Recent reviews by Chelle

I think there's promise in this game, to a point. I don't think it's far enough into the development overall to give a decent review but don't want to bomb it either.

Pros: Updates are pretty steady at this point. (03/14/24)
Interesting gameplay potential. Recycling the trash to make something.
Not overly hand-holdy....

Cons: Updates are pretty steady at this point. (03/14/24) Stated here because there's clearly things that need fixing, balancing, tweaking, etc...
Can get stuck trying to get basic equipment unlocked (Like the ship thrusters, they're SPENDY!!!)
Could use a little more of a push in the right direction(?) People don't like their hand held, but providing learning resources beyond how to grow corn, might be useful.... Why are thrusters so expensive!?

Overall, interesting idea, needs polish.

I started playing this game on Gamepass. Then I heard that updates happen faster on here. I bought two copies so I could play with my other half!

So far, this game is addictively amazing! The learning curve is easy, controls are intuitive, for the most part. I play over local network and have noticed that the net code needs polish, but is pretty stable. Also, shoutout to TagbackTV making amazing videos on core gameplay!

Overall, I'd give this game a thumbs up. It isn't a very forgiving game the first time around and, if you get through the campaign and want more punishment, NG throws you some curveballs just to mix it up. I've had two CTDs (Crash To Desktop) so they're pretty rare. Especially considering my 9th Gen Core i7 and GTX 1660TI laptop isn't exactly the newest hardware out there. Crashes are, so far, even more rare on my Steam Deck.

What I'm not overly fond of, and it may impact you if you have slower internet, is that the upload of a recent save seems to take up to 5 minutes to finish. On Steam Deck, this upload can prevent the launch of any other titles (even if the other title doesn't even support cloud saves, ie; To The Core).

In my opinion, I think the RaD needs a better map.... In my NG run, they're sending me after... well... 5 targets. Their locations.... aren't making sense. My second CTD just so happened to take place in that map on my second attempt to neutralize those 5 targets. *sigh*

UPDATE 09/02/23: Had a CTD on Deck that caused the Deck to restart! I had to re-complete the previously completed mission as a result. I, then, proceeded to play more once I got home. When I ended that play session, I could not get my save to upload to the cloud so I could resume on my PC. When I looked into cloud save info on the Deck, it said I had 29.##Mb of save data and could only upload a total of 18.##. As I previously wrote here, anytime the save cloud is invoked on Deck it seems to put a blockade in front of any other software launching until cloud activity ends. Since the latest save was larger than I could upload but was more recent than previous upload, it continuously tried to upload the newest save data only to error out and try again. Now, this could be a partial shortcoming of the Deck, I'm not sure. But if save data accumulates to a larger space than the cloud can handle, we're going to have problems here.

I find myself forgetting what time it is when I'm playing this game. It's quite immersive with its well-voiced narration and interesting story. It isn't just a cobbled together rogue-lite where you have to hope to find additional characters tied up in the various dungeons. The story brings you new characters as you progress. I can't say that I've tried the co-op yet to see how that works but, I hope to find interested friends to jump into a game with me soon.

This game is unabashedly a work in progress. That said, there is so much enjoyable content already in place. The story is incomplete but there's still quite a bit of super enjoyable content. Compared to the original Spacebourne, being outside of the ship is as enjoyable as ship combat. Planetary excursions while sparse are interesting. There's an assortment of engagements available in space as well as on planets and various skills make for varied and interesting scenarios. Some elements still need work (like being able to take cover, for instance) but that's what's great about Early Access! You can help the dev fix things they might never see from your perspective and you can provide invaluable feedback on things you'd like to see fleshed out more (like mining, for instance). That said, patience is key as this is either a solo dev or small team and things will take some time to work out.

This game has had me hooked for countless hours more than what's on my account. I've noticed that my offline time isn't reflected in my online profile here on Steam. Nor can it even know how many hours I've sank into the Switch and Mobile editions. Yes, I own them all!

I am having a particularly odd situation with Terraria on my Steam Deck however. I've been slowly adding various titles to my new favorite gaming computer as I have interest in picking them back up again. I am somebody who does not have home internet. And you'd think that a game as widely playable as Terraria is, wouldn't have problems launching on (yet another) computer that's frequently offline. I'm disappointed to say that, as of right now, no internet means no being able to play on my Steam Deck in Game Mode. This distinction is made for a reason. We Steam Deck owners are fond of our ability to directly access our games in a streamlined fashion right from the default loading screen. For Terraria, however, if I want to play offline, I can do so if I reboot into desktop mode, launch Steam (in offline mode, of course) and then launch Terraria. However, leaving the comfy confines of Game Mode removes much of the joy of Game Mode. The ability to adjust TDP and refresh rates, easily having access to keybinds and much more from the Steam and Elispsis buttons. I'm not sure if this is an easy fix or not, but I look forward to the day that Game Mode works well for this title, offline as well as online.

My other half and I are enjoying the game so far. We've only noticed one potential downside and that's just the lack of a time pause. Even while in the options menu, time will keep on ticking. Having a way to pause to take care of something like visitors at the door real quick would be great.

