Castlevania: Lords of Shadow – Ultimate Edition
First off, I’m a huge fan of the Castlevania series. So that foundation may color my opinion of this game and it’s ensuing interquel and sequel (which I’m currently in the midst of). Something about medieval through Enlightment era Europe with a heavy gothic/baroque aesthetic, corrupted through dark forces that threaten the world? Awesome. Tons of monsters pulling on a multitude of inspiration from the myth cycles of antiquity through the modern Universal monsters? Yes, please.
Konami struck gold initially by creating these dark adventures that took a quite serious tone for the early Nintendo systems, offering a beefy challenge of vintage Nintendo difficulty through several increasingly impressive platformer games. They then evolved into the famed Metroidvanias with the release of Symphony of the Night on the Playstation - trading a bit of the reflex-intensive difficulty for massive sprawling environments that took forever to explore and fully unlock - and followed this formula with several excellent installments on Nintendo’s handhelds where they found their most sustainable home and success through the late 2000’s. Then Konami, sensing the increasingly stagnant nature of the series as it became mired in repeated iterations of SotN’s sprawling platformer/RPG hybrid, started searching for a way to revitalize the series again, just as SotN ignited a sort of Golden Age for the series.
– Real player with 98.7 hrs in game
Read More: Best Medieval Singleplayer Games.
(Important note: This game, for whatever reason, doesn’t like being set to fullscreen + max res on a display other than that which Windows / your video card identifies as Display 1, regardless if it’s your primary display or not. Weird bug but easy to fix.)
Lords of Shadow is a flawed but polished masterpiece and a triumph of artistic direction. It’s shortcomings are forgivable. That said, since you can expect to sink upwards of 40hrs into this, I’ll go into some more detail.
Presentation wise, this game is stunning. Masterful visuals paired with smooth and optimized 4K performance make for an eye-popping experience. The art team went all out on this and it shows. I’ve never taken so many screenshots of a game before. Two major detractors though: 1. Some of the cutscenes were pre-rendered for console are unimproved by modern hardware (they still look passable but they’re jaggy af); 2. Godrays are a weak point. The score is powerful but not iconic; you’ll love it in the moment but try to recall the music later and you’ll likely struggle, for the most part. This isn’t objectively a bad thing, as it simply means it’s enhancing the experience without overpowering it but I was disappointed by the lack of iconic singles and the abscence of a Bloody Tears revamp.
– Real player with 47.4 hrs in game
Dracula: Love Kills
Very good game.
[As usual, note that my times are always long since I frequently leave games running when other things come up.]
The HO scenes are always appropriate to the location with a good mix of easier and harder to find objects.
Count Dracula and Igor are entertaining, but never so far over the top as to be annoying.
The main story is the usual series of finding things to get you to the next room (or part of the game) etc., but it’s nicely put together and kept me interested.
The puzzles were plentiful and frequently challenging. There was a good assortment of different types of puzzles.
– Real player with 30.4 hrs in game
Read More: Best Medieval Gothic Games.
For those who played Dracula: Origin - this game is quite different, more of the cookie-cutter HO/puzzle/adventure kind, albeit with special abilities and two different endings based on your decisions, which makes it distinctive in this genre. It also has 2D painted art instead of the previous episode’s 3D.
Pros:
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Beautiful graphics, especially some HO scenes and the character art
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The UI is very modern
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Atmospheric and catchy music
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The puzzles of the first half of the game are quite easy
– Real player with 22.4 hrs in game
Covenanted
Covenanted is a hand-drawn rogue-like with RPG elements and an original turn-based combat system
A contract with the devil is always a bad idea [/]
The heroine of Covenanted, bound by a contract with the Devil, is on a journey through the magical world. Pursued by the Inquisition and blackmailed by the Devil, she has to balance between light and darkness in order to gain the support of powerful allies and break the endless cycle of rebirth
Combat Alchemy [/]
The journey is full of dangers! As the game progresses, the witch collects recipes for unique potions and gathers ingredients to make her magic even more powerful. Each recipe has its own unique effect
Procedural generation [/]
The global map of Covenanted is generated for each session. The variety of locations, the number of opponents and the available rewards are selected in such a way that each race is different from the previous one
Visual style [/]
We pride ourselves on the visual style of the game. All the main elements were drawn with ink on paper and digitized. The world of Covenanted is growing, our artists are working on new characters and locations
Random events and story quests [/]
We want players to feel the impact of the decisions made in story quests throughout the game. Despite one true ending, the fate of the Covenanted side heroes remains in the hands of the player
Fairy Middle Ages [/]
When creating the world, we were inspired by the worlds of the fantasy genre, world folklore, myths and legends. In Covenanted, elves and werewolves live in the same world with the characters of the Brothers Grimm fairy tales and ancient myths
Read More: Best Medieval Colorful Games.
东方栖霞园 ~ Blue devil in the Belvedere.
A fun, modern fangame based on the Touhou Project series. Similarly to Elegant Impermanence of Sakura, the previous work of the developers, there is a gimmick in this game too; the power overwhelming mechanic.
