Recent reviews by mario_pot

Played this on my Steamdeck and it was definitely playable. The mouse cursor and d-pad doesn't really work so you have to use the touch screen . It runs ok but gets choppy during flight otherwise it ran relatively well . I was able to drive and fly ( the fastest activities) pretty smoothly. The controls showed what I think were Playstation controls for UI inputs but that was ok . Honestly for an early access game I actually had a really fun time . Love the visual design the most it looks like a comic book which is perfect .Love the audio too the quips from the cops are pretty hilarious. I think gameplay -wise it's good but the random crimes pop up a little too frequently, they're kind of overwhelming. Worth the $9 especially knowing this is only the beginning ! Keep developing, I'm super excited for this projects future! Love

Fun , Funny, and feels like playing through a memory .

Cheddar Beach is a visual novel experience that had me crack a few smiles, I enjoyed the variety of characters, their different motivations, shenanigans, and interactions . You play as Hamston a fish out of water that's new to Cheddar Beach and hang out as his cousin Gerbert and cousins friend Bossa roam Cheddar Beach looking for a party.

You run into a variety of significant and insignificant characters , one of my favorites is the Drunken Duck , and make a few choices as you experience a night along with Hamstons crew .

I love the drawn art style of the characters it's simple but it almost gives the game a storybook quality , I love the cool panning background which changes in color in town that aligns with the music and scenes Hamston ends up in .

the music is really strong bouncing between chill and lo-fi to much more upbeat exciting rock .

I enjoy the dialogue as it reminds me of growing up in Southern California where I assume the games inspirations are based . and some real conversations I've had about family about how [ California burger classic staple ] hasn't updated their menu in decades and while californians like it that way out of towners often have strong unimpressed opinions .

Altogether This is a great opening Chapter to Cheddar Beach it sets the stage for Hamston, the people who matter most to him , the vibe of Cheddar Beach , and the different characters that live there. I'm super excited to go on this journey with Hamston and get to know Cheddar Beach and the people who live there a little better in future chapters !

Addictive, fun , relaxing, challenging , and filled with adventure Palworld is an excptional game for those who love Collecting Monsters and building awesome defensive bases at the same time .

I went into this game hoping for a good time and am instead having an exceptional time. With friends or solo I love the bases i've built and the Pals that i've captured along the way .

If you want a fresh Monster-collecting adventure then this is the game for you and the funny thing is this game isn't even finished yet !

THIS GAME TRICKED ME INTO DOING MATH!!!!!

I have completed Potionomics at the 30 hour mark , it was at 25 hours that I realized I had been bamboozled, lead astray , and run amok . For you see, Potionomics presents itself as a cute and enjoyable Store management game paired with a card-based haggle system . These systems work really well with the core game loop being

Acquire ingredients -> Create Potions - > Place Potions in Store -> Haggle over potion Prices -> Profit -> USe Profits to purchase better and more ingredients.

It works really well and the game supplies you with a variety of modifiers to tweak that formula be it paying adventurers to find you more rare ingredients, buying ingredient Loot Crates that " Fell off the ship", paying for marketing to increase the value of specific potions, tonics, and cures the following day and more.

The card-based haggling mechanic is an entirely different system eventhough they are intertwined. You can form social connections by gifting items and spending time with other characters and after reaching certain relationship milestones they can grace your deck with a variety of more powerful cards which can do everything from increase the price of your item outright to increasing the appeal i has to the person you are haggling with . The Card system is a lot of fun and the later relationship cards can be real game changers so once you find a style of card you like from a speciifc character keep nurturing that relationship and build a stronger haggling deck .

All in all eventhough I was TRICKED INTO DOING MATH I loved it . The loop of creating better potions, cures, and tonics, and finding ways to maximize each items value was addictive and super engaging. each ysstem feeds into another and I found myself developing a rythym of success that worked for me !

It's cute, it's charming , it makes the smart parts of my brain work, and It's fun to see that daily profit breakdowns increasingly grow .

