Recent reviews by emc

Time for my honest review. I've been playing since September 2022 on android, with over 10k+ matches and only missing 15 cards out of hundreds, so my review is indicative of my mobile experience and not so much my time on steam.

Do I find the game fun? Yeah, it's pretty good. Do I like the game? Hard to say. It is a good game but if anyone were to try and pick up the game today, I would tell them not to. It simply takes way too long to collect everything and you must dedicate yourself to playing the game every day. That's not to say the game is imbalanced, it is reasonably balanced, but collecting your favorite cards and decks is simply a nightmare. Card collecting is way too convoluted, the pricing is utterly insane, and you have to plan out your currencies weeks to months in advance to get what you want, that's not exactly what I would call very fun... I'm so deep into it and have collected all the cards I like, I hit infinite rank every season and maximize my currencies (which is only something you can learn by spending time on youtube, reddit or discord), so yes... I'm having fun...

I will recommend this game once the devs overhaul how card collecting works.

A really fun starfox like rogue lite. It's highly enjoyable and is a perfect game for steam deck owners to kill time. Huge fan of starfox 64 so this game checks a lot of boxes, but not all.

The game is limited to the gameplay you see in trailers, you move forward, shoot, get score combos and you either die or beat 10 waves and that's pretty much it. There's progression where you can unlock pilots, ships, weapons and add perks, but the gameplay doesn't really evolve or change beyond adding difficulty modifiers. I think this game would be literally perfect if it had a story so I could care about what I'm doing, if it had additional vehicles like a tank or submarine, if the levels had alternate paths and secrets and if there were actual boss fights. Too much to ask?

But, this game isn't those things, and the devs likely set out to achieve a certain kind of game and they achieved it, but I think the novelty might wear off quick. I'm already looking forward to the devs next game and I hope it builds upon what they've made here. Definitely recommend on sale.

I like this game, but it's not a great game. Is it a good Bethesda game? Maybe. Is it a good space game? Eh, maybe not. So why do I even like it? Well I liked Skyrim a LOT though I'm not a big fantasy guy, I've always been really into space games, so this game lets me play Skyrim in space.

The role play elements are there, the ship building and out post building is there, this game offers a lot of mechanics that feel a little shallow and are often skippable, but the role play is where it's at. I've played a lot of space games and this one does what all of them do but generically, while that may seem like a turn off, it does keep the game fairly simple and these days I'm not necessarily looking for something overly complex, and the game still manages to keep it fairly immersive.

There is probably dozens of things to wishlist that this game needs, both in terms of fleshed out mechanics and quality of life improvements. But I'm not sure I care whether Bethesda does those things or not, because I was always a big mod guy for Skyrim and I will be modding this game too.

About mods, I am actually 100% playing this game on steam deck only. I don't have a fancy computer rig to play, so I took a pretty big risk paying for this game. There are some SD mods out there and once installed, well, the game has just felt pretty good in my hands (literally). I'm sure if my only choice playing this game on a desktop I might not like it as much, I much prefer to sit in bed and grind out half a dozen hours. So valve might have this listed as unplayable, but it definitely is, just look at nexus mods for steam deck compatibility, it's worth it.

Overall enjoyable even though it's not my favorite space game or Bethesda game, there's just something about it that prevents me from stopping, so I guess that means it's a good game.

I'm going to start off by saying how much I loved and adored the first Everspace. As a huge fan of space dog fighter games, ES1 scratched that itch and did it extremely well. What I liked most about the original, is that it was a hades style of game, a rougelite where you are working through levels, dying a lot, but ultimately progressing your character trying to reach the final goal at the end. ES1 was exactly that, except that you are traveling through star systems, progressing your ships and working your way to the final star system. It was challenging, you died a lot, but man was it ever so satisfying to complete, something to be proud of.

