Recent reviews by Harrison11106

This studio came into my radar with their Divinity: Original Sin (D:OS) Kickstarter campaign, I've been a fan of theirs since. My fear with this title was that it'd essentially be D:OS, but with a D&D skin. Luckily that mostly hasn't been the case, & where it was present it only enhanced the experience for me.

The above written, I do have some nitpicks. First, unlike the previous games in the series, you don't have 06 companions, you can only travel with 4 at any given time. Secondly, you only go up to level 10, unlike the previous entries where you went up to level 20. Solasta had/has a similar issue in this regard, although you can go up to level 16 in that game.

While the game can be played with a controller, my advice it to stick with a keyboard & mouse, as a game of this type should be played. This game has a lot of replay value folks, I plan on doing another playthrough in the future.

Overall an improvement over the original Skyrim. That written, I would've preferred to be able to turn off at least one DLC. As it is, I simply try & complete it ASAP simply so I won't have to deal with the annoyance(s) from it in addition to the dragons from the main story-arc.

I remember playing this game waaay back on the PS1, it's still as gorgeous as it was back then. You also have the option of either using the original music or the arranged version, which I thought was a nice touch. For better & worse there is no overall arc like in other RPGs, they're a series of quests which are fairly short & sweet.

That written, it also has the flaws from back then too. The crystals, which are your experience points (XP), as well as other drops disappear anywhere from 3 seconds to 5 seconds after you've defeated foes, so it's in your interest to pick these up quickly during battles. As if that wasn't enough, any companions you do have don't pick these items up, or worse still actively avoid them. There is no XP sharing in this game between you and your companions. Hopefully there's a patch at some point which allows you to fix these flaws, at the very least XP sharing if the companion still won't pick up their share of XP crystals.

EDIT: LlKkO pointed out that there is an XP sharing ring, thanks much. Gotta find it.

Disclosure I was a Fig/Kickstarter backer for this game before Microsoft (M$) acquired inXile.

While I do recommend this game, I feel it's weaker then the previous entry.

First, the things I liked. The locale is different from other post-apocalyptic genre type games. There was also more care taken on the character creation front when compared to the previous entry in the series. I also really like that when in combat you can move the map around, that may be a small thing to some, but it helps more then people think in combat. I also liked that you have an actual vehicle to move around in compared to the previous entries in the franchise.

Now for the issues I had. It felt like there was less to explore. Ranged weapons no longer had a chance to jam for either you or your foes (I played on normal difficulty, maybe this is different on the harder ones, but I doubt it). The feats/perks are fewer than in WL2 & are more tied to how high you ranked in a skill. There were less general feats/perks. I also wasn't all that fond of the way they did weapons in this one ( your skill rank determines how powerful a weapon you can use, otherwise you'll have penalties to use it which are fairly severe at the earlier levels).

I wonder how different this game would have been had InXile still been an independent company.

I remember playing this game waaay back on the Xbox 360. Then, as now, the draw of the game is its combat. It's the only game I can think of, action or otherwise, where you can have Chakrams as a weapon; & going by some of the streams I've seen, apparently the Chakrams are still everyone's favorite weapon. It's basically a remaster of the original; with luck the generally positive reception it's gotten will give THQ the incentive to make a KoA2. All the DLC from the original game is included here folks, so there's a lot to do.

The above written, for better & worse it's just a remaster, with new DLC coming out next year. There are little things that I think could have been done to update this game for today. They didn't have to be major things, but for those who create their own armor & weapons, maybe the option/ability to change the color of the weapons & armor to your tastes. Maybe a few new hairstyles in character creation, or a simple button press to change the camera back to the default. Lastly, hindsight being 20/20, is how "samey" some of the bosses are, there's not much variation there. Here's hoping that the additional DLC coming next year will add some more options.

For an Early Access, it gives you an idea of what to expect. For better & worse it has a LOT of nods to SoTN, the boss battles are very fast paced. I'd suggest slowing those down a little, I'd also suggest either altering or adding some other animations, as it is one almost gets the impression that it's a "copy & paste" of various SoTN aspects.

This review is for the Master Edition of MHW Iceborne for PC. Don't let the short amount of time I have on this version fool you, I also have both console versions (Xb1 & Ps4 pro), having played them for substantially longer. I suppose I'm a decent candidate to compare & contrast all 3 versions.

This version has the fastest load times by far, whether engaging on solo quests, or in co-op/multiplayer ones. On this version there were times when it loaded quests before I could even go to the canteen area. You can tweak the graphics settings, play using keyboard & mouse, controller, or my preferred method, a bit of both ( controller with Keyboard support). On the console versions, the closest you get to tweaking the graphics settings is either to prioritize frame-rate or quality. In other respects the PC version plays like the console counterparts.

