Recent reviews by Lady Psywarrior

I will update as I play more. I love the new Colhen. It's expansive and feels more realistic and fleshed out. My favorite part by far is the voice acting. It was so needed (if anything, just learning how to pronounce Cohlen correctly ;) ). I hope when it's finished that all convos, even with the villagers will be voices and directed. Speaking of direction, the cut scenes can be a bit bland and a bit uninspired when it comes to shot composition. My favorite part so far is just seeing Colhen fleshed out and getting story from character VA rather than text.

The quest steps so far are linear, which I personally like. You get introduced to some of the major characters.

I do not like the Souls like combat. It's jarring to go from fun, action combat to clunky controls that require pinpoint timing, especially so soon into the game. There is no prep. There is not enough time just learning the characters controls. The stay on target option is poorly optimized and restricts you and camera movement rather than providing a way to keep the mob targeted while you look around and strategize. The regular gnolls were fun. Again, the thing I loved about OG Vindictus was how powerful I felt just smashing through things. I loved learning I pick up rocks and throw them, using the terrain for advantage. If this stays Soul like, I won't be investing time into it. There have been plenty of Souls wannabes, and that game play doesn't fit the absolute power trip you get in the original game.

It has promise, but I hope the devs rethink the combat.

It's a fun time waster. I wish it was still being developed. I think it has a lot more potential regarding missions, shelter development and even expanding control into the Wasteland and having to deal with those factions.

However, since it doesn't have that, I still give it a thumbs up. It's fun

For one, the game play is solid. It is a good shooter with a variety of satisfying feeling and sounding weapons.

GRAPHICS
The graphics are solid and the mission designs are fun. Characters and terrain are rendered really well but the explosions are amazing. You can almost feel them. The planets have different biomes and each type of environment comes with advantages and disadvantages like a cold, snowy planet means that your laser weapons won't heat up so quickly while on a hot planet they heat up quicker and your stamina drains faster. It's a beautiful game in that sense. Most of the game is in 3rd person mode and has a tactical shooter feel.

ATMOSPHERE
The game's atmosphere is very much in the spirit of the 90s movie Starship Troopers which satirized fascism, authoritarianism as well as the military based cultures like the US has. I enjoy that kind of dark humor and there is something really enjoyable about my character laughing manically and she mows down monster insects shouting, "For democracy!" which makes no sense in that situation, but it wonderfully satirizes the Ooo-rah of military based cultures. It's a shame that some players miss the joke or take it too far. The game is designed for lots of dying. Even solo, you have like 6 times you can die. On a team of 4 I believe it is like 24 times you can die so expect to die a lot.

GAMEPLAY
What really gives the game play a step up is the active Game Master altering the game world based on how players are playing. In that sense, this game has a strong ARG element (Alternate Reality Gaming) including in character social media accounts. What this means is that players band together to take on mutual goals and by doing so, the galaxy map changes. If Super Earth loses ground, then it has to be taken back. However, if players are able to make inroads of bringing democracy to giant bugs, then it could lead to having a temporary power like a mech or jump pack.

The game is co-op, which generally means a fun team time, even with strangers. I say generally because there is friendly fire, which can lead to griefing. Yes, you do kill teammates, but it is supposed to be an accident and it is framed as part of the lore. The tutorial is very short and that is the joke. Super Earth is throwing soldiers into the fray with a lot of very powerful weapons, but very little training so accidentally calling in an air strike on top of your team because you threw the beacon too close to the team can be part of the fun. And as long as they are innocent mistakes, then dying becomes kind of funny. However, it can easily lead to some hostility from the team as some missions, you are so under pressure that getting killed my a teammate can feel very frustrating.

They set up the game so that on low to medium difficulties it doesn't require voice coms as simple commands can provide basic information like tagging an enemy by aiming at it and pressing the letter 'q'. It will highlight the threat and the team will hear and see the target.

Missions have various objectives and there are a few different types, and from what I understand the objective types change.

PLAYER COMMUNITY
I am only in the middle game so I can't speak to the end game stuff, but so far most teams have been fine to enjoyable. There is no way to report players for being crappy or toxic unless it is through chat (I think), so don't be surprised to come across those types every now and then. However, you can block them.

At lower levels team work isn't so essential, but the higher the difficult, the more team work will be needed and you can run missions solo. Some players take it a bit too seriously and some don't take the game play seriously at all. Both are mistakes. The game can get hectic and stressful, but keep in mind it's a game.

I am female and I haven't really come across toxicity or sexism, but don't think it doesn't happen. Most female players don't use comms just for that reason.

There is a reason why it is so popular.

As for the cons:
1. The tutorial is short, which is funny, but there needs more in game help. There are no instructions or even in game resources I could find that details how various objectives should be completed. I get the whole thing of throwing soldiers into the chaos part, but I think for new players, more details are needed. I often have to look stuff up on the internet for how to complete objectives or how to take down various enemy types. Even easy levels, there is very little instruction which leads to stress and conflict between players.

