An excellent map pack altogether, but of what I've played of Quake so far it also had the most instances of actual bugs and errors. I was locked in the final encounter of Obsessive Brick Disorder when a scripted monster spawn didn't trigger properly. I had to replay a large chunk of the level. Elsewhere I observed some weird shadows and texture z-fighting in a few spots. Not sure if this is a vkquake issue or not.

One of my chief complaints surrounding the original Quake is how limited its bestiary is, and what I most appreciate about Arcane Dimensions is how it rounds out the roster with a plethora of welcome additions. Now it's not just Scrags flying around in the skies.

I'm not too fond of how the new weapons are implemented though, serving as replacements upon pickup, with no way to revert. They are effectively "upgrades" but there were times I wished I had access to the replaced firearms to enable slightly more optimal ammo usage. The new powerups are also quite underwhelming.

Minor misgivings aside, this is a standout release for quake and another must-play for FPS fans. It serves well as a nice intermediary between Quake and Wrath AoR. Sharing a few map authors between the two projects, and showcasing a similar excessively large style of idTech2 mapping.

I really dig the visuals throughout this map pack. Playing like a more intense and decorated extension of the design patterns laid out by Petersen in the Elder World. By my reckoning Spiritworld achieves its aim of complementing Quake's fourth act as a bonus episode for Experts. There are quite a few frustrating encounters in this episode, and I didn't have the patience to clear it without quicksaves for the first time. Honestly it's my fault for jumping into this one as my first Quake community episode without knowing that it had a high degree of difficulty. Masochistic encounters aside, there are some very inventive and memorable levels contained herein. I definitely recommend.

Replaying the Quake II campaign via Yamagi has only made me appreciate the Remaster even more. There's so many small gameplay tweaks in the Remaster that sum to an overall smoother and more engaging experience. My biggest peeve with the original is how movement down slopes feels so incredibly shitty.

I'm surprised it also took me this long to start using the Power Shield. It trivializes the entire game. At least the remaster more strongly incentivizes burning cell ammo against enemy shields, but I'm not sure that's enough to fix the overarching issue of Quake II turning into a cakewalk at the press of a button. It's a real "just don't use it" piece of design that mars the title.

Play the Remaster instead.

I'm so fucking tired of people claiming that Warren Spector coined the concept of Immersive Sims, when the man himself will tell you it was Doug Church, all the while these people bash the concept of such a genre even existing. Their arguments are uniformly rooted in prejudicial ignorance every single fucking time. Often making some idiotic remark about how the name is misleading because flight simulators have nothing to do with them, WHEN THE ACTUAL OG IMSIM DEVS MADE FLIGHT SIMS TOO. The entirety of the Looking Glass output were ALWAYS simulations. I'm inclined to believe that the people who were the original developers at the forefront of Simulation focused game development are right in attaching such a denomination in one form or another to their RPG and FPS outputs as well. There's a very simple litmus test you can employ to discern why the bulk of modern first person video games do not deserve to be brought up in conversation by halfwits mistakenly complaining about the genre being "meaningless" because "all games strive to be immersive" (lmao even) or what have you when that's clearly not true. The litmus is whether or not the game is implementing its mechanics via scripted interactions or SIMULATING systems to allow for a rationally comprehensible and predictable game world. Yet somehow people keep bringing up Elder Scrolls, Metroid Prime, et al, in conversation.
I suspect this is an unfortunate effect of general human neurology struggling with comprehending nuance and abstractions, all the while putting much too much emphasis on definitions. Thus the incessant roundabout arguments throughout all of history that often boil down to nothing more than fucking pedantry.

Anyway, as I see it what makes ImSims most consistently identifiable, rather than pedantic slavish insistence of finding individual shared mechanics, is observing how systemically implemented game mechanics end up informing and recontextualizing a game's Level Design.
I feel the need to point this out because I've seen far too many people think that statpoints and skill trees are of chief significance, when they're really just a tool by which developers can choose to allow players influence over their characters. Too few people have played the OG System Shock which is quite lacking in all the ARPG frills that have come to define a particular subset of this criminally misunderstood peak genre of PC gaming. A genre that arguably IS PC gaming.

Oh, yeah, the game. Deus Ex is okay. I made the mistake of playing on Hard and had to suffer through the mediocre gunplay. It was still good though and definitely a must-play. I willfully restarted the Hong Kong level a few times because I wasn't ready to move on before trying several different approaches just for the hell of it. Truly an excellent level.

For all my complaining of pedantry, I wish such widespread flagrant misunderstanding and misapplication of terminology didn't piss me off so much, but I simply can't tolerate besmirchment of PC gaming's most engrossing lineage.

BioShock is a corridor shooter.

Awww, it ends right in the middle of the rising action.
I need more games in this genre, now.