Regarding the mechanic, I feel using it during the stage portions makes the game a bit too forgiving. However, during the bosses it’s often the reverse. Activating the mechanic can make some of the nons/spell cards quite ridiculous, which is a fun challenge in of itself. This makes scoring in this game quite fun and challenging. One nitpick about the mechanic is that you can’t really opt out of it; misses are an automatic power overwhelming activation as long as you have bombs and max power. However, the game is designed around using the mechanic, so why one would want to play without it is beyond me. Regarding stage difficulty, it’s very linear, with the hardest parts being at the end of the game.
– Real player with 46.3 hrs in game
The latest fangame from 东方祈华梦制作组, their previous excellent fangame Eternal Impermanence of Sakura (from now on abbreviated as EIoS). Blue Devil in the Belvedere provides a more traditional Touhou experience (with power, point of collection)
The amount of gameplay and visual polish in this title is amazing. There are a lot of quality of life features to make it more enjoyable to play and help with visibility. Also present in this game is a health bar with numeric values, so you know exactly how well you’re doing during an attack. This health bar is visible for both spells and non-spells. The dialog and translation are vastly improved from their first game.
– Real player with 22.9 hrs in game
Midwintar
Midwintär catches you at Khazar’s Pass.
You shelter in a cave as the days and nights grow long and cold,
as the snow seals you in and as the world darkens.
Midwintär is a narrative-driven stealth action game inspired by medieval horror folklore that combines careful tactical planning with fast-paced arcade execution and innovative gossip mechanics. Play and switch between three protagonists - a werewolf, a vampire, and a moon witch - to exact your revenge on a vicious religious cult.
Off-Kilter Sunny Horror On the outside, Midwintär takes place among sunny, medieval villages populated by friendly, hard-working, and devoted inhabitants. Stay overnight, though, and you might be horrified to reveal the true nature of their sacred rituals. The world of Midwintär is gruesome and dark but also funny.
Sun / Moon Gameplay Cycle Midwintär features a 3-minute day-night cycle that changes your abilities. You must use your daytime skills such as lock-picking or spreading rumours among villagers to best prepare the terrain for the night-time havoc when you transform into a bloodthirsty, overpowered monster.
Gossip Mechanics Each villager in Midwintär has their own suspicion-meter you can influence by gossiping and spreading rumors about other villagers, and there is also a panic-meter that changes the AI behaviour of all villagers on the map. You can use this against villagers - hide the firewood to lure the lumberjack into the night, kill him near the chapel to incriminate the priest, and later spread rumours on seeing him covered in blood. He’ll be hanged in no time!
Three Playable Characters You will be able to choose, play and switch between three playable characters - a werewolf, a vampire, and a moon witch - each of whom possesses a distinctive skillset and boasts a different playstyle.
Non-linear Skilltree You will be able to customize the skillset and playstyle of each character by opting to complete alternate missions in levels, which will reward you with a special bonus skill of your choice. Will your werewolf hone his terrifying howl, or will he become one with the wolf-packs of the forest?
Co-Op Multiplayer Midwintär will feature a split-screen and a local multiplayer for up to three players, enabling all three characters to fight together.
The corrupt and self-righteous religious institution Oblique Order is attempting to destroy the peaceful cohabitation of people and magical creatures in the pagan world of Midwintär, and enforce their order by uniting people against the powers of the wild. You must stop them before they exterminate your kind…
Midwintär starts off as a revenge story that slowly shifts into an exploration about our relationship to the unknown, and about the limits of what we can hope to control or understand.
WEREWOLF
The main protagonist is the werewolf, a former disciple of the Oblique Order, disillusioned and out for vengeance. During the game, he is guided by the voice of Midwintär, an ancient force of nature. His skills revolve around spreading panic and using brute force.
VAMPIRE
The vampire, once a powerful force of the night, his might now reduced by the spells of men. He cannot cross running water nor enter houses uninvited, but his power is in his allure - he can enthrall people to do his bidding, or forge blood links to ensure undying loyalty.
MOON WITCH
Then, there is the moon witch. Saved just before she was burned at the stake, she had felt on her skin the terror of order, and wishes to rid the world of their influence. Her skills revolve around misdirecting suspicion at others and using concoctions to alter their behaviour.
“Attending the Masked Meeting, you overhear their plans - they have already set all things in motion.”
Arc Wizards 3
My full S Rank play through here: https://youtu.be/YXQJ0dCfOlM
Game is a 7 out of 10 for me the creator definitely improved on it from naginata your sprite is still thicc compared to the enemies but I don’t believe your noggin in this game has near the girth of the geisha from naginata. I like that he added an upgrade system for your weapon in this one where when you get special move bar filling items your shot upgrades and if you take damage you lose it pretty nice reward for not taking damage. Bat form is so much better than jumping as well it can be irresponsive at times for reasons I couldn’t pinpoint but it’s a DEFINITE imrpovement to jumping in naginata. The special move in this SUCKS terribly compared to naginata. Stage 3 is soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long and one thing that would take this game a long way is instead of focusing on making the game more difficult by making stages longer and adding a greater number of enemies would be adding different mechanics for enemy attacks quality quantity. Another change that would be super beneficial in this game but possibly a lot of work would be some kind of upgrade shop where you can unlock different attacks, special skills, etc. it would add replay value and just make the game a whole lot more entertaining. Definitely glad the creator made improvements though!
