Recent reviews by trampingaround

I absolutely loved the first game, but this is... I don't know. I'm still hopeful it will be good, but I'm starting to have my doubts. They revamped nearly everything, which is frustrating at times as I am so used to the first game. It's definitely more ambitious, but its also got more wrong with it. Enemies immediately respawn out of nowhere sometimes. I'll clear a pack of half dozen, and I'll start to gather loot, and all six will be back again. Like five seconds after clearing them, poof, they magically respawn right in front of me. I get knocked down constantly. The skill tree is huge, which at first seems cool, but it's kind of tedious to unlock a zillion things that are really just percent gains and a ton of attack skills that mostly aren't used. I've had more trouble with the camera than the first one, where it will pan to behind cover and I can't see anything. I've had a few rage quit moments.
It really is pretty and runs well, but I'm kind of on the fence leaning positive right now. It's not quite as totally positive as the first one.

...gotta check on my fish...

Welp, where did the last six hours go?

I've played a few VS type games now, and this is my current favorite. It has great grindy replay value but with more depth than you'll notice to begin with. And it is one of the more pretty ones. There's some subtle sound hints too that help to understand what all is happening when the screen inevitably becomes an epileptic nightmare.

I've been playing games for forty years. I've played thousands of unique games. This is in my top ten games of all genres of all time. I expect I will be replaying this every few years for a long time.

Marred only by a few bugs, some cheap deaths from the occasionally freakishly op wolves, occasionally cliche dialogue, and some missions become samey.

But overall the game play is top notch. Taking on swarms the first few times or early game is almost Souls like, the same pumping heart and not guaranteed success. The sense of accomplishment from clearing swarms and nests is tangible because it actually changes the world, as you remove them travel becomes authentically easier. The voice acting, mo-cap, and story is really good most of the time.

The rumor is that there will probably never be a sequel which is really too bad because the swarm mechanics alone are almost unique. I know of nothing else like it and would really love to see another round of this.

It's as good as everyone says. Perfect dopamine loop, just one more go...

What a perfect little game. Super grindy, but the good kind like almost roguelike, just perfect little one-more-xyz that's kept me playing for nearly twelve hours in the first 36 hours I've owned it. Reminds me almost of the dopamine loop from clicker games. Who needs cocaine when there's games like this?

Edit again - changing my review to Thumbs down. I payed the $100 for the early access and I yet I haven't touched this game in literally a month. Shame on me for letting myself get suckered in by the hype. There are some good things here, but largely it's just not that great. And I feel like Bethesda knew that, and this is almost a late cash grab. Starfield should have been better than it is. Who could have guessed that in 2023 Bethesda would release such a lackluster boring game? After Skyrim? After Fallout 4? After the incredible games that came before those essential titles? Buy heavily discounted and/or wait for them to hopefully add a lot of QOL and content.

Edit - I still will give a thumbs up, but my interest is waning. After the first couple weeks I'm already back to other games. This is a departure from Skyrim and Fallout, which I threw hundreds of hours at. Hopefully they've got some improvements in the pipeline. I'd love to give this another shot at the 2.0 mark.

-- Original review below --

Is it flawed? Sure. But overall it's still a ton of fun.

Give it a few QOL adds like better maps, some inventory management improvements, and a few game play elements could have better explanations. Hopefully those are in the pipeline, but it's still fun as is.

Probably not quite as good as Skyrim and Fallout 4, but close. Those are amazing games, so remember the bar that it is competing against. Not as good as I had hoped it to be, but I don't regret pre-ordering.

I've had a few of the famously hilarious Bethesda bugs, which are quite entertaining most of the time.

Every modern game warns of epileptic photosensitivity. Blah blah blah if you are blah blah, don't play the game blah blah science stuff blah blah you may die.

This is the only game where it may be a valid concern, yet no warning. I didn't have epilepsy before, but I was expecting it any minute late game.

I haven't played a game with as strong a "just one more time" feeling to it in a long time. A lot of content on the cheap. It's got elements that initially feel almost broken, but late game seem to make more sense.