Recent reviews by Alexspeed

Let me tell you my little story about No Mans Sky.

About 4 Years ago, Sean Murray from Hello Games promised me giant Sandworms on the planets in the game he was making. It was promised in one of their pre-launch trailers. I bought the game after some deliberation, mostly because I wanted to see the giant Sandworms. They where my trigger, my selling point.

The game released. It was all a fiasco and a horrible mess. There where no worms, small or large. And the game was missing many other things. I still played it. After all I had some fun, and got some nice screenshots. But it was not what was promised. This was worming me deep inside since then. A feeling of betrayal and broken promises. I did not write a review back then.

Since back when I played the game on launch, it got many updates. I was surprised and liked what I saw on improvements over the years. But it was not enough to bring me back to the game, or heal the deep wound inside, even if the game got a lot better, and some of the broken promises got patched in.

But now No Man's Sky got its Origins Update to version 3.0
Now Sean Murray delivered to me what he promised me.

GIANT SANDWORMS ARE ROAMING THE PLANETS OF NO MANS SKY!

I will have to return to the game now, and watch the giant worms.

Sean Murray, is forgiven.
The wound is healed.
The worms have arriven.
I fly again.


Thank you Hello Games.
You earned yourself my positive review now.
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EDIT: I found my very first Sandworm, here is a picture!
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2241791873
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Edit 2: I got a nice capture of the worm. Added as a Bonus Image =)
https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2245191473
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All Details: https://www.nomanssky.com/origins-update/
...

This is probably a weird format for a recommendation, but I am posting my beginner experience with The Long Dark - Playing it for the first time during the Winter's Embrace Event in July 2020. By reading this, you can get an impression how it is to start playing this game, and you will realize that it will take some learning to survive. Which is the whole point of the game.

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https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2173782756

I am celebrating my completion of the Winter's Embrace Event!


This was rather tough, while learning the game. But fun as well. I own The Long Dark since it started into Early Access, but until this Event, I never found time to actually play it. I started with making many Sandbox games, until I stopped dying so quickly. Some of the things that killed me in my first games:

- I started with random location in Forlorn Muskeg, I ran around and found a broken railway line, started following it, then I noticed that froze to death and had no condition left.

- I started with random location in Timberwolf Mountain. I was in a cave, it was nighttime. I wandered out of it and discovered how fast a blizzard can suddenly reduce visibility and temperature to zero. I froze to death while wandering through trees I could barely see. Wolves howling in the distance.

- I started in Mystery Lake in a big open cave, I explored and found a sea and fishing huts. I tried to loot them. While I did that, a Blizzard started and I made a fire in one of the fishing huts. I had no firewood and when the fire goes out I would be freezing to death. So I decided ill just get out and collect a few branches or something to keep the fire going. But the blizzard instantly disoriented me after a few steps, and I had lost the fishing hut and the fire. I froze to death trying to find it again.

After some more tries, and failures ( and some wiki reading ), I started to understand the mechanics of Temperature, weather, clothing, food, etc. - Catching my first Rabbit with the stone was a big moment. I learned about snares and built one. I finally had a stable pilgrim difficulty game where I lived in Trapper's Homestead in Mystery Lake. I learned a lot there and explored finally without dying. Later I moved to the Camp Office.


And then I started with trying to complete the Winter's Embrace Event. - I froze to death several times really fast. It is so much harsher then the pilgrim easy mode I knew. You know, I had no feats like all the experienced players did either. - At some point I realized the things I had to do and the right order, and it all fell into place from then on. Once I had mended my clothing (and found better ones) and had shelter it was all not too hard.

Knowing the Pleasant Valley map by now a little bit did help as well, that's where I spent my 25 days for the challenge. Looting houses in Thomson's Crossing and spending time in the Community Hall, and also looting the Outbuildings Farm and then living in the Pleasant Valley Farmstead. Some Highlights of that run where:

- Killing my first Wolf with a Revolver in defense during a snowstorm.

- Getting my ribs broken on day 20 or so by a Moose that I ran into by accident.

- Trying to kill a deer with a revolver, and wounding it. Then loosing sight of it, never to be found.

- Getting lost in thick fog and finding a lake with a fishing hut that I did not expect.

- The Aurora, so weird, and cool, and scary, and pretty!


I am happy I played the game now and I am sure I play some more. There are many more challenges to do for me, and the story mode as well. Oh and I did take so many beautiful Screenshots.

Thanks Hinterland for creating this game =)
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So should you play this game?

Yes, its worth it and it is fun, and has depth.
It is the best Survival game i have played so far.

Awesome Game.
Would wait 400 days again.

Goodbye my shade.

