Recent reviews by Ruin

Singularly the most enjoyable indie RPG I've played in a long time.

Combining the sensibilities of Suikoden, Final Fantasy Tactics, Ultima 7 and Sid Meier's PIRATES!, Horizon's Gate delivers a relaxing, methodical and surprising gameplay experience with formidable granularity of details and impressive amounts of player freedom to indulge whatever style of play they might like.

The turn based on-foot combat has the most depth to it of course, with its FFT-esque class system and impressive prop interactivity giving the player many ways to win fights as cleverly or as simplistically as they like.

(The character progression system is however hampered by the Trainer dependency for classes, which means that you have to basically luck into finding the right trainer for the classes you want to develop your character with. The fact that the game lacks a Morrowind style conversation system means you likely won't find clues to exactly what you need or rumours as to where important things like Trainers might be. If you're thorough in exploring each village in the game world you should find all you need, but otherwise will need to consult a guide, which is a little disappointing considering just how much of the game is self-explanatory.)

Its wide open world will reward you for simply travelling, talking and trading, with few scenarios where combat interrupts your antics without you looking for it. You can look at this tone and pacing as being like an anti-Underrail; the setting may have its sharp edges, but so long as you're clever and pick your battles the game won't punish you too harshly for miscalculations. Just keep the crew fed and trade a little everywhere you go, and the simple act of filling out the map will reward you in time.

(One issue to keep in mind is that despite looking very much like a console RPG or contemporary simple pixel-art games like Stardew Valley, Horizon's Gate is not ideally enjoyed with a controller on the couch. The UI is very small in certain elements, and while controller options are baked in the game's inventory management is too fiddly to be done without a mouse, much like with Ultima 7. This is a real shame as the game's generally cozy, low stress pacing would really benefit the player who wants to crash on the sofa with their head leaned back rather than leaning over a desk. On that subject the game's greater Stash inventory would really benefit from more tabbed indexing, because you acquire A LOT of loot in this game and sorting through all of them even with the Tile-based UI would be much simpler if the stacks of stuff you find could be auto-sorted by item type with clearer labels. You can tell Sean understands this too, as your Stash is effectively unlimited and doesn't require management, with the game letting you instantly chuck things in your Stash from any location. A great anti-frustration feature.)

For fans of the Metroid Prime games, the Look feature will likely scratch a seldom accomodated itch. Near every item in the game can be Looked at, providing a short, practical description of what it is and a clue as to what can be done with it. From enemies to mundane objects to obscure artifacts, the game incentvises investigateing them all and will pay off the player for their intrigue once the player finds out how. This motivates the player to keep an eye out and try to remember to check every new things, developing a stronger sense of awareness around every set of pixels.

On that note, the journal also has a dedicated Note keeping page, which is a vital feature for open world games that expect the player to take an interest and yet is so seldom provided. Keeping note of any detail, any lead that could be returned to later with more resources and combat prowess, makes the player feel rewarded for their attention to detail in a way open world slop often fears allowing the player to do so. HG goes there and provides that, and its wonderful.

The steady drip-feed of mechanics, surprises and charming writing means that Horizon's Gate will likely enamour you with its confident ideosyncracies. If you happen to be sick of what passes for RPGs coming out of the AAA space, with their inane box ticking boredom, agendas and bloat, Horizon's Gate could be your perfect antidote. Its helped me in a time of profound personal strife, so please take it from me that any criticism I have for it is with deep respect and enthusiasm for the developer's future projects.

I am now really looking forward to trying out Kingsvein (HG's successor), which I had initially bounced off but now am much more confident to try out.

Sean Hayden is a developer to watch and support if you enjoy the RPG genre

It might look cheap and irrelevant at first blush, but scratch the surface and you'll find this is one of the best arcade style treatment of the Extraction-Shooter subgenre you can get. It perfectly hits that risk vs reward feeling of constantly trying to take just the right amount of risks to pay out with immense power without getting completely overwhelmed.

Don't sleep on it, give the dev a chance.

DRG has my unreserved recommendation. It is a triumph of small team development, delivering a deep but intuitive experience that is as immediately gratifying as it is pleasing to return to again and again. The devs long term support for the game, free frequent content updates and incredibly customer focussed monetization simply shame nearly all other developers and publishers in the industry.

Plus its not even a 4gb install. Which has to be some kind of witchcraft.

An above average FTP.

Very entertaining throwback, perfectly priced.

This is one of the simplest yet effective advertisements for the VR platform on the market. It is not graphically demanding compared to other games, requires minimal locomotion so it won't induce VR sickness in the uninitiated and does not wear out its welcome. It is the game that persuaded me to get VR, a choice I do not regret.

