Recent reviews by Polaris™

Game keeps crashing when I'm about 70% through Blackthorne's healthbar on the final level. I've gotten so agonizingly close to finishing the level on Impossible but this is absolutely infuriating and very frustrating. Thumbs down from me.

I started playing this game 3 days ago and I can't put it down :D

Absolutely gorgeous world design, exploration is such a treat across all the different biomes and planets. Fun gameplay mechanics and even better in co-op to discover new things with friends. The character and sound design with emotes and pets is also very sweet and adorable :)

Unlike most open world survival games, there is no combat per se. All your time will be spent in exploration, resource collection, crafting, and building. I understand this may be unappealing to some but I've found my experience very compelling so far and there is lots of replayability, especially with friends and the upcoming DLC.

It's a very peaceful and relaxing game with a decent amount of problem solving and plenty of room for creativity.

I would heartily recommend to any fan of survival and/or sci-fi and space exploration games - 9/10

I had a lot of fun with this new entry into the Kingdom Rush franchise. I've been a fan of KR since 2011, during its early days on Flash and Armor Games, and I will always be happy to have more Kingdom Rush in any shape or form :)

If you enjoyed KR Vengeance then I think you will enjoy this game too, it carries many of the mechanics and changes that KRV introduced to the franchise. However I should inform you that KR Alliance is the first mainline KR to launch on Steam on Day 1. Therefore you may find there is less content than previous games as the postgame content and DLCs are still in development, unlike the previous KR games that had many DLCs when they came to Steam. Don't be upset, this is just because they launched on mobile first and only came to Steam after several years.

I liked the campaign level design, it felt pretty intuitive and I rarely had to reset my towers' positions, though this could just be because I'm a more experienced player now. Acts 1 and 2 of the campaign were great, I loved the level design, enemies, environment - all very nice thematic choices. In Act 3 I wasn't as impressed by the the thematic choices (just not my personal taste but YMMV) or the enemies, they were a bit more frustrating, but the levels were still doable. I also didn't like the campaign ending since it kinda erases the entire narrative the first 4 games had built and now we're back to square 1.

I did greatly enjoy the heroes and their abilities. Anya, Nyru, and Broden are really fun to experiment with and their abilities have good utility, plus their character designs are cool too. The dragons are OP as always but they only unlock after the campaign and are meant for post-game content so I'm not complaining. I haven't checked all the heroes yet but many of them look really cool and seem to have interesting abilities so I will be trying those out as well.

The only major criticism I would offer is the towers.

I really dislike that there is only 1 artillery option - Tricannon. I really like the tower design and abilities are cool but expensive, but I found it was constantly overshadowed by other options. I removed it from my loadout pretty early in the campaign and never put it back. I didn't feel the need to use it again at all for the next 10+ levels. It needs way too much investment to effectively remove even small critters. Maybe the Flamespitter counts as artillery but I found it largely useless, the damage is way too low even for small critters.

Next, the barracks - the Paladins are the default option and they are great. No complaints about them. But they seem to be the only viable option. There are 2 alternatives, Grim Wraiths and Demon Pit (3 if you count Rocket Riders but they are more ranged DPS imo), yet they don't do anything better than the Paladins. In KRV the Dark Knights had the Chainsaw ability, Twilight Harassers had ranged attacks and Berserk, but the Grim Wraiths here are just... worse Paladins? And you only get 2 not 3. The Demon Pit is also... there, I guess. I just don't see the use case for any of them.

Archer towers are alright, the default Royal Archers and Ballistas are both viable and have ok abilities. Dune Sentinels are a bit weak but a simple damage buff would make them a good option too. I do think the extra gold ability should be reworked, it should either be a passive bonus for the tower at all levels, or the reward needs a massive upgrade. 750 gold to get 12 back from each enemy is a terrible exchange.

Mage towers are excellent, default Arcane Wizard is very strong, but so is Necromancer, and Elven Stargazer and Eldritch Channeler are good too. No complaints about Mage towers.

I also found myself reluctant to experiment outside the basic archer, mage, and barracks towers for the entire campaign. Don't get me wrong, it's good that the basic towers are so strong and they are balanced to make the campaign doable with them alone. However the problem is that other towers are too weak imo.

