Recent reviews by The Real Tim Shady

Aeterna Noctis is a great metroidvania with a few minor, but noticeable flaws. For what appears to be the team's first game together, that is a lot better than I would normally expect - especially self-published and with as large a scale as this game has. I would recommend this game for anyone who is a casual enjoyer of metroidvanias and/or platformers with a little bit of patience, or any hardcore enjoyers of the same genres. Even at full price, the money spent vs time invested alone justifies it, but is further justified but the amount of quality content. At the time of writing this review, it is on sale for $12 USD and that is simply a steal!

Firstly, many people comment on the difficulty of the platforming. I do not normally play platforming games, but I personally felt that it was not overwhelmingly difficult. However, there is a specific upgrade that you can choose to use/not use (another jump - up to triple jump max). I also used a controller - I could not imagine the suffering stubborn KB&M users would feel attempting the harder platforming sections. I opted to use that and I did feel that I would have felt much more frustrated in mid-late game without it. There were a handful (maybe 8-12) of challenges that felt exceptionally difficult, but they were all optional if you don't care too much about 100%ing your playthrough. Even then, they are possible. In a game with hundreds of "platforming challenges" though, I feel like the balance was fair as an inexperienced platformer gamer. Rather, what was more frustrating was how it felt tedious at times repeating sections you've already went through. This is partly a problem of the density of fast travel points, though at the same time more fast travel points would have felt unnatural.

The early and mid game combat provides a nice level of difficulty, though beyond that almost all encounters, even all the bosses, are a joke, if all you care about is defeating them. Their DPS was far too low to pose a threat as I could out-heal all of it (with two exceptions). Narratively though, that kind of makes sense. At the same time, their movesets felt too fast & complex for me to attempt to dodge reliably. Many bosses are quite tanky as well, so even wailing away non-stop can sometimes take a while. Dodging all the attacks would really draw out each attempt. As a soulslike enthusiast, this was probably the most disappointing part of my play time. The player attack movesets & animations are very well done with satisfying weight & feedback.

The character art direction felt weirdly inconsistent, but to a level that feels nitpicky. The art that is presented is nice to look at, but inconsistent. The environmental art is more consistent and certainly above-average.

The game's performance was perfect, there were no crashes during my playtime, and I only ran into maybe two or three bugs. The one that stuck out the most was some player physics sometimes not behaving as intended in the one specific area that completely changes how the player physics work (staying vague to avoid spoilers). Props to the programmer(s) for getting it working as well as it did though!

The game's music is a mixed bag. There are some certified bangers, many serviceable tracks, and a couple that kind of missed the mark. I can tell a lot passion and skill went into its composition though and I hope they are out there still making more of those certified bangers!

Lastly, the game's story is serviceable, but mostly not super memorable. The beginning and middle of the main storyline was not especially gripping, HOWEVER, the world building is some of the best out there, some of the dialogue is excellent, the main character is wonderfully written, and the finale (though felt rushed) was a very impactful surprise at the end there. I loved it.

Thank you for the game Aeternum. I will be keeping an eye on the upcoming sequel and Eden Genesis.

Before I go into how this game has impacted me, I'd like to rapid-fire my general thoughts on the different aspects of the game. Overall though I don't think I have anything to complain about. As others have said - go in blind, it will be for your benefit. That said, the game is not completely ruined if you got spoiled, because I believe this game can impact you in ways you didn't expect even if you did get spoiled.

I would recommend this game to those who love survival horror, and to those who love an engaging (yet obtuse) story. So even if the survival horror gameplay is not normally your thing, I think the mystery of the story and its world will get you hooked and the final act of the story offer a lot for your mind to sort through. Also, if for some reason pixel art or retro graphic styles are not your thing or you feel it's overdone, I urge you to look past that as every design choice in this game is executed with reason and only enhances the atmosphere they wanted to create, and would not be as immersive without them.

Chances are nobody cares about how the game affected me personally - and that's fine - go play it for yourself and get your own experience. No review, lore video, theory crafting, or "definitive telling" of the story can take away the experience this game can give you. I'm only using this section as an outlet to process my thoughts.

