Nikonoim
2012
(I haven't played the previous one or any DLCs.)
Even though it was released more than a decade ago, Borderlands 2 remains one of the most popular looter-shooter. Combining the fountains of loot from the Diablo series with FPS mechanics and a semi-open world creates a mostly unique experience. In addition, since it’s a single-player game, it also has a storyline that features one of the more popular villains in gaming – Handsome Jack.
Yet for all the praise it receives, I can’t say it’s anything more than mediocre. There is nothing that’s done exceptionally well and while I did find it funny, it will be hit or miss for many people. I simply can’t see what is so fun about the gameplay, it's not bad per se, it’s just the standard. You walk around and shoot guys, robots, or bugs.
It’s not the game I would think of when someone asks me for an FPS recommendation, it’s quite far down that list, but if anyone were to say they were going to play this game, I wouldn’t discourage them. I guess this genre hasn’t seen many great additions compared to Borderlands 2. There is Borderlands 3, but that has received a whole host of criticism, there is also Destiny 2, but that’s multiplayer with its own problems. So, at the end of the day looter shooter wise there isn’t anything better.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There is a vault somewhere with great treasure inside, and you want it. Unfortunately, a person who controls most of the planet and is incredibly rich also wants it. Most of the game is trying to find the vault, while Handsome Jack tries to kill you and also find the vault.
I have to give it credit, Borderlands 2 is one of the most intentionally funny games I've played. Most of it is due to Handsome Jack. He, for some reason, has your phone number and constantly calls you to tell you how weak and pathetic you are. As I said, the comedy is not for everyone, even I found a fair share of the jokes unamusing. The humour is quite vulgar, sometimes relying on shock value, like a character being named Fluffybutt.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
The main selling point of Borderlands 2 is the billion-plus weapons you can get. You will never pick up the same gun twice. On paper, this is an amazing design choice that will allow the player to experience all kinds of armaments throughout their playthrough. During gameplay, it’s a different story. As you progress, you will face enemies that are of a higher level and thus tougher. It is expected that your player character and your weapons will level up with them. Imagine getting a legendary rarity rocket launcher that you acquired after much effort. Unfortunately, after a few areas, its damage will be on the same level as any other common rarity firearm and soon totally obsolete. You aren’t given the chance to get attached to any one gun before having to replace it.
The core FPS gameplay is mediocre. There are special abilities that sometimes mix things up, but it all comes down to just walking around shooting bad guys. That wouldn’t be an issue, after all, most of the FPS genre is just that, but the game is not short. At the end of my playthrough, I was more than ready to put this game down.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Even though it was released all the way back in 2012 it has hardly aged graphically. This can be mainly attributed to the comic-book-like artstyle Borderlands employs. It also helps the game stand out. If you show me a screenshot of any gameplay, I can tell right away that it's from here.
On a more personal note, I actually dislike this artstyle, and I am not entirely sure why. Perhaps it’s the overly saturated colour pallet or the Junker/Mad Max aesthetic that I find unappealing.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere of Borderlands 2 is very comedic. The non-stop jokes and quips make for quite an unserious gameplay experience. This only becomes a problem once the game starts taking itself seriously and expects the player to be in the same mood, which for me was not the case.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Genuinely cannot remember a single track from the OST, and I can’t be bothered to listen to it again. As such, I can’t say whether it’s good or bad.
I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Handsome Jack isn’t even that handsome.
Even though it was released more than a decade ago, Borderlands 2 remains one of the most popular looter-shooter. Combining the fountains of loot from the Diablo series with FPS mechanics and a semi-open world creates a mostly unique experience. In addition, since it’s a single-player game, it also has a storyline that features one of the more popular villains in gaming – Handsome Jack.
Yet for all the praise it receives, I can’t say it’s anything more than mediocre. There is nothing that’s done exceptionally well and while I did find it funny, it will be hit or miss for many people. I simply can’t see what is so fun about the gameplay, it's not bad per se, it’s just the standard. You walk around and shoot guys, robots, or bugs.
It’s not the game I would think of when someone asks me for an FPS recommendation, it’s quite far down that list, but if anyone were to say they were going to play this game, I wouldn’t discourage them. I guess this genre hasn’t seen many great additions compared to Borderlands 2. There is Borderlands 3, but that has received a whole host of criticism, there is also Destiny 2, but that’s multiplayer with its own problems. So, at the end of the day looter shooter wise there isn’t anything better.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There is a vault somewhere with great treasure inside, and you want it. Unfortunately, a person who controls most of the planet and is incredibly rich also wants it. Most of the game is trying to find the vault, while Handsome Jack tries to kill you and also find the vault.
I have to give it credit, Borderlands 2 is one of the most intentionally funny games I've played. Most of it is due to Handsome Jack. He, for some reason, has your phone number and constantly calls you to tell you how weak and pathetic you are. As I said, the comedy is not for everyone, even I found a fair share of the jokes unamusing. The humour is quite vulgar, sometimes relying on shock value, like a character being named Fluffybutt.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
The main selling point of Borderlands 2 is the billion-plus weapons you can get. You will never pick up the same gun twice. On paper, this is an amazing design choice that will allow the player to experience all kinds of armaments throughout their playthrough. During gameplay, it’s a different story. As you progress, you will face enemies that are of a higher level and thus tougher. It is expected that your player character and your weapons will level up with them. Imagine getting a legendary rarity rocket launcher that you acquired after much effort. Unfortunately, after a few areas, its damage will be on the same level as any other common rarity firearm and soon totally obsolete. You aren’t given the chance to get attached to any one gun before having to replace it.
The core FPS gameplay is mediocre. There are special abilities that sometimes mix things up, but it all comes down to just walking around shooting bad guys. That wouldn’t be an issue, after all, most of the FPS genre is just that, but the game is not short. At the end of my playthrough, I was more than ready to put this game down.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Even though it was released all the way back in 2012 it has hardly aged graphically. This can be mainly attributed to the comic-book-like artstyle Borderlands employs. It also helps the game stand out. If you show me a screenshot of any gameplay, I can tell right away that it's from here.
On a more personal note, I actually dislike this artstyle, and I am not entirely sure why. Perhaps it’s the overly saturated colour pallet or the Junker/Mad Max aesthetic that I find unappealing.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere of Borderlands 2 is very comedic. The non-stop jokes and quips make for quite an unserious gameplay experience. This only becomes a problem once the game starts taking itself seriously and expects the player to be in the same mood, which for me was not the case.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Genuinely cannot remember a single track from the OST, and I can’t be bothered to listen to it again. As such, I can’t say whether it’s good or bad.
I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Handsome Jack isn’t even that handsome.
2001
(Played it on a PS 2 emulator)
The first instalment of the Devil May Cry series aptly named Devil May Cry is a hack-and-slash game that introduces us to the character Dante and is the first to feature mechanics such as the stylish meter. Even though at that time, the parts that made this series so popular were in their infancy, it still managed to be entertaining. Still, the flaws are apparent – low-quality cutscenes, clunky controls, and some out-of-place mechanics are just some of the issues holding this game back. Due to this, I can’t give it a much higher rating.
There isn’t anything here that hasn’t been done better in a future instalment. As such, the only people who I could recommend it to, are fans of the franchise who want to see its origins. For them, I have to say you aren’t in for an incredibly good time, neither an incredibly bad time.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as Dante, the son of the powerful devil Sparda, who has taken up a job as a devil hunter seeking revenge for his family. A woman by the name of Trish informs you that the devil you are searching for is located on a remote island that she can take you to. There you will face foe after foe and even stand face to face with individuals from your past.
The story overall is alright for the most part, it's heavily carried by the protagonist Dante. He is a flashy rock star kind of cool guy, who is constantly saying one-liners to his enemies and doesn’t take even the most dangerous encounters seriously. My biggest disappointment is that there weren’t more cutscenes.
I am also not a fan of the ending. Not that a happy ending is bad, but the way it’s done is too out of place compared to the rest of the game.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Groundbreaking at release, far from the norm by today, Devil May Cry’s gameplay is trying its best. First, it isn’t over the shoulder, but rather the camera moves on a fixed predetermined path. Sometimes this causes problems, like not allowing you to look in the direction you want.
Combat-wise, you attack with your swords using a diverse set of moves like thrusting attacks, plunging attacks, sending enemies into the air, and so on. There are also harder to perform combos that fill the style meter faster. Throughout your playthrough, you will acquire other melee weapons with their own move sets and special attacks. In addition, in your arsenal, you have a gun. Just as with the swords, you will get more the further you go. They are a genius addition to the game, allowing you to close the gap no matter the distance. It makes those pesky flying enemies a piece of cake. All of these attacks fill up the devil trigger meter, which when used unleashes Dante’s devil form.
My main issue is that it doesn’t feel that fluid, there are button presses that seem unnecessary and just slow down the gameplay. Overall, I found it good enough to be enjoyable for the 8 hours I played. It isn’t a combat system I would try to master.
Enemies and bosses are good, they provide a challenge but aren’t that difficult. Can’t say the same about the final boss, though. I spent more time on him than all others combined.
Another issue I mention is some of the unusual gameplay sections. Was the underwater section or the part where you fly a plane really needed? Thankfully, they don’t last too long, but they still threw off the pace of the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
As I said, the cutscenes have not been spared, as they were made for a much lower-quality display than today. On the other hand, the game itself looks surprisingly good, still outdated, but by no means ugly. Most of that is due to the fixed camera, not letting you see, what you are not supposed to see, even then the effort put into the scenery is clear.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The influence of Resident Evil is clear, the environment, the soundtrack, it all has this dark sinister undertone, not typical of this genre. If it wasn’t for Dante’s incredible power, this would be a survival horror instead.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Choir, orchestral, and some rock dominates the OST of Devil May Cry. It’s a well-fitting soundtrack that helps build up the atmosphere. It isn't one I would listen to outside the game.
My favourite part is “Lock & Load”.
Also, what the hell are these track names – “Pubic Enemy”, “Final Penetration”, “Evil Vacuum”, “Blue Orgasm”?
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
“I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIIIIIIGHT”
The first instalment of the Devil May Cry series aptly named Devil May Cry is a hack-and-slash game that introduces us to the character Dante and is the first to feature mechanics such as the stylish meter. Even though at that time, the parts that made this series so popular were in their infancy, it still managed to be entertaining. Still, the flaws are apparent – low-quality cutscenes, clunky controls, and some out-of-place mechanics are just some of the issues holding this game back. Due to this, I can’t give it a much higher rating.
There isn’t anything here that hasn’t been done better in a future instalment. As such, the only people who I could recommend it to, are fans of the franchise who want to see its origins. For them, I have to say you aren’t in for an incredibly good time, neither an incredibly bad time.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as Dante, the son of the powerful devil Sparda, who has taken up a job as a devil hunter seeking revenge for his family. A woman by the name of Trish informs you that the devil you are searching for is located on a remote island that she can take you to. There you will face foe after foe and even stand face to face with individuals from your past.
The story overall is alright for the most part, it's heavily carried by the protagonist Dante. He is a flashy rock star kind of cool guy, who is constantly saying one-liners to his enemies and doesn’t take even the most dangerous encounters seriously. My biggest disappointment is that there weren’t more cutscenes.
I am also not a fan of the ending. Not that a happy ending is bad, but the way it’s done is too out of place compared to the rest of the game.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Groundbreaking at release, far from the norm by today, Devil May Cry’s gameplay is trying its best. First, it isn’t over the shoulder, but rather the camera moves on a fixed predetermined path. Sometimes this causes problems, like not allowing you to look in the direction you want.
Combat-wise, you attack with your swords using a diverse set of moves like thrusting attacks, plunging attacks, sending enemies into the air, and so on. There are also harder to perform combos that fill the style meter faster. Throughout your playthrough, you will acquire other melee weapons with their own move sets and special attacks. In addition, in your arsenal, you have a gun. Just as with the swords, you will get more the further you go. They are a genius addition to the game, allowing you to close the gap no matter the distance. It makes those pesky flying enemies a piece of cake. All of these attacks fill up the devil trigger meter, which when used unleashes Dante’s devil form.
