Enlightenment

Completed a run once and haven't come back to it since. It's alright but I don't think it'd be worth it to many.

This is a good "my first game" or working prototype for something that would be coming out down the line. Everything is about this feels amateur, and I don't mean that in a negative way, the concept art, the textures, game play, need a polish I am sure the team has considering how old this game is and how long it has been sitting in my library. I wish them the best but not recommend gamer spend their money.

Controller input issue STILL isn't fixed. This game looks like a lot of fun, but the inputs reset to default (keyboard) every time you go into a new room. What a shame.

Enlightenment has nice graphics, cool atmosphere and combat is okay, but the game is a glitchfest. The games last update was in 2018, the developers have clearly abandoned it, took the money and ran. Unfinished, abandoned games like this should be removed from sale. AVOID!!!

After 5 hours of gameplay the game crashed. Restarting I can no longer access my saved game. It wnt load at all. I uninstalled, reinstalled and still the same problem. The saved game is unable to play. The forum at one time had a fix but the link is now dead. The game was fun, but now I cant play at all. Is there a fix?
If not, do not buy.

Buggy mess that has been abandoned by developers.

Game is clearly unfinished and is just a cash grab.

I got it dirt cheap on a sale,but I regret it and hope I'll get a refund anyway - my money would be better spent if I put it in a dog turd and set it on fire.

Now despite what you may be thinking this game isn't about Buddhism at all, but rather shooting some kind of post-apocalyptic mutants. It does provide a lesson about suffering, however.

You know you're in for a rough ride when you die during the tutorial. (Twice, as a matter of fact.) Things just went downhill from there. I've never seen a game that's so militantly opposed to the player getting anywhere. Why did they make this thing if they didn't want anybody to see it?

Didn't quite level up before some diabolical trap killed you? Say goodbye to your experience.

Found a couple of those chambers to increase your health and stamina? They reset right back to baseline when you die.

Just about the only things you get to keep are these little obelisks that let you unlock stuff. Problem is, you're randomly assigned a couple of weapons and items to pick from every time you restart. So, step right up! Hey, maybe you'll get the thing that slows down time plus the thing that recharges your energy, or maybe you'll get sunglasses; maybe you'll get the shotgun and automatic crossbow, or maybe you'll get two revolvers.

So while in theory you can get stronger by unlocking more weapons, it actually can work against you because many of them are terrible and by increasing the pool of available weapons you decrease the odds that you'll be able to pick the few good ones at the start.

What the hell? It's like the more you "progress," the more you actually lose ground.

Too bad. The combat itself can be kind of fun once you get the hang of it, as long as you find the right weapons. Just when you think you're finally turning the corner, though, you'll meet this boss who can wreck you without even getting out of his chair. Then you lose your experience and health upgrades and get to spend 10-15 minutes replaying the same zones just to get another crack at him.

Why do this to yourself?

Eventually I just had to face it: I was never going to beat the guy in the chair, at least not before I was crippled by carpal tunnel syndrome.

And in accepting that and letting go of my desire to finish this game, I was released from the cycle of pain.



You can find more indie game reviews at oddlittlegames.com or visit my curator page. Thanks, and enjoy!

TLDR: This game has potential but it's way too buggy and unstable to be an acceptably finsihed game. It also has a buttload of terrible design choices that make it a horrible chore instead of an enjoyable experience.

Some of the bugs I've encountered when playing:
1. Several pieces of text are still in Chinese
2. The options menus don't work properly or at all (eg. changing resolution etc.)
3. After playing a few times you get bugs like texts missing altogether from upgrade cards and when that happens the cards don't seem to have any effect on your character
4. Furniture clipping into each other, eg. sinks coming out of cupboards
5. Collision meshes not matching visual geometry, sometimes you can walk on air and sometimes you can clip through visible geometry such as ramps or stairs
6. You can't exit some dialogs without rolling away from the character you were speaking to in order to end the dialog
7. Sometimes the slot machines bug out so they don't cost the usual 10 coins but are free so you can basically spam infinite resources from them.
8. My cursor completely disappeared on one playthrough.

These are only some of the bugs that I can remember at the moment, there were certainly more.

