Recent reviews by syronくらい

My Grandpa's Deck has no Pathetic Cards!

but it does contain...the unstoppable Maxx "C"!

*Kaiba unintelligibly screeching*

From a technical standpoint there's little to criticize in what Konami themselves dubbed the "definitive edition of the competitive card game that has been evolving for over 20 years". It contains almost (bar a couple special ones) all cards ever released (and that's over 11.000 at this point) and works flawlessly, which is a marvel in and of itself, given how complicated Yu-Gi-Oh! as a card game has become.

As for the monetization: I've seen much worse. In fact, this game is quite F2P-friendly. With some time investment (which is at the core of every F2P-experience) you can easily craft any deck you want. Now, after that first deck has been crafted and all the early resources have been depleted, things are gonna slow down, but never come to a grinding halt. So choose wisely or use other dummy accounts to check out different archetypes.

As for the game itself: Well, it ain't your grandpa's Yu-Gi-Oh!, that's for sure. As a Yugi-Boomer myself, it took some time and YT videos to get a grasp of modern YGO. And tbh... I don't love it. The thing with YGO is, there's no set rotation, which means that after over two decades of powercreep 99 % of the aforementioned 11.000+ cards are literally useless. And in order to sell new cards, Konami continues the creep with every new set. Unless you're playing a meta deck, you're very often just ♥♥♥♥ out of luck in higher ranks. Also, hand traps and the coin toss. But I'm not gonna explain how a modern game of YGO goes down in its entirety, you just gotta experience it for yourself. It's quite different to every other card game, in that it very often comes down to "either you have it, or you don't" in the very first turn. Of course you can also just watch your opponent combo off for 10 minutes and end on an impenetrable board, if that's what you're into (I don't judge). Or your opponent can watch YOU combo off for 10 minutes (hnnng).

In summary, a great CCG client housing a unique card game that you either like or you don't. And if you don't, that's fine but don't expect it to fundamentally change anytime soon, the way YGO as a product works won't really allow for that. They could theoretically introduce additional rotating limited formats into Master Duel, but they haven't done that in over 2 years so don't get your hopes up (it doesn't sell new cards).

7/10

Man-Made Horrors

Limp, the body of Gorrister hung from the pink palette; unsupported — hanging high above us in the computer chamber; and it did not shiver in the chill, oily breeze that blew eternally through the main cavern. The body hung head down, attached to the underside of the palette by the sole of its right foot. It had been drained of blood through a precise incision made from ear to ear under the lantern jaw. There was no blood on the reflective surface of the metal floor.

When Gorrister joined our group and looked up at himself, it was already too late for us to realize that, once again, AM had duped us, had had its fun; it had been a diversion on the part of the machine. Three of us had vomited, turning away from one another in a reflex as ancient as the nausea that had produced it.

Gorrister went white. It was almost as though he had seen a voodoo icon, and was afraid of the future. "Oh, God," he mumbled, and walked away. The three of us followed him after a time, and found him sitting with his back to one of the smaller chittering banks, his head in his hands.

Ellen knelt down beside him and stroked his hair. He didn't move, but his voice came out of his covered face quite clearly. "Why doesn't it just do us in and get it over with? Christ, I don't know how much longer I can go on like this."

It was our one hundred and ninth year in the computer.

8/10

Wood Needed

For more than 20 years, Stronghold has held steadfast to its RTS niche amongst the Starcrafts, Age of Empires and Command & Conquers of the world. Thus it is only fitting that it, too, now finally enjoys the luxury of a definitive edition.

For many of my generation, this was one of their first real PC games and the franchise is still beloved to this day. Playing it is ageless fun.

I can't really comment on the MP side of things (Coop, Bots, Skirmish) because I was never into that. However, I don't really see how something that was never part of the original game could warrant a negative review.

From what I can tell, Firefly Studios are dedicated to adding more content in the future which is very much welcome. At the time of writing I've already finished the new Rat and Snake campaigns which I thoroughly enjoyed. Looking forward to the Pig and Wolf DLCs!

8.5/10

Bitterman Beckons

Just wanted to take this opportunity and drop a quick review/thoughts on the recently released Quake II Remaster.

I think this current era of gaming is awesome where absolute classics get a second lease of life through Nightdive Studios et al. but also wanna voice my appreciation for the original devs/publishers behind the IP that make it all possible by not letting their legacy simply rot away. This is not only a smart business decision in strengthening their brands in regards to future releases but also marks a shift in videogame history where people are starting to appreciate their forefathers and erecting monuments to the cornerstones of the 90s and early 2000s, lest they be forgotten. Now this might sound cheesy to some and it somewhat is, but I firmly believe that some games are collaborative art endeavors and should be treated as such.

The amount of content you're getting with this single release at this price is staggering. If you didn't already own Quake II that is, in that case it's totally free.

As for the game itself, if you've already played it and wanna know whether this recent update warrants a new playthrough, I recommend the tech review of the remaster Digital Foundry did on YouTube to learn and appreciate all the subtle changes and improvements that went into this update.

As for total newcomers, this is a quintessential boomer shooter set in a horror sci-fi world of metal-infused human flesh. Play it!

8.5/10

"You Look Tired, Meat. Busy Night?"

I was sceptical of the top-down perspective at first - not exactly what I usually play - and how it would work in a horror game where being able to see around you at all times would certainly take away a lot of the creepiness. The game adresses this by having you constantly surrounded by impenetrable darkness (hence the name "Darkwood") and only being able to see in the cone of whatever light source you're carrying with you.

Additionally, it relies heavily on excellent ambient sound which in conjunction with the formerly mentioned creates an eerie atmosphere that is indeed comparable in quality to classics such as Silent Hill. The monster design is also worth mentioning, within the confines of how scary small pixel art can be it is done very well.

