HIGH Intuitive and rewarding combat. Wonderful hand-drawn aesthetics, epic story.

LOW Some glitches and visual bugs.

WTF Why are the mole people living in a more modern age?!

More than a decade ago, the genre-defining Demon’s Souls and Dark Souls were lauded by gaming media for how deftly they captured the joy of struggle and triumph, offering hard-earned victories to all willing to commit. Instead of handholding, they counted on the player’s persistence to figure out intricate combat mechanics while providing all the necessary tools. Developers expanded on this by reverse-engineering the 3D-oriented Souls formula and applying it ”back” onto 2D titles, producing more condensed, challenging experiences in a genre that had already engraved “old school to the core!” on its chest.

This feedback cycle has been repeating ever since and gifted us many worthwhile titles like Salt and Sanctuary, Blasphemous 1 & 2, Dead Cells, Hollow Knight, and so on. Unfortunately, it’s been tough to keep track of all of them, and I’m sad to say that the original Tails of Iron slipped past me. I’d like to rectify that omission now with this review of Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, which caught me off-guard with pure excellence — it exhibits so much spine, heart, and soul that it swiftly climbed to the top ranks of my favorite 2D soulslikes.

As the campaign begins we control Arlo, the young prince of a rat kingdom who finds his hands full with the harrowing task of having to rebuild his sovereign state after vile bats attacked it viciously and killed the king. Presented via a soothing narrator’s voice, these events transpire in the tutorial, putting us in the shoes of an inexperienced rat “knight” whose knees are shaking at the sight of leathery wings. 

Even two-dimensional, the aesthetics were potent enough to make me dread coming across the bat armies — the mandatory “soulslike tutorial boss that can’t beat” introduced me to how hungry, wild, and ferocious they are. Some can fly, some charge up heavy attacks that make them leap to the other end of the screen, some employ ranged weaponry, and more.  

Even as a small rat, the assortment of armaments Arlo has access to does even the scales effectively. Aside from a shield, he can equip three weapons at once — one one-handed and one two-handed sword, spear, or axe, alongside a bow, crossbow, or pistol. Later on, as he get things under control in the castle’s courtyard he can unlock various upgrade paths for any of those weapons, enriching them with elemental properties and slowly turning him into a tactician, first and foremost.

These tactics are valuable — for instance, bands of armed frogs wield lighting-infused spears and also apply poison with their ranged attacks. Of course, this makes them weak to the remaining options — fire and ice. Therefore, consulting the in-game bestiary and knowing where an enemy’s weaknesses lie is key. Later on, our rodent hero acquires elemental magic which can engulf multiple foes at once if used correctly. This combination of mean, medieval-looking edged weapons and elemental spells never lost their appeal for me, even after a dozen hours.

The tempo of play is also key. While Tails of Iron 2 doesn’t feature a stamina bar, one really shouldn’t press the strike button willy-nilly. Arlo’s attack animations take time to complete and propel him forward, meaning whiffed attacks expose his back to foes on screen. All of the enemies are quick-footed, capable combatants and they’ll swiftly outsmart sloppy players. Arlo is always just a second or two away from the “You Died” screen, and his survival hinging on his ability to mind his surroundings.

Something else to note is that an enemy’s basic, heavy, and ranged attacks are all clearly telegraphed on screen. Enemies flash with a white tint before hurling an arrow, which signals us to raise a shield and block all damage. Yellow flashes herald incoming melee attacks that can either be dodged or parried, and red flashes happen before unblockable strikes that can only be dodged.

Making matters even more manageable, enemies never exploit their numbers to an unfair degree and their attacks never overlapped to the point where there wasn’t a safe space to be found onscreen. However, the visuals sometimes did obscure an enemy attack flash — white flashes against white backgrounds were difficult to keep track of, which is my biggest gripe.

At this point, I’ll say a word about the difficulty — it’s not a cakewalk. Arlo’s health will never reach far enough to carry impatient players, and progress hinges on learning the interesting combat mechanics. Still, I never felt cheated upon respawning at any of Tails of Iron 2’s gracefully spaced-out checkpoints. 

All of Tails of Iron 2’s aspects ooze a keen understanding of fundamental design values, adding up to a triumphant, intensely satisfying result. It’s a top-tier experience not to be missed by any one who enjoys a challenging 2D soulslike — just watch out for those bats!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game was developed by Odd Bug Studio and published by United Label. It is currently available on Switch, PS4/5, XBX/S, PC and macOS. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the Switch Lite. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the game, and it was completed 100% (all achievements were unlocked). There is no multiplayer.

Parents: This game has received a “T” (“Teen”) rating by ESRB and contains Blood and Gore, Mild Language, Use of Alcohol, and Violence. While the game’s visuals are hand-crafted 2D stills and sprites and all of the characters are anthropomorphic rodents, insects, and birds, Tails of Iron 2 features tons of violence and tells a bittersweet story of revenge and honor. It is pretty tough too, so I’d say the “Teen” rating is on point here. 

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers:  All dialogue in this game is shown via textboxes following the slow pace of the recorded narration, so they’re easy to keep track of at all times. While the font size can’t be changed, the text is readable enough without obscuring the action on-screen. In addition, all enemy attacks are clearly telegraphed with enemies signaling when they will strike next and in which general direction. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls:  This game offers a controller diagram and players can freely remap any action to any button. 

The post Tails Of Iron 2: Whiskers Of Winter Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH An excellent concept that brings new flavor to soulslikes.

LOW Some cheap-shot ambushes. A few of the bosses are rough going.

WTF So ultimately, professional sports are to blame?

While its success was far from guaranteed when the genre launched, there’s no question that soulslikes are here to stay.

This style of play built around third-person combat, stamina management, environmental exploration and generally ‘difficult’ combat was a breath of fresh air when Demon’s Souls burst onto the scene, and it’s now a force in the industry. However, not only is it a tough formula to nail, there are too many who follow in FromSoft’s footsteps without bringing much to the table besides mimicry. While it’s generally a bad idea to try and out-Souls the Souls people, there’s plenty of room in the genre for others to experiment, expand and grow.

For me, the most successful entries have been those that struck out in a new direction. For example, Nioh added a bit of loot drop and complexity to its weapon systems, and Hollow Knight moved things to the 2D plane. While it’s a bit rough around the edges, I’d say Deathbound from Trialforge Studio is another one who’s carved out a space for themselves.

Deathbound starts by putting the player in the shoes of Therone Guillaumen, a sword-and-shield officer in the Church of Death — and surprisingly, he is one of the bad guys.

The opening cinematic shows Therone and his troops laying waste to a city populated by refugees, senior citizens and children — and no one is spared. It’s a shocking start. Another surprise is that despite vague medieval vibes, Deathbound takes place in a post-apocalyptic setting. Every area the player journeys through is based on the ruins of modern-day sports stadiums, parking garages, city streets and more. The mysterious ”first men” are gone, and we’re fighting through what’s survived in their wake.

These elements are already a strong start, but things only get better when the main mechanic of Deathbound is revealed — Therone won’t be the only person living in his body, nor the only person that the player will control.

After pressing on through the ruins, it’s not long before Therone encounters a dead body that stands out from the rest, this one harboring a glow. Upon getting closer, the glow integrates itself into him and transplants a new consciousness, now taking residence inside his skull.

