Recent reviews by Tea 'n Tea

Hey friends. I just wanted to share my enthusiasm for the new ARPG, which is to say diablo-like, Last Epoch. I got on the train a little late with this one, it wasn't on my radar until the game released. I saw it pop up on the steam charts and when I decided to take a look at it I scrolled down and saw one review that immediately sold me on the game. "Does not insult my intelligence like Diablo 4, does not require a PHD like Path of Exile."

It's not often I have trouble falling asleep over a game, only to wake up and want to play it some more. It's happened a handful of times in my life. When Runescape released a new skill, that game was formative for me and the game was shifting dramatically. When I started playing Final Fantasy 14, which is one of my favorite stories I've experience in any media. Tekken 8's release, which I believe is the best fighting game on offer at the moment for most players. And now Last Epoch, a game that is evidently made by people who love the genre of game they are making.

I've only played for 2 days so far, but the gameplay is so tight, the quality of life features are exceptional, the build-crafting is deep and intuitive. I won't bother explaining what an ARPG is because I will assume most people have played Diablo or some analogue at some point. This game offers 5 classes, each with 3 subclasses. A short ways into the game you are given the option to choose 1 subclass permanently. Your build is made up of passives and skills. You have a passive tree that is general for your class, and one for each subclass. For the two subclasses you do not choose you can go roughly half way up the passive tree, a la classic world of warcraft specialization trees. In addition each skill has a dedicated skill tree, you can choose five of these skills to make your build with.

When I first started playing I felt a little lost with what different skills and attributes meant, but the game has a very well realized in game guide and fantastic hover-text. Normally a game like this I would be forced to retreat to Youtube, Icy Veins or reddit to get in depth mechanical explanations, but the game does everything in its power to equip you to play the game at as deep of a level as you would like to.

Last Epoch offers a lot of flexibility in rebuilding your character. If you want to respec your passives you pay a negligible amount of in game currency, I have never not had enough gold to do so. If you want to respec your skills there is a button in the UI to remove one point of your choosing or reset the skills completely, at which point you could try an entirely new skill to build around.

The game's menus also do a fantastic job directing you to what you're looking for. If you're scrolling through the passive tree trying to find where to get fire resistance, you need only type fire resistance in the search bar and each node will be highlighted. There's even small touches like each skill on the menu having small pictograms next to the name that say which damage types that skill is capable of, so if you want to make a lightning build it can be as simple as choosing two of the abilities that can do lightning damage. The skills also have many synergies baked into their perk trees, with some nodes calling out other skills that can work together. As an example I'm building a paladin around the attack "Smite." There is another attack "Healing Hands" with a node in its skill tree that says "When you directly cast Smite, you have a chance to cast Healing Hands around the target location. This consumes 70% of its mana cost."

All of this combined makes for an ARPG where you don't NEED to come in with a specific build in mind. In other games like this rebuilds are costly and making an effective build requires in depth knowledge of the game systems. Knowledge that the game doesn't help the player to attain. This game gives you a sandbox and tells you to go play. If you're a fan of the genre at all, or curious if this is your first ARPG, give Last Epoch a shot.

A battlefield style FPS with a great community, It has larger and smaller game modes and maps. The smaller ones have more of a faster paced 'CoD' style vibe to them. All the weapons and gear are earned, not bought. Good, old school style fun.

I think this game is fantastic. If you're a fan of JRPGs, MMOs or well told stories in general FFXIV delivers. Unlike most MMORPGs Final Fantasy 14 is a game that puts a large emphasis on its story, making the story of previous expansions required to unlock the content of the new expansions. It tells it's story better than any other MMO on the market in the traditional Final Fantasy style.

Many would tell you that the base game, A Realm Reborn, is a slog to be endured to get to the enjoyable bit, however I don't believe this to be true. It tells a passable story that is integral to the rest of the narrative. Much like how The Fellowship of the Ring may not be the most exciting movie in its own right, it enhances each of the others and lays the foundation the rest of the story is built upon. With each expansion the development team improved the technology available to them and the writing. This game understands how to make a story pay off, sewing seeds well in advance that pay off far down the line. It is very long, but incredibly well done. If you have the time and love story based games, this is not a story to be missed.

