Wildfire
I’ll try to be as concise as possible, but I’m a long winded individual so…here goes!
First of all, I absolutely love this game. The art style, animation, gameplay, replay, and humor is just amazing. This is probably my favorite game this year and I think the first game I’ve gotten all the achievements on in a long time. It’s got it’s fair share of flaws, but nothing that completely breaks the enjoyment of the game.
Pros:
Graphically, the game is beautiful. Big fan of pixel art, the animation is key in pixel art. With very few pixels to represent a character or world, the only thing that separates the generic pixel art and a living world is animation and this game has it.
– Real player with 51.0 hrs in game
Read More: Best Magic Immersive Sim Games.
I played the demo and that was pretty fun, it kinda sold me on wanting to get the full version ASAP…even though I was already pretty set on wanting to get it since it’s initial announcements because of its various innovations with the elemental mechanics.
As much as I enjoyed the demo though, it was a fairly condensed experience designed to give you a small taste of each of the elements that you get to work with throughout the game and only lasts a couple of hours. At the time of me writing this review, with the full version of the game (which I found heavily discounted ~ what a lovely surprise that was) I’m at just under 40 hours and about to start level 21 (Mountains 6). I’m not sure how many levels there are overall (I could look it up I’m not one to spoil these types of details for myself lol), but when looking at the game map I’m in the upper right section…about to leave the mountains, so I still have quite a bit to go it seems, which is awesome.
– Real player with 39.3 hrs in game
Dishonored 2
Dishonored 2 - is this a game for you?
Right now, the game is undergoing a spell of patching after a very poor PC release. The game worked for some, but not for many, and so your mileage will vary depending on your PC (not necessarily how powerful it is either - but how balanced, how much VRAM you have and such). As most reviews already centre around performance issues, I won’t spend too much time on those because I’d rather review the game itself but please bear them in mind (they are mentioned in the ‘not so good’ section below)….
– Real player with 111.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Magic Singleplayer Games.
My experience with this game can be summed as thus: every update I found myself testing the changes, nodding in satisfaction, then quitting the game to await the next update.
Arkane knows how to make a good game. No question. But if you film an Oscar-worthy movie and the lens is smudged while filming, you can’t judge what’s underneath without acknowledging what’s been marring your experience the entire time.
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PERFORANCE
Everyone is aware of the performance issues, and these still persist to this day. It runs much better than at launch, where it was literally unplayable, but that’s because the game looks worse than before - the most noticeable change being the extremely aggressive LOD scaling. Out of the corner of your eye you notice the shapes of window frames and posters on distant buildings morphing in shape, or the furniture at the opposite end of a long hallway suddenly blinking into existence. FPS dropped to 15 when stabbing a gravehound, so they simply removed the inky visual effect that was causing the problem instead of optimizing it.
– Real player with 111.0 hrs in game
Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™
Caution: This review includes information that will spoil Dishonored: The Knife of Dunwall and Dishonored 2 for some readers!
While Dishonored and Dishonored 2 focus more on the politics of the Empire of the Isles, the side stories – The Knife of Dunwall, The Brigmore Witches, and now Death of the Outsider – explore the playable characters’ inner conflicts, as well as the dark, supernatural sides of the game series’ lore. This allows the developers to expand on the game universe without over bloating the main series titles, and give the side stories their own tone and personality.
– Real player with 29.9 hrs in game
Read More: Best Magic Steampunk Games.
Roughly a year after Dishonored 2 its expansion pack, Death of the Outsider, was released. Events take place just after its predecessor: we now take control of Billie Lurke and, initially, our job is to find her old mentor, Daud. Once he is located we are tasked with killing the Outsider. An interesting plot (even more interesting is the ending) that will continue in the 5 chapters the expansion pack offers.
New (albeit fewer) powers
It’s always nice to see what new ideas developers come up with. I thought Billie’d probably have Blink and Dark Vision and some new powers. Instead, even these powers have slightly been changed. We teleport by using Displace which first requires us to put a marker somewhere and only then can we finally complete teleportation. if the marker is put on an enemy he’ll die a gruesome death with bloody parts flying every which way.
– Real player with 28.3 hrs in game
Shadowy Contracts
“If you’re a fan of stealth assassin games such as Hitman and like the idea of a fantasy spin with magical equipment and spells then my advice is dive in while the game is on discount. Hopefully a surge of initial support will encourage the developer to remain diligent.”
Full article (Plus gameplay videos) here - http://pixelpopnetwork.com.au/2019/10/shadowy-contracts-early-access/
– Real player with 9.1 hrs in game
This game is early keep that in mind. its new so there will be bugs. a lot of them. but if you can see past the bugs the game is amazing. addictive and very challenging. its got beautiful graphics and environments i just want to walk around and take in the sights. the combat takes some time to get the hang of but in the end it is rather enjoyable, cant wait to see what the development company has in store for this game. and at $12.00 usd its worth it. if there was one negative thing i would have to say about the game it would be the lack of being able to sell gear and weapons you loot. i found myself spending a lot of time dumping inventory.
– Real player with 6.5 hrs in game
Dishonored
Incredibly detailed steam-punk world. Play the way you want - stealth or shoot/slash ‘em up.
– Real player with 288.3 hrs in game
If Bioshock and Assassin’s Creed/Far Cry had a baby, this would be it.
Super fun and highly recommended!
