Recent reviews by ALavaWolf

Kind Words 2 is a complete improvement on the first.

No longer are you confined to your room writing letters. Now there are different ways to interact and zones with specific purposes. This keeps the types of requests filtered by them having their assigned areas. I really like this.

There are lots of other interesting ways to interact with people too. Including conversations that happen asynchronously so if you respond now and the other person logged out they can pick it up next time they log in.

I only login for a few minutes at time so far and tbh I have enjoyed even that. Following the original play test which I also did a few hours on.

The soundtrack is also as ever on point.

TLDR: Do you want a nice little game to give you chills vibes and a place where you can offer positive influence to others or indeed seek some yourself? Then this is the one for you. Such a novel little game!

I got it for £5 on sale. I thought Wildlands was ok. I played for 3 hours or so but feel no reason to go back.

The opening feels so disjointed and rushed I still have no idea whats going on or why I should care story-wise. I think coming in later with all the extra content makes this more confusing. They even had Scott Mitchell (from one of the older games) on the radio but I realised that was a later addition of content and so I ended up avoiding the main story following that line.

I tried to play it how I played Wildlands with a bit of pseudo realism but it just feels even worse than that did, The ubisoft open world formula is so tired at this point. It's so weird that this is what ghost recon is today.

I miss the tight narrative focus of GR:AW 1 & 2 and its semi realism but near future aesthetic.
Or I'd also take a more tactical shooter style from the older GR games.

TLDR: This game is trying to do too much and does all of it in a very mediocre way. Might be fun for some people in coop but that's about it.

Bought for the peer pressure/seeing all my friends on it. This is the RPG I've wanted for ages but didn't know how badly. My favourite RPG of all time was dragon age origins and I never played Bioware's entries in this series (BG 1 & 2) so wasn't sure.

After realising Larian made this one I was sold as their other games are brilliant. I genuinely hope that other devs see that this game is doing well and take notes including:

1) Fully featured (Yes it did have an EA period but I didn't get it then)
2) Great V/O but a voiceless protagonist (very important for me)
3) A superbly detailed character creator with options to cater for basically everyone
4) So much flexibility in how to approach every single situation.
5) Lastly but importantly not a single microtransaction or other such nonsense in sight. Seeing customers as more than just cash cows to exploit is also a plus!.

If the new dragon age entry even has half the freedom and polish of this title I will be fully happy in the RPG space for years to come. BIOWARE TAKE NOTES Pls.

I actually had this on EPIC but totally forgot because I don't use it now. Oh well no regrets. FOR THE ORDER!!!!!!

Did you like SWAT 4 or old Rainbow six? Then get this. Early access but well enough polished so far. Controls are simple to learn but the game is obviously hard to master. Variety of scenarios, barricaded suspects, hostages, bombs and even active shooters. It can be very chaotic and even a bit stressful but when it works its so rewarding. Good with friends and still decent with the AI.

This game is janky, this game feels like an old source mod and that alongside the absolutely chaotic community is why I really like it. The setting just encourages people to act like idiots yet they still load the cannons and follow the captains orders. It has different ships, game modes and many handheld weapons. You can keep experimenting with these to vary the gameplay.

I got this on sale for less than £1. I got about 8 people I know to also buy it and we all had a blast. Having played it now I would've been happy even paying the full price of £7.19.

Educational tool of the year 2020.
Incoming cure update lets you be the humans. When you can't beat them create a plague to plague the plague.

This game nearly made me fail my entire degree course and its not even finished! 10/10 would rush my final paper again.

Overview: This is very much in early access and incomplete. However despite that there is already a functional game that I have quite enjoyed. The core mechanics are working well and while nothing is easy nothing is too difficult to achieve. I have played 28hr and built a modest village and have not yet hit the current build limit.

Gameplay: A typical survival in many ways. You go and collect resources make better tools, make buildings etc. However the difference here is it revolves around a seasonal cycle and the world changes according to each season. The key activity for the play is also to build a village and their dynasty whilst paying your taxes each spring. As you expand you recruit villagers who can then start to automate various material gathering for you.

Hunting takes up most of my time and works well but is clearly alpha in terms of how animals behave, look, sound etc. Chopping down trees is weirdly fun compared to other games as they actually fall over with physics etc. Other resources work as they do in many other survival games for example, hit a rocky outcrop with a pickaxe or plough field with hoe and plant seeds then wait for next season and harvest crop.

What is missing: Currently there is no automatic trade functions you as the player have to hoof goods around to make money to pay your taxes. There are no real social features in your village yet as such and relationships between villagers don't appear to be a thing so far in my experience. There are no transport such as horses or carts (but these are planned). Human antagonists such as bandits are not in game yet either. I'd also hope the build limit is expanded and higher tier elements like perhaps a church/religious building chain. Of course the windmill in the art would be a nice addition too!

Conclusion: I am really enjoying what is already here and given what is known about future plans I can see this becoming quite an impressive and well fleshed out title. Also the soundtrack already in game is lovely and adds to the medieval vibe. It's easy to get lost in this world even if it is not finished yet. Worth the £20 I spent on it.

EDIT: 2 small updates and one adding a new feature (fishing) since I got this so Devs seem active enough!

Full release now a year later will go back soon!

I'll start by saying I totally regret not playing this sooner. Subnautica has sat in my library for a long time. Having some extra time at present (don't we all) I gave it a go. It has not disappointed.

This game is both relaxing and terrifying. You have limited options for combat but its not just the creatures its the atmosphere, hearing your sub crunch when you hit the depth limit and all you can see is the dark void all around is quite something, then suddenly a monster 5 times the length of your sub appears and pushes you around all teeth showing. That sums up my first encounter with a leviathan.

The mechanics are very similar to other games of this type but everything has a nice layer of polish and I personally have not found anything too much of a grind, there is a good balance to the pacing and resources. The underwater setting is also rather different from most other survival and exploration games I have played. I'm a fan of the sea and water in real life and having not been able to get out swimming let alone diving recently this has been a cool escape. I'll be getting the second one for sure given how fun this was, 4546B is worth a second visit. Worth every penny I paid 3 years ago!

TLDR
This game will give you brown trousers as often as it gives you zen moments. You will be consumed by an insatiable need to go deeper into the void. If you enjoy survival this is well balanced and does not feel like a grind. I'd say get it even at normal price if you can afford it.