The trading elements of X series. The combat of Tachyon: The Fringe. Unapologetic "borrowing" of Star Wars (you'll know it when you see it). Take the best parts of the best things, and make them not nearly as good! The big problem with the game is that the economic side gets straight boring. There's no variety to it, despite having multiple avenues of income. After a couple hours, it's just tedius. After around 20 hours, I used a Cheat Engine table to give max upgrades - even more than the game itself naturally gives. And to bypass the horribly bugged FLAK missions. That version of the game would get 3 stars, but alas.
I agree with the sentiment below. Developers put out half a game and then incrementally charge for pieces of the rest of the game. This is a free half of a game, and you’ll pay (with DLC on sale) $14 for the rest of it. Back in the day, that was called a “demo” and they were all free. Nowadays, people pay for the demo, just to decide if they want to pay for the rest. Sorry, can’t comment on the game itself at this time, because I won’t play it until the DLC goes on at least 75% off. Then I’ll play this free demo and decide if I want to spend that much.
I swear, it's almost like I was trolled. I made my profile, had fun with the silliness and jokes, was surprised at the sudden gains and losses, and then... I began noticing the gimmicks. It may take some people more or less time to stumble upon them, but once you do, all the mystery of the game disappears and you're just going through motions. I mean, I guess it is like Social Media? Always accept friend requests. Always read private messages right away. Don't spend points replying until the game tells you that someone needs one. Always choose the first choice in Private Messages as that will always give the greatest outcome. Advancing in your career is really only important for one of the endings, and in fact, the higher up you go the less coworkers you have (you get clout with your coworkers when you work your shift). Although it boasts multiple endings, all endings use the same still graphic and a SINGLE sentence detailing your ending. It's not about the ending, afterall, it's about the journey! Keep telling yourself that. It's a sloppy and lazily-written game that rides on a fantastic concept.
The game basically takes the best parts of the old and new Xcom and Jagged Alliance games, then dumbs it down. Although it sounds like a critique, it’s not! Want the kind of square-tile-moving tactical game where it’s best to set up Overwatch traps and let the enemy walk into it? Then buy Depth of Extinction!
The game is a really fun adventure right from the start. Lots of quirkiness that you suspect will have a payoff. But like others have said, they wrapped it up in a way that is pure laziness. The premise wasn’t terrible, but it was a real let down to have all these neat story lines and angles and quirks and such just disappear just because they never even mattered to begin with. 3 stars for being a fun point and click game to a point, and an extra star for the successful trolling of its core audience.
This is a futuristic Covid outbreak similar to, but not at all, the 2019/2020 pandemic. The virus behaves differently and mutates differently. Yes, it uses some source material from the WHO as its basis, which is standard outbreak procedure that existed prior to Covid-19. And yes, it also includes some procedures developed for Covid-19, some of which has been changed since the game’s release. If you find those, you can feel smug knowing that you aren’t falling for the gubment propaganda. Either way, enjoy what is essentially a sims resource management game, one which grows tedious quickly and - just like 2020 - leaves you wondering when this BS will just be over with.
My mom overheard me casting spells and got worried. Now she thinks I’m into occult stuff. I told her it was just a game, but she said Satan is no play thing. She told the rest of the family and now I get weird looks. I reached out to the developers for a fix but they haven’t gotten back to me. Good game, though. Three stars.
Full disclosure: I bought this on Steam. I am posting a review on GOG as a warning. The combat system is entirely different from the predecessors. Not small changes for the better, but entirely changed. For better or worse. The problem is that I thoroughly enjoyed the old combat system. It was actually what allowed me to finish through the too-long-drawn-out stories of the previous games. I made it through a handful of combats and decided I do NOT want to go through 100+hours of that! If you are considering buying Agarest 2, it’s because you’ve played the first two games and enjoyed the experience so much that you want another slice. You won’t get it here, it’s a whole different pie. I recommend watching gameplay videos of the combat system before deciding to purchase.
I admit, I have mixed feelings on computer games requiring 3rd party software - but I guess I’m running it on Windows, right? Okay, I just killed my complaint! On the one hand, I love GOG because for the most part, I can download the games and not have to hunt for necessary software (just option stuff like mods). Feels like it should be like a DOSbox deal, where an emulator comes packaged with the game. On the other hand, just about everyone who buys games on GOG likely already has an NES emulator on their PC. This is actually a fantastic throwback platformer. Don’t let my pickiness dissuade you from trying it out!.
Many people refer to this as a Metroidvania - which it is, but it reminded me more of lesser known titles like Battle of Olympus or Faxandu. If you’re familiar with this games, you know exactly what you’re getting here! But with better QOL in the controls department. So why only 4 stars? Because I’m not really into platformers anymore. So don’t like the style of game, but the game does the throwback concept so well that I felt it appropriate to rate high!
