Recent reviews by qazmlpok

If Steam offered a middle option I would pick that rather than "not recommended". This is not a bad game. But it's not good enough to overcome the issues, so I simply would not recommend it.

For the record, there are no microtransactions in this game. Despite this, there are some bizarre mobile game/microtransaction-filled game mechanics added in. There are two currencies - one resets each game, the other is "premium" and persists. The premium currency is used to unlock permanent upgrades, art packs, and to make the game easier (e.g. you can spend them to slightly weaken a boss, reroll store selections, or afaik to retry after failing). They are awarded through achievements or by completing "tasks", which work much like a mobile game's dailies. I personally despite mobile game monetization methods, so seeing something very similar added does annoy me, even if no money is involved.

The biggest issue is the padding. There are two ways to play the main game; "blade" and "mage". Mage is basically blade but with one additional mechanic added on, and it barely changes the gameplay. The pool of cards is different but not dramatically so. Then, to "fully" clear the main story, you need to complete it around 20 times on increased difficulty, so each playthrough is slightly more difficult than the last. This is padding out gameplay so ridiculously that it's offensive. There's no variation on the map or core game play, and bosses will repeat, and no story will be unlocked. Maybe the difficulty levels that count as achievements offer unique bosses and story elements, but I did not get far into this grind and it already started reusing end bosses.

Then this needs to be done again for the other game mode.

There's also Arcade and Custom but I honestly didn't bother with those at all.

There is not nearly enough content to justify the amount of padding done. If the numerous difficulties were combined into at most 4, with much larger difficulty steps, then it would be fine. The art is nice and the gameplay is at least passable, but the padding just makes everything unpalatable.

This is an expansion-type DLC; it's an extra story that should be played after the base game. In other words, don't buy this unless you've already completed ASTLIBRA. It does not modify the base game at all.

Gameplay wise, the DLC is, more or less, an extension of the final chapter of ASTLIBRA. It is the randomized dungeon from the final chapter, repeated, with a boss at the end of each area. There are some quality of life improvements, but for the most part, the gameplay is unchanged. All weapons and armor are new, and the KARON abilities (now POLIN) are new, but it's basically the same.

There is a story, but it's basically an excuse plot for the gameplay. I enjoyed the gameplay, but it was the story and characters that made ASTLIBRA so special. As long as you enjoyed the combat in the base game you will enjoy this, but don't expect the same thing as the base game - this is entirely focused on the combat.

I played the original Riven something like 25 years ago. This put me in the odd position of mostly remembering the puzzles and world layout, but not specifics. Plus, things changed with the remake.

I don't remember the original well enough to give any detailed feedback on the remake. Some things are obviously new, others clearly streamlined. The most infamous puzzle of the original is definitely easier (or maybe I was just a dumb kid - I couldn't even understand it after reading the solution in a guide). One of the changes (a new number system) seems to make more sense from a worldbuilding perspective, but I can't remember if it was explained away in the original or not.

On the whole, if you have fond memories of the original Riven, you will like this. If you tried Riven decades after it was released and couldn't stand the technical limitations, you should give this remake a try. For the most part, this is "the original game but prettier, with free movement". Some things are different, but at worst they're merely "fine" and there is absolutely nothing detrimental added.

The translation is bad and looks like it was just machine translated. In just 10 minutes I found a character referred to as both "Derek" and "Derrick", which strongly suspects no real human ever looked at this.

It's been out for over a year, and is still in this state, so it's not likely to ever be fixed. Even though it seems to have done well, judging by the number of reviews.

I'd refund it if I could, but I tend to buy games and only get around to them months later.

Labyrinth of Touhou is a game where I have, multiple times, spent around an hour just reorganizing my party and equipment before fighting the next boss to optimize my setup for said boss's particular damage output, weaknesses, and party member synergies. I suspect not everyone will consider that a selling point, but it absolutely is for me.

This is not the only way to play - normal grinding is still an option and probably a lot faster than trying to find the perfect party. Which is another strength - there are so many options available and multiple different ways to play. For a game that is so heavily focused on using a 12-character party, it is remarkably feasible to win with a small party or even a single character (although only a few are really viable for this). Grinding is also pretty quick. Normal dungeon exploration is a resource management issue, where you need to properly manage your character's TP and MP to map out the dungeon. But if all you're trying to do is kill stuff you can just go all out and quickly rack up XP.

I had never played a deckbuilder before Chrono Ark, and didn't realize this was a deckbuilder when I bought it. I thought it was a dungeon crawler.

I enjoyed it so much I ended up buying some other deckbuilders while I waited for it to come out of early access. Not very many, but it was still such an enjoyable game that it unlocked a new genre for me.

Subnautica was a fantastic game. I don't normally play survival crafters, but that was one I greatly enjoyed. I don't know if it was just that good an example of a survival crafting game, did things differently, or both. It still had problems with busywork, but the world was beautiful enough that I didn't mind that much.

Below Zero does not play to the strengths of the original Subnautica. The original had some brief periods of time spent on land; Below Zero adds more land and more involved caves and land vehicles. The land focus is strange in a game all about water. In some ways it's comparable to exploring the wreckage of the Aurora, but that was also a weak part of the original, simply because you're not in the water. It's also the only part of the original game where I clipped through the world.

The original had minimal characterization and a simple but straightforward plot. Your primary motivation is to survive, which is always relatable. The plot does a good job of guiding you towards new locations and adding secondary goals, but it's always fundamentally about staying alive. Below Zero attempts to add new characters and motivations. Robin goes down to the planet deliberately to find news of her sister, Sam. Unfortunately, I am not Robin and have never met Sam, so I'm simply not attached to her at all. It just doesn't work as a motivation.

