Recent reviews by Psi

Recommended for people who enjoy fantasy RPG and challenging games.
Bias: My favourite FromSoft game is Elden Ring.

Completed the campaign and a few co-op missions so far.

Game runs well, plays well. Campaign is incredible in terms of spectacle in its second half.

I worry for the longevity of the game but definitely worth buying.

Before we get to the review, here is a quick way to tell if you won't like this game:
-You dislike time limits.
-You dislike complex RPGs.
-You dislike reading.
-You tie ego to difficulty.
-You can't handle mistakes.
-You can't handle bad things happening outside your control.
If any of these things is true this game isn't for you.

The things that hold this game back that Owlcat could stand to improve in the future:
-Camera control doesn't support rotation.*
-Clicks can sometimes register incorrectly causing unexpected actions.*
-Game only supports limited voice-acting which doesn't cover all major plot events.*
-Game duration results in enemy variety being stretched thin sometimes.
-Writing quality inconsistent, possibly due to length of the game.
-Boss fights are too easy compared to the encounters leading up to them.
* Fixed in future games.

The game doesn't feature multiplayer cooperative which is a shame. I think it would benefit the studio and their games to support and expand it in future titles both for sales and player enjoyment.

The game is excellent if you're a CRPG fan. Shows a lot of potential that could be captured in future games.
-Characters are well-written, rarely act out of character.
-Gameplay is engaging for fans of the genre.
-Difficulty is fair and accommodating with many settings.
-Time limits encourage you to think before you act and spend your time wisely.
-Decisions are meaningful, consequential and thought-provoking.
-Kingdom management and events add to the feeling of role-play.
-Kingdom management can be disabled or have its difficulty lowered.
-Music is good, sometimes excellent.
-SFX is good, nothing ever feels odd.
-VO quality is inconsistent, some actors deliver - some do not.
-VFX is inconsistent, sometimes good - sometimes silly.
-Visuals are good and consistent, dated for some - most won't care.
-Each act in the story functions like its own mini-adventure for a huge payoff.*
-Story writing is good, starts as a generic fantasy but has an interesting twist.
-Excellent character customization.

*I want to thank Owlcat for their loyalty to the adventure path idea from Kingmaker. The end result is that by the end of the game you feel like you've been on many adventures and accomplished a great deal. One of the biggest flaws of the typical one-narrative RPG is that halfway through it feels like nothing has been accomplished, in this game you feel like you've done so much that by the end it really does feel like you've completed a meaningful adventure full of experiences. Kudos. If this had been a shared experience in co-op I think it would have been even more powerful so really hopeful they explore it in a similar future title.

Prologue: Fitting introduction to the game.
Chapter One: Fitting introduction to the adventure mechanics.
Chapter Two: Fitting introduction to the kingdom mechanics.
Chapter Three: Fitting crisis to test players and provide confidence.
Chapter Four: Intriguing mystery, expansion of the game world.
Chapter Five: Fitting crisis to complete player ascension to king/queen.
Chapter Six: Felt a bit weak, interesting idea but lacking something.
Chapter Seven: Fitting final chapter with high stakes.
Epilogue: Great conclusion to the game.
Personal favourite was Chapter Four.

Tartuccio: Suitably insufferable with a satisfying story.
Stag Lord: Felt one-dimensional, needed more depth.
Hargulka: Satisfying adversary, simple but effective.
Goblin King: Needed way more depth.
Vordakai: Excellent opponent but too easy.
Armag: Interesting but felt one-dimensional.
Irovetti: Good antagonist, good fight.
Nyrissa: Good antagonist, good fight.
Lantern King: Good antagonist, final phase was too easy.

Old Sycamore: Good introductory dungeon, too many of the same enemy type.
Dwarven Ruins: Satisfying dungeon, somehow felt too short.
Womb of Lamashtu: Awesome concept, way too many of the same enemy type.
Vordakai's Tomb: Amazing dungeon, zero complaints - sadistic location.
Armag's Tomb: Felt too much like Vordakai's, needed a more unique identity.
Pitax Royal Palace: Interesting location, but has a problem - see below.
House at the Edge of Time: Great dungeon, but has a problem - see below.

Pitax Royal Palace had a problem with enemy types, I know this might sound unusual but I think it needed more human enemy variety - usually I don't ask for this in games as they are chock full of bandits or whatever but in this case it would have made sense. The lycanthropes and trolls felt a bit out of place.

House at the Edge of Time is intimidating even for me. I love the dungeon but I think it should've been made as a secret dungeon as I fear too many people will stop playing because of it.

