New Reviewer/Blogger Advice

Everyone starts somewhere when it comes to blogging and reviewing things, and it doesn’t really matter what those things are. If you missed my last post about the subject, you can find it here. Maybe you fancy yourself a journalist, nothing wrong with that. So you are going to start looking up where to get started, talking to people who have done it or are doing it, and that might be how you ended up here. You will see big scary phrases like “Search engine optimization” (SEO for short) and probably think, ” What the hell is that?”

It’s a falcon

That is a simple answer that people will make complicated, by the way. Every search engine in existence, Google, Bing, or whatever, will have its own criteria as to what it shows when people try to use it to look things up, to decide what it shows people. Things like does your article have pictures, backlinks ( have people used you as a reference, essentially, this says trusted people also trust you) have you linked to other people to show you are also proving what you say. You can learn more about SEO here.

Now, all this is to say, if you grew up when Nike started their “Just Do It” campaign and had to explain to your grandmother what IT was in the middle of a mall, you understand how this is both great and bad advice. You do need to just get started, but you also need some sort of a plan. Maybe not a step-by-step plan, but the semblance of one at least. So here is where the advice comes in.

Make your plan, but don’t be so solid about it that it can’t change because you need to be able to adapt, then get started. Bad content is better than no content, and chances are, your content at first will be bad. That’s fine, nobody is likely to see it. You are building anyway. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and all that cliche stuff. The goal to start is to get comfortable putting yourself out there and writing to an audience you will probably never know, and in a way, some algorithm will show people. This takes some people years to master. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Flesh Made Fear Is Out Now on PlayStation 5

Following its “Very Positive” reception on Steam and coverage from horror creators including Residence of Evil, SplatterCatGaming, Hollow, Elajjaz, and LaynaLazar, Flesh Made Fear now invites PlayStation 5 players to experience its grim tribute to the golden age of survival horror. The PS5 version also includes Japanese language support.

​Inspired by classic Resident Evil games, Flesh Made Fear captures the dread of tight corridors, dangerous encounters, locked doors, strange puzzles, and the constant fear of wasting your last bullet. But beneath its retro foundations lies a modern horror story filled with grotesque experiments, occult rituals, and a town pushed beyond the edge of sanity.

Players take on the role of an operative from the Reaper Intervention Platoon, or R.I.P., dispatched to hunt down Victor “The Dripper” Ripper – a former CIA agent whose work has created monsters, thralls, and unspeakable horrors.

Choose between two playable characters, each with different stats and storylines, and survive through tense combat, limited saves, inventory management, and cinematic encounters designed to keep players vulnerable from start to finish.

For fans of classic survival horror, Flesh Made Fear delivers tank controls, fixed and dynamic cameras, puzzle-driven exploration, scarce resources, and a thick PSX-era atmosphere – now on PlayStation 5.

The Scroll of Taiwu: Beyond the Dome Steam Review

The Scroll of Taiwu: Beyond the Dome recently hit 1.0, and Conchship Games was nice enough to send me a copy to check out. This game has been on my radar for a while, but admittedly, I couldn’t play it because, honestly, I don’t speak Chinese. However, the English localization was introduced with 1.0, but you will have to work a bit to enable it since the game is natively in Chinese. Don’t worry, plenty of people will happily tell you. Basically, just skip the opening scene and click the globe-looking thing, and it’s the third option to bring up the languages. (This may change by the time you read this)

Now the game itself is quite simple; you play as the leader of the Taiwu clan, and you are on a mission, which I won’t tell you about, to avoid spoilers, of course. This mission can take generations. The game is a strange mix of RPG and Crusader Kings, as you will have to manage and build up where you live, take care of your companions, and obviously choose an heir. All this while finding resources and fighting battles using the martial arts you learn.

Recent reviews are mostly negative, with English reviews being mostly positive, with the majority of the negative reviews coming from the same issue I had. There is no manual save option. It saves at the end of every month, and with so much to do, especially as you get deeper into the game, this gets really frustrating. Some of the English translations are also pretty awkward, for example, the insistence of the intro character calling the man Foster Father in every sentence. While I understand many languages have honorifics like the Japanese San or Sensei, English doesn’t really do the whole foster thing; we would most likely use Sir or Mr if not calling them some form of dad or father.

