Recent reviews by Red the Rogue

Helldivers 2 is an amazing experience. Building off the idea of community effort from the first game, you'll be facing swarms of bug-like Terminids and the endless armies of the Automatons. Some matches are easy, most of them will be rough, but playing with other friends makes it an absolute blast to play. Definitely a top-tier game in my book.

After having played the original Risk of Rain years ago and even during the sequel's time, the remake of the original is very much solid. Even with a small shake up to the original formula with new items and enemies, the game feels incredibly polished, the new characters are a blast to play, and I'm glad to be playing this once again. The challenge mode is incredibly rough, however, so do be warned.

Going in with little expectations, Valheim is a great game. Highly recommend to play with friends, however. Solo, the experience through the more dangerous part of the woodlands and onward can easily leave you overwhelmed. With others beside you, exploring the world and setting up outposts is quite fun. The building mechanics are surprisingly intuitive, so I definitely urge people to give this game a shot. You'll easily sink plenty of hours into it.

For a game I held no expectations for, Jedi: Fallen Order turned out to be a fantastic game. A great mix of jedi power-fantasy and a combat system akin to Sekiro and Dark Souls, it's a game I can wholeheartedly recommend for players who like a little challenge in their gameplay. In my journey, I've had some falls, but coming back from those mistakes left a great impression for myself.

The story is somewhat lackluster and admittedly a little short (I have an extra 5 hours Steam didn't record at review time), but the rest of the gameplay more than makes up for it. Go in, take your time, and explore. It's a good ride.

For a game with a fairly simple premise, it's a very fun game to play. Solo or multiplayer, I wholeheartedly recommend it.

Monster Hunter, as a series, has been a fascinating journey. In comparison to the rest of the series, World stands out as a sort of "black sheep", for good and bad. There's been several quality of life changes, such as eating -during- a hunt, and having more control while using items. As someone who's played the games since the 3DS copies, I've found it to be a refreshing experience and a good change of pace from the "classic" Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter World is still a tough, yet incredibly satisfying game just like its predecessors. Although there are some technical issues to expect, considering this is the first game to be ported to the PC (Not including Monster Hunter Online), I still whole-heartedly recommend this game.

In 2002, Neverwinter Nights brought players to world of extraordinary creativity. Providing both the backbone of a solid interpretation of Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 as well as the toolset to create anything from a single-player adventure to a multiplayer persistent world, Neverwinter Nights was more than just a single game or adventure. NWN was, quite literally, anything that people could create. In one adventure, a player would play an adventurous sort in the Forgotten Realms or perhaps a gatecrasher in Planescape. In another, a soldier with a rifle using the d20 Modern system.

In 2018, despite the loss of Gamespy's server listing and the near loss of the original vault of custom content, Neverwinter Nights continues to impress players with the creative adventures and multiplayer worlds still coming out to this day. Combining both the current-day support by Beamdog and the additions (as suggested by the players themselves) for both players and builders, as well as keeping backwards compatibility for content of the original game, Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition is still a very solid experience that I wholeheartedly recommend to everyone. It has enthralled myself for over 15 years, and it still does to this day. Few games today could ever replicate these online interactive worlds, ones where through the player's -own- input could sway entire plots created by both other players and Dungeon Masters.

Thank you, BioWare. Thank you, Beamdog.
- DM Tails / Red the Rogue

After playing the game considerably, I guess it's about time I give my two cents on the game. While I find the game fun to play once in a while these days, your mileage may vary depending on what you're seeking out of it.

All in all, Terraria is a 2D side-scrolling action and building game where you're thrust onto an island full of nasty critters. Sound familiar? While it does share some common themes with Minecraft and Starbound, there's enough difference between these games that one certainly won't be uprooting the other.

Terraria has more of a focus on the 'action' part, where most of all mobs (And plenty at once) are out for your blood. Combat tends to be rather simple: Click to swing (or shoot), do damage. Despite this, I haven't found the combat to be too repetitive or unsatisfying. However, as you progress and upgrade your gear, some mobs (and even bosses) become extremely trivial, leading to what was once a great achievement becoming more of a nuisance in the name of progress. This changes the moment you pass a critical point in the game, causing the current world to enter 'hard mode' and spawn far deadlier creatures.

If you're into building, Terraria keeps the fun going. Finding gear, even to the point of needing X and then Y to progress, can be tedious and lead into a level of grinding that it becomes unpleasant. At this point, try a shift in priority and work on something else. If you're doing multiplayer, this becomes easier. As a personal example, I'd give all the stone and ore found during my spelunking to a friend and let him build up the base, complete with fortress walls, streets and lights. Pick a theme for your base, then go nuts.

In conclusion, I like the game, but what matters is what you make of it. Grinding for gear isn't completely my thing, but there's still fun in exploring differently generated worlds and building with friends. As a suggestion from personal experience, make a new character for each world and pick a combat focus, especially if you decide to play with friends.

A wacky and accessible roguelike, Dungeons of Dredmor can keep you laughing, even through the more desperate and irritating times. If you've wanted to enjoy NetHack or similar roguelike games, but the difficulty and one-trip permadeaths spooked you away, this is definitely a good start.

Lutefisk for the Lutefisk God!