I know, the game is newly released and rebalancing is to be expected. New levels, towers, heroes, and enemies are on their way. I can sense KR Alliance will become a more fleshed out and complete experience as it matures. I'm just sharing my feedback to help it get there.

Wasn't really a fan of this Telltale project. I played this with no knowledge or context of the source material (books and TV series) so I was missing a lot of background which would have done a lot of heavy lifting in understanding the characters and story. TL;DR at the bottom.

Since the product description and game itself don't really explain the events in the rest of the Expanse universe, or recommend you to check it out first, or even mention its existence, I suspect a lot of players will wander into this game expecting a mostly coherent and self-contained narrative, fleshed out characters, and meaningful relationships. Unfortunately I don't feel like the writing delivered on those metrics. I struggled to relate to the characters, and moments that I'm clearly meant to feel moved by fell very flat. Like I understood it's a sad moment but I could never fully relate to it.

It seems difficult to really appreciate this game and the events in its story if you haven't at least watched the TV series, and given how bored I felt in-game, I'm even less motivated to check out the rest of the Expanse universe than I would have been otherwise.

It also doesn't help that the full story is half the length of a standard Telltale game - only 5h instead of the typical ~10h, which makes it difficult to really connect with the characters. Due to this the story feels both too fast and too slow at once, idk how but that's what it felt like.

I can contrast this to another Telltale project like Tales from the Borderlands - the characters in that game are original to that project and despite being set in a larger franchise, you can greatly enjoy and appreciate that game with no knowledge of the rest of the Borderlands franchise at all. I say this because I literally had a viewing party with multiple friends who hadn't even heard of Borderlands, and they all thoroughly enjoyed it so much they wanted to check out the games too. When the same friends joined me for this Expanse game, we were all underwhelmed and frankly bored.

TL;DR -

I found it pretty boring and lackluster. The gameplay is standard Telltale, press X for dialog and press E to interact, but the story may fall very flat if, like me, you haven't experienced the rest of the Expanse universe.

One of the very few games where the community is entirely friendly and helpful. Even randoms are surprisingly attentive, knowledgeable, and competent considering my prior experiences with other FPS games where randoms are practically a toss-up between toxic flamer, drunk troll, and *[mute]*.

Short story - I once got downed on my way to the escape pod during a mission with 3 randoms (I was clueless and wandering). Despite all 3 of them already being at the escape pod well before me, and neither them nor me having anything to lose (I would still have gotten all rewards even if they left me to die), literally all 3 of them left to locate, revive, and escort me back. This was in spite of the massive horde of enemies that autospawn along the escape route once the escape pod is ready. There was no material benefit in it for them, but they did it anyway for a random noob. Why? Because Leave No Dwarf Behind. Plus, you don't treat a new player like that.

I have not encountered a single flamer yet, and I hear from veterans that even they are surprised to encounter the (very) rare toxic player after thousands of hours played, which is a testament to the quality of community this game fosters.

The dev team is no less worthy of praise - no microtransactions, no paywalled content, no keys + crates, no artificially lengthened grind just so they can sell you XP boosters and shortcuts. Everything is free, forever. Even the seasonal pass is free and if you didn't manage to unlock all the rewards this season, no problem! Get them next season for a paltry amount of in-game currency. The only things you pay real world $ for is the base game and a handful of optional cosmetic DLCs to show your support to the devs.

Couldn't recommend this enough, 10/10. Rock and Stone :)

A very sweet but sad game about a family of foxes trying to survive a human-driven apocalypse. You play as a mother fox trying to raise, feed, and protect your 3 cubs while trying to locate your missing 4th cub.

Gameplay is simple and intuitive. I enjoyed the music, the story, and the artstyle, and all the animals, especially the little fox cubs, are so incredibly adorable and sweet I love them so much :D You can pet your little cubs and play with them, it's really adorable

It's a short experience (about 3h for the story and 4-6h if you want all achievements) and an easy 100% imo, great for a lazy weekend night

Dear Ironhide:
Please stop making bosses that delete towers and don't even allow you to rebuild them. It's extremely frustrating. Thank you.

