Recent reviews by ApathicAlpaca

Long, long before Hades made them superstars, Supergiant Games brought us this absolute gem of a turnbased combat title.
Transistor not only features a challenging and unique combat system but also a wonderful story as well as amazing graphics and overall atmosphere.
It is quite quite different from Hades but the developer's love for tactical combat shows exactly the same way all through the game.
10/10!

Amazingly fun yet complex survival sim, love it.

What is DD2? It's basically DD1 re-done, that's what it is. Better graphics, some additional stuff they wanted to have in DD1 but were forced to cancel to release on time.

There is no doubt that Dragon's Dogma 2, just like its predecessor, has some quirks that need getting used to.
Only one save slot, although you can work around this by disabling cloud sync in Steam and backing up the save games yourself.
Weird PC controls, but nothing you cannot live with. Very weird targeting system, you gotta look at whom you want to target but it's not very reliable and there is *no way to manually select targets*.
The damage from falling in this game is so brutal that a short cliff means you can expect a nice RIP screen.
The inventory is a pain since you have to shift items regularly to your pawns or main character, there is no easy access to your storage chest and you cannot even sell from that chest to vendors right away, you first have to get the items from the chest, overburden yourself in the process, then slug-crawl your way to a NPC and sell them.
It's by far the most outdated and nightmarish inventory experience you can imagine, and then some.

That said, if you liked DD1 you will love DD2.

If you are used to Elder Scrolls or pretty much any other genre title, then you will definitely need some time to adjust. The devs do not care about what is expected standard in ARPGs today, they just do their own thing and did not learn from DD1 feedback. (or chose to ignore it, at any rate)


If you can overlook these somewhat annoying aspects, all of which are tolerable if not forgivable except maybe the inventory, then you get a thrilling, intense and wholesomely old-school ARPG that does not take you by the hand the way most others do, that expects you to actually explore on your own, often without quest markers and/or without detailed instructions.
The change from day to night is much more impactful than in most competition titles. At night you really cannot see much farther than your torchlight and have to deal with more dangerous foes and entirely new enemies who hate the daylight and who will ambush you as soon as look at you.

The pawn system makes DD2 unique since you travel with your own little band of misfits that you can chose freely and of whom you make one (of 3) your "main pawn" that is fully customizable and who can change their 'class' (vocation), skills etc. just like the main character can. The other 2 pawns are not bound to you and can be exchanged at any time.

I strongly encourage you to watch some gameplay on Youtube, Twitch or so before you make your buy decision. (unless you played and liked DD1 in which case it's a must-buy)

It feels tricky to find a 'rating' for this game but I would give it a solid 7/10 for sure, if they could manage and add some proper control scheme and at least one or two modern QoL-additions it could easily become a 8/10.

RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!
(or most certainly for your REAL LIFE)

The superaddictive spiral of a trillion billion amazing decks, all with their own unique buffs and perks, combined with the easy-to-learn, hard-to-master hunt for ever higher uber answers to those naughty blinds will not let you off the hook any time soon.
Every time I start the game, planning to so some relaxed rounds I end up discovering new ways of unleashing mayhem with new joker types or niche strategies that depend on that one luxury card you never saw before.

Amazing!

Based on intensive 3 years off Steam:

+ Gigantic sandbox with almost unlimited possibilities to prosper
+ Beautiful ships in their dozens
+ Many working 'professions': PvE missions, exploration, pirate (PvP), contract worker, trader, manufacturer, service supplier, ...
+ 4 main factions with vastly different designs for ships plus pirate factions (combining 2 main faction characteristics each) plus more advanced factions added a while back that have once more very different ship and weapon designs
As a new player you can chose any path you like: shield or armor tanking, energy weapons, projectile weapons, missiles, drones, slow and tanky or fast and agile, whatever you prefer
+ Generous Free2Play mode ('Alpha') which works up to respectable skill point limits and allows to fly at least basic versions of all combat ships
+ Monthly fee for full access ('Omega' subscription) can be paid with ingame currency (don't expect this for the start though)
+ FULLY player-driven economy. The vast majority of goods are supplied (and supplied solely) by real players with a thriving market economy resulting
+ Actual, player-only political landscape with plenty of guild (corporation) wars, betrayal, traps, assasination etc.
+ Plenty of player corporations (guilds) welcoming new and returning players, many corps focus the same way the individual can, e. g. PvP mercenaries, providing services to other corps, faction warfare, trade, mining, ....
+/- Permanent PvP
+/- Complex
+/- unusual way to fight in space, more generalized orders to your ship than direct ego action
- Serious traders and industrialists are forced into Omega subscription pretty much from the start (in contrast to combat-oriented players who fare well with Alpha for quite a while)


Summary: For me, Eve Online is one of those few rare gems that are unique and never change just to become like the competition. CCP is one of the most community-serving developers I know with super-intensive exchange with their players (up to and including player councils).

The game is often called 'Excel with nice graphics' by haters. This is true only if you are focused on trade and manufacturing. Eve has a huge solo / group PvE part that is trimmed for action. Explore dangerous wormholes, fight evil alien races, analyze ruins, hack loot containers... Or just go on a killing spree and collect bounties aplenty.
It's a sandbox. YOU decide how complex the game should be for you.

One of the greatest platformers with lots of cool mechanics and constantly changing challenges in each level.

Get rid of boring town building and constantly non-available heroes, add even more complexity to encounter mechanics (as if torch was not enough there is now also a counter to increase enemy ambush chance) and generally condense Darkest Dungeon to what it made Darkest Dungeon: the battles. One battle after another, broken only by quick visits to inns that are basically the resting system from DD1 but with extras.

Contrary to some noob reviews, your heroes are actually permanent UNLESS you fail an expedition without reaching at least the 2nd inn. As long as you master the relatively forgiving first area and reach the inn, all their quirks and skill upgrades are kept for your next run.

If you liked the battles best in DD1, you will love this installment.
If you liked the maze maps or town flair best, maybe not so much.

Rimworld in 3D with some of the (unmodded) edges smoothed.
Hard and insane difficulties are not for the faint of heart, be sure to try it with the 'balanced' moon (i. e. Rimworld narrator) first.

Vermintide simulator v3.0

+ Awesome smooth combat
+ Loads of heroes with infinite combinations of skills, mods and team compositions
+/- Huge story content that is actually required to boost the heroes' levels and power (if you want only pure action, this is not it)
+ Hang out with your favorite Marvel heroes and bond. Also lots and lots of background info.
+ Big Abbey grounds that you unlock piece by piece, with even more lore and a few (easy) riddles
+ F-ing awesome soundtrack
+ Has PURRRRRR & CHARLIE GURL!

- Sometimes crashes on hero OP reward screen, to fix this turn down resolution to minimum before and set it up again afterwards
- Some heroes feel pretty weak 'out of the box' and need more investment than others to start shining. Looking at you, Strange.

9.5/10, if you ever wanted to be beaten up by definite rule 34 material villain, this is it!