Recent reviews by Suavek

Steam could really use a "neutral" recommendation for their review system. I honestly find it difficult to decide one way or another if I recommend Friends of Mineral Town or not. It's more complicated than a simple Yes or No.

Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town is an enhanced remake of the original Harvest Moon: Back to Nature (PSX) and Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town (GBA). It plays pretty much the same, for the most part, although there are some minor changes, additions, and quality of life improvements over the originals.

So you'd think this would be the best way to experience one of the better Harvest Moon games nowadays? I thought so as well, but ended up somewhat disappointed.

It's not like the game itself is bad. As I've said, it's mostly the same as the originals. It's a fairly simple farming sim with cartoony aesthetics and positive vibes. The gameplay does show its age, especially when compared to something like Stardew Valley, but there are several QoL improvements over the original games that make FoMT quite pleasant to play.

So, what's the problem then? Well, this may sound weird, but the game simply doesn't "feel right". The overall aesthetics have been changed drastically. Even though the series has always been very anime-like, and used super deformed designs, this new version makes everything look like a very cheap mobile game. The graphics are very simple and the game really shouldn't be difficult to run even on an ancient machine. That alone would be fine if not for the changes of all character designs. Certain characters look decent, or do improve over the originals in some ways, but the majority of others have been changed so much they not only no longer resemble the original designs, but are not pleasant to look at in general. Some of the characters look even more cartoony than they did before, or completely lost their uniqueness (like Gray, Cliff, Won, to name just a few). I thought I would get used to this after a while, but no. In some cases I ended up disliking several characters because of their new designs, which made them even less masculine, boring and uninteresting.

And that's not all. While I have very fond memories of the originals' soundtracks and sound design in general, this new version once again resembles a cheap mobile game with its poor sound direction. The music does feature all the original themes, as well as some new ones, but most of them are not pleasant to listen to. It's like the melody is there, but it's muted by way too many instruments the music tries to imitate for whatever reason.
The sound effects are even worse, because not only they seem very poor in terms of quality, but also do not match the 'action' on the screen. The Axe hitting a tree, or a Hammer hitting a boulder should carry some weight or impact, but here they sound more like a very soft tap. And these are mere examples of all the repetitive and simple sound effects in the game. And I swear in some cases there is some kind of background noise that hasn't been removed from certain sound effects.

In general, the more I play SoS:FoMT the more I miss the originals. I realize that their design and the overall aesthetic was a major part of what made those games special. This new 3D re-imagining with a new artstyle and sound direction doesn't work for me, for the most part. It's still the same game at its core, just with a new look. If you're fine with this change, then you should enjoy the game more. If you're not, then you may end up disappointed, like I did.

And if you've never played the original Back to Nature and/or Friends of Mineral Town, then with no nostalgia factor I am not certain if it's worth getting into this game nowadays. There are better alternatives, with Stardew Valley being one of them. Friends of Mineral Town is pleasant and relaxing in general, but it's all fairly simple and nothing groundbreaking by today's standards.

Star Trek Legends was originally a mobile game, but without any of the mobile's predatory microtransactions and other BS. This alone makes it somewhat noteworthy for Star Trek fans, even though the gameplay is quite similar to your average mobile strategy rpg. And yes, that includes the gacha mechanic, which is still present here.

The game revolves around the exploration of the Nexus, and through an insane amount of technobabble many characters from various Star Trek series are pulled from their timelines to aid in this endeavor. However, the main story is centered mostly around Burnham, McCoy and Worf as primary characters. Rarely, if ever, other characters on your team have any kind of dialogue during cutscenes. Kind of a disappointment, especially if you dislike Burnham, like me. The story alone is nothing groundbreaking, although it is interesting at times, and full of fanservice.

The main gameplay loop is mostly engaging in numerous turn-based battles with a team of four ST characters, using their abilities to defeat enemies. It's a clever system that allows for numerous builds and combinations, with some simple RPG elements. The game not only has Story mode, but also several other modes, including "PvP" against other players' AI-controlled teams. I have to say, it is quite engaging and satisfying, albeit a bit grindy at times (again, no microtransactions).

