Tamaster 最近的評論

If you’re looking for some screenshots click here to view all the ones I took for this game.




In the standard fashion of dungeon crawlers, the story opens with a rather generic incipit where the land is cursed by evil and you, as a new hero, have to complete quests for various characters in your home city. There are some dialogues that add more depth to the motives of each quest or chore you’ll be tasked with, but in general, there isn’t a lot of depth lore or character-wise; that’s alright for this subgenre of RPG, and expected.

Sundaria is set in a standard high fantasy world that features all the classic entries for this setting, such as orcs, goblins, ettins, magical creatures and so forth; various races other than humans also co-exist, and are affiliated to both good and evil. Each of the eight large dungeons that compose the game world is markedly different in theme, aesthetics and inhabitants; the level of detail is barebones, as are the dated visuals - this is compensated by extension, as each dungeon is extremely vast, even if most of said vastness will feel like meaningless filler. The world feels generic and has no markedly distinct features to set it apart from a generalist fantasy setting an AI could generate from a prompt, to convey the idea.

You’ll explore each level on foot, with a small minimap to serve as your only orienteering tool, other than deployable magic lights (that other players can’t see, however, 300IQ design). Each of the dungeons has a “main path” to follow, and multiple side-areas that often contain additional loot containers, optional bosses, and rarely more elaborate secrets such as a multi-key chest you can only open by finding all the hidden keys in a level, to name one.

Even if it’s moderately compelling to explore the unknown, the excessive vastness of locations makes it a chore to backtrack to explore everything or simply to get around if you’re lost; it’s just too much filler space for a walk speed that isn’t adequate for it. Fixed checkpoints will often save your progress, respawning you in the event of death and also enabling you to go back to town for NPC services and then resume from where you left off, much like in Diablo-like ARPGs, in a way.

The combat style varies a lot based on your class. Regardless of your race, which won’t have any racial traits or bonuses, your character will have diverse skills ranging from melee-focused tanks, such as the Guardian, to long-range casters and stealthy rogues; all the fantasy archetypes are here, without any class being more original in any way.

Progression is rather exciting at first, with a new ability unlocking at each level-up - this soon fades when new skills don’t appear anymore, and given how all the other aspects of leveling are automated or dependent on found gear, you won’t have much progression to look forward to rather soon, class-wise at least.

Fights play out in a fast-paced way; with your characters having no mana or stamina to manage, cooldowns are the only cap to how fast you can spam your skills. And spam you will, since the core of any fight, exceptions made for a few bosses with a bit more complex attacks, will be mashing as many buttons as possible to stack effects, debuffs and so forth.

There won’t be any tactical depth to this process whatsoever, other than some basic dodging; forget timing buffs and heals like you’d do in a proper raid, or coordinating with your teammates - that won’t be needed at all for how superficial combat is, even with all skills unlocked. Bosses may be the only saving grace of an otherwise varied but shallow enemy roster that will feel like generic filler.

Each gained level will grant you a new ability, until level 8. From that point onwards, progression becomes meaningless until you reach 20, where Honor unlocks, having you level up past 20 to gain Honor Skill Points, that give minor passive bonuses to characters - which may become major in time, but there will be a lot of grinding to do to accumulate enough.

One of the biggest design flaws of progression in Sundaria is how you have no choice in how to actually build your character, what to specialize into, or focus. Each character levels up in the same way based on class, and you’ll have no say on stats, skill assignments or attributes of any kind - only the gear you find or craft in town with materials, will be within your sphere of influence to decide your character’s specializations or focuses. Not that you have a lot of choice in that; a rogue will of course focus on critical damage and passive stealth bonuses, a tank in resistances and health, and so forth.

If you’re looking for some screenshots click here to view all the ones I took for this game.




In the early 2030s, Detroit is (still?) a lawless wasteland where gang wars, violence and crime almost reign supreme. In this dystopian setting, ex-agent Alex Murphy is transformed into RoboCop - “the policeman of the future, today” - by means of high technology provided by OCP, a mega-corporation that rules supreme over the city. It will be up to you to deliver justice, by words or by lead showers.

