Recent reviews by goldenEY3

Played less than an hour, and suddenly I got it.

It's the reverse eldritch.

"Eldritch" as a genre means something is too large to be known, too far beyond the ken of man to comprehend. We are but ants to a giant, its machinations impossible to understand.

Well, if A = B, then B = A.

The giant can't comprehend what the ant thinks.

"These puny three-dimensional humans love bodies of water. I'll make a bunch of bodies of water, and they'll love it!"
No, sir, we do not. Dear GOD this is too creepy.

The massive, the unknown, it cannot understand us. And because it cannot understand us, anything it makes will be inhuman. This place might have been made to bring us joy, but it is so inhuman, it cannot relate to us. Because it cannot relate to us, it cannot make us feel welcome.

It can only be unknowingly unsettling.

10/10, trying to build up the nerve to find out what's making that moaning sound.

Chugged a beer, smoked a cigarette, took expired medicine, died, got rez'd, then shot myself in the head.

Worth every penny of $3.

A fun game play loop that may or may not be torpedoed by larger issues.

The core game play of Darktide is really solid, and fun to play. The guns are weighty and feel great to shoot. The tide of traitors is fun to face down, and no two games will ever be the same, even on the same map. Character creation is great and the character interaction is phenomenal. The idle chatter and back and forth bits are really great, and can be a real blast when you either call someone out for hording ammo, or get called out yourself.

Graphically Darktide is amazing, especially if you can crank up the settings. The maps look truly grimy and dark, perfect 40k aesthetics.

The sounds are also extremely satisfying, ranging from enemy screams and movements, to background noises which might alert you to on oncoming horde.

And if we were to grade based solely on game play, Darktide would be an easy game to recommend. Sadly, we do not, and Darktide might get bogged down and peter out.

First, the game crashes a lot. It seemed more stable in Beta, although to Fatshark's credit, the stability has really improved from launch.

The larger issues appear when you finish a game, and return to the hub world.

Character progression is SLOW. Really, really slow. While it makes sense that it'd take longer to level up the higher your character level is, the game feels extremely grind-y because of the lack of rewards, both in terms of character progression unlocks, aesthetics, and crafting materials.

Yes, there's a crafting mechanic, and it's utterly incomplete.

You can upgrade your weapons by finding materials, plasteel and diamantine, randomly placed throughout each level. The entire squad gets the same material when found, so there's no need to fight over it, which is great. Sadly, there's such a dearth of diamantine, you really have to dig your heels in and grind it all out.

What makes this worse is the weapons crafting doesn't even feel truly worth it. You can't change a weapon's stats, only small "perks" and "abilities," most of which seem to only offer small percentages of advantages. Some of the crafting lets you replace perks, however those are random; you could grind out some material just to get short-shifted by getting a perk or ability that doesn't do anything at all.

What's more, the game shipped with an incomplete crafting system. It even say other options are "coming soon." Why the hell release a game when what seems like two-thirds of a system mechanic is missing?

Speaking of crafting and customization, the game really pushes you to purchase in-game currency if you want your character to stand out. Yes, you can unlock a few things for free, but the really cool stuff requires real world money to purchase. Darktide wins no prizes by saying "there's no pay-to-win, only aesthetic items can be bought" because that's a frackin' stupid line to draw. Just because you choose not to gouge your players one way doesn't make you a good guy, it means you're doing the bare minimum.

Purchasing weapons feels like a real pull at the ol' one-armed bandit (read: slot machines). Weapons are randomly offered, and damn near 80% of the time, they all seem like karkin' ♥♥♥♥. It doesn't tell you when inventory will be renewed (read: auto-generated), so you have to go on missions to see if it'll restock, which they may not be, and even then it feels like you're fishing for weapons that have slightly higher numbers than the ones you've got. That system has to change.

Why not have a system where you can craft weapons yourself? You can build something from scratch, or take a weapon you're rewarded for XYZ reason, and improve it? Mash two weapons together, tweak it to your play style, and pay with in-game currency and/or material to build it. You'll have to have two weapons to mash together, effectively destroying one to make the other better.

Now, I have been told that Fatshark's previous games, the Vermintide series, changed and grew a lot over the course of its lifetime, so Fatshark seems to have a good track record for supporting their games and letting them grow into something better. That's good, and should be celebrated.

However, it's still a bit of a backhanded compliment because Darktide should've shipped in a better state.

