RAVE: Mortal Shell

 " For that in sleep of death, what dreams may comes

when we have shuffled off this mortal coil

must give us pause" - William Shakespeare

 

    When the trailer for Mortal Shell 2 dropped, I was reminded how much I love the world Cold Symmetry had created and it made me want to dive back into the original. When I finally played it on PS4, the first couple of hours was some of the most frustrating, non intuitive gaming I had ever experienced. I kept dying to regular enemies, the parry felt weird and because Mortal Shell is very open ended in where you can go, I found myself in the 'hardest' area first with no way to return to the opening hub so I could start over. In a strange way, it reminded me of my first couple hours with Dark Souls 3, my first real Souls game. It is funny then that much like Dark Souls 3 has now become one of my favorite Souls game once I finally understood Mortal Shell and it started clicking, it has become now become my favorite Souls-like of all time. Now after I have 100% both the main game and its incredibly well made DLC 'The Virtuous Cycle' I happily present my RAVE of Mortal Shell.

Empty Vessels

    The story of Mortal Shell revolves around the Foundling. A mysterious entity that possess unique abilities that allows them to turn into stone aka harden and to possess the empty bodies of long dead warriors. When the Foundling possess them, they take on the attributes of the warrior they have commandeered. For example, when they possess the speedy thief/ assassin Tiel, they become a master of poisons and hit and run tactics. When they possess Eredim, they become a tank powered by a their righteousness beliefs. Along the way, the Foundling also finds a couple important figures, Hadern, the ruthless taskmaster who challenges them at certain points to teach them their true powers, Sester Genessa, the lore-smith who tells them about the world and the shells they inhabit and the Old Prisoner; a mysterious being who gives the Foundling purpose. There is more to the story of course with the plot twists and labyrinthine connections between the shells and each of the important characters in this dark world but this review is not about the lore, those can be found on YouTube. Instead this is my personal take on why Mortal Shell is worthy of your time especially if you enjoy the Souls/ Action RPG games.

    One of the most impressive things about Mortal Shell is how it was developed by a relatively small indie team and despite some jank (which we will address later) it is still a very concise, well crafted entry into a fast growing (some might say, over-saturated) Souls-like genre. The developers Cold Symmetry (CS) wear there inspirations on their sleeves and it pays homage in many ways to the games that has inspired them but not without their own takes to make it unique it is own way. Also impressive is how just how good it looks. For their debut title, CS has shown they know how to use the Unreal engine to make a game filled with impressive environments and impactful action. One area in particular, the Seat of Infinity is a sight to behold, with dramatic lighting, impossible architecture and obsidian landscapes as far as the eye can see. When it comes to visuals, CS are definitely punching above their weight class. The shells and NPCs are well detailed as well, each having their own distinct flair. Each of the three main areas also have some distinctive enemies and a main boss, catered to the area. Equally impressive is when Mortal Shell came to the next generation consoles, like the PS5 and the Xbox Series, they even upped the visual fidelity even more. Mortal Shell maybe be made by a almost indie studio but they delivered a double almost triple A visuals, something that needs to be applauded. The audio is top notch too with crunchy sound effects, well done voice acting for all the major characters and a great soundtrack. The bosses even have special soundtracks done by heavy metal band, Rotting Christ which you can turn on and off at will and I say turn it on because it really adds to the epic nature of the battles. I am happy to say, it seems they kept the metal soundtrack for the sequel as well judging by usage of Behemoth in the trailer. I have played it on my base PS4 but this review is based on my time using my Steam Deck and it looks great most of the time. The frame rate can get choppy at times in certain areas and you definitely need to play with the settings especially when the fog comes in because at one point until I made some graphical adjustments I could not see anything.

    Mortal Shell is a great game but it does have some flaws. The main area which links the three mission areas, Fallgrim is very same-y and lacks any visual oomph. It is very easy to get lost especially when you first start the game because most of Fallgrim has the same look, the color palate is bland and it gets less appealing when the area gets completely covered in fog. In all honesty, I can see a lot of people drop the game if the only areas they experience are the opening areas and the game is very challenging especially when you are unfamiliar with how it plays. But stick with it and you will find a diamond in the rough.

Shell Game

    Mortal Shell plays like your typical Souls-like at first. It is third person, you have a stamina bar, you can dodge and roll and even minor enemies are tough to overcome. When you die and trust me you will die, you will respawn at your last save point and you'll need to regain your corpse and gain back all the currency you had with it (called 'tar' in this game). However Mortal Shell does play with the genre too and adds some distinct changes to make it its own thing. First off, you do not level up the way you do in most Souls games, instead you choose a shell to level up. Treating each shell like its own class, you unlock skills in your shell of choice. These skills are built around your shell too, Solomon for example, most of his skills focus on 'resolve' a special meter you need to parry and use weapon skills, Harros on the other hand leans more into the game's harden mechanic. You are also not locked into one shell and you can change between them at anytime once you find all of them. In a way, Mortal Shell leans hard into a Dungeons and Dragons approach to classes, you choose the class that suits your playstyle the most.

