Recent reviews by Mitch McConnell, Elder Demon

DEMOCRACY HAS PREVAILED

Adding a positive review after the recent debacle.

20 hours in, but I really dig this game. Pretty immersive. Fun gameplay. Fun world they've built. Has easier difficulties, but is an overall challenging game.

Communication is essential, especially on higher difficulties. Friendly fire is always on. Multiple objectives and fights need multiple people to accomplish. Playing solo is not recommended. A team that properly communicates is by far one of the most satisfying gaming experiences I've ever had; in contrast, following that up with a silent team is extremely frustrating.

Game is objective based. You are an elite team here to get a job done. You get nothing for staying in an area and fighting enemies. It might help to clear out some enemies, but the more you fight, the more come to fight you.

The "strategem" system has a surprising amount of depth to it. You can pick four special abilities/weapons to bring with you. Turrets, bombardments, a flamethrower, mines, it goes on. Some of them could be better explained (standard weapons list stats but the advanced weaponry stratagems don't), but that's a minor gripe.

Personally the PSN thing didn't affect me at all, but I'm still glad they removed the requirement. More players = More democracy

Edit 11/29/2024: 200+ more hours, the game has received a lot more love. A lot of weapons previously felt underwhelming, but were significantly reworked to be more viable. Higher difficulty was added, it's challenging but satisfying. More content and stuff gets added, and while there are in game purchases they all feel fair. A+

I am a 45 yo father, probably one of the oldest people playing this game. I am a single farther to my Son, who is 14 now. Ahaha just kidding I'm a millennial with a vasectomy.

This is easily the most detailed city builder available. That being said, I would describe it more as a "city painter" than "city management", it's pretty easy to have a successful city. Most of the actual management comes from traffic management, which is still surprisingly fun and in-depth.

I don't like how the DLC is adds so much to the price tag. The DLC themselves are mostly fine though; MOST of them are unique enough that they don't feel like content was specifically carved out to charge us more.

It's a super chill game. It's great for lowering your heartrate or winding down after a long day.

edit: still an excellent game

I absolutely loved this game, it's easily one of my most favorite games I have ever played, and I'm not just saying that because I am a cannibal.

You might find it slow, but it's a wonderful atmospheric experience. You fly through the sky/space in a flying train; braving the dangerous and violent wilderness, monsters, and weathers of the wilds. All the while you hear the gentle reassuring chugging of your locomotive. I strongly recommend playing this game with headphones or an excellent sound system to fully appreciate the world.

The writing is gripping, I found myself invested in every story even if it was a small inconsequential sidequest. The wealth and song of the sky ambitions were.. ehh. The truth and martyr king's cup ambitions were absolutely incredible and highly satisfying. Hands down some of the best writing I've ever seen in a video game.

Random other note: Rather than picking your character's gender, you instead pick their term of address. So instead of being referred to as "he/him" or "she/her", you are instead referred to as a title such as: "Captain", "Doctor", "Citizen", "Professor". You can still pick "Sir" or "Madam" as well. Throughout the game whenever you are acknowledged the game uses this term of address rather than any pronouns or name. I really like that feature, it's a lot more satisfying when the story seamlessly acknowledges the background for your character.

I can think of two notable negatives. The first is the early game when everything can still kick your butt. My best advice is don't bother fighting just yet, try to build yourself up first. The second downside is that this game can feel kind of slow to some people. It's definitely much faster than Sunless Sea. I think it really helps build up the atmosphere and the game wouldn't as satisfying or be the same otherwise, but it still might be offputting for some. There are special engines you can get that make you go extra fast, but you're not gonna get them in the early game.

No spoilers

First off: This game is not kidding about the disturbing content. After I first encountered it, I genuinely was unsettled and had a little bit of difficulty sleeping. It is not appropriate for children to play this game.

The only other things you need to know: Keep playing through the game, don't try to go savescum if you think you made a mistake. And when you "finish", keep playing. You're not done until the credits roll.

That being said, WOW. Doki Doki is a story that takes full advantage of the medium of video games. This story would not be possible in any other medium. After playing it my mind keeps thinking about it, about the details, about the subject matter, about how it plays with our concepts of what a video game is.

After a certain traumatic event in the story; I was questioning myself, wondering if I did something wrong. I realize now, that that questioning IS INTENDED. That's doubt, that wonder of if I did something incorrect, if I could have done something different to avoid this event; is exactly what happens in real life. That is an astounding level of story design, in fact the game even DELETES YOUR SAVE because just like in real life, you can't go back.

Then the game kept going, and kept being unsettling in other ways. The portrayal of depression, anxiety, and trauma are pretty spot on; like the writer has some experience themselves.

I'd highly recommend Doki Doki Literature Club.

The Graveyard is a true cinematic masterpiece brought to us in the medium of video games. We can witness an elderly woman reminiscence about the follies of life and her own journey.

Then she dies.

