Recent reviews by Uraraka

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is considered to be one of the best RPG’s of all time and it’s not hard to see why. From the moment you start playing the prologue, it becomes clear just how deep this this game is. We’re talking detective gameplay, a branching story, awesome combat, a badass protagonist, amazing storytelling along with brilliant voice-acting and of course, the occasional sex scenes to add to the risque factor. Over 4.5 years after the initial release, The Witcher 3 still holds up as one of the most unique, gorgeous, and engrossing RPG’s of all time. And you know what craziest thing is? More people are playing The Witcher 3 than they did ever before!



Pros

Amazing, detailed, emotional and personal story
A ‘little’ minigame called Gwent
Beautiful yet functional world design
Impactful gameplay experience
Awesome combat.

Vermintide is an awesome game. It’s all about exterminating humanoid rats. You can blow them away with guns, slice off their limbs with swords, and bash their heads in with hammers. And you can do it with friends. The gameplay is similar to that of Left 4 Dead. You and three other players run through maps, trying to survive hordes of enemies, and make it to the end. The always online requirement is a bummer and I wasn’t a huge fan of the dice roll reward system but the gameplay was a lot of fun. Developed and published by Fatshark, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 is the sequel released for PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 in 2018. Just like the first game, it’s a co-op focused action experience set in the End Times of the Warhammer universe. But this time, you’ll not only get to decimate hordes of rats, but also the Rotblood. For this review, I played the PC version and did obtain all of the DLC.


f you enjoyed the gameplay in the first Vermintide, you’ll enjoy the gameplay in Vermintide 2. The game plays out in Acts with multiple missions per Act. Each mission is a map consisting of one or more objectives to complete and then you have to escape. Along the way, you’ll get to kill a ton of foes. You can walk, run, crouch, jump, block, dodge, and shove enemies. You can equip a melee and ranged weapon which consumes ammo. There is a limited form of character customization. Cosmetics like hats and skins will change your character’s appearance but they have no affect on the gameplay. New to Vermintide 2 are Careers which are essentially just variations of the existing characters. You earn experience and level up as you play and after a character reaches a certain level, they’ll unlock a new Career. Each character has different passive and active skills. Active skills can be activated manually during gameplay and do need time to recharge after use. Furthermore, you can unlock a set of three talents after certain levels and each Career has its own set. The Talents provide different bonuses and essentially let you create different character builds. Hero progression is much improved in Vermintide 2 and the Careers, Abilities, and Talents do make each character feel somewhat unique.


One of my gripes with the first game was with the dice roll reward system. After completing a mission, you would be rewarded with a random item based on a dice roll which I feel offered no sense of satisfaction. In Vermintide 2, you’re rewarded at the end of missions based the difficulty and other factors with chests and crates or boxes. I guess you could say loot boxes. You then have to open each one to see and receive the items inside. This is primarily how you get new equipment, skins, and Heroic Deeds. As far as I know, the rewards are randomized but I think this system works a lot better than the dice roll system from the first game. It’s basically the same thing, you’re getting random ♥♥♥♥, but not actually watching the dice roll makes a big difference. At least in my opinion.

The Keep is where you can select a mission, change the difficulty, equip your character, claim rewards, and craft and alter items. Each character can equip different weapons including swords, axes, guns, hammers, bows, daggers, staves, and maces, among others. They come in different rarities and can have different properties and traits. You can salvage unwanted items for resources like scrap, weapon parts, toolkits, and dust and use those resources to craft new gear, upgrade your gear, re-roll an item’s properties and traits, convert dust to lower rarities, and apply illusions to weapons. Illusions are cosmetic enchantments or in other words, skins. New to Vermintide 2 is Hero Power. Your character’s Hero Power number is determined by his or her level and equipment. This number is important because it determines the difficulties you can play on. You unlock harder difficulties as your hero power rises. I can tell you that if playing solo, the jump from Recruit to Veteran is noticeable in terms of challenge. The game is a breeze on Recruit. Regardless, whether I was effortlessly mowing down foes or they were kicking my ass, the combat was always brutal and satisfying. Weapons have a good sense of weight, the strikes and blows feel impactful, and shots from guns can send enemies flying backwards.

