Recent reviews by Ensiferum

Frankly, I wanted to like this game a lot more than I did. Do I recommend it? Yes, but only on sale, maybe a 60% discount, at least.
All in all, I spent less than 4 hours completing the game, and getting all the achievements.
The game is beautiful, I'm a great fan of the art style, the music choice, and the concept of the story and main game mechanic.

The execution of said story and game mechanic are left wanting, however. There's not enough content to properly explore the story. I loved the characters and the idea of only seeing them as "shadow people", but the ending gave me no closure at all and left me with a couple of unanswered questions.
Secondly, the "switching in and out of the shadow world", if you will, is a very refreshing way of playing a puzzle game, if it works. Too bad it's very clunky at times, which makes playing the game very frustrating.

Overall, the game has its charm, but frankly, the good doesn't always outweigh the bad, in my opinion. When I found myself being ejected from 2D mode to 3D mode because the game registers a pillar as a shadow barrier, it was only my completionism that prevented me from quitting the game altogether. Now that I've completed it, I don't think I'll ever touch it again. I'd recommend it, though, if you have the opportunity to pay no more than 40% of its original price.

Maybe it's nostalgia speaking, as I've played this game multiple times on Nintendo DS, but I can't get enough of it. The characters, the silly names, the (overarching) storylines, I love it all. I recommend this "Yell Objection"-simulator!

Great gameplay, nice and gritty story and setting

I played lots of Harvest Moon back during my childhood, and this is just as amazing!

Amazing local co-op multiplayer that requires coordination and communication with friends.
Makes for some hilariously tense situations.

I loved Hexcells and played it until I got all achievements, then played some more. Seeing this game, of course I needed to try it! Well, I did and it just left me irrationally angry.

Pro:
+ I get to train my arithmetic!

Cons:

- The ripple effect left by the cursor is annoying, bordering on nauseating
- Everything went well up until the point of multiplications. If we're not going to work with brackets, then 1 + 3 x 4 = 13, not 16. And obviously, we're not working with brackets, because these equations need to work backwards in some places as well.
- As far as I've seen, there are times when multiple solutions are possible. Yet, somehow, there's only one fixed solution and you better pick that one or...
- You get sent back immediately to the level selection menu upon making a mistake. Not only is this annoying, it also gives the answers away. I much preferred the "Mistakes made"-counter from Hexcells.

So, overall, I'm pretty disappointed at CrossCells and can only hope SquareCells, that I bought in the same bundle, is better...

I never thought I could get emotionally attached to geometric shapes...

In general, Victor Vran is a great ARPG, with fairly easy controls and a hilariously sarcastic narrator. The ability to change between your "class" and skills really suits me, as I usually spend half an RPG regretting my class choice.

In more detail, some pro's and con's:

+ Silly, sarcastic humour in the form of a narrator not unlike "The Stanley Parable"
+ The ability to switch between classes and skills at any time
+ Uses WASD-controls, instead of clicking to walk and controls are very smooth
+ Possibility for multiplayer and joining a game is easily done
+ Enhancement of abilities through the use of destiny cards (this to me was a very new and refreshing feature)
+ Temporary bounties and treasure hunts, shareable through chat (both ingame and internationally)
+ Enemies level simultaneously with the player, so returning to an earlier area is still as challenging as the first time

- Poor, cheesy story. To me, this is was very crucial
- Mediocre voice acting
- Overdramatised game, making it hard to feel sympathy for some characters
- Victor Vran's attitude is perpendicular to the narrator's, breaking immersion more than once.

All in all, I'd say the pro's outweigh the con's and especially when playing with others, I would really recommend this game, either at full price or on sale.

Fast paced smash-like game, filled with adorable characters who aim to turn each other into skeletons.
Battles often don't last over 3 minutes, as the arenas are pretty small and there's nowhere to hide
While most have been recently nerfed, I still feel like some are more powerful than others... *cough*Claws*cough*

Don't be fooled by the cutsie-ness! But 10/10 would take a shotgun blast to the face again.