Recent reviews by Garfiel L'zanya

Haven't played since the game was still early access, but even then the game was worth the asking price. Like most games, it's better with friends, but the solo playthrough is still very enjoyable due to the breadth of content. Much like Terraria, the progression is locked behind boss battles that you have to seek out, and the rewards almost always feel game changing. There are some big grinds if you want to get all the achievements, and finding boss arenas in the later part of the game can be slightly tedious, but those are some of the only gripes I can come up with for this game. The things it does right and that are fun far outweigh the negatives. Worth paying full price if you like games similar in genre and style to Terraria.

I recommend going in blind, it's more enjoyable to experience everything for yourself the first time. Definitely better with friends, better with in-game voice chat. One of the few games where losing is just as much fun as winning.

One of the best games of the year!

Although unfinished, Valheim shows a lot of polish for the current state it's in and a lot of promise for it's future. Reasonably priced, engaging, and highly atmospheric, it is wonderful just exploring and filling out your map. There is certainly room for improvement, hopefully more things to do and more mechanics to play with and refine, but the game is reasonably priced for the current experience. Very hopeful and excited to see what more the devs come up with.

I've had Terraria for as long as I've had a Steam account. It was the first game I ever bought on Steam.

All these years later, and I've managed to witness Journey's End.

Very good game. Buy it, play it, celebrate it, and enjoy coming back annually for another new playthrough.

The original Hammerwatch was a serviceable game that I felt had an identity crisis. It had many elements that should have elevated the experience, but the game frequently felt like it was at war with itself about which elements should have more focus, and what kind of game it was supposed to be.

There is no such problem for Heroes of Hammerwatch. If Hammerwatch was a test run, Heroes of Hammerwatch is the maiden voyage.

Easily one of my favorite games of 2018 (and my contender for the 2018 GOTY), HoH knows exactly what it wants to be, and does it well. The story (although not the main focus of HoH) is clear and concise; your progression actively feels like you are getting closer and closer to slaying the 'Big Bad' of the world. Gameplay is fluid, tight, and rewards skill as well as punishes poor decisions. As a top-down, isometric sort of spiritual successor to the original Gauntlet, combat can't truly be incredibly complex, but there is such satisfaction in starting a combo and chaining it through an entire map as if you're Doom Slayer Jr. sent to rip and tear in 2D space. Exploration is key to surviving each area in HoH, and almost every item added to your inventory has an almost tangible quality that makes you feel stronger. What's more, the game has constantly been updated and polished by the devs. Customization has grown, there are more items, new secrets, new foes, new areas - the list really does seem to go on and on.

Oh, and did I mention you can play with friends?

If the game seems interesting to you, I highly recommend you pick it up - especially if it's on sale. There's so much more that could said about the game, but I can assure you that the game is undoubtedly worth the asking price.

Update for Steam Awards 2019: The game is still amazing, has had great updates over the years, and is still one of the best purchases I've made on Steam as well as one of the best games in my library.

At the time of writing this review, I have almost 40 hours in the game. Before I offer my opinion on whether or not you should buy this game, let me go over what I did in my 40 hours.

In 40 hours of game time, I was able to:
- Play and beat every map (12 at the time of writing) on Normal difficulty.
- Play every perk/class (9 at the time of writing) and beat a Normal difficulty map with each.
- Level all perks/classes to at least level 5 to unlock the first skill for each perk/class.
- Find all 10 collectibles (there are more, but only 10 are needed to unlock the achievement) on each map.
- Try out both single player and multiplayer.
- Beat each boss (there are only 2 at the time of writing, Dr. Hans Volter and The Patriarch) both by myself and with friends.

Now, I feel that I've tried to keep myself well rounded in this game, and I've tried to immerse myself in all the game has to offer. By looking for collectibles, I've explored all parts of each map, and I've found spots that I enjoy working in and around on every map. I've played each class, and I have my preferred classes that conform to the way I play.

All that being said, would I recommend this game?

The short answer is yes. The longer answer requires a little bit more scrutiny, and there are some things I would like to clarify for the more conscientious and frugal gamers. So, here goes the long answer.

