Recent reviews by Zenitae

TLDR - Great game concept but could've been executed better. Though quite short, I'd say the price is fair, and is definitely worth buying if it goes on sale. Certainly worth playing though.

-Minor Spoilers Ahead-

I really enjoyed the game. Playing as a cat was a refreshing and different approach compared to other story-driven games, and of course the cat is extremely cute. That was never a doubt.

The puzzles themselves are nothing too spectacular, one or two made me stop and think, but never enough to disrupt the gameplay. If you're looking for some complex puzzles, this is not the game for you. The puzzles are more like an attachment to the game, rather than part of the game's core identity.

Fundamentally, this is a story game. There is almost no dialogue in the game, and the only characters you see are cats, robots (wearing human clothes) and enemies that look like they're giant dust mites. This in itself was different, in both a good way and bad. Let me explain.

The concept of the world itself is great. The idea of the entirety of humanity disappearing, and navigating that world as something other than a human or robot, is nice. It's different. However, I feel like Stray really didn't dive into the backstory as much as it could've. The fact humans no longer exist is a core part of the world design, but we know basically nothing about the why and how. There are hints and some moments where we do learn a little bit, but I really wanted to learn more. It could've been a nice idea to be able to collect diary or newspaper scraps, so the player can dig into the backstory further, even progress B-12's identity even more.

Next, the robots. I love the idea of robots wearing clothes and forming their own personalities. It blurs the line between human and robot a little bit. Once again, however, Stray feels like it gives you a taste of something, but never really commits to it. It could've been very interesting to see examples of robots struggling with their artificial humanity. This is explored somewhat (for example, reuniting a "father" and "son" and the ongoing theme of personal sacrifice), but there just doesn't seem enough of it.

Graphically, it's pretty good. I don't have an amazing PC so I was limited by this, but I can imagine it to be really beautiful on higher-end PC's. I had one moment of stuttering frames during a cutscene at the start of the game, but nothing else in the way of performance issues. It ran perfectly.

All in all, it's a solid game that I enjoyed. I feel like it's worth more as a proof-of-concept, rather than a fully-fleshed game. Despite the issues I've raised, it's still a fun game and is worth buying, especially on sale.

This game is really quite incredible. The story is amazing, the artwork is outstanding, and I particularly enjoyed the fact files that you discover throughout the game alongside collectables.

Really, a phenomenal game.

It's such a simple concept, and I never thought I'd get so engrossed in a game like this...

But I did.

It's a really good way to unwind and just get lost in something. Put some music on or perhaps a podcast, and you can burn so many hours in this game.

It's a fun game, considering it's still very much Early Access. I played it for hours and hours, for a while and then took a short break. I still find myself coming back to it to finish off some ideas I had for my base etc.

Many features are quite "hollow" at the moment, at least at the time of writing (16 June 2021). There's enough content to get you through maybe 30-50 hours on normal difficulty, probably more if you went for a higher challenge.

There are some tweaks and balancing I'd like to see, and perhaps some UI improvements. For example, being able to save presets on job priorities, so you can quickly change to suit the demands. It's a little long-winded to have to manually change all job priorities during the Autumn because I need to prepare for Winter etc., and then have to redo them again later. Small tweaks and fixes like that can really improve the game overall experience.

You can feel that there's a lot of potential to the game, it has many exciting pathways and directions that it could take, so I'll be following the development of this closely.

In short, the game embodies what it means to be Early Access - there's stuff there, it's fun, but it's not quite complete yet. If you buy this at the current price, I'd say you'd be getting good value - just remember that this is very much an investment.

I was really hesitant on whether to recommend this game or not. Allow me to explain.

Put simply, this game is an absolute gem. Sure, there are a couple of parts that are dated, like how throwing grenades is a little wonky - but don't forget this was made in 2008 (and honestly, that just adds to the fun). Even to this day, in the age where gaming is supposedly at its technological prime, I can't find a tactical shooter that can go toe-to-toe with this. The closest thing you can get is R6 Siege, but the biggest issue with that? It's R6 Siege. And it's not this game.

The campaign/story is fun, it plays well but it's quite short. I completed it on co-op in about 6 hours, on normal difficulty, so read into that how you want. It's good though, maybe short, but it's fun. No doubt about that.

The real juicy part here is Terrorist Hunt - specifically, co-op Terrorist Hunt. I could play that for hours and hours on end.

Each round is different, and the AI is actually quite good considering when it was made. There's a huge number of ways to enter and approach a series of rooms or buildings, and you're forced to really check your corners as even a single hit can knock you out.

You're constantly communicating with your friends and planning tactical entries to sync at the same time. This feels like what was missing in Siege. This isn't a run 'n' gun game, there's no fancy gadgets such as little drones or invisible poison mines - the most complex thing you have is C4 and even then you're not always sure if you should use it as you risk alerting nearby enemies.

The whole game just feels right. It is the embodiment of intricacy without complication, and I love it.

Sadly, the servers are no longer support by Ubisoft, so you can't play that co-op anymore. What does that leave? Story mode. Like I said, it's good... but that alone does not do the game justice.

