Recent reviews by otaken

IXION is an unique space-faring city building experience. The overall ambience -- sci-fi aesthetics, music, voice acting, visuals, story, management system -- is solid. It's what draws you in time and time again. What hurts it is the heavy-handed nature of the choices. In my last run, I encountered three -1 (Permanent) conditions back to back. To see Happy voyagers instantly turn into a Negative crew in less than a minute is a killjoy. The only solution barring restarting and spending hours to return to the same point is to save-scum and pick the "right" choices. This is what ruins the experience for me, since it feels like I'm being railroaded down one path. Why the positive rating? The game experience up until these points is amazing. Sadly, you spend the time wondering at what point the game will rain on your parade.

The game says it all: "This is how you died". You will die, over and over and over. It may get frustrating -- I uninstalled it for a year at one point but still came back to play it. Why? There's simply no other game like it. The game is like the Sims meets zombies with a sprinkling of Groundhog Day when you bite the dust. The game makes a ton of memories across the emotional spectrum. Get cornered by zeds, push through and then to only trip into another mob. Fall off the second floor of your custom house and break a leg (if you're lucky). Take out an entire mob for the first time. Find the one weapon/backpack/book you've been looking for the entire game. The game definitely has the "one more day" syndrome. The Mod community is amazing and extends the game's longevity with customization. Overall, an amazing experience for the price of admission.

This game is laid back, fun, and a steal at $10. As a FMV point-and-click game, it offers a slower-paced, story-driven experience. The actresses playing the main characters are awesome. The actor playing your buddy Liu is excellent as the comedic sidekick. The support actors are charming and even the crew get involved in the scenes. The production, camerawork, locales, and direction are top-notch. The behind-the-scenes and interviews are a nice touch. I wish the actor who played Liu was included in the interviews though. The UI, unfortunately, is a weak point and some features were not discovered until hours later or after completing the game. For instance, I didn't know you could click the golden bears. The forced replay to reach a goal on the relationship meter could have been removed from the game. Having to choose different paths to meet a specific goal on the meter wasn't needed and broke the narrative that I was creating as the player. I understand why this was done (addressed in the spoiler below), but the forced replay was unnecessary since players who enjoy the game will play it multiple times. Spoiler-ish improvements: There needs to be an ending scene if you don't get Yunsi and you don't have enough interest with the other 5 girls. I got stuck staring at 5 uninterested ladies with no way to continue or have closure in one play-through. Also, the actress who played Haohao's teacher should get more screen time in future games. It is unfortunate her time was brief.

I really hope there will be more titles from intiny in the future. A solid gaming experience!

Hack the Gibson! Inspired by Netrunner, the game is highly-addictive and fast-paced. Works best on a controller. Hoping for DLC to extend the hacker tools, countermeasures, and storyline. Two gripes: 1) the completion bar of the Highwayman -- wish it was another color besides green. The current color looks too close to the blue progression bar. 2) minor spoiler ahead The AI monologues: IMHO the monologues should pause the game or slowdown the timer. It's frustrating to watch a forced monologue while the timer ticks away and other activities occur in the background. Besides those gripes, it's an awesome game!

Get lost in the wilderness during a snowstorm and get excited when you recognize that one rock formation/fallen tree/stream to lead you back to shelter. Watch the sun rise and set with the music echoing its arrival and departure. It's a wilderness survival simulator -- a "walking sim". Animals are sacrificed to survive and some of them, in turn, get their revenge. Survive for one more day and plan for the next. It's escapism from the world -- it's dark and cold and yet feels like a warm blanket for the mind.

UPDATED (9/10): The last two patches -- 1.03 and 1.04 -- fixed major issues on my end. The sea of shifting polygons during a boss battle are gone and everything seems great now. I need to return to the game for a solid experience with the new patches, but from what I have seen, things look good (and playable)! I'm sure there are lingering glitches, but Guerrilla is moving in the right direction for patches. Changing my recommendation from a "No" to a "Yes" with the latest patches.

Original review: It sounded like a dream come true... a PS4 exclusive coming out on PC. The game looked awesome from the playthroughs on PS4 and I looked forward to playing it myself. Like many, I thought I would be spared the glitches/crashes. I was spared the crashes but not the glitches... teeth shooting out the back of heads, spiky trees/caves/waterfalls, characters and metal beasts covered in vibrating polygons. The game is amazing from what I have played, but the graphical glitches diminish the experience. I don't want to remember this game the way it is... at this point, I'll revisit it when the game is fixed (and revisit my review as well).

Don't Starve is one of the best survival games IMHO and Don't Stave Together brings friends/family/loved ones into the mix! Klei has done an amazing job.

Too busy playing to write a long review.

PROS
+ Zombie killing.
+ Team or solo play (I've solo'd it so far).
+ Camp/Survivor management.
+ Runs well on my 8-year old rig.
+ The sounds.

SOMEWHERE IN THE MIDDLE
+ $60 (for two seasons)
+ Payday 2/L4D2/TWD - love 'em or hate 'em.
+ AI - zombies act like zombies and humans act like tactical zombies.
+ Graphics. I don't follow the hype train. I don't need ultra, max, real-time raytracing to have fun.
+ Repetitive gameplay (most games are repetition tho...)

CONS
+ Clunky UI (style over function).
+ Reset of the lobby from Private to Public every time I start the game.
+ Having to wait for Anderson Camp to load to see if the old lady has anything new to sell or collect items from Anderson.
+ Bloater... you had to call it a bloater.

OVERKILL has been pushing updates like mad so far. It all comes down to personal preference. If you are on the fence, watch a YouTube/Twitch vid/stream and make your own call. Critical think this sh*t, don't be a sheep! If it goes on sale, I would recommend it.

Summation: Payday 2 + L4D2 + TWD had a baby - some want to hold it and others want to throw it into a wood chipper.

The game is addictive and fun, but the weapon DLCs are getting out of hand. Personally, I would prefer to see focus on new heists instead.