What I love about my adventures in virtual space is the variety. Thousands of game worlds still remain unconquered and attract me with their landscapes, forcing me to constantly move forward. Lost in Random was supposed to be an ordinary transitional world for me between two complex segments of the event, but instead I plunged headlong into a tragic and dark story about human feelings. What I saw shocked me, because I did not expect to see such a deep and elaborate story, wrapped in a bright wrapper. But first things first.

Well, my dear listener, here we are approaching the gates of the magical world called Uncertainty. These lush lands are inhabited by a wide variety of creatures, whose lives are inextricably linked with dice. At first, it seems as if these neon signs, loud voices of barkers and the roar of crowded cities create a feeling of an eternal holiday where everyone is having fun and having a good time, but in fact, amid the roar of firecrackers and the shine of sparklers, terrible tragedies unfold. This world is ruled by a cold and gloomy Queen, who determines the fate of people with a throw of the dice. Once upon a time, the gates of the united kingdoms were open to everyone, but now they are tightly locked. The worst thing the Queen did was with the Lords of the Dice, whom she mercilessly destroyed, because no one dares to control reality except her. In addition to wars, atrocities and horrific cynicism, the kingdoms were forced to pay the Queen a terrible tribute - to hand over children who turned 12. Upon reaching this age, they were obliged to roll the Queen's personal dice, which would determine their future fate. The lucky ones who got sixes went with the Queen to a magical city where all dreams come true, and the losers who got twos and ones were forced to eke out a miserable existence in poverty.

The heroine of this story is young Ewen, who goes on a great journey following her sister Odd, who was “lucky” to get a six, while celebrating her twelfth birthday. Ewen loved her quiet life with her parents and was not embarrassed by the fact that she was born into a family of scavengers. But the brave girl could not stand the fact that someone else dared to decide the fate of her family, even if it was the Queen herself. Enlisting the help of a magical dice, Ewen organizes his own crusade to the castle of the Tyrant Queen, confidently making his way through crowds of evil robots.

Lost in Random will invite the player to be transported to the magical world of Uncertainty to help the heroine named Even achieve her goals. The gameplay is divided into two parts - exploration and battles. In the first case, we will interact with characters, solve puzzles and complete side quests, and the second part will become our integral companion throughout the game. The battles in Lost in Random are a card roguelike with a deckbuilder in special arenas, where we will clear waves of opponents, create our own decks and collect new cards around the world. During the battle, Ewen must shoot blue crystals with a slingshot, which will charge our deck, giving us random cards. During the roll of the dice, time will stop, and we will be able to think about which combination of the cards presented we will be able to implement. Each card costs a certain number of action points and it is the roll of the dice that will determine our further capabilities. There is quite an impressive number of cards for creating a deck in the game, and here everyone can find their favorite combination. Some will play through poison and statuses, some will use numerous bombs and minions to help, and some will focus on magical weapons and power-ups. Despite the fact that the combat in Lost in Random is monotonous and devoid of action, the battle process itself looks spectacular and interesting.

The visuals and musical accompaniment in Lost in Random are pleasing to the eye and refer back to the times where Tim Burton created and created worlds. I don't think he had a hand in creating the world of Uncertainty, but what I am sure of is that the developers were inspired by his work. Many people mistake Lost in Random for just another children's game with naive characters and a friendly environment, and I sincerely regret that they did not allow the game to show itself from all sides.

Lost in Random is a difficult and serious story about growing up, losses and overcoming one's own capabilities. The game is replete with psychologisms, which are reflected in the characters and the heroine of the story. The developers were able to perfectly convey the serious message of the story through the eyes of a child who does not understand why the world is so cruel and adults turn out to be selfish. Helping various creatures, Even learns to survive in the complex world of Uncertainty, without losing the firmness of his convictions and life principles. I was surprised that the authors were able to build a coherent and interesting story in the toy world and, at the same time, not lose the degree of intensity of what was happening to the fullest.

From delicious to sad. I recently saw the trailer for this game at the Summer Game Fest and was very surprised that Nexon was making this game. In general, I immediately understood what kind of game this was, but until the end I hoped that I was mistaken. It’s a pity, but this time my instinct didn’t let me down.

There is no plot here and it all comes down to a simple killing of other players in the scenery of a large destroyed city. They say that once upon a time the ancient gods started a war and endowed some prominent people with powerful powers so that they would defend the will of the gods. It is for them that we will have to play. We will have 6 characters to choose from - a swordsman, a spearman, a man with a hammer, a man with a brush and a shield, a woman with crooked sabers and some kind of buffer nun. The entire gameplay boils down to a dull capture of points followed by a combat grunt. I was doubly lucky and for half an hour I ran into a lobby full of bots, and people began to join me when I was about to leave. The gameplay is like For Honor, but instead of tactical and spectacular battles, it’s just a slasher anime hack-and-slash game with throwing opponents into the air and inflicting blows. We run in --> stand up to capture the point --> break the faces of the running defenders by pressing the skillo --> and so on in a circle. If we quit, we can always freely choose another class for respawning. As a free graphic novel, I think it would be good, but personally I quickly got bored with this kind of gameplay and quit. Maybe they’ll add something similar at the release, but that will be a completely different story.

