Recent reviews by Edward the Human

Ever since I bought the game, I have been praising this game non-stop, not only for its attention to details in-game, but also how they choose the best way to develop and monetise a modern live-service game. That was changed when Sony's announcement that EVERYONE has to connect to a PSN account. I have a PS4 before I have my PC, thus this change doesn't affect me too much. However I felt greatly betrayed because I thought this would be the change in modern games that everyone needed.

Well as of 6th May, 5 am in the morning for me in the UK, PlayStation announced that they will be reversing that decision: source. I am EXTREMELY glad they did it. For Sony is probably just a business decision so that they don't lose money. But for me it's proven that if hundreds of thousands of people can unite together and take Malevalon Creek within 12 hours, we can also fight together and get the things that we deserve.

I look forward for this game's prosperity. For Democracy! For Super Earth!

Many guns, many enemies, many pews pews, and need a medic bag

Well yes but actually no. Many fun, amazing and mesmerising worlds made by its own user, yet the management and developer team actively goes against its users and communities.

This game is going down a path that is the complete opposite from where it was started. Future updates are only gonna appeal to their investors, not the community where it started. The recent QoL updates are only here for damage control from the backlash. Mainly because most of the features have been long requested on the canny, patched/added with mods for years, and only to be implemented because of a massive backlash from a so-called "security-update".

If you look at any other popular VR social games that uses EAC: only Rec Room, and Meta Horizons, both backed/owned by big companies and investors. You can clearly see that this security update's aim is to please the investors, trying to put this game in line with other big, existing, corporate-owned VR social apps. Mainly because it was the investors that gave the developers 80 million dollars, not the community. But when in reality this game wouldn't be at this level of success now without their users and communities in the first place.

Will I completely leave this game? No, I have played this game since 2018 and made too many friends. But I'm definitely not gonna be spending as much time as I used to. At the moment of writing, I have already tried other VR social games such as ChilloutVR and Resonite (formerly NeosVR), and those have really unique and enticing features which VRChat will probably never get added.

When a game goes completely against where they started from, you know it will turn to ♥♥♥♥ any time.

P.S. Stop treating VRChat developers like indie developers, they are receiving millions of investments like any other big game companies like EA and Ubisoft. Indie developers do not get tens or millions of investments into them. They need to be held accountable just like those big companies.

Edit: 12th May 2024: I look at the Creators Economy, and they made it only selected world creators have the ability to paywall their own content behind a monthly subscription. I originally thought it would be something like a marketplace, where people can share their creations easily so it greatly reduces the need for avatar rippers/avatar lookup tools etc.

Oh hey look! The developer, Merlin, responsible for the system Udon# was fired by VRChat. Who made an experimental compiler that is extremely crucial to many VRChat worlds and made a lot of things possible where couldn't be done before. If the main devs/management/whoever tf runs VRChat doesn't give a ♥♥♥♥ about their developers, who tf is this godamn world will?

Out of the minsicule amount of VR gun games I have played (which it's like 2 idk), this is the best one I have played and consistently coming back to play it. The developer has been updating the game very often since its launch, and there are only more content from now on. Big props to the developer being so committed with this game and providing us with content for YEARS.

A lot of attention have been made so that each firearm (that are added) which the ones have unique quirks are also implemented in-game. The level of detail to each firearm is uncanny, and I find this game's implementation of firearm mechanics is the most consistent and satisfying one out there.

There are also plenty of gamemodes to let you shoot big sausages, also with varying levels of difficulty. New to the game and just want to have fun? There's easy mode for you! Want to be like John Wick and face off sausages that can actually aim? Here play T&H with 1-hit only and hard-bots, I'll guarantee you go super sweaty after.

Another thing is that this developer greatly supports the community. Afterall, a game is not what is it without its community. However, this developer goes to great lengths and even supports modders, which not many developers will actually do. Not to mention, the developer from time to time will actually take popular mods, such as the recent one at the time of review: Better Hands Mod, and implement it in a similar way WHILE working with the modders. I cannot stress how good this developer and how grateful I am for them to make this game and push content out very often.

