Recent reviews by Player From Africa

Upon its unexpected return, I bought this game! Because I love it, (and its art style). I also love its lore and characters. (I have played an additional 4 hours, since this review. And, I have now quit. Simply because the studio/devs aren't listening to players like me). I once loved this game (both releases)

But..

I am not happy yet... All I want is the bots (which are already in the game) to be made playable offline! Make it possible to play the bots WITHOUT needing to sign in, please! Because, as a 5 v 5 game this isn't going to last long. The servers will MOST probably get shutdown, again... this time, for good.

Make the bots playable offline! Please! Before the next (invertible) shutdown.. and I will be EXTREMELY HAPPY! Yes, this game already has BOTS, but they need you to sign in first (into the servers).

It's the EASIEST way to satisfy the few of us who genuinely LOVE your lore and characters. Don't get me wrong, taking the bots which are ALREADY THERE in the game and making them available OFFLINE might take time, and a bit of work.. but doing that, would make MORE PLAYERS happy, than the new skins that devs keep making.

I (like some) would MUCH rather have the dev giving us offline-playabilty, instead of another skin!

Thank you for making a game with bots! I know a lot of players also wish they could play this online. But speaking as someone who isn't always in a place that has internet... I am very happy I found another offline game that I can enjoy. And the bots are really good, and fun to fight against. Well done devs on making such a wonderful game guys!

So today I decided to play Artifact for myself. I tried "Foundry" first, before coming here to the "Classic" version. And I must say, this version (Artifact Classic) is much, much, much better. Well, at least for me. It beats the second product, though I think I might miss all the "new cards" and the "single player content" that Artifact Foundry is said to have.

What did they do wrong?


Since I did not purchase this game or pay any money for the pre-order version, or money for any cards/packs. I have no idea what buyers went through. I only started playing this today, after its now being declared to be a "dead game." I think the launch of this game and the money that people paid, made them justifiably bitter. So much so that they will never give this MASTERPIECE another chance. And I can kinda understand the rage. But as a guy who just spent 7 hours today trying this game. I must say, I am loving it. It looks gorgeous, very very polished. And has mechanics + bots that I find to be impressive. As a fan of Supreme Commander - Forged Alliance, and Minion Masters, I must say... this game is amazing. I just feel sorry for all my fellow gamers who invested their hard-earned cash during the chaotic early days. If I had the money at the time, I would have bought this game too... but I'm partially glad I had no money for it. Cause now I can just look at it without as resentment or bitterness towards the whole launch-days fiasco.

What do I like about this game?

Firstly, I am a gamer who plays a lot of games alone. So I love BOTS. And this game has them! There is also an enjoyable "Bot challenge" mode where you get locked into one deck, and then you have to win 5 games without/before losing 2.

But

I wish they would make this playable offline...

(***EDIT*** You can play this game offline. You need to make your own deck first (offline) and then the bots will get their own decks made for them AFTER you make your own deck. BUT you can't use any of the cool built-in decks that come with the game)

I know that Valve probably wants to keep track of any increase or spike of players. Or they might want to know when the game finally dies down completely. So that they can pull the plug once and for all. Or (if the player base miraculously grows) the devs would also wanna get back into the game and start working on it again. So I guess "collecting stats" could be the reason why they want everyone to play this online. So that they can track all the player-base stats....Maybe, I don't know

So you need to be online... Even when you are dueling bots. But now, some of us live in places where internet connectivity is very expensive and sometimes slow. So I would really love it if this game was made 100% offline - like DOTA Underlords. Which is another game I play because its got offline bots (no need to go out looking for friends).

What else do I like about this game?

It's unfortunate that I spent too much time focused on the bots, and now I'm getting to tire to cover more areas. But all I can say is, the gameplay mechanics involve are really fun (and once again: WELL POLISHED).

Before I tried out the game for myself today I was never a fan of card games where you don't get to see "actual minions" in the battlefield. Until today, I only played card games like Krosmaga, and Minion Masters where the cards "come to life" and freely walk and fight on the battlefield. Just like in Underlords.

This game also took a lot less disk-space than I expected. I think the game is only 4 or so Gigs big (Unless I got it wrong) but on the homepage its listed as 7 Gigs. Or maybe it needs more space while installing and then it shrinks down afterwards (listen to me embarrassing myself) with some meaningless (and probably incorrect) "tech talk."

