Recent reviews by Cornelius Steinfeld

Much closer to a remake than a remaster and I'm loving it

This game is great as a third-party soulslike, BUT... the difficulty balancing is a bit overtuned. I've been playing Udirangr Warwolf, and I know that class is supposed to be a melee glass cannon, but more often than not I get killed by the majority of enemies in one to two hits, which I feel is a bit much for just how many are in each area and how tanky they are. Maybe the things I dislike will change over time, but I still enjoy the good aspects of the game enough to continue playing.

Easily the best CRPG I've played since Dragon Age: Origins. I can see why people love this game

Sseth and Mandy convinced me to get this game, and I haven't regretted it one bit

An amazing remake of an already amazing game. This is the version of Dead Space 1 that I’ll return to over and over for years to come, like I did for Dead Space 2 and its aggressively fun action. Despite what some critics may say, the remake changes quite a bit from the original in all the best ways. New mechanics, locations and visuals keep the experience fresh for a returning Dead Space fan, and the new story elements here are simply excellent regardless of whether or not you've played the series before. In nearly all aspects, DSR is pretty much everything I could've wanted in a (semi) new entry into the series.

Gameplay
Coming from a longtime fan of Dead Space (and a fan that always does his ritual yearly Dead Space 2 zealot playthrough, at that), DSR doesn’t just update the original Dead Space into a game of the same quality as its iconic sequel. Rather, it elevates the series with both entirely new mechanics and enhanced old ones, all while preserving what was truly great about it in the first place. Fellow longtime fans are really going to appreciate how much effort was put into recreating the minute details of the original game.

Combat is a major high point of what is new. Gone are the days of weapons like the original DS1 flamethrower and ripper, as every gun has been redesigned anywhere from significantly to fundamentally. Nearly every weapon has been given a new alt fire, and one weapon even gets a completely new primary fire that has never appeared before in the series (doing a “Contact Beam only” playthrough is now on the list because of that sweet ass laser).

Every weapon, however, has had their stats adjusted to start out weaker than the original, and end much stronger once they’ve been fully upgraded. An early game plasma cutter feels like the jury-rigged improvised equipment it is, struggling to go beyond its space-OSHA-capped power capacity. But over the course of the game, said improvised equipment becomes dangerously overclocked and just as deadly as you remembered it to be, provided you have the nodes and all upgrade paths unlocked.

Paths, plural. As in, guns now start out with only one upgrade path unlocked. To unlock more, you have to explore the Ishimura or purchase them, giving more items than just consumables and suits to save up for. At the end of each of the three additional paths for each weapon is a unique node; these upgrades drastically enhance or add onto the weapon’s properties. This helps each weapon lean further into its own unique playstyle, offering one thing or another no other weapon has.

Beyond the pure combat mechanics, exploration has also been drastically altered and improved. The map is reworked to be fully open and explorable at nearly any time from the beginning of the game to just before the final chapter. On top of this there are new rooms, environmental mechanics, and an adjusted layout. I found myself grinning every time I took a side path and accidentally unlocked a shortcut to another part of the ship, and I couldn’t help but look over my shoulder every time I was stuck in the dark. At every turn there was something new to appreciate, and the game is a joy to play because of it.

Sound and Visuals
The sound design is genuinely great, and it only continues the trend of getting the little details right. Isaac’s breathing changes gradually as he becomes more injured and winded, which can even lead to different lines of dialogue. Necromorphs scream with stretched human vocal cords when injured, and can even quietly sneak up on the player without horror strings playing if the player hasn’t caught them in their camera. Gunner Wright brings back DS2 and 3’s buttery smooth delivery and the lovable sailor’s mouth of Isaac as a voiced protagonist, always keeping me engaged whenever dialogue occurs. Weapons also sound properly violent, sawing and ripping flesh with the level of audible brutality that could only come from something akin to a LiveLeak video. In this regard, the ripper is especially good.

Speaking of gore, the visuals of the game are properly disgusting. The new flesh stripping system makes the weapons lean even further into that LiveLeak vibe, while helping to paint a picture of just how monstrous the necromorphs are really supposed to be. Limbs reveal rotting bone and strands of dangling flesh as they’re severed, and fire turns enemies into charred and paper thin burn victims. This also works doubly for human ragdolls, as I’ve watched a friend scalp a corpse he punched the top of. All around, I’m deeply impressed with the new gore and am now hard pressed to imagine Dead Space without it.