For prospective players:
I felt the DLC is quite good. The new levels look nice and the new enemy units are cool as well. I enjoyed most levels except for the last one, that took a lot of experimenting to get right on Impossible difficulty, but I eventually did it. Still haven't done the DLC's challenge levels though.

I also saw a lot of disagreement among players over the pricing. The price is reasonable imo for several hours of content at least on Steam, I can't comment on other platforms. The base game has been out for over 5 years including 3 years on Steam, while the DLC is newly released so understandably the price will be a bit higher. if you think it's too expensive that's perfectly fine, everyone has a right to disagree, just wait for a discount.

Edit: I completed all the DLC's challenge levels as well, they are all fairly doable in a few attempts and fun as well.

I really enjoyed this experience. Very simple gameplay and a very simple story, but carrying an incredible amount of heartfelt depth if you pay attention.

As an Indian immigrant myself, with a father who untimely passed away recently, and an aging mother, this hit very close to home. I'm not gonna lie, I had to stop myself and wipe away some tears when Venba and Kavin were discussing Paavalan's death.

I saw a lot of myself in Kavin, relating to my own childhood and wanting to "fit in" due to all the bullying and embarrassment I faced, but in doing so giving up my roots and distancing myself from my family and my culture.

Eventually I did come full circle, reconnecting with my family and heritage, and am now proud of my identity and origins. However now, as an adult who has since migrated again to a different part of the world, I also see a lot of myself in both Venba and Paavalan, striving to adapt to a foreign environment and trying to make ends meet.

I know it's a short game (only about 2h, maybe less) and I understand the concerns about "value for money" that other comments have shared, but I certainly got great value out of this game and I would heartily recommend it to anyone.

PS: Call your parents. They miss you.

I really enjoyed this entry into the franchise. I was initially discouraged by all the negative reviews, and while I understand the genuine criticisms of the game, I still believe it's a very enjoyable experience, especially if you are relatively new to the Far Cry universe. TL;DR at the bottom.

If you are a veteran player approaching FC6 from the days of Vaas and Pagan in FC3 and 4, you may feel the story is lackluster and uncompelling. I've played every instalment from FC3 onwards and Castillo is no Vaas nor Pagan-level villain. Despite Giancarlo Esposito's excellent performance, I do agree that his villain arc falls a bit flat and I didn't really care for the story. However, I do feel that the gameplay and customization has had a step up; I thoroughly enjoyed combat and exploration.

OTOH If you are new to the franchise (started FC5 or later), and especially if this is your first time playing a Far Cry game and you just want a beautiful open world in which you can shoot and blow ♥♥♥♥ up, I highly recommend you give this one a go.

Here are a few details that were memorable to me, which may or may not convince you:
- Lovely assortment of adorable and charismatic pets that have upgradable skills. You can also feed pelicans and pet every dog in the open world, so naturally I went out of my way to pet every goodboi around :)
- Gorgeous world design with Caribbean scenery and excellent graphics (PC dependent)
- Excellent voice acting for the villain and player character (especially female Dani). Both have strong personalities and Dani isn't just a silent or passive protagonist
- Dani sings along to radio music, whether in a car or a jetski. I don't see this often in games, it really humanizes the character and I loved driving and singing along to Havana with her :)
- Great soundtrack with some modern LatAm hits
- About 90% of the campaign and 100% of the open-world activities can be done in co-op
- The unique Resolver weapons are pretty fun, especially with upgrades
- Some good customization options. Some of the gear has very useful buffs, though most is trash

TL;DR - Overall it really depends on the perspective you come into the game with. If you are fatigued from big Ubisoft games, and/or are expecting a tight narrative experience with masterful storytelling and memorable characters like FC3, this game probably isn't for you.
If you want a fairly light-hearted experience with a relatable protagonist, where you can just shoot some bad guys and blow ♥♥♥♥ up (ideally with a friend), infiltrate some bases, take down a dictator, and fawn over a gorgeous open world, I wager you'll probably enjoy yourself.

You can pet doggo
Not just 1 doggo - you can pet many doggos, many time
10/10 would pet doggo again :)