Recent reviews by snobaste

04Nov2021 Update - As of patch 1.0.0.2, mouse controls have been added to the game. Given KT's impressively speedy patch cadence (which is, honestly, pretty rare for them) I am switching to "Recommended".

29Oct2021 Update - As of patch 1.0.0.1, arbitrary framerates work perfectly without affecting game speed. If KT keeps up this patch cadence for other issues there's still hope for this port!

Was excited to finally have a Fatal Frame game on PC but Koei Tecmo continues to disappoint with their low-effort PC ports. Game logic tied to framerate (with no ingame cap), no mouse controls, no gyro controls on DS4 / Dualsense despite the PS4 / PS5 versions of the game supporting them, and obviously no ultrawide support.

It's finally been released from Facebook's Data Harvesting Mines and it runs absolutely amazingly on the Index!

Really excited to experience this classic again on a headset that won't sell my data to the highest bidder.

Painfully mediocre.

The game squanders what promise it had in a great artstyle, interesting and varied characters, and enjoyable moment-to-moment gameplay with awful pacing, a lack of enemy variety, and a series of samey hallways posing as levels that have to be traversed 4 times each to fully experience the story. Add to that a sidequest that wants you to watch the tie-in anime for keywords to type in to complete makes me think that Bamco really wanted this to be the start of a multimedia franchise rather than focusing on it as a game.

The original Nier is my 2nd favorite game of all time.

Unfortunately, I cannot recommend getting this version of the game in its current state. It has a number of core issues including tying game speed to framerate (but not limiting the framerate to 60 on monitors with a >60Hz refresh rate), lack of support for ultrawide monitors, and a number of performance issues stemming from an improper use of the DirectX and Steam APIs.

These can all already be partially fixed by efforts that fans have been undertaking, but it is no excuse for the developer to not properly support a platform. For a game that supposedly "went gold" long before release, you would have thought they would have spent some time addressing core issues like this.

Case closed. Let's get drunk.

It takes a lot for me to enjoy a survival game: I find most either too punishing or downright frustrating. The Solus Project manages to be neither of those, while at the same time keeping your stress level just high enough that you never feel exactly safe. The game provides you beautiful vistas and a wonderful soundtrack to admire, but then rips you back into reality by reminding you that you are rarely ever safe. This combination of peaceful and stressful moments is perfectly balanced and creates an incredibly unique experience.

I played the game through on my Rift and it is one of the most complete and polished VR games to exist at the moment. VR support is amazingly well done for being experimental. The game is downright gorgeous in VR, and all of the mechanics translate over well. The only qualm I have is that inventory management—scrolling in one direction through each inventory item individually—got annoying near the end, especially when you're dealing with extremes in temperature and really don't want to pull out your torch in a scorching hot environment.

The gameplay is relatively simple while at the same time never feeling too easy. Your basic goals are to survive and keep moving forward: you have to maintain your basic vitals (body temperature, hydration, and nourishment) while moving into new areas, each one more deadly than the last. There's an old-school point-and-click feel in the mechanics, with much of your time spent searching for that one special item or finding ways to combine the items available to you. There are tons of secrets hidden off of the beaten path, and hunting them down while oftentimes risking your life is a lot of fun.

The game's story is enthralling and plays itself out in both passive (pages from journals, tablets with carved language/images, one-way transmissions to your character) and active (interacting with alien lifeforms) ways. Despite being battered by the elements, I felt compelled to hunt down as many pieces of the story as I could to better understand the situation upon Gliese-6143-C. A few of the later transmissions you recieve are downright harrowing, with incredible voice acting bringing poignant feelings of isolation and desperation across.

Near the end of the game I was legitimately sad that my time on Gliese-6143-C was coming to a close. I definitely have to say that I got my money's worth, and I really hope to see more games from these devs!

I've been waiting for another good Metroidvania ever since I played Aquaria, and eight years later this game has managed to fit the bill and more.