Recent reviews by Reidskie

If you were disappointed that Dave the Diver wasn’t Double Dragon then this DLC is for you.

Unfortunately Dave the Diver is two very different games. One that I thoroughly enjoy, and one that I cannot stand playing for another minute.

As a relaxing, life sim game it is fantastic. The loop of fishing, running a sushi bar, and maintaining various facilities kept me entertained for several hours.

But there is another game. A poorly controlled twitch shooter obsessed with boss battles and poorly thought out weapon upgrade trees that serve to do nothing but frustrate.

Less is nearly always more and Dave the Diver is a perfect example of a developer straying too far from what makes their game fun simply for the sake of adding more.

The game is designed to punish the player and waste their time. I could save scum and learn what is coming to avoid insta-fail scenarios. But I could also just play a better game.

Other than the graphics I cannot really see any improvements over the original Space Marine. The combat is just as monotonous, the melee and health recover system is still frustrating, and checkpoints once again barely exist. Everything is designed to waste your time rather than give you something to enjoy. It feels like a AA game from the mid 2010s.

Even after 17 years Bioshock remains one of the greatest games of all time.

The core concept of this game is solid. Pachinko is one of those game mechanics that tickles the lizard part of your brain because even though there is a level of randomness you feel like you’re just one good shot away from being in control.

However the rest of the game relies too much on RNG to really be enjoyable. I highly recommend the developers play Monster Train to get an idea for how you can provide players with a way to better customize and control their “deck” while still encouraging them to embrace the randomness of each run.

After 10ish runs in Peglin I’m not really sure what I should try to do next. Due to how random all of the pegs and upgrades are I don’t have a good idea of a “build” I want to aim for. If you look at a Hades for example the weapon you choose and the first power you’re given really set a tone for the run which you can embrace and build towards. But with Peglin I’ve only unlocked one other character and both of their starting relics feel kinda samey / pointless.

It appears that I need to start a run, get a couple rooms in, then abandon if I didn’t randomize good power-ups and that doesn’t make me want to play more Peglin.

One of the best co-op games of the last decade.

You can pet a dog and owlbear cub at the same time.

Game of the decade!

If you wanted to play Starfield because of spaceship combat, play Elite Dangerous instead.
If you wanted to play Starfield to participate in a space opera story, play The Outer Worlds or Mass Effect instead.
If you wanted to play Starfield to explore the galaxy, play No Man's Sky instead.
But if you're looking for a Loading Screen Simulator, play Starfield.

Obviously if you’re going into this expecting something like Persona 5 you’re going to be disappointed.

But the bones of what make the Persona series so great are still here. The characters and writing are exactly what I was hoping for. After setting the difficulty to easy I can breeze through the combat and focus on the excellent story.