Recent reviews by Flurcie

Wonky physics model and way too easy, the game simply isn't engaging.

This DLC story is of much lower quality than the full game, and while this is not an indictment in and of itself, it unfortunately contains the textual quality of LLM-generated writing, several clear cases of cut content, and unnatural or weird decision triggers. (Characters could simply forget events, or suddenly change demeanor towards the player!)

It is therefore simply not worth it in its current state, and worrying for any future DLC plans.

The war minigame was a fun addition however, and I appreciate its inclusion. Future DLCs should not be afraid to experiment in gameplay beyond the visual novel / interactive fiction genre, as it allows a welcome break from what can easily become somewhat monotonous gameplay.

--Review based on release date version--

As much as I love the idea of this game, and have played it to death, it unfortunately focuses too much on wish fullfilment fantasy and alternate history paths, leaving it underdeveloped as an actual world war two grand strategy game.

It has interesting, if simplified, logistics, production, navy, and division management, allowing players easy access to manage the theatres of the second world war, yet this experience is held back by the developers insistence of focusing on minor or irrelevant nations, rather than developing the actual "players" at hand. While this is a criticism able to be made of many paradox GSGs, Hearts of Iron 4 suffers particularly badly due to the time period it is set in.

Quite frankly, "what if Trotsky returned to the Soviet Union and took charge" is not an interesting question for a world war two game.

The gameplay can be rewarding and fulfilling, but the development direction and large focus on these matters leave a bad taste in the mouth, which in combination with the immense price necessary to even get access to proper gameplay¹, makes it difficult to recommend this game.

1. It should be noted that the price of accessing proper gameplay is drastically lowered by the subscription model.

Horribly boring and formulaic. The combat is bad, the dialogue is uninteresting, and in its old age, it's grown infirm, barely functioning at all. The only real question the game posed me: Which Windows version will be the one to kill it?

This game is shallower than a puddle of rain and lacking almost any sort of engaging game mechanics.

To provide a proper justification for this statement:
Policies are plentiful, but shallow and inaccurate at best, seemingly based more on general vibes and an attempt to have a broad selection of policy to implement, than on providing interesting gameified systems or attempted simulation. Similarly, their implementation through governance is superficially broad, but in reality determined almost entirely by a set of simple factors: party affiliation, and how recognised as a politician you are. With enough points, you are the Senate. Wonder why Presidents don't just do this IRL?

For elections, a system including advertising and more traditional campaigning is implemented, wherein you can increase your name recognition and influence the publics view on core issues and both yourself and your opposing canddiate. However, it can mostly be ignored, since most voter opinion is based on party affiliation and the response to the policy questionare. This creates a systems where elections in essence are based on pretending one agrees with the Popular Opinion™ and choosing the right party. (Hah. Funny.)

The game is therefore unable to satisfactorily do governance, elections, or policy. What part of a game called "the Political Process" remains then?

With it's core gameplay loop already established after almost five years in early access, it's unlikely to change much. One positive I suppose, is it's cheap price. This does not solve the fundamental issue though, of a game that simply tries to be too much, but never manages to be much at all.

Look. We all know you're buying this to get the achievements for your profile.

With that said, this is actually a charming little physics-puzzle game, with a runtime of about two hours. The game is short, not too difficult, and it's mechanics and gameplay is easy to understand. ("red go boom")

There are of course some issues. For example, in cases with more than two portals, it would be helpful if they did not share colours, though the use of already established portal colours is to be commended. Additionally, in some cases non-deterministic physics means you simply have to reset, without any error on your own part. The quick and fast reset, and nice but simple brainteaser quality of the puzzles however, mean none of this ever becomes a major gripe with the game.

If anything, the only issue with the game is that there's no level editor and sharing. Indeed, the game never overstays its welcome, slowly ramping up the puzzle difficulty, while remaining accessible. And then, suddenly, it's over.

Short, sweet, cheap. Perfect, in a way. At a price of €2, absolutely recommended.

Abandoned.

Cyberpunk is *the* first person RPG on the market.

Cyberpunk 2077 was released to great controversy over optimisation issues, which unfortunately led many to believe the game was bad. Having played the game both on release date, and three years later, I must disagree. The games roster of characters, it's deep commitment to immersion within the setting, and the questions it poses the player, make it one of, if not the best, modern game in it's genre.