Unfortunately even if this game wasn't buggy as all hell the way your progression works in the game is absolutely ridiculous.
You're expected to play several times to get some very unsignificant upgrades to your character or unlock new weapons or gadgets. Even if you get new weapons or gadgets you can't freely choose them at the beginning but get a randomized selection that might have several of the same thing that can all be complete crap which makes it way more difficult than you'd expect. You can of course just try again but there's another badly designed mechanic, the card system, that gives you some extra buffs that you get on credit from this one weirdo in the hub. If you just immediately restart you lose your credit and won't get as many cards as you would if you tried paying off your loan. So that means you'll sometimes just have to play one run far enough to pay off your loan so you can try again.

Damn this game's a mess. Just avoid it, at least as long as they're not updating it to fix the myriad of problems. And since the last update is already around half a year ago it looks very likely that this hot mess is abandoned.

Listen i like the game so far but seriously the spot lagging is SO annoying and it happens so much like wtf? Please fix this issue! Also i spot lagged so hard my character phased out into a wall came back out tiny as fuck and then became invisible. Like im .3 hours into this game guys come on.

This game desperately needs a progress save - it's too brutal and relies too heavily on RNG for you not to have a save feature after you defeat a boss. I wouldn't mind running through the same levels over and over again if I didn't have to start at the very beginning every time. It took me 20 tries, at least, to defeat the first boss and then, when the second boss killed me, I was forced to start over and now I'm supposed to - what - grind another 20 tries to get past the first boss again? Terrible design choice.

This has the makings of an excellent game but the rng and the endless repetitive grind ruin the experience. I wish I could get my money back.

(EDIT: So I soldiered on and managed to beat the game. It turns out the first boss is the hardest in the game, the second boss is easy once you know what you're facing, the third boss is a breeze, and the 4th and final boss was a solid fun boss fight - the only one in the game.

With this greater understanding of the game under my belt, now, I can say that the game is far too short. The gameplay is fun and somewhat addicting, though movement controls are a pain. Once you defeat the first boss, just move forward with a slow and steady pace and you should do fine - the harpoon is the best weapon in the game, combine that with infinite ammo upgrade and you'll easily march through the rest of the levels.

I do like the fact that you can improve your character each time you return to town, it's the only thing that takes any bite out of the no save feature ... though now I see the game is only 8 levels and 4 bosses long, I see why they made that decision.

I'm going to change my recommendation to a "Yes" but be aware of the problems. I bought it for $12 and I would not encourage anyone to pay more than that.)

It is very simple premsie but it is a lot of fun. As with most rouge type games you will die quite a bit. I love the way the developers made this. I am abig fan and look forward to more from them in the future.

While it is technically out of early access now, it still feels a like it should have stayed there longer. The game stutters quite often, which usually ends up having my character fall through the floor. Unless those issues are fixed, I can't really recommend this game.

While this may very well be a "your milage may vary" game, my personal experience with it is very poor. The difficulty is absolutely crushing and im dying in under 5 minutes on each run. Everything hits like a freight train, most weapons are super clunky and slow and do barely any damage, and grenadiers are absolutely everywhere and have perfect accuracy.

I'm making no progress at all, and therefor I can't enjoy it. Again, it could just be me, but look into it before you buy it.

This is the epitome of a 7/10 game. It's the video game equivalent of a B-movie. The translation is shoddy, it feels a little clumsy, and it's buggy, but for some reason I keep playing it.

It's fun, but you have to approach it with the right mindset. Unlike other twin stick shooter roguelites, it isn't a bullet hell, nor is it really a tactical shooter. It's an odd duck with an odd sense of humor that somehow fits the desperate tone of the game.

This game is the twin stick roguelite equivalent to S.T.A.L.K.E.R. It's a faded, post-apocalyptic world, and the player character is going through the Ark, an underground city housing aritfacts from long ago. Along the way, he finds an assortment of guns, all with randomized stats, and relics to use to stay alive, from the time dilating seer stone to the blinding headlights.

The environments are surprisingly beautiful, and the levels give off that same constricted feeling of a traditional roguelike. The enemies are fairly basic; melee guys rush you, while ranged guys hang back a bit. The combat feels desperate and completely right for the overall tone of the game.

The biggest problem I have with it is that the perspective and lack of highlighting makes seeing items, chests, and enemies along the south-east and south-west walls nearly impossible.

All in all, I recommend this game if you like twin stick roguelites and the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. series. If you don't like any or either of those, it may not be for you.