In addition to that, I was super stoked that the game played on my "low spec" PC. My gut suspects that the developers probably brushed up the code in order to make the game lighter and more accessible to people. If so, then it probably would have been a thoughtful attempt to try and boost the player base.

As I try listing thing I love about this game. Just know that if you are only avoiding this game based off the "poorly conducted launch" and the Reddit trolling, then try and take a day (or an hour or two) to play the game yourself. You won't have much luck with matchmaking, but if you're like me... then have a solo party with the bots.

Inevitably I worry that this game is going to be deleted from Steam. A lot of comments are already asking for that, but I hope the dev team make it playable offline before pulling the plug. I would still play it... just like one of those people who grew up playing a card game called solitaire on old Windows computer (back in the 90s). Except this one has got, three lanes, breathtaking score, and voicing. Did I mention Bot solo matches (zero queue on those). And I am enjoying the lanes, and battle mechanics.

By now most gamers already know about Artifact. Especially because of all the negative talk/reviews from angry gamers. Up until today I had never tried this game myself, and I began suspecting that all this negative talk is now getting to be a bit too much. So, let me see this game for myself.

I only tried this game for a little bit, and I didn't really like it. BUT after that I went to the "original" version and I LOVE THE ORIGINAL. I'm giving this one a thumbs up, only because I cant find a way to give it a neutral review.

Having said all this, the original; Artifact is PURELY AMAZING! This one felt too dumbed-down for my liking (and this is coming from a guy who had never played the original one). I love Minion Masters, and Supreme Commander.. and now I can add Artifact Classic to that list. I'm glad I tried this one first, because I now know what its like.. as I prepare to unistall it and keep the original one. Which I tried after this one failed to impress me.

We need more games like this! Loved the story lines, the options, and even the squad building. This is one of the few games that I've actually finished (except for a few side missions here and there). I'm really going to miss my squad. A lot :( SUCH A GREAT GAME!!! It's a shame people don't demand more games like this anymore.

I was going to wait until I reached 100 play hours before I did my review, but unfortunately, this game is refusing to let me play now. It freezes at the first screen, but that's probably because I don't have a powerful computer. But what's frustrating is that I managed to get to 64.3 hours of play... and now suddenly my computer won't load past the first screen. I have given up trying to load the game now, but it's an AMAZING game!

I have played Minion Masters for over 500 hours now and this game (MINImax Tinyverse) is mentally more challenging than Minion Masters (in a number of concepts). But Minion Masters still plays perfectly on my PC so they win. Minion Masters is compact (i.e smaller arena and stuff). This game requires you to pan the map (drop your minions around) and keep your wits about you. I genuinely love MINImax Tinyverse.

If only it was a bit lighter, they would get more players (lower end PC players). I keep mentioning Minion Masters because Tinyverse and Minion Masters are rare and unique games. These games are in a league of their own, along with a lower budget, third entry: Rise of Legions.

I don't know why Steam recommendations say Minion Masters is similar to DOTA 2 and GWENT??? Instead of MINImax Tinyverse!!! DOTA 2 is NOT like Minion Masters and GWENT does not spawn free-minded minions. Rise of Legions and MINImax Tinyverse and Minion Masters are the only three games that do what they do = card-based minion spawning in real-time (not turn-based). The rest of the games that Steam labels as "Similar to MINImax Tinyverse" are just deck builders where you see cards bumping into each other and exploding in a turn-based fashion.

And of all the three real-time, real minions, deck builders. MINImax Tinyverse is breathtakingly beautiful and it has a bigger battle arena, and multiple maps plus 3 types of energy to use when summoning three types of minions/ things. Minion Masters only has one mana bar. But here is what MINImax Tinyverse has got:

1. A mana type that only summons minions
2. A mana type that only summons spells (my favorite spell animation is when you use your hand to smash the board)
3. A mana type to summon your hero

This game rocks and Steam's algorithm does not recommend it properly to potential players. I had to find it in a blog article somewhere and even after that, Steam said it doesn't look like the other games that I play??? It's the closest gameplay that runs similar to my 500 hours of Minion Masters! Not DOTA 2.

Lastly, it's a shame that after 60+ hours of play it now refuses to go past the first screen for me. The game works, but it finally decided that my computer is no longer good enough to allow me to play more hours. It just hangs there, But even before this final straw, it would take ages to load. I had the settings as low as I could go and managed to accumulate almost 100 hours. If the developers want more players they should try and make it a little bit more compatible with slightly lower computers. Like I said before, Minion Masters runs fine on this same computer.

