Recensioni recenti di Equinox

Despite being quite an old game at this point, there's still plenty of action in the multiplayer servers. Definitely a fun experience that's a welcome break from the twitch-action, too-fast pace of most other modern popular multiplayer shooters.

Extremely dense and often hard to follow in the beginning, but the random storytelling that happens more or less on its own is unparalleled.

This game surpasses Skyrim in every way.

That's a bold statement, but Enderal truly is that good. As someone who started the Elder Scrolls series with Morrowind in the mid-2000s, I've been somewhat disappointed that the later installations didn't capture the same foreign, alien feel or the depth of that game. Starting Morrowind was truly like walking into another world, one that didn't necessarily follow the same rules you'd expect from standard fantasy, and though it hasn't aged well in several ways, it is still one of my all-time favorites. There have been no other games that have given me that sense of scope, depth, and uniqueness until now.

Enderal succeeds more profoundly in some aspects than others, but the quality is top-notch in all aspects. So here is my review:

GAMEPLAY:

Skyrim-plus. Enderal uses the Skyrim engine, but many aspects of the basic gameplay have been tweaked 1) for the sake of convenience, 2) to limit the player in ways that force them to think, or 3) to fit the designers' vision of their world. The most notable changes are:

• No fast travel from the world map. However, you can fast-travel to different districts within the (ABSOLUTELY MASSIVE) capital city, use Mark and Recall spells like in Morrowind, or either use teleport scrolls (also like Morrowind) or pay for travel to certain fixed spots throughout the world.
  
• The world is much more linear, but also much better constructed, than Skyrim. The terrain restricts you somewhat from simply running straight from point A to point B, but that means you can actually see many points of interest rather than blindly following your compass to the nearest unexplored area. Also, much of the game, especially the dungeons, feels handcrafted and unique per area.
  
• Instead of performing actions to level up the associated skills, this game uses experience points for level-ups (which let you increase health, magicka, or stamina and give you a talent point). Instead, you receive some learning (skill) points and crafting points per level-up and then increase your skills by reading skill books. You are limited in how many points you can spend per level, as well as by the books you find or buy (they are purchaseable, but expensive, so gold always has some use).
  
• Talents, which include Skyrim-esque "perks" as well as Shout-like activated abilities, are spread across three trees per each archetype (fighter, mage, rogue). Many of them are similar or identical to the passive perks from Skyrim, but they are laid out in such a way that there is more choice in how you specialize into each tree while also preserving a core line of bonuses.
  
  GRAPHICS:
  
  Skyrim-plus. You can always mod the game further, but it already comes with several improvements built in for stability and slight graphical boosts. It looks mostly like regular Skyrim, but with some neat extra effects and new assets thrown in that are in line with the art style of the original and don't look out of place at all. Also, despite the fact that this game obviously reuses a lot of assets from Skyrim, I have to give major credit to the dev team for reusing or repurposing them in clever ways that feel organic and fit in with the world.
  
  ENVIRONMENT:
  
  The environments are FANTASTIC. Enderal is a rugged and sparsely populated country, but it feels like its own place and definitely isn't just Skyrim 2.0. The biomes are extremely varied, they all feel different, and for once there's a desert!
  
  MUSIC:
  
  I had pretty low expectations for the music, since there are many would-be composers out there, but very few have what it takes to do game music well. But these guys are professionals. I was VERY pleasantly surprised by how great the music is. At first, I thought the "regular" exploration music was all right--certainly not bad, but not that remarkable. But then I realized that the issue was something endemic to open-world RPGs in general: when you play a game for 100+ hours, the regular overworld exploration music tends to get repetitive just because you've heard it so much. In that regard, I think the "regular" music was done better than Skyrim in some ways. What it succeeded at was being pleasant but unobtrusive. It fits the setting and blends into the background, so it doesn't get on your nerves like music from other games might.
  
