Lights Off (PC) Review

 

Lights Off is a short Horror Game by The Dollar Game Store, which is based on the idea of turning all the lights out at night before you got to bed. Since the game turned out to be rather successful for an Indie game, it even got a remake in the form of Lights Off Directors Cut. As that is more of a reimagining than a remaster, I will be reviewing it in a separate article. Today we are just focussing on the original Lights Off. 

The game uses a very simple Pixel visual design and the gameplay is also very basic. Lights Off is a walking simulator, in which you can turn off light switches and go to bed. A bit more gameplay elements would have really enriched the experience. It doesn't need to be much, but even just the options to look at a book or turning on the TV, would have been immersive additions.

The concept is interesting. Turning off all the light switches and walking through your pitch black home is a scenario everyone can relate to. I also like how the game doesn't immediately tries to scare you to death. The pacing is quite nice and procedurally increases. That being said, Lights Off is another of these small Horror games with a cool concept, which is just way to short. You will beat this game in less than 10 minutes, which is just too brief. I also have to question the sanity of the protagonist. After the things that happened during the first couple of days I wouldn't be able to keep living there and falling asleep at the same home. The ending of the game might be fitting, but the execution is unfortunately subpar and leaves a bit to be desired.

 

Result:

Lights Off is another of these promising Indie Horror games, which has a great premise, but doesn't manage to live up to its potential. I really like the scenario and pacing of the game, but its short length and lack of gameplay elements unfortunately limit its impact. Most of the scary elements feel too passive. It will be interesting to see whether the director's cut remake can improve these areas.

 

5.8/10

Intruder (PC) Review

 

'Intruder' is the second Horror Game by Timberwell and even plays in the same universe as 'Almost Home Now', his first game, which I recently reviewed on this blog as well. You are at your home, while you suddenly hear somebody apparently breaking into your house. It is your job to explore your house and find the intruder.

Intruder, same as Almost Home Now, manages to create a really intense atmosphere. You hear ominous background music and creepy noises coming from somewhere inside the house. There is a tense feeling present, when you explore room after room, while trying to find the intruder. The psychological Horror aspect is therefore also the biggest strength of Intruder.

Nonetheless, the game is once more one of wasted potential. Intruder will be beaten in around 5 minutes, which is once again just too short. The design of the house you explore is actually fine, but it is just way, way, way too empty. It doesn't even remotely look like somebody is actually living there. Multiple rooms just have nothing inside and most of the others have just one object like a bed or closet. Except for opening doors there is also once again no real gameplay elements. The game starts promising with the player watching his PC monitor and grabbing some items. There is however nothing else in the house you can interact with. Anything would have really helped to keep the immersion.

 

Result:

Same as Almost Home Now, Intruder has a promising concept, with exploring your house to catch an intruder. The intense atmosphere while exploring the house is the games biggest strength. Everything else unfortunately leaves too much to be desired. Extend the game's length, fill the house with real things to make it look like a place, where someone actually lives and give some more gameplay elements, and than Intruder could have had potential. 

 

4/10

Fortnite Festival (PS5) 2024 Review Update

 

Last year in December I reviewed the recently released mode Fortnite Festival. I recommend the article (https://gamereviewnation.blogspot.com/2023/12/fortnite-festival-ps5-review.html), if you want to know what Fortnite Festival is and how i rated it. Now nearly a year has passed and I would like to do a short update.

5 seasons featuring musicians have been released during this time. It started in December 2023 with the first season called 'Opening Night', which featured a Festival Pass (the Fortnite Festival version of a Battle Pass) about the artist 'The Weekend'. The season lasted till February 2024 and was followed up by a season about Lady Gaga called 'Unlock your Talent'. That season lasted till April and was followed up by Season 3, which featured Billie Eilish. Festival also dropped the subtitles for their seasons from Season 3 onwards. June 2024 brought Season 4, the Metallica season. Fortnite also added a third festival game mode during this season with 'Battle Stage'. In August 2024 the fifth season released, which features Karol G and will last till November 2024.

As I just mentioned, Festival now has 3 different game modes. Last year Festival released with its main game mode 'Main Stage', in which you play a rhythm based minigame, where you have to hit the right buttons in time to perform the music notes. You can play with up to 3 other players.

'Jam Stage' on the other hand is more of a relaxing game mode, where you can freely walk around in a big concert area and play your instruments by emoting.

Battle Stage released during the Metallica season and is a Battle Royale version of the Main stage mode. The maximum amount of players has been increased from 4 to 16 and each player competes only for himself. There is no Duo or Squad option in Battle Stage mode. After every song a couple of players drop out until the Festival champion is being crowned after the final song. In contrast to Main Stage, where songs are being selected by the players before the match, all songs are random in Battle stage. Otherwise the pure gameplay in Main Stage and Battle Stage is identical.

Let's now take a quick look at the player numbers for the different Festival modes. Main Stage has been averaging in the last months a  daily player peak between 10.000-20.000, which is of course much lower than at release, when the mode had nearly a million players. Obviously the mode was going to drop off from the peak, but the numbers still look rather respectable and have been quite stable in the last 4-5 months. Like many people I believe that the Metaverse idea was a big mistake by Epic Games, but there definitely still seems to be a playerbase for Festival. Lego Fortnite for example still has a daily peak of 30.000-50.000 players, which is a lot more, but Main Stage still looks better in comparison to the 5.000-8.000 of Rocket Racing.

