Recent reviews by battle b2

I'd initially left a negative review due to the lack of mouse input options.
This has now been fixed quietly as of the patch on 17/01/2025. Why it wasn't announced in official patch notes alongside the presumed crashing issues is beyond me; although it doesn't seem like those were 100% fixed either.

FREEDOM WARS is a game that hasn't quite left me. I still remember fondly using a friend's library card to be able to purchase a secondhand copy back in my home city, and I remember all the nights I spent awake at night crafting, grinding, and pretending to be asleep whenever my mother came in.
This game is quite literally just the original game but with some super minor tweaks and alterations to make it tolerable on non-portable platforms (ie. crafting no longer takes real time). The grind is still just as insane though. Ignore the people whining about AI voices - the game uses TTS just like the original, and ignore the people whining about Type A/B body types - you are nothing more than your sentence and your body mass to the Panopticon, ready to be stuffed full of cybernetics and be an Accessory once your number's up.

If you're a new buyer, it's a janky Monster Hunter clone. If you like that sorta thing or enjoyed playing Phantasy Star Online 2 as a Ranger, this game is for you, albeit I would wait for a steeper discount.

Here's hoping we get a FREEDOM WARS 2.
Things only just started getting interesting, after all.

I was going to hold off on writing this until after I'd cleared the game but after seeing a bit more than half of what the game has to offer:
I'm not even going to bother waiting. (lol)
I will update it eventually.

If this game seems up your alley but the way people talk about how insane it is has kept you away from playing it: please, give it a shot anyways!
I was kinda afraid of playing Hellsinker. because of how crazy people had made it seem. Even some of the positive reviews saying that it is "dodonpachi may cry" were a little scary, but there really is no other way to describe it. It is pure bullet hell, there is no two ways about it. But you have attack combinations and all of the tools you need to pierce through it. Who, how, and where? You can make it work.

The presentation is to die for. The thrill, truly exhillarating. The surprises it keeps up it's sleeves keeps things fresh.
The Death is waiting for You. Keep your dignity.

Good luck, EXECUTOR!

System Erasure doesn't miss.
Much like with my ZeroRanger review, if you're already this far down... just play it!

This is another one of those games where you should try not to look at much about it and you should go in as blind as possible. It's a little trickier here given that it's a sokoban game, but it's so worth it. Unlike ZeroRanger, it doesn't quite lovingly welcome you in this time, and it definitely doesn't prime you for what you're getting into - but the intrigue and childlike wonder of learning how it all works is really really brilliant.
It's a game that's brought me a lot of sadness, frustration but most importantly: satisfaction and enlightenment.

I left a message to System Erasure at the end of my last review, so I think I'll do the same here:

It should be illegal to make me sob this much during a game! (lol)
It's such a rare thing for me, but you're now two for two when it comes to games released and games that made me cry, but it may as well be higher given the amount of times I was brought to tears.

I rewrote this chunk of my message a few times to see if I could put it more eloquently, but I think I'll just spoiler tag it to protect the eyes of anyone who hasn't finished the game.
I wasn't expecting to feel so touched by the very final area of the game. Having a real person reach through and talk about their feelings is one thing, but sharing that sentiment is another. Life pushes and pushes and pushes all of us, but it's on us to pull the things and people we love closer, here and now.
I can hear you.
We all can hear you.
We'll be cheering you on every step of the way.
"Towards better things", together.

Thank you.

I picked up Blue Revolver upon a whim after seeing the newest update drop online.
I'm not the most experienced with the game, I've only played a couple of hours overall but I expect to play more as it's already got me excited to chase the 1cc.

It's a delightful homage to CAVE style games without the incredibly steep upfront difficulty curve. It's by no means an easy shmup, but it is one that feels achievable even for a genre-rookie like me who hasn't been playing for very long. The presentation is very nice, the core gameplay is simple and fun, and the new Double Action soundtrack is great! There's also a plethora of options for gameplay and visibility / accessibility and I really appreciate that, which feels like a rare thing to me.

I can imagine my review will change over time to add to this as I get better, but for now, these are my first impressions.
Thank you for the game - good luck with whatever you make next!

SHORT PREFACE:
My playtime is inaccurate because I actually playtested this for the developer pre-demo-release.
Thanks for the opportunity!

I'm just leaving a positive review to get across the fact that I like the game a lot already, and I hope it succeeds, as it's quite an interesting challenge. To reiterate what I said elsewhere when people were looking at the trailer, it’s a game where the climbing feels very strange at first, and you feel like you have a lot to deal with and it’s overwhelming BUT if you give it the patience and attention it deserves, you will be flying through zones. It’s very fun to find your own little weird shortcuts for areas and route your runs.

It'll be very interesting to see people pathing out the game over time as things progress, and I'm very excited to see how it develops further. Good luck!

I'm leaving a positive review in the hopes that it can give a little bit of visibility to this game and the demo, but I understand that shmups are a very niche thing and Steam is not so nice as a platform for this.

Coming hot off of the heels of clearing ZeroRanger (effectively my first proper shmup clear), I wasn't sure how Rainchaser's demo would be. I was aware of the project even before clearing ZR, and while I'm interested in shmups and playing more - I really am not very good at them, so I hesitated a little before playing.

It's a little silly of me to have done that, because in the near 3 hours of the game that I played, I found myself really enjoying it! The art is to die for, the music is very fun and has it's own neat sound to it that compliments the visuals, and overall the presentation is very enjoyable and pleasant while providing a unique spin on your typical shmup enemy types.

The gameplay is very very easy to grasp and feels really good to play, nothing feels unattainable, and the continue system is very reasonable, much like ZR. And to top it off, you have a very nice "Break Room" system to cap off moments in your playthrough, something that feels very inspired by social aspects in other games but doesn't at all feel out of place here. I always love getting insights into things, and I enjoyed the fact that there was even dialogue after finishing the demo.

My only "gripe" (read: non-issue) is that I took issue with the mini boss checkpointing that takes place after the train. Sending me all the way back to the start of the train put a little bit of a damper on me, especially after coming from a game with way more overall, but I understand that it's there probably with good reason.

A very inspiring little demo, and I'm looking forward to the full game.
Good luck, Kornodd!

Stop looking at the reviews and play the game.
You're already this far down - so you're interested.

Don't look anything up, don't spoil yourself on anything, just pick up the game and stick with it all the way through to completion. It invites you in very warmly and very lovingly to clear it, and makes no attempt to baby you but is also very encouraging inherently with it's mechanics and progression.

To System Erasure:
I bawled my eyes out upon finishing, which is not something that happens very often with games for me. I think there's something to be said about the emotional weight of knowing you can do something, knowing you can get there, and then really trying your hardest and exceeding that. Thank you for one of the best games I have ever sunk my time into. I'm looking forward to what else you make.

I've spent a lot of time playing this game and the more that times goes on, the more I realise that the game that I liked has been smothered to death beneath horrible matchmaking, tweaks to things that weren't broken and didn't need them, foundational issues making the game awful to play, and unashamed greed from the publisher.

All of the issues just keep piling up and it's not something I can overlook.
You can keep the cash you've taken, but you won't get any more from me.