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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Neon Knights: 2086 in Tabletop Games
Sep 10, 2020
Some of us actually lived through the 1980s. Just barely, but I certainly remember the neon stylizations, the hair, the tight-rolled pants. It’s not a look I ever hope to reincarnate. However, what if the style of the 1980s reappeared in the future? Like in the 2080s? That would be kind of awesome, actually. Or maybe it would be more bodacious or tubular. In any case, some things never go out of style. Things like attacking your fellow racers as they try to pass on the left with their NOS and dangling repair arms. Just me?
Neon Knights 2086 (here forth known as NK) is a car racing game of customization and street battle. The game essentially takes place over three race weeks (rounds) with each week being divided into a preparation period and then the race day itself. The winner of NK is not necessarily the driver who crosses the finish line more often, but rather the driver who wisely invests in upgrades and tempts Lady Luck to be on their side during crucial dice rolls.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, separate and shuffle each different-backed deck of cards, set them on the board in their places, and display the number of cards equal to the card spaces on the board. Give each player components in their character color, the matching play mat, and starting car parts to be tucked under their mat. Determine the starting player who will construct the first race course out of the provided map chunks and the game may begin!
Again, I will not be explaining every rule in the game as there are just too many to cover, but the game is played over three weeks. During the preparation days leading up to the race on day 7 (Sunday I guess), players will be taking actions to draft upgrades to their cars, or implants into their driver’s BRAIN, getting themselves sponsored so they can make bank come pay day, and also accepting bets on how each driver can earn a little extra on the side come race day.
Each day leading up to the race will allow players to complete one action, and pay day is on Day 5. This is when players will be paid out by their sponsors thus allowing players more spending power at the various upgrade shops. However, Race Day looms ahead and drivers will be making sure they have the best car they can afford because racing is a matter of life or death.
During a race, players will be choosing their initial speed and traveling the course attempting to finish first to gain points, but also to inflict damage on opposing cars and trying to complete their bets they’ve made. Cars will typically travel the number of spaces that the driver has chosen as the speed for the turn, but along the way the cars will be passing over neon lights in the street that are colored according to the suggested speed to overcome them. Go too fast and players will need to roll damage dice to simulate clipping a curb or smashing into a building corner. Go the correct suggested speed or less and pass over the lights no problem and with no damage dice to roll. Of course, car upgrades can assist with this.
When cars end their turn on a space with another car, a battle ensues and damage is calculated. Also, either before or after movement a car can decide to use a weapon on a rival car in range of their weapon to inflict extra damage. After all, a well-damaged car must screech to a halt and possibly use precious resources to repair the damage. Races are flat out bonkers but are the crux of NK. The winner of NK is the player who can amass the most VP at the end of the game and will be able to run a victory lap in the streets.
Components. This game is one of those hefty 12×12 boxes that is packed with goodies. The board is huge. The player components are beautiful and amazing. The player mats are great and laid out really well. The big chunky street map tiles are big and chunky. The colors are perfectly ’80s and perfect for a board game. I have no issues at all with the components. Oh wait, just one little eensy weensy complaint. I wish the font in the rule book was something of the serif variety instead of block all-caps. I felt as if I were being scolded for reading the rules.
All that said, I find Neon Knights 2086 to be a beautiful and relatively quick-playing racing game with the added bonus of car customization akin to that of creating an RPG character (and everyone knows that’s the best part of RPGs). The prep days are super fast to play through because you are basically just taking cards from the offers or drawing cards from the face-down decks to improve your ride, or repairing your car from previous races, and negotiating with sponsors to get those sweet gigs.
The racing, however, is where the game play takes off. It’s here that all the planning and optimizing is put to the test. It’s here where you discover that some of your “upgrades” just ain’t cuttin’ it, and need to be upgraded further. Hopefully a new sweet (and affordable) weapon will come out during the week. Maybe a new sponsor will enter and entice you with tons of money. And then it’s Race Day and you can take your rig out to demolish the competition. Ahh sweet demolition.
This game was a big surprise for me for several reasons. First, I didn’t realize how much I actually enjoyed some of the things from the ’80s. Those colors are just so dang beautiful. That design. So good. But also I just don’t play a lot of car racing games so I was skeptical at first. I’m not a fan of NASCAR so obviously I won’t like any car racing game, right? At least that was my initial thought. Neon Knights 2086 may just have piqued my interest in trying out some other racing titles in the future. For these reasons, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a bruised 8 / 12. If you are aching for a racing game with battles in the streets and customization in the sheets, check out Neon Knights 2086. I am now a believer, and can’t wait to play this one many more times.
