The Spirit Of The Samurai PC Gameplay 'Takeshi's Castle' 🎎🎍🎋 @samuraisgame #IndieGame #GameDev

The Spirit of the Samurai is a side-scrolling action platformer developed by Digital Minds Games. The game follows Takeshi, a samurai tasked with defending his village from an ancient evil. The story is engaging, starting with a young boy meeting a Kitsune, who narrates the tale of Takeshi and his mystical connection to the spirits.

Gameplay: The game offers a straightforward combat system with a sword, bow, and consumables like kunai. Players earn XP by defeating enemies, which can be used to upgrade attributes at shrines. The game also features platforming segments where players control Takeshi's small companion, Chisai. Graphics & Audio: The standout feature of The Spirit of the Samurai is its unique visual style, reminiscent of stop-motion and Claymation. The game draws inspiration from classic films like Jason and the Argonauts and old Mortal Kombat games. However, the frame rate issues, especially during the final boss fight, detract from the overall experience. Longevity: The game is relatively short, with a playtime of around five hours. Despite its brief length, the game manages to deliver a satisfying experience, thanks to its captivating story and unique visual style. Overall, The Spirit of the Samurai is a visually stunning game with an engaging story and straightforward gameplay. However, technical issues and a short playtime may leave some players wanting more.

Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe Xbox Series X Review 6.5/10 "Keep on rollin’ baby" 🧶 @solidneongames @JanduSoft #IndieGame #GameDev

A fun and polished casual title, Super Rolling Heroes Deluxe is a game about downward momentum. You must control your colourful, rotund buddy as they tumble down mountains avoiding spikes, traps, and pitfalls in a bid to make contact with the jewel at the end of each stage, thus completing the level.

Controls are simple, you can backpedal slightly, slow yourself down, or hop as you roll down the hills, smashing up the tiny houses, cars and structures that litter your way. The music is light and gentle, matching the pastel colours that are a breeze on the eyes. The animation and scrolling is also a very smooth 60 fps, which adds to the flow of the game.

Unfortunately, whilst there are various cosmetic unlockables that you can purchase – and side roads that lead to the extra gems etc. that act as in-game currency, the environment never really changes, and aside from the game getting trickier, you’ll find yourself passing the same structures and items over and over, meaning that there’s no real sense of progress beyond the numbers of the levels changing. 

You can adjust the difficulty to make it more of a challenge, but a little could have gone a long way here, with maybe differing weather conditions affecting your traversal, and some more dynamism and variety to the environments themselves, or the inclusion of hectic multiplayer races. 

SUMMARY

All that said, this is a fundamentally sound game that is fun for short blasts and is perfectly priced – but lacks that little something extra to make it a strike.

6.5/10

💧MELTING💧