Recent reviews by SteveTheBlack

I really enjoyed this game, even though it took a little bit longer to click with me that a Bioware game usually takes. The companions especially suffer from some weird voice acting that undermines the delivery of some otherwise solid writing, but once I adjusted to that I found myself finding my groove with my little team of weirdos.

That are still some weird quirks that don't quite line up, such as the Antivan Crows, noted guild of relentless assassins, suddenly taking a turn into noble vigilante territory, as well as the resolutions to some companion quests feeling a little rushed, but they didn't take me out of the game overmuch.

Ultimately, this felt like a really solid Dragon Age game and a worthy successor to Inquisition. The combat especially (at least playing as a rogue as I did) was more engaging than any of the previous games in the series. It also makes for a satisfying conclusion to the series so far, opening the door for a new direction if the series gets to continue.

Which I really hope it does <3

A cute little game that gets you right into the nitty-gritty of being a spooky ghost-boy from the moment you hit start. It's got some lovely charm, a nice little story, and works really well on the Steam Deck. Well worth a punt to give an indie dev a bit of support, and I'm looking forward to see where he goes next!

It's very easy to grade this game on a curve and say that, for the budget it's a good game. And that's true, Dramatic Labs have done a lot with a clearly limited budget.

But that does the game a disservice, I think. It's a fantastic piece of Star Trek fiction in its own right, arguably better than some of the modern TV incarnations in fact. If there isn't a sequel in the works, that would be a crime, frankly.

It's not perfect though, and if you want to hear the negatives, here you go: the Telltale legacy is apparent for good and ill - you get a lot of choices that feel like they might matter, but the moment to moment gameplay can be a little restrictive and simple. It has inconsistent performance, wonkily juddering between 60 and 30fps seemingly at random. The mouse controls can be sluggish and heavy at times, and the prompts defaulted to gamepad even though I didn't have one plugged in (though it does switch on the fly after you remind me if you're on a keyboard and mouse).

But honestly, this is a compelling bit of Star Trek that will appeal to anyone who has a soft spot for the TNG era, and none of those problems detract from that in any significant way.

Good job, devs :)

Probably the first Aliens game to really capture the spirit and atmosphere of the movie. What Isolation was to Alien, Dark Descent is to Aliens.

It has a few rough edges -- for some reason, beards would not stop looking like they were added by the MSPaint spraycan and some of the voice acting can be a little lacklustre -- but I didn't notice anything game breaking. The priority system does a good job of making it feel like you're commanding a cohesive unit, and the way the visibility and motion tracking system work together to raise the tension at the right times is great for the overall feel.

The ability and necessity to pull out of missions and come back after a rest gives the whole thing a nice bit of risk as well -- push a little harder even though your marines are getting stressed or extract, rest up, and come back fresh knowing that you're one day closer to being nuked into oblivion?

My one main complaint is the repetitiveness of the voice barks. Clicking between rooms on the Otago always nets the exact same voice line, and as you'll be doing this a lot it wears out its welcome quickly. Same with commands on missions -- hearing "THEY'RE HEADED OUR WAY" or "LET'S SEE WHAT'S INSIDE" for the billionth time did start to grate by the end of the game.

Overall though, a great Aliens game and worth picking up :)

A cute little game that is a great way to kill some time. There's a nice mix of games and every now and then new ones pop up just to mix things up.

Worth a try, especially at such a low price.

Also, the pig collectable is adorable. 10/10

First off: add -d3d11 %command% to the end of your launch properties to do what you can to make the game more stable.

Now, the actual review: The actual game is brilliant. I was worried that card-based combat would make the game less interesting than, say, XCOM but it actually gives Midnight Suns a unique flavour that makes the battles a lot more like puzzles than I expected. Moving enemies around, building synergies, exploiting the environment, working out how to properly harness all of these things can help make the fights extremely rewarding.

The story is decent, if a little too straightforward and predictable at times. The characters make it interesting though, and the ridiculous amount of dialogue and conversations you can have with your teammates helps to keep you engaged. At first it can feel a little too much, keeping you from getting out into the combat and actually playing, but after a couple of hours you start to connect with the other heroes and wanting to hang out with them as a nice respite.

It's not without its problems (most of them technical, such as the ridiculous amount of crashes), and the gameplay ones are a little vexing. A couple of the enemies become a huge annoyance on higher difficulties, the missions types can get a little repetitive, walking around the abbey is a real missed opportunity, and the costume choices (outside of the indefensible launch day DLC garbage) are ultimately lacklustre.

Overall though, a very fun strategic/puzzly combat game with fun characters to hang out with and, as you cal see from my game time, definitely last long enough to be worth the price.

Plus the post-credits scene got me a little hype.

A very enjoyable little cyberpunk story.

It's a visual novel really, so the actual gameplay is quite limited and linear, though there are some choices that do affect how things play out. The puzzles that are there are quite simple, with the solutions always being a sort of substitution cipher spelled out to you on a piece of paper nearby.

The dual-screen setup, where you can't interact with the game while Izy isn't at her computer, is sadly little more than a gimmick - a bit of a missed opportunity, but still cool and unique.

The ending also fell a little flat for me.

Overall, a good story to play through and well worth your time.

Whether the game is any good or not doesn't matter, unless you have a lot of friends to play with it is simply not worth the hassle of playing with the utterly atrocious and toxic community. They are some of the worst people I have ever encountered in videogames.

Fun writing and charming performances help to tell a story that surpasses the movie equivalent in every single way. Does a fantastic job of making you feel part of a team, and once you work out the powers of each guardian you'll be fighting like one too.

Ridiculously hard but in a way that makes it all the more rewarding when you pull off the slicey-dicey parkour it wants you to do. The bosses are a little forgettable and the enemies introduced towards the end are a bit too frustrating rather than fun, but this is mitigated by the game not overstaying its welcome.

Pretty, too.