Recent reviews by MoonTrigger

I can finally play Rome at a reasonable frame rate on my modern setup. A period RTS masterpiece given new life by modders so good at their craft that the developer released it officially themselves.

Kill monsters to use their scales, horns and fangs to make weapons and armour to kill bigger monsters. Difficult battles await, but rarely do they feel unfair or scripted in any way. Monster Hunter has never been so accessible. Perhaps only held back by the lack of monster types in the post-game and some rather unfortunate performance issues due to poor optimization (As is the norm for PC ports of Capcom games), it is still the most complete, polished and fun Monster Hunter has ever been.

It's alright.

It's Skyrim. If you don' know what this is, you shouldn't be on Steam to begin with.

The gold standard for open world RPG's.

The gameplay sells it for me. As a long time DoA fanboy, I think it deserves a more in-depth review, but honestly... this is a mess. While the fighting has never been better, it's also not been this devoid of content since Dead or Alive 3. *On the original Xbox.* The costumes are far too grindy to obtain, there aren't enough of them, and to add to the cut content from DoA 5, we've lost 8 fighters. Yes, most of them were guests and Alpha 152 (Which I am glad is gone.) but I fell in love with the Virtua Fighter cast. I don't think it would have taken much to make an ever bigger collaboration this time around, and maybe we can look forward to DoA x VF in the future. Hopefully then, we'll get out money's worth.

The fighting has never been more exciting. It's certainly more balanced than Dead or Alive 5: Last Round, and visually, this is the best 3D tournament fighter out there.

If you're here for a fight, Dead or Alive 6 says "Bring it." If you're here for a variety of content, look elsewhere, at least until you find it in the bargain bin for $25 at Gamestop in a couple years.

Don't listen to these entitled twits that are angry because of the cancelled DLC. It sucks. Yes, we get it. We're not happy about it, but that doesn't mean we should attempt to tarnish the reputation of the finished product. The game is fantastic, as it always has been. There are some glaring issues with pacing, level progress, and optimization, but overall you are in for a fantastic experience once you get over the humps.

You are just kind of dropped unwillingly into this expansive world, and that is my first complaint. I had it literally 2 minutes into the game. We aren't given a proper introduction into the characters or locations. At one point, about half an hour itno playing, I started wondering if I had missed some kind of web series introducing the games' 4 main characters and party members; Noctis, the black-clad generic Final Fantasy design that doesn't stick out at Hot Topic who happens to be a prince, Galadious, the stern man's man protector, Ignis, the smartass and voice of caution, and Prompto, the obnoxious one. While that is how I first say these characters, they did grow on me. Thankfully, with the Windows Edition, you can completely customize the protagonist, Noctis, with the Avatar system which does not give you nearly enough options when you first start. Also, if you choose to be a female Avatara, her voice is still the man voice. I realize this is 2018, but... it's off-putting.

Really, my enjoyment of the game really started taking off after leaving the enclosed starting area. This is a free roam game, with a lot of areas locked off via blockades by the villians of the game. The main mode of travel through this massive world is your vehicle, the trusty and aptly named Regalia. It's a nice car and all, but when it serves as both your mode of transportation (fast travel) and as a constant plot point, it can be almost as distractign as the Coleman Camping Equipment and Cup Noodles product placements.

The true enjoyment lies in the time you spend side questing, duking it out with gigantic buffolo that one-shot you with their passive trample early on, and overall, I don't mind the travel via car not being skippable in many instances. I actually like the beautifully crafted scenery. When you got to fast travel to a quest location that estimates a 9 minute drive, go get a beer, tell your wife you love her, and come back when you have to make an emergency stop due to the overly high Magitek spawn rate.

Which brings me into the point of contention with the gameplay design. This is NOT your standard Final Fantasy combat and world. If you thought Final Fantasy 13 was intolerable because of the combat changes, be very cautious before considering this game. It is a massive change, with real-time reactions, placement concerns, and relatively few spell selections. It's faster paced, but oddly feels more elongated than ever before. I almost think that each fight shoul be more impactful, but less frequent. **♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ magitek engines every other minute.**

The world is vast, full of wildlife to kill, things to grind, and it's very refreshing, if not very different from what we have seen in the past.

I feel like I should be giving this game a much more in-depth review, and I may add to it below. There's a tonne of content here, that will keep you busy for hours. But, just be sure to temper your expectations if you are a returning fan. Final Fantasy 14 might be a better choice for you.

Gameplay: 6.5/10 (7.5/10 with well-selected Workshop mods.) | A tonne of forgettable, but amusing, quests and collections to be had.
Combat / Action: 6/10 | It's not bad, but it could be more fluent and in-depth. Far too often I get away with mashing the attack button.
World Design and Visuals: 8/10 | Beautifully constructed, impressive visuals. Too bad they never explain the history of the land.
Story and Characters: 6/10 | Good story following and uninteresting band of misfits.

Knack ain't got ♥♥♥♥ on this.

About damn time.

Nominated this for "Should have stayed an iOS App."

The most sonic of Sonics' sonic adventures.

Go fast, or go faster trying.