After this second personality (an assassin named Anna) is on board, the player is free to switch between the two at will, and with the push of a button, Therone’s entire body transforms into Anna’s slender, shadowy shape. However, this isn’t just a simple stat and weapon change — no, the two have wildly different movesets. Where one can parry and strike tactically, the other walks silently and can backstab for great damage. Anna’s also equipped with a crossbow to shoot enemies at a distance, but Therone can block and tank hits — something fragile Anna must avoid at all costs.

It takes very little time to realize how different the characters are, and it only gets more diverse from there. As the campaign goes on, the player will accumulate a total of seven characters to learn and experiment with, each one offering something unique. I don’t want to spoil the surprise so I won’t list them all here, but players can look forward to things like casting spells from a great distance, using a spear to get the upper hand on close-up fighters, and more.

Each new tenant in Therone’s head has their own history, background, thoughts and feelings. Each is introduced with a brief cutscene explaining the story of their life, and as Deathbound goes on, it becomes clear that many of the characters knew each other in one way or another. So, when all of these entities end up sharing space in one skull, they bicker and fight or agree and support according to who they were in life.

Apart from being narratively interesting, there are mechanical implications and how they’re arranged in the UI matters. If two who hate each other are placed adjacent in the menu, they’ll have a ‘conflict’ which can either debuff, or give a hate-fueled buff. If two who support each other are side by side, it’s often a strong buff. Adding even more strategy, it quickly becomes a matter of which character works best in each level, and of those potential choices, which characters complement the other ones currently active, both in terms of team composition and amicability.

The end result is that the player will frequently switch between characters, moment-to-moment, as each situation demands. Keeping a shield up and creeping through and unexplored hallway is always a good strategy, and when a nearby guard is seen to have his back to the player, to get the drop on him is a great feeling. When combat breaks out, it’s easy to select one of the other characters and leverage their individual strengths.

It’s also worth noting that attacking while switching between characters in a key aspect in Deathbound, and one that’s not emphasized it as much as it should be. Many games have tried something similar — a player might start an attack with weapon A and then switch to weapon B for bonus damage or to continue a combo, but I rarely find it worth the hassle of doing. However, it’s crucial here as the act of switching gives players brief invincibility and the attack following a switch is supercharged, so not only will the player avoid hits, they’ll also be doing more damage than usual. Many bosses are practically unbeatable without leveraging this trick, so the devs certainly lean into the system they’ve created.

Another aspect where Deathbound breaks away from the soulslike formula is in storytelling. Not only are there multiple characters within (and without) Therone’s head, the script is unrolled in a straightforward, clear manner. Puzzling together bits from item descriptions or watching Vaati’s latest lore video are not necessary to understand what’s going on here — motivations are clear, the story is not a half-told conundrum, and there’s no problem following the dialogue, all of which I found to be quite welcome. Perhaps some people feel like obfuscated storytelling is core to a soulslike, but I sure don’t.

I’ve spent much time talking about the virtues of Deathbound so far, and it’s certainly one of the games I’ve enjoyed most this year, but it’s not a perfect experience. A common criticism is that it’s a bit weak, visually, with simple character models and a lo-fi world. There are also rough edges elsewhere, such as a few places where it’s not clear how to advance forward, and there are a handful of enemy encounters and ambushes that could stand some ironing out. And, as was said earlier, a few bosses are basically impossible until the player realizes character switching is key. The experience can come across as unusually rough for 2024, but I’m the kind of person who prioritizes interesting concepts and heart above polish, so none of these things dampened my enjoyment much.

While I’m definitely a soulslike fan, I don’t need every game in the genre to follow the formula that FromSoft has laid out, and I’m glad that there are studios like Trialforge who are willing to do something different. The foundations are familiar enough to appeal to anyone who enjoys these kinds of experiences, but those looking for a little different will be pleasantly surprised. I appreciate what Deathbound brought to the table, and I look forward to whatever Trialforge does next.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Trialforge Studios and published by Tate Multimedia. It is currently available on PC/XB/PS5. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PS5. Approximately 12 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood, Strong Language, and Violence. The combat here is pretty standard soulslike fare — swords, spears and such. However, there are a few scenes of people being tortured and put to death, and there are bodies who seem to have undergone some ‘difficult times’ before death sprinkled throughout. I don’t recall any particular instances of language but I’m sure it was in there.

Colorblind Modes: There no colorblind modes available in the options.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: All dialogue is accompanied by subtitles that cannot be resized or altered. As with many soulslikes, there are some audio cues which reveal the presence of hidden enemies or incoming attacks, and these cues do not have visual components. As such, the player will almost certainly receive some surprise strikes or be ambushed occasionally. Therefore, it is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: No, this game’s controls are not remappable but there are several presets to choose from.

The post Deathbound Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Effective world-building and imaginative game design.

LOW Gameplay and visuals lack variety. Some pretty egregious bugs.

WTF Money floating around waiting to be pilfered is truly the stuff of fantasy.

Dread Delusion is a delightfully retro open world first-person CRPG for fans of The Elder Scrolls or King’s Field series but with a much weirder, trippier look and feel.

Many CRPG veterans will applaud the sole developer at Lonely Hellplace, James Wragg, for his commitment to replicating the sort of graphics, combat, lore and music they associate with the genre while lending it a more modern sensibility and quality-of-life improvements, whereas newer players might be annoyed by the foundations being laid in old-school game design.

The early access version of Dread Delusion has been out for about two years and received mixed reviews, but the publisher, DreadXP, has now released the full version including new areas, NPCs, creatures, side quests and a long-awaited ending to the main quest.

The adventure starts as the player wakes up in a cell and chooses their stats and background by answering some questions to determine what kind of character they want to be. Sadly, there is no opportunity for cosmetic customization, as the player never sees their character.

After choosing my stats and corresponding backstory, I was released from prison — but not before an “Inquisitor” made me a “Confessor,” forced to do penance for my crimes by suppressing Wikkan (worshippers of the old gods) activity throughout the land and ultimately, stopping the most wanted mercenary captain, Vela Callose of the Dark Stars, from bringing an end to the Apostatic Union.

For an organization that is so tough on crime, the Apostatic Union is surprisingly lax about the level of supervision that should be required to make sure their prisoners stay in line, because from that point on I had free reign to go wherever and do whatever I wanted in the world — and what a vast, fascinating world it is.

The Oneiric Isles (an archipelago of sky islands) are home to a plethora of strange flora and fauna scattered throughout various regions that the player can explore. Most of the NPCs are strange too, stricken by famine or madness as a result of dabbling in the occult or taking too many magic mushrooms.

During my first mission set in a castle, I came across artillery weapons that had fallen into disrepair, documents that were scattered on desks detailing what had happened to the land, and other artifacts from a war between the humans and gods. As I fought my way up to the battlements, its roots in older games made it feel a bit like stepping into an old pair of shoes, but the combat using a rusty sword I received at the start was too simple. After a few quests, I found a spell that allowed me to return to my last save point, which proved useful whenever I ran low on stamina or health potions.

In every town I explored, there seemed to be a treasure trove of lore (and sometimes a literal treasure) waiting to be unlocked via the dusty tomes found in the world, and NPCs who were more than happy to tell me anything I needed to know — and often, many things I didn’t need to know. Such opportunities for learning more about the world of Dread Delusion should be especially satisfying for lore-curious players.

In the open areas between quests, I encountered many foes — some of which felt totally original, like the autonomous cannon enemy in the Clockwork Kingdom (an industrial dystopia dominated by machines that warrants its own game) and I especially liked the disturbing “goblin” enemy I found near Hallow Town. It was a furry blue creature wearing a red mask that rests above its gaping mouth, but the mouth is located in the center of its chest.

