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Hyper Light Drifter - Overhead - Technical Action RPG - Available - *****
-I've played a on of hours of this. The atmosphere is nice and heavy, the sounds and attention to detail are top notch, the play is precise in a Soulsish way. Can't recommend it enough.

Songbringer - Overhead - Action Adventure - Available - *****
-I've now played this for about 20 hours. (I think that's a bit more than it takes some people to actually finish it, but I've searched every corner of the game that I've come across.) This game is quite cool. It's basically like if you crossed Hyper Light Drifter (but with looser combat) and Superbrothers Swords & Sworcery into an action RPG. As I mentioned the combat definitely isn't as tight or technical as HLD, but it still feels very good. The music is fun, there's a good variety to everything, plenty of items and skills, a touch of weirdness, and it's just a lot of fun to play. The story while weird is well done as well. At the final boss, and will beat this tonight. Just an update to reaffirm the five start rating. also, the dev has been very responsive and friendly, and has take mine and others' suggestions to heart, and based some updates around them. Very cool!

Sundered - Side-scroller - Action Exploration Skills-based "Touch O Vania" - Available - *****
-Incredible pseudovania with amazing art, music, among the best 2D animation I've seen, and a very flowing style of combat that's different than most games. It can take an hour or two to really get into it, but that's when things start getting interesting, more mobility and perks are active, and the game really takes off. I'm still playing this now (since release). Excellent game. The levels are procedurally arranged, and by that I mean, main rooms will be in the same locations, but some of the ways to get to them will be arranged differently. So while you might take a slightly different path, you will remember certain blocks of it, and you will have a strong idea of how to get somewhere you've been before, just with a slight sense of disorientation. The enemies are thrown at you in swarms/packs/hordes, but are easily dealt with the more you play. There is a huge skill tree to open up, and you get to keep everything you've upgraded, and can unlock new ones when you die. The art has a Lovecraft flair to it, the story is nice an dark, and the combat flows like a dance once you upgrade a bit.

Dead Cells - Side-scroller - Technical Action Exploration Weapons and Skills-based - Available - *****
-This is kind of like a 2D Souls game with CastleTroid elements. The levels are partially procedural, but the overall layout stays familiar and coherent. It never feels like it's just randomized completely, which is good. The graphics are great, the variety is huge, and the combat is very satisfying. Everything is very precise in this game, mixing and matching weapon sets with skill sets becomes an art the more you play, and eventually becomes vital to getting through the next section. There are cool runes that you get that help you open up new paths after beating some mini bosses as well. This is Early Access, but has more polish than many complete games. The devs are present and responsive, the community makes excellent suggestions for play styles, and is actually quite helpful rather than toxic. I've put over 40 hours into it, and still haven't seen the last boss yet. Just exploring and trying out new weapons. Good stuff. Update: This is released and way better even than when I listed this.

Shovel Knight + Addons - Side-scroller - Action Platform Ala "MegaMan" - Available - *****
-IMO the definitive Megaman style action platform game, with updates that allow you to play as some of the other, more iconic characters from the original game. Lots of secrets, extra abilities and weapons, a lot of really funny humor, excellent music, and modern conveniences. I have the full Treasure Trove version on the PC, Wii U, and 3DS and have played it a TON. It never really gets old.

Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet - Side-scroller - Action "Saucer Vania" - Available - *****
-This is an interesting one. You pilot a flying saucer, but it involves true Metroid and Castlevania elements of backtracking with newly found equipment, sections that need said equipment to progress, etc. The world is very cool, the art style as well, sound design plays into the game play, then animation is amazing, and even things like the actual attachments you get for your ship are varied and exciting to use. Definitely recommend this.

Terraria - Side-scroller - Building Exploration Survival - Available - *****
-2D Minecraft basically, but with a really cool soundtrack, about a million more types of blocks, items, decorations, etc. to use. Cool varied environments, lots of enemies and bosses. Very fun.

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime - Co-op Action Space Combat - Available - ***
-I'd rate this a little higher because the concept and execution are so good, but honestly I'm just not very good at it on my own, and haven't had anyone skilled enough to play with to make it work a little better for me. If I had another player to help manage the ship's stations, I'd have more fun, play it more, and probably rate it four or five stars. Without that though, I get pissed off and quit a lot.

Stardew Valley - Overhead - RPG Lite Building Lite "Harvest Moon-esque" - Available - ****
-Disclaimer I don't play this. All of my kids do, and they are absolutely glued to it. Even over other games that they love like Minecraft, Terraria, Borderlands, etc. They would rate it five stars easily. It's not quite my style of RPG though. It looks like a lot of busy-work like Harvest Moon or Animal Crossing, and I don't have anywhere near that kind of time. It looks really cool and fun though from an outsider perspective, so I gave it four.

FEZ - Rotational Side-scroller - Platform Puzzle - Available - *****
-One of my favorite puzzle-oriented platform games ever. This game pulled me in immediately, and I played it pretty much straight through. It can get fairly tricky at times with some of the puzzle timings, but never totally unfair. The music is relaxing, and the game overall is pretty mellow too. Good after-work platformer.

