Recent reviews by NF_Gaming

A friend of mine gifted me this game.

Truly amazing, well worth the 10 bucks or so on sale.
If you love "escape room" games, this is definitely what you're looking for!
The mechanics work nicely, there are icons (that you can disable) showing you if an item is a hint/"container"/"key" and not just a random prop, and I like the little tokens that encourage you to explore the entire room. If you are confused and can't find your way (happens sometimes, the game is more than awesome but isn't entirely perfect either) there is a Help/Hint button available.

There are 4 themed "room packs" with 5 rooms each, plus 6 Extra/Bonus rooms, so 26 in total (not counting the Tutorial room).
Then there are the free collab DLCs, one room each, with none other than Portal, Among Us, PowerWash Simulator, and The Talos Principle!
If that's not enough "official" rooms for you, there are 5 paid DLCs (not needed for 100% achievements).

Also, character customization. :D

Still want more? With community rooms, the amount of playable rooms is virtually infinite! If you don't know where to start, the developers pick and showcase the best community rooms for you! You can also build your own room(s) if you feel like it. The room builder is really powerful, you can make a whole house with it, and if the props from all the themes (including paid DLCs even if you don't own them) isn't enough, you can also import your own models!

There is also a co-op mode (they even added Versus mode if that's more your style), unfortunately not split-screen so both players need to own the game. I only tried it a little bit, I think it was nice but would be nicer with VC (I only used text chat with an online friend).

And did I mention they added VR integration for free?

[Received for free: I won this game on [url=https://www.steamgifts.com]Steamgifts[/url], a third-party website for giveaways of Steam games.]

I just finished the game (14 hours), the ending was very touching. Really glad I got this. The "main game" is a cute, peaceful 'tile-merging' puzzle game, with soothing music... and occasional disruptions in the form of animals coming on the puzzle board. There are also some "side puzzles" to unlock 'songs' ("powers") for the main game, as well as progress in the "story". I quoted "story" because it is barely there, I would rather call it a "lore" - that doesn't make the end any less touching, at least to me.

I usually do not play this kind of 'casual' games, or would just for a bit. I started playing it because I won it (entered because I thought it looked cute, didn't expect to actually win), and stayed for the cuteness and nice music; and also wanted to get the achievements. The only reason why I personally wouldn't have spent money on a game like this is because, well, it's normally not my type of game.

I would definitely recommend this if you like puzzle games, calm music, and cute things! I can only think of two downsides: the "main game" can get repetitive, the only change being the start position of randomly generated flowers (tiles); like in any tile-merging game. The other downside is that one of the aforementioned disruptions is very frustrating and breaks the "soothing/calming" atmosphere: a rabbit that eats all the flowers it comes across in a row...
If you are fine with these two things, then go for it! Full price or not, that is up to you to see how much you would invest in this type of game. There are "daily challenges" working with the same mechanic as the "side puzzles" (using special tiles you get from the "main game") that you unlock near the beginning of the game, so you can still do puzzles like the "side" ones even after finishing the "story".

Play the Knife of Dunwall before this.

This is an amazing DLC, and the continuation of the Knife of Dunwall (I honestly do not really understand why they're 2 separate DLCs when it's the same story, the transition between the two would have worked perfectly fine even if it was in one go).

You get to finish Daud's story, and see more about (spoiler) how he saved Emily and learn about Delilah... As I said in the first part's review: so much foreshadowing for Dishonored 2... Very interesting.
I imported my progress from the Knife of Dunwall (which I would recommend to get the "true" experience of Daud's story), so I finished the game undetected while killing every single NPC on the map, exploring levels in their entirety and doing all side objectives. The story unfolds very well; the last map looked very pretty, and the end cutscene(s)... Woah. Just amazing. Not only you get to see how it all connects to the main story (and even the next game's story), but you can also see how even this is impacted by your gameplay (low/high chaos).

If you didn't already own this from the Definitive Edition, I would recommend getting both the Knife of Dunwall and this DLC (in that order).

Took me 19 hours on my first playthrough too, just like the Knife of Dunwall. Again, it will take less time if you play normally, but replaying it multiple times makes it really worth it and lets you see more of the lore and gameplay.

Play this before the Brigmore Witches.

This is an amazing DLC! You get to play as Daud, and see how the story happened on his side (and Daud is voiced!). Since I played the main campaign Clean Hands and Mostly Flesh and Steel, I thought I should play the DLCs on high chaos instead... But since I'm going to kill people, I might as well kill every single NPC on the map. And, while I'm at it, spare the targets by eliminating them in a non-lethal way, because why not. :) Just like the main game, I explored the maps in their entirety, and did all side missions possible.
I had a lot of fun doing a high chaos run, unleashing my savage self on a rampage while maintaining my perfect stealth with the undetected status (yes, that involved almost half as much savescumming as in the main campaign).

