the city doesn’t feel “lived in”, like some people. It’s a pointless complaint because all the extra NPC pedestrians these people apparently crave would do absolutely nothing. You don’t interact with pedestrians unless you’re running over them on the Bat Cycle.
Probably my favorite aspect of the game is the character interactions. Comms, cutscenes, and each Knight has their own little quest sets to resolve a personal issue involving the death of Batman. The writing in these is much better than the main plot.

Cons:
The game’s ending is just dumb. It goes against the entire theme and message of the rest of the game. If you don’t care about that you will enjoy this game more for it.
The process of unlocking all the character’s abilities is a total slog, since you have to complete the same arbitrary goal 4 times if you want to unlock it for each character. You either have to spend a ton of time grinding or wait until New Game+ to get all 8 abilities for each character.
The inventory management is horrible. It’s messy, it’s buggy, and each update introduces new garbage to sit through without fixing any of the compounding issues.
Combat is pretty fluid once you understand it well (despite the horrible tutorials that almost actively impede you from learning it), but the rest of the control scheme is very awkward, particularly navigating menus.
All the extra content is “end-game” focused, with “raids” for better gear to do more nothing with, instead of extra character stories or villains to thwart. The developers want this to be a live service game so bad but refuse to actually utilize the strengths of that system. Instead, we have a finished (still slightly buggy) single-player / multiplayer PvE experience and a bunch of tacked on stuff to do for a few hours.

Overview:
God of War 4 is an amazing port of an even more amazing game. Absolute recommend, basically zero flaws with this game. As someone who was only a distant follower of the series before this, I would recommend this game both to franchise devotees and newcomers alike. It's not just an amazing God of War game, or even an amazing game overall. It's an accomplishment in and of itself. This game is full of love for the story, the characters, the myths it draws from, and you, the player.

Story:
God of War follows Kratos setting out to bring his wife’s ashes to their final resting place, accompanied by their son, Atreus. What follows is an arduous journey that will test Kratos’ power, strength, and will, as he tries to guide his son on his path to being a hunter, warrior, and better man than his father.
The story in this game is phenomenal. I know the previous GoW titles have their serious moments , but the overall tone is pretty campy. This game takes it to another level. This game’s depth of care and character for the actual person Kratos was and is trying to be, is unparalled. Amazing character development for Kratos, meaningful establishment of a bunch of characters from the Eddic sources (even the ones only mentioned by name!) and some fantastic twists on well-known stories.

Gameplay:
There are three major components to this game: combat, travelling/parkour, and puzzle-solving. All are incredible. Combat is fluid and intuitive, and with enough familiarity Kratos can take on enemies much stronger than himself. Travelling, whether walking, climbing, or boating, is smooth* 99% of the time; rowing on the water is pleasantly accompanied by stories told by Kratos himself and, later, Mimir. The variety of puzzles in this game surprised me, as did the difficulty: perfectly straddling the line between “clever” and “I feel dumb for not getting this sooner”.

Art Direction and Graphics:
This game is gorgeous. Seriously. Great character design, amazing architecture, and an absolutely spectacular world. Kratos’ transformation from a goatee wearing beefcake to a bearded weathered woodsman is such a huge step up. All the new main cast are similarly brilliant, and the extra detail added to the cameos of characters from older games add a new flair to familiar faces. Great variety of enemy designs to slaughter as well.

Sound, Music and Voice:
Sound design in this game is crisp as all get out, same for the music, really loving that baritone choir chanting through the main theme, BearMcCreary is a top-notch composer. Voice work is top notch for the main cast, everyone knows Christopher Judge’s “BOY.” by now. I really like that for an action game, even when the fights are raging, not everyone is SHOUTING AT THEIR LUNGS THE WHOLE TIME. Having characters talk like actual people instead of rage machines does a lot for dynamics. I’d like to give a personal shout out to my favorite voice in this game, the blue Dwarf Brok, voiced by Robert Craighead.


Misc:
The game feels and runs great, however, there are some minor issues I experienced that were a slight annoyance. Most commonly, when running for extended periods of time, Kratos will occasionally just stop in his tracks for no discernable reason. In addition, several times when performing parkour, the jump prompts will not display for a few seconds. These slight delays are probably a quirk from the port, and I cannot complain if that is the worst it gets.