MY biggest gripe is that there is no endless mode or newgame plus and there is way too much content to get to meet and conenct with all the characters you want to , in order to explore all the systems, or even to build the perfect deck . I'm 30 hours deep and I could easily enjoy another 20 more !

This is what I hoped My Time At Portia would be a smoother , deeper, more accessible experience that allows you to just exist in the universe.

I briefly started My Time at Portia about a year and a half ago it had great vibes but felt very unpolished and at times like a flood of information . It was clear it was a deep game but it also made exploring it's deepest aspects really challenging.

I Feel like My Time at Sandrock smoothed out and polished a lot of what I disliked about My Time at Portia and this game is still in early access !

You start the game arriving as one of two new builders in Sandrock a struggling desert town in which people are often more ready to leave then enter. As the new builder was you get a tour or the new town and your neighbors, you get commissions o gradually improve the town which helps build your workshop and as you expand and improve the town the games complexity and feature set grows.

The best thing about My Time a Sandrock is how tickles different parts of my brain , i love seeing the AI running around town doing different errands every day , It's awesome seeing your other builder and workaholic friend run FULLSPEED to the commission office every morning narrowly beating you if you aren't there ASAP . It's awesome seeing the mahcines you gradually come together in your yard , It's great saying good morning to the variety of people and animals tha inhabit Sandrock , the Combat feels simple yet satisfying ( A huge upgrade over Portia in my opinion ) , It's satisfying loading your machines to do work for you in the background as you spend your day running errands or slacking off, and It's great delivering you commissions and seeing all the relationship increases and shop experience you get for it .

All while your characters stats grow as you level up and you gradually fill out Your knowledge tree which gives you various bonuses .

I'm only 9 hours in or so but My Time At Sandrock has been a joy to play offering really great vibes in a chill environment and I find it to be satisfying on multiple levels.

The characters are great , i love the audio design, the art is unique but does a great job at pulling you into the universe , If you are looking for a chill yet engaging lifesim I can't recommend this enough !

If like me you played My time at Portia and weren't super impressed with the execution but loved the concept then My Time a Sandrock is a great option delivering on both concept and Execution just beware it's still Early Access and so it's very possible I'll be annoyed by running into unfinished sections in the future as I advance and you might too !

Fantastic concept questionable execution but I will say the more I play this game the more it grows on me.

I had no clue Romancelvania existed before this week but when I saw a trailer with a Busty Pumpkin witch and the promise of reality show drama meets Metroidvania I WAS IN ! I'm playing on the Steam Deck so I'll leave my Steamdeck specific comments at the bottom and dive more into the game itself at the top. Also bear in mind I LOVE JANKY GAMES so if you're looking for something polished come back in a few months but if you can find a good time in between the jank I'd say the game is worth a play right now.

Overview:
Romancelvania is an unfortunate case of an excellent concept well executed in some areas but bogged down in others . It has a ton of great ideas but lots of clumsy execution that's harder to forgive at the start but the mechanics and my appreciation for the gameplay has grown as Drac has leveled up and I gradually unlock more of their skills.

Narrative:
First and Foremost do I think this game delivers on the concept of a trashy reality TV - themed Castelvania... to that I would say Yes the colorful cast of characters with a large variety of personalities, the interesting conversations you can have with each of them, seeing wh the castmates interact with each other all of that satisfies my inner basic reality TV lover. The writing itself has made me laugh a few times . It's unfortunate I feel like it's a bit of a slowburn because Vess is closed off , Brocifer is just a frat boy and really the only kind of interesting opening character of the 3 was Medusa. However to the games credit I will say the more I talk to the various characters and get to see the variety of their different personalities the more I am enjoying the narrative elements of this title.

One of the more interesting conversations happens between Pumpkin Witch P.S. Elle and the Genie Vess where they have a strong disagreement between their varying views of submission and consent. It's brief but surprisingly nuanced in touching upon the way consent and personal power can color an interaction . Not every conversation is that deep but I found that to be surprisingly interesting.

With that level of thoughtfulness comes plenty of more basic and humor-focused bickering too . I love the cast so far and I think the once the gameplay improves the characters and writing will get more of the attention it deserves.