Neon Knights 2086 (here forth known as NK) is a car racing game of customization and street battle. The game essentially takes place over three race weeks (rounds) with each week being divided into a preparation period and then the race day itself. The winner of NK is not necessarily the driver who crosses the finish line more often, but rather the driver who wisely invests in upgrades and tempts Lady Luck to be on their side during crucial dice rolls.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a copy of this game for the purposes of this review. This is a retail copy of the game, so what you see in these photos is exactly what would be received in your box. I do not intend to cover every single rule included in the rulebook, but will describe the overall game flow and major rule set so that our readers may get a sense of how the game plays. For more in depth rules, you may purchase a copy online or from your FLGS. -T
To setup, separate and shuffle each different-backed deck of cards, set them on the board in their places, and display the number of cards equal to the card spaces on the board. Give each player components in their character color, the matching play mat, and starting car parts to be tucked under their mat. Determine the starting player who will construct the first race course out of the provided map chunks and the game may begin!
Again, I will not be explaining every rule in the game as there are just too many to cover, but the game is played over three weeks. During the preparation days leading up to the race on day 7 (Sunday I guess), players will be taking actions to draft upgrades to their cars, or implants into their driver’s BRAIN, getting themselves sponsored so they can make bank come pay day, and also accepting bets on how each driver can earn a little extra on the side come race day.
Each day leading up to the race will allow players to complete one action, and pay day is on Day 5. This is when players will be paid out by their sponsors thus allowing players more spending power at the various upgrade shops. However, Race Day looms ahead and drivers will be making sure they have the best car they can afford because racing is a matter of life or death.
During a race, players will be choosing their initial speed and traveling the course attempting to finish first to gain points, but also to inflict damage on opposing cars and trying to complete their bets they’ve made. Cars will typically travel the number of spaces that the driver has chosen as the speed for the turn, but along the way the cars will be passing over neon lights in the street that are colored according to the suggested speed to overcome them. Go too fast and players will need to roll damage dice to simulate clipping a curb or smashing into a building corner. Go the correct suggested speed or less and pass over the lights no problem and with no damage dice to roll. Of course, car upgrades can assist with this.
When cars end their turn on a space with another car, a battle ensues and damage is calculated. Also, either before or after movement a car can decide to use a weapon on a rival car in range of their weapon to inflict extra damage. After all, a well-damaged car must screech to a halt and possibly use precious resources to repair the damage. Races are flat out bonkers but are the crux of NK. The winner of NK is the player who can amass the most VP at the end of the game and will be able to run a victory lap in the streets.
Components. This game is one of those hefty 12×12 boxes that is packed with goodies. The board is huge. The player components are beautiful and amazing. The player mats are great and laid out really well. The big chunky street map tiles are big and chunky. The colors are perfectly ’80s and perfect for a board game. I have no issues at all with the components. Oh wait, just one little eensy weensy complaint. I wish the font in the rule book was something of the serif variety instead of block all-caps. I felt as if I were being scolded for reading the rules.
All that said, I find Neon Knights 2086 to be a beautiful and relatively quick-playing racing game with the added bonus of car customization akin to that of creating an RPG character (and everyone knows that’s the best part of RPGs). The prep days are super fast to play through because you are basically just taking cards from the offers or drawing cards from the face-down decks to improve your ride, or repairing your car from previous races, and negotiating with sponsors to get those sweet gigs.
The racing, however, is where the game play takes off. It’s here that all the planning and optimizing is put to the test. It’s here where you discover that some of your “upgrades” just ain’t cuttin’ it, and need to be upgraded further. Hopefully a new sweet (and affordable) weapon will come out during the week. Maybe a new sponsor will enter and entice you with tons of money. And then it’s Race Day and you can take your rig out to demolish the competition. Ahh sweet demolition.
This game was a big surprise for me for several reasons. First, I didn’t realize how much I actually enjoyed some of the things from the ’80s. Those colors are just so dang beautiful. That design. So good. But also I just don’t play a lot of car racing games so I was skeptical at first. I’m not a fan of NASCAR so obviously I won’t like any car racing game, right? At least that was my initial thought. Neon Knights 2086 may just have piqued my interest in trying out some other racing titles in the future. For these reasons, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a bruised 8 / 12. If you are aching for a racing game with battles in the streets and customization in the sheets, check out Neon Knights 2086. I am now a believer, and can’t wait to play this one many more times.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Boba Boss in Tabletop Games
Nov 21, 2019 (Updated Nov 21, 2019)
If you are a fan of Purple Phoenix Games then you probably know of our love affair with Happy Salmon. It’s an excellent dexterity card game and it just works in so many different situations. So when I saw the promo video for Boba Boss (linked below) I thought that we might have a contender on our hands. Was I right?