Visually, I think Vermintide 2 looks great and better than it’s predecessor. The game is filled with plenty of color, I love the lighting, and each map is oozing with atmosphere. Corpses will be hanging from things and can be found littered on the ground. Blood will splatter everywhere and can be seen on weapons during combat. You can decapitate enemies, sever their limbs, and arrows will be sticking out of their bodies. Watching the blood come gushing out of their bodies as you obliterate them is both comical and awesome.


Ultimately, I would recommend Vermintide 2 to fans of the first game or action games. Like its predecessor, I don’t think you need to know much about the Warhammer universe or End Times setting to really enjoy this which makes it very appealing. Vermintide 2 takes what was best about the first game and refines it. Other things like the loot reward and crafting systems were revamped for the better in my opinion and the result is a fun and engaging sequel. Having to be online at all times even if playing solo does suck, and if you have a ♥♥♥♥♥♥ internet connection, you may want to skip this. But if you have a stable connection, some friends to play with, and enjoy the Left 4 Dead formula, definitely check out Vermintide 2.

For those of you that don’t know, Left 4 Dead 2, is an asymmetrical action survival horror shooter, that pits 4 survivors against hordes of zombies. Survivors have to get from point A to B while performing a multitude of tasks to ensure survival. If guns and gore is your thing, get a bunch of mates together and go online.

If you prefer your graphics over gameplay, perhaps you may want to give this one a pass. However, if you want to team up with the peeps for a merry old time, Left 4 Dead 2 may be the revival you need.


The Last Stand features a new campaign based on the original survival map, but this time around you can actually escape to safety—if you can blast your way through hordes of the infected. There are also 26 new Survival mode maps, four new Scavenge Mode arenas, a pair of new melee weapons—the shovel and the pitchfork, and for my money the shovel is the way to go because the pitchfork is going to get stuck on something the first time you use it—and 30 new achievements.

Less visible improvements include new animations, the restoration of unused dialog, the addition of common infected models from the original Left 4 Dead (with gore!), new Rocketdude and Tank Run mutations, UI improvements, and "a ton of bug and exploit fixes." If you'd like to dive into the details, the full patch notes are available: https://store.steampowered.com/news/75849/

Neighbor has something locked up in their basement, and it’s up to you and your friends to reveal their plot. You’ll need to use Objects you find around the Neighbor’s house to locate three different Keys, but there is one problem: some of your friends are secretly villainous Neighbors in disguise! Trade and cooperate as one of the Kids or steal and lie your way to victory as one of the Neighbors in this thrilling social-mystery card game where you’re never quite sure who’s on your side.

5-10 players take on the roles of either one of the neighborhood kids, the treacherous neighbor or even a secret neighbor. As one of the kids you will need to use your items wisely if you are to locate the keys and unlock the door to win, but beware as not only are the neighbors at the table trying to trick you, but one of your fellow kids is actually a SECRET NEIGHBOR!

he Neighbor is actually a randomized role that’s given to one of the kids. Despite it appearing like it’s just another player the Neighbor’s goal is to not let the other kids getaway. This can be done through capturing them while also not getting caught as while you’re trying to dispose of someone you’re turned into the Neighbor form. One of the most interesting mechanics that’s used to avoid getting spotted is the Neighbor’s ability to change their whole appearance and username to a completely different character. This aims to confuse the other players. On the other side, kids can use different objects to stun the Neighbor but can never get rid of him unless he leaves the game. Even with the Neighbor gone the kids can still lose the game unless they’ve matched the correctly colored and numbered keys with the correct doors in order to then open the basement door within a certain time limit. Except for the normal mode, custom games are also an option.

Sound-wise, the game really immerses you into the thriller/horror atmosphere that it has. The sound effects make you jump out of your seat whenever the Neighbor is nearby. There’s often crows cawing at the players and pointing at different spots where keys are located.

As a multiplayer game though, this one is really replayable. You can try out all the different classes and even play as the Neighbor. Getting decent at the characters can be difficult at times, but I feel like that’s the point of any good multiplayer game. Aside from that you can always check out the in-game store and spend your currency earned in-game for costumes and other cool trinkets for the game’s characters.