My main issue is that it doesn’t feel that fluid, there are button presses that seem unnecessary and just slow down the gameplay. Overall, I found it good enough to be enjoyable for the 8 hours I played. It isn’t a combat system I would try to master.
Enemies and bosses are good, they provide a challenge but aren’t that difficult. Can’t say the same about the final boss, though. I spent more time on him than all others combined.
Another issue I mention is some of the unusual gameplay sections. Was the underwater section or the part where you fly a plane really needed? Thankfully, they don’t last too long, but they still threw off the pace of the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
As I said, the cutscenes have not been spared, as they were made for a much lower-quality display than today. On the other hand, the game itself looks surprisingly good, still outdated, but by no means ugly. Most of that is due to the fixed camera, not letting you see, what you are not supposed to see, even then the effort put into the scenery is clear.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The influence of Resident Evil is clear, the environment, the soundtrack, it all has this dark sinister undertone, not typical of this genre. If it wasn’t for Dante’s incredible power, this would be a survival horror instead.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Choir, orchestral, and some rock dominates the OST of Devil May Cry. It’s a well-fitting soundtrack that helps build up the atmosphere. It isn't one I would listen to outside the game.
My favourite part is “Lock & Load”.
Also, what the hell are these track names – “Pubic Enemy”, “Final Penetration”, “Evil Vacuum”, “Blue Orgasm”?
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
“I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with LIIIIIIGHT”
(I haven’t played the original Dark Souls II, so I can’t say how it compares to Scholar of the First Sin)
Dark Souls II is the most controversial entry in the Dark Souls trilogy and, overall, all the Souls-like games released by FromSoftware. The game on its own is fine. You can definitely have fun playing it, it’s by no means garbage. However, when put beside its brethren, the flaws and wasted potential become apparent. After all, a sequel has to be a step-up when compared to its precursor, and Dark Souls II is in most aspects a downgrade.
The first Dark Souls isn’t required to be played to understand the plot of DS II, in fact, you will probably end up even more confused.
I assume you already are at least slightly familiar with this genre and its gameplay. If not, well let’s just say this is not a good place to start. If you are, then good, that means I won’t have to describe what a Dark Souls game is. That’s not to say there are no changes to the formula, there are, some improvements others not, but overall, it’s not that different from the first DS. To the untrained eye, these games could be the same.
It’s hard to recommend, really, since I can just point to all the other better games that FromSoftware has released and tell you to play them instead. The only person I can recommend it to is someone who wants to play DS II, and they have no reason to read this review.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Set in Drangleic, the fire is fading once more, and you have to journey through the lands and reignite it (or not). The traditional FromSoftware storytelling approach is taken here, i.e., you will have no idea what going on. DS II is even more cryptic than usual. You're even told that you won't know why you're doing all of this, and yeah, I did end my playthrough with a resounding “Huh?”.
However, if you do manage to sift through all the lore and figure out what’s happening, it’s a fascinating story. It features themes of life and death; light and dark and human perseverance, and it does feel like a natural progression from DS I.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
My biggest problem with DS II is the bosses. In this genre, I believe they are one of the most important aspects, so you can imagine my disappointment when 90% took barely any effort to beat. It's not like I was overpowered; I was going through the game as directly as possible and still struggling with some of the enemy encounters. I can count on one hand how many took more than three attempts. Even the final boss wasn’t spared, I said to myself “That’s it?” after beating them.
Does that mean the game is easy? Nope. It is not always difficult, but when it wants to it will put the next bonfire a marathon away, a marathon filled with the most frustrating enemies you can imagine, it will make a boss runback that is harder than the boss itself and other methods of torture. At times, it was taking me so long to reach the next area I was starting to get philosophical, and wonder about the reason we play games. There is however a saving grace that kept me playing, even if I would have given up any other time, after an enemy is killed more than 20 times, they permanently despawn. The best thing to come out of DS II, and it's not featured in any of the next titles.
Exploration is alright, not as bad as the second half of DS I, but nowhere near as good as the first half of DS I. There are some questionable connections between areas, that left me confused as to how I got there, but that’s about it. Plenty of secrets lie in wait, for those who are interested.
Combat is slightly less clunky, as now you can roll in 8 directions. There is also dual-wielding.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
I did play with a mod that enhances the graphical quality of DS II, and I recommend you do the same. The original isn’t that bad, but if I can make it better at no cost, then why shouldn’t I. I can't say much more as it would be unfair to critique a feature I never experienced.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
This is another big problem I have with this game. The atmosphere is much more bland. I mostly attribute this to the cryptic storytelling and level design. It doesn’t feel like an adventure through one land, but rather various fantasy areas stitched together. This ends up with a much weaker atmosphere, especially when compared to its predecessor.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Much to no one’s surprise, it’s mostly orchestral music. There are some very memorable tracks, but most of them blend together. That is more of a problem with the entire series than just DS II.
My favourite part is “Majula”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
You better not be romanticizing your melancholic loneliness.
Dark Souls II is the most controversial entry in the Dark Souls trilogy and, overall, all the Souls-like games released by FromSoftware. The game on its own is fine. You can definitely have fun playing it, it’s by no means garbage. However, when put beside its brethren, the flaws and wasted potential become apparent. After all, a sequel has to be a step-up when compared to its precursor, and Dark Souls II is in most aspects a downgrade.
The first Dark Souls isn’t required to be played to understand the plot of DS II, in fact, you will probably end up even more confused.
I assume you already are at least slightly familiar with this genre and its gameplay. If not, well let’s just say this is not a good place to start. If you are, then good, that means I won’t have to describe what a Dark Souls game is. That’s not to say there are no changes to the formula, there are, some improvements others not, but overall, it’s not that different from the first DS. To the untrained eye, these games could be the same.
It’s hard to recommend, really, since I can just point to all the other better games that FromSoftware has released and tell you to play them instead. The only person I can recommend it to is someone who wants to play DS II, and they have no reason to read this review.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Set in Drangleic, the fire is fading once more, and you have to journey through the lands and reignite it (or not). The traditional FromSoftware storytelling approach is taken here, i.e., you will have no idea what going on. DS II is even more cryptic than usual. You're even told that you won't know why you're doing all of this, and yeah, I did end my playthrough with a resounding “Huh?”.
However, if you do manage to sift through all the lore and figure out what’s happening, it’s a fascinating story. It features themes of life and death; light and dark and human perseverance, and it does feel like a natural progression from DS I.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
My biggest problem with DS II is the bosses. In this genre, I believe they are one of the most important aspects, so you can imagine my disappointment when 90% took barely any effort to beat. It's not like I was overpowered; I was going through the game as directly as possible and still struggling with some of the enemy encounters. I can count on one hand how many took more than three attempts. Even the final boss wasn’t spared, I said to myself “That’s it?” after beating them.
Does that mean the game is easy? Nope. It is not always difficult, but when it wants to it will put the next bonfire a marathon away, a marathon filled with the most frustrating enemies you can imagine, it will make a boss runback that is harder than the boss itself and other methods of torture. At times, it was taking me so long to reach the next area I was starting to get philosophical, and wonder about the reason we play games. There is however a saving grace that kept me playing, even if I would have given up any other time, after an enemy is killed more than 20 times, they permanently despawn. The best thing to come out of DS II, and it's not featured in any of the next titles.
Exploration is alright, not as bad as the second half of DS I, but nowhere near as good as the first half of DS I. There are some questionable connections between areas, that left me confused as to how I got there, but that’s about it. Plenty of secrets lie in wait, for those who are interested.
Combat is slightly less clunky, as now you can roll in 8 directions. There is also dual-wielding.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
I did play with a mod that enhances the graphical quality of DS II, and I recommend you do the same. The original isn’t that bad, but if I can make it better at no cost, then why shouldn’t I. I can't say much more as it would be unfair to critique a feature I never experienced.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
This is another big problem I have with this game. The atmosphere is much more bland. I mostly attribute this to the cryptic storytelling and level design. It doesn’t feel like an adventure through one land, but rather various fantasy areas stitched together. This ends up with a much weaker atmosphere, especially when compared to its predecessor.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Much to no one’s surprise, it’s mostly orchestral music. There are some very memorable tracks, but most of them blend together. That is more of a problem with the entire series than just DS II.
My favourite part is “Majula”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
You better not be romanticizing your melancholic loneliness.
2015
World Conqueror 3 is a turn-based strategy game released on IOS and Android. I used to play it quite a lot back in the day, since there wasn’t anything else like it. It was the closest thing to Hearts of Iron 4 (Although it was still far from the real thing). Its main premise is in the title – you can conquer the world. While there was a campaign following the events of WW2, almost all my time was spent in the world conquest gamemode. Thus, I will be mostly talking about that aspect during this review.
I can't not mention the pay-to-win side of WC. It mostly comes down to the general, which you can recruit if you fork over an absurd amount of cash. Some of them are so powerful that they can single-handedly win entire missions without doing anything.
Nowadays, I am sure there are better games out there that do what WC 3 does. As such, there isn’t much of a reason to return to this nearly decade-old title. Except for the mods. There is a surprising amount of them, mostly focusing on the world conquest gamemode. With them, you can play from WW1 to even the modern day, just be careful about viruses.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The campaign follows WW2 and some parts of the Cold War. Although it does deviate from the real events at times, like the Axis campaign ending with the takeover of Washington.
There aren’t any elements of storytelling during the world conquest, but it's still fun to imagine what those insane wars could look like from the perspective of a civilian living in that world. Imagine reading that Spain has successfully captured Moscow.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Mechanically, WC 3 is very simplistic, especially when compared to some of its PC counterparts. The map consists of a hexagonal grid, on which the various units move and attack. They can be produced at sufficiently high-level cities at the cost of a certain amount of resources. These materials are given at the start of each turn, and how much is determined by the land occupied by your army. There are some strategies like a surrounded unit will deal less damage, but most of the time the side that wins is determined by who can throw more units against their opponent.
The campaign is comprised of many missions based on real (or fake) battles. They feature a smaller map, main and secondary objectives, and a turn limit. The main reason for doing them is to acquire resources, which can be used to obtain permanent upgrades. These missions can be fun, but even at their best, they can’t compare to the fun I had with the other gamemode. Also, another flaw is that at some point the difficulty curve becomes very steep and due to the lack of strategy just using wits to win isn’t enough. At that point, you can either turn to grinding for the permanent upgrades or pay for them. I chose to stop playing.
There are 5 maps in world conquest – 1939, 1943, 1950, 1960, and an alien invasion. There are two sides to each one, Axis and Allies in 1939 and 1943, USA and USSR in 1950 and 1960, and aliens vs humans in ???. (that’s literally how it’s called) Every country has a 3-star rating depending on how hard it is to win with them, with the hardest like Denmark and Greece having 1 star and the easiest like the USA and Germany having 3 stars. This rating doesn’t take into consideration the tactical advantage of a nation. Historical accuracy isn’t taken into account, as no matter what side you pick, they will lose without your help. These conquests take a long time to complete and can get quite boring at the end. However, I have fond memories of time spent, and even today I have the urge to boot up this game and do it again.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
There isn’t much to say really, it's fine.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
WC 3 doesn’t have much atmosphere or immersion. It's engaging, but you will always know that you are just playing a game.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I am pretty sure the soundtrack is royalty-free music. It fits, but there is a good chance you’ve heard it before.
Due to this, I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
I will now describe my favourite conquest I've done. It was with Spain in 1943. The conquest started with the takeover of Portugal. Even though they were neutral, their resources would be vital in the early game. Next, I moved on to North Africa, where there were plenty of towns that I could occupy with relative ease. At some point, a threat from the east that I didn’t foresee attacked. It was the USA, and I was their first target. I began sending units to halt their advance in the Atlantic Ocean. Even though my units were weak, the American attack was stopped.