Mods are great as well, if a specific firearm is not (yet) implemented, *Tactical Tuna momento*, the modding community is here to help and add that for you. But hopefully most firearms would be implemented in the game with a few exceptions, probably due to game engine limitations. (Or if you are tactical tuna, too bad)

I know I have only played 28 hours on this game, I know I'm only level 15 in-game, BUT this game is amazing, just, amazing. Where do I even start? This is the BEST Star Wars starfighter game I have ever played. I have a lot of hours sitting inside a cockpit in a starfighter (that means my game character not irl) in the SWBF2 2005 (Steam), SWBF 2015(PS4) and SWBF II 2017 (PS4 & PC Origin). I have some small hours on Rogue Squadrons as well. I am not saying I am extremely good at flying X-wings/TIEs but I can say that I have play quite a bit of starfighters in video games. Also at the time of writing, EA decided they will add the B-wings and TIE Defender. Honestly that was a surprise from me, first of all they did said that they didn't plan any new contents post-launch. SMH my head EA breaking promises again

In terms of gameplay mechanics and progression, the gameplay starts off quite easy in the story mode, just shoot some fighters and you win! Then you would progressively learn and unlock equipments the more you play. Not to mention you don't even need to grind, and that's the point! Because no unlockables is better than the other, i.e. they made a great job at balancing things at launch, which it is very surprising to me. *Looks at both SWBF 2015 & SWBF II 2017* Anyway back to where we were, things would get progressively more tricky. That means that you should learn a few tricks up your sleeves in order for you to not die in space. Favourite game mechanics is definitely the drifting like everyone else. Honestly without drifting, this game would not be Squadrons in the first place. This simple movement makes the skill ceiling so high that (probably) not even military veteran can reach it. Not to mention power management in this game is top tier. This idea is introduced back in SWBF 2015, where you get to choose starfighter speed or weapon power. This wasn't very well implemented because everyone would just set their speed to lowest (i.e. max weapon power) when they have a target and the power changes applies practically immediately. However in Squadrons, the power management is very well designed and also gives you that immersion as well. For example, you hear people say 'set/charge all power to engine/shields etc' (don't quote me on this) in the movies. I would say that something feels really similar in-game and vice-versa, and I would talk about that more in the next section. The classes are very distinct and quite well-balanced, even the same class of different faction feels different to play but they don't feel like one is overly stronger than the others. Basically saying each ship has their own very unique strengths and weakness. In conclusion, the game is well-balanced and well-designed in terms of gameplay and mechanics.

Oh boi, the details, the lore, and explosions and EVERYTHING IS SO DARN FRICKING GOOD. The equipments and unlockables fits the lore, practically all of the skins and cosmetics have something linked to them, yes the red squadron skins for the New Republic and The Child (Baby Yoda) is obviously known to everyone. But also things like the 181st Squadron for the TIEs, locations mentioned briefly in the story mode, emphasizing that you a part of Star Wars, not just a random person in somewhere in galaxy. At first I saw the trailer we can clearly see trails of different things coming out. This makes me question a bit about the art style of the game it were going towards as it feels more cartoony. However in-game they were toned down quite a bit which I really like, it is subtle and complements the overall 'shooting lasers/plasma or whatever' style of Star Wars. Also the hud is very simplistic and minimal (to a certain degree), everything you could see on the HUD can be turned off and everything you need is still there. Why? Because of the sensors, targetting system, hull integrity (i.e. the important in-action information) are displayed on the equipments in the starfighter, which something in all the previous Star Wars games lacks. Also forcing the player in first-person only was a massive change as well and in other Star Wars games, you can control the starfighter from a third-person perspective and playing in first-person could potentially give you an disadvantage. While in Squadrons they did a really good job on balancing this issue, not to mention it immensely improves the immersion as well.

