Brew Review Summary

Despite frequent bugs, poor sound, and limited content, this game offers fun gameplay with a creative potion system and charming characters.

Game is very fun: Multiple reviews consistently describe the game as fun, addictive, charming, and enjoyable. The core gameplay loop is praised for being both satisfying and engaging.

Potion system is creative: The unique potion system is a standout feature, praised for being fast, creative, and decisive. It adds depth and variety to the gameplay, with options to drink, throw, or load potions into weapons.

Characters are charming: The character designs, animations, and personalities are frequently praised for being cute, expressive, and full of charm. NPC interactions are memorable and add to the game's appeal.

Visual style is appealing: The visual style and art direction receive high praise for being captivating, charismatic, and stylized. Bright, pleasant graphics with cute character designs contribute to the game's charm.

Music is great: The game's soundtrack is surprisingly good and adds to the overall experience. Reviewers appreciate the music and sound design, which are described as wonderful and well done.

Frequent bugs and glitches: Players report various bugs and jank, including animation issues, glitches, and problems that can lock out runs. These issues contribute to an overall lack of polish.

Sound quality needs improvement: Multiple reviews mention poor sound design, including missing effects, poor mixing, and inconsistent audio levels. Specific issues include very quiet sound effects, imbalanced audio, and dissatisfying melee sounds.

Limited content and length: Many players note that the game has little content and can be beaten quickly, often sooner than expected. This suggests a lack of depth or replay value.

Cutscenes have janky transitions: Cutscenes suffer from technical issues like janky transitions, typos, and characters' mouths flapping after scenes end. These issues detract from the narrative experience.

Healing system is too stingy: Players find healing options very limited, making damage feel punishing. This encourages hoarding potions and ingredients rather than using them freely.

Potion system offers versatility: Players can drink potions for buffs, throw them for area effects, or load them into guns to modify attacks. This three-way usage adds strategic depth and flexibility to combat.

Roguelite genre with tower: The game combines roguelite progression with a tower-climbing structure that becomes progressively harder. Runs and out-of-run upgrades mirror familiar roguelite mechanics.

Third-person shooter perspective: The game is consistently described as a third-person shooter roguelite. This perspective ties together the fast-paced shooting and potion-based mechanics.

Potion brewing and crafting: Players collect materials to brew potions, with effects depending on ingredients and element choices. Crafting is central to gameplay, allowing experimentation and customization.

Rapid in-combat crafting: Players can craft potions quickly during combat, enabling dynamic strategy adaptation. This feature highlights the agility and responsiveness of the potion system.

Performance issues on PC: Multiple clusters report poor optimization, crashes, and low performance on PC, including struggles to load areas, poor optimization, and crashes. These issues indicate significant technical problems on the PC platform.

Gameplay-affecting bugs: Several clusters describe bugs that hinder gameplay, such as soft locking with hidden enemies, bosses glitching into walls, getting stuck in the environment, and jump input not registering. These issues disrupt normal play and can prevent progress.

Visual glitches and bugs: Clusters mention visual glitches like T-posing, screen flashes, and slow texture loading, which degrade the visual experience. These issues are noticeable and affect immersion.

Optimization concerns persist: Clusters indicate optimization issues such as game speed tied to CPU speed, poor performance on Linux, and fans spinning up on menu, suggesting ongoing technical challenges. These issues may affect playability on various systems.

Resolution and display issues: Clusters mention resolution mismatch causing mouse issues, difficulty at lower resolutions, and unclear cinematic resolution, indicating problems with display settings. These can frustrate players and reduce usability.

Recommended for roguelite fans: Several clusters emphasize that the game is highly recommended for fans of action roguelites, roguelike shooters, and similar genres. Specific references are made to Gunfire Reborn, Risk of Rain, and Ratchet & Clank.

Strong overall recommendation: There are several clusters with strong recommendations, including 'highly recommends giving the game a try' and 'definitely recommended'. This indicates a general positive sentiment among many players.

Recommended for specific audiences: The game is recommended for fans of shooter-platformers, 3D platformers, fast-paced TPS roguelite action, and those who enjoy cute characters and art. This shows the game appeals to niche player groups.

Worth its price: Multiple reviewers state the game is totally worth its price, with some noting it's a very worthwhile experience for its low cost. Others mention it's an okay purchase for the price, indicating generally positive value perception.

Wait for bug fixes: Several clusters recommend waiting for updates, citing bugs and unfinished game design. Reviewers suggest waiting a few weeks or months for the developers to fix issues and add content.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $20.00.

Game completion: 10.0h.

Story completion: 5.0h.

Session length: 2.0h.

The game starts with a slow, clunky progression that feels unrewarding, but after investing the first hour or two into unlocking meta-progression upgrades, the gameplay becomes more viable and satisfying.

Friction: slow progression; unclear onboarding; clunky early gameplay; repetition; resource scarcity; trial and error.

Unlock drivers: meta-progression upgrades; resource management upgrades; boss knowledge; unlocking skills and power boosts.

Completionist Achievement Hunter: Systematic, goal-oriented runs, tracking achievement requirements. Motivation: Efficiently unlock all achievements with minimal time investment. Stance: sale.

Roguelite Build Crafter: Experimenting with different builds, optimizing potion synergies. Motivation: Experiment with potion combinations and unlock permanent upgrades. Stance: buy.

Cozy Aesthetic Explorer: Casual runs, focusing on fun and exploration rather than optimization. Motivation: Enjoy charming characters and a relaxing, casual gameplay experience. Stance: buy.

Steam Deck: The game suffers from frequent crashes, screen flickering, and input drift, making it unreliable on Steam Deck. While basic keyboard and mouse controls are noted as functional, stability and cursor issues create a high-friction experience.

Comparisons to Hades and Gunfire Reborn: The game is frequently compared to popular roguelikes like Hades and Gunfire Reborn in terms of structure and gameplay. Reviewers see it as a lighter, more casual alternative to these titles.

Short completion time: Reviews indicate the game can be completed in a few hours, with estimates ranging from 1.5 to 12 hours, but most around 2.5 to 10 hours. This suggests a short main campaign with potential for post-game content.

Active development and updates: Players noted that the developers are actively working on the game, releasing patches and updates since launch. This indicates ongoing support and potential for improvement.

Game compares to Ratchet and Clank: Multiple reviewers note the game's style and movement are reminiscent of Ratchet and Clank. This comparison appears frequently, indicating a strong similarity in gameplay feel.

Low price and good value: The game is praised for its low price point, offering good value for the content provided. Some mention it's priced lower than regional suggestions, making it an accessible purchase.