The same however can not be said about Battle Stage and Jam Stage. Battle Stage has been averaging around 1.000-2.000 players per day. Jam Stage has been stagnating around 1.000 players and in the last 2 months even often below that. So far both modes seem to continue dropping players. If we compare this with the around 2.000-3.000 average Party Royale players, than I can just repeat myself from my review last year. I don't see the point of having both Jam Stage and Party Royale in the game, which are very similar, while a game mode like Fortnite Imposters has been removed from the game. In my opinion they should just merge both modes, or port the musical emotes to Party Royale and remove Jam Stage. Battle Stages at least differentiates itself a little bit, but Festival doesn't seem to need 3 different game modes.

Of course, if we compare the player numbers to the Battle Royale game modes, Zero BR or even Fortnite Reload, than all the creative maps and the metaverse gamemodes look really insignificant. In my opinion it is pretty obvious that Epic has been taking away resources from Battle Royale since Chapter 4 and it doesn't seem to really pay off.

 

Result:

The addition of Battle Stage mode brought a bit more variety to Festival, but my initial view of the game from last year hasn't really changed.

Festival is still the only game mode, which practically never gives any XP for the main Battle Pass and only for its own Festival Pass, which for most players doesn't really make it worth spending time on. Additionally the prices are still way too high in Festival. The Festival Pass costs nearly double the price of the regular Battle Pass, which is just obscene and the individual songs for Festival also seem to be more expensive than in comparable game modes, like Rockband or Guitar Hero.

Fortnite Festival in 2024 is still a nice side attraction in Fortnite, but in my opinion the game mode hasn't really improved much, which is why I won't raise my score of 6.5/10 from last year. If you however never played Guitar Hero, Rockband and the like, this might be a decent alternative, considering it's a free game mode.

 

6.5/10

Slash/Jump (PC) Review

 

Slash/Jump is a dexterity based Platformer. The game is available for free on Steam and reminded me a lot of 'Deepest Sword' (a game which I also reviewed on this blog: https://gamereviewnation.blogspot.com/2021/10/deepest-sword-pc-review.html). Both games have 8 Bit inspired visuals, which look quite good, and an unconventional method of movement. While in Deepest Sword the protagonist moves on his own and uses his ever-growing Sword as a jump bar or a lifter, the character in Slash/Jump can not walk at all and relies on his sword to catapult himself throughout the levels. Therefore you might also compare Slash/Jump to Jump King, where you can also only move through jumping. In Slash/Jump however you use normal and light punches to the ground with your sword instead of active jumps and there is no falling down and losing all your progress feature, which Jump King is famous for.

Movement is a lot of fun that way and figuring out the best paths for the different rooms is the real challenge. Your first playthrough might take around 30-40 minutes, but after that you should be able to beat it in around 10-15 minutes. There is a bit of challenge involved initially, but it never became really frustrating and is probably part of the easier physics based Platformer games. If I got something to criticize, than it would be, that the rooms could offer a bit more variety. Towards the end, some of them will feel quite similar. And as nearly always with smaller games, the game could have theoretically been a bit longer.

I have beaten the game with both Mouse and Keyboard, as well as with a Controller. While the game is definitely playable with a Mouse, it will be noticeably easier with a Controller, for which this game is optimized for.

 

Result:

I enjoy trying out Platformer games with unique movement systems. Slash/Jump delivers in that regard. Catapulting yourself throughout the levels is fun and I can especially see Speedrunners having a great time with this one. A bit more variety throughout the game and a bigger length and we could have seen a really great game. If you are looking for a charming 2D Platformer with a movement twist however, than Slash/Jump is a pretty good choice, especially considering it's a free game on Steam.

 

7.5/10

Almost Home Now (PC) Review

 

Almost Home Now is a short Horror Game about a little girl walking home late at night on her own.

Let's start with the positives. I really liked the concept of the game. Walking home alone at night through an empty city and a dark forest is probably something everybody can relate to and the developers managed to create an intense atmosphere. The soundtrack is ominous and the visuals quite fitting. The city and park/forest areas look like something you could actually experience anywhere. The visual style is very reminiscent of PS1 and N64 games and in combination with the tank controls, immediately gives you some flashbacks to Silent Hill or Resident Evil. The Lore of the game is also probably quite realistic. The girl seeing mysterious things on her path, could easily be explained with her imagination playing tricks on her. Who hasn't seen threatening shadows or heard daunting sounds in a lonely forest? Even a Game Over could easily be explained with having a panic attack.

Unfortunately the game doesn't manage to live up to its potential. For one, the game is super short. You can easily beat it in less than 5 minutes. Almost Home Now is also not frightening enough. Despite the intense atmosphere there isn't anything actually really scary going on. Part of the reason for this is, that you can not interact with anything going on in the background. Essentially the game is just a Walking Simulator with closed boundaries. The walking speed of the protagonist is also definitely too slow. She walks like she is both the most calm person ever and at least 85 years old.

 

Result:

Almost Home Now could have been a really good Horror Game, if they had kept working on it. Extending the length to at least 10-15 minutes, implementing some alternative routes for the protagonist to take and letting her actually interact with some of the Horror elements, and we could have had a nice Horror Game. Despite that, the intriguing concept may be worth a look for some, but Almost Home Now remains a game of wasted potential.

 

5/10