Recent reviews by William P. Ennis

Greatest game of all time.

Wanted to like it, the premise is very cool and a nice change from the usual FPS or RTS format you see with WW2 games. However the main gameplay just feels too shallow, navigation and combat is abstracted away so there isn't really much to do besides micromanaging your crew. Death feels random and it just overall feels like there isn't many interesting decisions to be made.

Nearing two years since release with no major content updates. The only content update so far was released last year and basically added nothing beyond a handful of new items. Devs got their first check and decided to retire early it seems.

Just finished the game. You definitely get what you pay for; 40 hours for a solo campaign is pretty decent. You can tell a lot of work went into the game whether it's the art, mechanics, voice acting, level design, etc. There's not a ton of variety once you unlock all the characters, but the level design is unique enough that each level poses a good challenge.

Most co-op fun I've had with my friends in a long time. Do note that it only supports three players though. Some portions can get a little repetitive, but the game as a whole is unique enough to hold my interest.

My only real complaint is it's poorly optimized. In certain worlds I'll experience frequent fps drops on high settings even with the recommended specs.

Overall experience is enjoyable, however the endings you get can feel a bit random, which ends up preventing a truly satisfying narrative in some cases. Spoilers ahead.

I figured I'd try doing a "government loyalist" playthrough. I ignored most of the EZIC agents requests, save for maybe one or two which I thought were in the interest of the country (ex. stopping terrorists). The audit comes up at the end of the game and I'm executed for conspiring against the state? Obviously Arstotzka's government is supposed to mirror the tyranny and corruption of cold war states, people being wrongly and mercilessly persecuted, but I personally don't think the game gives you enough foreshadowing or warnings towards your ultimate fate when faced with narrative choices.

Of course you can just reload saves to avert bad endings; I just redid the day and escaped with the family to Obristan. Good enough for a game of this scale, but it does still feel a bit unsatisfying from a narrative point of view.

That's just my nitpicking of the game though. The actual gameplay and experience of Paper's Please is something everyone needs to experience at least once.

Interesting story and great atmosphere. Both the plot and characters are very well written, which is fitting considering writing plays a heavy role in the game. Game is definitely more of a thriller than a horror game; I only jumped maybe once or twice while playing.

The actual gameplay holds up well for a 7 year old game. It won't blow you away, but it's good enough for a game of its type and length (took me 7 hours to beat the main story). There's some collectable trinkets if you're a completionist, but for most people it's not worth your time to be honest.

All in all, I recommend the game if you want a great narrative with a healthy balance of combat and action. While you'll get your money's worth at full price, it does go on sale every now and then if you can wait.

If you're considering which game to play first, I would start with Shadow of Chernobyl.

While Call of Pripyat is the better game (in terms of mechanics and content), I feel like Shadow of Chernobyl does a better job as an introduction to the series. SoC really nailed the atmosphere and tone of the setting. The world is presented in a way that's comfortable and exciting for people new to the series.

Clear Sky is basically an enhanced version of SoC; Clear Sky uses the same map from SoC with several nice additions. There are also a few new mechanics and content. Clear Sky's main issue is its notoriously bad ending (gameplay and narratively); the other two games don't have particularly satisfying endings either, so just keep that in mind.

Call of Pripyat has is the most mechanically sound game of the three, with the best gunplay, most content and fewest bugs. It really shines as an open world game and once you're done there's a ton of mods to keep you busy.

In short, start with Shadow of Chernobyl. Then depending how you feel after that, play Clear Sky first if you want more of what SoC offered, or skip straight to Call of Pripyat if you want a polished open world experience.

TLDR: Play Shadow of Chernobyl if you want a decent narrative and excellent atmospheric experience. Clear Sky if you liked Shadow of Chernobyl. Call of Pripyat if you want the best gameplay and an open world.

Notes:
Call of Pripyat has some notable framerate issues in the opening marsh area, just try and push through it.

Most people recommend you play with the Zone/Sky Reclamation Project for your first SoC and CS run respectively, fixes a lot of the bugs!

First Impressions Review:

This is a first impressions review, so feel free to take everything here with a grain of salt as my opinion will likely change by the end.

Gameplay: 8/10

Action and controls are pretty solid, however I occasionally find myself getting a bit frusturated with rather simple things (that's probably just me being bad though!). All in all, enjoyable gameplay. Feels really satisfying when you get those combos. The story is a bit wack, however in the end I suppose it compliments the whole naive and clueless (in a cute way!) atmosphere the main character has.

Graphics: 9/10

One of the main selling points of the game in my opinion. Graphic style is very appealing, cute and lively. The character portraits are quite nice as well.

Music: 8/10

Haven't really heard anything stellar yet, but that's just personal taste. All in all the soundtrack is nice, but I hope things become a bit more memorable later in the game. I would put a 7 here, but I want to give it the benefit of the doubt.

Performance: 9/10

Resolution seems a bit strange at times, however besides that small complaint I'm happy to find this game running really smooth. Nothing worse than buying a new game that's poorly optimized, not the case here though!

In conclusion, Rabi-Ribi shows a lot of promise from it's first few levels. I look forward to playing it further!

***Updated Review***

After playing this game for a good amount of hours now I can assure you it's not pay to win, here's the problem.

You get commanders either through:

a) buying them from the in-game store.
b) getting them from the terrible, terrible drop system.

a) can get a bit pricey, and b) is just a joke. Relic has stated numerous times over the years that they would look into it, but no progress.

That being said, having a slightly better doctrine (there aren't any premium doctrines that are stupidly overpriced) does not make you better at the game. I bought a "good" commander for 5$ but I actually started playing worse. Why? Because I was relying too much on the doctrine's super cool tanks and crap. Good doctrines compliment a good player but can't turn you into one.

That being said, the game IS extremely expensive for what you get. You'll probably want to pick up all the factions, so the final total is rather high. However, the game and dlcs go on sale for 75% with the winter and summer sales, so I suggest you pick them up then.

All in all it's a good game, just buy what you want at the price you think Relic deserves.