Recent reviews by Erodu

Overall, I like the DLC. Great challenge, great new additions, it's just good all around. The only problems I really had were these things:

Easily the biggest issue is that the DLC was optimized pretty poorly, and frame rate suffered quite the drop. A lot of times, it would also take a long while to load. They haven't released any optimization patches at the time of this review to my knowledge, but I'm sure they'll get around to fixing it.

I do feel that the final boss is a bit over-tuned. It is still beatable, since I beat it, but I think at the very least they should tone down the effects in the second phase, since it can be very hard to tell what's going on. I'd say maybe less super-bright effects and we're generally good.

Remaining spoiler-free, I also didn't understand the choice behind the final boss. I think there was definitely another candidate that would have been better as a final boss, but I think this point is pretty minor.

Some boss hitboxes do not match the animations and can be really jank.

Finally, the problem with the Soulsborne franchise's camera peaks in this DLC. The camera for a lot of bosses can be extremely weird and all-over-the-place, which can be extremely disorienting.

Me personally? I definitely think it's the hardest DLC we've been given in the Soulsborne franchise. That being said, I wouldn't say it's 'too hard'. It's challenging, very challenging, but far from unbeatable.

However, I know it's not gonna be everyone's cup of tea. I'd suggest looking at a few other perspectives and decide whether you think you'd have fun then. I know of a lot of people who think this DLC is too hard to be fun for them, and as someone who's been a souls fan for almost a decade, I think that's valid.

A lot of people will simplify this conversation into 'skill issue' or 'git gud', and while a lot of these people definitely might not be the best at the game and that would impact their enjoyment of this DLC, I think it's highly disrespectful to just say they're not good enough and that's the biggest issue.

A lot of people who say the DLC is too hard are actual veteran souls fans, who have played the other games. At the end of the day, enjoyment of this DLC is subjective. It's okay for people to criticize something you love and for them to say it's not fun, because that's their own preference.

Don't always listen to people who only have the response of 'skill issue' or 'git gud' to this topic, a lot of times they gatekeep the game and the series from 'casuals'. As someone who loves this series, that's the exact opposite thing that I want for the games, and I want more people to enjoy them.

Also just gonna say, I find it funny that a lot of these people in the Steam Review comments who say 'skill issue' or something like that haven't even beaten Malenia.

At the end of the day, I find the DLC very good and enjoyable, and I don't think it's too hard. But that doesn't mean you would like it as well. If you're okay with having the greatest challenge in the Soulsborne franchise, then I highly recommend.

As a fan of D&D 5e and a DM, I really like how this game is designed overall. Here's my thoughts on this game condensed.

- Balancing changes to all the classes (mainly martial classes being buffed).
- Good graphics.
- Great soundtrack.
- Dynamic and fun combat.
- Great voice-acting.
- Great story.
- Very well done multiplayer.
- Karlach.
- No microtransactions; you get the full game when you buy it.
- Actual mod support that isn't terrible.
- You can get it down with a bear.

- Later on there might be a number of performance issues. My PC isn't the most up-to-date, but it normally runs other games perfectly fine.
- Can be quite buggy from time-to-time. These normally aren't that bad and hotfixes get released quite often.
- By abusing magic items, it can be very easy to demolish your enemies in the later game and make combat encounters a breeze.

Overall a very good game, especially if you are looking to get into 5e but don't know where to start or don't have anyone to play with. Definitely recommend.

I'm a good bit into Iceborne, so I feel as if I can provide a slightly comprehensive review.


+Overall gameplay is superb
>There are tons of different weapon options for the game. If you want something extremely slow but heavy-hitting, there's the greatsword. If you want incredible mobility and speed, there are dual blades. If you want something in-between, a switchaxe or charge blade could do the job. The different weapons and builds really spice up the gameplay.
+Boppin soundtrack
>Murmurs from the Land Forbidden, Pride of a Nameless Hunter and The Invasive Tyrant, Bazelgeuse are just a few examples of certified bops.
+The heart of Monster Hunter: Monsters!
>A few monsters are a miss, but for the most part, each monster does the job of being unique and challenging. My personal favourite monsters so far are Glavenus and Bazelgeuse, although I haven't beaten Iceborne yet so that may change.
+Lots of heart and soul!
>This game has heart and soul put into it. From the stunning environments to each subtle animation, you can really feel how much passion was put into this game. I mean, Grammeowster's cooking animation says it all.
+Palico
>look at my adorable little fella going up against that wyvern with a bonk stick


-Not very keyboard-friendly
>I'm used to it, coming from the Dark Souls franchise, but do take note of this if you don't have a controller. This game was clearly made mainly for controllers. It's still very playable on keyboard and mouse, don't get me wrong, but it's not optimized. Some aspects of the game may require the mouse4 and mouse5 input. i'm lucky to have that type of mouse, but if you don't, there might be problems.
-Frustrating mechanics
>Incoming "skill issue" for sure. Personally, I'm not a big fan of a certain number of mechanics, the main one being stun. Now, to be fair, when it works, it's a good way of punishing careless play. It encourages players to be on their top game. I find personally, however, that it doesn't do that most times. Some situations are only made more frustrating with stun. I was stuck in corners many times and the monster just kept on attacking, leaving very little opportunity for me to actually get out of the situation. Crazy part is, I could actually survive these situations, but it's just the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ STUN MECHANIC. I understand that it's a core Monster Hunter mechanic, but I feel that, in a slow game like World, it can become a bit unfair in certain situations. There are skills to mitigate it, but it doesn't help that it is still a frustrating mechanic most times.

