Recent reviews by Sassy Patches

Tala moana, reader.

When GGG originally designed Path of Exile they researched what they found enjoyable in other ARPG's of the time and merged that all into one hell of a gem. Since then, they have been steadily experimenting with new features, trying to refine the secret sauce. Now, after ten years, that experimentation has culminated into a worthy successor.

I can wholeheartedly recommend this game to any Path of Exile enthusiasts. Better yet, they have refined the gameplay in such a way it feels less like a spreadsheet optimizer and more like a tactical ARPG with a personal flair. If you found PoE either too daunting, fast-paced or repetitive, I would also suggest giving this game a chance. And if you're still on the fence; wishlist the game and wait for it to exit early access.

It's an alright game which becomes good with friends and great if you can balance the different gameplay loops so you don't burn yourself out. It's truly free to play, though the 'true end game' of Fashionframe gets a bit pay to win, as well it should.

I had a great run with a fantastic boomstick when I unlocked a new spell effect which created a trail of toxic sludge after its linked projectiles. Tried it out in the shop, melted the entire floor, summoned Super Satan and died. 10/10.

There are always features one could wish added to a game but this one knows what it wants to do and it does it well. I enjoyed my playthrough, which took 22 hours or so and if you enjoy skill based three-dimensional combat with customizable characters, so will hopefully you. NG+ is a treat for additional replayability, just wished it had better multiplayer support for even more value. 8/10

35 hours of great fun. Beautiful world, fantastic soundtrack and enjoyable combat. Combat starts of a bit slow but ramps up over the game progression. The characters and setting are what carries the game. I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Whenever I wonder whether a functionality is implemented or not this game always surprises me with a 'yes'. Someone's thought long and hard about this game and it is easy to notice where it matters.

Tala moana, warrior. Been playing this game for a few years now so figured I'd leave a quick review.

This game takes some getting into as the lore is layered and the mechanics are complex. The execution is oh so good though and once you've learned how the game works you'll be coming back for more year after year. I'd suggest going in blind, get overwhelmed by the difficulty, lore and choices then give up. Just make sure to come back next year in order to push further.

It's free to play, has a cool lore based off of South American and Mediterranean history and folklore. The character design aspect allows for unique builds but the difficulty of higher tier content requires real effort to be put into your character. Or you could just copy something off the Internet. Still, a definite recommendation from me.

Bought the Spearhead edition almost three years ago. Haven't happened much since then. Do not under any circumstances buy; devs will never finish this mess.

Like MTG but with a campaign. I haven't tried the PvP yet but I hope it'll be fun. Still, considering you don't have to pay anything to play a good campaign, how could I not recommend it?

Reviewing this game is difficult. Hopefully I'll be able to do so by breaking the game down into parts. See further down for my reasoning. If you're wondering about my playtime, I'm level 58 on the phone and gotten over 13 win streak in pvp. I've played for months.

Scores:
- Gameplay: 7/10
- Singleplayer: 6/10
- Co-Op: 8/10
- PvP: 9/10
- Lategame: 6/10
- Devs: 9/10
- Port: 4/10
In total I'll give it a 6/10. If they'd made the port better, I'd no doubt rated it higher. Hopefully, I'll get to change this review sooner rather than later.

Gameplay
The gameplay of Heavenstrike Rivals is interesting. On the phone, it's marketed as a TCG (Trading Card Game). In reality, there's no trading. And there's no cards. The new tag they're using on Steam fits the game better.

The game pits two 'commanders' against each other, be it single- or multiplayer. The objective is to get past the enemies minions and reduce the commanders health to zero. There are many different approaches to doing this and it depends on what kind of a squad you're using, as well as if you're PvE'ing, PvP'ing, Raiding etc.

Singleplayer
The singleplayer campaign revolves around a team of fighters on a mission. The each quest pits you against different minions on different maps. While it might not be the most fun, if you're a fan of tactical thinking, you might have a pretty good time on your first playthrough. The story is cliché tho so if you're picky there, stay away!

Multiplayer Co-Op
Occasionally the developers will release a temporary raid. These pits the player and another against an enemy of way higher difficulty than usually. Each player takes turns playing on the 'player' side of the board, meaning you'll get to play 25% of the time. Raids are fun, different and interesting.

The only real downside is that most other players don't know how to play and just trade minions until they lose. It's basically just about replaying a raid until you get a competent player and then win.

Multiplayer PvP
The gem of HS: Rivals. Since minions differ greatly in strength, players who spend a lot of money will generally perform better than someone new. Still, as you'll get quite a few minion recruits just playing the story and doing daily quests, if you spend them wisely, you'll most likely end up with an alright deck.

Developer activity
The HS: Rivals devs are really active. We're seeing new raids, temporary missions and PvP leagues each week. They're also patching the game, fixing bugs and balancing minions. Kudos for such active devs.

Lategame
The lategame is basically all about replaying that final mission on 'auto' while waiting for a new raid to come up. Maybe play a few PvP matches here and there. It's not the most glorious of endgames but they're still working on the game. I'd bet we'll see a better lategame in half a year or so.

Port
If you hadn't already figured it out, HS: Rivals is a port from a mobile game. While the game (so far) runs smoothly, it basically looks like an upscaled version of the mobile game. There UI is by far too big, there's no volume sliders (only on/off), no keybindings (not even ESC) etc etc.

If you're not enjoying the game on Steam or if you just don't wanna try because of the port, do at least try the mobile version. It comes with all the pros and without the silly port.