Recent reviews by Jae Nornec

It's alright. I recommend it but wait for a big sale. By far the most fun i had was parkour around the towns finding hidden goodies.
Just one thing before you buy -- don't bother with high difficulty. Ranged enemies have insane aim and losing swaths of health to ranged attacks will annoy you until you turn the difficulty down. Their tracking on you is the thing that brings the combat down from a 7 to a 5 or lower.

Shut up, sit back, make a city, take a photo.

Wait, this game has micro transactions? I was having too much fun to care.

• survival
  
• open world
  
• creature taming
  
• base building
  
• automation-like
  
• character progression
  
• guns and fighting things, general shooter stuff
  
• collectibles
  
• overworld encounters (bosses/mini-bosses)
  
• dungeons

However the way it combines these elements feels fresh. And IMO it does a great job blending them into a way that's just...fun, with really no barriers to the consumer other than being an Early Access title that you'd have to invest in.

• No need to always be online
  
• No subscription service
  
• No micro transactions
  
• Allows solo play, coop play, dedicated servers, and custom settings, with pvp on the way in some form
  
• No need for an account with some publisher, and didn't ask people for an extra dime

That's what people are loving. The freedom to have fun.

What's not so fun are the controls, but honestly, I just use AHK to get around some of the quirks like accidentally chucking your Pal Spheres into the void. I'm sure a future update will take care of the control customization, like binding to mouse buttons.
I have other complaints, like solo play balance for Pal Sphere production. Even on a 2x capture rate, it is rough. I'm having to spend gobs of time just crafting spheres to go out into the world hunting for better pals. If this wasn't a game that heavily emphasized cataloging and capturing pals, I wouldn't much mind not capturing all of them, naturally. Let us adjust the balance for solo players even more than 2x, or perhaps allow us to change the capture rate per-sphere to further tailor our experience? Maybe even recipe customization in world settings?
Some pal pathing issues, which are being worked on according to the roadmap, are really common in mid-late game bases where the pals just get hyooj but the base size doesn't increase with upgrades. Let's have the base "sphere of influence" change as the base levels up? Maybe we can level up individual Pal Boxes' range with certain materials?
There's definitely some jank around the edges if you play as much as I have.
Whatever, it's an early access game that isn't a 'full price AAA title'. They're working on it.

I've already poured 40h into it. I intend to pour more. The world is massive. The game is fun. Stop fighting about it online and just play the damn game, or don't, you can do that too. It's your money, use it how you see fit.

This game is cool. That's the consistent feeling I get when I play it and when other people watch it. I mean, you're effectively reliving your childhood by building your own toy and flinging it/boosting it/rolling it, around a theatre of war. If I make one suggestion for you, dear prospective player, it's that you listen to the Japanese dub. The acting is so much better. The emoting is so much more sincere, and let me tell you, during the fight with V.II Snail on Xylem, his voice acting was absolutely stunning. You could hear the pain, frustration, and motive behind what he was doing and why he was piloting Balteus. Absolute gold. It doesn't take long to play through 3 times. By the end of the 3rd play-through you'll have most if not all of the parts and you can prepare to start S-ranking all of the missions (that's what I'm doing right now). From Software has done it again; this game feels like an extension of AC2, which is the last game in the series i have played recently. Get it. Play it. Play it two more times then play it some more.

This was a beautiful physics playground coupled with a beautiful narrative for a solid 4 hours. I think it plays better from start to finish if you don't take any breaks, like reading a nice novella. Dealing with my own mental health struggles over the course of the past few years, the simplicity and grace of this puzzle game kept me smiling throughout the whole experience. One of the achievements asked me "Why are you like this?" -- I wanted to fist bump the creators.
I have yet to try the challenge modes, listen to the commentary, try multiplayer, play custom creations, or watch speed runs, but don't be alarmed at the price for a short game. There is way more game here than meets the eye -- sort of how perception is reality, no? Highly recommend -- you don't need to wait for a sale.

