Recent reviews by Exclared

Peak, as it were.

I've been told I'm apparently good at this game? Haven't found a credible source, though.

I recommend this game, because to leave a negative review would be a disservice to how much fun I have had with this game, and continue to have most each time I play it.

That being said, do NOT play this game if you aren't either
1. Very, or even extremely good at this kind of game
2. Immensely patient/Have too much time on your hands

Silksong is incredibly difficult, even compared to some of the top challenges of its predecessor, and it makes some parts of that difficulty quite frustrating to even a player like me, who fits both of the above qualifiers (apparently). Some game design decisions made here are questionable at best, and story progression requires skill checks against which even optional challenges in the original game pale in comparison.

TL:DR: Game very hard.

With that out of the way, this game is GORGEOUS to look at, the soundtrack puts that of the original Hollow Knight to shame, I found myself healthily challenged by most, if not all of the bosses in the game, and much of the exploration genuinely felt more natural than in many games I've seen exploraiton as a central mechanic in.
I don't think I can praise this game enough to do justice to how much it utterly consumed the last week of my life, alongside its older sibling. And as much as I hate team cherry for some of the decisions they made in designing this game, I will always love the game itself.

Oh I forgot to review this
buy it if it's on sale, buy it if it's not. worth it either way

Unfathomably common landfall W. Cannot wait for the full game.

A terrible journey to a terrible fate. The faint of heart are left in the ground along the way.

Gameplay: 10/10
Graphics: 9/10
Performance: 2/10
Amazing game, poor optimization and QA.

TL:DR: Must-Play if your machine can handle it, but don't trust the recommended specs on the store page.

You will need a machine significantly more powerful than even the recommended specs to run this game at any satisfying performance and quality. My personal specs (Ryzen 7700X, Radeon 7700XT, 32GB RAM) are at the edge of what I would consider running at good performance with good-looking graphics options (consistent 60fps, settings between medium and high, no upscaling/frame gen).
The saddest part about this poor optimization is what it has done to the general opinion regarding this game. Don't let the negative reviews fool you, this is an absolutely stellar game, both for the monster hunter series and in general.

This game is a masterpiece.

I've only finished my first playthrough, and I'm entirely sure it won't be the last. The storytelling and visual style are some of the best I've seen across ANY game I've played, and that's not even to get into the gameplay, where I very much consider it best-in-genre.

If you're like me, this section is what you're most interested in before you buy a game. I've always loved unique and innovative game mechanics, and this game delivers those in spades.

En base, the gameplay is top-down, turn based strategy. The most important thing it does to distinguish itself from other games like this is that it keeps random chance to an absolute minimum. During your turn, you can see what any given enemy will do on their turn. You also have total insight on each enemy's abilities, damage output, and health. Most importantly, you have the ability to rewind any actions you've taken on your turn to try a different apporach. You commit to nothing until you click the end turn button, until then you can always rewind.

Combining all these mechanics makes for a highly strategic flow of gameplay, where you're in control of what happens both on your turn and the enemies'. In spite of that control, the game maintains a healthy sense of difficulty with the restrictions it places on your team's abilities, movement, as well as the unique enemies it faces you with.

There will be no spoilers in this section, only a basic idea of what to expect.

The world in which this game takes place is what I consider the best implementation of "What if current day, but magic?" Every piece of worldbuilding you're introduced to just makes sense, and I never found my immersion broken throughout the entire story.

Within the story, there are themes of war, political intrigue, tactical subterfuge, undue power and revolution. Throughout the game, the character writing manages to keep things relatiely light-hearted in spite of the heavy topics tackled within the story.

All the main characters have an immense amount of depth that you can choose to dive into to some extent across the story, but I very much like that you can also choose not to. While I never really made use of the feature myself, you can skip past any given dialogue if you just want to get to the gameplay, and even certain lengthy sections focusing on individual characters can be skipped if you fin yourself disinterested in the particular character's story.

There isn't much more I can say about the story without getting into spoilers, but it genuinely is one of the best stories I've seen in any video game, even trumping those games whose story is the entire focus of the game, gameplay and all.

Tactical Breach Wizards is quite possibly the best game I've ever played. In a landscape where most mainstream games have become deeply unappealing to me, it was unique, complex, thought-provoking, but above all: it was fun.

I'm now off to 100% the achievements, and then potentially even dive into the user-made content. Thank you for reading, and I hope I convinced you to give this amazing game a try.

This is one of my favourite games.

Got to commit several accounts of first degree murder using improvised weapons in the first few hours. 27/10