I had taken most of Africa under my control, but now I had to prepare. Germany had crumbled under the might of the USSR, and now they were coming toward me through the Mediterranean. (The AI isn’t very smart) I planned to destroy them on the shores of Africa. Eleven USSR generals were coming from Europe to annihilate me. It was a hard and long battle; the USSR generals were extremely strong and dealt significant damage every time they attacked. This was after all the main force that took down Germany. My strategy was simple. Every city near the shore would produce tanks, troops, and whatever else I could afford. They might be able to destroy one of them, but four more would be waiting behind.
On the western front (from my perspective) the Americans, due to my relentless attack and their lack of reinforcements, were completely destroyed, and now I had a clear shot of their coastal cities. I started sending whatever units were left towards them.
Eventually, the Soviet attack eased up, and I went from defending to advancing. I started taking over European cities that were previously under the control of the Soviet Union. At that point, the game started snowballing, and I could no longer be stopped. The USSR was crumbling, the USA was being taken over, all under the might of… Spain. By the time I won, I had 50+ nukes, so many aircraft carriers I had a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean and so many materials I could make hundreds of units every turn. I was the largest Axis power at the end, but some of my allies did survive. Germany had England and a small amount of northern France. Finland somehow survived and had taken parts of the USSR. Japan was delegated to mainland China. And so, Spain conquered the world.
I can't not mention the pay-to-win side of WC. It mostly comes down to the general, which you can recruit if you fork over an absurd amount of cash. Some of them are so powerful that they can single-handedly win entire missions without doing anything.
Nowadays, I am sure there are better games out there that do what WC 3 does. As such, there isn’t much of a reason to return to this nearly decade-old title. Except for the mods. There is a surprising amount of them, mostly focusing on the world conquest gamemode. With them, you can play from WW1 to even the modern day, just be careful about viruses.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The campaign follows WW2 and some parts of the Cold War. Although it does deviate from the real events at times, like the Axis campaign ending with the takeover of Washington.
There aren’t any elements of storytelling during the world conquest, but it's still fun to imagine what those insane wars could look like from the perspective of a civilian living in that world. Imagine reading that Spain has successfully captured Moscow.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Mechanically, WC 3 is very simplistic, especially when compared to some of its PC counterparts. The map consists of a hexagonal grid, on which the various units move and attack. They can be produced at sufficiently high-level cities at the cost of a certain amount of resources. These materials are given at the start of each turn, and how much is determined by the land occupied by your army. There are some strategies like a surrounded unit will deal less damage, but most of the time the side that wins is determined by who can throw more units against their opponent.
The campaign is comprised of many missions based on real (or fake) battles. They feature a smaller map, main and secondary objectives, and a turn limit. The main reason for doing them is to acquire resources, which can be used to obtain permanent upgrades. These missions can be fun, but even at their best, they can’t compare to the fun I had with the other gamemode. Also, another flaw is that at some point the difficulty curve becomes very steep and due to the lack of strategy just using wits to win isn’t enough. At that point, you can either turn to grinding for the permanent upgrades or pay for them. I chose to stop playing.
There are 5 maps in world conquest – 1939, 1943, 1950, 1960, and an alien invasion. There are two sides to each one, Axis and Allies in 1939 and 1943, USA and USSR in 1950 and 1960, and aliens vs humans in ???. (that’s literally how it’s called) Every country has a 3-star rating depending on how hard it is to win with them, with the hardest like Denmark and Greece having 1 star and the easiest like the USA and Germany having 3 stars. This rating doesn’t take into consideration the tactical advantage of a nation. Historical accuracy isn’t taken into account, as no matter what side you pick, they will lose without your help. These conquests take a long time to complete and can get quite boring at the end. However, I have fond memories of time spent, and even today I have the urge to boot up this game and do it again.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
There isn’t much to say really, it's fine.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
WC 3 doesn’t have much atmosphere or immersion. It's engaging, but you will always know that you are just playing a game.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I am pretty sure the soundtrack is royalty-free music. It fits, but there is a good chance you’ve heard it before.
Due to this, I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
I will now describe my favourite conquest I've done. It was with Spain in 1943. The conquest started with the takeover of Portugal. Even though they were neutral, their resources would be vital in the early game. Next, I moved on to North Africa, where there were plenty of towns that I could occupy with relative ease. At some point, a threat from the east that I didn’t foresee attacked. It was the USA, and I was their first target. I began sending units to halt their advance in the Atlantic Ocean. Even though my units were weak, the American attack was stopped.
I had taken most of Africa under my control, but now I had to prepare. Germany had crumbled under the might of the USSR, and now they were coming toward me through the Mediterranean. (The AI isn’t very smart) I planned to destroy them on the shores of Africa. Eleven USSR generals were coming from Europe to annihilate me. It was a hard and long battle; the USSR generals were extremely strong and dealt significant damage every time they attacked. This was after all the main force that took down Germany. My strategy was simple. Every city near the shore would produce tanks, troops, and whatever else I could afford. They might be able to destroy one of them, but four more would be waiting behind.
On the western front (from my perspective) the Americans, due to my relentless attack and their lack of reinforcements, were completely destroyed, and now I had a clear shot of their coastal cities. I started sending whatever units were left towards them.
Eventually, the Soviet attack eased up, and I went from defending to advancing. I started taking over European cities that were previously under the control of the Soviet Union. At that point, the game started snowballing, and I could no longer be stopped. The USSR was crumbling, the USA was being taken over, all under the might of… Spain. By the time I won, I had 50+ nukes, so many aircraft carriers I had a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean and so many materials I could make hundreds of units every turn. I was the largest Axis power at the end, but some of my allies did survive. Germany had England and a small amount of northern France. Finland somehow survived and had taken parts of the USSR. Japan was delegated to mainland China. And so, Spain conquered the world.
2023
(I haven't played any of the previous entries in the series, so I can't say how this one compares)
In the debate about whether games are entertainment or art, The Crew Motorfest falls squarely on the entertainment side.
It's an open-world racing game in the same genre as Forza Horizon. The main features are - an expansive world with varied terrain and geography, hundreds of cars of all types - hypercars, F1 cars, all-terrain vehicles, dragsters and others, even planes and boats and of course multiplayer to play with friends or competitively. Unlike its predecessors, It doesn't feature the entire USA, focusing solely on Hawaii. Even with one of its main selling points lost, the game still holds up and provides what it intends to - entertainment. It has no intention to be anything else. It is simply a checklist of challenges to be done by the player, interspersed with cool cars.
If that is what you are looking for, then The Crew Motorfest is right up your alley. Going into it, you shouldn’t expect a good storyline or anything deeper. For me, it was more of a time killer than anything else. I played it because I was bored and had nothing else to do.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The Motorfest is a festival in Hawaii commemorating… everything, by inviting every maniac who wants to do 10X the speed limit and blow through every school zone while going at their supercar's top speed.
As you can guess, the story isn't the focus. The main challenges are structured in "playlist" type events based on various themes. While they serve their gameplay purpose fairly well, engaging with the speakers in a deeper way did not happen during my playthrough.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
As this is a racing game, most of the time that's what you will be doing. The main campaign is those playlists I described above. They are fairly creative and there is some fun to be had with them. Like one dedicated to classic cars, makes you drive without assists, or forcing you to drive full throttle while avoiding obstacles. So, it's not all just - beat the 8 other cars.
Once one of them is beaten, extra challenges are unlocked. They consist of: do X activity X number of times or collectibles. I would say that they just serve the purpose of padding out the run time, but the entirety of Motorfest feels like that, so it isn't that different.
At the time I was playing, there were 3 multiplayer events. I never even tried the battle royal, so I won't comment on it. The grand race is a 28-player race that involves multiple categories and is quite long. It is fun, but it's also the only kind of PVP racing, which is weird. You can't just pick a circuit and race there against other players or friends. The last event is a week-long activity where you try to get as many points as possible to be able to earn exclusive rewards. Points are earned by completing challenges as best you can, and only 10 thousand players can qualify for the top rewards. There is one big issue with this event, it's very grind to win, i.e., if you have the optimal parts your chances of winning increase drastically.
Cars are the big selling point - fast, slow, big, small, you name it they (might) have it. The car list isn't as expansive as some of the competition, like Forza, but it's still in the hundreds and has plenty of surprises. Much attention has been given to the customization as well. It is somewhat inconsistent, sometimes all that can be changed is the colour, other times I was shocked to see what the manufacturer let them do. Like a widebody on a 1 out of 1 concept hypercar. One of the last things that kept me playing by the end was to just buy and customize more cars.
On the other hand, the upgrade system has been described as atrocious and deal-breaking by some. I somewhat agree, but I can see why it was made this way. There are no set upgrades purchasable immediately for any car, instead after every race you are given multiple parts that you can equip. Every vehicle of the same class accepts the same parts and thus can be upgraded to the same level. There is also a rarity system, which can give you a massive advantage with the correct setup. If this wasn't in the game, my playtime would have been halved, as that's about how much I spent grinding for parts. (I was bored, okay)
Handling is good for an arcade-style racing game, in my opinion at least. I mean, I've never driven an actual car, so I can't say whether it's realistic, but at least it's fun.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
The graphics are at that level that if someone were to tell me that we are never getting better graphics than this, I wouldn't be complaining. Everything looks pretty good and has enough details. Every vehicle has a fully modelled interior and their sounds are superb, some of the best in the industry, behind Gran Turismo.
My only problem is that the art direction feels quite bland. It looks good, but it also looks like every other open-world racing game.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I see the festive/party they were going for, but it really, really doesn’t hit. I attribute it to the bland visuals and the lack of focus on the narrative aspect.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Motorfest has either none or a very small amount of music made for the game itself. Most of the time, you will be listening to the radio, which has exclusively music made by a variety of artists. The quality of the radio is okay, but after a while, it does get repetitive. Besides, why not just listen to your radio that has music you know you will enjoy? That's what I did.
For that reason, I don’t have a favourite part of the OST.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
It's ironic, I have the same amount of memories for games I’ve played for 100+ hours and for games I’ve played for less than 10.
In the debate about whether games are entertainment or art, The Crew Motorfest falls squarely on the entertainment side.
It's an open-world racing game in the same genre as Forza Horizon. The main features are - an expansive world with varied terrain and geography, hundreds of cars of all types - hypercars, F1 cars, all-terrain vehicles, dragsters and others, even planes and boats and of course multiplayer to play with friends or competitively. Unlike its predecessors, It doesn't feature the entire USA, focusing solely on Hawaii. Even with one of its main selling points lost, the game still holds up and provides what it intends to - entertainment. It has no intention to be anything else. It is simply a checklist of challenges to be done by the player, interspersed with cool cars.
If that is what you are looking for, then The Crew Motorfest is right up your alley. Going into it, you shouldn’t expect a good storyline or anything deeper. For me, it was more of a time killer than anything else. I played it because I was bored and had nothing else to do.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The Motorfest is a festival in Hawaii commemorating… everything, by inviting every maniac who wants to do 10X the speed limit and blow through every school zone while going at their supercar's top speed.
As you can guess, the story isn't the focus. The main challenges are structured in "playlist" type events based on various themes. While they serve their gameplay purpose fairly well, engaging with the speakers in a deeper way did not happen during my playthrough.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
As this is a racing game, most of the time that's what you will be doing. The main campaign is those playlists I described above. They are fairly creative and there is some fun to be had with them. Like one dedicated to classic cars, makes you drive without assists, or forcing you to drive full throttle while avoiding obstacles. So, it's not all just - beat the 8 other cars.
Once one of them is beaten, extra challenges are unlocked. They consist of: do X activity X number of times or collectibles. I would say that they just serve the purpose of padding out the run time, but the entirety of Motorfest feels like that, so it isn't that different.
At the time I was playing, there were 3 multiplayer events. I never even tried the battle royal, so I won't comment on it. The grand race is a 28-player race that involves multiple categories and is quite long. It is fun, but it's also the only kind of PVP racing, which is weird. You can't just pick a circuit and race there against other players or friends. The last event is a week-long activity where you try to get as many points as possible to be able to earn exclusive rewards. Points are earned by completing challenges as best you can, and only 10 thousand players can qualify for the top rewards. There is one big issue with this event, it's very grind to win, i.e., if you have the optimal parts your chances of winning increase drastically.
