Recent reviews by ± Roger

Gladiator Manager is management simulation in where the player fosters a team of gladiators and makes decisions. Everything from injuries, equipment, training, fighting, and budgeting. There's plenty of statistics to look at and reference.

This is a placeholder Review, will add more later.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Urban tale is a pixel art-style life simulation RPG. The player forges relationships with other NPCs, finds a job, finds a home, finds love and finds a dream. The game is very sandbox-y in the sense that the player has the freedom to do a lot things and meet goals in different ways.

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Graphics: 7 / 10

Art is subjective, though the pixel art-style of the game is quite nice. The graphic style gives off a retro feel, reminiscent of games from the 80's and 90's.

The town is a good size with a lot of different structures and scenery. The player is able to enter almost all buildings and can explore quite a bit, with many shops and houses to visit. There is a day and night cycle, as well as different weather to see.

There are a lot of items to collect and quite a bit of customization options for the character. There are many different characters in the game, and the art-style feels more fresh than repetitive.

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Sound: 6 / 10

The soundtrack of the game is fine, nothing too memorable but the background theme will loop for the majority of the game. The sound effects are again, fine. They get the job done.

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Mechanics: 7 / 10

There's quite a bit to do in the game. From crafting, gardening, cooking, selling items and working, there are plenty of ways to make money. Its worth mentioning the player can choose to do a life of crime as a way to create income. In many of the career paths, there's ways to move up in the chain of command. Relationships can be forged and can even lead to marriage if the player wishes.

The game is in early access at the time of writing. There's a fair amount of bugs, though the game has a great amount of potential.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this software for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Sharecare YOU is a powerful educational tool that can be used in a couple of ways. It can be used for learning about body parts, organs, and systems, giving a deeper understanding of their functions and how they work. The other way this tool can be utilised is by simulating a person's own body and it's faults. Sharecare YOU can showcase various diseases and how it affects the body.

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Graphics & Mechanics

The computer generated graphics and 3D models in this software are amazing. Not only can these body parts and organs be rotated and seen from different angles, but can also be viewed from inside the actual organ, vessel or system. This gives a deeper look at what is inside the body and how things travel and operate. The animations are very fluid and almost feels as though the user is viewing each structure as if it was alive and functioning. There are many labels and informational texts that appear when exploring the body. There are many bodily structures available to see with an expanding library.

Sharecare YOU can also show the effects of certain diseases on the body, and which areas of body are targeted. This is very helpful when trying to understand the diagnoses and prognoses of specific illnesses.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Rainy City Pandemic is a story driven title where the player drives around the city delivering pizza, trying to save up enough money to pay for their sister's medical treatment. The bulk of the gameplay focuses on conversations with other characters and interactions with them. The game takes place in a dystopian future where the the pandemic (the covid-19 pandemic, assumingly) is still rampant.

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Graphics: 7 / 10

Art is subjective, though the pixel art-style of the game is quite nice. There are a lot of colours and interesting character designs. For the actual driving portion of the game, the art-style takes a bit of a turn into a sort of low-poly 3D sort of style. The city is very gloomy and rainy (hence the title).

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Sound: 6 / 10

The soundtrack of the game is fine, nothing too memorable but the music sort of fits the gloomy and mellow themes. Aside from that, the rest of the sound effects are decent and do their job.

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Mechanics: 7 / 10

As mentioned previously, most of the game revolves around talking to other characters, learning about them and their situation. The game tackles issues with living in a world with a constant pandemic. The object of the game is to save up enough money to pay for the players's sister's treatment, though there are other things to manage while playing. Such as hunger and fuel for the car.

The other part of the game is navigating through the city, driving around on a flying car, delivering pizza to other characters. The controls can take a little bit of time to get used to, but it is fine. Other NPCs will sometimes have other things for you to do as well.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Panzer Knights is a third-person, arcade style, tank shooter where the characters are female anime-style German soldiers that very much contrast the style of the rest of the game. The game is very reminiscent of the anime "Girls Und Panzer" which depicts young anime-styled girls piloting very realistic looking tanks. The game's concept is simple, drive around in a tank and shoot enemies until there are none left. The battles are based on World War II events from 1939 - 1943.

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Graphics: 7 / 10

The graphics are interesting. The actual game-play graphics, tank models and terrain look as expected for a game like this, and look pretty decent. What makes this unique is; that on top of those graphics and models, all the characters, aside from few, are young girls in the style of anime. The contrast is so jarring and so incredibly strange that it actually piques interest in the title. The actual character art is well done.

