Comments 81

Re: Review: Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past (3DS)

kosterix

No, actually this is not such a good game. The problem becomes apparent after about 10 hours of gameplay. Instead of sticking to the turn-based nature, lightning reflexes are needed to jump into levels and out of obstacles.

That was not expected and not desired, I couldn't progress after roughly 25 hours in I got tired of the arcade aspects.

Re: Kingdom's Item Shop

kosterix

Kingdom's Item Shop (was like €4, digital, one of the best spent money on digitals) is a classical loot-dungeon-delve-loot cycle perfect for autists.

The initial story is like you inherit a shop, which you fill with items by going into dungeons. There are 5 dungeons each several orders of magnitude harder than the previous. Each dungeon has like 5 levels (or stages), and monsters poop out loot on the screen which you want to grab. After a while you steamroll the levels and in the end you steamroll everything.

But the other fun part is that you unlock recipes that require all kinds of ingredients and if you come up short of an ingredient X to create item Y which is an ingredient for item Z which you need because the game wants you to create it, you quickly find yourself farming particular levels over and over.

Which in itself is very satisfying. Somehow this whole shop setting had much more personality than its competitors, such as Brave Dungeon (and Alchemical shop something). The items had pictures, which helps.

I didn't complete KIS, but got very far, the only recipe I didn't finish was the last.

Re: Brave Dungeon

kosterix

Brave Dungeon, is much like the Kingdom's Item Shop (which I found super fun), a repeat turn based dungeon after dungeon. There are 5 dungeons, each with a boss that holds a key to the next level, I guess there are about 5 levels each dungeon.

Obviously the levels require higher level heroes, since the encounters (not random, but they do block corridors) become harder versions of earlier enemies.

You start out with 3 heroes I believe, and some other heroes come along, but your party is 3 in dungeons, and you gain levels across encounters.

In the town you can buy items, which require ingredients (much like KIS) so a gold coin requires 10 silver coins, which require 10 copper coin and equippable items are the same way - it's a tried and working formula since Stella Deus (and possibly earlier), reused in Etrian Odyssey series as well.

However doing runs through dungeons (heal for free in the hub) over and over, got really boring. I unlocked half the dungeon levels and half the item list and was like... do I really want to push myself on?

Thankfully it was only €5 but I gotta say I would rather restart KIS than do this bland version.

Re: Review: The Legend of Legacy (3DS)

kosterix

I must say this is the worst JRPG I have ever played. There's no story. There's no emotion. There's no control. All you do is grind grind grind, and sometimes simple monster do a super move and ho hum TPK.
There's no point to the save slots, either - all you do is the temp save file and push onward.

The town (hub), nothing happens. In combat, you cannot heal or use items, and every so often one of your party members gains a new trick, or gains a level in an already available trick.

There are no monster stats, no bestiary to check up during combat how healthy or resistent the creature is.
There is an element cross, but no way to utilize it or apply it, neither in or out of combat.

The Alliance Alive felt very unalive, but LoL is even less fun.

Re: One Deck Dungeon

kosterix

lol that was so long ago I don't even remember what I wrote. Yeah after re-reading I think I still agree. Haven't played in ages though, due to work / life / other games. Still good price to quality ratio.

Re: One Deck Dungeon

kosterix

I bought One Deck Dungeon for Switch because there are no reviews yet. I played and enjoyed the pc steam version. The Switch version is the same.

  • Instant appeal:
    it's recommended to have played the physical version yourself, it's not enough to watch some board game nerds play it for you on youtube. I have played a few times the analog version, and then you are immediately grabbed by the "app".
    The game drops you into the tutorial (you can opt out but why would you) to play as a warrior gives some tips and typical examples. Then after showing most of the game you can complete the first dungeon yourself.
  • Playability
    It plays well in handheld, the controls are very natural, and work better than the mouse on switch. UI has been well-adapted to the controls of the Switch Lite.
    Somehow the game feels a bit unfinished:
  • selecting boss/hero/difficulty in new games feels a bit strange, but eventually you will manage and once that game begins you've already forgotten the hurdle.
  • you can tick off checkboxes for permanent campaign upgrades which are absolutely needed in order to even survive the first floors of harder bosses.
  • some sub-screens have a low resolution.
  • no online mode, no co-op play, but there is hot-seat to support 2 player, just like in the steam version. An online leaderboard system would have been nice.
  • the UI is clearly inspired by the 3DS Puzzle Quest UI, a very wise decision, it doesn't support touchscreen, and you can set the dialogs to fast (recommended).

Long term benefits:

  • you can easily play this game forever. Then there is the DLC for another set of heroes and bosses. And abyssal depths, for even harder monsters.
  • the sense of progress is very real, the game gives a good standard of what a "rogue LITE" actually should play like, not those other surrogate attempts out there on the switch platform.