Boba Boss is a quick-playing modular action/dexterity card game of filling your orders for demanding customers of your delicious boba tea. You appease them by filling their order cups with brew, but your opponents are also trying to fill their cups as quickly as possible. Are you able to complete your orders before your competitors?
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. -T
To setup, you will need to decide which modules of the game you wish to incorporate. The game comes ready to play out of the box for an easier first game. I suggest you play this way to get familiar with how the game plays before you start adding in different modules. Or don’t. I’m not your mother.
Once the game is setup your objective is this: fill all your cups. You do this by frantically flipping cards from your deck hoping to get Straw cards. One straw will fill one cup. Two straws will fill two cups. Play needs to be brisk because the other players are flipping over cards as well and some of them will instruct the player to unflip (re-flip? Probably the same thing…) your readied tea card. This means that you must hope to flip over more straw cards to fill your cups.
There are three ways to play Boba Boss and they all have to do with the spill cards. These are cards that will have text on them in different colors. The three modes of play are identified by using three aspects of the spill cards: splatter color, text color, text text. So a spill card could have a red background (splatter color). If the round is played using splatter color and you flip over one with a red splatter color, you may unflip a readied red cup. The next round you may choose to play these cards with the text color. Each card will also have bubble text in different colors. So maybe that same red splatter card will have green text, so you would unflip a readied green tea card. And the final mode is text text. This means that same card may have the text in green but the word actually spells out “purple,” in which case you will unflip a purple player’s readied tea card. Play continues in this fashion until someone yells, “BOBA!” indicating they have two or less cups to fill. Once a player has filled all their cups they must yell, “BOBA BOSS!” And then they are crowned the victor.
This is just the base base game. Like I said, this game is modular in that you can add different dimensions of difficulty to it to have just a ridiculously confusing and frenzied play experience. One such module will add “optional flavors” to your game to increase the chaos and replayability. One example is shown below – “Karatea” (karate). When you draw and play Karatea you are to kick (flick) another player’s tea cup card where they will need to reset it to continue play. This just increases the time needed for the kicked player to win and just causes mayhem in the process. These extra flavor cards were provided to us but we just could not get all of them into play. The “Royaltea” and “Tea Rex” cards are favorites of ours.
Components. Again, we were provided with a prototype version of this game, so components may end up being very different from what we played with. This game is a box of a ton of cards. Thankfully the cards provided were glossy because they are handled A LOT. The glossy protection will help with survival of the game while being obsessively played. We appreciate that. The art is great on the cards, and the colors are fabulous. No issues with components from us, even in this prototype version.
As if we didn’t already have enough stress in our lives, along comes Boba Boss and makes us sweat in the first 60 seconds. This game is such an adrenaline rush as you are trying to fill customer orders for boba tea. Playing with three different game modes and tons of different cards to be added in modular fashion makes for an excellent balance of chaos and brain adaptation that you just don’t get anywhere else. Honestly, as you can see from our preview, we had so much fun playing that we didn’t have time to take photos of much of the game, but we hope in adding our photo along with a graphic and video from the publisher that you will forgive us. We are very excited to watch this Kickstarter campaign and hopefully our readers will give it a chance. It fills a unique niche and earns a place next to our beloved Happy Salmon. High praise for a great game.
Boba Boss is a quick-playing modular action/dexterity card game of filling your orders for demanding customers of your delicious boba tea. You appease them by filling their order cups with brew, but your opponents are also trying to fill their cups as quickly as possible. Are you able to complete your orders before your competitors?
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know if the final components will be similar or different, or if the Kickstarter campaign will alter or add anything through stretch goals. -T
To setup, you will need to decide which modules of the game you wish to incorporate. The game comes ready to play out of the box for an easier first game. I suggest you play this way to get familiar with how the game plays before you start adding in different modules. Or don’t. I’m not your mother.
Once the game is setup your objective is this: fill all your cups. You do this by frantically flipping cards from your deck hoping to get Straw cards. One straw will fill one cup. Two straws will fill two cups. Play needs to be brisk because the other players are flipping over cards as well and some of them will instruct the player to unflip (re-flip? Probably the same thing…) your readied tea card. This means that you must hope to flip over more straw cards to fill your cups.