100/10 would recommend

I got this to 100% (until they added more content, will get to it soon). I really loved it. Like the previous games Orcs Must Die 3 is highly satisfying to play. OMD3 really upped the diversity of content compared to the previous games. The maps, enemies, weapon and traps all come in a much greater variety. This time you also have SIX heroes to play as that have different playstyles. OMD1 and OMD2 only had one and two (and we dont talk about unchained I guess).

I will say that 5 skulling some of the maps on rift lord difficulty were REALLY HARD, harder than the previous games were. A few took me double digit attempts.

My only complaint is that some of the traps and weapons kind of feel underpowered. Like the spike trap and acid bombs, they seem like they lack the punch of your other options.

At any rate I loved it and would recommend it.

1/15/24 UPDATE:

Since my previous review Robot Entertainment have provided some balance patches to traps and weapons; and I played the DLC and beat this game to 100% again.

The balance patches quite literally fixed my largest complaint, now every trap/weapon feels useful in their own way. None of them feel disappointingly underwhelming anymore, you just have to use them in the right way.

The new DLC are both pretty short, but provide some variety in enemy types that force you to change your playstyle a bit. Cyclops heal other mobs upon death; so simple consistent damage may not be enough to take down a mob of them, you may need to plan for bursting. Tuatara have capped per hit damage; so dot effects are more favorable. I've see some complaints about the one Cyclops mob that can disable your traps, but I actually enjoyed having to keep a sharp eye out for them to focus fire. Overall I found these engaging and I would often rethink my setup a few times, but it never felt frustrating.

Now the only complaint that I have is that there is not more of this game to play. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

More games should give us the option of cannibalism tbh

I played the free version a few years back, and this is already one of the most satisfying experiences I've had. Imma take my time and savor it.

6/11/2022 update:

I played this to completion on stream and it was a blast. It has a pretty great flow all the way riiight up to the end. The details that Black Mesa adds over the original Half Life are endearing and obviously made with genuine love. I kept smiling as I discovered more and more.

That being said I had a couple complaints:

-The Xen levels. These are not a 1:1 remake, they are completely new. They start super strong and expand upon the original's story of Black Mesa conducting excursions and research expeditions into Xen. However, these levels go on for faaaaaaaaar too long and overstay their welcome by the end of Interloper. I like that they decided to get creative and make their own Xen, but I question some of the choices made. (Plug puzzles? WHY SO MANY PLUG PUZZLES?)

-The entire level of On a Rail has pretty much been removed. There is a mod to add it if you want. I understand cutting it and not bothering with redesigning it; but it does seem weird that they cut it while keeping the Interloper tedium.

-I get that they wanted to update the Nihilanth fight, but it just didn't feel as satisfying. It was mostly a bullet storm kind of fight and they completely removed his teleportation mechanic altogether.

All in all though I would highly recommend Black Mesa. It's definitely a labor of love and satisfying experience.

I'm a big fan of Samurai Jack so I was excited to play this, and I played it to completion. It really is an okay game, but I was left disappointed.

The combat is fun, at first. But by the end it has kind of become repetitive and nothing new has been introduced. At some points it gets really hard out of nowhere, I lowered the difficulty level and some parts still randomly spike in how tough they are. The upgrades for the most part are really kinda boring and static. Grind X amount of points to unlock a new combo.

There are some special attacks and moves that you can do, but are not told at any point. Maybe I missed some early popups, idk. I got through the entire game without realizing you can AIM your bow. I got frustrated at one point and looked at the controls and noticed it. One skill you unlock lets you grab and throw an enemy, and it says that you can steal their weapon. Does not tell you that in order to steal their weapon you have to be using your fists. That took forever to find out on my own.

Some levels have secret areas that branch off the path but you don't know which is a secret and which is the way forward, and sometimes if you go forward you get locked out of a secret and can't go back. That is SOO frustrating!

It's also really weird that they brought back the amazing voice actors to only do lines for the cutscenes and random greetings. You have dialogue with them that is just text. It's okay though because most of it isn't really important or interesting anyway, but you still gotta click through it. They also just stand there. Each one is an animatronic npc. It would have been so cool to fight alongside them or interact dynamically or do SOMETHING. The colorful characters is one of the high points of Samurai Jack, idk why they didn't utilize them better.

And worst of all: THIS GAME DOES NOT ADD ANYTHING TO THE STORY. It's wedged in between already existing moments in season 5, and adds fanservice from some of the more memorable original show's episodes. Nothing new is added, nothing is changed. None of the returning characters really have much entertainment value, and I just found myself bored at their inclusion.

This feels like a game I would have expected to see release with the OG show back in 2001-2004. And I mean that's okay. It's just really strange in 2020 and not something I would recommend.

EDIT: After I 100% this game I can say that it does in fact have a secret ending which DOES provide something new story-wise. Everything else still applies though. It occured to me that this game might be an early victim of covid, which is unfortunate. I still would not recommend it at the full price of $40.

A-ha-ha! You are as PRESUMPTUOUS as you are POOR and IRISH. Tarnish notte the majesty of my TOWER of HATS.

A highly satisfying game. The bots are severely annoying, but thankfully not always present.