    Combat is also diversified by how flexible it is. Mortal Shell has your typical light and strong melee attacks and running attacks but it also allows you to chain any of these skills into each other like a fighting game. One of the best attacks in the game is light, light, heavy but you can also do light, heavy, heavy or even light, heavy, jumping attack. These combos can also be cancelled at anytime thanks to Mortal Shell's most unique mechanic, hardening. No shell in this game has a shield, instead, you are taught very early on the best way to combat enemy aggression is to get hard... literally. Your shell turns into stone and enemy attacks just bounce off you. This unique mechanic is first thought of as purely a defensive maneuver but with time and experimenting, you can use offensively as well and this is where instead of slowing your attacks down and backing off you use your harden to stay up close and personal. Combine this with a very robust parry system that is not locked to a shield or class, Mortal Shell more like Sekiro and Bloodborne where aggression is key and you turn your enemies offense against them. I called the parry system robust because when you first learn to parry, its main purpose is to restore health but over time and as you unlock more upgrades, you can made your enemy explode in a ball of fire (and take out their allies), freeze time and even unleash the full power of the Foundling in a flurry of attacks. The parry timing itself is not strict and a lot of people who first play the game do not get it. Mortal Shell's parry is more about timing it just before the enemy attacks and as a gamer who loves him a good parry, it is very satisfying when you pull it off visually and audibly thanks to the game's great sound design. This gameplay loop is one of the reasons I come back to MS, its combat is actually very intuitive and rewarding once you master it.

    Another way Mortal Shell is not like the others is in how you use consumables. Mortal Shell's consumables have a familiarity levels and the more you use them the more familiar you become the better the benefits are. This actually encourages you to use consumables and to use them often to really reap the benefits. Again, Cold Symmetry has taken a system that taken for granted and adds its own unique spin on it which I appreciate. Mortal Shell is one of the few games where I actually use 90% of the items I collect where-in most Souls games I just ignore them. These unique twists on a well worn genre is one of the reasons why Mortal Shell is not just a Dark Souls clone but its own unique take on the familiar gameplay of "attack, roll, await for the stamina to refill, attack again" loop.

Beautiful... yet so Sparse

Cracks in the Surface

        However not all aspects of Mortal Shell scream quality and there is definitely some flaws. One of the flaws is its length, the game only has 3 main areas as well as the hub area and even with the runback necessary after beating each main boss; the game isn't that long. The DLC does not add any additional areas either if anything, they simply remixes them (certain enemies show up earlier or in different locations then in the main game). This probably comes down to what was do-able with such a small team but a even bigger issue is that some areas feel empty. Even through I sang it praises earlier in this review, certain parts of the Seat of the Infinity is purely there just to be there and there is some empty spaces filled with no enemies or anything of importance. In a way, it kind of reminds me of the later parts of the original Dark Souls; which was also lacking in polish compared to the earlier areas (Undead Burg vs Lost Izalith). The enemy variety also takes a hit with certain areas sharing the same enemy type but with different outfit and the mini-bosses being either reskinned Grishas or regular enemies with boss health bars. During the fog events which happens during the mandatory runback after beating major bosses, all enemies are also replaced with one of the most annoying enemies and Grishas which isn't that thrilling. Speaking of the fog runback, it does artificially extend the length of the game and is kind of tedious (especially on the second or third time it happens) it is at least not egregious like it was in Ghost Song, where it was just too long.

    A couple of minor flaws is the DLC weapon, the axetana (a transforming axe/ katana) has a very flawed weapon skill for the katana which cause you to get stuck in terrain and you have to use the skill again to get loose or quit out and originally the axe weapon skill would get you stuck on top of enemies and other jank so you could tell it was not fully tested (that and the fact the katana's running attack is kind of OP). Also for some strange reason, your character does not have invincible frames when you exit the traversal tunnels (which this game has plenty of) which is a massive oversight and was never patched out surprisingly. Enemies can also get a bit glitched when they are killed by the range weapon the aptly named 'Ballistazooka' and just bad collision with enemies and the arenas. Nothing horrible but it is definitely noticeable and has never been fixed despite update patches. What however can not be excused is the final boss. This final boss is a spectacle and its arena is impressive but the battle itself is a battle of patience and frustration. They have way too much health and even with a maxed out weapon takes forever to die (especially compared to every other boss) and said boss even has a mechanic where it can heal themselves to prolong the fight even more. This boss is so frustrating to fight against I try to avoid the battle for as long as humanly possible and during my no-shell run, where one hit can kill I became so very frustrated fighting them. This boss is so badly designed and the fact you need to fight him no matter what (at least in the main game) almost dropped this game's final ranking from the highest rank RAVE to the second highest rating which is Rave (not all Caps). Yes, they are that annoying to fight. However, this final battle and even some other flaws are rectified in this game's well thought-out DLC 'The Virtuous Cycle'.

