Recent reviews by Royial

That'll do Sony...that'll do.

Now we can get back to what really matters Helldivers.

Great game; has Hotseat (wish it was a selection from multiplayer but I figured it out), Skirmishes and decent maps. Not a huge selection of maps and I hope they get larger going forward and have more variety (Snow, Wastelands, etc.) this is still a wonderful game. Hope to see Linux compatibility in the near future.

I liked it so much I'm refunding it and getting it + the supporter pack on GOG.

I highly recommend LOTRO but for goodness sake please get different server providers. I played LOTRO when it originally came out but never got into it when I was young. I've been craving a good MMO and this sort of pulled me in from a handful I tried out and now I currently have a level 42 hunter, and several other alts with Artisan level crafting of almost every other profession. I'm really loving this game and the community is clearly passionate. They all talk like they're life long friends and have been generally pretty helpful and are great company. The environments and atmosphere still hold up well and I'm glad to see new content still being added after so long.

This is a great game and the one gripe about it is the server connection. I literally can't play the game, I'm not even rubberbanding, I can't even move and it's such an important part of an MMO to keep that flawless. I don't know what needs to be done but it needs to be a priority; people can't love a game they can't play. It's been a while since I've gotten this obsessed with an MMO and I really want to build up to end game content and see all the other expansions and so on going forward.

If you check out this game, sample it to level 20 and try out some of the other content like instances and skirmishes before you drop a VIP sub for at least 1 month which I highly recommend as it has a ton of benefits that stick with your account after the sub expires LOTRO Account Types [lotro-wiki.com]

You have a great community that wants to support the game, don't let technical issues get in the way of that if you can help it. 175 hours played and I started July 25th.

I would have to sit down and really pour through all of the game I've ever played to think of one that I have pour as many hours as I have into Total War Warhammer. I love this game, I can't get enough and I find literal enjoyment in supporting Creative Assembly since they keep making awesome content, both paid and free, and it's all meaningful.

I'm a cinematic gamer, when I play games, I love things to look awesome. In regards to strategy, that means I want amazing, intense fighting and grand plans coming to fruition. This game nails all of that. I have played many strategy games over the years, I grew up playing them, I love gaming, but, to me, Total War Warhammer is going to be a high held standard forever in my mind. Nothing comes close, this game has fun campaign strategy alongside the amazing RTS battles.

I've put over 1000 hours alone into this game, it will only increase once the 3rd game in this trilogy releases. I wish more gamers lover strategy games because I can't think of any modern game that comes close to the amount art that Creative Assembly is crafting here.

I guess I'll sum it up here. If I had to only have 1 game on computer for the rest of my days, it would hands down be Total War Warhammer. As someone whose been gaming since 97' that's a tall order, there are some games I could dream of that would rival this as my all time favorite, but none exist, for now, and so that is why I highly recommend Total War Warhammer, even if you're new to strategy games it was easy to get into. This is my first Total War series I started playing and I had no problems.

I can't wait for the 3rd game.

Fell Seal Arbiter's Mark - This game is simply amazing. Congratulations to the developers for leaving early access, I highly recommend you check out this game especially if you loved Final Fantasy Tactics, this game is basically a cousin to F.F.T and it's easily one of the most faithful successors I've played in a long time.

I won't get into the story too much since we could be here forever but, I think the writing is easily on par with something like Avatar: The Last Airbender, I am not exaggerating. It has great characters who all have good chemistry together, none of them are insufferable and even the villains have been great so far, the silly moments are there alongside the really serious moments. Look, I'll be honest, I did not care about the story at all in Final Fantasy Tactics, it's not what drove me to beat that game, the story in this game is awesome and I do want a good story in my games, but it's rare for me to genuinely like any character in any game, so this story is a very welcome addition to the game.

The gameplay is very comparable to F.F.T. when I started this game it was easy to get right back into this style because it's so faithful. They do have they're nuanced differences but you should feel right at home if you've played F.F.T. and the game isn't hard to learn at all for those of you who haven't. I hate tutorials but, this one is well done so newcomers won't be lost and even veterans will learn the unique mechanics to this game.

