Recent reviews by Rabini

Great game, had a lot of improvement this year, but still needs more optimization.

In short, it's like Left 4 Dead but 40K. Lot's of cool weapons, the new progression system is very good and there are classes for all styles of gameplay, all decently balanced.

Absolutely worth the price during sale.

Quick review:

The idea of the game is to go deeper and deeper, you reach checkpoints that restore your HP and spell uses along the way. You find wands, spells, gold and items to help you on your journey. Every checkpoint you also get a special perk option.

- Lot's of spells and modifiers to use. Fun combinations!
- The scenarios are destructible!
- You have also potions and special items to use.
- Lot's of different enemies and behaviours.
- Very high replay value.
- Challenging experience. Even for seasoned players. Speedrunning is hard.

Overall result:

Very good game, specially for it's price. Really recommend.

You click and bake cookies.

While i enjoyed RE4 remake a lot, i must confess that this game surpassed it. This is by far the GOTY 2023. Congratulations Larian Studios, you went beyond all expectations and impressed me.

A toast for your victory.

Quick review:

- The other side of the (story) coin .
- Lot's of references to the OG Resident 4. Including stuff that was thought to be cut from the remake.
- Basically an expansion of the map with a different route and new stuff.
- 3 new exclusive weapons.
- Humorous new references.
- Attention to detail on lot's of minor aspects, which i don't want to spoil here.
- La forastera!

10/10 Better than RE3 remake

It's a Vampire Survivors clone, but themed with Hololive culture.
There are some aditional features though, like building your house, a farm, fishing and workers (fans).
Great art, music and gameplay loop. And it is absolutely free.

I would recommend giving it a try, even if you don't know about Hololive, because this game is very well implemented. If you enjoyed Vampire Survivors, you probably are going to like this one too.

a

I'm doing my part.

FOR ROCK AND STONE!

Many would say that are the memories that people hold about a particular work of art, others would say that are the remarkable features that it possess, or even the audacity of the developer to try new concepts ahead of their time, stepping on unknown territory that few dared to even look at. This game has all of these elements and more, this game is a work of art, this game is Lords of Magic, a true classic.

It is a game that frequently calls me back to it. I look to play it at least once each year, and it never gets old.

My first contact with this game was on a shareware CD back in 2001, it had the demo of the game along with many others, back then it was one of the few sources of discovering new software. I will never forget the first time i've opened it's menu and listened to the theme and the iconic voice of the narrator. The demo had only the Earth Warrior and the Life Mage to use, and only featured those two civilizations, and you were not able to upgrade any of your buildings too, which prohibits you from acquiring all of the units. Even then, with just that small piece of content, i was able to enjoy many nights of fun, while listening to the legendary arrangements of it's soundtrack. From the small phrases that each unit would say, to every ambient sound, the game created an atmosphere os magic, adventure and mystery. The dark fog of the map was hiding unknown treasures and dangers, it was really a feeling that few games gave me, specially back then. The legendary team of Impressions Games, the same studio that created the legendary Pharaoh title, did a great job. It took me many years to find the full version of it on the internet, because it was never available where i live, and the complete game is a masterpiece.

This game was ahead of it's time in many aspects. Back in 1997 there were very few games that would try emulating a 2.5D real time combat RPG, mixed with a turn based tactical map, fully voiced units, and even a narrator. And Lords of Magic succeeded on it's attempt. Basically you have a board that has units and locations, and you control unit groups that can have a maximum of 3 heroes and 9 other units, using these groups you expand your influence on the map by conquering locations and looting others. Your objective is always to destroy Balkoth the Lord of Death. Unless you are playing Death, then your objective is to exterminate everyone.
The combat in RNG stat based on direct confrontations, but it is a strategy game with a lot of complex mechanics and attributes on each unit. There are Hero units, and they have special abilities that you can use both on the strategic map and in the real time battlefield.
Heroes are separated in three different classes, Mages are fragile on direct combat but have powerful spells from their faith that can harm enemies and help allies. Warriors are extremely strong on direct confrontations of melee combat. Thieves are fragile but have cunning abilities like hiding, increased speed, ranged attacks and can perform many special actions, like knocking out certain enemies, spying on the tactical map and more.
Every nation of this game has special units that are based on their faith, with unique attributes and abilities. Some can fly, some are fast, some are tough, some have magical abilities. Every nation also has a special grand temple which brings many special benefits to the owner and has a legendary creature too that can only be summoned once per game, usually.
Every nation also has a unique soundtrack that fits their theme very well, and is extremely remarkable, combined with their lore that you can find in their buildings and spell books.
In the end, the game looks like a very big board, with each nation having their capital and unit buildings around it, the great temple, and beyond that are the neutral locations that have treasures and enemies. The map never changes, it is all hard coded, but even then, you will find enjoyment playing with different tribes, because it is always different.