After really enjoying the impact of the Black Axe in Amid Evil, I needed a more fleshed out First Person Melee action romp to enjoy, and this is exactly that. It even has comparable visual tone to boot. I was worried the aesthetic might end up too boring judging by the cover, but I really ended up digging the environments, and Jurmun Soldier designs especially.
The completionist tumor that has a hold of me compelled me to play this on its titular difficulty while attempting, and succeeding at, the Level-0 challenge run. It was overall quite good, though the bosses and tower priests were utter bastards to deal with as a result.

One standout feature I wish more games would implement is the option to actually choose which part of the OST is playing as your backing track, overwriting what would play normally if you'd rather here something different.

Besides its abrupt ending, the only issues I spied were enemies occasionally getting stuck on geometry and breaking aggro, or particle effects bugging out and persisting past when they should have expired if they went off while I died.

Regarding combat; there were so many great moments were I'd be able to fling enemies off ledges with heavy attacks, have to whip around while an attack animation was beginning in order to catch assassins who had just teleported in behind me, and engage in carefully considered footwork and positioning to deal with more dangerous encounters. Light attack, Heavy attack, dash, parry or block, kick, that's it. The lack of I-frames necessitate high situational and spatial awareness, along with good timing, in order to successfully engage with groups of enemies. Otherwise you just end up rather mindlessly whacking them off one by one by abusing their poor LOS and rudimentary pathfinding. Casual players who aren't interested in challenge runs or achievement hunting will likely be disappointed.

This thing goes on sale for a few bucks and is more than worth it. As in, it's currently on sale for $3 and I'd very much like it if these devs could receive a cash injection via volume sales and flood of requests for a sequel that I'm confident they very much want to make.

Wrath's greatest flaw is that it's merely fine, and also arguably overlong. My first clear on Hard clocked in at just over 20hrs, with each episode being equivalent in temporal length to other game's entire runtimes.
I still enjoyed my time overall, and even preferred Episode 2 to 1. Which I think is the reverse of most people's preference. The environs do look great but the small enemy roster that's shared across almost the full game, coupled with some really unsatisfying primary fire for the pistol and shotgun, put a damper on my enjoyment. The shotgun primary isn't as big of a deal since you actually want to use the secondary in most cases, but it still feels weightless during those otherwise tense moments were a sudden close quarters encounter needs to resolved with gibs asap. There's significant feedback from the enemies getting staggered or gibbed yes, but it doesn't feel like I'm actually firing projectiles. The pistol is a much bigger issue, there is basically NO feedback for its primary, which I frequently relied on for the Not-Scrags and picking off stragglers from advantageous medium range vantage points. I had to turn on the crosshairs because it was often too difficult to discern if anything was even happening. I think all FPS devs should do some playtesting with the HUD disabled in order to figure out what needs to be changed in order to improve diegetic feedback.

If Wrath had found a way to implement a bit more encounter variety across the later episodes, I feel it would have turned into the longform FPS epic it deserved to become. Standout levels like Shadow Pantheon are definitely an acquired taste, but have served to ingrain Wrath into my memory as an interesting and grueling exploratory dungeon crawl of an FPS.

Worth checking out by dedicated FPS fans with tempered expectations.

Replaying the campaign on EVIL difficulty with Warrior and Auto-Soul modes enabled has rocketed Amid Evil into my favorites.

This is still one of the best looking FPS titles ever produced and maintains an overall high level of quality throughout its levelset. The only points of chaffing I encountered is the occasionally brutal difficulty of The Forges, which was still more than manageable. Thanks to each of the seven episodes having a custom enemy roster, the campaign ended up feeling much longer than its actual runtime is due to how memorable each chunk of the game is allowed to become.

Each episode has its own tone and slightly altered flow for the combat encounters. The different tiers of enemies across the episodes can have altered vulnerabilities to the arsenal, continually mixing up the gamefeel slightly. Coupled with how each level was designed to accomodate the Warrior mode, the order of acquisition of the arsenal within a level adds a whole other layer of complexity. It's a testament to how well balanced the weapons are that I was often delighted to acquire the Azure Staff even after I had previously reacquired the Voltride in the same level. Said arsenal also plays very well without crosshairs, which I always appreciate. I prefer to have unobstructed views of enemies and environs wherever possible.

The Arcane Expanse looks like a manifestation of the palaces I wandered in childhood dreams, and I want more. Perfection.

Some of the most satisfying weapons I've ever had the pleasure of wielding in an FPS. I just wish that the Chaos Space Marines were a little bit more threatening in order to better sell the power-fantasy that this game otherwise executes upon wonderfully well. An option to increase enemy projectile speed could also be nice. Even on Exterminatus the game is quite comfortable to complete and arguably too easy, though this is also largely in part to the frequent checkpoints minimizing frustration. I can already see that trying to pull off deathless clears in some of these long missions will be a nightmare.

It felt great to finally have an arsenal that plays super well with the crosshairs disabled after the disappointment of Wrath A.o.E.'s pistol and shotgun lacking trajectory feedback.

I eagerly await more 40k FPS outings done in this style. I wish this had a map editor and mod support. Would be pretty cool if Focus Entertainment/Auroch Digital were flooded with requests by the community...

