Sentimental K

[h2]Narmaya's Review[/h2] Sentimental K is a visually charming and highly immersive 3D action roguelite. At first glance, the game hooks you in with its fluid combat and engaging mechanics. You play through various encounters trying out different weapons and skills, and the early hours are incredibly fun. The anime inspired aesthetics paired with the dynamic action make for a really strong initial impression for an Early Access title. The core gameplay revolves around fighting through rooms of enemies, memorizing attack patterns, and optimizing your build. I have sunk over 30 hours into Sentimental K and even ranked within the top 10 for all weapons on the global leaderboards, but it was by no means a smooth journey to get there. From Abyss 10 onwards, a time limit condition is introduced, and you are heavily punished if you don't kill enemies fast enough. This gradually shifts the game from a skill based experience to one completely reliant on luck. Even with perfect mechanical execution, you simply cannot meet the DPS check without the right artifact drops, and it becomes even more glaring since rare item drop rates plummet in the later stages. Clearing anything past Abyss 18 felt like sheer luck rather than a hard earned victory. [h2]Verdict: 6.5/10[/h2] Technically the game runs smoothly and the foundation of the combat is excellent. Sentimental K is by no means a bad game. On the contrary, the early runs are fantastic and the action is incredibly responsive. But the current balancing makes the final stages of the game stifling, frustrating, and ultimately unsatisfying. The heavy reliance on RNG to bypass artificial time limits ruins the otherwise rewarding combat mechanics. Until the developers address this balancing issue in future updates, the end game frustration is not something I would want others to experience. [quote][i]I write concise and in-depth reviews via the Steam Curator Program. If this was helpful, please consider following my Curator, [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/44230955-Narmaya-Onee-chan][b]Narmaya Onee-chan[/b][/url], for future recommendations.[/i][/quote]

I love. This damn game. Combos are smooth, the rogue-like feel is wonderful. As you progress further in the game you actually feel the challenges coming and it makes you really wonder if you want to take that next boss fight. The skills... The skills are so much fun. I clutch killed my very first zone boss with 0hp and an "avoid damage with dodge" enhancement on my sword. That to me, is what makes games memorable. Thank you Christmas sale. I'll be back with a better review after I beat Abyss 20.