The setting is visually-exceptional; no corners were cut in detailing each environment, ranging from the dilapidated streets of Detroit, to the interiors of buildings ranging from tenement homes to corporate cementscapes. The authentic feel, atmosphere and pathos of the movies are perfectly transposed, further invigorated by a banger musical score, spot-on voice acting and a booming SFX compartment. Level design is linear but comprehensive, with many stages featuring large open areas and plenty of side-exploration to do. The attentive players will find many Easter eggs, references and events.

The characters surrounding RoboCop’s crime-beating exploits are memorable enough, distinct and well-written, although not all reveal a personal development after the events - only some do. Still, they’re interesting enough to not fall flat, and contribute in holding up a story that, while clichèd in some aspects, is original and in-canon enough with the source material to please fans and even newcomers.

Some levels develop in a linear manner, mostly inside buildings or structures, while others take a semi-open world approach, giving players a wide area to explore, containing both the main objective and a plethora of side-missions and activities that will award XP and, at times, other benefits. Exploring is paramount in finding these opportunities, often coming along unique sub-plots and events to test RoboCop’s skills in ways that go beyond the simple “shoot all the baddies”.

In each stage, you’ll be able to find secrets in the shape of locked safes, hidden chests, or concealed rooms, that most of the time house evidence to collect, for extra XP, or at times instant level up disks to get a skill point, or PCB Boards to upgrade the iconic Auto-9 pistol. Looking for these secrets will often involve looking for clues and hidden elements in the environment.

With firefights and hostage situations being routine in Detroit, there’ll be no shortage of action, as Rogue City is first and foremost an FPS, after all. RoboCop’s formidable Auto-9 will be your staple, however, in early stages, weapons picked up from dead foes may be a better alternative despite their limited ammo. Later on, with the proper upgrades that unlock unique fire modes and abilities, the iconic gun will have no equal, save for a few special, rare heavy weapons.

Each gunfight will have RoboCop barge in using his enhanced reflexes and stalwart armor to rain destruction on the perps at hand. Contrary to the movies though, especially on Extreme difficulty, you won’t be an unstoppable, nigh-indestructible force, but instead taking cover and being careful in managing your auto-repair charges will be paramount to your survival. Even if later on you’ll acquire abilities like the active shield, or better armor and vitality, to become more durable, you’ll never become as tough as in the movies - and that’s okay for gameplay reasons - if you want that feel, play on lower difficulties.

Several active and passive skills will enable Murphy to bounce bullets in tactical spots, tag enemies, reflect bullets and slow time, to name only some feats. These will be very useful against more advanced enemies, like those with armor and military weapons, or bosses, most of which are unique, have evolving movesets, and are generally a tough nut to crack. This plethora of abilities, diverse guns and upgrades, alongside varied enemies that behave differently and have specialized field roles, makes combat exciting in the long run until the end.

As criminals get demolished, investigations done, and innocents protected, you’ll amass lots of XP, granting you a level every 1000 points. Your performance during missions, based on secrets found, side-assignments completed and more, will also grant you a large XP bonus. Each level up will give you one skill point to spend and enhance RoboCop’s abilities, ranging from combat and vitality to the more niche engineering and psychology fo dialogues - not all of them are equally useful, and there’s no respec or any way to get good at everything, so you’ll have to specialize.

Some dialogues have RPG-style skill checks, and can have different outcomes based on your abilities. For instance, you could deduct a criminal threatening a hostage with an unloaded gun if you have enough points in Engineering, or convince someone to surrender with enough Psychology. Although present, these skill checks aren’t as plentiful or meaningful as one would expect, and more could've been done to emphasize their importance.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3104195694

On the story side, MCD has very minimal narrative; other than a run-of-the-mill villain corrupted by fiddling with powers beyond comprehension, and a brief cutscene at the start of each level, there won’t be any further elaboration on lore, characters or events - that’s alright for an ARPG.

The world is built using the original Minecraft as a baseline; many “out of canon” additions have however been made for the sake of variety or gameplay. For instance, Endermen can be hit by arrows and also can walk on water, to name one. These new additions are always made with good criteria and feel well-integrated, rarely out of place. There’s an excellent level of detail in the environment, however interactivity with it is at a bare minimum; you’d expect more of it for a Minecraft-inspired title.