I did not finish the game; maybe you're supposed to get to know her through voice logs. I certainly didn't care about her after however far in I got.

For the most part, Below Zero is Subnautica. I complain about the land segments but you're still in the water 90% of the time. The problem is just that Below Zero is trying to set it self apart from the original, and the new stuff simply isn't better, because it focuses on the wrong things. The sea truck is fine; the temperature mechanic is not. And if the parts I enjoyed in Below Zero are in Subnautica, why don't I just play that instead?

This would work better as a DLC. Obviously it could act as a new chapter, but in theory modifying the base game would also allow adding the new content to the base game, even if only in the sandbox mode to avoid messing with the balance. I wouldn't mind using the sea truck in the original game.

The premise is fine and the art is nice, but it's just not fun.

The lack of enemy variety means pretty much every day plays the same, just longer or shorter. And the shorter ones are bizarre - the first few days can have only a single enemy. Even later on its easy to just hold down Fire and defeat every enemy without even needing to reload, which messes with the weapon balance. Between each day you're given a selection of random upgrades/weapons to purchase. Since the days go by so quickly this means you're constantly interrupted, so you can't really get into a "flow" state.

The story is very minimalist and bleak. This would be fine, except the endings are extremely bleak in a way that is not foreshadowed at all (there's one small hint that you can't interact with in any way, and the meaning of it is only apparent after seeing enough of the bad endings).

Tunic is a game with a concept that certainly sounds great. My problem is entirely with the execution.

Much of the game is about mystery; you start off with little idea of what you're capable of, and learning through the environment, accident, or the in-game instruction manual how to do things, and presumably you've always been capable of this, just had never any idea you had the option. This is good.

The problem is that this extends to the level design as well. The (almost always) fixed camera constantly hides things, including treasure, shops, ladders, and even entire areas. Expect to spend a lot of time running into walls, just in case there's a secret path there. I personally hate being kept in the dark from things the character I'm playing as should be able to blatantly see. It's acceptable if it's just a limitation of the gameplay or genre, e.g. your own character blocking your vision in a third person camera game. It's far less acceptable when it's so blatantly intentional, and pervasive throughout the entire game.

It's not as bad when it's something like opening up a shortcut; I came out of a forest and discovered I had walked back to the save point. "Oh, that's neat - now I can get there faster. I didn't even open anything up, so I bet I could've gone that way from the start if I had thought of it". The problem comes down to the overuse. Constantly searching for these areas gets tiresome, especially because many of them aren't optional. There's also no in-game way to permanently mark it; the instruction manual has comments written already, so it'd be nice if there was an option to add your own.

Beyond this constant running into walls, the dungeons are also very small and mostly linear. I'd rather see more sprawling, intricate areas, then just getting mixed up while always on the hunt for hidden chests or what not. I hadn't realized how linear they were until I got completely stuck and revisited every single area at least once trying to figure out what to do. So I guess it "worked", but it's still disappointing.

Combat is fine. I didn't think it was anything amazing, but also not horrible or anything. I don't have anything to say about it.

I'm pretty sure I got close to the end, or at least one not-best end. Then I got stuck. The navigation is just so infuriating at times, and I ended up getting stuck in the worst of it. I'm pretty sure I know how I got in to this areas, but simply couldn't find my way out even after 20 minutes of frustrated searching. And I realized that I simply was not having any fun, had no desire to inflict any more of this on myself, and quit.

It's alright I guess. There are worse games out there.

That's not praise. Labyrinth of Refrain is a game that does a few things right, but most things just seem pointless or tacked on. I liked being able to just smash walls as part of the exploration. Grouping units is a nice way to increase the size of your roster without making orders obnoxious to issue. The art's nice enough, and I liked the 2nd area stage design. There's other positives, but I can't be bothered to recall them.

The map design isn't interesting enough to take advantage of smashing walls, as naturally satisfying as it is. Everything is just flat exploration, with minimal hazards. There's a few hidden areas, but everything can be reached/mapped out if you're just patient enough.

There's several different unit types, but as far as I could tell, the primary strategy is to just attack (and defend with a Protector coven). Units have different strengths and proficiency with different weapons, but all the weapons just feel like stat sticks. Magic is tied to the coven itself, not the units, so the best strategy seems to be to just bring out as many attackers as possible and maybe 1 magic group. Maybe there's a proper strategy to use, but I never had any problems just auto-attacking (and then browsing the internet for a few minutes while I wait for the battle to complete. Pretty sure that's why my playtime is so high.) until the final area.

Grouping units makes ordering them around easy, but the huge number of puppets you're expected to use makes equipping them a nightmare. The game also vomits items on you, so it's too much work trying to pick out meaningful equipment for each unit. You'll just find something better 20 minutes later, so just use auto-equip after every dungeon dive. This doesn't select a relic, so I typically just grabbed one at random. There's too many items, too many puppets, and too many different stats to try and find a useful equip for each one.

The story is okay. The characters are fine. The presentation is awful. The disjointed story telling just makes things annoying; you can't get really into exploring without being told to go back (with no actual barrier 90% of the time, so you can keep going. You're just asked to stop, and will until you stop falling for it) to get some random event within the town with no relation to the events of the dungeon. I didn't get the true ending, but there's simply no way the true ending could make up for everything else.

It's thoroughly mediocre. A handful of good things, several terrible things, and a huge lot of pointless filler.