BELOW

Absolute fire. The rating tanked by casuals.

Hidden gem.

Good game but not for everybody. If you have the patience and curious about a mysterious world then you should give it a try. I played through Survival mode (big mistake) but I highly encourage new people to play on EXPLORE mode. You will still get the achievements and enjoy the game more. Survival mode is dumb ignore it at all cost. You are being thrown into a random world to explore. There is no specific story. Remember EXPLORE MODE

Man what a bummer.. Great presentation, visuals, soundtrack. I should love it in fact there's been plenty of games that are similar that I adore. And with the explore mode I hoped it would remove a lot of the tedium and frustration I had with it initially. But nope! A lot of it had to do with the general mechanics and approach. -The gameplay just isn't satisfying enough to fight against hordes of annoying enemies all the time. -The exploration of the different levels is fine but realistically you'll revisit them a dozen times at which point you'll want to punch a wall. -Gathering resources is not difficult but again, you'll be doing all over again multiple times because some knife wielding douchebag decided to hit you through your shield. -The explore mode makes it easier but it doesn't really fix the main problem which is the whole backtracking thing. Oh and guess what? Now that you dropped your lamp on level 10 you'll have to fight through the knife guys again to get it. It's THIS close to being a great experience but the mechanics hold it back so much it's insane. In fact to this day it's the only game I literally wanted to remove from my library as soon as I was done.

This game is a little difficult to recommend. However, there is so much done right that I haven't gotten from any other game. Below is a very punishing game, more so than it is difficult. I had to take two different multi-month-long breaks because dying was so demoralizing. If this sounds like it might be you, it's worth trying out explore mode as the amazing atmosphere is there all the same. Explore mode is a bit of a mixed bag removing the needlessly cruel one-hit-kills, but also the survival mechanics. I expect most people to prefer it. Beyond the difficulty, Below is a masterclass in ambiance. The sound and visual design is standout, while leaving room for tense and careful gameplay. The survival complements the combat and breaching into the unknown feels exhilarating. There's a certain type of person who I can imagine has Below as their favorite game, but they'd need a strong will to get over the difficulty. Explore mode is a heartbreaking compromise because the peaks are so much lower. The developers were right to make it as punishing as they did, but players were right to complain. Try this game if you like exploration and mystery or if you like horror movies. Don't be shy about looking up a guide if you'd otherwise give up.

Atmospheric, immersive and smooth. Tedious, shallow and wasteful, even on explore mode. I just can't bear running down from the top again. After two deaths, I'm no longer interested in the game loop.

This game deserves to be considered on it's artistic merits. However, If you're looking for something like: - Zelda - Hyper light drifter I don't think this is going to scratch that itch. This is more like a modern day deadly towers. If you're looking for something closer to the above titles I would try Tunic first or wait for this to go on sale.

High-skill combat roguelike. If you love a challenge, the ambiance and story really unfold down at the lower levels but it gets to be a bit ridiculous how tedious it can be, so this game isn't for everyone

I love Capy's games, but this one didn't do it for me. I loved the aesthetics of this game, but they all come at the price of game design. I can see what they were going for, and I think my twelve-year-old self in the nineties would have loved it. Now? Not so much. I don't have time for this.