ES2 is different, it trades those challenges and live/die/repeat aspect for a more story driven, though just as linear, game play. I think what's missing ultimately from this, is the challenge, this game feels easier and ultimately a lot of your missions are just going from point A to point B and killing a lot of stuff in the process. I'm not convinced that just upping the difficulty will do what I want, because ES1, like hades, was about the run you'd try to complete in one sitting.

However, this isn't a negative review, this is actually quite a damn good game. For me personally, it may not live up to the original, but it maintains the amazing space combat, the fun progressing and it simply does what most sequels do, which is do it all the same but bigger. I think I will miss what made ES1 so great to me, it's challenge, but I still plan to play this game out and uncover it's mysteries which no doubt there will be (the original had a lot of cool things, like aliens, I'm sure this game has those, just not there yet).

I'm so happy they made a sequel, a definite recommend for people who just love space combat.

fun vampire survivors clone, I've tried several clones and this one is really addicting. only con is sometimes things can be hard to see because your weapons just get so gigantic. however the fps seems to hold up better for me than vampire survivors which is a plus. works well on steam deck, you only need twin sticks and a button for dash.

bonus is that it feels like a complete game but is still early access, hopefully the devs finish their road map, but it still feels like a good value even if it remains as is.

This is a puzzle game, and is entirely simplistic in it's solutions but is heavily driven by it's aesthetics and a clear love for ALIEN (which sold me). I've now beaten it twice and thought for $8 I received my money's worth, but really the entire game is just solving to get to the next area without dying, so it's a puzzle game. It's also not particularly heavy on horror or jump scares but a few deaths got me in terms of the suddenness of it.

I think it's a solid 7/10, and I hope we see another game from the developer.

Steam deck compatible, game runs capped at 30fps and that's not a problem.

This game is cool, best comparison I can give is a hybrid between Chivalry and Doom. It's a fast paced hack n slash with some dashing mechanics, parries and blocking (depending on the weapon). The game offers a lot more weapons than I would have expected and is beatable in about 5 hours or so. The XP mechanic is simple, kill things or destroy pots to gain essence which can be applied to a skill tree, just remember to check the codex because you can claim a ton of essence rewards for doing certain things. This game also offers some vertical exploration, which is certainly unexpected, the jumping and climbing mechanics feel good.

I'm still not even sure what the story is about, but the aesthetics of the game are pretty cool and the music is metal.

Only con is I think the game could do with a minimap and to be a bit longer, but it's short and sweet kind of fun and it has new game+.

Solid 8/10 from me

Great game, clearly a tribute to Metal Gear Solid 1 but with its own mechanics. The sneaking feels great and the distraction techniques are cool too. It has the classic 'if you hide long enough after detection, they go into a normal pattern', but keep in mind that getting detected is a quick death early on (you'll get more HP later by rescuing people). There is no real emphasis on gun play, in fact all you get are non-lethal weapons and there are no kills aside from the four bosses you face. The pistol can get rubber bullets which is great for distracting, as well as bullets that can KO, a long range blinding weapon and a short range blinding weapon (to help escape). Then you have some grenades/mines, about 9 types or so, which have varying effects such as sound distraction, concussive blasts, noise dampeners and even a visual distraction in a dancing avatar (it's quite funny).

However, the game is rather short, maybe 3 hours or so total, but it feels fun returning to attempt a no detection run or a speed run. As I said before, there's 4 bosses and they don't feel particularly hard, the hard stuff tends to be areas with tons of guards and limited hiding places. The story itself is fine too, I enjoyed it but nothing spectacular. The game only has one save slot total and is set at the start of each new "zone" you load into, there's only a few I'd consider "big" areas that if you die you have to go back to that spot, this save method also lets you save scum by returning to the main menu and continuing to try the zone again.

I do think, as some feedback, the devs would be wise to maybe add in a Castlevania style map to tell where you are going, but this is only concerning for the first play through, it's a rather simple layout and isn't a problem for later play throughs. A VR mission mode as DLC (which is just bonus "training" levels that MGS1 had) or possibly letting players make their own missions which could be downloaded and enjoyed.

