The idea of mixing warcraft like RTS and BG like RPG was not bad. But it needs a great balance between the two genres to work well. Here there is no balance at all. In the RTS parts the heroes become irrelevant. But even the strategical-tactical part is poorly developed: the rating at which the enemies send you hordes of soldiers is frustrating, and you have the impression that you have been thrown in the middle of something without adequate preparation, giving you no time to think. But still, is the RPG part fun? No. The poorness of the skill trees, and the squishiness of your tanks is astounding. It becomes soon frustrating, even when there is no clear difficulty. Maybe it could have been a good game if only the devs dedicated some more time to testing?
Carrion is a good game; not perfect, just good. It develops a very interesting idea: you're a red monster formed by tentacles, jaws and blades, trying to flee from a laboratory, gruesomely killing and devouring anyone who stands in your way. It's funny, the puzzles are quite simple and the areas offers you a lot of ways to kill the enemies. It has also one thing that for someone could be a con but not for me: you're not an invincible monster. Humans' weapons kill you very quicly if you're not careful and if you mindlessly charge toward them. You have to think tactically and use the background to overcome all dangers. Unfortunately, for me it has some flaws that kill some of the fun: - the story isn't developed too much. Why insert the flashbacks? Of the two one: or, with the backstory, you give me more motivation to kill all this humans, or you remove it and you let me enjoy the slaughter without interruptions. Putting a poor backstory there it kills the depth or the black humour it could have - At first I thought a map would help, but then I understood that no, it would be pointless. You have never the impression of freely run around the laboratory: instead, you always have this sense of being dragged by the game in the only right direction. - After the first hour an half, it becomes quite repetitive in the mechanics. And the risk is boredom. Yeah, you gain more powers, but the areas and the type of puzzles remain the same, and, since the enemies' strength grows too, you have never the impression of becoming effectively more powerful. I think, in one word, the flaw of the game could be identified in the lack of irony. Still, a good game.
As the title says: this is a game very similar in his mechanics to Journey, but it hasn't the same powerful symbols that makes the Thatgamecompany's game a masterpiece. The sea environments are indeed beautiful, and the experience itself is quite relaxing and immersive. But the metaphors are weak, simplistic (i.e. the bad technology vs the good nature) and sometimes confusing. It's like it's missing something powerful that could drag the player in and make him feel that the game is speaking of him and not like he's just a witness of what's happening. Still, a pleasant game to play.
I really wanted to like this game. It has everything that I like: myth, samurai, nice art. But no, I can't. The art is indeed quite interesting, but that's all. Mechanics are simple and intriguing, but you can master them in no time, and then it becomes all quite repetitive. Story mode is forgettable, at best. Boring interludes, boring characters, confused plot, and there are these parts with two weaklings coming at you from both sides that have no sense. No, really, why put them there? You kill them in no time... seriously, WHY? And even the duel mode... characters' roster is, well, poor (euphemism!). And after two duels, it's all the same. BO-RING! Cannot really recommend.
After playing 3 hours and half I think I can write a review; I'm confident that the rest of the game will be more or less similar. This is not a game for action fans. There is no astounding gameplay, nor combat or puzzles. It's true: combat is repetitive, puzzles are quite boring. The action is just a pretext. It's all about narration and atmosphere, and in these two areas the game is perfect. There's a balance between psychological and magical that is respected in all the dialogues and in the whole narration. It's the story of a curse or the story of a schizophrenic girl? Or both? Or none of them? This ambiguity helps to search for a metaphorical reading, and the gameplay is all thought in that direction. All the actions you do, all the encounters and combats, have beneath them the power of a deeper meaning. So: don't ever think that this is a game for action lovers. It's not. But if you love deep (and quite disturbing) stories, told in a unusual way, this is a must play.
Grim Dawn is a good, dark ARPG that can entertains you for hours and hours and hours... The coolest thing? The classes ("masteries", sorry) and all the builds you can create from its bi-classes system and from the monstrous quantity of items, weapons and armors. The horrible thing? The time you have to dedicate to it. C'mon, I'm a grown man now and I simply DON'T HAVE 100 hours for leveling up each character I want to make. If you want to success at the hardest difficult you have to grind and loot A LOT, and that takes a lot of time (and, yes, after the 50th level, is quite... boring). And 99% of loot you will find is pure garbage. Wow. The rest: good atmosphere, interesting and balanced combat system, but plot non existent, and NPCs and music forgettable... I'm not a big fan of D3, and I liked GD more than it, but I still find Torchlight less pretentious and more suitable for a relaxed playstyle.
One of the most intriguing and original games I've played in the last 20 years. A thrilling noir that is not a thriller, an RPG where the fundamental characters are the parts of the psyche of the drunken lovely dumb ass protagonist (every new play you can choose different skills and see new different crazy dialogues...). A beautiful distopic background, similar to our world, but totally different, with deep references and philosophical themes. A game that all who loves witty and crazy dialogues definitely have to play. Not for everyone: it's not a "common" RPG, it has no combats nor action. So, why 4 stars? I'm italian and I've a B2-C1 level in english language. And it's not enough to understand every shade of the dialogues. It's a game based only on words and dialogues, so losing a part of them is losing a lot. And anyway, trying to understand everything can soon become tiring. Hoping there will be new localizations sooner or later in this gog version. And no, I'm not speaking of the automatic translations that you can find with mods. It needs professional translators to fully communicate every hidden shade and every subtile meaning that all languages have.
