Recent reviews by dokMixer

Incredible experience with this game. A narrative management survival game, in the vein of what a Frostpunk could be?
Yes, it has it's flaws. I hate that i have to repair the ship constantly, and i reload frequently to see what path i should have chosen... someone could argue the difficulty varies, and the stress lowers towards the end. But honestly, the ride was just excellent. Well worth what it's for, i sweated really and was stressed almost all the time.
Superb hook, nicely written, killer music, i highly recommend that you give Ixion a try. It's worth every penny and every hours i sank into it.

Another game I 100%. And no, I do not chase that kind of things.
IF the game is on sale, take it. It's at worse not your type and you will have spend 3$ on it... at best, it took me a dozen of hours to finish it over 3 days.

Read below for a deeper critique, but be warned of spoilers!

Yes, some things are infuriating with this game. Namely the controls (assign a creature to defend is coming in the next game, right now it's ass. I just keep 80% of my creatures standing still at base), the lack of understanding of what an ability does (and you have to remember everything), or the stupid pacing that forces you to just "hold" for as long as possible while sending only 1 troop in exploration.
Took me a while to grasp how to handle this, and it totally obfuscates the "discoveries" since you basically just stay home and think about what creature to do next. Apparently they are boss battles (to get phoenix wings for example) and i saw this once. A ridiculous tiny enemy rushing towards me. So, on that aspect, not great.
That being said it looks like i'm painting a dire representation of NecroSmith. But i did really enjoy my time there. Levelling up, redoing a run with permanent buffs, is really something that i love in that kind of games. Won't lie, the runs and the game will be repetitive... but i managed to finish it in like 7-8 hours without rushing... and launched just another game afterwards to do 100%.
It's the kind of game, especially on sale, that took me by surprise and i'm glad i gave it a try. When is the last time you finished a game in 10hours 100% over 3 days ?
Me, i liked it.
Oh, and assembling horrible creatures was fun. I wish a bestiary would exist, or hints on what combinations are "official"... cause i stumbled by accident on some weird combinations, and i wish there would has been a codex of some sorts. But it was fun trying things. To echo one of my first critique, because you can only have 15units at a time (and that hinders a bit the fantasy of the necromancer with hundreds, if not thousands of units), it's hard to predict what weapon does what. Is the steam canon meh late game or is it good just to defend the castle as it SEEMED it pushed enemies away like the giant boulder? Can't tell.

I know i'm getting the 2. And you should give this one a try, especially when it's on sale :)

I played the demo, and now the full game, and i must say i loved it.
It's SO rare to be able to finish a game entirely? I 100% it in less than 24h of gameplay.
It has cons, like how cumbersome it is sometimes to just move ressources around... but it's compensated by the fact the quantity of required ressources are quite balanced and does not require gigafactories like Factorio.
As a huge added benefit, the game adds a whole side of things to achieve and collect. Let's say there is a big Stardew Valley vibe in here that is very pleasant. I was addicted to really work towards getting everything, fulfilling all quests.
Overall, i think i will put a solid 9/10 on it, if not a 10. It's a well made game, no crash, pleasant, only 1-2 very minor bug, achievable... I hesitate to give a 10 only because i wish the way we could handle placement of buildings would be better? Because of the lack of space on the islands, the challenge comes with how and where you produce stuff... and a special item can "destroy" everything on an island so you can do better. But using it with such a limited inventory is just hell.
On the bright side, the small size of islands and the constant upgrades to speed here and there contributes to how you should think the links and the production to optimize stuff. Your island is suddenly a bottleneck cause your bots are too slow? you can make them move faster... but you'll learn later that you can also rely on other ways to produce the same stuff, without using robots, and suddenly you feel super smart for basically upgrading your factory. Big Factorio vibe in that sense, but cuter and simpler (and that's a good thing).
I don't plan on playing more of it now, but i also salute the devs for providing a free DLC that actually adds quite a lot of content and another end of the story. I wish it added more steam achivements hehehe.
Factorio and stardew lovers, give this one a try.

