Recent reviews by Raptor

Ultimately some nice game changes moving from 1 to 2.

But yeah all the fuss about performance is true. run a pretty high end PC and can only get tolerable FPS at medium settings
The Dev's themselves have admitted they missed Optimisation targets just prior to release and i cant recommend the game after releasing in this state.

I would and likely will end up changing my review to a positive if/when they get around to finishing the game.
I am assuming this is from publisher pressure and not what the devs were happy with so shame on Paradox once again...
Unfortunately even though they have some of the most interesting PC games on their belts they cant and shouldn't be trusted at this point.

Some nice ideas that has serious potential to breathe some fresh air into a golf sim. but its extremely held back by its botched PC port as of writing this.

First and foremost the Mouse/keyboard control scheme is abysmal. if you prefer using a gamepad that's fine for you but considering its main competitor in 2K has a pretty nice Mouse control system its disappointing for a AAA game at £60 to not launch with such a basic feature on a PC considering a lot of people either don't have or don't like Gamepads.

PC performance will vary person to person but i experienced very laggy main menus that made it an absolute chore to make my "custom" avatar that had very poor customization just to get to the settings menu. and generally unpleasant to interface with.
While the game does look great it doesn't run great. I have a PC that going by the recommended Syst. Requirements i should be able to run 3 different copies simultaneously. but was having inconsistent framerates and some hitching just standing in place. Not the sort of thing you want when you are timing your stroke.

Probably something to steer clear of for a few months and check back on later if they have bothered to come back and actually finish the PC port. But until then a hard No from me which is disappointing considering EA were often considered the Apex of golfing games in the 2000's.

If i could give a mixed review i would.
The game needs work but is enjoyable. Starting off is rough however and quite limiting but you do eventually get to the point its workable and what the devs imagined it being starts to take shape.

I like to think how this dev team has treated the Hunter, This game will be built upon to be something most people are happy with. But that brings the very relevant question of is it worth putting money into the game now which does feel like its missed its own goals. and by the point its at this good state how much money you'd need to put in for DLC to get it to that level.

Graphics wise it looks good... all bar the water, which you'd think for a fishing game they might've considered putting more effort in.

I've personally not had any of the performance, bugs or game issues i've seen in other reviews. but me saying "worked good for me" wont make the guy who it runs terribly for feel any better.

As of this game's launch there probably are better fishing games for the price thats worth looking into.

It really feels like this game was craving 6months extra development time for adding in the details that would fleshen out this game.

To me this game isnt quite the "Masterpiece" its hyped up to be but it certainly is a very good game by all rights and easily worth full price even for newcomers to Fromsoftware's titles.

The bosses and music fall a little short of older titles for me but arnt bad enough for me to significantly hold it against the game.
Progression pacing and scaling tend to fall short of standards set by the change to an open world which i personally don't preffer but again nothing major.
The only objective complaint i can think of is the performance issues. lower FPS than you'd expect on beefy systems as well as frequent freezing issues. Hopefully these will be sorted 6months down the line but do be aware its a somewhat reoccurring complaint. not game-breaking but can become frustrating

Some good things to say is the open world itself as much as it has its drawbacks is well crafted and thought out. it never quite looses the crafted level design that older games did better, to do that in an open world version is better than most if not all contemporary games..
Also on that note the Level of detail and environmental design is absolutely inspired and exceptional.

An excellent turn based fighting and Pseudo-Strategy game.

Probably the most on edge and exciting turn based game i have played. As you get deeper into this you find yourself surprised at the depth of the game when to an newcomer it could seem shallow.

If you are the sort of person who isnt into Card Games, Dont worry. I dont either and this falls into none of the negative tropes associated with other games that do this.

It can be a little difficult but difficulty settings help with this and you will learn the mechanics to really take your game up a notch and clear what seems like an unbeatable room.
Its like accidentally playing a great move in chess constantly as you salvage bad scenarios into miraculous victories

Highly addicting and well worth a try for its asking price

The only negative is it can be a little awkward to understand some of the mechanics initially as it isnt 100% clear sometimes.

Mirrors Edge on Crack Cocaine. And just as if not more addicting.

100% worth at full price if you are remotely interested.

By Default its quite difficult as any damage you take is an instant death. But the game really pulls it off well with nicely paced checkpoints that are seemless and the difficulty itself works really simmilar to the super satisfying way dark souls does is to finally overcome and learn the game mechanics that little bit deeper each time you beat a section you struggle with.

I know there are some people that just cant get the hang of fast paced stuff and wont appreciate the difficulty. So there is a fair warning. But i feel as long as you are willing to give it a try the difficulty curve is relatively gradual and tends to help you practice at one or two things at a time instead of throwing evetything all in at once and just expecting you to learn the hard way. Instead you practice one or two things the hard way.