Q: Who is it for?
A: Souls Fans

Q: Is it worth the price?
A: Yes

• Optional Content: Great Challenge
  
• Boss Ratio: More Optional than Required
  
• World Design: Superior to ER
  
• World Layout: Vastly Superior to ER
  
• Art Design: Superior to ER
  
• Story: Easier to Follow
  
• Gear: Awesome Additions
  
• Disk Space: Impressive

• Performance: Needs Patch for Some
  
• Main Content: Too Hard for Non-Hardcore
  
• Progression: Too Confusing for Some
  
• Exploration: Less Rewarding

• All Dungeon Types: Improved & More Diverse
  
• Main Story Bosses: Too Hard for Newcomers
  
• Optional Bosses: Excellent Challenge
  
• Duo Bosses: None
  
• Regular Enemies: Balanced
  
• Elite Enemies: Way Too Hard for Newcomers
  
• Optional Enemies: Too Easy for Veterans

• Gravesite Plain: Great Starting Zone
  
• Scadu Altus: Generic Design
  
• Cerulean Coast: Great Design but No Story
  
• Charo's Hidden Grave: Great Design but No Story
  
• Stone Coffin Fissure: Good Design but Little Reward
  
• Hinterlands: Great Design but Clearly Unfinished
  
• Scaduview: Pointless Zone - Waste of Dev Time
  
• Finger Ruins (both): Great Design with No Reward
  
• Rauh Ancient Ruins: Great Zone
  
• Jagged Peak: Incredible Zone*
  
• Abyssal Woods: Great Zone with Disappointment*

* I wanted to say more about Jagged Peak & Abyssal Woods.

Jagged Peak is an amazing zone despite a lack of exploration, feels like climbing a real mountain with an awesome build up for the boss.

Abyssal Woods has an incredible build up, amazing atmosphere and completely lame enemies. They need to add a larger predatory creature that stalks around this place searching for the player to truly payoff the build up or it feels like a letdown - another way to amplify danger could have been to introduce a type of banished knight or horned warrior afflicted by madness with extra strength - ability to cast madness related incantations.

• Belarut: Good Dungeon, Could be Bigger
  
• Shadow Keep: Good Dungeon, Should be Bigger
  
• Enir-Ilim: New Best Dungeon, Could be Bigger

• Messmer the Impaler: Great fight, way too hard for newcomers.
  
• Romina, Saint of the Bud: In the air too often, way too hard for newcomers.
  
• Promised Consort Radahn: Amazing fight, way too hard for even non-hardcore.

• Divine Beast Dancing Lion: Great fight, balance is very fair.
  
• Rellana, Twin Moon Knight: Great fight, balance is fair but since she isn't a hidden boss and is early she will piss off many non-hardcore or rusty players.
  
• Putrescent Knight: Annoying fight, could be skill issue.
  
• Commander Gaius: Good fight could use a few tweaks, but blocks fragments non-hardcore will need to overcome the challenge of the main story which is bad design.
  
• Scadutree Avatar: Too easy, might have been over-leveled.
  
• Metyr, Mother of Fingers: Good fight, not my preferred boss type though.
  
• Midra, Lord of Frenzied Flame: Found early, too easy for how hidden he is needs to cast more spells and evade player better for added difficulty.
  
• Bayle the Dread: A tad too easy for the build-up, in my opinion needs a boost in his HP - the moveset seems good enough.

I think that the boss ratio of Main Story to Optional is better than it was in Elden Ring. I think they should have had a few more Main Story bosses to give non-hardcore players or newcomers a more fun experience. I also think From needs to do a better job distinguishing between Main Story, Optional and Secret bosses.

Main Story bosses should be in a linear path, very obvious and able to be beaten just by getting higher level/scadulevel and using summons.

Optional Bosses needs to be off the beaten path but visible so that those who are interested in exploring can find them. Hard enough that they're a real challenge for normal veterans.

Secret Bosses should be From's cutting edge challenge. They dropped the ball in this DLC with Midra being a pushover compared to Promised Consort Radahn - the two should have had their places swapped given the massive gap in difficulty between them.

They also need to add more Scadutree Fragments while keeping the maximum level at 20 so that players can find them more easily.

Comparison to Explain:
Main Story Boss for DLC should have been like Divine Beast
Optional Boss for DLC should have been like Messmer
Secret Boss for DLC should have been like Promised Consort Radahn

Update good, game good.

Recommended for people who enjoy Sci-Fi and RP-oriented strategy games.
Bias: This is my favourite game from Paradox.