Recent reviews by ptarn

Well, it starts out promising. Something happens right at the start that you have no idea about why it happened, or why someone did what they did. After that pretty neat intro scene you get acquainted with the crew and what follows is a nice, fairly well-written story where you have to talk to the crew and complete tasks to figure out what happened and what's going on, through flashbacks/-forwards. The atmosphere is nice, there's no hand-holding, but you can figure everything out on your own if you've played any kind of game before, so... Yeah. That's okay.

But unfortunately, after I'll say about the half-way point of the game/story, this game devolves into what I can only describe as some sort of horror fever dream in a way that's been done to death in similar horror games. Very disappointing. If the game would've progressed with the same game play as the first half, I would have absolutely loved the entirety of this game. But as it stands, I'm 'meh' about the whole experience, especially since the resolution feels weirdly rushed and isn't in any way satisfactory, for me at least. A shame, because they could have done more with the story an sich, in ways I can't go into because then I'd have to spoil certain parts of the game.

I would have loved to get to know the crew more and spend more time with them before descending in what I can only describe as some not-quite-horror-enough nightmare sequence. I'll be refunding this game.

I know this will be very divisive, but this is not Frostpunk 2. This is a completely different game with different game play, mechanics, UI, story telling, tech tree and build options. I do not like this game, even though I see why the devs went this way with it. It IS a direct sequel story-wise, in that you have 'graduated' from keeping one city alive to trying to keep a society alive. The faction mechanic is lacklustre. You get to vote on laws, get to bribe (or 'negotiate') with factions to swing the vote your way, and then you can directly bribe/influence factions by granting them favors, condemning other factions, granting them a vote, or research and pass laws that they propose or that they want as a favor.

Then there's the building districts part, which feels more like a city simulator than a down-to-earth, gritty Frostpunk game where you felt that every life mattered. I've played the game for ten hours, started over at least three times, and after getting stuck on the same part in the game (at around the end of Chapter two) I just... don't feel it. I don't feel compelled to play like I did with the first game. I don't find having to juggle several resources in what I see as a more abstract way fun or challenging in any way. I don't find seeing '180 people died' has the same impact as hearing the dreaded sound of someone dying in FP1.

I just don't 'feel' this game, for lack of a better description. For me it's boring. The story isn't half as compelling or interesting as that of FP1. The random events feel same-ish. The exploration doesn't feel as gritty as the first part. I just don't like the increase in scale and I wish they would have stuck with the formula of FP1 and built on that in some way (maybe add the mechanic of slowly creating a habitable land by heating the surrounding area or something).

I did not expect this game, and I am very disappointed that I don't like it at all. I wish I could get a refund, but it was gifted to me by someone who bought a key through a retailer, so that's a bit of downer. But oh well.

I'm going to replay FP1 once more. And hey, if you do like this game, power to you! It's just not for me, I guess.

Scorn looks good. ... That's it. It looks good. I expected a different kind of game, with at least a bit more action. And weird as it may sound, after a while the aesthetics of the game get... boring. Everything looks the same, sounds the same, 'feels' the same and after the initial 'oooh's and 'aaaaah's at how incredibly detailed the world looks you'll soon figure out that it's a very 'guardrail-like' semi-exploration/walking sim game. I kept going after hitting the point of growing exasperated at having to backtrack too many times because I completely missed a corridor or a device that I should have activated before moving on, because I was curious to see if there would be any in-game lore or explanation for what the heck was going on, but... alas.

Now, don't get me wrong, I don't mind games that make you think about their world, about the reasons things happen, about who you are, where you're going, what's going on... But most of those games have some kind of in-game way to figure stuff out, like coming across torn pages, lost books, fragments of audio or video files, npcs that have (hand-written) notes, a voice coming from a speaker (or inside your mind), or even stumbling upon npcs that give you a sliver of information with their dying breath. But Scorn does none of that.

Instead you walk around, push/pull buttons to activate machines that Do Stuff. When they've Done the Stuff, you can move on to another corridor that has more machines that Do Stuff. Nothing is explained and if I hadn't looked at my key bindings I would not have figured out that E is used to heal myself. Again, it's not that I'm against having to activate mysterious machines to make things happen, but I would like to at least get a hint of why/when/how/what the heck I'm doing or even who or what I am (which, when looking down in-game, makes it clear that you're not human, or at least not human as we know it).

