Recent reviews by Discothèque Juliet

Original review in spoilers below. Link to the Twitter post!

Originally posted by Playstation's Official Twitter Account:

Helldivers fans -- we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.

We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans.

As such I've changed my review back to recommending this game and suggest you all do the same, the war to save Super Earth is back on the menu.

For such a fun game, their recent announcements have been pretty ♥♥♥♥.

• You can find archived store page(s) where the PSN requirement wasn't listed.
  
• It wasn't in the EULA either.
  
• You can't even sign-up for PSN in almost one-third of the world without getting banned for faking credentials.
  
• https://clips.twitch.tv/TangentialBashfulFlamingoKAPOW-u0fayVxa0jR8ZcyK Community Manager Spitz is insane.

It really is quite tone-deaf.

If I could rate this a neutral "~" I probably would, thumbs sideways, what it does well it does 8/10 or 9/10 well and if you're coming here from The Talos Principle 1 (henceforth TTP1) and don't mind if the story surrounding the puzzles (and what I feel is less-than-intuitive navigation around large areas if you're trying to collect everything) comes across as more mediocre than the first, then it's definitely a game worth picking up even full price (currently $29.99).

With that out of the way:

(1) As mentioned the puzzles are enjoyable, I feel like I enjoyed them less than I did TTP1 (and I miss "take pieces outside of the puzzle" elements) but they still encourage some lateral outside-the-box thinking and "that makes perfect sense in hindsight" moments, though I feel like the puzzles build off previous concepts less than they did in TTP1 (probably partially because they keep on introducing new mechanics that don't always stick around between areas reliably) so some of the aspects feel like a "gotcha" moment rather than an intuitive progression of difficulty.

(2) The lack of a map is immensely frustrating despite the options you can enable on the compass, some of the worlds do not feel like they were designed to be navigated on foot well, instead presenting a visual aesthetic that - while charming - is pretty frustrating outside of navigating around the standard 8 main puzzles per area (the map with all the huge towering statues and reaching a Straton audio fragment even WITH a map someone made was actually annoying on its own)... and each area is much larger than it needs to be, gone is the clean digital aesthetic of TTP1 where everything is in pretty neat hallways (and a tower at one point)...

(3) Of course the lack of a clean digital aesthetic is part of the selling point of the game, we've woken up in the real world and have to deal with real world problems now. Unfortunately for the most part the philosophy isn't very thought-provoking, "how much honesty is too much honesty" and what it meant for Straton isn't what I was hoping for, and he seems to be some kind of self-aware fragment rather than excerpts from his writing, based on picking up his final audio file, the entire thing ties into how this new robot ("new human") society views themselves, as Athena (that's you from the first game) is mythologized heavily and much of the debate/philosophy is about your role in nature/truth/progression and the mistakes of the now-extinct humans. There are interesting tidbits buried in this, like a text file on the ethics of extinction (whether we oppose extinction as a concept, or simply human control) and you do get audio files from someone who worked with Alexandra Drennan as they try to finish up the program, it's just pretty scattered.

(4) Ultimately the story just feels like a massive miss, it takes the themes from TTP1 (essentially self-determination and not relying on an external authority) and pushes it into deep deep theoretical physics territory that essentially makes most/all of IRL science obsolete, maybe it's not outright pseudo-science, but the terms they use are purely hypothetical under the guise of philosophy. This even makes the religious structure of some of the philosophy (which typically has an "atheistic/there is only nature" bent) also miss its mark, because despite seemingly knowing everything and having a complete grasp of the entire universe to be able to create things out of thin air, there's still something out there unexplained and waiting for you beyond all physics and knowledge, if you collect all the stars. (This last tag is a heavy spoil).

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It undermines itself a lot, TTP2 does more to make me miss TTP1 than it does to sell me on TTP2's own story/features.

But the puzzles are fun, so I still recommend it for that.

If you don't like opening doors with your face that completely obscures your field-of-view for presumably impending jump scares, this game isn't for you.

It's an immensely well-reviewed game if you don't mind somewhat gimmicky horror (and I mean mechanical gimmicks based on map changes, musical cues to provide non-verbal information, and areas free of monster spawns).

I have tried repeatedly and just end up closing it because of the beginning sequence, it doesn't sell me on continuing the experience like Prey (2017) did - which when it tricked you into jumpscares did so masterfully in purely optional ways ensnaring those inclined to explore a hostile environment (and there were plenty of clues indicating what theoretically could happen that made all it fall into place in a brilliant way).