Cars are the big selling point - fast, slow, big, small, you name it they (might) have it. The car list isn't as expansive as some of the competition, like Forza, but it's still in the hundreds and has plenty of surprises. Much attention has been given to the customization as well. It is somewhat inconsistent, sometimes all that can be changed is the colour, other times I was shocked to see what the manufacturer let them do. Like a widebody on a 1 out of 1 concept hypercar. One of the last things that kept me playing by the end was to just buy and customize more cars.
On the other hand, the upgrade system has been described as atrocious and deal-breaking by some. I somewhat agree, but I can see why it was made this way. There are no set upgrades purchasable immediately for any car, instead after every race you are given multiple parts that you can equip. Every vehicle of the same class accepts the same parts and thus can be upgraded to the same level. There is also a rarity system, which can give you a massive advantage with the correct setup. If this wasn't in the game, my playtime would have been halved, as that's about how much I spent grinding for parts. (I was bored, okay)
Handling is good for an arcade-style racing game, in my opinion at least. I mean, I've never driven an actual car, so I can't say whether it's realistic, but at least it's fun.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
The graphics are at that level that if someone were to tell me that we are never getting better graphics than this, I wouldn't be complaining. Everything looks pretty good and has enough details. Every vehicle has a fully modelled interior and their sounds are superb, some of the best in the industry, behind Gran Turismo.
My only problem is that the art direction feels quite bland. It looks good, but it also looks like every other open-world racing game.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I see the festive/party they were going for, but it really, really doesn’t hit. I attribute it to the bland visuals and the lack of focus on the narrative aspect.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Motorfest has either none or a very small amount of music made for the game itself. Most of the time, you will be listening to the radio, which has exclusively music made by a variety of artists. The quality of the radio is okay, but after a while, it does get repetitive. Besides, why not just listen to your radio that has music you know you will enjoy? That's what I did.
For that reason, I don’t have a favourite part of the OST.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
It's ironic, I have the same amount of memories for games I’ve played for 100+ hours and for games I’ve played for less than 10.
2014
The Sims 4 is a doll house simulator, a very, very expensive doll house simulator. I don’t usually mention the price in my reviews, but this game is an exception. The base game is free, however there is so little content in it, that it’s not even worth playing it. The rest of the game is locked behind the DLCs. For anyone who wants to buy them, getting all 80 of them will set them back somewhere around 1300 dollars. That’s like buying 20 AAA titles. This price tag makes The Sims 4 impossible to recommend, as no one in their right mind would spend so much money on a game they haven’t played before.
So, what do you get for 1300 dollars? As I said, dollhouse simulator. You build the house, you control the “dolls” and you make whatever story you want. The target demographic for The Sims is people with plenty of imagination. However, even without that trait, there are other ways to have fun. Still, I can only recommend the game if you could get it for free.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You make your own story.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are three ways to play The Sims 4.
First, and the intended method. Create your characters and make them live whatever life you want. It does require you to have some imagination and to be at least a little attached to them. With the DLCs, there are a tremendous number of activities, places to live, and jobs to work. Archwizard – sure, mysterious vampire – go ahead, celebrity – just name it. The game is very forgiving and death is rare, unless you seek it out.
The second way is by being the worst person possible. Various loopholes can be exploited to make stealing, murder, and other crimes, feasible. This way of playing can be a lot of fun, but for me, it got boring rather quickly.
The third way is to try to max out everything on a single sim. This is the way I played, so I will just describe my sim. Meet John Sims, he is a former astronaut, professional athlete, high-ranking officer, and well literally everything else. His daily routine is as such: he wakes up, doesn’t shower as he is always perfectly clean, doesn’t go to the toilet, doesn’t have breakfast, as he ate something a few days ago. Instead, John heads straight for the ski resort. Why? Obviously, because he isn’t a master at skiing and snowboarding. The next few days and nights are spent non-stop skiing on the hardest slope there is. Throughout this, he is constantly manic happy, in fact, John hasn’t experienced a single negative emotion in the past few months. Eventually, he gets slightly tired, so he goes home. He makes a gourmet 3 Michelin star wedding cake for dinner. He eats half a slice, throws the rest away, and goes to bed.
Overall, it can be fun, but you have to make that fun happen.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It was released in 2014 and hasn’t had any graphical overhauls as far as I know. It doesn’t look that bad, but it doesn’t look that good either.
Your sims will end up looking like plastic unless you put in a lot of effort.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I don’t have anything to say in this section.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The OST is fine. It fits into the upbeat PG theme of the rest of the game, but it’s there mostly to have some music. I have never thought of the soundtrack while I wasn’t playing.
Because of that, I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Meh.
So, what do you get for 1300 dollars? As I said, dollhouse simulator. You build the house, you control the “dolls” and you make whatever story you want. The target demographic for The Sims is people with plenty of imagination. However, even without that trait, there are other ways to have fun. Still, I can only recommend the game if you could get it for free.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You make your own story.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are three ways to play The Sims 4.
First, and the intended method. Create your characters and make them live whatever life you want. It does require you to have some imagination and to be at least a little attached to them. With the DLCs, there are a tremendous number of activities, places to live, and jobs to work. Archwizard – sure, mysterious vampire – go ahead, celebrity – just name it. The game is very forgiving and death is rare, unless you seek it out.
The second way is by being the worst person possible. Various loopholes can be exploited to make stealing, murder, and other crimes, feasible. This way of playing can be a lot of fun, but for me, it got boring rather quickly.
The third way is to try to max out everything on a single sim. This is the way I played, so I will just describe my sim. Meet John Sims, he is a former astronaut, professional athlete, high-ranking officer, and well literally everything else. His daily routine is as such: he wakes up, doesn’t shower as he is always perfectly clean, doesn’t go to the toilet, doesn’t have breakfast, as he ate something a few days ago. Instead, John heads straight for the ski resort. Why? Obviously, because he isn’t a master at skiing and snowboarding. The next few days and nights are spent non-stop skiing on the hardest slope there is. Throughout this, he is constantly manic happy, in fact, John hasn’t experienced a single negative emotion in the past few months. Eventually, he gets slightly tired, so he goes home. He makes a gourmet 3 Michelin star wedding cake for dinner. He eats half a slice, throws the rest away, and goes to bed.
Overall, it can be fun, but you have to make that fun happen.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It was released in 2014 and hasn’t had any graphical overhauls as far as I know. It doesn’t look that bad, but it doesn’t look that good either.
Your sims will end up looking like plastic unless you put in a lot of effort.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I don’t have anything to say in this section.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The OST is fine. It fits into the upbeat PG theme of the rest of the game, but it’s there mostly to have some music. I have never thought of the soundtrack while I wasn’t playing.
Because of that, I don’t have a favourite part.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Meh.
(I’ve replayed this mod three times, but I have yet to play the most recent update. Still, I believe what I have to say is relevant.)
This was originally a Terraria review, but I realized that I haven’t played vanilla/unmoded in forever. Instead, I’ve been playing this.
Calamity is one of the largest and most popular mods for Terraria. It can easily stand on its own, as it has more than enough content to have an entire playthrough different from the original. This mod expands upon every single aspect of the vanilla game. Featuring new mechanics, bosses, biomes, weapons, NPCs a new class, and even harder difficulty settings. They are all of extremely high quality, having features I didn’t even think were possible in Terraria. That’s the reason why I didn’t bother going back to unmoded, Calamity always had more content that was closer to what I wanted, i.e., extreme difficulty.
I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to experience modded Terraria, and/or is seeking a tougher challenge than vanilla. It does lean more toward the combat portion, especially bosses, so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone, who is a big fan of the calmer parts of the game.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
It doesn’t add a storyline to the game.
It does however have a lot of lore, that is used to, in a way, tie the world together. Most of the vanilla lore is overwritten and replaced with its version, which has its own characters and world history. It is quite fascinating and worth paying attention to.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
While a lot of content has been added, the gameplay loop has stayed the same. Defeat a boss, find out what has changed in the overworld, start getting the best gear and building the needed arena, defeat the next boss, and so on. Rudimentary, but it has given me countless hours of entertainment.
When looking at the bosses added and their gameplay, it does become apparent that Calamity leans more into the bullet hell genre, requiring precise movement and fast reaction times to stay alive. While a lot of attention has been put into making sure that the bosses are still, balanced and a fun fight, for those who just look at the cool weapons normal mode still exists. For me, however, that was why I kept coming back. The thrill of beating an extremely hard boss was like nothing else.
Overall, there isn't that much to say, it's just Terraria but more.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Calamity has incredible sprite and pixel art. Every weapon, tool, and enemy is meticulously crafted and somehow never feels out of place. There is a consistent tone and art direction that persists throughout the mod. The only place where a discrepancy can be spotted is when you compare them to vanilla. This is especially true for the endgame.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The way I felt during my playthrough and how I interpret the atmosphere is as such. You are on a mission to defeat your mortal enemy – the Tyrant, and no foe or abomination will stop you. Why? Who knows, revenge, power, justice, they are all possibilities. I believe it's open to interpretation.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Back when I first played Calamity, I thought the OST was the coolest thing ever. I was right. It’s very rare to see a mod, not related to music, have such an incredible soundtrack. DM DOKURO and the other composers who have worked on the OST have created an amazing piece of music that I continue to listen to outside the game, just as much as I do inside.
Every boss and biome has a unique track that fits perfectly into the theme of said boss or biome.
My favourite is “Roar of the Jungle Dragon”. (I like lyrics in OSTs)
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, this is sort of unrelated to the mod. Back in one of my playthroughs, I had a mod installed that while carrying a certain amount of a potion in your inventory, gave you its buff, without needing to drink it. Another mod had a potion that gave a buff/debuff called heart attack. So, my character was running around fighting gods, while going through a permanent heart attack.
This was originally a Terraria review, but I realized that I haven’t played vanilla/unmoded in forever. Instead, I’ve been playing this.
Calamity is one of the largest and most popular mods for Terraria. It can easily stand on its own, as it has more than enough content to have an entire playthrough different from the original. This mod expands upon every single aspect of the vanilla game. Featuring new mechanics, bosses, biomes, weapons, NPCs a new class, and even harder difficulty settings. They are all of extremely high quality, having features I didn’t even think were possible in Terraria. That’s the reason why I didn’t bother going back to unmoded, Calamity always had more content that was closer to what I wanted, i.e., extreme difficulty.
I highly recommend it to anyone that wants to experience modded Terraria, and/or is seeking a tougher challenge than vanilla. It does lean more toward the combat portion, especially bosses, so I wouldn’t recommend it to someone, who is a big fan of the calmer parts of the game.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
It doesn’t add a storyline to the game.
It does however have a lot of lore, that is used to, in a way, tie the world together. Most of the vanilla lore is overwritten and replaced with its version, which has its own characters and world history. It is quite fascinating and worth paying attention to.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
While a lot of content has been added, the gameplay loop has stayed the same. Defeat a boss, find out what has changed in the overworld, start getting the best gear and building the needed arena, defeat the next boss, and so on. Rudimentary, but it has given me countless hours of entertainment.
When looking at the bosses added and their gameplay, it does become apparent that Calamity leans more into the bullet hell genre, requiring precise movement and fast reaction times to stay alive. While a lot of attention has been put into making sure that the bosses are still, balanced and a fun fight, for those who just look at the cool weapons normal mode still exists. For me, however, that was why I kept coming back. The thrill of beating an extremely hard boss was like nothing else.
Overall, there isn't that much to say, it's just Terraria but more.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Calamity has incredible sprite and pixel art. Every weapon, tool, and enemy is meticulously crafted and somehow never feels out of place. There is a consistent tone and art direction that persists throughout the mod. The only place where a discrepancy can be spotted is when you compare them to vanilla. This is especially true for the endgame.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The way I felt during my playthrough and how I interpret the atmosphere is as such. You are on a mission to defeat your mortal enemy – the Tyrant, and no foe or abomination will stop you. Why? Who knows, revenge, power, justice, they are all possibilities. I believe it's open to interpretation.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Back when I first played Calamity, I thought the OST was the coolest thing ever. I was right. It’s very rare to see a mod, not related to music, have such an incredible soundtrack. DM DOKURO and the other composers who have worked on the OST have created an amazing piece of music that I continue to listen to outside the game, just as much as I do inside.
