Recent reviews by ScuttlePeak

After reading many reviews and playing the game myself I'd like to leave a review for the game too, responding to comments by developers.

"The intention of Starfield's exploration is to evoke a feeling of smallness in players and make you feel overwhelmed."

that's the thing.. the emptiness of planets is doing the complete opposite. You see one planet and you have seen them all because they all look and feel the same. The only difference are plants here and there, maybe the atmosphere is breathable and the gravity. Every planet or moon, however, has the same empty boring setup with maybe a cave that looks like every other one.
Sure you can build a base but the game just leaves no incentive to do so. Building and decorating in this game is a pain and possibilities for decoration or building styles are EXTREMELY limited. "You see that research outpost 200 meters over there? you can build the exact same thing." But why would I want to do that? I dont want a base that looks like every other outpost. I want to build something unique and for that to have an actual function and meaning. Right now you build outposts for nothing. No functionality and an endless grind.

The game does not offer a lot of opportunity for exploration. The statement that you are supposed to feel overwhelmed simply does not live up to itself. You go out to explore and you just find the same anomalies, resources or Points of interest you found on the last planet you visited.

The story and sidequests mostly feel like the writers of the game didnt even know what direction they wanted to go. every quest is basically the same thing over and over. The only questline I enjoyed was the one where you worked as a double agent for pirates or the "space police".

The amount of loading screens are inexcusable. Yes the game has to load some things here and there but why can't the transition from surface into ship be fluent? The game should take an example off of star citizen there. and that game has absolutely no loading screens whatsoever and has way more things to load and has a better system for traveling in space and also seemless transition from space into atmosphere without any loadtimes. even walking into a small building requires loading screens even though they are already loaded into the map when you land in the area. Functional doors just dont seem to exist and instead you load and teleport inside instead.

Bethesda missed the mark with this game and with all the hype.. it just doesn't live up to Bethesda's standards in any way. Instead of trying to gaslight players in their reviews and totally disregarding their feelings and opinions about the game you should instead take that feedback and patch this game into something that isnt as one-sided and empty (as in lack of content and incentives to play).

Planets feel the same. there is never anything new to see. You see one planet and you have seen them all and that is what is so upsetting about the exploration part. Yes it is boring to see the same relic you saw on the last planet too. And you can't say that it isnt. whats the point of exploring in the first place if there is nothing truly new to find

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Sea of Thieves, developed by Rare and released in 2018, is a unique and ambitious open-world pirate adventure that has carved out a special niche in the gaming world. It offers a refreshingly different gaming experience, inviting players to embark on a piratical journey on the high seas with friends or fellow adventurers from around the globe.

One of the standout features of Sea of Thieves is its stunning visuals. The game boasts a colorful and vibrant art style that beautifully captures the essence of pirate lore. The crystal-clear waters, dynamic weather effects, and visually stunning islands create a captivating and immersive world that you'll want to explore endlessly.

At the core of Sea of Thieves is its cooperative multiplayer gameplay. The game encourages players to team up with friends or form crews with strangers to sail the seas together. This social aspect is where the game truly shines. The camaraderie, teamwork, and memorable moments shared with your crewmates as you navigate treacherous waters, uncover hidden treasures, and engage in epic ship battles are the heart and soul of the experience.

The ship mechanics are another highlight. Sailing a pirate galleon or a nimble sloop feels like an adventure in itself. Cooperation is crucial, as players must work together to raise sails, navigate, and engage in ship-to-ship combat. It's a testament to Rare's dedication to making the sailing experience as authentic and enjoyable as possible.

Quests in Sea of Thieves are divided into various types, from treasure hunts and cargo deliveries to battling mythical creatures. While the quests are fun and diverse, some players may find the content a bit limited, especially when playing solo. However, regular updates and expansions have continually expanded the game's content, addressing this concern.

A unique aspect of Sea of Thieves is its player-driven narrative. The game doesn't spoon-feed you a story but rather lets you create your own adventures and tales with your crewmates. The emergent storytelling, where every voyage feels like an epic saga, is a testament to the game's design.

However, Sea of Thieves isn't without its shortcomings. The lack of a comprehensive progression system and the potential for repetitive gameplay can be drawbacks for some players. Additionally, encounters with other players can sometimes turn into frustrating or overly aggressive PvP battles.