Later in my playthrough, I started traveling by airship so it was exciting to find that the adventure was not limited to the sky islands — there was an entire overworld (known as the “under lands”) still left to explore below.

Maybe I’m seeing things through rose-colored glasses but looking back on my own experiences with a few of those games in particular, I remember how eager I was to explore all the curious landmarks dotting the horizon and how fascinated I was by all the lore that informed what I was experiencing along the way. Dread Delusion never quite managed to trick my brain into believing that the world it depicted was real in the way that the best CRPGs manage to do — through careful, consistent world-building coupled with enchanting visuals — so I never felt nearly as invested in turning over every stone the game had to offer.

Technically, there were moments when things stuttered or glitched out (in one extreme case, the entire island disappeared from under me) which reflects the jankier elements of the CRPGs I grew up with, but it’s much less endearing when considering that it was released in 2024, not 2004. I also abandoned several quests because I had accomplished the objective, but the game didn’t recognize it. It would then fail to give me the next objective, or just not show that the quest was completed.

Like many CRPGs in the past, it’s likely that I will never beat Dread Delusion and I’ll be totally alright with that. Still, I’ve largely enjoyed my time in its world and I look forward to exploring more of it because to me, open world games are (and always have been) more about the journey than the destination — and I suspect the developer behind Dread Delusion would wholeheartedly agree.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Disclosures: This game was developed by Lovely Hellplace and published by DreadXP. It is currently available on PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher. Approximately 10 hours were devoted to the single-player mode. The game was not finished. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: The game is not rated through the ESRB. This game is set in a dark fantasy world where players will fight monsters and some humans using weapons and spells but there is no gore. Beer is a usable item and players can ingest psychedelic mushrooms, both of which can induce a drunken state. NPCs will sometimes use expletives in their dialogue.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are no voiced lines in the game, it’s all text. There are no audio cues. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable controls: The controls can be remapped.

The post Dread Delusion Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Stepping into [redacted location] for the first time.

LOW A pretty obnoxious summoner boss in one of the sub-dungeons.

WTF Count Ymir’s whole deal.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This review covers the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC only. For a more complete description of Elden Ring systems and general information, please see our main review.

*

We have officially reached the point where mainstream videogames are so massive in scale that their DLC is the size of an ideal standalone release. Featuring an entirely new open-world map that’s maybe a third the size of the main campaign, and hosting a self-contained story quest that took me over 30 hours to complete, Shadow of the Erdtree — the first and only expansion for Elden Ring — feels unusually ceremonious, even by FromSoft standards. That it improves an already fantastic experience should come as no surprise given the developer’s track record with DLC, but what’s most impressive is that it feels almost like a miniature Elden Ring in and of itself.

The expansion (accessed from Mohg’s boss arena after defeating both he and Starscourge Radahn) concerns Miquella, one of the most enigmatic figures from the main quest. Supposedly one of the more benevolent of Marika’s children, all we know going into SotE is that he has discarded his corporeal flesh and retreated to another realm called the Land of Shadow. Much like the Lands Between, it resides under a massive tree and has already been ravaged by war before we arrive. We don’t immediately know where Miquella is, but others have come seeking him as well. Naturally, their stories often unfold whether we’re around to experience them or not.

SotE is large enough that it requires its own difficulty curve, and immediately there’s a problem. This is explicitly endgame content, meaning that by the time players are even able to access this expansion, they’re likely at the point where their build is beginning to plateau and leveling up has less impact. To counteract this, the devs added collectible items that can be used to boost player stats, but they’re only effective in the Land of Shadow. They’re typically found near major landmarks and after defeating bosses, so the player’s power level in SotE will depend in part on how thorough they are. It feels less organic than earning experience and fine-tuning a build, though I’m hard-pressed to think of a better way to do it.

There are all manner of new weapons and spells to play around with, but SotE feels mostly familiar, perhaps overly so at first. One of the most common complaints I’ve seen about the base game is that it felt emptier than previous FromSoft releases — that the open world added dead space between places of interest. Those folks will likely feel the same way about SotE, and I’ll admit that for the opening hours, I worried that the spell was breaking for me. I was seeing plenty of the usual suspects — oh look, another Ulcerated Tree Spirit — and the rewards for careful exploration were often crafting materials, smithing stones, or nothing at all. Even some of the early dungeons read like Elden Ring leftovers, such as a small castle on the initial horizon that feels a bit like a warmed-over Caria Manor.

As I delved deeper into the Land of Shadow, however, I came to realize that FromSoft had found new ways of hiding their light under a bushel. They can no longer surprise us with scale — not after the core campaign disguised the size of its map and hit us with a Z-axis expansion — so instead they rely upon our existing understanding of Elden Ring to wow us with some of their wildest, most colorful and varied landscapes yet, and with them some extraordinary additions to the mythos. Miquella may be the focus of the expansion, but other factions that were previously under-represented are elaborated upon here.

FromSoft is often criticized for a relatively hands-off storytelling approach that relegates most of the relevant details to item descriptions, but I see it from a different angle. The lore enriches the experience for those with the drive to seek it out, but FromSoft stories tend to be simple in nature and more about the personal journey. The unique amount of information that each player absorbs is part of that. We’ve been wanting to know more about Miquella for more than two years, and now that I’ve played SotE, I believe I have a decent understanding of him. However, that’s only based on the incomplete picture that I have, drawn using whatever details I happened to pick up. I have zero doubt that my understanding will continue to evolve when the community gets its hands on the expansion.

There are few things I value more in videogames than a sense of discovery, and FromSoft can scratch that itch better than nearly anyone. They know how to tempt us with a tantalizing silhouette on the horizon. My character’s voyage through the Land of Shadow was dictated almost entirely by me seeing something cool in the distance, wondering how to get to it, figuring it out, and being rewarded. Sometimes that reward was just a gorgeous view, but that can be enough. Anyone able to even reach this DLC certainly understands by now the value of slowly opening a massive door to reveal a beautiful vista on the other side.

I wrote in my initial impressions of Elden Ring that its free-roaming nature and almost total plotlessness made it feel closer in spirit to early Zelda than nearly any other modern title. That’s doubly true for SotE, partly because it’s more compact, and partly because FromSoft hasn’t leaned this hard into abstract space in a while. SotE‘s centerpiece legacy dungeon, for example, never once feels like a practical dwelling, but its gimmick is something we never saw in the main content — it’s a castle with numerous entrances and exits that requires multiple passes to complete and acts as a conduit between other parts of the map. That’s worth the trade-off, and it’s part of what makes SotE unique from even the base game, where the regions were largely arranged in a line.

Of course SotE isn’t a metroidvania, but it shares some common DNA in how vertically aligned it is and how often it dips, overlaps and doubles back on itself. While it’s not as impressive a feat as the original Dark Souls perfectly positioning its levels and skyboxes in such a way as to create the illusion of an open world, it’s not far behind. There’s something satisfying about skipping a seemingly non-optional dungeon by finding an obscure side route that spits me out at the back end.

The new bosses (of which there are many) are also almost uniformly great, which should come as good news to those who found Elden Ring‘s original rogues’ gallery a bit lacking. I can’t elaborate much, but there are delightfully few gimmicks to be found here — these are simply well-tuned battles in visually stunning arenas. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there is a higher number of great boss fights in SotE than in the entire base game.