The world is divided into self-contained dungeons you can repeat as many times as you want, through four distinct difficulties that become unlocked as you beat the final boss on the previous ones, and get a higher power level from equipment. Each stage is, barring some exceptions, fully explorable without one-way drops, and has many side-areas or, occasionally, hidden sub-dungeons for reaping extra rewards or even unlocking secret levels.

Exploration is an integral part of progression, given that enemies very rarely drop any gear, unless they’re bosses; most of the loot is gained either from end-stage rewards or chests found in the levels themselves. The attentive explorer will have massive amounts of loot to scrap for money, use, or gift to a teammate - only one item can be traded between each mission, having you complete another one before trading is enabled again - a pointless decision.

There are also puzzles and platforming sections in most levels; some of them are fine, while others prove unclear, frustrating or downright badly designed - they don’t feel like a meaningful addition at any point, and if anything, they’re a waste of time… especially when you’re running some level on repeat to get a specific drop, only to get your time wasted by the same gimmick. Should you want to backtrack because you forgot something, there won’t be teleports or checkpoints: it’s the long haul, with characters having dismal running speed.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3096535077

Combat plays out in a classic ARPG fashion, having Souls in place of Mana, which are gained from slain enemies, a HP bar, and a revive mechanic (in co-op) for fallen companions. About that: if you don’t revive your teammates within 30 seconds, the “night” will start hurting and eventually kill you, while a party wipe will detract one life from the total, and have you repeat the entire dungeon should you run out of them.

Enemies are varied in shapes and sizes, often with their own attack patterns and abilities unique to specific biomes and levels. They’re varied enough to not get stale and can become very challenging, especially on higher difficulties where Enchanted foe variants (elites) come by the truckload. The available dodge-roll has a long cooldown and no i-frames unless specific items are equipped, so you won’t actually be able to dodge as frequently as needed to avoid all the various AoE and projectiles.

You won’t have a definite build at any point, because MCD doesn’t have classes, skill points, trees and attributes: all of this was completely scrapped for a simplistic, casual gear-based progression system, meaning your equipment, armor and weapons will dictate what your skills and synergies are. This is fine for novices but will downright suck for players that want more depth.

On paper, this would mean more variety, but in reality, given that you’ll always need better gear, everything you have will eventually become outdated without any permanent progression outside of equipment. This translates into having to ditch combinations that are enjoyable and work well, simply because the gear enabling them is too outdated. The Blacksmith in your base allows you to scale gear to your current power level, but only after completing three levels, which is a grindy chore.

Bosses are interesting enough, multi-phased, and have their own quirks to learn and exploit. Their difficulty is however inconsistent, with some of them clearly being more challenging than others, regardless of how far you find them in the campaign.

Other than acquired gear, you’ll be given one enchant point when you level up, usable to unlock enchantments on gear, which trigger passive abilities with three power levels. These traits can make gear pieces significantly more powerful, but are random and can only be changed at a specific trader using Gold, a currency obtainable only in specific level types.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3073099283

Overall the writing, even if it uses some tiresome clichès such as the “advanced, forgotten civilization” one and the “you’re the chosen one” type of thing, still manages to involve the player enough between fairly-unique characters, their backstories, and events that aren’t always as plain as one might expect. While the choices you’ll make won’t always have the same impact, it’s good to have a say in the event, instead of a streamlined linear story, which wouldn’t do justice to a RPG after all. Don’t expect a heavy roleplay component dependent on skill-checks and such, though, as you won’t find it here.

The worldbuilding is adequate for its setting, however an excessive repetition of biomes, locations and structures can be noticed between dungeons and story areas. While there are some lore pieces in the form of notes or examinable environment objects, this game isn’t lore-heavy at all and doesn’t require a lot of reading - for the better or worse. Some more elaboration on the Ancient civilization would have been interesting and welcome, same for the various sub-cultures and factions encountered.

Each location on the world map, revealed in a linear way after specific events came to pass, is a self-contained area in the form of a dungeon filled with enemies, traps, secondary areas, and usually one or more objectives. Your party can explore dungeons freely, and even evade enemy encounters using a rudimentary stealth system – I wouldn’t recommend it, though, as you’ll need as much XP as you can get. Other than the main path, dungeons usually will have secondary areas with color-coded chests, with matching randomized loot and resources.