Axiom Verge - Side-scroller - Action Exploration "Troid" - Available - *****
-All I'm going to say is that I like this better than Super Metroid if that's any indication. It's pretty much flawless. Get it.

Nidhogg - Side-scroller - Versus Sword Play Fighter - Available - **** (***** with alcohol )
-This game brings me back to things like Combat and Outlaw on the Atari, only with fluid animation, and contextually changing soundtrack, cool locations to fight, and if you and a friend or three have a few drinks, I guarantee you'll be giggling like little girls.

CRAWL - Overhead - Arcade Dungeon Crawler Four Player - Available - ****
-This game reminds me of some old upright arcade games. It's four players. One player is the main character and is attempting to get through the dungeon. The other players are ghosts that can inhabit/possess traps, summon creatures to fight as, etc. to try to kill the main character before he gets to the boss and leaves the dungeon. If a ghost kills the player, then he becomes the new player trying to get through. The visuals are cool, the music is nice, the controls are spot on, you can upgrade, and there is a lot of potential for laughing and trash talking. Another good one for a couple of drinks with friends.

Song of the Deep - Side-scroller - Action Exploration "Underwater Vania" - Available - ****
-I haven't finished this one, but played it a little bit with one of my daughters, and so far I really like it. It reminds me of a non-space/alien version of Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet. Similar play style, similar(ish) art, and play. I'll get back to this as soon as I can make myself put down Sundered.

Lone Survivor - Side-scroller - Horror RPG Lite - Available - ***
-This one nails the creepy, isolated, horror vibe pretty well. It's also slightly nonsensical at times, and it requires a lot of figuring out of things in slightly obtuse ways. It's also pretty maze like going through the apartments. It's a cool game, but I didn't finish it. It's something I'd like to eventually though during a lull. Not something I would drop another game I'm enjoying for though.

Monaco - Overhead - Action Skills-based Heist Multiplayer - Available - *****
-This game is an absolute blast. I'd play this (especially with a few friends) before I'd play any of the other heist games out there. Each class of character has a useful skill (I like the hacker, cleaner, and the mole best, but they're all good). You have to break into, or out of various facilities, steal things, hack security, climb through ventilation systems, tunnel through walls, and get to the end without getting killed. You can play with stealth, or kill everyone, though the violent route will be more difficult. Getting a good team going though with friends is pretty amazing. I got a four pack when this was released.

Dust Force - Side-scroller - Technical Platform - Available - ***
-I haven't played Meat Boy, but I assume that this is quite similar. It's a very technical platformer that requires excellent timing, and chaining of a lot of successful jumps, glides, slides, etc. It's fun, but difficult, and the music is really cool. It's not exactly one of my favorites, but I did play it quite a bit early on. I like the theme too. The animation is super-smooth, and the controls are as good as they need to be for a game like this.

Momodora - Side-scroller - Action Platform "Vania Lite" - Available - ****
-This game has very precise controls, cute characters, nice effects, and is a lot of fun. I was actually pretty surprised. I would call its MetroidVania aspects about as lite as they can be without being non-existent, but it does follow that style to a degree. There's something about it that makes me keep playing it, even where other very similar games lose me after a bit.

Dust: An Elysian Tale - Side-scroller - Action Platform - Available - *** (based on little play, may be better)
-This is a weird case. The art is gorgeous, the fighting is pretty decent, the animation is great, the levels are laid out fairly well, but I just could get myself to keep playing it. I know a lot of other people really like it, so I'm not going to rate it any less. All of the components are there, but for some reason I didn't find it very compelling. Maybe I'll try it again sometime. It definitely does enough right to make me rate it a little higher.

CrossCode - Overhead - Action RPG - Available - *****
-Early Access, but another case of excellent, honest and present developers who give regular updates. This game is kind of like if you took the "on the map" combat style of older Zeldas, Secret of Evermore maybe, and combined it with sci-fi nearly, but not completely Cyberpunk themes, and smashed in some Chrono Trigger for good measure. (though minus the turn based Chrono style combat) The graphics and effects are incredibly good, the story is fleshed out very well for the first areas, the devs add more to the story, and new areas regularly, and are actually working on the last bits now, and filling in the story more. The controls are fluid, there's a good tutorial to get you going. If you want a nice, polished, non-half-assed PC JRPG with action combat, then this is for you. I'll probably bump it up to five starts later, as I'm waiting to play it until version 1. I played several hours though just to make sure I'd like it, and I very much do. It's a case of wanting to experience the full package now though. Even better after release.

Ori and the Blind Forest - Side-scroller - Action Platform Exploration Lite Skills-based - Available - *****
-Beautiful game. The world art is amazing, the game characters are likable, and the overall atmosphere is sad, but compelling. I'm not as much a fan of the platforming on this as I am of something like Sundered, but it's very good, and the controls are tight. Kinda reminds me of Rayman in some ways, though obviously not as silly and comic a setting.

