Recent reviews by BossaNova

It was absolutely fantastic until I hit the first Ascendancy trail, to which I was introduced to the honor mechanic. Lose honor by getting hit, If you run out of honor, you fail the entire trial. So you want to to run past everything to not get hit as much as possible, then inevitably get hit too much during the boss fight and get failed seconds before the win. Are melee characters just supposed to never ascend? What idiot came up with this ♥♥♥♥? Don't buy until this ♥♥♥♥ is removed from the game.

Environment lighting is hitting that uncanny valley of not looking right.

New PDA voice is lifeless with some forced badly timed comedy.

Seatruck is an awful replacement for the Cyclops and the modules are incredibly difficult to find.

Few to no alternative options for acquiring big upgrades like larger O2 tanks which heavily block progression.

Encouraged to build more above water but with zero extra build options to navigate terrain i.e stairs.

Way more above ground sections and to find the vehicle meant to navigate them you have to first walk the entire strip.

Not alone anymore, main story has nothing to do with "uncovering the truth behind a deadly cover-up" although you wouldn't know it until you find out what winning the game entails.

Game gets increasingly vague with the waypoint handouts.

You will be let down by the ending.

Easily worth a few dollars. Has some great replayability versus some other survivors-likes. The art style is spot-on, I particularly appreciate the camp followers.

I'm not 100% the gameplay itself is functioning as intended, and "as intended" is a bit confusing at the moment. It can be difficult to tell when something is actually changing after a level up.

I think the definitions and descriptions on the level ups towards their effected stats would greatly benefit from having their "before -> after" & "changes x" stats shown somewhere on the level up tile. Especially multishot.

Can currently force a crash, but it's easy to avoid.

If you think you might be interested, you'll probably love it.

Read this visual novel over a decade ago as an emotionally numb teenager in a bad family situation. It legitimately helped me connect with my emotions again. I'm not the cynical, emotionally unavailable man I so easily could of been because of it. I'm absolutely biased, rose-colored, and I can't give it a high enough recommendation.

Composer is an absolute b!tch IRL. But I have to give credit, the music adds so much to the VN and it wouldn't be nearly as iconic without it.

I'm quite disappointed with the lack of character portraits. The writing is fine and does a good job describing who you're talking to, but the lack of any art other than item icons and areas is really noticeable. I guess I'd say this game lacks flair. It's very choose your own adventure book like. More book than game.

I feel I'd really enjoy this game if there was more art to go along with the story. Your imagination is pulling damn near all the weight.

Good game, not for me.

Easily the best VR game I have ever played in the four years I've owned a headset. Hands down. So many other VR titles feel incomplete, but this game is a complete package.

Physics based combat, progression, great visuals, unbelievably hype gameplay, and a unique soundtrack.

A MUST BUY FOR VR HEADSET OWNERS!

I have been looking forward to this game since the first time I finished Dragons Dogma Dark Arisen over ten years ago. The unique combat of DD:DA was so refreshing it instantly became one of my favorites. And by that I mean climbing up monsters to stab their soft bits instead of being a little ankle biter à la Dark Souls. It was no masterpiece. God knows DD without Bitterblack Isle was more than lackluster. But the Dark Arisen DLC was highly enjoyable, and an idea worthy of a sequel without the developers needing to worry whether it would even sell.

I am sad to say the sequel, despite having a literal decade to ferment old ideas and spawn new ones, is not worth playing. After 30 hours of digesting what the game has to offer, my overall conclusion is that there was no fervor or excitement to create this game. It exist only to be sold. So the team behind it could say: "We've created the minimum viable product, let's move on." There is nothing groundbreaking. In many ways it detracts from the original gameplay.

Horrid menus, depressingly few boss monsters, generic music, conflicting game design like SO MUCH conflicting game design, recycled bland copy-pasted terrain with a miserable little collectathon coin placed annoyingly atop the highest/lowest most inconvenient points, and a god awful main story.

Where did all of the years of work go into this game? Placing 240 Seeker Coins in the most CBT-esque locations?

Isn't what makes Dragon's Dogma Dragon's Dogma the fact that you are playing an arisen, thereby already giving you the soul purpose of killing the damn Dragon or die trying? What absolute imbecile suggested this stupid secret royalty inter-kingdom politics line of story? I'd be lying if I acted like DD1 had a radical story, but the focus was on adventuring when all was said and done. Especially when you consider Bitterblack Isle and the Everfall.

All of this graciously ignoring the nauseating issues with performance, controls, camera, and basic features.

I'm sure a different studio with some actual passion could take this style of gameplay and make a true gem. I pray someone will do it right in my lifetime.

Fantastic game. Can't really think of anything this game does that I don't enjoy. Easy recommend at full price. Works on steam deck now too, apparently.

However, there is currently an issue with joining multiplayer games and being able to actually log in to play, but these are temporary issues indicative of just how enjoyable and fresh the game is. These will be solved within a week or so I'm sure. The "mostly positive" rating stems from this temporary issue.

Game's environment effects gameplay in a very immersive and enjoyable way. Mechanics seem grounded in the game world.

Stumble across an old artillery station? Start that thing up and load it up with different ammo to shell bugs anywhere on the map.

Looking at more bugs than you have bullets? Call in an orbital strike from your ship in orbit.

Ever seen a wasp try and sting and kill after it's head has been destroyed? That also happens here. You can shoot off the limbs of a bug and it will still try to kill you.

Your fellow Helldiver was torn in half? Call in a new one from orbit. If you have random voice/body type selected it will be a new helldiver and not the same one that just died. This is how you are respawned in game.

Got smacked by a bug the size of a school bus? Yeah you're gonna go flying ragdoll style.

Need to be sneakier for the mission or want to enjoy the lightshow that happens during fighting? Pick the night time side of a planet in orbit to play a night mission.

Having a hard time killing bugs? Watch the enemies reaction to being shot in certain spots to find the most effective target per bug.

Don't want to use your resupply stratagem just yet? Walk around and find a point of interest for minor ammo, might even find an awesome support weapon you don't have unlocked yet. I was able to extract successfully from a nearly hopeless mission because I found an amazing arc thrower weapon.

Game does a marvelous job of never taking you out of the game world. Loading screens are almost all hidden.

Very unexpected was the ultra-patriot humor. It's actually pretty hilarious. I got to name my ship the Founding Father of Family Values.

This game is fantastic. The level destruction and physics blows my mind. How such insane simulation is possible in multiplayer is just amazing. That plus tight shooter mechanics, parkour, movement tech, and reasonable TTK might make this my favorite shooter ever. Absolutely amazing.