In conclusion, Sea of Thieves is a one-of-a-kind pirate adventure that thrives on its social, cooperative gameplay and stunning visuals. It's a game that truly shines when played with friends, creating memorable moments and stories. While it may not be everyone's cup of grog due to its lack of traditional progression and occasional gameplay repetition, it remains a unique and refreshing addition to the world of online multiplayer gaming. If you're looking for a pirate-themed escapade filled with camaraderie and exploration, Sea of Thieves offers a sea of opportunities to satisfy your inner buccaneer.

Amazing sequel to The Forest. The building system is a lot better, The AI has room for improvement but is already pretty good, Map is HUGE and there is a lot to explore. Enemies get more difficult the more aggressive and longer your play. Absolutely in love with this game! Looking forward to the updates that are coming

I am usually someone who plays fast paced competitive game and switching to this game to relax is an amazing change of pace. I love the realism it brings to it, the customization, mod capabilities and the multiplayer feature. Totally recommend this game to relax and wind down

Witch it takes the potential of prop hunt and transforms it into a game you can have fun with for hours and hours. I have only played this game for 19 hours so far but I had fun every second of it. The game brings many different game modes and maps and has a huge workshop for custom maps as well.

You can customize your witch or hunter from the hat, to body, weapon, broom, color etc. Any item you can equip can be unlocked by simply playing the game and leveling up, although public matches provide more rewards than private ones. The amount of customization items is not lacking as well. There are tons of different things to unlock.

The game is quite fun playing by yourself in public lobbies but it can get boring and repetitive over time. I recommend bringing friends in and hanging out in a voice chat. This game is built to be played with friends and the more people you bring in, the more fun it is. The most people I got in a private match so far was 6 and we played for hours, laughed, joked around, tested props and hiding spots and just had an amazing time messing with each other.

Once you get to know the maps it is pretty easy to find common hiding spots but that does not mean you can win every match, no matter if you are hunter or hunted. There are always spots where you can hide at without anyone finding out where you are. The more you blend in with your environment, the better. The best strategy I have figured out for myself so far is hiding in plain sight. Picking out hiding spots that aren't really hiding spots. Or positions where no one would even look for you or expect you to be. That could be a plank on the ground, or a tiny object on top of a wall at the edge of the map. It can get pretty funny if you experiment around a little.

Both hunters and witches come with their own abilities they can use to sabotage the hunters or find witches easier. Hunters use a Body Slam Ability by default that lets them deal high amounts of damage when falling from great heights when using this ability, that doesn't just deal damage on one target, but everything close to you. This is especially useful when jumping from roofs into areas with too many props. They may also throw out a Chicken which can detect magic in a 6 meter radius, making it easier to find witches close by.
The witches' default abilities are flight, which lets your soar through the air for a few seconds until your Mana is depleted, or Decoy, which creates a fake prop at your mouse position that can confuse hunters.

You can already have a lot of fun with the Hide and Seek game mode but if you are looking into something more of a challenge, try Mobification. In this game mode, witches, when found, turn into hunters to help find the remaining witches on the map. Or Fill-A-Pot where you have to activate different cauldrons on the map and find specific props you need to disguise as to jump into them.

And lastly for all the creative people out there, Witch It also comes with a creative mode that lets you build your own Hide and Seek maps! However, to be able to place more props you must disguise as them in public matches first to unlock them in your collection.

This game gets a great 9/10 from me because of the fact that, of course, friends are required to get the most out of this game. However, Once you got your team together you will not want to stop playing. For all the people out there looking for a good prop hunt game, it is definitely worth giving this one a try.

Horizon Zero Dawn sets place in a huge open world many years in the future where machines conquer the wilderness on earth. You play Aloy, a young, ambitious outcast raised by rost, who trained and lectured her from a young age. Aloy finds herself in a huge world of mysteries, roaming through many different parts of the huge open world, learning different skills and abilities while meeting many friends, foes and strangers along her journey to find her mother and why she was cast out. The story provides a very promising plot, emotions, drama and twists, all that playing on a gigantic, very detailed and beautifully designed open world you are free to explore. Along the main-story there are also dozens of side-quests and collectibles you can gather and complete and a very big background-lore that award you with additional skills upon uncovering it. If you are looking for an amazing story in a beautiful landscape then this game is definitely for you. A must-have for all open world RPG fans!

The Forest ist ein Survival-Horror Spiel mit atemberaubender Grafik, bei dem es das Ziel ist, auf einer entfernten Insel nach seinem, nach dem Absturz entführtem Sohn zu suchen. Dieser wurde dem Anschein nach von einem der dort lebenden Ureinwohner entführt.