The Blackout Club is more creepy than horror. It’s a 1-4 player co-op stealth game with clear immersive sim influences stemming from the development team’s history with series like Thief, Bioshock and Prey.

In a town gripped by a strange, sleepless cult, a group of teens have banded together after repeatedly finding themselves blacking out, waking up in strange situations. As a member of the titular club, you’ll journey into the town at night, completing objectives, dodging adults and attempting to find enough evidence to show the outside world what’s going on.

Before jumping in, the game advises the player to complete the tutorial, and so do I. More than a simple explanation of the controls, this half-hour-ish segment sets up the world and gameplay in a very well crafted single-player story segment. The plot follows Bella – voiced by Ashly Burch – as she attempts to escape a suburban town under apparent lockdown. The entire prologue is wonderfully paced and directed, echoing the spirit of PT and managing to create a genuinely tense and unsettling atmosphere without resorting to jumpscares.

Following this, you create a character and join the ranks of the club. Cosmetic customisation is initially quite sparse, but you’ll be able to purchase more (with candy, not real money) as you go. You’ll unlock minor powers, which provide small bonuses, as well as choosing a hero item for each mission – either a taser, a grappling hook or a tranquiliser crossbow.

Each kid also has one permanent ‘major power,’ chosen from strength, stamina, phone hacking and drone piloting. I picked the drone which, at higher levels, can not only create a distraction but can record evidence and even fire tranquiliser darts. Other tools are found within each mission and are pleasingly multi-functional. Foam grenades, for example, can be used to soften the sound of a fall, but can also gunk up the workings of a mechanical trap or security drone. These tools exist to evade or escape capture, but the club has a rule – no killing. That masked cultist could be your grandmother, or someone else’s.

AI enemies come in a few flavours. Sleepers are blind, but have excellent hearing. Lucids can see, but don’t have quite the same aural ability. The Shape… is The Shape. You can only see The Shape when your eyes are closed. The Shape can appear anywhere on the map, at any time. The Shape will relentlessly hunt down your party, one by one, until you are all in its thrall. The Shape is terrifying.

Missions all take place within the same town, but your objectives are different each time. You might find yourself tasked with putting up TBC recruitment posters, stealing cultist artifacts or recovering lost documents. As you level up, you’ll unlock more and more of the town and its strange, cavernous underbelly. You’ll become intimately familiar with your favourite routes and hidey-holes, with the Thief-esque climbing and mantling system allowing you to traverse areas with ease.

Exploring new areas, particularly underground, is one of the game’s highlights, made even more impressive by the visuals, lighting and lush soundscape (although to explain exactly why this is would probably count as a spoiler).

Aside from rescuing and reviving captured friends, there aren’t many objectives that actually require co-operation. I’m still conflicted as to how I feel about this. On the one hand, no content is locked off from those who prefer to play solo, although they’ll find the game a much more difficult experience. On the other, there’s often little sense of proper coordination between players and it’s entirely possible that one player will do most of the work in any particular game.

As always, the quality of online play comes down to the people you find yourself playing with. An organised team of friends is undoubtedly the best way to experience The Blackout Club, if you can get a group together.

Last, but certainly not least, is The Blackout Club’s take on an asymmetrical multiplayer experience. Not every kid is a member of the club. Some are Stalkers, sent to capture evidence of the club’s misdeeds and report back to their cultist masters. Usually, the first time you’ll know that a Stalker has invaded your game is a picture message of you doing something naughty. If you don’t catch them, they’ll draw The Shape towards your location.

Actually playing as a Stalker is, for me, the most fun part of the game, not dissimilar from the Versus gameplay in Left 4 Dead. You’ll need to use cunning to hide from the rest of the players. It’s just a shame that the opportunity doesn’t come up more often, as you can only become a Stalker while being invaded during one of your own missions.

The Blackout Club isn’t really a horror game. Essentially, it’s a non-lethal stealth game with horror elements. Co-operative and antagonistic multiplayer elements keep it from getting stale too quickly, although the true measure of its longevity lies in content updates post-launch. Eventually, the game will need more locations, enemy types and objectives. Greater focus on co-op would be a huge bonus, too.