You get some powers similar to Corvo's, and you get some new ones specific to Daud. The story is really nice, and I love how you can find out more about how the Daud and Corvo timelines intertwine from the NPC conversations and other environment details. Again, just like in the main game, I found very interesting how you can see the impact of your actions in the game; it all comes to the little details, and helps with the immersion. And, kinda spoiler: Every time you interact with Delilah -well, you don't in this DLC, but you interact with a statue of her, and the Outsider talks about her- the foreshadowing of Dishonored 2 unfolds more and more... And Billie's part in this story, especially the end of this DLC, foreshadows Dishonored: Death of the Outsider.

If you didn't already own this from the Definitive Edition, I would recommend getting both this DLC and the Brigmore Witches!

Took me 19 hours on my first playthrough. Keep in mind I took my time to do things while doing them in a "complicated way": full stealth, exploring everything... Playing it normally would take much less time, but has a good replay value just like the main campaign.

If you are a new player and have the Definitive Edition, you already own this. Enjoy!
If you already played the game, don't bother spending money on this, not worth it. It's a nice help if it's your first time, but it's not enormous either. Nice to have, but not a necessity.

As a new player, this helped me a bit. As the description says, it gives you a little headstart with some in-game items for the main campaign (upgrades called Bone Charms, some coins, and some lore found in books). They'll appear in your bedroom after you get your powers, so don't worry about "but where do I find them"; just play the game normally.

I wouldn't recommend buying this separately if you don't own the Definitive Edition.

It's fun to play for a bit, but I think that money could be better spent elsewhere.

Just like most reviews said... This is a completionist's nightmare. While I actually had fun in most challenges (because they're honestly not that bad if you play them normally), some are really tedious to get 3 stars at, which prevents you from getting 100% achievements unless you grind this DLC for hours. A couple achievements are quite easy to get (Mrs Pilsen's Remorse, finding the doll in all levels, was the easiest IMO - with a guide, though), but some are really tedious, and what's annoying about it is that some will actually require luck more than skill. There is a reason why (at the time I am writing this) less than 1% of players got Void Star, 3 stars in all Normal and Expert challenges.

All in all, if you don't care about achievements, you can have some fun (and probably get bored after a while, so get back to (re)play the main and DLC campaigns). If you are aiming for 100%... Well, good luck, but I don't think you'll have fun.

Makes me think of the challenge maps in the Batman Arkham games, in the sense that you can have a fair amount of fun if you play them just for fun, but they'll become really frustrating if you want to get all achievements.

At the time of this review, I have played this DLC for 6 hours (3 times 2 hours to be precise).

This is easily one of my favorite games ever.
I enjoyed the gameplay, the deep lore, how the things you do can impact not only the outcome, but also details in the environment and the NPC's behavior. The compelling story, coupled with a very interesting gameplay, makes it all the more amazing.

When I first heard of this game (and its sequel) a couple years ago, I wasn't very convinced. I love stealth games, but seeing there were magic things I was like eeh, maybe I'll see one day. But I acquired it (Definitive Edition) recently, and it was a blast! I already knew a bit of the lore and mechanics: I knew from the trailers that the main character, Corvo Attano, got betrayed and framed, there's a rat plague going on, and the amount of people you kill throughout the game will have an impact on how the following missions/levels will look and behave.

I had a quick peek at achievements before I started playing, and I just got this in my mind: I want to finish my first playthrough with 0 kills (Clean Hands and low chaos ending), 0 detections (Ghost), and no supernatural upgrades (Mostly Flesh and Steel). Along with those, I wanted to explore the maps entirely, and do everything you could do: collectibles, side missions, everything, as long as I could finish the mission with 0 kills and no detections.
In the end, it took me 63 hours to finish the main campaign on my first playthrough. I loved it. It'll take you 20-ish hours to finish the main campaign if you play normally, so don't worry about that big number.

I would recommend this to most people, to at least try it. If you love stealth assassination games, if you love games with a free creative approach (lethal/non-lethal, exploring the map), if you love games with a great story, play this. And it's also ironic how the lore about the plague still resonates 10 years later...

If you have the Definitive Edition, enjoy the DLCs! If not, I would recommend getting The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches (in that order). You'll get to play as Daud (you'll see who that is) and see how the story happened on his side.

I reviewed the DLCs separately:
Void Walker Arsenal
Dunwall City Trials
The Knife of Dunwall
The Brigmore Witches

My first Steam review!

This is a nice take on the battle royale genre, with interesting mechanics (like feeding on civilians) and a nice map to explore. I like how the extensive lore is implemented in the game (although it can be sometimes long to read), encouraging you to play more matches and explore the maps through missions given by the different NPCs you meet in the lobby.

Also, it's free! You get really nice cosmetics through quests and Twitch drops, so even without spending money at all your characters can look really cool. The game is not pay-to-win at all.