So, big fan of the first Startopia here, super hyped to see a sequel.
I must say i'm reviewing this while not taking into account the motion sickness i do experience from time to time.

The game is cute, and it's a great hommage to the original. Everything here is made to feel like Startopia. BUT... i've encountered a couple of cool and bad things. I'm giving a nevatige review even if a "meh" one would more be adequate. But honestly, i would buy it again at this price.
- the game is cute
- openning section still super cool
- glad to see the storage still here
- huge love for the gardens

For the bad aspects:
- i've NOT been able to relax in this game. Playing the campaign mode, i've been insulted by the robot guide, and stressed to learn 50 things at once.
- there are a TON of times i'm inturrepted while trying to figure out stuff. Oh, this is not working, let me produce this and OH bombs have been planted, i need to stop everything and remove the bombs. Again. For the 20th time.
- why calling the currency "energy" ? Can't they just be credits or something ? Suepr confusing
- i hate the research. Took me ages to get it. And it's using another currency... and unlocking tech gives you credits. I mean, energy. Why ?
- managing employees is one thing. But their skillset has no impact?

Overall, cute execution, love the vibes, but not an enjoyable moment ? I love the aesthetics, but i wished it would have been a more "strategy" / "management" game, and not a micromanagement repetitive game. Also, ok it's startopia... but couldn't we have something "new" ? Aside from new aliens i mean... a 4th deck ? A new way to unlock the sections ? Anything...

I Spent hours on Factorio. Starting from a simple game where you just want to automate basic tasks, up to gigantic factories with several train station.

It's simple : i discovered i loved automating things. A new fetish i guess. Creating blueprints, making robots assemble, disassemble, repair portions of base, building perfect outposts in a click, ... well, it's really endless, and time consuming, and OH MY GOD SO SATISFYING WHEN YOU CLICK AND SEE HUNDREDS OF DRONES FLYING TO CONSTRUCT A PERFECT OUTPOST WHILE LISTENING TO F****G WAGNER.

So yeah, one thing is sure, having a base running smoothly is the most satis'factory' thing ever. (get it ?)

You loved games like City Skylines, you loved creating huge cities from scratch and spending countless hours just to make that little path the most efficient possible ? Well, Factorio is really THE game you want.
It's been a long time since i haven't opened a graphic app with a grid, just to draw the most space efficient way to place things and to distribute items and upgrades. And i'm not alone. People have been calculating the perfect ratio between solar panels and accumulators guys. And it's scary.

Dont stop on the graphics just yet, i know it wont be of everyone's taste. But Minecraft wasn't either, and can become an outstanding game (have you tried advanced factory and automation in Minecraft ? Worth a try.). Really, give it a try. Developpers created a huge game, with a lot of stuff to do, an interesting and stable multiplayer part, and a lot of cool ways to achieve your objectives. You will always start messy, creating a "spaghetti" factory, and start over and over again to create that perfect alignment you always secretly wanted.

I guess i'm only a bit deceived by the scenario part, would have loved to go beyond the initial goal of creating and launching a satellite, but hey that's what the mods are for, and they made that part a breeze for developers. Already been seeing Bob's mod, and also a fun scenario where you build your base inside an always moving train.

See you later. In a couple days. When Factorio have ruined your life.

If you plan on playing this game because it is labelled "MAC compatible" just go away. They used a VERY bad osx wrapper that makes the game mostly unplayable.
Sure, "use windows if u want to play lol" but no. Mac is my workstation, and if i want to play a few games that CLAIM to be compatible in order to sell more copies, it SHOULD be compatible. And here, it's not the case.
The game is maybe good on other platforms but if you are looking for a good strategy / TD game working on MAC, this just wont do it. Dont spend money on this, and ask for a refund.

(oh and the support told me i didn't reach the computer specifications. Yeah sure, with a core i7, 16Go RAM, 512 graphic card on a high end iMac that runs the game smoothly under bootcamp. Right. Or you are too F*****G lazy to use a decent mac wrapper, and just used a third-party wrapper to sell more copies.)