Far Cry 5 feels like a streamlined take on the open world formula established by past games. For example, instead of players having to hunt animals to craft equipment upgrades, almost all upgrades are purchased using perks. Animals can still be hunted, though players are able to skin them without a long, drawn-out animation, and their skins are sold at shops instead of used for crafting. Instead of players having to climb tower after tower to unlock portions of the map, the map is unlocked as players explore the game world, find new areas of interest, and meet new characters.

The result is that Far Cry 5 moves at a much faster pace than past games in the series, and it’s for the better. The lenient fast travel system, that isn’t hindered by arbitrary restrictions, allows players to bounce from one mission to the next without having to walk miles through the woods like was necessary in some of the previous games. In Far Cry 5, players are almost always in the action or moving the story forward, and it makes it really hard to put down.

Far Cry 5‘s mission structure isn’t perfect, however. Players have to earn a certain number of “resistance points” to unlock the final story mission in each section of the map, and sometimes this requires grinding repetitive tasks like blowing up cult property or rescuing hostages. While many of the side missions are meaningful and have a lot of substance to them, some of them also require players to do repetitive and boring things, like fetch quests or destroying vehicles.

This repetitiveness is sometimes an issue in the main story as well. There are multiple missions that require players to steal a truck for another character and deliver it back to them, and liberating outposts can sometimes feel like busywork, as they all boil down to the same basic strategy. The main story is also derailed on numerous occasions by short sections where players are captured by the villains, and while this doesn’t seem like a big deal, it happens so much that it becomes almost comical, and sometimes it can interrupt the player in the middle of a mission. Generous checkpoints make this less of an issue, but it still slows player momentum.

For the most part, though, Far Cry 5 moves at a breakneck pace and is one of the most consistently entertaining open world games from one minute to the next. The story missions may sometimes feel repetitive, but even though the objectives are familiar, the characters players interact with are different, and are all well-written, fleshed out individuals. They all feel like real people living in the game’s setting of Hope County, Montana, and so it makes it easier to power through some of the less interesting missions to see how their story develops.

Of particular interest when it comes to the citizens of Hope County are the people (and animals) that can be recruited as Guns for Hire. While a co-op companion may suffice for some, those without anyone to join in co-op can call upon AI-controlled teammates to help them on missions. The AI is pretty useful and smart most of the time, and the characters are capable of doing everything from stealthily infiltrating a compound to driving the player character from one part of the map to another. However, the AI sometimes has some questionable moments, and has a bad habit of getting crushed by spawning vehicles.

There are some rough edges for sure, but the partner AI is still impressive and extremely helpful more often than not. There will be times where missions are saved by the presence of a Guns for Hire teammate, and recruiting these new characters becomes one of the most satisfying driving forces of the game. Beyond utilizing the Guns for Hire characters in missions, it’s also fun to spend some time with them out in the open world, listen to their dialogue, and see the little ways they grow over the course of the game.

Far Cry 5‘s great character development can be seen not only through the allies players will make along the way, but also with the villains they encounter as well. Whereas Far Cry 3 and 4 both only really had one standout antagonist, Far Cry 5 features at least four that are all given the same level of care as Vaas and Pagan Min. Besides the highly publicized Joseph Seed, players will also contend with his siblings Jacob, John, and Faith, all of whom have their own stories that make them intimidating figures that are satisfying to fight against.

Far Cry 5‘s story is also helped by the main character being a mostly silent protagonist. This allows the other characters in Far Cry 5 to really shine, and at times the game feels like a collection of short stories about the various characters in Hope County, Montana, as opposed to a singular tale of revenge or survival for the player character. The player character is also customizable, which doesn’t seem like a huge deal, but it means players won’t be worried about their character’s personality clashing with the story.

Besides creating their own character, Far Cry 5 players can also create their own levels thanks to the Arcade mode, which essentially functions as a comprehensive level editor. In addition to creating their own stages, players will also be able to check out levels created by others, and the robust tools available means that some of these creations will be rather impressive. Pickings have been slim since the community has yet to try their hand at Arcade, but the few selections available prove that Arcade has serious potential.

