Recent reviews by LeiliaEverling

I only review games that I've 100% completed, which includes Steam achievements. Since most reviews cover the more general points about the game, I'll talk more niche aspects.

100% Episode Achievements (Main Complaint)
Each episode is comprised of 5 levels. In order to get some of the achievements, you need to get 100% on all levels in an episode in one go. If you miss ONE block, you will have to start over the entire episode from level 1. This in and of itself wouldn't be that bad, if it weren't for the fact that there's no indication during the levels which blocks you've already destroyed. Most of the "difficulty" in the game is inflated by this problem, and it is simply tedious, especially when you have to start over from level 1. You can solve the question of "How do I 100% clear this level?" and still spend 12 runs trying to complete it all.

Technically, you can try to figure out clumps of blocks you haven't hit by seeing which ones spit out white bits on death, but if you're missing one block this method is useless. As well, there's a "friend replay" option that allows you to play through the episodes along with other players as a sort of "guide" to the game. Whether this method actually provides the achievement, I don't know, but I wouldn't find it fun to be taught how to complete it in any case.

Block Count Achievements
There are achievements for destroying 50k blocks with each weapon. While tedious as well, I found them at least somewhat enjoyable because learning how to knock out levels with weapons I wasn't familiar with was an interesting challenge. Plus, there are player made arenas that have loads of blocks in them, so you can knock these achievements out in an afternoon or two. All in all, looks more daunting than it is. Good balance on the numbers.

Rainbow Collection Achievements
There are rainbow orbs hidden through all the levels. They are really interesting to find and make you feel like you're breaking the game and escaping out of bounds. I found these very enjoyable to find. None of them felt unfair and have a small thrill when you vault over the walls in search of secrets.

I review games after 100% completing them, so my inability to recommend the game is based on that fact. For those looking for a casual game with a cute story, this game will serve you well. The movement is weirdly in depth for a minimalistic game, and there are many genuinely funny moments.

With that noted, I had to play the game 3 times in order to get the achievement for collecting all the trophies. Two of the trophies you cannot get after you've beaten the game because their stuck in an inaccessible area, and if you don't find them, you're out of luck. It was nice essentially speed running the game, but frustrating nonetheless.

Game's pleasant. Has some meta horror that's alright, but most of the fun is in the puzzles themselves. The horror aspect is more of a gimmick than anything. If you like puzzles this is great, and if you're ever struggling on a puzzle they can be brute forced if needed. All in all, I believe it was worth the money, though admittedly I got it on sale.

I make a habit of only reviewing games that I have 100% completed, that way I feel like I've played everything the game has to offer before I state my thoughts. That said, this game is a great sequel to Risk of Rain, and a wonderful rogue-like that I believe many would enjoy if they're not already.

Some helpful things to note that other comments may not:
1) This game is a lot more fun with at least one friend, if not multiple friends. Though it is easier to get some achievements solo.
2) For those who care, this game has a decent modding community in case you want to spice up the base game.
3) You can play the DLC pack with a friend even if you don't have it, this makes it cool to try it out if you're not sure you want the expansions.
4) The Ethereal achievement (Needed to get Mercenary's last ability) is not easy to get without a good modifier list. For those who like the challenge, like myself, it's amazing, but if you're struggling with it, just wait for a good seed, one will come eventually.

With almost 77 hours in the game, it is clear that I enjoyed playing it. 9 chapters, 100% achievement rate, and 3 golden berries later, I can say that anyone who's looking for a platformer with incredible tech, interesting levels, and a very good learning curve will enjoy this game. That said, I also want to point out something that other reviews might not, and that is the extensive mod support this game has in the community. You will be able to enjoy content and levels far beyond even what the game offers baseline, and it will keep you entertained for hours on end. Even at its baseline price of $20, it is worth every penny, but if you can get it on sale, even better!

This game is an absolute masterpiece in the sense that it allowed me to 100% it in the span of 6 minutes.

Played it for a couple of hours, it's aight

After completing all of the achievements (Getting above 10k points), I can say that this game is quite fun and well worth the dollar that I spent on it. It takes a bit to get the hang of since the cause of death isn't completely understood the first several attempts, but once the mechanics are down it is a rush to try and keep your run going for as long as possible.

This game runs very smoothly despite the number of entities on the screen, and I believe the recent change of rendering engines has made it even smoother than when I played it originally several months ago. There isn't much in terms of "content" in the usual term of the word, but Swarmlake makes up for that with re-playability. If you're not a fan of arcade games with an endless difficulty scaling I don't suggest it, but otherwise it's good to get, especially on sale.

Many are labeling this as a poorly re-skinned Refunct, but I must disagree. They're both platformers, they both require the player to travel across the map for multiple checkpoints, and that's where the similarities end. I speed run both games, and the unique aspect to ASCENDANCE is that the platforms can be traveled while they're fading into existence. Especially on the last level, it requires a level of movement memory and skill to fly through the checkpoints, which adds a lot of room for player optimization.

I first played this game when it had the movement problems many complained about, and most of the movement issues have been patched out in updates. The other issue is the lack of optimization for the games graphics and framerate, but I don't really have a problem on my potato computer if I kill the aspect ratio down a couple notches. (This is during streaming, not casual gameplay).

All in all, I really enjoy this game, and I've enjoyed speed running it the past several months. The developers are still active in the community, and listen to feedback, so other problems that are mentioned by the community are most certainly heard.