Recent reviews by Clotd

Initially, this game seems starkly different that what Afterbirth+ players are used to. This is jarring, especially for those who loved and continually sunk time into perfecting the old mechanics. I believe this is the basis of the majority of negative reviews and they are welcome to voice their dissent of the changes. However, I believe this update DRASTICALLY IMPROVED the core game loop to a point that it is revitalized my interest in playing the game, far greater than any of the previous expansions of Rebirth. Once I reached endgame in Afterbirth+, I could casually get 10+ random character hard win streaks and the game became a joke outside of few encounters depending on the circumstances. Many players were used to simply resetting until obtaining an early broken combination, which no longer is as viable of a strategy. The game pushes you to go farther and choose more wisely between defensive and offensive items rather than push for maximum dps every run. While I do agree that certain characteristics of the game may have been toned down a bit too far, I enjoy the chance at actually losing rather than simply steamrolling through the entire game every run. Some of the new bosses and enemies seem particularly challenging at first, but once you learn their mechanics, most don't stand out as any more of a threat. With this said, I can see why people are upset. What they are used to enjoying is no longer as easy to obtain and they are forced to change. Change is upsetting for many. If they stick through it and relearn the items and their interactions, they may realize once useless items are quite capable and the new enemy interactions aren't quite as punishing as they thought.

Outside of all that, the new co-op is great fun with remote play together and the game feels visually more detailed/higher resolution. I can't stop humming the soundtrack to the new alternate floor Downpour and the new characters are unique, fun, and challenging in ways I didn't expect. This is the best expansion for the game yet and while it will undoubtedly alienate a lot of long time players initially due to changes, I believe after the dust settles in about a month many of them will have positive opinions of it.

As an early access experience, this game provides a fairly whole game that is surprisingly exciting and fun. Progress through the game is steady with periodic ups and downs (downs typically caused by deaths). Caution and preparation will typically keep you alive but the obvious trade-off being slower progression. This game has a mediumcore progression punishment system where death drops all of your held items but you can go pick them back up. Death also drains experience from (I assume all) skills which can cause level loss. I have seen 3+ level loss on a single skill from death.

Graphics seem poor at first but from the third person perspective with modern lighting effects, the results are fairly spectacular. Don't get me wrong, this game isn't winning any graphics rewards, but you may find it visually appealing at times when the glow of a fire reflects off of the shield on your back. Particle effects are plentiful and well done to add to the theme without being ridiculous. But if your system can not handle the lighting effects with a stable frame rate the game will not look particularly good.

There is a building system in the game that is fairly rudimentary but can be manipulated to make some visually pleasing, yet functional houses. The building system does check for structural support and if a build lacks that support, such as through damage, may collapse. Enemies can damage your structures and events will occur that will send significant numbers to sack your homes/outposts. Preparations are necessary, at least in the early game, for protecting your hard earned progress. I mention early game because balance is fairly well managed but not complete. Events essentially become more of a chore than a threat once you hit the middle of the game and can be absolutely obliterated by end game. The game seems to have scaling mechanics in place but they don't seem to ramp up enough. Without spoiling, an event you receive at the early game seems to be exactly the same if you receive it again at the end game. I could be wrong, but that event should utilize their own elite/star ranking system to increase the power of the creatures attacking to further threaten the player rather than mildly annoy them. One of the most important parts of the build system is the ability of the player to manipulate the height of terrain. This is tremendously valuable and enticing to utilize.

Each biome includes a surprising amount of enemy variety with enemy ai sometimes being quite unique and fun to play against. Enemies outpace you, especially as you get higher tier armor and they actually use this advantage against you. Many early enemies showcase this by utilizing hit and run tactics.

Weapons are fun to use while also being fairly varied. I feel an over dependence on shields is a slight balance issue and block/parry buffs should be issued to 2h weapons and also the parry capabilities of 1h weapons. I found 2h weapons typically too slow to be usable outside of niche encounters. Bows feel a bit overpowered as well with their quite fast rate of fire and high damage throughout the game. A slight increase to stamina drain at lower bow skill levels could alleviate this issue. Overall the balance of weapons is solid and each is capable of being effective.