I'm not sure if I'd be recommending this game if it was F2P, but with microtransactions, even to the hardcore Star Trek fans. As a paid title it is worth getting at a discount. It is still a simple game, somewhat buggy, still in the Early Access. And once I've completed the Story and got all the achievements I was satisfied and done with it. It's a decent time-waster with some potential and none of the predatory live-service schemes. I'm not sure if the game will ever be expanded in the future, but as it is I would only recommend it to Star Trek fans.

This game is very hard to recommend, even to the hardcore Gundam fans.

It's not "bad" per se, but there are way too many bad or obsure decissions that often kill the enjoyment, or discourage players from playing altogether.

SDGBA is a simple hack'n'slash with Super Deformed Gundams. Very simple mechanics, very few moves and actions, and very little customization that's mostly stats/passive-oriented. I couldn't tell you much about the story, because I've become disinterested only a few missions in, and started skipping all the dialogues to save myself both time and sanity. The gist of it is, you partake in numerous missions where "(gundam) worlds collide", which is perhaps the most interesting aspect of the whole game, seeing all the crossover scenarios. That said, it's still nothing groundbreaking and non-Gundam fans most probably won't get any enjoyment out of this.

In general, the gameplay loop isn't all that bad. It's very, VERY simple, yes, but it can be enjoyable at times. The problem with SDGBA is that it looks like it was supposed to be a F2P title. The game expects you to grind A LOT. For items, money, EXP, unit blueprints. This means replaying the same missions over and over, hoping for the right drop. There are many playable units in the game, but you won't even get a third of them by the time you complete the main story. Not without lots and lots of grinding, repeating missions, and using the same two money-farming-oriented units for most of the game, only to keep up with the expensive upgrade costs. You might be tempted by the premise of playing some of your favorite Gundams, but chances are you'll unlock them only once you'll start grinding the post-game Hard difficulty. And even then you'll need a lot of self-determination to keep on playing.

It's like Bamco wanted to make this a live-service, dropped the idea half-way during the game's development, but forgot to change the numbers and left them way too high. Pitty, because if players were allowed to unlock and upgrade units quicker, this might actually be a decent recommendation for Gundam fans. The graphics are "all right", the game runs fine, and the music is quite good, especially some of the arrangements of Gundam OSTs.

If you're a Gundam fan, then I'd say buy this game at a very large discount (80-90%). You might get some enjoyment out of this if you're fine with something simple and straightforward. I did have some fun, I'll admit. But I just can't turn a blind eye to all the grind and irritating decissions, so overall I'm giving the game a thumbs down. And once Gundam Breaker 4 releases on Steam SDGBA will be even more obscure and obsolete.

A textbook example of some of the most egregious free-to-play/pay-to-win monetization schemes.

Everything's here. Everything you'd expect from a mobile F2P game that would and will do anything to get money from you. It's hardly even a case where you can choose between a long and tedious grind or spending real money. Not really. You'll hit a wall sooner or later. And assuming you've got some senses left, you should ask yourself - Why? Why would you "play" this "game"? Not to mention, spend tons of hard earned money on it?

One of the rules of games as a service is to hook you in early on. Ever Crisis had it easy, because it uses Final Fantasy VII franchise as its main appeal. Not only that, but the game does indeed look good, sounds good and has some flashy visuals to please the right parts of the brain. Honestly, if this wasn't a F2P gacha game, then I would say there is indeed a decent idea for a proper game here. At least for a Final Fantasy VII fanservice game.

Sad truth is though, this is hardly a game. Because once you deal with the Story chapters you're left with an idle farming simulator. Because 90% of your "play-time" is going to be launching random battles set on Auto with a sole purpose of grinding one of dozens, if not hundreds of items/materials. What for? To upgrade your characters. Why? So that you could engage in more "difficult" idle/afk auto-battle grinding farms... A vicious cycle, well thought-out by the greedy minds at Square-Enix. Minds that didn't want to create a fun and engaging game, but a money-making platform instead.

