Recent reviews by johannlim

(I got this for free meaning I'm playing the free version as of this moment, 21/3/2020)

It's gorgeous. It's a well polished FPS experience. It's a well made AAA game. TL;DR = it scratches well any FPS + MMO itch you may have (or didn't know you had).

Some longer random notes:
- The initial starting experience is BAD. If you have any experience with long-running MMOs, imagine being thrown into one after 2 years of additional content, without proper introduction. If you haven't, know that you're being thrown in the deep end early and you'll have to figure out what it all really means. Worse still, if you just follow the flow of the introduction, you'll think you have to do some high-end stuff next; and it still suck.
- If you're new to D2, for the best experience, do this: after the Introduction to the various game modes & stuff, go to Amanda Holliday at the Hangar at the Tower, and take the Red War campaign, and play it through.
- All 3 character classes are interesting, and have enough variation yet survivability to be worth playing in any way.
- The game is seriously gorgeous. Breathtakingly beautiful. The detail on every 'planet' is awesome.
- Some aspects of the UI are inconsistent. Some are unintuitive. It really helps to have friends to play with, so you can figure out some things together. And blast things together, of course.
- It's well worth trying out, since it's free.

Love the SFX and the visuals - the experience of flying through space, landing, and jumping are a sheer joy. Of course, the idea that the developers took NASA data to map out the universe is uber sexy.

Not sure about the open-ness of the world & gameplay experience - on one hand, it's nice to figure out stuff and never need to follow some questline / storyline or proscribed route. On the other, sometimes it's nice to know what do best do next.

It's still in Beta (?) so know that it's a work in progress. As a space (flight) sim, you might want separate peripherals to play it, like a HOTAS. I currently use a Gamepad (console control), and it works really well.

Get this game only in the situation of:
1) It's on sale, AND;
2) You like point-and-click games.

Otherwise, frankly, it's not worth USD 5. It's a flash game that's over in about an hour. The puzzles can't be figured out short of pixel-hunting or guide-checking. For this style of game, check out Machinarium (by the same guys, Amanita Design), which I highly recommend.

Pros:
+ visuals
+ music
+ story (it's cute, and well communicated without words)

Cons:
- too many timing-based puzzles
- non-intuitive interface
- final puzzle is annoyingly punishing

I did enjoy my play-through, though I admit that I needed the guide to get through it (I don't have the patience any more). Again - get their next game, Machinarium - it's far superior.

2D stealth platformer. Captures the essence of ninja-ness exceptionally well. Multiple ways of playing through. Funky storyline.

This game plays really well, and is highly enjoyable. I cannot recommend it enough.

If you played X-Com last time, this is WELL WORTH it. Captures most of the best of the old, while giving it the polish and crispness of new tech. AND a lot less time-consuming per mission.
If you didn't, try this out. It's an excellent tactical game with broad gameplay (battle + multiple levels of management [facilities, research, manufacture, financial]) and great depth.
Highly recommended.

Wonderfully excellent puzzler. Requires helluvalotta thinking!

If you love platformers of old, eg Flashback, then PLAY THIS GAME. Awesome stuff, pure genius by the ONE guy (Japanese, of course) who did everything - gameplay, story, art, music, level. It's so good that I bought it even though I've already finished it.

Great fun; brainless and limited to 15 minutes per game. Nice short distraction for when you really feel like burning everything in sight and getting rewarded for it!

Awesome, awesome game. Loved Portal 1, and they did all the good stuff here. The single player builds on to the 1st's story, and co-op is just such brilliant fun. The script is genius.

A thinking person's FPS. Love it.