Loyalty and Blood: Viktor Origins Reviews

Good game but the controls on a gamepad are a little clunky. The right stick aims but does so as a mouse cursor so it's less responsive than it could be if the aiming just 1 to 1 the right analog stick instead of emulating mouse controls. Still playable though and if the controls ever got sorted out I would consider this a hidden gem, a top 2D steam game, but alas those clunky controls.

An excellent game that looks and plays much better than the original, which surprised me with its quality years ago. The controls are tight, fluid, and in the case of the phasing mechanic, you can even adjust how much control you have over it, which is a huge plus. The weapons have a lot more impact, and the default melee attack, while not terribly useful on its own, is better implemented than the aoe burst you had in the original. The mission-based structure of the game might put some people off, but I found it refreshing to have many bite-sized challenges with well-defined goals to run through even if I didn't have a lot of time to spare at once. The optional objectives for each mission might look at first like padding, but they are entirely optional and mostly serve as a way to guarantee yourself a particular crafting ingredient for a weapon you're trying to get rather than rely on enemy random drops. The game has plenty of content, even if you dont attempt the time limit and optional objectives, and the newgame+ introduces a mechanic to let you to further invest in your favorite weapons to give yourself an edge on the more dangerous enemies. This game is easy for me to recommend and if you enjoy it, you might want to look into the original, whose title is simply Viktor, and has more of a Megaman style stage select rather than short objective-based missions, but uses the same phasing and mouse aiming.

[h1]A huge step forward[/h1] I liked the original Viktor, but this is the real deal. Better gameplay, controls, maps, enemy diversity, dozens of weapons, some armor and upgrades, phasing feels almost natural. I love the direction the devs are taking, hope they keep going (but the art style of the original one was much better IMO, bring it back!). Also, thanks for the discount cupom.

This is a big improvement over Viktor in pretty much every respect, and I can recommend it even if you didn't enjoy the original. Combat is smooth and impactful with various weapons to choose from, and the progression and unlock mechanics encourage thoroughly completing each mission. Missions are very compact, but fairly well-designed, with a good blend of combat and platforming. Each can be completed in just a few minutes, though you'll probably have to run them multiple times if you want to find everything or complete the optional challenges for additional (sometimes unique) rewards. Gamepad control for the most part is great, allowing you to easily move, jump, and aim all at once, but the phase mechanic is sometimes a bit awkward to aim correctly. Being more of a long-form game than Viktor, the story has received noticeably more attention this time. It actually works pretty well, providing a more interesting scenario and world-building than the bare threads in the original. It does suffer a bit from being a prequel, since the post hoc groundwork laid here could have led in a more interesting direction than what actually happens in Viktor. There are also some loose threads left by the end. Still, the setting has a lot of potential, so it's too bad that the series seems to have ended here. Unfortunately the game's progression systems are not as robust as they should be. Weapons as a whole aren't well-balanced, in that many of them (even hard-to-get ones like the scythe or megablaster) don't do enough damage to be worth using. I changed up my loadout several times during the game, but I didn't bother with most of the dozens of options. There's a mechanic to upgrade weapons, but this is only available in NG+. Armor as well is stunted. There are several sets of armor with different bonuses, and each piece allows you to socket gems for additional bonuses. The problem is that each piece can only accommodate a certain number of "points" worth of gems, with stronger gems requiring more points. The strongest gems cost so many points that they are not worth using. I easily maxed out my armor with mid-level gems halfway through the game. Even with its core shortcomings, though, this is a fun little platform shooter, especially if you've always wanted to battle dragons with a rocket launcher instead of a sword.

If you want to play with a mouse and keyboard, be warned, only some of the controls can be remapped. For example you can change which key reloads, but not which key dashes : it will always be the right mouse button. Ridiculous for a game released in 2018. The soundtrack sounds pretty good though.

The game seems pretty good, a cross between platformer and rpg, using a controller was a bit awkward and couldnt really get a good feel for it and slowed me down, but i found that the Keyboard and mouse combo works MUCH better :) The game has a phase shift mechanic (basically a short distance teleport) which allows you to traverse through walls and obstacles which is pretty cool and the stages seem to have time challenges, which you can choose to complete or not The Music is pretty decent and sets the mood nicely I havent finished it (yet ;)) but so far it seems to be an 8/10 :)

This game is more grind than actual content and it feels like playing a flash game. You just accomplish different "kill X things" missions in a handful of recycled maps, and grind to upgrade your gear. Too often the new gear feels like a step back rather than an improvement over the previous gear and the weapons feel nerfed. The early crafted weapons are actually more efficient than some of the stuff you can craft later. The dialogs are cringey and tediously slow. The fact that the enemies can pass through bullets if they're too close is a real problem here. Pretty much the kind of game you'd expect to play on kongregate or newgrounds, but not on steam. Even though it's flawlessly realized, working well, and better than most of the low-level garbage released on steam, I can't recomend it, because it's not very fun on the long term.

