Recent reviews by Figrin

This game is a staggering achievement for open world RPG's. After about 30 hours I was convinced that it was one of the most charming games I'd ever played. I was out enjoying the countryside, picking herbs, blacksmithing, meeting people and forming relationships. The cause and effect of my actions felt so grounded and intuitive. Truly the most immersive RPG I've ever played.

As the game went on, and I moved into Act II, I began to realize how massive the scope of the game was... or so I thought. After believing I had finally reached the true climax of the game, the story kept going... and going... and going... Eventually I lost all taste for it and found myself skipping over most of the dialogue, just praying that I could finally honor the time I'd spent in the game by completing it.

In the end, I'm of two minds. It's a fantastic sandbox--the best ever made. The story, while well written and acted, has a MASSIVE problem with pacing. And while I'm sure some will enjoy the fact that this game never ends, I found that the things that make it charming (being a relative nobody trying to make their way in this historical world) melt away about 1/3 of the way through the game. You truly can have too much of a good thing.

I fell in love with Half Sword via its tech demo. There's truly nothing else like it. The way you control a physics-based body means there's endless room for silliness, skill expression, and really interesting scenarios. The Early Access has fleshed out a lot, and things are going in a great direction. Being able to go through an interesting Progression mode where you have to make interesting choices about what armor to access, what weapons to prioritize, etc. is an awesome direction.

Some things could really use attention--and I'm not just talking about performance optimization. The progression mode as a whole still feels relatively easy to solve. Find the war staff, and equip as much plate armor as possible, and it is very hard to lose (except by very bad luck, which also isn't interesting). Progression also begins to feel like a slog at the higher tiers--I found myself reluctantly engaging in battle after battle that I knew wouldn't be challenging or interesting just because I wanted to get to the Tourney. What if I always had access to the Tourney, but *needed* to use the smaller fights to progress my character and prepare for it? That would make me feel like I had a lot more agency.

Overall, I'm very excited to see how Half Sword develops, and it will continue to be one of my favorite games of 2025-2026.

Seems like a robust game, but the AI artwork that is used for most of the ship items and abilities really pulls me out of the game. Odd composition, lighting that doesn't make sense--really obvious, cheap AI assets. These little details are what contribute to an overall atmosphere of a game. Wish they'd just hire an artist to make these images instead of leaving it up to such an obvious shortcut.

Old Review: This game is incredibly cool and fun but it feels unfinished. 2-3 hours after finishing the very polished start to the game, it feels like you're dropped into a sandbox that's about an inch deep. You realize there is no more story, no more cutscenes, and that you've seen every piece of gear or type of build that the game has to offer.

I'll be back in a year or two when it's more fleshed out!

UPDATE: I'M BACK! Wow, the improvement is huge. Glad the developers stuck it out and did right by this game. They seem to have approached it all really thoughtfully. I'm 7+ hours into a fresh campaign and continually discovering new missions and mechanics. Super stoked.

The art, the writing, the characters, the roleplaying mechanics---it's all an absolutely complex, surprising, existential, belly-laugh-inducing, tear-jerking delight. I haven't ever played a video game that inhabited such a unique artistic persona and at the same time was so engaging. Highest praises to this game and the team that dedicated themselves to creating it. I'm sure it wasn't easy.

I found this game kind of lackluster. The storyline is contrived and cheesy. The gameplay doesn't require much of you except to sprint forward and jump, with variations on that very simple formula including a) using double jumps b) using grappling hooks c) using tracks that make you sprint FASTER.

The giving/taking life idea is interesting but it's used to very shallow effect in the game. Looking for dead trees to give life to so I could fill the little leaf meter in the corner of the screen (which doesn't affect gameplay in any way) didn't feel meaningful at all.

There's some interesting lore about forest sprites and spirits that would have been awesome if it had been fleshed out at all...

I was hooked in for a couple of hours and think I nearly reached the conclusion of the story, but lost interest completely.

As someone who likes RPG's, roguelikes, and challenging games like XCOM or Fallout, or even Pixel Dungeon I've really enjoyed this game so far. The controls are nice and simple, so it's great for kicking back on a tablet. The atmosphere is cool, and I'd love to see some more story elements fleshed out--but as a roguelike this isn't a huge expectation.

Combat is well paced and really rewards thoughtful strategy. It punishes you big time for bad decisions. Entering a room you're unprepared for, or making a bad move, means dead squad members. Great if you want to re-live that horrible feeling you got when watching your soldiers in XCOM get gunned down.

All that being said, the game doesn't feel totally finished. There's absolutely zero instruction provided to the player on how to play, other than a scroll that starts in your inventory which says "Press LMB to equip items". Not super helpful, but the controls and the UI are simple enough to figure it out as you go. Just adds to the challenge! Each playthrough I learn something new and have been able to make it further into the game. Character customization is decent, but I'd love to see the option to set your name, appearance, or stats before beginning a new game.

The writing is excellent.

The gameplay was fun, but became a huge slog. Especially with combat, character choices started to feel meaningless. Micromanaging all 6 characters feels like work, and the combar gameplay doesn't feel rewarding.

Was really excited about this game. It was like a good book that I couldn't put down. Now I can't even bring myself to finish it.

Lots of depth in story and in gameplay. Was not expecting to be so completely and utterly hooked. One of the best games I've played in a while.