Recent reviews by Borg184

Major Order successful: Sony invasion repelled.

Shows significant progress, worth a pickup if it's on sale.

Everyone is biased, so I'll list my biases immediately.
I played and greatly enjoyed LiS 1. I played and enjoyed LiS:BtS. I played and found Captain Spirit Tolerable. I played part of LiS 2 with no intention of going back to finish it.

Life is Strange is a series built entirely off of the first game. Life is Strange 1 was a lightning in a bottle phenomena that I don't think can be easily recaptured, if possibly ever again.

So trying to judge True Colors off of its relation to LiS 1 is a fools errand. However, it shares the same name, so it obviously draws some comparisons. I'll try my best to separate them when appropriate.

The Pros.

The World
Set in the fictional, scenic small Colorado town of Haven Springs, True Colors captures the small town vibe that made Arcadia Bay so idyllic almost flawlessly. Haven Springs is a beautiful setting, perfect for a game akin to True Colors, and I don't think Deck9 could've done better if they tried.

The Characters
A generally likable and enjoyable cast that manages to not be boring without having "too much" going on. While perhaps not as memorable as the Life is Strange 1 cast which seems to be near symbols of the choice based game genre, the cast of True Colors is good, and serves the story well. Even Steph, the returning character from Before the Storm fits the story perfectly, and never feels quite 'out of place'.

The Story
The story is arguably the most important part of any choice-based game, and True Colors doesn't disappoint. It follows a somewhat predictable path, and gets perhaps a little strange and esoteric towards the end, but all in all, I enjoyed the story, and wouldn't mind replaying it. The story also benefits from being more 'up to date' than Life is Strange 1 manages now, which is somewhat dated with references to 2013. True Colors takes place in 2019, and feels much more modern.

The Graphics
An astounding upgrade from even Life is Strange 2, the most graphically impressive of the series prior to True Colors. Massive animation improvements, both body and facially. The entire game as a whole looks fantastic, even on a relatively 'lower end' graphics card (GTX 970).

The Power
The Power present in True Colors is a good one, and while nothing will ever quite top Max's time traveling, it's nice to have the power back in the hands of the player again, and can have a considerable impact on your choices and the story as a whole.



The Cons

Minor issues
At various points throughout the game, I had instances of screen-tearing, textures popping in slowly, and general graphical artifacting and errors, despite having upgraded my video drivers beforehand. However, all of these issues were incredibly minor at best, and little more than nitpicks.

The Length
I clocked in True Colors in about 10 hours. That isn't long, but length does not equal quality. I believe that True Colors does a good job of getting its story out in 10 hours, and has very few sections that are unnecessarily added to pad runtime. This is only considered a downside as it is still a full-price game, for only 10 hours of (current) content. Once the Wavelengths DLC comes out, that may change.

The final chapter
Spoilers for this one.
The final act of Chapter 4 and leading through pretty much all of Chapter 5 are... at best, a bit unrealistic, at worst, require a pretty significant suspension of disbelief to go with. Alex is shot (although it appears to only be a grazing hit) point blank in the head, and falls a considerable distance. While I realize it is only a video game, and that suspension of disbelief is sometimes required for these things, any actual person would've been dead from the events that Alex survives.



Conclusion
Life is Strange: True Colors is a pretty worthwhile entry into the series, and takes a lot of its success from a somewhat noticeable influence from Life is Strange 1. It's similar, but different enough to be enjoyable. I enjoyed my time with it, and if you're anything like me, you probably will too.

All in all, 9/10.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm gets a positive review from me as well, despite being a fairly large departure from the original Life is Strange. In Before the Storm, we're following a slightly different cast of characters, whilst still remaining familiar enough that anyone who has played Life is Strange will immediately recognize people. It strikes a very tentative balance between new and old, making it familiar enough with old audiences to make it recognizable, but different enough to make it its own thing.

Ultimately, worth a play, before or after Life is Strange 1. I went with before, for the full chronological timeline, but that's just me.

This is not a review I ever thought I'd be writing, as the premise of Life is Strange always seemed like it just wasn't for me. A high-school mystery drama. Woo boy, thanks but I think I'll pass.

