Recent reviews by Miso Strange

Honestly just amazing. I've never played a game quite like this, and I've never enjoyed a game focused on cars and driving anywhere near as much as this. For real, I have literally no interest in racing games or cars or mechanics in general. But there wasn't a single thing in this game I didn't fully engage with, that's super impressive. I mean it, even the soundtrack, which traditionally with my tastes I should be cringing and annoyed and unhappy listening to it. Instead, there wasn't a track I didn't enjoy even if some of them got super old. Not that the ost is necessarily super amazing either. Totally really good though, every artist in the radio soundtrack is good and deserves to be checked out, some are even making their independent debut in this games ost. Awesome, give them some love.

So what's the game about? It's a combination of somewhat immersive sim, lite generative survival crafting, driving and car maintenence, SCP anomaly thriller, and semi-open world linear story. Mash together Prey 2017, Stalker, Control, Subnautica, GTA car mechanics, and a little bit of Hunt Showdown and maybe Firewatch; and you have Pacific Drive. It works amazingly. Great atmosphere and tone, great mechanical implementation, really competent gameplay and story, highly unique and engaging. Very good at being diagetic and immersive too. Nice variety and fun ideas.

We are reaching a point in gaming as an artform where anything really is possible, and the mashup of ideas when done well out of inspiration rather than as a product to chase trends, just makes impossibly amazing things happen. This is one of them. Games like this are the reason I just can't take the "the game doesn't hurt you" stance against people who complain about / critique games or dev teams. I've come to loathe words like those. Because for every 20 games reusing the same stale ideas and not even doing them right, there's only 1 like this, that ends up getting the resources and time and support and attention to actually get made and put someones creative vision out there, instead of wasting all those resources and potential, and crushing peoples dreams. Being in a position where you can contribute unique ideas to the most evolved and interactive human artform is a huge privelege, I'm absolutely justified to get angry and morally disagree when a person, team, company, or especially, corporation or corporate shareholders waste it. We live in a world with all sorts of weird human pollutions and overpopulations, right now artform / art over-saturation is one of them.

Cheers to the devs who made this, this is a big win for us and for them.

Very enjoyable. Extremely random that me and a friend picked this game up tbh, but it was like $2 aud so I just went for it. Was definitely worth it. Very mature, good writing. You can slightly see and feel the "2016 indie game" energy in it but honestly doesn't affect it much. I want more games like this. Ykno, games that are somewhat nature focused but aren't just annoying walking simulators with no gameplay substance. This one tackles some pretty heavy stuff tho, even if it's not going for pure shock value.

Def one of my underrated favourites.

Only platformer other than Celeste that isn't some weird metroidvania that I've loved with such passion, this game made me REALLY happy! Won't lie it even feels a bit like a metroidvania, it's got some good progression and exploration mechanics. Desperately want more games like this, it's just an awesome world to be in, the characters are even fun and well written enough to induce some feels. Got it on humble bundle originally. God I want more so badly...

Yeah NGL if you either: don't like this game; don't enjoy this games soundtrack; don't care about this games game and music inspirations/ homages; you can just never talk to me again as a friend because I don't think you'll ever meaningfully contribute to my life after this. An acquaintance maybe, but I'll probably never value your company again unless you're an unbelievably exceptional human being.

As a side note I NEED this games ost on vinyl! It stands right alongside the other electronic/synth/chip-synth ost titans: Hyper Light Drifter, Furi, Katana Zero, and Tunic. Honorable mentions to RUINER, and My Friend Pedro.

It's pretty fun! I just want more and more content. It's kinda like Factorio / Mindustry lite lite.

It's good, that's for sure. But... I'm never going to experience another masterpiece like Hyper Light Drifter, nothing will ever come close again, and I'll be chasing my dreams of 2016 forever. I had a feeling it would be like that, but the direction of Heart Machine confirms it for me, that the spirit of this studio is axiomatically different from where it started, and 99.99% of people who enjoy the same things as me enjoy them for fundamentally different reasons to the point where I don't have much if any hope for being passionate about anything new that comes out. Even if it's in the spirit of, or by the creators of my favourite things.