Sable is an adventure game in the trust sense. It is not flawless, but it is full of wonder. Absolute recommend. Very rarely does an “open-world” style game actually deliver on its core promise: That you are free to choose your own path, and in consequence, you will be responsible for your own entertainment. Sable resides on the desert world of Midden, a place full of sand, people, and history. The game takes you through the title character’s Gliding, a seeking of the self that the young of Midden are privileged to have before choosing their profession.

There is so much you can do in such a rich world, it would be a shame for me to spoil anything of substance. You will venture through the land, exploring vast open dunes, full of cities, settlements, ruins and so much more. With an original soundtrack by Japanese Breakfast that adapts to in-game conditions, no matter what you do, you will have the perfect accompaniment.

As wonderful as this game is, there are minor issues to be aware of before purchase. The menus can be tedious to navigate. At high speeds, the hover-bike physics get a little funny. Some of the mini-map icons are not accurate to the world. The good news is that Shedworks is still actively working on the game to resolve these minor irritations.

Enjoy your Gliding, and make of it what you wish.

Injustice 2 is a highly polished arcade fighting game that builds on the foundation of Injustice: Gods Among Us. As someone who isn't really a fighting game kind of person, I'm getting much more enjoyment out of this game than I expected.

Story:
A continuation of Gods Among Us, this game picks up several years after Superman and the rest of the Regime is either captured, killed, or banished. It features Batman and his new Justice League attempting to handle both the resurgence of Superman's allies as well as the looming threat of Brainiac. The campaign's flow is better than the first one, and the voice acting is leagues better, with Batman, Harley, and Brainiac being my personal favorites.

Graphics and Sound Design:
Graphics are awesome, a huge step up from the first game (which looked good for its time). Effects in combat are easy to read and consistently represented. Sound is similarly top notch, punches and kicks sound satisfying, and special moves are also well represented.

Gameplay:
Fighter styles range from combo-reliant to special-based, with some characters being easy to pick up and others being much harder to learn. Each kit feels unique, and each supermove is a blast to execute. Compared to the first game, combos feel smoother and specials feel better. Timing your inputs feels more natural, I don't find yourself staggering your button presses nearly as often as I did in GAU, although that may just be me learning a bit faster.

Outside of fighting, there is also a gear collection system, offering adjustments to looks and stats. It's lootbox based, but being very easy to acquire offsets that annoyance for me.

Single-player:
Campaign is a good introduction to the basics of the game play, with more in depth tutorials being available as well in a "Learning Menu". After the campaign is finished, the Multiverse is unlocked, providing a huge variety of situations to fight through for gear and lootboxes.

Multi-player:
I have not played multi-player, so I cannot speak as to whether or not the connection is good enough for a fair fight.

Blasphemous is an intense, atmospheric metroidvania-style game that sports a fantastic blend of combat, light platforming, and quest-like activities that delve into the story of this twisted world.

Aesthetics:
Art and sound for this game are both phenomenal. This game's graphics are extremely beautiful, turning the constraints of pixel art on its head and using it to its full advantage. Beautiful and grim scenery is inhabited by fascinating and sometimes horrific enemies and NPCs. The music complements and at times overshadows the visuals, utilizing brilliant motifs and instrumentation to throw you into this world inspired by Andalusia (Southern Spain) and Catholicism in equal parts. The voice acting is, in my opinion, top notch. Some people say it's campy. To counter, I say this game has a dark and dramatic style, and the voice acting works quite well for establishing the world.

Story and Lore:
Blasphemous follows you, the Penitent One, on a spiritual journey across the land of Cvstodia. This journey's trials, as well as its ultimate goal, are delivered to you by Deogracias, the game's companion/narrator. While most of the story itself is inferred, rather than explicitly outlined to the player, you glean information about Cvstodia through lore found on the game's items and your interactions with bosses and NPCs.

Combat:
The Penitent One's sword play starts simple, but is upgraded throughout Cvstodia as you progress. Its attack/parry gameplay core is tight and well-measured, rewarding consistent combos and good timing. This is supplemented by prayers, a very on-theme analogue for spell casting. Prayers range from simple and quick to slow and devastating, and consume your resource bar accordingly.