Looking through modern lenses, the game has aged very well, it's user interface is very good, compared to other software from it's time and is very elegant in my opinion. The AI is very basic, and can be easily exploited in some particular cases, but event then, sometimes it can surprise you, specially if you don't know how the game works completely. The graphics are charming and the music remains legendary. This Steam version runs very fine and has all the features.

I am sure that i am not the only person that was enchanted by the magic of this game, because there are lot's of fans from all around the world. If you enjoy classic computer games, and also like RTS, map strategy games, this is a must play. The magical land of Urak awaits you!

The combat, mechanics and items:

Remains on par with new modern REngine games, the gameplay feels a little more "heavy" than the original one, but they did a great job preserving animations, attacks and enemies. They maintained the original weapons, and added new ones. The gunplay feels natural, and is very fun. They also added a new parry mechanic that benefits people who have good reactions, you press SPACE during a small time window on certain enemy attacks, if you press right Leon will parry the attack with his knife. Old quick-time events were reduced to fixed keys (for example: dodging a specific attack from some enemies can be performed pressing E) and do not lock progression anymore.

In the item part, there are new additions that are welcome, like more attache cases that you can choose to receive an exclusive bonus. Snakes are now a healing item (Bear Grylls mode on), not more a hostile surprise in boxes.

There is also a new revamped shooting range: you receive some tokens that you can use to play on a gacha machine to receive trinkets to add to your inventory, that give some bonuses. A good adition.

Graphics and design:

They are lovely, clearly they spent a lot of time in small details, you can see their effort in the level design, textures, small props, etc, all to create a very dark ambience.
The graphics are on par with other REngine titles, with upgrades. A good machine is needed to use these new graphics. I've played on Linux, and the performance was decent, for a game at release (by today's standards). I've finished the game 3 times already and haven't found a single glitch or visual bug.

The plot:

The original classic story was preserved, with minor adjustments that only improved it in my opinion, mostly in the presentation of the characters.
In short: government and corporations do ♥♥♥♥, the consequence happens, and they send their dogs to fix the situation (both government and corporations), you know the drill.

Characters:

They have greatly improved the participation of some of the characters, but in essence they remained faithful to their original designs.

Leon is very robust after his intense military training, and he acts like a hardened soldier extremely focused on his mission. Sometimes he rewards the player with a smart dark joke about the situation, or like Krauser would say "his smart mouth". Exactly like the original one, the hero of the story.

Ashley is more "independent" than it's previous version, she is able to follow Leon easier and is not painful in the ass like it's older counterpart, they changed her to not have a health bar and now if she gets hit, she will "go down" and need to be rescued by Leon. If she is hit again while down, she will die and you will get a mission failed screen. Nevertheless, the core of the character was preserved, she is still a young woman that is scared as hell from being kidnapped, she screams, and Leon saves her from danger. Her behavior improves towards Leon as their dialogues go on, and in the end she is more hardened towards hostility and "very close" to Leon. The updated character visual remains faithful to the original, while improving her appearance, and she also has great voice lines.