The voice acting is great and while Van Helsing voice choice is questionable it made more sense when I learned that they were angelic humans and not just mortals like you and I .

Gameplay:
At this point in time I would say the narrative carries the gameplay in Romancelvania which is unfortunate because it's not that the gameplay is wrong it just feels very clunky. Lots of reviews mention there's not much feedback when enemies are hit or you are hit, there is no real way to interrupt attacks so certain enemies like the skeletons with the revolving scythes can easily trap and put you into a damage loop situation early on. I gave up on the Impaler lance almost immediately, it thrusts Drac forward and basically tosses you into a situation to get damaged so i just stuck with the sword .
Earl on dying is easy , there isn't a lot of feedback or a go-to defensive maneuver until AFTER you defeat the first boss ( The mist slows time and allows you to briefly be invulnerable) . There's lots of small items used to help you in combat but I usually end up stockpiling the items for the bosses where I often will burn through my whole supply in order. Also the lighting does leave a lot to be desired and only makes the gameplay frustrations more frustrating as you get cheap shotted by an enemy who blended in with the background.

It's not that the gameplay of Romancelvania is irredeemable, it's that it feels like in Romancelvania enemies are just setup to be obstacles to your progress and not puzzles you solve throughout your exploration and because of that it makes all of the enemy encounters feel a little cumbersome . In most Metroidvanias I feel like enemies are designed to teach you mastery of a skill but I very rarely know the best way to tackle an enemy in this game and boss fights are the worst culprits in that they start off kind of fair but usually devolve into a mess of you avoiding the BIG BAD GUY while they infinitely spawn waves of less enemies to get in the way and I have decided to just stop killing the lesser enemies and just dodge them because they are just respawned IMMEDIATELY when you clear them . It's deflating and it makes it feel like the crazy cluttered combat experience was the goal and that is so confusing from a gameplay perspective.

What I will say I am enjoying is seeing how the relationship building narratively roles back into your perk and upgrades systems, as you build certain relationships specific weapons are upgraded, skills become available, you gain specific invulnerabilities . I think that works awesome with the theme. The unfortunate thing is once you vote characters off the show you can no longer develop those relationships and so those perks will no longer be available but I also think it's a good incentive to be strategic about which characters you like the most and which ones are the most useful being a part of your decision equation .

Art:
I think the 2D character portraits are the majority of the best artwork in this game and I think conveyed characters much better than their 3D models did but with that said not all of the 3D models are bad their quality is just far less consistent than the 2D portrait quality is.

Music: I feel like the music fluctuates between awesome and forgettable . Certain themes like Brocifer , Sol's house, and Dracs general castle theme are great ear candy but other times the music is just background noise. Not dissapointing but also not something I can write about extensively either



Steamdeck :
I'm playing this game on my Steamdeck which only just recently was patched to run it so there have been some issues playing it but for the most part playing on Steamdeck has been very smooth .. There were weird moments where the game chugs ( anytime the Headoken particles are on screen ) and over a 4 hour playtime the game has done this weird thing where my controls stop working right after a cinematic or interstitial moment. The first one was during the intro sequence after getting the impaler and being asked how you want to disband some unruly servants, the second time was after me seeing Sol and Van Helsing getting into a petty Squabble. It's an unfortunate issue which forces a complete restart and is as bad as the timing of its appearance, 2 minutes into the intro wasn't so bad, right after I grinded for some coins and jsut after I saved the game ? I would have been quite annoyed to have my coin grinding time wasted. Otherwise it's for the most part playable on the Steamdeck and after 4 hours I'd say if you're on the fence and on the Steamdeck and ok with the possibility of running into a game breaking issue I'd go for it.

Final Thoughts :
So when it's all said and done I think this is a fun indie game project do I wish it was more polished ? Definitely, but I also think this is a novel blend of theme and genres that should be celebrated for how well it brings two very different types of media together ( Reality shows and Metroidvanias) . After you build Drac up the gameplay feels better, you better understand how to develop strategies to handle the enemies and the cast is the star of the show that keeps me playing even when i do find the gameplay less enjoyable. If you like the idea of participating in a monster dating show as the backdrop to monster hunting then I think Romancelvania is worth your time and will scratch that itch ! It's a little rough around the edges but I think worth the time if you don't mind experiencing some jank whileenjoying osmething kind of novel!