Zones, Enemies, and Bosses:
As is standard for this type of game, the world is divided into sections with distinct backgrounds and hazards, as well as (mostly) unique enemies that populate them. These zones are explored and re-explored as you progress, with new parts being unlocked after finding the right items or secret passages. The enemies all rely on pattern based combat, so they become less of a threat the more familiar you are with them.

Bosses are much the same way, although they tend to be much more punishing than your average creep. Combat is supplemented by searching for and acquiring Relics and Rosary Beads which alter your game play, as well as Collectables that are purely for the lore-head and the completionist. Platform puzzles, challenge rooms, and fake walls are all present to accentuate the combat-driven game experience. There are also various quests-likes that grant you some of the aforementioned items in addition to more NPC interaction, although they are mostly non-essential to getting to the end of the game.

DLC:

Stir of Dawn:
Technically, Stir of Dawn is FreeLC, but you need to achieve True Torment (NG+) to access most of its active content (although things like game play improvements and new zones are implemented into the base game as a patch). It adds a handful of new bits and bobbles, as well as some awesome new boss fights that leave the base game's feeling just a bit dull. Enemies do more damage in NG+, and you have the option to take an extra Penitence to change up the combat.

Sacred Sorrows:

The second FreeLC is Sacred Sorrows, which adds a Boss Rush mode as well as a cross-over with Blood-Stained: Ritual of the Night.

The Boss Rush is separate from the main game, and provides you a playlist of bosses to defeat all in a row, with the goal of getting a fast time. You select your save file when beginning a Boss Rush, so you get that file's rosary beads, prayers, and power level.

Miriam's Challenges are an unexpected kind of bonus addition: 'secret' platforming sections. No combat here, just some fun but sometimes frustrating courses you have to beat on a time limit. The design is solid, but some of the sections are just you waiting on an elevator/moving platform with little to no agency over how much time it takes.

Hint: At least 3 of the 5 courses have at least one skip in them you may need to reach the time limit.


Wounds of Eventide:

Wounds of Eventide is the final update to the game, adding new content such as two secret (non-story) bosses, a new late-game area, and an entirely new ending achieved by doing a quest in the first 'half' of the game. To start this chain of events, you need to find a secret room to get an item before fighting Esdras, the defender of the Bridge of Cavalries.

This last bit of content was a mixed bag for me.The two new bosses? Fantastic, one of them is my favorite fight in the entire game now. The new area? Challenging but interesting. The music? Oh my word, it's spectacular.

The more lackluster part is the new ending, and how convoluted it is to get for not much payoff. You have to start the quest before the Bridge fight, or you're locked out of what I glean is the "true" ending. The quest itself is fine once it's started, it's pretty explicit in what you need to do. But the way all of this changes the final boss and end cutscene doesn't add much to the game's experience.

Aragami is a stealth/assassination game that prioritizes staying unseen and really learning the layouts of the levels.

Story:
The story is pretty predictable, but still well done. The pacing of the missions is nice, the missions are a good length, and a lot of extra juicy bits of lore are revealed in the dialogue between enemies.

Art & Music:
Both are very, very good. The environments are wonderfully textured, and the character models being pseudo cel shaded is a lovely contrast. The music is pleasant without being distracting.

Gameplay:
Play-style is divided into three primary "routes": kill everyone, kill no one, and stay undetected. I have done all three, and I can safely say that this game's replay value is very high, with different routes being optimal depending on what goal you're working toward.

The stealth game-play is dictated around the mechanic of shadow creation, where you can drain the light from a lit area to move into it. You can gather collectibles in the form of scrolls, which also double as the currency for the upgrade system for your abilities. There are passive abilities which affect gameplay for the rest of the run, and there are active Special Techniques that have limited usage per level. Each is varied and useful, providing many different ways to play the game.

Overall, this game is very fun, and does a great job on delivering on the fantasy of being a silent harbinger of death, or an invisible and ethereal wisp. Although it is short, the price is justified from the replayability and strength of the gameplay.