Recent reviews by SDCore

good :)

I'm not usually one to write reviews for games, but I'll be damned if I don't for this one. Stray is absolutely amazing. I've always had a love for settings like the one presented. Stuck in an environment you can't escape, and eventually leading everyone out. It's such an awesome concept with a ton of potential, and Stray uses all of it.

The gameplay is awesome as well. I'll just be echoing what everyone else says, but if you've ever wanted to be a cat, this is it. There are definitely parts that kind of control the game for you, but if you really embrace your inner cat, you feel like you're playing those parts anyway.

The puzzles are laid out in a way that definitely makes sense, both gameplay and story wise. I felt like there were reasons I had to go and do the things I had to do to progress, and that made it satisfying when I was stuck but eventually found out what I needed to do.

I'm not the biggest fan of the stealth sections, though I'm not a fan of stealth sections in any game, but the ones you encounter here aren't too bad and you definitely don't feel too overwhelmed most of the time.

There are a few "just run" segments as well that really get your blood pumping. I enjoyed them the few times they popped up and the music compliments them very well, and they put your quick thinking skills to the test when having to combine it with a few platform sections.

The story is amazing as well. There's ton of life in the city, small stories, interesting tidbits, and just life in general that all add up to make you feel like you're a part of it. You feel like you've been living there forever, and it never felt like there were copy and pasted characters or backstories that took away from the game. And no spoilers, obviously, but the ending definitely made me cry, which doesn't happen often for me. It pulls on your heart strings and makes you care so much for the people you interact with.

Overall, I can't recommend this game enough. It's fun, enjoyable, can be beat in about 5 hours (maybe a bit more if you're trying to 100% it), and I'm very hopeful for a sequel if the ending is anything to go by.

30 minutes of pure joy. I'm definitely loving the recent "modern" take on Aperture Science in Valves newest "demo" titles (see The Lab for more of what I'm talking about).

Gameplay wise, it's pretty standard. There's a lot of story, and I think it's safe to say the gameplay is more sprinkled in alongside the story, but the bits do you get to play are fun, make use of the Steam Decks full capabilities (though I played with an Xbox controller, so I can't speak to how well it uses them), and they really show off Source 2 to the fullest.

Story wise, it's frikn hilarious, a tad bit dark, and really fulfilling to those of us who've ever been completely engrossed in Portal 2 lore. Spoilers below if you happen to read this before playing it.

The core story is mostly original, from what I can tell. Toilets? Cool, love 'em. Making Toilet Turrets? Even better. But the real stuff comes from some of the stuff happening behind the scenes, specially MANTIS MEN (or I guess a whole Mantis society?) and a bunch of cut Portal 2 story content!

The Mantis Society seems to be a callback to some of Cave Johnsons lines in Portal 2 talking about Mantis Men, and how it went wrong, and all that. They seems to have snuck off to places between the walls and created a whole society! Freakin awesome, I love that.

THEN, there's the whole callback of Cave being put into a computer. This was cut Portal 2 content, where Potato GLaDOS and Chell were supposed to stumble upon a computer with Cave's entire consciousness, and since he's been stuck down there alone for so long, he just wanted to end it. And you had to unplug him because you needed to climb on him to progress thru the level. It's really cool to see that (somewhat) in practice in game. Props to the writers for putting that in.

And then CAVE JOHNSON! Love JJJ, glad he was able to come back and give us a bit more. Been wanting more and missing him since the PTE DLC forever ago.

Honestly, well rounded game, well rounded story, I'm sure there's a ton more we haven't found yet, but I'm so excited for all the stuff this game has put out so far, for how small/short it is. Thank you, Valve.

Yes, good game good game.

The fact that the multiplayer is free is actually amazing. While I personally have no intention of buying the battle pass, it does have some good rewards for people who are looking for something extra and wanna support the devs outside of paying for the campaign. Overall solid experience.

Wrong TF2 but still a solid game.

In just the 2.5 hours I've played, I've had so much fun. Gun play is fantastic and reminds me a lot of Halo. The portal mechanic, while I personally don't use it a lot, is fun, and there have been some fun plays using an enemies portal against them. I haven't reached a high enough rank to do ranked yet, so I'll probably come back and update my review with my thoughts, but I can imagine any type of competitive play in this game is going to be fantastic.

It's a damn good game.

You can't ask for a better game. I keep coming back for more.

While I'm still not the biggest fan of the changes to the BP, I do have fun with this game despite all its issues.

Also the Wattson Nessie Onsie Skin won me over a bit.

[Edit: Pre-BP Changes but Post BP Change Announcement] I want to start off by saying that I've played Apex for 5 years, since day 1. While some decisions have been... not the greatest, I've always tried to understand changes made to the game, both gameplay wise and monetarily, from the developer/publishers perspective. The game has to make money, the game has to be engaging, I understand.

However, the new changes to the battlepass coming in season 22 are some of the worst changes I have ever seen coming to the game. There is genuinely no way to defend that. Despite the fact that, up until now, you've earned enough Apex Coins in the battle pass to buy the next seasons bp, I've always spent the $10 to get 950 coins to buy it. I understand that's not everyones experiences; either they use the coins from the previous bp or don't buy it at all, but it was a consistent reoccurring purchase from me, so much so that I worked it into my monthly budget every time a new season came around.

However, $9.99 (+ tax), twice a season (to get both battle passes), AND the fact that you won't be able to buy it with apex coins, is the nail in the coffin for me. I never hopped on the "the game is dying" or "this will kill apex" train, but good lord I was already feeling burnout from playing for 5 years, and this was THE change the pushed it over for me.

It's been a good run, Apex. Good luck.