Not much of a review, but I've owned X4 since launch, and the entire time I played I always hoped there would be a ship to replace my old Panther from X3TC. And now with the Guppy, I can finally have a light, fast carrier. You took your time Egosoft, but you came through. 5/5 would purchase again. In light of the other comments, I can't speak for the issues with the story as I never play the story missions, especially near launch (just a thing with X games). For example, I'm just now starting the Tides of Avarice plot as my first dedicated plot since launch (I'm in it for the sandbox). The plot has been addressed in every patch since KE launched, so at least Ego is aware that there's issues. I will say the new physics system has been working well for me though. It was never perfect, and any weirdness I've seen I can chalk up to the pathfinding 'cheating' maybe to avoid issues. Just a guess, but I haven't noticed anything super concerning myself (not to say it hasn't happened).
This is a very early review, so take it with a grain of salt. I'm still on my first game and I can see why this game is so popular. 4x games are notoriously complex, with a large variety of systems at play. While not cutting too many corners, AoW4 manages to distill the greater part of the information it throws at you to just about the simplest form possible (kudos to the UI team I guess). It's a full 4x, but it feels more like playing an rts in terms of complexity. I spend less time poring over stats and more time focusing on my armies (which could be a pro or con depending on you playstyle). While maybe too simple for some, the ease of access is welcome (I am no longer a young gamer), and helps to foster the 'one more turn' appeal of the genre. Customization is cool, but I haven't played long enough to really see how it affects your faction mechanically. Aesthetically it's a blast though, despite a glaring lack of ponytail hairstyles. Combat is... good. I'm not good at it yet, but it is enjoyable. Overall I'm not completely floored by AoW4 like I was with Endless Legend (an absolute must play of the genre in it's day), but the wide variety of aesthetic options, easy to digest information, and strong combat will keep me coming back for a long time. If the devs ever add a trading marketplace like the one in EL, this is subject to change, lol. Game seems to run okay on a 1660ti, although the initial load takes a very long time (granted it's pretty much the only load in a session). tldr: good game if you want a 4x that plays like an rts Kudos devs!
When I was young, I was lucky enough to be able to play the original Ogre Battle on SNES. It's combination of strategy, gorgeous pixel art, and esotericly unexplained mechanics instantly made me fall in love with it. Decades later we have Symphony of War. While it seems a lot of people are familiar with the Fire Emblem style tactical map (definitely not a bad thing), it's the actual battles that take inspiration from Ogre Battle in that individual units are formed into squads which automatically perform their actions. It's a simple yet satisfying system that sees you caring for your units both on an individual and larger scale level, as squads with different unit compositions will synergize is different ways. I could say more, but it's a pain to type this on my phone, so I will leave this review as a definite positive in my book (and hope there aren't too many spelling errors).
I never thought I would review an H-game, but here we are. If anything, I just want to throw out a warning for anyone foolish enough (like me) to disregard the other reviews that stated this game is dark and reiterate, this game is DARK. It's a game that succeeds in making the player less horny, as any good game of it's ilk should do. I played the game and am no longer horny. In fact, I'm the polar opposite of horny. I may even take up a life of chastity. Why you ask? Because it does it in all the wrong ways. Because this isn't really a porn game in the traditional sense, it's a severely messed up psychological horror show disguised as a porn game. The words 'fun' and 'sexy' have no place anywhere near this game, the best I can reason is that's is not the point. Which raises the question of what exactly this game's point is, other than making the player question their life choices as the end after paying for it. I'm going to devote the rest of my days to petting kittens and other gentle things to forget the atrocities this game has committed against my psyche. I can only seeing it coming full circle when someday my future kids or S.O. see this on my GOG Galaxy account and decide to have me rendered down for the protein-based nutrient supplements popular in the future. The extra star is because it was a relatively bug-free experience.
One of the first characters I recruited was a kobald sorcerer who can summon elementals that can single-handedly reduce an opponents force by half before they reach my party. 5/7 would pay for that experience again. Seriously though, what are you getting? It's essentially Battle Brothers, but using Dungeons and Dragons-esque mechanics. If you've played D and D before, you will have an idea of exactly what to expect. Likewise if you played BB/Mount and Blade. Many settings of the game are customizable on a new game start, so you can have BB levels of difficulty where a single mistake can mean doom for your party of six, or if you just want to relax and have fun with it, you can opt for easier settings. Or have a game going of each. Permadeath is optional, a welcome addition. Choosing whether to buy an expensive +1 Weapon for one of my fighters or conversely 5 masterwork breastplates for all of my characters who could could wear them was not an experience I've had in Dungeons and Dragons before, but now that I've had it, I definitely want more. Thank you to the developer for making a fun experience.
As a fan of the original Starcrawlers I was eager to get my hands on Chimera and try out the revamped combat system and solo character mechanic. Happy to say I am not disappointed. I'll try to be thorough and go over some key points I have noticed. First of all, the bad: As of EA release, the game is on the short end. There are three floors of the Chimera building to explore, but after that you will either have to wait or start a new game (see 'the good' section). I have noticed several steamers claiming to have found bugs or a buggy experience, so take into consideration that you may have to deal with unpatched issues should you purchase (to the game's credit, I have completed virtually all of the first floor without encountering a noticeable bug. Not to say they don't exist). The good: Probably the strongest selling point of Chimera is it's character customization. You are allowed to freely choose up to seven skill trees out of a current total of I believe 36 in order to create a custom character class. Even with only 3 levels, there is a great potential in restarting the game just to try out a different set of skills or fine tune the class you have already run with. The downside to this (I probably should have but this in 'the bad') is that not all of the skill trees are currently fleshed out. Given that the game currently only runs a few levels, this probably won't be too much of an issue though, but it is something to note. Combat is fluid, and a good variety of movement, passive, stealth, and ranged skills are available. I never felt like I was at a lack of options when it came to different ways to engage enemies (the game is very combat focused). A lot of side missions (which you can do for rewards in the form of loot) are fairly simple 'kill these monsters' or 'find this item' type of missions, so if you are looking for something more in depth or story-driven, this may not be the game to find these things in. All in all I am very happy with Chimera.
