Recenzii recente de Flippy_D

This was made in 2012, and at the time was probably pretty groundbreaking. I think we've come a long way in narrative-driven games since then. In fact, this very studio has created works that far surpass Unfinished Swan.

Gameplay wise there are things to like and the opening section has real impact, but the mechanics and controls soon become clunky. A feature introduced in the late game is pretty cool, but again the implementation quickly gets stale.

There's also a critical flaw in the way the collectible subquest works: it requires very careful replaying, but the game is not fun to replay. In fact, I'm annoyed because the frequent use of 'no return' design specifically means I couldn't go back to explore the few areas that I think I missed. The chapter system doesn't really alleviate this.

Story-wise... it doesn't quite land. Hard to explain why. Although there is a part where it becomes unexpectedly threatening, which was effective, and it has an undeniably brilliant voice actor right at the end. But fundamentally it feels overwritten and too aware of itself, with a conclusion that wants to be poignant but can't decide how to go about achieving it. It reads a lot like an American trying to emulate Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, and... not succeeding.

Look, I don't regret playing this game, exactly. It was fine. It might be worth grabbing if you're curious - in the same way you might, for sake of an actor or director, watch an old film that hasn't aged very well. But eight years after release, I can't really recommend the average person picking it up. Go buy Edith Finch instead.

Haunting. Unlikely to be like anything else you've ever played.

Sharp, smart, inventive hybrid of stealth, magic and mayhem with a wonderfully well-built world and distinct aesthetic.

Literally one of the best games I have ever played.

Edit 01/21: Okay the expansion packs and mods make it good now. But don't pay full price for them.

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Original:

So maybe you're like me.

Maybe, like me, you play Civ as a sort of gentle time-sink. On the easier difficulties, never really expecting to be seriously challenged, and certainly never expecting to lose.

And maybe, like me, you found that you had finally got so familiar with Civ V that all you were really doing was playing out the same game on different maps.

Maybe, like me, you saw this game on sale after months of vague interest and thought, hey, why not.

And why not indeed? For the first few dozen hours it's pretty good. You get to explore new leaders, buildings and technologies, and the maps and units are charming.

But doubt sets in quickly.

For one, the AI is just... inconvenient. I don't want one that rolls over on me, but I also don't want one that has weirdly robust armies 75 turns in and declares war for stupid, unpreventable reasons. The agendas are a good idea on paper but poorly executed.

Examples: I had one game where my largely inland empire was fine until I finally reached the sea and built a port, whereupon Harald of Norway went from benign friendship to seething hatred. Why? Not because I was threatening him, but because... I had a weak navy? Well, duh. I've only just built my first jetty. Another game saw me overrun before I'd even got out of the first age, because I hadn't managed to found a religion yet and boy do the Kongolese freaking hate that.

Second, the progress of your Civ feels, strangely, to be more constricted than Civ V even though I almost always follow the same pattern in the previous game. The bonuses and so on chivvy you down certain paths, and the choice of developing tiles should be more rewarding and dynamic than it is; instead you get a sort of odd paint-by-numbers effect among both. It feels rather like being led through a sequence that you passively absorb unless you want to learn every mechanic in the game (per above: I don't). You feel much more on the back foot, with a sense of mostly reacting to other things rather than forging your own destiny.

Third, the expansion packs are just not what I'm prepared to pay to get more leaders and Civs, which is honestly the main reason I buy them (I'm sure scenarios are nice, but not my thing). So I feel priced out of the full game. I picked up Brave new World for £5. Polynesia and Denmark between them were £1.48. I don't want to pay more than the original game just to get leaders.

And lastly... it just... got boring. In a way that Civ V never suffered from. I can't explain to you why, because I can't pinpoint it myself. But the game just isn't as satisfying to play, which is a real shame considering the effort they've put into it and how some mechanics definitely work better here.

So, there we go. My review for casual players. If you're looking for about 60-70 hours of fun, you'll be fine. But I put over 500 hours into Civ V, and had hoped for similar here.

This is an unbelievably smart game.

After I completed it, I downloaded a dialogue unpacker just so I could see every single choice and consequence. It is a testament to the writers that the myriad possible trees are all compelling, sensical and sequential.

If you are even passingly interested in puzzles or philosophy, you should get this game.

If you like both, why don't you have it already?