There's a fixed day/night cycle. Throughout the day, you explore, gather as many resources as you can possibly carry and progress the story. At night, you have to retreat to your hideout/shelter and literally barricade yourself in, as that is when the horrors of the woods are most active and are trying their damnedest to get to you.

I often found myself wanting to explore more but being forced back to my hideout because you can't possibly survive the night outside. Which is fine, but after 30 or so loops/ingame days (that's how many it took me to finish the game whilst exploring mostly everything) it gets a little stale, repetitive and thus predictable. The day cycle should be longer and the night cycle cut shorter.

As for the story, it's great. At first, a lot of it is shrouded in mystery but as you gather further intel and talk to more of the quaint inhabitants, it's coming together nicely. Definitely memorable.

8/10

I Can’t Leave Without My Buddy Superfly

Ah yes, Daikatana, the game notorious for having tainted Romero's legacy forever but how bad is it, really?

My playthrough was done using the latest 1.3 community patch with sidekicks enabled, but made invincible, and free saving for some slight QOL improvement.

Early on I was very close to quitting the game numerous times. Episode 1 is, by far, the worst out of the 4 and I can't fault anyone for not wanting to suffer through it. Apart from the insufferable robo-critters and hunting brown switches on brown textures, you are constantly being BOMBARDED by sound effects. Alarms blaring, enemies behind closed doors running into walls *clank* *clank* *clank* *clank* because their rudimentary AI is trying (and failing) to get to you. Having heard that it gets better later on, I clawed my way through with only minor mental damage. And it does indeed get better, if only a little.

But first things first: The sidekicks. Everything you've heard about the sidekicks is true. They are the worst. Constantly getting in the way, never stop chatting, getting stuck SOMEWHERE and you have to go backtrack and find them, not totally useless in combat but being invincible certainly helps.. If this is the "fixed" version god help us all.

Hitscanning enemies all over the place in episode 1: Open a door, enemy instantly takes off half your HP, try to retreat/jiggle peek, get blocked by sidekick, die, scream.

I leveled up the Daikatana to 5.0 but apart from getting increasingly more.. blue.. not much changed. Its hitbox is all over the place and it only connects like every second strike. Also, it's literally impossible to hit anything on the ground (spiders etc.). The Silverclaw in episode 3 easily outclasses the maxed-out legendary Daikatana lol.

As I was saying earlier, the game gets better after episode 1. Levels start being less claustrophobic and environments are starting to be more diverse and visually appealing. There's some interesting weapons as well. If more people didn't, understandably, quit the game within the first hour, its reputation might not be as bad. The story's still ridiculously asinine though and doesn't improve throughout the game. I mean, I don't expect much storywise but this plot is just.. and those cutscenes.. and the b e t r a y a l..

Sorry John, this ain't it. Would rate "neutral" if Steam allowed it, but alas..

5/10

One-Man-Show

Felt like leaving a review since this game's flying under a lot of people's radar and unjustifiably so. The recent full release was a great opportunity to revisit it after having played through the first 3 chapters about a year ago.

There isn't much story and these kinds of games really don't need one. The ending's Tchernobog-esque where the big bad wants to siphon off your accumulated "dread force" only to, predictably, get annihilated instead.

Speaking of Tchernobog, this game knows its ancestors and is ripe with homages to them. In fact, you'll be hard-pressed to find a single classic FPS that isn't referenced in one easter egg or another. Pretty cool.

As for the gameplay, it feels great. Really responsive with a good selection of weapons (and upgrades) and good flow of combat. There's really nothing in particular I was missing. If I had to name one shortcoming, it'd be the OST. While the individual tracks are good, there's like only 1 track per chapter and it gets repetitive after a while. I'll chalk it down to this being a one-man project.

All in all, this game does not have any major flaws but, on the flipside, doesn't have anything outstanding or memorable going for it either. Just solid all-around.

7/10

We Can Be Considered Winners

I was gonna play this immediately after watching Civvie's video but when I saw that this remake was in the works, I held out on it until well, the remake was done. And yes, this is a remake, not a remaster. This is not a source port. This was built more or less from the ground up since from what I understand, the original source code was lost.

Meaning that, a considerable amount of time and effort went into this product. I see a bunch of people complain about the price tag and personally, keeping what I've just said in mind, it seems reasonable to me. You can always buy it on a sale anyway.

After having played through the entire thing on "Hard", I can summarize the following: Game runs flawlessly, gameplay is crisp, environments are diverse enough. I recommend saving a lot because you never know what kind of deadly trap lies beyond the next corner.

7.5/10

Hey, you might've missed the big blue box and the huge text atop this store page, so here's a reminder:

Note: This Early Access game is not complete and may or may not change further. If you are not excited to play this game in its current state, then you should wait to see if the game progresses further in development.

Also, I will post an actual review once the game leaves EA.

8.5/10

More Doom

The main issue with this game is that Doom 2016 was damn near perfect, but ZeniMax/Bethesda wanted to cash in on the newly revived franchise.

So they went to id and said "Make it more" - "Make it more what?" - "Just make it more".

Now how do you improve upon a near perfect game? A problem id couldn't solve either. More enemies, more difficult, more story, more movement, more platforming, more convoluted maps, more ♥♥♥♥♥♥ multiplayer, more always online, more carrots on a stick (cosmetics).

Don't get me wrong, this is a fine game (albeit a step back from Doom 2016), but where to go from here? Ideas had obviously dried up towards the end of TAG 2 when the final boss was just a reskinned Marauder and increasingly gimmicky arcade elements were eclectically thrown at the player. Time to take a deep breath, join Doomguy in his casket and ponder...

7/10