Recent reviews by The Grand Vizier

Absolutely miserable. The controls could not possibly be less responsive and the game often gets stuck in death loops. I would claw my eyes out if I had to play one more minute of it.

I feel very conflicted about this game.

The setting is intriguing and the art-style for the conversations is in a beautiful drawn style that really gives a lot of character to the people you interact with in the case. The premise for the mysteries is also well set up and getting to look into the minds of the suspects and consider their motivating psychological factors is a unique point for this game. The voice acting is also on point and the daemons sound amazing when confronted.

However, the game absolutely holds the players hand too much and with so few suspects and limited evidence, the mysteries are too easy to solve and yet even once solved in the players mind, can take up to half an hour to find the right combination of exact contradictions to convict. Even partially into the case it can be clear who the killer is and none of the other suspects even come close in potential for guilt.

I almost hate to give it a non-recommend, but with only three cases and no replay-ability or alternate paths/story lines I can ultimately only recommend this for newbies who have never played a detective game, and even then a begrudging recommendation at that.

After the micro-transactions and scummy business practices were taken out of this game, it is honestly incredible.
The nemesis system could sell almost any game on its own. The ability to have enemies that are unique to every player adapt and morph across every interaction is one of the most thrilling elements in any game I have ever played and makes every run in with an orc exciting and tense, especially when two high level captains ambush you on what was supposed to be an easy assassination. Taking fortresses is also super fun and leads to high octane bursts of excitement that keep me on the edge of my seat from the first arrow fired. Not to mention as well the soundtrack which is very thematic and elevates the combat tension and atmosphere.

The only complaints I would have with this game is that the world can feel a bit small, especially alongside other epic open world adventures. Additionally, while there are also a ton of unique traits and titles for orcs, some tend to pop up more commonly than feels appropriate, especially if you plan to primarily ignore the story and run around getting into as many nemesis events as possible.

Overall amazing game, well worth a play for anyone interested in lord of the rings or adventure games in general just to experience the nemesis system at least once.

This game simultaneously makes my brain hurt and feel like a complete genius. 10/10 with a friend.

Playing this game feels like going back to an abusive ex.

I have over 1,000 hours in this game and tons of premium ships through the standalone client going back to 2017 and I finally stepped away earlier this year, most likely for good. I love the surface ship gameplay and bonded with many of my friends playing this game and discussing naval history. But the direction this game is going has driven me and all of my friends away. Carriers and submarines have killed any aggressive play and it makes me miserable to be farmed while having no viable counterplay. Wargaming has also not helped this and has continually abused the good faith of the community and failed to fix the core issues with game balance, economy changes, hidden gambling mechanics, PR responses, miscommunications, and contempt for those who try to make the game better, like LWM, causing these problems to continue. Stepping away from this game has been tough, as matches without subs or planes are some of the most fun I have had in gaming, and the memories of that kept bringing me back since I had initially attempted to quit in 2021. But every time I return I am quickly reminded of the reasons I left. I would gladly put in another 1000 hours, but as long as things don't change, I don't see myself returning.

So long Wargaming, it was fun until it very much wasn't.

One of the only games to leave me completely speechless in recent memory. If the concept is even VAGUELY interesting to you, it is worth it. I won't say any more as it is worth going in 100% spoiler free.

I like this game overall either solo or with friends, though it absolutely does shine in a team. The art style is a nice mix of comedic and serious and the lighting makes the game feel very atmospheric and immersive. The sound design is also top-notch and nicely complements the missions. The controls are solid and I usually feel like I can place myself exactly where I want to be, though the hud does leave something to be desired. If you or your friends mark something/call for help it can be hard to pinpoint where on the hud unless you have a direct line of sight and I have several times been very confused as to where help is needed in critical situations.
Another of the problems I have with the game is the random elements and how they affect the difficulty. No matter what difficulty is selected, certain events happen entirely by chance including spawning a dreadnought or a detonator for you to fight. These can entirely wreck a mission and make it impossible to complete, especially at low levels before you have gained your upgrades.
This game does have very high replayability and generally varied mission types (7 at the time of writing this) though even with randomly generated maps and secondary objectives it can get to be tedious and very samey. I also have problems with the progression in this game, while leveling to the first promotion is fine, after gaining the promotion and the assignment tracks for weapon unlocks I feel very little drive to play that character to the next promotion as there isn't anything waiting and no more weapons to unlock.
I do also wish the game made it more clear where to get ability upgrades (at the stats terminal near the door of your pod) as it took me a while to discover it. Many of the perks both active and passive also feel a bit underwhelming and I often wish some were just a bit more powerful and provide too little of a bonus otherwise.
To be clear, I really like this game and most of these gripes are just because I feel that this game is so close to being amazing and these things are what keep me from sinking another 100+ hours into it.
Final verdict: Good game and worth it for the price if you have friends to play with else I would suggest waiting for a decent sale or give it a pass.

