Recent reviews by Romeo

Charming, loved it.

It's pretty.
The voice acting is good.
The transmog thing is very nice.

Unfortunately, the choices you can make don't seem to matter at all and so it ends up being like someone is telling a story to someone else, like in a podcast in the distance, while I jump and run around Hogwarts collecting some collectables.

Very disappointing.

I liked the wheel/morality system but I had very little of it.
I liked the translation/tool tips when encoutering Aussie lingo.
I didn't like how my character looked and moved, all hunched and moving kind of awkward.
I liked that at some point I started to have a party but soon it was just my character by themselves again, in this refugee camp/city with enormous wombats and a bunch of not very engaging quests from some new people I cared very little about.

I never logged back in since.

Too bad, when we were trying to get ourselves accepted in the city, I thought there was something to pique my interest there. You know, leading a group of survivors, taking responsibility for the consequences of your choices, shaping the group to your image with the help of the morality system, recruiting some, firing some others.

I can't recommend.

First point:

Tutorials in forms of pop ups
-click-
That you have to click away
-click-
So that you can get the next piece of info
-click-
But dad gummit, this is not the tab you wanted to click
-click-
So now you have to click through a bunch of pop ups
-click-
Providing info irrelevant to what you wanted to do
-click-
before you can get back to where you actually wanted to click
-click-
Is the bane of video games.

=> Tooltips with useful info that appear as you hover over an item is the way. (example of non useful info: "in this tab presenting the applicants for the analyst job, the column 'name' indicates the names of the applicants")


Second point:

It very much looks like each genre has preset values (e.g. music 30%, writing 40% etc.) that the player is supposed to pinpoint after some trials and errors (with the help of an analyst) so that they can eventually produce a box office hit. I've played a few games like this before and I find this game mechanic very shallow. It does not help that the "trending genre" mechanic is also something seen in quite a few other games like this as well: at first glance, "The executive" very much looks like "Mad games tycoon" but without the building aspect. I had hoped this game would bring something new to the table.


third point:

It'd be nice if there was some game mechanics that involved affinities between actors and directors so that a successful movie does not depend on the trending genre of the moment (and if whether or not you had that specific genre already unlocked in the research tab) and so that, once you manage to get the magic team together, you know you'll get a solid movie, no matter if it's a musical or a thriller.

Maybe some light RP too, some kind of schmoozing option just to make sure this particular actor is not going to go for a subpar role in a rival company's movie and will be available for your next horror masterpiece you'll shoot in June.

Actors and directors need personalities and the very first step in that direction I would suggest is to get rid of the jumbled up fake names such as "Addy Woolen". It's not immersive. I'd much prefer a John Smith rather than the made up names option.

Nope.

This is a motorsport management game, fully released mind you, with a whole array of bugs ranging from:

GPU crashes to contract offer bugs
salaries 10 times too high to grid penalties bugs
UI softlock to incorrect sponsorship payouts
Random, (as in 'not related to the situation at hhand') team comms to unmanageable mentality balance.

and the list goes on and on.

Economy, management, racing, everything is off in this full release and playing the game ultimately doesn't make sense.

Now, just for the sake of it, have a look at what an Early Access game like Norland can dish out in terms of DAILY patch.

NO SPOILERS REVIEW

It's not without flows, but it's absolutely, without question, one of the best games I've played these last years.

The Very Good:

First, you're not a demi god and that's a HUGE plus in my book. I can relate to the character I've created and the options I can pick make sense. There's a real, and strong, sense of progression and achievement and that feels pretty darn good.

Second, despite the bar being set relatively low (and rightly so, you're not a god) in terms of objectives in the first few chapters, the story still manages to be engaging right from the start. That's a feat. I believe it's because early on, you can play with your build's strengths to get where you want to go. Thus, it genuinely feels like YOUR story from the get go, and I had it at heart to bring that deer back to the village.

Third, there are options to pick at least every other click, if not every one of them. The sheer amount of options is remarkable. I've only went through the story once, so I can't tell if these multiple choices eventually all end up in the same 3 or 4 places, but even if they did, it feels good to get there your way: with style, or brute force, or friends or what have you. It's just satisfying and pleasant.

