Recent reviews by Cataklyzmik

Updated review 5/6/24: Sony has reversed the decision forcing users to link a PSN account. I will be leaving the Sony criticism in this review as a reminder of what almost was, but for now I 100% recommend this game.

This game is amazing. I played over 100 hours in just a little over a month. A beautiful time with friends, great meme culture, and a community that made playing the objectives and Major Orders just a fun time. A good selection of weapons, challenging gameplay with a variety of difficulty choices, and the objectively hilarious satirical theme of propaganda and facism made this quickly one of my favorites. I sunk in hours at a time every day, running around, planning strats with friends and dying of laughter every time someone got teamkilled. My friends and I reference the game daily in normal conversation, the theme, jokes, and feel of the game are infectious and so incredibly fun to immerse yourself in. Overall, an 8/10 game that just needed a little bit more focus on improving PC performance and balancing weaponry.

However, Sony has suddenly taken notice of its success and got their panties in a twist because they were unable to harvest data from the massive amount of players on Steam. They found this potential loss of sweet, juicy, tender user data and computer information to be untenable; IT IS NOW MANDATORY TO MAKE A PLAYSTATION NETWORK ACCOUNT in order to play the game YOU PAYED FOR ON STEAM. Never mind the fact that it was never explained or advertised during original purchase that the option to not connect a PSN account was temporary! Don't want to create another useless account because you don't have a Playstation and never intend to use said account for anything else? Too bad, you're the product! I suppose it should worry no one that this game has kernel level access to EVERYTHING on your computer, surely Sony will not use it for nefarious purposes, or say, sell said data to companies whose names rhyme with Schmoogle or Shmencent. Surely Sony didn't wait on purpose months after initial launch to lure players in and create enjoyment and a community in the game before making it mandatory!

"BuT yOu AlrEAdy GaVE APPLe/inStAgrAm/GoOgle Your DAta, WHat dOES it MattER DURHURRRHURRDURR"

Please DM me your social security number, because "it doesn't matter" if another entity has the info. Otherwise, stop bootlicking and start pushing back against this type of anti-consumer behavior. I have a feeling that Arrowhead has very little choice in this matter, and that Sony is 100% behind this. I'm open to being wrong, but hope I am not. If this change is reversed, I'll edit my review. Until then, DO NOT RECOMMEND.

Ironic how a game that satirizes blind patriotism, democracy, and facism has come to this.

"DArK SoUlS BuT WiTh GUns"

As much as I hate hearing it, its mostly true. From the items, to the gear builds, to the enemies, Remnant: From the Ashes mirrors Souls type games. But by no means is Remnant a bad game. It came up completely out of nowhere in a dry spell of gaming for me, and before long I fell in love. I've never been a Souls type gamer due to the default difficulty floor, but the inclusion of guns as your primary weapons appealed to me as a longtime fan of shooters. I eventually found myself 100 hours in, replaying the game on Nightmare difficulty in the hopes of being able to brag about the achievement to my friends.

Remnant is not an easy game. Buildcrafting, learning dodge timings, and cooperation with your teammates are what spell out success. The game is very well designed and graphically appeasing enough in its art style, bosses are fairly creative and challenging, and there's enough content in the base game and DLC's to keep you challenged for a decent amount of time. There are very few moments where you are "overpowered", save for one or two cheesy builds you can use if you have all the necessary gear from hours of gametime. Every area/dungeon is randomly generated, encouraging players to do additional playthroughs or "reroll" their worlds for a chance at specific rewards or bosses.

Some negatives:
1. The story is......confusing? It seems very disjointed and hollow, like none of the characters have connections to each other or you. Every big monologue sounds like a suggestion, this voice acting can be rough at times.
2. Playing co-op is insanely fun until you realize only one of you can use a merchant at a time. This led to a lot of time wasted while each person purchased gear/upgraded/etc.
3. Maps/Dungeons VERY confusing if you don't pay attention to the fog of war and your general direction. Lot of "wait, haven't I been here before?" moments.
4. Even after all the time I've spent, I wish there was more content to play. Once you collect all items/traits, Survival mode is your only real option (IF you buy DLC)
5. Farming world rolls and spending massive amounts of time exploring them just in the hopes of getting the random world roll with the conditions you want for a particular reward, can be exhausting. There is a third party tool to help with this if you prefer.