But there is something about this game, that I cannot put into words. A mix of the characters, the location, the story, all of it, that just makes this game so much more than just "a story". It's a story through and through, and it's a very unique one, but there's more to it than just that. This is one of the very few story-based games I have played where I simply cannot get it out of my head, try as I might.

A lot of it has to do with the elements of the story itself. I'm a sucker for time travel, and this game features it in spades. It has a unique idea and managed to form an entire story around it rather flawlessly.

Sure, there are some issues with it. The writing might've held up if you're a teenager, perpetually stuck in 2013, but in 2020, there are plenty of moments that I wish could get rewritten. The characters, many people feel to be edgy and tumblr-esque, and to a degree that is true, however I feel that isn't as much of an issue as many people make it out to be, if you take into consideration the location of the story and when it takes place.

Ultimately, no other story based game comes even remotely close to capturing the same feel of Life is Strange, and for that, it gets full marks from me. And, if at all possible, go into it blind, or at least knowing as little as physically possible. Trust me.

Lego with rocket parts is honestly the best way I've ever heard KSP described. If you have, by some miracle, not played this game yet, and it looks even mildly interesting to you, pick it up. It truly is a one of a kind game. Nothing else on the market even comes close to just what you can do in this game.

And the modding community for KSP continues to go above and beyond in absolutely all regards.

A complete recommendation from me.

I didn't personally buy it, I got it as a gift. And I'm not too sure I would've sprung for it at the 40 dollar pricetag. However, for what it is, it's a hell of a good game. It takes one concept, does it really, really well, and runs with that concept.

It also has a hell of a lot of potential within it. I could very easily see the devs opening up the Russian side to be played by players, and potentially even multiplayer being added later down the line.

Worth the 40 bucks? Maybe not, it's a little light content wise, but the potential for more is there.

But if you like Subs, and that branch of warfare, you'll probably like this.

Elite receives a tentative Positive Review from me.

Positives:
-Absolutely stunning game. Graphics wise, it looks amazing. It feels amazing. Everything about this game's art style and and aethstetic just FEELS good.

-Size. 400 billion stars, between about 100 billion systems. A 1:1 scale galaxy to explore and fly around in. It may be procedurally generated, but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ if it doesn't do a good job.

-VR Friendly. I don't speak from experience, as I do not have a VR headset, but this game in VR has got to look stunning.

-Difficulty. Elite is an unforgiving game. With no handholding, you're thrown into this world with a small, terrible spaceship and told to do whatever the hell you want. It is a sandbox game, but it's a sandbox game that doesn't hold your hand every step of the way.

-Lore. The Lore of Elite is pretty fascinating to read and understand. Almost a miniature game in and of itself.

Downsides:
-Repetitive. This game is, admittedly, a bit of a grindfest. Everything you do is simply to get more money to get bigger and better ships to make more money even faster. I mean, granted that's like every MMO ever made, but Elite is pretty noticeable with it.

-Still kind of in development. The game, as it is right now, is pretty finished, and decently polished, but there's still MUCH that needs work, and still MANY features coming soon™. As time goes on, this problem becomes smaller and smaller, but it's a very real possibility that the answer to "why doesn't elite have x yet" is "because it's in development".

-Not new player friendly. At least, not yet. This immediately contradicts with the difficulty I listed under positives, but that is a double edged sword. For those that enjoy the difficulty and know what they're getting into, this isn't an issue, not at all. But for those who need a bit of guiding in how to go about things and what they need to do, this game can be absolute hell unless you have a friend to walk you through it. This may very well be helped with up and coming updates like Multicrew, where your friend might just be able to throw you onto his ship and guide you through the universe that way.

In summary, Elite's a wonderful game, and I do still recommend it, but know what you're getting into first. If space trucking simulator sounds like a wonderful time to you, pick it up. If you want non-stop arcadey action with no down time, look elsewhere.

Wow. Public Office. We are in the wrong line of work Gentlemen.

Economy machine better. Not perfect, but better.