December 22, 2023 - Day 356 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 378

Game: Death's Gambit: Afterlife

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Aug 15, 2018
Installation Date: Dec 22, 2023
Unplayed: 0d
Playtime: 49m

Death's Gambit: Afterlife is a 2D pixel-art soulsvania.

It's a updated version of the original Death's Gambit, where the dev team took the feedback they received about the original game, and reworked the game, while increasing the size of the game.

For reasons that I can't quite explain, particularly after playing so many soulsvanias this year, this somehow managed to hook me and keep me playing for 3/4 of an hour.

Death's Gambit: Afterlife is:

4: Good

#DeathsGambitAfterlife #2D #Platformer #Soulsvania #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

December 6, 2023 - Day 340 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 359

Game: 3000th Duel

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Dec 13, 2019
Installation Date: Jan 17, 2022
Unplayed: 688d (1y10m19d)
Playtime: 22m

3000th Duel is a 2.5D sideways scrolling Soulsvania platformer. Controllers on, let's go.

As the unnamed masked character, you find yourself resurrected, with a voiceover telling them you need to fight to find out who you are.

Armoured, and armed with a claymore, you set out to kill everything in sight. Of course.

I found myself getting a little frustrated with 3000th Duel very early. Early on, the game told me to use dash (RT) during fights, and I started using it and getting my ass kicked, because it was a little premature.

Then mid-fight, I was suddenly weaponless. Then dead.

The RT is the dash trigger. RB (the bumper trigger) puts your weapon away, and I'd clipped RB with my finger.

Weirdly, LT is the map button, which found me frequently staring at a map, mid-fight.

Visually, it's OK, with more than a hint of Hollow Knight (which pre-dates 3000th Duel by a couple of years).

However, it does have an inventory & stats system which I don't recall seeing in another Soulsvania (but ADHD Swiss cheese memory, so... could be wrong...)

Overall though, it's another Soulsvania in a year where I've played several very good ones, and in learning to appreciate this particular game style, it means that my expectations have become somewhat higher.

As such, 3000th Duel is a passable Soulsvania, but not one I'm likely to return to in a hurry; it's:

3: OK

#3000thDuel #SidewaysScroller #Platformer #Soulsvania #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

August 4, 2023 - Day 216 - NewPlay Bonus Review
Total NewPlays: 236

Game: Blasphemous

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Sep 10, 2019
Library Date: Aug 4, 2022
Unplayed: 365d (1y)
Playtime: 17m

Happy Birthday to Blasphemous. I didn't realise that I activated it one year ago today. I know that at the time, I took one look at it, didn't even open it. To be honest, I'm glad I didn't.

It's another game I wouldn't have been able to appreciate had I not spent all this time working my way through my pile of shame.

Blasphemous is a 2D pixel-art soulsvania action-platformer.

It is not a pleasant game. Laced in heavy religious themes, you are the "Penitent One" travelling through the land of Cvstodia (not a typo), with your sword "Mea Culpa".

There are locations where you can save, which cause your enemies to respawn, and when you die, you need to go back to collect your stuff. So... soulsvania, I guess?

After killing the first boss, you take off your giant pointy eyeless helmet, and fill it with the blood pouring out of him.

Then you put it on.

This is actually a game I could see myself playing, in the right mood. Just a kind-of specific one.

Blasphemous is:

3: OK

#Blasphemous #Platformer #Soulsvania #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay

June 9, 2023 - Day 160 - NewPlay Review
Total NewPlays: 177

Game: Grime

Platform: Steam
Release Date: Aug 2, 2021
Library Date: Jun 7, 2023
Unplayed: 2d (2d)
Playtime: 28m

Kids, it's time to charge up (or plug in) your controllers. Game number four from the June 2023 Humble Choice bundle is Grime.

Grime is a 2D soulsvania platformer. One of the things I've struggled with over the course of the last 5+ months is categorising games, and I've kind of given up doing it myself, and just Google it.

There are so many sub-genres, and games that are mashups of different things, that I just want to make sure I'm talking about the right thing.

After the intro & I was dropped into the game (and fired up my controller), I was struck at how much the game reminded me of Dead Souls 3.

Turns out Grime is considered a "soulsvania" in that it takes elements of souls-likes and uses them in the gameplay.

The actual game is a little hard to describe; there was also the sense of "I have no idea what's going on here" and so was exploring the chambers and tunnels.

The thing that'S surprised me was that I've gone from close to anti-platformer at the start of this project to -almost- enjoying them now.

On that basis, Grime is:

3: OK

#Grime #2D #Platformer #Soulsvania #HumbleChoice #MastodonGaming #Gaming #Project365ONG #Project365 #NewPlay