Recent reviews by Cal

10/10 actually melted my 4090

I was looking forward to this.....I really was. Most reviews here are about the multiplayer but I'm noticing some significant issues in the singleplayer as well.
1: BF1 feels overtly clunky - at times I press to move and I don't budge until I double tap the key. Feels like I'm stuck in place or there's significant input lag.
2: Bf2 Galactic Conquest seems glitchy: Once a fleet is destroyed from a failed invasion I can't seem to build a new one - it defaults to where the destroyed fleet was and can't select a friendly planet to construct another one. Also when purchasing bonuses the interface is glitchy and clunky.
3: No invert flight controls. Automatically down is up and up is down (some of us like it the other way).
Probably several other issues I haven't listed but with 100 minutes on the board I doubt I'm willing to explore any further. Really shameful - all other Aspyr releases have been excellent.

Better system to obtain cards than MTG Arena. Not really a Yugioh player but I've been having fun (I played Legacy of the Duelist Link Eovlution so I'm familiar with the new mechanics). Built two competitive decks (drytron and dragon link) by opening packs with the gems the game has given me for free (I've obtained well over 10k just by playing and logging in) and disenchanting the extra SR and UR cards that I won't be using. Can say, relatively F2P and in a good way

700 hours.
330 Days Subbed.
This is an honest review and the story of my time playing FFXIV (to those considering playing this game I hope this helps you :3) It's going to be long so there'll be a TLDR at the bottom.

Background:
I've played a lot of MMOS since 2002 - Runescape (and all its iterations), WoW, Aion, Star Wars galaxies, Tera, EverQuest 2 and Everquest Online Adventures (PS2 EQ game), Rift, MU Online, Lineage 2, Guild Wars 1 and 2 and honestly? None of them can compare to the experience I've had playing FFXIV.

Story Time:
I first played FFXIV a few weeks before the launch of its first expansion Heavensward. After much consideration on what class to play I rolled Lancer (Dragoon) and upon logging in I thought the game was gorgeous, I also thought it was fun, however I felt rather bored after hitting level 14, I felt it being really really slow. Yet despite that I knew I'd come back some day and try again - so I did, right at the launch of Stormblood - the second expansion.

This time around I rolled a Pugilist (Monk) on a different server and my experience was significantly more positive. This time I got to level 40 and had experienced some of the early dungeons and Trial fights ( Group vs 1 Big Boss) and genuinely was excited to see the remaining content, however life had other plans and I once again stopped playing.

Finally I had heard about Shadowbringers coming around and decided that once and for all I was going to get to the end game, so I rolled an Arcanist (Summoner/Scholar) two weeks before Shadowbringers and pre-ordered the expansion as well. When I had hit 50 and finished the base story, i couldn't wait to keep going, then I hit 60 and was in awe with the direction of the game, I finally hit 70 and capped out as Shadowbringers launched and was so excited to begin the journey to 80. It never felt like a grind but more like a progressive journey. Before the first week was over, I had dinged 80 and begun my journey into the end game. Raiding in games like WoW is a mentally daunting task, in FFXIV however it's not. Difficult? Yes at times, but never disheartening. No matter how difficult the content gets, it ends up being fun, its fun to get good. Yet despite all the conquests you may have doing high tier content, you never feel like a sweaty try hard. I attribute this to the community largely and the way the game handles this content. It's a game, not a lifestyle, not a second job, but something to log on to and have fun; with strangers, friends, friends of friends and just enjoy your time online. Which is honestly not something you always hear about other big MMOs. To date I have dinged Max level on 2 Characters (one which I made to play with a friend) and I can't wait to ding max level again when Endwalker comes out in November.

Now review time!

Review: FFXIV is arguably the best MMO on the market at the current moment. Not only does it look fantastic, it plays solid and every class feels just different enough. Is the combat groundbreaking? No, not exactly, however it's rather smooth and is tailored well to suit players of all different skill levels. One of the game's greatest strengths however is its ability to have old content, still feel relevant. Even if you ding max level, doing a level 50 Raid is still very much so something that you will do and can do.

The Vanilla game content starts out rather slow, and quite honestly while just fun enough, isn't world shattering in nature. It doesn't really help set the game apart from other fantasy MMOs or games but.....that's okay. As you progress to 50 it progressively gets better, and you start to better understand what the game is trying to achieve. If i had to give the Vanilla content a rating I'd give it a solid 7.5/10. No higher or lower.

Then we get to Heavensward. This is the expansion where the game began to realise what it wanted to be. A game with a an intriguing (yet sometimes VERY cliche) fantasy story, with grandiose and meaningful encounters while helping each player discover their play style. Simply put it took everything that made the Vanilla game good enough to play and made it better. This is also where the current free trial ends, and is definitely an ideal way to find out if this is the game for you. Solid 9/10.

Stormblood's content however leaves a fair bit to be desired after the titanic entrance of Heavensward. While not bad, and still continuing that upwards trend of improving on what content made the game more enticing, this is where the questing gets to a lot of players. It's not bad, in fact the story content is rather good. However, the story quests in the expansion also tend to drag on or have rather difficult objectives that may make it feel more difficult for some classes to progress. The end game content for stormblood is fantastic, but its the journey there and the hiccups along the way that make this a bit of a rougher expansion to get through than the others that have been released. Tough to give it a score but I'd say a 6.5 or 7/10 summarises stormblood rather well.

