Conquest Tactics: Realm of Sin Steam Review

Conquest Tactics: Realm of Sin is another title by Thousand Generation Games that they were kind enough to send me recently. This one is a bit different, however. This is a dark fantasy roguelike where you will be conquering tiles and fighting your enemy to essentially deal damage to the enemy flag to win battles.

Unlike most games like this, where the story takes a back seat to the gameplay, Conquest Tactics has sort of flipped this on its head. The battles are fun, make no mistake. There is quite a bit of strategy involved. Do you use your more defense-oriented people to expand and protect your area, or recall them and attack? Is it time to risk losing ground to win the battle? These are all choices you have to make for yourself at any given time. These, however, pale in comparison to the most important choice of all as you make your way through the game.

The world is in chaos, a great darkness is taking over, and in true video game fashion, it is up to you to stop this from occurring. While you have the power to end this, you also have the power to simply encourage it to happen. What kind of person do you choose to be? A hero for the world, or the villain of all villains? There is no wrong answer, only what is in your heart, or I guess lack of one, you evil bastard you.

While the game is simplistic to learn, mastering it is far from, I still haven’t truly managed to do it myself. With a new twist on having a command stage and your troops being more like game pieces on a board that twist and attack in directions, and the story being the main selling point, I highly encourage people to check this one out. It is a 9/10 experience for me. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Deep Fringe Steam Review

Every so often, a game is sent to me and is described as a “deep tactical” or occasionally brutal, and my brain says, ” well let me be the judge of that. After all, I have been reviewing games for about a decade, and I have been gaming for over 30 years. From Demon Souls to the days of Ninja Turtles on NES, I have played them all. So when Thousand Generation Games offered me Deep Fringe, I jumped at the chance.

This is, as I said, a tactical game first and foremost. It has a steampunk feel to it, but most importantly, two different views are easy to switch between, and you will do well to do so. One will give you a good view of all your troops, the other the environment. You must take advantage of the environment, or you will lose. Small things, from simply pushing enemies from ledges to give you tactical advantages, to more major things, such as dropping rocks from the ceilings to crush more powerful foes, will make or break battles. I lost entire battles when I missed such oppotunities but finding them made those same fights a cake walk.

Each unit also has its own abilities and weaknesses, and you have to know what those are to succeed. Another interesting aspect is that you are given missions before each fight, and there are opportunities at times during battles to take on extra things. You may have to choose to save a third party or continue with the mission as you were ordered. This may help or hinder you; this is for you to decide. The only advice I will give is that many times, a good military leader needs to be heartless and carry on with the mission, but sometimes orders need to be ignored. You need to know which is which, and those decisions aren’t always simple.

So is this game truly deep tactics? Well, it definitely put my skills to the test. It won’t be for everyone, but it is fair and challenging, and I am far from being done playing it. It is an 8/10 experience. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Ebola Village Playstation 5 Review

Ebola Village was recently released on PlayStation 5, and Axyos Games was nice enough to send me a copy. It’s worth noting that for the purpose of this review, it was developed by Indie Games Studios, which is actually just a Russian guy named Victor.

Now on to my probably very unpopular opinion on Ebola Village. Let me start off by saying the game has a reputation as being a Resident Evil rip-off, and I won’t lie, the similarities are there. Let’s call a spade a spade, as they say. If you watch any zombie movie made before Resident Evil games were made, did Resident Evil rip them off, or did they pay homage? Is the zombie genre just retelling similar stories because placing them in the real world simply lends itself to having things in common? This is a discussion worth having.

You will start out in a run down busted up apartment in Russia as Maria. You will leave to find your mother in a new town, I won’t disrespect the russian language by trying to spell these town names. There are some puzzles to solve in this apartment, and you will quickly notice the inventory is very Resident Evil-like. Hey, I said the similarities were there. You will soon drive your car and run out of gas, stumble on a police car, and encounter your first zombie. Ok, I reiterate I said the similatires were there, you can stop rolling your eyes now.

Yes, I will stop talking about the story now. You will solve puzzles, shoot zombies, and make your way through a basic and predictable story. Let’s talk about the gameplay. It’s janky as hell. You can tell it is a port from PC, and you are supposed to be shooting these guns with a mouse; it works, but it’s janky.

