Slitterhead

• Genre: Action
• Spoiler Free Review: A little bit of spoilers concerning how mechanics tie into the story.
• Time Played: 19 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Just a little too long, maybe because I wanted to 100% it and had to replay some sections, but also, it has you kind of replay some sections anyway. But really, it's only a couple hours too long tops, minor complaint.
• Soundtrack: The soundtrack is pretty good. I had uploaded the soundtrack prior to playing because I wasn't sure when I was really going to get into it, and any time a track was playing from this, it has my wife say "What is this?" out of interest. The stylings of Akira Yamaoka are clearly represented.
• Why I played: I honestly forget what made me want to play this. The gruesome gorefest it is makes it very near a horror game. It's definitely horror-themed, but it's not a "horror" game in the traditional sense, it doesn't try to scare you(maybe gross you out) and you're generally too powerful to build up tension anyway.
• Did I cry: Nah.
• Jank: It's a little janky as it feels like a 20 year old game.
• Difficulty: It's mostly pretty easy, but toward the end I do feel the game really ramps it up.
• Recommend to others: It's a weird one. I'd recommend it to people who want a simpler and more linear experience than most modern games provide. If you're nostalgic for a different time in gaming other than just that defined by pixels or low-res textures. As long as you don't have a weak stomach.

It's not the first time this year, and looking at what I want to play in the near future, might not be the last time this year, I play some PS2/3 ass new game. It feels weird to describe an era in which I was almost, if not a full adult for as something nostalgic, but nobody saw anything unusual about SNES, PSX, N64, etc being nostalgic in 2015, or even before that. Shoot I feel like SNES games were being called retro as early as the mid 2000s. By that standard, the earliest PS4 titles are "retro"

Slitterhead is a new game, less than a year old, but it feels like something made ~20 years ago. Like it's just been sitting in a vault, all but completed, and since it was 2025 they made sure it matched todays specs, to a degree anyway, and then released it. It's not always the prettiest game, and I don't say that just because of the grotesque imagery.

The First Berserker: Khazan

• Genre: Action RPG (Souls-Like)
• Spoiler Free Review: No real spoilers in this.
• Time Played: 62 Hours
• Too Short/Long: Definitely felt a bit too long. A good amount of the levels are just twice the length they need to be. Most side mission levels are solid for what they are, but each of the main ones (of which there are over a dozen) are hours each.
• Soundtrack: Kind of your standard fare for the type of game, mostly just ambient noise, but when combat happens they bring our the percussions and chanting choir. It fits, but it's not like it has catchy tunes.
• Why I played: This seemed like it was gonna be one of the most Hell Yeah games I would get to play in some time, and while it was to a degree, it wasn't quite the game I expected. I also really like DNF Duel and hope they do more games outside of Dungeon Fighter Online.
• Did I cry: Not really, there are some moments where they could have pulled it from me if they had spent more time with character development and story, but it definitely takes a back seat most of the game.
• Jank: For the most part the game is pretty polished, mechanically speaking. There is just a little wonkiness with inputs and them not always seeming to register, once I got around the timing of that I rarely had issues, but I definitely feel like the game could have offered a little bit more leeway in when you entered inputs.
• Difficulty: Extremely difficult. This is probably ones of the hardest games I've played. I have calluses on my finger tips I did not a couple weeks ago.
• Recommend to others: This is another one of those examples where the game is just too damn hard to easily recommend. Even to souls vets. I did really enjoy it, but it's tough. It's not the most punishing, but surmounting each wall is a test of patience and fortitude.

Khazan was a really tough game, as mentioned, and something that makes it's difficulty different from other souls-likes games is the much faster pace of the combat. I'm not quite sure any From Software's games make you block 5 times in less than 2 seconds, maybe Sekiro? Speaking of which, the fact that there are in fact several ways to block. 4 ways? 5 if you count the "perfectly timed" brink block, which would mean two ways to dodge, as well. Each block requires the block button, but your standard and brink are just the button, meanwhile, you can do different kind of counters with most the face buttons which have different times you can use them. 

Additionally, you have a skill tree, making Khazan play a little bit more like a character action character, with special moves and conditions in which you can combo certain attacks into others, or new attacks altogether.