Rave: The Hex

     The Hex is a unique mind-trip which could have only been conjured up by the twisted mind of Daniel Mullin Games (DMG). The same folks who made the amazing (RAVE) Inscryption which I have recently confessed to my wife maybe in my top 10 favorite games of all time to the good but flawed Pony Island (which I gave an OKAY rating last February, time flies right). I always wanted to finish the Daniel Mullin's trilogy so when 2025 dawned I decided to go ahead and do it. The Hex is a great concept and almost got the highest praise from this blog but I had issues with it that moved it back to just Rave instead of RAVE.  Let me explain why. Preface as well, I will be referencing my previous reviews of DMG games a lot in this Rave so if you have not read them, do check them out as well.

OKAY: Pony Island

RAVE: Inscryption

    Before we dive in, lets chat about spoilers. This review will talk about every aspect of the game and that means I will give away a lot. I highly recommend that if you have a real interest in playing it to play it yourself first, as 'blind' as possible and then come back to this review. Unlike my Inscryption review, which I felt is still a relatively new game, I did not wanted to give away too much of it mystic but The Hex has been out for at least 7 years now so if you are looking for an review of The Hex in the year of our lord 2025, you know what you are getting yourself into.

    At its core, The Hex is a murder mystery, a narrative driven experience with fourth wall breaks galore, a trademark of DMG. Like Pony Island before it, The Hex has a very simplistic look and a very simple interface but underneath the surface however lies a lot of depth and a story which once it pulls you in will compel you to keep going to the end like a spell.

    The Hex leverages the fact that you are a gamer, our six main characters are all pulled from some type of genre you have played or have seen before, be it a fighting game, a turned based RPG, First Person Shooter or even an immersive sim. The Hex actually does something I really enjoyed with Inscryption and that is the rug pull, the 'when you are comfortable playing it this way,' we are going to switch it up on you but The Hex even does it better than Inscryption because this rug pull happens a lot and each time is logical why it is done.

    One minute you are fighting a dragon and managing your mana and your squad, using items to boost your stats and the next minute, you have now listening the musings of a man who may have sold his soul so he could get the bag. Overall, the experience is unlike any other and it goes even deeper than that. I mentioned in my previous Pony Island review that even tho I did not really like the gameplay, I still stuck around for the story. The story and stories (emphasis on stories) behind the scenes is part of the appeal of Daniel Mullins Games so by the end we find out who our murderer is but we are allowed to go deeper and that is when things get really crazy and I felt the deeper I got into it, the more I enjoyed it. Unlike Pony Island, which I completed and dived back in for some quick achievements but then promptly moved on from, I am still entranced by The Hex. It has worked its magic on me so I am doing lore dives, I am doing multiple quick runs (again thanks to the wonders of Chapter Select, such a great tool you get once you beat the game) to unlock more achievements and find out more secrets. Like Inscryption, I am invested in this world and it is a trip. Also kudos to DMG for planting seeds in The Hex that would come to fruition in Inscryption and also building on the over-reaching meta story he established in Pony Island (long and short, Satan loves game development, make of that what you will).

    However despite all this praise, I still feel I need to give The Hex the second highest recommendation on this blog which is Rave (not all caps). I enjoyed my time with it no doubt but some of game design could get a bit too obtuse and the puzzle solving aspects to get to the 'game within a game' parts felt a bit drawn out for me. Also, DMG decided to bring back my least favorite element of all his games. The faux-programmer scenes.

    

Hello Darkness my Old Friend.

    

    Again referencing my Pony Island review, the faux-programming scenes are my least favorite aspects of the game and in all honesty, the aspect of having to do them again really puts me off wanting to play it again for the achievements. There is a similar type of puzzles in Inscryption and they are also my least favorite part of that game as well. It is funny that this time time around, DMG actually acknowledged how it is not for everyone and how the main reason why it exists is to give people a preview into what it is like to 'code' for games but sadly the fact that it comes near the tail end of the game when I was really enjoying, as artificial road blocks, it really brought my mood down. Now unlike Pony Island's 'puzzles' The Hex makes them much more manageable and I only really got 'stuck' on one or two of them and was able to solve them without a guide but overall it was no way near as rage educing as Pony Island's ones.

    

    I also thought the soundtrack was only passable especially compared to Inscryption perfect mood music however I will say the OST used during the FPS scenes are bangers and I enjoyed that a lot. Overall, this aspects mentioned in the last couple paragraphs brought The Hex down a couple notches in my book and makes it still a very enjoyable game with a amazing story but honestly like Pony Island, it truly feels like both it and this game were just the stepping stones DMG needed to really cut their teeth on before making a truly amazing experience. It is with this in mind, I feel DMG next big game 'Pony Island 2: Panda Circus' will be even better and take me back to the highs Inscryption did for me.