All in all, Remnant is a fantastic game, and just challenging enough ( incredibly so if desired) to be a good time with friends or solo. Definitely worth the buy if you find it on sale. Also the soundtrack slaps.

rust
/rəst/

noun

1. *A post apocalyptic survival video game released in 2013 designed to raise awareness for the severely mentally handicapped. *

Do you like having fun? Do survival games tickle your fancy? Do you enjoy a peaceful afternoon of gathering resources in the sunlight in order to build a base you and your friends can be proud of? Do you like working together with other players for a common good? Do you like pulse-pounding, intense team combat?

If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, Rust is not the game for you.

Rust, a.k.a Darwinism: The Game, a.k.a Minecraft 2: Looty Shooty Boogaloo, a.k.a Literal Cancer, is a survival game where your goals include:

-dodging public nudity charges

-hit tree with rock

-hit rock with another rock

-becoming a hoarding, murderous psychopath

-learning slurs in 20 different languages

-realizing that sleep is optional

-trying not to lose your IRL full time job

-negotiating with terrorists

-getting instantly domed by any NPC with a gun

-watching your IQ slowly decline

If these goals don't paint an appealing picture for you, here's a TL;DR: imagine complete anarchy on a post apocalyptic map, with a dash of communism, and a player base consisting of the absolute worst humanity has to offer. The Venn diagram of Rust players that ride the short bus is a circle, and I am proud to have my newfound circle of friends.

Are you looking to have a good time playing a fun video game with your friends? Don't play Rust.

Do you lack a moral compass, and are willing to completely ignore your friends, family, and responsibilities for the foreseeable future? Buy Rust.

Rust: Because autism isn't a spectrum, its a loop.

"The only problem with being faster than light is that you can only live in darkness"

WARNING: This game is NOT for the faint of heart, or the easily frustrated.

Ghostrunner is a wild amalgamation of platforming, first person slice n' dice combat, insanely fast movement, and hair pulling difficulty. The main objective is simple: Get from point A to point B using a combination of parkour-esque movement, incredibly powerful combat upgrades, and pure determination. Make no mistake: You will die in this game. A lot. You even have a fancy little HUD element that tells you how many times you've died in a specific level. Every single hazard or projectile in this game will kill you instantly. However, this also applies to your trusty katana. It's you vs them. One shot, one kill.

Ghostrunner smashes every pre-conceived notion about the quality of work from smaller studios. It's fun, fresh, fast, and frustrating. The soundtrack to this game is phenomenal, a pulse pounding rhythmic mix of synthwave and mid tempo that keeps your heart racing and your sword swinging. If you are a fan of Doom, Mirror's Edge, Titanfall, Portal, or Sekiro, I implore you to give this game a try. You will be frustrated at first. You will fall many times. But checkpoints are frequent and instantaneous in this game, and before long, you will notice just how fast you can blaze through a level that you died on hundreds of times previously.

The Negatives:

1. Ghostrunner's story and dialogue is passable at best. The creators do a wonderful job of progressing the story while you continue to play to prevent you from losing momentum, but the overarching theme and story of the game feels uninspired and lacking.

2. Movement and enemies can be touchy and annoying, especially mantling up on top of objects. Many times my character has tried to mantle an object when I wasn't trying to. Enemies seem to follow a predetermined pattern, but often it will seem like they break the pattern at crucial moments to kill you, in a game where milliseconds mean everything.

3. Ghostrunner lacks a wealth of end game content or playable DLC at the moment. Your only real option for more gameplay after beating the main storyline is to repeat levels in order to get better times, or playing Hardcore mode, which is the same levels with more enemies and obstacles.

4. Crashes somewhat frequently for some users. In a game like Ghostrunner, crashing can ruin potential world record speed runs. Finding the right settings and DirectX version for your rig will help with this, but it is a bit irritating to have to tinker with so many things to prevent crashes.

I find it easy to overlook these shortcomings when I realize just how much fun I've had mastering this game. If you are willing to have patience, and are ready to feel immense satisfaction for overcoming a very difficult game, put Ghostrunner at the top of your wishlist.

As a certain blue hedgehog once said: "Gotta go fast."