Recent reviews by FireCinder

With the release of season 4, THE FINALS has become one of the most incredible shooters you can play today. Utilizing extensive destruction mechanics and cashout plays, the game transforms team gun fights into a spectacle worth seeing in the world's greatest game show. With three classes and a wide selection of weapons, no play style is left behind and you can take your skills to the highest level with anything you select.

With that being said, my two biggest concerns are performance and grinding. The game is optimized beautifully at launch, but with the addition of Kyoto and other changes in the previous seasons, maps have gotten more performance-heavy, which can eat away at your experience. Season 4 has introduced significantly longer grinds in a shorter period of time, as you have to participate in the battle pass, a sponsorship deal of your choosing, as well as World Tour and Ranked Tournaments. While I will complete World Tour within 2-3 weeks and hope to complete Ranked after that, most casual players will struggle to do what needs to be done to get the most out of the grind. Otherwise, not everyone is entitled to get everything for new seasons, so ideally, casuals play more for fun and those dedicated to the game have something to work on for the entire season.

I am happy to see that THE FINALS has carved out a consistent player base that is willing to stick with the game for the long run. I hope the game continues to refine itself over time, but as for now, I find it really difficult to play any multiplayer shooter that isn't like THE FINALS.

So I've completed the first playthrough outside of Steam, which took about 36 hours and I have to say that it is one of the most well-written stories I've played in an RPG Maker game. Every character feels alive and relevant in all events, with rich details from NPC's around the country. The story doesn't shy away from sensitive topics and keeps you engaged with thoughtful and important conversations between friend and foe. The combat system is pretty balanced and gives you good flexibility to try out whatever you desire, though some bosses require cheap tactics to win. Definitely a great recommendation for anyone looking for a mature story that doesn't pull any punches and keeps you at the edge of your seat.

It's a pretty short game with some decent scenes and puzzles. It's worth a try if you don't want to try turn-based rpg's that are very commonly used.

Despite the limited content scope, the gameplay loop and goals sustain themselves long enough for you to see many possibilities in each floor. Keep in mind that seeing every single thing in this game requires a lot of elaborate decisions and sacrifices you have to make to achieve them.

Any build can get you far into the game but what I've found easiest was to stack up on heart points and obtain cards related to the heart stat, then obtaining as many refresh cards as possible, with some shield and healing cards as backup. Special and thought cards can focus on large attacks or self-buffs to help you tank enemies.

There's not too much to the story but it's fine, considering the game's design limitations. It revolves around the kingdom's failures and how it affects the main character. I hope that Lilia and Selena are together forever.

I haven't tried the demo but I encourage you to see whether the gameplay loop is right for you. I don't mind spending nearly 20 dollars for the base and DLC but that's a lot to spend if all you're hoping for is some good fanservice.

I've reached all of the available content (outside of two physically unreachable areas) and the game improves on a lot of aspects compared to the first game, mainly involving combat variety.

For abilities, there are no limited uses, with cooldowns as the only trade-off for some of them. There are more ways to fight that doesn't feel boring or niche.

Difficulty starts off easy but ramps up with some of the later bosses. I've had a great time fighting challenging enemies throughout the sections.

I find that the sections are a bit too simplistic and lack areas that require good parkour. The map also gives many things away, I would prefer for some information to be withheld, like precise item icons and hidden areas.

The story is only beginning, there's not too much to grasp just yet. I appreciate how you can have occasional talks with your companions that weren't really present in the first game.

Of course, early access means that there's a lot more to come. If you want to commit over a long period of time, you could spend and see what's up. Otherwise, I would wait until the game finishes or play the first game, which is still very good and provides a lot of context for what happens in this game.

For their first game, they did an amazing job with what they offered here. The story is solid, the scenes are great, and they honestly didn't have to go hard on the music, but it sounds wonderful. I support their next project, whether it will be a sequel or a different concept.

I love everything this game has to offer. The gameplay, the exploration, the music. It all comes together to give you something truly incredible. My main gripe would be how little character interactions there are throughout the game. Otherwise, it has good combat with rewarding map traversal that is well designed. This is definitely worth the full price for what it gives to you.

Good game.