There may be minor spoilers relating to plot points established early in the game and especially relating to the overarching tone the narrative broken down into finer details. There are also some end-game story elements that will be left as vague as possible to keep this friendly for people who have not finished the game.

Anyways, I ended up having a unique feeling of (bio)resonance with this game that was unexpectedly augmented by the very recent impact that the anime Frieren had on me - primarily from the story's hero Himmel in the finale (minor spoilers for the Frieren anime ahead). This will loop back to Signalis after the context is explained so bear with me please.

While helping a random villager carry some luggage across his farm - when he could instead be slaying monsters and "saving the world" - he is questioned by a trusted party member for using his time poorly/inefficiently. Himmel responds to the logical concern by saying, "You're right that they're insignificant. Such deeds won't change the world. But I won't ignore those in need right in front of me. This scene/dialogue was prompted by another character Wirbel, a young man living in the age of peace that Himmel created. Himmel visited Wirbel's village (well before Wirbel was born). Though he loves the heroic stories of Himmel, the stories he actually hears from his peers are the small insignificant things Himmel did to help them during his stay there. Eventually Himmel realized that the threat the demon lord posed a real threat to the world, but nevertheless did not have anything to do with his home town. It was destroyed anyways after all; after the demon lord was defeated and Himmel saved the world and passed away many years later. Himmel the Hero saved the world, but the village was eventually still destroyed. However, the stories of Himmel helping them with insignificant and mundane everyday tasks did not die with the village; it continued with the survivors, and with Wirbel as one of Himmel's countless legacies.

The point of that long side-story in this review is to convey the conclusion & impact Frieren's story so far has had with me. The conclusion that You can try to make the world a better place, or do what you are supposed to/expected to do. There's nothing wrong with that and should be respected, but at the end of the day, things outside of our control happen all the time. What truly matters for those around you are the impact you have on their day. Helping somebody carry something. Handing them something for them from the top shelf. Helping clean up a mess they accidentally made from dropping something. Offering simple yet personal words of kindness or encouragement. Helping these strangers from whom you cannot expect anything in return and could easily be ignored without consequence... but helping them anyways. Not because it is the right thing to do or that you would be a bad person for not doing it, but simply because you want to help. A simple gesture that by all means has no reason to exist when you could have instead kept doing what you were in the middle of doing or should be doing.

So at this point for the 0 humans (and 5,000 bots scraping content to power ChatGPT & the like against my will for AI generated game reviews) still reading, even those who have played Signalis are probably asking "how the f--- does this relate to Signalis at all?" Honestly it doesn't, but it is related to how it augmented my personal experience for playing Signalis.

Signalis is a brutal and hopeless world that is honestly probably not much better to live in even if the events of the game surrounding the protagonist did not exist. Perhaps even absolute destruction is favorable. The funny part is, I feel like the events of the game simultaneously do and do not exist canonically. But ultimately that is up for interpretation. Regardless, I see it as a bleak interpretation of the current state and future trajectory of our own society by exaggerating its worst features into both a metaphorical and literal hunk of pulsating cancerous meat.

Our protagonist has no way out of this situation (for different yet symbiotic reasons between the game's events and the game's conclusion). There is no escape. The only way out is forward - to do what they are supposed to do. But even then, once all is done, will that really change anything? The one our protagonist is searching for is in my eyes a commentary on the suppression of authentic creative thought that is becoming more and more relevant in today's age. They do encompass more than this, but it is the focus of my conclusion. Play the game to find out exactly why they are related to creative thinking.

Rejected by society and cast out into the vacuum of space while being seen as an honorable and admirable act. Himmel from Frieren is adored by society and doing an honest act of heroism willingly, though Signalis is not so bright. Not every act seen as heroic is done (possibly even unsuccessfully) or performed without unimaginable sacrifice. Some of them are even misguided - just like many of the ones in Signalis. Entire lives are wasted and left to fester and rot for effectively no reason at all.