The game is OKAY. It's polished, but pretty generic and repetitive. It looks nice but overtime the levels start to look randomly generated with the same scenery and pieces copy pasted over and over again. Not enough of a challenge to keep me playing, according to the menu I got 35% completion going for all the challenges and everything and I just stopped because it just got boring for me. It felt like too much of a grind with not enough challenge or variation.

[b] Loyalty and Blood: Viktor Origins [/b] needs more polish but it is shaping into a promising platformer. If anyone is wondering the game is NOT a metroidvania or a roguelike. However, I would not call it just a platformer either. The game has a lot of RPG elements and all kinds of different objectives. Basically, you operate from fortress where you can buy and upgrade equipment. You can select between story and side missions like killing enemies, escorting, rescue and so on. Each mission generally has secrets and challenges for replay value. If I could say only one thing about Loyalty and Blood, It has a lot of content. It takes anywhere from 5 to 15 hours to complete the game depending on how many side activities and challenges you are doing (also it has new game+) [h1] Platforming Elements & Gunplay [/h1] The mechanics are not too complex. For the most part, you are limited to double jump and a dashing through objects. I think the game does a good job of utilizing those simple tools in terms of level design. I found it very difficult to play with a controller because you have to aim constantly (I would recommend keyboard+mouse for this one). You can carry up to 4 weapons but there are a lot more in the shop. In order to unlock new gear, you have to find blueprints hidden inside the levels. In that regard, the game does a good job of rewarding exploration. Most of the guns feel different in the way they work. Shooting things feel impactful and satisfying overall. The game just has a good sense of progression when it comes to platforming and combat challenges. It is not the smoothest platformer I ever played but it is reasonably well made. [h1] RPG elements & Grinding [/h1] Once you acquired the blueprints, you can improve the armor with gems that increase basic stats. If you ever played an RPG with sockets I am sure you are aware of how it goes. Most items have base stats but you can also collect different armor sets for a unique bonus. In order to unlock weapons, you also need different types of materials ( kind of like a basic crafting system ). Grinding currency does not take too long which is nice. The game is not too hard but if you get overwhelmed you can always grind easy levels and increase your stats. Each weapon has different attributes and sometimes a unique perk. The Smith has 35 entries for guns which include rifles, shotguns, rocket launchers, elemental weapons, boomerangs, flamethrower, magic weapons and everything in between. There are 4 different damage types (normal, lightning, fire and ice) which can be used strategically against certain enemies with resistance. [h1] Aesthetic & Content [/h1] The visuals are above average as far as pixel art goes. You can easily tell that a lot of work went into making those boss fights. The game has a good variety of enemies and environments to explore. It does a decent job of mixing up the story although I am just someone who skips it anyway. The music is atmospheric even though I do not find it memorable. Most of the quest do something a little different so it does not get very repetitive. In terms of content, there is always something you can do. If you don't want to rush through the story, go and look for hidden chest, upgrade your gear, do challenges or grind those achievements. [b] Pros: [/b] + decent platforming elements + decent level design + different objectives + secrets and extra challenges + lots of achievements + lots of guns + good boss fights + fair difficulty and friendly progression + RPG elements like crafting, gear sets and gem bonuses + competent story + new game plus [b] Cons: [/b] - does not support every aspect ratio ( black borders ) - possible framerate problems - not great with a controller - platforming timing is a little stiff - infrequent glitches [h1] Overall Thoughts 7/10 (9/10 if all of the technical issues get fixed) [/h1] I am loving this game but I am having some technical difficulties which get in a way. If developers do a good job with updates it would be a masterpiece. I am having a lot of fun looking for gear sets, new guns and just enjoying the gameplay. There are a lot of features in this game that you generally do not see in this genre. Considering the history of this developer, I am rather impressed that they made something worthwhile ;) [code] For more hidden gems: http://store.steampowered.com/curator/31294838-Hidden-Gem-Discovery/ [/code]

A very competent action-adventure 2d platformer. Challenging but not impossible, wonderful sprite art with equally good sound to boot and a one-to-one control, if you are using a mouse and keyboard. A few concerns which to me, holds this gem down a bit: This is not a "metroidvania" or even a open world game. This game is structured around missions you have to engage in the hub area, missions with submissions. Kill a boss, only use this weapon, kill 10 spiders, collect 5 of this item. And all of them got a time you need to beat if you want to complete every mission perfectly. Makes it impossible to "do it all" in your first and even 5th attempt. Designing every mission around these rules makes it kinda repetetive and after a while it feels like you are doing it all in your sleep. You only got firearms, projectily based weapons if you don't count the melee (which is put on E by default, and really tricky to use when you walk right. Controls can be remapped thou) Upgrading is useful, but you have to find blueprints and you can only apply gems in armor, buying weapons by walking far away to the end of the castle each time. Gets a bit annoying when you don't know if the blueprints you found is better then the items you already got on you. Most concerns are small and if you can look past them you got a great [b]8[/b] out of [b]10[/b] game right here, deserves more recognition and a proper sequel with a little better design choices. - - - Quick update after 12 hours gameplay. Game is entertaining thru the whole race. New game + gets unlocked after last boss is beaten and adds the option to replay the whole game and upgrading your weapons. This indie title is my biggest surprise so far in 2018.