novembr

The story and characters are abysmal, a complete slap in the face to fans of the first game. The graphics and gameplay are decent, however. The only reason to play this dumpster fire is for the No Return game mode, so you can experience the highlights of the game and avoid the worst parts.

The gameplay is serviceable, if a big departure from the earlier games. The primary problem with the game is the many unlikeable, annoying characters, the amateurish writing, and outright terrible dialogue. And since the game crams in so much chatter, you'll be subjected to a lot of these cringe inducing character interactions.

Masterfully crafted game. Sure, it has some technical issues, but I give my take with the assumption these bugs will be ironed out (their hotfixes so far have already alleviated the issues somewhat, so they're obviously committed to fixing it). I'm not even a huge Souls fan, they tend to just stress me out, although I do respect the game design. However, ER does alleviate some of the more grating aspects of the Souls formula. You can take the game at your own pace, rather than being subjected to the relentless gauntlet that these games normally tend to be. It's still very difficult in places, however, but the challenges are always surmountable.

Runs very well on PS4. Only seems to have a hiccup in performance when zooming in/out as it adjusts detail levels. Controls are as good as it can get for a controller, I suppose. I have no problems building and finding everything. A few elements are oddly place in the menus, but overall no big deal once you get the hang of it. It's a great game, even without mods.

Honestly, the gameplay itself is pretty good. The swing mechanics take some getting used to, but overall are very good and feel natural. The graphics are decent, for Switch anyway, fps takes a dip in handheld but doesn't affect the game in a way where it should hinder your performance in-game very much. They removed crowds and reduce things like trees to improve performance, but foliage-heavy courses really take a toll and will screw with your swing timing...they need to adjust this as they did with trees and other objects. But overall they did a decent job but hopefully they can tune it up a bit with patches. The big problem, however, is that the MyCareer mode requires an online connection. This mostly just an inconvenience for PC/console, but is a big problem for Switch if you are thinking of playing handheld away from home. Just a really terrible decision that I'm sure 2K forced upon HB Studios. Also they got rid of offline societies for some ridiculous reason. Regular societies still need an online connection but at least that makes sense. You can still play offline, one-off matches by yourself or with friends locally, but that's about it unless you get online. Unless they remove the online requirement for Career mode and/or add back in offline societies (HB ARE YOU LISTENING???), this has almost no value for offline play. A real shame. Not a good sign for the future with 2K in charge of HB Studios now. At least the microtransactions are **** now. I give the gameplay a solid 8. The package as a whole, however, I'd give a 7 with the online restrictions, and a flat 5 for Switch since the offline really stings for a portable machine. If they fix these things I'd boost this up to the 8 that it deserves to be. *Final edit: For some reason I just can't get a good swing from the Pro controller. No matter how hard or how often I try. I have this for PS4 and know how to make a good swing. The joycons seem to work fine, however. My guess is they can't find a control scheme that works for both the joycons and more standard controllers like the Pro, or can't dynamically change between the two. Whatever the reason, it's not ideal, but my recommendation is to stick with only the joycons and you'll be able to find a bit of consistency. Final final Edit: Latest update makes even the joycons unplayable. I get the same two results on the swing meter no matter what I do, neither in the center... not once in hundreds of tries. Calibration does nothing. Uninstalling and giving up on this game. Stay away. Buy on one of the other platforms.

So this game is pretty great, to just get to the point. Think turn-based Mount & Blade with a bit of fantasy thrown in (but not much). It's a pretty brutal game, too, though it has varying difficulty settings (it'll still kick you in the ass regardless). There's plenty of reviews for this game for PC so I'll just go over the issues the Switch version has: - The control scheme isn't the best in some parts of the game, namely combat, but for a turn-based game it isn't a dealbreaker. Still, some improvements could be made. - There's a nice option to turn off/on tool tips, but I'd love it if when activating it would immediately display the tooltip for whatever my cursor is on (it does this for "highlighted" UI elements, but not for the cursor). Right now I have to move the cursor off and then back on to see the tool tip for whatever element I need info for, unless I leave it on all the time, which is undesirable since the tool tip windows get in the way other things on screen. Not a huge deal but really annoying. Not so much problems, but a personal wishlist: - I'd prefer an option to scale the UI and text (the PC version has this), but I think every Switch game should have that. - Lack of in-game achievements. Yes this is primarily a problem with Nintendo refusing to implement a trophy system, but it's nice when devs pick up that slack. The price on Switch for the full package is fairly steep for a 2D indie title, but also no different than its PC counterpart, so there's no "Switch tax" here, at least. I'd say if you're a fan of the genre, however, the price is worth it. Honestly if these issues get ironed out I'd bump this up to a straight 10. Update: Pathfinding and map fps/stutter problem has been alleviated in recent patches (1.5). Score bump.

