RobPlaysGames

One of the best PS2 games I've ever played, and I mean that as a compliment. Obviously the graphics look far better than a PS2 game, but the concept, mechanics and mission design all feel like the sort of weird third-party stuff we used to get back when publishers weren't afraid to take a chance on the freak picks for the niche audience who would enjoy them. It's probably worth mentioning upfront that if you're not remotely interested in Japan, its culture or folklore then your enjoyment of this game will probably be significantly lessened as, at its core, its just another open world checklist game. 90% of the side content is basically experiencing Japanese urban legends and the main missions usually amount to little more than 'go here and have a fight, watch cutscene'. In truth, I'd struggle to tell you why I enjoyed this game as much as I did, yet I happily floated all over Tokyo getting 100% completion, and I'd probably do it all over again. What's here is far from perfect, but I would really love for this game to perform well enough for a sequel because I think there's a rough diamond here that deserves to be polished.

This is my first 'Boomer Shooter' (not including the games that created the genre which I played as a kid) and I can safely say I get the appeal. The game feels great to play, almost all the weapons are fun to use, most of the enemies are fun to fight or at least satisfying to kill, and the level design feels intuitive and rarely leaves you scratching your head on where you're supposed to go next (although some of the collectables are a pain if you're a 100% kind of person.) The only real downside in my opinion is the game peaks about midway through then coasts on a baseline of extremely enjoyable run and gun action but never really evolves in the latter half; the levels remain interesting and fun to clear but you're really just doing the same thing over and over. Also, the movement tech like double jump and dashing should have been unlocked from the start, or at least way earlier in the game, once you have them you can feel that that's how the game is intended to be played.

If you got it for free with PS Plus it's fun enough to pass some time, but compared against contemporary platformers (or even ones from 20 years ago like Jak & Daxter) Sackboy is a big embarrassment. The entire game feels like running through a swimming pool. Momentum is awful and controls feel laggy and unresponsive, which you'll definitely start to notice more on the occasions the game demands precision platforming from the player. Level and boss design are also extremely pedestrian, the game doesn't do enough with the good ideas it has and way too much with the bad ones (auto-scrollers have never been fun,) and don't even get me started on gatekeeping content behind multiplayer, that garbage was unacceptable when Dead Space 3 did it a decade ago and time has not sweetened the premise. In short, there is no reason to play this when much better options exist, but there are also worse games out there.

Wonderful sprite art/animation aside, Skul's fatal flaw is that your enjoyment hinges entirely on random drops. It's not a case of challenge: Certain skulls are simply not fun to use, and the complete lack of choice in starting skulls means it's usually better to just quit out and re-roll til you get one you actually want to play as. This high-RNG dependency spoils the game as a whole, really. Unlike its peers such as Dead Cells or Risk of Rain 2, where any build is not only viable but fun, your success in Skul feels entirely dependent on getting the right drops for whatever skull you get saddled with. I appreciate this is the appeal of the genre to some, but for me it kills my will to keep playing when success is dependent less on skill/planning and more on luck. Perhaps balance changes will fix the game in future, but as it stands currently Skul is a relatively fun game with little lasting appeal; less than ideal for the roguelite genre.

Aggressively average in every regard. The core gameplay loop barely evolves past the beginning of the game, upgrades are so shallow they had to make the ability to run unlockable, the characters are bland at best and obnoxious the rest of the time, and there is zero challenge to be found in the puzzles, platforming or combat; the only time I got briefly stuck in the entire game was when you are dropped in a featureless wasteland and essentially have to guess the direction to walk in. Expected much better from the Steamworld devs.