Recent reviews by Rick [Dimension µ∞420]

Essential tool for the gamers, retro enthusiasts, preservationists and everyone in between. Glad it's available on steam now.

Good concept- HORRIBLY BAD execution. Short carbon half-life confirmed. Randy Pitchford poisoned this in its infancy. 2k cancelled it and Gearbox are are boggarting the I.P., both are acting like salty little twoghtwaffles. All because they allowed mismanagement of the game development and funds, and did a horrible job marketing and timing the release to goad their own egos and completely fail at challenging Blizzards release of Overwatch. They hemorrhaged money setting it up using servers they had to pay for, and doubled down putting the last nail in the coffin instead of redesigning intelligently so users could host the connections if need be.. We own it, it's in our libraries, and we can't play it anymore. Games should never require a server connection to play offline single player. Period. That is absurd, and ALL developers need to admit that is a bad idea, and permanently get the idea out of their heads for the foreseeable future. It should be illegal for a company to sell a product and take away your ability to use it after the fact when they come to the conclusion they didn't make enough money on it.. If developers shutdown servers and discontinue something like this has been, they should be LEGALLY obligated to open source the code and give users the ability to run our own servers/locally host when they make it abandon-ware. Or AT MINIMUM make the core content playable offline/locally and let us play single player on our own without servers. This was atrocious highway robbery. We can't play a game we own even though they got good money for it, just because they mismanaged it and refused to get with the program. Gearbox and 2k punished their paying customers for trusting them to be consumer minded and financially competent. I will never purchase anything from 2k or Gearbox again after this fiasco.

>Full year later
>No updates
>No fullscreen support
>Loads shaders EXCRUCIATINGLY slow EVERY TIME it's launched
>Hangs at every door way dropping frames while loading for several seconds
Why did I give them my money for this shoddy console port? It looks better and loads faster on the Ps5 regardless of your PC hardware. The fact the pirated version of the game runs better FPS without the DRM, AND it lets you use all the DLC/Preorder extras you can't buy without selling a kidney and buying a scalpers preorder key is pretty insulting. Why do the bootleggers get a better experience than paying us paying customers? Clean up your acts you moneygrubbing lazyf**ks... If you have Ps5/ can afford one, get this game on console... I feel dirty for paying them for the "Deluxe Edition" here on steam. If I had realized all this before I racked up 2+ hours I would've refunded in a heartbeat.

Warning to those expecting a complete and stable polished game experience! it is not. I am only leaving this recommended as it is in fact, unfortunate as this may be, one of the best recent releases, However it has glaring issues that should be easily addressable, but likely FROMSOFT won't because they've already made their profits and fanbois will complain they "made it too easy!" by fixing the gameplay mechanics that make the game annoyingly difficult to navigate.

I've tested on steamdeck, and an intel, and a ryzen based gaming rig, having the same issues on all three. Much like everything else on the market these days, this was "good enough" for a sales profit. It's a fun game, set in a pretty and interesting world and made by talented people, but targeting/camera is broken AF and probably isn't going to get fixed this far into release. Go for it on sale if you like fighting with broken targeting systems or are comfortable enough with these games you can just ballpark it without the lock-on that switches you to the chinchilla in the bushes 50 yards away while fighting a boss, with camera angles and poorly designed input mechanics left unfixed under the guise of " added difficulty". { Carry capacity is garbage and takes too many points in END to roll fast with any decently protective gear until way late game.. Why does it force you to aim toward your lock on even while holding the opposite direction in a group of mobs! What actual living idiot with full stamina, can't interrupt reloading their crossbow/attacking to backstep/roll out the way of a slow ass giant you see coming and attacking you? Etc, etc..}

Other dumb stuff includes unskippable messages stuck displaying on a timer that cant be dismissed manually, letting you know that "the lever you pulled opened a door somewhere" while you are actively being attacked, and is interrupting all your frantic button presses aside from the control sticks slow walk, acting as if you are in the pause menu while trying to tell you something you likely already know, until it finally disappears on it's own schedule..