Game 'Crashes'. Fourth Wall breaks? Yep We are so Back.

    I will not lie. I had no idea until I went back to re-read my Pony Island OKAY review to realize it had been almost a full year since I played it. I bought both Pony Island and The Hex as a double pack after falling completely in love with Inscryption and I was looking forward to playing both of them. However the Pony Island experience was just not for me and it actually made me not look forward to playing The Hex because I thought it would be more of the same. Thankfully, I decided to finally move past it (only took a year lol) and I am happy I did. Whilst it is not as mind altering as Inscryption was it does tell me I do enjoy Daniel Mullins Games and that I enjoy the ideas he brings. Especially with gaming rapidly getting more vapid and artificial. Triple A games are becoming so boring to me and the makers of these game are always looking into whatever ways they can nickel and dime us and turn our hobby/ passion into monetary gains *cough Ubisoft cough* so it makes me happy we have Indie game makers like DMG making games for gamers.

    Performance-wise I played this entirely on my Steam Deck with M&K and I had zero problems setting it up and no crashes (unless I made it crash lol). This is no surprise because it is now 7 yrs old and it is already not a super taxing game graphics wise but still a win is a win. It also is actually very cheap even when it is not on sale and it is constantly on sale too.

    

    The Hex is surprisingly not talked about much outside of the DMG community. A lot of people know about Inscryption now (especially since Playstation has it for free on their PS Plus catalogue, play Inscryption if you have not btw) and it surprisingly getting a lot of attention from the streamer community. Folks know about Pony Island and that it is a mind breaking trip to the point where it is actually getting a sequel but The Hex looks like it is lost in the shuffle and I really feel it deserves more love hence this Rave. This is a type of game that sticks with you, that makes you want to explore every nook and cranny inside and outside of the game to extract as many secrets from it as you can. More than anything, it is a compelling illusion of simple game design hiding complex depth and well deserving of this Rave.

AV

OKAY: Pony Island

 

For context, during the rebirth of my blog, we created 2 more review categories to go along with RANTS and RAVES. We created 'Rave' which is not fully capitalized to signify a game we enjoyed but we had issues with and that was given to Remnant II. We also created OKAY which is given to games we enjoyed but we have some real issues with. The only game that has been given a OKAY so far was Ghost Song and you can check that out OKAY: Ghost Song but now it appears we have a new one to add to the list. Pony Island unfortunately can not be a RAVE or even a Rave. It has to be an OKAY in my eyes and I hope to explain why in this review.

Pony Island is the first commercial game released by Daniel Mullins, the genius behind Inscryption (which got a very high RAVE) and The Hex (which we have not played yet). It was on the strength of Inscryption that I bought both Pony Island when it was on sale. I watched some trailers for Pony Island, got confused which is par for course with a Daniel Mullins game but was intrigued so I decided to dive in.

Right off the bat, I could tell this was game was going to be a trip when the start option was not working (a trick Inscryption borrowed) and I had to literally play around in the options to get it up and running. I chuckled and I knew this was going to be a good time. The game booted up and I was thrown into a rather strange, almost Atari-esque landscape and I was using a pony to navigate a obstacle course and after a couple runs, I started noticing glitches on the screen. I of course followed my curiosity and found other options and the game got even more Daniel Mullins-like. Soon we were having fourth wall breaks with someone talking directly to us, general weirdness and an uneasiness that work directly against the cute nature of the game. The way the game was played stayed the same (pony run from one side of the screen to the other) but soon we were adding 'adventure modes', lazers, flying ponies and more.

and the fun stops here.

Interspersed into the rather simplistic gameplay is arguably the reason why Pony Island gets an OKAY from me. Pony Island constantly throws these faux programming 'puzzles' at you as progression blockers. I understand why they exist because a lot of the game is about 'breaking' the system and even some 'hacking' but it really did nothing for my experience and after my fifth or sixth one, I started dreading them. These puzzles are mostly simplistic, asking you to bring a value up to a certain amount or getting pass some blockage in the 'code' by using arrows down, left, or warp/ portal arrows. All of them normally take a couple tries to figure out and are not overly complex but this constant break in gameplay is what really got to me. Being fully transparent, these 'logic' puzzles popped up occasionally in Inscryption and they became progression blockers in the second act and they were my least favorite part of the game and I would always just looked up the solutions online instead of working it out. For Pony Island through, a game which has been out for awhile now, online solutions like the ones I used for Inscryption do not exist so I had to brute force them. By the end, the very last one which really confused me and took me awhile to figure out had defeated me mentally and I was happy I had no more after it. By then the story had come to an end and despite a insane ending (again very Daniel Mullins-esque) could not save me from deciding I was only OKAY with this game.

