Recent reviews by observing

amog

Fire and Maneuver isn't a bad game at all, the reason I don't recommend it is because of how buggy and unfinished it is as of me writing this review. When I got through the tutorial video and tried to give my troops orders on the tutorial mission it caused my computer to crash, and then I had to watch the long tutorial video again. After that I tried to play the campaign and for some reason when the enemy would attack me on the overworld map they could just keep attacking me over and over again, and if they beat me (which they usually would) they would get fully healed and just attack again.

Once this game is out of Early Access I'm sure it will be a lot of fun, but right now it barely even works, let alone works correctly.

(EDIT 2: New take below the original review. I still agree with a lot of what I said but I think the edit communicates my thoughts better.)

*New rating: 7.5/10 changed from Not Recommended to Recommended*
I would rate this game a 6/10.

Kingdom Come Deliverance is a great game, with lots of quests and little jobs to do. Not only does it look great but most parts of the game play great. But that's the thing: MOST parts of the game. This game would get a 9/10 or maybe even a 10/10 from me if it wasn't for one major mechanic: the combat.

The combat in Kingdom Come Deliverance has a nice amount of complexity and is rather intuitive at first glance, but as soon as you leave the miller's house and try to fight some real battles, it's 15-step insta-kills after 100% perfect block rates after 4v1s left right and center. I have 23 hours in this game at review time and AT LEAST 8 of those hours have been spent in the training grounds practicing combos, training with fake weapons, training with real weapons, and grinding out perfect blocks. Yet as soon as I stop training with a decorated soldier who has had more fights in his life than Henry has had meals and encounter a common thug who just picked up a sword 2 hours ago and is wearing nothing but a shirt and a glorified bucket, I get my ass handed to me on a silver platter in 20 seconds flat. I can't even do any of the combos everyone tells me about because he perfect blocks all of my attacks, even when I push him back and take a swing it either misses or he just PBs/dodges again. I've invested thousands of groschen I got from hunting into the best weapons and armor I could find or buy and I still get my ass beat by the most undergeared cut purses the country has to offer. I have spent so much time redoing quests and getting back so much progress I lost because some drunk fat old man with a rusty butter knife pulled the most elaborate full-proof combo out of his ass that I get insta-killed by because I had the audacity to miss a single PB. I'm honestly not sure if this is how the game is supposed to be or if I'm just getting really unlucky because everyone else keeps praising the combat or calling it too easy while I just get curb stomped every 5 minutes, and every combat mod I have found makes the combat harder or just makes attacking take no stamina, which really doesn't help me when I've already learned stamina management.

EDIT 1: I did find 2 mods that make the combat easier.
here: https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance/mods/811
and here: https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance/mods/1243
While I felt that these mods took down the difficulty too much it was better than getting pounded into the dirt. But the fact that I had to mod the game to make the combat playable doesn't make the rating for the base game any better.

I could honestly write a 8 page report on all the struggles I have had with the combat and all the situations I have been ♥♥♥♥♥♥ without a chance to fight back. But I'm sure everyone is tired of me whining by now, so I'll cut to the chase:

Kingdom Come Deliverance is an incredible game with lots of complexity, depth, thought, and lore in it that has heaps of reasons to play it again and again, but it's brought down (at least in my case) by its combat. Where it constantly gives out freebies to the AI, demands nothing less than perfection, and will occasionally ♥♥♥♥ you over even for doing things right. I really wish I could give the game a higher score, but I don't even get to enjoy the rest of the game because it forces me into unwinnable fights with bandit attacks and ambushes while I'm traveling or just minding my own business more than 100 feet away from a town or city.

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EDIT 2:
I've played around with the game some more and I think I have a better idea of what irks me so much about this game. Among other things the #1 problem with Kingdom Come Deliverance is the combat is designed for duels, but most fights are 1v2 or more.

