A fun rouglike deckbuilder strategy. Plenty of different factions that have different strategies and you choose two factions, so each run can be very different. However, enemies scale in power a lot with each area and RNG is a very big factor and can mess up your run or you can get a purely broken combo and have an easy time. Strategy still matters in most runs, but sometimes RNG is a deciding factor, which I don't personally like. The RNG element gets even more impactful on higher difficulties. Not a fan of spending 30 min on a run, just to find out my drafted deck isn't strong enough for the big boss.
The devs did an amazing job of blending cozy fishing and eldritch horror themes. Also, whoever designed the aberrations has a beautifully twisted imagination, 10/10 design across the board
It really shows the game was made by the same devs that made New Vegas, the gameplay has the same feel, only this one has a more lighthearted tone and is more satirical in its approach, poiting a finger at the greedy corporations. The story is decent, with the classic you're the hero that needs to save world trope. The companions and NPC are well written and interesting, kinda felt like playing ol' Mass Effect, doing their quests at some point. Gameplay is fun, loot and shoot or just smash, plenty of weapons, upgrades and resources, game really doesn't skimp on anything. However, I did miss grenades in many combat scenraios, I find it a bit odd not to include them at all and would probably be my only complaint. Performance is perfect, didn't have any issues or bugs Overall very fun action RPG, if you liked Fallout: New Vegas you will likely like this too
There is a certain feeing of mystery and bleakness that this game captures so well and fits cosmic horror perfectly. There really are no jumpscares (getting snuck up by a monster doesn't count, its your own fault), all the tension and horror comes from the atmosphere of the game. The rough, dark artstyle, limited POV and amazing sound design give amazing results. The story and mystery of the game is uncovered through NPC dialogue, items found throughout the world and even the enviroment itself. However, it never reveals too much, just enough to tell the story, but keep the mystery. It also doesn't hold back or holds your hand, you're on your own. The game runs smoothly without bugs during my entire playthrough. Darkwood is a perfect example of a great horror and would recommend it to anyone looking for a survivalist horror or any eldritch fan.
Alan Wake is an interesting game. The gameplay is pretty basic, action shooter in a way and there isn't much complexity about it. The best part of the game is the story and the way it is told. It is delivered in quite an interesting way, by ways of foreshadowing and even spoilers, yet it's not predictable. It's not logical, yet i makes sense. A wonderfully crafted narrative!
Another great paranormal mystery from Remedy, an interesting storyline with a lot of lore, cool characters and a proper amount of weird. The combat is simple, but fluid, allowing easy use of both weapons and abilities, some however might find it boring and repetetive since spamming a single ability is a viable tactic. There are RPG elements like leveling up HP, dmg and modding weapons, but they feel very basic and the game would prolly work the same without it. Personal mods that upgrade your abilities are the focus of your build and change the dynamic of the game. The game is pretty stable, had no issues or bugs except for two crashes, but I'm on an older rig and the game is graphically demanding. Overall an amazing game, focusing on the narative and putting gameplay secondary, my only complaints about it would be the lack of a personal light (it gets real dark in some areas) and long loading times.
In general its a great game with a decent story, split into several events all concluding around the focus of a full campaign spaning from lvl 1-20. The amount of content is huge, which might put some people off, but personally I like it. It took me about 160h to finish everything I found. Characters are decent, some more interesting than others, altho there isn't much dialogue with them past the initial info dump convo. It offers customisable rulesets, letting you customise your difficulty, but there are issues with higher difficulties. I like the kingdom manegment, its simple but not for everyone and there is a lot to manage, luckily there is an option to autopilot it. Mostly it revolves around skill checks for your companions along with building cities and even individual buildings. Now the negatives. Its riddled with bugs that can ruin your encounter, not making saves vs spells when you should be, spells not working as intended, command inputs that do not follow through etc. UI is cluncky, no camera rotation is a big miss imo. The biggest offender is the terrible RNG, now I know its a core part of cRPG, but this game consistently lowrolls, the median roll being around 7 which is terrible. The lower lvl gameplay esspecially is one of the most obnoxious, tedious I've seen in a game. In a nutshell combat looks like this: miss, miss, miss, nat 20, miss miss miss hit miss... Thats not fun! And even later when your main dps rolls 2,2,1,3,3 on full attack in clutch situation turns a difficult encounter in a losing one. This has happened a lot during the plathrough. Difficulty while customisable is pretty bad, setting enemies in normal gives them +2 AC which isn't normal and anything higher gives them more AC and attack with no new abilities or tactics, which only makes the RNG problem worse. Unless you're a min maxer playing on higher difficulties is a waste of time and nerves. Great game in concept, but bad RNG, bugs, UI, keep it from being a truly great game
A great single player Carcassonne iteration, very relaxing, great art style
