XZoro

Welcome.

Game Informations Developers : BlueSky Software Designers : Rich Karpp - Mark Lorenzen Released : November 30, 1995 Genre : Platform Mode : Solo Platforms : xBox 1 - Playstation 3 - 2 - 4 - iOS - Microsoft Windows - Nintendo Switch As we mark the one-year anniversary of SEGA Forever, it’s safe to say it’s been a bit of a bumpy ride so far. An amazing trailer showcasing SEGA’s rich history gave way to a tepid, problem-filled launch largely consisting of poorly-emulated Genesis games. After getting off on a bad foot, SEGA hustled to improve the emulation and the line-up on the whole, to varying success. We saw the revival of some long-dead mobile releases like Super Monkey Ball, some curious selections from SEGA’s 16-bit catalog like Decap Attack, major upgrades to the Genesis emulator quality and feature set, and less happily, absolutely no releases from non-Genesis consoles save the ones SEGA had ported ages ago. Perhaps it’s appropriate that as the first anniversary arrives, it’s being celebrated with the release of a well-emulated, full-featured version of one of the more technically impressive Genesis games, BlueSky’s Vectorman (Free). SEGA and its development team has put in a lot of work on the Genesis emulator used by SEGA Forever, and Vectorman is a fine showcase for that progress. It looks great, runs well, and sounds very good indeed. You can use save states, flick between a handful of visual settings, rewind your playthrough at the tap of a button, and customize your virtual controls to your heart’s delight. Like virtually all of the SEGA Forever releases, you can also play with an MFi controller if you want the authentic experience. If you’re going with touch controls, the usual rules apply. This is a tough game that relies on accurate shooting and maneuvering, and doing all of that with virtual buttons is going to test your patience at times. Luckily, you can try the game out for free if you can tolerate fairly regular ads, and if you find the controls aren’t killing it for you, pay to remove the ads and activate a couple of extra features with a single reasonably-priced IAP. How about Vectorman, then? Well, I think it’s really important to understand the context in which it originally released. The game came out on the Genesis in late 1995, capping off what could delicately be called a rough year for SEGA. Nintendo’s late 1994 release Donkey Kong Country had finally given the Super NES the kick in the pants it needed to start outpacing the Genesis even in its strongest regions. The 32X attachment for the Genesis, meant to extend the life of SEGA’s most successful console, had utterly flopped and was almost entirely disowned by SEGA of Japan right from the hop. A lot of that was because SEGA’s Japan side had their own 32-bit solution, the SEGA Saturn, which launched in late 1994 in Japan and had a surprise release in North America in May of 1995. Unfortunately, the new system was already tripping over its own feet after Sony and its PlayStation made SEGA look like utter donkeys at the inaugural E3 show. Things weren’t going so well See, the Genesis was an odd situation for SEGA. In North America, it competed strongly against the Super NES for the first-place position, a true neck-and-neck race. In Europe, it was clowning Nintendo. But in Japan, the system was a distant third place, coming in behind even the PC Engine/Turbografx-16. SEGA is, of course, a Japanese company, and that meant that ultimately Japan was pulling the strings. They were ready to move on to a new console, and that meant SEGA’s finest Japanese development teams were moving on as well. SEGA of America, on the other hand, had a vested interest in keeping the Genesis rolling. To that end, they sunk money into a lot of American and European