I was really enjoying this game until it crashed and all my save games disappeared. I don't much feel like starting again right now. However, I put a couple dozen hours in at least and it is a fun blend of all the good bits of Privateer, Freelancer, and even Space Trader, the old Palm Pilot game I used to play on work trips. It's locked on to a two-dimensional plane for flight and combat, so you can't fly as fancy as in other similar games, but this has allowed them to make the combat more fun. But combat does get boring aftter a while, when it boils down to seeing whose shields will hold out longer while you spam your most powerful attacks at capital ships. You can avoid this by picking more interesting missions. Things that would make it amazing would be better save game management and better faction management and options (e.g. in similar games you could pay someone in a bar to boost your rank with different factions, if you didn't want to grind missions to gain rep for days and days. And better management of how you detect and pick up cargo would be nice, right now it's tedious to scour the battlefield after every fight to see if someone dropped something better than soy paste. It's a lot of fun, but the save games disappearing means I'll put this on the shelf for a while. Play at your own risk.
My kids love this game. I enjoyed for a while, too. For the price point you can't go wrong for what you're getting. You basically run around an alien planet and catch different kinds of slimes and try and make lots of money selling the slimes. The slimes are cute bouncy little (and sometimes big) idiots that have different elemental properties and keep getting themselves into amusing troubles. The game itself is simple, and is very relaxing. At the time of my review, the developers are still adding new things (and are now selling physical plushies of the slimes as well!) There are also still secrets to discover hidden in the alien landscape. If you want to play a game that makes you feel good and laugh, and which doesn't require a huge time investment to learn, Slime Rancher is well worth playing. NB: I own the game on Steam, not GOG (unless they add this one to Steam Link some day).
This game was an open world sandbox 3rd person adventure when there was almost nothing like it on the PC. The closest there was, was maybe Tomb Raider. But this blew that away with its setting. It does such an amazing job of creating a living, breathing alien world, it felt like you were playing an episode of Stargate: SG1 (which this game owes a huge debt to). There are cities with inhabitants doing their own thing. Guard patrols. Alien critters to ride! And a pretty interesting story, too. The combat is fun, with the use of cover and stealth (if you want). And some crafting, before crafting in games was really a thing. This version has the same soundtrack, same voice acting, and same everything. The only difference is the graphics look great (although to be honest, the voxel graphics from the 19-year-old original actually hold up pretty well). It works great with a gamepad (XBox One controller on PC for me). It feels like I'm back on Adelpha again. The colours... the sounds... the music. It's like playing a movie all over again. If you're looking to relive the original, or play one of the ancestors of modern third-person adventures for the first time, this is a top-notch addition to your GOG library.
It's one of only a handful of games I would consider perfect. Challenging, but never unfair. Hard, but never cheap. Cryptic, but never needlessly arcane. The art is neautiful to look at and the sound effects and music a delight to listen to. Best gameplay controls in this kind of game, ever. Lots of options to play different ways, find the combination of charms you like for your style, there's no wrong or right way to play, just find what works. Deep lore and a wonderful story complete this masterpiece of a game. The mechanic of losing your "money" when you die is a bit of a surprise to some the first time, but it's easy to get it back, or just get more. The key is to spend it as soon as you have it, and this game has no shortage of merchants who will take it (don't trust the "Banker" though!). Saving is done via sitting on benches scattered throughout the world, and they are usually located near fast travel points. Some reviewers have complained about the difficulty, but this is far easier than most of the platforming titles that populated the classic NES library. It's hard but fair, not hard because it's cheap. In other words, git gud.
I first bought this game when it came out and was surprised by how fun and engaging it was. I put many hours into it and it really scratches that hack-and-slash itch. It's not ground-breaking and it's not perfect. Other reviewers have made points I agree with, about how it can feel too linear sometimes and a bit "grind-y." I myself was a bit disappointed with how the weapons and armour didn't look all that different, but I realize that was a design choice to keep it at least somewhat authentic to the historical setting. It's the commitment to the authenticity and setting that made me really like it. You move through different environments and areas from Greek mythology and just when you start getting sick of an area, it changes. It's not all dark dungeons, all the time and it's a refreshing change. I'm excited to see it with better graphics, some wonderful tweaks (better pet AI and inventory management, thank Zeus) and it bundled with the expansion which I never played. I'm happy to add this to my GOG library.
This game takes typical fantasy conventions and lovingly mocks them, putting you in the shoes of the Sauron-like Overlord as you slay the corrupted heroes who put you in the grave. But it's more than that. Your minions are charming and you get attached to them, as they wear pumpkins and rat-heads as helmets and cackle at their maniacal destruction. The strategy is actually quite a lot of fun, as you use a combination of fighter-minions, fire-throwers, stealthy minions and healers to accomplish your goals. It's not that short, despite what some reviewers say. Be evil, or even more evil as the game gives you a few opportunities to make choices which do impact on the game. TL;DR. This games lets you light a field of grain on fire while it's full of hobbits. What more do you need.