Did I mention this game is cross-platform and you can play multiplayer in VR and with other people/friends who don't have VR? I have always been interested in a Star Wars starfighter VR game. I played the VR mission in SWBF 2015 before, while it was around okay+ to good level of VR experience, very nice details and immersion, but the gameplay itself was short and it gets stale after 1 or 2 replays. (Well it wasn't the main feature anyway) However for Squadrons, I was massively hyped up when I knew this game can be played in multiplayer while in VR. I knew this game has to have VR support given the increasing popularity of VR, and it would be a massive waste to not allow players to play the game in VR. What I didn't expect tho it's that they allow people to play multiplayer in VR, where I thought it would be limited to single-player. At first I thought wouldn't people in VR would have a greater advantage? Actually no! I tried it on both VR and a flat-screen, finding out eventually I would ended up staring at the targeting system in-front of me no matter which 'screen' I used. VR just lets you view the surroundings much easier, (on flat-screen you just need to press a key and move mouse to look around) most of the time you'll get tunnel-visioned on one single target/objective.

As a Star Wars fan and VR lover, this game is a must pick for me. Well-thought-out balancing and game mechanics combined with great design and style. Big and small references throughout the game makes it more immersive, VR simply amplifies the immersion even more. Post-launch updates and content in the
near future as well. 10/10 would buy this game again.

Also I'm a TIE Interceptor main. Glory to the Empire

This game really requires you to have a certain amount of brain cells so this doesn't help me, does it? :/

Anyway this game heavily depends on your ability to lie (if you are evil) or the ability of deduction (if you are the good guys) and that's where your brain cells get to work. Also you will need to know how to read and type in chat fast, like really really fast. Because for me at the start (a newbie), I literally could not keep up with the chat and I would spend minutes reading the backlog of the chat. Also you will learn the ability to lie in this game as you play more and more matches.

This community is probably the most toxic community I have ever been (also am part of the problem itself sometimes) because the community would have an expectation of you to be able to keep a TIDY will with the format the majority preferred. (I.E. the meta) Talking about the meta, if you literally do not follow the meta (TPLO on jailor), town would just hang you and then get super toxic at you.

I sort of understand where the toxicity comes from, since this game heavily depends on teamwork and communication, and not to mention 1 single death of a teammate could lead to a complete loss, makes people really try hard at winning this game. As mentioned above, other players strongly expect you to have a decent chunk of knowledge on how the game works and what you should say/do when faced certain situations (E.G. voting for roles, vfr in short, or when someone claims jailor on day 1, keeping a good readible will). Which all of these for a new player would be overwhelming for them.

In order to avoid that (for most situation), it is best if you went on the wiki page and read through the role list and details of each role (at least the roles in the Casual gamemode first). Also, do NOT get into rank practice until you get enough experience in the game and starts to get bored in casual because in practice ranked there is a decent jump between the difficulty levels, and you should meet all of the mentioned expectations above in order to help your teammates to win.

In conclusion, this game is fun and puts your brain to work but this game has a somewhat steep learning curve (I.E. players are expected for other players to know the meta). Also toxic players are somewhat of a problem when you don't meet their expectations.

Imagine writing a review when you don't even have 100 hours in the game, pffff couldn't be me 2 years ago. And now I'm here, bought the game for nearly 2 years, having nearly 300 hours in the game, writing this review at 5 am instead of going to sleep. All I have to say is, I injured my arms more than I get full-combos on maps.

Oh yeah btw more mods = better gameplay

Really nice game, love the game mechanics where destructible walls and ceilings changes a lot on how the game plays. I know this game has its bugs and cheaters, but luckily I have never encountered them so far.

Amazing, just simply amazing. It's my favourite RPG game ever. (probably becomes the 2nd if deltarune comes out)
The soundtrack is great, can't stop listening to it. Also there's basically 2 types of music, either one feels you with determination, or gives you feels. Played all 3 routes, every single one of them are unique to their own, I also played the True Pacifist route for like 3 times and it makes me cry catch something in my eyes, which those are tears. In conclusion, best game/story ever. (Until deltarune comes out and I'll probably cry again)

I know I'm late to play this game, like back in 2015 everyone was talking about it and I wasn't aware. Note: I started following this game around 2 months before the release of deltarune demo so I am very very late to this.

Stay determined

Game is amazing, plot twist at the end even though you knew it's gonna happen. Some parts are a bit challenging, but very good.