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: 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

RAVE: Iratus: Lord of the Dead

 It is strange. Sometimes I get in the mood to play a new game and get started but sometimes I just swing back to some old favorites and get caught up playing that instead. Such is the case with Iratus: Lord of the Dead. I first played this game on my Steam Deck way before I ever played Darkest Dungeon and funny enough a lot of critics of Iratus call it a Darkest Dungeon clone. Because I was strangely afraid of playing Darkest Dungeon (due to its perceived difficulty) I decided to try something similar but no way near as hard. Within a couple days playing it I truly feel in love with Iratus and honestly I remember nothing but fun times when I was playing it. Fast forward a long stint with Darkest Dungeon and all it's DLCs, I got in the mood to go back to Iratus. I also felt that if my desktop PC was able to handle Darkest Dungeon it should not have a problem with Iratus too and I was able to run it without a hitch.

Within a couple hours I found myself drawn back into the world of Iratus and this time I wanted to try some new minions I did not use previously. One of the by-products from switching from the Steam Deck to my desktop was losing all my save data so I hate to start from scratch progress wise and I oddly did not mind that. So without any more fanfare, we now have our RAVE for Iratus: Lord of the Dead.

    

Iratus is a dungeon-crawler roguelite similar to Darkest Dungeon (DD) as I previously mentioned. You play as Iratus, a rather cocky necromancer who is trying to conquer the world. Unlike some roguelites the lost you incur are not to yourself but to the minions you control and when you lose a minion they are gone for good. That Level 15 Banshee you've been slowly levelling up with all them cool items? Gone if you have a particularly bad battle. Sometimes you can lose a whole squad and have to start all over with a brand new team. However unless you lose all your minions you can rarely be defeated which make it a bit easier compared to some roguelites.

Iratus is not the most graphically intense game but the graphics are very serviceable especially for an indie game in this genre. It is on the same scale as Darkest Dungeon with just key frames of animation being the focus and definitely better than Indies' Lies minimalist approach. It also has a gothic art style to it, similar to Darkest Dungeon but with a more Dungeons and Dragon approach compared to DD's Lovecraftian style. The sound is okay, nothing to write home about however the guy who does the voice lines for Iratus is definitely having a good time and it shows in his performance (even tho hearing the same lines over and over can get a bit grating). The sound effects are nice tho and very satisfying when you score hits or cast spells. It is however in the gameplay where Iratus shines.

As mentioned above, Iratus is a tough game too however it is not as hard as say Darkest Dungeon. Thankfully Iratus does not borrow from Darkest Dungeon's mechanic where you get a disease and afflictions even if you have a good run. The upgrade economy is much more generous too compared to DD. Also as a nice twist because you are playing the bad guys, you get to inflict the stress on your opponents instead of the other way around. Some of the cooler teams in Iratus actually do stress damage instead of physical damage and you can actually scare enemies to death or install so much fear in them that they run away or turn on their allies. Its actually one of the cooler elements that the thing you feared the most in DD is now a benefit for you in Iratus.

The minions are what sells Iratus to me. Using resources you obtain while playing you combine these resources to make minions. When ether it be a fearsome Werewolf, a sturdy reliable Skeleton to a backstabbing conniving Lost Soul. You have so many choices and making up a team of maximum 4 characters, you can make endless combinations of teams and find synergy for days. During my most recent run for example, I use a mostly stress team with some melee hitters for the stress resistant folks (which there are some) and it was a blast especially because I never tried a stress team before. This constant discover of new teams and new ways of playing kept me going for 3 back to back runs and unlike some roguelites, a full run aka beating the game is an investment especially compared to a 30-40 min run in Risk of Rain 2. On average, if you want to beat Iratus, you normally are in it for a long haul of a 3 to 4 hr campaign.

Each minion can also be built according to your preference with each having multiple abilities you can build one way or another and they also have a special attacks too which are powered by Iratus' resource called 'wrath' and these are the most spectacular attacks in their arsenals. Iratus is no back-seat driver too, he can contribute with spells at least once a round and potions (which you craft with resources) which can either buff his squad or nerf the opposition. Iratus also has something snarky to say when ether his squad scores a kill or a he hits his opponents with a nasty spell. He is like the narrator of the game much like the narrator in DD (but honestly, nowhere near as cool).