Fourth point is sitting across story and gameplay. There seem to be very few bad, story ending, choices. I've found myself owning my failures with pride: "Yep, that's not my character. Not putting up with that ♥♥♥♥." and yet the story still went on.

Finally, the character's sheet and various stats builds feel fresh and interesting, although I'll get back to it in a second.


The Room for Improvement:

My main thing would be that, although I have now reached the end of act 2, and thus find myself 2/3 into the full story once the final act is released, I am still unsure of how important certain mechanics are.

Itemisation seems irrelevant for example. I don't care because this is not that kind of game but I could only afford one piece of gear (first step upgrade) and I am left wondering why it's there in the first place, since there's a lot more slots, each with 2 upgrades available. I understand that wealth is scarce both by design, and by story, but as it is, it does not bring much in terms of bonuses and definitely nothing when it comes to the character's looks.

The way both relationships and experience boosts or blocks work, when they come into play, when they drag you down or save your ass should probably be emphasized too.

Then there would be the tutorial. I nearly dropped off the game and asked for a refund when I came across the non skippable tutorial pop up "1/13" where you have to click after each 13 sentences to read the next one. I am not 6 years old. I can handle 13 lines of text in a text game. Although I am a firm believer that in a perfect world/game, tooltips and UI should be sufficient to help you get the information you need when you need it and there would be no need for those dreadful and dreaded TUTORIAL at all.

Lastly, I understand that resources are scarce when you're solo developping, and I am glad this wasn't a priority, but should there ever be a second opus, I'd like it if every character had not Targaryen hair in a Roman Vs Picts story. Same goes for the skin color, I feel the two options available don't really fit the theme.
But overall, I am just glad this wasn't done in anime style and I liked the different visuals.

Voice over was sparse and not really a plus for me. Clair sounds annoying and Ygrain sounds a little "too much" while yet being one of my preferred voices.

Final note: I like the Queen and the King's dynamic. I am hoping to see more of them in the last act.
Final note 2: I am not a native speaker but there seem to be a typo or two here and there and maybe the writing style could be improved a tad as well.

NO SPOILERS review.

Part of early access for years, 412 hrs of playtime and I nominated that game for the "Game of the year" award, because frankly, none other came even close this year. However, I am now writing the review I wish I could have read before engaging in BG3.

There's a lot of pros to list: the fights, the voice over, the freedom of respec, it's pretty, it's well done in pretty much every aspect, but the story is not one.

The game boasts of about 2000 possible endings and sadly, in 2 playthroughs, amounting to 400 hrs in total, I just never went into act 3 (final act) because the story was cornering me into fighting the guys I wanted to support. I just enjoyed the Tactician difficulty fights and I read a lot, if not all, of the books I could find.

This is my list of specific and personal cons. The first one being the reason I'll never finish the game and can not recommend it. I do however concede it's this year's overall best game.

• You can not play a sensible evil character or even a neutral selfish one. There's too few options for that and even less content. You're bound to be good (either Lawful, Neutral or Chaotic) or straight up madman Chaotic evil (there's a whole dedicated arc for that). Trying to be Lawful or Neutral evil has NO upside whatsoever, it's downright detrimental in every aspect. The bad guys turn against you, your companions leave, and you're cut short of content.
  
• Sneaking is for everybody. If you enjoy playing the white knight in heavy shining armor who fights for the widows and orphans but also like to rob their chests clean before accepting their quests, you're covered.
  
• Dialogues in multiplayer are very simple: The player that clicks on the NPC first gets to pick the dialogue options. Divinity: Original Sin had it right with the rock paper scissor mini game. (you get a headstart if you're big on charisma)
  
• You will find yourself hopping from asteroids to asteroids in space. I came here for dragons, giant spiders, and undeads.
  
• You will pick a hair color, skin tone etc. then playthrough the intro part in a weird pinkish light until you wake up on the beach in natural light and realize the character creation color is nothing like it is in game.
  