Leveling characters shouldn't be so much work, and when you do level, it shouldn't feel so inconsequential, especially if the level cap is 30. Increase the level cap, unlock small perks'adjustments at every level, and let each character branch into a different play style. It feels a bit tired that you can only have one class do one thing, and just get better at doing that one thing. Why not let Veterans branch into mastering different weapons? Offer a semi-auto build against a full-auto build. Let Ogryns specialize in carrying massive, heavy weapons like a heavy bolter, or crowd control melee. Let Zealots specialize in weapons that'll shred one target at a time but can't dear with a horde, or shred a horde to bits at the trade-off of not being able to greatly damage elite characters or monsters. Psykers already seem to have the ability to do different things, why not others?

The crafting system needs to be fully released before we can really say what needs to be revamped.

Let players unlock more aesthetic items; we already paid for the game, we shouldn't be shuffled off to put in yet more money for something we already own.

Whether this review stays positive/stays recommended will depend on how Fatshark grows the game. It's a blast to play, it really is, however the weight of the actual game play struggles to carry the entire thing. I'm hopeful, and want to be hopeful, however as it's constantly said in 40k, "Hope is the first step on the road to disappointment."

This is scratching the old-school Fire Emblem itch I've had for years.

Both an ode to spiritual successor of old turn-based tactical games, Symphony of War is off to a great start. The retro graphics adds to the charm, almost enough to really erase the RPG Maker design of it. And even that's not much of a criticism.

The controls are a bit wonky; I haven't found a button to act as Fire Emblem's R-Button, which would pull up unit info in a much smoother way, or a way to bounce through units with a press of a button. However, that's getting to be more "looking for a problem" than actual criticism.

Can't wait to play more!

2/5. Great atmosphere, utterly game breaking final boss fight.

The game dives headlong into the grimdark, and nails the aesthetic. It’s too light on lore, even from a ‘hidden lore’ angle; it’s just too obtuse.

The tutorial does an excellent job setting you up for the entire game, it really is a necessity. When you have a grasp on the mechanics, the game becomes a wonderful puzzle to figure out. It’s stressful yet rewarding, because when you click you can utterly devour bosses on your first try if you’re careful enough.

That all come crashing to the ground when you get to the final form of the final boss.

I’m not sure if this is a glitch of some kind, or the game is “working as intended,” the final boss fight is a 15-minute interactive cut scene of watching your girls die.

The final boss can stun-lock your girls. All of them. All the time. Fortunately, you can unlock upgrades that make your girls immune to stun-locks.

The boss stun-locks you regardless. It doesn’t care if you’ve buffed your girls out to be 200% immune to stun-locks, it doesn’t care if you have abilities that move them up the turn-based time line, the final boss will lock you out and take back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back-to-back turns until you’re dead.

Who play tested this? It feels like nobody did. They just threw together a boss, said “how can we make this too difficult?” and then broke every single game mechanic they had.

This used to be a fun game. I thought I had ways to prepare my team against the final boss, and it didn’t matter. This isn’t pulling the rug out from under you, it’s pulling the entire foundation of the house out from under you.

If this is a bug, it needs to be fixed. If this *isn’t* a bug, the balance team and the play tester need to be drawn and quartered.

Old school Halo 2 with Portal thrown in. Can't recommend this enough, it'll have you queuing up all night long.

For a beta, this runs incredibly well. Haven't seen a hiccup, glitch, or crash yet, and the graphics run silky smooth.

LIterally unplayable; the game crashes before it can even get to the start screen.

Uninstall, reinstall, verify integrity, moved to different drives, nothing seems to work. I've submitted tickets to the developers via Steam and their own bug-reporting web page, and haven't heard anything; I'm hoping a negative review might get their attention.

Download the XCOM Alternative Mod Launcher, even if you don’t use mods!! It’s better than the launcher that 2K is forcing on us, and makes the game truly playable!!

It also lets you make the game WINNABLE with mods, and not just on the micro-squad combat scale, but on the macro-liberate the Earth level.

You see, XCOM is a very tactically rewarding game that will have you pulling your hairs every which way. It gives you incredible freedom to plan out and launch tactical events by planning everything tactically and tactically expecting the enemy's tactical movements to a tactical T, and tactical launches will tactically tactile bring your enemies down tactically.

And then the RNG ♥♥♥♥♥ you over by spoiling a 91% chance rate.

Don't get me wrong; I know humans are NOT good at internalizing percentages/odds. We think that a 91% success rate means we cannot fail, when in reality it means we're very, very, very unlikely to fail. Still, the number of times that 8% crops up is disheartening at best and unsettling at worst.

