Recent reviews by Merchaun

this game has consumed all of my thoughts and free time, please send help, it's too powerful

It's like battlefield if EA actually made it good

So far has been an overall positive experience with this game. Coming from the 2k franchise, there was certainly a learning curve adjusting to the new mechanics of this game, but after that it has been great. The courses are recreated fantastically, and the visuals are stunning. I initially had some crashing problems, which was worrying, but after a GPU driver update and updating my Xbox controller firmware, I've been able to play with no further issues since. I'm definitely enjoying the very dynamic career path you can take your player down depending on performance, and being able to take a strategic approach between decided to go direct to the PGA Tour or going to Korn Ferry first if you win at Q School. I'm very happy that there isn't a pay to win option, all the specs to improve clubs and the points to level your character are in game earned only. The clubs and such bought from the store with in-game currency or premium currency are not performance based, just cosmetic, which is great. The sponsor challenges are a bit grindy at times, and some are incredibly difficult, but still a nice feature regardless. Some slight issues with being able to select PGA pros in a private multiplayer game, but that's the only main issue I've found so far. Hoping for some additional courses and PGA pros to be added in the future, but still plenty to experience for now.

Edit to address what others have said:

"Laggy, clunky, choppy, etc": Set frames to 60fps (30 is default), lower visual settings from ultra (was default for me) to high, game still looks great. Menu has a slight delay, which is weird at first but after you start playing you don't spend a ton of time in the menu, so whatever.

Swing speed: There's an option in your character customization to set swing tempo. I find faster works good for me. From what I've heard, the 60fps framerate also helps with this.

Crashing: Crashed a couple times within the first few hours while playing with an xbox controller, I downloaded xbox accessories app and updated controller firmware, plus updated nvidia drivers. Haven't crashed since.

I started playing this on early release and it's quite frankly a breath of fresh air. So many games recently have been utterly disappointing on launch day, and it's amazing to find one that's not. Finding a great singleplayer game that's story-driven with a massive amount of in game content is fantastic. The world and setting has been constructed beautifully. Graphics are quite pleasant, the sound and ambiance is immersive, and the FX for spells is well crafted. The combat is quite fun with interesting combinations to try out and adapt to various enemies you fight. There is a ton of content packed within Hogwarts and that's without even stepping out into the rest of the world. I've accomplished a decent bit and still feel like I've barely scratched the surface of all the things I can do and explore in the world. While I think the game suffers from the lack of Quidditch, it seems as though a lot of in game dialogue and story points to it perhaps being a future DLC, which I truly hope for. Potion brewing is rather lackluster, something like the system you do in the first potions class would be a lot more enjoyable than just a crafting screen, but it's a minor complaint. Overall, the beauty of the game and the well done systems implemented far outweigh the few gripes I have. I have a feeling I'll be sinking a ton more time into this game.

So, after my first few hours in the game I definitely don't regret buying. Great game so far, depth of tricks that reminds me of Skate, as others have mentioned. Easy to learn, hard to master specific tricks and definitely takes some skill on the stick timing and angle. Multiplayer is fairly straightforward as well. Only thing I wish for MP is that players who haven't progressed as far weren't locked out from free roaming regions they haven't progressed to in the story line. But, progression is fairly quick and I was able to get to the third region in a couple hours, so fairly minor complaint. Graphics are solid, gameplay feels fairly well put together. Dialogue lines are a bit cheesy, but fun regardless.

Some minor wonkiness in collisions such as rail slides and some landings that you still pull off, but nothing that is terribly detrimental to gameplay. I think my biggest complaint is the inability to hop off your snowboard and walk around. It would be much easier for getting a proper spawn point set or to stop yourself from immediately sliding down a hill when you chose a spawn point. One other minor complaint is the lack of an in game option to turn down SFX. There is an option for turning down music, but I had to use the volume mixer to turn down the program's audio.

It's also cool to be able to see other players free roaming while you're on the mountain, adds a pleasant lively feel to the game. Interesting mechanics added as well, such as the tow lines and snowmobile towing.

Overall, would recommend if you're looking for a fun snowboarding game that's good to play with friends.

Despite the scattered in negative reviews, I would highly recommend this game. It is an unfathomably vast galaxy, with a limitless amount of possibilities. You could explore, and make your money discovering new planets and systems. You could spend some time fighting for the good guys and go bounty hunting. You could try to conquer the galaxy and focus on looting other players and AI. You could hop into a conflict zone for non-stop fast-paced combat alongside a capital class ship. You could be a trader, transporting goods across the galaxy, seeking the highest profit.

I see many complaining that the UI is too hard, or the game is too much of a grind. If you're looking for a very simple, easy to play, basic space battle game, this is not the game for you. This is the vast, emptiness of space. You make your own fun, you make your own adventure, and you make your own money. This game is not here to hold your hand, it's here to push you out of your little nest and into space to figure it out for yourself. The UI will take a bit of time to master, but once you do, it's very clean and well organized for how much content they've packed into it. As for the grind, yes. It does have some grinding aspects to it. However, those complaining about it being "too hard" most likely did not use the resources available to them online, or explore enough in game to find a good spot. I've been able to bounty hunt and earn 20+ million credits within just a couple nights of playing the game, and that's not even the most profitable thing to do. This game is a matter of whether you have the iniative to conquer it yourself, or whether you're going to fall behind and get cast to the side because you're expecting them to hold your hand through the whole game.

I bought this game to support the devs long ago when the game was still quite new. It was fairly unfinished, and had its fair share of bugs, but was still fun regardless. I lost interest in the game, and set it aside until they'd developed it further. I checked in periodically, noticing the game had become free to play. I was slightly annoyed that I had paid for a now free to play game, but so it goes. I was also slightly frustrated that no reward was ever given to those that bought the game in early access, but again, I let it go. However, with the recent update, the developers have decided to implement "ski passes," with a pass required for each mountain, with one free mountain rotating weekly. While this seemed like a bit of a cash grab, I decided to check out the game and see if the developers had finally given us something for buying the game once already, with a full season pass. I was quickly disappointed. There is no reward, cosmetic or otherwise, for buying the game initially, and now the developers have decided to start charging a group of early supporters that have already bought the game. I purchased this game as a whole, and now what I'm left with is access to one kid sized mountain, and most of the game locked behind a paywall. Absolutely ridiculous to see developers screw over long-time supporters. Would not recommend supporting this game at all, I wish I had never bought it to fund this company to begin with.

Wandering around in town
Find a soda can
"Plebsi"
10/10

Immersive story line, with a good amount of difficulty. Graphics are really good. 10/10