Recent reviews by ardendanmer

Rather weak entry in the series - mostly for gameplay, but the game does get better later on, especially in DLCs. Main reason to play - being a fan of the universe, since despite an odd retcon here and there, the writing is fine, the characters are fine (yes, even Sera, autists online are wrong) and Inquisition greatly expands on Thedas. Still, recommending a game that requires dozens of hours to get decent is a crime in my book.

Be warned, the game has massive Tumblr energy, and a very Tumblr fanbase.

Once again, Piranha Bytes made a typical Piranha Bytes game, key difference this time - ELEX II is undercooked. There is no joy in following the story, listening to dialog, and overcoming challenge - each and every aspect of the game is tainted by cliche chores, cliche repetitiveness and cliche lack of depth. And it will stay like this, because the game is done and already abandoned, just like every other game they made in the last two decades.

Perhaps ELEX II being a sad shadow of former PB's glory is a reference to you, the player, being a sad shadow of a Piranha Bytes fan you once were.

Postal 2, for uninitiated, is more a of vibe, a meme, a slice of early 2000's counterculture than a game. I guess for new kids, the best description would be: unorthodox, obscene & crude. Gameplay-wise it's a mixture of fps, action and adventure, maybe even an imsim, if you're feeling generous.

Usually I try to write a joke in the end of the review, but I just want to commend RWS' tenacity supporting Postal after all these years.

A surprisingly faithful recreation of an almost 30 years old game, with a nice little addition here and there. There are some conveniences for a modern audience like controls, UI and obviously visuals, but overall it is self evident Nightdive wanted to recreate the original experience and not reinvent it. If you're new to the series, System Shock 2023 requires no prior knowledge and best experienced by going in blind - spend some time exploring Citadel station and try to find a way to stop SHODAN and her malevolent plans.

The only bad thing in the remake is Hacker's haircut, seriously, wtf.

The kind of a game where you can put a throne into your pockets and then place it home to tie the room together. Or polymorph the particularly difficult enemies (yes, last boss included) and then spend ungodly amount of time trying to catch them to land a hit. The downsides are that the game is grindy and often times tedious - Larian figured out their writing
long before they figured out their gameplay.

Hey, wouldn't it be FUN if we put second longest, most tedious dungeon of our game right in the beginning, when PC is at their weakest?

Borderline memetic beat 'em up with fun action, deep story and more mini-games than it should be legally allowed. Plenty of side content, and a pleasant venue into more grounded Japanese culture of late 1980's. Still, very wacky, entertaining and well worth checking out if it looks even remotely interesting to you.

Also, I came to conclusion that back tattoo's are like horoscopes for Yakuza.

I won't compare Ready or Not to S.W.A.T.4, but this game is a breath of fresh air among modern shooters. Slow, methodical and oppressive, with high lethality and many dangers behind every corner. Given the theme you should expect some edgy level design, but frankly, that's the whole point - to show the world of crime from the horrible, nasty perspective that first responders witness daily.

"I'm just working here" - random guy caught at an Epstein's mansion

I am a bit of an outsider to this subgenre of fps, so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but the game is good for what it tries to be and is surprisingly absorbing, considering the amount of content. The biggest downside is the community itself - from the first day for each veteran that knew what they were doing, there's a dozen of people who can't do much other than run and gun. They don't invest into playing their classes properly, riflemen don't resupply, engineers barely build, marksmen prioritize easy frags vs high value ones, and the biggest offenders are officers, many of whom think call-ins is all they're supposed to do.

*breaks pasta in the face of every Avanti Savoia*

I am thoroughly enjoying every aspect of this game, consider it one of my favorites and objectively, a great experience - colossal amount of replayability and a very puzzle-like gameplay pleases every single of my neurons. I am not recommending it, because Jesus, a year of exclusivity, a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ buying guide for all of these editions, and a price tag of $120 for full package ASSUMING YOU OWN PREVIOUS TWO GAMES? Get your ♥♥♥♥ together IO, and you, potential buyer - deep discount only.

To quote The Secret of Monkey Island, "Never pay more than 20 bucks for a computer game", and most certainly, never pay $60 for a third of it.

Has all the ingredients of the original, but fails to hit the same mark - levels feel smaller, enemies spongier and story doesn't have the same impact. There is little reason to play it today - just go grab FEAR1. Otherwise, the best thing you could say about FEAR2 is that it's a well executed FPS for it's time, just not a game you can recommend years later.

I might've died a horrible and painful death, but at least I got laid.