This is the first and last dungeon crawler you will ever need for Switch. This, and maybe Quest of Dungeons, which is the best of its ilk and hangs miles below ODD.

  • Final verdict:
    By purchasing this you get a very good adaptation of the board game (which is really good as a board game as well). Worth its money, but there are a few rough edges that might be smoothened out in the future.

Re: Review: The Last Campfire - A Refreshingly Freeform Puzzle Adventure Packed With Ideas

kosterix

The last Campfire = €15, 3.5GB; no physical (yet); gorgeous atmosphere a la Hob. Gameplay seems tedious https://youtu.be/TkjhUa9IA3c

"Anyone who has posted a positive review has not played through the game. I can say this confidently, because the game is literally impossible to complete with the myriad of game-breaking bugs that force you to either start over from scratch or rage quit and move on. I've run into two of these bugs myself, and if you check out any forum devoted to this game you will find post after post of the form "How do I fix [major bug blocking progress]?" This game is 100% what anyone should expect from a new Hello Games release. They learned nothing from the ****storm that was No Man's Sky, and once again they've decided to prioritize an ambitious release date over anything resembling testing or dev-completion." -

check this: https://youtu.be/64eWsQiVg4o?list=TLPQMTIwOTIwMjBwXqlv2B9Ryg ->

Utter garbage.
For a playthrough watch this. https://youtu.be/2BrqNCRvNJQ?list=TLPQMTIwOTIwMjBwXqlv2B9Ryg

Utter garbage.

Re: Summer in Mara

kosterix

Summer in Mara = € 17,59 (€ 21,99), 3GB; water plants, swim, cat-folk. Summer in Mara a farming exploration game where you play as koa who sets out to discover the mysteries of the ocean and its islands. And there isn’t much to discover… In other words, made by devs that heard of Stardew Valley and Animal Crossing but haven't bothered to check those games out.

Utter garbage.

Re: KukkoroDays

kosterix

KukkoroDays = € 6,59; 500mb; VN. girl in armor, fanservice. Flimsy story and bad character writing. Garbage.

Re: Unitied

kosterix

Unitied = € 1,24(-50% off € 2,49), 57MB; puzzle, 50 levels.

A mix between Denki Blocks on GBA (or 3dsxl) and Quell Reflect: simplification of Denki Blocks, and has none of the colors and none of the addictiveness of Denki Blocks.
Don't bother, see https://youtu.be/hWe4UhldUKQ

Re: Review: Urban Flow - An Accessible And Absorbing Traffic Toy Box

kosterix

YOU are the most stressful aspect of urban flow...
very interesting and unique game.

you can simply put the train on hold forever.
A really good version would be to disallow you to stop the last light.

That way you would have to make hard choices. Now you just can take your sweet time, letting one flow at a time pass through. There is absolutely nothing to manage here. Just put everything on hold and wait for an ambulance then let that go through.

Difficulty varies wildly, from hard to tediously simple. Very unpolished idea and very samey.

It's on sale for $4 but also 3.3GB, so I'd rather buy it physical.
Max playtime about 3 hours.
Best to wait for a more polished sequel.
Also it blatantly discriminates against left driving citizens such as Japan and much of Asia.

Re: Piczle Lines DX Bundle

kosterix

This is one kind of puzzle, it has been out there as pen and paper puzzle. I quickly got bored by it. Also it has only one tune that you get sick of very quickly.

Re: Lines X

kosterix

Lines X = € 1,99, 175MB; Connect the dots from start dot to finish dot. Vg version of a paper puzzle. There was this free android game called Flow Free, and that was more interesting (and free). Why on earth would you want this moron version and on top of it - pay for this?

Re: Parascientific Escape Cruise in the Distant Seas

kosterix

full of grammatical typos. Normally a turn-off, but playing it on the 3ds is a delight. Has a hint system, nice and not as frustrating as other pnc adventures.
Currently $1.25 per game; suggest you only buy the first. I bought all three for $1.25 each, was a bit of an impulse.

Not sure why every critic is so negative about this title.
I recommend it at that price!

Re: Review: Fairune 2 (3DS eShop)

kosterix

Just as annoying as the first. Nothing has been improved. Better to download the demo and see for yourself. There are good walkthrough videos to show you the 90% of things you missed. Great fun (not).

The first time running around exploring the world is fun. The second time running around is tedious. The sense of achievement is near zero. Extremely annoying game, everything is trial and error. The book should at least provide some hints aside from the next monster to take damage from.
I'd rather read a good book.

Re: Review: Fairune Collection (Switch eShop)

kosterix

The first time running around exploring the world is fun. The second time running around is tedious. The sense of achievement is near zero. Extremely annoying game, everything is trial and error. The book should at least provide some hints aside from the next monster to take damage from.
I'd rather read a good book.