There won’t be any breathtaking secrets or Easter eggs in any dungeon; at most, you’ll find optional puzzles and relatively secluded areas containing extra resources or equipment, but overall everything is laid-out on the global map pretty easily, with a wide exploration radius. The level of interaction with the environment is minimal, with at most you having to find some keys to open locked doors. Still, the ‘unknown factor’ is strong enough to promote exploration without knowing what’s behind the next corner.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3076209870

Combat plays out in real-time, with the option to either slow it down or completely stop it, to better issue orders to your party members. On its own, the flow of battles is rather fast-paced, however it doesn’t really matter given the pause-anytime system. Fights can and will become chaotic soon, especially when involving a dozen or more enemies - you’ll have to frequently micro-manage your party’s positions, skill casts, active abilities and such, because even if there’s an “autonomous” AI mode that can do so for you, it just isn’t good enough.

With six active skills and four passives to choose for each hero depending on their class, and the possibility to respec anytime, there’s a lot of flexibility to adjust your party’s focus based on the fight ahead. Facing a boss soon? Swap to more single target abilities for that specific fight. Speaking of bosses, they’re very inconsistent, ranging from extreme difficulty spikes far overpowered for their level, to pushovers you won’t have a problem with even on the hardest setting. While they’re all unique and have multiple, evolving phases, they don’t all feel equally epic.

At each Xp-based level up, your characters will gain 3 attribute points (also respec-able at any time) and two abilities and, when unlocked, two specialization points. You can freely invest them to unlock new skills, or more powerful versions of existing ones. Each character can further choose a specialization from level 7, and an additional one later on - but these can’t be respec, so choose carefully. You’ll get the most XP from quests, and a little also from slain enemies, so it’s worth doing all side-missions and companion assignments. All characters are very much gear-dependent, as in DE, that will bestow massive attribute and stat bonuses depending on the type of armor or trinket, and is also further enchantable with passives for a cost in resources.

Speaking of crafting, you’ll be able to acquire blueprints from merchants and loot chests, that you’ll then forge using the materials at your disposal - the better the material quality and rarity levels, the better the stats of the crafted item. To unlock most enchants and crafting options, you’ll have to research them, using points found in dungeons or bought - at a high price and limited quantity - from traders. Merchants can also source powerful items without you having to dungeon raid for them, some may even be Unique in rarity, but they will cost a fortune.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3068075602

It's free, but it's garbage, and here is why:

- Credit where it's due, the graphics are phenomenal and capture the essence of the backrooms, same for the audio. Atmosphere is spot on, and as an avid Backrooms Wiki reader i couldn't but appreciate the care. But that's all I have to say for positive things.

- Absolutely zero options whatsoever, not even a basic menu for resolution selection or setting the audio volume. Even flash games from 2007 you could play in your browser had this, yet somehow this doesn't.

- No explanation of the control scheme, if there's any. Is there an interaction button? There isn't? How am I supposed to know without a controls menu?

- There are situations where if you go through the wrong door, you'll have to repeat large sections of the game you already have passed. I am not sure if this is is by design or instead if it's an oversight, but it's not fun and add nothing to the experience other than useless repetition of a linear section.

- Limited controller support: you can move with it, but you can't press ENTER which instead must be done with a keyboard in menus. How hard is it to add A = ENTER when a controller is plugged in? Apparently, hard enough for this game to not have it.

I gave up on this game when, after repeating the initial area TWO times because I went through a door I probably wasn't supposed to, I found myself stuck without anywhere to go, and nothing could be interacted with (if there's an interaxt button at all, I can't know, because there isn't a f**king controls menu!).

Just don't waste your time with this indie trash.

• If you want to know more about the original KONA, here’s my review.




https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3063060986

Set in 1970s rural Quebec, Canada, this Kona sequel follows the investigation of private detective Carl Faubert, former military official, into the dealings of Hamilton Mining Corporation (HMC). All contact was lost with a scientific and mining venture in a remote, snowy region, so now it’s up to the detective to find out what happened - this investigation will turn out to be a lot more paranormal than expected.

