Recent reviews by JD

GOATED DLC w/ 2 incredibly well made fleshed out variants. Kiddos whine about paying $15 for 2 quality variant civs that feel completely original, while trash games like CIV VII charge $30 to play the English or TW WH3 charges like $30 for 3 legendary lords. Just because Sultans Ascended set the bar so incredibly doesn't this DLC bad. Y'all are sheep, cope harder

almost as buggy as it is fun

>boot up game
>make sim
>start work next day
>wake up hungry and needing to use restroom
>spend an hour making waffles
>piss myself, miss my carpool and don't eat my waffles
>show up to work late hungry and with my soiled clothes

10/10 would recommend

This is probably in my top 3 games of all time. There's just such an unbelievable amount of things to do. You can farm, adventure, look for secrets, customize your farm and house, fish, and many many more things. Every aspect I've mentioned is completely fleshed out and rewarding to invest your time into. The art style and music are next level. There's something just so comforting about the music and sound effects and the art style is just so nice and heartwarming. 5 years later I still come back, start new farms and enjoy the game all over with other friends. The developer has been committed to updating and adding large expansion-sized new content for FREE! The 1.5 update has added a whole new island to the end game giving returning players dozens of hours of new content. For $15, this is an absolute steal. I've purchased the game 3 times (iPhone, PC, and Switch) and don't regret it for a second. If you see this on sale and ignore it, you're doing yourself a disservice!
10.5/10 Absolutely Recommend!

This is a very easy review for me to write.

Imagine being able to play almost any board game for $20. (Plus the engine itself is great and easy to use)

Review over 10/10

Loop hero for me was an incredible experience.

Going in, I wasn't so sure, the cards you have at the start are pretty basic and generic. The first sign to me that loop hero was special, was when I put 9 mountains next to each other and discovered the mountain range. The map building aspect is so cool, and discovering new combos is really satisfying. Aside from the map building, the actual gameplay put me off at first. The gear seemed boring, and I thought that the looping and trying to beat the boss would get old quickly. I was dead wrong. The number of game-changing things you unlock while building out the camp was astounding, I feel like I'm playing an entirely different game than when I started (in a good way). The last big surprise was the different classes. I expected the rogue to be somewhat similar while employing perhaps the use of daggers and a crit mechanic of some sort, however, many core mechanics change and it was so refreshing. The blending of my favorite genres works spectacularly here from combining deckbuilding, roguelike, turn-based RPG's and base management. Last but certainly not least- the art style and music. The retro style and music is done very tastefully and doesn't come off as gimmicky as it does in many other games these days cashing in on nostalgia.

