Recent reviews by arramus

Farm Together is a farm management game that is heavily weighted on 'getting stuck in'. I purchased Farm Together while it was still in its pre-release stage and the devs have been very active and consistently attentive to the community throughout.

When I first played this game I could thoroughly recommend it. However, numerous changes and updates have taken the game too far in a direction that can be considered as overly demanding.

It used to be that Farm Together could be played alone very comfortably but became an absolute gem when you teamed up and shared the load. However, it has grown to become an absolute grind and slog that requires far too much of a time investment. I have certainly put in the hours and can say that a high percentage of those hours were active game play rather than leaving my farm active in the background.

As such, it is difficult to recommend Farm Together in its current state.

Pros:
Regular updates.
A learning curve suitable for all types and ages.
Cooperative gameplay.
Incentives for helping out on other people's farms.
Customisation of farm layout and characters.
Progess even when you close the game down for the night.
Overall, a positive community experience.
Seasonal events and rewards.
Decent graphics and audio.
Community awareness from the development team.
And more...

Cons:
Relatively recent updates forced players to expand their farm size with no choice.
Has become a real grind and slog.
Emphasises the 'together' aspects even when the 'together' dynamics are not always available or appropriate.
Forced update farm expansion did not proportionally allow for more NPC farmhands to share the load.

In summary
- What was a most worthy game to play alone and with friends, of all ages and tastes, has become an industrial monster.
- The long list of DLC content is daunting for potential newcomers looking to purchase the game.
- Regular events, while offering some very decent free decorations, have become constant and detract from regular game play.

I don't know where Farm Together will move on from here but I have seen some long term players drift away as the 'fun' becomes a 'chore'. I really hope Farm Together gets back to its core values of 'fun with farming friends' rather than 'chores for rewards'. Without a predominance of meaningful social interaction, things simply become short term reward driven moments that soon get old.

Overall, a real gem with a very polished feel. I have enjoyed many great experiences so far and met some great people. Unfortunately, it also attracts a noticeable amount of frustrated people who transfer onto others far too excessively.

The pros:
- Fun mission based adventures allow for great teamwork and camaraderie with a real need to become a tight-knit unit for higher level challenges.
- Smooth game physics, an immersive environment, and a stable game build.

The cons:
- A faction system where the limited number of regular players are further split into small groups/clans who attempt to compete with each other for world dominance. This is where the game is unable to deliver sustainability and becomes polarised which in turn sees players drift away. Players and groups can get overly absorbed by the never ending war. As such, it can cause players not to mix with 'outsiders' and can get needlessly bickery and hostile.
- Intolerant controling menaces who would benefit from joining an air ship rage support group to discharge their pent up frustrations elsewhere.
- A lack of matching tools to support newer players. New players are thrown in with experienced players and it is not always a pleasant experience due to the skill range.

Overall, an eclectic and dynamic masterpiece that just needs to remove its polarising features to make it more about the adventure and not the endless cycle of territorial loss and gain.

If you can find a place within your own polarised group or even with a group of regulars who put the gameplay before the divisive elements then this may be the game for you.

Take elements of F.E.A.R., mid gen Doom, Killing Floor, Quake, Borderlands, and a bit of Super Bomberman. Stick them all in a blender on high and out will pour Dead Effect 2.

It was a lot of fun even without a jump function and the rather sudden ending.

You are offered quiet periods of deep calculation while you assess your attributes and customise appropriately along with some very intense moments of head popping.

Much to enjoy!

Stats at time of writing - 67.8 hrs last two weeks / 81.1 hrs on record (Totally fished in)

I picked up Subnautica very late in its development and just before the official release date. The timing was very well considered and had absolutely nothing to do with it being on sale over the end of year 2017 festivities or me having a week off work to over indulge...which is extending towards the latter part of January at time of writing.

In all honesty, I was looking at all of the open world survival options available, as I wanted something a little different to a fragfest (which I have been known to partake in from time to time), and Subnautica had that something special about it that took it to a whole new depth and level. It also offered the uniqueness to put it in a genre of its own. One possible name for this genre, which is as good as anything out there for it, could be 'Sci-fi survival mystery horror fishing adventure with glowing jelly bean eggs'.

While it has all of the typical features of a survival open world game: frequent near death experiences, things that want to suck on your brain matter, resource limitations, places to travel to, and the like, there are lots of extras such as: the need to really pack a sci-fi themed suitcase with things to keep you going on your journey to 'middle earth' (not a spoiler...maybe), choosing which submersible to take and then making sure it is suitably customised, making sure you leave your sea house in a suitable state to return to and unpack your holiday souvenirs just like the ones you used to find on the beach, remembering to bring extra underwear because there WILL be some moments the likes of which you haven't felt since that unhappy girl Alma from F.E.A.R. made her appearance, and slowly suffocating while being seduced by the most incredibly absorbing environment you'll ever see in any game genre.

With that said:

PROS
+ Looks very tasty indeed from many perspectives
+ Fluid gameplay
+ Cognitively rewarding
+ Allows you to save your progress
+ A storyline with lots of things to do
+ Small waves
+ Treasure
+ Hi-tech craftables

CONS
- Potential sensations of sea sickness
- Allows you to save your progress, bugs and all, meaning the sea totally disappeared and I saved it after something big pulled out the bath plug and it got a bit Minecraft pixely for a while until I read someone suggest to go through something and back again which may fix it and it did. RooooaR!
- Lonely, so very lonely (But I spied an MP Mod in the works)
- Periodic loss of chunks of butt flesh

All in all a great game. A MUST for anyone who is interested in water.