Normally I stay far away from these mobile gacha f2p/p2w games as a service, but I admit I gave Ever Crisis a chance. I was interested in the original First Soldier side-story set in FFVII universe, as well as a promise of recapping some other FFVII works, such as Before Crisis or Advent Children in a game form.

But no, it's not worth it. The Story that is already here is incomplete, and some of the advertised titles, such as Before Crisis or Dirge of Cerberus, are nowhere to be seen. They may or may not be added later on, but knowing Square they will probably shut the game servers down before finishing any of the promised stories. And even if they do add them, they will still most probably require lots of grind, and/or lots of money spent to progress through.

And it's no mere change. The game bombards you with "LIMITED-TIME-SPECIAL-BUNDLES", Season Passes, and such constantly, on every occasion. To the point the in-game shop seems almost as overwhelming as all the other mechanics. Honestly, it would probably cost you less to buy the original FFVII, FFVII Remake Intergrade, FFVII Rebirth, Crisis Core Reunion and Advent Children movie, than to fully upgrade just one character and their weapons in this mobile garbage. And the First Soldier Story you could probably watch on YouTube or something. It'll take you less time to do so than to work your way in Ever Crisis.

Yes, there are some fanservice elements and decent original side-stories here. This is basically the only reason I gave this game a chance. But what there is is not really worth neither time nor money spent on leveling up characters, weapons, materias, summons and such. Again, Ever Crisis is your textbook greedy monetization scheme and not a real game. If you spend any money on this, then you're part of a much bigger problem.

There are tons of way better games out there that will cost you less and will satisfy you with actual, proper gameplay. So do yourself a favor and just stay away from Ever Crisis. It's really not worth the effort. It's like any other addiction - it may be fun and harmless at first, but will prove difficult to drop once you start, even when you know it's bad for you. So it's better simply not to start...

A classic, brutal, old-school racing game, now completely free-to-play. Very simple at its core, yet fun and addicting. I played Death Rally a lot as a kid, and I keep coming back to the game every few years. I know all the tracks, tricks, and tactics, yet I still find myself engaged every time. Because sometimes you just want to play something short and simple, and Death Rally is just that. A simple racing game with several options to eliminate other racers, great to play in short sessions. Not to mention, both the graphics and the music are quite good, even after all those years. And since the game is free and will run on a potato there's no reason not to try it out, or come back to it from time to time. One of my personal all time favorites.

Played DEEMO for the rhythm game, ended up for the story. Because DEEMO combines both a classic rhythm game with a charming story about a little girl lost in a strange dream-like world. I won't go into too much detail, but even though I rarely enjoy stories like that, DEEMO managed to keep my interest to the very end.

One of the reasons I was so engaged is the overall presentation of the game. The dream-like music-themed environments, mysterious characters, and fun, clever, but not too difficult puzzles. Even smaller things, like the pop-up book covers for all the songs. I was honestly fascinated all the way through.

The core rhythm gameplay is your standard six lane button play with several difficulty levels for dozens of available songs. DEEMO consists mostly of piano tracks, both calm and faster ones, but there are some electronic tracks as well. Really good selection, to the point I ended up listening to the game's soundtrack alone at times.

The other part of the game is the puzzle/adventure, where you control the girl through various locations, interact with the environment, solve puzzles often related to music, find secrets and such. It's a really nice blend of two genres which work surprisingly well, especially with the overall theme.

I would say DEEMO is a beautiful game as a whole. As an experience. It was calming at times, sometimes funny, mysterious and engaging during other parts. I strongly recommend checking it out if you're interested in rhythm games, adventure/puzzle games, or both.

Divinity: Dragon Commander seems to be one of the least, if not the least popular of Larian Studios games. Even though it may not be as groundbreaking like the recent Baldur's Gate 3, or any of the Divinity titles, it is still a fun game worth experiencing.

The main selling point of Dragon Commander is that it's a mixture of several genres. The game literally combines a grand strategy, real time strategy, an RPG, adventure game, a card game and an action game, into one surprisingly decent package.