studios, producing a steady trickle of Genesis software well after things had dried up on the other side of the Pacific. One of the more successful partnerships of that sort that SEGA had was with BlueSky Software. The resulting software included games like Shadowrun, Jurassic Park, World Series Baseball, and of course, Vectorman. At its core, Vectorman is a run-and-gun platformer, a genre that was already very well-represented on the Genesis platform when the game released. You control the titular ‘bot as he runs, shoots, and double-jumps his way through 16 fairly large stages. There are power-ups to collect that will temporarily give you new weapons or special transformations, but at the end of it all it’s going to come down to how well you can hop, blast, and duck. Most of the stages use a familiar side-scrolling view, but a few of them switch to an overhead view to mix things up a little. Vectorman is quite a versatile fellow thanks to his double-jump and ability to shoot in eight different directions, and unlike many run-and-gun heroes, he can even take a few hits before dying. Wow, does he have any weaknesses? Well, yes. If he runs out of lives, that’s it. No continues. No do-overs. You’re back at the start of the game. So, you know, make use of those save states. You can tell Donkey Kong Country was on somebody’s mind, though, because what really stands out about Vectorman is how gosh-darned good it looks. The hero is made up of 23 individual sprites moving in tandem, and everything has that pre-rendered shine that Donkey Kong Country had made so po[CENSORED]r. Vectorman’s sprites are affected by various light sources; obviously a bit of fakery, but a very impressive bit nonetheless. Everything is smoothly animated, and some of the backgrounds really are to die for. That’s all backed with an amazing soundtrack composed by Jon Holland. It really is a stunning technical showpiece for the Genesis, even if a lot of that is (in the fine Donkey Kong Country tradition) from clever design decisions as opposed to any magical unlocked horsepower in the hardware itself. As for how it plays, well, there are better run-and-gun games on the Genesis without a doubt. Vectorman is a little slippery and hard to get used to at first. The enemy designs are a little boring and everything takes way too many shots to destroy. The bosses are a bit underwhelming. The overhead levels don’t really work as well as you might like, and the power-ups lack a certain punch. It’s probably a little hard and unforgiving for its own good, though there are tons of cheats you can use to mitigate that. I could see any or all of these points turning some players off. Nevertheless, I think Vectorman is quite a bit of fun if you get used to its quirks. For whatever the enemies and levels design might lack, the main character is just a lot of fun to move around and attack with. It’s worth getting over that initial hump, especially since the level designs generally get better as you go along. Basically, abuse those save states, try to give the game a few levels to unfurl, and if you have an MFi controller, you really should be using it. The more of those things you can check off, the better you’ll find Vectorman to be. Yes, it’s a game that largely gets by on its good looks, but it’s not just flash. There’s a solid action game here, one that has more than a few rough edges, but certainly worth playing. This particular version of the game is about as good as you’re going to get on a mobile device, though I do wish I could load my saved game as easily as I can save it. This is a really tough game, so having to go back to the main menu to load every time I screw up is a bit annoying. Apart from that, this is as good a way as any to close out SEGA Forever‘s first year.

