Recent reviews by Doc Phantoms

I played this on the xbox one and got it again on here for when i want to revisit it. I love this game and setting. it is so good and was an absolute treasure to experience

This game is the logical result of Bethesda's steady slight towards increasingly relying on procedural generation over scripted content.

This game is frustrating all the way through. In the beginning, it is frustrating because so many quality of life improvements are locked behind skill perks and the best ways to generate XP to unlock these become incredibly tedious. At the beginning there is that wonderful feeling of a universe to explore and people to meet, but that quickly subsides once you begin to recognize what is real and scripted (very little) and what is random busy work (very much).

The increases the tedium of the game because exploring planets becomes an exercise of frustration as you play "hunt the shrub" and you have to not only know that fish exist, but have to find a coastal location, walk to the actual coast which can be difficult because the maps in this game are non-existent or useless, and then find fish and either shoot them or find a way to get close enough to scan them. Over time even the novelty of this subsides as you recognize fauna and flora being repeated over planets.

This is why the middle game is frustrating. You have sieve through so much empty and artificial content to find anything that is really rewarding. I have stopped going to any buildings that are not uniquely named because I can expect them to be the same thing repeated ad nauseum.

What main story there is was intriguing to me until they introduced space magic. It derailed my interest and I am in no way hooked to continue this game. The characters are dull and uninteresting. There are no meaningful relationships or decisions to make.

This game is promised with a lot but ultimately it is a whole lot of empty calories. Play a game that values your time, because this one sure doesn't. I am not going to finish this game. I read to see how it ends and honestly, there is nothing compelling to it.

This game is a hard miss and I feel bad for the people who worked hard to put out this stunning work of mediocrity.

I am replaying this on PC, having played it already on XBOX. This game is, simply, fantastic. It has a lot of little touches that vastly improve QoL and makes one of the core conceits (the time loop) an enjoyable/useful asset and not a source of frustration. The setting is interesting, the characters are great to get to know, and the thrill of discovery is there in the game from when you first start to when you have explored all the possible endings.

simply excellent, but in 2020 it is showing its age

not without its flaws, Obduction is a beautiful game rife with challenging puzzles and enthralling set pieces.

I want to give this game a thumbs up, but given the two options I cannot.

It has beautiful graphics, excellent sound design, and a pretty intriguing setting.

However, it suffers by aping some of Portal, and doing just ok at doing that. Talking about this game and not mentioning Portal is impossible. This game is clealy inspired by Portal but lacks a lot of the charms that made it succeed. Instead, turing Test is a sequential physics puzzler that tries to traffic in the wasy of philosophy while offering increasingly longer (not so much more difficult, just longer) puzzles as your supposedly intelligent character asks basic questions so that the beautifully voiced AI can lecture you on rudimentary issues.

I really wanted to like this game, but it simply doesn't offer enough to keep me playing it. The puzzles felt like a chore after a while and that's a shame.

Honestly, I love space combat games and always am on the search for a good one.

This isn't a good one.

I see the potential in the game. The graphics are lush and flash. They have three dimensions.

I just can't get past the tedium of the game. It's boring. Sure makes "endless waves" of enemies feel, well, endless.

I tried to play a game with a friend and it said I could not because of "the flow." The game had no means to show me what the hell the flow was and how to complete it or whatever the hell it wanted me to do.

The keymapping chart is a mess.

This game just feels so bland despite itself. I was interested in this game because I like Dreadnought and was hoping for a spacier version of this. I am just going to play Dreadnought more

This is one of those reviews that wishes it can give a mixed approval rating.

I am not going to delve into spoiler territory, but I'll say that the game was very interesting and decently executed.

However, I wish the game was shorter. Most of my 4.7 hours was spent pressing "next." I am not sure if that just comes with the genre, but I really dislike non-interactive gameplay. If I want to read a book, I will read a book. Perhaps more initial player interaction or better text display would have decreased what felt like a timesink.

Despite my dislike for the genre of visual novels and dating sims, I would say this was a pretty interesting experience that was hampered by pacing. I understand and appreciate timing and immersion, but there's a point where a slow build-up just feels like wasted time.

Game is easily a solid 6-7/10. If you like or can stomach the genre, go for it. Otherwise, you might get by watching a playthrough or just reading up on it.

This game is OK and about worth its price, especially if on sale. I bought it for the express purpose of playing co-op. Despite the game feeling way too easy during co-op, i do not think i could stomach doing this as a solo-playthrough. The game is just alright, I almost would to recommend it, but its lack of replayability really hinders it for me and having beaten it once, I do not think i would ever be inclined to consider playing it again. Overall, my feelings on it are definitely mixed with a slight edge towards not recommending it. That said, if you do get it: enjoy. It has some neat ideas that definitely deserve recognition.


+:decent character customization
+:hassle-free co-op
+:crafting actually does its job and feels rewarding
-:dungeons feel really repetitive despite their apparent random generation
-: by 'use' and 'attack' sharing the same button, one can accidentally activate something while in combat and die as a result because they are in, say, the lockpick interface when they are in the middle of a melee
-:does not scale well to more players, from my experience
-: additional exploration really serves no purpose besides padding out the game
-:shields are absurdly useful to the point of game-breaking
-:spelling and grammatical errors exist in a large enough quantity to be noticeable
-:the humor is rather juvenile in the simplistic sense rather than in the crass sense
-:storyline is mediocre
-:long excruciating scenes of plot and exposition that would have been better if they were interesting and/or funny

The game is kind of dumb, the story is nothing to write home about, somewhere a loremaster is crying, and the end-game is too easy without you intentionally gimping yourself.

That said, it is really good for what it is. Exploration is rewarding, the nemesis system is intriguing (although its limitations will eventually exhibit themselves. The game has a good theme and art direction.

Solid middle-card game