Gameplay- A+ Minor issues with path finding at times, especially when trying to grab items that are higher or lower than your character. Music/Sound- A+ All perfectly atmospheric, especially the sound effects. Graphics- A It may be a little cartoony, but I find this just makes it hold up better over time. If you experience any stutter with lots of bad guys on the screen, try tweaking the shadows first and then the particles. I find these really affect performance, but the quality difference is barely noticeable in game. A note to parents of younger children, who might find it hard to play bloody games with them around. There is an option to turn off all blood in this game. Cool right? Longevity- A+ I've been playing this game since 2012 and have tried different mods before, but mostly play vanilla. I'm still not bored. There is plenty of variety in character builds. I still find equipment I've never seen before. Last night, I searched a corpse and a ghoul popped up out of it to attack me. I've never seen this happen in 6 years of playing. I really like ARPGs and have been playing them since Diablo was released. This game doesn't do too much new and since its release, basically every newer ARPG has borrowed the few new mechanics that Torchlight II added. That said, this game handles every aspect of what a good ARPG is, perfectly. I have played Path of Exile, Grim Dawn, Titan Quest, and Diablo 3 in recent years, but I always end up uninstalling those games and firing Torchlight II back up. I hope you have as great a time with this game as I have over the last six years, killing thousands of enemies, collecting all the treasure, and sending your overloaded panda pet back to town to sell every off, because you're just too busy killing even more monsters.
I can't imagine the graphics of MoM being any worse. The music is not great. The sound effects are horrible. None of this matters because taken as a whole, this game is the best combination of everything I love in games! Awesome fantasy world with amazing monsters and races and magic? Check! Perfectly simple turn-based combat without all the added fluff of modern games? Check! Master of Magic is all the best parts of Civilization in a wonderful fantasy setting. Added all up, this is my favorite game of all time.
Stardew Valley is one of my all-time favorite games. It perfectly combines being relaxing, along with combining many levels of feelings of accomplishment which keep you playing on. Players with many different interests can enjoy this games, because there is just so much to do, and you're forced into none of it. You can farm, fish, forage, mine, fight monsters, hang out with the townsfolk, collect artifacts for the museum; the list is almost endless. This is about as perfect as games get. It will be coming out on Switch in two days and I can't wait to buy it again!
