One of the most excellently polished games of all time. Fully engaging, aptly paced, and well thought out, this is one of the few games on Steam which led me to explore all of its content and all of its achievements. This is one of my very few 10/10s and I would highly recommend it to virtually everyone.
Solid, cute, and relaxing- but it requires a hefty time commitment and moves along at a snail pace. If you can get past that, I found this deeply rewarding as an experience to share with a friend. It's also extraordinarily beautiful, with excellent and consistent graphics and audio.
More than anything else, Age of Empires II HD (or "2013" these days) caters to nostalgia. The games core design principles come straight out of the era the original was released in, with all of the oddities and quality of life shortcomings foreign to more modern real time strategies. That being said, thanks to modern internet speeds and development practice, the game has been heavily patched to have even finer-tuned balance and smoother multiplayer than ever before (without heavy use of 3rd party tools). It is even compatible with some of the DLC releases. For those coming to Age of Empires II from outside the series, there are definitely quite a few low quality-of-life design elements which introduce a steep learning curve and tedious micromanagement tasks. But if you can look past it, the game's thriving community, extremely refined balance, and comprehensive mechanical unity make it a solid title. I can't fathom why this is marketed so heavily on the graphical overhauls, but I suppose that is a personal thing. I would definitely not consider the graphics of this game much revolutionized compared to the original. I much prefer the very archaic graphic style myself, so this doesn't bug me too much. If you are *really* looking for an aesthetic overhaul, the upcoming "definitive edition" of the game promises that. At the time of writing, it is hard to predict what the impact of AoE II: Definitive Edition will have on the playerbase, but it is booming and not troublesome to me at all. No matter the speedbumps, this game is showing no signs of fading away.
A very tedious chore with a lot of attention paid to a vacant story in a vast environment full of repeating, low quality assets. Maybe a good game about flying or otherwise swinging around in VR exists, but this isn't it.
A series of absolutely brilliant, well polished puzzles that are extremely fun to explore in an immersive environment. The nature of a seated VR experience is taken advantage of, with every tiny bit of the game feeling extremely smooth and polished. There was also very little negative possibility space; solutions to the escape rooms were vast and branching, with a vague linear structure that could be approached from a variety of angles. Lastly, the humorous part of the game sincerely brought me joy; which is extremely rare in video games nowadays, I find. I don’t know what causes so many developers to have such dry senses of humor and direction, but whatever it is, the team behind I Expect you to Die avoided it.
XCOM: Enemy Unknown fulfills a very specific niche with a very high production budget, but falls short in terms of mechanical and quality-of-life polishing. The game entails an extraordinary amount of downtime bundled up with arithmetic calculations on the RPG layer coupled with a plethora of lengthy, pointless animations; more than 50% of the experience is sitting back and watching the screen, worsened by the frequency the player must swap their attention between watching the individual unit animations execute and proceeding to issue new orders. This is worsened by the fact that for any given gameplay session, the frequency of meaningful decisions and risks is very low. The difficulty of the game does not scale well at all, scaling- for some reason- inversely with the player's performance. That is to say, if the game detects that you are doing well, it gets easier, whereas if you are struggling, it gets harder. This is especially frustrating due to the way the game recycles content; the main campaign can be "lost", which is especially cumbersome due to its immense length. I only ever played the game with the DLC "enemy within" so I cannot speak as to the quality of the base game. The game's storytelling leaves a lot to be desired. Whatever attempt this game makes at talking about transhumanism or whatnot falls entirely flat on its face. The aesthetic quality of the game is pleasant and refined, but it doesn't integrate with any sort of storytelling. For those interested in getting into the series for the first time, it would be a much better experience to play XCOM 2 twice instead of XCOM: Enemy Unknown once and XCOM 2 once. This games sequel practically resolves all of the issues with the original, save for the content recycling; and the quality of the content makes the recycling less aggravating.