Like all roguelites, the fun comes from the random elements the game throws at you, the challenge of a particularly hard boss or when you sometimes find a broken team combination and just steam roll over your enemies. Along the way there is chances to earn cool items for you or your minions, sacrifice your minions for more resources and even random events with multiple choices (similar to Slay the Spire and Indies' Lies). Whilst the challenge is there, honestly Iratus is one of the easier roguelites and completely wipes do happen but it is not as common. If anything, if you are starting off on this type of roguelites, I would highly recommend it because it'll definitely ease you into the genre. The game even has automatic auto-saves and multiple difficulty choices to make it easier to pick up. The game has since released some DLC which added some more minions (and new area with harder enemies which unlocks the 'true' ending)  and an extra character or two. I enjoyed this game so much I bought all the DLC (Wrath of the Necromancer) and even brought a 'supporter pack' (which included the OST, alternative skins and a digital strategy guide) and a couple of the alternative skin packs as well. Unfrozen, the makers of the game has recently announced they are working on a sequel and another project which is very interesting.

Can you believe this is Fanart?! Amazing work from Coremort.

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is basically Darkest Dungeon but you are not a fan of how difficult DD gets or you just want to play a bad guy for once. The game has a lot of charm and very easy to pick up and play as well. You have numerous minions at your disposal and each one brings their own unique flare to the game and along the way you will slay many heroes. I honestly feel because I enjoyed Iratus, I was able to tackle Darkest Dungeon and we know how that ended *cough* 5 blogs back to back *cough*. It gets a RAVE which is the highest recommendation on this blog and on top of that, it is not that expensive to pick up. It is constantly on sale along with the DLCs and it is well worth your time and money.

C'mon. Sometimes it is good to be bad.

AV

Hunting Season: My Remnant 2 Mid-Game Build

 As promised, the Remnant 2 (or as I affectionately call it Rem Rem) content is continuing and now I'll provide some thoughts since I've 2/3 through the main campaign. First I get to show off my sexy character which as we all should know, I've called him Apocrypha.

Apocrypha in game right now is a Hunter archetype with a Medic as my secondary. We only recently started levelling up the Medic class too. Previously we were a Hunter/ Handler with a good doggo called 'Lil' J' (named after our homie Mr. J of course). However once the Handler class got to 10 (which is the max level for an Archetype) we moved over to the Medic cause I was interested in this class too. Plus their healing really helps in a intense game like this one. I do miss the doggo's auto heal when I was downed but I can make do. Another reason, other then getting the Handler to level 10 for the change was sadly, whilst the dog was helpful in dungeons and the overworld maps, I feel in boss encounters, he did not help as much and rarely took the enemies agro like I hoped he would. Dogs in Remnant 2 are definitely not Spirit Summons from Elden Ring levels of OP in terms of help.

This is my set-up after beating 2 world bosses and 51 hours of play and I'm enjoying it so far. My main melee weapon was a spear but I seldom used it so I'm switching to a staff now. It is the Red Doe Staff and it has some cool functions to it but I'm not married to it. I might keep it but I might also switch out once I find something cooler. Melee however is not my focus tho, mainly cause as a Hunter you are more concerned with sniping enemies from afar and getting precision shots.

That is where this bad boy comes into play

This bad boy is the first long gun I've fallen in love with outside of my staple long gun I got with my Hunter's kit and it fits the bill even more that a Hunter has a bow as their main weapon. This bow crits like a mofo and has one of the coolest built in mods that heals me and refunds arrows on hit. A lot of rings and other items I have are all focused on critical chance and the Crescent Moon bow make it all fit together. Its funny, in the previous game, one of my favorite builds revolved around a crossbow so its only fitting I upgraded to a long bow for the sequel. There are some other long gun I want to consider but one of the things a lot of fellow Remnant players are saying is you can't spread you upgrade materials out too much and it is impossible to upgrade everything. You need to pick and choose what to upgrade to maximum.

Now as awesome as a one shot shooting bow is, sometimes you need something for the mobs and for crowd control, for that I am sticking with a rather over-used in the current game meta but it has not let me down yet

The Enigma is a lighting based hand gun that deals shock damage and mod actually pinpoints enemies with lighting rods to channel more electricity and in the end is amazing for clearing out trash mobs. This gun used to be so OP, that most people would use it exclusively as a hand gun but it was recently nerfed in a recent patch so now it just amazing instead of overpowered. This gun has hard carried me through a lot of areas and I do not think we will be changing it bar something real game changing drops in our hands. Also as stated before, focusing on upgrading only certain weapons also makes it harder to pivot off it after investing a lot of upgrade material into it.