Welcome.

Game Informations Developers : Obsidian Entertainment Released : October 25, 2019 Genre : Action role-playing Platforms : Microsoft Windows - Xbox One - PlayStation 4 - Nintendo Switch. Given that it appears to have sprung from more or less nowhere, The Outer Worlds feels miraculously fully formed and deliciously distinctive. While it could be lazily categorised as steampunk, its visuals pay glorious homage to both 1950s sci-fi comics like Dan Dare and the sort of graphics that prevailed when HG Wells and Jules Verne were introducing the idea of sci-fi to the world. On paper, it might sound derivative: as a single-player, first-person shooter-based RPG, it's undeniably reminiscent of Fallout (with perhaps a dash of Borderlands thanks to some bonkers weaponry). And it pays little heed to modern gaming trends – not only does it eschew any form of multiplayer, but its extensive game-world isn't an open one; instead, it is divided into planets in which most of the inhabitants reside in walled towns and cities. When you play The Outer Worlds, however, it feels anything but derivative or old-fashioned. Even its loading screens manage to consistently entertain you, and its gameplay is taut and focused – like that of Fallout with the extraneous fat removed. It contains the complex systems you expect to find in an action-RPG – including a skills tree, armour and weaponry modding, a perks system and a sprawling inventory of consumables and loot to scavenge – but like its gameplay, those systems have been pared to their very essence, so it never feels bafflingly complex. Story-wise, The Outer Worlds grips you from the outset and spirals off in some great and frequently hilarious directions. Set in a retro-future in which mankind has started to colonise other solar systems, it takes place on various planets and space-stations within an Earth-colonised solar system, called Halcyon. It opens with an outlaw mad professor type, Phineas Welles, gaining access to The Hope, a spaceship stranded and abandoned – following a bureaucratic mix-up – in the Halcyon system, containing hundreds of thousands of settlers from Earth who are still in suspended animation. Welles liberates one hibernation cell, containing you (so you can choose your character's sex, appearance and a skill-buffing attribute), rouses you on his secret space-base, then ejects you in a pod to Terra 2, the nearest planet, where an adventurer called Captain Hawthorne awaits to help you out. Hawthorne is squashed by your pod, though, so your first task is to reach his spaceship and get it going – which kicks off a hilarious narrative romp that, among other aspects, relentlessly takes the mickey out of corporate excess. In Halcyon, corporations have effectively replaced any form of government – each town is dominated by a particular one – and it swiftly becomes clear that the shadowy Board, which oversees them all, is doing a bang-up job of running the entire solar system into the ground. Your overriding mission is to revive as many of The Hope's inhabitants as possible, so that they can take over from The Board and run Halcyon in a less self-serving, money-grabbing and paralytically bureaucratic manner. Even the game's stylised, whimsical visuals fail to hide an undercurrent of biting anti-corporate satire. Do the right thing, or don't Not that you necessarily have to do the right thing. At the end of pretty much every mission or side-mission in The Outer Worlds, you can opt to betray those for whom you were performing the mission (it contains many factions, and your status as a friend or enemy of each is meticulously logged) and use the mission object or information for your own ends, reshaping the story in the process. As a result, there's loads of incentive to play through this game a number of times. Gameplay-wise, The Outer Worlds may use Fallout 3's blueprint as a base – you're regularly beset by groups of enemies, which have weak spots and must be shot or meleed – but it adds plenty of its own elements too. Those include a time-dilation move which slows down proceedings temporarily, allowing you to get a handle on the enemies you face and get the jump on them. There's a health-restoring inhaler which can also be loaded with meds that give you temporary buffs, such as increased resistance to bullets and status effects. And, most importantly, you're not just a lone wolf: throughout the course of the game, you accumulate a band of willing, AI-controlled accomplices (up to two at a time, anyway), who fight alongside you and have special moves that can be triggered. Wicked weaponry The weaponry on offer is great too. Obsidian clearly took plenty of cues from Borderlands in that respect. You accumulate a vast assortment of guns and melee weapons so you can, for example, kit one companion out with a grenade launcher and another with a plasma rifle or a sniper rifle, according to the enemies you face. There are two types of ammo: light and heavy. Weapons deteriorate with use, so you must repair them and improve them with mods, and you can carry a generous arsenal of up to four in total. But the coolest weapons come with their own discovery missions: called science weapons, and utterly in keeping with the Dan Dare vibe, these mess around amusingly with the laws of physics. One example is a shrink ray, which temporarily renders enemies tiny. The Outer Worlds' shooting engine is immaculate too: precise and with plenty of feel. As you level-up and buff your party members with perks, you develop the satisfying ability to take on large groups of dangerous enemies. Although you always have to take a tactical approach, swapping companions if needs be. There are some outbreaks of (not overly taxing) puzzling in the game, and you often find in missions that there are ways in which you can stack the odds in your favour, for example by taking out one particular type of enemy, as long as you're prepared to sleuth around a bit. The missions are pleasantly varied and thoroughly entertaining. All the way through, The Outer Worlds' writing is absolutely superb. Its game-world is utterly inviting and gloriously distinctive. One great showcase for the writing is a set of dialogue-based missions concerning each of your companions, which feel like mini-soap operas. Pumping up your dialogue skill pays dividends: you get plenty of chances to use words, rather than guns, to achieve your mission-goals, thus dialogue is a major part of the game. If you're a fan of action-RPGs and crave some proper Fallout-style action that's distilled to its proper essence – i.e. with none of that building nonsense or other extraneous elements – then you'll love The Outer Worlds.