XCOM 2 is not only a brilliant game in its own right, but also improves over XCOM 1 in every form- graphically, mechanically, and thematically. Sweeping quality of life changes, such as the ability to press the tab key to move to the next unit while the previous's animation is completing, make up for the games occasional trivial turn cycles. XCOM 2 is unique in that the campaign can be "lost"- and it is a very real threat on the "Veteran" difficulty, adding a degree of substance to decision making. Consequentially, due to the length of the campaign, the total amount of time I expect to spend with this game is wholly unpredictable. I have only played this with the "War of the Chosen" DLC, which I got on sale; so I cannot speak to the value of the base game. However, I can testify that the experience currently feels complete and engaging. There are a few things in XCOM 2 which don't quite work. "Lost" elements of missions do not work well with the tactical strategy genre compared to missions with fewer, more complex enemies. The exact mechanics of the grand strategy campaign are not immediately intuitive. Lastly, the maps which missions take place on are far bigger than they need to be, often making the game feel like a sort of walking chore. On the other hand, some things XCOM 2 did especially well make it a deeply engaging experience. The strategy layer's Avatar project provides a solid baseline for reading the general state of the player in terms of where the game expects you to be. On a tactical level, the idea that a mission's outcome is very analogue (with a wide range of outcomes based on the soldiers being wounded and killed), which negates the grind of easier missions; they can still be handled with care with meaningful incentives. Mission design is overall improved to be significantly more engaging with a wider variety of mission objectives, constraints, and challenges. Per-unit tactical options are greatly expanded on from the first game, yet do not feel overwhelming.
I was very engaged with this visual novel! The title should have warned me somewhat better about how horrific it was; and reading from the developers about the Joseon dynasty afterwards was super cool (the historical context answered a lot of the questions I had about the games theme, especially some of the burning ones that were at the core of the plot that I would have completely failed to have answered otherwise; I would recommend reading the short segment the author placed in the "bonus content" area at the end). The story's pacing was somewhat sporadic, and felt much more like a series of thought experiments and such than a cohesive plot. For me this was especially a problem because I had the attention span **** and couldn't remember the diverse cast of characters' names for the life of me. This is pretty overshadowed by the brilliant setting the story takes place in which is unlike anything I've ever seen before. While it's definitely not the most polished thing I've ever played, it will definitely stick with me for a long time to come, and I think I grew a little from the experience. Not a lot, granted, but pretty good considering the track record I have with reading.
NieR: Automata is a clunky and miserable experience. While I was barely captured by its graphical quality, everything else about the game is stitched together horrifically. Random, nonsensical game and RPG mechanics are strewn about wildly in the most frustrating and obtrusive way possible, never adding anything to the already braincell-killing core mechanical gameplay loop. Furthermore, once you get past the game's stunning beauty, it quickly degenerates into an ugly, meaningless story which tries very hard to be subtle/profound while rehashing absolutely dull ideas in a tasteless, brutish manner. I deeply regret spending as much time as I did on this game, mindlessly walking towards quest markers in a pseudo-open world and pressing the "X" button on my controller again, desperately waiting for the game to fulfill on a promise of becoming meaningful or engaging at any point. That point never came. Unless you like staring at the high budget low quality 3d models, this isn't worth your time.
A brilliantly engaging puzzle game with a very neat mechanism for preventing frustration. Because the puzzles in of themselves were very simple and easy to solve, I never found myself getting stuck. However, because solutions were "scored" by a variety of metrics, I always felt very motivated and rewarded to try to solve them in ways which minimized time, cost, and space. The game pretty fairly explores the general style of problem solving, which is pushed in different, unique ways by some of the developer's other titles. The story was forgettable and the aesthetic bored me. There was a certain satisfying element to watching solutions, but the game certainly could have borne a prettier, more ergonomic, and more useful user interface. I don't feel compelled to come back to this game to improve my scores or explore user generated content; I enjoyed the journey but the whole game seems pretty monotonous to me now.