The game itself is fantastic, but small translation mistakes that shouldn’t have been made, and the no manual save thing are very distracting. The game is an 8/10 and worth playing all the same. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

TheHunter: Call of the Wild’s “Peru Hunting Reserve” DLC PlayStation Review

TheHunter: Call of the Wild’s “Peru Hunting Reserve” DLC was once again sent my way by the fine folks over at Avalanche Studios, which I always appreciate, and I always love working with these guys on The Hunter series. This new DLC brings us to Peru for a whole new place to hunt, and it will set you back about $12. Now, the question that is always asked is, is it worth the money? Well, let’s be honest, 14 new animals in a beautiful and scenic tropical jungle, what can go wrong?

From a gameplay perspective, not much. The place is beautiful, every square inch of it is stunning. Peru quickly became my favorite place to just walk around and take in the sights. But if I get attacked by one more damn jaguar, I am going to hunt them to extinction. ( in the game, not in real life.) These things will attack you if you get too close to them, make no mistake. This is the first time playing this game where I felt like an animal actually hunted me. I can’t prove they do, but the only thing that has done more damage to me than the jaguars in Peru is me driving the quads like an idiot. This is not a complaint; it is amazing.

Also, don’t shoot the capybara. Nothing happens if you do other than make some money; I just like them. Such cute little guys running around, I once got attacked by my mortal enemy, the jaguar, just watching the capys hang out eating. Admittedly, that one was on me.

Even the places you sleep and adventure to are unlike anywhere else in the game. They have such character to them. This DLC is a home run. It is a 9/10 experience that every fan of the game should pick up. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Kynseed Launches for Consoles on 4 August

Today PixelCount Studios has announced that its acclaimed PC life sim sandbox RPG, Kynseed, will launch for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 4 August.

ynseed’s free new Tavern Update is also available to all PC players from today. This community-requested feature allows players to run a tavern of their very own where they’ll serve refreshments, manage stock and hire staff to create a lively social hub and bring NPCs together. 

Developed by veterans of the Fable series, in Kynseed players plant a mystical acorn and raise it into a family tree where their choices form the branches. Players will raise a family, farm the land, run a business, and explore a vast world filled with colourful NPCs as its inhabitants age and reveal their secrets. When a character dies, control passes to their children and the adventure continues across generations.

Since launching on PC in December 2022, Kynseed has seen more than 10 major game updates, adding significant new features including:

  • The Tavern: Serve food and drinks, hire staff and acquire useful perks to create a social hub where all NPCs come together. 
  • A deeper story experience: New tasks and characters, plus a new region and combat level designed to bring gentler story pacing. 
  • Customisation: Unlock hundreds of items through gameplay to customise the interior, exterior and function of farms. 
  • Friends & family builds: Forge closer friendships with NPCs to enlist their aid in building farm structures with additional benefits, or to help with repairs and gaining access to new areas. 
  • Progression Tracking: Comprehensively track progress across all activities, with over 400 challenges available offering money, items and customisation unlocks. 
  • Quality of life updates: General improvements to NPCs, new batch crafting, an instant messaging system for task/event alerts and much more. 

Kynseed’s new content will be available for console players at launch, alongside a newly-optimised console UI and controls. A full list of updates can be found here. 

Kynseed Features:

  • A generation-spanning story. Embark upon an epic adventure filled with joy, sorrow, comedy, and tragedy, where choices matter and decisions echo through the generations. 
  • Run a business. Forge tools as a blacksmith, run a store, mix potions as an apothecary, or find other ways to build a fortune.  
  • A world of exploration. The land of Quill is filled with characters, secrets, danger, and dark faery tale creatures to battle. 
  • Farm the land. Grow ingredients for food and potions, work the soil, and set up home for your family.  
  • Develop Relationships. Quill is full of colourful NPCs who will remember your deeds, actions, and pranks.   
  • Find proverbs. Unlock the lore and secrets of this mysterious dark faery tale world. 
  • Gather materials. Forage and farm to craft items, cook recipes or mix cures for a range of bizarre maladies. 

“Bringing Kynseed to consoles is a milestone we’ve been working toward for a long time,” said PixelCount Co-Founder Neal Whitehead. “The PC community has been incredible and their feedback has helped us make the land of Quill even richer and more vast than it was at launch just over two years ago. We know that many players want to experience the land of Quill on consoles, and we’ve spent a long time ensuring the console experience feels natural, intuitive and complete.”

Sir Ian Livingstone, games industry legend and Chairman of PixelCount Studios, added: “The ambition of Kynseed has always been to offer players a level of freedom and legacy-building rarely seen in sandbox RPGs. From deep crafting to exploration to mastering the combat system to farming to running a blacksmith shop, or simply watching your family grow, Kynseed has it all in a wonderfully whimsical way! We are delighted that PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch players will finally get to plant their own family trees on 4th August.”

