The Ambassador: Fractured Timelines
7 ART
8 FEEL
6 DEVS
9 MUSIC
7 WRITING
4 STORYLINE
7 CHARACTERS
7 OVERALL RATING
The gameplay itself is very addictive and enjoyable, with a fair amount of challenge (at least playing without assisted mode). As I did not try assisted mode, I cannot speak on the level of fun in that mode.
The game clearly draws a lot of inspiration from disparate fantasy properties. It also draws inspiration for gameplay from Dark Souls type games, emphasizing attack patterns and usage of various weapon abilities to surpass each challenge. The game is very fair, once you use your brain to figure out what is the optimal way to tackle an area. Good reflexes and skill with a controller certainly help as well.
– Real player with 11.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Twin Stick Shooter Fantasy Games.
WHAT IS IT?
It’s a bullet hell game. Thematic element is fantasy and a bit of sci-fi.
PROS:
1. Fast paced action.
2. Good soundtrack.
CONS:
1. Terrible story/plot.
2. Frustrating levels (ie. not fun).
3. Controls don’t feel fluid compared to using a mouse and keyboard.
4. Diverse item pool but largely useless as you’ll be using just 3 or 4 of them most of the game out of the 30 or so.
CONCLUSION:
I’m usually not a fan of bullet hell games (ie. games that just shoot a bunch of stuff at you filling your screen with orbs/missiles/fireballs/etc.). I gave this one a bit of a try as it came with a Humble Bundle and it just made me hate the genre even more. Don’t get me wrong, I grinded through the game and finished it on the hardest difficulty so I’ve experienced most of what this game has to offer. And it doesn’t really offer much… a plot that doesn’t pull you in, unnecessary item selection for the sake of having items, a large “variety” of enemies that mostly have the same strategies to defeat, and just some overall frustrating levels due to certain enemy types. The game does include an endgame mode which seems more fun than the story mode. The endgame mode throws you in a large arena where you’ll fight waves upon waves of enemies while starting off with only your basic items. As you defeat more waves, you gain more money to purchase better items. This mode doesn’t need to hide behind a weak plot in the main game, I would have liked it to be the main game itself and just scrap the story mode.
– Real player with 9.7 hrs in game
Aqua Boy
A 2 hour long metroidvania that feels like a cross between metroid, aquaria, and MS Paint. For the given price it is worth it, especially on sale.
The good:
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music
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progression
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metroidvania feel
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controls
The bad:
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No warp (hence lots of unnecessary backtracking)
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Too easy
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Choppy framerate (unity lag)
edit: To the creator of this game: Please try contacting the creator of Aggelos, he will probably be able to help you make the framerate smooth.
– Real player with 2.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Twin Stick Shooter Side Scroller Games.
A mastery of game design! Swim deep into the depths of the ocean to learn more about the legendary underwater city of Pathandor, and the curse that made it succumb. Also notice the fantastic 2D animation of the enemies (particularly a terrifying giant octopus). If I had to describe Aquaboy in one word, I’d have to say “Humor, mermaids, banana guns, and monkeys” you can’t just describe a game this good in only one word!
You MUST play this game!
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Blazing Beaks
No. 2 Review O' Mine: So, after my many hours of play and a session the day I wrote this, I have the feeling that I’ve “completed” this game, or I have a dear familiarity, enough to give shy advice or if I were to dare, a recommendation. I’m not sure I am really writing a review here, but more of my thoughts in a somewhat organized fashion. Somewhat.