I don't like Tetris, but Puyo Puyo is a classic. This game scratched an itch for me and did a nice and polished job of it at that. I don't expect to play this a ton, but it is nice to know that I can relax with a sort of puzzler that nicely adapts to however intense I am feeling; puyo puyo can stretch to encompass a ton of different skill and energy levels. There is not much to expect out of this game, but it is likely the best execution possible of a relatively simple concept.
This game is a ton of fun, providing a lot of creative freedom for something that advertises itself as a puzzle game. I felt a ton of autonomy in the design of my factories, so each puzzle felt like a unique individual experience as I learned the mechanisms by which to best optimize my own solutions. That being said, the game suffers pretty severely from being a three-dimensional game; I feel as if the extent to which altitude comes into any sort of meaningful consideration in the game is pretty low, yet it adds a lot of menial clicking around to incorporate into solution designs. In that respect, this game is definitely a super slow burner; very little time is spent "designing" compared to the very high amount of time required for "implementation". This in itself isn't terrible if there is a degree of fun or pleasure in the implementation process, but for me it was not a core appeal. The setting is mildly depressing and the soundtrack is not especially commendable, but the game is easy on the eyes nevertheless. It feels well rounded all things considered. Overall, I had a lot of fun with Infinifactory, more than enough to make up for the times it tested my patience.
Sonic Mania was extremely fun, well paced, and cohesive. It relied very heavily on nostalgia to deliver a rewarding experience, yet at the same time it did not neglect the core gameplay appeal. It's a very mindless, fast-paced sort of entertainment which left me with very satisfied. Beyond that, the game didn't deliver anything groundbreaking or extraordinary, instead working on polishing a very old model of game design. So it's limited a lot in that respect, which felt a bit like a shame. Nevertheless, this was probably one of the best "Sonic"-branded experiences which it is possible to create.
Transistor was a super pretty game with a very distinct and fancy visual style, which for me was the main appeal of the game. The storyline, while very deep and complex, failed to grasp my attention. There was also hardly any integration of story and gameplay mechanics, to the point where it felt like I was jumping back and forth between playing a video game and reading a book/watching a movie. For a game which tried so hard to be so beautiful, I was especially irked like this. In terms of the gameplay mechanics, Transistor was very cohesive and well spread over the course of the game. By its conclusion, I felt like I had fully explored the implications of all of the game's tactical and strategic framework, which was a very satisfying and fulfilling experience. It is worth noting though that there is a very high amount of time investment in listening, looking, and reading, so the pacing of the game is very slow.
Dwarf Fortress is a really artistic, creative, and fascinating experience which played an imperative part in the shaping of my taste in media over the course of my childhood. It taught me to have a very mindful relationship of the relationship between graphics and creativity. It excited the imagination phenomenally and continuously promised a wonderful and intricate fantasy world. From a purely mechanical perspective, Dwarf Fortress is extremely detailed, which leads to a fair bit of complexity and a steep learning curve. The game is not especially inaccessible, though, because one of the main features of the game is that it makes losing a fun, enjoyable, and rewarding experience. This notion of losing being "fun" is one of the central tenants of the game's design, and being exposed to this kind of mindset is a radically interesting domain to consider, especially since it is so often missing from nearly all other interactive media. The mechanical complexity and elegance of the general descent into losing Dwarf Fortress feels like a critical design component which belongs in every game. Aesthetically, Dwarf Fortress has a very unique style; its primitive graphics are made into a sort of art form, and the mechanical density and huge flurries of activities on the screen create a sort of hypnotic experience. The game has very detailed and fun bits of flavor scattered about its randomly generated narratives as well. Dwarf Fortress is one of the best video games of all time for many unconventional reasons, and I would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat.