The battlefields themselves are a good size, and offer plenty of room to roam around and destroy other tanks as well as destructible objects and terrain. There is good variety in levels and tanks to choose from.

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Sound: 6 / 10

The soundtrack of the game good. Nothing too amazing but it does get the job done. The explosion sounds, tank noises, shooting noises and environmental noises are the same, good. There isn't much variety when it comes to this section.

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Mechanics: 7 / 10

The player drives around terrain and shoots down enemy tanks. The gameplay is basic and is exactly what one would expect. There are a few things like; formation changing, tank repairing and issuing bomb/air strikes to keep things fresh, but for the most part, the player will switch between different firing methods/ammunition and try to best the other tanks.

The player also has the aid of allied AI tanks also fighting against enemy tanks, and for the most part the AI is pretty competent.

There are a couple different objectives to further keep things fresh, such as; hold the point, surviving waves, and reaching certain destinations, but for the most part the player will be shooting down enemy tanks. This title would have benefit a lot from online multiplayer.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Welcome to Elk is a strange little 2D exploration adventure title with very interesting characters and stories. The game revolves a girl named "Frigg" who has recently moved to the island of Elk to work as a carpenter. The game is made up of many individual stories as well as plenty of mini games to keep things fresh.

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Graphics: 6 / 10

The first thing noticeable about Welcome to Elk is the art-style. Everything looks almost hand-drawn and there are very bright and vibrant colours. The game seems to be very colourful even with most of the backgrounds being in black and white. Every so often the game will interrupt itself with live action footage of the people behind the stories, explaining how things came to be.

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Sound: 6 / 10

The soundtrack of the game is pretty good, and there's a lot of variety when it comes to the music. There seems to be a song for each situation that fits well. The mini games, especially the ones revolving music, are fun and upbeat. The overall sound effects in the game are also decent.

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Mechanics: 5 / 10

There really isn't that much too do in the game. Most of the time the player is walking around and talking to the other characters and listening to the stories they tell. There are many things to interact with in the game, and all of those things are "coloured" in, as opposed to being black and white. The game tackles different subject matter, from humorous situations to sensitive subject matter. There are also mini games that keep things fresh.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Earth Defense Force: Iron Rain is an over the top action third-person shooter. The title is a spin-off of the main Earth Defense Force (EDF) series. Similarly to the other titles, the game is very B-movie-esqe and revolves around shooting down giant aliens, bugs, and alien bugs. The series has a bit of a cult following and die hard fans.

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Graphics: 7 / 10

Comparatively to the other games in the series, Iron Rain actually has a smoother look. That doesn't mean the graphics are amazing, but they are a little nicer to look at than the more jagged and rough style of the previous titles. That being said, the graphic style of the previous titles might actually fit in that B-movie-esque theme more than Iron Rain.

The animations are still a little shoddy but for a game about defeating waves of giant aliens, it's more understandable that the trade off is some of the graphical power, as many creatures need to be on the screen at once. There is some variety in terms of enemies and locations, but most of it comes from the character customization, many different weapons, gear and particle/explosion effects on screen. Most, if not all the terrain is destructible as well.

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Sound: 7 / 10

The game is almost fully voice-acted and although cheesy, it does lend to the theme of the title. The music is also a little cheesy but again, does fit in with the motif of the game; heavy adrenaline pumping themes and moral boosting music. The explosions and gun noises sound fine, although a lot of the background noise sounds the same.

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Mechanics: 7 / 10

The player runs around in third-person shooting down giant enemies with a huge variety of weapons and even tamed bug mounts. Yes, you can ride and fight with a giant scorpion or ant.

Two weapons can be taken into battle at once with a bunch of items. There are many combinations for different play styles, and this is a big strength of the title. After each stage, new weapons and upgrades can be unlocked and purchased with the various currency found throughout stages. The game is a very simple over the top shoot em' up, though there are many satisfying moments.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

BoneCraft is many people's "first" real adult game, with proper gaming mechanics and play-ability. It is an action RPG game with a lot of sexual content thrown in. The game came out in 2012, and along with it's precursor BoneTown (2008), it was one of the first western styled, 3D, voice-overed games with deeper game-play that people had played. There is a bit of a following and cult-classic vibe to this title as well.

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Graphics: 6 / 10

Although a bit dated, the graphic style sort of holds up (a little) to this day. The style is very cartoon-y, and it being a parody of some popular Blizzard titles, the themes hold up pretty well. The animations are fine, and there's plenty of variation in characters, backgrounds and areas to explore. For an older title, it is really not terrible.