Welcome.

Welcome To CSBD.

Welcome.

Welcome.

Happy birthday Dude.

Game Informations Developers : 10birds Corporation Released : Dec 14, 2017 Genre : Action RPG Platforms : Android - iOS - xBox - Microsoft windows The Dark Souls series is an extremely po[CENSORED]r game franchise that is infamous for its brutal difficulty, methodical combat, and merciless boss fights. I especially loved the series’ “spin-off", Bloodborne on the Playstation 4. As usual, I enjoy discovering games on the App Store that are similar to some of my favorite games on console or PC. Luckily, Animus- Stand Alone ($3.99) proudly wears its Dark Souls/Bloodborne inspirations on its sleeve! Many people believe that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Let’s see if this saying holds true, shall we? Animus is set in a dark and dreary world where everything wants you dead, whether it be scorpion-like monsters or a gigantic black knight wielding a shield and sword that are almost as large as himself. Your main goal is to escape this horrible place (or die trying) by defeating various groups of enemies, as well as several bosses. Fortunately, you have a friendly and informative guide named Lethe to help give you hints/tips on how to persevere through the numerous dangerous situations you find yourself in. As soon as I booted up the game, I could immediately tell that the graphics of Animus are top-notch and thoroughly detailed. I really appreciated seeing the glint of the sun on my armor and the intricate designs of various armor pieces, weapons, and enemies. The aesthetics of Animus give off a strong Dark Souls vibe and I love it. The sounds of clashing metal, the clinking of heavy chain mail, and the disturbing screams of enemies all added further depth and detail to the game’s beautiful visuals. However, it’s important to note that these visuals come at a cost to your device’s battery. You need to make sure to turn down the graphical settings of the game if you want to conserve your battery, especially if you are playing the game on a phone. Animus is divided into several sections of levels that contain different enemies, bosses, and potential loot drops. Loot drops can come in the form of gear, weapons, currency, and materials. Gear can cause drastic changes to gameplay, as well as the look of your character. It will feel completely different when you use a spear, in comparison to a sword. Equipment in the game has different stats that attribute to their own strengths/weaknesses. Currency and materials are used to level up your existing gear. Animus’ loot system feels a lot like the loot system of a Monster Hunter game, where you can find yourself in the addicting loop of grinding for specific materials and gear to become stronger. The stronger you get, the stronger bosses you will be able to defeat. I love the Monster Hunter series and this was an added bonus for me. Choosing to not have an open world is one aspect in which Animus strays a little bit away from the Dark Souls formula. However, I think this is a perfect deviation for the game to make since it can facilitate shorter play sessions, depending on how much time you have on your hands. Either way, you will be making progress towards more loot, better gear, and harder levels/bosses. Each level takes around 5-10 mins to complete. You will encounter small hordes of weaker enemies that each have different move sets and behaviors. Their move sets and behaviors need to be learned and memorized for future encounters. Bosses will be waiting for you at the end of each level and each one is unique. This is where the game truly shines. I felt like I was constantly improving my skills at the game and learning how to defeat these difficult bosses. It was rewarding to finally defeat a difficult boss (that previously kicked my butt) after becoming better as a player. The combat of Animus feels heavy and impactful. It is a bit faster-paced than the combat of Dark Souls but it still scratches the same itch. You have the ability to heal, block, dash, and combo two different types of attacks. As you land blows on enemies, a special ability meter will charge up. You can use different attacks once you activate this ability and it changes up your combat style significantly. I had to learn when certain situations required me to use each of these actions and I was severely punished for any missteps. Its the survival of the fittest in Animus. You must adapt or die.

