A very nice friend of mine bought me a game bundle (which I would link to but it’s no there any more) and I have now tried them all.
So I figure it’s review time!
We will start with the game that got me all excited to get the bundle in the first place (and inspired my awesome friend to buy it for me) : Overgrowth.
Those who know me well can see why this went from zero to I MUST HAVE THIS in like zero time for me.
- It is ninja(ish). I love all things ninja. Ninja ninja ninja. Any game where I can ninja around doing ninja things already has me half sold.
- It is furry. I love all things furry. Furry furry furry! Every character in the game is an anthro fur of some kind. And they aren’t just normal humans in furry costimes. Their species is a big part of who they are and plays a big role in the story. So honestly, the only way it could be more furry would be if it was set in Zootopia. Or if everyone was naked, I suppose. (There is no nude patch. I checked. )
- It is brutal, dark, and bloody. And I really crave that in my games. Not to the point of it being mandatory or anything. There are plenty of bright and shiny G-rated games I still enjoy. But being filled with brutal bloody violence against truly evil people scores big marks in my books. That’s part of why I love games like the Witcher series, the Dishonored series, and the Darksiders series.
- You have amazingly badass and deadly moves. Also big in my book. Plus the art style is amazing.
So how does the real thing stack up? Very good but fairly flawed.
For one thing, the main game is super hard. You will die a LOT. It reminds me of the Ninja Gaiden games for the Xbox in that respect. Luckily, the game checkpoint saves quite frequently, which saves you from having to do the entire level over again each time the game brutally slays you.
And I can live with that. I don’t mind dying a lot doing thing A if I can try again almost instantly. But it is not for the casual gamer.
This is gaming without guardrails. There is absolutely nothing keeping you from killing yourself stupidly or getting in over your head. Nor is it a game where you have a big fat health bar and plenty of healing lying around.
In fact, one striking thing about the game is that it is utterly and mercilessly minimalist. No health bar, no items (except weapons), no traditional saves, no magic, and no frills. This is all about the kung fu fighting, with nothign extraneous to slow you down or distract you from the action.
The controls are a tad nonstandard, and also quite minimalist. To attack continuously, you just hold down the left mouse button. That lets you concentrate on pivoting to face enemies without having to button mash at the same time.
This can result in action exactly like a martial arts movie, where the hero handles being surrounded by enemies by whirling and striking them unpredictably.
Overall, it’s a good game but it could use some work. There is a fine line between “minimalist” and “crude” and this game straddles it. Combine that with its utter lack of marcy for the gamer and I have to say that this is definitely not for everybody.
I give it 7 out of 10. Could have been 8 or even 9 with more development and a slightly more forgiving and friendly nature.
Another game I got from the bundle is Tangledeep.
It is a “roguelike” game (remember those?), which means the whole idea is to create your character and go exploring a dungeon full of monsters, traps, treasure, and other fun stuff. There is no real plot, just exploration and battle and building up your character via the usual routes of leveling up, getting new skills, and getting better gear.
It’s a heck of a lot of fun. I didn’t expect to enjoy it as much as I do because I figured, big deal, it’s another mindless dungeon crawler.
And technically, it is, but it’s one that is very richly detailed, charmingly depicted, well thought out, and surprisingly deep. There are always a ton of things to do and the game keeps deploying new things at strategic moments and that goes a long long way to keep it from becoming a mindless grind.
So does the fact that it has around 20 character classes to try, each with their own unique set of abilities.
Warning though : there is permadeth. And there is no way to save the game except as part of quitting it. So if you die, that’s it.
This can be turned off. But it’s more fun with it on!
And so, in short, I am totally hooked. The game is a blast. I am so far finding it to be endlessly playable and loads of fun, and for an old phart like me, a little nostagic.
I remember how much fun the original roguelikes could be. Sure, the graphics were beyond primitive, consisting entirelty of the symbols you see on your keyboard, but this simplicity let the programmers imaginations run wild in other ways and so those tgames were some of the most surprising, inventive, engrossing, and creative games I have every played and I have been playing games my entire life.
So I totally recommend Tangledeep. 9 out of ten, baby. If you absolutely need high rez 3D environments with tons going on visually and 4K textures in order to be happy, this game ain’t for you.
But if you remember roguelikes or are just a JRPG fan, get this game!
Well that’s two of them. There’s like five more.
I will get to them soon, I promise. Meanwhile….
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.