Recent reviews by GLipscom

I tried out this new Steam game for a number of hours recently, which is based on the SAO (Sword Art Online) franchise. I own a lot of different SAO video games on Steam, such as SAO: Alicization Lycoris, Fatal Bullet, Hollow Fragment, and Lost Song. But, SAO: Integral Factor brings a couple new factors to the mix,

• Based directly on & follows the 2-year events in the original SAO: Aincrad story arc
  
• You create new, original characters that interact & play with the iconic characters from the SAO franchise
  
• Open world MMORPG
  
• F2P (Free to Play)
  
• Party-up, play with friends, & form Guilds
  
• Cross-playable on Android, IOS, & Steam ( i.e. Windows / Linux )

After downloading & installing, I fired it up to play and initially didn't have a very favorable 1st impression, as it's graphics weren't all that good and the gacha-game mechanics struck me like a merging of PSO2 (Phantasy Star Online 2) and MS2 (Maple Story 2). This was probably because the game was just recently ported from a mobile game of the same name, that was released in 2017.

But what really astounded me the most, was that my first play session ended-up lasting much, much longer that I ever expected, I found myself still playing it at 2:00 AM in the morning and I didn't want to stop... I was really having fun playing!

It's use of a Japanese Visual Novel style as it's vehicle of NPC interactions & story telling was relaxing (even if the flavor audio tracks were in Japanese). It's main story is a new character's fresh-take on the SAO's Aincrad arc from an outsiders perspective and reasonably enjoyable.

Being a MMORPG, the fact that SAO:IF has does't have races, classes, any magic, or multiple character support may seem strange, but these elements are very thematic of the original SAO source material. But the absence of these elements is compensated by highly customized Sword Art skills applied to your character's and their assistant's weapons & armor, make for a varied combat experience, all without being over complicated.

I pretty much ignored the in-game micro-transaction system & still really enjoyed an overall F2P experience. I don't really know more to say about it... Other than sharing my favorable play experience with SAO:IF...

The first time I got together with some friends and tried out this tabletop card card game imported from Japan, called "Tanto Cuore" (Which means "Much Love" in Italian), it was "Love" at first sight, and many, many years later, it still applies to the this digital version of the game, here on Steam...

It's a "Dominion" style deck-building game, for those of you who know that card game. It comes complete with all cards in the base game, no boosters or additional purchases are required to play.

Unlike "Dominion" though, there are no Coin or Kingdom cards here, TC just has a load of cards with sets of beautifully illustrated, Cute, Anime-inspired "Maids" on them. Each Maid card sets has her name, stats, value, special abilities, and picture (did I say Cute?).

All players are the Master/Mistress of their own "House" with the same minimal starting "Staff" of Maids and "Love" cards. The objective of the game is to build the best, most talented, and respected "House" by the end of the game. The winner of the game is the "Perfect Master".

As silly as the game sounds, it's actually a real strategy game, that's a lot of fun too. Players can play nice-only style & spread their "Love" around "The Town" to attract better Staff recruits.

But beware, "nice" isn't the only way to win Tanto Cuore! There are some "mis-understood" Maids out there, that help their shadowy Masters spread "Illness" and "Bad Habits" around the other "Houses" instead...

I have been playing Tanto Cuore for many years, both tabletop and digitally, and I recommend it highly!

Back in my high school & college days of the late 1970's and early 80's, I had spent many hundreds of hours, sitting around tables with a bunch of friends, playing paper & pencil Role Playing Games (RPG), like Dungeons & Dragons (D&D).

But I had to give up RPG games as I continued my education and pursued a working career. The time required as a Game Master/scenario designer was just too time consuming and my other worldly responsibilities took priority.

Many years later in 2016, I was invited by a friend to join them playing the grand daddy of all Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPG) World of Warcraft (WoW), so I started reading up on MMORPG games.

