Recent reviews by Veilyn

Typical launch server issues aside, it's bussin fr fr no cap

The fact this won "Most Innovative Gameplay" by continuing to use a formula Bethesda have used since Morrowind in 2002 with essentially no evolution of said formula is actually an insult.

The Absolute commands you to play this game.

Developer greed, a step back from their previous two games in many many ways.

The cash shop is working perfectly fine, yet the crafting system (which worked perfectly well in their previous game and didn't need a change) is still incomplete. Poor performance, a complete lack of story and underwhelming class design.

There's a couple saving graces - the levels are incredibly well done and the music is very good.

Wait a long, long time to pick this up, it's not worth your time currently and if Vermintide 1 & 2 are anything to go by, it won't be worth it for another year or more.

At launch the game was in a sorry, sorry state (previous review left below) but it received some good patches post-launch which has culminated in the Immortal Empires launch which combines all the content from all 3 of the TW:W games into one huge map. In its current state it has some bugs and issues but so far they've been minor. Even the Rise of Chaos campaign that is so widely disliked has been improved so if you're not picking up all 3 games + DLC, you should still have a good time.

The modding scene for the series is also incredible, second only to the Bethesda modding scene in my opinion.

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OLD REVIEW FOR CONTEXT

I can't recommend this game in its current state. Performance is subpar and a big step down from WH2 - despite it not looking that much better. The game crashes constantly and if you're on a 12th gen Intel CPU you have to create a .script file to stop the stuttering and the only way you'll see this is by checking the subreddit or the FAQ on CA's website.

There's a long, long list of people experiencing issues with the game currently - some can't even start it at all. The game also has Denuvo DRM which is widely loathed and is often linked (whether substantial or not) to decreases in performance, and we've already seen instances of paying users being locked out of the game due to Denuvo checks.

The UI changes are by and large a step back. Gone are the unique colours & certain icons for your faction, everything is now just red. The campaign mission itself is also not great. The realms of chaos are interesting the first few times but it wears thin, and it railroads you into dealing with that mechanic whether you like it or not.

I would strongly recommend you wait a few months to see how the game holds up after some patches, workshop mods & the release of Immortal Empires (the sandbox gamemode). If you absolutely must play the game, it's available on Gamepass. As it stands, it's not worth shelling over full price, regardless of your financial situation.

A fantastic, if a little buggy, CRPG with hundreds of hours of content. The different class builds alone could give you hundreds of hours alone, but the story is solid with some surprising twists in places. You could probably push through the main content, skipping much of the Crusade stuff, in about 40-50 hours but you'd be doing the game a disservice.

The numerous companions all have their own complex storylines, combined with some great writing and solid voice acting. The side quests are extensive and varied, and really help add to the main story beats.

The Crusade element however, is a big negative in my eyes. It's incredibly dull but unfortunately is vital to certain story paths. Luckily there are mods that streamline the most annoying parts of the Crusade parts.

Overall a fantastic game, and a genuine love letter to CRPGs. If you can forgive some jank, some bugs and inconsistent voice acting (as in, 85% of the game is un-voiced) then you'll absolutely want to try it.

It's bussin b

A fantastic take on the 4x genre with some unique mechanics and a stunning art style, but some issues.

After what had felt like a period of stagnation for the genre, it's a breath of fresh air. The game is by no means perfect - the combat can be a bit weird sometimes, some things can be really obscure as to how they work & the AI is incredibly easy. Some issues aside, It's a really solid foundation that I'm sure they'll continue to work on and the devs were hugely receptive to feedback during the Open Dev tests, so the game or at least the series will likely have a good future.

The different cultures on offer and all the combinations is a really interesting and unique mechanic. It allows you to really fine tune your game to your playstyle, or force yourself to play a certain way if you want to get out of your comfort zone.

There's definitely some pretty glaring balance issues with some of the choices offered which is a shame as they're really cool and flavourful, and from the pre-launch play testing and the couple of games I've played as of writing this review, you can essentially beeline any particular victory (Science especially seems super broken OP) and just stomp the AI regardless of the difficulty.

Full price might be a little too high for what's on offer currently, but it is absolutely worth picking up should it go on sale. As the game (hopefully) evolves with updates, fixes & DLC this may change. Overall a genuinely fun game that I'd recommend.

A fun, pretty (with some notable exceptions) game that stays faithful to the DnD ruleset.

The story is interesting enough (so far at least, just under 9hrs in) to pique your interest but isn't anything exceptional. The environments are very pretty and definitely a stand out feature. Music is decent. Combat is as you'd expect from a faithful DnD ruleset game. RNG can and will screw you harshly sometimes, but at least on the middle difficulty, nothing feels stacked against you or for you. There's a few clunky mechanics in there as a result of them sticking to the tabletop ruleset, but they largely don't apply in combat.

The characters however, are a big let down for a couple of different reasons. One is that they're all just incredibly goofy and/or ugly looking. You've got some gorgeous maps and then you'll zoom into your group for a conversation and they're the most diseased-looking abominations regardless of what options you chose in the character creation screen. Plus the voice acting is HORRIFICALLY bad 95% of the time, with the remaining 5% being barely passable. However, for the most part I feel this is a relatively minor issue in the grand scheme of things as the game doesn't try to waste your time by having all the characters attempt to wax poetically for 8 minutes about minor trivia of no importance. Conversations are mostly short and sweet, and time spent away from action/exploration is on the lower end.

I feel that £31 is a little steep for what's on offer here, and I would say a price more towards £25 is more suitable for the quality I've seen so far. Naturally my opinion on this (and other points) may change as I work my way through the game.

It took me a while to get into the game, across multiple attempts, but my god is it worth when if/when it all clicks.

Having never touched a Total War game (other than 2 hours of Atilla), the learning curve was quite steep but there's an endless supply of reading or viewing material out there for you to get the hang of things.

My main gripe is the DLC being numerous and on the pricier side, yet very good and often feels almost mandatory to have even if you're just using the units (High Elves come to mind with the Sisters of Avelorn).

That complaint aside, the game is extremely fun and polished. You can and probably will sink hundreds of hours into this game and still have only unearthed less than half of the games total depth.