Recent reviews by NOTBLYRAX

This is my first game in the Yakuza series.

I really wanted to like this game. I like the story, I like the characters, I like the setting, I like the comedy, I like the combat. The core gameplay is solid and interesting.

But this game just adds on so many other pointless elements and mechanics that mostly just distract and block you from enjoying the core game. The job system seems tacked on and forgettable. The restaurants are irrelevant. The crafting is irrelevant. The random low level mobs that attack you every five minutes are annoying. The "collect all the enemies" and "random hero quests" don't add anything useful. The additional business management sim and Mario Kart feel like distractions. I just wanted to play Yakuza, I didn't want any of this other stuff.

This would be mostly forgivable, but I just stumbled into a bizarre game difficulty spike with no way to avoid. According to people online, the solution is to waste more time backtracking and then grind levels. I'm already setting the combat to "auto" for most of my battles because they're too easy and take up too much time. I'm not willing to sink any more time into this game, it's starting to feel like a free to play gacha game without the gacha. A pity.

It's a decent little game that mixes XCOM turn-based strategy with some Darkest Dungeon stress and sheltering mechanics in a three chapter roguelike. Nothing unique here, but it's executed fairly well. It could use a little more play-balancing, variety, and pacing, which could have made it great.

A good first release from this developer.

It's a less wacky Overcooked, with a planning/building phase. Also doable in single-player.

The roguelike presentation makes it actually more accessible.

Fun little PvE game, played in short bursts. The missions are short and randomly generated, so losing isn't a big deal.

The multiplayer is designed to force people to play together. Everyone shares the same screen, friendly fire is always on, and you have to pay attention to your enemies and teammates equally. I've been playing in public games, everyone seems like a good sport.

Singleplayer is very different, you can't make a lot of mistakes. That can be fun in its own way.

Good, not great. Played both online simultaneous and local (Steam Remote Play) hotseat. Honestly it would be hard to screw up this game. Some poorly designed levels and lack of customizability do stand out.

It's a cross between Factorio and a tower defense game. The constant onslaught of enemies gives you a pressing reason to build better and better defenses. It doesn't feel as tedious as some factory-building games since you don't have time to over-optimize and over-plan.

It does have some small pitfalls like the bosses are surprising and gathering materials for the tech tree is not as much fun as just playing the game normally.

Orwell is more of an interactive story than a game. There aren't a lot of actual decisions that you can make. But it's a reasonable story and a compelling concept (with some rough edges).

However in 2020 the whole thing feels like a outdated criticism of an imagined world.

Don't hate the imposter, hate the teammates who randomly accuse and vote!

Surprisingly deep free top-down shooter, but playing with friends is required. Sometimes you can't see the aliens eating your face, but that's really your own fault.

Never has resisting war crimes ever been so much fun