Dead Cells is a fun and fast paced fighter/platformer which, while very satisfying to play, quickly grows repetitive and tiresome. The game recycles the same content repeatedly, and due to the very straightforward nature of the game, this repetition detracts from the value instead of adding to it. One of the ways Dead Cells tries to cover this up is through the incorporation of a sprawling unlock system; unfortunately, most of the unlocks don't add anything interesting to the game, especially since the in-run looting and progression is so mindless and bland. Item design and progression being weak force Dead Cells to rely on really one main thing to sustain attention, but this is something that it does extremely well: The dexterity element. Over the course of gameplay, Dead Cells regularly supplies the player with a string of dexterity-related challenges which are very satisfying and don't have too much down-time between them. This takes a fair bit longer than the rest of the game to get old, although it inevitably does as practice makes the fights progressively more mindless. Overall, Dead Cells can be fun for a few hours, but it isn't worth paying an especially high amount of attention to at the end of the day.
A really cute and wholesome adventure game with a pretty funny and pleasant style. The game mainly suffers from an incredibly high amount of down-time, walking, and etcetera, making playing through it an immense chore, but the parts of the game which are well fleshed out can make up for it in several respects. The sense of humor is fairly inaccessible, and although there's a lot of silly and fun bits it quickly grows repetitive. Overall, unless the general premise of Undertale is something which you feel especially invested in, there are probably better uses of time available.
Outdated and bland. While this may have at one time presented new and interesting ideas, they are not at all engaging or fantastic from a modern perspective. Coupling this with poorly executed mechanics, frustrating tedium, and an uninteresting world, Ocarina of Time is best passed up for future games in the series or even for other games entirely.
A marvelously beautiful and extremely creative game which has lots of artistic merit even in a modern context. The game is stylistically and atmospherically exquisite, and packs a surprising amount of emotion and magic into the limited technology (and expectations!) available at the time. Even more surprising is how reasonably well the entertainment value of the mechanical execution has aged. Unfortunately, the pacing of the game is quite a bit drawn out, especially by modern standards, so playing it can be tedious or even a chore at times. Nevertheless, Majora's Mask is a fulfilling and rewarding experience which will remain relevant for many more years to come.
A charming, structured adventure. Takes a very formulaic approach to gameplay, but it is executed very well. Graphically, the game has a very weird and fun style with a great diversity of environments. Otherwise, the game is mechanically mediocre.
A cute and simple strategy game which presents a variety of intriguing challenges alongside a fun learning curve. Advance Wars is especially notable for its unique "round table" multiplayer which is executed very well, especially for friendly and informal groups. Advance wars is a little bit slow-paced and built around some very old, tired grid-strategy game-design principles, but it is still fun nevertheless.
An absolutely stunning, breathtaking masterpiece, which may very well be the most beautiful game I've ever played. The entire game is gorgeous, scenic, and atmospheric to a near-magical level. From a mechanical perspective, Breath of the Wild is very fun and satisfying, with a very easy learning curve and low skill cap. As such, the game is accessible to a large audience. Breath of the Wild doesn't have a quantifiable difficulty due to its RPG elements, so the challenge distribution and pacing is arbitrary. The entire experience comes together to provide one of the most whimsical, amazing adventures possible. Despite some obtrusive storytelling, Breath of the Wild remains one of the greatest games of all time.
A very low quality fighter which doesn't have any level of strategic depth and very quickly falls apart from a tactical perspective. Learning the necessary dexterity to play the game is a boring chore. The game also looks very gross and ugly, with nothing interesting whatsoever beside the simple gore-y appeal factor. Avoid if possible.
Dungeon of the endless is a cute and smart dungeon crawler which uses procedural generation much more effectively than usual in video games. The game has a very unique combination of mechanics, which makes the game provide a very distinct experience compared to other dungeon crawlers. Unfortunately, the game relies upon a lot of annoying number crunching, especially regarding the "player heros", which makes critical strategic decision making a chore often times. The game makes up for this in the cute risks and implications of the plethora of ways the player can manage the accumulation and spending of the three major resources. Graphically the game is beautiful, but I wasn't a big fan of the sort of comedic and crude character designs. The games system of expansion content is confusing and bloated, sometimes even adding some uncomfortable advertising/promotional content which it could very well do without. Overall, Dungeon of the Endless is a satisfying experience, but it is not fantastic.