While the combat system is lacklustre and repetitive, there are still options regarding how you build and structure your character, and many of these help increase the players immersion. With that said, noone plays an RPG for the depth of its combat simulation, and Cyberpunk 2077 nails the most important aspects of the RPG genre to a tee.

Characters are deep and thought provoking, supporting the themes and general message of the game. As you meet people from all walks of life within the world, you'll find yourself empathising with the bad-natured hacker, the lost rockerboy, and the policeman working against corruption. The thorough and deep characterbuilding make the people feel real and important. Rather than portraying simple and overused RPG tropes, the game does not shy away from letting conversation be deep and sensitive, nor to having Keanu Reeves character beat you over the head with his own opinion about matters, whether they be accurate or not.

As the story progresses, V, your character, is increasingly provided with more difficult choices, that make the player think about their behaviour, and their philosophical attitude to certain questions. Combined with the deep characters, this creates an environment where the player is really forced into considering the meaning of the story, and their choices within. This means that while there are only a couple endings, as is common in the RPG genre, the depth and characterisation in the game makes them all impactful.

This focus on the characters, story, and world, over the combat, means that Cyberpunk positions itself as one of the best RPGs currently available, with the gorgeous graphics on higher end machines, it is sure to remain popular.

At the price point of €60, it demands about as much from your wallet as any other highly produced game, but it is absolutely worth it.

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It should of course be noted, that some performance issues remain per 2024. With recent advances in graphics cards, I assume this will be less of a challenge over time. Note however that I was able to get roughly 30fps consistently throughout the game on rather high settings on my 2080 Super. While there were certain framedrops, they did not bother me personally - as someone raised on early access videogames.

Characters were always what made Cyberpunk shine, and Phantom Liberty is no exception.

Phantom Liberty is CDPRs attempt at a spy thriller set in the Cyberpunk universe, but beyond the backdrop of a Bond movie, the DLC has a cast of characters that both feel very real, and are easy to empathise with once you get under their shell. Between Songbird, the "spy techie" with a secret, providing a mirror image to V making you question to what extent you're really willing to go for "the cure", and Reed, the "old guard" loyal to his nation, which ends up showing his deep empathetic side as the story progresses, you're left immersed in a story that proves much deeper than the spy thriller framing promises.

Beyond the fantastic characters, and the new questions and perspectives on V's story, You're provided with the new area of Dogtown, and several gigs taking place in the area. All of these are of high quality, posing questions to the player again, about how far you're willing to go in this world.

Cyberpunk 2077 is as much a story about letting go, as it is about responsibility, crime, and the excesses of the world. Phantom Liberty is no exception, constantly questioning the player about their motivations and true wants, until the credits roll.

At the current price of about €30, this is absolutely worth it.

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Having replayed for multiple endings, the innovation in gameplay should also be noted. While some of the sections do not function as well as one could hope, for instance the temporary transition into horror game, it reflects the inspirational commitment to pushing the "RPG-genre" to new areas, rather than stagnating in the pseudo-MMO character-builder structure too many games adopt.

The first surprise hit of 2024, Palworld is an uncut gem that was released far too early, but one that may still shine.

Palworld opens and plays like any other survival genre game from the last 10 years, but with the added twist of 'Pals,' creatures that help lessen the grind found in similar games like Ark: Survival Evolved and Rust.

As per the survival genre, basebuilding is simple but effective, and character/game progression follows a simple RPG-like leveling system. As the Pals remove what is to me the worst aspect of the genre, the stage should be set for a truly amazing game. Unfortunately, this is not the case.

Within one and a half hour of gameplay I had already found myself stuck within unscalable chasms, locked out of any keyboard input, stuck in an infinite deathstate, and frustrated with the nigh impossibility of defeating anything slightly above, or at, my own level.

This is not to say the game was not fun while it was working, catching your first pal, running after a chubby penguin begging your friends for a spare pal-sphere, and teaming up to get absolutely stomped by an emo girl on an electric Totoro is amazing fun. I'll even go so far as to say it brings back a type of joy usually reserved for a childhood christmas!

But the plethora of bugs simply means the fun is constantly interrupted and juxtapositioned with what is fundamentally, a game that entered Early Access too early. While I'm sure the game will be great fun in the future, in the current state it cannot be recommended.

TLDR: While fun and engaging, the game entered Early Access too early to be playable. Return after Early Access!