This game could easily have been a micro-transaction (MCX) nightmare ( or wet dream, depending on who you ask ). Enjoy that there are no pay to win, or similar mechanics... so far.

Now for the nitpicks. I wish that all 3 versions had the option of pausing when doing quests solo. Also, for those who're in actual guilds, that we actually have a guild hall or guild room; it's too late to do that for this MHW, but hopefully one or both of these can be implemented in the next game in the series (preferably the pause option).

For those on the fence whether to get this or not, & which version to get it for: to the first part I say simply to look at game streams, see if the game says "play me" to you. As to the 2nd query, I'd say PC version. Not because PC is the "master race", but due to the next Xbox & PS5 being due later this year. I've no idea of MHW will be backwards compatible, let alone if all the data you will carry (character, equipment, ranks, upgrades, decorations, etc). Once the new consoles hit, I expect a drop off in players there, I just don't know to what degree.

My review of this game is under the old/original Wasteland 2 banner. I still stand by that. I eagerly await the remaster of the 1st game & Wasteland 3 (Disclosure: backer of WL3).

It's a nice little quick game. Surpassing your score & trying to unlock all the different abilities will always be a draw.

Disclosure: I was a Kickstarter backer for this game. I also streamed a few beta plays.

With that out of the way, I’ll begin. Those of us who’ve been looking for an “old skool” party based isometric Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) kind of game, not only is this for you, but it’s also the only one of its kind in recent years. While there are games such as the Divinity: Original Sin (DoS) series & Pillars of Eternity (PoE), they’re not D&D per se. This game is a D&D title, albeit under the Pathfinder Kingmaker system.

For character creation, you have the standard species plus the Aasimar. If you have the Wildcards DLC, you can also potentially be a Tiefling. The standard classes are there, each having 4 variations. There are also a few Prestige (advanced) classes. When creating you character, statistics are done under the point-buy system for said character (not fond of this system, but I understood why they went the route they did). You create one, the other party members you acquire during the course of the game.

The game has a robust options package, both for in-game & out of game; you’d be wise to go through it thoroughly. Tweak it as you feel. Tutorials could be improved. The game terminology will be familiar to those who’ve either played 3e D&D &/or Pathfinder, but not to those who’re simply trying to get their “feet wet” with this game. When leveling the characters, think ahead to where you want to place your skill points, feats/perks, & the rest. There is no “respecting” in this title, so once you commit & then have a “oops” moment, grin & bear it.

There are 2 parts to the game; the adventuring/questing portion, & the Kingdom management portion. Failure in either means game over.

With the kingdom portion, certain tasks you can assign to your advisors, with some others it’ll require a more hands on approach by you. The kingdom has various states, depending on how often you fail or succeed at these tasks, it can go from a “serene” (best) state, to “crumbling” (worst before kingdom falls). I find that it’s easier for the kingdom to go into negative status then to keep it either neutral/stable or serene. When creating your character, choosing their alignment also has an influence on the kingdom. Certain buildings, & their bonuses, will be available, or not, based on your alignment. With the standard 09 alignments of D&D that basically means 9 different playthroughs, just based on how different your kingdom will be based on your alignment.

The game has a lot of content. As of this writing, I’m at 240-ish total hours between 2 games, & am only now approaching the end-game in one of them. It is quite the time-sink. Is the game for you? If you’re looking for an “old skool” Balders Gate or Icewind Dale-like rpg, then I say give this a shot. Do research on it beforehand. The best research, look at a stream or 2.

Some suggestions for future endeavors

• If the powers that be at Paizo read this & are already planning another pathfinder game (probably under Pathfinder 2e rules), please make it a turn-based game as opposed to the real-time with pause (RTWP) this one is, to more accurately mimic the pencil & paper version. At least give us the option when starting the game.
  
• Give party the ability to speed up time (run) in dungeons, like you can in the PoE games. Some of those dungeons are really big, & literally going back & forth from one side of the screen to another & back again, in some cases, is really tedious.
  
• After beating the game the first time, have an NG+ option for a new game, where hired characters cost less.
  
• Probably the most important bullet point; give the developers time to properly finish the game. Most of the negative reviews are from when the game was initially released, after chapter 02 it was a buggy mess. had it been released in a more stable state then, I believe, player reviews would be more positive, possibly in the mid to high 80 percentage, & Metacritic in the mid to high 70-ish percentages. I'd rather a game come out later but all-around stable, then early or "on time" but a bug riddled disaster.