Recent reviews by Struthio

Refer to my review of the special edition. Game is good, if you have a bad pc, play this one instead for the extra spame

Before you read this, I want to bring up that I was under the impression that MORDHAU was the beginner friendly game and chiv 2 was the one for the masters... so i tried mordhau first. Genuinely ♥♥♥♥ that.

Chivalry 2 is an infinitely superior experience - I actually had FUN. Obviously i started doing terribly, with more deaths than kills. I defaulted to archer and man at arms because what else can you do? I'll tell you - not practice for five billion hours to get the basics right. Literally all i had to do to have fun was watch two videos. TWO. Not practice, just watch two damn videos.

Chiv 2 is an objectively good game. It's REALLY fun. The classes all work well together, there's very clear synergy, it's fun and the fact that there's an archer cap is just another bonus. You can pick up pigs, see their fully rendered ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ and then throw them at the dumbass charging at you preparing an overhead bardiche strike. It's amazing.

You have a REASON to fight. to some that's not a big deal, but for me, i LOVE to larp. Every time i boot up helldivers i audibly grunt and scream every time i get knocked around. There's just enough uniformity for the battlefield to be immersive but just enough customisability for your character to be YOUR character. The battle pass system here is actually pretty well made and not ass and the way you unlock stuff is so as well, unlike mordhau and more akin to for honor - i'm willing to give chiv 2 more of a pass unlike mordhau because from what i see, there is still active development and i only had to pay like, 3 or so euros for the base game and king's edition to buy the regicide battle pass and one other. The game really just does help you a lot to progress - just play the game. If i had to point a negative for this is that you NEED to play a class to unlock a subclass which... fair enough i guess, but playing archer to unlock arbalest is a real pain.

The combat is smooth and the chaotic battlefield is done infinitely better here than in mordhau. Chiv has better maps, it helps pull people to objectives much better, weapons are handled very nicely even with a clear meta (♥♥♥♥ dane axe) and the effort to fun ratio is much more approachable than what Mordhau offers. Not only that - but in all my 10 hours of gameplay, ALL GATHERED IN ONE DAY, i ALWAYS had fun, every single match, even my first ones. The maps are well made, tell a story and are dynamic. ANd the voice acting is great.

There's only two issues i have - the combat is still fairly slow. I'd like it maybe like... 20/30% faster, where if you get a riposte, it SHOULD be a guaranteed hit, like in for honor. Or if not that, then when you do the same attack while guarding before you get hit. That way, it would insentivise reads better and make engagements and 1v1 more fun than just spamming soft feints into other attacks, especially since kicks cannot be feinted and are a free attack for your opponent. I cannot see myself enjoying the dueling in this game purely because the system does not allow for it - and i just dislike that and Mordhau probably has it even worse. Second issue is customisability. Mordhau just does it better. It sucked to see that my man at arms couldn't equip a crusader helmet with those badass teutonic wings but what can you do - at least you can ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DODGE AND NOT HAVE TO MAKE A ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ BUILD AROUND THAT

Yeah, game is good. Pick it up on a sale and then upgrade to king's ed for an extra 1000 premium currency to buy 2 battle passes instead of one. I highly recommend.

I've played organ trail a bit more than my time says, give or take maybe 20 hours on my brothers account... It's a really nice game, just fairly uneventful and easy. What? easy? How can you say that!

The game, really does not have stuff happening frequently enough and the gameplay loop is in all honesty, a bit tedious at times. I'm personally more of a fan of the driving and the resource management and, unless you're going slow, stuff just does not happen. I almost exclusively play on hard difficulty and it really is just easy. Right now, in my playthrough, one guy got out of the car and got bit. Alright, i guess there is a BIT of difficulty but it's not *really* difficulty - it's just rng screwing you over because it felt a little funny.

The scavenge and defend missions are borderline snooze fests. Just don't be stupid enough to go out when the mission says the zombie population is anything higher than normal. Personally i go up to high because i want to feel challenged but the game just is not challenging. If anything, the hardest part is when you defend from either a horde or bandits behind the sand bags - not because it's actually hard but because aiming with the mouse means dragging it down and it's just uncomfortable.

The achievements are bugged so that's another minus - and you know what to do in that case with a certain samsung mascot soundalike. It's really annoying.