However, the decision made by those managing the game to utterly remove critical narrative content from the game as of July 21st 2021, with no option to retain said content, is unacceptable. The boundaries for story telling in gaming cannot be expanded and richer experiences delivered unless there is a willingness to stand by controversial design decisions and refused to be cowed by moral busybodies.

Tabletop games do not make you worship Satan.
Rap music doesn't make you commit drive-bys.
Video games do not make you violent.
Video games do not make you sexist.
Virtual Reality does not make you kill yourself.

Do not settle for this. Do not buy this game until the full unabridged content of this game is reinstated with an option to toggle the offending material.

Do not compromise with neurotic control freaks. They will never stop taking from you what they have no right to.

A satisfying if not especially deep console oriented linear shooter with unskippable narrative elements that have minimal gameplay.

It lets you harpoon men through the throat with uprooted road signs.

Its more cartoony visuals and general mood don't hit as well as the starkness of the original, but as an action game that doesn't wear out its welcome or waste the player's time you can do a lot worse.

As asinine, repetitive and thoughtless as an open world game can get. Almost.

Just Cause 2 is a game that makes no apologies for how stupid it is, revelling in obnoxious energy and jank. In that sense it has a lasting charm that its successors somewhat missed or failed to improve on.

If you want an open world game that gives you the mobility of a superhero game with the destructive agenda of The Saboteur and a complete cornball mood tying it all together, grab JC2 when you see it low enough. Its peak mindless fun.

In a market for zombie related first person games, TWD:SS stands out. In terms of mood it hits some very impressive beats with provoking panic in the player after long periods of downtime, and isn't so mechanically complex that it will alienate players who want a simple experience while not being completely braindead either.

The presentation emulates the original graphic novel and Telltale games very well, with particularly impressive attention to detail. Some environments do conspicuously repeat layouts and assets perhaps more than you'd like in a game that is mostly composed of ten small maps you replay multiple times with small permutations. That being said, the zombies are well realised and aren't so realistic as to make the player gag in discomfort. Much like games such as Resident Evil 4 and RE2make, there's a palpable satisfaction to learning the exact rhthyms of monster movements and precise moment to hit them with the appropriate weapon to get the best result.

While the human characters aren't nearly as well realised and can often act in bizarre, silly ways, there is a palpable sense of discomfort when you realise how easily and uncannily you can kill other human beings in this game. Negotiations, mexican standoffs and mugging scenarios can end is blast outs that aren't really captured in any other game I can think of, and as these events are fairly rare they leave a strong impression on the player.

Each area in the game is a self contained instance that the player has limited time to explore, scavenge and complete objectives within, and the exact means to complete these isn't totally spoonfed to you. Its very easy to waste time and end up booking it to the exit with a thin margin of time remaining, and there are a lot of little hidden objectives to explore and find if you've an eye for detail.

Disconcertingly this almost makes TWD:SS feel like the only game remotely similar to an "immersive sim" on the VR platform right now. Granted the quest design isn't especially open ended, but the emphasis on independent investigation to glean worthy rewards and occasional unorthodox problem solving is reminisicent of the best moments in Deus Ex or System Shock 2.

Keep in mind before you go in that the game's physics system is intentionally weighty, and frantically swinging a gun and expecting to bulleye walkers isn't going to work. The game simulates the effects of exhaustion, and thus encourages measured motions with a stead hand for marksmanship. This will lead to nightmare-like moment when you miscalculate and get overwhelmed as your character's movements lag behind your gestures, making it all the more distressing when you need to keep your cool to survive.

You won't be playing it forever and there's an upper limit to its RPG mechanics, which I consider a good thing; its not trying to addict you into playing every day, and once the honey moon period ends you'll likely still persevere to its conclusion.

If you have VR, this game is an easy recommend to those with the stomach for it.

Seen by many as the bad step down the wrong path for the beloved horror series, RE5 does indeed double down on RE4's absurdity with little of its inventiveness or charm. Its single player campaign will likely come off as dull to anyone who has beaten four, and unacceptably clunky to those who have not.

It is however a very entertaining co op campaign with a friend. On Veteran difficulty with both communicating, sharing in its marvellous absurdity and the tense clutch moments with little ammo it becomes a fun time. Taken as a spectacle its engaging, if you're prepared to deal with frustrating Quick Time Events.

And of course toward the end game you have the now legendary ludicriousness that is Chris Redfield's boulder punching, and DC Douglas giving the greatest performance of his career as Supervillain Albert Wesker.

Get it on a deep sale, and you're bound to enjoy yourself.