  However, the music specific to certain biomes, combat, and story events is absolutely incredible. It fits whatever is going on perfectly. Again, the quality of the synthesized instruments isn't as perfect as what a triple-A studio with money to spend on the highest quality synthesizers or a live orchestra could produce, but nevertheless it is top-notch. There are even some unreleased tracks (available on the composers' channels on YouTube) that I feel are even better than what is in the game.
  
  I should also mention the bard songs. They aren't just extra fluff; every one of them ties into the world's lore and story, most will probably make you cry after you finish certain parts of the story, and you will definitely understand after completing the game.
  
  VOICE ACTING:
  
  With one notable exception (FREEEESH BREEEAAAD) the voice acting is easily on-par with that of triple-A studios. One important story character had truly world-class voice acting, but there are many standouts, and most characters are really brought to life by their great performances.
  
  STORY:
  
  I won't spoil anything, but this game had a story the likes of which I've been seeking for a long time. I finally found it in Enderal, but was it worth the emotional cost? This is by far (along with the voice acting) the most captivating part of the game. The writing is fresh and believable, and feels like it comes from a high-quality Bioware game, but even better in some ways. Enderal hooks you throughout the story, starting with the very first cutscene, and will make you think about a lot of things in ways you never had before. The world is self-consistent and interconnected better than anything I've ever seen, and the lore is excellent.
  
  Warning: Enderal isn't straight horror, but it is MUCH darker than Skyrim, and there is a significant (though not plot-essential) undercurrent of Lovecraftian themes and motifs. Also, there is one quest that devastated me in a way no other game ever has. Prepare for tears.
  
  CRITICISMS:
  
  I only have a few criticisms of Enderal. Many of them are linked to the underlying Skyrim engine, which as we know can be buggy, but Enderal is generally at least as stable as Skryim and often better.
  
• There are some typos and strange grammatical issues sporadically encountered throughout, generally in books/letters that are "extras" and not part of the main story or the lore. The game was developed by a German team, so this is to be expected and didn't really impact my enjoyment of the game, but as an English major I definitely noticed it. The talent descriptions in particular had some significant problems. The voice-acted lines and most books are all correct and well-localized though.
  
• While there are cool armor sets that give you bonuses for wearing multiple armor pieces, I wish there was a little more variety in the loot department. There aren't really any artifact-level weapons to look for, which I found disappointing. With that said, the spell variety is better than Skyrim.
  
• There are many Bioware-esque "listen to people sit around and talk" and "catch up with your companions between quests" parts of the main story and side quests that, while well done, some people may not have the patience for, and there's really no way to speed them up. This didn't bother me, but I can see it as being a potential downside. However, the quality of the writing makes up for it.
  
• Even after 140 hours the game is too short! It's that good and I still want more.
  
  FINAL VERDICT: 11/10
  
  If you like depth and introspection and a good story in a unique and believable world, PLAY THIS GAME. It's 100% free. You won't regret it. Or will you...?

As someone who tried but never really succeeded into getting into the actual Dark Souls games, this is a wonderful 2D alternative for those who grew up with "Nintendo hard" sidescrollers.

The gameplay can be very tough, but fair once you take the time to learn routes through the map, enemy behavior, and environmental hazards. While not as long or intricate as the actual Dark Souls games, there is a good build variety, with plenty of weapons that look and feel different from one another and lend themselves to different

The controls are good, so when you die, 99% of the time you will be able to understand why, even if it's still frustrating sometimes. One minor nitpick that I might offer is that the game sometimes punishes you a bit if you're overly defensive, and offense can often be the best defense. Aside from learning enemy patterns, trying desperately not to get hit tends to get you killed more often than making an effort to attack whenever possible does. The game rewards hit-and-run all-out offense over dodging and blocking because the longer a fight goes on, the more likely you are to die--period. I wouldn't really call it a criticism, as the gameplay is still very enjoyable, but cautious players may want to know in advance that they might sometimes have to adjust their playstyle to something that fits this game. On the other hand, like Dark Souls, if you find yourself in a real pickle, you can always grind a bit to try to overcome a particularly difficult section, which is a nice anti-frustration feature as long as you have a little patience.

