Recent reviews by GoldenGoat

This is such a great game. I am on my first play through and I am already planning for my next character. There is so much freedom. The fact that me and my friend can play the same levels and have two completely different stories, experiences and feelings and the game does not stop us. It allows you to continue to play and live with the consequences. There are so many ways to play and different ways to defeat enemies. It's just incredible.

Right now there are some bugs that are harming my experience, mostly pop in and slow world generation. It's effecting every zone. If this was a lesser game it would be unplayable, but the game continues to shine despite lack of polish. I am sure there will be a fix soon, as it is clear the team loves the game and is dedicated to it.

This game was good enough to unseat the SimCity franchise as the best city builder simulation game. That'd pretty much all you need to know.

This game developed into a very good one. I came back after Edgerunners got me interested in the world and playing in it is wonderful.

Pros:
- A complete story with interesting plot devices.
- Memorable Characters.
- a world that feels alive and beautiful
- The quests keep you guessing and design feels natural.
- Usage related skill progression

Some Cons:
- There are some bugs every once in a while (T posing of characters while loading an environment, mostly during scripted events.)
- There is no third person camera while on foot.
- You can't add or remove tattoos and cosmetic cyberware after creating your character initially. At this point I believe you need mods to do so.
- Map markers are non-descript leading to you to forget which type of clothing/weapon store you are headed to. Names of the stores would help the player remember whether its high/low tier vendor.

Its got great bones.

You can tell where they want to expand and knowing Paradox, they will. This game is a solid political & economic simulator.

If you like resource management and city builders this is a great game. The individual colonists are a little flat, but they certainly are serviceable. The good way outweighs the bad

This game is everything I wanted from a sequel to the fun slaughterhouse of a game that was Chivalry.

They refined the combat and the animations. The battles are intense and unpredictable.

My only complaint is that the heraldry system leaves a lot to be desired, as well as the lack of maps.

Outside of that this game is a perfect brutally bloody fun game.

If you like melee combat then GET THIS GAME!

For context I have played almost 2 thousand hours of Paradox grand strategy games and about 700+ hours of Civilization 4x games.

Ok, so there are some good things about the game. I like the character customization and diplomacy options. I like that the characters have voices and will interact, though the novelty of this wears off quickly. The art style is also nice, though a little bright and saturated.

Now onto the more critical part. This game is very hard to learn. Again look at the context, I am used to complicated games in this genre.

The problem is the tutorial. This game would be better served with having an opening mission or game tutorial where it guides you through the different systems. Crusader Kings 3 does this and is much easier to understand and get into. Instead they provide a million pop ups which are much easier to misunderstand or disregard.

There was also a lack of tool tips. This means that if you forget or misunderstand a previous tutorial pop up then you just cant quickly review the meanings of these terms to find out what to do in a given situation. There have been many times where I was on the losing side of a cultural shift without understanding why it was happening and how to stop it. This is not fun for strategic game players.

Also the fame and point system while creative and novel, is a weird way to force progression as opposed to the tech system often used by 4x games. It forces you into a particular play style or risk falling behind. It also forces your AI enemies into a type of play style to. The games situations feel a lot less organic and more predictable.

One of my favorite memories from playing Civ V was when I was playing a mostly peaceful and industrious Dutch Civ which was neighboring a militarist Germany, (sound familiar?), and we ended up becoming allies over mostly strategic resources that I held and helping with research agreements. They helped protect me even though they were aggressive to most other Civs on the map. I ended up winning the game because I didn't need to invest heavily into my military. I feel like this situation would never happen in this game. Which makes it feel hollow.

Overall I would wait until a better tutorial is released or just pick up Civ VI if your looking for a fun pretty strategy game or one of the paradox titles if you want something more in depth.

This game is excellent. It is the culmination of over a decade of Grand Strategy game design experience over at Paradox studios and it shows.

I initially was disappointed when I heard their next entry was a Crusader Kings game and not the long awaited sequel to Victoria 2, but I knew during the announcement trailer that this title was going to be a must own. Over the next few months they earned the hype with more and more information pouring over their new systems

The game systems are deep and rewarding, from using the scheme system to plot to murder your enemies or seduce a lover, to the religion mechanic which allows you to design your own heresies. The titular crusade has interesting mechanics as well, with the ability to offer financial support instead of military. You can even offer no support at all if you believe you can handle the debuffs associated with not being a good christian/muslim.

The graphics received a huge upgrade as well, the 3d rendering of the characters brings them to life. The fact that your character changes over time based on weight, damage, and illness makes the characters seem more alive and the decisions have more weight. Giants take up your whole screen and dwarfs barely make it into frame.

The new character creator is very detailed and its balance with the achievement system is interesting. The lack of a Coat of Arms designer leaves a little to be desired, but they are going to be adding full functionality soon.

This was the best game of 2019 hands down. If you are at all interested in civilization games, strategy games, or history games. Then definitely purchase this game. You will not regret it when you are plotting to kill your son because his little brother is a genius, your pretty sure you wont get caught, and your family reputation cant handle disinheriting the poor sod.

10/10 for making infanticide a reasonable option.

Elder Scrolls Online is an Amazing MMO for those who are familiar with the Elder Scrolls franchise or not. You can pick from 9 (or 10 with DLC) races and 4 (or 6) classes which can be further customized into a wholly unique character. Whether you are into Min-Maxing, role playing, or just messing around this game has a lot to offer. With regular updates and many, many events there is always something new in the world to do. It has quickly become my favorite game. $20 is an amazing price and a plus membership is optional, but a great deal for the price.

This game is extremely engaging and the modding community is pretty active. I would recommend to anyone who likes empire management titles or science fiction.