Recent reviews by Κασσάνδρα ☣

Satisfactory is a game that I didn't know I needed so much in my life. It combines the satisfaction (ha) of conveyor belt style heavy management games with the immersion of a First Person game. An incredible aspect of the game is the pacing. Satisfactory has an incredible ability to never let you get bored. When management becomes too much you are re-directed to exploring. When exploring becomes overwhelming you are re-directed to expansion and experimentation. There is always something to do.

Satisfactory also, to my surprise, is very well written. The story, themes and character interactions that exist are played perfectly in order to accommodate for the game style. It is a good side dish that will give you a lot to think about while engaging with the core mechanics.

Also Satisfactory has an oddly very good mobility centered combat. I was truly surprised to find myself having so much fun with the combat in a game that is about anything but combat.

All and all it is basically a must. With the exception of a few bugs that are ought to be ironed out with time, this game is just perfect.

I am a chef trainee. I was looking far and wide to find a good (semi-)realistic cooking game in which I can familiarize myself with recipes and all things cooking. At first I really liked Cooking Simulator, however, like many others, I was immediately slapped by some of the most grating and fatigue inducing bugs. I legit had high hopes for this game and it is based on a good foundation, however what I got was Oil Bottles floating outside of the screen, potatoes clipping through cutting boards and schizophrenic customers who give you 1 star because their order contained the food they asked for.

It is just sad.

A lovely bitesized roguelite with an emphasis in strict time management. I strongly recommend even at full price. Anyone who enjoys flash era towerdefense game will especially appreciate the style.

Zombie Army 4 is a lovely game. Its primary inspiration is Left 4 Dead, with some DOOM and CoD Zombies influences sprinkled within. I have been a big fan of the franchise since the first Nazi Zombie Army and all I can say is that Zombie Army 4 certainly innovates over its predecessors. Some times in ways that I enjoyed (Abilities, Variety in equipment, Customization etc) but other times In ways I really didn't like (A massively overloaded HUD, an actual army of DLC content, way too many particle effects and sounds not fitting the themes of the setting).

My biggest gripe with Zombie Army 4 is the atmosphere and aesthetics. The Original trilogy had a much heavier suffocating atmosphere. The gore was much more as well. And so was the occult symbolism. Overall it felt more like a heavy metal cover with the absurd levels of grotesque violence and overwhelming atmosphere on display. Zombie Army 4 doesn't feel quite like that. It feels more cartoonish, like someone tried to make the original trilogy in a platform like Fortnite. The "silliness" of a lot of the DLCs, the taunts and the extreme levels of dialogue that were lacking in the first three games also play a role in ZA 4's loss of identity.

The game is GOOD. The shooting feels legit. The zombies are fun to massacre. There is a lot of challenge to be had and a lot of things to collect. On top of that the graphics are amazing. Also the finally fixed the Submachineguns which is lovely. I recommend this game IF on sale, because frankly the asking price for the game itself + all the season passes outside of a sale is outrageous.

Darkest Dungeon 2 is a roguelite that overhauls a massive part of the meta-game of the original Darkest Dungeon while also tweaking the battle system to go along with these new changes. The new art direction is a perfect continuation of the original's and the 3d/2d style works (almost) perfectly, especially in the animation department DD2 surpasses the original.

The issue however is one (and it is a big one). With the meta-game overhauled the stakes of each run have changed towards a very peculiar direction. In DD2 losing a hero or getting a party wipe does't represent a problem you have to work around (i.e build up a new team, equip them, level them up etc like in DD1, losing a team felt like a personal challenge, the game directly slapping you and asking you what you are gonna do about it) but rather it just represents lost time. Feeling like you wasted hours upon hours on a run because you messed up is an infinitely more grading feeling. The memory system also piles up on this annoyance by multiplying said lost time. As a result the game gets repetitive and stale. The meta-game currency is incapable of fixing that issue.

As a personal anecdote. I could play DD1 for 12 hours straight and not get bored for a second. With DD2 I can go through 1 maybe 2 runs before I throw the towel for the day because I just can't bring myself to go through the grinder again.

That said I am a big fan of the new combat system, obviously heavily inspired by the Butcher's Circus add-on to DD1. The RNG has been heavily reduced by replacing many stats such as Accuracy and Dodge with tokens. Your character will hit 100% of the time but if he has a blind token or the enemy has a dodge token that % goes down to 50% or even 25%. I do enjoy this new system since it fixes one of the most frustrating aspects of DD1. That being the accuracy system.

All that said I think DD2 has a lot of potential. If the Meta-Game is fixed and more variety is added I think it can reach hights close to the original. Also I respect the devs a lot for deciding to make an actually new game based on DD1 and not just recycle the same formula with new graphics. This is a level of risk that should be rewarded by fans on top of the fact that Red Hook still releases updates and DLCs for DD2.

All and all. Good game with a lot of potential but some really upsetting issues that can be resolved.

This DLC did Forespoken before Forespoken

It is just an assetflip with horrible writing

Stay away

There is not much to say. It is a classic. The steam integration is perfect and I enjoyed 100%ing it. I anticipate more Papa's ports in the future~

Viscera Cleanup Detail is a game far deeper than it seems.

The gameplay revolves around two main things. The satisfaction of cleaning up a massive mess and very fun physics that create unique funny situations and challenges. There is no progression or skinner's box type mechanics here, arguably the game makes fun of such things. It is just you, your mop and the satisfaction of having cleared an entire level.

The themes of the game are pretty interesting. The game has a lot to say about capitalism and corporatism. In many respects it reminded me of Cruelty Squad in the surrealism of its worldbuilding. It is worth it to read notes and follow the lore of each stage. There is also a grand multi-map easter egg that is worth following.

All and all I strongly recommend it. It is fun and satisfying and the physics-centric gameplay is something you don't see often.

It is Skyrim

Call of Duty World At War is the closest CoD ever came to creating real uncompromising art that makes you feel real emotions and not pig slop. I hold this game dear to my heart and has stood the test of time unlike other CoD games from my childhood. I recommend it to everyone.