Recent reviews by erikson

This game has quickly become my goty. It's punishing and difficult, but the satisfaction of seeing this beautiful world evolve makes the pain worth it. I'm not done with the game yet, with still 2 bosses to go, but I can see myself picking this back up for another playthrough when its dlc comes out

Was much more fun pre-update. Like everyone else, I was looking forward to the changes. Unfortunately it feels like you're playing a completely different game, with questionable difficulty scaling due to the new items, buggy evidences that make the game unplayable, and rollback on progress which has made the first 100 hours played meaningless when everything after feels like a new title. I bought this game wanting to play Phasmophobia, and think this update would have been better shipped as new title. You can no longer pick up and play, having to grind hours for access to content

I've been looking for a highly customizable text editor like this for a long while now, and I think I've finally found a solution to manage and bring multiple ideas into one single workspace. The note utility is very useful and has so far proven very handy in outlining my story and its characters. I wish there was a way to create custom note categories like there are for Characters that can be applied to settings for example, however, that might be implementable with an understanding of Lua that Nimble Writer lets you play around with in a console. I'm going to be using Nimble Writer as a substitute for WattPad as it has everything I need so far in one place. The encryption feature and its diligence towards Steam Cloud are very appreciated and show the lengths the developer has gone to when developing this application. Although not supported anymore, I am looking forward to seeing what I can make out of the program using the Steam Workshop, plugins, and any homebrew commands I can find. I will keep this review up to date as I go along periodically, and hopefully, this program is the end-all for all my needs.

Was generally a fan of CS:GO, however the changes made during the Source 2 / Counter-Strike 2 update are the result of downright malicious game development, and bad decision making. What was initially shipped as a paid title for Mac OS and Linux users, has essentially been stolen from that demographic with CS2 not supporting those platforms. Fortunately I play on a Windows computer, however the deprivation of support which the product initially sold with is hostile and Valve has to answer for that. As well as removing support for these systems, Valve have also instead of choosing to create a separate store front for CS2, updated the CS:GO page. Ordinarily, this would not be a great issue, however considering that CS2 launched with thousands of positive reviews that are not reflective of it, is a sorry state for a company that is meant to moderate fair business practice on this platform. Reviews from Mac and Linux users are also still available, meaning that out to date information is being actively used in promotion of this product. The changes in game play are subjective, and although I'm not too happy with the more run-and-gun dynamic this title offers compared to it's predecessor, I think the game play needed to be changed to compete with Valorant and other FPS titles. I would have liked a longer transitional period, and for Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to still be supported. The sub-tick rate system introduced by Valve is a lazy attempt to offset the cost of running 128 tick servers for this game. Latency has a huge impact on the feeling of this game, and depending on what server you connect to, your experience will be different. This system either needs to be fixed or removed for a conventional 64 tick or 128 tick servers. A lot of the bugs and issues otherwise will probably be ironed out in the near future, so I have faith Valve will continue updating the game and supporting the developers to make the changes they need to fix the state of the game.

Pretty fun for 33p. Could never finish a level because the game glitches at 1 npc left, but still enjoyed my time playing. Thank you Magnolia Art

As a fan of the first Forest game, this title feels like an empty shell of what it could have been. To put it simply, it lacks the content to make the game fun - although there are moments here and there.

The base building system is much better than the original, however the lack of recipes for decorations and furniture just completely strip the enjoyment of building. The world lacks content. Unlike the first game, there is nothing really to explore besides a few caves they mark on your map for you. There is no surprise, most of these caves are a singular room with the same loot, and there is no threat on the half an hour walk between the two furthest caves. Despite the world being much bigger than the original, the content would be significantly less on the same sized map. This game was not ready to be released, even in an early access capacity. There is not enough content to justify the price.

The addition of Kelvin, the AI companion, is welcome. At the moment however, there is no real need for him besides foraging as the base building system is lack luster. He cannot fight, he cannot follow you into caves, but he can cut your treehouses down which is great fun.

The story might as well not exist in this game. There is no exploration. You are fed the objectives on a silver plate, and the story can be completed in under an hour. There is no reason to spend any time doing anything besides the story, because there is nothing else to do. The game feels uninspired, and whereas The Forest was filled with horror and genuinely scary, this game misses the mark with the same enemies repeated, no boss fights, and lack of reasons to use a variety of weapons besides the one that deals the most damage.

I cannot recommend this game at its' current state at the full £24.99 price. Content wise, it should be half the price of The Forest, if not less. It is not ready to be enjoyed.

Masterpiece of a game. Definitely belongs to another era but still very playable and enjoyable. Would recommend if you're looking for an open world game to sink your teeth in.

EDIT 2: Despite the originally positive updates, the development of this game has gone down an uninspiring and mind-numbingly boring path. The last few DLC have been the worst this community have ever seen. The development feels lazy, and it feels like the game is going through a content drought, with nothing original and exciting having come out for the last year.

EDIT: Since my last review, this game has undergone tremendous changes in the form of a new prestige system, perk overhaul, and re-balancing. The issues with SBMM still persist at high MMR gameplay, however they are less noticeable now than they were at the time of my previous review. The game is fun and enjoyable again. I would recommend only picking up this game during a sale.

