Frogmonster

Man, I really want to give this a recommend because it has some cool ideas, but I just keep running into issues that take all the fun out of it for me. The lack of respect for your time with boss runbacks and save point placement is a big one, but I keep mostly getting irritated at the lack of any real tactile feeling to getting hit and positioning. Enemies just run into you and you take damage, but there's no sense of weight and it just gets annoying. I don't enjoy just having things run into my face and the camera while I'm trying to back up but keep hitting walls. I'm sure there's a better way to describe it, but it feels "unfair"? in a way. Like I'm not being given the proper amount of information to play. I'm glad to see others liking it, and I want to as well, but I can't unfortunately.

About everything you can wish for when buying an indie game. Insane that the game (apart from the music) was made by only one person, Ben Jungwirth. Speaking of the music, the game got another soundtrack in an update, with dedicated tracks for every boss. I personally switched to the classic soundtrack rather quickly as I found the first track of the new soundtrack unbearable. The old soundtrack offers some neat tracks but also some underwhelming ones. Apart from the mediocre soundtrack, this game is an absolute gem. Fun characters, great world design, many many unique enemy types, interesting weapons, a satisfying progression, weapon upgrades, spells, secrets, a tongue for various purposes and last but not least, amazing boss fights. It also offers very impressive voxel graphics that put most triple A games to shame (and I mean that!). But this game in general puts most triple A games to shame. This is a game with so much character and soul. I can not recommend it enough. 5 out of 5 stars.

A solid Metroidvania style FPS focused around boss battles in a world of critters and bugs. Play as a newly created creature in the form of a bipedal frog, tasked with slaying the creations of evil wizard-like beasts hellbent on mastery of the world. Armed with a variety of firearms, blast your way through different wildlife while collecting bugs, ores, coin, and upgrade materials on your way to slay the boss of a particular biome. Gameplay is pretty solid, the mechanics of combat and movement being pretty on point for what they are aiming for. Gunplay is great, each weapon handling the way you would expect without feeling loose or awkward. Upgrades for your guns can be obtained in the city, using metal and coin to pick different upgrade paths for your weapon. Ultimate forms of your guns can be unlocked in the endgame, being the go-to from that point onward. Spells can be equipped to E,F, and G key, being your main form of healing throughout the game when bugs are not available to consume. Mana drops from defeated enemies, damaging bosses, and from bosses making different drops during combat. There is a bug you can equip to get mana back when taking damage as well, being a lifesaver from time to time for that little extra bit of mana to get a heal in. Platforming does exist to some extent, mainly for winding your way through one of the bosses and to leap from tree to tree to reach ledges. A tongue upgrade comes along later in the game, letting you swing and launch yourself upwards to reach new areas. Eating bugs gives you a variety of buffs, bonuses, and bits of health / mana depending on the bug. Bugs can be equipped in limited slots for specific effects, giving you things like faster reload, extra dashes, magnetic aura for collecting items, and way, way more. The only real downside is that there are a few bugs that are clearly superior to the others, and since space is limited to equip bugs, you will probably just use the same four-to-five bugs every time. Little side quests pop up here and there, requiring you to rescue a denizen of the local city for a reward - usually money. Sliding puzzles show up later in the game as well, netting you similar rewards. I'm a big fan of the voxel-style world that has been created, both biomes and creatures looking pretty great in the style they are using. There are a couple of points throughout the game where you can see yourself (aside from just looking down), so being able to change the colours of my bipedal frog is a nice touch too. Frogmonster took a little bit to grow on me, but once it did I was pretty hooked. It might take an hour or so to really vibe with the movement. I've seen Frogmonster starting to go on sale at a pretty decent price, so I'd say pick it up if you can while it is on sale, you'll have a good time. [quote]Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45701624-CthulhusMonocle-That-Next-Fest-Guy/]CthulhusMonocle - That Next Fest Guy[/url] for more game and Steam Next Fest demo reviews.[/quote]

This game has some of the best enemy and boss designs I've ever seen in any FPS. Every single boss feels unique and challenging. Most enemies do something interesting instead of being just a guy that shoots you or a guy that runs up to you. I found the characters fun and the writing funny. Movement is fun, as is exploring the world. There was only a single boss I would complain about. The one that, as far as I know, forces you to use certain weapons against it, and even then it wasn't a bad boss fight, just the weakest one. Every other one was a fun challenge. All in all, I'd rate this as an extremely enjoyable, challenging, fun shooter. Absolutely recommended.

I was impressed many times over while playing this game. Lots of fun exploration and combat, some very clever and satisfying design, and thoroughly charming throughout. It's moderately difficult, which I enjoyed but I imagine would be a negative for some. There is a setting for reduced difficulty, but I haven't tried it out, so I can't comment on it beyond its existence.

IT TOOK ME 43 HOURS TO ENJOY THIS GAME

Hollow Knight x Doom

The world design is really good up to a point. I think that just speaks to my lack of experience in metroidvanias. I still haven't finished this game, but I will one day. Pros: -Awesome visual style, that permeates the whole experience, everything is vibrant and seems a little silly, but it would often evoke childlike wonder that few games I've played capture. -Entertaining sound effects. -Mechanically very satisfying, especially catching and equipping different bugs. -Saying the boss design is amazing is a massive understatement. -Writing, while pretty bare bones is pretty fun and doesn't in any way detract from the overal experience. -all of the weapons are unique and actually feel necessary. -Using spells to regain lost health is a cool mechanic. -This game's version of the bonfire system makes it a lot easier to swallow, given the often brutal difficulty. -The Music is nice. -It's way more immersive than it has any right to be. -The overall theme and worldbuilding on offer means that exploration is constantly a surprise. -Unlocking movement and traversal abilities feels earned. -The developer may make more games in the future. -Frogs are cool. -This exists. The cons: -I found this game from a list of "boomer shooters," so the reputation this has has as a boomer shooter may be doing it a massive dis-service, despite the fact that this may not be what the developer intended. -At times it's incredibly difficult, especially in areas where escape is impossible and there's spawning waves of increasingly difficult enemies. -Finding out where to go can sometimes be frustrating, especially when more of the map has opened up. -The gunplay is less immediate than I would like, but this almost feels like a stylized decision. Maybe if the sound effects were different the guns would feel as though they're more impactful. -It is not clear what kind of frog we are playing as. -This game does not have the attention it deserves. This is ART.

Its meh at best. The look of the game is nice but its just your typical souls-like. Disappointed the dev decided to go with something that's been overused

Really good FPS with loads of content and great bosses.