Rating: 9.9/10.0

Summary: Medival role-playing-game, one of the best imo. Set in Bohemia, you role-play Henry, a son of a Blacksmith who experiences an invasion, and adventures that follow. Arguably, the best part of this game is the swordfighting; unique and challenging, it brings details into swordplay like never before, I imagine. It throws an inexperienced amateur, button-mashing player into a world sprawling with bandits, miscreants and fascinating Medieval towns and forests, to ultimately become a fearsome, calm and tactical warrior. While the entire story unfolding in the game is intriguing on its own, its the detailed portrayal of life in the 14th century, that amazed me. I know nothing about Latin or European history in detail; entire story is well-written and has the right pace for an RPG game, deserving a sequel - and there it is. I decided to only play this game because KCD2 was released. And I never regretted playing this treasure of a title. Recommend this to anyone remotely interested in swordfights, horseriding and European culture, or have a secret desire to become a knight in shining armor, literally.

Pros:

• Unparalleled Medieval immersion. Intriguing swordplay mechanics modeled after real-world moves, complete with axes, maces and bludgeons. Also bows and arrows. Comes with impossible combo executions; really cool moves that satisfies the art of sword-wielding.
  
• Certainly makes one feels proud to be a knight, if one reaches a certain level of competence.
  
• Wide range of experiences such as dueling, hunting, surviving, exploring, sneaking, thieving, looting, pillaging, lockpicking, assassinating, poaching, raiding, potion-brewing, gardening, trading, gambling, reading, fist-fighting, horse-riding, robbing, poisoning, sabotaging, drinking, singing, sleeping, eating, wenching, praying and repenting (for your sins). Haven't seen mining though - choices are yours to make.
  
• Best pacing and character portrayal in an RPG, easily in top-5, and comes with great humor too.
  
• Choices affect outcomes; very interesting and emotional.
  
• Varieties of clothes, armor, and historical devices and concoctions unknown to modern man
  
• English lessons on unfamiliar words:. Ever heard of "portcullis", "burgher" or "chausses"?
  
• Interesting side-kicks. Entertaining, ridiculous side-quests
  
• Great soundtracks - there's a collection, maybe deserving an album.
  
• Fascinating teachings of history, Christianity, regional politics and peppering of social-economics.
  
• Complicated, yet warming portrayal of family relationships.

Cons

• Weird design choice on save games; however to its credit makes every fight to the death a thrilling challenge.
  
• Some scenes inappropriate for younger audiences, around promiscuous activities.
  
• Slow video cut scenes sometimes that gives 7 fps.
  
• Clothes get dirty. Game can take incredibly long, but worth it ultimately.
  
• No crossbows or advanced equipment. Maybe go get Mods?
  
• DLCs required to fulfill the complete KCD experiences.
  
• KCD_Wiki [kingdom-come-deliverance.fandom.com]
  
• There are too many spoilers. Best to view the wiki. Music is at https://kcdsoundtrack.com/

Rating: 8.9/10.0

Stalker 2, Heart of Chernobyl is an acclaimed sequel of an FPS game set around the Chernobyl nuclear incident site, It puts players into a ecology of interesting animals, plant-life, and anomaly treasure-hunters called stalkers. The series adapts elements from a famous novel written by Andrei Tarkovsky. Stalker 2 continues on the nostalgic masterpiece on a new character named Skif. The story lasts super-long, giving players plenty of time to experience the Zone. Be ready to die, many many times to anomalies, mutants and NPCs. The Stalker series thrives with an advanced ecology thanks to the infamous life-engine dubbed A-life, and the sequel puts players into survival mode, amidst their favorite locations, characters, factions and mutants. I personally enjoyed myself as the story progressed deeper, though something in me sought to re-live the thrills of the original trilogy. This sequel has potential to be much better to not only live up to its name, but enhance the stalker macrocosm. The original stalker has a massive set of Mods built by the community, and given enough time, I look forward to a polished version that evolves the timeless series.



Pros:

• Nostalgic but modernized NPCs, mutants, and places to S.T.A.L.K.E.R fans.
  
• Enhanced, attractive zone locations and weather effects, manifested by modern computer graphics engine, audio and ballistic systems.
  
• Good arsenal just like its predecessor. Enhanced stealth mechanics. Moddable weapons.
  
• New, interesting characters. Massive set of quests. Multiple endings.
  
• Many mods already after almost half a year. I recommend using Vortex, the mod manager.

Cons

• Buggy. For me, game crashes sometimes (e.g. when checking a box, fighting enemies, or seeing a cutscene) by eating 99% of memory. Not sure if mods has anything to do with it. Looking forward to patches.
  
• While not bad, items and mechanics may be less fancy than past mods and its distinct cousin like Tarkov, set a high bar to beat,
  
• Zone has an opportunity to feel more full and engaging. Hope they add flesh-out experiences to fully embrace the zone.
  
• Some may prefer the virtue of speaking less, and imply more to maximize our imagination.
  
• Stalker 2 Heart of Chornobyl Fandom wiki[stalker.fandom.com]
  
• 4 endings, use Q and E combinations to get them: check https://game8.co/games/STALKER-2-Heart-of-Chornobyl/archives/485927
  
• Find out what endings may mean: https://www.ign.com/wikis/stalker-2/Ending_Explained