Then the weapons: using them feels and is sluggish. Every time you change weapons you have to sit through the animation (which does look nice at first, but gets annoying real fast). To reload you have to keep pressing R or you stop reloading or don't reload at all. The first weapon you get, the 'puncher' is only ever useful if you manage to sneak up on an enemy (good luck with that), or run at them, hope to whatever entity presides over that universe that they don't hit you more than two times, punch them in the face with the weapon, and then wait for whatever reason for this weapon to... catch its breath? You can only punch a creature two times, then you have to wait for a pretty long time while you're either running away or trying to dance around it to 'wake up' or whatever, and then you can punch it again. Rinse, repeat, and hope you have enough tick-health-things to survive.
The 'gun' (why is it two-handed?) isn't much better. I forgot to mention that you ALWAYS have to aim with your weapon; only then can you use it (even the puncher). And when aiming the gun you have to stand still in order for the reticle to get smaller to improve your aim I guess? The moment you move the reticle grows larger again and I have no idea what the influence is of this mechanice. Thankfully you can fire six rounds without having to reload, which is exactly the amount you need for the lumbering headless things you meet further into the game, but the moment you meet more than one enemy, you're dead. Or at least, I was. Unless you're a god-tier player with lightning reflexes (I think) and I know I'm not THAT good at games (I'm an OLD gamer).

The puzzles. Oh good lord, the puzzles. Some of them are easy and you figure out what you have to do pretty fast. Others are... well, for me they were impossible to solve on my own. I am inclined to brute-force my way through a certain kind of puzzles (which my friend doesn't like when playing Escape Simulator, LOL), but some of these made my head hurt. Again, I'm not afraid to admit that I suck at puzzles like the ones I got stuck at (move this thing so the other thing gets into a position in order for the third thing to be in the right position to turn the first thing so in the end all things light up, if that helps), and it really, REALLY irks me that there's not in-game help at all. I had to visit a site for a walkthrough of said puzzles and that was the moment I began to lose interest.

In short: Scorn looks amazing. ... At the start. After a while, the environment becomes boring to look at, the corridors and puzzles/mechanics become annoying, the way weapons work becomes annoying as well, and in the end not even my curiosity as to what in the world this game is about could keep me from closing the game and uninstalling it. Unfortunately I cannot refund it, because it was a gift, but if I could I would have. This game could have been so incredible, but instead... meh.

Engaging, fun, insane build-up of abilities, and in the end EVERYTHING DIES and you're a hurricane of destruction. Add to that the support this game gets from its devs, the fact that it's almost criminally underpriced for the amount of time you can get out of this, along with the long list of achievements to aim for, and, well... Why are you reading this? Buy it and play it, darn it!

Relaxing. Satisfying. Gorgeous aesthetic. Lovely background music. No levels, no rush, no objectives other than 'place X tiles of Y sort' to gain extra tiles. It's a slowly growing landscape of your own making, with cute little villages, train tracks, lakes and rivers, forests with deer, and even the changing of biomes with regional differences/seasons of sorts.

Looking for a laid-back puzzle game with a relaxing atmosphere that let's you play as you wish - with optional challenges and difficulties - then this game is more than worth its price. Buy it, play it, relax and enjoy!

I... am not sure whether or not to recommend this game to others. It's a decent enough game, with a pretty engaging gameplay, but it's not exactly as advertised. You only get to influence people right at the end of the game, in the third act so to speak, and before that it's more of a puzzle game than a legit 'spy on people and dig for information' type of game. I expected it to have a real political feel to it, like how you're part of the 'evil' government and spy on folks to either try to help the Nation have an even tighter grip on its citizens or work against the Nation without being caught.

But... that's not this game. It's a point-and-click game where you have limited choices of which information you add to Orwell, the AI that correlates information and helps you spy on people. And there's times where you have to search for that one little tidbit of information that you failed to find, otherwise you're just stuck. The story is fairly straight-forward and there's not a lot you can do to influence certain outcomes (these are fixed, no matter what) and it's pretty short as well.

Did I like it while playing it? The first time, yes. The second time, not so much. You can't skip the, eh, let's call 'em sort of cutscenes (people talk on the phone or exchange text messages 'in real time') so that's a disappointment. And... well, that's it, I guess. I felt more like a spectator than an actual participant. I bought it while on sale, so it's not as if it cost me a lot of money, but, yeah. I feel sort of 'meh' after playing it. I really expected a lot more out of this. More interactivity. More ways to influence people. And a longer, more intricate story.

So, I guess, that's a no from me. Would not recommend.

Let's start with what I like. I like the castle building part of the game. I'm a sucker for build-your-own-base games, so that part really scratches my itch. The castle looks great, it's pretty easy to figure out what you need to progress in terms of building stuff (for research, weapon upgrades, etc.) and the overall look-and-feel is really what I would expect from a vampire-themed game. The day/night cycle took a bit of getting used to, but it adds an extra layer of 'realism' (in so far as you can call a game about vampires realistic) to the game that I haven't seen before in any vampire-themed games. The aesthetics of the game look really good and I found myself spending way more time in this game than I had planned to! Especially with building/beautifying my castle!

