Recent reviews by shadebox

Help, I can't stop playing. The world is glitchy and the vehicles are out of control and everything is clipping through itself but I can't, stop, playing.

But seriously, wonderful atmosphere with a ton of OCD addicting gameplay that just keeps getting added to each patch. The promise of a storyline for release involving alien artifacts will just keep drawing me in. The game has a bunch of bugs and glitches, but in a way, that is part of its charm.

If you like base builders in any form (Valheim, Subnautica, No Man's Sky), you owe it to yourself to play this too.

PROS
- Roguelike style gameplay with tsns of unlockables
- Wonderful soundtrack
- Easy to learn gameplay

CONS - EDIT 4/19/2020 - It seems people got grump that I didn't list any cons for this game so let me address them and add some legit cons here:
- This game is a roguelike. That means RNG can and WILL screw you over.
- This game is in early access, so there are bugs. I've run into weird item glitches and collision issues early on, but the bugs I run into tend to get fixed.
- Some of the characters are better played with others than solo
- The devs improved finding the teleporter, but it can still be difficult to find.

Some of the issues that people complain about, I don't see. For example, the co-op being unfair I have not run into. In fact, I've found that the gameplay ends up breaking in favor of the players pretty quickly if you're playing co-op. I had a run in which my co-op partner and I had max burst healing and movement speed and it took literally a level full of elites to kill us.

Also it should be noted that this game is not about player skill in any way. Its a roguelike with a hockeystick style difficulty curve. You WILL get flooded with enemies eventually. This is part of the appeal, especially as more items (and now artifacts!) are unlocked.


This is a wonderful sequel to a wonderful game. The roguelke elements keep the game dynamic enough to keep coming back. The unlockables and challenges keep the replay value going and the soundtrack keeps you enjoying the ride the entire time. There is very little I could say bad about this game other than how the difficulty can scale FAST if you're not careful.

This game is even more enjoyable when you have friends along and you stack abilities properly.

If you don't own this game already, go buy it, now, go, I'm waiting.

PROS
- Rhythm game!
- Smooth game play, easy to pick up
- MODS!

CONS
- Updates break mods temporarily
- Phantom misses?

This was the first VR game I got and really the second reason I got into VR in the first place. I always fall back to this when I pick up my VR headset for any other sort of gaming or therapy. Simple to play, easy to dive in. You can play a quick game or play for hours. Being moddable means a limitless amount of customization, and the twitch interactive stuff means streamers can have a lot of fun interaction with their audience.

Because of the rhythm game aspect, this game is also a wonderful aerobic exercise. It'll remind you that you do not use your arms nearly enough.

Honestly, this game is worth every penny, sale or not. If you have or are planning on getting a VR headset, you should own this day 1.

PROS
- CATS
- Smooth gameplay
- Good soundtrack
- Variety in the weapons

CONS
- Short (for now)
- Repetitive gameplay

This is such a lovely game made by a local development team to me. I got the honor of trying this out and loved the time I spent with it. Its an adorable roguelike with quirky humor and wonderful weapon choices.

The only real downside to this game is the short length of the game, but that is offset by the active development and free expansion content that they're continually releasing.

If you like roguelikes, and you like silly humor, this game is a must have.

PROS
- Wonderful soundtrack
- Simple controls
- Straightforward gameplay
- Addictive time trial/speed running aspects (GET THE GOLD BORDERS)

CONS
- Short, could benefit from a level creator/editor
- Only get the best track in the game if you haven't died
- Menus can end up without music
- Have to completely back out to get best track in the game

This game was surprisingly addictive. It is quite a short game so I figured I'd be done with it within an hour or two. NOPE, I got hooked on the idea of speed running this. I spent a good chunk of time of shaving those seconds off in the first few levels. I don't know why this is so addictive, but it is!

The soundtrack is pretty awesome, especially the main track that plays if you haven't died yet. Even the follow up tracks when you do die is pretty nice. I wish I didn't have to back all the way out to the main menu to get the first track back, and the unlocks menu needs consistent music.

Also, some of the unlocks are wonderful. Ohhhh mama.

Get this game, go do it, and enjoy it.

The only real criticism I can give this game is it could use a level editor. Something to keep the content fresh.

PROS
- Easy to learn controls
- Wonderful soundtrack
- Diverse levels
- Lovely concept

CONS
- Soundtrack can get a little repetitive
- A level editor would be nice, eventually

This lovely game brought to us by Luminosity Mobile is a fun twist on the usual puzzle platformer. The concept of using color and art to defeat enemies and solve puzzles gave me a smile and had me more hooked than I originally intended when I was given the chance to playtest. At first glance, it just seems like another puzzle platformer, but Luminosity has done a wonderful job of spinning a lighthearted story into something original and fun.

