Recent reviews by Balance

I am 37 hours in + cleared Chapter 1 as I am writing this quick review.

I had high hopes from an Owlcat game with Kingmaker and WotR being iconic successes, and I feel that Owlcat delivered really well too. The storyline is gripping, although very reminiscent of Kingmaker where you are a new Lord of a realm and need to quell the unrest. The engine used is most likely the same as WotR and Kingmaker with the exact same control, movement, and environment systems. So, if you are coming in from those games, then you should be able to make yourself comfortable easily. Oh and prepare to have your mind blasted with new terms and damage types if you are not familiar with this type of Warhammer content. I definitely was, and it took me an hour of reading to understand all the jargon.

I am playing in the Hard mode right now which is one level short of Unfair, and I can definitely see the scaling. However, it does not feel overwhelming; there is usually a good way out of your encounter and as long as you maintain save files, you gucci.

The visuals and music are breathtaking. Honestly, those are stronger than the storyline yet do not overpower the story, making the game gripping (yes i used this word twice, but i also put in close to 40 hours over the weekend so by the Emperor, my usage is Warranted - heh) [internal joke, you'll get it]

NOTE: There are still several bugs (as is usual with Owlcat games) at this moment. If you want a bug-free experience, then I would recommend waiting for 6 or so months (which is usually the time when Owlcat rolls out the major fixes)

Without further ado, journey on Lord Captain!

So far, I love it!

The monster-catching system is tastefully done and the 'upgrade-monster-to-evolve' portion scratches a Digimon-itch of mine. But honestly, what this game excels in is the **music**. I mean...just wow. I honestly wish the old Pokemon and Digimon games had arranged their score this way. The audio blends seamlessly into cutscenes, battle scenes, and the environment. Plus, the music is a delightful mix of rock, 90s synth, some electro and modern EDM arranged in a medley that kept me hooked for 4 hours straight (up to the point where I was doing random mob battles just to hear the fusion music more!).

The art is fun and the overworld puzzle mechanics are doubly so.

I believe that this game should be a contender for the Steam Labor of Love Award

A story of humanity and a story of hope

Honestly, I wasn't sure about this game when I started. Now, that I have finished one of the endings I can honestly say that I am glad to have bought this. The storyline itself is a labor of love and honestly can be expanded into future DLCs. However, it feels more like a short story than a continued series anyway.

It is set in a dystopic, yet far-advanced society than ours. Most of the story follows a VN style dialogue system with skill checks that rely on die-casting. The mechanics are clearly explained at the beginning and you get the basic idea after some time (or cycles).

The plot itself is not difficult to follow and there is a satisfying outcome for every thread followed (I am sure). Personally, I believe you should play as you see fit and make your own story, My Sleeper was a Machinist who struggled to escape their body and situation, but found something more to protect in the end. This is not a headcanon, but a story that I built up through my in-game actions.

Who are you, Sleeper?
Welcome to the Eye

Alright I am on Chapter 24, so I think I can write a reliable review here. First off, I am playing on the Deity difficulty so my experience is heavily dependent on that.

Okay, so overall the game is pretty damn good. I know some reviews here complain about the UI/music/bad characters/bad classes. Honestly? This wasn't my experience at all. I know the game got patched a few months ago, so maybe the patch improved things? There are some bugs where units move outside playable areas or a BattleSave places units on the wrong places (esp. in Chapter 20), but those were the only ones I could find.

The story is charming and very high fantasy. You control a group of characters trying to save a rebellion. What really got me hooked was the pacing of the story. The bond events combined with the story itself present a compelling narrative. The theme of the story is commonly found in other games, yet it is apparent that it was crafted painstakingly.

The combat is very cool, actually. If you are smart about it, you can get away with almost anything. The classes feel very well-built, and the combat has a few (3) CC mechanics - Push, Chain and Phase. The crit numbers feel very satisfying to watch.

The map mechanics and level design is where this game shines the most, imo. Each battle in each chapter has different sets of mechanics. Some are wave-based fights, while some are race-against-the-clock types. With the right gear and the right characters, you should be able to tackle these with varying levels of success. If not, there is always the Battlesave that loads the last unfinished turn. So if a character dies due to an unseen crit, quickly escape and reload the previous turn :D. Beware of Chapter 20, for it will necessitate this if you are not careful like me.

Finally, the "death" and gear system. They are okay. Death makes a character lose stat points but you can always buy stat boosting items at the end/start-point of a chapter. You also get stat boosters from the environment. Overall, who needs stats when healers are op and Aurima + Cia + Irving can mow everyone down? The gear is basically a token upgrade system. Farm for money and then upgrade EVERYTHING. Each character has 4 weapon "sets" which have varying levels of accuracy, crit and hit chance depending on what kind of opponent they are facing. So going into battle with the wrong damage types can cause you headaches.