What's also worse is the fact that Ubisoft put the game on sale just before they turned off the servers... Why do that? Better still, the game is still marked as multiplayer-compatible on the Ubisoft store (as of writing). At least give us the option of hosting our own servers, then we can still enjoy the game.

So finally, would I recommend it? It's hard to say. I want to say no, but that feels harsh on the game because it's great. I want others to experience what it offers, and what it could've offered had the servers been kept online.

But at the same time, it's morally wrong to recommend a game that essentially has a huge chunk of it's entertainment value missing. The £9 or so that it costs is worth the money if you've played this before and want that nostalgia back. If you've never played it before, get it if it ever goes on sale for £2-3, because that's all the story is worth.

If the servers come back up, I'd happily pay even £15 for this game. But, until that scenario happens... this game will be nothing more than a happy memory.

Summary? Game good, Ubisoft bad.

Edit: I've updated my review at the bottom.

I wasn't too sure about this game at first, but I decided to take the gamble and give it a go. I loved Hearts of Iron IV, so I was trusting the developers on this one.

I'm glad I did! The game itself is quite overwhelming at first, there's a lot of smaller intricate details that can really contribute to the bigger picture of your empire - this may put some players off. However, if you can take the time to learn them and aren't afraid to fail a couple of times beforehand, you can have a lot of fun. I really like how customisable the different species are, that's a nice touch.

If you're a sci-fi fan and liked games such as Total War Rome II and Hearts of Iron IV, you'll probably enjoy this game. Stellaris is essentially taking the city-building model of Total War and combining it with the complexity and RTS-element of Hearts of Iron IV.

I've had no crashes, bugs or glitches so far. The only performance-related issues I've had are the loading screen times when starting the game up for the first time, and occasionally it takes a little longer loading into a star system. However, it's not detrimental to the game and certainly doesn't spoil things.

My only real criticism is that it feels like there's a few features in the DLC's that should really be a part of the base game. However, this is a business model that Paradox uses across many of its games.

I haven't checked the modding community yet, but I've heard great things and I'll be looking into those at a later date. I'll update my review accordingly.

-- UPDATE --

Wow. I've just finished a 22-year Galactic-scale war which lasted 7 straight hours. I've played 360+ hours of Hearts of Iron IV and 280+ hours of TW: Rome II, and I don't think I was addicted half as much as I am to this. It had everything - the biggest Galactic bully getting involved in a small war, I then having to go on the defensive and hold out until they exit and get bored, all while being massively outgunned and outnumbered on every front.

I was eventually able to recover and go on the offensive... and on the offensive did I go! It was a slug-fest with fine error-margins, but it was brilliant.

Still waiting to try some mods... I can't peel off the game as-is! Would highly recommend some of the DLC, especially Leviathans, Utopia and Federations.

Now to try and stabilise all of these new planets that I've conquered. Here comes the Great Tarassian Purge...

If there's anything to complain about, it's managing large-scale empires can be a little troublesome with planets and bases. It'd be nice to have some sort of manual partitioning feature so that I can design my own Sectors etc.

Much improved over what it was at launch. The game can sometimes get repetitive after a while, but a short break usually fixes that. It's great to see the game getting meaningful content added within updates, not just small bug fixes. There's still a long way to go yet until it's the perfect game, but it's certainly making excellent progress to being there. Some more variety in side quests and ambient events would be nice, but there's plenty of time for that.

One final thing to mention is the transparency and clarity that the developers hold with the community. They know it didn't get off to the best starts, yet they've persistently worked hard on moulding the game to what they envisioned it should be like.

I can't wait for the next major update!

TL;DR

10/10, I can't stop playing this game. Great with friends and is highly replayable without being repetitive.

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I've clocked over 500 hours on Xbox and have just bought it for PC too. 0 regrets.

This game is unbelievable, it just has so much replayability and you can have a bunch of laughs if you're playing with a friend. If it's your first time playing this game, it takes a little while to get used to. You'll soon realise that there's actually more to it than just smashing the ball at any opportunity.

There's usually a few salty players that sometimes take it too seriously, but just ignore them. They're a minority and a majority of players are good guys.

Three quick tips:

1. Don't follow the ball around mindlessly, especially if a teammate is already chasing it/has possession. Think about where you are, and try to think logically. You're no good to your teammate if you're right behind them and they're about to put the ball in the box, make some space and be ready to react.

2. Pay attention to the chat, and try to communicate with the quick commands as often as possible. Giving a heads up if you're about to box the ball can be extremely useful to any of your team waiting. Make sure you customise your shortcuts too, and choose which quick chats to use.

3. Don't hit the ball for the sake of hitting it! If you have any doubts as to whether you can reach the ball before your opponent, back off and let them have space. Get in a position where they need to come to you, and then put them under pressure. When in goal, don't go too far from the line; sometimes it's better to go in the goal a bit if they're coming straight at you and force them to panic.

I hope you have as much fun playing this as I do. Maybe we'll meet in game some time!

10/10