Recent reviews by Orv

Despite everything, Eternal Crusade came out as a perfectly decent third person shooter with some cool mechanics, customization and promise for future updates. I wouldn't wholesale recommend it at full price as it currently stands, but it's probably not the worst choice you could make with your money this year.

A Brutal Edition Review Update

Brutal Edition, which should probably be called "Hey guys you like Dark Souls?" edition, adds a new player class and a new tileset, while making some fundamental changes to mechanics.

The new class, the Brute, has more refined and useful animations for many weapons than the Blackguard, while also having a Dark Souls style roll dodge. The entire feel of the Brute solidifies the idea of "low-fi Dark Souls" that Necropolis puts forward, without really solving any of the inherent problems the rest of the game has. The Brute is probably an objectively better class than the Blackguard, almost going so far as to obsolete the first class.

The new area, The Black Forest, brings to mind more Dark Souls comparisons. Snowy, ensconced in dark, fallen trees and thin corridors between tall cliffs, it feels like an extension of the swamp tileset, rather than something truly its own. It's an inoffensive addition at worst, and a nice change of pace from endless stone corridors and dull swamps.

Finally, Brutal Edition adds new enemies, but none of them make a meaningful addition to the combat systems or any encounter you'll find, as most enemy groups are still single unit types.

Unfortunately, many of Necropolis' fundamental issues remain, now exacerbated by balance changes to mechanics. You still face swarms of enemies (check my one single Necropolis screenshot to see a only-slightly-larger than typical mob of enemies for level 2) with AI that only has two modes; run at you or find more guys to run at you with. The endless mobs of enemies that can do enormous amounts of damage are still fatiguing and not particularly varied to fight. For some reason, drinking unidentified potions and using unidentified scrolls still doesn't identify similar items, ignoring every other roguelike with randomized items.

Shields are no longer unstoppable god machines of blocking, but the bleed through of damage with the new balance is somewhat poorly tuned. The only things you ever really need to block are the super enemies and some of the nastier variants, and now blocking them can be a risky proposition at best. Many of the enemies worth blocking retain zero windup attacks that can combo you or take huge chunks from your health. The overall combat of Necropolis remains unsatisfying and fatiguing, a trudge uphill both ways in the snow while being beset from all sides by brigands.

Finally, monsters drop considerably less crafting materials, and you no longer start the game with Iron Rations as a crafting option. While in a vacuum this is a good change, as reaching floor four or five in previous Necropolis patches ensured an endless supply of Iron Rations, none of the other changes (or lack thereof) to the game support this. You still face huge swarms of enemies, but now without the ability to mitigate the slow, almost unavoidable drain of your health. Roguelike? Certainly. Fun? Not so much.

And that's kind of the final tune Necropolis sings. It's doing its best to be a compelling roguelike, but even with these updates it just doesn't quite reach fun. It's a slog to play, it makes some baffling decisions that exacerbate the issues it has even before thos decisions, and it just isn't worth $30 of content, gameplay or updates.

This ♥♥♥♥ sucks ♥♥♥♥ on fire.

Well, I thought I'd escaped RotMG. Apparently I was wrong. See you in a couple days.

Look, if you're buying or thinking of buying Assassin's Creed: Revelations, you probably loved AC2, and maybe even Brotherhood. Revelations is not those games. The single-player is like a cramped, rather poorly planed Venice, that you need a loading screen to see the other half of. The story isn't great, though some of the characters are. But if you liked AC:B's multiplayer, this is a must-have. Improvements and refinements, new maps (that all seem the same for the first few hours, and kind of are) and just a better experience in general. THEY TOOK THE ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DOCTOR AWAY.

4.0? Certainly. But that makes it all the more suitable for video games.
Buggy? You bet your bottom (15, in fact) dollars. Does it detract from the game? Not in the slightest.

It's a solid, 4-person co-op videogame with decent dungeon crawling, loot and a penchant for destroying your world with hilarious glitches. Worth 15 bucks, certainly.

Protip: 4 Clerics.