Nightmare Reaper Review (Xiran)
Do I recommend this game? Yes. Do I think It can be improved vastly? Also yes.
When Nightmare Reaper feels good, it feels great. And I mean GREAT. The randomized guns are a blast, the action is visceral and satisfying, the gameplay loop of shoot/dodge/strafe feels tight, there's a good learning curve that provides a healthy challenge, and the individual levels have a great deal of diversity and detail. If the game was just about these core mechanics, it would be a blast through and through. The problem though, is that you only get to spend maybe half your time doing what makes this game so awesome.
My main issue is with the key items and doors. I often find myself circling a level over and over again, trying to find a key, or a battery, or whatever I need to progress. More than once I've simply reset the game, because I know just beating a different configuration of the same procedurally generated level instead will not only be more fun, but probably take less time. This feels like something many game developers have been struggling with since forever. Wandering around aimlessly while looking for the next thing to do isn't fun, nor is it a "puzzle." It's just tedious. This issue could easily be fixed by marking important stuff on the mini map, the same way doors and purple pentagrams are marked. As for the actual puzzles, they tend to have the same feeling of tedium. The controls feel great for running and gunning, not for platforming. There's never a feeling of satisfaction, or an "Aha! I've solved it!" moment when a puzzle room is completed, just "Thank god that's over and I still have some health left. Anyways..."
I think its also worth noting that the mini game upgrade system is very cute and a lot of fun, and it's cool that you can turn them off if you feel like simply buying the upgrades. They seem to give a lot of customization in that regard for both preference and accessibility purposes, something a lot of games simply don't bother with, and I think that's great. I also really love the arena, which lets me do exactly what I want to be doing in this game- running and shooting stuff.
My final score? 7/10. Would probably be closer to 9/10 if it wasn't for the "puzzles." It really is a wonderful game during its best moments, but if you can't see yourself handling 15 minutes of slog for every 15 minutes of blowing stuff up, I would pass.