Recent reviews by kw142 (Lie in Mid-July)

Imagine an AAA game with stable performance and little to no bugs on release.

I am on my fifth playthrough now and I cannot stop playing it lol.

Ever since Sekiro, I have been looking for a game that is challenging with satisfying combat experiences. Elden Ring was fun but the combat is just not as interactive and satisfying as Sekiro. And now with Black Myth: Wukong, I have finally found another game that gives such satisfying combat experiences. I would even say this game actually excels Sekiro in some aspects. I love how fast-paced the combats are, and being aggressive is actually beneficial just like Sekiro. In addition, the fact there are so many spells, spirits, transformations, stances, equipment skills available adds variety to the combat experiences. There are so many different playstyle or build to choose from and you can change your build any time. Even at my fifth playthrough, I am still discovering new ways to play the game. My favorite thing to do is to switch stances mid-battle and see-through counter with different varied combos (so satisfying when pulling it off). On top of the move variety, no two bosses are the same and every fight is just incredibly cinematic.

For people looking to start souls-like games, I would recommend starting with this one. This game is much more forgiving and easy to get into compared to actual souls games. You don't lose anything on death, you can refund and respec skill points any time you want, you have a much stronger dodge that enables dodging at last second before you get hit, and you can farm levels if you are having trouble with a boss. Besides being lenient, the game is also just very polished in every aspect. It definitely lives up to its "overwhelmingly positive" reputation.

I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD I WILL NOT CHANGE MY BUILD
...AND I DID IT!!!!!!!!!!! NO GODSHIP FOR YOU, MIQUELLAAAAAAAA!

It was a memorable 24 hr of fantastic adventure! I really enjoyed the beautiful, immersive magic world illustrated by the game!

Really, $14.99 for this?



Don't buy at $14.99;
I'd buy this at $59.99 and above

We need mods for better character faces right now. I am tired of looking at all these MonkaW emojis...

Just finished a Cathay campaign. Two strong impressions: 1. Siege battles feel much more fun because of the new multi-layer settlements maps and supply mechanic to build defense structures. 2. Quest battles are also very enjoyable, having to capture multiple victory points and hold them against enemies waves, meanwhile you have supply points to build defense structure, call in reinforcements, and buff/heal units mid-battle. Downside is that these battles are quite long now.

The new siege battles are definitely more fun than before if you are defending. You can build defense structures like towers, traps, and barricades. And the new settlements map are huge and complex with multi-layer pathways and many interesting choke points. This opens up many interesting strategies to turn defeats into heroic victories. I was able to win many outnumbered defense battles by holding crucial choke points and maneuver my army through multiple lines of defenses to wear enemies down. Cathay crossbows felt so strong when you have them positioned on higher grounds and having your melee units hold the enemies down. The downsides are these battles are sometimes very long (because of how big the new maps are), and attackers do feel harder to play (if you don't take supply point, the defenders can constantly build towers, traps, and etc.).

The quest battles are also more interesting now. You have to capture several locations sequentially and after each capture, you have 45 sec to build defenses and layout your army against a coming enemy wave. These battles are super fun because you need to play as both attacker and defender--you capture points from enemies and then defend them against them who are trying to take them back. You can also call in reinforcements, heal, restock, or buff your units mid-battle using supply points which are passively generated. The maps are also huge, with interesting terrains and choke points where you can leverage to either hold points or push through enemy defenses. The final battle also have interesting mechanics: (XD Annoying or Fun very subjective) 1. Constant spawning of enemy troops behind you after taking first points. Forcing you to take next victory point quickly while hold up against enemies chasing behind you. 2. Random enemy teleport onto final victory point(soulgrinders into the middle of your army). This scared me so hard since these giant , nonstoppable monstrous machines just started spawning and running through my crossbows at the end. Downside is still the same: The battles can feel long--easily 30+ min.

As for optimization, I honestly feel it is similar to Total War Warhammer II, occasional FPS drops, especially on the campaign . I did not experience anything major that stopped me from playing it. The only bug I encounter was that a few of the rifts I closed somehow reopened after I reloaded the save file the next day. I was able to enjoying the game, and I don't really expect any more optimization improvement. As long as it runs fine as Warhammer II, and whenever Mortal Empire (whatever you call it, the aggregation of Warhammer I, II, III) come out, the game still runs the same, I am totally fine with the current state of optimization.

Edit: The graphic is not actually worse. The game just locked me in lower resolution when I first played it, and I could not change to higher resolution. Now I changed to full resolution, the graphic actually looks awesome! Moreover, the gameplay is still super smooth.

Have not experienced any bugs so far. Yes, the graphic is worse than MHW; however the game feels so much smoother than MHW. I would trade graphic for game performance/combat experience any time, and I honestly thought the new wirebug mechanic might make game more laggy, but I was completely WRONG. Plus, the graphic is not much worse, and the game size is much smaller than I expected--less than 20 GB right now, probably because MHW is so big with all the expansions now, about 50 GB. Moreover, a subjective view, the characters look much better--Minoto and Hinoa over the Handler 100% XD.

To summarize, compared to MHW:
Cons:

• Graphic slightly worse/Lower resolution available

Pros:

• Way better optimization--fast loading and very very smooth gameplay (I was ASTOUNDED--played MHW a few weeks ago and this is an entire different experience in terms of smoothness. )
  
• Much smaller game size than I expected--less than 20 GB (could grow in the future with expansions, MHW with all the expansions including Iceborne is at about 50 GB)
  
• Better looking characters--Minoto and Hinoa > The Handler XD

Despite the game having a mixed review rating right now, I had a good time playing it. I just completed a Mytho Campaign with Pensethilea capturing Cerberus. I love the horde war spoil mechanic and how unit tiers up through initiation rites. The Cerberus is also super fun and honestly a little overpower with the ability to summon units from under world, kinda like raise dead for vampires in Warhammer II with instant recruitment.

The divine will system gives great bonuses both in battle and in campaign. And the bartering option in diplomacy is super useful early on. I bartered so many times to get resources I need, as a result I can almost always get what I need for building/unit upgrades. Troy for some reason is also very generous willing to “barter” me some decent amount of resource asking nothing for return, once every few turns.

Having played over 350 hours in Total War: Warhammer II and over 60 hours in Total War: Rome, I find this game equally interesting with new mechanics, units, and environments. Whether these mechanics are good or bad is a very subjective topic. I personally enjoyed them very much.

Also, I must say I love the new overall UI overlay in this game. It feels much more modern and clean in this game compared to other Total War games I have played! Cheers for the designers that came up with this new UI overlay!