Ouroboros

    The Virtuous Cycle is Mortal Shell's only DLC but if you enjoyed Mortal Shell, it is an essential purchase. Taking the best parts of the game; it re-imagines it as a rogue-lite ala Hades and becomes a endlessly re-playable mode with some new elements. Death is now permanent and their is no respawning and like all good rogue-lites, it has meta progression and it encourages you to keep going. It also adds Hadern, the foreboding weapon master as a playable character with a variable skill kit where he can draw from any other shells abilities and mix and match them and is easily the most strongest shell when mastered. Also added is the aforementioned axetana which is 2 weapons in one ala Bloodborne's trick weapons and a brand new NPC, the twin sister of the Foundling who provides more lore and a little bit of snark as well: "do you think you can just... git gud?"  is one of my favorite lines from her. Hadern and axetana are also available in the main game too now as well which is nice.

    This mode also does away with the regular healing items and instead has power up pillars which gives you a variety of skills to choose from and allows you to make your own class/ build as well as heal you too. You can also heal via picking up consumables and you can still use your parry to siphon back health too. Each run is randomized as well so each run should be unique in their own special way. Unexpected enemies show up in unexpected places and another cool addition is that the alternate colors/ shades can be earned through completing in-game tasks now and they all have some pro and cons for using them (unlike in the main game where its just simply for aesthetics). There is also a on-going progression unlocks which you can upgrade over time to make runs easier. Again, this mode draws heavily from Hades but again like how it showed homage to Dark Souls in the main game with its own spin, they do the same in this mode as well. Nothing beats the feeling of a later Virtuous Cycle run where your roll not only freezes enemies in their place but you can also roll twice as far combined with near infinite stamina. Like all good rogue-lites when your character gets strong, nothing can stop them.

    Mortal Shell is already a shorter game so turning it into a rogue-lite is something that was do-able without changing too much of its core DNA. If anything, it is streamlined even more and two of the main annoyance in the main game, the backtracking after killing a major boss and the final boss are both removed and in place of the final boss, we have a much more challenging but much better battle which I will not spoil (despite the game being 5 yrs old now). The irony is this game mode is Elden Ring Nightreign before Nightreign was even a thing. A souls rogue-lite? Yeah, we already did that Cold Symmetry said. All in all, the Virtuous Cycle adds even more re-playability to a game that was already fun to play.

Immortal Souls

    I was inspired to play Mortal Shell again and write this review because the Mortal Shell 2 trailer really got me excited and reminded me how much I enjoyed playing it the first time. As I played it again I was quickly reminded how much I enjoyed it and it actually inspired me to 100% it this time so with no qualms I locked in and got to it. Some of the achievements like the no shell run were some real challenges but here is the thing. I love most of the experience (with the exception of fighting the final boss... they can go to Hell) and I only really want to 100% a game if it really taps into something in me. The grim setting, each shell's backstory, the Virtuous Cycle's lore and so much more really appealed to me. The combat loop, harden mechanic and parry focus kept me playing and despite some minor flaws, this is my favorite Souls-like. It is the closest to Dark Souls experience you can get without actually playing a Souls game but at the same time, it has its own flair and flavor that you feel like you are not playing a carbon copy. Mortal Shell is its own beast and its savage. I wish more people would give it an honest try because I think once it clicks, you'll enjoy it as much as I have. Also if they did this much with their debut, I am excited to see what Cold Symmetry can cook up with a hopefully a bigger budget and scope. I feel the trailer shows a team ready to shock us all over again. Whilst we wait for that, the original deserves it flowers and definitely the highest rating I can give a game.

AV

RAVE: GRIME

     "And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you"

  - Friedrich Nietzsche

    I play videogames and occasionally I like to write reviews. Most of my reviews fall under a couple categories, RANT (which I do not like), OKAY (a decent affair, has good elements but also some problems I can't ignore), Rant (a great game, very few faults but missing the secret sauce) and RAVE (the highest recommendation and everything I want in a game). After a couple of just 'Rave' this year we have finally arrived at our first RAVE for this year and a game that is quickly becoming a favorite of mine along the lines of Darkest Dungeon I and II, Inscryption and Risk of Rain 2 (which all previously received RAVEs). This is my review of the dark, mysterious and completely engrossing GRIME.

