Recent reviews by swiftwind501

I feel bad for anyone that tries to play this solo. Including myself.

I can't believe I missed out on this gem 5 years ago. And soon, there will be a sequel...

I think I've played enough to say that the game is fairly enjoyable once you've learned the ropes. However, there are many balancing issues that need addressing before I throw any money at the devs. Because I've only played Runner during the trial period, I will be mostly speaking from that perspective by pointing out my gripes with individual Hunter abilities and equipment. Additionally, I won't be talking about optimization issues because that's always something that needs fixing.

1. Super charge needs to be nerfed. The speed buff is way too fast, or stamina regen is so fast that it's far too easy to fly across the map and take down some runners in rapid succession.
   
2. Stun should have a cooldown (optionally, instead of using stamina) and less damage. The hunter should not be able to cast it twice in less than 2-3 seconds, as it makes Runner interactions impossible to execute. It can basically guarantee an instakill to any hiding Runners low on health (1 bar left), seen and unseen.
   
3. Hunter's firearms should be projectile-based and somewhat less accurate. This will make life as a runner against an experienced Hunter easier while still providing bored, high-level Hunters some challenge. Either this or add damage falloff for all weapons (except sniper rifles, I suppose) instead of effective range for applicable weapons. Granted, this change may need an overhaul for the game, so I'm not sure if it's immediately feasible.
   
4. The damn turrets... Do I really need to say it? Their range, accuracy, and damage output are insane. Yes, it's a big map, but individual things aren't that far from each other. It's even more punishing when two turrets are near each other, so there should be a placement limit to them. With that limitation, you could also allow a third placeable turret to balance it out.
   
5. Proximity mines seem to be less of a problem than other equipment, but like the turrets, there should be a limit to X number per hex tile or no overlapping trigger ranges. A runner that triggers one mine and staggers into another nearby OR steps on two mines placed on top of each other is a scenario that places your face on your desk. Also, maybe add a tiny bit more visibility for the Runners when a mine is hidden in bushes/grass? Not sure if this is just a graphical difference for me since I was playing between low and medium settings. Additionally, here's a random new equipment idea: tripwires that poison Runners while revealing their location.
   
6. Fade and pulse weren't used as much in all the matches I played, but I think they need a little tweaking. Fade should slow down the Hunter; it should be treated more like a stalking ability than something inherently overpowered. (See Caveira or Vigil from Rainbow 6 Siege as a reference point, although they don't slow down with their respective abilities.) Pulse could use a slightly smaller range and maybe a fading effect as the mark expires. (See Lion from R6S as a reference point.}
   
7. Hunter perks seem balanced for the most part, but I can't say the same for any future ones. Most grounds are covered by the existent set, so it seems difficult to make a lot more.

Now that the Hunter is out of the way, onto the Runners:

1. You should be able to throw caltrops a small distance away. I'm not making a case for this one, but I believe it makes logical sense, not to mention it would be more realistic.
   
2. Support class for Runners WAS overpowered, but after reading the patch notes today, I think it's been fixed temporarily. In the future, the healing bolt should do less healing within a "debuff" duration that reduces the amount of healing per successive hit. For example, within a 5-second window after one hit at 100% effectiveness, the next hit would heal with 80% effectiveness, the following 60%, etc. The heal amount should also increase per tier while possibly starting from a lower value. The same should apply to the shield bolt while adding shield decay over time instead of instant removal upon effect expiry. (See Finka from R6S as a reference point for either of these abilities.) These changes will certainly discourage spam healing/shielding. Finally, the NPI multiplier bolt was less used from what I could tell (because everyone wanted maximum heals and shields), so I can't say if it needs attention even after the changes today.
   
3. I don't see as many balancing problems with the torment and control classes, but their abilities could use similar scaling per tier while using lower initial values. The growth rates are just flat, and the bonus perks for max tier abilities should not be locked to that tier. For example, the virus bolt should drain 10/25/50 stamina in addition to slowing interactions by 200%/300%/500%. Reduced successive effectiveness as mentioned above could be implemented for these classes as well, although currently, the Hunter can gain temporary immunity from any debuff after it expires, so you could say that's balanced.
   
4. It was clear that there would be more perks added for the Runners, but the current set isn't so bad. I'd like to see an extra selectable perk after reaching a certain (career) level. Not sure if I can say the same for the Hunter.
   
5. The intellicoms could use better effective ranges, such as allowing Runners to ping crates from further away instead of having to sit next to them. This feature also needs a clearer explanation in the game so that players know how to use it.

One final suggestion is for matchmaking, as I was frequently matched with players from Asia (particularly China). Not trying to be racist since I'm of Chinese Taiwanese descent myself, but I feel like most of the Chinese players I played with had no idea what they were doing even though they had made some amount of progress. I suppose they intentionally joined North American servers because they thought there were more players. Now that matchmaking doesn't force you to select your server, I fear that there will still be connectivity issues. What the game needs in this case is a ping limit; simple as that! Now players (as long as there are enough of them online) won't have to deal with far away connections.
I think that's all I have to say, and though I wouldn't consider this a perfect change list, at least it allows for minute tuning in all of the character abilities. That said, I do believe that the game has great potential, and it just needs plenty of time to test and iron out the wrinkles. I may come back to the game another day to fill the hole Evolve made in me.

You basically become American Dragon: Jake Long, but with a sword.

Who's cutting imaginary onions... Are these tears imaginary, too? WHAT IS REAL ANYMORE AAAAAAAA

An amazingly clever, tearjerking story coupled with genre-hopping gameplay and a lovely audiovisual experience.

Aside from many loading and optimization issues, this game currently has very little content. I don't know what it was like before 0.7.0.0, but its present "revamped" state is not very enjoyable. It's mostly your familiar MMO formula: do these (fetch) quests, get rewarded and level up, upgrade your stats, buy new equipment, repeat. There's nothing that really sets it apart, and you'd think that the developers would implement a unique or key feature first. One of these missing features is vehicles; you see static models of them everywhere, but you can't use any of them. There appears to be a shop at the Ark (the game's safe zone) for vehicles, but it doesn't sell anything yet, and the same goes for another shop that supposedly sells exoskeleton suits. Without these things, traversing the open-world becomes a chore, and there is not much fun to be had than shooting mobs that have half a brain but a deadly bite. However, ideally speaking, once they are included, the game will become far more interesting.

So currently, it's very barebones: there's evidence of future systems to be implemented, but it's just not there. If you want to test it out, be my guest. Please don't blame the devs when you get bored or annoyed by the lack of directive; it's a huge work in progress, and I do admire their ambition. Personally though, I'll revisit the game when there's a sizeable content update and review it again, but honestly with this version, I can't recommend it. Do I regret buying it? No, and I consider my purchase an investment in the devs, expecting them to deliver more over time. All the best until then.

GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA

If you played GhostX back in the day, Closers is pretty similar but feels a little less complex. In GhostX, you could swap weapon types to change the gameplay, but in Closers, you're stuck with the skills your character has. Otherwise, it's an easy, mindless beat-'em-up.
Not gonna bother talking about the cash shop; I'm only here to review gameplay.

Cute spooks and light jumpscares but baffling at times. Wish it had more music though.