Dead Ink

(Follow [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42150626-Jarl's-Game-Treasury/]my curator[/url] for more reviews like this) Dead Ink is a very interesting take on the soulslike genre with a bit of jank, but I've played jankier before. To begin with, I'd like to address some of the negative reviews which complain about the combat. I played through this game in early 2026, after the combat patch and running update, and most of the issues mentioned in those reviews have been resolved. The top negative review mentions there being no stagger or poise, for example, but in the updated version I played, enemies always staggered after taking a couple of hits. So the complaints you read in older negative reviews may no longer apply to the game's current state. The game is set in a very, very vertical tower with brutalist architecture and overgrown vegetation littering your path. It's a compact game world that doesn't expand very far into the X and Y axes, but goes all in on the Z axis. There's even achievements for reaching the highest and lowest points of the tower! You begin your journey with very little information but eventually figure out that you have to find a certain terminal t…

Beat the game and only have 2 achievements left. Nearing the end of the game, it was definitely getting a bit puzzling/ frustrating to figure out HOW to get to somewhere, but it did feel rewarding when the path was finally found. The requirements to beat the game were pretty interesting to me as well, though it did kinda make the final stretch rely on memory more than anything. Combat is rather simple, parries are ok, but the window they create often feels too short to properly capitalise on. Once I had found the spear, and upgraded it some, I didn't feel the need to try any other weapon (though I did upgrade and try the Halberd, but there wasn't much combat left).

Top-down Souls-like in a tower. Is it a good game? Definitely. Is it for everyone? Definitely not. There's certainly something magical here though; the breath-taking vistas remind me of grand castle and open environments of ICO for some reason, the ambient soundtrack is minimalist but powerful, the verticality is enough to tickle anyone's (metaphorical?) nutsack, and the combat challenging but rewarding and there's enough here to keep it interesting. It's a fun, smaller game that does something that's never been done before and that in and of itself puts it above a lot projects of similar magnitudes. Not for everyone, but if you're up for this sort of thing you won't be disappointed.

This game is atrocious, the controls are sluggish and combat doesn't feel fun. On top of that you die in 3 hits even if you shield up.

9/10 This game is special. I don't like soul's likes, but this game got it's hooks into me. It's a simple game; no super deep systems or complex mechanics. But the atmosphere is incredible (just LOOK at the screenshots!). There's no deep lore hidden away or anything, and there doesn't need to be. Gameplay consists of fighting through enemies and exploring the tower, and both aspects feel like piecing together a puzzle . . . when the pieces finally click, it's satisfying. The game is so small it has no guides or walkthroughs. And that honestly enhanced the experience for me; I felt truly alone in this strange tower, and each new discovery felt like a personal triumph. I honestly don't have anything to complain about for this game. The main complaint I saw in negative reviews referenced terrible feeling combat, but the combat felt good. Sure, there was some indie jank, but the actual combat I had no problems with. I am playing post combat update, so if there were problems, they must have been solved. One feature I wish the game included was the ability to remap key bindings. That's the biggest negative for me: only other thing is I had to grind enemies to get enough ink to re-s…

Sadly I can't recommend this game. It is a very short, samey and clunky for its price! The game does indeed have some charm, and a reasonable degree of enemy diversity for its short length, though. However, you've essentially seen everything the game has to offer after an hour -- sure there's more, but nothing feels different or fresh. The entire game takes place in one 'biome' that can feel confusing as each area does not differentiate itself well. This would not be an issue, but the birds-eye view makes navigating more of a chore than joy. Especially since some parts the game relies on you jumping down to a platform, but the camera angle leaves you thinking you'll land on a tile, when in actuality you're one short and you will plunge to your doom. The systems are clunky as well. You earn souls (known as ink in this game) from foes, but to level up you have to get to a specific part of the tower, then convert your ink to an item you have to unlock the blueprint for. Furthermore, the game "features" a permadeath element -- every 'bonfire' has its own ink tied to it. So if you wish to fast travel, you must leave all your ink where you fast travelled from. Each load out…