Story
The story is everything I could possibly ask for and more; by the time the credits rolled, Isaac felt like a well-established character. I can’t tell you how much of a joy it is to see Isaac slowly go from a cautious and empathetic everyman with his back against the wall to a desperate and pissed off survivor running out of things to lose. Dead Space 2 is retroactively improved by the remake’s writing, as more character development has happened to properly set up Isaac’s predicament at the beginning of and all throughout that game’s storyline.

Beyond just Isaac and his lore, the game is just completely littered with tons of details about the Ishimura and its crew. The Hunter and its creator Dr. Mercer are given proper backstories and villain roles, making for an insidious duo hellbent on making a bad situation even worse. Supporting characters also have more moments of interaction to add to the sense of lost humanity during Isaac’s journey; he slowly loses the people he knows and loses trust in the ones he doesn’t, resulting in his slow but sure submission to the marker and its hallucinations. This is the best possible outcome for the narrative, and I eagerly welcome what’s here into the continuity.

Conclusion
If you’re a fan of Dead Space in any capacity, then this remake should be on your wishlist. While I understand some prefer to wait for the game to become cheaper, it’s nevertheless so good that it isn’t a question of ‘if’ any Dead Space fan will buy this game, but when. While there are definitely criticisms and nitpicks I have with the game, the $60 entry fee was well worth the breath of fresh air this faithful return to form gave me. At this point, all I can hope for Dead Space 2 to get the same remake treatment so that one day I’ll feel the giddiness of re-experiencing that game for the first time, too. Thank you Motive, you made a dream come true.

Now seriously, remake Dead Space 2 already. I’m drooling over the thought of redesigned security and advanced suits.

The gunplay may be good, but the game has terrible stability problems and isn't worth even close to $70 at launch.

John EldenRing approves

One of the few games I could spend an infinite amount of time on (assuming I had mods).

At launch, Cyberpunk 2077 was a mess that I couldn't bring myself to play for longer than twenty or so hours. The progression for a long time felt arbitrary and needlessly loot-focused — like a worse version of a game like Borderlands or Destiny — which made encounters feel off-balance and full of damage sponges more than it added variety to the game. Likewise, the perk system was incredibly rudimentary and didn't really offer much depth for each individual point you put in, as meager stat increases were the norm rather than the exception. None of this even holds a candle to how bad the performance was for a long, long time; with a solid, mid-level rig (Ryzen 7 3800x, 2070 Super) running DLSS on Max Performance mode, the best case was 50 FPS with a worst case of 20-30 FPS in many, many areas. Despite the various 1.X updates over the years, these issues persisted and ultimately continued to bring down the game.

Now, with the release of Phantom Liberty — and more importantly, the 2.0 update — the game is finally in a state where the core of the game that was always great can really shine. When I heard about the high reviews Phantom Liberty was receiving, I was very skeptical due to being burned by CP2077 at launch. Once I decided to take the plunge, however, I haven't looked back since.


Perks have been overhauled entirely, giving (almost) every perk drastically more impact over your progression from level to level. The loot mechanics have been dialed back a good bit; consumables are now cooldown-based instead of inventory-based, crafting is much more straightforward, gear score has been removed for clothing and weapons, and the reworked perks make choosing a build and sticking with it much more easy and satisfying. Performance has noticeably improved, as running the same specs on DLSS Performance Mode now gives 70 FPS at best and 50 FPS at worst. I've started a new character and haven't yet touched Phantom Liberty in favor of grinding out the main quest, side quests and gigs in the open world, but I'm already having a much more consistently enjoyable experience.


There are still some pain points I have with the game today, but those are mostly subjective. Concerning clothing, I still think that there's a lack of variety both for color variants and tactical gear. As for the open world, it still feels a bit lacking in terms of the interactions you can have with it outside of doing activities like main/side quests, gigs, and Crimes in Progress. I also wish there was more verticality in how you explore the city, since there's so many incredible areas high up in Night City like skyscraper bridges and rooftops that could make for some great activity settings.


If you played the base game before and had trouble finishing it because of the technical and design shortcomings, the game is worth returning to. If you've never played CP2077 and are interested in it, there's never really been a better time to jump in. Despite the shortcomings that persist today, CP2077 is much closer to the game it should've been at launch, and one I'd say is now worth your time and money.

A very flawed, unbalanced, and, at times, absolutely infuriating game. However, if you can come to terms with that, then what remains is a genuinely entertaining, albeit somewhat casual fighting game with a entirely-unique concept and a style of gameplay you just can't get anywhere else.