Recent reviews by Black Mage

Unoptimized.
Skills factor in your FPS, which gives an unfair advantage towards higher-end PCs.
Can't say much about balance, but i can say this:
Just because a game is good and free, it does not justify the censorship.

#FixTF2

4.7 thousand hours. ~195 days.
Valve kept my attention in this game for that long, and still decided to leave for dead a gem of a game.
There is no excuse for a MULTI-BILLION DOLLAR company to neglect it's products while still taking money from the customers... well, at least the ~30% human ones, that is.
Valve, everyone knows that anti-cheats are treadmill work, but developing a new game while your biggest products rot away to inaction is a spit on the face of your customers and a guarantee that it'll be DoA.

Fix your game, unless you really don't mind taking money from people that harass, scam, dox and swat anyone that dares oppose their schemes.

I literally bought this game May 2nd, fully expecting to have fun with friends after trying it out ~90 hours with family share.
Next day? Sony soils the bed, the floor, the basement and everything down to the bedrock because they don't know any better.
I had a little bit of hope, but it's gone. Gaming is dead, and Johnny Silverhand is right about corporations.

Edit: While Johnny Silverhand is still right about corpos, May 6th might as well be victory day for Helldivers. We made S*ny bend the knee. We won.

2nd (late) Edit: Nerfing things for being "too reliable", AH? Well, that settles it.
To anyone that reads this, never trust Swedish devs. They might lure you in with the promise of a good game, but they end up fumbling the bag.

3rd edit: this game is a roller coaster. One moment the devs kneecap your weaponry, the next everything becomes busted in a fun way. All those ups and downs are taking a toll on my ability to properly review this game...

"Oh boy, people are talking about this game! Let's see!"
>Devs remove content from people who paid for it, such as important pieces of character lore and fanservice (which was one of the game's selling points)
>People with lesser cognitive functions accuse game of "Cheese Pizza"
Oh. Fantastic! I can't wait for this dev team to crash and burn another beloved product in the name of corpos' twisted standards!

I ain't no veteran to the Monster Hunter series, i've started playing at MHW:IB, and since then i've had tons of fun on both games. although i have to say that Rise's wirebug mechanics are a step up from world's clutch claw. Choosing between activating a special skill or going for a rapid recovery after being knocked by a random monster's sudden appearance is not an easy choice, but it keeps you on your toes as you duke it out against a slew of monsters. I will update this review in the future, once i play more of this nicely-packaged gem.

So, i'll try to keep the story spoiler free as i write this review.

Are you looking to get ragdolled at least 5x a hunt?
Are you looking for perhaps one of the best monster hunter experiences out there? (sorry vets, you're not convincing me to go back to a charge blade-less monster hunter game in a thousand years)
Are you willing to overcome any and all odds stacked against you and thrive in a world of fantastic flora AND fauna?
Then this is the game for you!

At first i wasn't sure i should delve deep into this game, but when i've learned you can get a sword+shield combo that can turn into a big "F*ck you" axe that CAN ALSO BECOME A CHAINSAW, i was sold.
This game's whole experience for me was learning and mastering the charge blade, and that weapon is HARD to master (at least for the poor pea-brained me), yet it was one of the most fun things i've ever did.
If you really want to master an weapon, look for guides on youtube, because all of them have secret bits and bobs of info that could give you the edge on any future hunt.

Do not hesitate to call for an S.O.S. flare. Hunters togheter, legends forever. And you might even meet new friends as you do so.

Overrall this game's gameplay is fantastic. Heavy weapons feel heavy, light weapons attack fast but it's a death by a ten thousand papercuts.
Story isn't exactly remarkable, at least for me, but if you enjoy it, you'll like it i think? i dunno, this review is mostly about the gameplay than anything else so... yeah.
Music? Oh now we are talking. Fantastic scores and certain monsters have their own badass themes that makes you want hunt them over and over JUST to hear that one theme.

What are you doing reading all this organized nonsense? go get it. i'm pretty sure some of the jumbled mess of words above might've conviced you to get it at some point.

Picked this game as a pre-order, enjoyed and learned from the campaign, only to get ♥♥♥♥♥♥ over by ultra-experienced players that plague the low ranks for their own amusement. If you are a good player, go ahead and play it, but by the love of everything, don't team up with your noob friend so you can destroy low-ranked players like me who simply wants to steadily learn and evolve with the game.

So, usually, I don't even bother writing reviews to games because I am diagnosed with chronic laziness, however, this gem right here deserves it.
A great graphical and engineering boost from the original half-life and its source port with its little twists here and there that most certainly makes it a FAR superior experience than the originals, whilst also adding its charm to the original half-life formula that won several awards in the past.
Do I recommend this?
Yes. Absolutely yes!
It brings Xen the justice it deserved, making it an eerie, gorgeous and living place that is crawling with terrors and puzzles of its special kind that I am sure you might not forget soon.
Oh, and don't worry, they'll be waiting for you...
...in the test chamberrr...

If you are looking for a serious, fear-inducing game, this is NOT the game you're looking for.
However, if you're looking for a meme-infused game with the most random experiences you could ask for, then by all means, go for it