I’ve played this game for many, many hours, 162 to be exact, and only today that I write this do I think I’m a bit winded of the game-play. Blazing Beaks does not hook in the player in with a cavalcade of unknown trinkets or a long list of fascinating levels, it does two things really, really well. Firstly, this game is brutally hard. I see this now only in retrospect, I still have no idea how to loop even with my amassed playtime. Yes, Blazing Beaks is difficult, but brilliantly so: each death or restart I knew was my own fault. Distinguishing between tedium and learning is key here. There are very rare instances where RNG is involved, and if so it never determines whether a run successful or not. Say for instance you stumble upon a shotgun in the beginning of run. Firstly, for this to happen, you’d either have to get to a secret room by getting hit and finding a hidden door or using a key to unlock one. It is a brilliant decision on the developers part to make hidden doors proc from an instance of damage. This helps the player if they are struggling, and later on if you are smart enough, you can purposefully get hit to see if there is a door; that is a pretty big risk. Their hidden door system is duplicitous, in that it caters to beginners by helping them out when they get hurt, and advanced players can take a risk to unveil a room. This is an example of what for me is remarkable about Blazing Beaks in particular, that the game-play, among other things, is incredibly well crafted. The list of artifacts and items isn’t long and soon enough you will remember each artifact and what it does, even without looking closely. There is about six levels with not too many enemies. Yet I was implored by the thought-line of, “Oh, that’s what I did wrong, I’ll do my best to not do that again in the next one.”. The challenge is thrilling, really, and even though in little steps, there is a sense of accomplishment that comes in seeing how much farther you can get with the knowledge you’ve accrued. It is a wonderful balance for a rogue-lite (I’ve no idea if I’m using that term properly") to strike, and Blazing Beaks hits the mark precisely. I think the best thing for someone who’s considering to buy this is to purchase the game and immediately play however many runs you can fit within an hour. If you find yourself implored by the little that you’ve played, I think that this game is for you. From the beginning the game only gets better, really. And if you aren’t entertained in the hour that you play, I think it is safe to return it at that point. There isn’t some point of interest that is worth playing through, the game’s initial showing of how it plays is the way it essentially stays, though becoming increasingly intricate and complex as you go along. Blazing Beaks' foundation is phenomenal, and from there the developers run with it, bringing in things as they see fit. A large part of the game is the exchange of artifacts to items, the risk versus rewards. This is done nicely as well: the negative effects of the artifacts only last for a level before you “cash” them in, meaning that you can take huge risks that you think you can just squeeze by from. The toss up here becomes quickly becomes skillful: the timing, the effect, the benefit, and if they are necessary are all factors that come to be considered when picking up that artifact.
– Real player with 168.6 hrs in game
More interesting reviews on Fenol Baron Approves Curator Page
So what is «Blazing Beaks» and why should you break away from «Enter the Gungeon» or Isaac and give a chance to this new Rogue-like project? First of all, it is worth talking about the unique concept and the setting that create an indescribable face of the game, and when you consider that the game was developed by a team of just a few people, this deserves respect. The fauna is chosen as a place of action, therefore, the main characters here are appropriate - angry and very militant birds. The platypus, gull, chicken, penguin and many other feathered heroes have their own skills, which imply their passing styles, I like the penguin most of all, he is quite balanced and I like his abilities. The game with a very touching seriousness relates to the observance of the ticking theme, in all locations we are met by enemies and bosses who are suitable for this particular area: in the swamps we will encounter frogs, turnips, marsh cocoons and the boss - the giant Hypno-Toad; in the sands we will be confronted by ant lions and so on. Each locality is truly a different gaming experience that you need to acquire and use.
– Real player with 51.3 hrs in game
Galaxy Highways
GALAXY HIGHWAYS is a 2D twin-stick retro looking pixel art action shooter in space where you are doing pirate raids into other star systems inhabited by alien civilizations where you destroy enemy ships, space stations, defensive positions, mother ships or bosses and try to complete all missions as soon as possible before enemy defense system destroys you with its increasingly powerful waves of attacks.
The game takes place in the future when after the expansion of our civilization and the discovery of the so-called jump gates built by an unknown civilization to quickly move between star systems is our civilization discovered by aliens. Home planet and civilization itself was almost completely destroyed and after last failed fight they had to escape and started hiding in the edge of the galaxy. New colony was built and people now trying to survive by sabotaging, stealing enemy resources and researching new technologies to survive. It’s up to you and few others in special squads to show, that we are still here and we’ll not be forgotten so easily.
Game features
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Twin-stick retro looking pixel art space shooter
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Optional order in which the player completes missions in the levels
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Optional reward-based missions increasing the difficulty of the level and rewarding a player with achievements
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An enemy defense system that sends increasingly stronger waves of enemies to destroy the player
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Lot of different weapons
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RPG elements such as upgrading weapons and ships
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Intense boss fights
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Visual representation of game progress and achievements by visual improvements of the dock and the large battleship in it
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Catching story
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Killer hard rock/metal style soundtrack with retro synthetisers to support retro and fighting atmosphere.
Planet Blood
You are a parasitic worm, and humans have set up a remote laboratory on your home planet - a planet so red, they named it PLANET BLOOD.
Your mission is to rescue a fellow worm, who the humans have captured, and are studying in the laboratory.
To get there, you must shoot your way through multiple floors of enemies, and that’s where your mind control ability comes into play…
Includes:
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Procedurally generated floor plans
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Randomly generated weapons
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A variety of human and robot enemies
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The ability to latch onto enemies
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Fast-paced combat
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Grenades
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More Grenades
Blue Flame
Ever since my first Iron Pineapple video, I have been snatching up and playing almost every souls-like game that looks worth my time. Heard about Blue Flame. Googled Blue Flame, but nothing came up. Googled Blue Flame Twitter, found an Adult Entertainment twitter profile. Looked through it. Realized I wasn’t in incognito. Cleared my browser history and came to Steam properly.
