This is an incredible experience, but I'm not so sure that it's an incredible game. 10/10 on the visuals, voices, and exploration of psychosis. Maybe 6/10 for the puzzles and combat? At some point you realize that the only way to survive is to dodge continuously, trying to get a whack in here and there. Multiple enemies were basically hopeless. On the other hand, I haven't played a game that has stuck with me like this one, forcing me to think about it weeks later. Flawed masterpiece, perhaps.
Loved this game! Found it a bit disturbing, punishing, and claustrophobic, but maybe that's why it felt so satisfying to succeed. Amazing style and design.
No, it's not as good as the first two. Even Genesis is way better. And I get why some people hated it at launch, but after the patches and bug fixes to let you play it more like past DS games, it's actually a lot of fun. For me the struggle was the focus on blocking and countering, but once I got that figured out, I enjoyed myself. Loved the art style, most of the dialogue works, and the boss fights are generally excellent. Good music, cool environments. Not much of a story, and heavy on the **** this is Darksiders after all.
I was addicted to the original arcade version of this game many decades ago, so my expectations of this were probably unrealistic. It's not badly done, and felt pretty fun at times, but I found the difficulty spikes impossible. It's one of those games that's easy until it's not -- suddenly you're dying a dozen times in a row and wondering how it was supposed to be fun. I gave up after a couple of hours, but perhaps a better player with more patience would enjoy it more. Cool style and fun combat when it felt fair and balanced.
I almost quit an hour or so in, because I just wasn't getting how all of the systems and controls **** then almost quit again when the difficulty spiked around Level 14 and I was getting destroyed by every random enemy on the normal path (at normal difficulty). But I stuck with it because there was enough about the game that was compelling -- great art style, mostly fun combat, excellent quality in the music and voice acting. And I'm glad I did, because despite the occasional grinding, it's a pretty deep game, and almost 60 hours disappeared in a surprising hurry.
My least favorite of the Steamworld games; just lacked some of the polish and charm I've come to expect from Image & Form. Weird difficulty spikes and odd balancing didn't help either. I strongly disliked the main character and swapped her out as soon as I could. Thankfully, it still has the addictive gameplay loop that all of their games feature, so I'm still rating this fairly high. It was enough to get me to play through it a second time, so still fun.
As a diehard Darksiders fan, I was a bit skeptical about this one. Then my first half-dozen hours were mostly frustrating, but I'm glad I went back to it to dig in deeper. Awesome art style, super fun combat, cheesy-fun dialogue, great music, excellent pacing. Some of the other quibbles with camera issues and platforming problems are legit, but they fade away once you get used to them. If you try to rush through it, skipping enemies, ignoring side quests, not using creature cores, upgrading carelessly, and doing the minimum in the arena, it gets punishingly hard and annoying by the fifth or sixth chapter. If you take the time to upgrade well, grind a bit, and really clean out levels, it feels more balanced and flows better. Definitely one of those games that gets better the more you play it.
So hard not to compare to the first game, which was a masterpiece. This one is really just more of the same with some refinements and new mechanics, and I was totally ok with that. It's fun. Same great music and art style, addictive combat, painful difficulty spikes, and cheesy story.
Great value, as I think I got it on sale for under $5 and have put something like a dozen hours into it. Classic Galaga appeal, with slick controls, excellent graphics, and super-fun shooting. Loved the upgrade system, and didn't mind that it started out slow and easy. Difficulty ramps up hard around the 7th level, even when you go back to grind for a while. I eventually got stuck, which felt disappointing -- would have been nice to have an easier entry point to those last couple of levels. But what really kills this one on the Wii U is loading times -- every level takes at least 30 seconds to load, even if you just played the level. Even menus take several seconds to load. If I spent 12 hours on the game, an hour of that was likely looking at the 89% loaded indicator...
I expected to be disappointed by the turn-based approach to this one. So glad to be wrong -- it's so much fun. If anything, it's even more addictive than Dig, and more innovative too. Same high-end production values and attention to detail. Lots of difficulty levels make it accessible and provides motivation to move up -- slick that you can change the level for individual missions too. Great music, compelling characters and a simple upgrading system that works well. The beauty of this one on PC is that it will run fine on anything -- even ancient, gutless laptops.
So addictive, and so perfect for DS -- runs perfectly and the controls are excellent. There aren't many games this cheap that have such incredible replay value and attention to detail. And just so fun. One of my favourite games on all platforms.
The only reason I bought a 2DSXL was to play this game. Loved Super, Zero and Fusion so much. So I guess expectations were probably too high, but this was not disappointing. Agreed with the other reviews about the repetitive mini-bosses and lack of variety. And it's true that it's an easier game, but that was fine by me. Wonderful attention to detail, especially sound, which needs to be listened to on good headphones to be appreciated. And lots of it is just plain fun, especially the usual Metroid progression in abilities as you move through the game. Very well done.