You can tame animals. Any creature that has a mood notification on their floating health bar can be tamed. Be warned this feature doesn't seem to be perfectly tuned yet. Even with double layer fences, my tamed creatures kept mysteriously escaping from my villages only to die alone outside. I assume they can breed to make more creatures which would leads to the production of slaughter houses. Otherwise some will follow and fight with you but typically die quite quickly against similar tier enemies.

Finally, the bosses in the game. I found each to be fun and surprisingly fresh. There was some real work done to make them feel unique and exciting to fight. There isn't much more to say about them without spoiling. Again, preparation is key to success but I encourage you to play the game completely blind as I did rather than looking up everything before you do it. I know it is easy these days to min/max your way through a game but loss, frustration, and confusion lead to greater feelings of achievement (and the game really isn't that difficult with a little patience and good food).

Very fun alone and, like most games, incredibly fun with friends. 9/10 in current state.

Excellent vehicle building game that blends ease of access with complexity well. Don't expect to be able to build tiny incredibly complex creations but with some experience you can make almost anything. My only real complaint is that the top scorers on the races are filled with glitches that seem to be rationalized off as creative so they don't get fixed. e.g. In a race where you are limited to a single core (engine power) people can create two separate vehicles and hook them together such that they function as one but are not physically attached. Therefore, they can add an unlimited amount of power to the secondary vehicle and use that for stability and/or speed.

That said, you can still get a ton of enjoyment out of the races as it shows ghosts of players that have times near yours.

Hit the beginning of endgame and realized the sheer amount of daily grinding I would need to do to reach some of the "basic" long-term goals was something only masochists would enjoy. If you enjoy hours of daily tasks with a meager reward every 2-3 months, this game is for you. However, it isn't for me.

The negative reviews aren't wrong. It completely lacks a compelling reason to do anything. The current core game (and that's all there really is) is just pure grind for grind's sake. It just isn't fun. Not to say the alpha was better, but at least it was funner.

Good fun, especially as you push the Hazard level up.

Even if it was free, it isn't worth the download in its vanilla form and modding it to make it worthwhile just seems like a waste of time when there are so many other better RTS games available.

Pros:

• Excellent physics on liquids and certain solids.
  
• Graphically nice for a 2D sidescroller with a fitting artstyle.
  
• Combat is fluid albeit a tad dull mechanic wise.
  
• Energy system allows players to utilize their items/tech at will.
  
• Soundtrack is nice.
  
• Multiplayer works fairly well.
  
• Wiring system seems well fleshed out.
  
• 3D Printer is useful and interesting.

Cons:

• The difficulty never really changes throughout.
  
• Bosses are quick and easy to defeat.
  
• Gameplay is grindy and shockingly linear.
  
• No reason to build a base on more than the designated "home" planet.
  
• No real threat means no need for a defensive structure.
  
• Most tech is borderline useless.
  
• Instanced missions feel out of place, drag on, and culminate is disappointment either through death or through a swift victory. They also don't scale the rewards in multiplayer.
  
• No story.
  
• Plenty of cosmetic gear that either has to be thrown out or dropped off on a planet which can be a problem in multiplayer unless playing with trusted friends. I suggest a system similar to the 3d scanner for cosmetic gear.
  
• Quests are mundane tasks.
  
• Pet and farming system feel pointless.

Overall, I would call this game an unworthy Terraria clone. I know even comparing the two may offend fanboys on both sides, but this game ultimately is a more expensive Terraria with less content to offer. Side by side, we see similar concepts across both games but Starbound ultimately falls short where you think it would shine best. In Terraria, you struggle to survive, create a defensive structure (or don't), and slowly (or rapidly) expand outward encountering what you want when you want with few restrictions. In Starbound, your hand is held and you are lead through a linear series of quests to progress at a predetermined pace with any noteworthy encounters at preset intervals. Starbound is never difficult due to the restrictions on progression and while the energy system shows promise, a lack of variety/usefulness in weaponry/tech until the very end leaves the player bored with combat through most of the game. While I intially enjoyed my time spent with starbound roughly a year ago, in that time I would say the development decisions have left the game in a fairly mediocre state and I would not recommend this game to anyone looking for a similar experience to Terraria. Yes, the game is still in early access, but another rehaul of game design is highly unlikely at this point so I think it is safe to assume the game will simply build on it's current foundation (which has potential). If the game was less linear/grindy but more dangerous/eventful it would be a solid recommendation, but its current state leaves you wanting a reason to explore new planets and waiting for random events as a reason to utilize it's building features (which never happens).

