Helltaker (PC) (2020)

Overview: Short free-to-play puzzle game. The game's primary story consists of reaching the end of each level within a fixed number of moves.

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One of the NPCs

20220412:
Today I decided to play Helltaker, because it was the 17th best Steam game of all time according to gamer reviews (as reported by steam250.com). This was the highest game among games I could play, but had yet to play (with some level of satisfaction).

Setup: 3840 x 2160 (resolution), Ultra (graphics quality)

The sixth level

Gameplay Log:
Beat the game
Read a guide about secret endings.
Beat the additional chapter, Examtaker
Used the guide to activate the portal (in highsight, there are three inscriptions which provide the directions for activating the portal)
Collected the three inscriptions
Used a different guide to get the Lifetaker achievement

Main story boss

Steam Game Time: 2.6 hours

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Thoughts:
Pros:
+ Cute story
+ Surprisingly entertaining
+ Good music
+ Good artwork

Player character for the additional chapter

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Summary:
What a wonderful game. Moreover, it's free! Highly recommended.

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Helltaker (PC) (2020)

Relevant Links:
Helltaker (Wikipedia.org)
Helltaker (Steam Store Page)

Salt and Sanctuary (PC) (2016)

20220409:
Today I was waiting for another game to download and decided to play this game which was already downloaded. I reached the Sodden Knight and the difficulty he poses is a good challenge, but I dislike making the same long trek back to the boss (though I'm to understand that this aspect is common with Souls-like games).

I've yet to beat him, but in my last two or so fights I tested the ability to block his sword attacks with the shield. The player character can block his sword attacks with the shield, so early on it's a matter of reading whether or not he's going to use a sword attack or his lightning attack. When he uses his lightning attack, the player only has to jump over the attack and not be far away. The player can do a jump attack to simultaneously deal damage. Unfortunately it gets a little trickier when his HP runs low, because then he starts executing longer combos (I believe three consecutive attacks).

While writing the above, I watched a video where I saw the player used a bomb when the boss was very low on HP, and the bomb apparently does a fair amount of damage.

EPIC Games - You've Played: 44m 13s

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20220410:
I "easily" beat the Sodden Knight today, and continued my journey. At one point I got confused about the progression and looked up a map online. I continued until I was up against The Mad Alchemist but with only two health pots, I decided to ring the Bell and escape to the santuary.

EPIC Games - You've Played: 2h 47m 47s

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Early Impressions:
As a Souls-like, the game takes a hands-off approach to the mechanics, with various mechanics being delivered through the messages in a bottle. I'm not a fan of this feature, but I suppose that's the culture of the genre.

Accepting the mystery with how the game works, one of the weaknesses of the game that sticks out to me is the clunky UI. I think the UI was heavily designed around being console friendly, which isn't bad, but I think there's a lack of responsiveness that makes the interface feel worse than it already is.

[20220410]

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