Recent reviews by IHeartPie

The game is truly one of a kind. You've got your MOBA-like controls, high octane fights, a diverse cast of characters and all the cool mechanics from MOBAs like vision control and objectives. Then you got your battle royale aspects such as looting, gearing up, making spur of the moment decisions as the zone close on you, exciting third party situations and all that. The highs of the game feel amazing like when you pull off an upset win with all odds against you.

The developers have also been working overtime, releasing new characters and systems every two weeks to keep the game fresh and honestly, I can say without a doubt that the current version is the best version of the game yet. The game offers a fantastic and rewarding system for those looking for a competitive experience unlike any other. The e-sports aspect is exciting to watch and there's lots of tournaments to check out within the community.

On the casual end, the base systems of the game allows for you to create a slew of special ways to experience the game how you want - like how we created a zombie mode or a cooking contest. I love playing this game with friends and having a good time.

Do keep in mind that there's a huge learning curve at the start where you need to learn a lot of complex mechanics, character abilities and recipes, but once you get a hang of it, this game is going to eat up all your time!

Puppet Kings is criminally overlooked.

On the surface, it's a breakout style block-breaking game.

But it goes deeper than that.

The game is made up of entirely bosses and mastery of the paddle and ball is absolutely necessary in order to see everything this game has to offer.

Many bosses feature a hidden way of defeating them - one example being an alien space ship can either be easily defeated by killing it's captain, or you can start by breaking each energy orb of the spacecraft. If you break all the orbs, it summons a chuthulu-esk creature and subsequently leads you down an alternate progression path filled with new bosses and hidden ways of defeating those too.

The music and art of the game are also fantastic. There are no reused/reskinned bosses in the 15-20 I've fought so far and many of them have unique themes tied to them. There's some fantastic animations associated with them too.=

The fact that this game isn't doing well is an absolute travesty.

Here's a video that goes through in detail about why I love this game:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zFMCOSiJFE

I have over 100 hours pumped into the game [if you include the pre-steam access] and this is one of my favorite games of all time.

Pros:
- Typical story, but hilarious dialog, fun characters and environmental/discovery-based story telling makes it a great experience.
- Super deep and rewarding combat system with a plethora of skills and mechanics to master such as the perfect guard.
- Enemies and bosses attack differently between normal and hard mode, as well as single or multiplayer
- Skill charging makes it so you have almost 3 different skills at your disposal despite leveling only one skill.
- Loads of side quests, mini games and discoveries to be found.
- Multiplayer with up to 4 players that is super smooth gameplay-wise. Connection is also easy via Steam friend list.
- Gorgeous pixel art that contains many little details to make the game world feel alive.
- Music fits each area very well and does not overstay its welcome at all.
- Arcade (roguelite) mode adds a ton of replayability. Beating it is hard enough, the side roguelite quests and high score chasing allows infinite replayability.

Cons:
- Non-hosts may experience lag, which ruins the multiplayer experience [case-by-case basis]
- Would be nice for some skills to interact with each other more for multiplayer mayhem [Earth spike wall + Smash?]

For a detailed full impressions video [8 minutes long], check out this video below!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IE9YK0uO0nY

While not as open world as the game it draws the most simularities with, Cave Story, Momodora III offers the same tight combat while mixing some new features to keep the formula fresh.

Gameplay boils down to either quick melee swipes or charged up ranged attacks. That's it. However, there are many ways to make the game play by your own rules. The game features a great deal of unique items to tailor your playstyle. Just from the first couple levels [small item spoilers], I found a speed ring that doubles your speed and damage intake, a sentient clone item, a life leech on kill item, a money magnet and many more.

The game has quite a bit more if you take some time to explore it. There are secret nooks and crannies all over the place that nets you new items and all the story within the game are laced into the dialogues of the npcs.

All the bosses after the first one offers a decent amount of challenge with different attack patterns for you to recognize and projectiles coming from every which way for you to dodge.

In conclusion, if you like the powerful feeling combat from games like Cave Story and Vlambeer games [Nuclear Throne/Super Crate Box], then Momodora is right up your alley.

Here's a video first impression for those interested:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=anhFy4YqSWk