Overall, couldn't recommend more! 9/10

UPDATE 5/25/25
Genuinely one of the best RPG's I have ever completed. After years of updates, the sandbox is just phenomenal. Do you want to go in with blades? Chromed to the teeth with crazy cyberware? Or perhaps you don't want to fight in the traditional sense and instead opt to be a netrunner, sitting back and killing enemies whilist they have no earthly idea what is happening? Aside from the fantastic and completely revamped sandbox, the game is also (mostly) bug free! No major quest bugged out like in my original playthrough. Similar to The Witcher 3 not only is the main quest super enthralling, but the sidequests are out of this world fantastic. Some are genuinely more interesting/compelling than the main quest, which is saying something! On the topic of the main quest- After having fully beaten main quest via. the Don't Fear the Reaper ending, and wow.... V's voice acting as things escalate and the situation looks (and quite frankly is) completely hopeless is simply underrated and phenomenal. After all your fighting, taking the path of most resistance, it's all mostly futile. And as bittersweet as that is, that's Night City. Also on another note- Johnny is fantastic. Didn't really care for him at first, he kind of just came off as a cringy, edgy sort of anti-heroish character, but (at least with the decisions I made / path I choose) Johnny truly felt like my brother in arms by the end. One last aside- Buy Phantom Liberty. The story/characters far exceed base game CP2077, a game which I now consider to be a complete package and easy 10/10
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It pains me so to write this review, but I have to warn people.
Normally I don't write reviews on games until A) I beat them or B) I've experienced most of what the game has to offer (Specifically in multiplayer/games you play multiple times).
Unfortunately, I have to make an exception for Cyberpunk.
To start, when the game works, it's an absolute blast, I enjoy the gunplay, night city, and story as a whole. While it's not perfect, it's well done. Unfortunately, this is only the case if the game is working. I ran into an issue today where I could not load my save files, or my screen would just go black and never load the game. I waited over 30 mins just to be sure it wasn't loading incredibly slowly. I took to the internet to figure out what my issue was and noticed tons of people were having the same issue. After trying all the various things people suggested, it still didn't work. Eventually, I just tried loading older saves until a save like 7 saves back finally worked and I lost over an hour and a half of progress. Not only that, but I've had MULTIPLE missions completely bug out on me making them in-completable, leading me to have to restart them. That's not even mentioning the dozens if not hundreds of graphical glitches that constantly occur giving me a new crazy thing to laugh at every couple of minutes. In a full price $60 game, this is un-acceptable and I can not in good faith recommend this game. Wait 6 months to a year at least for this game to come out of beta. This game has huge potential and I will update my review when/if the game ever gets to a stable state and when/if I beat the game to give my thoughts in more detail.

The game when everything is working- 8/10
Game in current state- 4/10

Beyond Light is a very cautious recommendation and I ONLY recommend purchasing if you plan on doing the raid Deep Stone Crypt. Now let me elaborate.

We'll start this review by talking about the positives and there actually quite a bit.
*Europa: The main destination this takes place in is spectacular. From the visuals to the secrets to the multitude of activities (some of which I will talk about in the negative section)
*Story: The lore this expansion offers is very interesting and further develops the threat of the darkness (kind of?) as well as another hunt down the bad guys' style campaign we saw in Forsaken (not nearly as good) but still serviceable. Aside from the main Campaign, many great side stories are learning more about the Exo stranger and the history and origin of the Exo's which is fascinating.
*Exotics: Almost all of the exotics added thus far have been really good and even the one that isn't is still really cool. From the Duality you get for free, to my new go-to primary No Time to Explain, I enjoyed all of them. The #1 standout is the Lament. Not only is it possibly the coolest in aesthetic alone (it's a freaking chainsaw sword :O), it is insanely good and likely will be nerfed.
*Deep Stone Crypt: Oh baby, this raid is the cream of the crop of raids. For me, it's only second to the incredible Last Wish raid. All of the encounters are exciting and fun unlike prior raids such as Crown of Sorrow and Eater of Worlds which had some of my favorite encounters but were bogged down by really sluggish/boring encounters. Aside from all the encounters being great, the actual progression through the raid is another highlight. Starting from the outside in Europa, to entering the crypt, to going to SPACE! Then crashing the space station and fighting the final boss where you started, visually changed by the station you crash into the planet. Also, I HAVE to mention the short parkour section with this indescribably incredible section where the in-game sound is muffled and the score starts playing. MAKE SURE YOU HAVE YOUR MUSIC ON! The weapons and armor are amazing and look incredible. The last word on this raid, it added 2 new exotics, tons of new lore, and changed Europa as a whole.
*Stasis (not in Crucible): I'll keep it brief, stasis is fun. I've mainly played the Hunter and Warlock, and let me tell you, running around as an ice wizard for 20 seconds is fun. In Crucible it's degenerate and annoying to be frozen.