Game Informations Developers :Jason Rohrer Released : 8 November 2018 Genre : Survival Platforms : Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux. On the surface it’s easy to assume that One Hour One Life ($3.99), aside from its aesthetic, is just another survival game amidst the flood consistently being released across all video game platforms. While One Hour One Life at its core is a more mechanically deep version of Don’t Starve, you will find yourself playing for player interaction and the hard decisions you are forced to make on the fly. One Hour One Life isn’t a survival simulation per se, more of a human origin simulation where every action you take could be the beginning or the snowballing end to a blooming civilization’s attempt at growth. Prior to the journey beginning, One Hour One Life nudges you through a required tutorial that gives you the base knowledge of how to exist and interact with the world. You’ll spawn in as a young adult female, fully capable of doing the required tasks at hand. Only in time are you ready to take on the world: carving a rock against another larger rock to create your first harvesting tool up to your first axe, a godsend in creating your first fire. Even as the fully capable human you are onboarded with, you will die before the tutorials completion. Multiple times. You see, death isn’t a potential outcome: it’s a guarantee. Upon each death you are given a graph showing the family tree, further emphasizing that one wrong move could be over in a minute. As you finally find ground as to what you think One Hour One Life is, everything you know is thrown out the window. One Hour One Life is a 100% online permadeath game where all characters on the server are actually players. Post-tutorial, with no choice as to climate or location, you are born as a one year old child to a mother (“Eve") who is your only option to survive — especially with an almost non-existent health pool. Your only form of verbal communication is frustrating but realistic single text letters. Good luck. It’s worth noting: to balance out po[CENSORED]tion, you have a small chance to be “born" as a young adult character if babies outnumber sustainable mothers on your server. At this moment, the first domino tumbles and regardless of the outcome, you have left a mark on the environment. Your birth alone is an almost immediate strain on resources. At birth, you may have a great mother: one who names you, focuses solely on you and keeps you alive to become a contributing member of society. At the age of three you can begin to use tools, accomplish small tasks and help your family survive. This world is a harsh one, that seemingly only intends to kill you, and odds typically are not in your favor. Maybe your mother is near death and breastfeeding will lead to an early death, requiring her to make a moral decision with each passing minute. Maybe you’ll spawn with a mother that has two children already, knowing it’s too much and you’re ultimately left unnamed and to die. One could only hope to be born to a mother of an “advanced" village, with thick mud walls protecting the farm. The more common outcome, sadly, is to a mother barely sustaining herself in the woods desperately searching for previous fallen townships to find anything for her next meal. In One Hour One Life, you age a year per minute with each year opening more and more possibility to you. If you make it to age 60, you’ll die of old age, which is very uncommon. In my time played, I’ve had the opportunity to experience the death of an elder — leaving such an impact on the village, every resident left to mourn the fallen elder. Ultimately I was ignored and died of starvation. It’s not uncommon for the first hour or so that you play that you’ll be lucky to see the age of 6 or 7. Even at age 3, you’re barely able to say a three letter word like “Mom" much less find berries or food for yourself. You have no role, no job — but with any semi-organized group that you are lucky enough to spawn into, hopefully someone will be at base delegating tasks. In the event that no one is, the best thing you can do is try to assist around the farm, gathering berries or making food baskets for the elders. While survival and sustenance are typical player motivation, nothing is stopping you from being a monster. From murder and thievery to destroying as much of a resource that you possibly can — you are left to your own motivation and imagination. For instance, I was forced to leave an encampment and stumbled upon a large village where I was told “I wasn’t welcome" and even though I was starving, I was instructed not to steal from their farm. As a kneejerk response, I hid silently on the edges, only appearing to gather and chow down some of their carrots only to survive. After a few years, I was found and killed. It was only after the fact, the realization hit about the extent I likely hurt their progress. Many future children died because of my attempt at retaliation. Only through experience will you begin to have a birth “build order." There are some quality of life items (i.e. a marker to guide you home), but it’s best to experience and grow through osmosis just by playing. I would recommend staying away from wikis and learning purely by trial and error. It leads to a more exciting experience even at the expense of those around you. The developer trickles out new tech on an almost weekly basis, with new tech seemingly relying on when the player base achieves milestones. It’s a slow process of advancement but one with no end in sight. It’s hinted at through the trailer that, one day in the far future, you’ll be capable of building modern housing with modern appliances. For right now, in the world of One Hour One Life, mud walls are a luxury. The aesthetic of One Hour One Life might turn some off but due to the nature of choices, might make you feel less evil. I’ve experienced a birth in the middle of the woods, to a mother who gave her life just to keep me sustained. I aged to the point where I also spawned a child. I couldn’t sustain them in the long run and as a wolf appeared I opted to drop the child to aid my escape. Shortly thereafter, karma caught up as I died of starvation mere steps from an abandoned encampment. While these actions might make me sound evil, it’s the tough choices that will sit with you long after you play.