ORIGINAL: After sinking almost 700 hours into Dead by Daylight, I am unable to recommend this game to new players for a number of reasons. Once one of my favourite games, a constant cycle of negative development feedback and trail of questionable decision making has tarnished this games' reputation and trust with fans. Behaviour Interactive have consistently failed to listen to their community and provide the fixes needed to address its' plethora of issues.

Unsurprisingly like most other negative reviews, my pessimistic outlook on this game was stemmed by the introduction of the Skill Based Matchmaking System (SBMM). This system has essentially turned a casual game where you were able to try new builds and relax to a competitive, meta perk orgy. Toxic killers and bully squads have ruined any fun left in this title. The developer's arrogance to what a SBMM should include has promoted sweaty, uninspired gameplay. With roughly the same amount of time invested in killer as in survivor, I can confirm that neither feels rewarding or fun.

Besides SBMM, this game suffers from balancing issues, a toxic community and lack of any original updates. The last 4 DLCs have all felt stale, and this is most apparent in the upcoming Ringu chapter which seems to mimic aspects of other killers. Recycling content only adds to this issue.

I have uninstalled this game and will be staying away from it for now. Content creators have begun to move away from this game which has already been reflected in the dropping player count. As a community neglected by its' developers, the content creators are the main source of hype and generate interest towards the game. Sadly these creators, much like the players, have been let down by the developers who refuse to listen to constructive criticism. This game has lost its' spark and appeal. For now, watch from afar.

While this game isn't terrible, an overwhelming hype train and huge wave of initial positive reviews has tainted its' appeal to me. For every time I try to defend its' mechanics and story, I lose confidence in my own argument. Lost Ark is a watered down MMO which mainly appeals to new players of the genre.

For anyone familiar with MMOs, unlike a game like FFXIV, Lost Ark's story is incredibly shallow. The characters are forgettable and the side content is a distraction from the poor writing and direction. It executes the ideas it takes from other MMOs badly; I have found myself skipping most of the dialogue having failed trying to invest into the story. Any reviewer that supports the direction of the main arc has not played a good MMO.

The gameplay so far feels brainless. Squishy, uninteresting targets run across your screen and a combination of 1 or 2 buttons is usually enough to wipe an entire wave of these minions. Its' appeal comes from free-to-play Andy's who are unfamiliar with other games and find comfort in mindlessly mashing their keyboards. The lack of a level-scaling system means that playing with friends is obsolete, essentially transforming Lost Ark into a solo experience. The dungeons have all lacked any innovation and feel like copies of each other. I have quickly lost all interest in the story and the gameplay.

So what does Lost Ark offer? For its' shortcomings in other areas, it sure looks pretty. The graphics are beautiful and coupled with mediocre at best music, makes for good eye candy. The graphics can't be faulted; The performance on the other hand needs polishing. Playing this game on a RTX 3070, Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB 3000MHz Memory, I am encountering stuttering issues. Note that this issue isn't apparent in any of my friends' games who I have asked. Whether this is a specific issue with my combination of components, or backend issues with their engine, I am unsatisfied with this performance from a game heralded as a game changer. Although it won't solely deter me from playing, alongside all the other faults, the performance is a big fudge you for the consumer.

I will continue to give this game another opportunity and will update this review if appropriate. For now though, unless you are completely new to the genre and ignorant of other MMOs, I would advise you lower your expectations and follow reason rather than the torrential train of hype that has followed this game from pre-release.

As the first soulslike game I've played, I can say that I really enjoyed almost everything about this game. Even for somebody with no interest in the Star Wars franchise like myself, I found myself invested into the story and gameplay which proved a challenge throughout my playthrough.

To put this game in a single category would be doing it injustice. The combat is definitely Sekiro / Souls inspired with parries and dodges as the main mechanics, however the introduction of the force as a combat tool is unique and fun. The combination of abilities you unlock feel rewarding and when chained together feel satisfying. Playing at Jedi Grandmaster, I had a very hard time adjusting to the combat and with no prior experience, I found myself struggling at not only bosses but lesser enemies too. The scripted action sequences and platforming feel great, almost as if it was taken out of a Tomb Raider or Uncharted game. These sections were refreshing and offered a break from the onslaught of blasters and weird extraterrestrial creatures. My only issue with the combat is that at times some of the attacks from enemies felt ridiculous. This may be due to my lack of experience in this type of combat, but I feel as if sometimes their moves sets and animations were janky.

The story is pretty good. There's nothing to shout home about, but it was a nice introduction to the Star Wars franchise for a complete novice. It was interesting and some of the moments were really well executed, but being quite short it doesn't offer the level of character progression and personal insight that a longer game could. I am very interested in seeing how Cal's story continues beyond the game and hope that a second instalment will dive into the aspects I think were a bit weaker.

From a graphical standpoint, this game looks phenomenal. Everything from textures to SFX look great. Respawn have created amazing environments that really make you feel like you're in the game. I was very impressed to find that it ran very smooth too. I had no problems running on a RTX 3070, Ryzen 5 3600 and 16GB memory, minus some loading points where the framerate would tank for a second which is consistent with other reviews.

Overall, I think this is definitely a game you should pick up if you're looking for a challenge or something new to play. I played this game through EA Play, however I think it's worth its' full retail price, and would not hesitate to buy it if I wanted to play it again.