Recent reviews by xSagira_Stonedx

TDUSC plays like what living in a heavily gentrified city looks, feels, and costs. My grandfather dying of dementia had more soul than this game does. TDUSC feels like corporate, gentrified slop sold as "high life" lifestyle vs TDU2's more laid back "yeah, I just like to compete and own cars" without this glossy, rich-people ♥♥♥♥ all attitude TDUSC slaps onto its image. Everything looks expensive but feels cheap. TDUSC has "class", but like a rich people going to Target kind of class. None of the charm of TDU2 exists in Solar Crown. It feels nowhere near as casual as TDU2. It doesn't feel like you're on a little personal journey to collect racing licenses and find out what different kind of races exist with different kinds of cars. Everything is all handed to you all at once and you're just expected to ♥♥♥♥ around and compete for brownie points for team Edward and Jacob like it's 2009 all over again.

I only bought Solar Crown because TDU2 gives my desktop setup a stroke.

I'm hoping this game improves, gets a proper offline mode, and gives up this corporate deep throating it has going on.

It's literally just a more straight-forward Furry Stalker Anomaly. Call that STALKER: Shadow of Furnobyl lmao

Solid bones:
+ beautiful atmosphere
+ lighting is phenomenal
+ gunplay is surprisingly fun and solid
+ excellent weapon sandbox
+ really solid progression curve
+ maps are separated by zones and are expansive and fun to explore
+ plenty of contracts
+ firefights are frantic, slow, but fun
+ much-needed basic health/food/medical system
+ plentiful loot
+ generous carry weight system


but not without it's negatives:
- very obtuse information regarding contracts (used to promote exploration; not a bad thing! Just a little cumbersome sometimes)
- no save anywhere feature
- lack of weapon customization makes finding upgraded weapons nice, but not all optics have a good sight picture
- all headgear is a single slot; and often HUD, tactical light, NVG, gas masks, and helmets often separate items or completely different objects forcing you to carry multiple different types of headgear to adapt to your needs
- too many static objects in the game-world that you can interact with yet don't do anything unless to get past an anomaly or distract an enemy
- exploring dungeons can be dizziying mazes of "same-hallway" syndrome so expect to run around in circles if you're directionally impaired like myself lmao
- map markers are non-existent; you don't have one for yourself, relying on landmark navigation (that isn't inherently a bad thing; it just, again, relies on player agency to guide yourself around)

After 15-ish hours I've had a good time exploring and getting into trouble - but the lack of QoL headgear (primarily headlamp and NVG) makes it a bit of a slog to explore at night or in dungeons.

A VERY solid 8/10, knocked down to 6-7.5/10 for some awkward gear choices for the player

This game is like "Kind Words" but you can feel the emotions of the people you're "interacting with" much, much more vividly.

The music is fantastic. The stories of other people make me wanna cry. The questions are all beautiful.

Play this game. Write your silly, wonderful answers.

And stay connected and on this rock for as long as possible<3

By no means is DAEMON X MACHINA a fantastic game. But one of the guys who worked on it worked on the OG Armored Core titles. It closely resembles the control scheme/feel of AC4 and 4A, with some tweaks to smooth things out.

Pros:
+ a really beautiful art style
+ mech parts look chunky and robotic without being too unrealistic
+ pretty decent customization
+ decent voice acting that isn't bad but is a little on the campy side

Cons:
- way too many characters. Simply way too many.
- a confusing story that goes nowhere and adds so many plot threads you think you'd be knitting a blanket with it
- the mechs have absolutely zero weight to them but I can excuse it for semi-decent combat that requires a lot of moving around very quickly
- absolutely horrible weapon noises

It's a healthy 6/10 for me: it scratches that classic AC itch in a different way and that's perfectly okay. It's not ACVI, but it's a mech game.

I have never, ever, ever heard of this series before. And I loved the NFS series growing up, and played a surprising lot of the newer NFS games from the past decade or so. But all of them lacked something. A little shine in their eyes had disappeared, long passed the glory days of NFS:MW or Underground 2.

So I decided, on a whim, to check this out.

And oh. My God. It's beautiful.

