Recent reviews by panzerxiii »

Overall, a decent time killer with fun combat that really picks up once you get a bit further into the game.

So the game isn't as boring as I initially thought, but the early game definitely needs some work in my opinion, because it's some of the most boring gameplay I've ever experienced. The pacing overall is a bit weird -- sometimes it'll feel like you're speeding through zones, then you'll hit a big wall once you hit endgame before you start progressing in the story again. Most of the quests are just basic "press G to do 500 different things" variations which gets old fairly quickly, but the gameplay is saved by the fun and creative dungeons and interesting variety of environments in the various islands and continents. Overall the game is pretty easily soloable if you don't care to interact with the people in the game (I didn't party up with anyone until probably 60 hours in).

Endgame seems okay if you don't really care about progressing at a quick rate, because there are daily time gates and a mobile resource management section in your stronghold which basically forces you to wait to do a lot of crafting and/or upgrades. They have 50,000 different currencies, many of which do barely different things so be ready for an infodump upon hitting that part of the game. The systems are generally decent, but there is some RNG involved so be warned. Not everything is communicated effectively in-game, so be ready to look up some stuff online to fully understand how everything works. I'd say the one thing the game is missing is something a bit more involved, like WoW raids. The ones in this game are basically just mini Monster Hunter fights.

Lore wise, a lot of it is pretty cringe and very obviously ripped off of very well-known properties, but there are some fun moments and interesting dialogue at times. Korean VO is way better than other languages I tried. There are some translation issues that make some quests impossible to complete unless you look up solutions online or brute force it.

Aesthetically the game looks alright, though a lot of it is either generic fantasy tropes or direct rip-offs from stuff like WH40K. Wish there was a better armor system and transmogs of some sort. If you like playing as a K-Pop star with a perfect body and skin you'll see no problem with the character design. If that's not your cup of tea, you'll probably not enjoy gender-gated classes.

I've always wanted to try PSO2, but never jumped through the hoops when it was Japan only and never got around to it when it was released in NA. I figured when the new version launched it would be a nice time to try it out. I'm marking this game as recommended but at the moment it's a bit borderline.

For context, I've played a few MMOs over the years, namely World of Warcraft, Tera, Rift, Aion, and Maplestory.

Pros:
- Pretty amazing character customization with cool cosmetics and an incredibly flexible system.
- Combat is fluid, kind of like a simplified Monster Hunter mixed with some fun aerial combat cues taken from games like Devil May Cry or Bayonetta.
- Movement is pretty fluid, and platforming feels pretty decent.
- Flexible class and weapon system that allows you to make hybrids between different classes and weapon types to make your character handle exactly the way you want it to.
- The Japanese voice acting is pretty good.
- It's a weeb game.

Cons:
- There's really nothing to do besides farm monsters and materials. There's some small Breath of the Wild-esque temple style puzzles and trials but they're not super frequent.
- Quests are kind of useless and most of the leveling you'll be doing is farming mobs.
- The power level gating happens pretty frequently through the story and never seems well paced.
- UI is pretty clunky with poor UX.
- The English voice acting is terrible.
- The story is terrible.
- Predatory monetization, which is definitely expected. Just beware.
- It's a weeb game.

Overall, I think it's a fun little game to play on the side or if you want a bit of a time killer, but if you're expecting a super polished MMORPG with a ton of content, you're not really going to be too satisfied. It's free, so I think this is fine.

Finally got around to playing this in 2022 haha

It's a nice little short and sweet game that lets you witness the events of the original Half-Life from Barney's perspective. It's cool to be able to see a little slice of the world from an NPC's perspective and pull off a daring escape plan! It's only about two hours long so it's easily finished in a single sitting.

Tip: break all the boxes

This game is really a labor of love and an absolute masterpiece. As a huge fan of the original Half-Life, I finally got around to playing this and was consistently blown away by how they've managed to bring the spirit and sleek gameplay of the original into a more modern remaster. I loved how they added stuff that was cut from the original, added some fun new ideas, and created some visuals, especially for Xen, that had me taking tons of screenshots.