The sad thing is, when this game hits, it hits. Some of the boss battles were really fun, the actually storylines (and yes I said storylines cause there is a deeper one buried in it just like how Inscryption had layers) really hook you. Daniel Mullin and his games real strength lies in telling a compelling story and because of that I was inclined to complete the game even despite some of the things I did not enjoy and it also helped the game is very short and can be complete in one long play session. Working through some of the game unique approaches, like slight spoiler, there is a section where you play a literal text version of the game where you type in text demands (jump for example) and everything is described to you in text form right down to confetti that rains down when you beat a stage. There is a even bigger moment where the game really breaks the fourth wall but I won't share that one cause it is a much bigger spoiler but it is on par with some of Inscrpytion's mind bending moments, really had me laughing and hooked.

However, herein lies what I think maybe my biggest problem with the game. I think I did myself a dis-service by playing Inscryption first and than going back and playing Pony Island. Inscryption really is Mr. Mullins at their peak. Insane, imaginative and very inventive. You can see peaks of that ingenuity in here but it is also buried under a lot of trial and error. This game has good bones but I can not wholly recommend it. Also despite the game being pretty short and I have got most of the achievements already, the achievement hunter in me can not even bear to go through some of the puzzles I had to endure again to get all of them. The simplistic game play loop of making the pony run to one side why jumping, shooting and flying is fine but not enough to keep me coming back for more either. I completed the game, unlocked the 'hidden truth' (which add a lot of complexity to the story) as well (using the built in Chapter search) but the final achievements requires a full playthrough and I do not know if I can do it and actually enjoy it.

In conclusion; I can say Pony Island, the game about ponies (but not really) is an OKAY title. If you enjoy the faux programming sequences you might even really like the game but those sequences really broke the game for me and even made me dread a second complete playthrough. The game play loop is simple and fun but not something you want to keep on doing. Similar to Ghost Song, I think OKAY is really the best way to review this. It is a game I enjoyed but there are some fundamental problems for me which I can not ignore. Also Daniel Mullin's has said his next big game is Pony Island 2: Panda Circus so hopefully he can take some of the lessons he learned from all his previous titles and really give us another mind-blowing experience.

AV

P.S Playing this and Doki Doki Literature Club + (which would have been another OKAY review but I do have as much to say about it with it being a visual novel and all) has pretty much burned me out on indies for a minute so I'll probably take a slight break from them before playing another one. Sorry Narita Boy!

RAVE: Inscryption

 

I want to open this RAVE with a spoiler warning. This RAVE will come in 3 parts. The first part will be short and succinct. The second part will be a deep dive into why 'Inscryption' is my favorite game I played of 2023. However to do a deep dive into 'Inscryption' will give away some of the mystic and spoil a lot of a 'game' that I feel you should go in spoiler free. The second part is why this RAVE has taken a bit longer than I desired to write because I had to find a way to make sure the spoiler section of this RAVE had to stay hidden unless the person desires to read it. The third part is well... you will see.

PART ONE: It Wrinkles My Brain.

I had heard of 'Inscryption' the moment the game dropped. I saw some reviews and like this one, they were very guarded about spoilers. After I played it I understood why. 'Inscryption' is a game like no other and you'll be blown away how deep this rabbit hole goes. At it's core, it is a roguelite deck builder which I knew I would already get into based on my love for this particular sub-genre of the roguelite genre. However baked into it is a escape room where each piece of the puzzle you solve unlocks another piece until you are finally 'free'. That however it the most I want to give you in part one. 

If you watch the trailer, or see images of the game you'll get a feel for the mood of it. It's art style is very stylized and the dark atmosphere suits it so well. If this interests you than I will say you need to play it at least once, the rules which seem complex at first are actually not that hard to grasp and once you are hooked, you'll be hooked literally. There is a reason why this game is my game of 2023 and the fact that I have invested a lot of hours into it (estimate 150) within the span of 2 and a half months should show how much I enjoyed it. On that note; play it, preferably without spoilers and allow yourself to be taken. Now if you want to know more we are about to hit the spoiler territory.

PART TWO: This Changes Everything.

wtf. Never has a game made my jaw drop so continuously and messed with my expectations in ways I never knew it could. The marketing for 'Inscryption' is genius, they played us so well, we went expecting a dark fantasy card building version of 'Slay the Spire' or other games similar to it. We saw being able to pick cards for our deck, multiple paths to choose from with battles or rewards and a mission to escape a cabin we are stuck in. However sometimes just did not seem right, like why are certain cards talking to me. Why does the antagonist, keep asking you to make 'death cards' when you are defeated and why when you boot up the game, the new game option is always faded out and we can only continue. This pervading mystery draws us in deeper and soon you are solving puzzles in the small cabin we can not leave and in between card battles, we are getting closer to the truth. There is more to meets the eye and after you first defeat of the antagonist and at your moment of triumph, you are thrown into a 'real world' scenario and you meet Luke Carder. Luke is just your regular guy who found a game called 'Inscrpytion' and is some how drawn into it just like we are. Just when Luke's quest get serious, we are back inside our game and we are able to claim our prize. We beaten the game... right... right?

