So, in this DLC you get: 1) Refugee camp to build, expand and feed while performing usual "craft-bring-talk" quests. Camp itself is moderately interesting idea, but time when DLC activates (right after Church is opened) makes it quite stressing to feed refugees if you haven't prepared yet. However, you get certain benefits as it goes, like at some time camp itself produce with you help this much food so you can just stop cooking yourself. 2) New items - new food recipes (a lot), new graveyard stuff (and ability to purchase it, think about it!) and new storage options - bags. 3) Two new "big" quests - hunting down Vampires and discovering some more of dark past of this land and helping Donkey Uprising. Donkey uprising is especially hilarious with tons of hidden jokes and references. 4) Bonus stuff - even more funny little details about villagers, which is always good. However, there is enough cons too. As i mentioned automatic appearance of Camp can be VERY stressful, if you start game from scratch you should significantly rethink your strategy towards getting garden running ASAP. New recipes and gravestones is good, but isnt something which should require paid DLC. Vampire quest is actually quite short compared to Stranger Sins and doesnt add very much to lore, many topic it reveals already partially uncovered in Stranger Sins. Finally, all hassle with building Camp or helping Donkey doesnt not rewarded generously, you basically get some money (albeit at moment when smart investing them my be critical), some unique items and perks as reward for finishing DLC story. In general, Game of Crones affect main game far less then Stranger Sins with its moneymaking Tavern. Final verdict - i kinda disappointed. This DLC dont bring much to Graveyard Keeper, nor in term of game mechanics nor in world lore. Still, i DONT think you should NOT get it. Its Graveyard Keeper, you know you want it anyway!
Got it from Humble, so not owning it on GOG. I'm not a big fan of quests, with complex mechanics and insane puzzles, but this one promised interesting art style and rich story so i decided to give it a try. I cant say i was much impressed at start - game just puts you in distress without telling any pre-history or giving details what is going on. Another annoying thing came later - for example incredibly stupid looking "fights" with monsters, which cannot be lost and need correct order of action to be performed to win. Oh my, how boring! Game constantly referencing to facts you probably supposed to know as "Homestuck" fan but you dont know at all. Characters, like Babysitter, referenced to be never revealed. Still, once you finally "got on another planet" thing finally starting to get interesting. This is where game shines at last - otherworldl design isnt "gorgeous", but its eye-catchy and promise much to explore and learn. Alien characters interesting. Gameplay finally get understandable goal. It was good part, yes. Still, some complains follows. For example, along gameplay you pickup a lot of items which have NO use at all. Some of them even mandatory to progress but they still dont have any use. Another complains is game length - its short. basically whole Act 1 is intro + character prepares to start real adventure. At time Act 1 ends you sit with mouth opened and asking " thats ALL?" But there is good things too - Joey room full of posters referencing various pop-culture topics and they just great, nice touch. Story on Alternia is quickly getting interesting, contrary to lukewarm walking around house in first part of game. So, i suggest everyone to give it a try anyway, just keep in mind that its get better as story unfolds.
With this DLC you basically get this: 1) New quests. Most of them quite easy, several i moderate in term of difficulty. All, basically, is usual "craft-gather-bring-talk" stuff, nothing really new. Good thing they show some character of NPC and also allows you ti finally barge in several houses. 2) Cut-scenes with backstory. Yes, you finally get to know who sent you here (vaguely), why there is derelict ruins everywhere and where this broken bridge leads. And that Contract too. Story is quite interesting, albeit partially banal and predictable from some point. And you will learn who Gerry really is! They also clear some "suspicious hints" main game gives you about villagers during main quest. 3) Tavern! And this is real gem (and additional chore too). Tavern changes everything in game financial mechanics. Forget about being poor, with some tinkering, new tables, zombie farms and new zombie alcohol producing facilities you can get steady cash flow to spend, giving you option to bypass some chores completely. 4) Extended game ending if you finished DLC. DLC progression, BTW, isnt completely independent from Main Quest, just to keep you on track. Cons: Putting said earlier aside DLC doesnt changes much in main game and brings more question to story then answers. Some themes discussed in main game, like Ancient Curse expanded but not very much, its only tease you. No new locations or items, which is sad. Still, its must have DLC just for tavern alone.
