Recent reviews by petester

I have no idea why this game is fun. On the surface it seems like it would be pretty boring. Roads are a means to an end, for getting from A to B, and Euro Truck Simulator is all about driving a slow vehicle along them.

But it's the zen. The chill. Listening to the radio whilst watching the scenery go by. Just not worrying about things too much. I really ought to play this more. It's calming.

Disco Elysium has an engaging story with twists and turns that keep it surprising and fresh through the whole game. Right up until the end I was kept guessing as to what was going to come next. It seems that there is no "correct" way to play the main protagonist, meaning that you can play the character in many different ways and just roll with the flow of the story through its many twists and turns. After all, your character is already a textbook sad state of affairs. How much worse could it really get?

As a game the graphics and controls are nothing to get excited about. They are functional. Where the game shines is in its use of music, voice acting and story / background lore. The combination is very much combination of point-and-click adventure game meets isometric CRPG - or more specifically - Police Quest meets Planescape Torment.

The intriguing part about this is that there is nothing particularly challenging. There are no devious puzzles, no high-octane action sequences or indeed anything that requires more skill than clicking a mouse button on easily identified items or text. The pace of the game is controlled largely by the large amounts of text (with a lot of high quality voice acting to accompany it), which results in a slow plodding expose of the world. On the surface this should be an utter bore. Except it isn't. As you are gradually drawn into the world and the perplexing situation you find yourself in, the game gives you time to think about what you are uncovering: to bask in the magnificence of your unexpected successes or to wallow in your decrepit failures. It is a bewildering journey.

There appears to be replayability too, as there are different ways that tasks can be completed, and your skills will influence the outcomes of situations in different ways. I must confess to save scumming a few times to see the different outcomes, but I'm looking forward to replaying with a different skillset and approach to the game now that I've finished it once. Long live disco!

Playing Greedfall is a frustrating experience. The landscape and towns appear wonderful and well crafted, with different architectural styles to suit each faction. Sadly this is only skin deep and once you look beyond the surface sheen, the shortcomings of the world become all too clear. The most immersion-breaking aspect of this is that the same models and layouts are used for buildings in different towns. It's as if Soviet planners have invaded the game and just re-used the same building templates hoping that no-one will notice. The animations used throughout the game are jerky and feel unnatural. Generally there is a lack of polish everywhere. With older games, where graphics were hardware limited, these sorts of issues were not as jarring. The animations, textures, poly counts, level design etc. were all at a similar quality level and fit together. With Greedfall there is a discrepancy in quality with respect to different elements, and as a result it does not fit well together. A missed opportunity in my opinion.

Is this redeemed by the gameplay? Hardly. There is nothing groundbreaking here. That doesn't mean it's bad, but merely acceptable. So many of the missions require you to run from one end of the map to the other, and even with fast travel options, there is a lot of running around from point A to point B. A complete waste of time.

Battles are a mixed bag. Some are a pushover, others feel almost impossible. One in particular near the end led to near rage-quitting as it was just too hard as the enemy was able to kill me in two moves. In contrast, the lack of balance was very evident as the final boss was far easier than this. I was expecting the hardest battle of the game where I would need to use every little trick I'd discovered, and it was practically over before it had started. Such an anti-climax.

The redeeming side of this mess: the story is interesting. It's certainly different to the conventional fantasy lore found in many RPGs, yet it weaves seamlessly into the world so that magic, firearms and melee can all co-exist in a logical manner. It feels natural. There is intrigue galore, and whilst I haven't tried different branching options that are available, it seems there are several ways that each quest, and indeed the main storyline, can be completed. There is no 'right' or 'best' choice and this means that when playing you can focus on the story and what you feel is the option you want to take, without worrying whether it is the most optimal choice that the game wants you to take. I found the main storyline was engaging and worth playing to the end. Thanks to the story I definitely got value out of the game.

If I had to choose between a well polished and good looking game with lacklustre story or this imperfectly presented gem of a world and its story, Greedfall would be my choice every time.

I played this after it had been out for a year through the GeForce NOW streaming service. I started this as something of a test, to see how good game streaming could be. Truth be told, I wasn't expecting much. Over 100 hours later and I have to admit I'm impressed.

There have been many negative reviews, criticisms, vitriolic comments, and general trash talk about the game. The list of reasons is long, and gives the impression that this is a flakey game that is only skin deep. Everything looks glossy on the surface; scratch just a little and issues with the game engine, bugs, lack of real RPG freedom etc. stare back at you. If you let them. I won't lie, the issues are there ... I just don't think they matter that much.