Here is the thing most reviews won’t tell you. The game is fun. Shooting and stabbing zombies will see pieces fly off, to the point I’ve had zombies that basically just had skulls left, trying to eat me.

Is this game good? No, not really. It is a 5/10. Some of it functions badly, but what it lacks in function, it makes up for in just being fun. This is the gaming version of a B-movie on Tubi or the Syfy channel. You aren’t signing up for a good movie; you are signing up for a ridiculous one that’s fun. Is it worth $20? For some of you, yes; for most of you, no. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Roguematch : The Extraplanar Invasion Playstation 5 Review

StarStruck Games was kind enough to send me a copy of Roguematch: The Extraplanar Invasion on PlayStation 5, and I have to admit I am normally not a fan of these puzzle-matching games, but I am known to dabble here and there. But we all know how I feel about rogue-likes and RPGs, so when I had the chance to check out one that filled all those boxes, of course, I wanted to try it.

The gameplay is very basic: match the gems, which are colored by elements. Green is wind, red is fire, and so on and so forth. As you match these, you collect them to cast spells, and if you do this next to enemies, you damage them. You can also just move into enemies to damage them with your base attack, but doing this allows them to do the same to you, so be careful. It has its uses, but it is safer to use elements.

Certain areas will require you to step on switches or activate crystals, or simply defeat every enemy to move on to the next room. Some of these rooms have items to collect that work as spells. Some marked doors lead to a floor boss as you attempt to get to the bottom of the pyramid. You can attempt to speed run the boss; it is a viable strategy or you can find items and level up.

Leveling up allows you to strengthen an element

The story is pretty straightforward, but it’s nice. Three friends attempt to investigate a temple and discover that only one at a time may enter. The wizard goes in first, trying to find a magic tomb, and gets lost. The paladin rushes in to save him once the shield comes down, and also gets lost. And now you control the final member on the rescue attempt. Once you find them, you will be able to control them on later attempts, with each character, of course, having different abilities and play styles. During the rescue attempt, you will discover more about this temple, but I won’t spoil this for you.

This is going to be a very niche title; fans of games like this will enjoy this 7/10 title, but I don’t see it bringing new fans into the fold. At $20, it has a nice amount of replay value, is free of any glitches or problems, and looks nice. Don’t expect it to wow you, but it will entertain you for a few hours. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Bladesong Steam Review

Bladesong is an interesting title sent to me by the fine folks at Mythwright. I always appreciate it. The game hails itself as the ultimate sword-making game, but we will get to that.

The game starts out by letting you make some choices about your character, such as what kind of person you were in your village. I won’t spoil the story details, but these choices do matter a bit. They make certain things easier and change small things. Nothing that will make you want to pick certain things over another in terms of how you play long term, but enough that you might want to check them out.

The real bread and butter here is the sword making. The tutorial starts by teaching you how to make a sword, and you will be making the entire sword. You will start with what is essentially a block of metal, and you will flatten it, shape it, sharpen it, add a handle, and a pummel. Bassically if you have to do it to make a sword, it is here.

Admittedly, they do make it easier and quicker because it is a gam,e and it has to be fun. But when they say it is the ultimate sword-making game, they mean it. You will be upgrading your forge, learning new skills, taking on customers, making custom pieces, or simply sharpening blades for people.

As the game progesses you will be making more intricate pieces, and if you are wondering if you can name them, you absolutely can. All of this means nothing if it is hard to do these things, and I am happy to say they nailed the controls. From shaping blades to damn near a needle point ( thankfully, undoing this is also easy; it’s a game, not a simulator) to making a curved blade is all done quite simply with easy-to-use sliders and such. The whole game is very user-friendly. I would like to see more variety of weapons as early access moves on, but the sheer number of swords is impressive. For a $20 game, this is an 8/10 experience that I can easily recommend. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

DWARVES: Glory, Death and Loot – Launches on 1.0 from Sidekick Publishing

Following its popular Steam early access period (with over 130,000 units sold and ‘Very Positive’ from 1,735 reviews) Dwarves is taking the leap into 1.0 like that one dwarf in that battle that one time who didn’t want to tell the elf. Available on PC (Steam), Switch and mobile (iOS and Android), the platform expansion brings the infectious dwarven mayhem to handhelds and pocket devices for exciting pick-up-and-go action.

