Recent reviews by Yawndreas

Snappy, reactive, smooth. It feels exceptionally good to control, you can feel this oozing with reverence for other giants in the genre. However it feels almost pretentious in its current state. The amount of polish that went into the base mechanics is what sets it apart, but all the other moments in the game feel I'm playing a worse version of other games. I think with a few years of updates this game will rival the best. The most interesting and innovative parts felt overshadowed by the mechanics that took heavy inspiration from other titans in the genre. The setting opens the door to a lot of potentially unexplored ideas of what this game can be, but it doesn't intersect with the mechanics at all. I want to see a roadmap, and i want to see overhauls.

Honestly, love the game, its super intuitive and fun to play. However i have a few gripes about it.
1, A ton of achievements are locked behind upwards of 30 hours of gameplay.
2, the experience is relatively the same flavor wise no matter where you are. Culture doesnt mean much of anything aside from innovations and traditions. I cant say that there is any benefit to having a monolithic culture unless you are already at the peak of innovations or have all the traditions you already want. ie, expect a lot of "prusso-germano-franco-luxemborgo-somalian Asatruan" extending culture names that are cumbersome. mainly a problem with the new dlc i suppose, but my point stands.

thats all my gripes. thx.

Truly one of the most unique games ive ever played, it accomplishes everything that it sets out to be, and more. Roguelike Farming wasnt a game i ever thought id be into, but here i am, looking for games that can fill the genre mosaic that this game achieved flawlkessly. The dlcs are also incredibly fun, a bit grind heavy, but not in any way that hinders the experience run to run.

I aim to 100% this game, and Ring of Pain has excellent beats for 100%ing. Its a Roguelike game that is really unique and immensely rewarding. Fun builds to try, proper organization, impressive legendaries, impactful unlocks. I highly recommend this game for your library, if not for all I said before, then for the love that the devs put into the poetry, art, and sounds that immerse you in the dark fantasy world of Ring of Pain.

So, Ive played 52 hours, and i got dissatisfied with the underwhelming and under developed mechanics. I dont want to talk about how pretty the game is, graphics are always last priority for a good game. They did capture the essence of a hopeless cyberpunk city however, but the main gameplay is incredibly lackluster.

You've already heard the main complaints with the game. The pointlessness of intentional features like the lifepath, the amount of side quests that add nothing to the experience besides atmosphere, the lack of depth in most elements of the game, and the illusion of choice. Then there's the unintentional/lack of foresight complaints, like bugs, AI that only runs or cowers, the lack of enough random NPC models, the police system that was unnecessary to the experience.

I have gripes beyond this though, and mine are still there even if the rest of those issues were fixed, albeit if the other ones were fixed I'd be recommending the game. As an example, the design choice to make enemies bullet sponges was a bad one, and it just means that the build you use has to output massive damage, usually through legendary and iconic weapons. Melee weapons aren't really valid unless you forgo hacking, hacking isnt really valid unless you forgo melee.

On my personal playthrough experience, the ability to uses certain sniper rifles though has made the game considerably easier on the hardest difficulty. To the point where every combat is trivial via 20k damage headshots through walls and cover that i can see through. It just kinda highlights my issues because if i was playing the game any other way id have been killed instantly because of how fast and accurate enemies are. It felt a bit cheap to play and had artificial difficulty via hp, damage, and accuracy. Small gripe, i know, but its just felt shallow to just pop heads like that, not really fun, but the only viable way I could progress without the game being an absolute slog.

My main point came to light when I saw the uselessness of a lot of the perks they offer, I recall one that made you undetectable in water which was impossibly pointless given the amount of water in the game. They just didnt polish a lot of the game. Thats not the only perk btw, Throwing knives? cool, but does very little damage and you lose said knife. The entire athletics tree is useless unless you are incapable of avoiding damage. The Oda bossfight was kinda a check of "do you do enough damage? No? Youre stuck here now because you didnt make a glass cannon build."

Something i loved was the ability to hack cameras, it invites stealth hackers like me that loves stealth in RPGs. But the stealth beyond that, hiding bodies, and basic AI reactions to seeing bodies was poor. The biggest disappointment i had for stealth was in the monowire. You had 4 arm augments, Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades, Smart Launcher, and a Monowire. Anyone who loves cyberpunk literature knows and fears the monowire. The arm augments overall did what they were supposed to. Punch harder, cut quickly, launch explosives from your arm, they did what was on the packaging well. The monowire you cut things. not in a cool way, just swiping enemies with it, and the disappointment came in it not being primarily an assassination tool but just another melee weapon that did low damage against bullet sponges. It killed immersion for me when V was holding a monowire like a garrote, sneak behind someone, and not use the monowire.

At the heart of my experience was a lack of communication. There was no coordination between the team that did base gameplay mechanics design, level/encounter/quest design, perk/skill design, and item/augment design. Most of my complaints and faults i see within the game is how little interaction there is, both in gameplay, storyline, base mechanics, and AI behaviors. The moments when the game feels like a movie are the only moments the game feels like it was meant to. Id have loved to keep playing it to 100% it, but I need to have interaction between game mechanics to keep me interested.

I do not recommend if you expect anything like the witcher 3, in fact, i encourage you to get the witcher 3 rn as its on sale and it is so much more than cyberpunk 2077. better story, you dont even need to play the 1st 2 to get The Story So Far TM! Its the reason cyberpunk had so much promise.

fun, intuitive gameplay, but the music score completely counteracts the tone the game is going for. Its actually super disappointing, because the rest of the game is super put together

too much competitive fun. im never getting that time back

Fantastic game, feels and plays like a more intuitive game like blade-and-sorcery. the controls feel fluid and make sense very quickly, sticking you right into the action. The weapons also feel like they have weight, but are constantly at the ready and swing well. The unlocks and progression also feel super natural after a few rooms. The combat is by far the most intuitive and advanced.

Very fun, good sodas ;)

Beautiful gameplay, high intensity action, and everything you could want from a roguelite game. The sheer amount of item stacks and combos makes this game shine in my library. The success of games like Apex Legends and Fortnite come together in a PvE version hellfire tincture of bulletstorm action. This high intensity game is built around the scaling of items, and certain characters benefit from this more than others, which is the one thing that i feel makes this an early development game.

Its early development, but this game has incredible replay value, and is amazing and balanced in every other way. There is a playstyle for everyone as the nailgun/harpoon bot, the dual wielding commander, the lock on huntress, or the melee mercenary. The game has amazing potential and each day i see the under construction sign in game and it makes me wonder what the devs are going to put out next, be it a new character, new item, or even the new modifiers. I look forward to seeing what comes out next.