As far as the world design goes the environments, infrastructure and architecture typical (and expected) from this region in the 70s are well-made; locations feel immersive, desolate and eerie, a good thing, since there’s a clear horror connotation in how the story develops. While you’ll be spending most time outdoors, weathering snowstorms and finding your way to the next cabin for rest, there will be several indoors sections that are just as well-made artistically and visually. The graphics are good, but don’t expect the latest engineering in terms of eye-candy; if I have to be fair, the game doesn’t look that much better than the first Kona - but that one was ahead of its time.

For a narrative-focused title, the story is passable and won’t be a chore to play through, however it won’t be great either. From Carl himself to all the sparse side-characters, none of them will truly feel like a standout with either their personality or the interactions you can have with them - if anything, they’re static NPCs that serve as basic lore-dumps, and give main objectives at times. The amount of side-lore, expanding upon local folklore, culture and past events is of adequate writing quality, and will be sometimes interesting to sit down and read as a diversion from the usual loop.

Kona II uses a semi-open world approach, as it’s divided in three main areas you’ll be able to explore freely - however, several doors, gates and obstacles will need specific items to be unlocked at first, so there’s no “real” free-roam from the get-go, especially in the beginning hours. At first on foot, and later with the aid of a dog sled, you’ll be exposed to the rough climate of Quebec, and slowly freeze in the process - heat management is the only ‘survival gauge’ present other than HP, and it won’t be a worry at any point, since not only it degrades very slowly, but is fully replenished at any campfire or with plentiful herbal consumables.

Exploring every area accurately, and opening all containers, chests, drawers and so forth, will transform Carl into a walking general store (I ended my run with 137 flashlight batteries in my backpack!) filled with ammo, herbs, medkits and consumables to counter each and every malus that the game may throw at you. A handy general map with height levels and markers for nearby points of interest will be useful to make sure you won’t miss a thing, although some things aren’t marked on it and will be for you to find (mostly collectibles). You’ll also be able to save unlimited times at any campfire, and there’s one pretty often, on top of a backup autosave, and use Spare Parts, the only “resource”, to repair elements in the environment so that you can access additional supplies.

In many cases you’ll have to find key items to unlock parts of an area, and sometimes arrange them in a certain fashion, during simple puzzles that won’t be a challenge even for those new to the genre.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3065824333

Combat feels like a side-gig more than anything, despite the various weapons you’ll eventually find. You’ll be fighting both regular wildlife and their paranormal versions a bit later on, which don’t take many shots to be dispatched and deal negligible damage. The fact you can stop time ‘à la Fallout’ to select weapons or use medkits, which regenerate your health instantly by the way, means that as long as you have medkits, and you’ll have a lot of them, you’re basically immortal. I never died even once for the entire playthrough, and I’m not some “mad skills pro gamer” by any means. Don’t expect a realistic handling of weapons or any complex fight mechanics; it’s usually point, shoot, headshot does extra damage - that’s it.

You’ll encounter a number of NPCs in select locations; thew may give you tasks related to your investigation or their personal circumstances, but in the latter case, they won’t be like ‘side quests’ with optional rewards - they won’t give you a thing in return, and don’t seem to have any impact on the NPCs situation either. For instance, a certain character will ask you to make repairs to a house to help the survivors get better living conditions - you do that and… nothing happens. Why did I just waste my spare parts for this, again? We’ll never know.

These characters can also be talked to, mostly asked questions using a linear, simplisting dialogue tree that is a bit clunky to navigate at times. They’ll reveal info on events and local areas, but rarely any revelation or topic brought up this way, will be exciting or captivating.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3063270717

Disclaimer: I already played and finished this game on Uplay back in 2016-2017. Screesnhot of my Uplay stats[i.imgur.com] if you want proof.