There are three ways to play Boba Boss and they all have to do with the spill cards. These are cards that will have text on them in different colors. The three modes of play are identified by using three aspects of the spill cards: splatter color, text color, text text. So a spill card could have a red background (splatter color). If the round is played using splatter color and you flip over one with a red splatter color, you may unflip a readied red cup. The next round you may choose to play these cards with the text color. Each card will also have bubble text in different colors. So maybe that same red splatter card will have green text, so you would unflip a readied green tea card. And the final mode is text text. This means that same card may have the text in green but the word actually spells out “purple,” in which case you will unflip a purple player’s readied tea card. Play continues in this fashion until someone yells, “BOBA!” indicating they have two or less cups to fill. Once a player has filled all their cups they must yell, “BOBA BOSS!” And then they are crowned the victor.
This is just the base base game. Like I said, this game is modular in that you can add different dimensions of difficulty to it to have just a ridiculously confusing and frenzied play experience. One such module will add “optional flavors” to your game to increase the chaos and replayability. One example is shown below – “Karatea” (karate). When you draw and play Karatea you are to kick (flick) another player’s tea cup card where they will need to reset it to continue play. This just increases the time needed for the kicked player to win and just causes mayhem in the process. These extra flavor cards were provided to us but we just could not get all of them into play. The “Royaltea” and “Tea Rex” cards are favorites of ours.
Components. Again, we were provided with a prototype version of this game, so components may end up being very different from what we played with. This game is a box of a ton of cards. Thankfully the cards provided were glossy because they are handled A LOT. The glossy protection will help with survival of the game while being obsessively played. We appreciate that. The art is great on the cards, and the colors are fabulous. No issues with components from us, even in this prototype version.
As if we didn’t already have enough stress in our lives, along comes Boba Boss and makes us sweat in the first 60 seconds. This game is such an adrenaline rush as you are trying to fill customer orders for boba tea. Playing with three different game modes and tons of different cards to be added in modular fashion makes for an excellent balance of chaos and brain adaptation that you just don’t get anywhere else. Honestly, as you can see from our preview, we had so much fun playing that we didn’t have time to take photos of much of the game, but we hope in adding our photo along with a graphic and video from the publisher that you will forgive us. We are very excited to watch this Kickstarter campaign and hopefully our readers will give it a chance. It fills a unique niche and earns a place next to our beloved Happy Salmon. High praise for a great game.
Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Crazier Eights: Olympus in Tabletop Games
Feb 25, 2020
War. Old Maid. Go Fish. Crazy Eights. These are classic card games we probably all grew up playing. There have been many re-themes and new difficulty layers spread upon them to make them even more interesting. While UNO certainly has cornered the market on the Crazy Eights base, we have a new contender: Crazier Eights. Recoculous has published several versions of this card game with different themes: Camelot, Avalon, One Thousand & One Nights, and Shahrzad. Today we are taking a preview of Crazier Eights: Olympus.
You HAVE played Crazy Eights right? The card game where you attempt to be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but you can only play down if you can match the suit or number on top of the discard pile? And if you can’t, you throw down an 8 as a wild and call the color to be played next? Well there you have the easy rules. Crazier Eights: Olympus (which I will from here call C8O) holds basically the same rule-set with a few new mechanics and a theme. The win condition is still the same: be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but to win you will need to play your hand strategically against your opponents.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or purchase it through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, shuffle the large deck of cards and place the deck in the middle of the table. Flip the top card to begin the discard pile and dictate the first card play. Deal each player seven cards and you are ready to begin!
The turn structure is familiar: check for any “start of turn” effects and apply them, draw a card, play and/or discard a card, then resolve any “end of turn” effects. The deck is comprised of Events and Assets in different colors (suits) and numbers like in a typical deck of playing cards. After checking and resolving start of turn effects on Asset cards in your personal tableau, you must draw a card from the deck. This is where C8O strays from OG Crazy Eights a bit. You may play a card from your hand (Assets and Events) and discard a card to the discard pile (matching the suit/number/or an Eight), or simply play a card from your hand without discarding. Cards played from your hand can be Event cards that are played, resolved, and then discarded to the bottom of the discard pile, or an Asset card that is played to your tableau that cause chain reactions or other abilities on future turns. Next, resolve any end of turn effects from Assets in your tableau before the next player begins their turn.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has rid themselves of their hand and is crowned the Master of Olympus! Or at least, the winner of the game.
Components. This game is a box full of cards. Again, as I do not know if these components will be altered at all, I will comment on what we were provided. The cards are fine. The layout makes sense, and the art on the faces of the cards remind me of very classic art depicting ancient Grecian scenes. I am no art historian, so I do not know if they are existing art pieces or new ones crafted for this game, but either way, they are a joy to behold… if you can spend the time appreciating the art instead of tracking what cards you need to play and what effects you can chain together (that was me). Extra points to the Recoculous team for associating symbols with the different suit colors for our colorblind friends. This is something that unfortunately goes unaddressed far too often.