Love this game! I gave it a 9 on PC, but bumped it up for the DS version -- it just feels like it was made for portable. It loads almost instantly on my 2DS XL, with no lag or issues with load times when traveling between areas. Controls are smooth, and even using the tiny shoulder buttons for the drill and hook aren't too awkward for my grown-up hands. The game itself appears to be identical to the other versions, and considering how great those versions are, that's not a bad thing. Fun, tight, polished, with incredible attention to detail.
It's hard not to compare this to the original game, and to Heist. In some ways I think I might have enjoyed this more if I hadn't played the others dozens of times each. But I enjoyed it anyway, particularly on the second play-through after struggling a bit with the new mechanics on the first. I missed the digging focus in the levels that were more like traditional platformers, and agreed with other reviewers about the lack of bosses. A solid follow-up that sticks to the formula, but extends it in pleasing ways, with Image & Form's usual attention to detail and real warmth.
Update: I came back to eat crow and upgrade my rating after finally giving the game a second chance and learning the combat system. Now I'm fairly addicted to it, although three things keep it from scoring higher than an 8: annoyingly cheesy rhyming dialog pushing a lame story, lack of early guidance in figuring out the combat, and repetitive combat that feels redundant at times. I'll leave my original view below... I did not enjoy this at all, after looking forward to it for ages. And I feel bad for disliking it, because the art is gorgeous, and the world is indeed very compelling. But the turn-based battles just seemed so disruptive and abrupt and painful after the beautiful flow of exploring that I was immediately turned off and frustrated. I'm not sure how anyone finds it fun to stand there waiting for an enemy to attack you while you do nothing. Yet everyone seems to love the game...I'm mystified.
I fell in love with Darksiders 2 on the Wii U, so much so that I installed Steam a couple of years ago purely to play the original. Compared to DS2, the combat is slower, the world is way smaller, and the loot/gear/skill tree systems are simplistic -- on the other hand, it's much tighter and more focused, and might actually be more fun than the sequel. Good voice acting, cool chunky comic-book art style, and a pretty compelling apocalyptic story that unfolds rapidly. I picked up the Wii U version mostly for off-TV play, so I can lie on the couch and play only on the gamepad. The remastering looks great, the graphics more detailed and fluid, both on the gamepad and on a big screen. Really enjoying playing as War again, especially after getting the scythe and some upgraded moves, which makes the combat a lot more fun. Edit: After finishing the game again, I came back to downgrade this to an 8, purely because of bugs. Still a fun game, but the bugs are pretty bad at times -- a half-dozen full freeze-ups where I had to shut down the Wii U (not just the gamepad), and some super odd bugs with sinking through floors and falling into nothingness...that made it almost impossible to finish one of the mini-bosses.
It's all been said already, but I wanted to add one thing: this game is aging very well. Great story, wonderful acting, and brilliant puzzle design mean you don't much care about the graphics -- but even if you did, the style is so well suited to the environments in the game. Masterpiece.
I clearly just didn't get this one. Sounded like something I would like, reviews were positive, got it on **** good until I actually tried playing it. Endless painful dialog, terrible graphics, and just a total lack of fun. But like I said, I must have missed something entirely, or gave up too quickly.
Nifty premise and cool art style. I even enjoyed the simple **** first. But the lack of guidance meant feeling totally lost the entire time, and constant permadeaths that didn't feel fair. Worst of all, it took forever to restart the game after dying -- at least if the cycles were quick, you could feel like you were learning and progressing. Deleted this after a couple of hours.
I feel bad slagging a labor-of-love indie game, but this was not at all good. I'm mystified by the positive reviews. Sure, the art style is ok, but talk about wretched gameplay. Perhaps I gave up too soon.
Seems like this one is a bit love-hate, with most on the love side. I wanted to love it, and the crazy hype raised expectations even higher. I even love the genre, and Super Metroid might be my favourite game. But I hated Shovel Knight. Weird difficult spikes, awkward controls, punishing lack of checkpoints. Judging by the reviews, it's **** it just never hooked me.
Even though I loved Dig, I expected to be disappointed by the turn-based approach to this one. So glad to be wrong -- it's so much fun. If anything, it's even more addictive than Dig, and more innovative too. Same high-end production values and attention to detail. Lots of difficulty levels make it accessible and provides motivation to move up -- slick that you can change the level for individual missions too. Great music, compelling characters and a simple upgrading system that works well. I'm looking forward to trying it again with a different strategy...I suspect the replayability will be excellent.