I don't know what else to write, tbh. Hope this helps!

I was a bit nervous jumping in to the 3rd installment, without playing the 1st and 2nd ones. However, this is one of those games that make you want to play the earlier ones.

Gorgeous soundtracks and visuals. The VAs are damn good, and there is a sense of logical soundness when it comes to the various in-game interactions of a post-apocalyptic world- the world-building is solid. The only issues were minor UI things, otherwise this is a solid 10 of a game

Holy crap! I had high expectations of Larian (plus it is my dream company to join and work in), but they really delivered and then some. It has been scarcely a week since release and I have already put in 70+ hours. Still, I can easily tell that I have not even scratched the 25% mark of the content.

Honestly, this could be the game that can follow Owlcat's DLC route. But, knowing Larian since the first Divinity OS game, they probably have moved on to bigger and better things.

This **has** to get GOTY.


[EARLY ACCESS REVIEW BELOW]
Pro tip: Buy the game, go to the Druid Grove, reach the overhang near the said grove, quicksave. Then talk to the tiefling, and listen to Weeping Dawn. I promise that you will be sold.

Get your save scumming fix here!

Jokes aside, the game has excellent lore, world-building, and voice acting. The rule system is a bit broken + hard mode and above can seriously dampen the fun. My recommendation is to play on Normal and enjoy the gorgeous colors that the game provides.

The villains are super villains since all of them have excellent PRESENTATION!

Excellent game, excellent graphics, excellent mechanics, wonky translations

Honestly, ignore the last bit. Although it will be the most noticeable in your play experience, you get used to it after a while. Other than that, the gameplay is top-notch. The game itself is XCOM meets Legend of Heroes (the Trails series). It takes the best of both (the isometric view of XCOM, and the customization + story of Trails) and puts them together, The characters are complex and vibrant. The side-characters are memorable and have their own personality. As I write this, I'm still playing it but it has been an enjoyable ride so far.

The price is ridiculously cheap for all that it delivers, though.

"In Diversity, Strength"

Although there has been some debate on what Diversis Viribus means, I feel that my interpretation captures it the best. Chimera Squad is what happens when the aftermath of a war with aliens coalesces into a big, and happy family. Unfortunately, things aren't as rosy with City31 as dissidents aren't a fan of this chill atmosphere. Fight them to uncover a greater plot that has been developing for a while since WoTC.

The gameplay is amazing. Anyone who is complaining about the game being unplayable due to bugs or whatever is lying and should be ignored. I just finished on Expert with Ironman and I can say that the bugs are just trivial. The only notable ones would be some animation freezes during breaches and gremlin actions.

The 'characters' are incredibly well-done. The music is catchy and varied. The tactics are just as varied. The cast is diverse in origins and voice acting. If there was a game that could be used to symbolize 'diversity' then this is it. While keeping the core elements from XCOM 2 (high crit shotgun strat is still op, btw) alive, the game manages to bring in new ones which blend in just as nicely.

I'd recommend this for replayability as well due to the number of characters that I couldn't recruit or use due to the 8 agent cap. If you're reading this Firaxis, then please allow us to import characters and/or saves from Chimera Squad into whatever the next rendition of XCOM is. Their banter and inter-personal dynamics on-screen is brilliantly done. For everyone else reading this, prepare to be ensnared for 20 hours or more of fun.

tl;dr & If it wasn't clear enough - 10/10 buy it, devour it.

Okay, honest review time.

KCD is one of those games that tried to do something super cool and almost succeeded. Don't get me wrong, the mechanics are just fine. It's the bugs that might put you off which I'll describe first:

Collision detection is super buggy. You get stuck on scenery that seems traversable but is not. Sometimes the combat keys for executing stealth kills don't popup which ultimately leads to you dying. The combat locking randomly unsnaps leading your to miss weapon combos and some other weird ♥♥♥♥.

If you can overlook all that and have the patience to reload and retry a save from several minutes ago, then read on & buy the game:

The mechanics are super fun and the learning curve is super steep. The visuals, effects, sounds, and dialogues are beautiful. The world seems alive and living with choices having certain consequences. You put off a main quest for a couple of days and boom the NPC you're supposed to be interacting with is dead. You delay in a main quest chain to go pick up some ♥♥♥♥ - the entire quest chain progresses without you.

There's no hand-holding and save-scumming has its own consequences. The game tries to be as real as possible and if the bugs were ironed out, then it would be a perfect 10/10 delivery.

Sadly, now it's a 7 or 7.5/10. Still worth the purchase imho if you're the patient gamer type.