6/10

Pros:

• Both combat and puzzles are challenging yet maintain a fresh feel throughout the game.
  
• Free roam. The game truly doesn't hold your hand.
  
• Hints are plentiful and usually both easy to find and understand.
  
• Level editor and custom dungeon support.
  
• Game length is around 20 hours on a first playthrough depending on how hard you search for secrets.
  
• Plenty of secrets and treasures for you to find and toy with.
  
• Many different possible playstyles and party composition.
  
• Several bonus difficulty modifiers. Also, normal doesn't feel like easy.

Cons:

• 1v1 combat can be extremely easy once you learn the controls and monster ai.
  
• A flying enemy appears that is invulnerable to most types of damage far before most players have the ability to deal with it.
  
• Ran into a progress halting bug where a key didn't spawn. Upon reload, the key spawned. This could be a serious issue if a player is using some of the difficulty modifiers.
  
• Game design promotes certain party compositions and leaves some playstyles almost worthless.
  
• With the amount of available skills, it is disheartening seeing that you can only utilize a few per character due to the low amount of skill points received throughout.
  
• Specializing is key to effective party members from the start and there is no way to understand this without playing for several hours.
  
• If you are experienced or plan ahead, late game bosses and enemies become a bit easy as damage scaling coupled with potion usage makes for insanely strong builds.

Overall, I found this game phenomenal. It steadily increases the challenge both through new variety in monsters and puzzles throughout a lengthy game in a natural way. The music is astounding and boss fights are intense. There are very few cheap traps and most puzzles can be solved quickly if you find and comprehend the hints provided. Secret doors are usually (almost always) audible from the location of the object that opens them so if you pay attention you can find them. If you get stuck, you can go to a different area for most of the game and come back later thanks to the free roam design. Enemies respawn (and get more difficult as your level increases) but it takes a considerable amount of time to the point where I've never seen them respawn in the current dungeon (note that I rarely slept throughout the game though). Progression is consistent and if you get stumped, walkthroughs will make you facepalm because the solution is usually right in front of your face. If you are looking for a challenging, enjoyable, long (compared to modern games), cheap (again compared to modern games), and gratifying game, Legend of Grimrock 2 could be the game for you.

Pros:

• A plethora of different items to enhance your character in each playthrough
  
• Each attempt is unique in both charcter development and room/enemy layout
  
• Difficult and rewarding
  
• Unlockable characters and items increase variety and replayability
  
• The seed of the run is displayed and can be used to rerun
  
• More accessible than the original The Binding of Isaac
  
• Very fluid 60fps with no slowdowns
  
• Many challenges, although they are all fairly easy
  
• Character progression tracker

Cons:

• The difficulty of a run is very reliant upon random number generation
  
• Few item descriptions forces players to either read a wiki or risk losing runs
  
• Rebirth feels considerably easier than the original (on normal)
  
• No graphics options and capped at 60fps

Summary: This is is essentially The Binding of Isaac redone with more content, options, and best of all, not made on flash. While the original can be exceptionally fun and rewarding, Rebirth increases the accessibility of the game substantially while retaining most of the difficulty when set to hard. Overall, I would consider almost every aspect of Rebirth a solid upgrade over the original game. My biggest complaint is the lack of an in game method to determine what an item does before taking it (or while holding it), but after playing a good amount of the original, I already knew most of the items. If you are wondering about purchasing the original, I would highly recommend skipping it and purchasing Rebirth instead. The smooth 60fps compared to the sluggish 30fps + slowdowns of the original alone make it worth the difference. Both games have the same "story" and Rebirth is truly a remastered (upgraded) original.

Verdict: 9.5/10