Recent reviews by Lv 17 Garchomp

Genki has risen from the depths of the pachinko abyss to save gaming.

WARNING: This game may crystallize you.

It's like waking up on Christmas morning 1996 and finding out the Grinch stole the N64 under my tree. Thanks for ruining Christmas in July, Epic Games.

Update: Epic sign-in requirement has been removed, unless you want to play this game with the half dozen miserable gamers who own this on EGS. GotY 2024.

Why is the sequel to a puzzle-horror game a mostly light-hearted metroidvania? I DON'T KNOW! But I love it.

Pro gaming tips on getting the most out of your Homefront: The Revolution experience:
1. Buy at a steep discount
2. Download Timesplitters 2 Redux
3. Run Timesplitters 2 Redux installer IMPORTANT: Make sure "Remove Homefront Game Files" is checked
4. Install Timesplitters 2 Redux
5. Game on

Pumpkin Jack is not particularly offensive, but rather completely bland from a game play perspective. The music, environments, characters, artwork, and even the banter between characters are all very well done and entertaining; it makes for a great, spooky Halloween experience. If that's all I judged games on, it would be a complete knock-out, but I digress; Pumpkin Jack is held back by mediocre platforming and combat.

The combat in Pumpkin Jack essentially consists of having Jack's bird partner stun an enemy when he's not on cool down, you then mash the attack button, roll dodge a bit, and kill everything. Defeating each boss unlocks a new weapon, but that really doesn’t change the overall pattern I just described. I don't believe I died a single time from combat, outside of boss fights. The bosses are huge, fun to fight, and add more variety to combat and platforming, but they are also easily disposed of and typically defeated after one or two attempts, once the player gets the boss’ patterns down.

Platforming is very simplistic and not challenging in the least bit. Platforming really never gets more difficult or creative, it's simply a means to get from point A to B. There are times when the camera will zoom into objects behind Jack, making it difficult to navigate; one boss in particular was really bad with this. The game controls well enough, but the platforming is so basic that it really doesn’t even matter. Jack even has a double jump, but it’s never used creatively, but simply as a way to reach platforms further away, or correct a bad jump.

There are collectables in each level: 20 crow skulls (used to buy extra costumes,) and one vinyl record (Really just if you want a cheevo, because all you get is a short cutscene of Jack dancing to the music.) The problem with the collectibles is that the levels are on the long side, with most taking me over a half-hour on my first attempt (I rarely died and didn’t particularly go out of my way to find collectables). A player more familiar with the game can easily knock those times down, but times will likely be much longer for one looking to 100% the game, since the player will be searching all corners of the levels for collectables.

Occasionally things get switched up and there are mini-games, such as matching names on tombstones, riding in a runaway mine-cart, or throwing objects through holes of the same shape (just like toddlers do.) None of these mini-games are particularly engaging or well developed, as each one is merely played twice and then completely abandoned for the remainder of the game.

I defeated the final boss in slightly over four hours and will not be going for the 100%. I liked a lot about the overall package, but the game itself is hard to recommend due to its overall blandness. Pumpkin Jack isn’t a bad game, but I cannot recommend it because it’s not a good game either. If you want an inoffensive game with a Halloween theme, then go for it, but otherwise it’s likely not worth your time.

Play as a filthy almost-neet that lives in a cargo container, whose only desires are to game and converse with his anime waifu figure. Truly the life we all should strive for.

Demon Turf: Neon Splash is a complete course correction from its predecessor. Gone is nearly all of the bloat from the first game and what remains are levels that play like obstacle courses. The hub world and all that went with it are gone, replaced by a stage select menu. Two of the more useless abilities (grappling hook and slow-down) are absent and the two useful abilities (wheel and bird) are now mapped to their own buttons, instead of needing to be selected from a menu. Bird was changed to be more of a forward dash instead of a glide, as it was easy to cheese sections with in the last game. Finally, all combat is completely gone!

The levels are much shorter this time around, so speed running them for trophies is fun, as the times for gold trophies typically hover around the 2-minute mark. There's still collecting: each stage has 100 sweets (used to unlock abilities) and one vinyl record (unlocks an alternate version of the level, which is essentially an entirely different level that's more difficult and features no collectibles, besides trophies,) but there’s no more aimless wandering; the levels are very focused and straightforward. Playing through the levels multiple times is not a chore like it was in Demon Turf.

Beebz is also powered up with upgrades from the first game now permanently equipped, such as the third jump and faster movement speed; she also moves better in general. There are now a total of six upgrades divided into two sets, where one from each set can be equipped at a time and they are tied to Beebz’s hair and dress color. You now are limited to one checkpoint, but it can be placed as many times as one desires. The levels are so short and the difficulty spikes are nearly non-existent, so checkpoints are typically not needed however.

The graphics are heavily inspired by vaporwave aesthetic: they’re nice and vibrant and Beebz leaves a trail of paint behind where she walks. The music also goes hard, give it a listen.

The game is short and sweet, I managed to 100% it in about 4 hours, but those 4 hours were some great gaming. It’s incredible that this came out a mere five months after its predecessor and managed to fix nearly all of the issues it had. It’s a great thing when developers listen to criticism instead of doubling down on a game’s shortcomings. It's just unfortunate to think that many of Demon Turf's detractors will never give this game the chance it so rightfully deserves.

Demon Turf is incredibly inconsistent: when the platforming is good, it can be a fun game, but it's bogged down by issues like pointless and terrible combat, Sonic Adventure camera, the occasional area where it is unclear where to go, and random difficulty spikes all over the place.

The difficulty spikes, camera, and unclear direction wouldn't be so bad if the game had designated checkpoints, but you have to place your own checkpoints and are limited to 3, 4 if you use 4/6 of your upgrade slots on a perk. Some times I would find myself placing all of my checkpoints with a huge remainder of the level to go, others I would reach the goal after only setting one. The problem is you don't know how much or what lies ahead, or when one of those difficulty spikes is going to come out of nowhere and set you far back to the previous checkpoint.

For the most part, Demon Turf is a very linear game focused on pure platforming, so deciding to also make it a collectathon is a curious choice; as there are parts of stages that open up and require aimless wandering to find the collectibles. The collectibles don't amount to much unless you want all the cheevos, you'll easily get enough cakes to get the upgrades you want or sweets to customize your character, Beebz. There is also a collectible for beating levels under a set time, so that also goes against the collectathon aspect. There is a reward for collecting every last thing in the game, but I'm not motivated to do that at all, because it borders on Donkey Kong 64 levels of absurdity. I beat all of the levels and final boss and this is where I move on.

As for the combat, there are very few enemies in levels and they can be completely avoided unless you find yourself in a "combat zone," an area that requires defeating all enemies to progress. There are never many enemies in a combat zone (I think 6 was the highest,) but combat typically consists of slapping or charge-up attacking enemies off ledges or into obstacles. It's pointless really and breaks the game's momentum.

I enjoyed my time with Demon Turf, but I also hated it. When it's a linear platformer, it's fun, but otherwise it's frustrating due to odd design choices. The game isn't for everyone and surprisingly less than 6% of players beat the last boss, which isn't necessarily difficult to get to or defeat, but rather a trial in your patience as you fight against questionable design choices.

I knew I was in for a bad time the first time I tried to down-shift drift and ran straight into a wall.