Ok, lets get straight to point - this is "Entertain yourself" type of game. Thats it. At start you get very brief intro, tutorial stage and dropped in "safe" area of foreign planet. While game have some starting objectives to get you on right path and not let die on first day from this moment you pretty much on your own, game doesnt hold your hand. So you have to mine, build, explore and construct things all yourself. There is some scarce plot just to add some sense into deeper exploration and show off some cool biomes and alien derelicts but overall plot is just because game need some plot. Later in game you get some story but its too little to make much sense, Now, with plot written off as asset we left with exploration, building, crafting and mining. I'd say if you into building things this is your game. PN allows you to build some insane mech including buggy, hoverships, flying machines, even moving bases and flying fortresses. Add to this complex "piping" system with automation and you can spend dozen of hours going bananas. No problem here, except poor sailing options. That is really upsets me is exploration. Yes, there is various biomes including some picturesque ones. But, when you drive in your car to next wreck site this bountifulness quickly starts to bore you since its all pretty much same in same biome. Animals? Forget it, there is just 6 types and all of them seems same with different details, all their behaviors is similar. Animals posses big threat before you get gun and is just annoyance later. Now, worst thing is weather, Eridanus is like Russia's Saint-Petersburg - its world of rain. Yes, sometimes you get sunny days but usually its rain, howling winds or cold hurricane with thunder. And its in SAFE biome, conditions in desert or icy tundra is even worse. So, lets summarize : mine, craft, build, explore. Game formula didnt changed a bit from early stage of development. Thats it, nothing more.
I had anticipated for this game for quite some time considering promising reviews and when i finally got it became clear that it wasn't worth it. At first glance its fine game, metroidvania, loot, decent fights and progression feels nice and fun. Closer to middle of game you cant help but start to notice more and more of "paper-cuts" scattered all around. Backtracking is excessive, money is scarce, weapons variety isn't that big as it seems at first glance - you either use slow-but-strong or fast-but-weak one, good that your inventory isn't limiting you so you can carry both and switch if needed. Room design is another thing - procedural level creation is interesting, but when you see same-design room in row its getting annoying. Even worse thing is that game not so good at following metroidvania rules. Generally when you get new upgrade a lot of new areas gets accessible to you leading to new secrets and loot, but not in Chasm - some upgrades is either almost useless (basically no place to us them) or completely optional and can be skipped completely Story is quite nice at start, but unable to keep any meaningful suspense for long enough - from middle of game its became obvious that is it all about, who is bad guy and who probably will be final boss. Graphically game is totally fine for pixel art lovers and pleasant to look at, but lacking in eye candy (however, old castle parallax scrolling background looks superb) area. In term of environment Chasm doesn't invent anything new either - cave\mines, jungle\garden, castle...crypts is disturbingly macabre however, its impressive. Overall Chasm feels like a good attempt which is falls apart, unfortunately. Maybe its too much reliance on procedural generation or just lack of soul, but i didn't found Chasm memorable enough to love. So, should you buy it? Maybe, but be prepared - chasms isn't place where only good things live.
Ok, so you decided to try Cornerstone? Welcome onboard, you land rat. First you will encounter very clunky controls, awful "manual" camera and dull, ugly and shallow characters. if you dare to continue you will find that resources and crafting EVERYTHING in this game. You craft ALL your stuff, weapon, shields, armor and items. Everything is breaks and need to be replaced, so dont skip on looting each time possible - it will cost you life. Next is glitches and bugs - you can stuck in objects (try to craft to unstuck) and ofc 3D jumping will often kill you since camera is awful. Once you get to sail you will find that sea is...boring and empty. Its just artificial barrier to control your progress, there is no loot and wonders here. Well, i guess real-life sailing is not amusement park either, so its OK. And you, if you dont dropped game things start to get better. A LOT. Once you get to Big Islands especially you will find quite interesting adventures. For example lurking around shady eastern Japan-themed island was fun and i appreciate its design. Fighting your way in extra challenging Mayan-like western island was a good test for skills and sanity. And there is more... So, lets sum it up - Cornerstone is not THAT BAD game. Its feels very rough and unpolished, 3D models is cheap and everything feels like a prototype which never finished. But at same time some level and puzzles design is quite nice and well made. Maybe a little more developement would turn this game ideas in real gem, but its not happened. Is it worth it? Well, on good sale, if you not set extreme high expectations its worth to try, but if you seeking masterwork and real Zelda successor its absolutely wrong place to do. By the way, graphically this game looks like Zelda: Ocarina of Time on Nintendo64.