This also turned out to be the game's biggest criticism, in that, the genre blend was fun, but none of the systems was particularly fleshed out. And while it may be true to some extent, I personally was still very much impressed with the end result.

I won't go too much into the details of any of Dragon Commander's gameplay elements. You could watch one of the game trailers to check all the game's features in more detail. I'll just say I had lots of fun with the freedom the game offers, and I was engaged in many of the characters' storylines and their multiple endings. The genre blend was a breath of fresh air, especially since the game is paced really well, so none of the different "modes" or "segments" outstay their welcome. Don't expect to spend dozens of hours with Dragon Commander, like with any of the other Larian games. The story campaign may take you about 10 hours or so. You can engage in several other game modes or non-story campaigns if you're interested in checking out other character interactions and dialogues. Some of them are really worth it, as they raise many real life moral dilemmas, or are simply funny and interesting to engage in.

I really do recommend Dragon Commander. It may not be a top tier game, or anything groundbreaking, but it's honestly fun and underappreciated.

Often described as a playable music album, Sayonara Wild Hearts is a linear arcade game where you travel through colorful dream-world environments over the course of several levels. The aesthetic alone is fascinating, but with varied music tracks and several types of levels the game is truly one of a kind.

I'm struggling how to describe Sayonara Wild Hearts adequately, because I honestly was more impressed with it as a whole, rather than with its mechanics. At its core the game is a quite simple score-based arcade title, where you drive, surf, shoot, or engage in rhythm based QTEs during linear levels. But combined with the aforementioned aesthetic, music and themes, the game ends up being a truly captivating experience. None of the gameplay segments overstay its welcome, and each of the levels is different and varied enough to keep players' interest. The whole story isn't too long, but it's one of those games many will certainly want to replay, perhaps even several times. I surely did.

A truly beautiful game and a unique experience that I strongly encourage anyone to check out.

This is one of those cases where Steam could really use a neutral option for its user reviews.

Persona 3 is a great classic. A unique jRPG experience, both in terms of its themes and setting, as well as its original gameplay with sim-like elements. The game re-worked the Persona franchise into what it is today, and introduced many players to the Megami Tensei series. Myself included.

That said, while the "Portable" version of Persona 3 is mechanically the most user friendly P3 experience, it is still pretty much the same game it was on PlayStation Portable all the while back in 2009. And that, sadly, means the game is presented in a 2D visual-novel style, instead of the original 3D experience. Not to mention, there are still some players who claim the original Persona 3 FES was better in many regards. Modern version of P3P is not "the best of both worlds". It's just a mere port of a PSP game.

And now that Persona 3 Reload - a full remake of the original Persona 3 - has been announced, I find it difficult to recommend Persona 3 Portable. I would say the ONLY reason one would play P3P now is the option to play as the female protagonist, which sadly won't be included in the remake.

Personally I found the female protagonist route to be much more interesting than the original male character. Some NPCs are different, and way better or mature in my opinion, plus certain team interactions are much more fleshed out. There are also new music tracks and several smaller differences.

Assuming the upcoming remake won't change or break things too much, I wouldn't recommend P3P to someone who has never played Persona 3 before. At this point it's better to wait for Reload. That said, if you've got the time and don't mind some outdated mechanics, then P3P is worth it for the Female Protagonist alone, if only for a new experience and a different point of view. As such I cannot give this game a "thumbs down". It's still a good game, just in a way (becoming) obsolete...

I honestly couldn't care less about Homefront: The Revolution, but the game contains an easter egg in the form of playable TimeSplitters 2. Normally it's just two story levels available from an arcade machine in-game, but either with cheats or with mods (TS2Redux) you can play the whole full version of TimeSplitters 2 natively on PC, with mouse and keyboard support. Story, Arcade, Challenges and all that. The mod also allows you to launch TS2 directly, skipping the Homefront menus, or even to remove Homefront files, leaving only TimeSplitters 2 installed.

So my recommendation is for "TimeSplitters 2 Redux", which is a great and funny console FPS. This "easter egg" alone makes buying Homefront: The Revolution worth it, especially at a discount.