This is lovely.

I thought this game wouldn't be for me, because there is platforming, and I am not a big fan of that. But its more of a journey with some light riddles and light platforming. At least as far as I can tell from the first chapter, that is.

Its very aesthetically pleasing.
I will play more of it and bring all the colors back.

I am generally not a big fan of card games, because luck is most often the deciding factor in them, and so it is also here. But there are many solid mechanics that lessen the randomness and make it enjoyable. You can plan builds and be tactical with your card purchases, so you get a strong deck that can beat the boss.

Of course it is also a rougelike, you will die. But that's part of it, you can have a strategy and get better with every run. It is also addicting in a good way. There are no in game purchases, or other such garbage that is common in so many other card games.

This is one of the best games that went through Early Access, and the developers made good updates, introducing two new characters with new cards and gameplay mechanics and also further balancing the game. They are currently working on a fourth character. They also interact really well with the players, featuring artwork and being active in the discussions.

There is much to love with this game, I saw myself coming back time and time again.
I recommend it for everyone =)

I don't write many Reviews.

I think most Games do not deserve, or need my opinion.
And I usually don't feel well as an advertisement writer.
But this one game is different. For me, this is a hidden Gem.

This is the only game i play everyday for 5-10 minutes. Since more then a Year.
No other game got me hooked like this. I think I can say I like it a bit.
Maybe it is just a me-thing. Maybe it appeals just to my personal taste.

It is arcade-y, and in a way that makes it great ... I love the Explosions.
The graphics look simple. I like the minimalism. It makes it very clear and pure.
But it has a lot of depth. In the way you upgrade, your timings, how you fly.
And it is unforgiving. If you make mistakes you pay for them right away.
Yet it is so casual that you don't ever get angry. You just play another round.

The game gives every day a random Challenge, with different waves of enemies.
And there are daily leader-boards and Achievements.
Its addicting, but in a good way.

Jets.
Enjoy the Explosions.
Bombers - Rockets!
Circling - Find your Rhythm.
Scorpions.
Miners - Don't fail to Evade.
Raptor!
Kill the Carriers.
Impostor.
Upgrade your Ship.
Tank.
Lasers.
Repeat.
...
Fly fast and keep the Streak.
You will always die.
...
High Score.

I think many more people should play this hidden gem.
And its so cheap, you have no excuse not to.
Please play the game, and beat my score.

Good Luck.


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EDIT:
After 547 Days played & 152 Hours gametime, I got the "Furious" Achievement.
Finally the Achievements are complete.

https://gtm.steamproxy.vip/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2155599712

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Drizzlepath: Genie is a fascinating and very atmospheric game that offers exploration along two different paths and a well presented and narrated storyline for both of them. Both paths you can walk are exclusive to each other, so to experience the whole game you have to play it twice. That does not really get repetitive tough, because they are very different from each other, both in story and in presentation.

I don't want to spoil too much of the story, but it is about a young girl that takes a journey to find something mysterious, and the journey becomes more then just the path that she walks. She will either find or loose herself on the way, and with it, the whole world around her. You also don't need to know anything about the first Drizzlepath game, or have played it. This is an evolution of its concept, and a great one at that, but not a continuation of the story.

The majority of the gameplay involves walking along one of both paths (with possibilities to explore alongside it), listening to beautifully delivered and voiced narration, and finding scenic views while you wander. Both paths together will take you about four hours to finish, but if you explore and take screenshots (and you should totally do that) it could take much longer. The ambiance and graphics are great and help you to immerse yourself in the game world, the world of Drizzlepath is a worthwhile experience in my opinion.

On gameplay elements there is not much in this game, but more then in the first Drizzlepath. There is a pressure plate on one path and a switch to activate on the other, and also a rock you have to break. There are also stones falling down on both paths, but you don't have to actively evade them. And there are also a handfull of jumping sections. There is also no falling damage, you can explore without fear of dying, you might get stuck sometimes eventually, but you can start over from your last checkpoint at all times, so thats not a problem. And there are a lot of hidden things to find while we are at that.

The best part is probably the beautiful female voice you get to listen to. The story that is told is not always easy to follow tough, it is very poetic and full of difficult concepts, life and death, loss and anger, faith and spirituality, there is something for everyone here. The optional subtitles that you can enable make it also easier to follow the story.

The good thing is, if the story is not your thing, you can just tune out and explore the scenery and still have a good time. But if you like that kind of narration, it will probably blow you away, leave you pondering and questioning. The music is fitting to the narrative, its very good most of the time, but can get a bit repetitive if you stay in one aerea of the game for a longer time.