1. One of the worst control systems ever engineered for a third-person shooter.
The utter clusterf**k of controls in Division 1 is a pain to endure for the entirety of the experience. Despite key rebinding options, it won't get any better. Especially in combat, every action feels clunky and slow, particularly those related to movement and skills usage. Overly-long animations and bizarre hard-binds, such as double-tapping the cover button to dodge-roll instead of having a dedicated key for dodging, add even more misery to your journey. In the heat of battle, don't be surprised if you'll mistakenly vault a cover instead of using it, or perform one of the bizarre, useless, time-wasting "tacticool" cover-to-cover moves that will only get you killed, due to their ridiculously long execution times. You won't 'get used' to it, you will only suffer. Devs, this is not a tactical shooter, this isn't Ready Or Not and it's not paced appropriately to be one - yet, the actions pacing - yours at least, while enemies act as fast as a greased-up Irishman at times - seems to be set for that standard.

2. There never is a true sense of build progression or specialization. That's because of how terribly designed progression is as a whole.
The Division wanted to do something new, by forsaking the standard class archetypes of regular "Looter Shooters" (terrible term, by the way) / Action RPGs and instead, allowing players to mix and match active and passive skills, alongside armor and weapon traits, to create their custom builds. On paper it sounds great, but at the end of the day this system has one big issue: it takes away the identity of single, specialized classes in favor of blander, shallower builds that, as specialized on some aspects they may become thanks to sets and specific Exotic weapons, will never feel like standalone classes with their own identity on the field. Don't even get me started on the amount of grinding for those exotics, either.

Basically the designers thought that giving more freedom, by diluting and bloating the total available skill / trait pool would, in the end, result in more diversity for the end user, without the need to commit to a specific build and sticking to it (like in most other RPGs, where you choose a class / a hero and that's it). Well, that ended up backfiring, making everything shallower with very little upsides. During your journey from level 1 to 30, you won't feel like you have passed milestones that further define your playstyle, you won't feel like you have been doing some real progress; it will be the same weapons and skills you'll unlock relatively soon, only upscaled due to higher level stats.

3. PvP (Dark Zone) is a terrible, flawed, issue-ridden experience you will not enjoy.
Implementing PvP as a main game mechanic / mode in this type of game is pointless enough, given how success is far more gear-dependent / build-dependent than actually skill-dependent, but let's say you're suicidal or naive enough to want and try PvP - don't. Seriously, don't do that. Let me describe you the worst crock of s**t imaginable: the Dark Zone, a large part of the map which is dedicated to a PvPvE (so that means hostile NPCs and players all in the same area) experience.

Do you like to endlessly roam to find that specific Dark Zone-exclusive named enemy that drops that particular piece of gear / weapon (MAYBE, drop rates are dogs**t in general for Named / Exotic stuff), only get gang-banged by a group of 3 people while being solo? Do you like people having permanent wallhack because it's one of the actual skills in the game? Do you like horrible netcode that wasn't structured nor programmed with PvP in mind, screwing you over with miserable hit detection and trash polling rate every other fight? If the answer is yes, then you only live to suffer, and I salute you, but you still shouldn't play PvP in this game.

Icing on the cake? Some of the legitimately best gear to have is ONLY dropped in Dark Zone, but it's not worth the pain of this mess. You CAN do without. And you better.

4. Far too much repetition in enemies and mission archetypes, even for this genre.
The definition of insanity? Doing the same thing over and over again. In addition to all of the above, you'll be facing enemies that much too soon become very repetitive, with even the majority of Named and Boss tier ones being only upscaled archetypes of normal ones, just with a whole lot more health, damage and abilities on steroids. In comparison, Borderlands, to name another "looter shooter" most normies will know, is highly varied in this aspect. That says all, I think. The same goes for missions; there will hardly ever be unique ones, and anything outside of main missions, which do have some more uniqueness from time to time, will be a slog to grind, again, I know this RPG subgenre is meant to be like that to some extent, but Division 1 takes that extent far past what is acceptable.

5. Uninteresting story with anonymous, forgettable characters.
Granted, story shouldn't be taken as a main expectation from this genre of game, but at least some effort should be made to make it at least tolerable or somewhat pleasant. While the atmosphere regarding level design, and the detail, effort put into building the environments are all highly remarkable, credit where it's due, the story surrounding these evocative locations will never be more than mediocre, or at worst, listless. I didn't remember a single character from my 2016 playthrough - no surprise there.