P.S. The game died before it even lived for more than two years. This result was quite expected.

Two weeks ago I received an unusual invitation that instantly interested me. I, along with other players, were invited to spend the weekend in Old Villedor to celebrate the second anniversary festival of Dying Light 2: Stay Human. I'm ashamed to admit, but the first part is still collecting dust on one of the shelves in my library, and here a sequel is already looming on the horizon. However, I decided not to engage in soul-searching and, taking with me the necessary equipment, set out on foot towards the last city on Earth.

Civilizations have always been fragile and unreliable. Basking in imaginary prosperity and hiding behind a sense of security, people hoped that the high fortress walls and the skill of their own warriors would be able to repel any threats, but everything was not so. Warriors, epidemics and natural disasters have proven many times that human civilization is very fragile and in case of serious danger the world can collapse. And so it happened.

Years after stopping the Harran virus and clearing out the remaining infected, people finally breathed a sigh of relief. Cities began to be rebuilt again, people began to create offspring, and the grass gradually covered mounds with mass graves and places of fierce battles. It seemed that nothing could shake this situation and spoil the triumph of humanity in the struggle for its life, but this was not so. Scientists in secret research centers did not learn a lesson from the previous outbreak of the virus, so they continued to study it in laboratory conditions, with the goal of developing an army of super soldiers. Ironically, they again could not contain the infection within sterile walls and it broke out to conquer the flourishing lands. This time everything happened even faster than in Harran - the cities were burning, people were trying to escape, but hordes of the infected swept away everything in their path. Long after the screams and moans fell silent, and only zombies began to walk the earth, many of the surviving old-timers began to talk about the fact that in the east there was the last city not captured by the dead, to which a continuous stream of refugees was drawn. The hero of our story named Aiden also became interested in these rumors, but for his own reasons. Somewhere out there, among the gray houses of Old Villedor, his painful past still lives. Perhaps in this hell there is still room for a miracle and this city could remain untouched. Aiden decides to go to meet his past in order to put his old childhood fears to rest.

Dying Light 2 continues the tradition of the series and will once again offer the player a large open world where the art of parkour rules the roost. The storyline here will act as our guide to locations and an indicator of progress, where new locations will open. From the very beginning we are introduced to the majestic Old Villedor, where people and the dead coexist. During the day, the city's streets look safe with the lethargic zombies and plenty of light, but if you really want to get your fill of thrills, you'll have to explore the city's nightlife. Here, strong mutants and escaped samples from military laboratories are brought to the surface. It will not be possible to hide on the roof, because these creatures can perfectly hear and smell the player several hundred meters away. All hope lies in our parkour skills and a charged UV flashlight.

Dying Light 2 perfectly speculates on the topic of clearing outposts and towers, but, unlike many other games with similar mechanics, here it is vital. The construction of refugee camps creates safe zones where we will have a place to stay for the night and weapons caches. Despite the fact that my gameplay was updated with the addition of firearms, I was not able to try it - time was running out. But I was pleasantly surprised by the addition of the ability to repair weapons and starting booster packs with imbued weapons. Yes, there is a lot of donation here, but it is all cosmetic. Armor in the game provides only an aesthetic component and a few perks, but all the same, the entire emphasis will be placed on melee weapons, which can be equipped with modules and improvements.

Parkour in Dying Light 2 is well implemented and, thanks to it, moving around the game world is interesting. The visuals of Old Villedor and other locations perfectly convey the spirit of the post-apocalypse and delight the eye with an abundance of details. The feeling of height and action-packed gameplay gives a strong dose of adrenaline and makes your hands tremble. The artificial intelligence of the opponents, of course, leaves much to be desired, but when we are forced to fight in a confined space, there is no time for jokes.

I believe that the weakest point of the game is not at all stupid opponents and clearing towers, but its plot. It’s been a long time since I encountered a situation where I didn’t develop sympathy for any character during the playthrough. Everyone is trying to wipe their feet or take advantage of the main character, which only gets worse towards the end of the game. Of course, I understand that in the world there is a post-apocalypse and many people have lost their humanity not only externally, but when everyone turns out to be a scoundrel, it’s no longer funny. Also, the unexpected consequences of some plot choices made me smile, where it is impossible to maintain neutrality with all factions, and in the case of a choice not in favor of the other side, a complete purge of everyone and everything follows, including boss fights with key characters. The endings do not shine with their variety and do not add joy to the final impression of the gameplay. Double standards, exaggeration of trivial situations and illogical actions of characters are very striking. It feels like the game’s authors initially wanted to make the main character unhappy, but instead of compassion, there is only disappointment in the soul.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I liked Dying Light 2. There is excellent gameplay with plenty of parkour and simple combat with clicking on opponents. The game world is large and colorful and will definitely appeal to loot hunters, because everything here is literally buried in containers with resources. Due to the addition of firearms and daily action with the agent system to the game, Dying Light 2 may well find a second life, where the world built by the player will actually work and help its creator. On the other hand, you shouldn’t really count on the depth of the plot here, because it is absolutely superficial and formulaic. The characters do not attract attention either by their appearance or their actions, so it is better not to focus on this. If you like to explore the open world, create your own story, clear towers and get adrenaline from parkour at high altitudes, then you should definitely try to look into the cruel world of Dying Light 2.