Crazy addictive! I just started Spellforce: Conquest og Eo and it's unlike anything i've ever played. Resource management like Age of Empires meets the sandbox of mount and blade meets classic tactical turn-based rpg battles in my first run with the game Iwent from not knowing what I was in for to




4 hours later receiving my first ominous warning from a member of the Circle as I chased down a baron's lost ring and encroached on another mages land in the process . I've been playing on my Steamdeck seamlessly and having a great time!

I'm having a fun time with this simple action RPG on my Steamdeck ! I am enjoying the tongue in cheek narration by Lockes and dig zipping all over the map to tackle enemy hordes! There are a few small bugs and the framerate dipped a bit when entering the second map but this is a fun classic exploratory action game!
Great job team!

If you love Warband then you will love this .

Mount and BladeL: Warband for me may be the greatest PC game of all-time . I loved it that much . The army management , the combat system , the relationship systems, the large world where you could be whomever you wanted. I think Mount & Blade : Warband was the ultimate sandbox experience.

Despite it's many technical issues , a few frustrating bugs, and the lack of a few features I think Bannerlord has the potential to be everything I hoped the successor of Mount 7 Blade could and would be.

I won a tournament and in the final battle had an intense duel in which a lucky swing saved me as I barely held on with a sliver of health . I joined a crime boss to help her take down her Rival... only to betray her when he offered me twice the price for my skills. I attacked a caravan and currently an entire country wants to wage war against me and my 50 unit Clan . I've sold stolen goods, taken down a barbarian hideout, and raided a few villagers. I was amazed when a battle took place near a village and that village showed up near the edge of our battlefield .



This first 9 hours has been great and I haven't even seen how things like Sieges have improved . I have only just begun to explore what smithing custom weapons looks like, I haven't developed a deep relationship with anyone and have no clue how what perks and features unlock doing so , I haven't even signed up to be a mercenary or vassal yet . I'm so early in my playthorugh and this game currently plays like a deeper warband with a brand new beautiful coat of paint .

You have to remember though this game is in Early Access, these are being fixed and changed daily . There's lots of rumors of upcoming content and expansions , features are being added and improved , if youget the game now we probably won't recognize it in a few months but if you are a Mount & Blade fan and the series crazy expansive sandbox massive battles, and odd quirks are something that you can handle I think you'd be missing out not to grab Bannerlord. whether that's now or in a few months when they've ironed out the kinks .

Oh yes boys and girls, it's harvest season

A friend of mine Reccomended Factorio to me at first it seemed like a neat little game kinda like how Animal Crossing seemed like a stupid game about paying off loans an becoming besties with animals and StarDew Valley was just a game about a farm.... So the game asks me to mine some coal .. I set up a coal drill , have a fancy robot arm put the coal on a conveyor belt, have another fancy robot arm put the coal in a box..... I get bet bored of having to put fuel back into the coal machine though and figure out a way to have a feeder arm that takes coal out of the box and feed the charcoal mine....
I feel pretty good.

A few hours later and I have sprawling coal highway , Coal is getting shuttled to my generator far to the north along a massive conveyor belt ... .. I need my generator to produce electrictiy to power my higher quality mining devices... I need my higher quality mining devices because some alien jerks are building a Base to the north and I have a shotgun and some shells and automatic gaurd turrets I want to use to welcome my new neighbor jerks.

This game is a trap , You get the coal to get the iron and copper, you need the copper and iron to create circuits and wires, you need the circuits and wires to make an electricity grid, you need an electricity grid to do scientific research, and you need to do scientific research because I need more ways to violently eradicate those neighbors to the north .....for science.


I just pick random materials to follow down my production line and observe as they become a bigger part of my war machine..... all I wanted to do was mine some coal honestly.