Several reviews are saying that Solasta is the best representation of Dungeons and Dragons 5e in video games. When it comes to combat, they're right. Solasta has a strict adherence to 5e rules and the new subclasses they created feel like they could easily be pulled from the game and used at a table. Not only are the rules the same but the developers are top-tier encounter builders. Every battle I've played has been a blast. Exploration is also a joy with great maps, hidden secrets, and treasure to be found all over the place. I would recommend turning off Solasta's encumbrance rules, though, and sticking with normal 5e rules instead. Fortunately, there is an option to do this in the game's settings and it will make finding that treasure actually enjoyable rather than an exercise in inventory management. The role playing is where Solasta falters. The game feels as though it was just a bit too ambitious with what it hoped to accomplish. While most of the game is played from an isometric perspective like Divinity OS2, Pillars of Eternity, or Baldur's Gate 3, dialogue goes into a more cinematic camera angle, showing you your party directly and the NPC you're speaking with. All dialogue is fully voiced as well. That said, Solasta simply doesn't have the resources of Larian so these scenes are incredibly awkward rather than engaging. The character models are rough and having everyone stand in a line to speak feels forced. The dialogue itself is also pretty jarring, rarely offering the player any real choices about what to say. I can't help but feel the game would have been better served if it stayed isometric during dialogue and stuck to text rather than the huge resource sink that is complete voice acting. Solasta is an amazing achievement for the team but it is a bit overambitious, causing a few missteps. If you want great 5e combat though, you can't do better.
Myst is a phenomenal game. Full stop. The only reason I rate this down is not because of a problem, per se, with Myst: Masterpiece Edition but it's just that it's no longer the best way to experience this game. Unless you specifically want the nostalgia of pointing and clicking, play RealMYST. It's the same game but with improved graphical quality, slightly more content and the ability to free-roam. It is easily the best way to experience Myst unless, as I said, you specifically want to point and click for some reason.
Star Wars: Dark Forces came out at a time when FPS's were almost all referred to as Doom clones and looking at the screenshots, it's pretty easy to see why. However, Dark Forces changed things up by adding a story throughout the game instead of just book-ending the story at the beginning and end. They also made puzzles an important part of the levels, making players figure out how to get through each area. For the time, these were great innovations for the time but now, it's old news. I'm going to guess that if you're considering buying this game in the 2010's, you are probably wanting to buy it for the story of Kyle Katarn, and to be honest, it just isn't really worth it. Yes, for the time, it had more story than most FPS's but that's not saying much. While Kyle Katarn became one of the most beloved Extended Universe characters in Star Wars, it really wasn't from this game and you'd probably be better off just reading the Wikipedia on this one and then starting with Dark Forces 2, as that's when the series really started taking off. If you are one of those folks that has to play through every entry in a series and just needs to play through this one too, it's not a bad game. It's just not that necessary for the story of Kyle Katarn nor does it do anything particularly interesting with the FPS genre in today's gaming environment.