VVVVVV - Side-scroller - Simplistic Technical Action Platform RPG Lite - Available - ****
-Don't let the visuals fool you. This looks like something from a sub-C64 computer like maybe some of the Amstrads or Spectrums or something (My opinion there, I'm sure some British people will take issue with that statement ) maybe it does reach C64 level though in some ways Anyway, the visuals are actually pretty good overall, it's just that they are VERY retro and very simple. The platforming is very precise, cool gravity reversal effect, simple controls, easy to play, but very quickly becomes difficult the further you get. You'll be retrying areas a lot, but not in an unfair way. The music is brilliant, and I even have a few of its tracks on my audio playlists for general listening. There are RPG elements (more on the story side than questing, but still there) of finding your lost friends, restoring equipment function on your ship, etc. This is a cool game. I haven't actually completed it yet, (had it for years) but I occasionally pop it on, and play a bit more than I did previously.

Cave Story+ - Side-scroller - Action RPG Ala "Wonder Boy Troid" - Available - ****
-I had obviously heard about this a long time ago, but was never sure if I'd like it. I ended up loving it. The dialog is funny, the characters are good, and the play is nice and tight with good controls. The game reminds me of some of the later Wonder Boy games (like Dragon's Curse) except more sci-fi.

PixelJunk Shooter - Side-scroller - Co-op Puzzle Space-ship Shooter - Available - ****
-Cool co-op space-ship shooter games with physics-based puzzles here and there. It's a rescue shooter where you pick up stranded guys from inside caves. It reminds me a lot of several C64 games from the 80s. It's 2 player local co-op. There's a "deluxe" version with more content. I haven't played the additional stuff yet though, only the original game.

Machinarium - Side-scroller / Screen by Screen - Point-Click Adventure - Available - ****
-Fun point and click adventure with cool artwork, funny characters, and an interesting setting. It's almost like if H.R. Geiger made a kids cartoon about robots. The setting is a bit oppressive, but the game is full of humor too.

Thimbleweed Park - Side-scroller / Screen by Screen - Point-Click Adventure Comedy - Available ****
-Do you like Monkey Island or Day or the Tentacle? Then you should probably like this. It's got an X-Files sort of theme to it. I'm not too far into it yet, but it feels like a SCUMM game, which is definitely a good thing. It's made me laugh a few times, looks good, sounds good. Now to find a bit more time to play it.

Bastion - Isometric - Narrated Action RPG Lite - Available - ***
-This is a really cool game. Beautiful graphics, cool narration, but for some reason it felt a bit repetitive to me, which normally isn't a problem for me with action RPGs. I felt like the combat was a tiny bit too drawn out for each section, and that maybe a little more weapon power, or a little less enemy life would have made things move along at a better pace. Still, it's a good game, and I'm glad I played it.

Transistor - Isometric - Action RPG - Available - ****
-Similar to Bastion, only on this one, I felt like the story moved along at a better pace, there was a bit more variety to the play and combat, and since I'm into the whole dystopia / cyberpunk sort of setting, it just gelled better with me. This is a very cool game. (Disclaimer, I played it on my iPad not the PC...)

Tokyo 42 - Rotational Isometric - Action Adventure RPG Lite Ala "Syndicate" - Available ****
-This is like if you took some light adventuring, maybe a touch of RPGism, and mushed them together with the original Syndicate game. (and added a FEZ-like rotation aspect) This game is a lot of fun. I've only played maybe the first 5-10 missions or so, as I got distracted, but definitely plan to get back to it. The visual style is really cool too. It's a brighter setting than the Syndicate games, but still gives you that same sort of feel. It's cool to see all the citizens doing varied activities. (until you run by with a weapon, and they start running away )

Icey - Side-scroller - Narrated Action Combat Troid Lite Comdedy - Available - ***
-This is a pretty interesting and weird game, that has excellent game mechanics, tight combat, and some very funny (in a weird sort of way) humor. It's narrated, basically by the developer. You can make him mad, frustrate him by going the opposite way that his narration suggests, etc. You can even go to a place that hasn't been developed all the way yet. Anyway, this game really made me laugh. I played it with the original narration language and subtitles. I think it's been dubbed now too, but I'm not sure it would have the same feel to it. While it's not quite the same level as Sundered or Dead Cells, it's definitely worth a play.

SteamWorld Dig - Side-scroller - Action Adventure Puzzle RPG Lite - Available - ****

Mark of the Ninja - Side-scroller - Action Platform Sword Play Ninja - Available - *****
-This just received an HD make-over (even though I don't feel like it needed it). Supposedly it's free to people that own the original. I haven't played it yet, but plan to after I finish Timespinner.