While I get some complaints about the repetitiveness of some of the later puzzles on Xen, I didn't find it too bad and really loved the changes they made overall. I loved how atmospheric it was. The music also was pretty awesome and helped add to the overall vibe of the game as well.

Highly recommended for everyone, especially if you've never played the original Half-Life!

UPDATED:

While at first the draw of the shiny new Halo game made it fun, after playing for some time it is clear that the game is fundamentally broken in so many ways that will require a ton of work that probably won't ever get done. Namely, the horrible sound inconsistencies and netcode make it almost impossible to play the game. I hope that the game does get better, but I seriously doubt that they'll be able to meaningfully improve the game while also creating good content to keep the community alive too.

Honestly, the game is probably fine if you're casually playing or on console, but if you're trying to play the game seriously or treat it as a serious shooter, you'll be seriously disappointed.

Original review:

Haven't had this much fun ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ around in pubs for quite some time. I forgot how much I loved chaotic pub gameplay like this, I feel like I forgot how fun games like TF2, Tribes, or massive CS pubs were. The goofy gameplay of Big Team Battles is classic Halo while the more focused 4v4 modes are good when you want aim and individual skill to actually matter. The gameplay feels tight, the game is well optimized (I can pull a constant 120 FPS with a 1080 Ti), and it's great to be able to squad up with all your friends to goof around in an old-school pub game.

The guns are all pretty unique and take time to get used to, but once you do, fragging feels super satisfying. You'll probably die to some dumb stuff, but it wouldn't be Halo without goofy things happening. How these guys are supposed to be the best human soldiers is wild to me.

My only complaints would be the netcode being wonky sometimes (enemy grav hammers seem to have 3x the range of mine) and the battle pass being a bit annoying since you can't do all the quests at once, but honestly I haven't had too much trouble finishing all of the weeklies pretty quickly. I just wish armor tints would be universal.

Please port in Blood Gulch! And Hang 'Em High!

I never considered myself a fan of battle royale games until I picked up Apex Legends. Respawn is clearly talented and they're able to turn what is generally a slow and deliberate genre into a faster paced experience where movement, coordination, and consistent aim matters. Highly recommended.

I have been looking for a lighter turn based RPG, something without a ton of complex systems or overwhelming story. This fit the bill pretty perfectly, tight core battle system, great flavor from the faux-tabletop aesthetic and writing, and a simple system that's quick to pick up and fine tune to fit your playstyle.

I liked the charming artstyle and animations, as well as the witty writing. There's lots of little jokes and references to many different RPGs, both virtual and tabletop. The only criticism I might have is that when you end up getting certain classes later on in the game, it takes a lot of time to get them up to speed with the rest of the party, so it's a bit tedious if you want to mess around and experiment with every class. But overall, it's a very minor complaint!

I highly encourage you try this if you like RPGs at all. It's a light, cheerful, and fun adventure that doesn't overstay its welcome!

I'm not a fan of roguelikes, so I think it's a testament to Supergiant's abilities when I say that this game has me hooked. Even though it's still in Early Access, the gameplay is pretty tight and a ton of fun to play. Surprisingly tactical for such a fast paced game, the wide variety of weapons, upgrades, and choice available per run allow you to play completely different playstyles per run if desired, and no two runs feel alike.

Can't wait to see what they come out with next in the upcoming patches!

I am a long time Quake player - played back in the days of Q3A and CPMA. Always played shooters like it competitively as well, most notably TF2 for a very long time. Got into QL for a while as well. So I was excited to get invited to the closed beta, and was a bit disappointed - the engine was super stuttery, and the champions seemed like a bad idea, another thing to water down the core gameplay that is so hard to find these days. So I kind of let it fall to the backburner and stopped paying attention.

Since they had it free during E3, I decided to give it another shot, and see if the issues had been fixed. And I'm glad to say that it is definitely a lot better than it was, especially engine wise, and while I think there are some issues with balance (it's infuriating to die to an ability from a dude that just takes less damage even if you hit every single shot on them), it definitely feels like Quake and I plan on putting a lot of time in the game.

I definitely think everyone should give it a shot - this is looking to be some of the most rewarding shooter gameplay experiences you can get in modern PC gaming - no babying, no handholding, pure aim, movement, and skill.