Recent reviews by Lyedar.gif

I am recommending this game so long as you don't grind achievements...
I had a great time playing this on my deck where it feels at home considering it was originally a phone game. It's simply gameplay that is pickup and go, delightfully suiting of the handheld system. Playing through it casually is fun, the mechanics are well crafted. New characters you get all have unique abilities changing up runs just enough to make things interesting. Adding double jumps, faster jumps, better glide speeds and mores.
Why I struggle recommending this for those grinding achievements is the Challenges and their relation to some achievements. They second game, Odyssey, asks you to perform "The Ultimate Challenge". Finish all 180 challenges, in 100 lives. At first when you start out this seems fairly easy. But the problem in this achievement rises when you realize, only three specific challenges can be completed per run. Meaning at minimum, you need 60 runs. And you must finish all three before getting a new set of three. Perform a run getting 2 challenges done? Now you must do another and only get 1 done in this run. You really have 40 runs to mess around with.
What makes this harder is the randomness of this infinite runner. At times you will simply not get what you need for a challenge. Or you'll just get screwed by a bad layout and die at poor times do to something out of your control. This really makes the "Ultimate Challenge" stress if the wrong way. I did not have fun trying to pull it off considering just how much time and planning you need to commit to in pulling off this achievement. I got extremely lucky, and was able to first try the Ultimate Challenge. But had I failed only two more runs, I'd be looking at a reset and probably 10 more hours of work.
So, while I enjoyed when I could casually play, I did not enjoy the grind. I'll recommend the game though, as if you don't mind that time commitment, don't care about it, or the stressful planning sounds fun; you will enjoy the game! It's price point and entertainment make the value spot on.

Well Bot Vice is a pretty good time. It's got a really good foundation that is held back by some odd controls and rather tough gameplay.
Bot Vice puts you at the bottom area of the screen, moving left and right through running, dashing rolling, or crouching. You're goal is to clear the enemies flooding the top of the screen. Each enemy has a different attack pattern you need to learn so as to dodge their incoming damage. This is where the first difficulty rise shows it's head. Some of these patterns can create just chaos on the screen. While you can crouch at any time to put the damage on your blockade, it becomes impossible to find moments to pop up and shoot. So taking damage is your only way (Keep this in mind).
You are given different types of weapons to clear your enemies out faster. You are required to cycle through them in a left to right fashion. I think a weapon wheel to get directly to the weapon you desire would help, but the voice shouting your selection is helpful. Some of your weapons include things like Spreadshots, rapid fire, actual fire, or rockets/grenades. Some weapons are nearly required to kill some enemies.
Now this part is only important if you are going for 100%. There are some tough ones. Most levels have an achievement attached that require some side objective to be completed. These can range from simply don't get hit by a certain attack, all the way to do not hit a certain destructible items in the level. Which can be difficult in the chaos considering...
The lock on. It is not precise at all. You will be locked on and even if the enemy is standing still as are you, you will not be actually shooting at the enemy. This can cause a lot of frustration at times when you need at angle. Other times when you roll the lock on deactivates only to lock onto someone else, which can throw off what you are doing. It turns into a bit of a mess at times.
Other achievements include getting an A or above on all levels, which is usually just how fast you beat it. This usually isn't that bad if you use your other weapons.
The last big achievement is getting 4 hearts each level. This means ending the level with 4 hearts. You'll see during play that there is a bot that will drop hearts, so at the start you'll think you can just take a few hits and collect hearts back to full. But that isn't an option. That bot only drops *A* heart when you've lost 2 hearts. Meaning to get 4 hearts on every level, each level must be beaten without being hit. Remember earlier about some moments requiring a hit to finally get a shot in. Yeah... That was a killer achievement. It was rough and a pain to finish.
Over all, this game is a blast to play. But man it's got a few quirks to it that take it to that frustrating level at times. I recommend this game at full price though. Just maybe spread out your play session and keep them in short bursts. That will make your time with it fully enjoyable.

I'm on a journey to 100% the entire AC series. With achievements being added I had to go back and get the 100% again so I could show it off on my steam profile.