However, at the end of the day, the game IS fun and clearly a work of art and for the price, i think it does a decent enough job to justify it's existence as things stand. Music is great, bosses, the rare times when they do show up, do keep you on your toes and if you find that combat tactic where you find more money than anything else, you've essentially trivialised the entire game if you're willing to grind some scavenge missions the moment you buy it.

I think a 6/10 is reasonable. Mediocre, but has it's own style and I personally like it, even with it's flaws (which, if you're an achievement hunter like me, is a big negative) - i just wish events at the road were more prevalent, common and interactive, like the ones with the mechanic and the upgrade - you know, not "Oh bingus has contracted cholera" or "bandit has stolen 90 of your robux" - the proper events should be more prevalent. Maybe at least a guaranteed one every ride between landmarks.

I recommend it. Just don't expect too much. It's the kind of game you boot and forget.

I think i would rather kill myself than try to play Mordhau again.

I was so, SO excited to get to play, after so many videos showing how fun this game is. Then I actually got it. it has the same issue For honor has. what happens if you give a game a unique fight system, 10 years and a dwinling playerbase/lack of new players? Terrible tutorials that do not cover even the basics to an acceptable level and a playerbase so hardcore that no new or even novice player gets to stand a chance. Noone even wants to help you either - they'd rather flex how much better they are, teabag you and then chase you down.

basic abilities and quality of life changes are locked behind perks you can't access if you want a good loadout (e.g. dodge, cat, the one that removes fall damage, etc), weapon balancing is wayyyyyy off and the core appeal of the game - a chaotic battlefield is more annoying than fun when you're the one experiencing it and getting hit in the back of the head from nowhere. All this, along with some TERRIBLE map design, with spots and exploits that can single handedly destroy and chance of winning for the enemy team (primary example, the village in front of a castle where you have to either kill nobles or rescue soldiers),

To top it all of, the game has been abandoned and loaded with DLC. Yes, some dlc are good, especially cosmetic ones, but for ♥♥♥♥'s sake, the dlc alone cost more than the game if you want all of them - when it reaches that point, to me, there's an issue. And what if i want to customise? no no you have to reach level 60 to use that chest piece and then level 200 for that helmet... the basic surcoat on chainmail needs 14 levels. In my 6 hours of playing, i have only reached level 7 and i did NOT have fun.

If i had to say one good thing, the customisation really is amazing. If it removed the level restriction bs and just kept the gold requirements (which is ALREADY too much for A PAID GAME, WINK WINK UBISOFT FOR HONOR WINK WINK HELLDIVERS) then it would be infinitely better. As things stand though, a friend got me this for 7 euros or so and i feel like we both got scammed. The main appeal for me was the customisation but i dont even want to play this ♥♥♥♥. I wish I got to have gotten into the game on launch because as things stand, i don't think i ever will.

Absolutely amazing game. I've replayed it several, SEVERAL Times and i plan to 100% the original as well.

You'd think a 2d game could never become stealth. This game changes that. It's so good. The story in my opinion is handled a bit poorly and if you have any remote ability to take a step back and reflect, the final option becomes funnily one sided, but it's clear to me that the game is purely for gameplay and the story is just a side dish, so it's lacking depth is acceptable - if they handled it better, maybe it could have been something equal to dishonored, with both amazing gameplay and great story, but still i find mark of the ninja incredibly fun.

The stealth kills are dynamic and as time passes, you become more daring. The outfits and different tools really elevate replayability and make the entire game just a lot more fun. There's a lot of stuff you can find in the game even several dozens of hours in - like for example, when you throw dead bodies to a guard's line of sight, they will become terrified, very much like the Hisomu terror darts, the hangman's hythm or the Oni outfit.

You can clearly trace your progression through the game very easily. Even as far as level 1, if you have completed level 2, the level is much easier and you can complete it much faster. Along with unlocking different kill techniques and gadgets.

However, there's 2 complaints i have. There is no way to revert/"unbuy" techniques or gadget upgrades. The moment you get them, you can never unequip them, which means you ALWAYS run them. You'd think that's a good thing but it's not. What if i want to run the last level but without the upgrade that makes my running quieter? OR what if i want to play the game without buying any kill techniques? Or what if i don't like one of the upgrades and i prefer the old gadget, like the spike trap or hisomu dart (Whose upgrade makes the person you hit commit suicide)? It's a lost opportunity as, even if you want to replay through the game, you will be so overpowered for the early levels, it will just be less fun. Not at first, no, you will enjoy how you can kill the goons, but after you play as long as i have, you really just start speedrunning through levels.

second complaint is jank. I've got caught more because of jank rather than my own incompetence. A guard heard 3 noises and never went back to his original post, leaving him to watch the vent with no other exit. A guard hears a kunai near him, checks it out, you jump over him and despite looking the other way, he still sees you. A sniper shoots you through a vent. A laser destroys you because the buttons don't know what you're doing and they decided you want to jump to the top of the box instead of stay to the side. It's really annoying.