[h1][i]Time flies when you're having fun, and you will be.[/i][/h1] [h2][i]-[u]Overview[/u]-[/i][/h2] [i]Sentimental K[/i] is an enjoyable action rougelike with nice visuals and smooth gameplay. Completing the levels doesn't take long - around 30-40 minutes total for me - but there's plenty of replay value due to the large variety of skills and items. There's no story or progression system, just fun gameplay. [quote]🎮[i]Sentimental K can be played with both keyboard/mouse and controller, though the latter is awkward in menus.[/i]🎮[/quote] [h2][i]-[u]Gameplay[/u]-[/i][/h2] [h3]Basics:[/h3] [i]Sentimental K[/i] sees players progressing through a series of dungeon levels battling various monsters with the simple goal of killing them all to progress. Players choose their route to the end boss via branching paths that include monster battles, miniboss fights, safe havens and random encounters that may or may not be beneficial. Being a rougelike, death means you start over from the beginning. [h3]Combat:[/h3] A small variety of weapons is present, each of which has a distinct moveset and its own set of advantages and disadvantages. All are fun to use, but the primary variation in one's loadout lies in their choice of skills and artifacts. A large quantity of both is available, and players get to choose one or more new skills after practically every fight, while artifacts are obtained less frequently. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2133922992 Skills can be equipped in up to four slots at a time, and are intuitive and satisfying to use. Status effects such as [i]vulnerability[/i] offer synergy between them, while artifacts provide significant passive effects that include causing enemies to explode on death, the player to revive if downed, large objects to fall from the ceiling, and much, much more. Enemies feature varied attacks and as a whole are pretty fun to battle, though there are a couple of outliers. A tanky healer unit often appears in groups of three or more, making itself and enemies annoyingly time consuming to dispatch. Using healer units to create a targeting priority for the player is good, but they're so tanky in groups that they're not even worth attacking until everything else is dead, defeating the purpose. A couple of enemies also have almost instantaneous, long range attacks which are hard to predict or dodge, making them very annoying in groups as it feels like one is taking unavoidable damage. Elite and boss enemies use a pretty standard recipe; big enemy with a big health-bar using various special attacks that are best avoided. The three main bosses of the game have very distinct themes and combat mechanics, and are an enjoyable challenge. While sometimes difficult, the boss fights never feel unfair. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2128601168 [h3]Level Design:[/h3] Levels in [i]Sentimental K[/i] are a series of enclosed combat arenas with varying amounts of open space to fight in. There are generally few obstacles to get in the way, with most arenas just being a large, flat space. Enemies are just spawned in the open, which is a little jarring. I imagine a more elaborate effect will be implemented for their spawns in the future. Themes change between levels, with some being bright and sunlit while others are dark caverns. Environmental hazards are not present; the player cannot fall off of ledges or into dangerous features. [h2][i]-[u]Technical[/u]-[/i][/h2] [quote][b]This game was played with the following PC specs:[/b] Intel i5-4440 3.10 GHz 16GB DDR3 RAM GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER 4GB 1680x1050 resolution HDD[/quote] [h3]Visuals:[/h3] [i]Sentimental K[/i] has a pleasant visual style, with simple level geometry and soft lighting. It's easy on the eyes, and particle effects for weapons and skills are excellent; they're vibrant and unique without being blinding or intrusive. Player and enemy character models look nice, but lack consistency. Enemies in a single battle can include armoured knights, floating gold statues and sentient windows that shoot lasers. I have to wonder if they're just a random selection of models purchased from the Unity asset store or similar. If so, they may just be placeholders as the game is still in early access. The game's main bosses, however, are unique and have distinct themes that influence not only their appearance, but their abilities and combat style too. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2133918806 The U.I is nice and simple, with easily visible target indicators and nice art for the skill icons. The English translation needs work, with small errors such as the plural for [i]“gold”[/i] being written as [i]“golds”[/i], or a description reading [i]“with the player”[/i] when it really means [i]“to the player”[/i]. Thankfully, with context these mistakes are easy to see through. [h3]Performance:[/h3] Using the specs listed above I got a fairly consistent 60fps on the “very high” setting. The game feels very smooth to play, and flows nicely. [h3]Audio:[/h3] Sound effects in [i]Sentimental K[/i] are very crisp and satisfying, though music is limited to a single ambient track for each of the three acts. These tracks aren't bad, but they get old pretty quickly. [h3]Issues:[/h3] For some reason I cannot select a resolution in the game options. Thankfully it automatically applied the correct one. [h2][i]-[u]Summary[/u]-[/i][/h2] [i]Sentimental K[/i] is a highly enjoyable game that's easy to pick up and play casually, while also being addictive. Good variety in skills and artifacts makes replayability high, and I look forward to more content being added as it continues toward a full release. [b]I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a smooth, casual game that's easy to pick up and enjoy in short bursts.[/b] [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/37072886][quote]If you're looking for more quality reviews like this, follow our curator page, [b]Devils in the Detail[/b].

I gave this game a try since a lot of the comments praised the game as being a hidden gem. Sadly I cannot agree. The game suffers a lot from its poor visuals, the first thing i noticed when I started playing is how dull the game felt. Some of the combat is actually fun however, the two swords in the game actually feel nice to play and combo nicely with a lot of the skills you can find. On the topic of the skills, they're a mixed bag, some feel great and combo into others and others feel completely useless. My biggest problem was how repetetive the game felt. Mind you, I only played a handful of runs, but by the time I was on the second floor on my first run I stopped feeling like I was discovering new things. Room layouts started becoming repetetive, skills and weapons were worse than those I had equipped so there was no incentive to switch up my playstyle. It would've been fine if this was just a first run issue but this was an issue I faced every single run. The enemy design is pretty bad but I actually enjoyed a lot of the boss fights in the game. The only one I came across that I would say I have a problem with is the Terror bossfight. While it is a decent fight, the timed mechaninc just didn't feel right for a boss where I feel it is more natural to be slower and more methodic. In conclusion, Im sure this game is really good for the right people but it has way to many issues for me to recommend it.