    Get Bitten

    GRIME is classified as a metroidvania (mv) with Souls-like combat developed by Clover Bite/ Team Malignant and published by Akupara Games, Team Malignant however is the main force behind GRIME and for a relatively small indie studio of six developers and some back up teams, what they have accomplished is a true mark of dedication to your craft. GRIME looks amazing, its aesthetic is second to none, being alien and foreign but at the same time oddly familiar and the fact they made it all with the Unity game engine blows my mind. So many times when I was playing it I had to just marvel that they used the same engine that so many others used and it looks nothing like I seen done before. For an indie studio, they have some visuals up their with esteemed double A studios and the eerie and haunting atmosphere is why it was one of my first Steam Deck purchases. At that time, Grime was a PC only so I knew now that I had a PC, it would be one of the first games I bought for it and well, I'll save the story behind what happened next for a upcoming section. Coming back to Team Malignant, another reason why this game is so amazing is on the road to the 'Definitive Edition' which I am reviewing, GRIME was a labor of love for them and they constantly accepted feedback and made changes based on their passionate community. GRIME went through 3 named revisions 'Colors of Rot', 'Tinge of Terror' and 'Parting Shade' and each one added more content, more updates to the gameplay and more secrets and the craziest part was all of it was for free. It is why this whole section is dedicated to them because they deserve their flowers and I want to make sure I give it to them. Sure, it isn't unheard of in the indie/ double AA space to do free updates but still in a current market where most new releases are now $80 plus and live service this and season pass that, it is nice that some companies still want to just release content for free and to reward you for playing their game. This passion also extends into their game design as well.

    Hard as a Rock

    Released back in August 2021, GRIME is self described Action-Adventure RPG in which you crush your foes with living weapons and consume their remains with a black hole to strengthen your vessel. However to describe this game to gamers, GRIME is a metroidvania/ Souls-like. I have spoken before about my experiments with the metroidvania genre in my review for Ghost Song (which got an OKAY) but I've also completed other metroidvanias like Blasphemous, Shadow Complex and I have given some of them a try (the more popular ones like SteamWorld Dig 2, Hollow Knight and the father of the genre, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night). Overall, as a genre, I enjoy metroidvanias but they are not my favorite genre. I have definitely latched on to some more then others (Blasphemous vs Hollow Knight for example where I loved Blasphemous versus that I really did not 'get' Hollow Knight). One of the key corner-stones of metroidvanias is the exploration and just getting lost and I will not lie, I am usually not a fan of getting lost. For most of the Soulsborne games which I love, I usually have a walkthrough or a guide on hand so I explicitly do not get lost, it is just the way I programmed. I think it is why it took me a while to connect with metroidvanias in the first place. However now I understand why mv are structured the way they are and getting lost is part of the 'fun'. Metroidvanias are also structured around 'upgrades' like a air dash or a double jump and one of the best parts of mv is when you returned to a previously inaccessible area and you can now traverse it with your new upgrades. GRIME even make it more organic by making it apart of its story and the main character named Akhlan by some and Endgiver and Spiral Heart by others, uses the black hole it has for a head to absorb its defeated enemies to gain these new upgrades. Without a doubt, when you first start GRIME and you have barely any upgrades, Akhlan feels incomplete. They are slow, they have no stamina and they died instantly when touched and die you shall because GRIME is hard, rock hard even (pun intended) because whilst GRIME is definitely a metroidvania on the combat side it pulls directly from the Souls games. GRIME has a dodge, a stamina meter, a corpse run mechanic, a level up system similar to all Souls-like and top it off with challenging regular enemies, mini-bosses and some spectacular bosses all which can kill you with a touch (even the lowly cannon fodder have literal teeth), all hallmarks of the Souls-like mini genre. Also like staying true to Souls, there is no difficulty slider, the game starts hard and only gets harder (no pun intended this time lol) but so does Akhlan. As the endgiver grows in strength, they are able to wield stronger weapons, tank bigger hits and dash through the most dangerous attacks but one of the elements that makes them go to the next level is arguably my favorite mechanic in the game. GRIME has a parry mechanic and IT... IS... AMAZING. As a man who loves parry mechanics in his game, this is probably my favorite part of the game