There’s a caveat, though. A new FromSoft release always comes with the advent of a new Ultimate Opponent, and SotE‘s main quest culminates in a final boss that I suspect will break a lot of people. I haven’t decided whether it’s tougher than Malenia, but the fact that I’m even considering the possibility should be all the information that anyone needs. The encounter itself is an awe-inspiring story moment, so to a degree it’s earned — this isn’t so much a criticism as me issuing a “buyer beware.” Miyazaki’s stated goal with Elden Ring was to make it their most accessible game ever, and I do wonder if their ongoing quest to find every player’s pain threshold is at odds with that.

FromSoft frequently quotes its own work, and in the spirit of Elden Ring being something of a victory lap for them, SotE unambiguously references pretty much all of their recent output. Even fans of Bloodborne and Sekiro will spot some familiar imagery, all remixed to feel fresh and of a piece with the universe of Elden Ring. It’s a nice way to cap off a tremendous winning streak and reaffirms that the modern FromSoft catalogue is something we still so rarely see in this medium — an actual body of work defined by a unifying vision.

Given that Shadow of the Erdtree is roughly the size of what a standalone FromSoft game used to be — it took me longer to finish this than, say, Bloodborne or Dark Souls III — I imagine that it will be received like one. While it took some time to find its footing, it emerged not just as a great expansion, but as a great entry in the studio’s catalogue, period. It’s a shame that the barrier for entry is so high, because I’m already looking forward to revisiting it.

8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by FromSoftware and published by Bandai Namco. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5 and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the PC. Approximately 35 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. The entirety of play was spent with multiplayer features enabled.

Parents: According to the ESRB this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Language, Suggestive Themes and Violence. There are a couple of suggestive character designs throughout and a bit of mild profanity, but the violence is where Elden Ring earns its rating. This is arguably FromSoft’s most gruesome game to date, with severed parts and mutilated corpses littering the landscape. While it’s fitting with the tone of the world and tastefully portrayed, it’s not for children.

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game offers subtitles. The subtitles cannot be altered and/or resized. Audio cues are frequently used to notify players of either points of interest or approaching enemies, and the game doesn’t offer any sort of visual representation of these cues. The lack of visual cues renders an already-obtuse game even more difficult, and forces players to be even more alert. As such, this game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: Yes, this game offers fully remappable controls.

The post Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

After more than two years of development, a demo for the epic new Dark Souls III mod known as Dark Souls: Archthrones has finally been released, causing many Souls fans on PC to rejoice.

The development team is an all-star cast of Souls devotees who had the skills, passion and time needed to essentially make their own entry in the series. They made many modifications including improved graphics, different combat mechanics and more options for players to make adjustments to the UI — but the most exciting part about the mod is the new content. There are five new areas, eighteen new bosses, fully-voiced new NPCs and lore-rich new items.

Having beaten Dark Souls III for the first time just before the Archthrones demo released on March 15th, I downloaded the mod files that night so that I could start playing immediately. Although I’m still only seven hours in, I’m already impressed by what I’ve seen.

As I went through the familiar routine of creating a character, breezing through the tutorial section and facing off with the first big baddie, I appreciated both the faithfulness to the source material and the creativity of the Archthrones development team as they managed to weave together so many different elements not just from Dark Souls III, but from all of the Souls games.

For example, besides Dark Souls III, Archthrones pays homage to other Souls games from the onset by using the font from Demon’s Souls for the title screen.

From that point I nearly killed the new tutorial boss, Demon Vanguard, but ultimately died because I got a little too cocky due to some assumptions I made based on its obvious similarities to Vanguard, the tutorial boss from Demon’s Souls.

Despite my defeat which caused my character to respawn in a new location, I was soon rewarded with an introduction to the Nexus of Embers — a verdant re-imagining of the long-decayed Firelink Shrine from Dark Souls III, with vines growing wildly over everything and many new and familiar faces like Stockpile Thomas from Demon’s Souls and Blacksmith Andre from the original Dark Souls.

As I interacted with NPCs near the bonfire and in the rooms upstairs, one thing I learned was that the events of Archthrones take place long before the end of the Age of Fire, effectively making it an unofficial prequel to Dark Souls III.

In place of the thrones reserved for the Lords of Cinder, the newly dubbed Archthrones serve as access points to distinct areas and, much like the Archstones in Demon’s Souls, they allow for nonlinear progression. Players may now access any area at any time although some areas are much harder than others.

Following a tip from the Archthrones subreddit, I started off by interacting with the coiled sword behind the Archthrone of the Bountiful Queen (the one nearest to the back) which transported me to the first new area: War-Torn Village.

Between the blood red sky, spooky houses and worker hollows skulking about, I could see how the development team had taken many aspects of the area directly from the Undead Settlement and repurposed them to the point that it felt like a completely new area, especially with added touches like floating autumn leaves and eerie choral music to give it a different tone.

As I continued on toward the next bonfire, I encountered new types of enemies such as the Angelic Paladins from whom I looted my go-to armor set, found new items like the Apostle Scythe (associated with the followers of a new NPC named Saint Gertrude) and gained many souls which allowed me to level up and upgrade my weapon several times in anticipation of the first area boss.

In the picture above, I’m flaunting the new Angelic Paladin armor set which is identical to the Lothric Knight armor set in terms of stats, but more aesthetically pleasing. I couldn’t imagine a better fit for my Joan of Arc-inspired strength/faith build.

It wasn’t long until I found the Angelic Siege Golem — a new boss that reminded me slightly of Tower Knight from Demon’s Souls (similarly huge and clad head-to-toe in armor) but it used powerful new Angelic magic attacks that ranged from wide arcs to small homing projectiles which were much harder to evade than Tower Knight’s.

After several failed attempts, I used an ember in the hopes of recruiting a friendly live player online to help me but I couldn’t find any summon signs to do so. That said, while I was not able to invite someone to my world, someone else summoned me to theirs.

My summoner didn’t waste any time going straight to the boss which we were able to beat by focusing on one leg at a time to bring it down. Once lowered, we pummeled its head and repeated the process until we brought it down for good. Having learned the strategy for defeating the Golem, I returned to my world with enough confidence to take it on myself and finally get the special kind of dopamine rush that only defeating a difficult Souls boss can provide.

The remaining area bosses were similarly challenging and full of surprises — Pus-Ridden Beast looked and moved a bit like Cleric Beast from Bloodborne until he went prone and started dealing curse damage during the second phase. The Angel of Gertrude also started simply enough, but turned into a duo boss fight halfway through. Finally, the Omen of the Eclipse had not only two phases, but two full health bars — one for a tank phase and the other for a kaiju phase. However, this just made winning twice as satisfying.

However, I was disappointed to find that once the fog gates cleared, there was often nowhere else to go. For me, gaining access to new places is more of a reward for killing a boss than souls or items, so discovering that many boss encounters result in dead ends was a minor bummer. That said, they’re usually stunning lookout points where I was able to interact with a new NPC.

In terms of performance, I ran into some technical issues that took me out of the experience — in a few instances, literally.

The main tech problems I had were with other players timing out when summoning me, the server going down and the entire program crashing. Thankfully, the development team has been keeping a pulse on what’s happening, as there have already been patches to improve performance, rebalance enemy stats, and more. I trust that most (if not all) of the issues I was having will be worked out before long.

So far, I’ve only logged seven hours in this massive demo so I’ve barely scratched the surface, but I’m excited to check out the other areas, especially Carthus of the Sands (once the domain of High Lord Wolnir) with its sandworms rivaling the fearful size and power of those in Dune.