The ONLY thing about the gameplay I dislike is the injury system. If a character goes down in combat, instead of dying they receive an injury. The injury last until you do a battle without that character.

I really dislike this, it's easy for a character to fall behind due to this which is sort of helped by everyone gaining experience after a battle, even ones who didn't fight but, from what I saw it's a reduced amount. I wish there were multiple ways to get rid of injuries. All they do is give a reduction to the stats of a character, and you can still bring them into a battle even if they have an injury so it's not too bad, but if that character goes down again they receive another injury so now that 2 battles they HAVE to sit out on. It's just annoying and I can see what they were going for but, I think it doesn't work. I'd rather have the death system from F.F.T where if a character goes down you have 3 rounds to resurrect them or they're gone forever. Sounds harsh but, it makes you play more carefully, so it worked.

The music and sounds in this game are competently done. There's a song or two from the game that I'd gladly put on my music playlist they're just that good.

I know not everyone will enjoy these graphics, it's a different style and took a bit for them to grow on me, but they started reminding me again of Avatar: The Last Airbender so I enjoy them, the game's style isn't for everyone but, it's fine to my eyes.

Speaking of style, this game really lets you customize the characters that you hire quite a bit. It doesn't do anything gameplay wise, but I love the option to customize my character and there are a lot of options to choose from. I bring this up because other games would try to add this as DLC, but not here and I really appreciate it for that.

There are over 30+ classes in the game, I haven't unlocked all of them but, almost all of the classes are a lot of fun and I get really excited when I unlock a new one. I recently unlocked the Sorcerer class which has map wide effects during a battle, just to give you an idea.

I'm really impressed by Fell Seal, and I really hope it gains the attention it so rightly deserves. If you're still not convinced, I'm doing a Let's Play on my channel which you can find the link to on my profile so check that out, it'll give you a more in-depth look at the story and gameplay.

Thanks for reading, be sure to rate my review as well.

This is just a short recommendation and also a bit of a critique for Valve, so hopefully, they see this.

*Video Review Here!*


TL;DR Conan Exiles is one of the best survival games to date. Even if you don't enjoy survival games, the amount of customization and content here easily makes this game worth its price. The world of Conan is incredibly interesting and brutal and there's a lot of fun mechanics in addition to the survival game standards which sets this game above the rest of the competition. I highly recommend checking it out.


Conan Exiles: First I just want to congratulate FunCom for their official release of Conan Exiles which has left early access today! I'm very happy with what FunCom has done here with Conan Exiles, the amount of content and work put into this game is amazing. I've played it on and off since it hit early access and I have been very excited for its official release.

Basically, Conan Exiles is one of the best RPG/Survival Game combinations on Steam, it easily beats out most of the competition by being pure quality all the way through. From the style and graphics of the game to the sound design, combat and the building mechanics, everything here is well designed and well thought out and the game easily immerses me in the world as I carve out an existence here in the exiles' land.

Even though it's a survival game the surviving part of the game isn't a chore nor is it all the game focuses on, in fact, I'd actually say this game has a lot more role-playing elements in comparison to other survival games. Once you've been freed by Conan himself there's a huge map filled with tribes, villages and, NPCs to interact with which is a lot more than in most other survival games. There's a lot to uncover here, plenty of lore and world to explore and it's all incredibly interesting; thankfully FunCom has been doing Conan games for a while and their experience with the source material definitely shows here and I consistently find joy in just finding out more about the different cultures and gods that populate the game.

One of the most fun mechanics in the game is the thrall system where you can subdue an enemy and break their will so they can serve you. There are a variety of enemies to break and all fulfill important roles, it's a lot of fun and really makes you feel like a badass when you break an enemy to your whims. However, it can take a long time to break a thrall but, that can be easily remedied for impatient people like me since the game has a ton of customization built into it, not just the game itself but. your experience can be customized 100%. Want the days to last longer and nights to be shorter? No problem. You can increase how many resources you get in a single hit, make yourself neigh invincible and decrease how long it takes for thralls to break, the customization in the game is next level which is probably why I love it so much. The building and crafting is fun and also enables the most creative among us to really go wild, you can dye armor, the combat has combos and isn't just rock'em sock'em fighting, there are a variety of locations and so much more.

