Joseph Allen
I've written extensively for TechRaptor over the last seven years, including news, reviews, and features.
Writing For
TechRaptorLatest Reviews
Planet of Lana is a perfectly fine, if strangely unambitious, cinematic platformer, hitting all the right notes without writing a new song.
OTXO
Otxo is streamlined almost to a fault, but its got incredibly rewarding combat, fluid movement, and a great horror-inflected aesthetic.
Bleak Faith: Forsaken's interesting art design can't save it from its glitches, bugs, and myriad terrible game design decisions.
Elderand is, for better and worse, a fairly by-the-numbers Metroidvania. It does nothing exceptional, but it rarely slips up badly either.
Evil West successfully revitalizes the third-person shooter genre with intense, satisfying combat, even if its level design isn't much to write home about.
Squad 51 vs. the Flying Saucers occasionally overcommits to its retro vibe with punishing and unfair difficulty, but its action is tight and it's charming enough to overlook the flaws.
Soulstice's overwritten story and repetitive second half somewhat dull the catharsis of its glorious throwback hack-and-slash combat, but it's still great fun.
Steelrising never quite feels like a cohesive experience, but its warring halves of Soulslike combat and narrative RPG storytelling are compelling enough in and of themselves.
Restless Soul has some pretty uneven comedy and very insubstantial combat, but it's fine for whiling away a few hours.
Thymesia may boast more Bloodborne influence than its peers, but it fails to transcend its mediocre combat, appalling lack of enemy variety, and dearth of content.
Dolmen
Dolmen is yet another Soulslike that proves this formula is almost impossible to get right. It's a flat, boring experience with none of the spark and vigor it needs to transcend its many technical flaws.
Kingdom of the Dead has solid combat and good level design, but it's let down by an absence of challenge and some severe performance issues.