I really, really want to love We Know the Devil, but as it stands it takes some excellent ideas and executes them poorly. It's worth picking up, especially if you have a personal investment in some of the themes regarding social interaction and group dynamics which it discusses, but it doesn't raise any especially interesting questions that aren't better handled by other fiction. I at least hope that We Know the Devil can be a stepping stone and an inspiration for some to dig deeper into important questions for themselves, so I guess that in of itself has merit. If you're interested solely in entertainment value, and don't have a particular reason for exploring this abstract sort of horror, there are probably more appropriate options available.
Mediocre and plain. The game suffers from an improperly allocated development time and resources, leading to a disjointed and uninteresting plot. The story still has a lot of cute and entertaining elements to it, but it is hard to get invested in it. Fault - Milestone One could perhaps have been an engaging experience had considerably more attention been paid to writing quality and pacing; I would have enjoyed it much more as a 30 minute or less short story.
Shovelware marketed on a series of buzzwords with no content or development to back it up. Even setting aside the near total absence of content, the basic structure and appeal of the game could only lead to a design philosophy encouraging lots of tedious micromanagement, repetitive tasks, and lack of decision making. From an aesthetic point of view the game is very crude, gross and bloated. Avoid if possible.
Tales of Maj'Eyal is tedious, repetitive, clunky, and bloated as a game, feeling as if it is barely held together by sloppy stitches. It is also visually an atrocity with an average plot. However, it makes up for this by presenting an enormous amount of long term strategic content and options to players, allowing for serious sessions of pondering and theorizing about optimization, values, and synergies. Overall, Tales of Maj'Eyal can be a magical experience at times, but all of its appeal is encompassed by the long term strategizing and not the short term tactical rewards.
A cute and comical party game with an easy learning curve and moderate skill cap. The game is fluent, minimizing downtime as much as is possible for a title where player-elimination is a core mechanic. Overall though, SpeedRunners remains a simple party game which doesn't leave any memorable impression.
Risk of Rain takes a gritty aesthetic and a distinctly creative approach to creating an action game. It was developed according to a cohesive design and balancing philosophy which, while difficult to figure out at first, leads to a very distinct and interesting experience. The way the game is paced is innovative, rewarding the player for increasing their speed, but at the same time this feels somewhat like a brute force solution to better, more fluent level and difficulty design. The game has a very steep learning curve and moderate skill cap which should be able to engage a wide audience of player skill levels and attention spans. It is worth noting that the game tries to extend its "length" far beyond reasonable by creating a long and convoluted unlockable tree which doesn't change or enhance the gameplay very much, mainly existing as a series of shiny virtual items to keep players repeating the mostly-identical levels over and over again.
Magicite is a short and sweet RPG with limited repeatability value. It advertises itself as much more of a detailed and enthralling experience than it actually is, but overall it is mechanically sound and controls like a breeze. The way the RPG elements are integrated into the game is innovative and exciting, and it is somewhat of a shame that future titles did not follow Magicite's lead. Magicite has a moderate learning curve and low skill cap. The game has a consistent aesthetic which is pleasant when taken in short doses, but does not carry a long lasting appeal. The exception to this, of course, is the soundtrack, which is extremely above average and memorable.
A cute and fun shooter-platformer which is in practically every way an improvement upon the works it is derived upon. The game can start to get a bit tedious as it starts to try to recycle nearly identical content under the pretense that some random elements make it fresh, but nevertheless the quality of the content itself is reasonable. It's not worth playing all the way through or in great detail to become especially skilled or "unlock" the features of the game, but it can be a good timekiller and provide some exfiltrating experiences on occasion.
Age of Mythology: "Extended Edition" is a shameless, buggy cash-in on the original which brings no merit other than a multiplayer accessible to a slightly broader audience; nevertheless, the game-play experience is roughly the same, and can be described as follows: A cute, fun, and whimsical real time strategy which is one of the best-paced to date. The theme of the game, which is a bland masculine depiction of ancient culture and war, does not become too overbearing thanks to its cute and silly execution. Unfortunately, the arbitrary and slipshod balancing causes the game to deteriorate in complexity among high-skill match-ups, but playing the game in a multiplayer context is still a lot of fun anyway.
