Recent reviews by MatterL

I need Wilds...

This game is great and I originally tried it from a friend before deciding to spend the money to purchase it. Despite it's downsides it's a very fun game and the developers have done a lot to listen to the community and have been ON TOP of trying to take care of bugs and issues. Is it perfect? No. Is it a great game for the cost? I think so at least.

I saw someone say it perfectly, the warm embrace of a Bethesda RPG. My biggest issues are performance but the same goes for every Triple A game nowadays.

I played the early access once. I knew I was in for something absolutely incredible the moment the opening cinematic started, just the absolutely amazing job done giving everything life. This was absolutely in Larian's Wheelhouse but they didn't just phone it in, instead they strove to push their own capabilities even further than ever. Their love and dedication for what they've made shows in every square inch of game.

Dwarf Fortress is the epitome of simulation games. The aforementioned Fortress (mode) is a wild ride of trying to plan out, develop, train, and manage a fortress full of dwarves who all have their own strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, aspirations, loves, and more. This results in a game where, as you progress in knowledge, the people you're fighting change over time.

When you first play it'll be you vs the mechanics and you'll need to learn how to use the interface, assign orders, create efficient layouts, and more.
Once you've wrangled the mechanics then it becomes you vs your dwarves as the most common enemy to destroy your base will be a single dwarf who decides he's unhappy, you'll need to learn how to manage a whole colony (from the starting 7 to a full fortress of 200+) and balance the various likes/dislikes/moods of your dwarves to keep them from descending into chaos.
Finally, when you've learned to stave off the worst effects of dwarf madness and learned how to create a living/thriving fortress the game shifts into it's final phase of you vs the world. At this point you've probably already had to deal with invasions, forgotten beasts, wandering titans, and clowns but the next step is to master those enemies. Declare war on the elves preemptively, set traps and secure your lower floors against raids from the deep, and train a military that can slay the mightiest of beasts.

With it's emergent gameplay you'll always be kept on the tip of your toes. This isn't what I'd call a relaxing simulation game, instead this is the game that coined the term: Losing is Fun!

Now go and have Fun!

If you haven't seen "The Engoodening of No Man's Sky" then I highly suggest checking that out. The game had a rough start but instead of dipping out with the money Hello Games has gone above and beyond to keep developing this game. Incredible strides have been made and I'm only sad that I haven't had more time to dedicate to playing this game, and not enough friends to do a fun group play with.
This is an amazing space game, and while it's not a simulator like EVE Online or some of the others it's an amazing game for people to get into and find wonder for a universe outside our world.

A fun game! It's best to play with friends, and never let anyone trick you into paying for items or something on a server when it's incredibly easy to just inventory edit your character (don't do that though, ruins the fun of the game).