AC Revelations fits really well with it's other sister games in the Etzio Trilogy. But you can feel it's rushed dev cycle for sure. This game carries over a lot of elements from Brotherhood and for the most part that works well for it, but others feel tacked on just to be there. The Mediterranean Defense for example feels far to large for how much story time the game gives you. Hunting down enough recruits to fill the slots available is grind that can't really be done between missions. Book Collecting and buying Buildings (not shops) does not really feel beneficial here. You aren't rebuilding a city here, so they just feel like money sinks for the sake of it.

Don't get me wrong, the amazing gameplay from the first two in the trilogy carries over and with a pretty decent story flesh out the game well enough to cover these rushed elements. The only things that stand as the final issue for a 100% grind is the Desmond and DLC missions. Taking a first person approach this memories/missions are a platforming challenge that do not fit with the rest of the games style. Adding in some goal oriented achievements in the DLC beyond completion and you begin to wish you were doing something else.

Over all I had a good time going through to get the achievements again. Through my life since release I've likely played the story at least 4 times and fully completed the game at least twice. Which should say something about the quality. I'd still rather play Brotherhood when returning to this era of AC, but Revelation still holds a spot on my gaming memories shelf.

I've been playing this game since it hit early access and for the longest time I couldn't bring myself to push passed the first weeks wave. I just wasn't connecting with the art direction or gameplay. But with Full Release 1.0, this game figured itself out. The art direction still might not be a vibe I jive with, but the gameplay loop is fire.
Gunplay feels great and grows over time with different weapons and strengths along with perks you get through your character. Base growth is well done as you can either build your own or take over houses or businesses. Quests are retrieved from merchants and direct you around the map in natural ways to areas that give loot and conflict. The game keeps you engaged until the late stages and even then it still is engaging so long as you have a direction you want to take your base.
It's hard to grow your character, but that's for good reason. Exploring is required to find what you need to get those upgrades you are looking for. Either to make better weapons, attachments, tools, workbenches, etc. The game wants you to leave your base and face the dangers of the world. It's not meant to hundle in one area until you rip it clean of everything it has.
Great game, great time, and still has updates coming. Worth every penny.

This is less a game then it is a chill experience. Do you like having something open while you work? The ability to grind toward something while your mind has to be elsewhere? Or maybe you like Lofi Music with a chill background? That's what Spirit City aims to give you. Create your own scenes to enjoy and evolve those scenes over time with more items to make it more and more your own. Collect spirits by creating a scene with just a few important factors to attract the proper Spirits. But that's as far as the game element goes. This is a software to keep you focused. Gives you music or sound effects that create the environment that stabilizes your mind the best. I personally love a good rainfall and fire crackle sitting by the window watching it all. But you may enjoy sitting by the fire, laying in bed, or working at your desk. All are options here.

I suggest this software if you work at a desk for long periods of time, it'll help feel relaxed and enjoy a "view" while you focus on the screen.

What a crazy cool game!

Strikey Sisters is Breakout style game that mixes that formula with interesting power ups, passives and a "attack" style paddle. Playing as two sisters in search of their beloved pet you play through a map of levels fighting rooms of enemies and even bosses. Single or Co-op you play as a sister and can let the ball bounce off you or swing your sword to send the ball flying at a controlled angle. Charge your sword and you can send that ball faster then ever. Breaking blocks requires to hits (or a single charged smash right off the sword), and enemies that wonder the level can very. Enemies can also be hit by your sword for direct damage but that does require them to get close. Bosses give a fun challenge in that they usually require being hit from behind or the side, meaning you really need to learn to control the ball and bounce it just right while dodging their attacks.

Do all this while collecting coins and chests that appear in the level as you break blocks away. Even find capture cards to collect monster data for your bestiary. Add in Extra Levels with 3 stars to collect in all 60 of them and you get a pretty fleshed out collectors box of interesting things.

This is a fun 100% that I highly recommend for Steam Deck owners. If it was longer or had some randomly generated levels I'd consider this an easy Staple for my deck. This hidden gem will be recommend by me whenever I can. Price is worth entry here.

I'm on a grind to 100% every Assassin's Creed game. Doing this on PC meant no Achievements outside what is in game or on Ubisoft Connect. Recently Some AC games have gotten Steam Achievements. This brought me back to the game to complete my Multiplayer Achievements.