Arcade is a great way to boost replayability in Far Cry 5, but some may be more concerned with how much content they can expect from the campaign. Far Cry 5 has all the usual open world activities for players to do, like completing side missions, finding collectibles, and more. The map is fairly large, though not obnoxiously massive, so there’s plenty to see and do in Hope County without feeling overwhelmed.

Hope County, by the way, is beautifully realized and is just a treat to explore, especially for anyone that lives in a similar area in the United States. Ubisoft has managed to create an accurate take on life in rural America, and while there was some concern that the game would be too harsh on right-wing individuals (to the point that petitions were made), rest assured that it satirizes people on both sides of the political spectrum. It mainly does this through its well-written characters, and while some feel over-the-top, many more come across as actual human beings.

By focusing on characters and story over cliche open world tropes, Far Cry 5 manages to be completely and utterly engrossing from start to finish. It’s one of the finest takes on the open world genre that we’ve seen, and while it may not deliver much in the way of revolutionary new ideas, it still stands as the best Far Cry game since Far Cry 3.

Deep Rock Galactic is an early access game on Windows PC and Xbox One that stars a group of dwarves who have to work together to mine certain materials out of the ground.
Each character has three light canisters they can throw like grenades, and they recharge with time. Learning how to time your throws with your team — so you can always see what you’re doing while giving everyone a chance to recharge their own supply — is a crucial skill, especially since the game makes it easy to get turned around inside the mine.

The Scout class has its own weapon that shoots out a large light source as well, which makes it even more important that your team includes one of every class. Learning how to work together to keep the area illuminated is both important and enjoyable, and it emphasizes how much you have to work together to survive.

There’s nothing better, or worse, than looking down a deep chasm, throwing a light canister down and then seeing the light reveal a group of the game’s scurrying, spider-like insects. The importance placed on light and on your management of it helps to remind you at all times that you are deep underground, in a hostile environment — and you’re likely going to die down there.

~2019 The developers are constantly updating the game with lots of stuff being added,the game is if not the best there is on steam still in early stage and giving you the most contents each month.

Friday the 13th: The Game borrows many fan favorite elements from the film series. There’s a camp site, a group of young camp counselors running for their lives, and a terrifying killer named Jason Voorhees killing people who gets in his way. It has all the makings of an 80s teen slasher flick. Though, the setting and story is kept generic enough that it fits into an easy cookie cutter format for each new match. In fact, Friday the 13th doesn’t even have a solo standalone story – it’s just teens trying to survive as Jason is coming to kill them. That’s it! There’s nothing more complex than that.


The game itself is set up as a semi-open world survival horror multiplayer game where (up to) seven players take on the roles of camp counselors. Their job is to explore the camp and find a way out alive. This could be in the form of fixing the camp car/boat and driving off, calling in the police, or even killing Jason himself. The additional eighth player becomes Jason Voorhees. Their job is simple enough: kill everyone. Jason has extra abilities and a wide variety of killing methods that he can use to snuff out any camp counselor he gets in contact with. It’s a tougher battle for the teens to survive, but if they work together, everyone could survive. It can happen! (I’ve played matches where I’ve survived as a counselor, got picked off early on, and as Jason who has killed all seven counselors.)


During actual gameplay, counselors have the ability to explore cabins and search for key items. You can either arm yourself with weapons like machetes and bats or survival items like firecrackers. The best discoveries were the ones that offered a chance at escape. I loved the feeling of walking into a cabin and FINALLY locating a missing part to the camp car/boat that helped me escape. I get so excited finding car keys! Jason, on the other hand, has four abilities that progressively get unlocked as the match goes on. The longer he plays, the deadlier he becomes. And with each new power, it helps him achieve his kills in a quicker and bloodier fashion.


The real treat to the game is the design and personalities of the characters. Each available Jason (after being unlocked) has their own personal strengths, weaknesses and looks. Some can run, others are better throwers, and each has their special abilities that can be used to kill the campers. The counselors, on the other hand, fit the archetype of the typical counselors who Jason would go after. You have the jock, the goth, the geek, the prep, the coed, and the list goes on. Each type is balanced with their own pre-set stats that show off the benefits, or in some cases disadvantages, to use for the player. For instance, certain players have high luck to finding objects in cabins, but they may have low composure and will be instantly terrified whenever Jason appears.


