Recent reviews by Vargs

Outward has mixed recent reviews which it deserves, not due to the quality of the game itself but because it inherently will not appeal to everyone, nor is it even trying to.

Almost every action and decision you make will be meaningful, but with that meaning comes sometimes severe consequences for not preparing properly or for making rash decisions. It's not difficult in the same sense as iframe dodging some ridiculous Souls DLC boss is, but it is very willing to set you back a great deal if you're making poor choices.

It's the kind of game where you find some sort of intimidating, powerful monstrosity in an early dungeon and opt to lure it into a room so you can close the door and run because fighting seems like a terrible and risky idea. Where you lose to a group of dinosaurs and they eat all of your food/supplies and leave you stranded, lost, hungry, and diseased in the middle of a toxic swamp. Where you deliberately only venture out in the desert at night because your heavy armor will cause you to go unconscious from heat stroke if you explore under the sun. Where 2 bandits with rusty weapons are an immense threat and you let them slowly bleed to death after guiding them into traps because 2v1 is always dangerous.

Outward is also very mechanics/exploration-driven. The story and dialogue are very limited and not particularly interesting, and while it can look beautiful at times, I certainly would not say Outward has impressive graphical fidelity.

This game gave me very "classic Everquest 1" vibes. For a more generally relatable but nowhere near as accurate comparison: a little bit Morrowind. Overall I quite like it but would not suggest it to someone looking for a lightweight, casual adventure like the colorful visuals and upbeat music indicate it might be.

Great co-op experience as well. Even has local splitscreen.

The only negative thing that I can say about this DLC is that the legendary lords don't differentiate themselves enough. That aside, the Chaos Dwarfs are phenomenal. Undoubtedly the most in-depth campaign mechanics out of any faction in this game with a very cool and fun unit roster to go along with it.

I'm not a huge fan of Ironsides which don't differentiate themselves from Handgunners enough, but otherwise I liked the units in this DLC. Elspeth is a bit too strong but not so much as to completely ruin the campaign which has some fun mechanics. Thumbs up overall.

Tamurkhan is absurdly overpowered to the point of being a very boring campaign, but I quite like the unit additions and recent changes to Nurgle. Had a good time with Epidemius after ditching my Tamurkhan save.

DD1 is my favorite game of all time. This one is not. It takes a few steps forward, but not as many as you'd hope from a sequel while also taking several steps back.

That being said, I did still really enjoy my time with DD2. Aside from the game being far too easy (genuinely recommend installing an increased difficulty mod for your first playthrough so you aren't just 1-2 shotting everything by level 25), most issues fade away into the background when I'm playing.

The story sucks, the side dungeons are halfassed, and there aren't enough monster types, but damn does it feel so, so good to experience these dynamic and memorable situations with the combat system and the pawns. The level of physical interaction you have with enemies is like nothing else. I also greatly appreciate the lack of handholding.

I don't think DD2 is a game for everyone (nor is DD1), and I don't think it's a masterpiece, but I do quite like it.

On a side note, there seems to be a great deal of memed outrage over microtransactions in DD2, but honestly it doesn't have any bearing in reality. The things you can buy are such an irrelevant joke that were probably just thrown in to appease some suit at Capcom who demanded that there be DLC on offer. It's as if you could spend 3 bucks to purchase a pack of 5 minor healing potions in Diablo 2. Absolutely no impact and does not matter in the slightest. Hell, you can just cheat engine/mod in the purchasable stuff if you really wanted, but it wouldn't be worth the time or effort.

Coming off the disappointing ending and directly into a review, it's easy to feel a bit soured on Baldur's Gate 3. But I spent 109.75 out of the 110 hours it took me to fully complete this game thinking it was the best CRPG ever made, so I can't fault it too hard for the last few minutes feeling rushed. Truly a fantastic experience that I can recommend without any hesitation or caveats.

I've spent enough time reviewing and re-reviewing this game that I don't have the will to fully do so again. Instead, I'll leave it at the following:

This game was bad. Then it started to get pretty good. Then it fell into the toilet for awhile while CA diverted resources to a failed hero shooter. With that out of the way, it's now progressed to a great spot and is easy to recommend.

Extraordinarily buggy at the time of this review, but patches have been coming out quickly and I expect the game to be in a good state eventually, based on Owlcat's support of Kingmaker. I'd be surprised if a game this ambitious wasn't a buggy mess, to be honest.

Overall I quite liked Wrath. Cool setting, decent writing, some great companions, above-average choice reactivity, good music, and a lot of depth to its character-building. Personally I could have done without the HoMM-like Crusade mechanic, however, and despite being reasonably familiar with 3.5/Pathfinder rules they were still a bit of a headache to deal with at times, particularly when you aren't sure if something isn't working due to an intentional decision or due to a bug. Act 5 also felt a bit unfinished, although not excessively so.

I'd certainly recommend picking this game up...a few months after release.

Good maps, although the omission of Wizard's Tower is unforgivable. Kruber/Bardin/Saltz all get some great weapons, although I wouldn't say any of them stand out as being particularly unique or interesting. Kerillian/Sienna weapons can be a bit difficult to justify using.

This DLC is ok. Definitely worth it on sale.

Well worth the asking price for anyone interested in the concept. GK is a powerful career with a strong identity and a cool quest system. The weapons aren't my personal favorites but they're still quite solid and have pretty unique movesets.