– Real player with 44.7 hrs in game
A Story of Distress
This game regularly crashes & is not of the quality expected for the money paid $10USD. I didn’t find this fun & only persisted because I wanted to give the game a chance to get better. It was short but the ending was terrible. So bad that it just made all the experiences in the game no worth it. The constant glitches, issues with enemies, glitches with weapons. The list goes on. This game is more like an early access beta. It’s not a finished title and shouldn’t be classed as one. The devs need about 6-12 months more work to fix all the bugs and they definitely need to rewrite the ending. It was so bad & not a reward for finishing it. Highly NOT recommended.
– Real player with 6.9 hrs in game
I just beat the whole game by playing for an afternoon. I can tell you this is a little, underrated gem. The locations are variated and the gameplay is good. I think this game is almost as good as Vanishing Realms so you like that one i think this is a good choice to buy on sale for example. I created a profile with Natural Locomotion in order to increase the immersion and it did work flawlessly. Great game overall in terms of fun. There are some bugs, especially at the beginning of the game, but i could play the whole thing without big issues.
– Real player with 4.9 hrs in game
Styx: Master of Shadows
SLIGHTLY IMPERFECT BUT WELL-EXECUTED AND TRUE STEALTH GAME
There are three things you need to know about this game.
1. It’s chock full of potty-mouthedness, including from the main character.
2. It is NOT a game you want to play if you like being the alpha badass.
3. It ranks up there with the original Thief games and others (skip down if this is all you care about).
I’ll address these and more in sequence in this review. It’s a long one, but maybe worth the read.
First off, as regards #1 above, if you’re too young, or if you, your parents, or your professed god do not approve of you being exposed to cussing and other adult humor, skip this game, cuz it’s not for prudes. That said, it’s all just words, put-downs, and sarcasm–only a little more advanced than the stuff that your average first-grader might hear daily on the playground or in the back of the school bus. I didn’t see any nudity or erotic content, so you won’t have to worry about that. Nobody was particularly racist, gay-bashing, etc., although masculine status does get insulted in a few spots. There was at least one subtle joke about masturbating–again, nothing that kids don’t know about already. Guards pee, and you can see the stream from any angle, but the source organ is never rendered; in fact, pants never come down, although associated movements do occur. I’d give it a PG-13 if it were a movie.
– Real player with 138.0 hrs in game
Caveat: the recommendation is intended for existing fans of the stealth genre. If you’re not familiar with espionage/infiltration gameplay, you’re unlikely to gain an appreciation for it in “Styx.” Though the story is decent, that plot progression is gated behind some maddeningly patience-trying stealth sequences, especially at the end.
Hope you’re looking for a challenge, because “Styx”, like DMX, is gonna give it to ya. Some of this difficulty is deliberate (enemies such as Knights and Elves, difficulty selections such as ‘Goblin’, mission insignias, etc). Sadly, some of it is a consequence of mixed design goals and sloppy controls/interface. What’s more frustrating than getting caught because, instead of dropping off the ledge to slip past a patrol, you instead slid across that same ledge and climbed up onto the next platform? Rather than the clever use of environmental interaction that worked in the same situation earlier, the same commands now send you on a completely unanticipated course, like some kind of slapstick scene in a comedy show. And in full view of the two Knights and elite crossbowman who had nothing better to do than hang out on the same balcony. All. Fucking. Night. The answer my friends is nothing. Nothing is more frustrating than that.
– Real player with 74.6 hrs in game
Aragami 2
My experience with the game was very good. Finished it once in a lethal two player coop run, and then once again in a solo pacifit/stealth run. Both of my playthroughs were very relaxing and pleasant. The game world is pretty and the soundtrack is charming at times. Stealth gameplay is very solid yet not too tedious. Storytelling and dialogue is minimalistic, but it provides a good setting for the gameplay.
It is about 5 times longer than the first installment, the level design is more open and diverse, and the graphics are stylized but beautiful in their own right. It compares well to the “normal” difficulty of the original game, but I would prefer a setting to make visual and hearing perception distance of enemies greater than it is. Your character is less squishy than it was in the first game, but if you mostly play this for stealth, you will only notice when surviving a nasty fall here and there (though not always).
– Real player with 76.1 hrs in game
Despite the bugs and issues, this game had in the beginning, it was fun to play with friends.
– Real player with 28.7 hrs in game
Aragami
Masterpiece of stealth
– Real player with 44.1 hrs in game
“…it’s built around a fantastic and incredibly fun core that is unlike anything else out there and I hope to see more DLC, or even a sequel, in the future. It hooked me pretty badly – I just couldn’t get enough. I loved waiting for my moment to strike, then pulling off the perfect execution of teleports and takedowns, only to fade back into the shadows before anybody saw, or even fixing a mistake swiftly by taking out any alerted guards with precise ferocity.”
8/10
Full review at https://darkzero.co.uk/game-reviews/aragami-shadow-edition-pc-review/
– Real player with 27.0 hrs in game
Broken Blades
Broken Blades is extraordinary, so many unexpected alternatives and creativity.
The game is a blast and I’m happy playing it and having it in my library !
Suggestions :
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I always had the shield bar empty. I finished the game and no vendor I found, offered shields.
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A tad too hard, and I found no save points.
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An ingame map would increase the allure so much :
I progressed going around and around till finding new areas by luck and perseverance.
Thought the game was short and over at times, but instead, it is so big.
– Real player with 4.8 hrs in game
I found difficulty too harsh you die way too easy not fun when everything in the game is stronger than you. Is there a check point in this game don’t know can’t seem to progress really mixed on this one.
– Real player with 0.7 hrs in game