Recent reviews by Johnny Cheetahhand

It's a very meh XCOM game.

What I can say positive about it is a few quality-of-life improvements, such as adjusting the map camera and quickly checking your soldiers in the Armory; the breach mechanic is well-implemented, and gives multiple ways to clear with the characters at your disposal; the diverse classes are also great, in terms of what they bring to each mission.

Negatively, it suffers from a lack of customization (from the start, you can only change the armor tint of your operatives); bland to terrible characters with lame dialogue here and there; an uninteresting storyline; bugs and glitches as expected on launch (I could only run the game on minimum settings); and a lack of interest in the repetitive gameplay. There's nothing really new that comes from every encounter, in comparison to the past two XCOM games. The shock of discovering a sectopod, or a faceless revealing itself amidst a group of civilians, all of these causing you to change your plans on the fly; none of those discoveries are there. Even the removal of squad deaths cheapens trying to make the player care about the squad they take on their missions.

What takes me out of it most is how the aliens and hybrids interact the same way as the humans do. Even the Skirmishers in War of the Chosen were far from human, based on how they acted. How can five years past the end of XCOM 2 suddenly lead to everyone being the same in mannerisms and character? It seems to leave out the hostilities and potential conflicts between aliens and humans.

As a result, the rather mediocre Chimera Squad is best at a very cheap price. Hopefully, this is just a teaser for the next XCOM game.

Awesome remake of the first Half-Life. Cannot recommend playing it enough.

I get it now. It took time and patience, but I got how much I could sink hours into this.

DLC is still at ripoff prices though.

I AM THE ONE
DON'T WEIGH A TON
DON'T NEED AN AWP
TO GET RESPECT
UP ON THE SERVER

It's Skyrim with better graphics and much more stable.

Other than that, it's still Skyrim. There's no other changes to it, besides the graphics and less crashing. If you already own the non-Special Skyrim, you can simply download as many graphical mods as possible to make the game look better than this. In fact, I would suggest investing in non-Special Skyrim for the time being, due to the amount of mods currently on that game, in comparison to here, which is still growing.

But hey, with mods, this is already better than without. There is already a sizeable enough base for mods, so you can download what catches your eye. It also comes with all DLC, so you will not have to purchase it individually. Eventually, once there are enough mods for the Special Edition, it is best to make the switch to it. By itself, though, Skyrim Special Edition is still a complete package, and not a waste of time.

At the time of this writing 12/13/16

Pros:
Seven vastly-different factions to play as, with their own strengths and weaknesses (eighth coming soon!).
Unit variety helps to create various strategies for each faction.
Large map to conquer, with three different regions from top to bottom.
Mini-campaigns only take a few hours to complete, and are fairly fun and exciting. They also reward the player with Lords for completion.
Improved ranged and melee combat. You can now see multiple soldiers being struck, rather than one vs. one battles seen in Shogun 2, Rome 2, and Attila.
Legendary Lords are awesome to level up with, though some might be stronger than others.
Artillery is satisfying to use, for factions that have them.
Steam Workshop has plenty of mods to fix problems you may find (including those in the Cons section!).
Plenty of Free-LC coming over time.
It's not Age of Sigmar.
DLC policy, while expensive, is better than Attila's due to the amount of Free-LC.

Cons:
Naval battles not yet implemented, even though there's not a lot of sea to do them with.
AI still has issues with being cowardly, and will only attack when confident in numbers.
AI agents are a constant trident in your side, rather than a thorn.
You may find that many of the Legendary Lords are about the same, in terms of abilities.
DLC that costs a lot, due to including one faction + one mini-campaign for said faction.
Sometimes, you will receive questionable missions (Murder one of your own Lords, or attack an ally).

I will not review multiplayer, as I do not invest in that.
Otherwise, this is the best Total War game since Shogun 2. It's a very high step above Rome 2 and Attila, and shows promise for future fantasy/medieval games Creative Assembly may be investing towards.

Gandhi, I won't rest until your reign of terror is over!

Oh, would you look at that. Some nukes flying at my house.

UPDATE: Since Telltale has long been out of business, this game will remain on a cliffhanger and unresolved. Out of all Telltale's games, the illusion of choice was greatest with this one. Don't waste your money on it. Original review follows.

The worst of Telltale's stories. There is SO MUCH they could have done, and yet it was a blunder. No matter what you do, even if it feels like you've leaped a great distance, the game will immediately take that away and leave you with disappointment. Your choices will never matter for this first season, and the fact they're extending it to a second season after the cliffhanger of Episode 5 shows how much they want to milk money out of it.

As for the pros, though, it's pure fan fuel. You'll get to see all of your favorite Game of Thrones characters, along with attempting to lead your own House against impossible odds. The characters themselves are nicely done, and they fit perfectly into the show's universe. Unfortunately, the worth of these characters will degrade over time, to the point where you will wonder if it was even worth introducing them.

For Game of Thrones fans, go ahead. For anyone wanting a medieval story that rewards them, this is not what you're looking for.

First off, let me get the cons out of the way.

There's a lack of unit variety. Every faction will come with the standard spear, sword, and bow units.
Some special units can be worthless, and a waste of time to work up to.
The AI is a high improvement over Empire, but it still has flaws. In battle, it will always try to flank your units or go for your general. This can be used to your advantage, if you're smart enough to catch them, but otherwise it's a nuisance.
The map might not be a lot, in comparison to the Europe-central Total War games, but thankfully, there are mods to fix this.
There's an imbalance in the player's growth versus the AI's growth, on the campaign map. You might capture three or four settlements, only to see that already a fourth of the map is painted in one clan's color.
To add to the imbalance, the AI can capture and hold at will, without any penalties. The player will incur penalties when they capture cities.
Pretty much by the end of the game, everyone will hate you, and there's nothing you can do to convince them not to.
Castle battles can be boring, and an assault can be more frustrating than fun.

Now to pros.

It's the most solid Total War game to date. It's the perfect example of strategy, and it truly emphasizes that aspect.
Every clan has added benefits for various units. The Shimazu clan, for instance, has better Katana Samurai than any other clan.
A MASSIVE amount of modifications that are beneficial for the game, especially at the time of this writing.
Agents are very useful, can be improved to your liking, and are not problematic, unlike later Total War games.
The lack of unit variety means battles are more dependent upon skill and strategy, which is perfect for a Total War game.
It is satisfying to overcome the odds of every Japanese clan breathing down your neck after you take hold of the Shogunate, and watch that sweet victory cutscene.
The AI can pull off some game-ending moves right under your nose on the campaign map, if you're not careful, adding to the difficulty.
The DLC is actually worth it, and it's not as harsh a policy as later games are.
Multiplayer, even though I have not played it, has been the most well-received in all of the Total War franchise.
Various improvements for ranged infantry that put it way higher than Empire.
Much friendlier game to enter into the series through, than Rome II or Attila.
Diplomacy is at its best in this game, allowing for marriage, hostage exchange, and setting military access or embargos.

If Rome II feels like a step down in the series, or you're a newcomer to the whole idea of Total War, then step right up to Shogun II.

Honestly, the only DLC worth purchasing. Allows you to play as Black Israelites, Raging Israelites, and Arab Israelites.