So that's all folks. I wanted to focus more on why you shouldn't play this game rather than why you should. Simply because I felt like that for this review. Until next time.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3054288478

After the world got absolutely totaled due to the appearance of nightmarish creatures, the few surviving humans are on the run for their life; near-immortal, blood-sucking individuals known as Revenants battle each other and the monsters over precious resources. With a typical ‘deus-ex-machina’, you happen to be the only revenant whose blood code is ‘special’; this unique feat will soon gather a following, and embark you on a quest to retrieve certain artifacts.

Most characters you’ll encounter won’t be totally uninteresting, but also won’t show any real development past their initial archetypes, either, thus being one-sided in the long run. The story itself feels more than anything a Dark Souls ripoff with vampires added to the mix, but none of the great pathos and evocative setting, and isn’t really interesting at any point.

The anime-style, cel-shaded visuals are modern enough to be pleasant, even if they don’t have the detail of other titles with similar production value released in the same year. Artistically, CV is a success, with most locations feeling unique and visually-appealing - too bad for that Anor Londo plagiarism, which was sad to witness.

Save for a few specific cases, most locations in Code Vein will play out as linear levels that won’t really have any interconnection or shortcut between them. Sure, you can teleport in-between Mistiles (bonfires) at any time, but the world feels detached, incohesive, as if each stage wasn’t part of a larger picture in any sense. As customary, there will be secondary areas in each zone, oftentimes housing unique items, memories of departed revenants, resources and even fearsome Invasions, which are just a truckload of normal enemies coming all at once, really.

Exploring is enjoyable for the most part, however the power creep is noticeable and you likely won’t have a lot of problems clearing out entire areas once you get stronger and have access to upgraded weapons and armor. That feeling of dread, not being able to reach the next bonfire before you’re exhausted, typical of souls games, won’t be common here. The fact CV includes a map is great, something more souls games could have, however said map lacks height levels, so it becomes a bludgeoned mess when you’re exploring highly vertical locations.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3050894193

The combat plays out in third person, with the general canons of Souls games as baseline: dodge, block, parry and backstab your way through levels crowded with respawning enemies, with or without the aid of a companion, keeping an eye on status effects, stamina and limited healing. If you choose to be ‘hardcore’ and play solo, consider that most levels are designed for a companion to play with you, so don’t be surprised when you’ll get gang-banged by 8 angry pepes and stunlocked to death - your companions can revive you a number of times, and you can do the same with them as long as there's HP to sacrifice.

You’ll be able to get all classes at once and even create your own in CV. Unlike most Souls games which focus on a single playstyle for a “run”, Code Vein has Blood Codes that dynamically can be swapped to alter your stats, abilities and playstyle. The unique abilities of each blood code can also be mastered, and used in other ones at will. A great amount of possibilities is there for those willing to experiment, but this comes as a double-edged sword, sacrificing replay value massively.

You’ll gain items, weapons and souls from defeated enemies, pickups and the occasional quests, which usually entail fetching a specific item or clearing a marked enemy on the map. The upgrade system for your character and for gear is straightforward and in-line with other Souls games, with the exception of Blood Code talents which are leveled up in a “use to master” fashion.

Combat plays out fine at surface level, but its biggest weaknesses are general inconsistency, and clunkiness of animations. It feels off, unresponsive and frustrating to handle, even with a controller. The ridiculous animation lengths will be your death, as in some cases you won’t even be able to heal in time for how long it takes. Forget playing a caster or ranged class, since mana in CV is only gained with limited consumables or by striking enemies in melee; no matter your class, you’ll have to go melee eventually - pretty soon actually - all for using spells that aren’t worth the trouble.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3055690250

You’ll be able to trade souls and specific resources with NPCs at your home base, in exchange of reputation credits that are, in turn, used to purchase unique weapons, cosmetics and resources, trade maps to gain access to optional dungeons that, as well, house unique items, but are otherwise copies of already-cleared levels with the same enemies. Once you finish the story, some challenge dungeons open up, with nothing new gameplay-wise, and only oriented to achievement hunters.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3045705183

Only a shade of your former self, neurons annihilated in an ethanol holocaust, thoughts irradiated by the fallout of sorrows and what-ifs. That’s the sorry state of your yet-unnamed protagonist, a police officer tasked to investigate murder in a post-revolution banlièue called Martinaise.