MegaSphere - Side-scroller - Action Platform Robot Shooter - EA/Available - ***

Swords and Sworcery - Side-scroller - RPG Lite Adventure Minor Action Sequences - ****

Rayman Origins / Legends - Side-scroller - Fast Platform Collecting - Available - ****

Shadowrun Returns (Series) - Isometric - Turn-based Cyberpunk Semi-Tactical RPGs - Available - ****

A Robot Named Fight! - Side-scroller - Appears to be a violent Metroid / Turrican style game - Available - ***
-I finally picked this up. The quality level is good, the controls are decent, the visuals and music are pretty good, and it does play like Metroid with one caveat. It's procedural. This works great in games like Dead Cells, and it does work ok with A Robot Named Fight! however, IMO not quite a slick as Dead Cells or Sundered. It feels a lot less like you're getting more powerful as you move along, die, and start over, where in those other games you start slowly becoming a total badass. It's good, but I'd recommend Axiom Verge over this.

Cuphead - Side-scroller - Action Platform Shooter Cartoon - *****
-Ok, this one is top quality. There is zero question about the quality level of this game. It's flawless. Everything is spot on. BUT, it's hard as fuck. The play is very similar to something like Contra Hard Corps, only IMO a bit more difficult. You do get used to it slowly, but overall it's pretty unforgiving. Luckily the play style changes up a bit from ground shooting to air shooting to boss-rush, so as you get better, you also get some more variety. I wish the powerups were more permanent, but it's pretty standard arcade play.

Timespinner - Total-Vania - Basically Sympony of the Night re-skinned. - *****
-The play is pretty much Symphony of the Night, great music, excellent visuals. It comes up slightly short in the enemy department. None of them are truly scary creatures, some are pretty laughable even, but the game-play still holds strong. It may be because I'm a sucker for this style of game, but despite a few shortcomings, I've been playing it non-stop since I got it. The difficulty on the normal setting is nice and balanced, (there is a hard one, or outright simplistic level as well where you really don't die if you're feeling casual.) I'd rate this four stars just for the enemy shortcomings, but honestly since I can't seem to stop playing it, I feel it deserves more just for that. I've enjoyed the game, so it deserves a bit of praise.

The Messenger - Pseudo-Gaiden - Side-scrolling ninja game with Metroid elements. - *****
-This game may look identical to Ninja Gaiden, and while it's got a lot of that heritage in the game, it really plays a bit more like Shovel Knight, Metroid, maybe a touch of Castlevania, with Ninja Gaiden sprinkled on top. It's got two distinct audio-visual styles. The first half of the game is 8-bit NES style graphics and music. Then next part is 16-bit Genesis/Megadrive style complete with OPL/YM FM music. Eventually you can swap back and forth between styles as well. The play mechanics are spot on, and while it never feels too difficult, it can get very technical to where you're going to have to try to get to the next section a few times. There are TONS of secrets to discover, and it does feel rewarding to find some of them as they can be located in some pretty odd places. (while others are more obvious breaking-wall style) Really can't recommend this game enough. It may not fully deliver if all you want is a Ninja Gaiden clone, but it delivers in every other possible way all on its own. It's also got an excellent sense of humor ala Shovel Knight.

Wizard of Legend - Procedural Top Down Scrolling Action RPG. - ****
-This game is really more fun with two players. (Local) It's excellent though. There is plenty of variety, and it's one of the games that does things right with powerups when you rogue-die which is inevitable. You keep your powers, cloaks, and items, and you can re-equip after each death. There is a ton of variety in spells, some are synergistic with others, and there are tons of relics and robes/cloaks to modify your skill sets for a round of play. The levels are just the right difficulty and ramp up just right as you go along. The shops in the dungeons allow you to buy more skills, health, etc. just for the course of the current round as well. Items purchased in dungeons last until death, unlike items purchased outside the dungeons. The controls are tight, the music is good, the locations are good. I only wish they would add on a new biome. (it's planned, but it hasn't released as of this writing) Good game.

ChronoTrigger - JRPG - Duh it's ChronoTrigger and this is an honorable mention. - *****
-Since this is on Steam, but is an old game this is just an honorable mention. The game is as good as it ever was (though I still prefer the DS version just because it's the perfect game to play on a mobile). This started out rough, as it was a port of the mobile version (IOS and Android). The graphical filtering and scaling was all wrong, and control elements were wacked out. They managed to fix all that, and restore the original pixel graphics as an option. There are some minor tiling flaws in some places, but overall it's pretty spot-on now. The port is otherwise intact, it includes the animate cut-scenes of later versions, and plays as one would expect using a game pad. If you're looking for a Chrono-Fix, this version will do just fine. Purists might be nitpicking this or that, but as someone that's played all available versions for years, I'm giving it my personal approval now that it's been patched up.