Pros:
+ the OST reminds me of Sega GT 2000's soundtrack and I ADORE IT. It bleeds y2K culture in a way that's hard to describe
+ a nice selection of cars
+ a very satisfying gameplay loop that doesn't waste your time
+ a wonderful progression system
+ NOSTALGIA. PURE, UNFETTERED NOSTALGIA
+ the SP system encourages clean driving and doesn't just encourage "beat 7 other people or you suck at the game" for 30 hours
+ 1v1 races feel good, solid, and (mostly) fair
+ I don't mind the PNG portraits! I think it's really neat and every character has defined personality
+ CRIMSON BOY is just three G5 Iguazu-s in a trench coat (iykyk)

So-so:
+/- races are either "you lose by 160m in the blink of an eye" or "you win by 160m in the blink of an eye" in my small playtime so far. it's not a huge deal, I just think it's interesting!
+/- the livery system feels a little... hard to use sometimes
+/- the rubber-banding on some racers is absolutely *insane*

For some who are probably returning players this is a dream come true. For some like me, new to this series, it's like being a kid again playing the most classic NFS games in modern times.

It's a true 10/10

Originally I wasn't sure what to think of this game. But oh God. Oh no. I'm ADDICTED.

It scratches a hyper-specific itch of character customization loot, gacha boxes, and collecting in a way that feels fun and meaningful WITH customizing skills of all your dolls! Really nice game to turn your brain off to and listen to a YouTube vid or podcast to(:

This entire game is pure dopamine. Between its killer bluegrass soundtrack reminiscent of Hardspace Shipbreaker and Firefly, its unique gameplay loop, and roguelite nature (with some nice meta progression mechanics to boot), and beautiful artstyle, this game is an absolute gem.

PROS:
+ the art style is absolutely beautiful
+ killer bluegrass OST
+ unique repair mechanics w/ diagetic UI/tools
+ a manual that tells you everything you need to know
+ simple puzzles that you can learn how they work and get a Dopamine rush when you learn how to diagnose, fix, and repair problems on your own
+ a decent story
+ a neat roguelite mechanic that doesn't feel same-y or worn out

Cons:
- it's very easy to get a negative balance on some runs especially when you're new at the game
- the Rebreather can be really confusing to diagnose even if you think you got everything right (hint: read the manual. Now read it again. That one specific thing you thought you could overlook is actually REALLY important)
- the frantic mode feels a little unfun for how in-depth some of these mechanics get

20/10: I'm really in love with this game<3

Every queer girl's dream: to be a chubby [insert animal here]-girl<33

10/10 here to just be a lil chubby foxgirl

Blood Running - on the surface - looks, plays, feels, and operates basically like ZERO SIEVERT. But don't be fooled! It's got an interesting tiered loot system paired with plenty of gear options and customization! The art is top-notch and while the gunplay is serviceable, this game is a quiet diamond in the rough :3

Pros:
+ very easy to make money
+ enemies aren't bullet sponges
+ gear is widely varied
+ cybernetics make for additional build decisions
+ really good art style
+ neat locations
+ no "lose everything on death" mechanic like Tarkov or SULFUR
( will list more if I think of any)

Cons:
- "ADS" with scopes have incredibly tiny FOV, making it hard to aim/keep track of targets
- no healing cancel
(will list more if I think of any)
-

SULFUR is like if Infographics, Kurzgesagt, and Tarkov all got a little too drunk one night and had a three-way that resulted in this beautiful gem.

Pros:
+ a very chill, 90s-00s hip-hop backtrack for an OST
+ surprisingly good gunplay
+ amazing gun customization that ranges from "yeah that makes sense" to "WHAT THE ♥♥♥♥ IS THAT" (my auto shotgun freezing dual Glocks would like to say hello)
+ neat environments
+ some same-y enemies but I'm not gonna sweat it
+ a wide variety of armor and weaponry to play with
+ cooking recipes that feel intuitive and you get to discover for yourself
+ loot drops seem to have been buffed
+ modding through Nexus mods w/ BepinEX feels solid

Cons:
- no insurance for lost gear so when you die, you lose EVERYTHING, which in some cases can feel unfair
- the early game is a bit of a slog for money and gear
- hit registration feels a little poor right now
- sometimes enemy spawns feel a little cracked; waves of dogs or enemies that leap at you will spawn out of nowhere

9/10 the game is PVE extraction shooter-ish and this is all I've wanted :3 Devs you did great<33