If you're part of that 00.01% like me, the one in ten thousand who cares *differently*, then I share that dreamy sorrow with you, this game is not going to capture your heart much after all. If you're everyone else, you will think this game is pretty cool and enjoy it just fine, get it. If you think I'm being edgy or melodramatic, it's not like we could communicate much anyway so you should probably listen to someone else.

I'm open for (some) discussion if anyone wants to. Discussion, not debate. My opinions are pretty well formed and firm. I'm reaching out a hand to you 00.01% for your taste.

As someone who LOVES grapples and LOVES metroidvanias with good movement, this is a DREAM GAME for me!

Is gud! c: TLDR: It's more of what you want! Everything we wanted and a little more, yes the new stuff is gud!

I'm pretty much done with all the content as of around a month into the early access release. The game feels 80-90 % done, lotta content here. Obviously not as much as the first game by a decent amount, the original has those other modes / islands from the other ranchers, theres the glass desert, and 6 slimes are missing. Wonder if the new slimes are a replacement?

So whats different that is here? Not too much, but some odd but good choices. Feels like a unique and new Slime Rancher experience. No more drills, instead you go out and get resources for yourself, which is a weird choice, but I feel like I know why they did it. But you're still hoping a player is exploratory and curious yet industrious enough to realise that you need to get the upgrade in the shed below, and get it very early, and then put together that you need to mine the world. As a slime rancher veteran I adjusted very easily, but I don't know if this is babies first slime farming game, even though they clearly made a lot of changes to make it easier for new players.

I'm late game, but not post game just yet, so I'm still reaally hoping there's drones and miners, eventually the automation in the original went a long way for me. Unlike Subnautica's "sequel" Below Zero, which I freakin hate to the high heavens, this one feels like a really good direction, very respectful of the original and what it stood for (hehe it's weird to say that about a slime farming chill game, but honestly this game is important to me and a lot of other people so why not).

Dunno how everyone else feels about them, but I really enjoyed the original characters coming back and talking to you as if you guys are friends, even if we aren't as much of a silent protagonist any more (even though she doesn't speak and kinda was herself in the original too, if a little less). Feels like those guys went somewhere as characters, dare I say, people. Makes me happy that they just talk to you all chummy like, and like I'm sharing a new world with them, after all this isn't Subnautica, where the whole point is to accent the nature of the alien world by emphasising your complete loneliness and isolation. Tell you what, I'm even a bit intrigued by the new story mysteries in this sequel, they're doing a really good job at their style of storytelling through small logs without stealing the focus of the game and overdoing it! Again, unlike Below Zero.

On the topic of new slimes, tldr I think they're great! Even if they are few. Trust me, they really are doing quantity over qualityu. But at first I was like hmm, the original game seemed to have more original slimes based on concepts, but these ones are just animals, isn't that a bit idea-crutchy? Well, after dealing with them for a while, I say they are completely original and well thought out after all! They *do* have original concepts and mechanics that make them worthy, and cute as heck to boot! And after thinking about it, maybe even a little more original than some of the originals, just a little. Like, is 'green slime with green damage aura' really that original? He's nice tho :3

I am really hoping they add the last 6 slimes, and that they have a Glass Desert tier content expansion eventually, with more new slimes and content. I honestly love the original, and this game and the state it's in, and I'm really glad they went with a mostly more of the same approach, instead of trying to change fundamental properties of the games identity like Below Zero did, with the voice acting, and in-game player agency removing cutscenes, and cold / surface crap, and removing the silent protagonist which was so important for the loneliness emphasis and therefore immersion. The only thing I truly enjoyed in that game was breaking it with the prawn suit above ground with grapples (with which you can go at unbelievable speeds but only above land in the second game WHYY DID YOU BREAK THEM UNDERWATER), turned it from the bullsh*t survival horror game they tried to make to unneccesarily reinvent subnautica, into a thrilling heart pumping race against the leviathans. God I hate Below Zero...

But I love Slime Rancher 2! Very tangential review, I know. Edit: its VERY good looking and VERY optimised, the only things we are missing that would be TRULY awesome in the series is multiplayer, and especially proper VR. The VR playground in the original is a far cry... made me wanna throw up.

PLAY IT or dont talk to me