Kynseed will launch for PlayStation 4/5, Xbox Series X|S/Xbox One and Nintendo Switch on 4 August and is available to pre-order now for £19.99/$24.99/€24.99.   

The Gate Must Stand Steam Review

The Gate Must Stand is a new tower defense game sent my way by Yogscast Games and Gamersky Games, both of which are always great to work with. The concept here is very simple: hack and slash your way through demons that are attacking your gate. Doing so will gain you experience and coins, which can be used to hire all sorts of help from the tavern, from different types of mages to guys with huge shields to distract enemies, and so much more.

Occasionally, you will be offered missions, such as guiding a transport to the gate, dealing a certain amount of magic damage, repairing the gate, or even keeping the gate at full health for a certain amount of time. These will reward you in various ways, such as increasing the level of your minions, giving you money or even just giving you free minions. These minions can then be placed on the map at key places to help you fight the enemies or combined with the same type to increase or promote them. For example, two level 1 fire mages to make a level 2 fire mage. Now, if the levels don’t match, they can still be combined to increase the level of the minion, which is nice. Once they reach level ten, they transform into an ultimate form.

Relics have all sorts of uses and will help you in all manner of ways, from increasing your speed or attack power to increasing stacks of bleed on enemies. These usually come from beating mini bosses or bosses throughout the run.

At the $10 price point, the game offers plenty of replay value and is quite fun. While the game is far from perfect, I really don’t have anything to complain about, except that it just isn’t as much fun as it could be. They really seemed to make the game harder than it needed to be simply to increase the time it takes to play it, rather than just making the game longer or adding more to the game to unlock. This will never sit well with me. The game is still a 7/10 experience and worth picking up. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent PlayStation 5 Review

Terrinoth: Heroes of Descent was sent my way by the fine folks over at New Tales, which I always appreciate. The game is the newest dungeon crawler on the console, and the first time console players get to explore the world of Terrinoth, from the Heroes of Terrinoth board game.

The full campaign plays out through 4 chapters, split into sections, each with its own theme. As you play, you will gather 8 players, each with their own strengths and weaknesses. They, of course, fall along the usual classes you would hope for, even if they aren’t named as such. For example, Aurta slings spells, Cedwin is an archer, and Kharaz will be smacking enemies with a shield bash and spitting fireballs like a dragon hybrid should.

It is hard to get into the story without spoiling things, but because it all ties in together as you go from place to place, suffice it to say it is very well put together. What starts as what should be a quick mission to get a stone back quickly leads to fighting things that shouldn’t even exist.

The real question with these games is always, how is the battle system, and lately also how does it compare to Baldur’s Gate 2. Honestly, if you are looking for your next 100+ hour experience exploring every nook and cranny of the world, rolling dice D&D style, this isn’t it. Each chapter plays out on a map, exploring and fighting battles, and in between, you can level up your characters, level abilities, switch them out, and buy and equip items.

Now, if you are looking for something to play for about 30-40 hours, where each mission is broken down into about an hour to an hour and a half, with a similar but easier to play ( but not easier to win) battle system, this is the game you are looking for. This is not, nor is it meant to be, the next Baldur’s Gate, but it is an amazing alternative that I think many will prefer. It is a 9/10 title that is worth picking up. My only real issue is the multiplayer; without friends to play with, I couldn’t find anyone to play with. With that in mind, best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.

My Time at Evershine – New Stunning Trailer Revealed Following Summer Game Fest

I will admit I am a little late getting this one out. Steamfest is quite busy, as you can imagine. My daughter and I have always loved the My Time series by Panthea Games, so any new information is always appreciated by us. The trailer is beautiful, and sets up what appears to be the biggest and most adventurous title in the series. Enjoy the trailer below, and be sure to wishlist it on your platform of choice, as it is coming to Switch 2, PlayStation 5, Xbox, and Steam sometime in 2027. (Stores currently available are provided as a courtesy; no compensation is provided to Savior Gaming by doing so)

Tomb Raider (2013)

Remember that time when everyone ran out of ideas in the late 00s, mid 010’s and we kept getting gritty remakes no one asked for? Torsten remembers. The Tomb Raider reboot found it’s way into my staggering backlog as did its sequels and I haven’t played them mainly because I assumed they would be Uncharted knockoffs- but edgy! Was I wrong?