I'll start with the main game. It's a classic at this point and if you are on this store page you know that. The Gameplay is peak Classic Assassin's Creed. The story was a bit lacking for me, I just didn't connect with Edward sadly. But I could see the beauty in a story told from an outside perspective to the Assassins. The Ship mechanics were so good they continued to inspire a multiplayer game that is already sinking due to modern day Ubisoft, so that's unfortunate.

As for the Muliplayer, I see why it didn't last but I'm sad it wasn't refined. The AC Multiplayer is a brilliantly cool idea that simply needs some work to stop abuse of certain mechanics. But doing the multiplayer grind was some of the most fun I've had in a multiplayer game achievement hunt. The Community really came together to help others finish their achievements and in doing so rekindled this small corner of multiplayer games. I still have played after my 100%.

Over all AC Blackflag is a great game. If you plan to 100% this game do it now. Already severs make it a bit hard to work with others to grind the Achievements and I don't know how long this community will last to even attempt it naturally without help. But the main game is worth a play at the least to witness what many consider the Prime of Assassin's Creed's lineage.

Another Banger from Vanripper. Cute Girls, a simple story creating a universe that inspires the imagination and that will be expanded on no doubt. The art is great, the direction inspired and music is on point.

Gameplay wise this is far different then Helltaker. No puzzle here, action and reaction is the name of the game. The game loop is fun, dodge cute ghost who want to kill you while repairing shield gens with items from workstations. Workstations may need other items to fuel creation of their item, or need to time to reset before being able to provide their given item.

My only real complaint is at times I would be close to a work station or gen and pressing A to interact with it, but would not receive or give my item. This would cause confusion as you can only hold two items at a time. So I'd be without the item I thought I was holding or a gen would remain unfixed when I thought it was done. My other issue was I think it would feel smoother if you didn't have to press A on a broken gen to see what you need, just getting close to it would feel more fluid.

But these are small issues compared to the rest of the game. Hardmode is a trip that is worth it, but don't underestimate it it! This game is free and worth every second of your time. I'd have easily paid $4.99 minimum for this. Maybe even $9.99 if we see a free expansion like we did Helltaker.

I enjoyed my time with Children of the Sun.
I'd consider this more a puzzle game then a sniper game. You are given one "shot" to kill all enemies on the map. As levels go on your gain different ways to interact with your speeding bullet to influence it different ways toward your targets. The concept holds well and the new interactions are great.
My only issue is the sound design, a few times it can be very grating on the ears. There is also level "X" which blasts you with sudden flashing colours and I was not ready for that!
I feel for $15 if you know what you are getting it's worth it. But I would recommend finding that under $10 deal for a good "I really got my money worth" feel. I did 100% it in 4 hours, but used a guide to help understand each levels clue. If you decide to go in blind, some of those clues may be difficult to figure out and prolong that play time to a fair bit.
Don't over look this, it set out to do something and it pulled it off well!

The foundation of Whisker Squadron Survivor is solid. It's addictive "one more try" setup works well and no run over stays it's welcome. It is a bit rough to get through all 3 zones, requiring skill and the right build, but that just makes pulling it off all the more rewarding. The one rough element to this rogue like is the fact there feels to be only "one good build" there are others that can be made, but to pull them off requires luck of the highest degree. That makes building the old reliable and effective the only real option.
Basically your options for improvements are locked to "Better guns", "Better Shield", "Speed through Tight Spaces". The big issue being, "Speed through Tight Spaces" honestly isn't strong... ever. There's not enough gaps to dash through to gain your bonuses, and those bonuses aren't strong enough until they are fully leveled. Better Shield is an option, but you really have to lean into it and just isn't as strong as our final option, Better Guns. Better guns is just more damage and more bullets. You want to dump everything into how fast you can get bullets out of your ship. Only two things aren't more bullets with this build. Magnet (Which is just required for every build), because it helps you level all the faster and get more fire power. And Energy Boosting. Since you're firing all the time, you need energy to fire. Thus outside of "More gun go brrr", you need energy to get the brrr. That was 99% of my builds.
Don't get me wrong, I had a blast 100% this game. But I think giving weight to other builds outside of "Send damage down range as fast as possible" would improve the game 10 fold. $14.99 is a responsible price I think for the time I spent with the game. Though most of that was spent on a single achievement. After 30 hours, collecting everything... I probably will come back from time to time. So pick this up if Star Fox Rogue-like sounds fun. You'll be pleased with your purchase.