Trying to start this game is like "ah I see random strangely indoor wind is blowing open doors purely to startle me", that's not fun - it reminds of me some of the particularly clunky/bad Resident Evil ports on the Wii U.

You can enjoy atmospheric horror and survival horror and still hate this game, or you can hate horror in general and still enjoy this game, your mileage may vary and "closed down the game within the first hour" is all too common; it makes it impossible to recommend to anyone.

I guess if you enjoy videos of people playing it that you could give it a try though.

I'd definitely wait for this to be 50% off, it's incredibly easy to get through (there were some bugs, but the developer fixed them ASAP) and while my attempt at doing 100 rounds resulted in a loss the first time, I personally didn't feel like trying it again; there's not a lot of motivation to experiment (this could be solved by say, a checkpoint at wave 90 perhaps, or better refunds of TP when selling on long rounds - the later in the round count, the better the sell price - or even both at once).

It wasn't a bad distraction, and 25% of the proceeds are donated which is nice, it just didn't draw me in once I completed the campaign.

This was provided to me for free, without any requirements.

Feedback though: the levels where you build walls with masks could use a lot of work, it didn't feel like a maze so much as just alternating rows for maximum turret coverage.

Hand Sanitizer spam for life, until it gets nerfed.

Will you remain within the void between the worlds, until you pass away, or fight to fulfill your purpose? Your shell is weak, little bug, but your soul is strong.

It's a very beautiful world, sidescrolling, exploration, Souls-like death mechanics, bouncing around on enemy heads (and the occasional bit of dangerous terrain) with downward strikes like this is Mario-for-insects; though actually you rip (and tear) and slash your way through enough respawning enemies to cause an ecological disaster.

Meet new NPCs, then get ripped off by their pricing.

And of course, occasionally get lost, no shame asking a question (platforms that could have their tether severed with a basic attack was this for me) or looking up a map (City of Tears) because you managed to get just a little bit turned around despite checking every room you could find.

Remember what Shakespeare wrote: "Why then the world's mine oyster" ... "Which I with sword will open".

The world might by our protagonist's oyster, but don't forget your blade Nail.

Whoever said this game wasn't suitable for children has never seen what America is like growing up.

It's a good perfectly wholesome and harmless game in keeping with our national values, featuring a lot of cute girls and nothing terrible enough to make the evening news.

Though if I lived in another country I would probably be telling you something the exact opposite. Still would recommend though.

I played a lot of the original Dead Frontier, getting to the endzones and outfitting myself up to the soft skill-cap with weapons in all three slots and generally had fun despite the "grind" and the rather tedious issues with super-fast bosses on a looting build (and the expense and grind and microtransactions of a full boss build).

It was an astonishingly greedily priced "F2P" game, but it was interesting enough to play free for its era (even though I don't recommend it now).

This? This is just an awful clunky experience where you try to do the same grinding but slower. I hated it.

Better renamed as: how to cut out 99% of all meaningful content regardless of when it was purchased, with plans to cut a majority of content purchased after the game went free-to-play, including notable exotics and their catalysts unless already acquired.

Entire planets and storylines, entire groups of items and unique rewards, entire armor sets and sought-after weapon rolls being "sunset" (a term used to indicate that you won't be able to enhance them up to current power levels indefinitely) all for ♥♥♥♥♥♥ season-pass styled content and extra DLCs that will ALSO become vaulted. Sunsetting was reversed earlier this year going forward, but didn't undo the damage it caused or return content forcibly removed. Every single article on the topic indicates already-sunset gear remained sunset.

Bungie hasn't been decent for awhile, but there was a glimmer of hope that was promptly taken out back and shot, causing most of the people I know (even really good PvPers from the Sanctuary Discord) and played with personally to abandon ship.

Whatever Destiny 2 was is long dead, the lore (what little remains) has to be accessed and read through third-party websites and videos and fan-made compilations; so you can't even play it for the story any longer.

Pretty much any reviews beyond 8~ months ago aren't valid any longer; there's a reason the DLCs are mixed-to-negative.

Do yourself a favor and play literally any other looter shooter that wants FAR LESS than $130 out of you; hell you can even avoid the pitfalls of an earlier Warframe arsenal for 20% of that, or literally buy four or five much better games at least.

Disclaimer: If I could review this game under "mixed", I really would, so read this review with that grain of salt in your mind.

