Recent reviews by Nier

This game is an unfinished mess, ideas that were once amazing at the time is literally dated to hell and back. The dev hasn’t put in any effort into this game, and I bought the game before it was even on steam. I thought the combat was fun and different but man sitting here years later, this has abandonware written all over it now. I checked back when the last listed update was and I saw 2022. So this dev sold out to epic and is trying to sue valve to line his own pockets. Failure dev, now if this game was worked on continually, then sure I’d get it, but it’s not and it’s abandonware.

First Dwarf has a lot of potential, but it’s still a work in progress. The world is visually stunning, with a mysterious atmosphere that draws you in. The music adds to the immersion, and the characters complement each other well, keeping the adventure engaging.

This isn’t exactly a building game but more of a colony sim with resource management and crafting. The combat is solid, challenging early on when resources are scarce and enemies attack from multiple angles. Building turrets helps, but don’t expect them to hold up, as your early colonies will still be vulnerable. The lack of continued play after building the minimum homes for colonists leaves little reason to expand further, and once you’ve secured your base, there’s not much left to come at you.

The game runs smoothly with no game-breaking bugs or crashes so far, but it's still simple in its current state, with a lot of room for growth. If the developers keep going down this path, the final product could be fantastic. I'm looking forward to future updates!

Issues I’ve Noticed While Playing:

• The quest system could use refinement, as icons are sometimes hard to spot on the mini-map and world map, with no clear direction pointer besides the glowing light off in the distance which you might or might not see.
  
  
• The co-op start menu breaks immersion when your friend opens the map, as it forcefully opens on your screen too and vice-versa.
  
  
• It’s hard to tell where your teammate is on the map, as both players appear as generic white circles.
  
  
• The animations, especially for the dwarf, feel clunky, and I hope they get polished.
  
  
• The Voice for the Dwarf seems inconsistent, he goes from a Scottish voice to an American one, and keeps swapping which really really throws me off.
  
  
• The crafting menu needs work, I can't ever tell if I can craft something due to something either being required like if I have to be inside of the mech suit in order to craft an upgrade for example. Some type of indicator or text to tell me what is wrong would be nice.

Overall, First Dwarf is still in it's infancy at the moment, but with the active development timeline, the future looks bright.

I'M SO SORRY! I WAS TRYING TO FIND YOU TO ADD YOU SO I CAN TALK TO YOU WHILE WE PLAYED! I DIDN'T MEAN TO KICK YOU WHEN I CLICKED ON YOUR NAME WHEN THE BUTTON WAS ON THE RIGHT...

I'm genuinely sad because someone literally just joined me and I wanted to speak but couldn't.

Literally realized when I don't even click on the kick button, and rather the name to the far left, it literally KICKS THEM. :|

Space Marines 2 offers impressive visual and audio design. The atmosphere is intense, with gritty environments and detailed character models that fit perfectly with the game’s grim, war-torn setting. The sound design, particularly the weapon effects and voice acting, adds to the immersion, making every battle feel epic.

Combat in Space Marines 2 excels, especially in melee. The game features three distinct defense mechanics: Block (for absorbing damage), Balanced (a mix of blocking and parrying), and Fencing (which focuses on parrying with a larger window for success). These systems, combined with ranged combat that offers extensive gun customization, provide a dynamic combat experience. The horde-style battles add complexity, with swarms of enemies and elite foes targeting you. The health system includes "Contested" health, requiring strategic fighting to regain health. It’s challenging but rewarding once you master the mechanics.

Playing solo can be hit or miss due to early AI issues, but these have improved. Your AI teammates now fight effectively, no longer being ignored by enemies, and they prioritize reviving you when needed. Co-op is where the game really shines, offering a more enjoyable and strategic experience when teamed up with others.

Space Marines 2 is shorter than expected, taking around 7-12 hours to complete, depending on difficulty. While the solo experience initially struggled due to AI issues, recent improvements have enhanced gameplay. The game still has room to grow, especially in mission variety and customization. I hope the developers continue to expand the content, taking inspiration from games like Darktide to flesh out missions and customization further. Overall, the game is excellent, with immense potential for continued updates.

Nightingale excels in creating an immersive and eerie atmosphere. The visuals are hauntingly beautiful, and the ambience is the highlight, making every location feel alive. There were moments where I jumped due to unexpected scares, which shows how well the tension is crafted. The game encourages exploration, and I now feel a strong drive to uncover everything in each realm. The voice acting is fantastic, but I wish 100% of the characters, including the player character, had voices to enhance immersion further.

Gameplay offers depth, particularly in crafting. The crafting system is impressive, allowing full control over materials, which changes the appearance of crafted items (like a tin pickaxe looking silver or a copper one appearing copper-colored). The portal system is one of the best I’ve seen. Using cards to open portals to different realms, each with its own twist, keeps exploration exciting. I haven’t seen any realms repeat, which makes me eager to explore every location. The companion system, however, needs work. The companion often stands too close to the player, suddenly appearing in a way that can be unsettling. They don’t interact with the environment or speak, which limits their contribution to the world-building.

Co-op and multiplayer would be a huge addition. I wish there were a system for meeting other travelers randomly, sharing items, trading, and helping each other along the journey. This would add an element of surprise and create memorable interactions with other players. Right now, the companion character feels like an untapped opportunity for interaction, and I hope they add more multiplayer dynamics in the future.