“Four years of development and beards that grew longer with every iteration. This game was born from sleepless nights, wild ideas, and amazing community feedback. It’s an homage to dwarves, chaos, and the sheer joy of letting things escalate.” says Rafael Weilharter, owner and Solo-Developer at Hamma Studios.

To celebrate the 1.0 release and platform expansion, Sidekick Publishing has launched a brand-new trailer born from a spontaneous and very fitting collaboration.

“We wanted to celebrate Rafael’s incredible work and vision with a trailer befitting of pure dwarven energy, so a Scottish accent was a must,” says Jasmin Oestreicher, Co-Founder and Co-CEO at Sidekick Publishing. “Having met Ravs from the Yogscast at TwitchCon last year, Melvin [Melvin Frank, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Sidekick Publishing] and I reached out via Discord and he was on board instantly. It’s a great example of why we value direct, authentic relationships with creators who share the same spirit we do.”

On porting the game to handhelds and mobile Sebastian Tobler, Co-Founder and General Manager at ATEO says “Our core challenge was fitting the scale of a chaotic dwarven raid onto a handheld screen. We delved into the depths with Rafael, digging all the way to Moria to forge a Switch and mobile experience that captures the true essence of the game.”

In Dwarves, players build a fully customisable army from ten unique dwarf classes that eat rocks for breakfast. Take your cohort of tanks, assassins, mages and more on in a familiar roguelike loop to conquer orcs, great foes and dragons in auto-battling carnage that will have beardlings such as ‘Simon’ chomping at the bit to get back in the action with full meta progression. With millions of army and loadout compositions possible, strategy and loot are everything. Gather gear, muster the troops and master the loop for glory, for death, for loot!

Dwarves: Glory, Death and Loot follows hot on the heels of Sidekick Publishing’s first published title, Deadly Days: Roadtrip which launched into early access in September 2025.

Main Game Features:

Auto-battler – give those thumbs a rest and watch the chaos unfold

💎Roguelike meta progression – permanent upgrades keep you coming back for “just one more run” and endless loot

👑 Fully customisable armies – customise your beardlings to your heart’s content 

✏️ Hand-drawn pixel art – from solo developer, Rafael Weilharterm marvel in the beautiful hand-drawn characters and world design

28 Years Later

It’s no secret I went insane when I found out this long awaited awaited sequel was actually coming. It was my most anticipated movie of of 2025 even. In a year of surprises like Sinners and Fantastic 4: First Steps , I was sure Years was going to be a legendary following to a masterful trilogy…

28 Years have passed since the Rage virus has run rampant through the UK and neighboring areas. Spike and his family live in a small island off the mainland, separated by a natural bridge only accessible between tides. On his twelfth birthday, Spike and his dad must partake in his right of passage and go hunting for supplies on the mainland full of starved infected who are evolving and the madmen who thrive against them. Spike and his father narrowly escape their trip, but Spike must risk another trip in search of the only Dr who can help his ailing mother. How far can the boy go for love?

28 Days Later was noting sort of a masterpiece. 28 Weeks Later fell off a bit by the end, but was still a pretty damn good sequel. 28 Years is one of the most conflicting movies I’ve seen in recent memory. I genuinely love and hate this movie, and honestly can’t debate you either way.

This movie has an incredible cast. Alfie Williams, steals the show as Spike; I can see him going very far in the future. Everyone brings their A game. Visually the movie is gorgeous. The color pops naturally, no bullshit filters. Th scenery is breathtaking. I liked that there is some inspiration from Day of the Dead in that this story is genuinely an epic and a point is how the infected are naturally evolving over time. The story at it’s core is fantastic and full of heart I haven’t experienced since the first time I played the original The Last of Us ; I did get teary eyed at the end.

Danny Boyle, who directed the the first movie, wanted to be different this time around. Unfortunately not all those choices worked. This movie hits you with a lot quickly. There are jarring cutaways that reminded me think of House of 1000 Corpses . Most of the kills are filmed in a way that reminded me of a Call of Duty kill-cam. The blood is comically over the top at points. The music choices can be rattling as hell. The pacing feels rushed in the first half hour. There’s a lot of plot threads that feel useless, including the opening, that serve the follow up films more. The ending, while good for a laugh and some blood, is pure sequel bait which admittedly I’m both excited for but also irritated with. I really can’t argue if you tell me the ending pissed you off.

