Recent reviews by The_Victor

Sony forcing players to link their steam to a PSN account in order to play. The same PSN system that have all their account hacked and leaked every 2 years.

Edit 06/05/24: When we look back at this, this is the day where consumers won over the greedy publishers.

Double edit 21/05/24: Sony only backed down on forcing PSN accounts "for now". This game is still de-listed on steam and unavailable to over 200 countries. Latest Sony game "Ghost of Tsushima", a single-player focused game with side content multiplayer, is unavailable in those same countries because Sony is still trying to force everyone into linking steam to their PSN account and the latest announcement on twitter on 06/05/24 was only a PR move. Their excuse for linking is for "Added security" when they can't even get their own security working and are risking steam user's accounts.

tldr; Good game, bad publisher Sony.

This game stole my life and my friend from me

Recent stealth updated added DRM causing the game unworkable for steam deck users and causes a lot of performance issues. Capcom recently added DRMs to mostly single player games and Rise got affected by this.

Neutral

Main problem I have is that your progression is locked behind RNG. To get a "gold" token, you need to complete a bonus objective and that requires RNG even if you are prepared beforehand (setting the cards right). The other aspects of the game got improved from the first one.

Good idea, poor execution. Whenever you're prompted to make a choice, you don't have access to crucial information;what am I carrying before I can trade, the tutorial is barebones. For example, food is the most crucial stat to govern yet the tutorial makes no suggestion on how to provide it. Thus, you have to spend a couple of runs "guessing" and restarting your runs to learn basics on how the game works.

Before you play this game, I highly recommend playing the first game, Shadow of Mordor. The story, original design/intention of the nemesis system, the slower pace of combat and the world setting was much better designed in the first game. The sequel added more variety into the nemesis system but butchered and watered down everything else in order to push a Pay-To-Win system (Legendary, Epic and common orcs are a thing and a ranked system similar to predatory mobile games). The Middle Earth lore got ignored (Shelob the spider is now an attractive woman), the combat flow is faster (encouraging a reflex heavy gameplay instead of the methodical one from the previous game). These design choices dumbed down what made the Nemesis system great and 1 legendary orc can just overpower your playthrough. Although the lootboxes were removed, the game only patched it by reducing the grind; players can get legendaries easier and enjoy the single player content but the god tier legendaries still break the game balance and disregards the nemesis system.

Only play the sequel if you enjoyed and can fully take advantage of the nemesis system, something you can see in the first game. With it, you can make a randomly generated orc as deep and more complex than a boss fight you will encounter. You can create unique stories never done in a video game before. But all of this requires you to know how to play around the nemesis sytem and it has unique rules that differs from normal gameplay (You need to make enemies, not kill everyone you see. Dying a lot is part of the game and makes it more fun. You should get outnumbered and overwhelmed at times feeling frustrated and swearing revenge on the orcs that made you angry.) If you want an action game, there are better games out there. This game is about making frenemies with randomly generated orcs and once you can play around this gem, you will have a game like no other. WB knows they have a gem but wasted its potential patenting it and watering it down for a greedy microtransaction (that got patched but its remnants can still be felt.)

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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠙⠲⣦⠞⠋
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⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠹⠶⠖⠋⠀⠈⠻⢶⣤⣤⣤⠞⠋

This game very simple (no key rebinds, grindy, has some good ideas). I like it due to my personal tastes but as a game its def in the lower than 5$ and feels simple (unpolished, has good ideas but not implemented properly)

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⠀⠀⢇⠉⠀⠀⠀⣿⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣴⣿⣿⣿⣷⡄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠈⢇⡀⣀⡠⢿⠉⣻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠔⠒⠒⠒⠲⢤⡀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠉⠁⠀⠈⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠁⠀⠀⠀⠀⢀⡠⠃⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠻⣿⣿⣿⡿⠿⠛⡁⠀⠀⠠⢀⣀⣉⠏⠀⠀⠀
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠱⢄⡀⠔⠒⠉

⣿⣇⣿⡿⠇⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⡘⢸⣷⡙⢿⣇⠿⡛⣋⡵⠿⠛⠿⣷⣝⢸⣿⣿⣿⡘
⣿⣿⢸⣿⢠⣶⣬⣭⣝⣛⣷⡀⣿⣿⣧⣝⠸⣿⡏⣴⣿⣿⣶⡈⢿⣸⣿⡿⣿⡇
⣿⣿⡎⣿⢸⡿⣫⣥⣬⣙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢸⢿⣿⢧⣿⡇
⣿⣿⣷⠁⣼⢠⣿⣿⣿⣿⡆⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⣿⣬⣙⣛⣋⣴⣿⢸⢏⣾⣿⡇
⣿⢿⣿⣧⢸⣄⠿⣿⣿⠿⢡⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⡿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⢈⢸⣿⣿⣯
⡹⡠⡙⢿⣦⠻⣷⣶⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⡿⢟⣭⣷⣾⣿⣿⠘⣿⣿⣿⣧⣾⢸⣿⣿⣿
⣷⣄⡇⢶⣍⠳⠙⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣏⠀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠀⣿⣿⣧⣵⠋⢸⣿⣿⡿
⣿⣿⣷⢸⣿⣆⢷⣦⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣆⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⣸⣿⣿⠟⠁⠀⢸⣿⣿⡇
⣿⣿⣿⢸⣿⣿⣌⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣷⣮⣝⣛⣿⣴⡿⠋⢁⠀⠀⠀⢸⣿⣿⠇
⣿⣿⢿⠸⣿⣿⣿⢸⣆⢭⡝⠛⠛⠛⠟⠟⠛⠛⠉⠁⢀⣴⣿⣆⠀⠀⣸⣿⣿

⣿⢟⣽⣿⣿⣿⣿⣫⡾⣵⣿⣿⣿⠃⠄⠄⠘⢿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣿⢿⣿
⢫⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣳⣿⣱⣿⣿⣿⡋⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠛⠛⠋⠁⠄⠄⣿
⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⣹⡿⣃⣿⣿⣿⢳⠁⠄⠄⠄⢀⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⢀⣿
⡿⣿⣿⣿⢡⣫⣾⢸⢿⣿⡟⣿⣶⡶⢰⣿⣿⣿⢷⠄⠄⠄⠄⢼⣿
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⣿⣇⣿⣿⡿⠛⠛⠛⠛⠄⣘⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣶⣿⠿⠛⢾⡇⢸⣿
⣿⢻⣿⣿⣷⣶⣾⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡋⠉⣠⣴⣾⣿⡇⣸⣿
⣿⢸⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣄⠘⢿⣿⠏⠄⣿⣿
⣿⠸⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠿⠿⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⣼⠃⠄⢰⣿⣿
⣿⡄⠙⢿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠉⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡏⠄⢀⣾⣿⢯
⣿⡇⠄⠄⠙⢿⣀⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣰⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠄⠄⣼⡿⢫⣿