Oh yeah, quick tip; sustained Heavy Bolter fire prevents Aspiring Champions from entering phase 2.
Ditto with the pinkies.

Yep, I definitely prefer Quake II. [Future Nilichi: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?] I'm not so fond of how tanky the small enemy roster is. The environments have great vibes, but coupled with Trent choosing an ambient style, the encounters feel far slower and less intense.

Dimension of the Machine is a great addition to the canon. I particularly dig the visual fidelity on display in the hub world. I want more games with this crunchy style and nice lighting effects. There's an above average level of environmental details in the hub that I wish carried over to more of the rooms within the levels, though that's a luxury that the action carries on just fine without.

I'm docking a point for no LAN in this port.

I'm fuming. First BoundingBox mutilated what made secrets a compelling level design technique in the first place by changing most of them from powerups that aid in your completion of a level into a collectible shop currency. Then they have the audacity to start locking these currency locations behind powerups stuck in the ingame shop. What makes this extra fucking obnoxious is that Prodeus is so mind numbingly easy that only scoreplay has a hope of being compelling. Scoreplay that you cannot effectively engage with until you've 100%ed the game because there are no leaderboard categories and these powerups and unlockable weapons provide players with new advantages. The utter incompetence of design on display here is genuinely fucking infuriating. There's not even any ingame communication to aid the player in figuring out how the actual scoring system even WORKS. It's the laziest possible implementation I've seen in a long time.
So now I'm paranoid about wasting my time in a level searching for ore that I might just not be capable of collecting without the double jump. This doesn't compel me to explore thoroughly, I'm just going to look up a 100% guide because this is fucking stupid. No part of the experience is enhanced by having a shop system. Even the shop is badly designed. Rather than a quick to access menu it's a physical time wasting fluff "level" that requires a loading screen. Every level suffers from a unity loading screen. Even restarting them.

The entire production is riddled with cripplingly idiotic decisions. Community maps are locked behind a third-party account. Unlike in any of the actually well designed id shooters that Prodeus is unimaginatively aping.
Nexus Points are Vita Chambers and Vita Chambers were never good. There's no in level saving systems because the devs genuinely couldn't figure out how to implement one into Unity. I'm serious. That's their excuse. There's supposed to be an update "soon" that finally implements saving.
Nexus Points mean that there is absolutely no middle ground between "this game is mindless and uninteresting garbage" and "merely barely okay on max difficulty if you always full restart after death". Speaking of difficulty. It's the lazy boring method of tweaking enemy HP and Damage values by percentages. It's the same low enemy counts regardless. I think maybe they also get more accurate? But I can't be bothered to test because Very Hard was already too much of a snooze so I lack a solid point of reference. The devs claim that they designed Prodeus around "medium". l o l

What's most frustrating is that every part of Prodeus that isn't unique to Prodeus can be some occasionally fine Doom action. It looks good. The guns are fine. The music is pretty good. The levels are "okay".
But every single design decision that deviates away from the source material of Doom only serves to make the game worse. Even the map system is bad. Having an agonizingly slow scroll speed.

Prodeus will never be better than "just fine", and even then only under extreme self imposed challenge.
- - -
Now that the "Prodean" enemies are being introduced more regularly there's been an extreme difficulty spike, however when it comes to dying in a split-second from the trickier encounters near the end of a long level I just wish I could have a normal checkpoint for my first run.
- - -
Yeah the deeper I get into the campaign the angrier I get. The nexus points are a serious problem and it's absurd the devs left early access with them implemented even though they're the most common complaint levied against the design. Dying in a split second near the end of 20 minute mission is awful, but continuing from a nexus point feels cheap. I detest every single defender of Prodeus who claims that any of this is fine because it's a "score attack game" meanwhile the devs have carelessly slapped every single difficulty onto the same leaderboard and effectively declared that you aren't allowed to play the "real" Prodeus until you find all of the worthless macguffins. Every single time I begin to enjoy a level it's ruined by my hyperfixation on just how irredeemably awful the overarching design is. I'm torn on refunding it because I can see that it does eventually become fun.
I just realized precisely why I hate this. Prodeus is the Euroshmup of FPS games. It fails to understand score design. Implements a worthless shop mechanic, and in the spirit of giving the player a health bar just makes the player immortal. Dying is such a measly score penalty that you can often see people who didn't pull off a deathless run on the max difficulty placing in the top 50 spots. Fucking unforgiveable, and I wish to reiterate, there is NO ingame indication of how well you're doing scorewise until after you finish a level, and I only believe that headshots contribute to score because a random forum post claimed they did.
This entire game needs an overhaul.
- - -
I gave up on performing deathless Ultra Hard clears after the prodean enemies became common occurances. The "elite" units among them can be just mean on Ultra Hard. Which is especially frustrating given the average length of the lategame missions.
The penultimate mission was really good though (no prodeans). Now if only the rest of the game was also good. The game still feels unfinished. Not all of the weapons were properly implemented. You never acquire anything for the second and third energy weapon slots.