Recent reviews by Phalanx32

I bought this game with almost no expectations, just a long time fan of turn-based RPGs who's been playing the genre since the 90s. I did not expect this game to impact me the way it has.

The story is a masterpiece. The writing is among some of the deepest in any game that's come out in the last decade or more. The game pulls you in and has you completely invested emotionally after the first 10 minutes, and it feels like it never stops. Every character has depth, their own motivations and values, and you can really feel how each character kind of...drives their own story within the larger game story. It's an epic, epic tragedy of a story. I can't say enough about how incredible the plot of this game is. For that alone, the game is already A-tier.

The combat system is an incredible mixture of turn-based combat with action elements. Don't get me wrong, it IS a turn-based RPG. But...we've spent so long being told by the gaming industry that turn-based combat would never work in the modern gaming landscape, and this game completely proves that sentiment wrong in every way. The combat system itself is polished, well thought out, and offers every type of player a chance to enjoy the combat. Even if you are not a turn-based combat fan, I truly believe this game's combat will still leave you satisfied. It's challenging, every fight is different, but it is SO rewarding when you master the combat in this game.

When you add the flawless combat system to the masterpiece of a story...this game has easily become my second favorite turn-based RPG of all time. Sandfall has created something absolutely incredible here, and I highly encourage every player of every RPG genre to give it a chance.

There are a few things as of the current patch that I take minor issue with, and I believe that both of these things can be resolved by the developer through future patches, but I would be dishonest to not include them in my review.

For one, the late-game balancing needs some serious work. As I said above, the combat SYSTEM itself is perfect. The way you actually play combat is flawless. But in the late-game, your character growth can get so exponentially high so fast that by the end of the game, you can be one-shotting most things without needing to do a ton of grinding or treading off the beaten path. For sure, every turn-based RPG offers the ability to become literal gods to the players who take the time to grind it out. But this game as of right now basically gives that ability to even players who barely grind at all. It is too easy to become all-powerful stat-wise.

The other issue is more of a quality of life issue. Swapping builds on your characters is incredibly tedious at times. This game offers an INSANE amount of build customization for each character, which is fantastic. But swapping between builds that you're trying can be annoying simply because there is no system for swapping. I found it odd that a modern RPG like this with that level of build customization didn't include a simple build-swap mechanic. It's a QoL change that most modern RPGs like this have had for years.

Even with those two things in mind though...this game is still up there with some of the greatest RPGs ever made. It is a must try for any fan of the genre, turn-based or not.

It has some bugs. But it's addicting as hell

I play this game every single day. The game sucks. I hate it. People are awful at it.

10/10 would recommend.

This game runs like hot garbage right now. What an awful port. I will update this review if it ever gets fixed, but right now this is not recommended at all. Unplayable because of framerate stuttering and crashes.

EDIT (September 2022): I re-purchased this game during the Playstation sale. Happy to say that it looks like all the issues from the PC port release 2 years ago are long since fixed. The game is beautiful, even more so than when I played it originally on PS4. It's well worth purchasing now, especially if you can get it on sale like I did.

This game is F1 2012, the way it should have been. A lot of the game will seem very similar to F1 2012, but much improved. The AI-controlled cars definitely got a good update, they make better decisions overall and it feels more like you're racing them rather than just trying to avoid them. As a racing wheel user (g27), I personally feel like they've definitely done good things this time around with tyre wear and grip levels. It seems much more realistic and not so prone to wheel spin every time you get on the throttle. If you enjoyed F1 2012, or are a big fan of Formula 1 looking to get a good simulation game, this is the one for you. I've owned F1 2009, 2010, 2011, and 2012, and I would definitely say that F1 2013 is the best of the series, by far.