This implementation is the first Crazier Eights we have had the chance to try, and I can say that we really enjoyed our plays of it. The game comes with many interesting and varied effects to craft an ingenious strategy, and the art is stellar. Beware of playing with AP-prone gamers, as there is a lot going on and it is more than just a skinned Crazy Eights. However, now having played this several times, I can say that it is my favorite Crazy Eights derivative and certainly worthy of a look. If your game collection is sorely lacking in ancient Greek-themed card games, or if you want a hybrid game of old school rules with interesting twists, then do consider backing this one or purchasing one of its predecessors.
PS – Don’t worry if, while you are playing, you have all your Assets stolen or destroyed. I have won the game with zero Assets in front of me while opponents have had eight, ironically. Assets are great, but you still need to shed your hand.
You HAVE played Crazy Eights right? The card game where you attempt to be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but you can only play down if you can match the suit or number on top of the discard pile? And if you can’t, you throw down an 8 as a wild and call the color to be played next? Well there you have the easy rules. Crazier Eights: Olympus (which I will from here call C8O) holds basically the same rule-set with a few new mechanics and a theme. The win condition is still the same: be the first to exhaust your hand of cards, but to win you will need to play your hand strategically against your opponents.
DISCLAIMER: We were provided a prototype copy of this game for the purposes of this review. These are preview copy components, and I do not know for sure if the final components will be any different from these shown. Also, it is not my intention to detail every rule in the game. You are invited to back the game through the Kickstarter campaign, or purchase it through any retailers stocking it after fulfillment. -T
To setup, shuffle the large deck of cards and place the deck in the middle of the table. Flip the top card to begin the discard pile and dictate the first card play. Deal each player seven cards and you are ready to begin!
The turn structure is familiar: check for any “start of turn” effects and apply them, draw a card, play and/or discard a card, then resolve any “end of turn” effects. The deck is comprised of Events and Assets in different colors (suits) and numbers like in a typical deck of playing cards. After checking and resolving start of turn effects on Asset cards in your personal tableau, you must draw a card from the deck. This is where C8O strays from OG Crazy Eights a bit. You may play a card from your hand (Assets and Events) and discard a card to the discard pile (matching the suit/number/or an Eight), or simply play a card from your hand without discarding. Cards played from your hand can be Event cards that are played, resolved, and then discarded to the bottom of the discard pile, or an Asset card that is played to your tableau that cause chain reactions or other abilities on future turns. Next, resolve any end of turn effects from Assets in your tableau before the next player begins their turn.
Play continues in this fashion until one player has rid themselves of their hand and is crowned the Master of Olympus! Or at least, the winner of the game.
Components. This game is a box full of cards. Again, as I do not know if these components will be altered at all, I will comment on what we were provided. The cards are fine. The layout makes sense, and the art on the faces of the cards remind me of very classic art depicting ancient Grecian scenes. I am no art historian, so I do not know if they are existing art pieces or new ones crafted for this game, but either way, they are a joy to behold… if you can spend the time appreciating the art instead of tracking what cards you need to play and what effects you can chain together (that was me). Extra points to the Recoculous team for associating symbols with the different suit colors for our colorblind friends. This is something that unfortunately goes unaddressed far too often.
This implementation is the first Crazier Eights we have had the chance to try, and I can say that we really enjoyed our plays of it. The game comes with many interesting and varied effects to craft an ingenious strategy, and the art is stellar. Beware of playing with AP-prone gamers, as there is a lot going on and it is more than just a skinned Crazy Eights. However, now having played this several times, I can say that it is my favorite Crazy Eights derivative and certainly worthy of a look. If your game collection is sorely lacking in ancient Greek-themed card games, or if you want a hybrid game of old school rules with interesting twists, then do consider backing this one or purchasing one of its predecessors.
PS – Don’t worry if, while you are playing, you have all your Assets stolen or destroyed. I have won the game with zero Assets in front of me while opponents have had eight, ironically. Assets are great, but you still need to shed your hand.
Connor Sheffield (293 KP) rated Bloodborne in Video Games
Aug 13, 2018
Incredible atmosphere (5 more)
Great variety of enemies
Beautiful art and imagery
Interesting Lore (optional)
Plenty of different ways to play
Great combat mechanics
Can be difficult (1 more)
Not as easy and some people make it look
Challenging and Satisfying
Contains spoilers, click to show
Bloodborne is part of the famous series of games such as Demon Souls and Dark Souls, which if you know those previous games, you'll know that they are infamous for their difficulty, even spawning an entire meme phrase that simply says "git gud".