It's an okay game. It has similar gameplay and campaign structure (and similar problems) as Mordheim, so if you liked that one, you'll probably like this one. But the game has a lack of variety in mission types, released with too few gangs and features, and way too many bugs and A.I. problems, and the half-baked Story mode is basically a glorified tutorial. Some of these problems have been alleviated somewhat, but it still needs more work. However, the maps themselves are well designed and look the part, same for the gangs. And the gameplay loop, however shallow it might be, can still be fun for what it is. A significant design change from Mordheim, however, is that there are no more "hidden" units. The game shows you the movements/positions of all enemy gang members. This is closer to how the tabletop games work, but some may not prefer the change. I'm indifferent, personally, though giving the option to speed up the A.I. turns is necessary. The biggest issue for me, aside from bugs and A.I. jankiness, is the INSANE movement allowances for the units. And they still haven't adjusted this, last I played. Units can practically traverse half the map (maybe more) in one turn. And the devs seem to think this is perfectly fine? Unreal. Anyone can go anywhere, it trivializes strategic positioning, and you only have to worry about enemies in overwatch, maybe traps, which I'm not even sure if the A.I. utilizes....probably not. Hopefully they'll gain some sense and fix this huge issue.

Not perfect, but a solid game. Many difficulty options: make it a nice easy relaxing game, or hardcore sim with no player aids. It's up to you. People are whining about the change to tempo, but the changes are for the better. Backswing is now fore adjusting the power of your shot, downswing has a speed setting, so you have to get it right, and it is sensitive to your input. So there is no "tempo" mechanic at all as it existed in TGC19. Putting is more sensitive to your input, as well, and as a result it's more tricky...again, people will cry about it. Visuals didn't take a big leap, but it is a smoother experience than before. Grids are larger and easier to read. So, graphics are serviceable but don't expect anything revolutionary here. They get the job done and really **** you need cutting edge graphics in a golf game? Please, quiet now, stop complaining. The big problems are the new career mode needing an online connection. Why? WHY? I know 2K is behind this. Maybe to push mtx, to keep people from hacking items or cash (even though mtx's are very tame in this game, thank goodness)? I have no clue. Also, solo societies are gone. Again, WHY? Nothing to replace it, either. So essentially this game has very little offline content. Online local matches, solo or mp. That's something, I guess. If they had they had Career mode not require a connection and kept the solo societies, I'd say this game deserves an 8, or even a 9. As such, I give it a 7.

Probably the best fishing sim out right now. The only other good option is Fishing Planet, but personally I find its controls, UI and monetization system to be unbearable. Bear in mind this is not a hardcore sim, and adopts many "arcade-like" qualities along with its simulation elements. FSW has excellent fish AI (fish traverse the lake following food sources, temperature affects behavior, etc.) and good controls, but it's lacking in other ways: lure action mechanics are a good idea but inconsistent and finicky for some methods, and so are the different ways the game handles tackle/fish interactions, such as smaller fish breaking heavy duty line, fish taking lures they normally wouldn't irl, etc. Also, some lazy modeling: fish look great but they use same model for different species occasionally. DLC is way overpriced for what you get, they need to keep the lakes at the $6-8 range, imo. Big (free) update coming in July 2019 that will add a lot of stuff, and maybe some technical issues will be fixed, as well. Pro Tour Update: So after the big update the game is a much better experience overall. Fish behavior has been tweaked for the better, though sometimes it does take a bit too long to land some fish, particularly regarding smaller specimens. PS4 performance is overall smoother. The added career mode is fun and fits into the game well enough, it will give you something to do in the game even if the devs move on--unlike Fishing Planet, where if the servers ever shut down, you'll be left with absolutely nothing. The UI has changed, and not really for the better imo, but this is a minor nitpick. The store has been merged with the inventory management, which was unnecessary and makes picking out lures tedious unless you own everything, since both owned and not-owned lures co-mingle in the menu--an "owned" filter to sort them would be nice. Lure action system is more responsive, I feel, and more quickly recognizes what type of retrieval you're using. 3 new bass lakes have been added for free, and there are named boss fish for all bass lakes. Good stuff.

