Recent reviews by daniel

I don't recommend games very often and I write reviews even less.

I only watched one video (the gameplay introduction with the opening sequences of the game) and was really worried whether or not this game would be good enough. Don't trust the ♥♥♥♥ stirring Youtube reviews and clickbaits out there. It's not the same as DA:Origins. But it is not as bad as some people are trying to make it. If anything, it is an improvement to DA2 and Inquisition. Both gameplay and story wise. I'd say just try it and refund it, but you won't be able to tell if enjoy it or not within 2 hours. But if you are a fan of the series, you can safely buy this on sale, at the very least.

Edit May 6th: Sony almost ♥♥♥♥♥♥ this up big time, but have reversed their decision to make a PSN account mandatory to play.

So I can recommend this game once again. Despite some server issues early on (due to very unexpected success), AH released an overall pretty polished and very fun game. Bonus points for all monetization aspects, from the initial pricing to ingame purchases.

I'm glad Sony listened to the community and the studio on this.

Story development was a bit over-the-top at times, for my taste. But all in all excellent game, especially if you enjoy interactive stories where your choices really matter.

simple, yet challenging through ever changing setups.
the short duration of each match is a massive plus to me.
haven't enjoyed a card game this much since the early days of hearthstone.

update after year 1: still enjoying this, although i am at a collection level where it takes quite a while to get new cards. have spent more money on bundles than i would like. i would still recommend the game to new players. you increase your collection pretty quickly early on. if you are a completionist or want to play the most competitive decks, you might need to invest quite a lot of money, as with any CCG.

another update: it has been 3 years now. i played probably another 1000 hours on mobile and am changing my review to "not recommending". the game is still great, mechanically, but monetization has gotten worse and worse over the last 2 years. unless they turn around their strategy and make card collection more accessible for everyone, including f2p players, you shouldn't start playing this game. look for something else.

Two things I care about with this type of game (or interactive movie, if you will):
1. Story needs to be interesting and engaging.
2. Choices have to feel impactful to actually make a difference in how the story unfolds.

Erica checked both those boxes for me and I can honestly recommend it.

The only thing I did not like so much were the 'swipe prompts' to open doors, turn keys, etc. They seemed a bit unnecessary and therefor bothered me a little bit, but they don't appear too often.

Best game I bought and played this year.

Tech and performance-wise this game is just not worth any money. It's a cash cow at this point, living off the hype it generated in the beginning of the early access phase.