Little was I prepared for how huge the online communities were in MMORPGs, with MILLIONS of players, creating characters, joining their friends online, & losing themselves in the online worlds of these games.

Nearly all MMORPG have integrated central story lines, continuous character progression, & hundreds (if not thousands) of separate side-quest objectives to play, all without the need of a Game Master, the game developers handle all those time-consuming chores. All players need do is play the game.

At first, I started playing just WoW, but soon I succumbed to the allure of another huge MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (FFXIV: ARR).

As the name implies, Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn is part of a franchise of numerous Final Fantasy video games. Unlike most of this franchise, which are standalone single player RPGs, the 2002 Final Fantasy XI & 2013 Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn are both MMORPGs.

Contrasting the vintage 2004 WoW game mechanics & graphics to that of the decade newer FFXIV: ARR, there is no real comparison for many new players of which of the two MMO games to play. Between the game’s beautiful graphics, music, & writing, FFXIV: ARR completely immerses players in the expansive world, characters, & story of its mythical land of “Eorzea”.

Within the first months of entry into FFXIV: ARR, I had recruited my wife & many of our friends to play the game as well. It became nearly a nightly ritual to login, form a party of friends in game and take on some quest, dungeon, or trial.

In the next 2 years, even more of our friends would join, helping us form an in-game “Free Company”, together clearing all the game’s original 50th level endgame content. But far from being the proverbial “game over” you would expect, the game developers had spent those years creating even more content, in the form of many add-on patches & full game expansions, like Heavensward, Stormblood, & Shadowbringers.

Although this additional content continued to entertain us, this is where my cautionary tale begins. One must remember that MMO game developers are businesses, with the responsibility of maintaining game servers, in-game support, creating new content, growing their player base, and most of all, making a profit.

No MMORPG are truly free-to-play (F2P) for the reasons stated in the paragraph above. Different MMO game developers use various methods to pay their bills.

Some company’s MMO games are F2P, that are free to download, install, and play, but count on micro-transactions of an in-game store to sell digital character outfits, emotes, pets, & mounts. As long as players continue to buy a sufficient amount of these items, the MMO game will stay afloat.

Other MMO games opt for a Buy-to-Play (B2P) model, where players buy the base game and optionally pay for additional Down Loadable Content (DLC) & game expansions. Once again, the MMO game will only continue online if it stays profitable.

But one of the oldest styles of MMO game monetization is subscription. Where players are required in some MMO games, and optionally in others, to pay a monthly subscription fee, usually $10.00 to $15.00 per player/month, to play that MMO game, or gives players some advantages in-game that makes the game much more fun or advantageous to play.

You might be asking yourself this, “why is he explaining all these different MMO game monetization methods for a review of a single MMO game?” The answer is simple, FFXIV: ARR uses all the above to keep itself profitable. Players buy the base game, pay for all expansions, make real money micro-transactions for in-game items on the “MogStation” store, and MUST pay a monthly subscription in order to play.

So, one day while discussing with a friend our Free Company’s next duty in FFXIV: ARR, they said they were going to take a break from playing and try some other MMO game instead. When I pressed them further for a reason, they admitted that the constant cost of playing FFXIV: ARR was becoming a little too much for the few times a month they got to play it.

A little shocked by this news, I then reviewed my own cost of playing FFXIV: ARR over the last 3 years... Purchasing the game & all expansions for Christine, myself, & gifting some to friends, check… Throw in all those “MogStation” store micro-transactions over the years, yikes… Add in all the monthly subscription fees for us & a few we also gifted, OMG… The total tally for us playing FFXIV: ARR for 3 years was over $5,000.00!

In the final analysis, is FFXIV: ARR fun and worth playing, hell yes! It is a beautifully realized fantasy RPG and fully immersive MMO game experience, full of the standard Final Fantasy swordplay, magic, Chocobos, and sentient crystals, that you can share with family/friends, giving players many hundreds of hours of blissful play. Can it be expensive to play, you bet it can(!), especially if you are not watching your cost closely.

