Recent reviews by SVΛ

The biggest difference between this game and other social deduction games is that this game does not end when the opposition is found and dealt with.

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For example:

In Among Us, tasks are the means to an end; their primary purpose is to pressure the imposters to take action, so that the game of deduction can run its course. Achieving any of the win conditions will conclude the game. The win conditions are as follows:

Crew mates:
- Complete all tasks
- Ejecting all the imposters.

Imposters:
- Eliminate enough crewmates to gain a majority
- Succeed in a critical sabotage

In LOCKDOWN protocol, the tasks are everything. Finding the imposters and dealing with them does not end the game. The win conditions are as follows:

Workers:
- Complete all tasks

Dissidents:
- Eliminate all employees
- Prevent employees from completing tasks within the allotted time.

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This shift in focus of victory conditions honestly just makes the game turn into a slog. Playing detective is unrewarding because there is no benefit from eliminating the dissidents other than being able to do all the same monotonous and repetitive tasks unimpeded. While the current win conditions do allow for the strategy of hiding items as a dissident to time out the workers, it is not worth the trade-off of doing or watching someone do tasks to gain victory after eliminating dissidents. The current timer honestly just feels like Among Us's critical task timer if it lasted 10 minutes and had a million random arbitrary and mundane tasks assigned to it, removing all the fun adrenaline inducing aspects of it.

I am also not a fan of the rarity of weapons, nor their RNG in accuracy. I understand what the game is trying to do with the whole stamina system, but honestly it is just not for me. It does have depth and can be fun for those that want something new, but I came here really hoping for a more interactive TTT game with arena shooter fundamentals and perhaps more fluff in the task department. With that said, the one thing this game does well are the design of the tasks, they are very involved and interactive; it is just that the tasks are all this game has. So when you are simply in a race against the clock to do these tasks, it simply falls flat.

Last but not least, the developers added micro-transactions in the form of "downloadable content" containing skins, colors, models into this game WHICH IS STILL IN EARLY ACCESS. MTX is crazy. Putting MTX in an EA game is clown behavior. Monetizing a color like cyan (which can be easily added as making #00CCCC) in an MTX P2P game is honestly just a straight up Circus! These developers really have no shame. Lmao

This game failed for me explicitly because it was just another hero shooter but re-skinned with Gundam. Even as clone, that aspect could have been fun, but it being a free-to-play game plagued with micro-transactions was the final nail in the coffin.

Such an interesting IP, yet so much wasted potential. It baffles me when creators of Hero shooters do the same thing where they have a entire cast of characters as wide as the ocean but as deep as a puddle. They have differing hurtboxes, one basic move, and then a few abilities tied to some cooldown. Even old series such as Super Smash knows how to make their characters feel unique by utilizing a multitude of traits such as differing move-speeds, weights, and moves balanced by frame data or ammo rather than some arbitrary timer.

Look at games like Armored Core, Daemon X Machina, Titanfall, and even Space Engineers and take inspiration from their mechanics. The intricate movement, destructible parts, fine control, and maybe even out-of-mech movment, are all aspects a Gundam game can and should absolutely make use of.

If the power disparity of Gundams are so high, that faithfully recreating them would be a balancing nightmare, then embrace that imbalance and find another way to keep things engaging. Such examples include having different modes where Gundam selection are restricted to a specific era or power bracket, a late-game upgrade, or an asymmetrical mode where a Gundam's strength is offset by numbers or environment. The old school Star Wars Battlefront games are an example of this: Different units and weaponry for different eras. As the game progresses, players can unlock more specialized units. Eventually, the highest scoring or a random player from each team is given the option to control a very powerful unit which is then placed on a timer that can only be extended by getting kills. There is also a mode called Hero Assault where all players can pick their favorite powerful unit and duke it out. These are just a few examples of how to faithfully embrace Gundam without having to sacrifice balance.

Gundam really is a series with a source of untapped potential just waiting to be sprung forth. However, to harness it, we need someone who is a visionary, beyond chasing trends and rather. . . creating them.

This DLC is just more Elden Ring which is fine if you already love the base game and are content with it. Unfortunately for me, I cannot say the same as one of the biggest draws for me to previous Souls games was the multiplayer. Co-op and PvP were the fountains that supplied an endless stream of unique experiences post-game, and it disheartens me to see the shallow husk they have become in Elden Ring. This DLC was the perfect opportunity to rework the multiplayer system, create designated PvP areas, PvP covenants, but it did not do any of that. Instead, we have some big open empty areas and new factions we cannot really engage nor interact with in any meaningful way. To sum up how I feel, this DLC is one big missed opportunity.

I do not normally play shoot 'em ups, but after listening to "The Sea Has Returned", I had to give this game a try.

Eighty minutes in and I find myself with the widest dumbest grin on my face.

PvP is amazing! WTF!?
There are so many things and features I never even thought I wanted in a Soulsbornering game until I experienced them in Dark Souls 2.

✔️ Can be invaded even after defeating area boss
✔️ PvP covenants for that sweet sweet role-play
✔️ Blues can hunt the guilty
✔️ Fogwall vulnerability
✔️ Slow estus heal
✔️ Baller backstab and riposte animations

Just make sure to get Blue Acolyte for some QoL improvements and protections against naughty players.

There is a solid foundation and a lot of potential, but the multiplayer aspect has been completely scuffed.

Reading past interviews with Hidetaka Miyazaki, such as Eurogamer's Soul Survivor, makes me sad because I feel like his vision of multiplayer was truly stupendous, but the execution was very lackluster.

Co-op makes the game too easy, breaking the intended experience of overcoming hardship, as the enemy AI are just not designed around dealing with multiple players, and the advantages of cooperation are so great that being invaded is more like a minor inconvenience than an actual threat.

Invading can be fun, it can be tedious. What sucks though is that you cannot co-invade with friends. The second password summoning was made a thing back in Dark Souls 3, co-invasions should have also existed. If players can progress with friends, they should also be able to invade with them. Having to host and gank for co-op PvP or using the lackluster arena is just. . . boring.

Arena is lackluster. It somehow has less variety than the arena in Dark Souls 2 and 3. Three flat maps, one with pillars. . . excuse me?! Rather than using the password system, we need to be able to host lobbies and fine-tune rules so we don't just have one elimination mode and a bunch of timed death-match modes. Where is my 2v2 or 3v3 elimination?

Due to how multiplayer works in this game, the lack of natural solo invasions, inability to be invaded in areas where the boss is cleared, lack of covenants, amongst other features missing from previous titles, Elden Ring does not really have a post end-game for those that fall in love with its mechanics but want to do something other than progress the story with the same enemy placement for the millionth time. Dark Souls 2 has some neat features that this game could really make use of ranging from multiplayer mechanics such as post-game invasions to new game plus features such as new enemy placement.

It sucks because I really like this game, but I really do not like the overall direction FromSoft/Bandai have been taking multiplayer where it has been started to feel more like a half-baked afterthought rather than an integral part to the core experience.

Palestinian flag is animated beautifully in the opening cut scene.

10/10

It feels like the developers did the bare minimum for this re-release. I am not mad. . . just disappointed.

Was a good game. Now Capcom is retroactively corrupting their previous titles with ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ DRM due to short sighted greed. Thank you, executives and shareholders of Capcom. May the money you make be the fuel for your hellfire.

Good game, but ruined by retroactively added DRM. Capcom is just using recent events to justify their short sighted greed. Trash execs.