I bought this game on sale even though I already own it on steam. I already played for 60 h and I still enjoy the game. I haven't even touched the Absolute Power Missions (Expansion). After a while you just get to know the effects of your actions very well. I usually just lower the audio and listen to a podcast. It's very relaxing. There could be a little more variety, but for the most part changing the mission objectives and events do enough to motivate me to keep playing. This is also the kind of game were you can challange yourself and restrict your options to increase the difficulty. Sometimes I think I have everything figured out and just relax for a while, watching the citizen of Tropico go about their daily lifes... and then I realise that there are a lot of homeless people and that the trade profits are suddenly dangerously low... I love these moments, especially when I can turn things around.
I expected more or less a standard open world game using the "Ubisoft-Formula". While this is more or less exactly that, I found myself captivated by the experience. I played it with mouse and keyboard, since I hate controllers and it felt natural. The world is beautiful, the story is great and the art direction is on point. I played for around 50 h but I could've spend even more time in it. There are side activities, but you are not required to do them. I typically don't enjoy these very standard open world games, but in this case everything is just done so well. Combat feels fluid and the machine creatures can be quite dangerous. It's just a very well rounded game.
I've so far played the games Yakuza Kiwami and Yakuza 0 of this collection. I never owned a console so I haven't played those titles before buying them on GOG. I would really advise using a controler, even though they are playable with Mouse and Keyboard. I love how charming those games are. They are totally different. You get to explore rather small maps, but you get to know them intimately. There are so many heartwarming little sidestories and funny activities. It almost makes me smile when the battle hardened Yakuza plays a game of cards with little kids or helps someone out of a tough situation. In many games the side stories are just filler, in these games the side story is the main reason to play them. The main stories of Y0 and Y Kiwami are still good and interesting. But the real fun is elsewhere. I took my time and really did the vast majority of side content, which I rarely do. This is a must buy!
I bought it mainly because the overall rating of 4.4 is very high. It might be okay for people who played it back in the day, but I couldn't get into it at all. I play a lot of old games, so I already expected it to be very different to modern games. It could've dealt with the graphics, but everything about this game feels wrong to me. Sound design, unit control, gameplay in general,... I'd avoid it. On the other hand it's quite cheap, especially when it's on sale. So you don't lose much when you deside to check it out yourself.
Yes, this game has it's problems. The very high character move speed makes you take damage if you aren't careful. Yet, the game is most fun when speeding. I'd recommend playing one episode a few times. When you know what you are up against it gets instantly more fun. To bad Epic isn't making good games like Jazz Jackrabbit anymore... I'd buy another sequel. OMG I almost forgot to mention it: THE SOUNDTRACK IS AWESOME!!!
I'm not saying it is a bad game, I remember it quite fondly. Playing it in 2022 feels just awkward. Even too awkward for any Nostalgia to kick in. I'm fine with the graphics being dated. That's not the issue. The way your character is controlled is something I just cannot accept.