Game Informations Developers :Motion Twin Released : August 6, 2018 Genre : Roguelike, metroidvania Platforms : Microsoft Windows - Nintendo Switch - XBox One - PlayStation 4 - macOS - Lunix - iOS - Android Ever feel the need to embark on an adventure across a plague-ridden island, die a few times, and kill a king? Me neither. Apparently someone did, though, and brought us Dead Cells ($8.99), a kick-ass rogue-lite with more undead monstrosities than a bad horror flick. Not that you’ll notice them, though—you’ll be far too busy wondering where your head went, why you just can’t manage to stay dead, and what happened to throw this prison into such disarray. Don’t get so caught up in trying to solve these mysteries that you can’t take time to kick back and admire the view, though! Dead Cells is fun. Actually, it’s really fun—one of the best games I’ve played this year, in fact. The art is beautiful, the gameplay is smooth, challenging, and rewards both practice and patience; the soundtrack is superb, and rewarding exploration with story is something I quite enjoy. It is, in a word, amazing. However, it is not perfect. Despite the effort to devise controls that feel natural and work well for a complicated and fast-paced game, they just aren’t good enough. Even with the extensive customisation available, it’s all too easy to whiff a dodge, botch a jump, or simply move the wrong way. Without a controller or a keyboard, the game becomes much, much harder, and it’s not a small difference. Art and sound design are as integral to a game as the gameplay itself. Poor art or unsatisfying sound effects can turn an otherwise astounding game into a mediocre time sink at best. Similarly, incredible music and artwork can compensate for otherwise tedious or boring gameplay. Fortunately, there is no need to compensate for anything here. The music is fast, always pushing you to move just a little faster, go for just one more hit, and always take that risk. It’s a perfect fit for a fast game that pushes its players to always be on their toes. Similarly, the sound effects when hitting enemies, smashing to the ground, breaking down doors, or even getting hit, are impactful and satisfying, lending a certain weight to actions. While the music and sound are good, the art is simply gorgeous. While it may be pixel art, it is incredibly detailed, well done, and did I say gorgeous? Take a break atop the Ramparts and admire the view, look out from the Clockmaker’s Tower at the clouded skies, or gaze at the island as a whole from the Throne Room. Wherever you are, and wherever you look, there is beautiful pixel art. Now, while being visually impressive is important, it does come second to conveying relevant information in a readable, and enjoyable, way. Dead Cells does this well too. Enemies are visually distinct, and have clean, clear animations. While there are a few exceptions, they are just that: Exceptions. Between the animations and enemy design, reading enemy tells and learning how to interpret them is made to be part of the fun, rather than a confusing obstacle. Between the sound design and the art, Dead Cells feels really good to just sit and play. It’s not a game you can relax with, necessarily, not with its fast-paced nature, but it is a game that rewards a successful parry, or complementing one item with another for more damage, or a greater effect, or some other synergy. Finding and using these tricks accentuates the satisfaction of slamming down on an undead archer from above, pounding a scorpion with a hammer, evading a pouncing zombie, or putting a halt to a charge from a shieldbearer. It’s the little, individual feel-good things that add up to a sense of accomplishment when they are mastered and used to beat a particularly troublesome elite monster, or beat a boss, or race through a level in record time, that rewards all the practice and prematurely ended runs. Sound design and art only play a partial role in determining how a game feels to play, though. The other, equally important, part is gameplay, and boy is the gameplay solid. At its most basic, Dead Cells is a 2D hack & slash platformer with combat reminiscent of Dark Souls, or Bloodborne—that is to say hard, unforgiving, and incredibly rewarding when it finally “clicks". Layered on that is a rogue-lite (or, as they