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Sound: 7 / 10

The game is almost fully voice-acted which is a pretty big strength for a title of this age. On top of that, one of the voice actors is from a certain critically acclaimed Blizzard game. The voice actors did a pretty good job with the title. The music is fine and the sound effects are what you would expect from an older title like this.

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Mechanics: 7 / 10

There is surprisingly a fair bit of mechanics involved with the game but the controls to perform actions were found to be a little difficult to master. Luckily things are rebind-able, though it's still a bit of an issue to get key the commands to work well.

The game has a lot of action RPG elements, with physical melee weapons, guns, and various upgrades. There's also a story involved, and of course, sexual encounters.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

Disgaea 4 Complete+ is a turn-based tactics strategy RPG; with very heavy item and character management elements. The mechanics are very deep with plenty to do. The game follows a fallen tyrant vampire named Valvatorez and the insane adventures that follow. Despite this, It almost feels like the game is about becoming as powerful as you possibly can and doing as much as you can to make the best version of your characters/items.

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Graphics: 8 / 10

The game's graphic style hasn't really changed through the previous iterations of the game, and for good reason, it works, and looks pretty damn good. Not only are the anime-style sequences good; the character design, quality of art assets, and animations are well done. The actual game-play pixel-style graphics are also well done, albeit can feel a little crowded at times. The special skills, combos and effects are stunning and there are just so many characters, maps, backgrounds and over all designs to see and choose from.

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Sound: 8 / 10

There are so many sound effects within the game. They all sound pretty good, even when some of them don't really make much sense in certain situations. The music is good and also very well done. The biggest strength when it comes to the game's audio; is that the game is almost fully voiced in English and Japanese, with the voice actors doing a wonderful job.

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Mechanics: 9 / 10

There are so many mechanics involved in this title, it is very hard to pick a place to begin. There are classic turn-based tactics in which commands can be executed before ending your turn. There are combo attacks, team-attacks, and even attacks involving stacking teammates on top of each other, as well as throwing teammates. Teammates can become weapons for your other characters, and even fuse with each-other mid-battle, there are just so many ways to fight.

There is a very deep item system where items can level up, obtain abilities, move abilities to different items, and even play an endless dungeon based on the item selected, in order to level up the item further.

Characters have abilities that can be purchased or unlocked, and characters can also be reincarnated for added benefits. A party can consist of different classes and races that can be captured or recruited. Each race has unique abilities.

There is so much to do, so much to grind, and so much elements of this game to get lost in. It is a huge time sink, and although that may be it's biggest strength, it's also one of it's weaknesses (although not a very big one). There is no way to explain everything in-depth in a short review like this, but it really has a lot to offer.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.

DISCLAIMER: I received this product for no cost for the purpose of reviewing. However, this does not affect my views and opinions of the game.

Short Review

As Far As The Eye is; a bunch of different elements combined into a very visually pleasing rouge-like management game. The player takes control of a mobile village moving from one location to another until it reaches "The Eye". Doing so mashes up genres such as base-building and turn-based strategy with a hint of survival and RPG elements mixed in. This, in addition to the FTL-like gameplay, makes for a very interesting, but somehow relaxing, title.

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Graphics: 8 / 10

The aesthetic of the game is very well done. Although there are so many colours and objects placed on the screen at once, the visuals still manage to give off a very calm and relaxing vibe. The animations are also visually pleasing and look great. The theme of the game revolves around nature, and the art and models really reflect that.

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Sound: 8 / 10

The peaceful sounds and music that is heard while playing the game are also well done. The music fits in with the overall theme of the game, and the small sounds of the wind, movement, and the pupils working are nice.

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Mechanics: 8 / 10

Although the game tries to do a lot of things, it does most of those things well enough. There is a lot management involved. The pupils, who are essentially workers, are guided to do specific tasks that the player sets out for them. Whether it be build, explore or gather resources. The "stage" is cleared once the village has a enough of certain resources to continue to the next area. The goal is eventually to get to the final area; The Eye.

As the game continues, the player will obtain more pupils. The pupils level up depending on what tasks they are given the most, and can become more efficient at these tasks. They also have a skill tree that the player can use to further shape that pupil. Pupils need food to continue to work, and will also die if they are not fed, or due to other circumstances/events.

The player has a certain amount of turns available to them to complete the stage they are in. If they can not complete it in time, the game is over. After finishing an area, the player may choose which area to go to next. The player can not bring everything from the previous area with them, and must choose what they think is important to travel with as they have limited cargo space. Some buildings are also mobile and can be taken along with the village, while others can not.

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Thanks to the developer for giving me the opportunity to review the title, as well as anyone who took this review into consideration, I hope it helped.