While it doesn't try to innovate quite as much as, say, the Persona series, this is a classically-styled JRPG that is highly polished and expertly refined in nearly every way. While Square's Final Fantasy efforts the past decade or so have been mostly overly designed, bloated efforts that attempt to reinvent the wheel, DQ stays true to its roots while honing the edges of a tried and true formula. It won't convert anyone who cannot stand to play JRPGs, but will surely win the hearts of those who are accepting of the strengths and weaknesses of the genre. The story, as usual, is similar to past titles (FF does this too), but the characters, dialogue, and voice acting are all top notch. The English dub is superb. The music leaves a bit to be desired, however. Though the tracks are well done (especially the Switch orchestral versions), they repeat constantly and often don't fit the tone of the the scripted scenes. There should have been more variety for a game of this caliber. Balancing is fair, in normal mode, and compared to many other JRPGs, you won't find yourself needing to grind endlessly throughout the quest. The Switch version looks nice, given its capacity, and suffers from very few technical hitches, in my experience. Audio sounds great and not compressed to hell. Overall, an impressive port.

A respectable action arcade-style arena hack-n-slash sort of game. Very fun, for what it is. Appropriately priced for what you're getting. If this gameplay was implemented into a fully fledged game...holy crap, it could potentially be pure indie gold, up there with the best. Maybe in a sequel? One can only hope.

Honestly, this one is much better than I expected. I've started playing after its many updates, so perhaps the middling reviews were due to its state at launch, but the game currently is very good, imo. Its simpler presentation allows for more options in gameplay than in the current XCOM games, e.g. more status affects, classes, soldier upgrade options, equipment, etc. It melds FTL stage progression with XCOM style tactical battles. The battles tend to be faster paced than XCOM, or at least until the missions start getting harder, and they can get pretty tough. Oh, and the AI is no slouch. It's rough around the edges in some aspects, but none of it so bad that it ruins the experience. The plot is merely serviceable, from what I've seen so far, and the dialogue can be kinda bad, but the setting is unique. Personally I enjoy its graphical presentation, but many will be spoiled by the XCOM games. Being a top-down horizontal view means there is no vertical movement, or at least the illusion of one, so there is no tactical nuance from multiple heights, but everything else is faithfully recreated from the XCOM style. The music is pretty good, some tracks are better than others but overall it's a solid effort. The game would benefit with more varied events and map node types, and more varied mission types/goals. As for actual gripes, there's a few things that are annoying. Switching between characters is a little sluggish, oddly; and you cannot switch between characters after movement but before using the 2nd action, which limits coordinating your troops. Also, you can't vault over half-cover, so all cover is a barrier for movement. Turn order is hard to gauge outside of active combat, since enemies don't seem to move at all within the levels, so there's no "Enemy Activity" stage until combat starts. I'd like to see patrolling enemies, personally. And although the UI is good, it would be nice to be able to resize it as some elements are bigger than they need to be especially in docked mode. And little things like extinguishing yourself when on fire being an action that triggers an enemy overwatch shot. I'd personally call this one a hidden gem. They've added quite a bit since launch, and I really hope to see more, as a game like this benefits from as much variety as possible to make up for elements that it lacks. It's not quite as refined as XCOM, but definitely worth the base price, and a studio to keep an eye on, especially if they continue to support this game. With some improvements and additions I'd definitely raise the score. If you like tactical turn based games, don't need a gripping narrative to guide you along, and don't mind the FTL style of map progression, it's a must buy.

Love the concept, but it just made me want something more refined. I normally don't mind pixel art style games, in fact I often love them. But this...this is way to basic, and the movement/animations feel sluggish. The high-res character art behind the incredibly chunky pixelated sprites at the character select screen practically taunts you with what the game could've been. If the devs made something higher res and smoother gameplay, it'd be a winner I think. A satisfying homage to Bushido Blade, rather than this half-baked effort. Hopefully they'll follow up with a sequel that has greater aspirations.

