Recent reviews by Denzil

Rock&Stone

Exploration, gathering, exploration, crafting, exploration, combat, exploration, sailing and some more exploration.
If you enjoy exploration.. do explore Valheim

A work of art.
Most unique gaming experience out there right now.

Simply put one of the best games ever.

Fantastic game.. very comparable to Subnautica in terms of core mechanics (insane exploration, huge building freedom with lots of customization, survival mechanics with variety of difficulty customization options so everyone can find their own niche if they want, interesting mystery surrounding everything and so on..).

Lots of quality content with significant depth and yet you don't really need to go into details of it if you don't feel like it. Combat system is just on the level for this type of game, not too simple and yet not too advanced. You can't just blindly bash keys and expect to kill everything. Gear system with multiple tiers, all upgradeable, repairable, there are multiple damage types linked to various monster resistances, there's just the right level of reality built into everything to keep it fun and yet that things make sense, very decent gear managment system with lots of QoL features (armor stands with 1 key hot swap option for example, hotkey bar with multiple layouts for different scenarios, building from storage, hot deposit and so on)..
And it's all based on Unreal Engine so graphics are beautiful as you can tell by any screenshot online.. the entire world from a miniature perspecitve is a very cool experience and I recommend everyone to give it a try.

It's a must!

I have just one complaint: the soundtrack is SO ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ epic, that I wish music tracks would trigger more often, and not just in certain situation when you, lets say "reach a goal". But hats off to Kojima for handpicking these tracks/bands and the moments in which to play them, I totally see why it's done the way it's done.
As for the real complaint: the ingame menus interface is simply not intuitive. It's not a tragedy, but it takes some getting used to.

Anyway - best game I've played in years! A true revelation for me - I was expecting to be disappointed. In the end, I haven't had so much fun exploring and discovering at my own pace since Subnautica.
Took me about 40h of gameplay just to find the common denominator through out the game that made the biggest impression on me: attention to detail. And I don't mean visual details, graphics.. I mean everything.
When you walk across uneven terrain, your char spreads his legs a bit in order to gain more balance while hopping forwards.
When you climb down a rope, around a tiny stone bump, if you tense the rope just right, it will wedge over that bumb which will in turn give you momentum that will push you and your cargo accordingly.
It is possible to have a separate audio source for sounds that come from BB (that baby in a tank) when it communicates with you, just to make it more immersive - I mean when have you ever heard of a game where it's possible to use 2 different audio sources? And it even makes sense.
Entire physics engine that takes care of walking and driving, and ragdoll interaction with objects and NPCs - too much to describe here but, like I said, a lot of details.
Jumping over anything is done amazingly! Try walking over a water stream/river that is too deep, you will be swept away in the most realistic manner.
You can sit on a bike sideways, the regular way... but if you approach it from rear -> that is also covered with the appropriate animation.
Wanna unload hand carried luggae into a "cargo space" (avoiding spoilers here).. you can do it through the primary cargo managment interface just like anything else (which you will be using A LOT).. but in this particular situation it's enough to simply "release" the cargo from your hands (let go of the mouse button), if you are next to the "cargo space", and it will automatically be placed where it needs to be. It's small things like this that show you how it's one of those rare games that was released when it was actually finished! So this literally means you don't even have to click a button to perform an action.. you have to make "half a click" :)))

I won't go further into detail because it's almost impossible without spoilers. I don't want to reveal "what is possible" to future players, discovering everything is what makes this journey so worth it. At least to me.

Those people who keep saying it's a "walking simulator" and that it's boring because of too much walking? Total crap.
Ofc walking is a huge part of it.. but it's done in the perfect manner just like everything else. Every quest/route is just short enough not to become tedious or boring, and yet just long enough to make it interesting and intense, especially if there are "bad guys" in between. And as you play you constantly keep unlocking more and more new stuff and expand on the basic "walking" experience. So don't dare listening to anyone that has less than at least 20h of gameplay because they haven't seen ♥♥♥♥ yet. Even me with my 40h at the moment is honestly not enoguh to make a proper review.

Just buy the game and play it.. don't bother reading too much about it. It's not neccessary. The game is fantastic, and you only won't enjoy it if your head is pre-filled with negative trash from simple minded idiots who can't enjoy a good game.

Amazing game that provides a very unique experience!
Outward is a game where every choice matters and impacts the rest of your playthrough. A game where you can't experience everything in just 1 playthrough - not the skills, or the quests and the story, not even the weapons and armor! .. it provides high replayability value.
You can pass down items from one of your characters to the next. Some are upgraded this way making this mechanic "a must" if you want to create a specific build for your character.

Every little detail is completely thought through in the spirit of the mantra "we don't hold your hand". When you receive a quest from an NPC, you better pay attention because they will provide many useful hints in the details, but your quest log (Journal) will have written only the most basic information required for completion.
There are only a few timed quests..quests that are considered failed after a certain amount of ingame days have passed. And usually the quest giver will not warn you about this.
Map doesn't contain the players marker so you must navigate on your own. But that's not where it ends.. every region has landmarks that you can, and must use for orientation until you learn the layout of the map.

Bear in mind that it's hard and those who call combat clunky are just approaching it the wrong way. This is NOT AN ACTION game, the combat is strategic, you must prepare and use tactics, you must wait for an opening, observe enemy movement and attacks and be patient, kite around, dodge... remove your backpack to be faster and so on.
This is game where after 100h of gameplay a single trash mob bird can kill you if you're being too cocky. You can't just attack it head on thinking it can't touch you.
Progress is gear based, and you will be better in combat only with your skill and knowledge of the enemy.. there are various strengths and weaknesses on different enemy types which must be used to own advantage.
Maps are designed in such a way that mob density is just perfectly balanced - you can sneak past them if you want to, or you can fight if you prefer. And believe me, you will more often than not want to sneak past.
Survival elements are also just balanced, at least for my taste. You must drink and eat, but not too often.. and you will mostly eat for the buffs that food provides, and not for the "food value".
You can't die in this game.. instead you just faint and are "dragged" to various locations on the map. You can end up in the city, dragged to a random spot with a gifted health potion to help you continue.. in some friendly alien type monster cave where you can again get unique items.. or in some reptillian cave surrounded by mobs, even kidnapped and imprisoned!
I'm telling you, you gotta play this game! :)

TLDR: For a $19 game this is insanely good!
Ignore the negative criticism because suddenly people are expecting AAA quality from a small indie dev team of 7 people. Literally!
Constant unfair comparison to Zelda BotW and yet the game is comparable which speaks volume for an indie game.
The game isn't perfect, technically or any way.. but it's a great experience and you certainly get a lot for what you've paid for.
Big world to explore, lots of puzzles, story, diplmomacy and politics, combat, crafting, inventory management and all this with a very pleasant atmosphere to enjoy in.

So far great game with many hours of replayable playtime..and yet still being worked on by developers constantly while intentsively communicating with the community for feedback. Developers are very active, you can see the changes and fixes if needed deployed withing hours sometimes.
New content and mechanic changes are a regular thing.. all with the purpose of making the game even better.
Great value for money.. would be a shame not to give this game a fair chance.