    This parry mechanics is not tied to a specific weapon either, you will always have access to it since it is built into Akhlan and thanks to their blackhole instead of parrying per say, they absorb the attack into their abyss. The absorb mechanic is also balanced well, you can even absorb projectiles and throw them back at their senders (always an amazing feeling btw) but not everything can be absorbed and certain attacks/ obstacles still need to be dodged and certain mini-bosses/ bosses can be absorbed up until a certain point and then you need to finish them the good ol' fashion way aka beating them down with your weapon of choice. All of this combined with some very challenging platforming especially when you have all the upgrades gives you a game that us Souls vets like to say, you need to 'Git Gud' or die trying. Bosses have multi-phases that actually change their battle plan and some of them require you to use your traversal skills mid combat to really test your reactions. The gameplay loop of GRIME is so addictive that I found myself sinking hours upon hours into it and as I got closer to the end I did not want the first run to stop and I started seeking out more secrets (which this game has plenty of), more hidden nooks and crannies that hid more items, weapons and armor sets. Thanks to community feedback, the final version of the game you can unlock fast travel a lot sooner and they have added more short-cuts to each major area so when it came to achievement hunting it was made much easier. You want more? In this game when you kill the regular enemies enough times, you can unlock their 'traits' which you can also empower and build a playstyle around it. Want to focus on parrying? There is a trait for that. However lets say you ain't me and you want to focus on dodging and damaging enemies that way? There is trait for that playstyle too. You want more? How about armor sets that can be practical (aka with the stats like more damage/ health/ stamina you want and playing to the strengths of the aforementioned traits) but you can cosmetically wear the one you like so you do not look like a mis-matched clown with no shoes ala Dark Souls. How about when you die, you actually do not lose your souls or in this case 'mass' so you can still level up even after failing, instead your lost mass is tied to a currency multiplier and gives you a extra heal to boot when you claim it. I previously mentioned spectacular bosses with challenging multi phase fights, well if you want to relive those fights, once you beat the game you can re-fight any of the bosses at any time just to learn their patterns and feel the rush all over again of conquering them again. I am currently enjoying new game plus, something I rarely do in most games outside of my favorites and GRIME even addresses the new game plus fatigue by creating a true different experience, adding a hidden boss and giving everyone some new tricks to completely mess with your muscle memory and also letting you start with all your abilities unlocked so you can access later areas much earlier to almost break the regular way to play the game. This game truly is a complete package and it is amazing just how much love was poured into it. All I can say is if its upcoming sequel follows this model, I will again be signing up on day one. Speaking of.

This is only 1/5 of the entire map. Yeah its that big

    A Rocky Road

    As I previously mentioned, GRIME was one of the first game I bought when I got my Steam Deck. The minute I saw the initial trailer I was hooked and I always knew I would buy it because it gave me Blasphemous vibes which I previously played and loved on my PS4. Well the funniest story is when I started playing it initially I did not immediately connect with it. Sure, I've played metriodvanias before but each one I played after Blasphemous did not hit the same highs I did when I played them. It also did not help, most of my initial playthrough was an uphill battle and one thing you'll have to get used to in GRIME is your first playthrough is that you are very weak with barely any weapon options, limited heals and the game is relentless and unforgiving. I must have died on the first boss 'Amalgam' more times then I can count. All this combined with the fact I was playing it on the actual Steam Deck itself and not the set up I now prefer which is my Steam Deck hooked up to an external monitor with an external controller cause the Steam Deck controls do not cut it when you play something as intense as this. I think after getting lost for hours and finally finding a save spot at the 1/3 mark of the game I gave up and I started playing other games. I was still however entranced by the constant updates and content GRIME was putting out and I kept saying to myself, one day, I will try it again. About a year ago I completed my second metroidvania, Ghost Song and as per my review, I enjoyed it, especially the story but the game itself felt lacking and again, one of my biggest gripes with it was getting lost. Ghost Song had some other fundamental issues like horrible dodge windows, bullet sponge enemies, wonky controls in a game where precise jumps are always needed and artificially lengthening the game by making back tracking mandatory (something GRIME does not do thankfully) so I gave it my first OKAY rating. It was a recommendation but barely and once I beat the game and got all the easy achievements I was done with it. Ghost Song let me know I can finish metroidvanias and enjoy them if I stick with it. It however did not make me want to rush and play another one through so it truly did not make me a fan of the genre. All whilst this was happening, I still remembered I still had GRIME to play. I kept telling myself when I had the time for it I was going to give it a real try and that finally happened this month and man am I so happy I did because this game has ticked all my boxes, I not only beat the game, I am on task to beat the game again in new game plus even with the extra challenges, I am also not only easy achievement hunting, I aim to get all the achievements for it, I've watched lore videos to fully understand what is going on and its biggest compliment, it has made me a fan of the genre. Even while playing GRIME, when the going got good (and ironically it started happening after I gave up the first time lol) I started thinking of replicating this feeling in other metroidvanias. I am no longer scared of the challenge and getting lost in Hollow Knight, so now I want to see what all the hype is about, I want to unlock all the abilities in SteamWorld Dig 2 and see what you can do and due to Epic and Good Old Games (GOG) free games programs I have other metroidvanias to try like Death's Gambit Afterlife, Moonscars and Under Lillies at my fingertips just wanting to be played. GRIME biggest accomplishment is like what Dark Souls 3 did for Souls and Souls-like, it finally made me understand a genre that countless other people love and invest tons of time into. I finally GET metroidvanias and now I want to play more of them. However I do have one fear, just like how I compared Ghost Song to GRIME, will I now compare every mv after to it and will they exceed the mark like GRIME did? Time will tell.