I could go on and on about all the big and small things I love about the game but, I think I've made my point, I also acknowledge that the game isn't perfect as there were a few bugs I encountered here and there but, they were more annoyance rather than being game breaking and honestly the polish in this game is top notch and it hasn't stopped me even a little from enjoying my time with Conan Exiles.

I've put over 20+ hours in the past week into this game and I will easily pour more into it, this game is incredible, FunCom has done a great job with their early access and the release of the game, there's so much here that it's $39.99USD price tag will easily see you getting a ton for every dollar.

Cheers.


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A big hit when it came out in the early 2000s and for good reasons. The best comparison I can make for Rise of Nation is that it basically is an RTS version of the Civilizations games, not joking.

On the surface, Rise of Nations seems like your typical RTS from the 2000s, but playing it you can easily see the similarities between RoN and Civ, especially Civilizations 5 and 6.

Cities project a territory or border and you can only build within this territory which is expanded overtime or by building cities and research.

You progress through several eras ending in the modern era and you can pick from 20+ Civilizations all with their own bonuses and unique units. The game also has several different 'styles' for each civilization so a German knight will look different than an Aztec knight, it's details like this that I love!

Your cities will grow from small to large depending on how many buildings are built in that city, each city is still a separate entity while being apart of your own personal empire. The campaigns offered also help make this point even more apparent, especially the Entire World campaign, playing one of the many civilizations and slowly conquering the world one territory at a time, fighting battle after battle is just so much fun.

Rise of Nations just did a stellar job at taking the appeal of 4X strategy games and turning it into an amazing real-time strategy game. It's currently only on Steam but, for $19.99USD the game offers a ton of content and playing with a friend is also a ton of fun and it's cheap enough for several copies, check it out for yourself.

Cheers.

*please rate my reviews, it's greatly appreciated!*

The Long Dark Video Review!

The Long Dark: The last few years have been sprinkled with really great survival games, between Don't Starve, Project Zomboid, and Subnautica, there is, of course, a special place for The Long Dark. Coming to us from Hinterland Studios Inc., leaving early access in the summer of 2017, I've played this game on and off for a year or so before its release and I have been personally looking forward to jumping back into the wilderness of Great Bear. What makes The Long Dark stand apart from other survival games is its' more down to earth setting, taking place in the far north of Canada, a place called Great Bear, you play a pilot, William MacKenzie who's plane lost power and crashed in the middle of the winter wonderland of the Canadian wilderness. I'll keep this review short since, this is another game that is incredibly immersive and we could spend all day talking about that, again, I recommend playing this game in the dark with a headset.

Okay, let's start with all the good before I get to my nitpicks. First, I love the visuals of this game, particularly the art style, it's this sort of watercolor painting, I'm no expert but, everything looks like it has textures based off of different uses of colors, but, I don't believe anything in the game has specific textures, it looks really great and runs great too. Lighting is great too with the nights being extremely dark and nothing is quite as scary as actual wolves with their eyes glowing in the distant darkness as they advance towards you. Music in this game is suitable, nothing stood out to me, what does stand out is the sounds in the game. Howling storms, creaking buildings, wolves in the distant, everything just sounds amazing and it does well in immersing me in the world. Gameplay is also excellent, in The Long Dark, you take the role of more of a camper, or trapper, living off the land, moving from place to place, you're not going to be building any structures or anything, merely exploring and surviving the harsh wilderness and wildlife. The gameplay has a lot of intricacies which makes it really rewarding and makes you, the player, feel awesome for being smart and prepared. Again, this game strikes a great balance of survival 'realism' and still making it fun to actually play the game rather than being a chore simulator and ultimately, exploring the world and zones are a treat and really fun and exciting.