• Respeccing is almost free and this is fantastic. Unless you're a paladin that broke their oath (trying to not be 'the good guy' and role playing the warlock dual spec). The first time it cost me 1/3 of my gold. The second time, it was twice as much.

Changing my review for a thumbs up because the whole concept of the game is right up my alley and I understand a little bit better what's happening but damn it still needs a lot of work, even after 1.5.11.

In game Vikipedia should be more in depth than the tooltips.
Protectorates, dominions, vassals, puppets, subjects and annexing, for example, are seriously missing some detailed explanations.

Conan Exiles is one of my favorite gaming experience. It lasted just short of 500 hrs and although it's been a while since I've last played it now, I saw it popping on sales and thought a positive review was long overdue.

PROS:

Climbing: walls, cliffs, trees, you can climb just about everywhere you want to and I never thought this was something I needed. It completely changed the way I apprehended the map, combat and exploration.

Enslaving: You hunt, capture, break and level up your companions. You bring them home in bindings. I felt like I was a WOW hunter again looking for the best pets: a cook, a tank, a bearer, a smith etc. It's not just survivors knocking at your door and begging for you to take them in. Plus, enslaving members of a rival faction feels good.

In game shop: It's is nicely implemented, I feel. You can completely ignore it and not miss a thing, since it's cosmetics. Every season, there's a bunch of new content on offer. It's presented in some sort of frieze and you need XP to progress forward to the next reward. You get XP by just playing the game normally (like: kill 10 crocs, gather 20 stones) but of course, you can dedicate your time doing just that if you so wish. If you don't pay anything, you still can progress trough the frieze but you only get access to a few free rewards here and there (like 1 in 15? I can't remember exactly). If you pay for the season pass, you can grab everyone of them. Best thing is, there are rewards that are just shop currency. If you complete the whole frieze, you get just enough to buy the next season pass with in game currency and you don't need to throw anymore cash into it.

The overall art style is right up my alley. Monsters look bad ass and not ridiculous, crocs are not cute, women have hairs and a reasonable bust size, there's some magic but it's not flashing pink and blue everywhere, armors look like someone could actually wear them etc.

Base building: Anywhere, any spot. I loved that.



CONS

Exploration eventually ends and once the map is fully explored, my interest faded.

Levelling means crocs and panthers, for example, are not a threat anymore.

Dungeons felt just 'alright'.

There's multiple armor styles, but not enough variations in each style. The ability to color armor is great though.

I hope they got rid of the eclipse thing/event, where every night turned into a slightly dim regular day. Bivouacking on top of a jungle tree in the darkest of the jungle, underlevelled and surrounded by panthers was the best.

Raids spawning inside my base did it for me. It negates the whole point of building a base.

EDIT because there's more than what I could first tell with 30 min of gameplay.

1) Terrible performance on a blank map.
This was the first point of my initial review.
Specs: 4090 (latest 545.84 driver) + I9 + 64GB RAM + SSD


2) No STEAM workshop.
This was the second point of my initial review


3) The economic simulation.
This post explains it all in details, with pics.

"All resource management in the game is a deception"
https://www.reddit.com/r/CitiesSkylines/comments/17had80/all_resource_management_in_the_game_is_a_deception/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3


4) Worrying PR (News Posted Wed, October 25 @ 1:00am)

"Cities: Skylines II is built for the future with modern hardware in mind, allowing us to add more depth and detail to the game than its predecessor had."

=> (4090 + i9 setup is obsolete nowadays)


"If you experience low FPS we recommend the following:

Reduce screen resolution to 1080p
Disable Depth of Field and Volumetrics
Reduce Global Illumination
Check the full guide for more tips"

=> (because 1080 on a 4090 +i9 setup is the future)


"It is worth mentioning that for a game like this, the performance target is to run at a steady 30FPS minimum. There is no real benefit in a city builder to aim for higher FPS "

=> (sure, pan the camera around a bit and see how you like this peek at the future at 30 FPS.)

"While some setups on PC have challenges, we concluded the performance is not a dealbreaker for all the players."

=> (And they were right, some people are playing in 1080p with the graphics turned down and they're completely fine with that. Please do note that i9 + 4090 is one of those setups that have challenges)