The game looks good and is very chill, decent enough for a console truck sim, but falls way short of the PC selections. Devs need to squash some bugs, but nothing game breaking that I've experienced so far. The world has a bit more character than the other games of this type, characters with dialogue and all that, and the seaside landscape is nice. The graphics are a bit more stylized and colorful, but not incredibly detailed, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. The realism and control details are fewer here, making it more "casual" to a degree, but this also isn't a bad thing, but they need more to back up the experience as a trade-off. There needs to be more variety and more challenge, though. More penalties for speeding, collisions, time limits, and things like that, more AI vehicles and other trucks on the road, more pedestrians, etc. Maybe even some random events to keep players on their toes, like car breakdowns/wrecks, etc. (this would be a unique addition that I'd love). Dynamic weather is a must. And of course some map expansion would be nice, since it is a bit too small for this type of game. I don't think anyone expects this to topple ETS/ATS, but with some tweaks and additions, it can be a respectable alternative for consoles, or at the very least not be laughed off the internet once it releases for PC, because as of right now ETA/ATS are so far ahead that TD in its current state has no chance to compete. Hopefully Soedesco can show people that they have what it takes to support their game, which their reputation up to this point hasn't been too good in that regard. I'll certainly raise my score if they do, since this game really has potential to carve out its own niche in the genre. Edit: I've raised my score a bit since Soedesco has come out and said they have acquired another developer for the game and are committed to future improvements and updates. Edit 2: Mid 2020 and they've barely done anything with the game. A few bug fixes and engine update, but brings with it just as many new bugs. Still no map expansion. It might still happen, and I hope it does, and to their credit they're still working on the game, but updates are too slow.

There's really no need to go into details. Most of you already get the gist. A few good aspects of the game are overshadowed by really terrible writing, characters and plot. If you were wondering what kind of game results from the writer/director sniffing his own farts so much and so often that he deprived oxygen to his brain and decides to make a hamfisted trainwreck of a sequel just to be the biggest edgelord on the hill, well....here you have it. Could've been a great sequel and a great series. Truly a shame. At least the first one will be remembered fondly. Oh, and look out for those wielding their political hammer, labeling anyone who doesn't like the game a bigot or a phobe. Real mature. I'm sure they all feel just as self righteous as the director of this game.

This game is an odd duck. Let's just say it like it is. It's janky, the voice acting is mostly atrocious, and the animations of these aliens pretending to be humans are downright baffling. ****'s still a fun game. It has a bit more interaction with the world than something like Farming Simulator. It does make you feel like you're actually living in the world (somewhere like Greenvale, though with less rain...right, Zach?) rather than a capitalist automaton who exists merely to operate the machines. Don't worry, if you die in FS, one of your clones in the farmhouse basement will replace you. Joking aside, this game is very rough around the edges. But it does somehow manage to bridge the gap between various similar games and genres. Farming Simulator + Harvest Moon + House Flipper. Though it does not execute any of these elements as good as each of those games on their own, the sum of these parts make for something fun, even if it often leaves you wanting those parts to be a little more fleshed out and expanded. And I actually find the characters quite entertaining, in a so-bad-it's-good kind of way. They don't have much to say, and there's really not much of a story that I've seen so far, so the social/romance side of the game is not incredibly deep, but it's there. Animals seem limited to cows and various fowl, and BEES. Also, cooking with recipes, true greenhouses you can enter into and grow individual crops in, stamina/hunger meter, fishing, and lots of other little things. As for the PS4 port, I've noticed a small bug here and there but nothing game breaking (so far). Performance is fine on the og PS4, a fairly stable framerate with occasional drops/stutters. Looks rather good, overall, but nothing special. So yeah, this is a better alternative to Farming Simulator than one of that game's clones who try too hard to be the same thing (on PS4 **** least FD feels different enough to be a worthy alternative. The console price is too high, though--currently $50, I'd wait for a ≥50% sale. Hopefully the devs will keep adding to it, and hopefully the PS4 port will continue to be supported alongside the PC version.

