Recent reviews by Kar'tayli Skirata

I haven't played much of the game yet to have a thorough opinion, but what I've seen so far does feel much more akin to Assassin's Creed 1 and 2 than, say, Odessey or Valhalla. They've brought back a lot of the original mechanics of AC, like pick-pocketing, hiding in market crowds, the rooftop "booths", and tearing down wanted posters to reduce notoriety. Basim is an interesting protagonist so far. Don't expect anything too crazy out of the graphics and AC camels are about as well articulated as AC horses, but it seems like a good blend of some old and new tactics, themes, and mechanics.
The prologue does feel a bit contrived -- like maybe we should've spent a bit more time there to really make the intent stick, but story is decently interesting so far.
Only technical issue I've run into is that cutscenes don't always play like they should. The audio will continue playing, but sometimes the cutscene freezes on one scene, although you can tell it should still be moving. I've tried updating drivers and my computer and changing a few graphics settings (my hardware meets all recommended requirements for the game) and still am having that issue, so I'm hoping that's an early PC wrinkle that will get ironed out.
I would recommend it if you like Assassin's Creed, but, as some others have said, buy it on sale.

This game blew my expectations out of the water. I'll be honest, while I grew up with Harry Potter as a kid and really enjoyed the books and movies, I got burned out on it as it gained popularity and became this massive success that people suddenly defined their whole lives by. So when Hogwarts Legacy got announced, I was like "oh, that's cool" but I didn't have a ton of interest in it. I picked it up on sale over Christmas and, my gosh, I have loved every minute of it! This is such a charming and fun RPG. It's not hard to play, so it's a good relaxing game that lets you get immersed in the story without having to be too invested.

I will say, one of the few downsides to the game is that some of the quests feel streamlined. Despite having dialogue "choices" they all pretty much end up with the same outcome no matter what you pick and the decisions you do get to make feel dissatisfying. There are definitely some moments where I wanted more detail/emotional investment such as San Bakar's memory/Isidora's death, when you get "kidnapped" by Victor Rookwood, and the end of Sebastian Sallow's quest line and the fact that you don't have a choice in stopping him from going down the path of Dark Magic/killing his uncle. . I also wish that your Hogwarts house had a little more effect on the game. The only real changes between houses are the common rooms, your house mates, and one questline.

I love the outfit customization and the ability to change anything in your wardrobe to look like anything else. I spend WAY too much time outfitting my character. I enjoyed the large map and the ability to explore the world. Some of the quests get a little repetitive, like exploring all the caves and doing the Merlin trials, but that's pretty common in open-world games these days. There aren't a ton of fetch quests, and there's unique little villages and hamlets around the map to explore.

The magic customization and combat are fun (they're not very challenging though, if that's your thing) but I do feel like you can go through most of the game using a few trusty spells when its clear the game wants you to vary your spell set a bit more. Still enjoy all the spell combinations you can make. Some of them are quite clever.

I have run into a few glitches, like cloaks getting stuck in characters' legs, textures being slow to load, and once getting the camera stuck *inside* my character instead of in third-person (no idea how that happened) but I think that's due more to my set-up than the game itself.

All in all, I would highly recommend this game! Totally worth it (especially on sale) and a very fun way to spend your time. Even though I don't think the game will change much on a replay, I'm already thinking up new characters to play through for the other three houses :)

It's an interesting concept for a game for sure.
The storyline is intriguing, and the idea of a skeleton cowboy (girl/person/thing?) out for revenge definitely piqued my interest. However, the game feels like it's a concept that needs a lot more work. It kind of feels like somebody's school project rather than a fully-realized game. Voiceover for some characters is a bit dull, Quinn (main character) included, which is disappointing. The game hasn't crashed on me yet, but it is a bit glitchy and freezes sometimes. Whenever I explode rocks, the game has a few seconds of heart-attack as it tries to figure out where to put the rock fragments on-screen. The magic bullets is a cool idea, but combat doesn't feel very organic. You mostly just walk at people while shooting. Can't really use cover effectively and there's no mechanic to duck or hide.
If Steam let you give more of a mixed review option, I would, because the game was free, so I can't complain there, but I definitely think it needs more work before it's finished. It's a good time-waster, I suppose, but don't expect much from it.

Let me caveat my review by saying there needs to be a "meh" or middle-ground option between recommend and don't. Because, really, this game is a great play, but I don't recommend it (on PC at least) purely on technical issues (still). The atmosphere is great, the various worlds are gorgeous and I think the planets are cool. I love the way the game looks, artistically. I like the characters. I'm invested in Cal's story and absolutely adore where they've gone with Merrin. I'm intrigued by and invested in the worlds, plot, and new characters and features. What makes it so hard to give it a positive review is the still clunky gameplay.

