Recent reviews by Shadow_Duck

Excellent dungeon crawler with a good bit of horror mixed in. Lots of areas/puzzles had me completely lost for hours on end, running for my life through tunnels i couldn't figure my way out of. Just love it when a game says "oh you're lost? go ♥♥♥♥ yourself" and forces me to figure it out instead of holding my hand. Combat become pretty trivial by about halfway through but overall still a very engaging and refreshing experience.

Also, the funniest character creation I've ever seen in a game. I hope more people play this so I can watch more brats get triggered by a tiny word.

Absolute masterclass of pixel horror. Ch1 was a bit tame imho but 2 and 3 are truly horrific. This game knows how to give you the inception of a monstrous idea, and then let your imagination and fear fill in the rest. 9/10

Fun, solid halo game. Unfortunately, the challenge system has people throwing matches in order to get any exp out of them. Will change to a recommended once the exp progression system isn't actively detrimental to the gameplay itself.

For some reason I went into this game thinking it was an objectively inferior clone of the first game. While Below Zero certainly has some flaws, that is FAR from the case.

Cons:
>Seatruck and Snowfox feel TERRIBLE to drive. I know at least in the seatruck's case it's to encourage more
EVA activities, but if im gonna drive a clunky boat around I at least want it to feel as awesome as the
cyclops.
>The monster design was rather hit or miss for me, while I ADORE some of the lategame enemies, most of
the earlier ones feel very samey and not as intimidating.
>Ocean doesnt go nearly as deep as the original, not a major nitpick since there's much less dead space, but
it does take away from the terror aspect.
>Lots of dialogue that, while interesting and engaging in my opinion, does detract from the overwhelming
loneliness the original masterfully executed.

Pros:
>Textures and visual elements are improved massively, and while i still encountered some bugs, they were
nowhere near as prevalent as in the first game. Speaking of the original, the horrendous pop-in and draw
distance is practically nonexistent.
>Crafting is improved in almost all aspects: recipes are more diverse, there aren't many, if any, materials i was
tremendously overcapped on, resource drop rates are generally more balanced (except lead i cant find lead
to save my life), and base building is better in every conceivable way.
>Monster design may not be better, but their AI is MASSIVELY improved. Wont spoil specifics but the land
areas/endgame depths were, in my opinion, even more intense than the original simply because of how
relentless the enemies were.
>Seaglide map is actually useful and is toggled by a seperate button from the flashlight.
>Snow puppies are adorable, would let them maul me again

Overall, not quite as terrifying as the original, but the qol changes, bug fixes, and new zones more than make up for it. A wonderful experience for fans of the first one, and still made me piss myself a couple times. 8/10

Its been a LONG time since i've had to stop playing a game because i was having too much of an adrenaline rush. This game has been scratching my shooter itch HARD

There are good games. Games that I thoroughly enjoy playing, and remember fondly after I'm done. Then, there are amazing games. Games that I would give anything to completely forget about and play for the first time again. Subnautica is one of those games.

I'll start by saying that I'm generally not a fan of "survival simulator" games. Normally, once I have a stable situation and a decent influx of food, shelter and basic necessities, I get bored and trail off. But the sense of discovery in Subnautica doesn't wear off so easily. Granted, the game map is hand-made instead of randomly generated (although your spawn point CAN vary from game to game), but I find this to be more of a plus than a problem. Each environment had its own carefully made nuances for me to discover, and I never felt like I was getting "more of the same" like in other survival games.

As for the inhabitants of this crazy world, I can confidently say that if you have an irrational fear of the ocean, you should NOT play Subnautica without the lights on/a teddy bear within arm's reach. I won't spoin any of the craziest creatures, but rest assured: looking down into the dark open depths is even scarier when you KNOW something down there wants you for lunch.

While the story isn't necessarily anything special, it's amplified by the survival perspective. The crushing loneliness, foreign environment, and terrifying sounds of the deep ocean make each story beat that much more impactful, and, while you aren't actually on any sort of time limit, the sense of urgency the game gives you is more than enough to drive the action.

Now, I will say that some of the load times in game can be absurd. The draw distance is so short it's not even funny: once a wreck loaded in an entire minute after the rest of the terrain, trapping me and my seamoth inside. In addition, the base building, while fun and creative, tends to cause lots of bugs and glitches. In general, the more bases you have, the worse your game is going to run, which can be rather immersion-breaking to say the least.

Nevertheless, Subnautica gave me an experience that I will never forget. This game blows any other survival games.....
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out of the water

Hollow Knight is probably the best indie game I've ever played.

I know any game nowadays that has any smidgen of difficutly is labelled as "the new Dark Souls", but honestly this game is probably the closest thing to a 2d Dark Souls. The world is depressing but still wondrous and adventure-filled, the combat is difficult (or maybe I'm just bad), but incredibly rewarding, and the story, while obscurely told and up for interpretation, is extremely touching and memorable.

The ONLY area that I can complain about is the platforming. In most areas, it works fine. However, some weird input bugs (dashing through an obstacle but still taking damage, double-jumping as soon as leaving the ground, etc.) made....certain important - albeit optional - sections of the game a slog for me. Again, maybe I'm just bad. Apart from that, however, very few instances made me actually feel like I was going up against an unfair challenge, and encouraged me to keep trying.