What's more, the game frequently punishes you, often for things that you cannot know. This occurs at the micro-squad based level, and the macro-save the Earth level.

The failure at the micro-level comes when the game introduces new enemy types. Early on, you're tasked with mind-jacking an enemy officer, and it has to be done right next to him. So you mind-jack him; mission over, right? LOL nope, it spawns a NEW enemy, which gets a free movement phase, and then gets to attack. Later, you come across an armored giant, and use everything to blow it to kingdom come. Is it dead? LOL nope, it comes back to life, and gets to kill you right back. The game even acknowledges this! When it comes back to life, in-game characters say “didn't we just kill that thing?”

When you hang a lampshade on it, it’s funny. When you hang a lampshade on it, and then the lampshade kills two characters before you can even move, that’s a horse of a different color.

On the macro level, the game sets you up to beat something called the Avatar Project. By failing certain things, the Project advances, and when you succeed at things the Project fails, giving you more time to tactically plan, tactically advance, and tactically fight back. When the Project is completed, it’s Game Over.

That's all well and good. Sadly, through no fault of your own, the Avatar Project rapidly advances. I've started this game no less than five times, each time it randomly sets me in an area of the world to build from. The game then places the Avatar Project on the OPPOSITE side of the globe, and locks it off with areas. To get to the Project, I had to unlock several areas, while juggling all the micro- and macro- threats that will accelerate the project.

Without fail, after three to four missions, the Avatar Project reaches 50% completion. Why? Because I had the audacity to spawn in a region that is opposite where the Avatar Project is taking place at. Honestly, the mod “No Avatar Project” makes the game winnable, and when the mod does a better job than the game, well…

XCOM 2 is the perfect Kobayashi Maru; a no-win scenario. It feels like a “gotcha” prank. There are things you can’t control that are determined by a terrible RNG, and you get punished for everything you have the audacity for not knowing.

And yet, XCOM draws you back into it. Because they're Your Guys. Every successful mission rewards Your Guys. They grow stronger, more powerful, and you truly care for them. You *need* to know how Your Guys do. You cannot abandon Your Guys. As they grow stronger, more capable, you root for them. XCOM draws you in with that, and while it punishes you for things you can't control, you can't help but go back to it.

There are truly amazing moments where you defy all odds. There are more than a common amount of moments where you're yelling at the screen “Well how the ♥♥♥♥ should I have known that!?” XCOM 2 will punish you for things that you cannot know, it will jump you with moments that will have you pulling at your hair swearing that the game has it out for you, and yet you'll come back to it because the tactical combat has you hooked, planning the next ambush, waiting to see how Your Guys beat the odds.

And that makes it all the more painful to realize that XCOM 2 hates you, and will crush your dreams because its RNG is terrible. I’m all for a difficult game, however the game has to be winnable, and not just through save-scumming until the RNG lets you through.

In conclusion, 8/10, but only with mods. Without mods, 3/10.

You can play it for a few hours.

An excellent game, but a bad port.

I say "bad port" because it suffers from a host of graphical issues. The first and foremost is the utterly insane "first time boot." The game "runs an analysis of your system to optimize the graphics," and it takes at least twenty minutes to perform. While it's undergoing that "optimization," RAM usage is driven to the max.

I have 16 GB of RAM, and HZD maxed out at 15.6 GB! 98-gorram-percent!! For what, for the game to sit around for 20 minutes, just to tell me what the best graphics options were?!

Fortunately, that ungodly "optimization time" hasn't happened since the first boot. Every other boot, it's loaded up in no problem, and uses a "partly" 10 GB of RAM.

If that were the only problem, it would be forgivable. Sadly, it isn't. There are regular frame drops, and the game hangs at random intervals. The moments pass, but the fact that it can't handle a steady FPS is a little disheartening. My hardware is old, but not minimum requirements old, and the issue has been reported across a variety of equipment.

HZD has gained enormous acclaim, so not being able to run it at a steady frame rate makes you wonder what kind of work the developers put in.

Other then that, the game is great. Controls are optimized, however, I'd like to be able to change the keybindings. Haven't found a way to do that yet. It plays so well, it gets easy to overlook the technical shortcomings.

One of my minor gripes is that the dialog audio sounds very...tin-y, or metallic. I thought my speakers were starting to go, but the metallic sound continues across different hardware, such as headphones and other speakers.

Technical glitches mar HZD, but don't ultimately break the game. Would still highly recommend.