Recent reviews by [PG] Gimff

You remember 2016 Overwatch?

...

Well, this ain't that. But, it's a much better approximation to that experience than Overwatch "2" is. Take that for what you will.

Paradox has one of the most vile monetization schemes in modern gaming. I cannot in good faith recommend you buy any Paradox game, regardless of the quality of said game.

That said, Crusader Kings 3 is a fine game. It has some great role-playing elements and facilitates very engaging emergent storytelling. On the other hand, strategy mechanics are generally lacking: under-cooked or else missing. It's particularly frustrating because you can sense the great potential of the game, but are only presented with the somewhat disappointing reality. Your capacity to enjoy the game will likely scale with your preference of role playing over grand strategy.

At the end of the day, I have mostly enjoyed my time with the game, and will likely continue to play with some of the fantastic community mods. Yet, I will never purchase another Paradox game or dlc until the unlikely event that they adopt a more fair and consumer friendly monetization policy. A man can dream.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.

Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences:

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

- (missing paragraph because of character limit) -

We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, or Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

This is a flawed, but ultimately great space 4X game.

But for the love of the Great Space Bagel rotating up in the infinite sky, let us not support the depths of depravity that is the new Paradox pricing model. It was bad before, however now with their latest update to the pricing it is downright grotesque. You won't get another dime from me.

Blimey, what has the world come to ...

Riding on the redline, you approach a corner at too great a speed. Your co-driver thinks you're a fool, but being pre-programmed he cannot voice his displeasure, nor his fear. You panic brake, but it's too little too late ... the car's tyres cannot cope. The car steps away from you and you scramble for control. You jerk the wheel this way and the other, trying desperately to avoid oversteering in your bid to keep the car on course. Either by virtue of your skills or via the aid of sheer dumb luck, you make it through. Your car continues to careen down the track, right on the edge of control. There it is again ... that feeling ... euphoria!

If that's what it means to be a "racing sim", well ... I'm all here for it.

Went in with extremely low expectations - I'm a huge fan of the survival horror elements of the Resident Evil franchise; in particular I love 2 and 7. I knew going into 6 that it had a bad rep as an over-the-top, action focused mess. I also had a very bad time attempting to play 5. All odds stacked against it then.

But for what it has turned out to be, it's actually a lot of fun. Don't get me wrong, this is nothing like the best that the series has to offer. The story-line is ... insane, the action elements totally undermine any hope of "survival horror" and half the game occurs in cut-scenes.

However, it's just ... fun. Stupid, but fun. The mechanics are sufficiently tight, and not at odds with the rest of the gameplay like I found to be the case in 5. Quick time events are most unwelcome and are probably my biggest gripe with the game, but when it just lets you loose on a bunch of enemies it's a great time. Particularly if you're playing with a friend, as I am. The game is very easy unfortunately, but you can create some interesting and tense scenarios by being a bit creative and silly. For instance, at the start of Chris's chapter, I decided that we would crank the difficulty to max, and I'd attempt to play knife only. This created a fun dynamic with my friend having to conserve ammo to take down the enemies I couldn't overcome with the knife, and me trying to outmaneuver the enemies, getting in close enough to knife them down. Silly, but fun.

Hence my conclusion: Take this game seriously and you'll be left with a bad taste in your mouth, particularly in comparison to the best of the series. Approach the game with a sense of "playfulness" and it's really quite enjoyable. Whether or not this warrants a recommendation of the game I leave up to the discretion of the reader, but for one, I can't help but tick the "thumbs up", because what is a game supposed to be if not fun?

A delightfully weird and dark take on Alice's story.

Highlights include: Satisfying combat (Special shoutout to the Vorpal blade), a gritty and mostly tactful story covering themes of mental illness and ptsd, mesmerizing visuals and locations with fantastic art direction and an overall wholly unique feel.

Drawbacks include: Mixed bag enemy design; with some being more frustrating than they ought to be, platforming (this may or may not be your "thing", it isn't mine but on the whole it's well implemented for what it is) and some pacing issues here and there.

Playing the first game in the series is not a necessary prerequisite for enjoying "Madness Returns".

Overall I can't help but recommend this game. It's very creative and most of the time, a hell of a lot of fun. It's interspersed with some pacing issues due to gameplay and has some janky and dated elements, but not enough to ruin the experience. If the premise looks intriguing ... you should give it a try!

22/07/2023

Performance still unacceptable. Still seems to be very hit or miss. A friend with a lower end rig than mine achieves higher fps in this game, whereas I achieve higher fps in most other games, hence it really does seem to be somewhat of a lottery. I'm no stranger to troubleshooting performance issues and have tried all the usual tricks. Nothing has worked.

It's hard to attach a "good/bad" verdict to this one. In some aspects it's absolutely brilliant, in others it's a major disappointment. The bottom line however, is that it's an enjoyable experience. It's worthwhile playing if you're a fan of the franchise, and it's probably still worthwhile playing if you're not.

It's a fun game, with gorgeous environments and entertaining gameplay with some interesting characters sprinkled throughout. But what it aint, is scary. To me, it's a creepy action game, NOT a thoroughbred survival horror. The game is too easy, even on the hardest difficulties you're given too many resources. You don't really have to choose your fights, you can pretty easily take them all. The atmosphere is certainly present, but it's not particularly tense comparative to the best that the franchise has to offer. You, as the player, feel (mostly) powerful ... which is the antithesis of survival horror design.

Yar - di - yar, I was and still am disappointed by this aspect of Village, but at the end of the day, I enjoyed my time with this game. I suspect that if you go into it with the appropriate expectation, you will too (unless you really hate horror, in which case why are you considering a Resident Evil game?).

:)

It's meh.

Positives include (and are pretty much limited to): A vast selection of wonderfully detailed cars. Good graphics. Drifting is fun.

Negatives: Boring map, meh car physics, terrible engine sounds, obnoxious UI, insulting unskippable ads for the DLC, modding options that don't really do much for the dynamics of the car beyond better/worse, love it or hate it music (most likely hate it), irritating slow map reveals every time you go into it, stupid car acquisition system that takes all the fun and excitement out of earning new vehicles (but as a plus does make it easy to get whatever car you want) and not enough Toyotas.

Okay, the last point speaks to my "fanboyism" more than anything else, but still ... not enough Toyotas.

If the appeal of "a vast selection of wonderfully detailed cars" is not lost on you, this game may yet have some entertainment value. As, admittedly, it does for me. However, the game behind that is unfortunately not particularly good. At best it could be described as an inoffensive racing game trapped behind a highly abrasive user experience. Which to me seems fairly damning, though on this point I suppose your mileage may vary!

Where's my Soarer at Mr Microsoft?