Played 2 hours and feels like I've seen everything. The main problem I feel with the game is it's enemies' attacks telegraphing. All enemies and bosses have set of moves, which you cannot predict, they generally aren't telegraphed and just instantly damages you. Only just by a some sort of miracle I beated game with initial weapon. All other weapons: guns, heavy sword, spear - all feels like a downgrade just because they have too much animation stuns, which makes these problems even worse. Heavy sword on top of that makes your dashes shorter which literally kills you during boss battles, yikes! So do I feel like continue and try to overcome these ♥♥♥♥♥? No, ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, no.

So This game, its.. honestly pretty good, there are some minor issues i have with it, but theyre not dealbreaking for me. 1: Translation, its clear that this game wasnt originally made in english nor is it the dev's first language. Its very playable though, no major complaints 2: Enemies.. Medieval Knights teaming up with Hindu statues and.. Goblin kids? i dont even know, the theming could use a little more work, they almost seem like theyre premade assets that are just somewhat put in as placeholders, again though, not a major issue. 3: Some enemies have no/very little windup, they just attack leaving no time to react and avoid damage 4: The Hindu Statues. Nerf their healing, please, for the love of god. Other than that, its an alright game, enjoyable combat, good vfx and sfx, its satisfying and the bosses are well themed

It isn't bad in the sense that it doesn't work. Attacking is responsive, abilities seem to do what they say. Although I did have an issue with one would randomly freeze the player character. There is a sense of jank to it though. The main reason reason I don't recommend is because it is lacking any character or soul. It is just void of any identity. Just seems like a school project that someone put together in a month and decided to sell. A+ school project don't get me wrong, but still a school project. The "Action camera itself is a pain too, there is a reason all the good top down games don't do something like that. Interacting with giant question marks that seem to be in place of NPCs? The enemy character models are different styles so clearly taken from some asset store. Which is fine in and of itself but since they are don't really go together cohesively is just makes it feel the dev just wants to make a quick buck. You do you man, but it is not something that I want to spend time on.

A really neat combination of a rougelike with action game mechanics. While it may take a moment to get used to the controls, it never feels like you're fighting against the controls. The movement is smooth, the attack options are varied, you can build various skill combos, there is a lot of depth to how you engage the enemies. Once you play a little, you'll experience that familiar feeling of "let's just clear another room before I quit... wait, it's 3 AM?" I'm definitely looking forward to the full game.

I really, really, really want to like this game and recommend it. Hell, maybe I will change my review in the future. As it stands though, it is -incredibly- frustrating. Especially when going up against Depression as a boss. Her "standard" attack is just... broken. I understand challenging gameplay, but when I beat the boss with a doom-timer who regularly sends you running around aimlessly more reliably than the only boss that has a "pattern" and telegraphed attacks, something is wrong. The soundtrack is definitely amazing, and the general gameplay is really good. But a lot of the things are unbalanced and off, which is not how a roguelike should be.

Honestly it's kind of annoying to play. Most of the time your combos knock enemies out of your range so you whiff attacks. There is almost no map variety and the ones that exist are beyond boring. The animations look cheap and aren't really all that impressive, the weapons have very little detail and the progression tends to feel more punishing rather than rewarding as you're constantly replacing skills to try and find "better" ones that aren't really better. It's also TWENTY FIVE DOLLARS US!? No. Not worth it. Don't buy it.