Recent reviews by Sly

This is what real vampires are.

Steam awards compell me to write a new review.

So to new people looking in. Game is fun. Game is frustraiting. It's a simple to learn, difficult to master sort of game. Once you learn the basics, you then learn how to use all the simple mechanics to gain larger advantages against the Killer. As a killer, you learn how to outsmart survivors to get them faster. This is no F13. There is no instant win.

It's worth your money and your time.

A small review. I nominated the game for the Best use of a Farm Animal award. Reason being. Horse head.

I never played Harvest Moon. When it comes to farming simulators I am not all that keen. Something about the video made the game seem magical to me. 16 hours later the game did and still feels magical. I am not even half way through my first year and I am having a grand old time.

You start with a simple house, a huge plot to work, and a push out the door to go do whatever the heck you want.

There are events in this game. Both events that happen on certain days (Like the Beach Luau or the Flower Dance) that the whole town gets involved with. Then their are other events, not sure if they are random or what, but they happen and it makes the game feel so alive. There are over 20 towns people in this game and they are apart of these events. When you catch 2 kids playing in a strange spot, to someone losing their axe, to 'some racooons' rummaging in the garbage you gotta go stop. It's the little story elements and exploration that help this game keep that magical charm.

The music helps! It's so beautiful and fun and light.

You can farm, chop, mine, cook, craft, fish (man I love the fishing in this game. It's not the most amazing system, but I enjoy it. You cast your reel, wait for the 'ding' and start the mini-game. You just tap the bar to keep it lined up with the fish. It's so simple and oddly so satisfying.)

Money is a huge portion of this game. You are always wanting it. You are always needing to use it. And how you go about in the world is a factor in how you obtain it.

The friendship system is probably the weaker part of the game for me. Players on the discussion forum say it's par for the course for these games, but it sure is a doozy to get use to. Being friends with over 20+ villagers can be a little scary. There are 5 women and 5 men to choose from for a spouse. I have not gotten this far yet. So even with the weak friendship system, I still enjoy the chase to woo one of those to move in with me. I do know you can have up to 2 children, and your spouse will help you on your farm.

I'll shut up now. But I really implore you to try this game out and have a blast with it. It's not Overwhelmingly Positve for nothing! There is a lot of customization for your character and as far as I can tell, there is a lot of ways to boost your house the way you want. Just like Animal Crossing, you can get furniture for it, paint the walls, lay carpet and go to bed.

Enjoy!

Like others, I first played Rebuild and Rebuild 2. I completely missed the memo that there was a 3 on Steam until the Winter sell happened. Oh boy did I get my immediate moneys worth.

I'll start with the things I am not impressed with. The music. It's just not that fantastic in my opinion. I muted it and played my own music, which might have helped to increase the overall experience for me. I played this game in two four hour sittings already and I can say my own music helped immerse me far more than the games soundtrack.

Now for the good.

If you ever played Rebuild 1 or 2, you can say good bye to the 'normal' flash graphics and welcome the same style, but more refined. The controls are super simple, and the ease of use between the GUI and the map is fantastic. I can quickly and simply execute any command I want without to much hassle. The only hiccup would be with quickly checking my survivors happiness. This minor annoyance is saved due to the fact all the menus open and close instantly, so I don't feel like I am bogged down waiting for things to load or transition.

The gameplay for the uninvolved is easy. You have 5 trades. Builder, Scavanger, Guard, Engineer and Leader. They all can do each others jobs, but whatever role they specialize in will yield faster and better results. You want your builders to improve buildings, reclaim territory, hunt or chop wood. You want Scavengers to scout, collect goods and farm. Guards to protect your settlement from hoards or mobs, or to clear zombie nests faster. Engineers to do your research or fix key buildings on the map. Leaders for trade, recruitment and negotiations.