FInally Shadowbringers, this is THE expansion. This is the expansion that made FFXIV the titan it is today. Story wise it introduces one of the primary antagonists of not just this game but even among other FF games and fantasy setting games as well. The encounters here will also just blow your mind. The scale of some of the boss fights makes you truly feel like you're accomplishing some grandiose task and that you really are the hero of the game. I don't think I could put into words what Shadowbringers truly accomplishes, as the only way to understand is to experience the content of the expansion. While some slightly annoying trends from Stormblood return, ultimately this is what I would consider the perfect expansion for FFXIV. 10/10.

TLDR This game is nearly perfect, it has its issues however none of them are truly a problem. In my mind this is the true definition of a Modern MMO, where modern features and classic player interaction meet. With some of the best content in any MMO, that never feels stale and feels relevant at all points of the game for one reason or another. While questing can sometimes be sluggish, the game is ultimately well paced and does not impose barriers on progression to any who choose to play this game. The encounters in this game are fun, grandiose and well thought out, without being overly imposing while also having difficulty scaling that will appeal to players of all skill levels.

If you think anything written here makes you want to play FFXIV, give the trial (free to level 60) a try now before buying it (as the retail version of the game CANNOT be played with a free account) and experience Eorzea yourself.

Not gonna lie, I really like this. The scavenging is challenging as a team, but the game is relatively rewarding. Doesn't seem pay to win, by finishing the tutorial and playing a few matches, you'll gather enough to buy about 2 champs, including the new one who ISN'T priced over the others. I find that the loot sometimes is RNG, but hey that's the challenge. Characters seem interesting, good english voice acting. Game has potential, just needs more players and definitely a few bug fixes. Also killing a downed enemy takes 4x the time it takes to down them, I'd like to that change a little - 3 of us dog piling on one guy when he's down should not take a minute. 8/10, will review again.

SO here's the deal, I never played Borderlands 2 in it's hay day to completion. In fact, until recently I never finished Borderlands 2. I found myself getting bored, and....it just wasn't exciting. So I picked up 3 on a whim, and it is by far the best in the series. I was enthralled from start to finish. The gunplay feels more refined, and the overall physics of the game feel a lot more grounded and not as "floaty" as previous entries. The story in itself is up to debate as to how good it is, however I enjoyed the roles all the characters had to play in the story - made it more emotional and etc., and that in part kept me moving forward. I played Zane for my first playthrough and what a blast. Not only was his kit fun to play with, but also his voice lines in dialogue was the best part.
TL;DR - Best borderlands in the series, if you've always wanted to play them but felt them too stale, this is the one for you. Better gunplay, more rounded out classes. Zane has the best V.O. of any vault hunters in any of the games.

>Be Me
>Set everything to realistic
> Spend 5 in game years getting chased around by bandits and not getting my clan level up.
> Finally get Clan level 1, become Mercenary working for Sturgians.
> Go broke because they're losing the war; captured and naked.
> Finally rebuild and reach clan level 2
> Realise I can't swear fealty to anyone but the Vlandians at this point ( It's currently Sturgia with 3 cities, Aserai with 2, Northern empire with 5, Southern empire with 2 - everything else belongs to Vlandia)
> Realise I did nothing to influence the state of the game and am now rich af.
>10/10 will play again

Nostalgic with modern features. It's honestly the best of both world Highly recommended, ESPECIALLY when on SALE!

I'm a big fan of racing games, but I never really got into the Dirt series (even though I got Dirt 3 for free). This game however is probably one of the best racing sims out there, and the rally setting is unique and relatively accurately displayed. I don't usually write reviews so here's some pros and cons:

Pros:
- Fair selection of cars each upgradeable during the career mode.
- You can tune your car before every race. This is definitely more so for people who are really into rally racing and know what they're doing, but it adds a fantastic amount of detail.
- The ability to set the pace of your co-driver's pace notes is a fantastic feature (though i find the default to be just fine for me)
- There's some online play, it's nice, you'll probably get your arse whooped.
- The physics of the car are relatively realistic (I don't rally, nor do I have a physics degree); the weight management and understanding the way the car drives is key to traversing the tracks. Makes for a fantastic challenge. Yes, every car really does handle differently.
- The tracks are well designed and are extremely challenging, but that actually makes it a lot fun.
- The damage to the car is permanent until you fix it. Between races you'll be forced to repair your car if it's too damaged. It's pretty cool.

Cons:
-High skill ceiling off the bat. It's not necessarily noob friendly, but if you put in some time and effort you'll be heavily rewarded.
- The tutorials are just a visual and auditory explanation of the techniques used. Not exactly the best for new players or people who have absolutely no idea about anything to do with cars.
-Some wierd frame skips here and there, usually occuring over jumps.

TL;DR
Good game, Dark Souls of Racing sims, Buy it.

Even though this game under sold, it is still one hell of a gem. The story is well written, and progresses at a nice pace. The world is large with a lot to do for compeltionists and casual players alike. All in all a very solid experience, and cannot wait for the sequel.