call it, a “RogueVania&quot system, where death puts you back at the start, but with the benefit of preserving unlocked equipment and tools for use in the future. Finding all the different weapons and tools is reason enough to explore, but in addition to that there is usually more than one way to leave a stage. Whichever path you take the end is always the same, but the journey is different and offers different enemies and, as such, different equipment blueprints to acquire and secrets to find. Building on the “RogueVania" idea, when gear and powers drop from enemies, it almost always drops as a blueprint which must be researched before it can be used. There are exceptions (notably amulets, monsters will occasionally drop usable equipment from what you have unlocked), but not many. If players die before they make it to a safe zone at the end of a biome, they lose any blueprints acquired, as well as cells and gold. In addition to unlocking new gear, these safe zones also provide the means to enhance equipment, heal up, and take a single mutation. These mutations are passive abilities that can provide a degree of flexibility, or double down on something you’re already good at. Choose wisely, though! You can only have three at a time, and it becomes very costly to reset them. Everything about Dead Cells is fast and pushing you to go even faster. The music, the animations, the enemies walking around, bursting from the ground, or descending from the ceiling—everything. Move faster, hit faster, dodge later. It’s no wonder, then, that you’ll eventually slip up and take a hit here and there. For quite a while that’s alright—there’s a lot of healing in the biomes themselves, nevermind the free healing after each. All you’ve really lost is your untouchable status which is, admittedly, valuable. But then you beat the game and unlock your first Boss Stem Cell. All of a sudden, the kid gloves have come off. There’s less healing, and harder enemies appear earlier. Every hit feels like it hurts twice as much, enemies feel twice as tough, and there are twice as many. Oh, and those free health refills between each stage? Those are gone too. Good luck! With the precision required to time dodges and still get hits in, it’s no wonder why controls are so important. Before I rip on them, though, it’s worth noting that Playdigious has done an admirable job with onscreen controls. They are good, and they may even be good enough with practice. By default, they are arrayed in a way that makes sense: The jump, dodge, and interact buttons are easy to reach and close to the side of the screen, and the buttons to activate your gear are a little to the left. They aren’t quite as easy to reach, which is unfortunate, they are not uncomfortably far away. Movement is handled on the left side of the screen with either a floating touch pad or a fixed touch pad (changeable in the settings). Not so bad, right? Maybe a little complicated, but that’s alright! And it is. Until a parry is the difference between dying and not, or five seconds are the difference between finishing the stage in time and not, or the only way to avoid taking damage is to immediately drop down and execute a downward slam. These are not niche situations either; they occur regularly, and without precise controls and a familiarity with them, it’s very hard to successfully navigate any of them. So while the onscreen controls may be good, they are simply not as good as a controller. Fortunately, for those who have an MFi controller handy, or those who are running the iOS 13 beta, you can use a controller. Is Dead Cells well suited to being a mobile game? Personally, I think so, but I would also love to see games like Stellaris or Mirror’s Edge on mobile as well. Generally speaking, if the thought of using a controller to play a game on your iPhone or iPad is anathema, then this is almost certainly not the game for you. On the other hand, if that sounds like the greatest thing since sliced bread and goat cheese, you’re in the right place at just the right time. But, regardless of platform or what controls you choose to use, there’s no question about it: Dead Cells is an amazing game, and anyone interested in rogue-lites would be well advised to give it a shot at their earlies convenience.

Welcome.

Welcome Back.

Welcome.

Welcome.