Aggelos - Side-scrolling Action RPG - Very much like later Wonderboy games. - ****
-This game is incredibly good. It's actually five star material except for one flaw. There is a problem with XBoxOne-based XInput pads where the D-Pad isn't detected. You can either map it using Joy2Key or play with the analog stick. It actually surprisingly plays just fine on the analog stick, so I did that, as much as I hated having to. The game was compelling and charming enough to play that way. The devs said they were working on it, but seem to have given up on that (though they have released other updates). That really rubbed me the wrong way, but the game is good enough to overlook that IMO. Everything else about it is top notch. Excellent controls, plenty of secrets, MetVan style progression, tons of weapon and skill upgrades, beautiful artwork and cool locations. It looks Wonderboy but plays more like VanMet games with a touch of Wizards & Warriors thrown in for good measure. It is too bad about the D-Pad thing, but the game is so good that I recommend playing it anyway. I'm still giving it four stars since that's a pretty glaring issue, but just know that based on the actual game, it's worth much more.

Monster Boy in the Cursed Kingdom - Side-scrolling Action RPG - Wonderboy spinoff. - *****
-Note: I'm playing this on the switch, but it's scheduled for release on the PC as well, and should be identical. This is basically a modern Wonderboy game (even some of the same developers if I remember correctly. If you like Wonderboy, then you'll like this. I'm having an absolute blast with it right now, and haven't been able to put it down since I started. I even stopped playing everything else I was playing until I finish it. There's one more game like this, a Dragon's Trap/Curse remake with similarly updated art style. I have it, but haven't gotten to it yet. I'll add it to the list as soon as I do.

Chasm - Side-scrolling Metroid-Vania - More Vania. - *****
-I wasn't sure if I'd like this quite as much as some other games like it at first. It took a short amount of time to get used to the controls. They feel a little bit different than other recent games of this style. However, the more I played, the more I got completely hooked on the atmosphere. The progression of items, skills, and weapons is great, as well as the overall breadth of them. There is just a ton of different things to find, discover, etc. There are some small environmental puzzles that keep you on your toes. You really have to pay attention to some of the things in the background sometimes. It's pretty clear when that's necessary, and you'll generally know where to backtrack to. It's almost always within the same area. There's a really nice teleportation and routing system that allows you to travel between different areas very quickly as you unlock more areas. So, while there is plenty of characteristic backtracking for a game like this, it becomes easier and easier to get around as you go as well. The music is excellent, the characters are good, and the game has its own charm in a very popular genre. I will reiterate, that while the controls are good overall, and very responsive, at least for me it took a bit to get used to some of the finer nuances. (I think maybe I've just been playing too much Dead Cells ) Highly recommend this game!

Cyber Shadow - Side-scroller - Action Platform Shooter VaniaTroid - *****
-This game starts off a little slow. You don't have much in the way of power or powers. One expects this in this type of game, but I really started to wonder if it would change for a while. It feels like a mix of Ninja Gaiden, Shadow of the Ninja, and maybe more modern games like The Messenger. (The Messenger is a bit better in my opinion, but Cyber Shadow is still excellent.) The controls are precise, the music is good, the graphics are NES-Style+Modern and amazing. While it lacks variety in the beginning, that gets resolved the further in you get. I recommend this to anyone that likes a good action-vania game with ninja elements.

Outbuddies DX - Side-scroller - Metroid-alike-vania-thing - *****
-This is another slow started. I actually put it down after about an hour or two, and wasn't sure if I'd ever go back to it. The learning curve starts off a bit high, and I didn't quite grasp the mechanics at first. It presents you with little visual hints, and it does explain things, but I still felt a bit lost at first. It's visually AMAZING, and the concept just made me want to go back and try it one more time. I bought it for the Switch since I thought I'd be able to invest more time in it that way. I'm glad I did, because it's now one of my favorite Metroid style games. It's right up there with Axiom Verge as one of my all time favorites of the genre. I can't recommend this one enough. Just stick through the first couple of hours, and you'll be rewarded with Metroidy goodness. It's got tons of exploration on a huge map, tons of secret areas, a bit of humor, good weapons and abilities, precise controls, atmospheric music and visuals. Excellent boss fights. Lots of NPCs. A touch of the eldritch aesthetic as well.

Hades - Isometric - Iso-Action-RogueLite-Dead Cells-ish - *****
-This is basically a Greek Mythology themed, isometric Dead Cells game by SuperGiant. (Bastion, Transistor, etc.) It's better than all of their previous games, and is one of my favorite games in this genre. It plays every bit as good as its side-scrolling counterparts, and is polished to no end. The world is completely alive and atmospheric. I wasn't sure if I'd like it at first, because I generally prefer original settings. I wasn't sure the Greek Mythology thing would grab me. It did, and the character have so much history to draw on, that they're much more fleshed out than in most games. The devs put their own spin on them as well, and injected quite a bit of comedy into the game, without making it feel stupid. Almost all of them are likable, and for this type of game, they have a ton of varied dialog. The weapons are very cool, especially once powered up. The upgrade system works well, and the shops are cool. This game is pretty much perfect, and kept me completely hooked. This game should not be missed.

