Recent reviews by Immortalius

I'm surprised most of the reviews only highlight problems concerning the gameplay and performance.

I would say the foremost cause of this DLC not living up to expectations is not letting me marry Miquella.

From the cinematic down to the launch trailer of the DLC the implication is that the Tarnished is embarking on this great journey, almost like a holy pilgrimage, to reach the elusive yet omnibenevolent demi-god which grew an Erdtree with his own blood and created Malenia's prosthetics with loving floral patterns.

Yet From not only forces a conflict by portraying Miquella as having strange motivations that have no base game correlation, but wrests the agency from the player to choose who to side with. The Tarnished could've already have married Ranni or burned down the world in the Frenzied Flame ending, yet they are treated as Marika's Lord by the NPCs, and are referred to by Miquella as the Lord of the Old Order. There reaches a critical point where Miquella's entire group of followers turn against the player - despite all of the player's actions directly benefiting Miquella and the followers - and the Tarnished must cull them all in order to progress.

It is not highlighted enough how much an egregious misstep in storytelling this is. Radahn was, by all accounts, one of the foremost advocates of the Old Order alongside Morgott. Not only does he adorn himself in armor and regalia honoring the previous two Elden Lords: Godfrey and Radagon, but he holds the stars in stasis - an action that directly halts the fates of Empyreans, preventing a new Order to replace the Old from emerging. This is why Ranni needs the Tarnished to defeat him to progress her questline, and why Malenia had to fight him during the Shattering as his holding the stars in stasis interferes with Miquella's ascent to godhood within the Haligtree. In other words, he wants to succeed the Golden Order so badly he is defying fate.

There is also the matter of Torrent, along with the Spirit Calling Bell: all gifts from Miquella imparted from his sisters Melina and Ranni. The very first keyart of the DLC posted alongside the announcement of Shadow of the Erdtree's development was of Miquella riding Torrent. Yet there was no addressing of this critical plot point at any point in this DLC. It doesn't end here though, at the end of Millicent's questline the Tarnished returns the dignity Malenia forsook to use the Rot against Radahn to force a draw, leaving her resolute will in a droplet of dew contained within one of Miquella's Golden Needles. This is then given back to Malenia who rests within a Scarlet Aeonia in the center of the arena. But this also receives no resolution despite her being one of the most important characters to consider in a story about Miquella.

Interestingly, the version of Miquella's Golden Needle received after Millicent's questline also allows the Tarnished to resist succumbing to the Frenzied Flame upon taking it within themselves, allowing the Tarnished to save Melina without dooming the world. This further cements Miquella's careful planning and love for both his siblings and the Tarnished themselves.

Finally, the fact of the matter is that the Tarnished just lines up as a Lord within an Age of Compassion. By the traditions in the Golden Order, they would be treated as a graceless outcast, and an outsider to be spit on and cast aside in rejection. Morgott, the foremost advocate of the original Golden Order, denounces them outright and several other characters including them implicate their unworthiness for succession (or even to graft). Miquella gifts them his implements before they achieve anything, and they go on to defeat the demi-gods who represent the separation, blasphemy and stagnation that led to the Shattering in the first place. The Tarnished then goes on the Mountaintop of the Giants, and commits the first cardinal sin, setting the Erdtree ablaze in Order to force it to accept the change they represent.

This all is why the Shadow of the Erdtree is a travesty: Miquella from the base game was retconned, portrayed as forgetting about his precious twin, the plans he masterminded centuries in advance, the post-Radagon discoveries of universal law (Law of Causality and Regression) that the current Golden Order was in direct conflict with and him leaving to create a new Order that actualized those tenets, him directly violating those tenets in the DLC by harming others to further his ambitions DESPITE the fact that he needs to continue in accordance with universal law in Order to mend mankind's relationship with the Greater Will and heal his sister's scarlet rot. It's all wrong, grossly so.

In terms of gameplay Shadow of the Erdtree is okay, in terms of art style and music it's beautiful, but in terms of storytelling and worldbuilding it's the worst pieces of media I've ever had the displeasure of digesting.

could be better

It's basically a game engine

Lots of ways to kill things. Very pretty open world. Bland story with cool elements that make it interesting.

Grind without purpose. Power without reason.

The best multiplayer FPS game right now.

Warning: doc and rook spawn peeks are traumatizing, have many spare keyboards and stress balls

The Maplestory 2 experience is best described like being at an office job doing menial tasks, that you perform, that give you detached feelings of accomplishment, and interaction with coworkers: who are either asocial or resign within two weeks.

Wanna play it but forgot secondary password on second login and the Nexon account attached to my Steam uses an e-mail I forgot about. It’s probably a good game.

A great game designed as a wish fulfillment fantasy - albeit somewhat flawed. Doki Doki Literature Club has excellent artwork, soundtrack, creative horror elements and characters but I don't feel it does enough to be considered a proper psychological horror game. It relies more on shock value then a slow, brooding and methodically unsettling atmosphere; that twists your sense of reality and slowly makes you come to more realizations that paint a beautifully grotesque premise.

7.5/10

It is simply a great game with a few kinks. Better then Overwatch in my opinion.