Patch 9 makes the game...(more) playable. Combat's still a little laggy and too many enemies/bullets on-screen still cause hiccups. I can move Cal around pretty easily now, though, which is a definite plus! Graphics still aren't great (running the game on low settings), but if high frame rates and crystal clear graphics aren't a deal-breaker for you, then no harm no foul. Cutscenes run ok (mostly, see note below) but the game did freeze and crash my computer the first time I tried to open the in-game menu after Patch 9.

Even with this many patches, I still have the following issues:

1. Can't run the game at anything but the lowest graphics settings (even though my computer exceeds the minimum requirements to play the game)
2. Sound effects and voices don't always sync with the cutscene/action/character they are meant to go with
3. Cutscenes now lag (this wasn't an issue I ran into previously, surprisingly)
4. Occasional random lag and freezing during gameplay (...still)
5. Textures take an extremely long time to load in
6. Pyloon's Saloon still has a hard time figuring out how to open the front door

Honestly, it's a much more playable game now than it was, but still not ideal. I still recommend proceeding with caution, but it's definitely better than it was at launch.

Love this game! It's a fun way to spend your free-time, easy to take on the go, and a good puzzle-game. Daily and weekly challenges keep things unique, along with newly-added expert and endless modes. Overall, I enjoy this a lot more than I expected to and would recommend it to anyone looking for an engaging (if not always relaxing!) thinking game.

This is probably one of the more unique games you'll stumble across. It's a little like Fire Emblem, in that you have grid-based combat and a story-rich game. You take control of parties of adventurers who begin life typically young and naive and play through all sorts of battles, romances, adventures, and mishaps, until the characters grow up, age, and retire (or, heaven forbid, die). There's tons of options for customizing the characters and for deciding how their stories play out. Want them to die a heroic death to save all their comrades? Check. Want to fall in love with a water sprite? Check. Want to touch strange fire and transform into an elemental who can fling flames on the battlefield? You can do that too. From transforming your characters with magic to teaching them new skills as they level up, the options are almost infinite. Even when repeating events occur, the varying personalities and stories of each character put a different tilt on each event. I highly recommend this game to anyone who loves a good story, whimsical and colorful art, and a fantastic fantasy world!

What can I say about Skyrim that hasn't already been said? It's a great game, though not because of its flawless graphics or seamless gameplay (though you can get mods that will get it closer to both). Honestly, I think it's the endless possibilities of Skyrim that make it so great. You can decide to be goofy and trigger as many glitches as you can at one time, or you can knit yourself a solid backstory and set out to right the world's wrongs. You can easily jump in and out of the game and play for hours or 30 mins and pick up where you left off without having to remember long, complicated quest lines. There are legitimately interesting quests, fun quests, easy quests, and entangled political quests. Not to mention all the new content added by mods! Skyrim is full of nostalgia, has a little bit of everything for everyone, and is a great way to spend an afternoon. Just don't take an arrow to the knee. XD

This game hooked me from the very beginning in a charmingly simplistic reminder of Ori and the Blind Forest. Following a character who can't remember who he is, a quirky and loveable sidekick, and a talking sword through an array of sweet and eccentric characters will quickly make you fall in love with the world. Combat is easy to pick up on, yet fun and even a bit of a challenge at times. The world is fairly straight-forward and easy to explore and the graphics have a very homey hand-drawn feel. Fully voiced, the story is what drew me in from the get-go and had me invested in Dust from the moment I met him. I highly suggest this game as a sweet (and surprisingly tear-jerking!) way to spend a few hours.

This game is tons of fun, especially with friends. I like the fact that all players have the same equipment, so whether you've been playing for a few years or a few months, it's a pretty level playing field. You can easily play the game without spending real world money on it and there are always interesting quests to go on, from hunting down treasure to fighting skeleton pirates, the kraken or the megaladon, to skirmishes with fellow players. Overall, I've found the Sea of Thieves to be pretty friendly and most players aren't just looking to gut you on first sight. My sisters and I often team up and sail a brigantine together and it's a super enjoyable way to spend some time with friends. Highly recommend this game! It's family friendly and fun!

If you've never played this game, do it. 100% do it. Put down whatever you're doing right now and pick up Brothers. It is hands-down one of my favorite indie games of all time. Soundtrack is amazing and hauntingly beautiful. The story will make you laugh and cry and it's an inspiring tale of family, love, and loss. I think I've played it at least 3 times through. Also easy to 100% if you're looking for achievements. And, for being a relatively short game, it has lots of fun little Easter eggs and ways to interact with the world. I find new little things each time I play. Plus, has one of the most unique control schemes I've ever come across! Takes some time getting used to using each half of the controller to control each brother, but the puzzles and the way you have to work together to get through the world is definitely something I enjoyed about this game. Stunning and unique all around.