There Isnt a huge amount going on controls wise yet the devs have squeezed every last drop of mechanics they can out of the game to make it an absolute power fantasy that makes sure you damn well earn it.

The story is fine, its basically an excuse to carry the game play and considering just how of a ride that is its completely justifiable.

Aesthetically the game looks great. its nothing out of this world but it nails the setting to a tee with some pretty graphics.

The soundtrack is absolutely on point and works soo seamlessly into game play that it really plays into the fast paced power fantasy.


The only downside is there are a small portion of the time spent in the game it decides to shoehorn in some puzzles and platforming. as well as the boss-fights seem strangely paced and kind of drop out out of the mainlined adrenaline to the heart that is the regular game play. But it doesn't detract anywhere near enough for me to really hold it against the overall experience.

Oh and yeah, the game has a newgame+ where you keep your end game abilities. This seems OP right? nah the game keeps on spanking your ass and keeps you earning those flawless runs.

TL;DR

PROS
+++++ The game play, there isnt anything that does this anywhere near as good.
+++ The soundtrack
++ The graphics

CONS
- Some odd pacing and gameplay choices that very occasionally break the intense flow the game sets.

Trash community and half witted devs who strive to make the basic and ageing game worse, new players are kept away by a considerable skill gap and iq gap with the pre-existing playerbase.

10/10 I've wasted tens of thousands of hours over 7+ years on this game and its nearly identical predecessor.

This game will certainly make you question your life decisions.

Easily the best pure city builder on steam.

I could write paragraphs into the positive aspects of the game so i will list the few negatives i can think of;
- In late game with a truly colossal city, you can experience performance issues even on very strong computers.
- As much as the game was not developed by Paradox, you can certainly tell they are the publishers. with many admittedly nice dlc's the base game can feel bare without them in retrospect or in the knowledge that lots of content is behind a paywall. and to get them all it will hurt your wallet far more than you may expect.
- The in game tutorials on optimal transport infrastructure such as roads and intersections isn't the best explained to the newest of new players who often fall into catastrophic congestion once high capacity buildings are unlocked.
- The Base game road placement tools can easily be dramatically improved with basic mods. as well as aspects such as automatic bulldozing of abandoned bulidings. if the dev's officially integrate mods such as automatic bulldoze or the many road tool mods this will be a nul point. this can also be easily resolved by the player with the integrated steam workshop support but still i feel the "essential mods" that many experienced players use really should be integrated into the base game at this point.

all of these are me trying to nit pick the game, it is certainly worth the money if you have a remote interest in the genre.

I am surprisingly disappointed by this release. what many other reviewers have been saying in more effort and detail than this review is true.

The games biggest issue for me is it lacks any unique character to make you want to keep playing. in the way CK2 was focused on diplomacy and the RP of being a feudal lord and what have you. to EUIV which is more "Gamey" with those features allowing people with few hours to do decently and those who have mastered those features to powerhouse the game. i feel Imperator Rome Doesn't really have a character to it. (yet...) there isn't much to really make you want to keep playing. as it just feels like a flat EU4 with bits from other paradox grand strategy games thrown in without any real unique take or impact. the only real changes that jump out at me is a slight unique addition (but not improvement) to the tech system and government system. as well military tactics. however both of these do not provide enough to make you want to keep playing that little bit more that previous releases had.

The above being said there is a competent skeleton of a game in here that i imagine might actually be fleshed out in time (i only hope it doesn't take over £100 of DLC to do that...)

Just as a closer in its current "few days after release" state, there are bugs and minor issues plaguing the game reported by others. i myself have only experienced 2 crashes on launch whereas others seem to say it is unplayable on their system. but i cant imagine the bulk of these issues wont be fixed within a few weeks as paradox in the past have normally done a fair job with these issues.

This game is a imperfect 10/10 it is a complete masterpiece in what it does, this game will blow out of the water any expectations you have for it and please don't just see the trailers and just expect it to be just "another silly JRPG" because its almost the polar opposite. The gameplay is tight and will keep you addicted. The story honestly catches you from out of nowhere and its a tragedy more people wont get to experience it first hand, the Characters that at first seem one dimensional will unfold into something amassing. The only negative I can say is the PC port is sub par and idealy you should play it with a controller, but The port issues are easily fixed and you owe it to yourself to take the 2 minutes prior to getting stuck in to get the game the way it was meant to be played and to not to turn away this Jewel because of that.

If you are the type of person who naturally enjoys a good narrative you may be in for one of if not the best game you have ever played. If you arn't the kind of person who can really get stuck into that at worst you will walk away enjoying the game.

You can expect to sink around 30hours into this game on your first playthrough. I currently have a savegame with over 100hrs (although steam disagrees a lot)

Worth a mention is the World building and sound design which in my opinion is a textbook example of how to do everything just right.

The First Ending is not the cannon ending. Please for the love of god don't put the controller down after Route A, the best is yet to come.