I will try again to play this game, until the day it runs or the day that I can afford a more expensive machine.

I love the Battleborn Universe, great game, great characters and this is coming from a guy who only has the Trial. All I need is a group of ten or so people that I can privately play against, since the public refuses to acknowledge how AMAZING this game is. I'm gonna buy it (as soon as I can) inspite of all the don't-buy advise, once I've been able to buy it I'll update this post. For now i'm gonna play the demo alone, can't wait to try out the story mode.

If the DEVs ever decide to shutdown the servers, please try and make this game work offline or locally or something. Huge ask. I know, but its truly a beautiful game (for me at least).

2024 Update: (Latest update)

This is the latest update, after I tried Reborn! And, I am extremely happy with the progress that has been made by the Reborn team. Battleborn and its bots, are back again! Finallly! After so many years. Those are working on the Reborn project are doing so many tweaks and updates, I hope the revival keeps going. And in the end, I wish to have a product that's playable offline VS bots, and maybe even with a local-coop option (for those that have friends to play with). Me? All I need are more offline bots, and I'll be fine. Hooray, for Battleborn Reborn

Update: (This is an old update before Reborn | Before 2024)

I'm still playing the Trial and just realised I've leveled up and unlocked a mode that I can play against bots (They call it Big Head Rumble) and the "Incursion" within Big Head Rumble is my fav mode so far! You don't need to wait for matchmaking queues cause the bots fill in the teams. I know most people dislike bots-based games but personally I found that the objective-complexity of Battleborn is very entertaining (for me) even when you're all alone with bots.

Final Update: (This is another old update, before Reborn | Before 2024)

So the publishers of this game have decided to kill the game and make it unplayable.. EVER AGAIN. You will not be able to play it online or offline. You wont even be able to play it in single player mode (against bots). The game has bots, I spent almost all of my hours playing this game alone against bots.. so the bots were already there and the publishing company could have let the game live on as a single player bot game.. but NOPE, they rather kill it and erase it from the face of the earth, even the single player mode. in an ideal universe even releasing the game server codes would have won a lot of love from those of us that still wanted the game.

Strange as it may be for some, but I would still buy this game. If the bots and single player story mode were to be kept on. Its an amazing game, great modes and lore.. but <sigh> any fan or future fanatics that this game might have had.

I've never been this saddened by any publisher before.. and all I would have wanted for for the game to continue being playable with bots and the single player campaign... <sigh> but apparently that's too much to ask for

That's the end of my final Update on Battleborn!

So you're considering if you should play this game? My short answer is YES! Absolutely yes, I love this game. I love the cartoony style and personally I feel that the developers made better graphics and much better animations that most card games out there. After playing this game for as long as I have I can't get over the horrible graphics that other card games have. To me THIS feels more polished, and I'm a sucker for good character designs.

I have a couple of things I don't like about this game though:

It feels abandoned (don't get me wrong, the match making works perfectly for me. The wait times are short (for me).. but the developers are not adding new cards (Edit: in 2020 we got some new cards - FINALLY! But I still think they need to add a new "god" cause the game has 2 unused "god" slots on its menu. It would be nice to have them all used up).

There used to be a World Series Tournament that I only got into once and now I think its no more.. BUT don't worry (another but) the game runs perfectly, no lag or any network issues (I'll try and update if this changes). You still get your opponents rather quickly, you still win and you still lose.. and even get your daily quests. It just needs Seasons or something. Though the dev team might argue "If its not buggy or broken we ain't going to touch it.. ever again". I've never cared much about Minion Masters' seasons system and other games' concept of seasons.. but I when I look at Krosmaga I now realised why other developers add in that stuff. It makes you feel less like an abandoned orphan.

I hope the developers add in new "gods" I just prefer to call the Titans instead. I hope the developers add in new Titans because we have 2 aforementioned empty slots and each "Titan" comes with a different play style some use long range attacks, one of them resurrects the dead/ discarded cards, whilst another use a heads-or-tails luck system.

With all that said, the game still runs and come join us! Two easy fixes that the developers could do are:

- Bring back the World Series Tournaments with the different regions and prize money and stuff
- Add the new "gods" if you can (don't force matters though, cause the ten we have are well balanced as it is)
- Market this gem more/ somehow

Awesome zombie killer!