I've noticed this myself as well as seeing other people talk about it, and I really think this is the source of my pain with this game. You aren't meant to be some god who can solo 6 dudes and save the world by himself, and I'm 100% ok with that. My problem isn't that I'm not the terminator, my problem is that the combat is meticulously built to make 1v2+ fights an uphill struggle that only the best players can survive, let alone win, and then the game throws them at you from every angle every chance it gets. I have learned to love 1v1 duels and I actually spend most of my time training with Bernard and fighting in the Rattay Tourney because it is genuinely fun now that I understand the game better (minus a thing or two, but I'll get to that in a second.) I do have other complaints about some combat mechanics, sure, but I really think that if the game used 1v2+'s more sparingly or made them more forgiving then I would like this game so so much more.

Though that isn't my only issue, even if it is the biggest by far. One thing I have learned to dislike is Master Strikes, and I don't think that is a very hot take given what I heard from others while trying to get good. In case you aren't sure what I'm talking about, the Master Strike is a mechanic that is meant to reward you for having tight timing, by giving you a free attack when you get a Perfect Block in the first few frames it's available. This mechanic isn't inherently bad, but sometimes when you use a MS it will cause you to forcefully reposition yourself into a bad spot, which can cost you your life if you were fighting 4 guys and accidentally put yourself in a corner because you used a MS. Although that is annoying, it is nowhere close to the greatest problem with the MS: some MS moves are so powerful that the can instantly kill lightly armored foes, and deal insane damage to heavily armored foes. You can't really choose what variant of the MS you will pull off, it depends on the weapons of you and your enemy, as well as what kind of attack they did, and there is a bit of RNG involved as well. So sometimes you will be in a fight and will abruptly insta-kill them without you trying to do that. This is a bit annoying, but isn't so bad on it's own though. The big issue comes from the fact that enemies can use the MS on you as well, and them pulling off a MS is entirely RNG based. This means that unless you wear full plate armor if you fight a high level opponent they have a decent chance to instantly kill you through no fault of your own, and even if you are in full plate you just lost a third of your health and are now bleeding out quickly. You had better hope you aren't fighting more than one dude; because escaping from multiple foes is damn near impossible in this game and you can't heal while in combat, you have to disengage before you are allowed to use items. There are mods you can use to get rid of the MS, and I have started using those, but I'm not going to give the base game a pass because it's issues can be fixed with mods. I have a few more small nitpicks, like in unarmed combat if you have someone against a wall and try to hit them you are more often than not going to cancel that hit into a clinch while still expending the stamina for that punch, but the big two are 1v2+ fights and Master Strikes. If those two things were fixed I honestly would give this game a 9.5/10 and it would most likely be one of my favorite games.

This is one of those times I REALLY wish Steam had a neutral option for reviews, because whether or not I recommend this game varies heavily based on who is asking. Kingdom Come Deliverance, to a certain degree in combat at least, seems to sacrifice user experience for realism. If you are fine with how brutal, and sometimes unfair, the game can be and want a more "realistic" experience of a 1400's soldier then I 100% recommend this game. Otherwise I cannot say you'll like this game, and would recommend you take your money and time somewhere else.

> TL;DR 8.5/10, Great game with a few weak points. Currently has a few minor bugs.

Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot (DBZK) is a game I have been anticipating since August of last year so I may be biased, take my review with a grain of salt.

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As I'm sure you know already, DBZK is an open world RPG game that puts more focus on the growth and adventure aspects of it's gameplay rather than the combat. That said it still puts quite a bit of thought into the fighting, seeing as this is a DBZ game after all.

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PROS:
-Well designed maps that while vast, don't feel empty.
-Lots of collectibles and side missions, most of which are optional but provide bonuses to players willing to take the time to explore the world and find these items.
-A combat system that isn't as complex as games like Xenoverse but isn't boring either.
-The art style is unique while still being very much Dragon Ball


CONS:
-The flight system in the overworlds is a bit cumbersome
-The non-story fights can get quite old, due to a lack of variety.


NITPICKS:
-Some character lines do get a bit annoying as they are repeated over and over again while trying to explore the overworld.
-At the very start of the game you have to VERY slowly escort Gohan around the forests near the Son family home, he also shuts down and starts to cry loudly if you go 5 feet away, while this only happens once it was really annoying and a bad first impression.
-At seemingly random intervals the game will experience heavy screen tearing, while this can be solved with VSync it isn't an issue I have had on this PC before and seems to be a DBZK problem.