The visuals are superb, with a gloomy, low-color-saturation, sometimes horrific, often almost-cute aesthetic that is simple but very nicely detailed. It's a very unusual style that definitely isn't realistic, but is easy to read and follow and conveys subtle details quite well. The environments are varied and highly detailed, especially the backgrounds, which have a lot of intricate details if you take the time to look at them.

The soundtrack isn't very long, but the music is appropriate and sets the mood nicely throughout the game. I've heard it described as "lite black metal" mixed with Dark Souls-esque epic horror and that seems pretty accurate to me. The ambient sounds are also excellent and help to draw you into the atmosphere of each area. Sometimes, near-silence, along with dark areas you need a torch to navigate, combine effectively to really put you on edge.

Overall, I would give this game a 9.75/10. If you're into the challenge of Dark Souls games and hardcore retro 2D platformers, don't pass this one up. You will find yourself drawn into a gloomy, brutal, and ethereal world that you won't soon forget.

I first tried this game shortly after it came out in 2013, and it was strictly mediocre. I tried it again in June 2018, and it was a different game altogether. I can't believe Warframe is free, because it manages to be consumer-friendly in ways that triple-A titles aren't.

The customization in this game is incredible. Unlike a lot of other games in which differences between weapons and abilities are either mostly aesthetic or strict upgrades/sidegrades, the vast majority of what you can equip in Warframe feels unique, and while some options are definitely inferior to others, most can be made viable, even if they're not strictly the best. Every weapon and Warframe can be modded to play however you want, and there is more than enough diversity to be able to cherry-pick what you do and don't like.

The graphics are very good despite not being too resource-intensive, the soundtrack is overall good and tends not to get dull, the movement and controls are impeccable, and the amount of detail put into the world is fantastic. Did I mention this is a free game?

I played about 200 hours before I made a conscious effort to work towards some of the newer story material, so that's saying something right there. Once I made it to the first major story chapter, it changed the game entirely and made me even MORE excited to keep playing. It's a rare game that only really begins about 150 to 200 hours in.

I will say that the beginning of the game can be a little frustrating because mechanics aren't always spelled out clearly and you have to get past a few initial planets to be able to gain the resources you need to craft new weapons and Warframes (and you have to craft about 95% of the equipment you can use in this game), but once you get to Mars things start opening up and the possibilities become endless.

In short, if you want to play a top-tier free-to-play game and enjoy third-person shooters and/or science fiction, this is the one for you.

Edit: over 1500 hours now and the game keeps getting BETTER. It's hard to imagine, but the longer the play, the more fun you have.

I was a huge fan of Harvest Moon when I was younger, but this blows it out of the water. This has everything HM doesn't--diverse, equally rewarding paths towards gathering resources and earning money, a diverse cast of villagers with hidden depths, a fun and rewarding combat/mining/exploration system, a real sense of urgency and time management, and even an old-school dual-stick shooter game within a game. Stardew Valley is easily one of the most touching, relaxing, and instant-nostalgia-inducing games I've played in a long time, so I recommend that you don't pass it up.

If you're a Shadowrun fan, or at least have some experience with the old SNES and/or Genesis games (the 2006 Xbox one doesn't count), this is worth picking up. Shadowrun Returns plays like XCOM with more RPG elements and without the punishing difficulty that is a hallmark of that series. The story is full of references and inside jokes that will render fans of the series nostalgic, but even if you're new to the series, important concepts and characters are explained at least adequately enough for the story to make sense. My one complaint is that the story, which is fairly short, is extremely linear and offers virtually no sidequesting. However, this game is meant to be just one "campaign" in the Shadowrun setting, and the real replay value lies in the editor, which allows players to create their own adventures and share them with the world. Despite its linearity and lack of meaningful choices for the player to make, I say buying it is justified by its low price tag. I hope this game helps give the Shadowrun setting more publicity, because it's definitely unique and worth investigating.