It’s still unclear what the development team’s timeline is for releasing the full mod or what exactly will be in it (PVP please!) but in the meantime, there are plenty of places to explore, things to discover and challenges to overcome in the demo alone. It’s clear that this ambitious new Dark Souls III mod has the makings of being a stellar unofficial prequel.

*

Dark Souls III was developed by From Software and originally published by Bandai Namco for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. The demo for Dark Souls: Archthrones, was made by a host of multi-talented people within the Dark Souls community who are all listed in these credits. Dark Souls: Archthrones is exclusive to PC and requires Dark Souls III, and both DLCs. The release date for the full mod is still unknown.

Find out more info about Archthrones here.

— Thom Stone

The post PREVIEW Dark Souls: Archthrones appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Superb aesthetics, tons of quality-of-life features, flexible systems.

LOW The true final boss is an OP nightmare.

WTF Trapping players by disabling fast-travel before a boss fight.

Konstantin did a great job of singing this game’s praises in his main review and I agree with almost everything he said, so this second opinion will focus on how Lies of P is a great response to the groundbreaking formula that FromSoft pioneered.

It’s no secret that the popularity of soulslikes has exploded in recent years. However, while many developers want to hitch a ride on those coattails, the majority simply recreate (to a lesser degree) what has been done before without fully understanding what the original decisions mean, why they were made, or how they can be improved and polished. Even FromSoft — the creator of the genre — is itself guilty of this at times, persisting with certain choices while resisting innovation.

In this regard, I see Lies of P as a true next-generation soulslike — not in a more polygons, faster hardware sense, but as something that takes the traditional formula and creates a noteworthy experience by taking a hard look at what’s been established and then making several significant changes, though they might not be immediately apparent.

For example, FromSoft is notorious for fragmented storytelling. Players who want to fully grasp what’s going on have to read every item description, infer relationships and events from suggestions, find secrets — and sometimes even with all that achieved, they still have to go to YouTube and hope that loremasters have created an explainer that strings it all together. While I can understand the rationale behind it, too many others follow in the same esoteric footsteps with even less success. In contrast, Lies of P proves that soulslikes don’t need obfuscated stories in order to work.

In this Pinocchio-inspired tale, the developers are clear about who’s doing what and why, and it’s a breath of fresh air. Though there is a bit of intrigue and there are certainly lore notes to be read, P‘s world is populated with characters who have much to say in plain, straightforward language. The constant company of Gemini (cricket) supports this — while he’s not a chatterbox, he does pipe up with important information when appropriate, filling gaps in knowledge from the perspective of someone who knows more than the player. Lonely, decaying worlds have been done to death. Crafting something different by offering conversational NPCs and clearly communicated plot beats doesn’t take away from the experience — it just creates a different, equally viable one.

That brings me to my next bit of praise for Lies of P — most of the sidequests are easily discoverable from reasonable play and don’t require an FAQ or wiki to figure out. In fact, P goes out of its way to help with this by offering voiceovers, text and cues in the menu that tell the player when they’ve triggered something that requires further investigation. These assists don’t reveal every secret, of course, but they go a long way towards getting the player involved and feeling empowered, rather than stymying them with increasingly-arcane secrets.

In terms of gameplay itself, it hews closely to traditional Souls lines, but with improvements that retain the core qualities. For example, there’s a generous respec option which lets players experiment with different builds at-will, once they’ve unlocked it through campaign progress. Even better, the majority of weapons in P can be disassembled to mix and match both blades and handles. This means that players are almost guaranteed to be able to find or build a weapon that suits them, and then they can spec to effectively support that playstyle, even if they don’t discover what style they prefer until late in the game. Upgrade materials are plentiful, and there are items that can further modify weapons to suit a player’s taste. Lies of P wants players to become comfortable with the combat, not punish them for committing to the wrong weapon too early.

Something that has been a point of contention in the genre is that a segment of the soulslike audience feels the only good world is one that is dense and interconnected, looping back upon itself and linked with shortcuts. Basically, they only want something that mimics the original Dark Souls.

Interestingly, that multi-layered Dark Souls design wasn’t the original concept put forth by FromSoft, and they have diverged from it themselves — see Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls II and Elden Ring to name a few. Lies of P decides to eschew the fan favorite and instead goes with largely linear environments, and it’s a fine choice. Rather than leaning into the kind of exploration where a player might get lost by frequently circling back and trying to figure out which way is the right one, it’s always easy to ascertain the main path and advance, although there are small divergences and pockets for those who like to poke around. Personally, I enjoyed the greater focus on forward momentum and didn’t feel as though the experience was lesser for it.

Overall, Lies of P is the first soulslike in quite some time that intentionally stays within the classic parameters set by FromSoft, while offering enough noteworthy changes and flexible quality-of-life options to make it feel like it’s built on the material that came before it, rather than being just a copy of it.

I’m a fan of what P‘s developers have done, and it certainly doesn’t hurt that every inch is absolutely dripping with style. The combat has flair, the graphics are gorgeous, the soundtrack is amazing, and the aesthetics are unerringly on point. This cool-as-hell Belle Époque automaton with dreams of becoming a real boy is a protagonist that I enjoyed adventuring with from start to finish. If I had to critique something, I’d say that I wouldn’t mind less emphasis on parrying, but it’s hard to be too upset about it, as there are accommodations available there, as well.

As someone who witnessed the birth of soulslikes and has spent time with every significant entry since then, Lies of P is earns my praise for being a smartly-designed, sharply observant piece that is both a commentary on and an advancement of a genre that is here to stay.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is developed by Neowiz Games and Round8 Studio, and published by Neowiz Games. It is currently available on PC, PS4/5, and XBO/S/X. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on the XBX. Approximately 35 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was completed. There are no multiplayer modes.

Parents: This game has received an M rating from the ESRB and contains Blood and Violence. The official summary reads: “This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of the puppet Pinocchio in his search to become human. From a third-person perspective, players explore environments, collect items, and battle various enemies (e.g., puppets, mechanoid creatures) in melee-style combat. Players use swords and mechanical arms with ranged attacks (e.g., Puppet String, Flamberge) to kill enemies. Boss battles depict more prolonged combat against larger enemies. Battles are highlighted by slashing sounds, cries of pain, and large blood-splatter effects. Some environments depict bloody corpses and large blood stains on the ground.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available. 

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Every line of dialogue is accompanied by written text, and I personally found the font size to be easily readable. Sound is completely unimportant for playing and enjoying this game since there are no audio-only cues for incoming attacks. I played it for some time with the volume turned fully off and had no problems. This game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram and the controls are remappable. The default scheme is similar to other soulslikes, meaning we use the circle button to run/roll/dodge, the shoulder buttons are for light and strong attacks, the square button is for using items, the left stick is for movement and the right stick handles the camera.

The post Lies Of P Second Opinion appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Dual worlds means tons more exploration and replay value. 

LOW Trying to run both Axium and Umbral does lead to performance issues. 

WTF Running through Umbral with a horde of enemies giving chase is terrifying. 

Another year, another soulslike…. Although these days it seems more like we get one every few months.

Notables this year include titles such as Lies of P and Wo Long trying and capture the elusive FromSoft magic. Lords of the Fallen, the sequel to a 2014 title of the same name, joins the list as the latest competitor trying to make itself stand out from an ever-more-crowded field of Dark Souls emulators. And yes, it does a solid job of creating mechanics that make it feel unique its kind — particularly in its exploration — and make this a strong option for those craving that good ol’ punishing action-RPG.  