Re: Doodle God: Evolution

kosterix

Doodle God Evolution = € 2,29 (€10), 400MB, demo, no physical;

demo was fun, so I immediately bought it for $2 and never played again. Best to play the demo twice to make sure you want this.

Re: Prison Princess

kosterix

Stills. Worse $11 spent ever. You wanted moving chicks in chains, but you see only stills. Puzzles are boring. Every subtitle has typos.

Cheap and crappy port.
Avoid like the plague.

Re: Labyrinth Of Refrain: Coven Of Dusk

kosterix

Labyrinth of Refrain: Coven of Dusk = € 49,99, 2GB; physical: 23,08;

RPG along A tale of two cities. First person dungeon. You play as a book that controls puppets to fight for you. Puppet crafting. Very intriguing. Reviews are negative, I guess the combat is worse than Etrian Odyssee 2, so stick with the demo.

Re: Cris Tales

kosterix

Cris Tales = children book art style. Long load times between screens. Invisible walls. Mostly you can only run left or right, and at some central hubs up (north) or down (south). The map is very unintuitive. Apparently you can see into the future, when moving you have this triangle that splits up the screen, the present is the middle part with the heroin. The outside parts are the "probable future". Of course you meet a frog. Frog can jump to future, pick up a grown fruit, and jump back to present to use fruit without having to wait for seed. All tolerable. NPCs are very terse and writing is not that good. Then you find a boss. Battle needs a skill called water to hurt boss. Takes forever, then you die. No thank you. Extremely linear piece of *****. The demo was enough.

utter trash.

Re: Faeria

kosterix

Faeria = € 19,99, 2GB; not yet physical on switch;
https://youtu.be/UyoeT-p6uN4 -> 'always online' requirement!

awkward UI, and day one DLC that's more expensive than the base game.

GARBAGE: there is 100+ solo campaign; however, you must be connected. I just tried it and I can confirm that you CANNOT be offline to play this game. When trying to start the game, it must be connected. When trying to move between screens, you must be connected. It appears the game is in constant contact with their servers. =>

IF it removes the online req AND IF it goes physical, give it a try. Otherwise: utter trash.

Re: Fairy Tail

kosterix

Fairy Tail = €70, 7GB; physical: €48. turn-based rpg, Tales-spinoff. 3x3 grid. Windowed sidequests. https://www.play-asia.com/fairy-tail-english-subs/13/70d73h / https://www.nintendo.nl/Games/Nintendo-Switch/FAIRY-TAIL-1799932.html / Good investment, seems to hold its value. Kiddy, ridiculously bad dialogue, purely for fans, trivial quests; but turn based tetris damage. 25FPS all the time, nauseating. Official review: https://www.gamingboulevard.com/2020/08/review-fairy-tail/ 9/10.
https://youtu.be/ufN_T8FD5N8?list=PL2iQPHlA1BhxutoU55TlgoPtZuOYJnDOh => watch the free anime first, if you can stomach that buy the physical. But I don't like the anime

Re: Gorogoa

kosterix

Gorogoa = €6 (€ 14,99); 2GB; no physical yet; 7.8 on https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/gorogoa; overhyped: "didn't quite leave me fully satisfied." "impossible to play without using the touchscreen, which is restrictive and awkward. It also isn't obvious what you're supposed to do, and there's not much to it: you can just keep moving things around until they "fit."" => pc/mouse original, terrible port.

Re: Hand of Fate 2

kosterix

Hand of Fate 2 = "Lousy Switch ports. Seriously, the game crashes approximately every hour! I'm talking about full crash, back to home screen. Unacceptable." + "I simultaneously want to keep playing it and also to never touch it again. As a result, I have no idea how to rate this. I guess I will rate it right down the middle, with a few bonus points for the truly amazing voice talent." => utter trash

Re: Lost Artifacts: Golden Island

kosterix

Lost Artifacts: Golden Island = € 8,79, 0.5GB;

looks terrible: with touch screen make doll walk around on a beach and click on stuff called gathering; bad graphics, loading screens every few seconds, simplistic sound, cheap and crappy port from a mobile.
https://youtu.be/7U5-UAzi2DI
=> utter trash.

Re: Morphite

kosterix

@KillerTan98 suggest you download the demo and decide for yourself the camp you're in.

Re: Morphite

kosterix

Morphite = € 2,54 (€ 14,99); demo, no physical. Metroid prime clone with Unity, indie crap. => utter trash.

Re: Moero Chronicle Hyper

kosterix

Moero Chronicle™ Hyper = atlus etrian odyssee clone.
Typos and mistranslations, plus intro is repeated 36 (!) times.
To recruit you have to find then climax each of the three miniboss (girls) then get the level boss. And rubbing is touch screen... 30 hours for true ending. Crashes. 7/10 => disrespects your time as a gamer -> utter trash.

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