So now, we have my archetypes, my weapons of choice and what armor set I am running. Speaking of, my armor set is purely for aesthetics right now like I do in most Souls-likes. I actually want other armor sets but they seem to be a bit rarer outside of the archetypes main sets which you can buy from Whispers. Also I just got the standard edition so I did not get any fancy Remnant from the Ashes throwback armors either. I did find the Leto II but that is a ultra heavy armor set and I love my quick rolls too much.

However how about my thoughts on the actual game so far? Well, I hate to say it but so far, I am enjoying it but I'm not loving it. I know it will eventually be a RAVE on this very blog but there are some things I kind of don't like about it.

First and foremost, the bosses.

This boss above was a massive annoyance, it had very obvious weak spot (The Big Red Cross!) but even hitting said weak spot multiple times, he still tanked a lot of damage and you constantly have to dodge his annoying flying ads, his acid puddle pools, that took waaaayyy too much damage (especially if you get hit directly by one and then end up in its follow up pool) and like most bosses in this game for some reason, it has an instant death attack. If you die, you are dead, no doggo resurrections,  no because I have tons of heavy armor I can absorb the hit. No, I've been conserving my Dragon Heart relic so I can use it a couple more times. Nope. 90% of the bosses in this game have an insta-death move and they sometimes even use it multiple times and this is just a regular boss.

The infamous Nightweaver (or as I call her, Bitchweaver) is a World boss that has 2 distinct phases and in phase 2 she attempts multiple times to hit you with her insta-death move. So whilst you are are dealing with this very aggressive boss and her annoying ads, she can also instantly kill you. Their is a very frustrating Labyrinth boss also has an insta-kill and that bosses is a guarantee fight if you wish to progress in the game. The first game did not have this insta-death moments and no other Souls game has a mechanic like this, sure you can be wiped out with one hit if you have not levelled Vigor/ Health in Souls games but nothing as unfair as these mechanics. In all honesty, every boss I've fought in this game from a minor corrupted one in a sewer to a Floating ball of pus have all been experiences in frustration and not fun at all. I definitely recall some bad boss battles in the original Remnant (the final boss comes to mind) but it was no way near as miss and miss as Remnant 2. Also to top this all off, I've heard the final boss in this game is a real piece of work too and also super frustrating to fight.

Boss battles are a hallmark of a good Souls game but I feel every boss so far in Remnant 2 are too much work and uphill battles especially for a solo player like I currently am. Maybe it is because we are playing a ranged game and just shooting one enemy endlessly would get boring very quickly (and I bet it would) so they need to spice it up with ads so you have multiple threats but combine endless ads with the threat of insta-death and its becomes a bit much. Maybe because the game design is more designed for multi-player/ co-op but why have a solo option if multi-player is how they want you to play it.

Speaking of ads, I am also not a big fan of how all the enemies in some areas blend in very well to the background and don't stand out at all. Losomn (the Bloodborne inspired area) for example has tons of enemies almost blending into the background and you have to use the Hunter's active skill to actual see them. It not a big flaw but nether less, I can not say I've ever had an issue spotting enemies before in any other Souls game. Not in Bloodborne, not in The Surge 2 heck not even in Mortal Shell and that game had a very limited color palette. However in Remnant 2 I find myself constantly aiming and seeing if my reticle turns red to let me know an enemy is in front of me instead of instinctly knowing someone was in front of my face.

2 Dark Clothed people fighting on a dark street at Night. Genius!!

However at its core, I do enjoy Remnant 2. A lot of people hate on the storytelling but I feel it does its job, it gives you a goal and points you in the right direction. The actual lore is actually pretty unique and a good read especially if you have read up on the previous entry in the series (including its prequel game Chronos: Before the Ashes). I enjoy the variety the sequel has given me in archetypes and what each one is capable of. I enjoy the puzzles and how some cooler items are locked behind unique conditions (for example, letting a room flood in real time and coming back and a new path is open for you). Most of the NPCs are kind of endearing, especially if you have remember them from Remnant 2 and seeing how they have all progressed with the exception of McCabe who is as grumpy as ever (Remnant fans know what I'm talking about).

I still have a bit more to go before my final review but for now, I am enjoying the hunt despite its flaws to me. Also I have to say Gunfire Games has been on it with patches and making sure any game breaking flaws are addressed so kudos to them. It is nice to know they are not resting on their laurels and making sure we get the best game possible.

