This is such a cleverly designed and balanced rogue-like! A turned-based strategy with a perfect foresight about the actions the enemy will take in the next turn, making each turn into a small resource optimization puzzle, especially on normal and hard difficulty. However, “Into the Breach” can still surprise you even after 50 hours of play, because it has amazing emergent complexity and just enough randomness and variety of squads, weapons, and strategies to keep you on the edge. It is easy to learn and difficult to master in the best way! [Context: I spent 100 hours with it and earned all the achievements.]
I own this collection and 100%-ed on Steam, but I felt like I have to applaud and gush about it here. Somehow these two games manage to be the absolute best "Action Adventure" genre has to offer. They are not open-world games (although some areas are really quite open to explore, but not too overwhelming), making it a strength rather than a shortcoming. Stories are focused, characters are interesting, believable, and they go to places, both figuratively and literally.
I only played through the story once, did all the quests. However, I am not sure if my choices were really changing the course of the story or just minor details. There's no save system, game saves automatically, so I cannot go back and try different choices easily. The exception are the endings, you are allowed to see different endings. Therefore, i am not fully subscribed to the idea that this is an RPG, but i liked it as it is. You will be doing a lot of reading. Luckily, the story was good enough to keep me reading until the very end. I am sure I will buy and play the sequel at some point. As an illustrated text adventure this one really shines.
Story is great and uncovering it feels rewarding. However, severely limited video player controls makes the experience significantly worse. These three mechanics could have elevated it into the greatness: * Seeking bar (yes, a simple seeking bar... videos are digital, so VHS-like controls for seeking feel off) * Side-by-side player for videos that are paired as two sides of the same conversation (and so many of them are!). Of course you have to discover both sides first to pay them side by side, so "the challenge" won't be lessened. * Database overview after the credits roll to see, which files you have uncovered and which are missing ("Her Story" already had something like that, so it is a no brainer...)
Been a while since I completed this game and its solid expansion. It is not for everyone, sure, and I for one was really pushing my skills, but I managed to 100% even if I sometimes had to die hundreds of times (per single mission). I had the greatest time and haven’t stopped thinking about it since. It sets the perfect tone and atmosphere to tell its story (it is simple, but it does the job), has a kick-ass soundtrack, and the abilities and upgrades make your life easier. Keep on pushing! After 100% completing DLC the base game becomes significantly more manageable, you can turn off assist mode and play as intended, you can even complete the first chapter without dying, it is really doable. I await for Ghostrunner 2 with equal amounts of anticipation and fear (for my mediocre skills to be tested again).
It is a solid expansion, it teaches you to be a better player in a base game as well. I had the best ever gaming time with this expansion. Ghostrunner itself might as well be the cyberpunk themed game of the year 2020.
I would say it is a pretty great visual cyberpunk novel as game mechanics are pretty limited. In depth exploration of serious themes in a classical cyberpunk setting and well paced sarcasm makes it a recommended game for fans of the genre. However there are some issues that were continuously ruining the experience for me: * Insane head-bob (sort of zooming-in-and-out by the camera) while crouched * Graphical bug, which sometimes, when i loaded the game, made everything super-dark for me (gamma setting became kind of irrelevant), so i was paying some sections with night vision mostly (i am not speaking about the basement section) * Some of the simplest achievements are bugged (here on GOG), because almost nobody got them, while most of the people should have, including me. * Unnecessary mechanics, like injecting yourself with “sanity” drugs. * Text on computer screens is barely readable in many occasions. * Game tries to be scary, but it is really not, it could have been better as a straight up walking sim, without some of the survival horror elements.
Hotline Miami is more than a game, it is an experiment on the human psyche, and also a statement on the gamer culture. It is also political and punk. This thing blew my brains out and I am still collecting them from the floor. I hated it, I loved it. Hotline Miami is so simplistic, but yet so refined, and it aged well like a fine wine.