The best way to counteract this is the perk system. For a sum of accumulated points, the player can turn the odds and receive a random perk that will help and hinder them in matches. Perks can affect fighting, stats, escaping or even offer rewards. I’m on the fence with this feature. In certain aspects it’s not advantageous to equip a perk because the consequence does too much damage against the player. And the perk is completely random, so you’re not guaranteed to get something you’ll like, or even need. On the other hand, when you’re awarded a great perk, it can change the course of the game.


Friday the 13th is an ambitious and fun survival horror game that brings the film series to life. If you ever wondered if you could survive an attack from the machete-wielding, hockey mask-wearing killer, this is the game for you. As a horror fan, I got a taste of the campy 80s slasher flair and quite liked it. While it’s not exactly groundbreaking in the PvP field, its momentum is fueled by novelty and the Jason name. The technical issues, however, have affected the experience – even with all the patches, it’s expected that a lag, a drop or a glitch will occur. Many issues have been fixed with patches, but it’s still a long way to go before perfection. Stick with the game; you’ll never be afraid as if you were watching a horror movie – this isn’t that type of survivor horror video game. However, it’s addictive, campy, and it’ll bring out the Final Girl (or Guy) in you.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is a lobby-based tactical shooter developed by Valve Corporation. Players join either the Terrorist or Counter-Terrorist team and complete objectives to win the match. CS:GO’s most well-known game mode sees Counter-Terrorists fighting to stop Terrorists from planting a bomb at a designated sight by eliminating them or defusing the explosive. At the start of each round, players purchase weapons using money earned from previous rounds. CS:GO’s community has developed an abundance of custom maps and game modes that expand or reinvent default gameplay. A huge assortment of in-game weapon cosmetics can be acquired by playing the game to distinguish yourself from other players.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Key Features:

Highly Competitive Matchmaking System – two teams work together to complete objectives.
Large Assortment of Weapons and Guns – from Molotov cocktail's to the M249 machine gun.
Innumerable Custom Maps and Game modes for Replay – such as the Simpsons and Surf maps.
Skins Variety – earn new finishes for weapons to change your weapons cosmetic look.
Custom Weapon Skins – distinguish your guns from other players.

The Forest is an Open world, survival horror game that sees the player crash land on an island inhabited by cannibals. Armed with nothing except a small axe, survival book and knowledge of the land the player must find food, water, build shelter and try to find the other plane passengers, all while being stalked by a cannibalistic tribe.
Other surival games have a faster pace compared to this one but the inclusion of the extremely intimidating cannibals really gets your blood pumping. When you first get into the game you try to scavenge as many supplies as possible from the plane before the first few search parties come looking for you, and trust me, they will. Once you get your first basic supplies you will be able to look at your crafting manual in order to build simple structures to just survive the first few hours. These include simple fires and huts to shelter you from the weather. Once you get to grips with the controls you can build much more advanced structures like tree houses and log cabins. Along with this brilliant crafting system, they also have a nice range of traps, hunting materials and different types of fires that offer protection from the cannibals whose biggest fear is fire. The crafting works by the player clicking on the structure they want to build, a sort of ghost layer appears where you place the structure and it shows you what materials you need. You then start placing them until the structure is built. Along with buildings, you can also hunt animals like rabbits and birds and cook them with a spit and a fire. You just place them onto the fire and wait, wait too long and they will burn and you won’t be able to eat them. This really makes the player have to think about multiple things at once and really forces them multitask, just as you would if you were actually trying to survive. Also, The Forest has a nice multiplayer feature where you or a friend sets up a game and you join and build with them, it really allows you to half the tasks and allows you to build really spectacular camps with protective traps and also a nice hunting section. For an early access game, The Forest has a very robust and also unique blend of gameplay pace and features. These things really set it apart from other games in its genre.

The Forest performs extremely well for a game that is early access. From the days where it first got released, it has seen dramatic performance upgrades. For a game that has stunning visuals, the frame rate rarely drops below 60 FPS on high settings. Occasionally dropping a few frames when you first spawn into the game. As development carries on the development team add bigger and better updates which not only fix issues or glitches but also add in so much more gameplay wise for the player to enjoy.