Till next time

AV

RAVE: Darkest Dungeon

 Normally, I try to get blogs out at least once a week. However this one has been delayed mainly because I can't stop playing it enough to actual write a blog about it. It is time tho; here is my RAVE for

As always, we will begin with a brief history and what made me pick up this game. As I've explored the Roguelike genre, I heard many good things about a indie game called 'Darkest Dungeon'. I heard it was brutal, challenging and very, very unforgiving. I actual brought this game for Steam back in November 2022 and I got it for a steal of only $3.80 which now I look back on it, is amazing because of the now 180+ hours of entertainment I've got from it.

However due to the nature of how the game is best played with Mouse and Keyboard (M&K), I did not immediately sprung to playing it. For awhile I made an excuse it was because I did not want to play a M&K game and I had other games to play instead. However I eventually did learn to use M&K and ironically, one of the first games I learned it was with 'Iratus: Lord of the Dead', a game I've mentioned before on this blog and one of my favorite Roguelikes. 'Iratus' is heavily inspired by 'Darkest Dungeon' and now I've played both I can clearly see how much it influenced it. However I played the 'inspired by' before I actually played what inspired it. Sure, I brought 'Iratus' before 'Darkest Dungeon' and I really, really enjoyed 'Iratus'. I put in a lot of hours and beat the game twice, on the easiest and standard difficulties. I did many runs and bought all the DLC and even some of skin packs. 'Iratus' deserves its own RAVE and perhaps I'll replay it in the future and write one then but this is a 'Darkest Dungeon' blog.

So after playing the Hell out of 'Iratus' I played other games and I think my 'Risk of Rain 2' obsession kicked in not soon after and we all know how long that went for. I, however had 'Darkest Dungeon' in the back of my head. I wanted to play it and I had a couple of false starts before we finally started in earnest, about a month ago and boy oh boy, we have not looked back.

Another big deciding factor of giving 'Darkest Dungeon' a real go was me finding out it was 'old' enough to played on my desktop computer and I, no longer had to set up my Steam Deck to play it. The easier access of 'DD' on my desktop meant I could play it anytime I was on my desktop and spoiler; I am on my desktop a lot. Being able to play a M&K game on a desktop makes things so much easier and it is also why previous RAVES 'Indies' Lies'  and 'Deadbolt' also got played a lot. Surprisingly, I recently tried to play it on my Steam Deck and even through it works, the M&K made a massive difference in how much I enjoyed it. The controller options just felt limiting and I've become more a M&K person lately, strange because most of my gaming career I've always had a controller or a arcade stick in my hands. Okay, enough of the how we got here because we are here now and we are more and likely will not be going anywhere soon. I, honestly see 'Darkest Dungeon' becoming an ongoing feature on my blogs much like how 'Risk of Rain 2' was. You see, it is that addictive to me.

To quote it's Steam page, 'Darkest Dungeon' is a challenging gothic roguelike turn based RPG about the psychological stresses of adventuring. Can you keep your heroes together when all hope is lost? They are not lying to you either when they call it 'challenging'. My first couple of days with this game really took me for a ride and I deleted so many campaigns when things got too tough and I'll ran out of money and recruits to keep playing it. When I was new to the 'Stress' system, I would let highly stressed adventurers go into back to back missions and watch them fall apart and turn on their allies and sometimes, even worst, ruin a mission. I would dread the minute a 'Affliction' popped up on the screen and one of character's lost their marbles and became 'Sadistic' or 'Machoistic' or even worst 'Hopeless' and refuse to help the squad, or hurt themselves and sometimes even refused to be healed when they were about to die. Everything I heard about the game was true. This game was unforgiving and it really pushed me to the limit many times. Also just like any good Roguelikes, the deaths are final and anytime you lost an adventurer, you'll have to start from scratch with a new one. Sometimes they did not even have to die but you had to cut them loose because they came back so broken, it would not make sense to keep them cause it would take more money to heal them, money you did not have.

The rarest of the rare, an Inspired Hero!!

However, sometimes the RNG (random number generator) is on your side and instead of rolling an 'Affliction' you adventurer gets 'Inspired' and well that is one of the best feelings and every-time it actual happened I got super hyped (except the one time when one adventurer got Inspired and die on the next turn. As I said, unforgiving). Moments like that are few and far between and 90% of times it is opposite and I slowly learned that I should not let my adventurers reach their breaking points and actually invested in a bigger roster so the stressed individuals can rest whilst the younger, fresher recruits go and do the job instead.