Fallen for the Dark Side

    One of the darker elements of GRIME is it story. In typical Souls fashion, it is not told you to explicitly, letting you put together piece after piece by talking to NPCs, item descriptions and environmental storytelling. However you are able to piece together one consistent narrative, you are the villain. Akhlan is called the endgiver for a reason. Their goal is to absorb everything and anyone in their way and nothing can stop them. It is rare to play a game where the main character is fear, reviled but also at the same *MINOR SPOILERS* blessed and praised at the same time. Unlike my previous game that I reviewed earlier this month 'SteamWorld Quest Hand of Gilgamech' where I could not stand the main character, GRIME's protagonist/ antagonist pulled me into their vortex and by the end I wanted to see their mission to completion all without them saying one word. That is the power of a good character design versus a character where you feel shoe-horned into cheering for them and you just can not. The greater narrative of GRIME is definitely something you should look into if you are a fan of the game but all I can say is, do not expect sunshine and rainbows when the credits roll. It is not that type of game. However I must say, playing someone that people rightfully fear is definitely a power trip and another reason why this game is sticking with me so much.

    Stonewalled

    Now GRIME is getting my highest recommendation however it does have some small flaws which I am using this section to bring up. My biggest fault with the game is how long it takes for you to become the unstoppable machine you later become, as mentioned before the 1/3rd mark is where I gave up last time and by that point I was feeling like I was not getting anywhere and the frustration was getting to me. The game does not do a traditional map and only after feedback did they decided to add footsteps to help mark where you have travelled on a invisible at first map to help with backtracking to where you previously explored. Of course you get a detailed map for a area when you find a beacon but 90% of those beacons are not found until you have nearly completed the area, heck, one of these helpful beacons is even blocked by a very tough, challenging boss, so basically your access to the beacon is stonewalled. Another issue I have is actually much later in the game is once you pass a certain section, the game no longer has enemies other than the final bosses, everything just becomes a traversal challenge and whilst they are not bad challenges and real push your platforming skills to the limit, it really takes away from one of the elements I really enjoy about it, the combat. Speaking of traversal challenges, my final gripe is actually not a big one but I need to say it never-less, a lot of the high level traversal challenges normally end with decent loot, be it a weapon, armor piece/ set or a consumable with tons of mass to level you up but the challenge to get it does not feel proportionate with the challenges you faced to get their. Mind you, my current new game plus weapon is the weapon you earned for completing the hardest traversal challenge in the game and it is amazing so I guess sometimes it is worth it, however in new game + the same weapons/ armor are now just upgrade material which you should have plenty of. My only change here would be in new game plus to change the new items to mass to level up which will always be useful, no matter how early or late you are in the game. Beating the mini bosses and main bosses in new game plus however does give you some substantial rewards and in both cases they drop upgrade materials either for your weapons to become even more powerful and to enhance already maxed out traits to newer levels and just make Spiral Heart a even more dangerous foe. Again these a minor gripes and definitely does not take away from its final rating.

    Push & Pull

    This RAVE is getting pretty long so in this section I am going to just drop some quick facts and wrap up my final thoughts. The music by Alex Roe, a artist who seems to be a accomplished musician and has even made remixes of Dark Souls song, is really suitable for this type of game. He created a great menu song and the soundtrack is filled with some good tracks especially for the bosses, a good thing since if you are like me, you be dying a lot to them and restarting at the beginning, speaking of, I enjoy GRIME has placed boss and mini-bosses relatively close to their rest areas so the runbacks to them are not that long, especially if you unlocked the shortcuts and it gets you back into the action much faster. The sound effects are nice and crunchy with the right amount of emphasis on the right things, not the egregious sounds that Ghost Song made when your character ran out of stamina, the vacuum sound of your black hole when you are absorbing is especially satisfying and NPCs are voiced in their own unique language. 

    Speaking frankly; Blasphemous used to be my favorite metroidvania and I believe it will forever have a place in my heart. I also have very fond memories of Shadow Complex on my Xbox360 but other than those two, I have never had a metroidvania captivate me as much as GRIME. This is the game that made me finally get mv's and now I want more. As I said earlier I now want to play SteamWorld Dig 2 and actually finish it, I want to revisit Shadow Complex but maybe on Steam since its no longer exclusive to consoles. I even want to visit more dark indie titles in the vein of GRIME, like Moonscars and The Last Faith and see if they are hidden gems. I also want to give Hollow Knight a honest try and this time and see if it can connect with me on a second playthrough like how I did with GRIME, because GRIME is now my favorite metroidvania and if the other games can make me lock in like this one did, I know I'll have a great time again.