In the end, even writing this review, I’m totally conflicted on this movie. I loved things about it but absolutely hated others. It is wildly unique from it’s predecessors and delivers a hell of an experience- whether it’s to your liking or not. I absolutely think it should be watched but just know you may not get what you expected. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

Blumhouse Games launches Crisol: Theater of Idols on Feb. 10

Blumhouse Games will be launching Crisol: Theater of Idols Feburary 10th. For those who don’t want to wait, the demo is live on Steam now. The cost on Xbox, PlayStation 5, and Steam will be a very reasonable $17.99 and will be 10% off at launch. Their previous game Sleep Awake Playstation 5 Review was great, and I have no reason to think this will be any different. Enjoy the trailer below, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Uncover the chilling history and twisted folklore of Tormentosa, a beautiful but malevolent island.Traverse eerie landscapes and take on monstrous foes as you peel back the layers of cults and bloodsacrifice.Crisol: Theater of Idolsis a gripping first-person horror/action adventure set in the haunting world ofHispania, a nightmarish reimagining of Spain. Playing as Gabriel, a soldier who can use his own blood asa deadlyweapon, you endeavor on a journey to fulfill a divine mission from the Sun God.PRODUCT FEATURES●Ammo system:Reload with blood and sacrifice your health, making every shot a risk●Spanish folklore:A nightmarish world of rituals and iconography●Exploration:Uncover secrets in the haunted streets of Tormentosa●Survival:Face grotesque foes, scarce resources, and tough choices●Upgrades:Enhance weapons and upgrade your skills to stay alive longer●Atmosphere:Chilling visuals, eerie sound, andconstant tension

Loan Shark Xbox Review

I’ve talked about writing this for a bit now, but here we are. Loan Shark was recently released on Xbox by Dark Product. It was also recently released on Loan Shark Coming to Playstation 5 January 20th, and while they probably would have sent me a copy if I asked, the price is so low, I simply picked it up to support a great company.

The game costs about $5 and takes at most about 45 minutes to play. It is a psychological horror game. You play as a figherman who took out a loan from a loan shark to buy a boat, and you owe a lot of money. You need to fish to earn that money. As luck would have it, a magical fish is willing to help you catch some special fish. If you are willing to make some hard decisions.

Now I can’t say much more without heading into spoiler territory, but how you make these decisions will change how the game plays out. Hell, you can simply not make these choices and see what happens. Sit there for 45 minutes and let the timer run out if you want.

The gameplay itself is solid; it is a simple fishing game that the game does a perfectly fine job explaining. Nothing too challenging if you have ever played any fishing game or mechanic in an RPG before. Gutting the fish is also quite simple. Graphically, the game is serviceable; it won’t win any awards, but compared to most games at this price point, it is downright amazing. I have no complaints, and it is free of any glitches. The game is an 8/10 experience and well worth the money. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Blightstone Steam Review

Blightstone is a turn-based rogue-like that is far from easy. Recently released by Unfinished Pixel and Kepler Ghost, they were kind enough to send me a copy. The game forgoes the usual grid-based combat of these games, which is a nice change of pace and lets you move mostly wherever you want.

Another beautiful thing about this game is the tutorial, which explains everything you need to succeed in detail. This game is not easy, but it isn’t hard because of the guesswork involved. There is legitmate strategy involved in making a deep run. While progress and unlocking the right permanent upgrades matter and will help, what you do with them is far more important.

There are some downsides; unfortunately, progress feels slow at times. There are multiple in-game currencies, so to speak, to unlock as you play. One is to upgrade your crystal, and the other is to upgrade different aspects of gameplay. Both are unlocked as you win fights and defeat bosses; there is no real money involved. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means, and since battles are fun and quick, many people probably won’t even notice or care, but I did feel obligated to point this out.

Enemies in this game come in plenty of different flavors. One battle you might be fighting some villagers that are out of their minds, the next undead skeletons. One might be bugs from the depths, or even a demon summoned by an evil mage. All this before Act 2 even kicks off. I won’t spoil what comes next, but I can’t say enough about the variety of enemies. While a lot of games are happy to cycle through the same enemies, Blightstone decided to go above and beyond. This game won’t be for everyone, but for those who enjoy these games, it is a must-have. 9/10, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.