That said, the game is really good. I recommend it. I have multiple hours on both this version and the og one and i recommend getting both. I wish Klei paid more homage to Mark of the ninjaplier and Shank because THESE are what launched the studio, and i always feel sad when i don't see shank on their studio banner, and i have a feeling mark will be removed too.

All in all, 8/10. Story is lacking and there's some jank, but infinitely replayable and tons of fun

It's alright. That's it. It's a good game but you have no real reason to replay it as it's mostly story based and offers no real challenge. If i had to be honest, i played it on some weak hardware and it lagged quite a bit, to the point one of the sections with a helicopter nearly softlocked me because my game lagged so hard.

All in all, it's a good game but only for one playthrough. It's a really good playthrough and i watched the opening cinematic when i was 5 when my dad played the game. It was really good and to this day i really like the game, but don't expect anything worthwhile out of it. In my opinion, the underground character (the rat i think) is a bit shoehorned and the story could do well with some changes but i like the game. It's fun. The combat is weak but that's not it's main selling point so it's good enough for what it is. Good game, but only play every year or so, when you forget the general structure.

I think a 6 or 7 out of 10 is reasonable and fair. It's a good game, it just has no reason for you to stick around and replay it, along with some aspects where it's lacking, but overall pleasant experience.

In my opinion, the best game in the trilogy. I am dead serious. I felt actually invested in the lore, the gameplay encourages you to take a slow approach and try to use your brain. "Wuaaaah wuauaaaahhhh my rapier can't pierce armour because i'm not an anime protag wuaahaaaah"

adaptability is, the name of the game. Did it as a stat make the game worse? Yes. Are there any other problems in the game? Only 2. Bad enemy placement which leads to artificial difficulty and the general jank of dark souls. But frankly, all 3 of those have been beaten more than a dead horse. There is no reason to keep going.

I would much rather the creative and in general GOOD game that dark souls 2 is, as well as the great sequel it also is. It progresses the lore in a good way, it's interesting, the areas are fun and interesting to explore - for god's sake, the poison area is a misty mine instead of a bog, do you understand how much the gears in fromslop's head were grinding to come up with anything OTHER than a poisonous bog?

I know it's a meme ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ on dark souls but quite frankly, it is the only reason elden ring is what it is and why we even have fashion souls. The amount of weapons and armour is far greater than what we have in DS1 and ds2 was the reference fromslop used for elden ring in many departments, specifically for dual wielding weapons as well. Dark souls 2 has achieved a lot of things and people do not acknowledge that because some idiot youtuber or reddit thread filled with lobotomites told them that it's a bad game. Yeah dumbass, it's a bad game if you only use one weapon and get stuck in the iron keep because you refuse to adapt. These same people will play a fighting game and never adapt to their enemy's playstyle, then say that every character except the one they play is either broken, overpowered or that their enemy cheated. Get real.

Nothing will ever beat the first time you reach majula. Nor when you reach the tower. Nor when you go to the forest of giants and the quarry. Every section is unique and it will make you feel like you're exploring a dying world. Except this time, it's actually interesting and not overdone, like dark souls 1. Dark souls 1 suffers from first game fatigue, like dead space 1 does. Everyone has gone into so much depth about literally everything that every time I try to get back into it, it's incredibly boring, tedious and honestly, just mundane. Dead space doesn't suffer from that because it's innovating and the gameplay loop will always remain the same, despite how you may tackle it. With dark souls, you just can't do that. You already know where all the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ items are, what to avoid and what to try and rush. I give Hollow knight a tough love because frankly, It's start to early game progression is.... just bad. The crossroads suck. But dark souls 2? It has a great tutorial, partly because you can just skip it. Everything in dark souls 2 is just, far more interesting than every other game, save for bloodborne. Bloodborne used to be my favourite but frankly, ds2 just won that place. It's a superior game to all others in the souls series once you accept it's flaws. Maybe the lack of content, especially from Vaati vidya, has helped it, because there is still a sense of mystique and wonder. The world is just, far more interesting, the enemies are far more fun to fight and think around, the platforming is still janky and annoying and i love it. It is just so... fun. It feels so genuine. I would much rather this dark souls 2 than a soulless "Dark souls 1 - but with a 2 this time!". My favourite game in the series. It has some ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, but please try it.

