Recent reviews by MrMuse

So I finally bit the bullet and got this despite the repeated frustrations of random ganking by allies in most total war games.

First off I have to say that the review bombing for the game not having Immortal Empires on release is pretty stupid. Nothing releases perfectly these days and a degree of patience is expected. Also, let's face it, IE is only a pat on the head for everyone that just got stuck to playing certain of the old factions so it's just "more of the same".
Secondly, it's easy to ignore the fact that there have been massive quality of life improvements with wh3. Going back and playing 2 again is an absolute snore fest by comparison not to mention that it is vastly inferior graphically. The prologue tutorial is fun and vastly superior to having to mess around with individual tutorials with an advisor blathering on about the most remedial rubbish from previous tw games. If you've ever played a single tw game of any kind you can either set advice to low or turn it off altogether.

For those worried about the crazy amount of dlc when you include those from 2 you needn't because they are ALL optional and not needed in any way shape or form outside of multiplayer.
If you are on a budget then do yourself a favour and just get the base game and install Radious mods which add more to the game for free than any dlc.

Outside of the cool prologue what you have here is a more interesting new main campaign, more and far more delineated and interesting factions. Cathay is clearly the jewel in this new crown and they are great fun to play, Khorne are massively changed from the old beastmen, Demon Prince is powerful and fun and continues directly from the prologue and Chaos Dwarves, which have a completely different campaign to the others, works like a total conversion mod if you decide to get that particular dlc.

Throw in the fact that for those who actually WANT "more of the same" being able to use everything they bought previously through Mortal Empires and you have a VAST overall improvement from 2.

It's a funny ole game this one. I backed it from Kickstarter which is a rarity for me these days after having been burnt too many times. But Tiny Trinket promised from the off that this game would 100% release and release with everything they said it would and it has done that for which I am thankful. Yes they took a lot longer than they initially estimated but rather that than rush something out to be review bombed and die.
It's kind of a hard game to explain though because there's nothing else quite like it. It's best to throw any expectations about what you think you know of tactical rpgs out before you start and go with the flow.
Possibly the first thoughts you will have are "interesting" and "bit janky though". The thing is i'd say that the latter is more down to getting used to an odd system you aren't used to and, yeah, the ui certainly could have been better in places but push that to the side and what you have is an odd blend of party based rpg with an arpg style loot system. Unlike most arpgs though you have a susbstantial crafting system and side quests are better fleshed out in terms of narrative than your typical arpg.
Don't expect deep and meaningful companion interactions...they are there but mostly in a story rather than personality sense.
What i find most cool is that its so ODD overall that it becomes pure tinkerer fun without the drudgery of a grindy game.
And what is truly important is that they have presented a unique piece of gaming at a more than fair price. These days that is becoming more and more of a rarity with everyone playing it safe following all the stale old design choices, flashy graphics with long cutscenes, and a price tag that makes every purchase a gamble.
In my opinion everyone interested in rpg gaming generally should own this as an example of the potential in breaking from the norms.
It's one of those little indie nuggets that we just aren't lucky enough to find very often any more. It's not perfect but then neither are most games which cost a heck of a lot more.

*edit* a quick note about anyone who would dismiss this review based on my time played at time of review...I've played it a LOT more in extended beta which is a separate game file and is not recorded here.

although the lore and story is great it quickly goes kind of souls like...you're pottering around enjoying and maybe thinking meh this is too easy....
then you hit 1st boss battle and die over and over...with a weird system where you cant change difficulty outside of a save zone and none of your saves are IN a save zone....so your options are...keep dying till you don't or restart the whole game
even tried backtracking to a previous save zone and wouldn't save there. This game is also noticeably easier using a control pad.
console game design flaw imo
Until that "can't change difficulty outside of save zone" OR save anywhere comes in as it should be with any pc game then it's a negative here for me sorry.

Art style is great and the mechanics are fun enough. Decent tutorial that sets you up fairly well for the rest of the game. I just wish that there were more to the purpose of it being a manuscript than the act of drawing and the art style and it would be nice if there were more story other than just "death killed master go kill death". 7.5/10

More advanced than its predecessor in graphics, side quest scripting, and general rpg content but the basic mechanics are the same. Full ray tracing definitely improves immersion. I don't understand why some have said they preferred DL1. Both are good games but this one has a lot more depth outside of not having all the planned dlcs yet. Both games work better as co-op given the difficulty spikes.
If you are looking for an intense rpg/survival hybrid with a true open world feel then either or both of these games are for you. Don't be put off by the parkour aspect as I nearly was. It is fluid and feels natural.

