Recent reviews by Pichael

I was expecting a fun little game to enjoy as an occasional change of pace. Instead, I got a whole world of amazing story, game play and design. Every time you think you understand what is going on, it adds a whole new level of mechanics in ways that weave fun and challenge together seamlessly. This is a masterclass in game design and I never want it to end.

A great game, but can only give 1 out of 5 stars only for their highly political choice to associate themselves with the highly toxic TechSmith314

Although I am a magnet to bugs far and wide, my experience was fairly limited with them in the game. A handful of weird/impossible combat problems such as being targeted and shot through walls, and only 2 real issues that required either replaying the part of the quest via autosave to unclog or searching forums for a workaround. In the ~50ish hours of actual playtime, it was pretty clear of bugs with only occasional flickers of the roughness that existed.

That being said, at the end of it all (if you can get there), what you will remember is the story, characters, and voice acting. It is easy to get sucked into finding empathy for characters and wanting to help them. The script, character animation and voice acting are all impeccably human and relatable. From one quest line to the next, questions of morals and where the line is drawn will progressively become more blurred, challenging you to either rigidly maintain your own morals, or allow them to be changed by the ever more complex situations.

The combat is a little more rough in places, as although there are a lot of different ways you can go about it, you aren't always afforded all of those options, or it takes time to work up the paths you really do want/those you might fully enjoy. By the end of my play through, I had a type and spec I LOVED and that was ignoring at least 2/3rds of skill trees. Asking myself if I'd still like the game as much if I didn't have that type spec available in the game, it's hard to say. It at least has me curious enough to find out.

The early game is a LOT. As in, if you remember seeing footage of a baby horse or deer or giraffe or whatever being born and then being able to walk and follow the heard within a matter of minutes and wondering "Wow, that's crazy how it just knows and adapts so quickly without any help!" This is the opposite of that. You will be annihilated by the incoming messaging, tutorials, UI and general information. I almost feel like I need to replay it now just so it will make sense to me. At the same time, I would love to watch someone else experience this pain, if not only because of my german heritage of enjoying other's pain.

All in all, I would say that if your system can run it and you are looking to play a solid single player story game, this is a quality buy. It is worth the original sticker price if you do not experience the deal breaking bugs off the bat or feel the deep pang of regret when it will go on sale for less. At its heart, it is worth it, even if it might not currently.

7.5 / 10

(Would be 1 point higher but docking a point for initial rollout/bugs)
((Actual play time to be about ~50-60 hours))

Having beta tested this game prior and playing it now, I've had more than my fair share of experience with it, but I can't speak highly highly enough about it. Its fun, cute, and challenging if you want it to be. I'm not usually one for a platformer, but this is one that isn't Contra punishing and is instead something you can have fun with and chill.

Sometimes you don't need to whiteknuckle rage through a game to appreciate it. Maybe you can just appreciate the detail of a jiggling battery bot animation and swing through a level like a Wall-e trying to be spiderman and just love the ♥♥♥♥ out of that.

1000 hours+ into it, and still love it more and more... even though Epic now owns it

So ♥♥♥♥♥♥ up. So fantastic. GOTY.

Short? Yes. Great game? Oh yes.

Although I believe there could be a great deal more content, it's truly novel in its story and composition. Although there is only about 4 hours of content, I was completely engaged for all of it, just trying to get a little more. My hope is that Campo Santo takes this momentum and talent to make something even better.

One of the best games ever. From beginning to end, the storytelling, attention to detail, and pure fun can hardly be matched. Considering you can also mod it, I can't wait to play it again (again).