Ye like choppin' trees, do ye? Ye prefer not ta be attacked while ye do? Well, look no further, friend -- Against The Storm is everything you loved about Warcraft 3 before the first scuffle, but in short manageable chunks of your evening. Command 4 (soon to be 5) unique villager races as you build a settlement to appease the Queen's impatience but also keep your villagers' resolve high enough so that they want to stay. A myriad of difficulty levels will allow you to build a town without a worry, or scramble to build a town while fighting blight, micro managing your wood choppers, and trying to keep hostility from the forest at a minimum. Play the way you want! Against The Storm combines rogue-like elements in the form of passive bonuses which are chosen at certain times while playing. Each completed settlement will also allow you to boost a tree of passives which will apply to any new settlement.
There is a slight difficulty curve in getting used to how the flow of any single game works, but once you get the basics, you'll find your comfort zone.

Don't worry if you lose a match. There is no scary resolution, no crazy fiery fanfare, the match simply ends, and you try again somewhere else. I appreciate this, because you're not necessarily facing any kind of impending doom; the end screen of a match tells you how you did and what you got, regardless of a win.

People who love simulation/strategy town builders will love this game. People who love the first 10 minutes of most RTS games will also love this game!

I don't have anything to complain about right now because the game is in active development. On sale or at full price, Against The Storm is totally worth it.

This game turned out to be an unexpected absolute delight that keeps delivering. After completing all of the base content (I think), I'm at 55 hours -- 55 hours for a game I spent 5 dollars on. That's nearly a cent on the hour. In fact, it's less. And the game gets continually updated, with new cheeky secrets and new characters to play. It's perfect on the Steam Deck.
I never gave the game much thought watching streamers play it. I slept on the game for way too long and when I started I could hardly put it down. All I can say is, you don't really get the same experience until you sit down and play it yourself. And you only need one hand! That first time you charge on to minute 28 out of 30, wondering if your build can survive the onslaught of baddies encroaching on your mobile defensive base, you'll want to keep playing, win or not.

Other reasons to love the game:
1) Killer soundtrack with no business being this good
2) Wide array of humorous and downright creepy characters and story elements
3) Dopamine injection directly into your eyeballs (seizure sufferers beware)

You're damn right I recommend this game. Pick it up on or off sale, and scoop up the soundtrack, too.

Five dollars for a tower defense game involving dice? Yes, please! It has some balance issues, and the UI often blocks your vision when trying to place things, but honestly for the price I don't really think it's a big deal. Would I like to see the game improve? Absolutely. Do I still recommend it for some fun? Yes.

I don't understand the amount of vitriol for this game i see in the reviews. Some folks just come on to leave their 'not recommended' rating after playing 20 minutes and completely dumping the game forever; these people have not come here to play GRIP. Without getting too conspiratorial, the game was 82% off at the time of writing this review, so a cheap bad review would be plausible. I appreciate the negative reviews that actually have something to say, because GRIP has some issues, but nothing that makes it a poor future racer. My goodness is this game fun.

I'm coming from a long history of futuristic racers, starting with Killer Loop on the PS1, to most recently Redout, which are great games with great soundtracks (historically, future racers I've played have always had bangin' soundtracks, because without them, you simply lose that feeling of speed). GRIP is no exception to either of these qualities. Imagine my surprise when I saw that GRIP supports a custom jukebox!

Game play in GRIP is all about mastering the PLETHORA of courses available, each with their own aesthetic, lore (Yes! Check the game info page on the main menu), and shortcuts. However that's just where the game gets started. GRIP comes with multiple game modes that will challenge how you drive on the circuits. Some modes are specific to pure racing, others are based on raw carnage. Aside from racing, there is a deathmatch mode that plays like it sounds, and a parkour mode called 'Carkour' -- it's essentially a time based obstacle course, quite fun!

Full multiplayer support allows for even more game modes including team racing. Custom tournaments are especially fun if you have a core group you play games with often. Matchmaking in 2021 is not too bad, to get matched with at least one other person, but luckily, you can roll with bots online for as long as you want at any difficulty you're comfortable with while you wait for others to join.

I do recommend playing through the campaign and leveling up a bit to unlock all the extra goodies GRIP has to offer.

Car selection is pretty variable in design, with subtle differences in driving stats to suit your play style. Customization of your vehicle works much like in Rocket League -- personalize your favorite ride and get racing!

I fully recommend GRIP, especially if it is at all on sale. There is lots of fun to be had solo or with friends/strangers. I also recommend, if you do get it, read the guide, learn the tricks, and play some single player matches before really diving in.

There's so much more to this game I haven't even talked about. I don't want to ruin it for anyone just getting started. Get the game and give it a chance!