Every boss and biome has a unique track that fits perfectly into the theme of said boss or biome.
My favourite is “Roar of the Jungle Dragon”. (I like lyrics in OSTs)
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, this is sort of unrelated to the mod. Back in one of my playthroughs, I had a mod installed that while carrying a certain amount of a potion in your inventory, gave you its buff, without needing to drink it. Another mod had a potion that gave a buff/debuff called heart attack. So, my character was running around fighting gods, while going through a permanent heart attack.
(Played on an Android emulator)
For me, Punishing: Gray Raven represents how important marketing is. The only reason why I found it is because some guy (Max0r) used its soundtrack in an Elden Ring video. At that time, I had played Genshin Impact for about a year already, so I was in the gacha game sphere. Still, I had never heard of this game.
Yes, it is a gacha game, one that is better than most, but if you dislike this genre this game won’t change your mind. It has all the usual things you would see in a gacha – gambling for characters, anime, dailies, events, in-game purchases, and so on. What sets PGR apart from the rest is the combat. It might look like Genshin Impact at a glance, but the similarities end the moment you see any gameplay footage. It’s the gacha version of DMC.
It’s not the most frontal lobe-engaging game out there, but I don’t think everything I watch and play has to have some deeper meaning. I would recommend it to any gacha fans who want something more fast-paced. However, you should know that PGR is probably close to the end of its life. Not that it will be shut down, just that there won’t be any new updates.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Disclaimer: I don’t know that much about the lore and story overall.
Set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world, a virus by the name of punishing ravaged the planet. It kills humans and turns machines, of which there are a lot, into killers. Some part of humanity moved to outer space, where with the help of sentient machines they attempt to take back what’s theirs. You play as one of those commanders who gets periodically sent down to do whatever mission has to be done. The story progresses from there.
The main story is quite long at 24 chapters and there is no shortage of side stories, backgrounds for each character, limited-time events, and others. Most of it is told in the same way as a visual novel. It's okay, some parts are better than others, but overall, it’s just okay.
Honestly, I wish it wasn’t that way. I want to get attached to these characters and storyline, but the game rarely gets to the level where that’s possible.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
First off, the UI is horrific. Menus upon menus with so many buttons that all take you to different places. (There are FOUR different places that give rewards for logging in daily) I could hop on right now and mash random places on the screen and I would end up in a somewhere I haven’t been before. Not to mention the gigantic number of currencies and tokens of exchange. The first learning curve is simply figuring out where everything goes. You could spend hours on PGR and never see an ounce of gameplay.
Eventually, you will end up in the gameplay portion of this game.
You have a team of three characters, but can only play as one of them at a time. Each one has a class, a weapon (most of the time unique to them), and an element. As such, building the perfect team takes a lot of experimentation and expertise. If you want to skip all that, you can easily see the best equipment and team for each character.
It’s not an open world but rather mission-based. Most of the time it’s go here and kill everything standing in your way. There are a multitude of ways that can be achieved. First is the standard attack, i.e., just hitting the enemy. Then there is the unique part. Throughout the fight, in addition to dodging and attacking, you also play a very simplified version of a match 3 game. Orbs of 3 different colours come down along a singular line. Each one unleashes a special attack and the damage is boosted depending on how many of the same colour you ping. Depending on the character, they charge your ultimate attack, which can be a variety of things. All of this happens very fast, so good reaction times are required.
There is a lot more to talk about, when and what should be activated, dodging, attributes unique to each character, and so on, but those are the basics. Overall, as I said it is the best part of PGR and there is a lot of fun to be had, building the best team, perfectly executing combos, and so forth. Besides, it looks cool as fuck, every attack is so fast and has so much punch behind it, it’s worth playing just to see it. While certainly not the best hack-and-slash ever, it is the best if we are only looking at gacha games.
Character design itself goes from okay to amazing, depending on who you are looking at. They are all humanoid-looking robots, and as such a lot of mechanical and cybernetic elements are present. Still, it is a gacha game with anime characters, so the fan service is there, in many places. What purpose does the miniskirt serve in combat? (Serving I guess) English voice acting can be a bit flat on some of them, so I mostly stick to Japanese. Especially since I would have to hear some variation of “Hurts doesn't it” 20 times in a mission.
Another sin of gacha games present here is gambling and microtransactions. If you want a certain character, you either pay or grind. I should say there are guarantees present once a certain number of rolls is reached. You can also pay for everything else, so you can trivialize the entire game if you have wealth equivalent to an Arabian oil prince. Generally, it’s quite easy to simply ignore all these microtransactions. Indeed, they will become more enticing once you enter the endgame. But tell me, will you play long enough for that to happen? I certainly haven’t.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Pretty good for a game that is supposed to run on mobile. At times, however, it does make me wish that that wasn’t the case. There is a lot of disparity, some places look pretty, while others look like they were ripped from the PS 2. When there is a close-up of any model, it becomes apparent what hardware PGR is made for.
The artwork itself is fantastic, I wish there was more.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Maybe there would be some immersion, but each menu, pop-up, or limited-time event takes a sledgehammer and destroys any possibility of that happening. You really have to try to immerse yourself.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is a genuine banger. I don’t know the exact genre – possibly electronic/EDM. It fits the theme of the rest of the game fairly well, and it's listenable outside the game. My favourite part is “NARWHAL”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Here is my take on the gacha curse. These types of games have a lot of potential and are only being held back by being this genre. However, the only reason why they have that potential is because they are gacha games. There is no winning.
For me, Punishing: Gray Raven represents how important marketing is. The only reason why I found it is because some guy (Max0r) used its soundtrack in an Elden Ring video. At that time, I had played Genshin Impact for about a year already, so I was in the gacha game sphere. Still, I had never heard of this game.
Yes, it is a gacha game, one that is better than most, but if you dislike this genre this game won’t change your mind. It has all the usual things you would see in a gacha – gambling for characters, anime, dailies, events, in-game purchases, and so on. What sets PGR apart from the rest is the combat. It might look like Genshin Impact at a glance, but the similarities end the moment you see any gameplay footage. It’s the gacha version of DMC.
It’s not the most frontal lobe-engaging game out there, but I don’t think everything I watch and play has to have some deeper meaning. I would recommend it to any gacha fans who want something more fast-paced. However, you should know that PGR is probably close to the end of its life. Not that it will be shut down, just that there won’t be any new updates.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
Disclaimer: I don’t know that much about the lore and story overall.
Set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic cyberpunk world, a virus by the name of punishing ravaged the planet. It kills humans and turns machines, of which there are a lot, into killers. Some part of humanity moved to outer space, where with the help of sentient machines they attempt to take back what’s theirs. You play as one of those commanders who gets periodically sent down to do whatever mission has to be done. The story progresses from there.
The main story is quite long at 24 chapters and there is no shortage of side stories, backgrounds for each character, limited-time events, and others. Most of it is told in the same way as a visual novel. It's okay, some parts are better than others, but overall, it’s just okay.
Honestly, I wish it wasn’t that way. I want to get attached to these characters and storyline, but the game rarely gets to the level where that’s possible.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
First off, the UI is horrific. Menus upon menus with so many buttons that all take you to different places. (There are FOUR different places that give rewards for logging in daily) I could hop on right now and mash random places on the screen and I would end up in a somewhere I haven’t been before. Not to mention the gigantic number of currencies and tokens of exchange. The first learning curve is simply figuring out where everything goes. You could spend hours on PGR and never see an ounce of gameplay.
Eventually, you will end up in the gameplay portion of this game.
You have a team of three characters, but can only play as one of them at a time. Each one has a class, a weapon (most of the time unique to them), and an element. As such, building the perfect team takes a lot of experimentation and expertise. If you want to skip all that, you can easily see the best equipment and team for each character.
It’s not an open world but rather mission-based. Most of the time it’s go here and kill everything standing in your way. There are a multitude of ways that can be achieved. First is the standard attack, i.e., just hitting the enemy. Then there is the unique part. Throughout the fight, in addition to dodging and attacking, you also play a very simplified version of a match 3 game. Orbs of 3 different colours come down along a singular line. Each one unleashes a special attack and the damage is boosted depending on how many of the same colour you ping. Depending on the character, they charge your ultimate attack, which can be a variety of things. All of this happens very fast, so good reaction times are required.
There is a lot more to talk about, when and what should be activated, dodging, attributes unique to each character, and so on, but those are the basics. Overall, as I said it is the best part of PGR and there is a lot of fun to be had, building the best team, perfectly executing combos, and so forth. Besides, it looks cool as fuck, every attack is so fast and has so much punch behind it, it’s worth playing just to see it. While certainly not the best hack-and-slash ever, it is the best if we are only looking at gacha games.
Character design itself goes from okay to amazing, depending on who you are looking at. They are all humanoid-looking robots, and as such a lot of mechanical and cybernetic elements are present. Still, it is a gacha game with anime characters, so the fan service is there, in many places. What purpose does the miniskirt serve in combat? (Serving I guess) English voice acting can be a bit flat on some of them, so I mostly stick to Japanese. Especially since I would have to hear some variation of “Hurts doesn't it” 20 times in a mission.
Another sin of gacha games present here is gambling and microtransactions. If you want a certain character, you either pay or grind. I should say there are guarantees present once a certain number of rolls is reached. You can also pay for everything else, so you can trivialize the entire game if you have wealth equivalent to an Arabian oil prince. Generally, it’s quite easy to simply ignore all these microtransactions. Indeed, they will become more enticing once you enter the endgame. But tell me, will you play long enough for that to happen? I certainly haven’t.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Pretty good for a game that is supposed to run on mobile. At times, however, it does make me wish that that wasn’t the case. There is a lot of disparity, some places look pretty, while others look like they were ripped from the PS 2. When there is a close-up of any model, it becomes apparent what hardware PGR is made for.
The artwork itself is fantastic, I wish there was more.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Maybe there would be some immersion, but each menu, pop-up, or limited-time event takes a sledgehammer and destroys any possibility of that happening. You really have to try to immerse yourself.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is a genuine banger. I don’t know the exact genre – possibly electronic/EDM. It fits the theme of the rest of the game fairly well, and it's listenable outside the game. My favourite part is “NARWHAL”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Here is my take on the gacha curse. These types of games have a lot of potential and are only being held back by being this genre. However, the only reason why they have that potential is because they are gacha games. There is no winning.
2017
Is this just a Factorio clone? Yes, in the same way, that every shooter after the release of Doom was a Doom clone.
Mindustry is a combination between an automation game and a tower defense. Instead of having a big open world, you are limited to a small area and its resources. Those materials have to be turned into the most efficient defense possible, otherwise you risk being overrun.
As can be gleaned from the artstyle it is more simplistic than its rivals. However, that is only on the surface, there is still plenty of depth if you are willing to look for it.
If what I described seems interesting, then give it a go. There is also multiplayer if you have friends. Unfortunately for fans of Factorio and others, they probably won’t find much enjoyment here, simply because it differs from the norm in many aspects.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There is no story. The enemies are coming, and you have to destroy them before they destroy you. War without reason.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are 3 main game modes – the campaign, multiplayer, and the editor. I will focus mostly on the multiplayer since that’s what I am most familiar with.
The main gameplay loop is simple. You and your core drop into a sector. At intervals of a few minutes, enemies will attack in an attempt to destroy the core. Your goal is to create the best defense possible, that can withstand their assault. After that, you launch the core and the resources it accumulated. At this stage, you get a view of a planet and can choose where to drop next. That’s where you also access the tech tree, from which you unlock new buildings and tech.