♥♥♥♥ the shrine though.

Very nice little game. It's just casual fun, no real profound message or a revolution to the industry - just some old school gaming. Played for a VEEEEERY long time both on android and on my brother's account, around 150 hours combined. I'd buy it, it's very nice fun with friends and mastering each character is really fun. If i had to guess, the hardest one is Shield, and my favourite is Recon. I got every star on every mission, including the challenges - it was all worth it. I love playing like an american and british police officer! Body cam off since 2012

I'm not the best Into the Breach player. I struggle a lot, it's a really hard game, much harder than ftl in my opinion. I am also, not at all as familiar with it as i am with FTL or battle brothers. I haven't played it much but the little I did play, i did have fun in.

There's a lot of things it does well. Like in ftl, the art style is amazing, the worldbuilding is... it personally made my heart ache a little, the music is great (albeit inferior to FTL but FTL was a masterclass in music so not at all an insult) and the unique gameplay - specifically you being insentivised to use enemy numbers to your benefit, as well as the unique mechs you unlock - is incredibly rewarding. I find the way you unlock new mech squads is very fun and interactive, but you will eventually hit a wall - at some point in your playthrough, you will have a lot of mech squads and therefore, have completed 1 or 2 achievements from them - and not the last one because it's hard. But to get a new squad, you need to complete 3 more hard achievements, likely by 3 different squads, therefore, your progression is stumped. It's a good method, it just has an inevitable brick wall you will need to scale, one you will have trouble with if you are not a fanatic of the game .

The pilots are handled pretty well, and I find it very... wholesome that they include 3 easter eggs. You really do not see many games or companies pay homage to what made them what they are today. Seeing ITB pay tribute and homage to FTL makes me feel tingly inside. I really appreciate seeing something modern acknowledge something that i grew up with as the masterpiece it is. The pilot system itself works really well, and i find that the small differences between robotic and human pilots to be quite charming.

There is but only one issue - Sometimes, the game simply sets you up to fail. You cannot protect the city without one of your mechs dying, you cannot survive that one extra round without at least 2 buildings not collapsing, you cannot keep those buildings standing without your mission objective, let's say, a train not being conquered - "That's the point of the game, hard choices" and in normal circumstances, I would agree, but a lot of times, these hard choices come every third turn or so. Truly impossible situations with no viable out are rare but there's a lot very close to them, and it sucks.

that being said, the game just, is simply good. Not equal to FTL at all, but a very good game on it's own, all things considered. I do recommend buying it full price, purely because the devs deserve it, it's a reasonable asking price and the game is simply, a really good roguelike that i think you can get a lot of mileage out of. Personally i stopped for a bit out of frustration of my halt in momentum during progression but i'll play again. It's really interesting and i really wanna dive in this world again.

8/10

Charming little game - i grew up with it. The music had engraved itself into mine, my brother's and my father's memories. I downloaded the android version one day, was listening to the music and my brother dead ass looked me in the eyes and said "Pixel heroes?". Absolute cinema. One of my childhood games, i try to get all of my friends at least one copy. It's honestly surprising it released in 2015 - i was expecting it to be older, like maybe 2012 or 2009.

If i had to give some complaints - an X2 speed would be welcome, as the game is fairly slow, the rng is... pretty bad, when you have no armour that counters the next area you'll go to and the heroes are not created equal, making some achievements or runs difficult to get (The cleric is by far the best healer in the game, and once you beat the third difficulty, you get infinite rerolls for heroes so, why bother with anyone else? Especially the randomisers) - And the classic, no cross progression. That's a big oof that shattered pixel dungeon also suffers on. I recommend using SAM to at least align the achievements that you may have on android but not on here.

That being said - the game is good. Maybe not a very good pc game, but if you ever need to play with one hand or just want to chill one day, this game just does that. I grew up with this, i get one copy for all my friends whether they want it or not and it will always have a place in my heart. Get it and you will not be disappointed.