My major take-away for this review of this amazing MMO game follows. Pay ONLY for what you need to play FFXIV: ARR. Buy add-ons items & expansions when you NEED them and not one minute earlier. Subscribe when you & your friends have an abundance of time to play it & let your sub lapse when you do not. These measures should help you save a fair amount of money & enjoy the game even more.

For those of you reading this that might still be hesitant because of the possible cost of playing this MMO game, I have some good news for you! FFXIV: ARR does offer a Free Trial membership with no expiration time, that allows players to create characters of all classes and play a lot of the game up to the 60th level, including the entire Heavensward expansion.

There are quite a few limitations with this Free Trial membership. But, you DO get an awful lot of content included and without having to pay a penny. So much so, I always recommend new FFXIV: ARR players to start with the Free Trial membership at first. Then, if you like what you see, buy it & pay the sub a month at a time.

Even with taking all this into consideration, I do highly recommend players try Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. But, paraphrasing that "drink" part of those beer commercials we see on U.S. television, remember to "play (& pay) responsibly.”

I never played others of the Fallout franchise, so I can't really comment how they compare. But, I have played a number of MMORPGs the last couple years (WoW, FFXIV, ESO, LOTRO, MS2, etc.), and I have found FO76 to be a unique & enjoyable experience.

It's kind of hard to put into words what FO76's niche is exactly. It's a meditative, mystery, exploration, survival, sandbox PVE game with a little PVP thrown in too.

Also, since there were no real NPC in the game until April 14, 2020, with the Wastelanders DLC, there are no pre-established community hubs for players to find a safe zone. So, each player uses FO76's cool housing system to create their own non-centralized player community hubs for rest, healing, repairs, commerce, & entertainment, for themselves & others playing FO76. I've never enjoyed or used any other MMO's housing system as much as this one's.

As a reality check… yes, it's got some bugs / hacker issues (most MMO's do), but none of it game-breaking. It’s in-game community is mostly supportive, despite how the negative social media paints it. When the price for FO76 started dropping to reasonable levels, some my friends & I, that frequent MMO games, gave it a chance on Bethesda.net.

I am really glad we did, as Fallout 76 has become our primary MMORPG for the last 8 months with no sign of slowing, especially with the free port of Fallout 76 for prior owners over to Steam. Please give FO76 a try, you may really like it…

LOTRO is the first F2P MMORPG I've played so far, coming from time spent in both FFXIV:ARR & WOW. LOTRO is a visual drop from FFXIV & play-mechanics much closer to WOW. But, it has a rich, robust content & lands to explore from the epic writings of JRR Tolkien.

Your character(s) exist in a beautifully realized Middle Earth at the height of the "War of the Ring". Co-existing with many other player characters, trading, crafting, making music & celebrating together, joining Kinships, and fighting along-side one-another in epic battles together.

Technically speaking, LOTRO is really free-to-play, you earn & bank "Lotro Points" by grinding through content, completing Deeds in game, & those can be spent in the "LOTRO Store" to buy all manner of QoL (Quality-of-Life) enhancements, Traits, Skills, quest-packs, and even full game expansions.

But, I DO mean GRIND, so much so that, if you have the funds available (i.e. not terminally poor), you'll typically give in and either spend real-money to buy items in the LOTRO Store or subscribe to monthly "VIP" subscriptions (which includes many of these items automatically, excluding expansions).

Use the fair F2P model to get in the door, grind to earn "LOTRO Points" to buy your 1st couple QoL enhancements to make your game experience better. Then, if you like what you see, consider laying out some of your hard-earned cash to buy or subscribe to more of the LOTRO experience.

So, if you are a LOTR fan & the idea of playing a MMORPG isn't odious to you, it's a no brainer, the choice is yours, no one controls the destiny of the Free Peoples of Middle Earth, the darkness cannot sway you… Come join us & play LOTRO, "Welcome friends!"