Recent reviews by Tmask

Best Tactics game I've played in 10 years.

Story is rich and well built. The writing was surprisingly solid and pulled me in quickly. The characters are likable, funny, and very well-written. Super charged powers allow for lots of ways to solve problems. Basically a more casual version of XCOM with a better story (that's right, I said it).

Highly recommended. Dahl is bae.

This game is just 20 games in a trenchcoat. And I mean that lovingly. Definitely a buy if you played and enjoyed the first LIke a Dragon game.

You've got:
- Stardew Yakuza
- Silent Hill
- The Prison to Pokemon pipeline
- Yakuza Crossing
- Tony Hawk presents: Crazy Taxi, An Uber Eats Story
- Yakuza: Like a Dragon
- Pervyman Snap
- Yakuza 0
- ...And more!

Compared to the previous game, this is more of the same, but in a good way! Ichiban and crew are always fun to play as and listen to their banter. There are a few new classes to play with that are fun, though not equal necessarily. Samura and Kunoichi were blast to play, but Geomancer was just okay. I enjoyed the heck outta Desperado!

I did, however, feel the game was shorter than I expected. I basically 100%'d the game in 125 hours, which includes grinding every character to max friendship bond, unlocking best weapons in the game, completing all the dungeons, side quests, etc.

I didn't feel there were as many side quests this time, and a few of them were a little tedious. The mini games are great, but I only ended up playing them once or twice before finding no reason to repeat them.

And then there's the ending. I personally felt that the villains weren't really well flushed out, especially given all of the build up for the epic finale. I remember hitting the final chapter and saying to myself "Wait, already? but there's so much we have to wrap up still."

I was a little dissatisfied with the ending overall, mostly because I feel it was too simple for a Yakuza game (if that makes sense). They set up this grand master plot that keeps you guessing "but what is the real reason behind them doing that?" Only to find the cover answer really is the actual answer.

It feels underwhelming considering how heavy the game leans so hard on the cult aspect of the story. I honestly thought the main villain was collecting nuclear waste to make low-grade atomic weapons to destroy the earth. it made sense given the constant emphasis on "purging the non-believers in fire" that the cultists kept going on about. It just feels like a wasted opportunity.

Especially compared to other games in the series, hell even the previous Like a Dragon game, this story's ending just feels very weak. I kept saying "well that's just dumb" to myself repeatedly throughout the final chapter. It helped to frame things from the perspective of "the villains don't really matter. It's what they represent that matters." That really clicked in the final speech that Kiryu gives, which makes a lot of sense for his growth as a character throughout his portions of the game.

That said, I still recommend this game to people. It's very fun and a great continuation of the previous game and storyline. Even if the ending isn't the best, I got my money's worth out of this title and enjoyed 100%-ing it to my satisfaction.

Dondoko A-go-go!

It's dwarf fortress in space. With Mods! It's amazing.

Yes there's city building and path planning and all that novel efficiency stuff to keep you striving to improve, but it's also a story telling game! Getting invested in the crazy random interactions of your pawns is the main draw of the game.

The game can be as difficult or easy as you want, as fun or challenging as you like, and as weird and zany as you could possibly imagine. If you like any sort of colony game: the sims, oxygen not included, factorio, DEFINITELY try this one. It's one of the best hands down.

Smoosh your genitals together! With your friends! It's genuinely great.
It's really just Mario Party or Wario Ware but with Penises. If that premise alone doesn't have you giggling at the stupidity of it, this game may not be for you.
However, if you have an open mind and $7, it's very much worth it. Good for a few hours of hearty laughs and "What the ♥♥♥♥ am I looking at's" with your friends. Just be sure your friends also have the right sense of humor before playing it.

Pros!
- Funny! Story mode is actually a whole story, with similar humor to Stanley parable. Definitely not as long though.
- Multiplayer party mode is great for couch co-op and online gameplay.
- Customizations let you play Pretty Pretty Penis. Every ♥♥♥♥ is unique!

Some Cons:
- UI is not very intuitive. There's an entire process you have to figure out to play online with your friends.
- The game is LOUD! WAY TOO LOUD! And there's no volume control; what the hell? Gotta turn it down with Windows sound bar or through your TV.
- Takes 2 hours to unlock everything. Definitely could use more DLC and games in the future. Still worth it, but be aware of that.

Core gameplay is really fun! Reminiscent of Left 4 Dead and Vermintide 2.
The game does have problems, and is a little glitchy right now. The story is also very lacking.
The criticisms people have of things outside the gameplay are valid, but if you can look past that, you'll still have lots of fun.
If you can't, wait 6 months and come check again. It might have enough content to justify buying.

Dark Souls meets Skyrim. I had reserves at first, but after trying it, it's probably my favorite From Software game.

If you like Dark Souls, buy this.

Surprisingly difficult controls are honestly making this game hard to play and enjoy. I have really tried to play it to enjoy the story, but at this point it's so taxing and inaccessible in its control scheme that I've just about given up ever playing this game to completion.

You should really play Inscryption.

It's a game about making connections and bringing people together. Absolutely recommend it if you are the kind of player that likes helping people, really like Kojima's story telling, or like carrying every grocery bag at once from the car (you know who you are).

Some really important tips to help you out when you play this game:
- Follow the main story to chapter 3 as fast as possible. That's when you actually get weapons, vehicles, and other structures to make the game MUCH more fun. (You can always come back and do the side quests later).

- GIVE OUT LIKES!!! The more you give likes objects, structures, and donate items, the more helpful items get shared with you. This makes some boss fights considerably easier as other players can send guns and ammo your way.

- Holding the equipment button (right D-pad) allows you to select any tool on your person, not just the tool rack.

- You can hold the "A" button to move forward through any menu, saving time.

- You can select multiple items at once with the "X" button and move all of them to your locker, vehicle, backpack at once.

- DRINK THE ENERGY DRINKS AT YOUR PRIVATE ROOM. You can do it up to 3 times and get 25% bonus stamina.

- You can honestly skip a lot of animations when making deliveries. If it's a new animation, it'll be harder to skip.

- Build the roads. You can get lots of resources from MULE camps if you need them.

- Speaking of MULES, you can instantly take them down using your Strand (Rope tool). Pull it out (hold LT), and follow the prompts (press RT) to dodge and then again to knock them out. Super helpful.


Keep on keepin' on.

I'm disappointed in this sequel. For a game that encourages you to not kill enemies, it continuously increases the difficulty for non-lethal gameplay. "Don't kill anyone or you get the bad no-no ending!" "Also we're going to spawn you in a room where everyone is already aggressive toward you. Good luck!"

Thinness of the plot and characters aside, the game is difficult enough to NOT be worth the time or effort.
I'm sorry DH2, I really wanted to like you. But you just weren't fun to play.