There's not much to say about this one that hasn't already been said. And yes, I know I'm nearly a decade behind the times, but I finally got this in 2016 and loved it just as much now as I would have when it released. I generally hate first-person games, but this one hooked me hard and didn't let go, mostly through the writing, humour and ingenious puzzles. A masterpiece.
Such a gorgeous game, and fully exhilarating. The only thing that holds this back is the steep learning curve and intense difficulty. An easy mode make this so much more fun for the first few tries, and would likely hook you in until your skills developed for the harder stuff. I'm, a casual gamer who likes racing games, but found this frustrating almost immediately. If it wasn't so well done, I would have given up after a few races.
I really wanted to love this one. And I love the style, the dark atmosphere and sense of exploration. But the controls on the Wii U are a total mess -- constantly breaking your attention to try to figure out the odd multiple button presses to do the simplest tasks. At times I was lost, just randomly scanning everything, hoping to bump into a solution. Gave up in frustration after an hour. Skip this one and head straight for The Swapper if you like this genre.
Bit of an odd shooter, with some nice retro arcade action. It doesn't take itself too seriously, and seems pretty polished for a "small" game. I found it fun the first couple of times, but there didn't seem to be that addiction factor pulling me back in to keep trying.
Pretty intense shooter for such a simple game. I appreciated it more on a big screen, which seemed to make the bullet-hell maneuvering more precise. Difficulty spikes hard after the first 10 levels or so, as if it was designed primarily for short mobile sessions. Can get quickly frustrating, and hard to tell if you'd get better at it, or whether success is rather random.
Surprised how positive the reviews were for this -- I gave it a good try, and didn't find anything to like. Slow and odd and dull, with frustrating mechanics that didn't always make sense to me. Maybe I should have spent more time on it.
I had put off trying this one because of the motion controls and the lack of off-tv play, but I'm glad I finally gave it a go. Part of the attraction is that there's not really anything else like it on the Wii U -- maybe a bit like The Fall and shades of The Swapper, but this is really unique. Loved the art style and sound/music, and overall sense of mystery. It's super abstract and confusing, but not in a frustrating way -- felt more like an interactive art installation than a traditional game. I didn't really get the "horror" that others warned about -- bit creepy at times, but not just in an atmospheric, compelling sort of way. I found myself wishing for a bit more guidance a few times, but then wondered if that would have ruined some of the the satisfaction of finding solutions -- the hint system offers a nice balance. I did find the motion control frustrating at first, but eventually appreciated how they integrated it like a sort of tool kit -- the section for taking notes was necessary, and the map is central to the experience. I basically only play off-tv, so this was a refreshing application of the dual-screen possibilities of the game pad.
It's not really my thing, but my nine-year-old son has played this game more than any other in the past year, including Minecraft and other favourites. Incredible replayability.
I came at this one backwards, having been obsessed with Darksiders 2 and wanting to dig into the original. So it's pretty hard not to compare it to the much larger, darker and more sophisticated sequel. The combat seems rather simplistic and clunky when you're used to Death's smooth moves and complex combos. The style is sort of cartoony and over-bright, but maybe that's just compared to the pervasive atmospheric gloom of D2. Loot and upgrades feel weak as well. But despite all those comparative quibbles, I'm still enjoying the game -- it's tighter and more focused than the sequel, showing the roots of the series and just being plain fun.
So happy to see this classic hit the eShop, and even happier that Fusion's annoying computer is absent here -- this plays a lot more like Super Metroid, with the same eerie atmosphere, tricky puzzles and tight gameplay. Love it!
Fun little game that ends up being surprisingly challenging and addictive. While you're figuring things out, you're just trying to survive till the end of your run, but the challenges required for unlocking new levels keep you learning and trying new things. Definitely some weirdness in the scoring, but for a cheap game like this, it's good value.
I clearly just didn't "get it" with this game, despite really wanting to like it. Nifty graphic style, but I found the gameplay painful -- rare to find a game so slow and simple, yet so frustrating. Obviously this is firmly in the "cult classic" genre, where you either love it or wonder how anyone could love it.
One of those rare games that is super simple at its core, yet feels deep when you get pulled in. I found it pretty addictive, especially once I got fixated on the achievements in each level. Definitely some frustrations in certain parts, and doesn't always feel totally fair, but generally this is fun and engaging stuff. Beautiful simple art helps too.
I had initially given this one an 8 out of 10 after my first hour of play, then got hooked on it and came back to bump it up to a 9. I love the lack of time pressure, and the undo button, which saves you from having to start at the beginning when you mess up one move late in a level. Very smart design, and some real mind-bending puzzles that feel great when you figure them out. I found it very difficult, and had to look up hints frequently to get through it, especially in the later **** it didn't seem unfair. My only complaint would be slow load times and a dull storyline that drives the pointless **** only gets in the way of getting to the levels. However, once you're in, all is forgiven. Great value for under $10.