Makes me feel like I've just run from zombies in real life and now i need a rest. It's fun but one word summary would go to "intense"

I wasn't keen on this game when I first played it years back but after playing Miasma Chronicles and really liking it I thought I should give this another go. The thing is I still don't like it that much. I like the setting and characters and that's about it.
In MYZ it's entirely possible to play yourself into a position where you just can't progress because you have half health on your characters, no way to get medkits, and a fight that's too difficult even after sneaking around picking off outlying mobs. It also has the needless design fault that armour cannot be sold or scrapped - EVER. You can scrap weapons so why not armour. This means that buying armour at any point is going to hurt you when you have better gear and no scrap for medkits. It's an unneeded ballache. And that's how the whole game feels - like I'm pushing myself through an uncomfortable experience just to see how it plays out.
(and before anyone comes with an idiotic "get good" kind of response I am close to joining the 1% who have completed Miasma on the tough hardest difficulty with single auto save after every action ironman). It's not that i can't complete the game but more do I want to enough and feeling that way can only be the fault of poor design choices. I am mystified as to why critic responses to this game were so favourable and no so much for Miasma Chronicles which is more pleasant and fluid in every way.
This game has none of the interesting side quests of MC, the story isn't as developed, and it's always just a case of sneaking into the next zone, picking up whatever you can and completing the encounters which, whilst not entirely linear, make this a far MORE linear game than the newer one. I'm not a person who sees "linear" as a dirty word in game design but in a game firmly rooted in an exploration theme it's certainly not a GOOD thing.
MYZ isn't a BAD game and it was released at a time when there were very few modern turn based games. Now there are plenty of better options. 6.5/10

I never played an auto-battler before and I think I struck lucky hitting on this one. No doubt people could get the 100% achievements in less than the 75 hrs it's taken me but this is an extremely well balanced tactical game and I've had a blast with it.
For those who don't know what an auto-battler is, you choose a team, equip them and position them where they are most effective before clicking start to let them play out battles. You choose your path from 3 lanes much as with Slay the Spire et al (which I normally don't like), fight bosses and elites at certain nodes, upgrade your gear and your team's skills as you go along. Success will unlock new characters and higher difficulties.
So it's not a game that you just let play in the background as I thought :D but rather a very tactical bit of addictive fun that is well worth its full asking price.

*sigh* So....starting this game will give you completely the wrong opinion of what is truly a quality piece of gaming. It's unfortunate that silly errors at the start have this effect because many will be missing out on a great experience. In fact, the first time I bought Lost Eidolons I instantly refunded it because having an xbox controller connected made the cursor disappear and even setup menus glitched beyond usability. I bought it again and discovered that unplugging it stopped this but this silly issue really doesn't set the stage for what is to come.
In addition, the early sections of the game are lacking voice-overs that are more prominent in the rest of the game thus giving the initial opinion that the whole thing is janky - which it is not. Given just a little more forethought and polish would have turned a very good game into a truly great one and it is a real pity that this wasn't the case.

If you can force yourself to not throw the baby out with the bathwater you will find an excellent and storied turn based strategy underneath. It has a ton of beautiful cut scenes mid and late game that are all fully voiced and a heck of a lot of voice work throughout the game to the extent that it is completely understandable that they had to resort to text only for many conversations. But it's impossible to feel that much of this is "arse backward" with some important things being unvoiced and many far less important things being voiced. They just got the balance wrong.
Gameplay is varied and interesting particularly character progression. The downside is that despite the camp sections appearing to be open world the game remains completely linear but this is not enough of an issue to detract from what, in the end, is an epic journey in an interesting world.

I will 100% be buying the forthcoming sequel game.

Firstly, this game is exactly what you'd expect putting Owlcat on a WH40k setting. Including Owlcat games tending to being buggy on release but this release appears to be far less buggy than the releases of either Kingmaker or Wrath of the Righteous. Many have reported game breaking bugs in the late game but I am unsure as to why anyone would want to rush through to that point anyway - especially those who have had experience with the early release of their previous games.

Rogue Trader uses the same kind of rule system as the Pathfinder games in all but name, even the fonts used for skill selection are the same, yet somehow it all seems a little more fluid. So aside from Warhammer specific skill-sets combat is pretty much the same turn based fare you get with the previous games.
The introduction of placing you on a moving base in the form of a huge voidship is pretty cool albeit illusory in terms of not ACTUALLY working much differently to moving from area to area quest hub to quest hub.

What is most important here is that Owlcat have outdone themselves in presenting a 40k universe full of lore that fits the cannon and just WORKS whilst remaining completely fresh in terms of narrative.
If I finish by saying that I'm having more fun with this than with Baldurs Gate 3 then that should give you some idea of how good it is. It may not be as good technically or graphically speaking but I'm personally finding it more FUN. And that, my friends, is a massive achievement.