Weekly Notes (May 12–18): Why DOOM Dominated - and Slormancer Struggled Across Asia

Niklas Borglund

Author

2025-05-19

Happy Monday! A new week, a new crop of game launches - and some really interesting patterns in how different regions are reacting. Here's what stood out from May 12–18.

🔫 DOOM: The Dark Ages by id Software

Largest audiences: ~66% English Speakers, ~11% Chinese (Simplified), ~8% Russian

This week's clear winner is the new DOOM: The Dark Ages. And just as you'd expect, it's fast-paced FPS filled with gore, action, and over-the-top power fantasy - and it's exactly what people want. It has 85 on metacritic and 87% positive on Steam. Players love the combat, the visuals, and the design of the DOOM Slayer.

But there’s a major point of frustration: the game forces ray tracing, locking out players with older GPUs unless they upgrade.

Beyond that, reviews are mixed on a few other fronts. Some miss the glory kills from previous entries, others say the soundtrack is lacking (also compared to previous DOOM games), and there’s criticism over the short length and some mechanical balance issues.

🚓 The Precinct by Fallen Tree Games Ltd

Largest audiences: ~52% English Speakers, ~9% Chinese (Simplified), ~7% German

The Precinct is a top-down sandbox police game set in the 1980s, where players patrol the city, chase suspects, and try to keep the streets clean. It delivers an immersive experience that appeals to fans of police sims and 80s aesthetics, but it also comes with some recurring criticisms: slippery vehicle controls, weak AI behavior, and repetitive mission design.

Audience Anomaly with Chinese (Simplified)

One thing stands out in the audience breakdown data: Chinese (Simplified) players give the game only ~58% positive reviews, while most other audiences sit comfortably in the 80–90% range.

I went through the top upvoted Chinese reviews manually, and while the themes of their complaints are similar to those in other regions, they judge it much harder. Top complaints: Driving mechanics and AI behavior.

🛠️ Jacksmith: Weapons and Warriors by Flipline Studio

Largest audiences: ~63% English Speakers, ~9% Polish, ~8% Russian

As I understand it, this is the remake of a popular Flash game released back in 2012. You craft custom weapons & armor to equip local warriors which you can then follow into battle to defeat an evil Wizard.

The overwhelming majority talks about the nostalgia they feel when playing. They are more than happy to revisit, and it currently sits on a 97% positive rating. A few players express disappointment with the lack of new feature and the repetitive gameplay.

🕹️ Capcom Fighting Collection 2 by Capcom Co. Ltd.

Largest audiences: ~69% English Speakers, ~6% Japanese, ~5% Portuguese (Brazil)

Capcom released the second collection in their classic fighting collection. The first collection was received well and here is a new batch of their classics re-released on steam. Players love its nostalgic value and the selection of games, but it faces some criticism for issues in online play and the absence of features from the original versions.

Games Included:

• Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Pro
• Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 2001
• Capcom Fighting Evolution
• Street Fighter Alpha 3 UPPER
• Power Stone
• Power Stone 2
• Project Justice
• Plasma Sword: Nightmare of Bilstein

🛡️ Kingdom Come: Deliverance II – Brushes with Death by Warhorse Studios

Largest audiences: ~43% English Speakers, ~19% Chinese (Simplified), ~13% Russian

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II just dropped its first expansion, Brushes with Death, where you help a mysterious artist uncover his past. Players praise the engaging story, the addition of shield customization, and the affordable price. Some feel it’s a bit short, overly reliant on fetch quests and would have liked more depth, but overall the reception is positive.

⚔️ Early Access Graduate: The Slormancer by Slormite Studios

Largest audiences: ~42% English Speakers, ~27% Chinese (Simplified), ~9% French

The Slormancer is a 2D action RPG that finally left Early Access this week, after originally launching back in 2021.

Recent reviews are very positive. Players love the gameplay and customization, but some complain about late-game grind, difficulty spikes, and incomplete localization.

Audience Anomaly with Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese & Korean

I noticed that this game also had a much more negative score among certain audiences. Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese & Korean would all give the game a score below 70% positive - where other markets would give it between 85-95%

So I did some digging! ;) I think it's safe to say - don't underestimate the power of a good localization!

Korean ~65% positive

According to the most upvoted Korean reviews, the issue lies within localization promises. The reviewers state that the developers had listed Korean as a planned language, but was then silently removed from the roadmap with the devs citing high translation costs. Before launch they also apparently added unofficial AI translation - which was not received well.

Chinese (Simplified) ~64% positive

Simplified Chinese players mainly complain about grindy progression, frustrating map design, and a messy translation that’s still incomplete even after launch

Chinese (Traditional) ~68% positive

Traditional Chinese players do not mention localization much at all from the reviews I checked. They mainly seem to complain about excessive grind, maze-like maps, and a lack of clear progression systems. Some also write that the game spent too long in Early Access with too little to show for it.

📊 Full List: Top Releases for May 12–18 (2025)

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