With melancholy being the centerpiece of its entire leitmotif – hell, it’s the entire leitmotif - you’re resuscitated into a world that is just as crumbling as your own self. If the demons of your past weren’t enough, you also have a case on your hands. With this premise in mind, Disco Elysium builds a world that couldn't be farther from its ‘Elysian’ namesake, and doesn’t pull any punches in depicting the true-and-gritty nature of it. You’ll come across the worst of human nature, and have a choice whether to improve or indulge even deeper in your own self destruction. Or both, as the writing is flexible and farseeing enough to have middle-grounds.

The painted-canvas like art style is subtly-entwined with modern graphics tech, as it does deliver some splendid light effects and impressive visuals, but only at the right times. It’s not a game that doesn’t look good because it can’t, but more a title that knows exactly how it wants to look, and doesn’t care about flashiness in order to pursue a style that integrates with its mood. And that’s great.

The Martinaise district and its environs trade extension with saturation, as far as content is concerned. Jam-packed with interactions, NPCs with endless dialogue options and thought-provoking caricatures of cityscapes at every corner, you’ll likely take hours to get to the bottom of each building, street and locale. Of course, you may even revisit already-explored locations once you have the skills or the specific tools to access previously-unlikely or downright impossible areas, interactions and skill checks. It’s a rewarding exploration system that works organically and intelligently, but at the same time doesn’t give second chances in many cases (unless you reload, but where’s the fun in that?).

There’s a metric ton of optional locations, secret items and unique interactions for you to be discovered -admittedly, some exceptionally obscure and nigh-impossible to figure out, unless you stumble onto them perchance. The lack of a detailed map and inconsistent fast travel that just doesn’t always work are minor issues, as the sense of direction and uniqueness of each environment are strong enough for you to not get lost.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3046360878

Crown jewel and core of the experience, the dialogue system, and generally the interaction framework with the environment as a whole - including yourself - is a highly-advanced one. As in any RPG, you’ll be presented with skill checks at every turn, testing one of the dozens of attributes you may invest into. Dodge a bullet with Reaction Speed, avoid blacking out from pain with Pain Threshold, formulate logical conclusions with Logic, become a (quasi)human trivia machine with Encyclopedia - these are just a few of the many skills, each governed by an attribute.

The checks are both active and passive, some can be retried after a day passed or after you leveled up, while others have only one chance of success. The system deciding the outcome is RNG-based, however in many cases, such chances can be boosted by performing other actions that give that specific check a boost. For example, knowing as much as possible about someone, before questioning them or their motives, will give you a better chance at understanding them and tell if they’re lying. Works in the same way for everything else, in a system that is contextually-plausible and realistic (most of the time).

Despite the world and your own mind saying anything but, you -can- actually improve, and become a smarter, faster, stronger, savvier alcoholic wreck with each XP-based level up. Passive and active checks award experience, needing 100 each time to gain a Skill Point that you can use to improve your skills - or, invest them to unlock Thought Slots that, when filled with more-or-less insane metaphysical, social or philosophical digressions, award a great variety of passive bonuses (and maluses).

Other than that, being Martinaise adequately-filled of abandoned junk as any post-revolution liberal dystopia should be, you may appropriate such junk in the shape of clothes, accessories and consumables that might as well boost your stats, or even have more special effects - changing your apparel frequently based on the task ahead isn’t only smart - it’s suggested and implied in the gameplay design. Lastly, fun-based consumables like drugs and alcohol can boost your core stats and give great bonuses, especially when stacked, but there -will- be consequences for fueling your self-annihilation.

Lastly, you can get various archetypes stuck to your sorry sketch of a human being; some of them political, based on the opinions you voice about social issues and circumstances, while the others strictly archetypal, classifying you as one of several “copotypes” that express the kind of cop you have become. While none of these massively influence the experience, they do unlock interesting stuff.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3044205345

Endless network errors and disconnections. Using two PCs in the same room with the same router. All other online games have zero issues.

Do not buy this game for co-op. The netcode was written by someone clearly incompetent.