Recent reviews by avalinda

Since this was free and purportedly short, I went in with low expectations but still managed to be disappointed. Petition to re-title this game "Dumb Ways to Die 0.5." Let us bravely venture forth to find out why.

Hmm, let's see... Intro. My brother has been missing for 24 hours... the police said they have to wait till the 48-hour mark to begin searching... EXCUSE me? Isn't that supposed to be the crucial window for finding someone before they disappear forever?

Okay, this is a free game, free game, suspend disbelief... *deep breaths*

What else do we have here? Mandatory stop at a gas station... annoying businessman who gives me attitude while simultaneously scared to be in a small nowhere town. Wander out into the woods because I CAN'T GET BACK IN MY CAR even though there's a clear road ahead for driving. Check out a tent that obviously isn't my brother's with nothing but a flashlight, because that's what every sensible person does in the dead of night. Get jump-scared and nearly shot, then admit to not carrying. Why, oh why am I not carrying while exploring an abandoned stretch of woods by myself? What could I possibly need to carry against, you ask? Bears? Wolves? People? Murderers? Cryptids? Nah, fists are all I need.

(Why the tent-dweller even mentioned cryptids is beyond me. You don't even see the shadow of one in this "game.")

Anyway, flash forward to final scene - creepy house in the middle of nowhere, with brother's empty backpack in front. WhAt CoUlD hAvE hApPeNeD!? Walk right in through the creaky front door because I'm polite (as if the game gave me a choice). Find a butcher knife with tons of blood on a counter top. Try to pick up butcher knife to defend this poor sod of an MC. Epic Fail. Find some photos of my car and tent. Great, I'm being stalked, and there's no way that's my brother's blood either! No cover, no weapon, no options other than to walk through the door and get clobbered by an axe murderer. (But I didn't carry, so why should he?) At this point, I'm just over it. Cue axe murderer and static.

And that's it. That's the "story." Bumble around after lost brother, go (un)surprisingly missing as well. You have no other choice.

Honestly, the most horrifying thing about this game was how atrociously they let me park. Didn't get prompted to exit the car until it was halfway over the line. I'd never consciously do that. I'm shaking in my boots.

Plays like a smoother version of Skyrim which has been my only other experience in the Elder Scrolls series so far. Graphics are a lot better, mechanics are simpler, and music is still heavenly; only pet peeve is how quickly the 60 inventory slots fill up when you're a chronic looter like myself (literally combed through every urn in the starter quests and ended up having to destroy stuff before I was done :') such is life).

On an unrelated note, I'm still having to catch up on the history/background, since this feels like a prequel to Skyrim if I'm remembering the storyline correctly. But it's a very fun game so far, and perfect for medieval worldbuilding inspiration. Excited to see where it takes me!

*sighs and pushes up glasses*

Well kids, here is yet another example of a mobile game that jumped on the PC client bandwagon, but makes you leave your mobile client login at the door. I won't even bother asking why.

Other cons: Massive paywall, mostly idle gameplay once you run into said wall.
Pros: God-tier soundtrack, decent graphics/special effects.

Strangely enough, I actually like this game too and have been playing on and off for a few years on the mobile version. I'm a majorly idle player when it comes to mobile games and hardly ever spend on those, so neither the paywall nor the idle aspect of Angel Legion were a dealbreaker for me - I was perfectly happy to log in and collect a few things here and there while chilling to some good music. It's just a shame I can't do the same thing on PC. Let's hope it's not a "clever" ploy to take in new and unsuspecting players while keeping most disappointed mobile veterans away from the review section.

I wish I could put my work days on 5x speed too...

Having missed out on Minecraft during its glory days, this is how I imagine it would be but with 3rd-person mode, faster movement speed and smaller pixels.

The modifier adjectives for your gear and the variety of gravestone epitaphs are hilarious as well!

First off, LOVE the 3D retro-pixel-cyberpunk aesthetic. Second, the soundtrack is amazing. I played this game after Cyberpunk 2077 and at first tried to compare the two, but they're different animals entirely (and Cyberpunk doesn't have flying cars for players). Don't get me wrong, I love immersive, true-to-life graphics, but there's an undeniable charm in walking through a noir-themed pixelverse, as if you're part of a simulation. And even though I suck at driving in games, flying among those high-rise buildings and exploring the different levels of Nivalis was so much fun. I do wish the merchant NPCs in different areas didn't always have the same face and lines though.

If you like turn-based board-style games, you might like this - as someone who hasn't played those types of games in over a decade, it took some getting used to, so I held out until it was on discount. I'm also not the biggest fan of the art style, but this reminds me on some level of a medieval version of Stellaris, which I adored. Will probably come back to this when that empire-expansion itch strikes again!

Most interesting memories:
(1) Streaking through the wilderness (fig leaves are overrated)
(2) Getting killed <5 minutes after waking up
(3) Trying to kill another guy with a rock as he's out cold, only for him to wake up and out-bash with his own rock
(4) Joining a fair-sized server with only 3 players, and (just my luck) still managing to run into and get killed by 1 of those players

I have mixed feelings about the forced server wipes, but I can see why evening the playing field would be needed. When you're starting out with a rock and adam/eve attire and other players are sporting guns, night vision, and heavily fortified bases, it can be a bit of a cruel playing experience, lol.

As a lover of both cyberpunk and retro/pixel aesthetic, I couldn't say no to this game. The bartender mechanics are simple, the music is top-notch, and I loved listening to everyone's stories, no matter what walk of life they came from. It does make me a little bit more grateful for my current job though - I don't think I could handle a bar in real life, talkative strangers or not.

Beautiful open-world game with stunning graphics and unbelievably detailed space exploration/combat mechanics. Big learning curve if you really want to specialize, but the basics are easy to follow even for a lazy gamer like myself, whose brain tends to shut down when presented with tons of stats.

One thing I was wary about was the player base, which other reviews have really bashed. Maybe many have quit over the years, or I just so happened to spawn in a sparsely-populated area - but I have yet to come across any spam, hate mail, or nasty/bitter players, and it's as simple as minimizing the world chat if you don't want to interact with people (which I usually don't). The idle stuff is what really makes the game work for me. It's nice to be able to queue up some skill training, find a secure asteroid belt and just mine away in the background while studying. The ambient music is awesome for that too.