Recent reviews by ZacFierce

It lives up to its title. Spend hours optimizing your factories not because you have to, but because you want to. Build, explore, design, and execute plans. Massively enjoyable.

Atlus has successfully remixed the Persona formula into an enthralling adventure spanning many hours of surprisingly deep combat mechanics, meaningful character interactions, and charming environments.

A masterpiece of creative storytelling and Zelda-like design. Be prepared to write and draw your own notes while you decipher the ones provided. Worth playing blind, even when things get confusing. Every little surprise was a joy.

A charming grocery store simulator, with plenty of interlocking systems to learn. It's a bit fiddly, but there's plenty of challenge.

The Finals combines finely tuned gunplay with mind-boggling physics simulations that run without hitches over multiplayer. That alone should sell the game. The presentation is peak overstimulation without being obnoxious, the emergent interactions between weapons and environment elements is continually surprising, and no two matches play the same due to the shifting environments. If it weren't released during the Game Awards, it would be game of the year.

It's Risk of Rain but prettier and more. I've spent an embarrassing amount of my life playing the original, and I will do so again with the remake. Maybe it's the soundtrack, or the brilliantly minimalist artstyle, or the satisfaction of playing with the glass modifier and mowing down enemies while at the brink of death. I don't know.

It's good.

It's hard to describe the amalgamation that is Payday 2. Owing its longevity to a decade of dedicated updates, the game is many things to many people. Joining in later in the game's life, I found vestigial systems, strange power curves, and systems built upon old systems built upon ancient systems.

It's a mess, but a good mess. The career mode doesn't tell the story as it should be told, but it provides a great tour of the game and its offerings. The infamy system is odd, but it's idle-game inspired experience system makes burning it all down and building it back up again pretty compelling. There's plenty of jank, but a lot of love programmed in to make up for it.

My sole critique is the difficulty, and the min-maxing it feels like the game needs to be able to fully enjoy it. I've developed a few enjoyable playstyles, but the hardest challenges are tuned to prevent me from playing the way I'd like. Either I don't use the right weapons, the right skills, or I haven't practiced the right tech to exploit the AI.

Still, the game is a collection of puzzle boxes and engaging holdout scenarios with loot that is continually satisfying to bag and secure. I'm excited for Payday 3 to someday reach the level of refinement this game has. Especially if some of the more questionable design choices from 2 fail to make the transition.

What feels like a reboot of Payday 2, boiling it down to its best elements, while improving core systems that have always felt wanting. The social stealth is a lot of fun, especially when playing with friends, and it opens up lots of new ways to heist. I particularly enjoy the new skill and weapon progressions systems, which promise a lot of customization in the future, and they encourage experimentation between different weapons and approaches.

I'm disheartened by the matchmaking issues near launch, but I'm excited for the future of support and updates that Starbreeze is famous for.

The best VR game to play with friends, bar none. Flawless controls and the perfect social atmosphere. If you know someone else with a headset, buy them a copy of the game when you buy yours.

Extremely charming and creative, with engaging puzzles and lovable characters. You'll play it at least twice to find all the secrets and to spend more time with the whole alligator family. SmallBu's humor is complimented by Pillowfight's own writing and design to create a delightful experience that leaves me wanting more.