What Cyberpunk 2077 does well is it creates an alternative world you can escape into. It's a world very different to our own, but similar in some ways. Exploring the city and looking at the detail put into building Night City is, at times, wonderful. The problem is that it is just the background, or 'set' if you will, on which the story plays out. It would be fantastic if you could live your own stories in this world, without following the story missions at all. Some open world RPGs -- Skyrim being the obvious one -- allow you to do this. This is not really the case with Cyberpunk 2077. The level of interactivity with the city is, at the end of the day, very shallow. There isn't that much to do.

So why do I recommend the game if I'm aware of all the criticisms, and even agree with some of them? The answer is that I got hooked into the story.

Maybe having Keanu Reeves starring as a character helps. The cinematography involved with telling the story during certain missions really brings you into the action. It's like you are in a movie. There are moments of all-out action and bravado, through to surreal experiences and sad melancholy. In some respects the game feels like a well written and scripted "choose your own adventure" book. The choices are, ultimately, quite restrictive. You have a few, but it feels as if it doesn't matter which path you take, eventually you'll end up back on the main story track which is travelling towards an inevitable conclusion to the game that you cannot escape.

This is a good thing. The problem with the open-world RPG genre is that it's very difficult to mesh this with a solid plot and storyline, which really needs to be linear, arcing over an intro, middle and end. The best RPG stories come from games like Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect, which are linear in nature. Cyberpunk 2077 has put the story front and central to the game. This is supported by the environment which is believable enough to support that story, but doesn't go overboard. Similarly the character customisation is just enough to let you change they way you approach missions in the game, but doesn't distract too much from the story.

If you let the story guide what you do in the game, you won't be disappointed. Like any good book, once you get into it, it can be hard to put down. Maybe I'll play a bit more to see different endings and complete all the side missions -- even Charles Dickens had a different ending to his novel "Great Expectations" as Victorian readers didn't like the original one -- but what I'm hoping is that like some of the very best novels I've read it will have mileage for a complete replay. Then I'll know that the story was actually good.

"good nice fun"

I've edited this review because I saw that kind person had given it an award when it was just the three words above. In truth I had let my young kids (under 10) play the game on my account and one of the little scallywags had decided to give it a review without my knowledge. Still ... If the little ones enjoy it, then it must be a pretty decent enough game.

For the older gamers, there is something zen-like when it comes to driving a tractor around and getting the perfect lines on the field. Maybe that's why Jeremy Clarkson has taken so avidly to farming in real life? At least with this game you get to experience just how laborious and rewarding farming can be without having to spend millions on your own farm.

Moving on from Mass Effect this was a step up in gameplay and story. The levels are still rather linear in nature which allows the story to move in a coherent manner. The start of the game drew me in and the missions in the game based around your companions are very varied and involving. By the time I got to the end mission of the game I was starting to really trust my companions and couldn't stop playing. It was engrossing, captivating... like being part of a movie.

Which I gather is the point. I could go into detail about game mechanics and how combat has improved since Mass Effect, the seemingly pointless mining of planets for resources which it appears I really didn't need by the end of the game, the gratuitously (un)necessary cinematic camera angles during certain dialogue etc. but let's face it. These are a means to an end which is to bring the player into an epic story that spans over three games. That my actions and decisions in Mass Effect carried on into Mass Effect 2 is something I've not seen done in a game before. It's brilliant. It means the Mass Effect universe is one that I influenced. It feels more real.

Yet this goal has a downside: I don't want to replay the game. This isn't a criticism of the game. It's because my choices were ones I made, sometimes on the spur of the moment. Just like in real life, sometimes you regret those choices, but you have to live with them. To replay the game would take away those consequences. You don't need to have a perfect playthrough to enjoy the game. If anything any imperfection just increases the satisfaction level if you make it through.

If you've never played Mass Effect, you're missing out. This is the best blend of game and cinema I've experienced.

A blend of shooter and role playing game in space. Right there you have all the ingredients you need for fun and the game has put these elements together with style. The storytelling fits in seamlessly with the action whilst still allowing the player choice. It works so well I'm left wondering why more games don't use a similar approach, or if they do, why don't they manage to reach the heights attained by Mass Effect?

