Recent reviews by Rhoetus

I've been playing WoT off and on for 12 years.
Sometimes it is brilliant, sometimes it is incredibly frustrating.

Would I recommend this game to a new player? Ummmm, maybe.

The meta aspects of World of Tanks is voluminous. Learning where to be, where to look, what risks to take, the characteristics of each vehicle, and a multitude of other quirks to get the best experience isn't something to be taken on lightly.

The best way to play is with friends. Making a platoon with a couple buddies on Discord and running a few games makes the frustrations less and the fun better.

If you are thinking about playing, I recommend subscribing to a few YouTube creators, I like Quickybaby and Claus Kellerman. They go through all the various aspects of the game, and provide a ton of education about the little things a new person wouldn't know going in.

I don't generally play rogue-likes or arena games or fighting games, but I was thinking of the Roman Empire the other day, and picked this game up on a whim. After all, I enjoyed Colosseum: Road to Freedom, back in the day, but frankly, I had low hopes.

Instead, this game has me engrossed.
The character rerolls and the stories the different archetypes bring to the experience give it replay value way beyond the norm. In fact, dying... and losing what I've gained... is not quite enjoyable, but certainly not frustrating in the way many games are.

Pros and cons, I'm putting these together, because each of them seem to have a corresponding offset.
For instance, the combat is janky. Sometimes, your character gets their arms stuck behind them or forgets how to use the pointy end of a spear. The art is simplistic and a decade or more out of date.
But both of those are also the pros. The jankiness is amusing, and when you do well, you feel like you really did something of value. The art is old, but that's charming. It is above "serviceable" and not so super-realistic that it takes all imagination out of the game.

One area I would love to see improvement is the storylines. They are serviceable, but a bit barebones. A little more "action" out of the arena would really push this game to the next level. (in my moderately humble opinion, of course)

This is, in my opinion, the best of the character-centric new Total War games.
There is a wide variety of troops, factions, and playstyles within those factions.

The biggest problem I have with the game is the excessively long load screens after battles. It makes me rely too heavily on auto-calc battles in all but the most important situations. That takes away from the troop variety aspect.

While DLC isn't strictly needed, if there is a good sale, i recommend grabbing a dlc or two to expand your replayability.

Mechanically sound, with accessible combat, the real star of this game is the writing.
I felt like i was reading a classic science fiction story where aliens weren't just thinly veiled human analogs, nor were they so arcanely alien as to be incomprehensible.

Having put 70+ hours into a single playthrough, I'm not keen on jumping right back in, but I think I'll be revisiting for an alternate playstyle in the not too distant future.

95 hours in, and I'm really enjoying TW Warhammer. Anyone who has tried to make a Warhammer army for the tabletop knows how financially crippling it is, so being able to make multiple armies for different factions ...even if you don't get to paint the minis yourself... is awesome.
I wouldn't pay full price, I'm a cheap b*****d, but CA has sales regularly, so a little patience pays off handsomely.

STO is a fun way to visit the Star Trek universe.
One can visit their favorite ST sites and battle away against familiar foes. ...and some new ones.
The story lines are able to be played as a single player, and for those that enjoy multiplayer and PVP gameplay, there is that as well.

Endgame is not difficult to get to, which may be a problem. It often feels like advancement comes too quickly for the player to appreciate the growth that happens.

Huge.
As with most Total War games, by the time you get to the top of the tech tree, you are basically in "mop up" mode on the map.
But, I don't think there is a more pure expression of tactical generalship than this game.
My favorite Total War title.

While it lacks the bells and whistles of later Total War games, Rome is still a lot of fun to play.