Ghosts n Goblins Resurrection - Side-Scroller - Difficult Action Platformer - *****
-This is kind of a combination of Ghosts n Goblins and Ghouls n Ghosts in one remake. This one uses 2D art, instead of the 2.5D stuff they were starting to lean towards. It's got a kind of paper look to it, but very good overall. It controls exactly like the previous games. You can shoot upward in all levels, but there's no double-jump like in Super Ghouls n Ghosts on the SNES. It's difficult, but I'd say fair-ish (with occasional cheap shots). It plays just like all the other games in the series. It's very polished overall, though I do think there are a few spots where I died for seemingly no reason. It's not as hard as Super Ghouls n Ghosts, but I'd put it around Ghouls n Ghosts arcade. Hard, but still doable. The boss fights are a bit longer and more varied than the originals. It also has multiple difficulty settings, and if you die a few times consecutively, it asks if you want to reduce the difficulty by one notch to try again. You can increase it back to normal again too. This allows you to get past a part that you've died 100 times at, but then keep playing at the difficulty you want after it. I've nearly played through the whole Ghosts n Goblins map route. (you can actually choose the path at the end of each stage though) If you like these games, I recommend this 100%. If you don't like them, don't get this one.

Reserved

Reserved a couple of posts for future expansion. The list isn't completely up to date with the latest games I've been playing, so I'll hopefully write some more entries soon.

Finally made it through the full list. Nice work, where did you originally post this?

Off all of these I've only played the following:

Axiom Verge - **** - duh awesome and difficult, maybe slightly less "fun" than I'd hoped - finished

Momodora - ** - wasn't that into

Ori and the Blind Forest - ***** - Probably the best non-Metroid non Castelvaniagame of this style I had ever played when I first played - finished

Machinarium - Remember playing this and marveling at the artwork but can't remember anything about the gameplay to give is a rating

Monaco looks pretty great. Also interested to check out Mark of the Ninja and Messenger. I've never even heard of Timespinner but it sounds up my alley.

I'll start adding other I've played too.

Ori and the Will of the Wisps - Ghibli-esque action/adventure/skillsy/explorer -
I loved the first Ori game and this one takes everything that was great about it and multiplies it big time. First it is truly emotional. I was moved at both the beginning and the end. And the rest of the time I just had a ton of fun. It's not all that difficult but it also isn't boring and some of the platformy multi-jump sequences (and speed run minigames) are extremely challenging and rewarding when you nail them. Every element is gorgeous and just fun to look at throughout. The skill ladder is well developed if not extremely complex but it has the perfect balance of keeping moving forward and then realizing a new ability can send you back. It's also pretty fast and pulling up the map/warping has relatively little lag on a standard Xbox One. My only criticism is that it is relatively short. The in game clock is buggy so not exactly sure how long I played but would be surprised if it was more than 20 hours and I did absolutely everything. It's not surprisingly short just that with a game this good I wish it was longer. Maybe they'll make a non-story second quest or something where they just mix up all the item locations and challenges on the same map. I give this my highest possible recommendation.

Shantae and the Pirate's Curse - Humorous actiony platformer w/ some ability stuff -
I didn't expect to like this game but I totally loved it. The manga-esque stylings are totally over the top but it's all very tongue and cheek and the humor works. The gameplay is surprisingly well done. As 2D sprites go these are really good. Played it to completion.


Shantae: Half Genie Hero - Humorous actiony platformer w/ some ability stuff -
I was pretty excited for the sequel (actually the 4th game in the series) but the 3D worlds and sprites, while quite well done, pretty much ruined the magic for me. I only played the first couple levels and lost interest.


Guacamelee - Humorous actiony platformer w/ some ability stuff -
I grouped this with the Shantae games because they share a similar sense of humor as well as gameplay style. Fast and actiony and not that serious but deeper than a standard 2D actioner with abilities and a map, etc. I meant to give this more time but moved on to something else too soon and will probably go back and play it sometime.


Hollow Knight - Platforming action adventure explorer -
This game is totally gorgeous (though dark) and can be very fun but I actually found it got a bit too hard and tedious as I progressed pretty far into it and I eventually got bored/stopped having as much fun and moved on. Maybe I should be ashamed to admit that.

Hue - Puzzley platformer -
Very cool progressive strategy platformer with innovative color puzzle graphics. Very fun and worth a play through.


Thomas Was Alone - Puzzley platformer -
Minimalist to the extreme but plenty of fun and worth a few hours of play.


The Swapper - Puzzley platformer -
Had a hard time getting into this one. If anyone played it through and feels different I'll give it another try.

Nice!

Your format is better

I posted those on the [H]ard|OCP forums a while back. I still frequent there even though the main site has been boarded up.

I agree on Hollow Knight. I actually stopped playing it after a while. I've plumbed the depths of Dead Cells, soared through Sundered, etc. but Hollow Knight was a different kind of difficult. Actually, Devon is playing it right now, and she's doing better than I did, so I'm watching her.

Side note: Sundered is one of my top games of all time. Highly recommend it. It takes a while to get used to it. It has a different flow than a lot of games, but once you get it down, and get a few upgrades, it becomes AMAZING.