What I didn't like:
* PvP. It's not my cup of tea. That doesn't mean it's bad, just that I don't like that aspect of the game. It took me a bit of figuring out how to start a solo (PvE) game, but once I did, I had a really great time. I don't like the idea of building something and then losing it, but if that's your way of playing, go for it!
* The servants. Servant mission take WAY too long to complete (12 hours REAL TIME, with a timer that stops the moment you stop playing) and I sort of expected to be able to 'raise' them like acolytes or use them as guards, or even as bodyguards in a solo game (I can imagine having a bodyguard being a bit OP in a PvP game, though, but it's just an idea). Servants are essentially mindless drones and I feel that part of the game could have really used a bit more attention.
* The story/endgame. After I was halfway through the game I realized that, well, this was it. Track a boss, slay them, gain their specific powers/upgrades, and then on to the next until I would eventually slay the last boss. And... then what? Nothing, I guess. Perhaps I could add stuff to my castle, but that's it. For me this game has no replay value at all. I can see how this would differ for PvP-players, though I don't see the appeal of starting over again, and again, and again, and again... Only to end up in the same place, with the same upgrades, and, well, you catch my drift.

And that's a shame. 'Cause there's so much potential here for it being more than a rinse-and-repeat PvP-centric game. I think the way it's set up there's a lot of possibilities to make this game more attractive to both PvP and PvE players by adding a lot more depth to the world in terms of story. Or maybe at least randomized bosses/powers in some way. As it stands I'm afraid that this game will lose its players after a while, simply because it's pretty shallow and doesn't give you much more than playing the same game over and over again.

I don't regret buying it, 'cause I had (and still have) a lot of fun with building my castle, but other than that? It doesn't really appeal to me.

WARNING: This review is for the original Deus Ex: Human Revolultion, NOT the Director's Cut. The Director's Cut is significantly worse in comparison, especially since you lose all your augments after playing through the 'lost chapter' (where Adam is stranded on the ship). You return to the main game without your previous augments: VERY BAD. Anyway, on to the review!

Ever since first stepping foot in the world of this particular iteration of the Deus Ex franchise I've been hooked. I think I've played through the game at least five times now, each time trying new ways/options to progress the story by choosing different dialogue options or finishing main/side quests in a different way. I also like how you can really create a whole different playthrough by simply either going for full-on stealth play or balls-to-the-walls over-the-top gun-swinging gunplay. You can use a combination of both or focus on maxing out certain augments early-on; whatever your choice is, you can play it the way you want to play!

Besides the different options to progress through the game there's the story itself, which really intrigued me and was expanded upon with the few DLCs that got released (with the one where Adam is in prison is outstanding!). Most regular characters are really well-written, with the interactions between Adam and Pritchard standing out the most imho (though Sariff, if you pick the right options, can hit you with a few gems as well). The option of using the CASIE-mod to influence/read people you talk with adds an extra dimension and of course, the whole backstory of Adam being augmented against his will and everything that goes with it (won't tell more to avoid spoilers), well, they certainly got me hooked.

Even after finishing the game I still return to it every now and then just to immerse myself in the world of Deus Ex and see all those familiar faces again. It's such a shame that after its sequeal - Mankind Divided - Square Enix just sort of... gave up, I suppose? There was so much potential for more story, for more DLCs, but as it stands now, the story just stops after the sequel's ending. I really hope someone at SE will wake up and see the potential in this franchise and will reboot Adam to give him another chance.

Until then I guess I'll start another playthrough to get that pesky achievement that's been eluding me! I never asked for this (but I'm glad I bought it anyway)!

I fully expected to get the second chapter for free. After all, I bought THE GAME, not one chapter! Now the first chapter is free and even though I've already paid for the first chapter, I now have to frigging BUY the second one? This is NOT how you reward early adopters/supporters! At least give a discount (how about I only pay for the difference?) or, and this might be a novel idea, just let early supporters download it FOR FREE? As is considered to be normal practice for people who buy an early access game?

We buy it early access, take a risk on the expected outcome (will game be successful, will it be abandoned, etc.) and in return we get subsequent updates (DLC, chapters, whatever you wanna call it) FOR FREE. Just for taking the risk.

This is NOT how you roll out a game. It is deceptive, consumer-unfriendly and downright scummy if you ask me. Sod off, and either give me back my money, give a discount or give it for free to those how already bought chapter 1. Until that happens I'm not going to spend another dime on this game. F*** off.

A wonderful game with a visually appealing style that tells a story that has two twists that, even if you saw them coming, still tug at your heartstrings, especially at the end. I cried at the end - twice - not because the story itself is so special or unique, but because of how it's told and how you play through it. It's an experience and even if it was quite short - though you can take a lot longer if you want to get all the collectibles in one go - it's worth every penny if you like story-rich, emotional games.