Anyone familiar with the soulslike genre will quickly get the gist — a mysteriously vague plot happens in a creepy world, various starting classes support different playstyles, defeated enemies bestow currency that allows the player to level up but will be dropped if the player falls, and of course, lots and lots of dying. However, the mechanic that sets Lords of the Fallen’s apart from its contemporaries is the ability to switch between the Axium and Umbral worlds.

Axium acts as the ‘normal’ world, and Umbral is a dark world filled with death and undead creatures that are only visible with the player’s magic lantern. The two worlds sit on top of each other, meaning the player will have to switch back and forth between the two to explore, solve puzzles, and progress. If the player dies in Axium, instead of being transported back to the nearest save point, they will be forced into Umbral, and will only lose their EXP if they perish there. 

I love the concept of the dual worlds, as it essentially doubles how much of the game there is to explore. For example, If the player encounters a broken bridge in Axium with no clear way of passage, they can pull out their lamp to see if there’s a way to progress within Umbral before deciding to shift worlds.

However, passing into Umbral is a calculated risk beause once there, the player cannot get back to Axium without reaching a checkpoint, and the more time spent in Axium, the stronger and more persistent the enemies become. For those who tarry far too long, they’ll be visited by the Red Reaper — and trust me, you don’t want the reaper to show up. All of these factors raise the stakes and create a palpable sense of anxiety that perfectly reflects Umbral’s haunting décor.  

Unfortunately, Lords of the Fallen’s greatest strength leads to its biggest downfall — technical issues.

Though Lords of the Fallen is solid-looking most of the time, shifting back and forth between the dual worlds leads to relatively frequent framerate drops, especially in chaotic areas with many enemies. While it wasn’t game-breaking on my PS5, it was distracting and occasionally disruptive to the flow of combat. 

Speaking of combat, the usual tropes of light and heavy attacks, magic, dodge rolls and parries are all present here, and they meld into an engaging system. I started my journey with the intention of building a melee/magic hybrid build, but after discovering how generous the dodge roll timing was, I found myself just hacking away with my sword. That said, one interesting mechanic is the ability to pull enemies’ souls out of their bodies using the magic lamp, which will then freeze the opponent and allow the player to deliver attacks to their astral body. This is an excellent ranged option, and a nice way to rack up some damage. 

Bosses are big, gaudy and intimidating, but ultimately not as frightening as their exteriors might suggest. Due to similar timing cadences, telegraphed strikes, and a very good dodge roll, I rarely encountered a boss that I couldn’t down with a little patience, nor did I ever feel overwhelmed to the point of hopelessness as I sometimes do in this genre — although that isn’t the worst thing in the world! 

My last qualm is the lack of remappable controls. I know many early soulsborne titles didn’t support this feature, but now, in the year 2023 where accessibility is more important than ever, I should be able to play a complex action RPG such as this with whatever controls allow me to enjoy the experience the most.  

If one can look past the technical limitations and lack of control customization, Lords of the Fallen is a strong addition to the soulslike catalogue. With solid combat and fascinating, multi-layered exploration, not only does Lords of the Fallen do enough to stand out from a crowded field, it manages to be a great game for those with a Dark Souls itch to scratch. 

Score: 7.5 out of 10   

Disclosures: This game is developed by Defiant Studios and Deck13, and published by CI Games. It is currently available on PC, PS4, PS5 and XBO,XBS. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on PS5. Approximately 20 hours of play were devoted to the single-player mode, and the game was not completed. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated M and contains Blood and Gore, Partial Nudity, Strong Language and Violence. From the ESRB: “This is an action role-playing game in which players assume the role of a knight on a quest to defeat an evil force. From a third-person perspective, players can travel between fantasy realms to cleanse lands of demonic creatures. Players use swords, spears, hammers, crossbows, and magic to kill monsters in melee-style combat. Battles are highlighted by sword slashes, explosions, and cries of pain. Large blood-splatter effects occur during combat; some areas depict large blood stains, severed limbs, and impaled torsos. One sequence depicts a character disemboweling himself with a sword, with entrails hanging from his open torso. In a handful of scenes, nude bodies/corpse piles appear, with depictions of exposed buttocks and groin areas (no genitalia). The word “f**k” is heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.  

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: Yes, subtitles can be altered and/or resized. Though audio cues can be helpful to decipher when an enemy is approaching, they are not mandatory for progression, making this title fully accessible.  

Remappable Controls: Shockingly, no, this game’s controls are not remappable.

The post Lords Of The Fallen Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Still the best example of a shooter-soulslike hybrid ever.

LOW Noticeable glitches, but none gamebreaking.

WTF How is that boss targeting me from behind the boss fog?!

After more than three years of making waves among Souls fans and third-person shooter fans alike, Remnant: From the Ashes finally finds its way to the Nintendo Switch. As an admirer of the original release I was eager to see how it would feel on a handheld. Thankfully, this port is not lacking — it even comes fully equipped with both DLCs, Swamps of Corsus and Subject 2923, both originally released in 2020.

Fans of Remnant surely cherish its frantic pace, creative weapons, build-defining mods, and well-designed areas full of smart enemy placements. For those unfamiliar, this is an action RPG where we create a character, aim from an over-the-shoulder perspective, dodge with a Dark Souls-like roll, and progress in a post-apocalyptic world alongside human NPCs and up to two online players. Standing in our way are the random enemy spawns and fierce bosses guarding entrances to later areas.

After booting it up on the Switch and getting through the admittedly dreadful tutorial, I instantly felt a splash of familiarity and excitement. Even now in 2023, Remnant provides an itch that no other game can scratch – amidst an ocean of similar titles that taught us to respect the stamina bar, Remnant gives us a new spin where guns and futuristic weapons – not swords and shields – take center stage.

Still, that’s not to say that the stamina bar is less important here than it is elsewhere. On the contrary — even if attacking doesn’t cost stamina, the sheer ferocity of enemies makes its management so utterly important. The simple reason for this lies in the “strength in numbers” mantra that all enemies in Remnant live their lives by.

Waves and waves of enemies (they’re all biome-specific and spawn in groups of rangers and axe-wielding grunts alike) will keep on materializing out of nowhere and quickly dominating the landscape. Plus, they do enjoy surrounding the player, so every time we see a group running toward us, we should strive for dispatching them at a distance and not succumb to panicking. In other words: aim for their heads and cherish every critical hit displayed in bright red numbers. Luckily, the player won’t need to memorize their positions or even a world’s layout, as each instance is randomly generated and comes with a mini-map to aid navigation.

Of course, Remnant offers melee weapons as well, but spending precious upgrade materials on them is (mostly) a waste due to their slow attack speeds. No, successfully playing Remnant requires finding a special rhythm of speed and precision, and neither is more essential than the other. Adjusting to this tempo is intuitive, but it’s worth noting that this adventure is tough by design and it can feel unfair, especially early on. But, those who make it to the other end of the devilish tunnels in the first biome, will feel triumphant once the game opens up to reveal more captivating vistas.

On the DLC front, these two additions are worthy. Even if our progress made there has no impact on the main story, both of the DLCs offer exciting and varied ways to experience Remnant’s combat in earnest. A special shout-out goes to the amazingly fat-free survival mode which provides a heart-stomping, vertical slice-like take on the full game. In this mode, the player starts practically naked and needs to carve a path through each area in a randomized order, so no two sessions are the same. Of course, this also means that finding weapons, traits or consumables is up to lucky a roll of the dice as well – which is completely fine. Oh yeah, there’s also a looming timer in the top left corner, counting down the seconds ’till the next increase in difficulty. Combine that with the unrelenting pace of the game, and the result is a truly dynamic mode that produces memorable moments with each new instance!