Oh yeah, forgot all about HardOCP. Okay, that seals it. I'll check Sundered out today.

I think you'll like it.

It's a Metro-Van with obvious Lovecraftery to the styling. It has a HUGE skill tree to open up, tons of different mobility upgrades, tons of perks, multiple ways to play, multiple endings, and the audio and visuals are stunning.

Some people aren't into the combat, but what I've told each one, is that it's just different. It's REALLY smooth, and is all about chaining attacks and movement off of multiple enemies. They come at you in hordes, and it's easy to get a bit overwhelmed in the early part of the game. That starts to go away the further you play it, and the combat becomes somewhat like a fight-ballet You slash one thing, gain height from the hits, jump off the next enemy, kick off the wall, use your second jump or a float to hit the next, and so on. If you die, you go back to the hub location, spend your new skill points, and go back in stronger.

The map layout changes slightly each time you die, but all key locations are in the same place, so you don't get lost. It gives you a slightly disoriented feeling, but you can still find what you were looking for very easily, and the map stays filled in with the areas that you've completed, bosses killed, etc.

By the end of the game, you're so powerful, fluid, and agile that it's almost physically exhilarating to play.

You can explore any direction you like, and if an area seems too hard, you can backtrack, go somewhere else, and you'll discover some item or skill that makes that previous area easier. Standard Castle-Troid gameplay of course, but worth mentioning.

I recommend a good game-pad, TV, and comfortable seating. It's much more fun in that environment than a desk.

Personal opinion, the "Embrace" style of play is more rewarding.

A played Gris a while back. It was pretty nice. It's a little slow and easy, but the animation style and general ambiance make it pretty enjoyable.

Gris is great!! I didn’t finish it but played quite a bit.

I decided to give Hollow Knight another go since Devon was getting along in it. I finally pressed on past where I had quit a few times before, and I’m REALLY enjoying it now. I’ll probably be done with it in a couple of days. It’s definitely one of the harder games of the style I’ve played lately. Probably on par with Dead Cells, but in different ways.

I’m glad it came up again. Not sure I’d have given it the additional time. I’d guess I’m maybe a third in now. (Rough guess...)

Wow Sundered is pretty incredible. Beautiful for sure but also super fun. I don't think I've ever played a game quite like this with the respawning and constant ability upgrading. I still don't understand what the energy (orange) is for though. It seems I sometimes get abilities that are orange and then count down but they don't seem to do anything. Great rec r3c!

Glad you like it! The energy is like stamina. It depletes when you do rolls, or later when you have some of the more advanced mobility items. (like dashes and things like that) If you take the "embrace" path, the first skill I would corrupt is your shield. There are some guides floating around that will help if you want to figure out where the shrines are for a particular skill.

Oh yeah I actually just accidentally corrupted the shield first anyway. Did you beat the first big boss before you explored the other 2 directions? I feel like I could probably beat him after dying twice but also might just come back later.

Man those are some boss battles.

I think I spent a REALLY long time wandering around. I do runs of just shard gathering. If you have the magnet perk, it makes doing this much easier, since you won't have to run back and forth to pick everything up. It just pulls it all to you. I barely use the gun except to open doors that need the energy from it, so I always upgrade everything else first on the tree. I think I beat the first big boss (the one in the chair) pretty early on, but I saved the other large ones for much later. I killed the smaller ones as I came across them. I always seemed to forget about using the map, so I did lots of backtracking. If you use the map though it's really easy to progress quickly. I had my entire tree filled in, three perks, and all corrupted items before I finished playing the first time.

Added Cyber Shadow and Outbuddies DX, Hades, and Ghosts n Goblins Resurrection.

If you like Metroid, Super Metroid, Axiom Verge, etc. GET OUTBUDDIES DX!!!!!!

Oooh Outbuddies looks awesome. Seems like everyone is super into Hades. But it didn't appeal to me right away just looking at it. Am I really missing out?

enderzero wrote: ↑

Mon Mar 01, 2021 7:40 pm

Oooh Outbuddies looks awesome. Seems like everyone is super into Hades. But it didn't appeal to me right away just looking at it. Am I really missing out?

Hades is top notch. I actually went back and forth on getting it for probably a month or two before I finally decided to get it. I actually like Greek Mythology, but never really wanted something like a game based on it. Something about that put me off from picking up Hades. I generally go more for unique or original worlds, stories, settings, etc. I finally just clicked buy on a whim while it was on sale for a few $ off. Very glad I did. It's like isometric Dead Cells. It's highly entertaining, the controls are excellent, there is tons of variety, a bit of humor, and it has its own spin on classic Greek mythology. The upgrade system is pretty cool.