Young archaeologist Lara Croft is part of an expedition to a island in search for relics about an ancient sun princess. A freak storm destroys her her ship, leaving her and her crewmates stranded on a island full of militarized zealots aiming to resurrect the princess. Can Lara overcome the odds, save her friends and escape?

Ok, let me be frank, I wasn’t invested in the characters or plot worth a damn. The game wanted me to take it seriously but I couldn’t. Mostly because of the gratuitous, over the top action scenes that made me wonder if this rendition of Lara Croft was a Kryptonian or was a X mutant the whole time. On top of that, some of Lara’s facial expressions during the few scenes that are supposed to be heavy or intense are unintentionally funny as hell. The characters are ok, nothing special, though Mathias, the main antagonist is a cookie cutter villain. I wasn’t expecting an unforgettable villain like Dutch from Red Dead Redemption 2 or Vas from Far Cry 3 but I wanted something more than his generic ass.

Speaking of Far Cry, the game feels like Far Cry, Uncharted, and a lil bit of The Last of Us gameplay went into a blender with a Michael Bay movie. The game is fun. Combat is smooth but simple. Platforming is pretty well done except some of the set pieces caused a few bullshit deaths. The survival instincts holds your hand bigtime when it comes to combat, puzzles, item finding, and platforming. Its a nice palette cleanser after weeks playing SystemShock. My biggest grievance with the gameplay is this game feels like a time capsule of every PS3 era gaming trope I can think of: QTEs galore, forced multiplayer, COD health regeneration, gritty paintjob on a existing IP, voice and motion controls no one asked for, blood splatter all over the screen after each stealth kill, and hunting akin to Assassin’s Creed 3 without purpose.

In the end, the Tomb Raider reboot is a fun product of its time. It’s not great but a fun, disposable playthrough worth checking out if you find it on sale. May the gaming gods bring you glory.

System Shock (2023)

We begin our story as a hacker getting busted by the Trioptimum Corporation after failing to steal tech. Edward Diego, the man in charge, offers us a deal: face the wraith of the company or do disable the safety protocols on Shodan, the AI for Citadel Station. After disabling the AI, we find ourselves on Citadel. Shodan has gone insane. Most of the crew is slaughtered, many reconfigured into cybernetic monstrosities, the machines have gone rogue, and genetic experiments are running amok. Can you escape the wrathful clutches of a wannabe god?

The original System Shock is a pioneer of immersive sims, heavily inspiring games like Bioshock and Prey. I was thrilled when the remake dropped, having never been able to experience the original.

First, Shodan is easily my favorite part of the game. Terry Brosius is absolutely iconic with her cold, hateful delivery. Shodan has become one of my all time favorite game villains. She is a all encompassing presence on Citadel with multiple Doomsday schemes to eradicate humanity. The game is a lot more eerie and unsettling than I thought it’d be, even more so having Shodan’s face following you, and her cameras eyeing your every step. The enemies themselves are haunting. I love he game’s overall cyberpunk sci-fi horror aesthetic.

Gameplay is very old school in some of the best and worst ways. This game does not hold your hand. You had better pay attention, take some notes, and be ready to dig through every nook and cranny for audio logs and data sticks for what the hell to do and where to go. Like the horror games of old, there’s a hell of a lot of back tracking but I found it fun. The environment tells a story and every floor I found either something fascinating or terrifying. Most of the combat is FPS which is solid, even awesome at times. It was pretty awesome beheading Temu Borg with a laser sword or setting mutants on fire with dragon breath shotgun rounds. There are plenty of puzzles and the cyberspace segments which give me a retro Star Fox meets 80’s space shooter vibe.

While there’s so much of this game I love, I’d be lying if I said this game didn’t piss me off at times. Their were times the game’s objectives are too abstract and for the second half I had to lean real heavy on Youtube to finish the game. Much like Dark Souls dying has big consequences. Autosave is unpredictable and more than I want to admit, it made my life way harder so save often. I also love the game’s retro approach but dammit a few small quality of life improvements would’ve done wonders like having your total ammo on your HUD, not just what’s in the clip. Automatically reloading would be nice too. Like every game, there are pain in the ass part, System Shock’s are FromSoft levels of brutal. I played the game on all the easiest difficulties possible and still took me 36 hours because of the back tracking and difficulty spikes. It wasn’t always fun but it was fulfilling much like my time with Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

In the end, I loved the System Shock remake and I’m willing to say it’s up their with Resident Evil 2 (2019) and Dead Space (2023) as far as horror game remakes go. It’s absolutely not a game for everyone, its hard as hell but well worth a play. May the gaming gods bring you glory, insect.