Der Protagonist startet zunächst im Flugzeug. Was hier interessant ist, ist, dass je nach Spielmodus (Multi- oder Singleplayer) auch andere Passagiere im Flugzeug sitzen. Wenn er sich zunächst umsieht, findet er das Überlebenshandbuch, welches vermutlich vom Sohn vorher gelesen wurde. Dieser schläft, nichts ahnend der folgenden Ereignisse, denn sobald unser Protagonist das Buch in die Hand nimmt, warnt uns die Stewardess vor "Interferenzen" während des Fluges und bittet uns, die Gurte anzulegen. Bevor er jedoch dazu kommt stürtzt das Flugzeug in die Tiefe. Das Cockpit sowie ein Großteil der Besatzung trennt sich im sturz vom restlichen Teil des Flugzeugs. Diese haben jedoch später im Spiel noch eine größere Bedeutung. Da man schwierig über die Sitze schauen kann wirft er einen Blick nach draußen und sieht, wie das Flugzeug irgendwo in einem Wald auf dem Boden aufschlägt und wird kurze Zeit später ohnmächtig.
Nun wird er kurze Zeit später wieder wach und sieht am Anfang beschriebenes Ereigniss...

Sein Sohn wurde Entführt! Und es ist seine Aufgabe sicherzustellen, dass er unversehrt nach Hause kommt... oder bei dem Versuch zu sterben.

Fazit:

Im großen und ganzen hat das Spiel eine sehr einfach gehaltene Spielmechanik. Die Grafik lässt sich bis auf das letzte Detail bearbeiten und fügt neben der einstellbaren Lichtstreuung, Rendermenge von Gras und Schattenqualität auch zusätzliche Shadereffekte hinzu, die das Spiel noch schöner machen. Die KI im spiel ist sehr gut geschrieben, Gegner lernen aus jeder Bewegung, die Ihr tätigt und machen einem das Spiel selbst langzeitig bei weitem schwieriger.
Die map besteht aus einer sehr großen und großzügig gestalteten Spielwelt, die es zu erkunden gilt um jede Ressource auszuschöpfen und somit die Chance zu erhöhen, dass man Timmy wiederfindet. Neben dem Wald gibt es auch eine Tundra, Stränder, Klippen, riesige Berge und Extreme Labyrinth-ähnliche Höhlensysteme, die meiner Meinung nach mit das Spannendste am ganzen Spiel sind. Jedes Gebiet birgt seine eigenen Geheimnisse, die das Gesamtbild der Story etwas aufhellen und später auch den Aufenthaltsort von Timmy zeigen.
Die Statusanzeige im spiel, welche unten rechts zu sehen ist, ist sehr schlicht und einfach gehalten. Statuseffekte wie hunger oder Durst wirken sich auch auf die Leistung eures spielers aus, welcher auch daran Sterben kann. Anfängern rate ich, sich nach dem Bauen einer Basis auf das Jagen einer Schildkröte zu konzentrieren, um einfach an Trinkbarem Wasser zu kommen. Danach ist es ratsam, auf die Jagd zu gehen. Nebenbei Angemerkt ist auch das Tierleben auf der Insel sehr vielfältig und reicht von Wild über Vögel bis hin zu Fischen. Diese bieten einen jede Menge möglichkeiten seine Nahrungsvorräte aufzustocken.

Wobei es mir jedoch an übersichtlichkeit fehlt ist das Crafting Menü bzw das Inventar. Einige Rezepte sind schwer heraus zu bekommen und die Entdeckung muss teils über ein Try and Fail kreislauf ablaufen. Viele Rezepte sind allerdings sehr einfach und man kann auch sehen, was man aus dem derzeit ausgewähltem Gegenstand machen kann. Sollte es mit den kenntnissen beziehungsweise dem Selbstschutz im Wald mal nicht so klappen, brauch man sich beim ersten "Tot" keine gedanken zu machen.
Man wacht in einer höhle auf und sieht sich selbst angebunden an der Höhlendecke. Glücklicherweise ist jedoch unsere Feueraxt direkt unter uns, mit der man sich schnell wieder befreien kann.

Alles in allem bekommt das Spiel von mir eine 9 von 10!

Ich hoffe dieser "kurze" Einblick hat ein Paar der neugierigen, deutschsprachigen Augen geholfen :)