Recent reviews by SynC[+]

Short Review: You like Dungeons 3? You want more Dungeons 3? Yeah get this game!!!

Long Review: Dungeons 4 is a somewhat direct sequel to Dungeons 3 (previous 2 are almost standalone games albeit with a VERY loosely tied lore) which takes the foundations of Dungeons 3 and streamlines it for this game. Game plays somewhat like a dungeon keeper game but you get to choose your army lineup and tech progression.

Unlike Dungeons 3, game allows for way more flexibility as resource producing rooms are no longer tied to any faction (Horde/Demons/Undead) units are are fully operated by snots (imps in DK) now. This means you are free to splash any combination of any faction units or focus independently on one as your unit's max level is tied to their faction research now. The addition of units with specific debuffs that buffs the damage of same faction units also means focusing on 1 faction set of units (like picking a faction in Dungeons 2) is also a lot more viable and potentially overall desirable.

Also to break the whole turtle meta aka tower defence meta of the previous games, evilness (research resource) are now gained mostly by killing overworld units and resolving overworld events (killing certain escorts/boss units) making the game alot more active than passive now which is a huge plus imo.

All in all, if you have the dungeon keeper itch, this game might be in your ballpark. If you played Dungeons 3 and enjoyed it, highly recommend you get it also since its more of the same. Also Thalya has booba window now so...

Its Pokemon but with a monster hunter twist. Beat up a monster, hope it runs back to its nest, steal its egg and breed it's offspring to commit genocide that is pretty much about it. Later part of the game allows you to sacrifice a monstie to modify the genes of another monster so yeah...even more ethical concerns.

"If you are not having fun by constantly dying to gitgud at the start, you will not have fun at all throughout the game, this game isn't for you" - Steam Community Gatekeeper Association'

So I guess I got a free pass to say the game isn't for me because it sucks then ? *shrugs*

Serious note: Its a roguelike game with heavy RNG and strategy elements that many games tried to replicate but not completely capture the essence of this game. If you would like games with constant progression or an easier "roguelite" experience, give it a pass

With issues like covid lockdowns and the transition of major game titles to the next gen of consoles, 2020 is truly a year where experimental games and forgotten genres of old to take center stage in the PC market, the perfect example being Phasmophobia.

Is this some AAA production quality game with epic storystelling, beautiful visuals, great soundtrack with a cast of celebrity voice actors to create the spookiest horror game of all time? Obviously not!

What did game does right though is its unique blend of gameplay and teamwork revolving the use of your mic and if available, VR headset and controls. Almost everything in this game revolves around the use of your mic for communication between your teammates and interacting with the ghost.

To explain the gameplay in a nutshell, you (and your partners) are tasked to enter a haunted building with a random ghost of random model and type with different abilities/traits/pattern. Using your gadgets, deduction skills and communication with your teammates...or the ghost, you are to determine what type of ghost is haunting the area and accomplish side objectives involving baiting certain actions from the ghost. The ghost is fully AI controlled and will react to your actions and speech (yes it understands insults and gets triggered by it) but make no mistake, this ain't casper we are talking about. Ghost will go on a murder rampage during haunting phases and will kill you if u do not hide or run fast enough...

All in all, this is a game that is unique and fun to play with friends and randoms. Game dev (yes 1 main dev ) is updating the game constantly and launch issues with script kiddies deleting your saves have been fixed as of recent patches. Get this game, you won't regret it...

Also....E!

Dead by Daylight is a game that has potential to be an interesting gem in a myriad of online only co-op style games with a competitive aspect. You either play as one of a bunch of survivors or the killer in a randomly selected (unless intentionally manipulated via items) map where both sides have their own unique goals.

For the survivors, your goal is to simply escape from the map primarily by powering up generators (with Skillcheck™ involved like some QTE) and escape via the powered doors that open the path to the exit. Alternatively, if you're the only one left on the map (if your mates are dead/escaped), there is always that tempting 'Trapdoor™' that grants u safe passage and a ton of points (which I'll talk about later). Along the way, you save teammates, play hide&seek or 'benny hill' with the killer and sabotage stuff for points.

As the killer, you hunt and seek your targets (with each killer having their own mechanics) and play benny hill with the survivors until you put them up the hook and either play security guard or run off to chase the other survivors that are probably spamming the infinite jukespots aka SAFESPACE™

Now for the ACTUAL review. Why do I not recommend this game? Simply put, it still feels A LOT like a game in closed beta for various reasons. General issues are often bugs involving phasing and hit registering but I will touch on a few of those that are pet peeves of mine below.

LAG - For some god forsaken reason, the devs decided to go p2p for this. Why is it bad? Playing across the globe with killers that grant you games with 3~4 sec delays for 99% of the match makes it barely unplayable. But hey you ask, not everyone is laggy and you might have the chance to play with people near you, why the hate? Its all fine and dandy until u see the next point below.