And to the not, so goods of Beyond Light...
*Price/Content Amount: Beyond light, while offering a decent amount of content, is lacking quite a bit for a full $40. With only 1 new strike, no crucible maps or gambit maps. The cosmodrome is honestly kind of lame and only went there once. Compared to forsaken which added a new mode, maps, and 2 original planets, Beyond Light is lacking. The main thing that bothers me, is the fact they charge $10 extra for the season, so the expansion is $50 which is absurd compared to other DLC/Expansions. Compare this to Shadowkeep which gave you the season for free if you purchased the $40 expansion.
*Gameplay Loop: Still just boring bounty grinding and doing playlist strikes, the crucible, and gambit, which further sours that fact there are no new maps (except the one strike)
*Empire Hunts: Just re-used story missions so eh...
*Sunsetting: While I'm sad about losing weapons/armor I have been using for years, I am open to the idea of sunsetting. unfortunately, there was little to replace the vast array of weapons we lost through sunsetting.
*Manufactured campaign difficulty: Short and simple, the campaign was artificially lengthened by making you 20-30 power level necessitating grind.

Overall, Beyond Light is an okay expansion. While not worth the $50 entrance fee, it does have something of value to offer. Despite the great aspects of Beyond Light, it's bogged down by boring and repetitive bounty grinding and the been there done that playlist activities with very new little to offer. This package is further bogged down by the excessive price tag. ONLY buy if you plan on playing through the Deep Stone Crypt.

6.5/10 Given the price
7/10 Where price isn't a factor

Nope. Too many hackers and their laughable support page I had to get to to attempt to report someone. In my less than 3 hours, I encountered 3 hackers and there is no in-game or out of the game way to report people as far as I'm aware. Their response is something along the lines of : Our system will have caught them so no need to report them! Yeah, like a) has that ever stopped someone in the history of video games and b) highly doubt it, bigger higher stakes games with millions more invested into anti-cheat can't pick up this stuff, no way a first-time indie dev is picking this up. The fact that to even see that response you have to jump through the hoop of going into the menu, clicking support, a separate page coming up, then you have to find the section on cheaters just for them to be like "lol, we gotem" nope nope nope. The game itself is fun, but such a tone-deaf response to such a huge issue. Also, cramming tons of microtransactions into a $20 game, like wtf. Also, the fact you can't even have your own name is mind-boggling in a game that seems to emphasize customizability and creativity, just to be named Fall Guy #169409234502243598 is mind-boggling. I have done some research and can't find a clear reason as to why this is the case, but according to some sources it's to "protect streamers". If that's the case that's absolutely absurd. Why appeal to the .001% instead of the thousands who have bought your game?

Conclusion: The game is pretty fun, but the unbelievably tone-deaf company brings it down
4/10 in its current state

Hunt: Showdown is an absolutely spectacular take on the "Battle Royale" genre. With there only being 12 players on the map, you always feel like there's a chance of winning. The music, and sound design is perhaps the best in any game I've ever played, it is unreal. Instead of the traditional looting system, most of your gear you buy before the match, meaning you can tailor your playstyle to what you feel like going, instead of leaving it up to the luck of the draw. It also adds a sense of progression as you're able to stack up your money, and go for more OP builds when you successfully extract. The last great aspect I want to touch on is the hunter leveling system. In Hunt, you have your overall level of your account (referred to as "rank") and your hunter level, which are the characters you play as. If you survive a hunt, your character gains experience and is granted the ability to get special perks. This adds a layer of risk-reward, do you want to fight other squads for a chance at more loot? Or go for the other bounty? Or perhaps just safely extracting your hunter to maintain his levels, it's up to you the player. This is not to say everything is perfect however. The game has a very high learning curve both in terms of game mechanics and intuition. This inherently isn't a problem, but when the tutorial teaches you things that are flat-out wrong like shooting zombies, that's an issue. Another issue I've found are the load times. This game is on my new SSD, and loading into games and loading the post-game screen takes abysmally long for some reason. The last issue I have is the community is very un-welcoming. When I started out, it took over 5 minutes to find hunters that didn't immediately leave after seeing my level. This game isn't for everyone as the gun-play is rather unique and different than what most people are used to, but overall, the game is very addicting when you learn the ins and outs. highly recommend, especially on sale.
8.5/10