It's a very effective gameplay loop, mainly due to the well-designed progression system. After every drop, you unlock something new that will probably be useful in the future. However, as you become more powerful, so do your enemies. New types will be introduced, like flying ones, that bypass walls and are unhittable by most turrets. Not every map has the same materials and equivalent quantities. Thus, you will be required to often change tactics, like using different turrets or ammunition. Firepower alone won’t be enough; you also need to learn how to optimize your factory and get the most out of it in the limited space you are given. For some of the more extreme sectors, this is a must, as without the optimal defenses, defeat is inevitable.
There is plenty of content to keep anyone occupied for at least 10 to 20 hours. Not to mention an entire other planet where all the basics like mining and transport change completely.
Overall, what I am trying to imply is that Mindustry is similar to its competitors in only one aspect. The addition of tower defense and the constantly changing environment, turns what could be described as a Factorio clone into a fun and unique experience that I haven't seen anywhere else.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It is a game made mostly by one person, so realistic graphics are off the table. What I can say about the artstyle used is that it's nice to look at and conveys the information it has to. There is little to no unnecessary detail.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I can’t say that it has any atmosphere.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Maybe it's because I’ve heard it so many times, but this soundtrack is very memorable. It's mostly synthwave (I think), utilizing piano and some other instruments that I don’t recognize. I don’t know the exact genre, but I’ve heard it described as the type of music you hear when the villain’s army of robots starts rolling out, which is a fitting description.
My favourite part is “Day5”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Pro tip: don’t bother with conveyors, just use routers.
Mindustry is a combination between an automation game and a tower defense. Instead of having a big open world, you are limited to a small area and its resources. Those materials have to be turned into the most efficient defense possible, otherwise you risk being overrun.
As can be gleaned from the artstyle it is more simplistic than its rivals. However, that is only on the surface, there is still plenty of depth if you are willing to look for it.
If what I described seems interesting, then give it a go. There is also multiplayer if you have friends. Unfortunately for fans of Factorio and others, they probably won’t find much enjoyment here, simply because it differs from the norm in many aspects.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There is no story. The enemies are coming, and you have to destroy them before they destroy you. War without reason.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are 3 main game modes – the campaign, multiplayer, and the editor. I will focus mostly on the multiplayer since that’s what I am most familiar with.
The main gameplay loop is simple. You and your core drop into a sector. At intervals of a few minutes, enemies will attack in an attempt to destroy the core. Your goal is to create the best defense possible, that can withstand their assault. After that, you launch the core and the resources it accumulated. At this stage, you get a view of a planet and can choose where to drop next. That’s where you also access the tech tree, from which you unlock new buildings and tech.
It's a very effective gameplay loop, mainly due to the well-designed progression system. After every drop, you unlock something new that will probably be useful in the future. However, as you become more powerful, so do your enemies. New types will be introduced, like flying ones, that bypass walls and are unhittable by most turrets. Not every map has the same materials and equivalent quantities. Thus, you will be required to often change tactics, like using different turrets or ammunition. Firepower alone won’t be enough; you also need to learn how to optimize your factory and get the most out of it in the limited space you are given. For some of the more extreme sectors, this is a must, as without the optimal defenses, defeat is inevitable.
There is plenty of content to keep anyone occupied for at least 10 to 20 hours. Not to mention an entire other planet where all the basics like mining and transport change completely.
Overall, what I am trying to imply is that Mindustry is similar to its competitors in only one aspect. The addition of tower defense and the constantly changing environment, turns what could be described as a Factorio clone into a fun and unique experience that I haven't seen anywhere else.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It is a game made mostly by one person, so realistic graphics are off the table. What I can say about the artstyle used is that it's nice to look at and conveys the information it has to. There is little to no unnecessary detail.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
I can’t say that it has any atmosphere.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Maybe it's because I’ve heard it so many times, but this soundtrack is very memorable. It's mostly synthwave (I think), utilizing piano and some other instruments that I don’t recognize. I don’t know the exact genre, but I’ve heard it described as the type of music you hear when the villain’s army of robots starts rolling out, which is a fitting description.
My favourite part is “Day5”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Pro tip: don’t bother with conveyors, just use routers.
2021
Once in a while, I will come across a game that exists beyond the standard gameplay genres already defined. They have the potential to be incredible experiences that hold me for hours, the only thing that could pull me away being some important task (like eating).
Loop Hero met that potential, in the beginning. Its genre is impossible to define. It’s a card/deck builder, but also an idle game, but actually not an idle game since constant attention is required. Gameplay wise, it's truly unique. The story aspect was also given attention. I was genuinely intrigued by the storyline and where it was going.
I never did satiate that curiosity, as I quit midway. Loop Hero suffers from being too long in the worst way possible – grinding. As such, it's hard for me to think of who would enjoy the entire game. Not to say that it's bad, but who would want to sit through all that grinding? Maybe that’s you, only you can say.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as the Hero (probably) trying to restore and save the world after the Lich decided to pretty much annihilate all of it, including all memories. This can be achieved by simply walking in circles. As I said, it is a fairly interesting story, with a unique setting. Saving the world is nothing new, but restoring it from almost nothing, that I haven’t seen before. There is a variety of characters, some of which you recruit, others you fight.
Overall, it gives meaning to your actions and it ties into the gameplay quite well. The game would be worse without it.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Now that I think about it, I can throw rouge-lite and RTS into the list of genres this game almost is.
You have your character, the Hero, however you don’t control him. They simply walk endlessly in circles on a road, stopping every cycle at a camp to heal. Why? Because on this road monsters spawn. That’s a good thing since that’s when the actual gameplay begins. When the Hero slays a monster, you get a card or equipment.
The equipment is pretty straightforward. If it's better than what your character already has, then you switch it. There is some strategy when it comes to special abilities some weapons and armour have. The cards are where the real strategy is. They can be a wide range of things – meadows, mountains, vampire mansions, spider nests, and so on. These buildings and terrain can be placed either next to the road, or somewhere in the oblivion. Each one serves a different function, like the mountain gives more HP or the vampire mansion that spawns vampires on the road.
All of this creates a fascinating game of balance. You have to put more monsters on the road so that you can get more loot. Loot, which will prepare you for when the enemies become more powerful. However, too many monsters will mean your character loses more health than they can gain back.
The grind comes from the other aspect of Loop Hero, the camp. There, everything you’ve put down is converted into materials, used to upgrade the camp. These upgrades give you more cards and progress the story. Unfortunately, the amount needed at one point becomes too much. It ends up requiring multiple runs, that turn out practically identical, to make any meaningful progress.
In conclusion, I wish this game was shorter.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Loop Hero employs a simplistic 2D pixel artstyle. I think it works well enough to convey what has to be conveyed. The character portraits especially have given quite a lot of detail.
The sound effects have to be given praise – they fit very well into the pixel artstyle of the rest of the game.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even as simplistic as the presentation is, there is still some atmosphere.
The feel it gives off reminds me of those old consoles, like GBA. Something you would find on there.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I heard the ost being described as what you would hear in Castlevania. While I haven’t played any of them, I can definitely imagine it, given the retro and almost 8-bit nature of the music. That is to say, it fits with the theme of the game and I think even on its own it's damn good.
My favourite part is “Entropic Rhapsody”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know, most of the titles of the various songs in the ost are references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
Loop Hero met that potential, in the beginning. Its genre is impossible to define. It’s a card/deck builder, but also an idle game, but actually not an idle game since constant attention is required. Gameplay wise, it's truly unique. The story aspect was also given attention. I was genuinely intrigued by the storyline and where it was going.
I never did satiate that curiosity, as I quit midway. Loop Hero suffers from being too long in the worst way possible – grinding. As such, it's hard for me to think of who would enjoy the entire game. Not to say that it's bad, but who would want to sit through all that grinding? Maybe that’s you, only you can say.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You play as the Hero (probably) trying to restore and save the world after the Lich decided to pretty much annihilate all of it, including all memories. This can be achieved by simply walking in circles. As I said, it is a fairly interesting story, with a unique setting. Saving the world is nothing new, but restoring it from almost nothing, that I haven’t seen before. There is a variety of characters, some of which you recruit, others you fight.
Overall, it gives meaning to your actions and it ties into the gameplay quite well. The game would be worse without it.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
Now that I think about it, I can throw rouge-lite and RTS into the list of genres this game almost is.
You have your character, the Hero, however you don’t control him. They simply walk endlessly in circles on a road, stopping every cycle at a camp to heal. Why? Because on this road monsters spawn. That’s a good thing since that’s when the actual gameplay begins. When the Hero slays a monster, you get a card or equipment.
The equipment is pretty straightforward. If it's better than what your character already has, then you switch it. There is some strategy when it comes to special abilities some weapons and armour have. The cards are where the real strategy is. They can be a wide range of things – meadows, mountains, vampire mansions, spider nests, and so on. These buildings and terrain can be placed either next to the road, or somewhere in the oblivion. Each one serves a different function, like the mountain gives more HP or the vampire mansion that spawns vampires on the road.
All of this creates a fascinating game of balance. You have to put more monsters on the road so that you can get more loot. Loot, which will prepare you for when the enemies become more powerful. However, too many monsters will mean your character loses more health than they can gain back.
The grind comes from the other aspect of Loop Hero, the camp. There, everything you’ve put down is converted into materials, used to upgrade the camp. These upgrades give you more cards and progress the story. Unfortunately, the amount needed at one point becomes too much. It ends up requiring multiple runs, that turn out practically identical, to make any meaningful progress.
In conclusion, I wish this game was shorter.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Loop Hero employs a simplistic 2D pixel artstyle. I think it works well enough to convey what has to be conveyed. The character portraits especially have given quite a lot of detail.
The sound effects have to be given praise – they fit very well into the pixel artstyle of the rest of the game.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even as simplistic as the presentation is, there is still some atmosphere.
The feel it gives off reminds me of those old consoles, like GBA. Something you would find on there.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I heard the ost being described as what you would hear in Castlevania. While I haven’t played any of them, I can definitely imagine it, given the retro and almost 8-bit nature of the music. That is to say, it fits with the theme of the game and I think even on its own it's damn good.
My favourite part is “Entropic Rhapsody”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know, most of the titles of the various songs in the ost are references to JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
There has been a new genre of games that seems to have become quite popular recently. It's the type of game where you continuously do a relatively repetitive task intending to achieve 100% of something. For example - PowerWash Simulator.
In Hardspace: Shipbreaker instead of power washing you get to dismantle and scrap spaceships. Which is a surprisingly simple task. It's a perfect podcast game, not just because of the type of gameplay it has, but also because the story itself will make you want to drop the volume to zero.
If that is what you are looking for, then give the game a shot, just don't expect anything else.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You are an "employee" (debt slave) of the corporation LYNX, which specializes in scraping spaceships. It's the stereotypical cyberpunk world where inhumane companies rule and workers’ rights are not a thing. The game will never stop reminding you of that fact. It even makes you sign a gigantic document giving away all your free will and human rights when you first begin playing.
My problem with the story is it also tries to be an uplifting tale of workers rising up. This isn't done in the Cyberpunk 2077 "We have a city to burn" way, but rather the more realistic "let's form a union". Which is ridiculous to even consider. This isn't Amazon. LYNX owns you, and you are a billion dollars in debt to them. It reminds me of those coughing baby VS thermonuclear bomb memes.
It can be ignored, and you probably won't even be listening to the game’s audio anyway, so I don't think it's that big of an issue. Still, it did subtract from my enjoyment.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
On the other hand, the core gameplay mechanics are excellent. You pick a spaceship to scrap, then using the tools at your disposal - cutter, tethers, and others, you meticulously separate each part of the ship. There are multiple bays where you throw those parts, depending on the material they are made from. In the beginning, it's just what I described above, but as you progress, more challenges will appear. Like having to take out a reactor, or trying not to cut any fuel lines. All of this is done in space, so that means zero gravity and the consequences that come with it. There are some other stuff like skills and more tools, but what I described above is the core of the gameplay.
The only problem I can think of is that getting 100% seems incredibly difficult, as there will always be something that went into the wrong bay or got accidentally destroyed.