Although this is an older game it stands the test of time. Sure the poly counts might seem a little low at times, and the maximum resolution being limited to 720p feels constraining. It doesn't matter as it more than makes up for not being on the technical bleeding edge with some well constructed environments and cinematics that draw your imagination into the game. I really felt like I was commander Shepard and all the decisions I made reflected how I wanted to play that character.

Well done BioWare on crafting a true classic.

Overall it's a competent RPG with an interesting storyline punctuated by an effective combat system. There are many things to like about this game including the innovative use of elemental effects, the crisp graphics, a clean user interface and few bugs. It is without doubt one of the better party-based top-down RPGs in a while.

So why a negative recommendation? I completed the game but it was done over a long period. Initially it was difficult to get into the game and work out just what should be happening. On my first attempt I was playing in co-op mode with my wife, and I was utterly confused as to what was going on. Not just in terms of the controls and the interface, but also with the story. We didn't get too far and perhaps a year later I gave it another go... with much the same initial impressions. Just couldn't get into it.

And then it clicked. I worked out some basic mechanics and started to understand the main story. The middle part of the game was definitely enjoyable. Many of the puzzles were difficult, but solveable and therefore satisfying when progress was finally made. But eventually a point in the game is reached where it seems everything has been completed but progress cannot be made as something earlier in the game was missed. So I put the game down and didn't come back to it for many months.

I wanted to complete the game, so when I came back the weariness of how I had left the game was now forgotten. I've been playing RPGs since Ultima V, so I'm used to having to make notes and not have a game hold my hand. But to be left with a cryptic idea as to what I should be doing next and then eventually having to concede defeat by using a walkthrough at which point I realised I effectively needed to go on a treasure hunt across the entire map to find some items I had missed on the playthrough... well sod that. I had to cheat using that walkthrough to find the missed items and it left a sour taste. Poor game design in my opinion.

Once I started to think about the game a bit more critically, I realised there were many small issues that needed attention. Let's start with the woeful inventory system. The game has lots of items that you can interact with. Too many items if we're honest and this leads to a massive amount of clutter in the inventory. The hotbars help to some extent, yet with each of four characters having five hotbars of ten items each, that's 200 items right there. This leads to a painful choice between not making full use of all the hotbars and having to fumble around to perform basic actions, or to invest time into micromanaging the inventories and hotbars of the characters. I chose the latter and it felt more like work and not play.

Crafting seems mostly pointless. There is a lot of loot that drops or can be purchases. Crafting can be used to improve those items which is useful, but there is an awful lot of crap that can also be crafted and which isn't really needed. The worst part is that if you aren't cheating and looking up the crafting recipes on the internet, then to discover them it's a case of trial and error. On the surface this is good and the combinations are usually logical. However, the sheer number of items means that there are a ridiculous number of possible combinations -- assuming of course you have the items to test out in your inventory to start with. You can 'learn' some recipes from reading books which is good, but the scarcity of those books means that it feels more like an afterthought.

Overall it seems like there is a lot of potential that hasn't quite been reached with Divinity: Original Sin. Since the sequel is now out with rave reviews, I can't possibly recommend this. Just start with its successor if you've not played the first one. I'll be moving onto that soon. I'm hoping that it lives up to the hype and that the developers have improved of the more frustrating aspects of the game engine.

In comparison to the other Infinity Engine classics i.e. Baldur's Gate and Planescape Torment, it was always going to be hard not to be seen as the poorer cousin. Icewind Dale instead takes a different path and emphasises the combat over the story. Sure there is a story in the background but it feels like more of an excuse for a dungeon crawl from one set of monsters to the next. The game is challenging but never unfair (even though it may feel it at times) and the sense of progression as the characters in your party gain levels is satisfying.

Where the game falls down is in the ending. The game comes to an abrupt halt and there is no opportunity to go back and take on the expansion if you had left parts of that untouched. The end is the end and unless you have an earlier save you are stuck. This left me feeling that my characters still had more to develop but were denied the chance by the game.

If you haven't played Baldur's Gate or Planescape Torment I would recommend either or both of those two games before playing Icewind Dale ... and if you have played them, then any recommendation I make here would be irrelevant.

This is not a genre-defining game or ground-breaking in any way. It's a relatively short puzzle/exploration game in which you are trying to work out what happened whilst you were in stasis. The game has a pleasant atmosphere and the lack of violence means it is appropriate to be played with kids to help you solve the puzzles (I did this with my kids -- aged under 10 at the time we played). We liked the game and it was worth the time we spent together playing it.

Basically, any game on Steam that I can play with my kids gets thumbs up!