A cute, fun, and whimsical real time strategy which is one of the best-paced to date. The theme of the game, which is a bland masculine depiction of ancient culture and war, does not become too overbearing thanks to its cute and silly execution. Unfortunately, the arbitrary and slipshod balancing causes the game to deteriorate in complexity among high-skill match-ups, but playing the game in a multiplayer context is still a lot of fun anyway.
A fun and creative take on a real time strategy game focused on tactical combat exclusively and not resource management or building. The single player "4X" campaign is crude, tacked on, and arbitrarily balanced, but nevertheless remains fun and satisfying. The heart of the game comes from the combat encounters which are very beautifully and expertly rendered from a graphical perspective. The audio quality is not bad, but the audio design of the game isn't really a selling point. Thematically, Rome II is very bland and boring, presenting an uninteresting and romanticized version of warfare in an ancient sense. The game has a moderate learning curve and a high skill cap, fostering the components necessary for competitive appeal. However, this is overridden by arbitrary balancing and a "unit value" system which couldn't hope to do justice to the complex interactions between armies and factions. The main frustrating element of Rome II is its cumbersome, overbearing, and obtrusive business model; the value of this game should be evaluated accounting for the sum price of all expansions and addons.
Dark Souls is a deliberately clunky and frustrating fighting game. It is mostly linear aside from a few branches and tangents, so the player is usually provided with a clear sense of direction from the game's start to finish. The aesthetic of the game is very dark, gritty, and ugly; while this is sufficient to make an artistic point which is at the core of Dark Souls's appeal, the game's egregious length makes this a touch overbearing. The main issue with Dark Souls is how its un-intuitive, poorly organized stats and progression are so lazily thrown together so as to be nigh incoherent. Keeping track of which stats correspond to what on items is tedious and pointless, coupled with the arbitrary and frustrating of repairs and upgrades. All manner of mechanics like this make Dark Souls feel like a bad RPG not artfully difficult. Overall, Dark Souls presents an interesting artistic concept executed in a mediocre fashion.
A beautiful and atmospheric platformer. From a graphical and audio point of view, Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is of masterful quality. The gameplay is also satisfying to execute within the carefully crafted environments. The fragments of story scattered throughout the game are thought-provoking, but also disjointed and occasionally obtrusive. The main issues with Momodora come from pacing issues derived from backtracking. Momodora also doesn't present any exhilarating or memorable experiences. Overall, however, Momodora adheres to a picturesque model of what a modern platformer should be.
A mind-numbing beat-em-up over-saturated with aggressive, addiction-cultivating mechanics to the point of absurdity. The game relies heavily on social elements and can be a cute way to interact with distant friends, but this is about the extent of the games appeal and even it is abused to squeeze as notable a player count as possible using underhanded social-advertising driven tactics. The game tries to be pleasant aesthetically but ends up looking rather bloated and cluttered. The extended and convoluted plot is bland, slow, and frustrating, with characters it is nearly impossible to become invested in. Avoid FFXIV if possible.
Warframe has a lot of interesting and creative shooter-gameplay mechanics which are spoiled by a vicious business model for long term progression. The fundamental design of the game revolves around abusing addiction and heavy time sinks, which is an especially dangerous combination for vulnerable populations. One of the consequences of this model is that the core appeal of the game switches gradually away from the experience quality towards virtual currencies and items, reducing the time spent in-game down to mindless repetition. Warframe can still be a satisfying and beautiful experience if played responsibly and in moderation. However, by merit of the existence of better, less predatory shooters, it is best passed up. This should be avoided at all costs by people with addiction-prone personalities.
A fun, fast paced and casual stealth game which is unique in the wide variety of opportunities provided for the player to take a creative approach to problem solving. The learning curve of the game can take some time, punishing players who remain in easier mission comfort zones and restricting their access to some of the more intricate parts of the game. After getting a feel for what the significance of each "assignment" means, the game starts to pick up and it becomes more engaging to search for more creative solutions to problems. The game was considerably improved by its October update, patching up a lot of the more menial parts of the game to increase the variety by a lot, dramatically improving the games possibilities and long term appeal.