Overall, I had fun with my time with Hardspace (useless semicolon) Shipbreaker even if I never did finish the campaign. However, I attribute that more to circumstance rather than a fault of the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
There isn't much to say here, as the graphics are fine. Not jaw-droppingly gorgeous or the opposite.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even with the direction the story takes there is some atmosphere. It’s the same feeling as having a mundane job, but in a good way. Its like you are a competent person doing your job.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I’m not sure quite how to describe the genre of music this game uses. It feels like what you would hear in a Western movie set in space. It does fit very well, but most of it blends in together and sounds very similar.
My favourite is "Apartment from Hell".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, at the start of the game, you are 1 252 million dollars (or whatever currency they use) in debt. Now a hazard level 2 ship, which you get to early on and is pretty simple, pays out somewhere around 4 million at 80% completion. So, if we assume one of these ships a day and working every day, then that means a total of 313 days to get out of debt. Then another 313 days to become a billionaire. But that’s not all.
Scrapping the aforementioned ship takes 40 minutes. Taking the average work week of 8 hours, that gives us 12 ships a day. Let’s give some leeway and assume 10 ships a day. The average number of work days in a year is 250. Using all the previous data, we get a yearly salary of 10 billion (An eleven-figure salary). A billion dollars in debt doesn’t seem that bad after all.
In Hardspace: Shipbreaker instead of power washing you get to dismantle and scrap spaceships. Which is a surprisingly simple task. It's a perfect podcast game, not just because of the type of gameplay it has, but also because the story itself will make you want to drop the volume to zero.
If that is what you are looking for, then give the game a shot, just don't expect anything else.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You are an "employee" (debt slave) of the corporation LYNX, which specializes in scraping spaceships. It's the stereotypical cyberpunk world where inhumane companies rule and workers’ rights are not a thing. The game will never stop reminding you of that fact. It even makes you sign a gigantic document giving away all your free will and human rights when you first begin playing.
My problem with the story is it also tries to be an uplifting tale of workers rising up. This isn't done in the Cyberpunk 2077 "We have a city to burn" way, but rather the more realistic "let's form a union". Which is ridiculous to even consider. This isn't Amazon. LYNX owns you, and you are a billion dollars in debt to them. It reminds me of those coughing baby VS thermonuclear bomb memes.
It can be ignored, and you probably won't even be listening to the game’s audio anyway, so I don't think it's that big of an issue. Still, it did subtract from my enjoyment.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
On the other hand, the core gameplay mechanics are excellent. You pick a spaceship to scrap, then using the tools at your disposal - cutter, tethers, and others, you meticulously separate each part of the ship. There are multiple bays where you throw those parts, depending on the material they are made from. In the beginning, it's just what I described above, but as you progress, more challenges will appear. Like having to take out a reactor, or trying not to cut any fuel lines. All of this is done in space, so that means zero gravity and the consequences that come with it. There are some other stuff like skills and more tools, but what I described above is the core of the gameplay.
The only problem I can think of is that getting 100% seems incredibly difficult, as there will always be something that went into the wrong bay or got accidentally destroyed.
Overall, I had fun with my time with Hardspace (useless semicolon) Shipbreaker even if I never did finish the campaign. However, I attribute that more to circumstance rather than a fault of the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
There isn't much to say here, as the graphics are fine. Not jaw-droppingly gorgeous or the opposite.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
Even with the direction the story takes there is some atmosphere. It’s the same feeling as having a mundane job, but in a good way. Its like you are a competent person doing your job.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I’m not sure quite how to describe the genre of music this game uses. It feels like what you would hear in a Western movie set in space. It does fit very well, but most of it blends in together and sounds very similar.
My favourite is "Apartment from Hell".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Okay, at the start of the game, you are 1 252 million dollars (or whatever currency they use) in debt. Now a hazard level 2 ship, which you get to early on and is pretty simple, pays out somewhere around 4 million at 80% completion. So, if we assume one of these ships a day and working every day, then that means a total of 313 days to get out of debt. Then another 313 days to become a billionaire. But that’s not all.
Scrapping the aforementioned ship takes 40 minutes. Taking the average work week of 8 hours, that gives us 12 ships a day. Let’s give some leeway and assume 10 ships a day. The average number of work days in a year is 250. Using all the previous data, we get a yearly salary of 10 billion (An eleven-figure salary). A billion dollars in debt doesn’t seem that bad after all.
2007
I can’t hate OSU. While its community may be awful, from what I’ve heard, the game itself never presents itself as something it isn’t.
It’s just a rhythm game. That’s it. No story, no fancy graphics, nothing else. If that’s your thing, then go for it.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There isn’t any.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are multiple game modes, but all of them revolve around pressing at the right place at the right time. It comes with many song beatmaps from the get-go, and more can be found on the website. In a way, it functions more as an application for making and playing rhythm versions of any song.
The main goal of OSU is to get the highest score possible. This is achieved by perfectly hitting every note and is extremely difficult. The highest I got was a mere 96% accuracy on a normal-difficulty song.
So, at the end of the day, it’s really just grinding until you get the highest score on a certain song, after which you move to either a different song or a higher difficulty.
I was having fun for some time, but then I realized that this is completely pointless, and at no point while playing will I get the satisfaction of completion. As such, I dropped the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
I guess the UI is designed well. Honestly, I am struggling to think of anything to say.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The feeling of finally beating your high score is truly great. Unfortunately, it’s followed up immediately by the dissatisfaction with the current imperfect high score and the need to beat it. With time, this feeling does lose some of its power.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I don’t know whether any of the songs in the beatmaps are made for the game. They are mostly Japanese songs. (From the cover, you can probably guess that OSU takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese culture, specifically anime.) If you aren’t a fan, almost any genre of music can be found within the fan-made beatmaps. I don’t have any favourites.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Careful not to ruin your favourite songs by over listening to them, while playing OSU.
It’s just a rhythm game. That’s it. No story, no fancy graphics, nothing else. If that’s your thing, then go for it.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
There isn’t any.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
There are multiple game modes, but all of them revolve around pressing at the right place at the right time. It comes with many song beatmaps from the get-go, and more can be found on the website. In a way, it functions more as an application for making and playing rhythm versions of any song.
The main goal of OSU is to get the highest score possible. This is achieved by perfectly hitting every note and is extremely difficult. The highest I got was a mere 96% accuracy on a normal-difficulty song.
So, at the end of the day, it’s really just grinding until you get the highest score on a certain song, after which you move to either a different song or a higher difficulty.
I was having fun for some time, but then I realized that this is completely pointless, and at no point while playing will I get the satisfaction of completion. As such, I dropped the game.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
I guess the UI is designed well. Honestly, I am struggling to think of anything to say.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The feeling of finally beating your high score is truly great. Unfortunately, it’s followed up immediately by the dissatisfaction with the current imperfect high score and the need to beat it. With time, this feeling does lose some of its power.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
I don’t know whether any of the songs in the beatmaps are made for the game. They are mostly Japanese songs. (From the cover, you can probably guess that OSU takes a lot of inspiration from Japanese culture, specifically anime.) If you aren’t a fan, almost any genre of music can be found within the fan-made beatmaps. I don’t have any favourites.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Careful not to ruin your favourite songs by over listening to them, while playing OSU.
2015
I’ve noticed something recently. When someone talks about their favourite or most influential media, it's usually something they've consumed very early on in their encounter with that medium. For example, 4 of my top 5 favourite games (as of writing this) are ones that I played before I started writing these reviews.
As such, I can’t say that Exiled Kingdoms is objectively an amazing game, as my rating would imply. However, I have become oddly attached to it and I very much enjoyed my time with it. It’s very much the opposite of a big-budget title. It’s the closest a one-man team can get to the expansive RPGs we see these days from the AAA scene (like Baldur’s Gate). Exiled Kingdoms tries to have an interesting storyline with many side quests along the way, good combat, and a world with lots of stories to tell.
Does it succeed? Well, it’s a matter of expectations. For me, it did. Even if my view is tainted by nostalgia, I respect the attention and love poured into this game. If you can stomach the low quality of pretty much everything, you will find a fun RPG with 50+ hours of content if you decide to do everything.
Also, the wiki is EXTENSIVE. I have seen AAA games with massive communities that have much less exhaustive wikis. There isn't a single thing you can’t find using it.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The setting is a fairly standard medieval fantasy. There is plenty of world building throughout the game, which manages to set the world of Exiled Kingdoms apart from others with similar settings.
You play as some rando who has been left with a great inheritance by his ancestor, who is also a powerful wizard. The story spirals from there on. It's not the most creative plot, but still, I was invested in the story.
There are also 100 more side quests you can do as well. They don’t fall into the trap of being just fetch quests and are quite varied. Not a single one felt like a copy of another.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
It has all the parts of a traditional RPG. You gain exp. by doing quests, exploring, and fighting. After enough exp. you level up and can upgrade your stats and skills. In addition, while doing all those tasks to level up, you will probably find plenty of gear to use.
Quests I talked about already.
Exploration, while being on a 2D plane, is still satisfying, as the map is massive and there are plenty of secrets around and about. One thing I very much like, and I wish more games were like this is the way everything is fixed. Going back to the starter area all enemies will be easy to take down, they won't suddenly be endgame level, just because you are. The same goes for the gear, bad gear is in the low-level areas, the most powerful gear on the other hand is at the endgame area. This gives a feeling of constant progression and makes finding unique weapons worth the hassle.
Combat is very simplistic, but it can be heavily exploited. I played as a warrior, so I was exclusively melee. Normal combat is just standing next to an enemy and holding the attack button until one of you dies. One thing I should mention is the healing. You are given multiple free max health heals, but they can only be used when not in combat. You see where I am going with this. You fight a strong foe until low health, then run away until they deaggro and heal to full health. There are numerous other similar exploits, I found while playing. For me, they are the real combat depth.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
The worst part of Exiled Kingdoms. At its best it looks alright, other times the glaring flaws can be seen. For instance, there is an item called a magma axe, which is represented by a normal axe with a flame.jpg background. It’s understandable, you can’t expect everything to be handcrafted in such an ambitious project.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere is the kind of generic fantasy adventure.
It’s not the most atmospheric or immersive game, but it does a lot better than most. At least it doesn’t have any elements to pull you out.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Listening back to the soundtrack, it's actually good. I don’t know who made it or whether it was originally for this game. I thought it was just mostly regular medieval music, but It’s a lot more varied and has more personality and charm than I remember. My favourite part is “The Complex”. (I don’t know if that’s the real name, that’s just what I found on YouTube)
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
My profile picture is from this game. His name is Uther Flonwe.
As such, I can’t say that Exiled Kingdoms is objectively an amazing game, as my rating would imply. However, I have become oddly attached to it and I very much enjoyed my time with it. It’s very much the opposite of a big-budget title. It’s the closest a one-man team can get to the expansive RPGs we see these days from the AAA scene (like Baldur’s Gate). Exiled Kingdoms tries to have an interesting storyline with many side quests along the way, good combat, and a world with lots of stories to tell.
Does it succeed? Well, it’s a matter of expectations. For me, it did. Even if my view is tainted by nostalgia, I respect the attention and love poured into this game. If you can stomach the low quality of pretty much everything, you will find a fun RPG with 50+ hours of content if you decide to do everything.
Also, the wiki is EXTENSIVE. I have seen AAA games with massive communities that have much less exhaustive wikis. There isn't a single thing you can’t find using it.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
The setting is a fairly standard medieval fantasy. There is plenty of world building throughout the game, which manages to set the world of Exiled Kingdoms apart from others with similar settings.
You play as some rando who has been left with a great inheritance by his ancestor, who is also a powerful wizard. The story spirals from there on. It's not the most creative plot, but still, I was invested in the story.
There are also 100 more side quests you can do as well. They don’t fall into the trap of being just fetch quests and are quite varied. Not a single one felt like a copy of another.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
It has all the parts of a traditional RPG. You gain exp. by doing quests, exploring, and fighting. After enough exp. you level up and can upgrade your stats and skills. In addition, while doing all those tasks to level up, you will probably find plenty of gear to use.
Quests I talked about already.
