Recent reviews by PearUhDox

The best decision Blizzard ever made was to put Overwatch 2 on Steam, that way their entire community could have a public forum to tell Blizzard what they think once and for all. Thanks Blizzard!

Alright memes aside now that the bait time is over, lets leave some actual critique.

I have played and enjoyed Overwatch for 7 years, and it gives me a heavy heart to leave a negative review for this game. But I feel obligated to because this game has been anti-consumer and anti-player/community, despite what feels like the actual gameplay developer's attempts to turn it around. It looks like things might be turning around and I do hope they continue to, but I cannot in good conscience leave a positive review at this time.

Overwatch 2 is a consistently standard free-to-play predatory marketplace the same as any other game you expect from the worst of the worst in AAA gaming. However, beneath all that, the gem of a beautiful game exists. I have a friend who said "Overwatch is a great game despite the attempts of executives to shoot it in the foot in unimaginable ways" and I think that really holds true.

The gameplay is solid, sometimes brought down by questionable balance, but not nearly as much as its predecessor was. You will see people complain about 5v5 but it has genuinely improved the flow and pacing of the game in ways that simple balance tweaks could not fix in Overwatch 1. There are still issues but there always will be, and the dev team has done a decent job to turn around issues faster. Illari feels very overtuned but if they address her in the next couple weeks, she is a fantastic addition to this game's roster.

The PvE is disappointing, and I especially cannot recommend you buy it. $15 for basically a slight extension of the content we got every year in Overwatch 1 for free (limited time but) is not a worthwhile deal. PvE would have probably been way more celebrated if it was free, and did not cost money.

The shop and current microtransaction hellscape is much of a downgrade compared to Overwatch 1. This is not essential to enjoy the gameplay but it sucks that it feels the game does not reward me for my time invested nearly as much as its predecessor. Hopefully this changes in the future, the new progression system is a fantastic improvement.

These are improvements, that yes, should have been in the game at launch, and yes should not have taken down the original game, making Overwatch 2 somewhat of a downgrade at times. I don't disagree. But the fact that they now exist should make that a moot point for the game development.

I am cautiously optimistic for the future of Overwatch 2, but Blizzard really needs to demonstrate that they deserve our trust, and any more screw ups they make are going to sour that trust far faster than it can be gained. Maybe in 6 months to a year I can change my review to positive but until then, I cannot recommend anyone invest themselves into this game as I have for 7 years.

As someone who has never been particuarly big into rpg games, especially top down ones, I am eternally glad that I was willing to give this game a chance. I originally purchased CrossCode about a year ago, while it was still in early access, fairly wary of it. The trailer looked good and the demo I tested convinced me to give the entire game a shot, and was it worth it.

CrossCode's combat mechanics are fast paced, but provide a fair amount of strategy. Its mechanics are well thought out and flow together seamlessly. In addition, the skill trees provided for the game's growth provide a lengthy amount of choice in playstyle. You could play full on glass cannon damage, or you could opt for an entirely defensive based build, and the game will cater to both styles.

CrossCode's other main mechanic is its puzzles. Not only are many of them seamlessly worked into the environments you play in, but they're also challenging and rewarding. Mechanics are taught by doing, leading to a very trial and error process, but ultimately fits well within the game, although might cause a couple headaches here and there.

CrossCode's story is albeit not entirely the most original masterpiece to ever exist, but it is a solid one. What really makes its lore stand out though is its unique characters. Every character has a different personality and feel in the game, and the game ensures to make it apparent the moment you meet any character. You instantly can figure out what a character is and what their potential role is, with of course many surprises and twists along the way. Characters which are less obvious are revealed and developed via flashbacks and cutscenes to give them that full depth. Although its mechanics are incredibly solid and a blast to play through, CrossCode's story, more particularly, its characters, are the shining gem of its experience.

Overall Pros:
- Engaging and quick to learn mechanics with lots of depth and fast pacing.
- Puzzles that require some solid thinking yet are fun to complete.
- A fairly entertaining story with some absolutely wonderful characters to tell it with.
- Outstanding Musical Soundtrack and Visual Appearance.
- Active development team which actively discusses the direction of the game.
- Planned Post Game/Release content and potential DLC content.

Potential Cons:
- Dungeons are fairly long in the game. (Average 1-2 hours) This isn't a con for everyone, and it doesn't really harm the experience, but its something you should be warned of before purchasing.

- Better gear (as in the highest quality) can be difficult to obtain quickly. Materials to craft these items are often locked behind grinding materials or finding many of the chests in the world. You can easily sustain yourself with all of the chests found, but if you consider finding those chests in the world grinding, that is something to be aware of.

- Game takes off incredibly fast in the first 10 minutes, then expect it to slow down for the next couple hours. Pacing will ramp back up over time, and it doesn't even take too long for that to happen, but expect this.

- Game slightly holds your hand with a variety of mechanics to learn about. On one hand, it makes it easy to learn about all of the game. On the downside, it may feel like slight information overload at times.

- I'm not gonna sugar coat it, this game is hard, though it is fair. it will likely frustrate you several times. If this isn't something you're comfortable with, then maybe this title isn't for you. That being said, you can always grind or over level to make any potential challenge easier for you.

Overall, CrossCode is a wonderful experience. In my personal opinion it is the best game to be released in 2018, and it personally might be my favorite game of all time. I highly recommend this game to anyone remotely interested in RPGs, and recommend it even to people who aren't as interested, but want a solid experience in terms of gameplay and story.