Recent reviews by not madattak

Not sure what everybody else is seeing in this game, played it with some friends and it's just... kinda pointless? There's a lot of complexity, but none of that complexity seems to add any depths or anything to actually do other than grind.

Really enjoying this game. I never played Gladius, but it does remind me of a much better and more streamlined Age of Wonders: Planetfall. Only gripes are minor UI issues and a lack of unit formation controls.

Janky in parts but overall a really excellent space game, and it's completely free.

Having a great time so far. Weirdly reminds me a little of Subnautica, survival crafting with plot and a constant unease for what might be lurking just out of sight. Some considerations:
-You cannot save mid-map. You really need to be able to commit about an hour of time to play because of this.
-I've not had any performance issues, but if you're worried there's a demo which will allow you to check!
-You lose quite a lot of progress if you die. If you want a more forgiving experience you can change this, and many other aspects, in the settings menu.

The rest of the game is great, but dear God the stealth sections are so bad I nearly gave up early.

A rare game where everything works, no 'buts'.

A unique, relaxing, puzzle-esque game with some really beautiful results. Creative and highly enjoyable.

However the game does seem to be really quite short on content. The game has 4 biomes, initially with 1 'map' each, that I completed to 100% in 4 hours on the middle difficulty, having played the demo once a few months back. After that another set of 4 'maps', one for each biome, unlock. I use quotes because they are procedurally generated so there is re-play value there, but game time seems rather short for it's price compared to other indy puzzler or builder games.

8% of profits are going to charity though, so it's worth it imo, but most will probably want to wait for it to be on sale.

EDIT: I have now 100% the game in 8 hrs, minus three achievements which would probably take another hour or so if I was completionist enough to get them.

Wilson is my new favourite video game sidekick

Oof, I really wanted to recommend this game. There is a lot to like - the premise is fun and imaginative, the graphics are great, Aria and Astra are great, and the fact that this was made almost entirely by one guy is an astounding achievement that I greatly admire. However, the game is let down by one rather major flaw: The puzzles aren't fun.

Solving the puzzles is much akin to long division - formulaic, tedious, and requiring concentration without creativity. Almost every puzzle can be solved with a formula: Figure out which gizmo connects to which widget, find out which order the gizmos need to activate in, then do it backwards.
Sadly, the hardest part of the puzzles isn't the solving, it's the execution. Each puzzle requires a precise series of steps to set up and then execute, and if you mistime a jump, or as is annoyingly common, the game stutters at a crucial moment, it means tediously gathering all the puzzle elements and starting again from square 1.

By the four hour mark the game was most definitely a chore, not helped by the poor pacing whereby the games middle act drags on for hours with almost no plot development or interesting lore at all. I continued on because I wanted to learn more about the Entropy Center and experience the story, but I think I'm going to have to call it quits and just watch the rest on YouTube.

Still, there is a lot to love about this game, and ultimately I don't regret buying it, even if I just can't recommend it.

Enjoyed a lot at first, but after a while the reality sets in that the game is a straight downgrade from Horizon 4. Poor map design makes what should have been a superior map instead blander and boring, most new cars have just been ported over from 4, the Setpiece events aren't as good as 4's, stories are lazy and poorly balanced. the loading times are insane even on a high-spec PC and SSD, and the game has been mired with constant technical issues and crashes from the very beginning.

Tl;dr: Decent game, but if you're thinking of buying it just get Horizon 4 or even Horizon 3 instead for a better experience.