Recent reviews by Vorian

Yes, a simple, good and really fun experience of a Need for Speed game. From a player who played its first titles up to now.

Edit : Ok so i thought my review wasn't explaining my disgust with many game mechanics and yet i'm still playing. So :

The '' line go up '' part of the game ( development, diplomatic play, colonization, market management ) is just great. The game was built around it and they made a excellent job. But, the problem is everything they tried to clip around it failed badly.

Event % like passing a law is a lie. It is predetermined at the start of the cycle, meaning if you want to play casually and don't give a F about save scumming you are screwed. You will have to replay the same several months until you have luck with the RNG. So please Paradox just say it is doomed and move on!
Why don't implement a system to influence outcome like bribing, offering concession like clout, etc. It is very easy to balance with debuffs or consequences.


The war system is the worst POS i ever saw in a game. Troops quality does not matter, since the AI control movement and you just assign units to a front.

So its back to 2000 Starcraft 1 zerglings tactics people. I can,t win a war with Mexico as the US with troops parity and twice ATK/DEF stats because he just run around on forced march with ♥♥♥♥♥♥ 8-12 units that overwhelm the front.

I just can't recommend this game. Its great on so many parts the weaknesses just make it more frustrating.

I feel young again. God i missed a world map on a rpg.

This game is the reason i buy them in the first place. I'm so immersed in the feeling of old gaming days i only play this game on my 4k screen. Just like old time with a console. This game was clearly made by inspired players who went through the same gaming pattern i did in my days and possess many, many easter eggs of old snes games.

The main character, a knight top commander of the armed forces of his kingdom, disgraced and exiled with a trusted friend by the king in a castle that is a copy/paste of Baron. ( Hello Cecil from FF4 )

The shunned race of Abeyans, the only ones to be able to cast magic, getting erased from the world for their magic power with a shady past of looking down on humans as feeble and weak. ( Espers from FF6 )

Just to name these two but i have noticed much more.

The world map, airships, sailing ship, hidden spots on the map without any hint they exist, fantastic musics the vintage looking UI with the lightning speed of modern game just make this perfect.

Great game, mostly linear but easy to lose yourself in your Graveyard improvements. Main line of quests split in several quest lines of important NPC. Often you will have to complete certain quests to unlock enough affinity with a NPC to go farther in their own quests line.

If you are not like me, restarting a game halfway through because : " I wish i knew that before. " Its good money for around 35-40 hours of good play.

Only con would be that game is not really replayable. Once you did it there is nothing more to find in a new game. But for the price and fun, its not very important.

Perfect time killer, you can even evolve weapons, characters with permanent stats bonus and modes to custom your experience. Even my wife who dislike playing on a pc can't stop herself from playing when i'm not on my pc.

Would like a MEH option. Read on.

Yes this game delivers on its promises. You can play about anyone, from an elected official in power to an opposition members and even a terrorist if i read the guide correctly. The amount of customization you can make is large and you can easily lose yourself.

BUT

Most aspects of the game are hidden. By that i mean you have no way of evaluating most of your choices. Like subsidizing an industry. How much and expected results are simply unknowns. A lot of mechanics are just that. You will need dozens of hours of play to learn to balance by trial and error. Simple graphs seems out of the devs mind. Market data is laughable and give no info at all.
I am 8 years into the game and the only point of reference they give me is the starting date, which was a budget mess and does not reflect what i do.

So for me, it is barely enough to keep playing. I almost asked for a refund. Yet this game goes where no other went so i give it a 6/10 pass.

8/10

Unfinished but already perfect. The game is vast enough that I think the devs should build more tweaking options into the game instead of looking for a one size fits all approach. The way up a Kingdom's ladder is unintuitive, unexplained and can be resumed to a hard grind of influence until you can pull enough weight to be gifted castles and towns or request to be given some.

That is my -2.

The rest : Battle simulator 9/10 Wow, only draw back is troops limitation at max (1000 troops in total) People like me with monster computers find it unnecessary. If you happen to start a battle with say 1500 troops, a random lot of units will be given to you often resulting in unbalanced fight, like having twice the numbers of archers vs infantry in your army and your enemy having twice your number of infantry and half your archers. If at least the game would respect the actual ratio of your army that problem would not exist.

Character progression 9/10 : That part is easy to understand, characters are versatile and can be built any way you want. I simply wish the game would hint you at how important Steward and Charm are before you realize you have to recreate a new character.

Graphic and music 8/10 : There are so few games now that combines great musics with amazing graphics, this game does not. Music is horrible, repetitive and boring. The graphics are amazing and gives the best battle simulation i have seen so far.

Gameplay 9/10 : The game in itself gives almost endless gmeplay and is supported by an extensive modding community. I expect to bust the 1000 hours on this one easily.

No need to say more, try it and be amazed.

Amazon showed they are new to the gaming industry big time. Putting together signatures characteristics of other successful games does not give a good product or a sense that you play a new game. Read the rest if it interest you.

Honestly this game is not ready at all. The basics are barely done, many bugs and fixes are needed and many approach need to be corrected. The game dynamics are mostly poor copy of others games.

First the graphics were clearly intended to be ported on console. Which is of course an insult to PC gamers. Again a company will use us to better their product to access the consoles market. Any AAA games best the graphics of new world. Elevators music, very simple combat system with few skills.

The worst part is the impossibility to customize your characters skills. Everyone gets the same skills with the same bonus. It all feel very generic. Equipment is the same, very strictly walled in static parameters. It feels like i'm playing FF11 (yuck) wihtout the level down.

The crafting system is the BDO approach with the gathering part using big chunks of gaming time. Repetitive runs for resources to slowly grind you crafting skills is dull. If at least there was some quests to give some boosts or give the feeling i'm not just running around in circle. Salvaging gold ring gives silver, i'm still looking for an explanation but there is none, that is one of the many overlooked part of the game. Very amateurish...

There is no end game, the game in itself is grind your character to lv60, get purple gear and go fight pvp to grab or protect your zones. Here we have the WoW approach with DAOC realms vs realm sauce.

In the end, there is no innovations at all in this game. Amazon simply burned through the normal steps of a serious company trying to make flagship games. They thought money could buy you a title on par with Fallout, Mass Effect, BDO, WoW prestige. But this is simply a game without soul.

Simply YES!

What a game! Its been a while since i've felt the fun i had in my younger years as a gamer. This game bring back the feeling of my SNES and PSX games, when i was so into games i could almost felt i was living a real story when playing. The retro graphics just make it even better, its not hard on the processors even if the map is full with monsters.

Hard learning curve, losing is rewarding, the perks systems is just great. Its not too game changers but definitly a must to win a map and hope to fill the island with your villagers. No need to get into the details, for its price just delve into the game and realize you just spent 100 hours or more playing it.