Recent reviews by Nirdian

A game hasn't grabbed me by the throat in a long while like this one...!

I'm a huge fan of Verhoeven's Starship Troopers and Helldivers 2 almost perfectly translates it into a game, complete with the sincere-yet-absolutely-horrifying-and-ludicrous setting, characters and "story" (which for a round-based coop multiplayer game is still surprisingly present). Satire at its very best.

But beyond the visible, it also just plays wonderfully and the gameplay makes you FEEL the way in which this Logical Extreme Of A Certain Kind Of Politics treats human labour/life as disposable... But in a fun and hilariously chaotic way!

What really sets this 3rd Person Shooter apart from most is the ways in which loadouts radically change gameplay and the incredibly varied game- and enemy-types. In 100 hours (across a few weeks) it's rarely been boring!

The monetization... isn't ideal, but being very susceptible to FOMO and Fee To Pay mechanics I am happy to report that the Premium Currency has been plentiful enough and the Purchaseable Content Un-Vital enough to let me relax and not worry about my wallet. Microtransactions immediately disqualify a game from "best" in any category, but in this case I have been enjoying the game regardless of its presence and that's a nice change of pace!

Apart from a tutorial that (as of yet) does not manage to effectively prepare one for the sheer scope one's Beaver Society can attain, and a (currently) somewhat clunky UI, it's a very satisfying experience to see beavers rule the Earth after our demise and build metropoles out of wood, rope and water!

I usually burn myself out rather quickly when playing MMOs. The premise is great and there is fun to be had, but when you play a game for a prolonged period of time, days on end, you start to get extremely irritated by every little thing that's out of place.

This game... brings me calm. Nearly everything makes perfect mechanical sense. All content is kept relevant, no matter how high-level you are. The community is surprisingly welcoming and friendly. There is very little grind, and that which there is is usually provided in a very fun manner. And then there's the fact that the design and music of this game are just a feast for the senses!

I could nitpick a few things, like awkwardly inconcistently voiced cutscenes, but overall this is the best MMO experience I've ever had!

Baby's first horror game!

Most horror games put you in the shoes of an at least somewhat competent "hero", some even give you weapons. Among The Sleep is not one of those games. Here you're put into the blue jammies of a 2-year-old scared and confused little kid. The perspective alone makes a world of difference. Everything is more scary when you can't quite orientate yourself, tables become insurmountable objects and hallways become mile-long catacombs. There's also the fact that as a toddler you're weak, literally, so moving things becomes slow and difficult. And with your short legs outrunning danger becomes nigh impossible. I could go on a while as to why being a baby is scary stuff... And this game executes the experience very well. Coupled with a nebulous but interesting story, awesome visuals and terrifying design on everything. Yeah, it's a success. My only complaint is that it could've been a little bit longer.

300+ hours of playtime later I can certainly say that Skyrim has quite a bit of content... It's a vast expansive and ridiculously pretty completely open world filled with monsters, ruins, interesting stories and just so much STUFF to fight, explore and loot. Plus if you ever run out f stuff to do, there's the workshop with a near-infinite supply of very decent user created content. For me it'll always be something I'll return to every once in a while.

I'd guess the only downsides to this game are the fact that the main questlines (as opposed to say, Oblivion) are somewhat on the short side and that the population of Skyrim is a bit scarce (you'd really expect to run into just a few more people in the capitals), also watch out for the random vampire attacks with Dawnguard that will decimate your population if you're a bit unlucky (mods can fix that though).

Prepare to die indeed! Sadly this game NEEDS a controller because of its bad port. But if you can overcome that, it presents an insane and intriguing world full of the most creatively horrifying monsters you've ever seen. And once you get the hang of it... nothing beats the sweet, sweet revenge over the so many times you were slaughtered.