BELOW

Hidden gem.

Atmospheric, immersive and smooth. Tedious, shallow and wasteful, even on explore mode. I just can't bear running down from the top again. After two deaths, I'm no longer interested in the game loop.

Good game but not for everybody. If you have the patience and curious about a mysterious world then you should give it a try. I played through Survival mode (big mistake) but I highly encourage new people to play on EXPLORE mode. You will still get the achievements and enjoy the game more. Survival mode is dumb ignore it at all cost. You are being thrown into a random world to explore. There is no specific story. Remember EXPLORE MODE

This game is a little difficult to recommend. However, there is so much done right that I haven't gotten from any other game. Below is a very punishing game, more so than it is difficult. I had to take two different multi-month-long breaks because dying was so demoralizing. If this sounds like it might be you, it's worth trying out explore mode as the amazing atmosphere is there all the same. Explore mode is a bit of a mixed bag removing the needlessly cruel one-hit-kills, but also the survival mechanics. I expect most people to prefer it. Beyond the difficulty, Below is a masterclass in ambiance. The sound and visual design is standout, while leaving room for tense and careful gameplay. The survival complements the combat and breaching into the unknown feels exhilarating. There's a certain type of person who I can imagine has Below as their favorite game, but they'd need a strong will to get over the difficulty. Explore mode is a heartbreaking compromise because the peaks are so much lower. The developers were right to make it as punishing as they did, but players were right to complain. Try this game if you like exploration and mystery or if you like horror movies. Don't be shy about looking up a guide if you'd otherwise give up.

Man what a bummer.. Great presentation, visuals, soundtrack. I should love it in fact there's been plenty of games that are similar that I adore. And with the explore mode I hoped it would remove a lot of the tedium and frustration I had with it initially. But nope! A lot of it had to do with the general mechanics and approach. -The gameplay just isn't satisfying enough to fight against hordes of annoying enemies all the time. -The exploration of the different levels is fine but realistically you'll revisit them a dozen times at which point you'll want to punch a wall. -Gathering resources is not difficult but again, you'll be doing all over again multiple times because some knife wielding douchebag decided to hit you through your shield. -The explore mode makes it easier but it doesn't really fix the main problem which is the whole backtracking thing. Oh and guess what? Now that you dropped your lamp on level 10 you'll have to fight through the knife guys again to get it. It's THIS close to being a great experience but the mechanics hold it back so much it's insane. In fact to this day it's the only game I literally wanted to remove from my library as soon as I was done.

Below looks and sounds amazing. The atmosphere and soundtrack are easily the best parts. But the difficulty feels inflated in the wrong ways. The forced zoomed-out camera makes everything tiny and hard to read. The game explains almost nothing, and random traps + sudden deaths turn “hard but fair” into “hard and annoying.” Corpse runs and the awkward campfire fast travel system just add more frustration. There’s a cool idea here, and the polish is obvious, but the survival/roguelike elements overpower the exploration vibe. Great music. Interesting concept. Exhausting to play. https://howlongtobeat.com/user/mentalmynx/reviews/u-21675/1

This game deserves to be considered on it's artistic merits. However, If you're looking for something like: - Zelda - Hyper light drifter I don't think this is going to scratch that itch. This is more like a modern day deadly towers. If you're looking for something closer to the above titles I would try Tunic first or wait for this to go on sale.

You could study this game to better understand what "game feel" is. They nail that on every front. You could also study this to know what overstaying your welcome means and how NOT to make your game a chore instead of fun and rewarding. They didn't balance well enough in this area and as a result, that aspect overshadowed the positives. I wanted to love this game but it asks too much of you. If they cut the game length in half at very least it wouldn't be so bad. There is a glitch on the elevators where if you hold A (or something) you die for no reason. I looked up a speedrun since I couldn't waste any more time on this game and boy am I glad that I didn't see it through. The ending is not rewarding in the slightest, nor is it interesting enough to be worth the wait.

I love Capy's games, but this one didn't do it for me. I loved the aesthetics of this game, but they all come at the price of game design. I can see what they were going for, and I think my twelve-year-old self in the nineties would have loved it. Now? Not so much. I don't have time for this.

High-skill combat roguelike. If you love a challenge, the ambiance and story really unfold down at the lower levels but it gets to be a bit ridiculous how tedious it can be, so this game isn't for everyone