Speaking of adventurers, it time to talk about the very colorful cast of characters you can use. Each one brings its own playstyle and nuances to the field. Be it, the Vestal whom can heal your whole team and swing a mean mace when she needs too. Or would you prefer to use the tank Man at Arms who specializes in taking hits, screaming folks into submission and setting up comeback ripostes or go completely off the rails and use the Jester whom is great for relieving stress but when the time comes, swings with the best of them. The games base roster of 15 (16 if you count the palate swap Musketeer whom shares all the skills with the Arbalest with her own twist) and each character comes with their own quirks and character lines. The Bounty Hunter is grim and focused on collecting his booty whilst the Highway Man is super cocky when things go his way. Each member has really endeared themselves to me and I can honestly say I do not have a 'favorite' character yet. At first I really did not like the Antiquarian because she had nothing but support skills and a very weak attack but I realize the purpose of a Antiquarian is helping you get more loot and I can honestly say I am only doing better now money-wise because I learned how to use her. Also early in my time with the game, I did not understand how strong the Occultist was because he kept healing adventurers for 1-2 hit points and bleeding them and how his playstyle seem too much of a mixed bag. Now the Occultist can slot into any team because of his amazing bag of tricks. Having a healer on the front lines and still able to hit with the best of them is just chef kiss. Each character has a diverse skill set too and you can mix and match them according to your team's composition. Some really work but everyone does have their preferred spot and you'll figure it out as you keep playing the game. Honestly, that and being able to personalize each adventurer and even naming them and choosing a specific color for them has made losses all the more sad when they succumb to the evils of this world.

If you get this reference, we can be best of friends.

The game even warns you, not every hero will survive and you are bound to fail some missions and abandon others. This is the nature of 'Darkest Dungeon'. This game is so unforgiving that you can successful complete a mission, with full health and low or zero stress and the game still decides to give your adventurer the 'Black Plague' disease (which screws with your stats and make you even more susceptible to more diseases... yay) with no warning. On top of that, it might give you a real life quirk like Kleptomania and cause you adventurer to random steal loot for themselves and not share with the squad. Such is the perils of dungeon diving in this world. Then you find something sending them to treatment centers to get rid of said disease or negative quirks but you can also lock in positive ones you have picked up as well. Never have I've played a game which almost gleefully likes to set you up for fail but for some strange reason because I am who I am, the guy who likes to die (in video games) and loves a challenge I keep playing it and even funnier, enjoying it.

However enjoying it I am. I just hit a 170 hrs and beaten the final boss and I haven't even started on the DLCs (which I still need to purchase). I am enjoying the base game (mind you with some very needed Quality of Life mods like Faster Walking and Expanded Inventory) and then there is so much more I can explore. The afore-mentioned DLCs including one that is heavily inspired by H.P Lovecraft's 'The Color From Space' and the big one, 'The Crimson Court' which adds a lot more bosses, a new class and VAMPIRES!!

Maybe its the RPG elements without all the extra fluff that comes with RPGs (walking to and from places, having to find McGuffins to open locked doors, the hunt for stronger, better weapons). Maybe its the addictive hook of leveling up a squad of killers and finding new synergies with them and finding innovative set-ups like twin Crusaders who constantly swap position with each other so they can both access their very OP Holy Lance move. Maybe its the cool narrator who always has something to say or maybe its beating the odds even tho it is stacked heavily against you. I also love the setting being a fan of Lovecraftian themes and gothic fantasy in general. Hell, maybe its the town management of keeping a home base (in this case your Hamlet/ Estate) up and running and your army in top shape which I never realized I can do. Traditionally I've ignore a lot of base building games but in Darkest Dungeon, all this micro-managing is part and parcel of the experience and I've grown to enjoy that too.

Every thing in this game, hits all the right spots for me and I feel its honestly why I need to do this long RAVE about it. Despite it beating me down so many times, I still get back up and hit 'Embark' and prepare a new squad. As promised, this is the beginning, we will probably be back with our 2 cents on the DLC's adventurers, the Flagellant and the Shield Breaker and of course review the DLCs. If you enjoy a challenging turn based game that asks you a lot but rewards you as well, you will not regret diving into this 'Darkest Dungeon'.

AV