FTL can be a very gripping experience which teaches players how to best optimize their available resources in the most synergistic way possible. Doing so successfully and efficiently proves to be a fun challenge which is very satisfying to pursue. Unfortunately, the game can quickly turn into a very mechanical process as decision making becomes either negligible or automatic for players who are more familiar with the game's dynamic. The game has a pleasant aesthetic and a modular narrative which is well written, but not particularly deep or memorable. Overall, FTL can vacillate between being a relaxing and stressful experience, depending on the mood of the player.
Freedom Planet is exactly what it is advertised, that is to say, a better action plat former than Sonic the Hedgehog. Visually and in terms of the narrative, it's really cute and easy on the art. It has reasonable voice acting and great music. All coming together to make a comely experience. Freedom Planet delivers exactly what it promises making for a simple game experience of an exceptionally refined quality.
Desktop Dungeons is constructed upon a brilliant, short puzzle based dungeon crawler. The mechanics are very tight, managing to avoid the loose and arbitrary balancing of other dungeon crawlers. However, this sort of puzzle captures less long term attention than I would have originally expected. Furthermore, the persistence and grinding added to the game by the long term "campaign" is very obstructive and frustrating. There are also a lot of mechanics which just don't feel like they were very well thought out in terms of their overall contribution to the experience. Lastly, the game tiles are very ugly. Overall, Desktop Dungeons is a sort of annoying time and money sink which won't provide very much gratification. It is worth noting that a reduced, free version of the game is available online.
A gripping masterpiece of a visual novel which remains my favorite to-date. The production quality is extremely impressive, with full professional voice acting and otherwise exquisite sound design coupled with excellent visuals. The atmosphere is very masterfully controlled throughout the story, and there is plenty of opportunity for meaningful reader reflection. Stein's;Gate is, ironically, very linear, and does not read much like interactive fiction, but is nevertheless a worthwhile commitment. Furthermore, the time cost can be considerable, especially since there are a lot of details covered in somewhat excessive detail. It is worth noting that Steins;Gate has a sort of blunt approach **** issues, which is fairly uncomfortable, but not extreme.
A very well designed strategy game which is especially fascinating for its creative approach to time-based simultaneous strategy. It is a pioneer in its style of gameplay, with very few similar titles appearing ever since the release of Mode7's first entry in the series. Individual matches present very unique challenges which fully engage player attention and require lots of complex decision making. These matches are strengthened by their variety, as the game is designed in such a way as for the randomly generated scenarios to have a considerable impact on the sort of problem solving necessary for the scene. The way the strategies of the game are learned is also extremely individualized, allowing personal value systems in general strategic philosophy to be just as valid as others, such that many unique and creative approaches can be taken to the game. The game launched with a very strong multiplayer community, and the very robust asynchronous multiplayer system was my personal main attraction to the game. Frozen Synapse 2 can be played on very unconventional schedules due to this element, making it a perfect opportunity to have in depth and meaningful multiplayer experiences when time otherwise might not permit. Furthermore, the multiplayer queuing system and available gameplay modes provide a very solid entry mechanism to multiplayer matches, requiring little effort on the part of the user. In strict comparison to its predecessor, Frozen Synapse 2 has a considerably improved quality of life in terms of a streamlined UI and more meaningful controls. Additionally, greater unit variety and enhanced terrain generation allow for vastly more challenges in strategic thinking, as opposed to the original where matches tended to be more consistent and similar to each other. As Frozen Synapse often times comes down to very precise moments, a few basic mechanics such as the targeting diamond, move-while-fire, and simultaneous kills reduce a lot of the strain of trying to perfect minutia on a tiny scale. Overall, Frozen Synapse 2 is an incredibly fun experience which delivers a unique style of gameplay which is very successful at creating an engaging strategic experience.