Aside from that, I'm real happy that this game runs on Linux via the proton compatability layer without need for any tinkering. The visuals are colorful, the environment is lively and having to put yourself out in a body of water if you set yourself on fire... Freaking hilarious!

I hope everybody finds this game and tries it for themselves! And beware the sharks.... And crocodiles... And fire, always respect the fire and know where the nearest body of water is!

03/11/2024: Suddenly my Xbox Series controller (detected as Bluetooth LE Compatible Input Device) occasionally experiences trigger loss on first start. After restarting the game it seems to fix itself. It would be nice if the controller was universally recognized as Xbox One compatible input device but Microsoft apparently didn't think that through. I have not been able to run the game on my Steam Deck so far, though I would LOVE to! I'd hope that Valve and Keen can put their heads together to figure out how to work this out. Sometimes I want to mine and refine stone for endless hours from my car. Let's make that happen!

03/09/2024 Update: I'm on my laptop using Windows and I still encounter this controller trigger problem when using an Xbox Series controller (with the share button in the middle) wirelessly. Space Engineers detects a wireless Xbox Series controller as a Bluetooth BLE Input Device (for the record, so does device manager for some reason) instead of an Xbox Controller specifically. The controller is detected properly when plugged into the computer directly. To this date it seems that Keen Software House has been unable to reproduce this bug on their end which makes no sense whatsoever to me.

I do not recommend this game for gamers playing on Linux with a controller. I do not recommend getting or playing this game if you do not have an active internet connection or want to play offline (as in without an active internet connection) at any point.

Controllers work fine until you want to use your tool's primary and secondary functions or are in a vehicle and trying to target another vehicle. Then the triggers simply don't work. There is apparently a workaround when using Windows but you can't approach the devs with controller related feedback and expect to be taken seriously.

The developers utilize the Steam Cloud as a way of storing your blueprints only and not your game progress. Whether using an active internet connection or not, your data is stored on your computer and folders are used from your computer depending on your active internet status. You can, if you are particularly tech savvy, find and move your data from one folder to another for use without internet but may get errors about there not being internet. So, be aware, your data is not backed up by the cloud. If you blueprint all of your creations, great, but your overall saves are toast when moving between machines or upgrading without backing up your old data yourself.

For now, I'm moving on from this title in hopes that another game that is far more immersive will work better with the Steam Deck as I'm evaluating everything in my library on Linux for the move to the Deck. Hope you find this information helpful and have good day. Thanks for reading.

As addictive, to me, as any physical TCG. Best thing is, you don't have to pay to play this one! You also don't have to wait in long lines to get the latest booster packs or even leave the comfort of your bathrobe in order to challenge your friends.

Defiance, that game that's all about "Watch the show, play the game." Well, I don't have Syfy but I do have all 5 of the currently released DLC packs. I've ranked up my EGO to over 1,100 and I'm still interested in continuing the journey to 5k and beyond!

Pros:

FULLY SUPPORTS YOUR XBOX 360 Controller on PC!!!

What other MMO will let you get cars and quad runners to roam over their open world map? What other MMO out there will let you take said vehicle and squish your enemies into pulp? I'm sure something out there somewhere offers something similar but Defiance does it right.

Like Eve Online? No? Okay, no problem. Have friends playing Defiance? Have they played for a long while and have really decked out characters? If so, no worries! You might not like Eve Online but maybe you like the sandbox aspect of it, Defiance gives you that sandbox-y-ness. You can play with your veteran friends and go wherever they can go!

Cons : Well, there's still some balance issues that get tweaked from time to time to sort out issues. But, with the last patch that came out 1.505, they corrected a lot.

As of right now, you have to pay for individual expansion packs in order to use everything that drops in the world. You still get to interact with various other aspects of the expansion packs, though. Like fighting new mobs and enjoying new systems put into play. Most recently this would have been the armor plates and the new enemy types. But the last update also introduced a currency known as Arkforge and the ability to upgrade your weapon's EGO rating. I don't know if those that don't own the DLC would have access to those functions in their salvage matrix but they definitely did not get the 1,000 arkforge currency when the update hit.

There is an in-game store and this store has vehicles in different colors as well as clothing. I haven't looked closely but I do remember something called a power pack that might have contained weapons. At any rate, the game contains micro-transactions on top of the required pay for each DLC expansion.

Also, there's word out that Defiance is going to migrate to a F2P business model which opens the doors for more players, certainly. There are some aspects of the sandbox that create drawbacks for older players. Whenever a major arkfall drops and newer players end up in it, they don't know that they shouldn't shoot the locks off the containment field. All they know so far is that they listen to a voice in their head that tells them to shoot things and you follow it. Well, when you're in a major arkfall, you don't listen to her. You wait! You sit on your hands and wait until there are 24 people in the arkfall around the cage in the middle of the room. Others will tell you when you can start breaking locks.

So... um... that's about it I guess. It's an awesome MMO that takes after Tera Online as far as combat systems go. You aim your weapons at your target, you don't get to "LOCK ON" to them. Well, unless you have a guided launcher but that's a pain in the arse and not really worth it to use (IN MY OPINION ONLY you may actually like it, who knows until you try, right?). There's unlimited free access right now to a small portion of the map which can help you get acquainted with the game. So, no reason to not pick it up and give it a try today.