5/5 ★ – VongolaBox's review of Metal Bringer.

Wow! What an unbelievably hidden gem!!! Metal Bringer takes everything I love about games like Hades and programs it into an Armored Core! I haven't been this excited about a game in like a decade!!!! Whew! Okay, calm down, Von. Stuck in cryosleep for 1000 years, our protagonist along with the rest of humanity take shelter from the ruined earth in an underground city. There, the AI called S.I.V.A. keeps the sleeping humans "safe" via numerous androids called Labors, who all seem to be trying to reach S.I.V.A. themselves. Some Labors pilot mechanized battle suits called Arms, making your goal of reaching the AI and saving your fellow humans a difficult prospect. On the way to S.I.V.A. you'll encounter these Labors and Arms, and you'll mow down crowds of them, gathering "apps" which strengthen your Labor, while also defeating Arms and taking the weapons from your fallen enemy's own mechs. Once you acquire a part or an app, you can take it to a workshop to be analyzed, after which that part or app can be equipped for the beginning of your runs. This leads to a ridiculously fun loop of leveling up your equipment, starting a run, gathering new power ups, defeating bosses, all to do it over again. The narrative as well is quite fun, and the dialogue has been paid some special attention, as it's fun and breezy while also having that dark undertone you want in a story like this. The graphics may turn some people off. The chibi proportions of the people don't bother me much, and their actions are all very well animated. The mechs have that heft and crunch to them, but the part that might give pause to some is the pixel filter put over everything. For me, this pixel filter works well, and gives me a late 90s early 2000s vibe. Sometimes there isn't a way to parse what's happening on screen with the filter, but I feel like without that the game would lose some of its character. I am emphatically stating my adoration for this game right here and now. It's been quite some time since a dark horse of a game galloped out in front of me, and by God, I need everyone to know that Metal Bringer is one of the best games I've played this year.