Then there's the clutch claw, which can be a mixed bag. When it works, it feels like a cool mechanic that can help with certain monsters. But, a lot of the time you would be scratching your head as to how the hell the clutch claw had you climb onto the monster's wings rather than its head. It can be very inconsistent, even when you have a clear shot of the monster's still dome, it can send you onto its back for some unknown reason.

-SMALL MONSTERS
>Many small monsters like vespoids and the Gajalaka are just nuisances. On their own, they aren't anything to care about. It's when you are fighting a huge wyvern or beast that they become really annoying, only being there to annoy the crap out of you. It also doesn't help that Monster Hunter's attacks are very committal, and won't allow you to change course mid-attack. It's usually perfectly fine since you are mainly fighting huge monsters with huge hitboxes, but against smaller, harder-to-hit targets, it can get frustrating.


For beginners: DON'T use the Defender set
>I cannot stress this enough. The Defender set is an OP base game set that is made for experienced players who want to rush all the way to the DLC, which you can only access by beating the game. If anyone of you are planning to get this game as a beginner, don't use this set. It'll sap out any challenge that the base game has to offer.

Utilize all of your arsenal
>This may seem obvious, but I cannot stress it enough. If a monster feels too tough, you may be able to overcome it with great arsenal usage. If a monster flies too much, use a flash pod. If you need to catch a break mid-fight, use your ghillie mantle to take aggression off of you. Finally, USE YOUR CLUTCH CLAW. It can shoot tons of projectiles, and for players with Iceborne, you can do a "Flinch Shot" and send your enemies into a wall, stunning them. Learn the mechanics of your arsenal, and get used to them. It will seriously help.

Overall, the game is fantastic. There's a reason I already have 100 or something hours on it after buying it only a few weeks ago. There are frustrations I have with the game, but it's an overall incredible experience.

This is a must try, for sure.

Here's my review of the game.

The Good:
-Gameplay is fantastic. I really can't say anything bad about it, except that in my personal experience, I still can't give a ♥♥♥♥ about secondary weapon mods. They certainly have more utility than in 2016, but I still do great just sticking to my regular ones.

-Soundtrack is incredible. Mick Gordon is such a killer composer. Some may prefer doom to have less electronics in its soundtrack, but it is generally amazing. Good work all around.

-Story is fun. I understand if people have a problem with Eternal having this much emphasis on its plot, but I think that the story is just barrels o' fun. It's not the best written thing, but I still enjoy it as it basically just centres around the Slayer being a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ badass.

-Level design is generally great. There isn't much that I hate about it. I'm only annoyed by the sludge sections where I can't jump or move quickly and take two whole business days to reach somewhere. I also didn't get the inclusion of swimming sections. What was the point of them when all you needed to do was find the right places to dash through?

-Enemy design is top-notch. I love the Marauder and Doomhunter designs. Only enemy I despise fighting is the Archvile, he's quite a pain in the ass. I do also want to criticise a few bosses, namely the Gladiator. The first phase is just so slow and boring. He's basically a worse Marauder. Other than that, generally a very good job done.

The "Meh":
-One thing, MULTIPLAYER. It's not bad, just alright. It just makes you fight 2 other demon players. I wish they had 2016's multiplayer in this game. Maybe they'll have it in the future, but for now the multiplayer is jsut a "meh" point in an overall incredible game.

Rating: 9.9/10

Ashen is a Souls-Like game and is the first game from A44 Studios. Keep this in mind, as it is important to understand this game. Much of the hate comes from the fact that A44 sold out to Epic Games. This is a new company, which may have needed money. This review will be mostly objective and will not be influenced by the fact it was an Epic Games exclusive for a time. Also keep in mind I have not yet finished this game at the time of writing this review.

Pros:
-Solid Gameplay. (Real treat for those who love Dark Souls combat)
-Open World. (Great for those who enjoy exploring)
-Great Scenery. (For a Unity game, it looks quite good.)

Cons:
-Extensive use of re-skinned enemies. (The first boss and second boss of the game gets copy-pasted EXTENSIVELY in a later part.)
-Poor level design in some parts. (I'm talking parts that are extremely dim and requires you to use a lantern, and even uses those re-skinned bosses from the previous point to crowd you. The first boss is copy-pasted in the cave I was at about 20 times.)

Overall:
A solid game for a new company, although it is heavily brought down by re-skinned enemies and poor design choices that make the challenge more annoying than fun.

Rating:
7/10

Main Pros:
-Fun, violent gameplay (If you like gore)
-Soundtrack with a ♥♥♥♥ ton of bangers (If Metalcore is your thing.)
-Generally pretty addictive from my own personal experience.
-Overall, very solid game.

Main Cons:
-Pretty ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ glitchy
-Overpriced DLC (Which isn't that bad, since this is a PvE game, but it's still bad marketing practice)
-Has been unfinished for a few years. (Modes like objective and Versus are still clunky, and instead of finishing the game, TripWire just adds new content. Also, long time glitches are still unpatched lul)
-You cannot create your own private game. (The in-game function does not actually give you a dedicated lobby. It just finds an empty server with server takeover enabled, and puts you there, which is real ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ as people like me who have custom maps can't create our own private server. If they had this function in KF1, why isn't it in KF2?)
-Matchmaking is a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. (Clicking on the button to find a match to fit your criteria has a pretty big chance to put you in an entirely different type of game. I once asked to be put in a hard, 10 wave game and they put me in a normal, 4 wave game. I've also seen people ask for a 10 wave game and get put in endless mode.)

Overall, the game is fun, but may stop being fun in the long(er) run as the game is currently falling into the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥. If TripWire keeps this ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ up, you'll have a game which will be more quantity over quality.

god help me