Bloodborne however, stands aside from the souls series because it's combat mechanics are faster and each enemy requires the player to evolve their skills and tactics in order to progress. The first major difference in Bloodborne that might throw previous souls players off, is the fact that there is no shield. Instead the Hunter wields a right handed melee weapon and in the left hand they wild a ranged weapon in place of a shield. This ranged weapon at first is primarily used not for damage, but for parry's/counter attacks.
The lack of shield helps the player evolve their combat from hiding behind a shield like in the souls games, to being more aggressive in a fight but also tactical because during your first run through of the game, you'll simply be dealing with each enemy through trial and error until you learn their attacks and learn how to defeat them. This is something that has been in every souls game and that is why these games are so rewarding.
The reason Bloodborne is my favourite is because of this speed that makes you evolve in combat. I ran into this game thinking it was like other RPG games where I could pretty much take on any beginning level enemy and even if they packed a punch I'd take out the enemy with a thin line of health left, only to use a few health potions and repeat. But Bloodborne? Good God you can't rush this game!
Every enemy has their own attack system that varies. Some Yarnhamites are more vicious that other, and some are more defensive and cautious. There are also enemies that are deceptive. If you were to come across a large, fat troll in a fantasy world, you'd expect them to be rather slow, especially when swinging a weapon. You'd only expect the force and weight of the weapon to give speed to a swing. But the large troll creatures in Bloodborne are deceptively fast and even if you keep some distance between you, they can leap really quickly and instantly pummel you with a cinder block.
But I'm not going to reveal too much about enemies because it's easier and more fun to test out the game for yourself.
Boss fights are the main factor for the infamous difficulty of the souls series and Bloodborne is no stranger to this element either. There are Two bosses in the beginning of the game. One is optional but I would highly recommend facing it. The other boss is your first taste (if you didn't kill the optional boss first) of the challenges you'll face. Both bosses help prepare for later boss fights because of their different combat styles.
The first (optional) boss is the Cleric Beast on the bridge in the beginning level, and it is intimidating as fuck for a beginner of the souls series. If you haven't watched or played a souls game before and you go into Bloodborne (or any of them) with no knowledge of the scale of bosses, then they are intimidating in comparison to your measly character size. However once you learn this boss, and face later bosses, you'll realize that this boss is one of the easiest to face.
The next boss and the main boss of the beginning level, who is not optional as defeating him let's you progress through the story, is Father Gascoigne, another Hunter in the world of Bloodborne and the first of many you'll come across but facing this hunter is by far one of the most painstakingly challenging beginning fights to a game I've ever had to face. In my first run through I died to him so so soooo many times and sometimes it was simply cos he was on low health and I got cocky and fucked up. However defeating this boss, and any boss in this game, really feels like an achievement.
I've realised iv made this review hella long but that's because Bloodborne cannot be easily reviewed in just a few words but I'll do my best to do a quick overall conclusion as to why this is my favourite game:
The level design isn't flawless but it is incredible and the atmosphere created through sound design and soundtrack make this game incredibly in depth and really creepy which I love because even after a few play through I still get creeped out and even jump at some of the jumpscares that I forget about!
The weapons of this game are all well designed aesthetically and though I know certain ones I never use, they are all useable depending on player preference and style of play. There's so much to choose from and learn and every item in this game has a description that teaches the player more about the Lore of the world but that is of course optional and isn't required necessarily to understand the games main quest plot.
This game also requires exploration because the path the player needs to take isn't set out for them which makes the game less linear meaning that you can play this game differently every time you play it. It also might mean that you'll need to look up the paths you need to take online or in a guide in order to just get through the game and complete it. Otherwise it could take you hours, maybe days to figure out where you need to go.
The combat mechanics of Bloodborne are some of the best I've ever seen and played with and that's why it stands out to me above the other souls games.
The boss fights are intense and each new boss helps the player to adapt and evolve their combat skills and tactics in order to overcome the enemy.
The world is very heavily Lovecraftian and therefore the Lore is incredible but also optional. Also, there are easier ways to fight this games enemies including bosses, so if you're struggling, then Google it and there will be hundreds of players in the same boat as you, and in my opinion there's no wrong way to play games like this. If it remains fun and let's me complete the storyline, such as summoning AI for boss battles in offline mode. Then play however you want to because it's you playing the game, not some internet troll who says you're shit and/or cheating the game. If it's possible to do in game, it's part of the game...deal with it!
There are faults such as minor framerate glitches, and glitches with the ragdoll bodies of defeated enemies falling through the environment. There are also some elements that are part of the game such as windows for visceral attacks and hitboxes which sometimes feel like bullshit, but this also helps you evolve so....pros and cons.