The controls in this game flow very smoothly. I rarely found myself grumpy at the responsiveness or feeling like the game wasn't doing what I told it to do. Any mistakes I made would generally fall on me just being clumsy.

The audio in the game is quality and well put together. The only issue I'd give for this is that the soundtrack gets repetitive after a bit. The length of the worlds and the single track per world design means that you'd be hearing the same tune over and over for quite a bit, especially if you got hung up on a puzzle.

The art style is smooth and colorful. Very pleasing to the eyes. Honestly, this is one of the main reasons to get the game. The artistry in this is wonderfully put together and just looks appealing.

The biggest reason I give a game a yay or nay is in replayability. While there is no level editor to create your own creations, the fog of war aspect, the collectables, and the time trials allow for many hours of 100%ing and speedrunning the game. I could totally see this game showing up at a GDQ and everyone having a blast.

Overall, I highly recommend picking up this game. At the full price listed on Steam, it is more than worth the value, if you enjoy puzzle platformers that is.

PROS
+ Simple gameplay
+ Flexible unlocks and powers
+ Addictive gameplay

CONS
- Sometimes the chaos gets to be too much
- The speed of the mini-boss battles gets to insane levels

This game was amazingly fun. I didn't expect to have as much fun with it as I did. The premise is simple enough yet full of depth to keep me entertained for hours. I played this as an indie title expecting to play it once and never go back to it. I have since played it multiple times and plan to keep at it.

The only real complaints I have relate to the speed and chaos of the game, which I understand is part of the appeal. However, the mini bosses where you have to match the direction of your hits to a DDR style vertical scroll can sometimes go so fast that there is no humanly possible way to hit them all in a timely manner. On top of that, the chaos on the screen gets so bad sometimes that you can't actually take in what is going on, as you have to 100% focus on your attack bar under it all.

Those negatives said, I still HIGHLY recommend the game, especially at $8. I could easily see $10+ for this game. Get it, enjoy it. Fantastic to kill time as the levels take 3-10 minutes a piece, but also great to just play for hours mindlessly.

PROS
+ Simple gameplay
+ Smooth gameplay

CONS
- Repetitive
- Twitchy camera
- Quirks noted in full review

So this game, its alright. It feels very much like a mobile port, since one of the biggest things I notice about the game is the camera snap that happens when you fly too fast toward the edge of the screen (and sometimes when you don't!) If this happened occasionally I wouldn't have an issue with it, but there would be times when I'd have the camera snap to me 3-4 times in a small burst.

I do not understand the reason for the mouse cursor being a target. There is no aiming control that I can see, so making it look like the mouse could add an element to the game does not make sense. Not truly a negative, but just an odd quirk.

The game itself is simple and easy to play, although repetitive. There isn't a lot of depth or substance to it, but that is part of the charm and appeal. It helps kill some time here and there.

At the price of $1, it is worth it for the simple time killing. I am not sure if I'd go any higher. Good price point for it.

I played this game in the alphas and betas. It is a wonderful twist on the typical FPS team match games and I had a lot of fun the few times I played. The graphics were nice, the gameplay was smooth. I appreciated the unique characteristics each of the bots received. I haven't played the live game yet, but with the current sale, that will probably change soon.

I highly recommend giving it a go if you like the competitive team FPS genre.

PROS
+ Roguelike gameplay isn't too lopsided and makes for good replay
+ Gameplay is smooth
+ Soundtrack is... odd, but surprisingly fitting
+ Weapon variety is nice

CONS
- The difficulty can hockey stick at times
- The controls are rough
- One major game breaking bug

This game was a rough start for me. I had a hard time getting used to the mouse rotation aiming combined with WASD for movement. I'm an avid gamer and it was just really rough to get used to. I figured maybe it was a game better suited for a controller, until I picked up the controller and realized the twin-stick style was even worse. Switching back to keyboard+mouse, it took some more time, but I finally got used to the controls.

Once I got over that hurdle, the game was fun! The roguelike level picking method was nice to add replay to the game and I easily found myself spending hours going through over and over trying to increase my score on the leaderboard. The weapon variety was nice, though once I found my favorite primary and secondary, I did not care about any others.

The soundtrack is... interesting. A mix between ambient techno with some faded repeated vocals here and there led to some amusing comments in chat while I was playing.

I only had two issues with the game. One, the difficulty would suddenly ramp up fast going from level 2 to 3, and 3 to 4. Sometimes it was fine, sometimes it was OH GOD THERE ARE 50 SHIPS BLOCKING ME IN THIS CORNER HELP. The other was a bug in which I was trapped on a level because it didn't acknowledge that I had cleared the level, forcing me to restart.

Overall, the game is good. I like it and recommend it, with the caveat that the controls take some getting used to. Give it a buy and a go!