RANKS AND PIPS - Everyone wants to be MLG these days and this game is no exception. Whats wrong with the rank system? EVERYTHING. Firstly the way to solely ranking up is to acquire pips that are acquired by performing certain tasks. So why is this bad? This means in matches, players are not in it to work with one another (as the survivor) or to fulfill a set objective (as the killer) but rather to maximize the amount of points they can get in a match. Now throw in the fact that if you do not get enough points, you will lose the pip and possibly rank down, everyone is in it for themselves. Now throw in random laggy matches, SAFESPACE™ bullcrap and even dumber offering combinations (2 survivors burn fog offerings for dem VAPENATION™ 420 ♥♥♥ action) and DC causing you to lose a lot of pips, this system becomes a problem.

SAFESPACE™ - OMG U NUB, PLAY TRAPPER AND DON'T TOUCH MY SAFESPACE™...This is the official "voice of reasoning" for this stupid system that is the infinite juke spots...in recent patches, the dev nerfed parkour of ledges and windows but thats NOTHING compared to the infinites. Certain maps have spaces like the "magic school bus" and the "3 yolo windows" that circumvent the speed reduction nerf that was imposed in the patch. This means that if the survivor reach the SAFESPACE™, you're better off running away as the killer before the sandbagging and taunting you will receive from the survivors. YES, the KILLER is more afraid than the survivors in SAFESPACES™. BUT MEH THE TRAPPER IS THERE !!! Until you realize that even kids with ADHD can tell where a trap is and disarm your traps for dem free points and the fact that there might be MULTIPLE SAFESPACES™ in the map that you can't babysit your traps, playing a specific killer (that isn't really effective in mitigating this issue) to solve this issue isn't a viable solution.

ADDED - An example of SAFESPACE™ in action and popular Dead by Daylight streamer, TrU3Ta1ent's take on infinites/SAFESPACE™ HERE[clips.twitch.tv]

Matchmaking - Oh boy when you talk about ranking and MLG as such, matchmaking is always a hot topic. Sadly in this game, its more of a hot mess than a hot topic. Firstly, there is barely any form of balance when it comes to matchmaking as the game will match you with high levels or even prestiged players when you are level 1. Add to the fact that there is no tutorial at the start and that said players have better perks/stuff on them, your chance of even getting enough points for a pip is as good as none unless u get a lucky break. Throw in the whole rank down system coupled with random laggy matches which are REALLY common, suddenly the whole steam refund system starts to make a lot more sense.

Insta-kill offerings - Players can choose to burn offering to affect the gameplay of a match but unlike perks, offering CAN be gamechanging from map alterations to map selection and much more. However, one of the offerings that greatly affects this are the offerings that offer insta-kill for killers. What does this mean for the common player? This means, if you get caught really early on in certain matches before fulfilling your pip required points, you're as good as dead if you can't reach a SAFESPACE™ in time. Normally sacrifices allows you a chance of escape (if someone saves you) or offers your team much needed safe windows of opportunity for objectives (if you're unlucky and the killer decides to camp hook you). With this, everything is thrown out the window and you can kiss your bum as well as rank goodbye as the killer kills you and move on. So much for ranked huh?

All in all, this game has a lot of balance and technical issues that they HAVE to iron out and I wouldn't recommend this game for more than $5 to anyone. This is really sad as this game have the potential but its implementation is seriously lacking...

*Update 1* - Reworded some stuff so some kids won't get bumhurt and call the wambulance on me...

*Update 2* - Popular Dead by Daylight streamer, TrU3Ta1ent's take on infinites/SAFESPACE™ and a SAFESPACE in action have been added

No native support for my Joystick nor rebinds for Keyboard. 1st fighting game in my life that I'm unable to play due to ACTUAL physical limitations. Thanks to the the lack of arcade mode, the only way to play a match is to play online VS console owners with proper controllers and get destroyed while you play whack-a-mole with your keyboard. So much for #PCMUSTARDRACE lel

#RISEUP

*Update 20/2/16* - From the upcoming patch notes, it seems like Capcom is aware and will actually patch the controls (Joystick and Keyboard bindings) along with some misc bugfixes. If the patch is as good as it sounds, I'll revise my review on this game.

*Update 3/5/16* - I think its apparent that Capcom flat out lied in their earlier announcement in a futile attempt at damage control. We have yet to receive a patch to fix controller/keyboard input issues but instead we get MOAR DLC characters *KACHING INTENSIFIES*

I can sum up all the top reviews with 1 simple hashtag:

#P2W

Edit 1/8/14 - To further prove how pay2win this game is:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=294042063

Pay2Win has never looked so good ?

It is truly surprising how a game that is priced $20 can be packed with so much exciting content and replay ability factors. Compared to the expensive and lacklustre competitor *cough*D3*cough*, its game mechanics and loot system have been fine tuned in order to ensure players progress while adjusting their strategy to suit the largely varying selection of monsters and their respective attack patterns.

Players will face challenges realistically rather than face a ‘gearcheck’ wall by adapting to the situation and if there are friends playing with you, formulate successful skill combinations to take down mobs or unique boss encounters. The inclusion of puzzles with promising loot, random instance dungeons by mobs or maps as well as an active online player community that is helpful and may share their spoils aka ‘legendries’ with their party makes this game a winner.

Overall, you if want to play a true ARPG or simply want to rid the sour aftertaste and regret that is Diablo 3, this is THE game for you. Amazing Content, interesting/rewarding loot, actual game progression without the use of an ‘auction house’ as well as an active online community is what you paid $20 for and it’s a $20 game worth buying.