My final comment is this;
The best way to learn about this game and enjoy it, is to play it for yourself. It's hard to put into words (even this amount of words in this review) just how incredible this game looks and feels. So if you have a Playstation 4 then grab yourself a copy of Bloodborne and enjoy!
Fear the Old blood!
Bloodborne however, stands aside from the souls series because it's combat mechanics are faster and each enemy requires the player to evolve their skills and tactics in order to progress. The first major difference in Bloodborne that might throw previous souls players off, is the fact that there is no shield. Instead the Hunter wields a right handed melee weapon and in the left hand they wild a ranged weapon in place of a shield. This ranged weapon at first is primarily used not for damage, but for parry's/counter attacks.
The lack of shield helps the player evolve their combat from hiding behind a shield like in the souls games, to being more aggressive in a fight but also tactical because during your first run through of the game, you'll simply be dealing with each enemy through trial and error until you learn their attacks and learn how to defeat them. This is something that has been in every souls game and that is why these games are so rewarding.
The reason Bloodborne is my favourite is because of this speed that makes you evolve in combat. I ran into this game thinking it was like other RPG games where I could pretty much take on any beginning level enemy and even if they packed a punch I'd take out the enemy with a thin line of health left, only to use a few health potions and repeat. But Bloodborne? Good God you can't rush this game!
Every enemy has their own attack system that varies. Some Yarnhamites are more vicious that other, and some are more defensive and cautious. There are also enemies that are deceptive. If you were to come across a large, fat troll in a fantasy world, you'd expect them to be rather slow, especially when swinging a weapon. You'd only expect the force and weight of the weapon to give speed to a swing. But the large troll creatures in Bloodborne are deceptively fast and even if you keep some distance between you, they can leap really quickly and instantly pummel you with a cinder block.
But I'm not going to reveal too much about enemies because it's easier and more fun to test out the game for yourself.
Boss fights are the main factor for the infamous difficulty of the souls series and Bloodborne is no stranger to this element either. There are Two bosses in the beginning of the game. One is optional but I would highly recommend facing it. The other boss is your first taste (if you didn't kill the optional boss first) of the challenges you'll face. Both bosses help prepare for later boss fights because of their different combat styles.
The first (optional) boss is the Cleric Beast on the bridge in the beginning level, and it is intimidating as fuck for a beginner of the souls series. If you haven't watched or played a souls game before and you go into Bloodborne (or any of them) with no knowledge of the scale of bosses, then they are intimidating in comparison to your measly character size. However once you learn this boss, and face later bosses, you'll realize that this boss is one of the easiest to face.
The next boss and the main boss of the beginning level, who is not optional as defeating him let's you progress through the story, is Father Gascoigne, another Hunter in the world of Bloodborne and the first of many you'll come across but facing this hunter is by far one of the most painstakingly challenging beginning fights to a game I've ever had to face. In my first run through I died to him so so soooo many times and sometimes it was simply cos he was on low health and I got cocky and fucked up. However defeating this boss, and any boss in this game, really feels like an achievement.
I've realised iv made this review hella long but that's because Bloodborne cannot be easily reviewed in just a few words but I'll do my best to do a quick overall conclusion as to why this is my favourite game:
The level design isn't flawless but it is incredible and the atmosphere created through sound design and soundtrack make this game incredibly in depth and really creepy which I love because even after a few play through I still get creeped out and even jump at some of the jumpscares that I forget about!
The weapons of this game are all well designed aesthetically and though I know certain ones I never use, they are all useable depending on player preference and style of play. There's so much to choose from and learn and every item in this game has a description that teaches the player more about the Lore of the world but that is of course optional and isn't required necessarily to understand the games main quest plot.
This game also requires exploration because the path the player needs to take isn't set out for them which makes the game less linear meaning that you can play this game differently every time you play it. It also might mean that you'll need to look up the paths you need to take online or in a guide in order to just get through the game and complete it. Otherwise it could take you hours, maybe days to figure out where you need to go.
The combat mechanics of Bloodborne are some of the best I've ever seen and played with and that's why it stands out to me above the other souls games.
The boss fights are intense and each new boss helps the player to adapt and evolve their combat skills and tactics in order to overcome the enemy.
The world is very heavily Lovecraftian and therefore the Lore is incredible but also optional. Also, there are easier ways to fight this games enemies including bosses, so if you're struggling, then Google it and there will be hundreds of players in the same boat as you, and in my opinion there's no wrong way to play games like this. If it remains fun and let's me complete the storyline, such as summoning AI for boss battles in offline mode. Then play however you want to because it's you playing the game, not some internet troll who says you're shit and/or cheating the game. If it's possible to do in game, it's part of the game...deal with it!