I will not be very different from other reviews - this is really nice, in general, game which i personally wanted to play long time ago and i still think it worth it. We got pretty nice UI, a lo of moderately complex puzzles, some quite interesting, albeit some i found to be rather annoying and just too tedious to play with, like that "learn language" minigame. Plot is also interesting enough, at least before approximately second half of game when things starts to go fast and tear huge holes in whole plot. Too much of obvious question without any attempts to answer them - where is another Earth ships? How much incompetent was peoples who sent mission? Why they all was so stupid to notice obvious? "Unexpected Twist" in plot is rather clearly obvious and in very end you presented with two equally bad endings. Oh well, at least overall design is pretty good. Is it worth your time? I guess so, but if you hardcore Sci-fi fan you may be disappointed.
Ok, so i got myself once Anniversary edition. It was not very cheap, but on sale, and considering that its included all DLC (except worker skins) at that time it was totally worth it. And then developers release Undergames and Ultimate Edition alongside. Existing customers is basically forced to pay full price for Under Games while new customers can purchase Ultimate edition which is Anniversary+Undergames with huge discount. For example right now, on Summer sale, Undergames DLC have price worth HALF of Ultimate edition, which on 66% off. As previous customer i feel cheated.
Ok, first lets talk about game overall: Regalia is Tactical RPG with gimmick - strict time management (and to some degree town menagement +" date simulator") Good - Bright colorful graphics, nice and cute characters with lot to choose you team, more or less diversity of game-play, need to think before battle, in battle and after battle. Battles is mostly quite...interesting and challenging. Bad - while i mentioned diversity absolute most of thing except combat and time management is made "just to be here" and feels awfully rudimentary. Building is very limited and simple, bound only to resource cost, Fishing game is absolute meh in general. Relationship building is fine, but many of "correct" answers feels just random without much logic. While its obvious that you should praise Blacksmith beloved dog its completely WTF with Beastwoman, for example. Needless to say that sometimes its feels little like a chore and THERE IS NO ROMANCE at all. Such a wasted potential... Combat is UNFAIR - you constantly overwhelmed, your opponents is packed with ranged abilities, stuns and dont hesitate to use them. Every fight is like last fight! Ugly - Game made with Unity and leaks memory. Save often! Its absolutely...enraging when you finish hard battle and...boom, game crashed :( LOADING SCREENS. OMG, how much of them! I heard peoples complaining about slow loading of Satellite Reign, but this one have small fast loading screen on literally each mouse click. Next topic is Royal Edition. Its includes 2 DLC, from which one is simply adds stuff like characters, additional quests and factions, but in general dont changes anything. Feels like should-be-free update to me. Second is adding optional random fights mode for combat freaks. This one do feels like proper DLC. So, should you get Regalia? If you up to TRPG and like challenging combat, probably worth to try. I'm not hating this game at all. Royal edition? Not much of extra content, think yourself. Yes if discounted.
Ok, to cut very short - i believe this game is insane mix of good, of bad, of hardcore and WTF. Lest start with Good : Pixelated picture, level design, atmosphere, music - is all good. Very good at most parts. I like exploring lonely depths, i like watching seaweed grow, i like chasing fish. In term of atmosphere this game have one hell amount of it, and instantly reminds of Aquaria. Bad: Overall controls is clunky, sometimes you have to switch weapons fast or make fast moves and its plainly hard to execute. Weapons are weak. It was probably designed this way for more challenge, but range, accuracy, speed is all bad. Hardcore: Boss fights. In general, they INSANE and insanely, unfairly hard. Its takes just several hist for most to kill you while you have to shoot million time to really deal damage, and some can heal themself. Usual problem is bounce to death effect or "crash to death". Bosses usually very fast, hardly predictable, emits various obstruction and so on. And several of them is ultra easy - just to tease you. It takes 5-20 tries to kill one! With mostly harmless and peaceful nature around to explore this difference is little too much. Also, most boss fights occurs in dark places, which doesnt help. Now, for WTF. Its plot, mostly. Well, its overall fine, but quickly starts to feel as way too cheesy Sci-fi. Even casting environmental questions aside its full of holes. And worst part - ending. Yes, there is one - ultimate answer for your quest of answers. After final encounter plot goes bananas - in scripted event your character do some absolutely pointless and meaningless things and after that its suggested that "all done, time to die peacefully". This part wast complete leftdown for me. Usually player is given some kind of choice with different endings, but not this time. Ending is just BAD. Conclusion. Its overall fine game. Nice underwater stuff with challenging battles. But i wish it was better thoughtful..