Killing Floor 2 is reminiscent of Call of Duty's "Nazi Zombies" minigame, in that both have zombies, and both are wave-based first person shooters. However, unlike Nazi Zombies (or at least unlike older Nazi Zombie maps) there is a definite way to win the game, and progression is more centered around arming yourself for the final boss encounter at the end of either 4, 7, or 10 waves. Unlike Nazi Zombies, weapons are freely available from the beginning of the game, and their stats are incremental, as are their prices. Additionally, each weapon is assigned to a specific perk (the perks are basically the different classes within the game), and using those weapons to kill enemies earns you experience for the perk they are assigned to; in turn, levelling perks grants bonuses to both the player and those specific perk weapons. In short, perks have weapons specifically tailored for their use, and it benefits you to use the weapons assigned to your perk; however, you don't have to do this, and the game offers quite a bit of versatility in this regard. Gone are the days of opening a container to receive a random weapon, as weapons follow a much more linear progression. Whether this is a good or bad thing is left to personal interpretation, but I find that this type of progression suits the game quite well. Speaking of progression, there are a limited number of waves each game, and instead of all zombies receiving more health or hitting harder as waves progress, each wave introduces new types of enemies that pose new threats and challenges. More enemies will come out and advanced enemies become increasingly common the longer the game goes on, eventually leading up to the hardest challenge - the boss. Upon beating the boss, the game is finished, and a recap of statistics is presented before asking you to vote for the next map.

Now that I've described what the game is actually like, here are the advantages and disadvantages to the game.

Pros:
- The game looks quite nice.
- Sound design is polished, and a surprising amount of depth is put into locating enemies via sound.
- I've yet to suffer from any game-breaking glitches or anything like that.
- Maps feel fleshed out, and their differing structure cater to different playstyles.
- Gameplay is simplistic, enjoyable, and can be fairly challenging at times.
- The voice acting, while not remarkable, is satisfactory, and each character has their own unique personality - for better and for worse.

Cons:
- In order to play with friends, you'll either need to learn how to create your own dedicated server, or you'll have to use the online matchmaking to find another player's empty server. As of now, there is no private server option built into the game, and for a game that's $30, it's surprising to see this feature absent.
- Also, for a game that is $30 and is in early access, there are already cosmetics and microtransactions. I understand that the developers are looking to make a profit, but there are some core issues that should have been addressed (such as the lack of a private server option) before microtransactions were added into the game.
- It may be a tad too finicky, but every time I launch the game, I have to use Task Manager to cease the program because it never seems to launch correctly on the first attempt. However, it never fails to work on the second attempt. Why it does this, I have no idea, but both myself and two other people have the same issue every time.
- The game may be too simplistic for some, to the point where it feels shallow. Although I personally don't feel this way, I recognize that the game isn't for everyone.
- Lastly, and it may be nitpicky, but the humor is quite hit-and-miss. It's not something that deters me from playing the game, but it would be nice to have characters just be silent instead of throw around unfunny quips every so often. I understand that the game takes some inspiration from the campy side of the horror genre, but it can be quite grating at times.

So, with all that said, is the game worth buying? I bought it at full price, and I don't regret it. However, I did my research on what the game was/is like before buying, so I was fairly certain the game would be satisfactory. For the general public, however, I would say that it is definitely worth buying, ESPECIALLY if it's on sale. If you're on the fence about whether or not you want the game, wait for a sale; if you know this type of thing is right up your alley, by all means purchase it at full price, because I'd argue it's worth it.

Hotline Miami posed a very important question, one that I believe resonates with this game. Richard's inquiries to Jacket seem to echo throughout this game, and I caught myself wondering about Richard's questions more and more as the game progressed...

LISA is a game about hurt. You play as Brad, a middle-aged nobody residing in the wastes of a ruined world. Brad lives with his lifelong friends in the middle of nowhere. Olathe, the name given to Brad's homeland before everything was destroyed, is sparse with human life, rife with monsters, and is entirely devoid of women. All except for Buddy.

"Where are we right now?"

LISA is a game about hurt. People will hurt Brad. People will hurt each other. Brad will hurt people. Brad will hurt. It's not uncommon to hurt, especially when it's the end of the world. Although, even in the end of the world people don't like to hurt. Maybe you'll take Joy and forget about all the pain and hurt, because Joy helps you forget - at least temporarily. Plus, when you can forget about everything that makes you so pathetic, then you can truly become strong. Besides, you're not the only one using Joy, and Joy has virtually no side effects - save for withdrawal.

"Why are we having this conversation?"

LISA is a game about hurt. The game begs the question of whether or not a few strong men can save the world from a sea of ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. Are you a strong man? Will you do the right thing?

LISA is a game about hurt, so you need to ask yourself something...

"Do you like hurting other people?"

Subnautica is one of those Early Access games that has me on the fence.