Luis Serra is perhaps the greatest change in this version, because now he has more active participation in the story. Previously on the original RE4 his active participation was limited to the cabin defense part, but now he also has a new part, in the mines, where he fights together with Leon against the 2 giants and also participates in the new redesigned minecart section. He is a smart, charismatic, handsome individual that jokes about the situation, no matter how dire things look. A researcher that was duped to work with the plagas and after discovering the truth about his research decides to betray the Los Iluminados cult. He finds Leon and Ashley and decides to help them because he wants to "feel better". He acknowledges that it isn't going to redeem him from the damage that his research did, but he still does it, and that unfortunately costs his life... A great character.

Major Krauser remained very faithful to his original one, a very tough military covert ops specialist, he is looking for vengeance against the U.S. government, because he was betrayed (and survived). We can see that he sees Leon as a representation of the US govt. and he needs to kill him, to validate his personal choices of betraying his military duty to seek power and revenge. Both of his fights remained similar to the original ones, with some redesign in the progression, which makes them more enjoyable. The first fight is not more a quicktime event like its original counterpart, it is a knife only fight with Leon, that was introduced because knives were greatly improved in this remake. The second one is his "trap" for Leon, that remained very like the original, just with better level design.

Ada does not appear much, but her scenes were preserved like the original. Unfortunately, her new english voice acting is not on the same page as the character. It is the only negative change in my perspective.

Hunnigan is the same as the original, only more lively and well presented, good visual change. On a side note: i still ask myself where the hell is the rest of the government team? Only one woman to support Leon during his operation? Very strange.

The vendor now has many new lines, they clearly tried to make him more interactive, and i really enjoyed the new situational interactions. He also warns us when we are going to proceed to a no return path by remembering to "finish any unfinished business".

The enemies remained very faithful both in design and behaviour, there some new enemies like "bull heads", that add a refreshing change in the progression. All bosses are very well rounded, with the only exception of Del Lago, which i still find very boring.


And the unfortunate parts:

OK, the story is great, but, where is the rest? Assignment Ada, Mercenaries and Separate Ways?
The Mercenaries extra mode was confirmed to be released two weeks after the initial game debut, but why?
Right now, on SteamDB there are 27 registered DLCs for this game, of which only 13 are available right now, clearly there is more stuff planned, and maybe already done, only not released.
The only explanation that i could think is that this is all a business move to keep the game on the top played chart, to increase the "release sales window", since most games generate their biggest chunk of revenue on the first two weeks of release, if they can keep the game on top, it will probably sell more.
My dissatisfaction is that they should have release the original game, complete on release, because if they could do that back in 2005 with the original, why not with this one?

The second complaint i have is DeNuvo, which clearly affects game performance. I've tested the demo version and it ran smoothly, while the full game on the same game section ran worse, with the same graphics configurations.

There is clearly a policy of profit before consumer in Capcom, and let's be honest, the whole modern "AAA industry".


Conclusion:

This product, much like the RE2 Remake, brings us an authentic experience of the original plot, with enhancements that were expected in design, graphics and gameplay.
While there are also concerning bad moves from Capcom toward us, the customer base, the product is a worthwhile purchase, and i am looking forward to the release of the rest of the missing content, with high expectations.

10/10 game of the year, i hope.

And i also hope for a decent Resident Evil Outbreak remake.

Goodbye

This was the first DS that i've played, and in my opinion the best one, i really don't understand why people hate it.
My recommendation is that you play this game without any help and prior information for the best experience.

Notable characteristics:
- Combat is slower than other From Software titles.
- You can upgrade armor and weapons in this game.
- Souls of bosses can be traded for unique weapons and gear.
- Great equipment variety, hundreds of weapons and armor.
- Possibility of farming NPCs to acquire their gear and other loot.
- Several storylines and endings.
- 8 covenants, for all tastes.
- You can literally make any build work against PVE, extremely fun.
- PVP is extremely developed and has a good learning curve with a great variety of techniques.
- Great community, lots of good interactions, even with invaders.

If you like to suffer, and then learn from your suffering, this game is for you.

10/10 would suffer again.