This hooked me so hard. Beautifully designed art, atmospheric music and excellent voice acting help create the perfect dark vibe; an environment you want to keep exploring. The puzzles make clever use of the cloning mechanic -- although they can be quite difficult, there's a real sense of satisfaction when you solve them. Controls and limits feel smart and fair. I love games that don't rush me, and this one is entirely self-paced, with many possible solutions and paths. Fans of the early Metroid games should dig this, and won't find the back-tracking annoying -- liberal use of teleporters helps limit repeated traveling through the same areas. Incredible value on sale for $12, and still worth it for $20. What a stellar addition to the Wii U indie library.
One of the less-positive reviews had a line that rings true now that I've played it for a while: "Turns out trial-and-error isn't that much fun when half the time the errors don't feel like your fault." Hard puzzles are great, but you don't get much of a buzz of satisfaction if you've just tried everything and then stumble into the solution. As polished as the game is, I wasn't finding it fun after the first few levels.
Maybe my expectations were too high, but I just couldn't get into this one, abandoning it after an hour. Very cool style, and the mood is set well by the graphics and sound. But I guess I just didn't find the puzzles very compelling. The positive-negative mechanism sounded more fun than it was, and all too often I'd die without knowing why -- didn't always feel fair.
I bought this based on positive reviews here, and couldn't believe how bad it was. Terrible voice acting, hilariously bad "uncanny-valley" graphics on faces, confusing menus, endless (and pointless) cut-scenes, and I hated the gameplay -- aiming/shooting was difficult and inaccurate, and the early parts of the campaign were not at all compelling. Everything about it felt clunky and unresponsive. Not really worth complaining about a game you can get for $12 used, but I had just finished Darksiders 2 and expected something as good -- it wasn't even close. Just not fun, and I gave up after a few hours of frustration.
So polished, with nothing out of place and everything behaving like it should. The learning curve feels right, with the first levels teaching you what you need to know later. I liked the mix of challenges thrown in with the usual mode, and the mutliplayer Tower Tumble has proven to be a lot of fun to play with the kids. Great value on sale for something like $7 in the eShop.
I must not be the target market for this one, because I just don't see the appeal, but my kids seem to like it. Just seem like a bunch of cheesy demo games, not very well executed. And I love our Wii U -- it's not as if I'm anti-Nintendo or anything. It just seemed like a squandered opportunity.
Decent game, fairly polished and fun. Difficulty seems about right, with the easy mode perfect for learning, and B-class perfect for casual racing. Definitely some luck involved, where you can race well and still lose because you get worked over by AI opponents. Good gameplay overall and fun tracks with interesting secret bits to explore. Great value, especially when you can find it used for under $20 now.
Dark and intense, addictive and fun. Although the bugs and freeze-ups early in the game are annoying, they don't wreck the experience, and it gets less buggy as you progress. There could definitely be better built-in guidance around the campaigns, skill tree and upgrades -- it's not hard to get lost with no idea of how to move forward. But these nitpicks are more than canceled out by excellent voice acting, fun combat, and just the sheer immensity and quality of the worlds you're exploring.
Masterpiece. It's amazing what you get for $20, including most of the Origins levels that can now be played off-TV on the Gamepad. One of those rare games that is fun to play regardless of your skill level -- even better in groups, and very forgiving. Great fun...
Maybe I should rate it higher for value alone, as it's pretty well done for the price, but I put several hours into this one and never really got hooked. Seems like one of those games that is too easy, but then with parts that are so hard that you just stop trying it to avoid frustration.
Very difficult to learn, and not at all forgiving in terms of the number of lives you get. It's cool and innovative, with pretty slick mechanics, which makes me want to like it more than I actually do. Maybe I just **** at it, but I've found it more frustrating than fun.
This took a few tries to really hook me. Not that the premise or opening of the game are badly done, but it just feels a bit slow at first. The basic rhythm of the game -- dig down, bring stuff up, upgrade, head back down -- is surprisingly rewarding and addictive as you progress, mostly because the gameplay is very tight and the environments are well done. Good music too. The puzzles are well designed and the level of difficulty seems about right to keep you progressing without frustration. Fun and smart.
So addictive and brilliantly designed. Also hair-pullingly frustrating, but the turns are so short, and the save points so generous, that you never entirely lose hope. Love the music and pacing. We had tons of fun on the WiiU, passing the gamepad back and forth for subsequent turns, making it easy to enjoy with multiple people even if they had different skill levels.
Yeah, the computer guide is annoying, and you don't have as much freedom to explore, but this is still a fantastic game. Love the WiiU version -- plays so well and looks great on the gamepad.