Seeing the meaninglessness of these acts constitute the legacy of these lives and effectively their entire being - rewarded by dying slowly, agonizingly, and in deafening solitude, far past their intended worth and quite literally their expiration date. The parallel seen here (which may make more sense after playing the game) and so many others in the real world was impossible for me personally to ignore and got me both furious and emotional enough to be driven to tears.

I see Signalis and Frieren as two sides of the same coin. Together though, they provide something entirely new that is complete that otherwise would not exist in the first place. Signalis represents the futility of one's situation outside their own mind. Himmel's journey represents the hope that - despite the bleakest outlook - you can make the lives of others better.

No matter the hellscape you find yourself in with today's society; you can still find fulfillment, however small, in the people and the things that would still matter to you most when the concept of society is removed.

- Obligatory "I ain't reading all that. I'm happy for u tho, or sorry that happened"

The only thing scarier in this world than this game is making eye contact with someone...

Jokes aside, it's a fun game to play with friends. I've had a slightly buggy experience but nothing actually frustrating or game-breaking. Between that and the game maybe being a little more grind-y than I personally would prefer, I have no complaints. Very immersive, re-playable, detailed, and well crafted levels + game world. You are probably already aware of everything else.

Cat

After playing through Matt Newell's collection (except for Fushimi, which I will be saving for when its rework is complete), the piece of art that I was "least excited" about, turned out to be my favorite. The whole ensemble of distinct locations that Matt's games brings to life are all special in their own ways, but Castle Rock Beach, West Australia is on a different level.

Castle Rock Beach is rendered in impeccable detail unseen in almost any other video game outside of some tech demos that can be fully explored in less than 5 minutes. As you can see by my playtime - my first exploration did not last forever, but it did last a lot longer than 5 minutes.

I can't recommend this enough to everybody who finds this. It is FREE and well worth your time - and worth the money if you want to experience this with a VR headset.

While I can't just drop everything and go on a trip tomorrow, this game has re-inspired me to go out and see more of the world, among a few other small revelations.

Thanks Matt, I can't wait to see what's next!

Keep in mind I also have another 20-ish hours between the game's previous demos and playtests.

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This roguelite combines some of the best pixel art and animation on the market with fluid gameplay and an interesting mysterious world to explore, creating a special treat for almost any type of player. This game can provide a challenge for experienced roguelite/like players while also being accessible to those who have not yet tried any games in the genre. It takes inspiration from many other great games before it and so far executes every aspect flawlessly.

I'm starting with the cons only because there are so few. Everything after this is positive. The devs have a very high standard of quality and are very critical of their work. This means that at the time of writing this review, there may not be enough content to satisfy everyone - even though the game is quite addicting. That said, there is more content than first meets the eye. The game also needs a little more difficulty balancing work done to it, but it is adequate enough as everything would need to be balanced all over again once the next two worlds are finished.

Art & Animation:
It's damn good pixel art. From the characters to the world art to the spells, it just doesn't get better than this. It's worth following their Twitter account for this alone.

Music & Sound Design:
Also top tier, Dale North's work on the game's soundtrack continues to impress me. The sound design of the world around you truly brings the game to life - especially at The Garden (your hub world). Attacks and spells for both yourself and enemies have distinct effects and satisfying feedback.

Characters & Story:
I'm sounding like a broken record, but the character design is just as impressive as the rest of the game. There is a very diverse cast that is also FULLY voice acted with talented actors behind it. They are all memorable, and I definitely want to cosplay Taurus one of these days. There is not much story at the time of writing this outside some mystery and lore, but I am sure this will be expanded upon later.

Gameplay:
The gameplay loop is addicting - which is undoubtedly the most important part of making a good roguelite. One of my favorite parts about the gameplay is how many other activities there is to do outside of just fighting during your runs. There are already dozens of unique spells to use and countless upgrades, both temporary and permanent. The two existing characters play quite differently despite both being melee characters, and the remaining three characters will only make the gameplay more insanely varied. There is also already a NG+ system up to +12 with customizable challenges.

Community:
The developers are very friendly and also active on their Discord server. That is also the best place to report any bugs or make your own suggestions on how to make the game better. The devs are on top of any and all issues impacting the experience and even pushed out a week-1 patch to increase performance after several complaints with more fixes on the horizon.