On a more technical front, Remnant on the Switch isn’t the smoothest thing out there, with enemies often clipping through geometry, bullets sometimes not registering hits, and bosses that tend to stand perfectly still while their AI figures out what to do next. Other nitpicks stem from the quality-of-life viewpoint. For example, Elden Ring proved that stamina shouldn’t drain outside of combat, so I’d love it if something like that was implemented in this new port as well. I was also wishing that there was a way to remove the two long loading screens that crop up every time we try to purchase items.

With all that said, I again recommend Remnant: From the Ashes to any Souls or action game fan. Even after the last few years and the transfer to a handheld platform, it remains an excellent time, and getting hooked on it is dangerously easy.

Rating: 8.5 out of 10

— Konstantin Koteski

Disclosures: This game is developed by Gunfire Games and published by Perfect World Entertainment. It is currently available on XBO/X/S, PS4/5, Switch and PC. This copy of the game was obtained via publisher and reviewed on a Switch Lite. Approximately 15 hours of play were devoted to the story, and the game was completed. Around 2 hours were spent in a team with 1-2 other online players.

Parents: This game has received an “M” rating by ESRB, and contains Blood, Strong Language and Violence. The official rating summary reads: “This is an action game in which players assume the role of a hero in a post-apocalyptic world. From a third-person perspective, players explore different landscapes and battle demonic creatures, mutants, and other human survivors in frenetic combat. Players use pistols, rifles, lasers blasters, and melee weapons (e.g., hatchets, swords, spears) to kill enemies. Battles are accompanied by realistic gunfire, large explosions, and screams of pain. Enemies emit large spurts of blood when shot and killed; a handful of sequences depict bodies lying in pools of blood. The words “f**k” and “sh*t” are heard in the game.”

Colorblind Modes: There are no colorblind modes available.

Deaf & Hard of Hearing Gamers: This game does offer subtitles, but they are not able to be resized or altered. As for sound, due to the strange way that enemies suddenly appear, I’m afraid that audio is quite important. The limited field of view often demands that players listen for freshly-spawned adversaries based solely on sound cues. The appearance of a mini-boss is often not accompanied by enough visual cues, especially if the enemy spawns offscreen, or while the player aims elsewhere. Obviously, such situations are a lot more manageable when playing co-op, but solo players might feel a tad overwhelmed or even outgunned. This game is not fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: This game offers a controller diagram, but the control scheme is not able to be remapped. Attacking is done via the bumper buttons, pressing the movement stick will prompt the character to run, and the face buttons are used for dodging, reloading, etc. However, playing it on the Switch Lite, I had to re-adjust the sensitivity of the sticks since the default setting simply didn’t feel right.

The post Remnant: From The Ashes (Switch) Review appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

If the Jedi way is defined by personal growth and straying away from the dark, I’d like to think that going back to videogames I didn’t initially enjoy counts as my grand journey towards becoming enlightened. Dramatic? Sure, but it seems like an apt comparison when talking about Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. 

After previewing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor a while back and then reviewing the full game when it dropped, I decided to revisit 2019’s Fallen Order. EA’s attempts with Star Wars have been rocky at best, and it seemed odd that Respawn (Titanfall 2, Apex Legends) was tackling a third-person, action-adventure game based on the property.

Regardless of my initial thoughts, the game was a success, owing to the public’s yearning for a narrative-driven, single-player Star Wars adventure. In hindsight, however, it makes sense that with someone like Stig Asmussen (God of War) at the helm of something like this would do well.

As for me, however, it’s a game I tried going back to several times without ever managing to get it to click. While I had some issues with it in general, a large part was that it came out during a period when I just wasn’t into Star Wars. The disappointment that was The Rise of Skywalker and my lack of interest in any related TV shows had me feeling completely burned out on the IP, so committing time to a new game along the same lines wasn’t in the cards for me. After enjoying Survivor though, I decided the time might be right for me to revisit its predecessor again and really give it another shot.

After a little over 20 hours on the “Jedi Knight” difficulty mode, I finished the campaign and… quite enjoyed it! It’s definitely a flawed experience, but it felt special to roll credits as someone who couldn’t be bothered to finish it initially. 

Looking back on it, my biggest problem was how long it took for things to get going, mostly due to the combat system. Taking clear inspiration from the Souls series, combat is slower and a bit more about managing blocking and stamina, as well as protagonist Cal’s force powers. There’s a similar dance of attacking, blocking, rolling, and the occasional super move to be found From Software’s work, although the entire experience here is far easier.

The biggest issue comes in how sluggish things feel in the early stages, owing to the fact that players don’t have much in the way of powerful force abilities or even unique combos. While it’s fairly easy to mow down the standard Stormtroopers who use blasters, those with electric staves take a bit more work and felt like a genuine challenge — which was fine as a skills test, but things slow down to an annoying degree while dealing with them.

However, a few hours in and a few new abilities later, and the combat improves significantly. Being able to use the force to pull enemies towards me before stabbing them with a lightsaber was a thrill, as was launching them off platforms or even throwing my lightsaber at them to mow them down at distance. 

While the combat took a bit of time to heat up, the exploration is incredible from the jump thanks to some awesome level design. Using a Metroidvania template, levels slowly open up as Cal learns new abilities and discovers secrets. I loved roaming different planets, like the Wookie world of Kashyyyk or the snowy wasteland that is Ilum. While not exactly open-world, they are open-ended enough to provide an excuse to roam around while looking for health upgrades, lightsaber parts, and cosmetic options for Cal’s poncho.

While I wasn’t too big on Fallen Order‘s puzzles, they did provide a nice change of pace when they popped up and allowed me to fall in love with the art direction. They usually come in the form of labyrinths that are intricately designed, and while a few really made me wonder what the hell I was doing wrong as I looped back in circles, I still appreciated their inclusion as a way to to break up the combat and keep it from becoming monotonous. 

The story was an aspect that I appreciated this time around, too. While some have complained about Cal Kestis as a character, I believed in his struggle and loved the adventure. Like Survivor, it manages to balance a lighthearted adventure with dark undertones. My favorite sequence involved the Order 66. Playing through the Jedi purge as a young Cal was harrowing stuff, taking cues from the best bits of Revenge of the Sith. While there are a few obvious attempts at fanservice in its narrative, Fallen Order still managed to provide a great Star Wars story.

I mentioned last year in my review for Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga that I was attempting to get back into Star Wars. I didn’t really stick with it at the time, with the exception of watching a few behind-the-scenes docs from the Prequel trilogy and a documentary on the making of the original trilogy. As of writing this piece, however, I have re-watched the 2003 Clone Wars animated series, caught myself researching different in-universe eras of the Star Wars timeline, and even made up a massive list of old expanded universe books to dive into. Hell, I even started The Mandalorian, something I never thought I would do. 

More than just a solid game that grew on me over time, Fallen Order was one more piece of the puzzle that helped me remember my past appreciation for Star Wars — a thing I used to love so much. Of course, it still carries the baggage of so many flawed endeavors over time, but there’s a joy in rediscovering this galaxy, far, far, away, and ultimately I have Survivor to thank for this newfound appreciation.

The post LOOKING BACK Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order appeared first on Gamecritics.com.

HIGH Expands on everything that made its predecessor great, while adding much more.

LOW Getting eaten by the same Rancor over and over.

WTF I think I’m back to loving Star Wars again.