    I used the chapter title 'push and pull' for this final section because this game simply pushes you beyond your limits especially in the platforming challenges and some of the boss battles too but its pull is so magnetic that you want to just keep playing. I am actually want to complete this RAVE so I am jump back in and complete my new game plus run and get some final achievements along the way, GRIME has me in its gravity and I can not escape. I have stared into the abyss and it has stared back into me and I am no longer afraid of the challenges before me.

AV

RAVE: Tainted Grail Conquest

     To the sound of a death march, you triumphally strike down the tree's (!!) arms and it crumbles to the ground. To your awe and dismay, it becomes a 'lost soul' and proceed to strike you back even harder and your character collapses to the ground. DEAD. All your progress lost. You sigh. You nod. You say 'One more run'.

    While the above paragraph describes a boss battle in 'Tainted Grail Conquest', it also describes many roguelikes/ roguelites specifically deck building roguelites and the appeal they hold for some people like me. Going up against nearly unsurmountable odds however as you play the game you improve yourself and your deck of action cards, then those odds become less unsurmountable but doable and before you know it, you are now steamrolling bosses with the strongest deck imaginable and nothing beats that feeling when you have that 'God' run where you feel un-touchable.

    For the people who mostly visit this blog for it 'Learning Anime Fighters' series of blogs, welcome! The main core of this channel is a series of blog/ reviews which we call RANTS and RAVES. RANTS are reserved for things we do not like, like atrocious tracers (not artist) like Greg Land and believe it or not those are rather uncommon. I try not to be a 'hate baiter' or a 'reaction farmer' it is just not in my nature. If anything, a large portion of my reviews are normally RAVES. RAVES are stuff I really enjoy, whether it be a TV show, a musical artist or in most cases, a video game. In today's case, it is 'Tainted Grail Conquest' a deck building roguelite made by the team at Questline for publisher Awaken Realms. Also note; this is not our first time discussing this game on our blog. I previous did my impression blog about it which can be found here. Tainted Grail Conquest Impressions.

    That impressions blog was written when I had a bit of time in the game but now after 58 hrs we have beaten the game and rolled the true ending and credits and I feel it deserves to be praised so here is my RAVE review for it.

    The origins of this game, Tainted Grail Conquest, was it was originally designed to be a mode in the main game 'Tainted Grail The Fall of Avalon' however the more they worked on it, they realized it could become a full game so they completed Conquest first and got it out there whilst they worked on finishing The Fall of Avalon. Speaking of The Fall of Avalon is out now and if you are into First Person RPGs ala Skyrim I would recommend checking it out. It looks interesting however First Person RPGs are not my thing however deck building roguelites definitely are. The world and lore of Tainted Grail is also based on a board game by Krzyztof Piskorski titled the same as the main line game. He is also a part of the developers of the game 'Awaken Realms', a indie Polish company.

    The game itself is designed like many deck builders. You start with a paltry deck with a couple decent cards but nothing crazy. However the more you play the game the more cards you unlock and if you are doing side-quests (which this game has in spades) you can unlock even better cards. You also open the door for more classes spread out between fighters, archers and summoners. Funny story through. Even tho there are many classes (9 in total) I have only used one my entirely playthrough. I fully intend to go back in and try some other classes but the one class I used, the default one, was the one best suited to my playstyle.

    Despite only using one class through, I enjoyed every moment of this game except in the middle where I felt I hit a wall. Each run was ending in failure and I can now correct myself from my impression blog where I said a boss stayed dead after you slay them. I was wrong. I think I was confused because sometimes you get a different boss and the game also said 'Slay the second beast' so I thought I did not have to slay the first beast again but like all roguelites, when you die, your game progression is completely reset and any bosses you had beaten need to be beaten again. This middle was where a bit of frustration kick in but I realized I was just not building my deck correctly with the best possible cards. Slight spoiler: some of the best cards are locked behind NPCs side quests. There is one specific card that once I realized its potential became my go-to starter card and well, I started completing runs after runs because of it. Speaking of, yes, in a flip on the tried and true formula roguelite, Tainted Grail Conquest has full-on RPG lite meta progression side quests. You talk to the person and they give you a long set of tasks and at the end you can 'save' that NPC. As mentioned, these are meta progressing so they persist between runs thankfully so once you find a certain item you do not need to seek it out again, just need to give it to the right person. I also say thankfully because like all roguelites the 'map' does change between runs so a certain person you might need or a location you need to visit does not show up in this run and you need to do another one and hope for the best. This, I will not lie got a bit maddening especially when you just need to met a certain NPC one more time to complete their task and the RNG won't roll you the 'map' where they are available.