In Conclusion:
Give this game a try! I can almost guarantee you won't be disappointed. Even now it is worth full price imo, and yet the amount of content in the game is going to basically double by the time it launches outside of early access!

Quick and informal review!

Top-tier synthwave soundtrack and cyberpunk world. Graphically the game is very impressive both in art direction and graphical fidelity. 80-90% of the game takes a "realistic" environmental approach, but near the end it takes a weird arcade-y shift to it, Kind of like the change in art direction from Doom 2016 to Doom Eternal. In terms of art direction, it felt weird to me, but it provided a lot of fun gameplay right before the gameplay loop started to get stale.

Speaking of gameplay - the most important part - it flows very well and has some of the most satisfying gameplay I've experienced in recent memory. Fast-paced, and while it is unforgiving in that all enemies can one-shot you (and you one-shot them), checkpoints are plentiful, and there is no down-time or loading screens when you (are ready to) restart.

The story is meh. It gets the job done, establishes purpose for all characters involved and helps make the universe feel lived in, but both the characters and their journey lacks noteworthy depth. While it's not insultingly bad, it's completely forgettable. The gameplay is what you'll remember and come back for, and they have additional modes you can try out if you haven't had enough once you finish the story.

For those with a flexible budget, this game is worth the full price in my opinion. For most other users, a sale bringing it down to $20-25 USD would be more reasonable.

Been over a year I've been able to really sit down and play anything for an extended period of time, and I am glad this is the game I chose when I finally had time.

Keeping it short and sweet just to express my love for the game, as everything has already been said by other reviewers. Everything about Ender Lilies is above average at worst, and phenomenal at best. Visual art-style (both characters and scenery) are a special treat to the eyes. The soundtrack is a masterpiece coupled with very intentional sound design. Addictingly tragic story and world. The gameplay - from combat to exploration - never felt like a chore the entire time. I got all achievements in 24 hours of gameplay, which is fine for me. There are additional challenges and NG+ to extend the life of this gem if you'd like.

Play this masterpiece for essentially a little over $1/hr? This is well worth the full price if you know you like metroidvania or souls-like games. I would say it is worth full price even if you are new to the genre, as this should be an excellent introduction for you.

This game is an absolute joy to play. Escaping the underworld for the first time gave me an adrenaline rush that beat even my very first Dark Souls experience, and I feel its claws of addiction binding me to their world.

In a less poetic sense, there isn't much negative to say about the game. Maybe I hoped there would be two or three more bosses? I'm sure I have more to experience from existing bosses anyway. But the gameplay, art, animation, sound design, story, voice acting - it is all near flawless.

Currently with 98% Positive ratings at nearly 100,000 reviews, you might think the game is perfect right? Well it just might be.... for the right person. It does have an easier difficulty that is disabled by default, but it can be challenging or even disheartening for people who don't like the punishing nature of roguelites. I myself am new to the genre, but I love challenges.

If you even think it might be your type of game, buy it NOW. But if you hate the idea of dying many times only to start at the very beginning every time... Then still give it a try and buy it on sale. It just might open you up to a new genre like me.

I used to play loads of indie walking sim games back in the day until they eventually aged for me, but I still decided to give this one a go. It can be completed in one sitting and considering the price as well, I think it's worth a couple hours of your time if you enjoy walking sims.

It is not the absolute greatest looking game with the most detailed environments in this generation but it is still very pleasing to look at and explore if you like urbex or settings where mother nature takes control of our humanized world. This was the main draw for me as whatever potential the story had I feel was lost in poor translations and no english dub. If you know Russian though, it seems like it will be a somewhat interesting take on how human advancement can both help and (mostly) harm us.

The sound design was a pleasant surprise. From the peaceful wildlife to the tranquil soundtracks to the unexpected horror segment that actually terrified me more than I've been in any video game in years, without the use of jump-scares.

The delivery fee + driver tip on Door Dash or Uber Eatz is more expensive than this game... so if you've got some spare cash, go pickup your dinner instead and support a small indie dev ;)