There are a few issues worth noting. The companion character could use more development; they tend to stand too close and don’t engage with the environment, which feels awkward. They also have a tendency to appear suddenly and stare, which can be unsettling. The game is still in Early Access, and while the foundation is strong, there’s plenty of room for more content and improvements. I hope the devs continue to expand on the random realm exploration, add more voice acting for all characters, and refine the companion’s behavior. Despite these flaws, Nightingale shows great promise, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here.

The atmosphere in Bellwright has potential, but right now it feels lacking. The game’s art and world design don’t fully engage, and while the setting has promise, the execution feels incomplete. The voice acting, which is AI-generated, feels flat and lifeless. It’s a missed opportunity to give the world more vibrancy through better dialogue delivery, which could greatly enhance immersion.

In terms of gameplay, Bellwright struggles to find its flow. The building system is interesting and has potential, especially with the manual labor required to gather resources. However, construction feels passive, and I wish there was more interactivity, like having my character actually build the structures alongside the NPCs, rather than simply dropping items in and watching buildings magically appear. The combat, which seems to be inspired by Mount and Blade with directional attacks, is severely lacking in depth. It feels slow, dull, and unresponsive, with hits that don’t feel impactful or like they land properly. This takes away from the excitement of battles and leaves combat feeling uninspired.

Co-op is available, which adds some value to the experience, allowing shared adventures. However, the same issues with building and combat persist. If these areas were improved, co-op could become a highlight, making the world feel more alive and engaging.

A few notable issues hold Bellwright back. The inability to move or remove builds once they’re placed is frustrating (At least, I haven't figured out a way to), and the AI-generated voice acting lacks energy, leaving characters feeling flat. Combat pacing is sluggish and lacks the impact needed to make it exciting. Overall, the game shows potential, but it still requires a lot of refinement. I hope the developers continue to refine the game so Bellwright can reach its full potential.

I’m baffled by the decision to keep the First Cohort Envirosuit in the tech tree when it’s completely unobtainable for players who didn’t pre-order. It feels like a slap in the face—either give us access to it or remove it from the game entirely for those who even get it. Why tease players with something they can’t unlock?

As for the game itself, Icarus has so much potential, but it’s been a while, and instead of refining core game-play, we get DLC that should’ve been in the base game. Nothing is procedural generated; the map is static, and the missions are dull, serving as filler with empty promises of progression. The worst part? There’s no true progression besides character building and the unlocking of blueprints.

You build a nice base? Too ♥♥♥♥♥ bad. If you get too invested in building during a mission, you lose it all once the mission ends. Why not allow persistent progression in a world where it makes sense, by having missions be inside of persistent worlds?


I wish they had taken a different approach. Imagine if the character menu was an explorable space station suffering from some kind of outbreak, making it a wreck. (Because you know, Icarus Falls from the sky so maybe... we could call the station Icarus?) Some of the wreckage falls from the station toward the planet, bringing spores to infect it and with the spores possibly infected creatures on the planet turning them into things we don't know about? *Wink wink* (This would explain why helmets stay on during planetary missions but could tie into being able to remove them once the station is fixed). Your task would be to restore the station to full functionality, maintaining it with resources gathered from missions. You’d be linked with a corporation feeding you intel (and imagine if the company had a secret? Gasp Shocking, I know!).

You could go on missions to gather materials or (Exotics), return them to your station—which would be persistent—and serve a greater purpose. Add in procedural maps, with the possibility of a persistent base on the planet that can be visited from the space station to bring back specific materials needed and there could be multiple bases in multiple locations with different materials that can be collected. Let’s say the bases on the planet could decay if not maintained, much like the space station which would make us go between locations to gather. Combine that with missions tied to the planet’s lore-filled narrative, for example: We're tasked to go find infected creatures to cull out or capture certain animals/creatures to bring in for testing! Or launch a rescue mission to retrieve left behind survivors in the story, or dynamic missions where let's say there's a random spike of weather or animal/creatures that are destroying bases to reclaim territory and without those bases and materials, Icarus falls—that would’ve been amazing.

Not to mention how cool it’d be to have a pet you don’t lose and a station where friends could hang out, show off their progress, and drop into the planet together.


As it stands, Icarus feels like a string of missed opportunities. There’s potential here, but the game needs a massive overhaul to truly shine.

After Note: After diving more into the game some more, there is a really nice progression with the character itself and there's a ton of different perks. My previous opinions is more for the direction of how I imagined the game could of been because the missions feel flat with minimal dopamine hits, and it's holding back what potential it could of had but man, I will admit that the weather system in this game is probably the best when it comes to the heavy winds. Don't worry, you'll understand if you play the game. I haven't seen all of the different weather types but I've noticed the work put into that to make the game feel ambient, I just wished the wind blowing could slow you down when you're moving against the wind, and simulate the power of it, I mean if it's toppling over trees it should definitely be pushing me backwards.. Do wish the Devs would ever read these reviews. Also screw those horse looking things, not the actual horses, but those other hairy ones as they literally demons with hoofs because they won't stop HEAD BUTTING ME. XD

The game's direction needs work to make it worth it.
Complained about the game a bit.
Complimented the Character Progression, but missions still feel hollow.
Man those weather effects are awesome.
Demonic Headbutting Horse Things.

The devs made their game free, and didn't take it away like so many other companies. I wish this game had more continued support but I will never complain about something that is free now. Thank you for thinking about the playerbase. I hope more people pick this game up.

Note: Omfg... I can respect that, you made it free. Now I wish you'd add a DLC - Supporter pack so I can donate at least.