Recent reviews by GrandElemental

A solid open world exploration focused starship game. It has the most things in it that are usual to the genre: nice progression in the form of research, ship building, resource management and some mild trading as well. There is combat too and it feels pretty good all-around, although it is definitely on the easier side.

The stand out feature for me personally is the planetary exploration, which is extremely simple click-and-read stuff, but it gives the game this comfy old-stylish Star Trek vibe, and to me it works. If you are looking for more combat oriented game with deep mechanics, I don't think this is a game for you. Overall the atmosphere is more relaxed and story focused, and some side missions actually make you think and explore on your own, there are no quest markers where to go when you need to find something from the map.

Overall a very enjoyable experience. If you like the genre, you are probably going to like this game too. Just don't expect a super deep, challenging combat system.

A very simple, lightning fast civilization deckbuilder. If you want to play a civ match that concludes in 30 minutes, this is a game for you! Deckbuilding works very well and is an integral part of the game, so don't forget to cull your deck!

The problems are that the AI is too easy even with the highest difficulty and I'm not a fan of the multiplayer at all. Single player game is very solid though.

Valheim is like a modern version of Minecraft, it is all about exploration, base building and (some) combat. Unlike most Early Access releases, it also works perfectly fine, I've encountered zero bugs in about 20h of playtime, no crashes and the game overall feels very polished already. Single player is okay, but the game is definitely a multiplayer oriented experience, the grinding of resources can get really tedious if you play by yourself. Also, base building is much more fun with other people.

If you like Minecraft style multiplayer co-op games that do most things really well, Valheim is an easy recommendation. As a singleplayer game I recommend checking Youtube videos or trying it out before buying. The game is very good, but definitely built around multiplayer coop.

A solid (up to) 4 player co-op, very similar to games like Left 4 Dead and Warhammer: Vermintide. But this game gives you more freedom to play clever, as it is a mix of combat and mining. Good planning will be rewarded and making sure your team uses their resources well in the higher difficulty levels is crucial. The progression system is also much more complex and rewarding than the likes of Vermintide, so if you like these kinds of games and think that Vermintide is a bit too repetitive and simple, this one is definitely a game for you!

It is a fun little game, and even though it is still in EA at the time I write this review, it has already plenty of content even compared to most published games. If you are into top-down arcade(ish) space combat/mining/trading games, such as Starsector, Transcendence, Space Pirates & Zombies, Drox Operative etc, this is definitely one you have a high chance of liking a lot. It doesn't do a anything too special, but it is a solid game and extremely worth its price.

Slay the Spire is pretty much Hearthstone meets roguelites. At the beginning you choose a character (at the time of this post, 3 characters are available, one of which only in beta branch), get a basic starting deck and then resolve various encounters in a very basic node map until you hit a boss. Do this three times and you win. The core of the game outside combat encounters is very similar to games like Flotilla and FTL. However, the cardgame aspect is what makes Slay the Spire so unique, and in my opinion a vastly superior game to other similar roguelite games. The combat system is quick and intuitive, but doesn't sacrifice any depth: you can build a huge variety of different decks that function in different ways. Add in a very impressive amount of passive abilities coming from relics and the options go through the roof. Also, not only does every character start with different relic, starting deck and HP amount, they also all have a completely different and unique set of cards available to them during the campaign.

Don't be afraid of the "Early Access" status of this game, it already has more content than most fully published games and functions perfectly.

Pros:
+ A truly unique take on turn based strategy genre, mixing it with survival and tactical combat
+ Unique and masterfully crafted combat system! Simple to learn, hard to master.
+ Soundtrack
+ Slavic lore/setting
+ A gazillion different quests and events
+ Insanely high replay value
+ Very customizable difficulty
+ One of the best narrators I've ever heard in games!

Cons:
- Randomness sometimes wrecks your game out of nowhere
- UI is occasionally clunky
- It takes multiple games to get gods asymmetric
- Might feel repetitive at times, because of how the resource progression and crafting works

All in all, Thea: The Awakening is an exceptionally well crafted game and an easy recommendation! If you're looking for a very unique take on survival/TBS, this is a game for you! The only real problems I had with it came in the form of sometimes exessive and unfair randomness: a wrong event in the wrong time can instantly end your game. Other than that, there is a massive amount of content in this package and all real DLC's are completely free. Even at the full price, this game easily provides enough content to play for hundreds of hours.

TL;DR: Yes.
As of this current day (2nd of March, 2017), I can honestly say Kenshi is worth it, after a long period of "not quite there yet". But for the love of everything that is good and decent, INSTALL THIS GAME TO AN SSD! Seriously! The loading times and the general performance are still awful!

I've been game since the 0.2x alpha, can't exactly remember which exact version, but it was the one before the first foliage update. Back then, the game was pretty barebones. All you could do was to wander around beating bandits or the members of bigger factions up, until your character became a god of war. The game had so much potential, but little to do in terms of diversity. The game also crashed constantly, the pathfinding was abysmal and everything was generally clunky and frustrating, so I couldn't really recommend the game.

Now, the performance is still crap, the pathfinding is still occasionally annoying (although much more tolerable than what it used to be) and everything is still quite clunky. But the game has so much to offer, it packs in so many great details, and it's all-around a completely unique experience!

Kenshi is an RTS sandbox, with relatively heavy emphasis on RPG elements, one which absolutely doesn't hold your hand with pillow-padded tutorials and scaling levels of enemies. It drops you to a cold, incredibly merciless and unforgiving world, where your survival, a pathetic little weakling that you are, is tough! You need food, you need weapons, you need armor, you need a MUCH higher skills to do anything, you need allies... even the lowliest of bandits will beat your starting character with ease, and don't except any kind of one-on-one action, as these bastards will outnumber you ten-to-one! And when they beat you senseless, they take loot your body and take your precious food - and that's the best case scenario! If your opponent happens to be a fogman, a cannibal or a wild animal, it will probably eat you as well!

But the beauty of Kenshi isn't just the magnificently cruel, beautifully crafted game world with tons of places to explore and millions of incredible little details that no other game offers, it's when you FINALLY make it! When you finally recover from the beatdown, when you finally rebuild yourself stronger, when you finally get back to those #¤%&/! bandits and shove their rusty sticks down their throats, when you finally save your tortured comrades from slavery, when you finally have a place of your own, when you finally make your base self-sufficient... that's when the game feels like an accomplishment! This trick is hard to pull off by a game, but Kenshi absolutely nails it.

Unfortunately, the game isn't without its flaws. The unforgiving nature of the game can be a turn-off to some people, so if you expect a relaxing base-building game, look elsewhere. As mentioned before, the game absolutely requires an SSD at its current state, or else you can expect hideously long loading times ALL THE TIME. Some UI elements, as the game mechanisms in general, are incredibly clunky and probably will always be. But if you can look past its flaws, Kenshi is an incredible experience, one which I can definitely recommend! :)

Do not let the simple presentation and boring start discourage you, this game is a really exceptional pirate survival exploration game. Simple mechanics, simple graphics, but with a surprising amount of depth and fun packaged in.

Very highly recommended as a fantastic single player exploration game. Seriously, who can resist the charm of piloting your own pirate ship from island to island collecting treasure and fighting other pirates? =)

Okay, I have absolutely no idea how this game works... but this is the most fun I've ever had doing absolutely nothing!