    Saving these NPCs are also part of the game story and to get the 'true' ending you need to save them all and fight the 'true' boss. Speaking of 'true' boss, if you have played 'Slay the Spire' (aka THE deck building roguelite) this final boss concept is something you might be familiar with.

    

    The gameplay itself is done well. Instead of a pre-determined path where you make decisions on which forks to take like most deckbuilding roguelites, each of the 3 randomly generated areas allow you to free roam to an extent. During your free roaming you will encounter NPCs, enemies (which you fight in the conventional turn based deck building style) and events. The game surprisingly gives you a lot of freedom. You start the area and you want to run straight to the boss? Go for it. You see the NPC you need to help but they are being blocked by an enemy? Go behind the enemy and you can still talk to the NPC without even having to beat the monsters. I found this was really helpful in my early runs when I was not as strong but after awhile I became so OP I would purposely trigger battles just so I could get more loot. Speaking of loot; it is plentiful. Of course you have gold but at the beginning and at the end of every boss battle you get to spend some time in the 'village'/ hub you have filled with main line NPCs like the blacksmith or the candle maker (more on that in a bit) and whilst those NPCs use the gold, each of them also accept a unique currency exclusive to them. Give them enough of this currency and you can get more candles when you start your run or more weapon slots or item slots. This progression is also kept between runs as well so building a better village also makes you stronger in the long run as well. This unique, almost base building aspect is what really kept me coming back to Conquest. Helping these poor souls out and helping them deal with their own demons and getting rewarded for it became a enjoyable gameplay loop. Another big part of the loot is 'Runestones', these special stones which you can slot into your weapon or your armor can change your playstyle from a little to a lot. At first I dismissed these are fluff but overtime and as I got better runestones I realize they are pretty key to winning certain battles so do not ignore them like I did and use them correctly.

    I mentioned candles before right? If we are still discussing gameplay, then we must talk about the 'Wyrdness'. The wyrdness is how Conquest conceals the map. The more you traverse the maps, the more the wyrdness creeps in, the more it effects the game. Of course, there is the obvious ones like you can not see in front of you and there is nothing but a strange haze obscuring your vision literally but wydrness also triggers certain 'bad' cards to enter your deck and these are never a good thing. Bad cards can be like giving the opponent a barrier aka a shield before you can actually hit them or you do less damage or have less energy to play cards, crappy things. So you want to keep the wyrdness away so you use a limited commodity item called 'Wyrdcandles'. These special items help keep the wyrdness at bay and having high light from the wyrdcandles can actually cause good cards to show up in your deck too as opposed to the bad ones. You can also see your enemies clearly and what events/ NPCs they are guarding. Generally, it is a good idea to always have high light from Wyrdcandles but no all things are done in the light and some random encounters, important encounters mind you can only be done when you have no light and wandering in the wyrdness. It is a unique concept, similar to how torches work in 'Darkest Dungeon' and I like how they implemented it... most of the time.

    Outside of the gameplay, the game itself is rather well polished for a smaller studio. Most of the main line NPCs are fully voiced for all their dialogue and even some of the lesser character in the map have voice lines too. The soundtrack is suitably moody with an occasional hard rock, almost chanty vibe. I'll share a track with you all below that best shows that.

    The graphics of the main game are passable. Nothing ground breaking but still it is not bad. The art of the cards are nice however with some really good illustrations and effort put into it. However I did have a couple issues with slow down during the game which got progressive worst during longer runs and at one point the game completely crashed on me. One of the biggest causes for the slow down is whether you 'stun' enemies for some reason that special effect always made my frame rate tank for a couple minutes. Whilst not always game breaking, it did get annoying after awhile and with the game 'completed' I do not see any performance patches coming anytime to fix it so keep that in mind. The interface is intuitive in-game and the games has multiple modes like 'Endless Power' and 'Endless Misery' as well. I muck around in 'Endless Power' and it seem its was a stripped down/ streamlined version of the game with nothing but back to back battles and no need to progress the story. I think it would be fun to muck around in but since the story/ RPG elements was the appeal of the game for me I bet I would get bored after awhile.

Pick a card mon ami

    Overall, this is a good game and a good time especially if you love this genre like I do. The game's core structure is solid based on many of the genres tried and true tropes of turn based, knowing what the enemy's intentions are and planning ahead with your deck. The storyline is compelling enough to keep you going with a good cast of characters to help and fight for. The sound design is pretty good and it looks fine. A bit rough in places but it is not horrible. Other then the slowdown/ tanking frame rates after certain actions it runs well too. It is not a masterpiece but I had a great time and I see myself still playing even through I have now completed the game. This 'tainted grail' is actually not bad for you at all and therefore gets a RAVE from me.

AV

P.S this game is currently on sale at gog.com for only $9.99 (50% off) as of the posting of this blog.