Recent reviews by |173rd|r00t b33r

(Disclaimer: I'm a 'Factorio' player and prefer them both for different reasons.) Satisfactory scratches a different itch in building-type games. You aren't under a constant oppressive threat of swarms from aliens & it takes the 2D isomertic style to the third dimension. It changes the dynamics that is dispatching enemies and creatures from top-down to first-person shooter style. Satisfactory doesn't have a set limit on the amount of materials you can mine - whereas Factorio does. However, therein lies the beauty of both games: Factorio forces you to expand more and more depending on the limited resource availability; Satisfactory approaches expansion from a speed aspect to expand to scale your factory because it'd take ages to mine one unlimited node indefinitely.

Again, comparing the two, Satisfactory has a set map (albeit a very large one) with a story to tell [but you don't *have* to pay attention to it neither] and pre-defined resources that are going to always spawn on the map in the same locations every time. Factorio excels over this title in randomly-generated maps and difficulties.

My complaint is getting it to run. Had a lot of crashes and syncing it to work well with my setup so everything is low-res but still enjoy it nonetheless.

Played the heck outta the original Risk of Rain (2013) and think the return to its 2D roots is well worth a revisit. Returns is what the original should have been (if the developers had more resources available) and eclipses it with implementing the same style with more detail, newer Rain 2 items, a few new characters in the line-up & a challenging trials mode. The game goes the extra mile (and more) in what was already a solid title.

Borderlands 3: Running Out Of Ideas Edition

This series hit the pinnacle at BL2 and has been on the gradual decline ever since. So much that they felt like they have to hit you with subtle political bullcrap to fill this void. Had to stop playing it halfway through because of the cringe-worthiness (& multiplayer connectivity problems on top of that). Seems like they took what worked for BL2 and threw it out the window for the sake of being cutting edge and new when they really didn't have to in order to make it work or create something enjoyable. The combat feels the same as always, sure, but the interface design is arguably the worst of the series and hard to navigate effectively.

Think you're some high-level, hotshot rhombicuboctahedron, eh? Think again, bub.

It's as frustrating as it is addicting.

In the good way. The you-keep-coming-back-for-more way.

As opposed to the coach-staring-at-you-funny-in-the-locker-room-because-you-said-something-dumb way. Then it's just awkward. Because then you won't come back to this title if it was like that. You'd be shunned from the locker room forever but you force yourself to keep going back or get a failing grade. No one likes middle school flashbacks. (Okay this analogy went a little too far; getting out of hand. You know what I mean.) This game is not like that.

Super Hexagon is the kind of game you push yourself to get better and better at it untiiiilllll -- congratulations, you are very good at NOT hitting two-dimensional shapes -- and you gain reaction time improvement as well as memory/pattern recognition on top of it. Good job, nameless Steam player! :D

Monika,

When I joined the #JustMonika train, you stole my heart with your shenanigans and wisdom. Scorched earth policy is very hot and that determination is endearing.

Then you broke me when you lorded your vegetarian status over us all. That's great and all but why do you need to remind me every 5 minutes?

But even as I am borderline carnivorous, we can still be friends. :)


With love,

fhqwhgad

As a graphic designer: this is the one and only time I approve of using Papyrus and Comic Sans as typefaces.

"You could have called this game and no one would have argued with you."

—JohmTrom

The only real "challenge" in this title is defined simply by the game mechanics itself. And I'm not talking about the dimension-changes in the background color/blocks/etc.

Imagine you have your white cube. It has real sharp controls. But it's also eternally covered in butter. That you obviously cannot consume. Now imagine the cube not really behaving like a cube at all but still retains the hit boxes as one since it really acts as if it is a sphere. Imagine hitting a button that changes gravity. Oh, but not just any button, no no no: it's surrounded by spikes so that if you didn't hit it just right, you'll slide off the edge ever so slightly and restart the level. Now imagine that, if you do happen to hit it just right and the gravity changes, you leave it to dumb luck to fit between two sawblades that will also put you back to start. A pixel to the left? Dead. A pixel to the right? Dead also.

If you are a sadist weirdo enjoy frustrating rage games, get it. If that's not your cup of tea, avoid it. Don't get me wrong: I love challenging games but the challenge should not be in the controls themselves but rather in the content. Solid concept but lacks the execution follow-through imo.

However, it does have a pretty solid soundtrack [yet somewhat limited].

> 100% achievement-'d! :D

"It's the most innovate shooter I've played in years."

For a Half-Life mod, the visuals are an absolutely stunning 10 out of 10. At first glance, WASD + mouse only makes one think 'What? Why?' but once the player is immersed into the game itself, they don't notice the lack of buttons to press as they're drawn into the storytelling. Story leaves a lot of questions to be asked and a lot of information to be filled-in as the plot develops. Plot is a 7 out of 10 in my rating but certainly asks the player what it means--which is either by brilliant design or lack of writing. Either way, it still does the game justice and fits into the overall feel. Recommended that you play it through twice. The first time with no research into the theories behind what the narrator describes. The second time through to spot the ghostly figures in this eerie story.

Can't praise this enough as it is VERY well done. Overall a 9 out of 10 for a casual "time-waster" with limited buttons; the atmosphere really makes this game a must-play!