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Downloadable Content:

DLC #1: A New Power Awakens
Underwhelming, and boring.
That is how I would describe this. It adds some training missions that let you skip the entire
game, a few extra skills, and 1 form.
From how good the base game was I expected so much more, but I was very let down
when I played it.

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Overall DBZK is a strong game that is a bit weak in some areas, The start to this Season Pass is really sad, but hopefully it will improve from here.

As of April 29th 2020 I give this game a 8.5/10

I had my doubts about these types of games at first, but Civ V is a very good game. If you are on the fence about buying this game I encourage buying it.

I rate the game a 6.5/10
DBX2 is a fairly fun game and I've found myself playing it for quite a few hours, so I decided I would write a review for it.
Since I'm not great at explaining things and stringing them together I'll write this in a bullet point format.

Pros:
-A decent combat system that takes some effort to get the hang of
-Interesting overworld with alot of areas to explore
-plenty of skills to learn and master
-They scrapped the mission from the first game where you had to be Ginyu and defend Krillin and Gohan
-Good Visuals
-QQBangs let me have the stats I want without looking like a colorblind clown

Cons:
-WAY too much text crawl from Elder Kai
-Supreme Kai of Time is still annoying
-While the combat system is good after a while it gets very boring unless you go out of your way to do it the hard way
-Relies WAY too heavily on RNG for getting good items/skills during PQs
-Online mode is ridden with cheaters that the Devs haven't tried to fix it (this may have changed in the last 2-3 months when I took a break from this game)
-Bulma will not stop announcing the HC no matter what you do. This cannot be fixed or changed. She will anounce it EVERY TIME you enter the overworld after finishing a quest. There is no relief from the HC, you shall suffer its wrath
-You cannot buy a Med Mix Capsule that you need to join Frieza's Army until after you join Frieza's Army. You have to go into PQs and try to find one, again with the RNG
-If you haven't already beaten most, if not all of the expert missions then good luck because NOBODY plays the low level expert missions anymore and your odds of beating them with a team full of COMs is next to none
-Defending Guru's house gets really old really fast
-If you don't have +5 all QQBangs you will get smashed by any compentent player that has one who isn't cheating in vs mode
-The game doesn't tell you about important stuff like soft caps and you have to go out of your way to learn these somewhere else

In the end, the core of the game is strong and effort was made. But the other side stuff that is supposed to hold the game up and keep it going after you get through the tutorials is really lacking or just nonsensical/annoying and keeps DBX2 from getting a high score in my book.

(P.S Modding the game brings it up to an 8.5, I would highly recommend looking into the XV2 Patcher.)

I have decided to redo my review because my last review was unprofessional as I was in a bad mood at the time of me writing it. I also haven't played this game for a while so these points may no longer stand.


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Overgrowth is an interesting and fun concept for a game, you need to use your navigation skills and environment to take out targets with different strengths and weaknesses that also use the environment to their advantage.

While this concept has potential the execution of this concept was lackluster in my opinion, as several things were either borderline useless while others were very difficult to do despite dozens of attempts. Case in point the air kick: The air kick in this game is not only very powerful and easy to preform, but it also had little to no drawback as long as you look where you dive and don't slam head first into a wall or fly off a cliff. Because of this there was little to no reason to use normal combat, and you could even beat the game using only this move (which I did).

As for the movement and navigation aspects of this game, while they are fun to use they sometimes felt more tedious to do than was necessary. For example in the ice level where you needed to wall jump to get across a chasm, despite my best efforts I couldn't get across that one wall jumping section despite doing the earlier parts fine, for the most part, and barely managed to pass it after a grueling 30 or so minutes of repeated attempts.

As for the story of the game, it's not a bad story and while it did feel like it was forcefully stretched out to me I can see why people disagree with me on it.

For the most part Overgrowth with some tweaking and improvements to its combat and movement has the potential to become a great game, but it suffers from unbalance and lack of meaningful content. If these things are fixed I will be happy to change my review.

It was boring, and everyone on my team wouldn't do anything other than try to get each other killed.

EXPLOSIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNSSS!!!

smooth 5 fps animation
(it won't let me animate them, so its all stop motion for me ;-;)