Outside of the main story quest, or MSQ as most people in the community refer to it as, there is plenty of engaging content. The combat is that of a traditional 'tab targeting-style' mmo, but is an above average example. I think there are MMOs of this style with more engaging primary gameplay, but I believe that Final Fantasy 14 offers a better complete package. The dungeons, raid, trials and other PvE content are well designed and engaging. One of my favorite mechanics I have seen is a boss who is a large barbarian. Like most other bosses in the game he has large area attacks that highlight a part of the battlefield you have to avoid, but this time he leaves a giant crater in that part of the battlefield. He then does an attack that hits the entire arena and you have to use the newly formed crater as cover against the incoming attacks. The dungeons and raids are designed like a dance, the team having to choreograph their movement to avoid specific changing patterns, but in a largely predictable way. It results in a feeling like a rhythm game where there is an attainable perfect run, you don't have to rely on random factors that can make or break an attempt, only mastery of the mechanics within the fight. This may not be to everyone's liking, but within the free trial you will be able to see enough of the content to determine if that style is to your taste.

Outside of the main MMO gameplay there are several other options to occupy your time in the world of Final Fantasy 14. There is an in-game casino full of mini games including a collectible card game, mario kart-style mount racing, an RTS that uses the vanity pets within the game and a fall guys clone. The gathering and crafting system is one of the most fun I've seen in an MMO where you acquire different crafting abilities that you use in a rotation to balance the quality and progress on the item vs the durability before the item is finished. Gathering is largely the same as most other MMOs, however. Many players enjoy the robust fashion scene within the game, going so far as to organize player run in game fashion shows. There is also extensive player housing and roleplaying within the game if you're into that sort of thing.

I think this game is worth a shot if any of this sounds up your alley or even if you're just curious. There is a free trial that includes the base game and first 2 expansions at no charge. To begin the free trial navigate to the steam entry for FINAL FANTASY XIV Online Free Trial. If you buy the game first you will not be able to continue playing for free unfortunately. The story content alone in the free trial will take around 300 hours. The story is best enjoyed at your own pace. Go in without expectations and give it a fair chance, it may just blow you away as it did for me.

My steam hours are not accurate as I played long before the game came to steam. I played Guild Wars 2 for over 1200 hours from 2015-2017. I recently returned to the game and it is the best value for money I've ever gotten out of an MMO, if not video game ever. This game has top notch class design, the best PvP in any MMO contested only by the long dead Warhammer Online. The story and exploration are fantastic. The community is great. I made so many friends here and it is incredibly rare to find someone with a repugnant personality even in PvP. Returning to the game after 5 years it's in possibly the best state it's ever been. If you've ever wanted to play an MMO, this game is worth your time.

The game is completely free to try with no pay to win. There are currently 3 expansions, you can get the first 2 bundled together or you can buy the "Complete pack" with all of the expansions and story content that was released between the expansions. Give it a shot until you've finished all the story content in the base game, if you enjoy consider one of those two options.

I usually try to avoid early access games until release but my friend urged me to get this and it turned out to be a lot of fun. i first played it before having played Factorio or any other "factory management" game and found it to be a lot of fun. I bounced off it at first but if you can sit through the tutorial it quickly become quite gripping with a clear path forward. As the community says "The factory must grow" and there's plenty of ways to expand the factory up or out. The game drip feeds you mechanics at a satisfying rate so that you always have a new toy to tinker with and a new reason to tear everything down and re optimize.

The most fun you can have with 3 friends online.

The gameplay is as good as any other CoD. UI occasionally is an issue but not enough to stop me from playing. Probably only ran into 3 or 4 crashes in multiplayer in my time playing. It's up to you if it's worth 70 dollars or not, but I don't regret the purchase. Sometimes you just want to play the mindless run and gun game, you know?

Stuck in constant slow motion. I'm at 16ms with the server and getting consistent FPS but it still feels like there's a full second of input delay on any action. Looks good though.

Could not find another player on a weekend evening, dead game.

Pretty enjoyable, it's more twitch shooter than hero shooter, but I like that. Feels like modern COD movement, gunplay is solid and has a few unique mechanics. Namely there are movable objects within every map that you can use to provide cover, block sightlines etc. Good variety of different weapons. There's 5 each of assault rifle, smg, sniper and shotgun currently. Developers seem open to communication on discord. Others have been complaining about cheaters but I haven't seen any yet.

Also has a 'roguelike' mode where you get various buffs from various points around the map and there is a boss to defeat. There's a risk/reward aspect as the longer you take the stronger the enemies become. Seems fun so far but there is a bit of a lack of variety within it. Definitely a game to keep an eye on.