These and other issues have caused my in game death equally, if not more frequently than any actual mistake I make and laugh off on my way to reclaim my dropped runes.

I can laugh at my own stupidity when I die, but if I die simply because of a glitch or broken design mechanic, I'm going to be a little salty about it because I paid good money for a complete and polished product experience.. For example inputs (Usually R3/ L3) non-responsive on my controller {IN GAME ONLY-CONFIRMED WITH INPUT TESTER} which disables crouch and targeting /others until game is relaunched. This is especially annoying when it happens three+ times per play session, making me have to relaunch the game from steam periodically, and JUST HOPE that it doesn't insta-crash after the anticheat splash, or stuck on a white screen after, which is a 50/50 at best.. ThAnKs Easy Anti-Cheat...

This game isn't that big of a deal, I managed to beat the first four armed boss after a few character rerolls, and kite him with samurai arrows. Game's not as hard as people make it out to be, it just punishes you for not researching gear for your build, and building specific character types, or spreading your level up points too thin attempting a balanced build. It can be done, but you have to plan carefully or save up and tough it out with long battles won via death by a thousand cuts, keeping end game in the back of your mind.

Seems like they want you to dump all your points in one category and roll with ONLY that not getting hit once, or balance JUST HP and Endurance. Now what ACTUALLY makes this game difficult is poor game design decisions like an uninterruptible input queue and crap targeting system that can't differentiate between docile animals and an attacking NPC during combat.

I've been playing it lots solo, but I don't even feel like risking playing online with friends due to all the poor mechanics and glitches making me paranoid I will just waste their time or piss them off. I guess the trend of passing the beta testing and quality control to the end user has won. This game doesn't deserve all the praise it got at the game awards IMO.. Yeah it's pretty and has a well fleshed out world and lots of armor/weapon/magic to discover and learn to use, but the gameplay mechanics are broken in may ways that won't, or probably just straight up can't be fixed without time consuming overhaul of coding, which we know they don't want to invest the time and money on becuase us plebians are still buying it in the garbage state, and can't return it after they discover it sucks 2+ hours in steam.. Multiplayer is a hollow experience anyway, so the second one of you dies you have to go through the whole process of getting in the same session again, which will most likely exhaust you into giving up. The poorly thought out design mechanics generate a horribly irritating gaming experience, But everyone is so used to bethesda level beta glitchyness and games getting unreleased/recalled like amazons MMO, with more hollow promises of post release fixes, we're all apparently willing to overlook everything, because it is better than the other ugly options by comparison..

I really don't know if I will have the gumption to complete this one solo, let alone feel comfortable enough controlling my characters to even WANT to play multiplayer.. I might just crack the game and try some mods like my friends suggest. If nothing else just to see if it screws up my gaming experience less offline without anti-cheat.. But I'm definitely not going to encourage my friends to buy it to play with me in this state though..

FROMSOFT, PLEASE FIX YOUR UNACCEPTABLE GAME BREAKING ISSUES AND IRRITATIONS. I AM NOT THE ONLY PERSON MENTIONING THIS CRAP.

TYPHOON STUDIO IS GONE AND WILL PROVIDE NO FURTHER FIXES OR SUPPORT- THE GAME IS ALSO NOT ONLY PLATFORM EXCLUSIVE BUT ALSO VENDOR EXCLUSIVE AND CANNOT BE PLAYED WITH OTHER PC VERSIONS. BEWARE OF SHADY BUSINESS PRACTICES!

Update 12-12-21: I gave up and tried to play solo and it turns out I can not even enjoy it by myself. Can't even load singleplayer, it stops responding to input and just black screens on me no matter how many integrity checks and reinstalls I do. Minus 100 fun points...