No, this is when the beauty of 'Inscryption' reveals itself, hidden inside the game we just completed is a completely different game. Still similar rules with some new twists and new enemies but the core is the same. It is just everything else is different. The first time I was at the title screen and the new game option lit up, I was like what is going on? and it only got weirder from there. The game goes from a dark fantasy told from the first person perspective to a third person RPG from the Genesis/ SNES era. The mood is even a bit lighter and all the major players from Act 1 are still here in Act 2. They are all now antagonist and interspersed into battle against them we see our friend Luke again and his continued quest to unravel the enigma that is 'Inscryption'.

Once I had beaten all the bosses in Act 2 and fought a 'final' battle against the true enemy the game messed with me again and BOOM it takes on a new look.  Welcome to Act 3. We are back to the first person escape room but the aesthetics have changed complete and just like before some of the rules have changed but it is still same core. When this happened again I was shocked again and the game continued to play with me, a sub-boss that examines your real hard-drive, a sub-boss connected to the internet that summons people to either help or hinder me and even more wild mechanics that keep me on my toes. We kept getting more info about Luke as well and what his investigation into 'Inscryption' had lead him too (psst its not nice). After taking down my final opponent, I expect another twist but it ended and once the credits rolled I immediately started another new game. This time I flew through it, knowing how to unlock all the secrets in the cabin from previous trial and error, building a broken card in Act 2 which would sustain in my Act 3 and I beat the game for the second time... and I started another playthrough. This is the beauty and the madness of 'Inscryption' that even after beating the game multiple times now, I could still go back in and do another full story run (more on runs in a bit). On average I can beat the story mode (depending on my deck) within 5-6 hours now which is wild cause the first time I believe it took me 7-9 hrs but I kept on playing it until I finally had my fill. The fun however did not stop there.

PART THREE: When It Becomes a Addiction

So during my second or third playthrough I heard rumblings of a bonus mode the game had to offer. I had even unlocked it after beating the game the first time, it was a endlessly re-playable Act 1 called 'Kaycee's Mod'. I was interested and after exhausting the story mode, I dive right into the pure Roguelite mod and boy was I in for a shock. This mod adds new cards, mixes up the 3 main maps, adds new events and so much more. Added to the mix were 'starter' decks which you can unlock and challenges who actually make the game a lot more challenging. From automatically losing 1 point of health at the beginning, restricting the items you have all the way to the infamous wall of Grizzly bears boss battle. This was the mode were I spent most of the remaining 100 hrs plus as I unlocked more secrets and with every victory even more story lore which was pretty cool. The first couple runs were super hard due to a very moderate deck option but once you unlocked some of the stronger starter decks, you really get going.

Kaycee's Mod is also self aware, with the antagonist even recognizing some of the games normal elements has been changed (the first stage needing an intro when it shows up as the third stage for example) and some of the really 'broken' card combos have been toned down (tho OP cards still exist thankfully or the mod would not be beatable). This mod made it more inline with what people thought they were going to get with original game and whilst it is an amazing addition I am happy we still actually got the story and the progression of the game changing concept of the 'real' game. That is what made 'Inscryption' memorable to me and why I believe it to be my favorite game of 2023. No other game had taken my expectations and threw them out the window and I LOVED them for it.

Also the fact that this game is purely the brain child of one man, Daniel Mullin has really made me sit up and notice his games. He already has a new game on the horizon; Pony Island 2 which is a sequel to another crazy game he made and from the previews it already looks like more of the insanity we got in 'Inscryption'. Speaking of, I'll definitely be looking into the original Pony Island and his other 'game' The Hex because if they are as trippy as 'Inscryption' is, I know I am in for a treat.

So without a doubt, this is a RAVE and I say without hyperbole, you should play 'Inscryption' and be blown away.

AV

AV

UPDATE: Game Changer

 So... so... THIS

Inscryption maybe the most addicted card collecting Rogue-lite I have ever played. I complete one run and immediately boot back in for another one and another and well I can not stop playing it.

The upcoming RAVE for this is going to be wild because I am going to have to figure out how to hide the spoilers because honestly I want everyone to experience this game the way it is intended. However we need to talk about this game. WE...NEED...TOO.

If this worked we are cooking

A-V