Mirror Layers
This game does more with the horror genre than just the standard “run/hide from the monster while solving mundane puzzles and piecing together a run-of-the-mill edgy backstory”, and I really appreciate that about it.
I really enjoyed this game a lot, and it was definitely worth the $20. However, it’s not flawless, so I’ll go over the pros and cons (focusing more on the pros to better paint the experience I had with this game).
PROS:
- Most of the puzzles leave you feeling satisfied. There are a few outliers (and I’ll go over those in the CONS section), but the vast majority of them get you thinking about them for a while, before fragmented pieces of information randomly piece together in your head, and you feel this appreciation for the ingenuity of the puzzle-design. Most of the times, all the hints are laid there before you, and there aren’t any red-herrings either. Unlike many riddle-based games, you don’t look back on the puzzle feeling cheated. Enigma 2 was a masterpiece in my opinion, and I’ve seen many other players share the same sentiment. As I’ve said though, there are some outliers.
– Real player with 31.5 hrs in game
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(Edit: please play the demo first, it’s standalone from the full game and got different content and puzzles! It’s got its own different experience you’ll love it!)
Playing the game on ps4 controller, thankfully consistent with character movements and item usage and only need to use the mouse for accessing the in-game pc and menu screen.
It’s so good and atmosphere is really scary and the things you find out about apartment 12…
The in-game social media has an interesting checkpoint system where you never see posts from people posting at a later segment in the game so no spoilers from other players who advanced further (there’s a report button if you do find spoilers, but atm, the community is very good at giving tips without giving away the answers)
– Real player with 24.5 hrs in game
Monstrum 2
Monstrum 2 is a 4v1 multiplayer only horror game where you either play as one of (currently) 3 monsters and hunt down prisoners or one of a bunch of prisoners that has to survive on a randomly generated sea fortress. The goal of the prisoners is to activate fuseboxes which need puzzles completed to be activated. Some need items, some a code, some need keycards or are blocked by something that you need to destroy or push/pull. After that they need to repair their escape vehicle, either submarine or helicopter, and then reach them before getting caught by the monster.
– Real player with 171.9 hrs in game
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TL;DR at bottom.
I cannot in good faith recommend Monstrum 2 at this time. As much as I want to give this game a positive review, there are simply too many glaring issues to warrant recommending the game in it’s current state. If you read some of the other reviews and feedback people have given, you can get a good idea of what it’s like to play right now and admittedly, while I do occasionally have some fun with the game, I find myself quickly losing interest and becoming frustrated.
If you get past the fact that you are going to have to ask others in the JunkFish discord to even find enough players to play a game, you are quickly going to realise that the balance between the prisoners trying to escape and the monsters hunting you down, pretty much doesn’t exist. If the monster even has a slight idea of what they are doing, in most runs, unless the prisoners are equally as good, if not better, you are going to get absolutely destroyed. Combine this with the fact that there are still so many bugs (especially with the audio) that have existed since the launch of Early Access, you are going to have to do everything your power to convince yourself that this is a good experience.
– Real player with 58.6 hrs in game
Ogre
*** Updated for v1.2.2.0 ***
Short TL:DR - A faithful translation of the original boardgame with lots of potential, but still rough around some edges. Overall, good enough to get your “fix” for classic Ogre, but G.E.V. is still a ways off and some minor bugs still need to be addressed. I currently rate it a 4 out of 5 (previously rated at 3.5).
I’m going to try to itemize the good and bad as much as possible so you get an accurate view of what the game (v1.2.2.0) looks like. I was part of the beta test and there are a lot of things that have been improved since the beta, but there’s still more work to do.
– Real player with 471.3 hrs in game
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I have experience with the Ogre 6th Edition board game, and this game feels very similar.
One thing I very much appreciate is that there are a few mechanics in place to speed games up. In the board game, if you target an Ogre’s treads, you have to fire individually with each unit doing so. In this PC game, you select your target first (like, the treads) then select every unit in range, and the game rolls for them all in sequence, faster than selecting each one individually. You can also stack multiple units on the same hex and move them as a group, which speeds up the process of closing with the opponent.
– Real player with 32.8 hrs in game