I really enjoy this game, although it feels a little light on content for the price. For a tank nerd like me, getting to be up close and work both inside and outside these machines is a dream come true and I love the historical accuracy and attention to detail the developers have put in.

The Good:
- Amazingly detailed models of the tanks both historically and mechanically including many internal components. I was a bit disappointed that there were not more tanks included though, 13 as of this review with 2 half-tracks, and only representatives from the US, USSR, and Germany.

- Refitting the tanks is fun! I have found it to be a great way to de-stress after a more competitive game and an easy thing to pick up but hard to put down causing many moments of wanting to just repair one more part.

- I am also a big fan of the user interface, as it stays out of the way allowing you to get a good look at the tanks as you work on them but also can be brought up and after a quick adjustment period, finding what you want is easy and intuitive.

- Completed tanks can also be painted and have camo and historical decals applied to them allowing customization before putting them on display, but again as said before there is limited variety in the camo and decal variety and I wish there was more.

The Not so Good:
- The tutorial does a sub-par job of explaining how extractions work and it takes some trial and error to find the best way to find where the tanks even are resulting in some frustration when trying to find them by hand.
Here's how to avoid that:
Step 1: Use gained reputation to increase further reputation gain from other contracts and avoid extraction missions for now.
Step 2: Get all the upgrades for excavations, the only one you need is the drone at the end, but you need to get the preceding ones to get there.
Step 3: Use the drone in a giant spiral pattern to search for the tank
Step 4: Go get some water/ a snack/ read a book while the drone works
Step 5: Order an excavation to dig up the tank
This will save you a good 30 minutes or so on each extraction mission from not having to go hunting around with that metal detector trying to find the spot that makes it go beep-beep for the tank or artifact.

- My problems with extraction missions continue as in some areas you cannot order an excavation even if there is an artifact there. Be warned, any excavated locations not housing the tank get covered up again and cannot be re-excavated once you find the tank, so make sure to take any artifacts you want before going for the tank.

- I have also encountered a problem where the game will at some point freeze for a short while and upon unfreezing causes blurred edges of the screen at any camera movement and it gives me motion sickness but the blur tends to go away after a minute and the game runs smoothly from there.

- The test drive and proving grounds features where you can drive the tanks around and fire the guns are neat features, but just feel unfinished overall and while it makes for a good cinematic screenshot moment, loses its appeal quite quickly and I have not used these features more than twice.

TL;DR:
Overall, great game especially for history/tank buffs but probably a bit spendy for the current amount of content, and I would recommend waiting for a sale. Well worth picking up for $15 or less imo.

Frostpunk would have to be my favorite city builder game. When I was growing up I was a big player of classic tycoon and city building games and this game reminds me of those in all the right ways. Frostpunk has easy micromanagement for those who want it and makes research and resource management clear and simple, yet still makes choosing what to research or build pivotal. Frostpunk also avoids my problem with many current city builders where there is no end and no clear objectives. This game is great because it has structured scenarios that allow freedom in completion and is also challenging and bring tons of replayability to the game.
I would also be amiss if I did not mention the graphics and how visually stunning this game looks. When zooming in I feel the careful detail that went into making this game and it adds even more to the connection this game builds between you the player and the small city that you begin to be attached to. The fact that your decisions on laws will affect the whole city look and feel just adds so much more to the immersion and really brings the game alive.
For me, Frostpunk is an easy recommendation, however, it has rather few scenarios for $30 even with their replayability. I would recommend waiting to get this game until it is on a 33% sale or more.

One of the most polished best games of all time. Simple and easy to pick up, yet difficult even for experts. Visually beautiful and one of my favorite soundtracks. Free Advanced addition also is great. The only problem is that 100+ hours in all the events I have seen and none surprise me.