The graphics and atmosphere are good. Also the combat was really fun, but I will not recommend for the following reasons. Key binding works in one room then you enter the next and it is back to the default so you never know what the controls are going to be. There are two keybinding menus, one on the main menu screen and the other on the in gameplay menu. You can change keybindings in both, but they don't match each other afterwards so it seems they are causing a conflict in loading the controls. The language reading parts are not always in English, some times it shows up in Chinese. This could be a really great game with some more updates.

Definitely has content to play with. There are a nice variety of mobs from what i've seen so far, both in the few levels of The Ark that I've made it through, and in the ever intensifying waves of the Cabaret.

The combat isn't just run and gun either. It requires some split second tactics to decide to pick off certain mobs in the group first (fast runny jumpy girls that tackle you for a bunch of damage, and doctors that throw needles that slow you down are good to put down first), or to get in close for some hack n slash to smash armor off some foes before you can shoot 'em up. Or to run away and try and cull the mobs from a distance first. The variety of encounters keeps it interesting.

You should know that alot of objects are destroyable, don't think it was mentioned in the tutorial. Just use your dodge-roll through the objects in the rooms you clear to make sure you get that extra coinage. Tables, boxes, etc can be destroyed for coins. (didn't know this till after several deaths and one missed key box that I could have afforded if I'd known about the destructibles).

Hope the developers keep working on it, but I can recommend it in it's current state, as the game seems functional and pretty fun so far.

It does need some work still:
-The npcs and some of the loading screens speak a bit of Engrish, but that's entirely forgivable.
-There's no way to tell if the "mojos" are equipped or working as far as I can find.
-The character description has a bunch of Asian symbols instead of words.
-Likewise, in the cabaret I had trouble getting out of it the first time I went because the screen after you die gives you options in Asian and I'm guessing the symbols I picked translated into "Try Again".

But certainly an entertaining game with a bit of a challenge (designed so you die, but grow in death by unlocking npcs and gaining the wealth (blue prints, coins, and illuminati gem things) that you can spend with these npcs you unlock.

Super awesome game at this point and well worth the buy! The English used in the game is a passable D- in any school I ever attended but that can be improved on. But the disappearing bodies have got to go. This game is literarly Hell on Earth so bodies should stay that way (dismembered and blown apart with blood everywhere) and everything should be breakable.

Played the game for a few minutes and early impression so far are pretty good.

A few problems for me that I have noticed.

-Translations, some of the sentences don't make sense. I understand that the developer's first language is not english but I think there's a bit of proofreading that needs ot be done. I don't think it's really bad but some sentences need to be reread and retyped into the game.

An example is the gold pickup. I think it would be better to have it as

xx Gold picked up

Instead of having "A few pieces of gold picked up" or "A lot of gold picked up". I understand it sounds pedantic but it's a bit more cleaner/concise design. You can track what you have picked up and what not.

There is also a bit of lore behind the game and I think it'll be a bit more enthralling and diversive experience if some of the sentences/words were redone in the game. The game's story itself is a really really original concept. I'd love to see it grow.

-The game can get a bit funny with crates on top of counters where the gold would be clipping through the counter. I missed a few(Not really fussed, plenty of currency to go around in the game) but I can see it being very annoying for people who play this game for quite a lot.

Aside from that, most of it is really just nitpicking. I'm going to get back on the game soon and play it a lot more.

To the developers, please don't stop patching. I've been eyeing this game for awhile and I've seen a constant stream of updates from you guys.

Will probably have to re-write of this review in the future when they have ironed out all the of the issues that they have encountered in this current build.

Good pontential but way too repetitive for now and nothing really motivates you to play. Reminds of me Hatred and Silent Hill Book of memories.

This is a really good game. It has really smooth gameplay and the loop is really well done.
You go into the dungeon, make it as far as possible, find stuff and die. Then you get put back to the starting town where
you can get stuff from traders including guns and a pretty cool card system that gives you buffs and makes each run
different. So far i've only made it to level two. That is because the game is hard and you'll get killed over and over again.
I want to go back and try different weapons and cards though and that is why the game works so well for me.

This is a pretty excellent post apocalyptic isometric twin stick shooter roguelite. While there is permadeath, you do unlock more weapons and passive boosts at a hub area as you play, and those unlocks persist. The combat is a little different as you are shooting realistic weapons at infected humans. I am having fun playing it. No glitches for me so far.

I think this game is pretty good in early access, it can only get better from here.