I've played my fair share of roguelikes, from the most bare bones ASCII offerings to the hybrids that hardly qualify for the name. Roguelikes are a very polarizing genre, only relatively recently gathering in popularity, and much of the concepts surrounding it are often misunderstood. On the other hand, there are plenty of "roguelike fundamentalists" that reject this new-found popularity, and even go so far as to reject any roguelike that adopts a graphical interface. I don't go so far as to reject graphical roguelikes, nor hybrids even. I think roguelikes are evolving in their own genre that, ironically, is not necessarily going to stay faithful to the original Rogue. And that's okay, because these games have a lot to offer the gaming community. The Pit is much more in the vein of a traditional roguelike than what some here point to. A fellow below recommends Dungeons of Dredmor over The Pit, though DoD has fewer hardcore roguelike elements, so maybe that's what he is advocating. Many people just don't like the extreme randomization. Well, maybe roguelikes aren't their cup of tea then. Most hardcore roguelikes have a strong sense of luck involved, but the best ones also have a strong element of decision-making strategy elements to maximize survival. Some games you'll get the items you want (and possibly still die due to monster spawns or traps) and other games you'll be strapped for food or ammo (and maybe even still manage a win due to excellent tactics). But this balance of extremes is what makes hardcore roguelikes so appealing to me and other fans of the genre. Winning a good roguelike feels like simultaneously winning both the lottery and a game of chess--few games offer such satisfaction. Is this game as intricate as Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup or Brogue? No, though it's close. I'd say it's likely the best graphical roguelike out right now (though I know the graphical ADOM is around the corner). Along with the expansions and the fact the game has a very modest price point for the amount of content, and I find very little to be dissatisfied with. Lots of playable characters give good variety, tons of recipes to discover (not a typical roguelike feature, but not unwelcome as far as I'm concerned), many skills to manage, lots of weapons, and monster variety was once meager but is now respectable. There are even difficulty settings, rather than the normal ONE difficulty hardcore roguelikes normally have: Hard as Hell--so I don't know where people get off complaining about difficulty. Even the gamepad support is well done and I've used it on a few **** many roguelikes have managed that. Anyway, if you don't have an insanely short attention span (golly, these turn based games sure are slow!!), enjoy a challenge, enjoy randomization and infinite replayability, don't mind getting screwed over by a game over and over again, and actually find yourself laughing at the rage reviews, then I definitely recommend The Pit.

I have a love/hate relationship with action-RPGs. When they're good, I love them, when they're not-so-good, there are fewer genres that I hate more. The formula for a good action-RPG isn't even that hard, to my preferences: give me plenty of progression choices, and make them interesting; make the combat fast and exciting, with ample diversity in attacks; and for christ's sakes have a somewhat passable and entertaining story. LOTR: War in the North provides none of these things in any significant way. To be blunt, I was bored within the first 15 minutes. This game truly feels like a 10 year old, cardboard cutout, cheap-development-to-make-a-quick-buck adventure game jazzed up with modern visuals. It's as if the developers hadn't played a learned from some of the better action-RPG titles of the past decade, namely the Diablo series, which should be the standard by which all other games of this genre should weigh themselves (not be clones, mind you). Hell, even more recent lackluster offerings are far more tolerable, such as Bedlam Games' Dungeons and Dragons: Daggerdale, and that game was a fraction of the price of this one. The only redeeming quality of WITN is you might have a slightly more pleasant experience if you are playing with friends in a multiplayer/co-op session. But even then I hesitate to make any implication that you won't be bored in this fashion, as well. Did any of the creators stop and ask themselves basic game-design questions...such as "Hasn't this been done before, but better?"..."Can we really solely rely on the fan base of this franchise to back up this **** the obvious "Is it really fun to mash a couple of buttons repeatedly and spend 5 minutes killing a measly pack of goblins, with little reward?" It's as if these groups are filled with oblivious yes-men types that just sing the praises of their own creation the whole way through, rather than being critical and trying to make the best game possible (just as some reviewers can never really bring themselves to say negative things about a game when it is necessary). Then they push out an inferior product with a huge price tag and try to ride of the coattails of the game's namesake, basically taking you for a fool. And then you'll write positive reviews about it on Metacritic trying to convince yourself that you didn't just waste your money on this game. I should clarify more thoroughly that all of my negative ranting is hinged on one rage-inducing factor about this game: it's price. D&D: Daggerdale (I make this comparison again because I think, realistically, these two games should be considered within the same quality scale) debuted at $15, I believe, and this game debuted at $50. WITN may be a bit lengthier, but it no way justified this price. And let's not forget Skyrim was only $10 more expensive than WITN. Let that sink in. As a single-player experience it is a complete mind-numbing chore. With friends, you can pass away a few afternoons having some fun, and it is tolerable (maybe with some beer in you, to help out). And if this game was say, $20 cheaper than its debut price, I probably wouldn't be so harsh. Wait for it to lower in price if you really must partake in this LOTR tale, because there are far better games you can be playing with those 50 dollars.