Recent reviews by zamp

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Boring crap.

Sometimes game developers think whether they could and forget to ask whether they should.
Once the gimmick of non-euclidean world geometry wears off you're left off with a stupidly simple game.

The hyperbolic nature of the game is a double edged sword. On one hand it gives you a wholly new experience to play around in and on the other... well...
Hyperbolic space makes it so the further you walk the more space is available around you. This inherent property causes any world to become a maze and as any good game designer knows, mazes are cheap and extremely boring to the player.
Coupled with the need to talk to every NPC to randomly stumble upon one that gives you a task to do causes the maze to become mandatory rather than an optional thing to be amazed by.

Walking around the world is tedious, there's no sprint and the walk speed is just too damn slow. You're lost half the time and if you happen to get back to a road sign you'll quickly find out the signs point roughly in the right direction and feel more like a middle finger from the developer than actual help.

Circular worlds on the other hand don't have this problem. They're the polar opposite. You can't make a maze with this world since no matter which way you go you always return back to where you came from. It's anybody's guess why the developer decided to use a circular world only once.

It feels like all the thought was put to the engine but only a fraction to what you actually do in the game. The game is chock full of minigames that are just way too easy to be enjoyable. It does seem like whatever was the first idea that came to mind was immediately put in place with just enough code and duct tape to make it work and then tested for a few minutes before moving on to some other drab minigame.

I can't with a good conscience recommend this game to everyone. If you happen to be a math nerd, go at it. It's fun to muck about for about half an hour before boredom kicks in.

Best space sim available right now.

How to play Kingdom Come:
1. Get beaten up by a drunk.
2. Get beaten up by a peasant with a stick.
3. Get beaten up by a bandit with a better stick.
4. Get beaten up by a guard for walking around without a torch.

Good game.

Looks like the developers fixed all my gripes from my old review so I guess I should recommend this.

Stunningly beautiful and artistic game with a fairly derpy story.
I do recommend trying this game out based purely on the visual aspect of it. It is so well done.

TL;DR
Good:
Combat & Sieges
Axe chop chop enemy head

Bad:
UI
Non combat stuff

The combat AI is superior to the original m&b. It is true that ungoverned troops like looters and common bandits act exactly the same as in the original, they will just charge at you. Fighting with experienced nobles is far more challenging. The AI will try to find weak spots and attack units based on their strengths & enemy weaknesses. They will also command their troops to spread apart and keep ranged units at range like you're supposed to.
All in all the combat gets a whole lot better once you rank up enough to fight proper fights and not common rabble.

Where the game lacks is all of the non fighty bits. The UI is not at all informative. Looking at the units there's no indication what they're good against, what weaponry they use or armor. You just have to look at the character icons to figure out if they're holding a long stick with a pointy blade or a short stick with a long blade, ie. are they spearmen or other troops. This is just an oversight that will most likely be fixed soon. If not, what the ****?

As to the brainfarts, I'm mostly talking about hideouts. They're a massive waste of effort to clear out due to a few issues:
You don't get substantial rewards from clearing hideouts other than a 1-5 point increase in reputation around the area.
A 200 head army will attack the hideout with 9 men max, in the night... WHY?
Once all the men are cleared out you get to duel the hideout boss... Sure, it's fun for the first time during the tutorial but any subsequent duels just feel forced.

Not being able to see your reputation anywhere at a glance. Encyclopedia click hell is not at all convenient.

Folding UI on units is COMPLETELY USELESS.
There's enough space to have the hire/talk to/etc. buttons on the unit bar itself.
The plus and minus buttons are completely pointless since this behavior is already available in the arrow button on the bar itself. Want less? Click arrow on right side. Want more? Click arrow on the opposite side.
Now the folding part is just an annoyance when dragging units up and down the list (which you need to do in order to do hideouts as per brainfart number uno.)


And here's what I generally do when writing reviews, in case a developer reads this
How to fix:
UI: More excel, less dumdum.

Hideouts: Keep the current mechanics for tutorial, it's cool for the single time you do it, after that it's a slog. Turn hideouts into mini siege maps to teach the player that mechanic early on.

Duels: If you want duels, let the player duel a noble, not for winning against an army, that's for hollywood. Duel for glory or because you despise one noble and want to chop his head off with an axe. Sure killing someone in a duel is a despicable act but that's how I roll, b**ch.

Good in VR

Solid puzzle game that does things differently than most.