I played it on the Switch. Since it's run-based, it is the perfect play a few runs in bed before going to sleep sort of game. If you even remotely enjoy things like Dead Cells and Sundered, this one is right up there with the best (if not the best in some ways). I think I still prefer the side-scrolling of Dead Cells ever-so-slightly over the iso view play-wise, but the visuals are pretty amazing in Hades. I was absolutely hooked on it all the way up through completing the game (which takes several full escapes). I then kept playing for quite a while after that, and hop in from time to time. Plenty of replay after completion.

It's like isometric Dead Cells.
...
Since it's run-based, it is the perfect play a few runs in bed before going to sleep sort of game. If you even remotely enjoy things like Dead Cells and Sundered, this one is right up there with the best (if not the best in some ways).

So let's talk about "run based" (or rogue-lite or whatever). I loved that implementation in Sundered which is easily one of top 10 games of recent years. The amounts that the levels changed was just minor enough to keep it fresh without feeling totally disorienting or like you were starting over. But in Dead Cells, I constantly felt like I was starting over. Maybe it was just too hard or something but I just didn't have nearly as much fun with that game and thus gave up pretty early.

Is there a reason this type of game has become so popular? I don't mind a few elements of the run but I guess I just prefer the constant progression of more traditional adventure.

In some cases, I think it's become popular, (on the development side) because once they have their "procedural algorithm" they can focus a bit less on level design. IMO they're just shifting work from one aspect of the game to another though. They still have to play and test it enough, and make enough refinements that I'm guessing the work-load ends up being the same.

Another reason is replay value. Some people like that it's never quite the same, and if the game mechanics are rewarding enough, I think that makes the game pretty valuable.

Personally, I like something in between like Sundered as well. I thought that really was the perfect blend.

However, there are some exceptions on both sides.

On the rogue-ish side, Dead Cells and Hades. These are prime examples of how to rogue properly IMO, if you're going to go completely in on this aspect.

I'll use Dead Cells as my example. There are enough discoveries, enough locations/"biomes" to give it enough variety. There is repeatability if you play long enough too. The layout may be different, but you'll know that on this level there is a shortcut to the Ossuary if you have the right upgrade. Upgrades are persistent over runs, so you know that once you beat the mini-boss that gives you a certain thing, you won't have to acquire it again. That means, you can use the shortcut on every subsequent run. Also there is a huge strategy to weapons. You use a set of runs to decide what sorts of weapons you get along with. Then you can start a new set of runs, and only acquire the blueprints for those ones, and dump all your cells into just those, and not waste them on things that you know you don't like. That refines things, and gets you into a more powerful and upgraded position for subsequent runs. It'll take a few runs to perfect some of the techniques for each level, the bosses, etc. Once you have these down though, you can take specific paths based on what you want to achieve, the levels you want to see (or not see). You can also do speed-run equivalents through early levels to get to special rooms that reward you with additional cells, if you just want to power up for a while. This game definitely requires a hefty investment, but it all starts to make sense after a while, and it's VERY rewarding. Also, while the levels are ranomized a lot more than Sundered, there are still generally two exits per level, usually in similar (or sometimes inverted) locations, teleportation points to reduce back-tracking, etc. Learning how these work greatly reduces the random feel. You'll go a different way initially, but once you figure out where a few key points are, you'll know where to go. Once you fight each mini-boss and get your runes (persistent mobility upgrades) you really don't need to fight them again (unless you use them as a source for larger cell counts I guess). There are a lot of things that cut down unnecessary work.

Hades is very similar, though its upgrading works a bit differently. Still excellent, just different. Hades has a much more fleshed out story, dialog, characters, humor, etc. than Dead Cells. While Dead Cells is much more purely about its game play. Hades still plays very tight, and requires many of the same skills, its the rest of the game that makes it interesting IMO.

Learning how to "game" these systems is also rewarding in itself.

All that said, there's still nothing better than a properly crafted non-rogue world. Symphony of the Night, Super Metroid, Axiom Verge, etc.

I like the rogue-ish-lite-ish games, but typically only if they're exceptional, well thought out, and well balanced. It's generally not my favorite style of play unless they are highly polished examples. I'm much more forgiving with traditional level design games.

Then there are games like Songbringer, which give a random seed based on the name you type in at the beginning. For that whole play-through of the game, the world is the same. So once you find something, you can always get back to it, and it's always the same on your map. However, if you start a new seed to play the game again some day, it will be completely different. I like this too. Also, if you haven't played Songbringer, I HIGHLY recommend it. It's more Zelda-ish.

PSA: Narita Boy comes out at the end of the month.

Thanks for the in-depth response re: Rogue-ish (and apologies for the long delay). I think from all that my biggest takeaway is that I really didn't play Dead Cells enough. I have simply not had enough game time in the last 6 months or so for many life reasons but (see other thread) that will hopefully change soon!

That sort of thing happens! My last several weeks have been just stupid. Things are starting to look better again though. Hope all goes well for you! Haven’t hit the other thread yet.

I did manage to best Hyper Light Drifter a second time, and I’ve been playing a lot of PC Engine shooters on the MiSTer.

In fact I’m building a second, smaller, PC Engine oriented MiSTer right now.