Exploration, while being on a 2D plane, is still satisfying, as the map is massive and there are plenty of secrets around and about. One thing I very much like, and I wish more games were like this is the way everything is fixed. Going back to the starter area all enemies will be easy to take down, they won't suddenly be endgame level, just because you are. The same goes for the gear, bad gear is in the low-level areas, the most powerful gear on the other hand is at the endgame area. This gives a feeling of constant progression and makes finding unique weapons worth the hassle.
Combat is very simplistic, but it can be heavily exploited. I played as a warrior, so I was exclusively melee. Normal combat is just standing next to an enemy and holding the attack button until one of you dies. One thing I should mention is the healing. You are given multiple free max health heals, but they can only be used when not in combat. You see where I am going with this. You fight a strong foe until low health, then run away until they deaggro and heal to full health. There are numerous other similar exploits, I found while playing. For me, they are the real combat depth.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
The worst part of Exiled Kingdoms. At its best it looks alright, other times the glaring flaws can be seen. For instance, there is an item called a magma axe, which is represented by a normal axe with a flame.jpg background. It’s understandable, you can’t expect everything to be handcrafted in such an ambitious project.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere is the kind of generic fantasy adventure.
It’s not the most atmospheric or immersive game, but it does a lot better than most. At least it doesn’t have any elements to pull you out.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
Listening back to the soundtrack, it's actually good. I don’t know who made it or whether it was originally for this game. I thought it was just mostly regular medieval music, but It’s a lot more varied and has more personality and charm than I remember. My favourite part is “The Complex”. (I don’t know if that’s the real name, that’s just what I found on YouTube)
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
My profile picture is from this game. His name is Uther Flonwe.
2019
In recent years, the genre of rouge-lite games has had many additions. Out of all of them, Risk of Rain 2 is by far the most ridiculous I’ve seen. It’s a game where there are no limits to your potential set, and you can become as overpowered as you desire.
It does follow the traditional rouge-lite formula. Fight through a level, while collecting as much loot as possible, kill the boss, and continue onwards. The major difference here is that it's actually 3D.
Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the genre or just wants a fun time-killer. It also has multiplayer.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You are a member of a spaceship responding to a distress beacon sent from an unknown planet. In an attempt to find any survivors, you get sent down, completely unprepared for what’s to come.
The story is there mainly to set the scene. There isn’t much of any narrative while actually playing the game. Still, for those interested, there is quite a lot of lore, as every item and enemy has a description.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
As I said, it follows the standard rouge-lite formula seen in many other titles like Enter the Gungeon, The Binding of Isaac, and many others. It is simple, but highly effective and addictive. What sets Risk of Rain 2 apart from the others, and allowed it to become such a popular game, is its lack of restrains.
There aren’t any limits on how many times you can find a duplicate item or how fast you can clear a stage and so on. Becoming overpowered is the point. Being skilful at this game isn’t just about being able to dodge all the projectiles, it's about being able to maximize whatever loot you are given to create a build that can take you to the end and beyond.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It's simplistic and by no means detailed. Still, I can’t imagine there will be a time when this game will look ugly and outdated. It’s a timeless design that conveys what it has to.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere is all over the place, first, you fight robots and bugs in a tundra, then lizard men and jellyfish in a desert then… you get the idea. Although perhaps because it never takes itself seriously, it works. It's distinctly “Risk of Rain”.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
An incredible soundtrack has been made for this game, and I can’t imagine any other that would fit so well. My favourite part is “The Rain Formerly Known as Purple”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Me when the weather reports show that there is a risk of rain.
It does follow the traditional rouge-lite formula. Fight through a level, while collecting as much loot as possible, kill the boss, and continue onwards. The major difference here is that it's actually 3D.
Overall, I highly recommend this game to anyone who is a fan of the genre or just wants a fun time-killer. It also has multiplayer.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
You are a member of a spaceship responding to a distress beacon sent from an unknown planet. In an attempt to find any survivors, you get sent down, completely unprepared for what’s to come.
The story is there mainly to set the scene. There isn’t much of any narrative while actually playing the game. Still, for those interested, there is quite a lot of lore, as every item and enemy has a description.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
As I said, it follows the standard rouge-lite formula seen in many other titles like Enter the Gungeon, The Binding of Isaac, and many others. It is simple, but highly effective and addictive. What sets Risk of Rain 2 apart from the others, and allowed it to become such a popular game, is its lack of restrains.
There aren’t any limits on how many times you can find a duplicate item or how fast you can clear a stage and so on. Becoming overpowered is the point. Being skilful at this game isn’t just about being able to dodge all the projectiles, it's about being able to maximize whatever loot you are given to create a build that can take you to the end and beyond.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
It's simplistic and by no means detailed. Still, I can’t imagine there will be a time when this game will look ugly and outdated. It’s a timeless design that conveys what it has to.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
The atmosphere is all over the place, first, you fight robots and bugs in a tundra, then lizard men and jellyfish in a desert then… you get the idea. Although perhaps because it never takes itself seriously, it works. It's distinctly “Risk of Rain”.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
An incredible soundtrack has been made for this game, and I can’t imagine any other that would fit so well. My favourite part is “The Rain Formerly Known as Purple”.
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Me when the weather reports show that there is a risk of rain.
2013
(I stopped playing around 2023, since then there have been new additions and changes to the game. Still, I believe my opinion still holds value.)
The genre of games that focus on tank-on-tank combat is rather niche. There are only two big-budget titles these days - War Thunder and World of Tanks. They have many similarities, as such they are often compared. I've played both, and I think they are equal in terms of fun. However, if I was a totally new player, I would pick War Thunder, due to the more active community and overall better direction that the game is heading.
I lied, War Thunder doesn't just focus on tank-on-tank combat, there are also planes, ships, and even helicopters. I have stuck mainly to ground vehicles, as that is what interests me most, but I have dabbled in air and naval combat as well. There is much attention put into all of these types, even if you care just about one of them, you will still find an enjoyable and quite in-depth game.
War Thunder is free to play, and with this comes microtransactions. There might be some pay-to-win aspects, but from my experience, its main advantage is skipping the grind.
If you haven't guessed already, you won't be getting your hands on the modern, shiny tanks and planes from the get-go. (Unless you spend money) The grind is looooong. I was a free-to-play player, and I got to 60 - 70% of a tech tree within 250 hours. Now I may be just bad, but still.
So would I recommend it? Unfortunately, it's one of those games that only really gets fun once you get good and start consistently getting kills each battle. My main problem with War Thunder and these type of games is that after all these hours, I can barely remember any of my playtime.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
None.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
I will mostly be talking about ground combat, since that's where I spend most of my time. It is one of those games with very unique gameplay, it's to the point where I am hard-pressed to name any other that does what War Thunder does. One could point to its main rival, World of Tanks, but even then there are glaring differences.
The key word in War Thunder is realism. The developers have tried to make combat as realistic as possible, while still keeping it engaging. So, what do you imagine happens when a shell penetrates the armour of a tank? That's right, it's almost or completely destroyed. This leads to combat feeling quite fast-paced and hectic, since a single mistake could cost you your life. But it also makes every kill and every opponent you outsmart that much more rewarding. Your impact on the battle overall can be major. Give a fast-firing tank an advantageous position and 20 seconds, and an entire flank could be wiped out. Even if you do die, it's not like you can't respawn, however, how many times you can do that is dependent on your performance.
My main problem with the ground mode is the presence of planes. It seemed as though around a third of my deaths were simply because of a bomb, I could do nothing to stop.
As I said, the microtransactions are there mostly to provide a way to make the grind shorter. You can also acquire some exclusive vehicles this way, but I've never heard of any of them being very OP.
All the other game modes - air and naval, are also pretty good. I didn't spend much time on them, since I never had much interest in those types of vehicles.
So why did I abandon War Thunder? Well at one point while playing it just hit me that what I am doing is so incredibly pointless. While I had yet to reach the end of the tech tree, none of the later vehicles seemed particularly interesting. In addition, the moment-to-moment gameplay felt more and more unsatisfying. In the end, I was left disappointed with the time I spent.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Graphically it's not bad, there is plenty of detail in the vehicle models and the environment. My problem is that the presentation is so dull and flat. Rarely is there anything visually interesting in any of the maps. I know it's supposed to be realistic, but that doesn't make it not boring to look at.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
War Thunder has little to no atmosphere. It doesn't really try.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is damn good, unfortunately, I don't know when it plays. I don't know whether I am misremembering, but genuinely can't recall ever hearing it, except for some short pieces. So OST itself - good, its utilization - bad.
My favourite part is "Waltz of the Tornado".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know? Recently, team damage was disabled. Go ahead, try it.
The genre of games that focus on tank-on-tank combat is rather niche. There are only two big-budget titles these days - War Thunder and World of Tanks. They have many similarities, as such they are often compared. I've played both, and I think they are equal in terms of fun. However, if I was a totally new player, I would pick War Thunder, due to the more active community and overall better direction that the game is heading.
I lied, War Thunder doesn't just focus on tank-on-tank combat, there are also planes, ships, and even helicopters. I have stuck mainly to ground vehicles, as that is what interests me most, but I have dabbled in air and naval combat as well. There is much attention put into all of these types, even if you care just about one of them, you will still find an enjoyable and quite in-depth game.
War Thunder is free to play, and with this comes microtransactions. There might be some pay-to-win aspects, but from my experience, its main advantage is skipping the grind.
If you haven't guessed already, you won't be getting your hands on the modern, shiny tanks and planes from the get-go. (Unless you spend money) The grind is looooong. I was a free-to-play player, and I got to 60 - 70% of a tech tree within 250 hours. Now I may be just bad, but still.
So would I recommend it? Unfortunately, it's one of those games that only really gets fun once you get good and start consistently getting kills each battle. My main problem with War Thunder and these type of games is that after all these hours, I can barely remember any of my playtime.
𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲
None.
𝐌𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲
I will mostly be talking about ground combat, since that's where I spend most of my time. It is one of those games with very unique gameplay, it's to the point where I am hard-pressed to name any other that does what War Thunder does. One could point to its main rival, World of Tanks, but even then there are glaring differences.
The key word in War Thunder is realism. The developers have tried to make combat as realistic as possible, while still keeping it engaging. So, what do you imagine happens when a shell penetrates the armour of a tank? That's right, it's almost or completely destroyed. This leads to combat feeling quite fast-paced and hectic, since a single mistake could cost you your life. But it also makes every kill and every opponent you outsmart that much more rewarding. Your impact on the battle overall can be major. Give a fast-firing tank an advantageous position and 20 seconds, and an entire flank could be wiped out. Even if you do die, it's not like you can't respawn, however, how many times you can do that is dependent on your performance.
My main problem with the ground mode is the presence of planes. It seemed as though around a third of my deaths were simply because of a bomb, I could do nothing to stop.
As I said, the microtransactions are there mostly to provide a way to make the grind shorter. You can also acquire some exclusive vehicles this way, but I've never heard of any of them being very OP.
All the other game modes - air and naval, are also pretty good. I didn't spend much time on them, since I never had much interest in those types of vehicles.
So why did I abandon War Thunder? Well at one point while playing it just hit me that what I am doing is so incredibly pointless. While I had yet to reach the end of the tech tree, none of the later vehicles seemed particularly interesting. In addition, the moment-to-moment gameplay felt more and more unsatisfying. In the end, I was left disappointed with the time I spent.
𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐬/𝐀𝐫𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞
Graphically it's not bad, there is plenty of detail in the vehicle models and the environment. My problem is that the presentation is so dull and flat. Rarely is there anything visually interesting in any of the maps. I know it's supposed to be realistic, but that doesn't make it not boring to look at.
𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞/𝐈𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧
War Thunder has little to no atmosphere. It doesn't really try.
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤
The soundtrack is damn good, unfortunately, I don't know when it plays. I don't know whether I am misremembering, but genuinely can't recall ever hearing it, except for some short pieces. So OST itself - good, its utilization - bad.
My favourite part is "Waltz of the Tornado".
𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬
Did you know? Recently, team damage was disabled. Go ahead, try it.