Recent reviews by serialchemist

As a fan of the old Lionhead Studios game, "The Movies" - I really appreciate what the devs are doing here. The ability to customize various levels of production is a solid enhancement on the mechanics of its inspiration. The various job roles and new buildings with roles to fill actually makes this feel more like a full "Studio Lot" simulator than a "Moviemaking Sim" - and I mean that in a very positive way. At its core, this game is an enhancement over other games in this genre.

What makes me not want to recommend this game is the UI (user interface). Some of the controls rely on your knowledge of how other games in the genre are played. In some cases, a new mechanic is sprung on you without any idea how to control it (lot working hours), leaving the player to navigate every menu until they find it.

Another issue with the interface is Edge Scrolling. The icons used for menus and info are too close to the screen edges, causing scrolling every time you mouse over there. I had to turn off Edge Scrolling and get used to not using it (even though I use it in almost every other game).

If the Devs update the UI and add a few more tutorial pop-ups then this game might be awesome. Right now, it's just frustrating.

I am not a huge Harry Potter fan, but am a fan of fantasy and MMOs, so I thought I'd give this a shot while it was on sale.

Refreshingly - this game is actual "Open World" - where I can head anywhere directly into danger with only warnings that maybe I should power up before landing my broom.

Quest and story areas are gated - but that's to be expected. However it's really nice to play an actual open world game.

So I jumped aboard the train after reading the hype. So glad I did. My boyfriend laughs at me when I'm playing this game for hours. Even though I've beat levels, I go back and replay them.

In the words of the immortal Jim Ross "Baw Gawd" - this game feels like a classic, but it isn't.

I've been trying this game out for a while now - really hoping that the additions improve gameplay.

They do not.

The new "industries and supply chains" is nothing more than some fancy parks to place after getting a certain number of a type of building. It is not nearly as in-depth as the original.

Speaking of - I started to soften on CS:2 - until I went back to play CS:1 and realized that even after all this time (FOR BOTH TITLES) CS:1 is still the better game.

Maybe the new dev teams can help save this trash pile. It had a nice base - but that's all it's been since it launched. Just a shallow base of a game.

I really enjoy city builders and colony sims and other resource management games. This is like the chillest version of that, and I get to raise some cool animals. Also learn a bit about different species and their environments.

A really chill way to game and enjoy yourself

This was a great bonus we got for pre-ordering and playing Early Access. Larian is phenomenal and this game has my full attention!

It's early access and I am 30 hours in with multiple play-throughs the available portion of the game.

I believe the hype.

This is one of those RPG games that will define this generation and be talked about for years.
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I'm at the same amount of time played now that the game has released. There's so much more depth to it than the early access. I haven't even been to maps I have not seen in Early Access and I still think I have a ways to go.

Even though this game is Early Access - it already has enough features to make it useful for my SPELLJAMMER campaign. We are leaving the prebuilt modules on Roll20 for this because of how excited the players are.

Building maps is a breeze if you're familiar with basebuilding in Fallout 4 or have ever played The Sims with the BB.MoveObjects code.

Using outside websites like TalesTavern or TalesBazaar means there are already tons of prebuilt maps available if you need some quick encounter maps.

The game includes rollable dice which is cool. What is missing at this point are decent character sheets. This means we're not using the game's dice. We're rolling right off our sheets on DNDBeyond.

EDIT: We're up to 4 users just for the one table where I DM. This is after one of our table members played with a different group that used Talespire. As we all play in other tables, it's spreading while wildfire!

Overall this is an outstanding VTT.

Even in Early Access this game has a lot to it. The gameplay is really fun and I find myself replaying over and over again. I'm up to 90 hours in this game and I'm just a filthy casual gamer.

I'm completely rewriting my review after a few developments.

This game has already become a fun distraction. The camera controls have become more manageable, there's a bit more to build and craft now.

The gameplay and tasking are extremely similar to Rimworld, but the 3D component has me focusing more on the actual settlement than the settlers themselves. It's an interesting and fun dynamic.