Recent reviews by dav3

If the game crashes on startup delete "TargetHardwareProfiler.dll" from the Forza Horizon 4 install folder.

https://test-steamproxy.haloskins.io/app/1293830/discussions/0/4409669834845888615/

I got this game for Christmas to play on the Steam Deck but initially I couldn't get into it at all, despite the overwhelmingly positive reviews, and understanding the concept and appeal, I didn't really have the time for it, the screen was a little small and the text was slightly too hard to read. Revisitng this game 5 months later, I tried playing on the PC in 4K and found another stumbling block, there was subtle but small screen tearing most noticeable in the ocean part - but this can be fixed by going into Nvidia control panel 3d settings and forcing Vsync on. However, it's puzzling why this option isn't available within the game itself.

Doing some research on the developer and looking at the art style, one might assume it is an cute indie game made by a small indie developer, but this is totally not the case, it is a subsiduary of Nexon, Korea's biggest gaming company turning over billions in revenue each year.

Getting into the game itself, the day night cycle mechanic, and the diving restaurant loop, it is super fun and the fact that it is addictive is because there is so much content, and every dive is different - just like diving in real life, you can see new and different things every dive and experience new things and different things to do. The amount of content truly shows by the breadth of the game, it casts it's net very wide, almost too wide, there are minigames such a run and jump, a farming simulator, seahorse racing, crab and gem find minigame, to name a few. It is almost absurd how much other mini-games and things to do that isn't the core element of the game. The sheer abundance of additional activities can sometimes feel overwhelming, detracting from the game's core elements.

The diving is so relaxing and mesmerising, the ambience of the soundtrack in the background and the smooth scrolling through the landscape, without realising you have already dived for 30 minutes and wondered where the time went. The cutscenes are truly a masterpiece, funny, over the top, incredible pixel art style and music and you never want to press the skip button and you want to watch them again and again.

The main game quests keep the game rolling at a steady pace and the slow and steady upgrades of diving equipment and weaponry gives you the ability to dive deeper and further and catch more fish, which in turn gives you the ability to make money at the restaurant, hire more and better staff, and cater to VIP guests. Minigames, quests, puzzles, QTE's, bosses and more keep the game interesting. Small metrics at the end of every dive show as a report to keep you wanting to dive deeper and longer and catch more fish next time. Not wanting to lose air as you are penalised by only being allowed to take one item back to the surface if you run out of air, keeps you on your edge, you don't to engage with too many shark fights if you're low on air or dive too deep.

Worst parts about this game, during the later stage of the game as the map gets bigger, movement feels slow, there should be a power up that lets you swim at 2x speed all the time. The location of one or two of the areas of the quest are unclear, it would be better if it is more specific by saying which area of the sea it is in, or even an arrow which directs you closer. Shortcuts and fast travels aside, this game could be overwhelming for those who just expected a diving simulator, there is so much to do.

There is a underlying message in the game which is to take care of the sea and inhabitants, somewhat ironic as Dave is constantly killing everything in sight to sell at the restaurant in order to maximise profit. Yes, there are many creatures which you can just observe and take photos of, and many which you can't hurt at all, but how about a no-take zone in which you can see the population of an area increase if you don't fish in it for a while. An example of the sea conservation message is there is a part where a turtle coughs up a plastic bag, which shows the carelessness of humans of throwing away plastic waste in the sea. After playing this game I found this documentary 3 part miniseries called Australia's Ocean Odyssey (2020) which is absolutely amazing real life documentary about the sea, which must have been part inspiration for this game. There is so much overlap with the documentary and it's amazing to watch a diving related documentary in real life. As well as this, the initial inspiration for the game was a Japenese sushi restaurant on Jeju island, and there are many youtube videos and shorts about the Jeju women diving heritage in Korea.

The free Godzilla DLC was okay, you get to find Godzilla, play around in a submarine with guns, and fight as Godzilla in a large oversea battle against a lobster.

Completing the main storyline took about 20 hours, and I don't feel much incentive to continue to 100% this game. The game has a huge amount of depth and breath in content, great value game which can keep you entertained for days if not weeks.

Essentially a demo not a full game. Last year (2023) you could play 25 tracks for free every season, now it is only the first 10. I don't understand why anybody would pay a yearly subscription fee to play this.

updated

good remake, i played the original games extensively, bought it on xbox on release, epic store and now steam, and barely played it at all since.

good

Challenging platformer, if you enjoyed the 2 before this you will enjoy this too. Make sure to turn on Vsync or limit framerate before you play, or the GPU will heat up a lot and the fan will spin very loud if left at the defaults.

edit: udpate for autumn sale

This is a spin off to the main game Enter the Gungeon, except its in a side view perspective instead of a top down one. Game play is similar, even better now that they added guns instead of just the blessed guns that rotate all the time. With the new update you are able to switch guns and buy ammo for those guns. Although it adds depth it still feels like a mobile port over to PC, the levels are more linear and progression is shallower, if you haven't played the Enter the Gungeon yet, then play that first.

good

Steam = very nice

good