– Real player with 1.0 hrs in game
Update: So, I was able to play again, and was doing rather well now that I understand what to do and how to do it. It was nice after a certain stage that when I died I could reload and try again from the same point, and not have to completely start over. Unfortunately, the game froze again and the character stopped responding to the controls. This really needs to be fixed because the only thing to do at that point is to close down the game which just makes me not want to play again. So until this issue is fixed, I cannot change my rating. Once that issue is fixed, I will change my rating from “No, I do not recommend,” to, “Yes, I recommend this game.”
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game
Shadowbane
First of all, this game is absolutely worth playing if you are into oldschool PvP MMOs. No other game allows such in-depth character customization. Sandbox elements are present but are not annoying to the end of being “chop trees to gather lumber”. “Sandbox” here is actually building cities and demolishing your enemies' cities in sieges, hiring AI mercenaries to craft items which is another good part of this game, crafting isn’t about gathering 10 dragon scales and 1 mummy dust by repetitively killing monsters, it’s more about having mercenaries of right races placed in your forges and having resources from right zones in general, even city building (if you happen to own / manage one) is as simple as placing the building on the city grid and waiting several hours for it to go up in one click.
– Real player with 1573.7 hrs in game
Overall an exceptionally poor experience.
So why do I have so many hours you ask? 1) nostalgia and 2) I played with friends, but neither of those points are positives to the game in particular. And also do not be mistaken, for an RPG 80% of this playtime was sitting afk while leeching experience from macro-bots which is what everyone uses.
So this game is mislabeled as a PVP title. It isn’t. It’s actually a zerg v zerg title and those battles are decided by sheer numbers. If it was a pvp game, you’d have skills which synergize with each other to allow for good and creative builds. Builds which later you can learn to play and get better as you get more accustomed to playing your toon. Not the case here. At first glance you have SO many races, professions and disciplines to combine that the options eem endless…until you realize that every profession has no more than 2 ways to build it if you want to be in any way viable. Yes, you CAN be a minotaur that uses unarmed fighting, except due to weapon skill restrictions (built into the races) and stat caps you’ll never be more than 20% of the strength of a proper polearm minotaur.
– Real player with 1121.8 hrs in game
Bloody Layne
Bloody Layne tells a dark vampire story with fully voiced dialogue. You decide, how to play and which path the story will take.
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Play as you want to play! Not grinding is most rewarding!
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Drink the blood from your enemies, transform into a bat or become a new Nosferatu with his own servants. Let Layne bath in the blood of his enemies and become insane.
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Unlock different endings, each with unique storylines and battles.
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Choose between different skills and create your own playstyle.
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Straight forward dialogue and meaningful dialogue choices, which have real consequences.
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Enjoy fast combat with lots of variety. Encounter more than 30 enemy types, which will try to claim the bounty on your head!
Control Layne, who wakes up and finds out that he has been bitten by a vampire. A dark voice whispers to Layne in his head and teaches him how to defend himself with magic and how to get stronger! Now Layne will have to face his creator, who lives in his castle on the mountains. A random set of bosses will challenge Layne on his way to the top, like the Black Mage, who can help you to become human again. Layne might be haunted by the old castle ghost, who eventually transforms into his old rotten body. Sometimes a vampire hunter will show up, to challenge Layne to a duel. An Assassin might stop Layne and lets him dance to avoid a rain of bombs.
Tip: Just play as you want on your first playthrough and have fun.
Night Stalkers
This game is AIDS
– Real player with 0.4 hrs in game
Citadale - The Awakened Spirit
Scanlines should be a mandatory feature for all retro-style games. It adds so much to Citadale.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QU3qTfPmGjU
If you want to see Citadale and its difficulty in action, watch my video. Take old-school Castlevania, add a second item slot, the generosity of checkpoints, and a couple of odd design choices. Stages can be tackled in any order, with the castle acting as a sort of hub. Bosses are painfully difficult.
You have a shield that is sometimes useful. If you pick up a subweapon, I hope you were paying attention because the one you just had is gone. (This is my only serious complaint. I wish you dropped the previous one so you could switch back, especially with the two slots available.) Some enemies bleed poison that will hurt you. Being deliberate and having good timing is the key to everything.
– Real player with 1.3 hrs in game
I wanted to like this game but I couldn’t… Graphics are fine, music is OK, animations are meh, enemy IA non existent and story, I didn’t gave it the chance.
IA is the main reason I’m not recommending this game. Enemies seems to move randomly or using some kind of pathfinding algorithm in order to reach you, which some times is just painful. There’s a boss who will move immediately after being hit, sometimes it will move in your direction… sometimes it wont, aaaand if you enter the room without a subweapon you can throw upwards you might end up dying of boredom waiting for the boss to move down so you can reach it. Also I don’t recomend it because I hate instakill spikes…
– Real player with 0.9 hrs in game