2. There is a growing toxic sub-community. This seems common in military shooter games, but if you are female and/or LGBT+, just be aware. This where playing with friends really comes in. I wish there was a quick player note or star feature. They have it in a game called City of Heroes where you can right click on a player and make a note that you can only see and you can give them from 1 to 5 stars which carries over to any character they are playing. So if you team up with a super racist, you can 1 star them, make a quick note and never team with them again.

3. The voice comms in game is not great. Part of it is due to various mics players use, but also it isn't as clear and crisp as they could be. Think of old old Ventrillo days. Luckily, you can use the various keyboard shortcuts to communicate, but just giving a head's up.

4. Survival of the game. With how the game is currently set up, it requires a lot of players to work on objectives or liberating planets. It is a live service game so if server populations drop too much, I am not sure if they have a plan for that since it would be impossible to liberate planets.

I could go on, but honestly, so much has been written about it that my review is unneeded. There is a reason why it is such a hit. So go kills bugs, or robots for democracy

This is one of the best games I have played. It is firmly in my top 10 games easily. For context, the other games on my list are like The Last of Us, and Mass Effect.

I was really into Neverwinter when it came out back in the early 2000s. When I was at my firebase in Afghanistan, Neverwinter was my go to game. I still remember that experience and loved it. BG3 gives me the same feels, which I didn't even think was possible. There have been a ton of reviews praising the game and they go really in depth. All I am saying is that I am very glad I got this game. It has been a great deal of fun and has given me all sorts of new ideas for my D&D campaign.

There is a reason why this game has won so many awards. It is a new IP which seems rarer and rarer to see, Ashly Burch, and Lance Riddick (RIP) is the VA, the graphics are gorgeous and the play loop is a lot of fun. Thanks to my ADHD I rarely complete open world games, but I can it with this game because there is enough variety and the various side quests and just interesting.

There are tons of reviews on this game. And I could write a whole lot more, especially around the design of the different groups and their culture. Oh, and the story is fantastic.

This game has been great surprise. It looks like it had a tough launch but I haven't run into anything too ground breaking so far. I love the X-Com franchise and Firaxis knows how to build that type of game and they pull it off well with some additions: using the terrain is important, but so are environmental hazards as they can be the key to winning a fight. The car draw thing is not my favorite but I appreciate the effort. It does add some new strategy options.

I think what a lot of players wouldn't expect is that this game as a much slower pace than an X-Com game. I actually love this change. There are puzzles and lore around the Abbey to find, the Persona type friendships you develop with the rest of your team has an impact in battle, but it is also fun just finding out about who they are. The game loop is waking up, training with a teammate, and checking the forge and CENTRAL for any completed mission rewards, etc. Then there is usually a teammate wanting help, or to talk or play video games with. Then the mission and when you return you can roam the grounds looking for lore, puzzles or collecting herbs for creating consumable items.

I think the marketing and rough launch led to a round of initial bad reviews, but now, I totally recommend the game and even better when it is half off. If it is 50%, then buy the game and enjoy!

This game is just so good. Didn't think I would like it, but I was so wrong.

I never really got into these kind of sims, but it has become like a zen garden for me where making changes to a production line or decorating has no real consequence other than whether you like it or not. For those who like digging deep into math can try to set up 100% efficient systems. For others, it might be exploration on a beautiful map. There is no real story so you can take your time and just experiment and create. No pressure. No leader boards. Just you and your world. Special shout out to arachnophobia mode and peaceful mode. It's not for everyone, but I appreciate the option. For me, the building is the challenge, not having to fight everything. Yes, the GIF cats that take the place of the spiders can get creepy and you start to tense up when you hear meowing, but on peaceful mode they look at you and meow and it becomes kind of cute.

No one needs this review. When you have 100K Overwhelmingly positive reviews, then you know the game is legit good.

It doesn't really feel like a Portal game. Not so much the puzzles, but it lacks character to me. The biggest issue is no GLaDOS. She is one of the main reasons why Portal is so iconic. Without her and that kind of comedy, this is just a fancy puzzle game. Whoever developed this game seems to have forgotten why one of the reasons for the game's success was story and character.

The game is fine for people who like puzzles but what I loved about the game was the dark humor and backstory as well as the mystery of Shell. There is no real drama to the anonymous character that deals with time travel for some reason.

No GLaDOS is a deal breaker for me

Amazing game. I am really assuming by this point that you know about Portal and how it is a classic video game. And GlaDOS is just my lovely role model as a scientist ;)

For over the last 10 years we have been inundated with zombie media. Usually, the zombie apocalypse is bleak and violent with a common motif that the "real monsters" are other humans.

State of Decay 2 bucks that trend for the better. It is a zombie survival game but the focus is on building your community. You don't have to lone wolf if, but you can recruit fellow survivors to help you build a sustainable community. Most of the NPCs tend to be neutral or friendly with the occasional violent human NPC.

The focus of the game is finding resources for your developing community. You also have to juggle morale, safety and survivor needs and this be accomplished through trading or scavenging incentivizing the player to form alliances with other enclaves to trade with.

The combat is fun. Ranged combat has a variety of fun weapons, but the melee is done really well. It is satisfying to take down a bug juggernaut zombie with a cool killing blow animation.

Fully recommend this game.