It's a very fun game, the more open maps are interestingly designed for the most part and there are very few hang-ups, the occasional frustration regarding blocked grapple points are surmountable and there are very few instances of grapple-jump-grapple-jump-grapple-jump elevation-based cheese. (Note: grappling resets your midair jump so you can grapple-jump indefinitely without really going in any particular direction other than upwards).

Until it isn't.

See placed amid the interesting fun swingy levels are ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ levels like "Airbender" where everything you touch kills you in a cramped space except for tiny little gaps that you have to grapple perfectly (and at the proper angle and elevation to avoid swinging into a surface that kills you anyway) to get through.

Some levels are functionally fully enclosed (like Big Bank) and there is no alternative grappling around to the other end, or any meaningful parkour or swinging at all (you can basically get through it just by walljumping and running).

Others stick you in a very small tunnel that relies on exceedingly careful abuse of grapple-double-jump unless your DPI is high and your reflexes higher, or make you look down at a platform and grapple only to jump immediately, rinse repeat until elevation is gained.

Most of the levels are enjoyable, but the nature of locking levels behind each other in sequence makes the unenjoyable ones stick out extremely; patience and dedication and lack of concern for time-based scoring will allow you to progress, but you'll find yourself wishing to skip certain levels instead of sucking it up. This is notably an issue for many players as you'll see the number of completions fall off harder than you'd expect even for Steam average completion rate.

The game hints at something special being added if 10,000 people collect enough of the scoring crystals, but apparently that never happened and is unlikely to.

It does have extra modes and a Steam workshop, so if you're in it to swing it then you're in luck... It's just that getting through every official level requires you to grit your teeth and suffer beyond ordinary parkour and platforming would typically require.

I'd give it like a 5/10, it's a good way to pass the time and have some fun and is free of most of the issues that make you scream angry curses at "pixel perfect or ♥♥♥♥ you, and also ♥♥♥♥ you anyway" parkour (especially in games not designed for uber parkour jumping challenges, like Minecraft), but in return it offers all new issues that are equally vexing in their own "be nearly perfect" way for a game where you can't really see your own model to avoid bumping your invisible head or feet into instant-death.

It is worth the listed price of $15 if you really like these kinds of games, but if you're uncertain then wait for a sale (it's probably worth $10 regardless). Without the aforementioned issues it could easily be an 8/10 or 9/10, I just can't in good conscience outright "recommend" it to your average review-browsing experimental buyer.

I beat the actual story in exactly 117 minutes (the "ONE OF US" achievement unlock), it's not actually very long even with some of my more frustrating deaths.

It was a fun (though with some psychological themes that may or may not be uncomfortable) experience, and it has challenge levels and an endless mode that takes you back through the game's environment; though I personally feel that the game lacks enough difficulty to justify this; weapons are abundant enough and the ease of knocking them out of enemy hands and using stairs to actually dodge between shotgun blasts means usually death comes from a spawn outside of your FOV once you get the hang of it.

I wouldn't say this game was worth $25 (though I got it from a friend having a spare Humble Bundle code) regardless of whether you wanted to just try it and refund, or keep it; I do recommend playing through it one or the other and waiting for a sale though.

☑ Worth playing through the story itself.
☑ Enough additional content to justify the price if you enjoy speedruns, endless modes, and challenges with restrictions.
☑ Psychological themes (conditioning, freedom, wetware, coercion).
☑ Multiple methods of getting through some levels (this comes down to killing each enemy, but the order and path varies).

❌The story itself is very short (117 minutes from first launch to completion); YMMV if you're not good at dodging bullets, but it's pretty short.
❌Additional content is probably not going to broadly appeal or keep your interest, gameplay challenges (speedruns, weapon restrictions) are on the completionist side, and the gameplay loop of killing enemies in endless is questionably grindy (also the game flashes the number of each kill on the screen, which gets annoying immediately).
❌Psychological themes (inability to communicate freely, self-harm in three different instances, negative and dehumanizing reinforcement).
❌One-dimensional levels that are essentially a singular path and the resulting one-sided violence towards everything in front of you.

I'd give this game something like a 5/10, though if you get it for <$10 I'd probably bump it up to about a 7/10.

It's like RIGHT in the middle of content that probably isn't for everyone, with an interesting-but-short story mode that has themes the average user may or may not want in their recreational activities (though this is more if you have PTSD or something), and then a lot of stuff packed in to pad out what you can do after finishing the story.