On the one hand, it does a lot of things well. For example, the game's visuals are nice, and the different areas of the sea are all aesthetically appealing. There's a good deal of conveyance towards which areas are relatively harmless and which areas have giant sea-monsters that will rip you in half. In addition, I can't imagine how things would appear for the VR users, and personally I don't want to find out - the Reaper Leviathan nipped that urge in the bud. Still, the option to play the game in VR, in tandem with the already pleasant atmosphere, leaves the game with a strong recommendation from me for the visuals alone. In terms of gameplay, the game performs similarly to games like Rust or ARK, and although the crafting/upgrades system is nothing groundbreaking, it is still enjoyable and rewarding. There are certain unique aspects to the game, many of which I feel are too minuscule to even bother bringing up; however, the game does things differently enough that I feel comfortable saying that it has a personality of its own.

On the other hand, the game is in Early Access, which means that not only is it not complete, but it is still relatively unpolished. Although the game has undergone extensive changes and would appear to be updated frequently, I can't say that I've never been burned by the game due to some glitch or another. For the patient (you saints), the game's glitches and bugs are relatively harmless, and they border more on the taxing side of frustration rather than fully-fledged rage. Still, the point remains that the game could be another Early Access flop, but I'm fairly confident that it won't be. Hopefully, these issues can be ironed out, and I do believe the devs will continue to work on this project.

As it stands, Subnautica gets a mostly confident vote of approval from me, and I would recommend buying the game if it interests you (especially if it's on sale).

Thus far, Stardew Valley is the best game of 2016. I have no doubt that, were I to make a top ten list of the best games of 2016, Stardew Valley would place somewhere in the top three, with it currently occupying 1st place. I would even be so bold as to claim that it's one of the best games in recent years, maybe the past five or so.

Stardew Valley is a combination of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing; however, it still creates new concepts and manages to utilize old, familiar concepts in new ways. It is a definite must buy for any fan of either game (or for any fan on that genre, for that matter), and it is one of the most upbeat, cheery, and thoroughly enjoyable experiences in gaming that I've had in quite some time. Furthermore, although it can be quite 'PG' at times, it still knows how to develop characters and locale in a way that is heartfelt and sincere without feeling saccharine.

I would recommend Stardew Valley to just about anyone. In my eyes, it has a nearly universal appeal, and with such a large emphasis on making your farm and your life in game completely unique to your own play-style, there are innumerable choices, options, and decisions that make each invdividuals' playthrough different.

If you're a fan of creating and customizing your own character/home/farm, then this game is for you.
If you're a fan of games that reward you incrimentally, then this game is for you.
If you're a fan of story and narrative that is revealed through interactions with characters, then this game is for you.
If you're a completionist, there are plenty of collectibles to hunt and find, and this game is definitely for you.

For the sake of stopping myself from gushing on and on endlessly over how much I love this game, I'll end by saying that Stardew Valley is worth your time and money, and it is genuinely one of the best games I've played in years.

What can you say about such a beloved game that hasn't already been said before?

Honestly, I don't have much I can add to the conversation that hasn't already been contributed by someone more committed to the game - someone more passionate for what this game was and what the developer has become. And yet, I still feel that I need to have my say in the matter, because I fear that if I just remain quiet then I have affirmed this game's "Mostly Positive" rating on Steam.

That said, I have no intention to harp on the topic, as I would prefer to keep things clear and concise.

PAYDAY 2 is one of the best games I've owned on Steam, and it is indeed one of the best game I've played. The community has almost always been one of the best communities on Steam, and although I would recommend playing the game with friends, the online matchmaking has afforded me multiple opportunities to meet new, friendly players. The concept of the game is great, and the style and personality of the game has almost always been affable and endearing. In other words, it is extremely hard to hate this game.

And I don't hate the game, because the game itself hasn't done anything wrong (although I've often hated those damn guards that can somehow see through walls).

No, both the honor and the infamy go to the developer, Overkill. Through a series of missteps and blatant disregard (and even censoring) of the community, PAYDAY 2 has transformed into something drastically different than what originally appealed to players and what kept them playing for hundreds of hours. If you want to know exactly what went down, I recommend that you do your own research and formulate your own opinion on how Overkill handled the transformation of their game; however, if you want my opinion on the matter, I believe that Overkill simply got too big for their britches and forgot what made the game special. Just for clarification, it wasn't the bi-monthly DLC that made the game special; it wasn't the enticing promises of new, one-dimensional characters; it definitely wasn't the release of new, broken maps (or rehashes of old maps); no, what made PAYDAY 2 special was that we talked, and Overkill listened.

And then they got greedy, and the game hasn't been the same since.

I don't want this to sound like the disappointment of someone who is afraid of change - I didn't buy all this DLC because I didn't like Overkill trying new things. The fact of the matter is that I don't recommend this game because there has been a clear shift in focus in Overkill's offices, and that shift in focus has left us, the players, out of the picture.