I'm really in a pickle here, truly I wanted to like this game and to enjoy it with a friend or two, like in the commercials and adverts, and I AM SURE I WOULD ENJOY IT IF IT WOULD RUN FOR ME. But this incident has left a sour taste in my mouth, and it isn't just the dill. I have been a loyal Steam supporter for over a decade now and have never once given EPIC GAMES any money for their cutthroat money grubbing tactics, but if steam is going to fight fire with fire... I will start from now on as I refuse to buy any more from steam after they forced me to keep this even though it does not run for me.
I am one EXTREMELY UNHAPPY CUSTOMER. Steam has refused to refund me twice now, and i have not been able to get past the main menu even, just look at my game time! I desperately desire a refund for this game I cannot play, but VALVE CORP lost so much money on this game with exclusivity, apparently they HAVE to try to rip us off. I am displeased enough to power through this review AGAIN since it cleared my review the two times now instead of submitting [SUS AF] ...

Rating: ⭐✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰✰ 1/10 Stars ≈
👎 Not Recommended
What is this abortion of a port? I got this dirt cheap in humble bundle and still feel ripped off.
• No arcade mode
• No local multiplay
• Capped at 1440p and still drops frames and lags
• Gimped controls [Left/Right punch, no shoulder attacks, + hold LB + press to auto combo]
• Long winded, pointless and boring dialogue scenes for such a short story
• Half-ѧяçëð static cartoon story board to save budget on 3d cutscenes AND animation
• Inconsistent VA switches from phoned-in poorly sight read Eng to random 日本語/w subs.
I also don't endorse games that try to force online play, and part out chunks of the core game for DLC $$$ Profits..
...Can't nope out fast enough..
NoPe, nOpE, Ǝ̿Ԁ̿0̿N̿..

EDITED TO NEGATIVE FOR POOR MANAGEMENT DECISIONS:
D1CK M0VE. And now we get a ruined and wrecked over-monetized in game economy where crappy skins refresh once a week and we can't get the good skins that we want without paying real world money, PLUS ANOTHER layer of DRM login through EPIC to bog things down, FREE OF CHARGE!~.. THANKS EPIC GAMES. If you could just go eat a big Chungus now and knock this "platform war" crapola off permanently now... Yeah, that'd be absolutely maaarvelous...

Original Review:
I Moonlight this game while 💩ing. 10/10 Would 💩 again.
Two Brown Thumbs Up! 👍🏾👍🏾

Points for the memories. Good remaster of the classic series, looks amazing, and wonderful when played with playstation controller for maximum nostalgia. Great bundle deal especially if you get in on sale or via humble bundle like I did.

fun brain teaser

I'm enjoying it to some degree but can't bring myself to recommend it. The performance is garbage even on Elon Musks PC. issues are jarring and constantly breaking the immersion giving me frequent WTF/ LMAO/ REE @ crash -moments, etc.. But honestly this is unfinished beta software at best, and I wouldn't be surprised if it actually rolled back into early access on steam. TBH most of these glitches/problems make me LOL, but game unreliability on console, and PC has visual and gameplay glitches, with crashes/ spontaneous system reboots, save issues, and BSODS- ALL no bueno, and plain unacceptable.

It clearly hasn't met the promises and hype with the depth of character customization promised. The appearance perma-locks after character create, no trips to Sweeny Todd's Barber or your favorite cosmetic surgeon the ripperdoc- so choose wisely! And actual visual cyber upgrades are usually limited to storyline events and impede on your ability to customize your characters cyber upgrades and appearance, on top of feeling useless as hell in actual combat... Just, so much squandered potential is plain sad..

Also, I LOVE *Belch* cough~ loathe the many dystopian directing decisions in the main storyline- such as the dialogue overlapping and not matching the animations and scenes {I.E.- Ripperdoc operating on a face and patient can SOMEHOW talk with no mouth installed [rectal ventriloquism mod? NEAT.] - meanwhile your conversation options converse about her EYELIDS being the problem..? ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ Very plÖt mÜch waù!

It's still got potential if they go back and fix things right in a relatively timely fashion, but their management teams track record indicates they are likely incapable of that. Looks like the people in charge couldn't be troubled enough to care about tester feedback long before this point, and skipped right past the testing/ polishing phases to suppressing the negative feedback and shipping the unfinished product to get that money sooner.. Because end users don't mind being PAYING for the job of spending their leisure time testing and bug reporting faulty crap software, RIIIIGHT..!?