It's only $15, so this is a recommended buy, 9/10, it would get 10/10 if it were a bit longer.

Also, game runs fine on a steam deck, only the first exterior zones have a bit of fps drop, but most of your time is spent indoors so you'll be getting 60 fps most times (the drops aren't really too impactful anyways.) Wouldn't surprise me if this becomes verified soon, all text is legible and default controls work.

This game is fun, I think of those old king of monster arcade games where you are a monster and beat each other and your surroundings up, it's also got a bit of power stone in it. The combat is simple which is great, I think you can find a decent amount of depth in the match ups, the footsies, the combos but ultimately I would deem this game to be at it's funnest with 4 players, either FFA or 2v2, and that's just chaos.

All the monsters are fun to use, I personally really enjoy Gigaman and every character feels viable and useful, there's depth to really master how a character works but also simple enough that you can play random and have fun. If there is a character who is really top tier and ruins the game, I'm not sure but Gigaman (and whoolie the yeti) potentially feel like that dude. There are a couple of characters you have to unlock through story but it's not very hard, so the accessibility to try everyone is fast enough (there's also a playable building, no seriously "it's" super cool). My competitive theory to playing this game does seem to boggle down to how well you play early, this game has a come back mechanic (by destroying the "smash ball" which can unlock your super attack) but very much favors whoever can get S class first and use footsies and combos to make it very challenging to allow your opponent to get S class themselves.

The stages are cool, some are fair with no hazards and others seem rather unfair and are littered with them, but that's ok it's supposed to be like that. You can unlock stages simply by playing all of the ones available to you, on a base level all stages are "enjoyable" but some people might want to avoid ones with lava or the avalanche which will just melt your health.

The training mode (gym) is surprisingly good, I didn't think it would have the options it does, but it's satisfactory to help you elevate your game.

The musical score is incredible, plenty of references to the Showa Godzilla era but is also really funky too.

There are some cons, we need the ability to team up with a friend and play online in 2v2s, that doesn't seem to be an option. You also can't veto a stage, everyone playing picks their stage and the game will rotate between which players stage is picked, but being able to veto a stage and hit random would be best for those who don't want to deal with hazards. The net code seems ok but I've only been playing a friend in the same state and no issues, however the other day for some reason we just kept lagging and had a desync, unsure why. I wouldn't call the net code a con if you play to play couch co-op, because that seems to be the focus which is cool, not a lot of games allow that (which means you can also purchase one copy of the game and play online with parsec). The game also needs more rule sets, such as more stocks per match, the ability to turn off the "smash ball" (which enables supers) and possibly to disable item pick ups (like trees, buildings as well as the S class orbs). And finally, a fast rematch option would be welcomed, because the only game type is a 2 stock match, they can go pretty fast and it always returns to character select, I enjoy fast paced matches but rematch would be nice.

I'd give it a solid 8/10, a real fun game.

Edit: I've tested this with the steam deck and it seems to run just fine.

I view this as a very good fighter, and what anime would look like as a street fighter concept (no air dashes, no air block, fairly straight forward mix ups). I don't complain about character balance, I'm used to kusoge and this game has a lot of it but as a compliment to it's design. I do think this game suffers a bit for it's lack of offline options, basic single player modes like story, arcade and survival are there, but that's about it. Though as someone who likes going to training mode a lot, the features there are really good and on the upper end though it could have used frame advantage tools or just given us frame data (which speeds up the learning process).

While there are some characters who just stand above the rest, any character can win though long term you may want to learn more than one character. I won't sugar coat it though, this game could do with some patches and we will get them, but if you're looking for a very popular fighter with tons of active users, this probably isn't it. Again, I think it's a "very good" fighter and am grateful to have DNF Duel in my fighting library since it brings me a lot of joy.

oh and the roll back is great, so just find a training partner or two and maybe you can see what I and others see.