Technically the game is demanding. If you have an older PC you might have to turn down resolutions and graphical options to get it running smoothly. I think there is still room for optimization for this game in that regard. The user interface and options menu is probably my biggest negative point. It is spartanic and there is no key rebinding sadly, and also no separate sound sliders for music and voice. Another thing i noticed is that the game does not like alt-tabbing at all, you want to avoid that while you play this game.

I personally had a great time with the game and liked most the many screenshot opportunities the game offers. With all that said, if you don't like slow-paced games without action, then this game might not be interesting for you. The walking is slow, you can not run. This is about relaxing and experiencing. If you can appreciate its beauty and accept it for what it is, you will probably enjoy Drizzlepath: Genie.

The game was provided for free and i am working currently on the German translation of this game. I also did Beta testing and provided technical and marketing advice to the Developer. This review is still as unbiased as possible with this involvement.

This is an interesting experience and its worth your time.
It is a one man project and the first one of that Developer.

Yes, you walk along a path and get narration and music along it, it is a "Walking Simulator", and not a game in the usual sense. It does have fall damage, so you can die, but thats about the only thing that will prevent you from finishing Drizzlepath.

You will find beautiful sights along your way, and you can explore almost anywhere you wish to, but for the most part its pretty linear. The details get less when you decide to walk off the path, as its designed to look great along it. The main path will take you maybe about 30 to 60 minutes to reach the end, depending on how fast you take it, it is not a very long experience. But is an idyllic one for sure. The music highlights certain parts of the way, and there could have been more of it.

There are also things that could be improved, Subtitles for example would have helped me greatly to understand the voice of the female narrator, which has a Spanish accent that made me sadly unable to follow much of what she said. I didnt think the narration held any deeper significance and served more as a tool to accompany the character on his way.

Also there where graphical oddities when i wandered off the path, and the waterfalls didn't look right for me, but that might be an issue with my hardware. The game dosent offer much in terms of options for graphics or other settings, but it did run well for me. All in all Drizzlepath looked stunning while following the main path, I think it is a great use of the CryEngine.

You most likely will get value out of this experience, its relaxing, even if it doesn't offer much in replayability. Especially with the very reasonable price point this is offered. Just don't expect something that will keep you busy for a long time, its about taking a short walk along a beautiful path, and thats probably something we all don't do enough =)

It is not surprising that this game stirs up attention.
Its a social commentary, a satire. And it hits where it hurts.

For all those who engaged in internet arguments before, it is a mirror that they have to look into, and what they see is that there is no winner in these bitter arguments on twitter, reddit or wherever they happen. It makes people reflect and they don't like what they see.

From a perspective of someone who doesn't take part in such arguments, its a humoristic experience, that shows the absurdity of the human behavior on the perceived anonymity of the internet. The Social Justice Warriors and the Trolls they fight are one and the same, just with different coloring. In the end there is no winner.

The Gameplay is solid, 4 classes with different abilities, high score table, lots of references, funny and sad at the same time. It's good to be played for short bursts but gets repetitive relatively fast. No bugs encountered.

The asking price is probably too high for the length of the entertainment that might be provided.

Still it is a worthwhile experience,
and it's probably the game people deserve.

Hand of Fate is a blast to play, but not easy to describe.

It is obviously a game with cards, but not really a card game in the usual sense. Think of it as a random adventure game where the cards are your storyline, equipment, quests, enemies, curses and blessings. And the actual battles are fought in Hack & Slash real time encounters which mirror the cards you have on hand. I hope there will soon be a Demo available for people to try it, because its really unique and should be experienced instead of described.

The strongest point of the game is probably the Narrator of the Card Dealer, very well done and highly immersive and even comments on your situation or what cards you have on hand. The second strong point is the randomness and replayability, every adventure you start will be different, depending on the cards you choose and how they are played.

The presentation is top notch, the card animations fluid and pretty. Only the switches to the Battles are a bit tiresome after a while, but they can be skipped.

There is a big luck factor in the game which makes things interesting, it can screw you over royally, but also make you come back against all odds. You will die, and you will not be successful in every quest and adventure. And you probably have not many ways to prevent it, its the luck of the cards.

If something is missing then maybe character variety, there is only the main character. At least the different equipment is displayed nicely on him.

The real time battles are short encounters against one or more groups of enemies with varying abilities and are visually pretty and also randomized. The actual fighting is not too difficult as long as you learn how to block & dodge and use the abilities. The store page says controller recommended, but i played with M&KB just fine. The Battles might be easier with a controller.

The game feels like playing a real board game and I highly enjoyed it so far. It came out of Early Access and was updated regularly. I encountered no technical issues or bugs, its pretty polished from what i can say.

I think this game should be played =)