The Star Wars universe has had its ups and down in the last couple of years, but regardless, Disney is showing no signs of slowing down the release cycle of major stories to tell within the franchise. This includes the world of videogames, where the latest title, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, shines. 

A sequel to 2019’s Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Survivor is a third-person action-adventure set five years later. The crew of the Mantis has splintered off to fight their own battles, while protagonist Cal Kestis continues to take on the Empire. He’s re-introduced to players while sabotaging things on the Imperial-occupied planet of Coruscant, but things quickly go wrong and he begins an epic quest that takes him across the galaxy far, far away. 

Similar to the first SWJ, Cal is on a journey to preserve the Jedi way and is faced with dangerous opposition. I’m intentionally going to be as vague as possible with story here because I enjoyed the narrative immensely and don’t want to take those reveals away from anyone. However, know that it’s a darker tale that takes players on a path full of loss, joy, and the ever-increasing need to fight for a cause by balancing despair and tense drama with the classic, light-hearted, and sometimes pulpy tone Star Wars is known for.

To its credit, the script is also full of exceptional and shocking twists that don’t rely too heavily on callbacks to past Star Wars media, and even the obvious (and occasionally forced) cameos don’t detract from how fresh the story feels. Additionally, I appreciate getting a hero who isn’t bound by some magical destiny as a ‘chosen one’ or someone who’s got the baggage of coming from a long line of famous Jedi. Cal is simply a guy in the right place at the right time, and he’s ready to take on any challenge that comes his way.

Returning characters Cal, Greez, Cere, and Merrin all have plenty to do, and interactions with them are some of my favorite parts of the story. New characters, like the rogue rebel fighter Bode Akuna and the villainous Rayvis, also round out the cast well. There are certainly bombastic set pieces and plenty of exciting adventure, but I appreciated the quiet moments full of heart and human drama.

While the narrative is surprisingly strong, what also surprised me was that the gameplay got a significant facelift — especially notable since I recently replayed Fallen Order, so the differences between the two are fresh in my mind.

The most significant introduction to combat are the new stances. Players may remember that in Fallen Order Cal was able to switch between his single lightsaber and a double-bladed one, with a dual-wielding ability being thrown in as a special move. In Survivor, players now have a choice between five different stances — single, double-bladed, dual-wielded, crossguard, and blaster. At every workbench or meditation circle, Cal can equip himself with two stances he wants to use, and can switch between either of them with the D-pad. Every lightsaber also has its own skill tree to upgrade and expand the skillset. 

The two I became attached to the most were the crossguard and the double-bladed. The former is essentially the lightsaber equivalent of an RPG broadsword that looks similar to Kylo Ren’s weapon from the recent sequel trilogy, complete with vents on each side of the hilt. Its damage and blocking ability are significantly better than the other types, at the cost of a slow windup speed. After a few upgrades, however, the crossguard was quite effective against bigger bosses. The double-bladed has a lightsaber beam coming out of each side. like Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace. I was able to launch myself and spin the saber like helicopter blades, and even throw it like a kyber crystal-infused boomerang. It’s not quite as strong as other stances, but it makes for a great weapon against a large group of grunts. 

It’s no secret that  Fallen Order was inspired by the Souls series with its approach to combat. While interesting and enjoyable, the notes it took made most fights too slow and cumbersome. To me, it felt like the combat with anyone but the standard, blaster-wielding Stormtroopers was too drawn-out and protracted, and it wasn’t until later when I upgraded my abilities and unlocked most of the moves that I got into a good flow with combat. In contrast, Survivor gives players enough power and variety to pick up the pace, right from the start.

Another aspect of Survivor‘s combat that I loved was being able to choose how to approach each fight — at no point did I feel the need to sacrifice being smart and tactical.

For example, stormtroopers with shields can be taken down with brute force, though the most effective (and enjoyable) is to force-pull the shields out of their hands and launch them back at them. Moves like that never get old, and mixing in other force powers like the new Jedi mind trick ability (which has enemies fighting to defend the player in battle) makes combat feel faster, more nuanced and more engaging than last time. 

The buddy system is another great enhancement to fights. Throughout the story, Cal will partner up with Bode or Merrin for backup. In one instance, Bode might be called in to throw stun grenades and give Cal an opening to attack, while Merrin can trap them using her magick. This is specially useful during some of the harder fights against the new Battle Droid variants.

Combat isn’t the only thing that’s been ironed out. Navigation and exploration — a major sore point with many players in Fallen Order — got a major boost, thanks to Cal’s expanded traversal. He can still wall-run and double-jump, but he’s also got a brand new grappling hook and a few late-game additions to the arsenal. There’s also a larger emphasis on simply moving this time around, with many levels focusing on platforming or free-running. It feels like a huge step up.

The interconnected levels and metroidvania aspects of Fallen Order make a comeback in Survivor, but like the rest of the navigation, they get some smart tweaks.

An improved holo-map and fast travel have been added, meaning that Cal can travel between mediation points he’s previously visited, though this is limited to the current planet he’s on. Exploration also feels exceptionally worthwhile thanks to more meaningful collectibles. Every planet now has new things to find, such as the standard cosmetic options for Cal like beard and hair choices, weapon skins, and new jackets, shirts, and pants. More importantly, different currencies for shopkeepers on the hub planet of Koboh are scattered throughout, and these can be exchanged for even more cosmetics and items to place around Greez’s cantina, which acts as a hub of sorts. As someone who wasn’t actively diverting from the main path that often, I still found myself accumulating interesting stuff on the way to my next goal, and I can’t wait to go back and see what I missed.  

Speaking of Koboh, it’s a large, open-ended planet with much to do, including a variety of sidequests, optional boss fights and random enemy encounters around the map. This new, enriched content makes the planet (and all the others) feel expansive and dense. While not open-world, they’re big enough with many diversions from the critical path, and each one is full of secrets to find. This richness makes the world of Survivor feel like a series of real places, not just varying backdrops, and even after 30 hours of play there’s still plenty of left for to discover.

If I was simply grading Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in a straight comparison with its predecessor, it would already be a great game. However, Respawn took a hard look at what worked and what didn’t, and they’ve polished, fixed and expanded on virtually everything. From the robust combat suite, upgraded movement system, detailed world, and exciting story that not only rivals the best Star Wars games, but the major triple-A titles out right now, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is simply one of the best videogame sequels released in recent memory.

This trip to a galaxy far, far away is one that’s well worth taking.

Score: 9 out of 10

Disclosures: This game is published by Electronic Arts and developed by Respawn Entertainment. It is available on PS5, XBX/S and PC.This copy was obtained via publisher and was reviewed on PS5. Approximately 30 hours were spent in singleplayer and was completed. There is no multiplayer mode. 

Parents: According to the ESRB, this game is rated T for Mild Language and Violence. The site states: This is an action-adventure game in which players assume the role of an outlaw Jedi on the run from the Galactic Empire. From a third-person perspective, players explore alien planets while using their Jedi powers to traverse environments and battle enemies in melee-style combat. Players use lightsabers to slash and break apart alien creatures, droids, and humanoid enemies. Combat is fast paced, with cries of pain, impact sounds, and large explosions. Some sequences depict characters getting impaled through the chest. The words “a*s” and “bastard” are heard in the game.

Colorblind Modes: Colorblind modes are not present in the options menu.

Deaf and Hard of Hearing Gamers: There are subtitles present in the game, as well as visual cues during gameplay. Subtitles can be adjusted, and in my view this game is fully accessible.

Remappable Controls: The controls can be remapped.

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