There are faults such as minor framerate glitches, and glitches with the ragdoll bodies of defeated enemies falling through the environment. There are also some elements that are part of the game such as windows for visceral attacks and hitboxes which sometimes feel like bullshit, but this also helps you evolve so....pros and cons.
My final comment is this;
The best way to learn about this game and enjoy it, is to play it for yourself. It's hard to put into words (even this amount of words in this review) just how incredible this game looks and feels. So if you have a Playstation 4 then grab yourself a copy of Bloodborne and enjoy!
Fear the Old blood!
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Debbiereadsbook (1454 KP) rated Shadow and Light (Arizona Raptors #3) in Books
Mar 30, 2020
best of the three!
Independent reviewer for Archaeolibrarian, I was gifted my copy of this book.
This is book three in the Arizona Raptors series. It says that it is not a stand alone and you should read books one and two first, however, I don't think its entirely NECESSARY, but it certainly would help. I have read those two books, and they were both solid 4 star reads.
THIS one, though, is a whole different kettle of fish!
I LOVED this book!
You feel for Henry. His life has taken a turn he didn't expect. The man who was using him, almost killed him. His money is all gone, and he is living in someone else's house, mansion, all by himself. His hockey is on the line, because of the accident and his mind is on a downward spiral.
Enter Apollo.
Apollo is the best friend of Adler, the man paying for the house, who is Henry's brother's friend. Apollo is at a loose end since Adler is all loved up, and Apollo needs some sun. So Apollo goes to Arizona to look after Henry while he gets backs on his feet and back onto the ice.
Apollo is just the kind of man Henry wants, but who would want a washed up hockey player who might go blind? Apollo clearly wants Henry, but he is supposed to be going home at the end of the summer. Can he let his heart take the break?
This one is my favourite of the three, it really is.
It had me crying in places, laughing in others. Shouting at the kindle, and cheering away. I wanted to wrap Henry up in cotton wool and I wanted to smack him upside the head. Apollo too!
There are numerous references to The Harrisburg Railers players and pop ups from all the major players and team from this series. I loved that.
The relationship between Apollo and Henry is slow and sweet, and I loved that. They grow into each other, you know, as the book progresses. It's beautifully written, and gave me so many feels!
Ryker Madsen is Henry's team mate, he plays the same line (although, to be honest, I have no idea what that actually means, I just thought someone MIGHT!) and HIS book was in the Owatonna U Hockey series. I did NOT like Ryker in that book. He does redeem himself in that series somewhat, but HERE? As Henry's best friend, that kid done good! So, as a totally irrelevent point, Ryker? I forgive you!
So, my favourite of the three so far, but I know there is one more out later this year.
5 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**
This is book three in the Arizona Raptors series. It says that it is not a stand alone and you should read books one and two first, however, I don't think its entirely NECESSARY, but it certainly would help. I have read those two books, and they were both solid 4 star reads.
THIS one, though, is a whole different kettle of fish!
I LOVED this book!
You feel for Henry. His life has taken a turn he didn't expect. The man who was using him, almost killed him. His money is all gone, and he is living in someone else's house, mansion, all by himself. His hockey is on the line, because of the accident and his mind is on a downward spiral.
Enter Apollo.
Apollo is the best friend of Adler, the man paying for the house, who is Henry's brother's friend. Apollo is at a loose end since Adler is all loved up, and Apollo needs some sun. So Apollo goes to Arizona to look after Henry while he gets backs on his feet and back onto the ice.
Apollo is just the kind of man Henry wants, but who would want a washed up hockey player who might go blind? Apollo clearly wants Henry, but he is supposed to be going home at the end of the summer. Can he let his heart take the break?
This one is my favourite of the three, it really is.
It had me crying in places, laughing in others. Shouting at the kindle, and cheering away. I wanted to wrap Henry up in cotton wool and I wanted to smack him upside the head. Apollo too!
There are numerous references to The Harrisburg Railers players and pop ups from all the major players and team from this series. I loved that.
The relationship between Apollo and Henry is slow and sweet, and I loved that. They grow into each other, you know, as the book progresses. It's beautifully written, and gave me so many feels!
Ryker Madsen is Henry's team mate, he plays the same line (although, to be honest, I have no idea what that actually means, I just thought someone MIGHT!) and HIS book was in the Owatonna U Hockey series. I did NOT like Ryker in that book. He does redeem himself in that series somewhat, but HERE? As Henry's best friend, that kid done good! So, as a totally irrelevent point, Ryker? I forgive you!
So, my favourite of the three so far, but I know there is one more out later this year.
5 stars
**same worded review will appear elsewhere**