The Long Dark offers two main modes, survival mode, which is where you pick one of the zones (you randomize it if you wish) and start surviving. The other mode, Wintermute, which is the story mode, which in my opinion, has an incredibly weak first impression but, is quickly becoming my favorite mode of the game. You'll have to decide for yourself and I go into detail in my video review but, if you've played the story mode and haven't reached the first town, I strongly urge you to at least reach that point as the game gets a lot better at that point. This game overall is amazing, I don't grade games off of any scale but, this game feels like an A- game. There are only a couple of things that induce rage while playing this game and they're admittedly not the biggest deal breakers but, I still want to share them.

Alright, first of all, please give me two separate buttons for interacting and shooting, in this game they are the same and it leads to many aggravating situations that could easily be avoided by making them separate, I share some personal experiences in the video review if you're interested. Secondly, this game does something I hate in any video game, it has ridiculous fall damage, specifically, if you fall any distance greater than an inch you can get injured, it's super lame, even if you don't take damage you still hear your character cry out in pain, I feel bad but, I think Will might have glass bones and really shouldn't be walking around, such that it is, you cannot jump in this game at all. Now it's not necessarily game breaking but, there are many things buried in the snow and it's super aggravating to be running away from a wolf and run into a 'wall' even though it's really just the part of a small picket fence only sticking out about half an inch, so not being able to just jump or even leap over these ridiculous obstacles has caused me many wolf bites and even death.

Again, while these things have made me rage quit, ultimately I love The Long Dark and I can easily recommend it for survival game lovers and newbies alike. I appreciate it's more natural setting and approach and the story mode is a treat and it alone will give you many hours of enjoyment. The game is $34.99 USD full price and for the amount of content here both with the story mode and it's planned five episodes and survival mode, you'll easily get your money's worth. If you're remotely interested in this game, check it out, you won't be disappointed, and support Hinterland Studios, I look forward to more from them in the future. The game is available on Steam and GOG.com


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Subnautica Video Review!

Subnautica:There is a much to say about this game, but, the best way to sum it up is this game is easily an early contender for GOTY, and I have no problem proclaiming that. Subnautica stands tall in all categories for which you can measure a video game by and it easily clears any sort of doubt or skepticism and is a prime example of what a video game should be in the year 2018. The game is a visual and auditory masterpiece and is just incredible, there are so many colors and such vibrancy in the game you are instantly reminded how a lot of games, in this genre especially, all tend to be a bit drab by comparison. The sound design in the game is also noteworthy, from the distant low roars of distant creatures to the A.I. computers that speak to you, it all is so well done I highly recommend playing the game with a headset for full immersion.

The other thing Subnautica excels at is rewarding exploration, in fact, despite the game having survival game mechanics, the central focus of the game is actually exploration, you do not have any experience bar or skill points where you allocate them to a skill tree in order to be able to craft items in the game, instead everything is tied to your ability to explore. As you do, you'll find components for different tools, modules and so forth which will enable your exploration in a variety of ways, from improving your oxygen tank to building a submarine craft to reach new depths of the ocean. Also, as it is a survival game, while you will spend time gathering food and water the focus on resource gathering isn't as necessary as in other survival games, and as you progress those sort of basic necessaties are trivial to take care of and again, through your explorations, you'll enable yourself to focus more on exploring or building your base if you so choose rather than needing to always constantly be eating and drinking, in this aspect, I appreciate Subnautia as I personally hate gathering mountains of resources just to do simple things. It has a fantastic balance between survival 'realism' and making your time inside the game enjoyable rather than turning into a glorified chore simulator.

There is a lot more in Subnautia, but, this review will go on and on and suffice to say Subnautica is an amazing game, it's well crafted, optimized, I never had any serious glitches or bugs during my 30 hours of play. I think it's good enough that even if you don't enjoy survival games, this game is good enough to at least be the exception to that personal taste. Unknown Worlds Entertainment has done a fantastic job and I commend them, not only is the experience they're offering an incredible one but, they're only asking $24.99 USD for it which is an incredibly fair deal, please, support these guys, they deserve all the success and more.


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