You start with 5 'squares'. Your goal is to reclaim more squares to build up your settlement. You'll find survivors, supplies, zombies, and other factions along the way. Each square has a property to it that helps you in some way, or at least has some flavor to (like a movie theater. It serves no purpose, but you can rebuild it to be a farm or church). The balancing act is deciding what to reclaim first. What to rebuild. Who to assign to what. What items during your hunts do you equip to who?

One of the main driving factors of the game (besides the zombies) is the random events. You'll get prompts. Ranging from 2 or more options. Depending on the action, or skill of your character affected. You may get only 1 due to unfortunate events, or 5 with a great chance of rewards. Do you give food to that random stranger who showed up at your gates and let them stay the night? Will the rob you? Give you a chainsaw? Join your struggling community? Let the zed in?

The game can be as fast or as slow as you want it. The default speed makes the time bo by 15 minutes. I play an hour a second for my speed and I enjoy how fast paced the game can be when your settlment grows large. Of course you can pause at any time during your micromanagment. You can play at any pace you desire and should find enjoyment all the same.

If I were to really get you to take a chance with this game, then I feel you would havve made the right choice. Even if you waste 3 hours of fun with it before you give it up, I believe your money would be well spent. The personal stories of your survivors (new to the series) helps give it more life. The story mode is fun, if not rather normal for this genre. Customization is not stellar, but satisfying.

Here. Consider this your free demo for the game. Rebuild 2. If you enjoy it, just imagine it with more options and fluditiy!

http://www.kongregate.com/games/sarahnorthway/rebuild-2

It really bugs me that so many of the reviews that tell you to not play this game have placed less than an hour into it. I was a big critic of the art style when I saw FFV hit the Steam Store, but since it's my second favorite in the series I wanted a go at it again. I've played the GBA version and an emulated version. Now for some points.

I can say with certainty if you liked FFV, you'll enjoy this adaptation. The artwork is not so bad after all. I have quite enjoyed the animations used. Watching Faris as a Monk using a spell. it just works. It does not feel odd or out of place. It does not feel rushed. Story animations are as funny or sorrowful as they were in the SNES version. The music is not remastered, but that does not take away any points. It's exactly the soundtrack you fell in love with before. And if you're new to FFV, you wont be dissapointed. People in the reviews encourage you to go emulate the game because it's better. At this point, it does not matter what version of the game you play, it's still FFV at it's core.

If you never played FFV, let me just say the job system will sell you on this game. It's fun, addicting and it will push you to mix things up. You unlock a lot of jobs really fast, so you're not stuck being just a simple mage, or just a fighter. Most fights can't just be spammed auto attacks and win, you have to go into them with some thought.

By the end of the day, if you like RPGs, depths, or Final Fantasy games. Get it. Enjoy it, and don't worry about the sub 1 hour reviews throwing a hissy fit.

If we still need reviews to discribe reasons why you should buy and play this game and all it's expansions. Let me just give you the short list.

Every game, rather on quick, normal, epic or marathon speed. Every game regardless if it's a land of all desert, tiny little islands with vast oceans, or your fun and friendly continents map. Rather you want to conquer, trade, tech or abuse game mechanics to own and use nukes by 1400AD, you can't go wrong with the fun feel of starting out as a small little nothing town, discoverying the power of iron, faith and a kick ass zoo and expanding out to have an empire bigger than the Ottomans or Romes could ever hope to achieve.

Look all I am rambling on about and trying to say here is that there is enough diversity in leaders, powers, units, tech tree builds and social policy building to offer a complete epic and unique expereince every time you play. Every time I load up a new map with any of over 40 civs to play from, I feel I am looking at a whole new world. Every game is going to have rivers, oceans, inland seas, desert, grass, hills, forests or any other combination of tile formations to look at. But the way mountains and snow can just cut into the landscape makes every world you play in feel wonderful and awesome.

I took up to much of your time. Just trust me. You'll have a lot of fun experimenting, empire building, city managin, and crushing your enemies. Having them driven before you. And hearing the outrage of their people as you annex their capital. Don't worry, it all works out in the end with Autocracy space victory as the Incans.

Yo it's dope.

This game, better than Doom 3.