Stonemachia

Usually I don't buy newer games based on just a trailer but this was a rare exception. I recently beat Stonemachia, every boss with all achievements except for the card/music collections. It was a heavenly experience. There's just so much love put into this game that it left me wanting more from this universe and the developers. Initially I was expecting a slow Dark Souls 1 type of combat do to the chess/stone pieces but the game is surprisingly agile. This is definitely more of a parry focused Hack and Slash with some souls elements. PROS: -Beautiful artistic vision -Underrated skyboxes -Amazing combat rhythm with satisfying parries -The music goes so much harder than I needs to -Well designed bosses -Unique areas and enemy designs -Some boss fights are a spectacle -Class change on the fly at the press of a button even in combat or mid combo -Each class feels unique and has combo synergy with others via swapping -Level up levels all 4 classes at once so no build focus -You can store your "souls" in the level up bar -Skins for each class are unlocked by collectable cards -Boss rematch area in the hub NEUTRAL: -The game felt pretty linear for the most part. You will find come secrets and collectables off the beaten path but you'll think oh I can parkour behind the building just to find an invisible wall. -Parrying feels mandatory, which is something you'll catch on to very early. I can see some people not enjoying this aspect. I'm more of a roll type guy myself but I learned to love the parry. -Some enemies/attacks are hard to read do to how unique their anatomy is -The Skill tree. Most of the skills focus on doing an action with a class then swapping to another for an enhanced ability/buff. I see the protentional in this but I don't think most people, myself included will make full use of this system. -I found myself using the Pawn for 90% of the game. The other classes are fun don't get me wrong. But if I wasn't using the Pawn it was the Rook for the heavy hits. Knight was a travel mount and boss cheeser. The Bishop just felt lacking to me NEGATIVES: Basic enemies tend to be on the tanky side Some visual clutter in boss fights do to the attacks, parrying, healing, gaining heals, and weird anatomy Overall this was a fantastic game. I only really struggled with 4 or so bosses. I personally did not experience any glitches, slowdowns or anything game breaking. I'd give this a solid 9/10