Added this baby to my wishlist only to realize that it was releasing the next day. Release sale, 20% off, under 10 bucks. Dev diary says game’s about 3-4 hours with about 7 bosses and more content is coming. Can always refund it if bad… It’s Friday, let’s play games.
– Real player with 4.5 hrs in game
This game is a souls experience for sure. Main problem is that it was too easy. Fuck the maze tho, that was just not a great experience, im not buying a maze game. That being said tho, was not too bad took maybe 40 mins of running around. Only had problems with the Harypys, all the bosses pretty much was a first try. Game seems too short too. Overall not too bad, but the lack of players that own the game and the smallest community I have ever been in makes it a problem to even google anything about the game. Wait for sale tho becuse, the game is 4-5 hours and you must likely wont be playing it more then once or twice. I hope the devs add more stuff and maybe a Wiki for the important things like achivements and a small guide for getting stuck on directions despite it being a souls like. 1 thing they could add is more options in the settings menu and maybe a ng+
– Real player with 3.8 hrs in game
Xeno Crisis
A great game, that is held back by very few (but very noticeable) flaws.
PROS:
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Wonderful pixelated visuals created by an industries veteran.
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Sega Genesis style soundtrack, that will blow you away.
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Shooting monsters is super fun.
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Hard as hell. Aspecially for slowpokes such as myself.
CONS:
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Enemy projectiles are too tiny and sometimes get lost in all the clutter. Nothing too scary, but still…
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Enemy behavior differs from the original genesis version a little bit too much. Sandworms on level 3 shoot you immediately after they unearth, while in the genesis version there is a slight delay that allows you to deal with them before they will be able to shoot. The same goes for the toxic bomb launching things. Not sure if its a bug or a feature.
– Real player with 126.8 hrs in game
Very pleased Kickstarter backer! Absolutely worth the wait.
Xeno Crisis is a top down, twin stick shooter, similar to Smash TV. If you’re a big fan of Smash TV and looking for that old school difficulty in games, Xeno Crisis has you covered.
The graphics and animations are stylish and fit the alien theme. The music is arguably some of the best tunes composed under SEGA Genesis hardware. And the gameplay, while challenging, is lots of fun and easy to jump into.
One complaint I have is that the melee attack range is too short for comfort. I found myself getting hit almost every time I tried to do melee attacks. Only really useful on the slower, non-projectile enemies.
– Real player with 14.4 hrs in game
Memento Infernum
Pretty fun to play, awesome time killer. Great Hell mode that allows you to compete with your friends. There is still much to do but its definitely worth to buy.
– Real player with 1.7 hrs in game
There are no bugs. Only features. Story mode isnt anything special but the hell mode is where the things are getting exciting, cracking the skulls of everything that is near me with a shotgun is very satisfying, though i dont think that is how guns work
– Real player with 1.4 hrs in game
Cycle 28
An excellent game! While fairly minimalist in design, this game is a lot of fun and has deep replayability. It really nails the feel of a slow build-up space dogfight, where skill wins out over an increasingly large number of enemy ships. As other reviews point out, the game is relatively short (if determined, you could get most of the achievements/“win” in a few hours), but there’s always the lure of climbing higher on the leaderboards to draw you back. The game narrative is also rather good-with bits and pieces of the story passed on to the player, in often surprising ways. In total: Cycle 28 is really awesome and a steal at its current price. Highly recommend!
– Real player with 32.4 hrs in game
What can I say about Cycle 28?
One of the coolest Indie Games I’ve played in a long while!
It’s visually stimulating, it’s constantly changing, enemies are tough as nails and i find myself always trying to get that multiplier up and up then get a single shot at me to slow down my progress to my personal best and high score. BUT i just want more and more….
Keyboard controls are not the best for this style of game so get your controller ready and you will pick it up in minutes.
Now after you get the score you’ve been desperately fighting for over and over and over you wonder what’s the story. Now the story is shrouded in mystery and to this day i and many others are struggling to figure it out. This adds a extra level of problem solving to the mix that keeps me going back for more…… oh ye and that highscore of course ;)
– Real player with 19.1 hrs in game
Monsters!
simple and very addictive game
2D shoot em up!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3A8GC3UuWRE
– Real player with 10.4 hrs in game
While seemingly very simple to begin with, this twin-stick is actually quite lovely and has a lot more depth than it appears to.
The main draw for me to this game is the sheer, arcade-level replayability. Despite being a (relatively) modern twin-stick with a shooting style most easily compared to The Binding of Isaac, its shining feature is the style. With infinite replayability and a certain degree of variety throughout each unique playthrough, it really feels like it belongs in an arcade cabinet.
– Real player with 5.7 hrs in game