Gameplay is very straightforward: harvest, build, attack, repeat. Very solid

However, I think looking back on this in 2021, whether Westwood intended it or not, the story and setting put forth a chilling prediction of the climate change and societal response to it. In the world of Tiberian Sun, tiberium represents an uncontrolled environmental disaster. The green/blue crystalline substance is sweeping across the planet, destroying ecosystems, altering the planets surface, and sending untold millions of people fleeing for colder climates. However, tiberium is the fuel of the globalized permanent war economy, so those in power be they GDI or Nod do nothing to find a solution to this problem that threatens all life on the planet. Instead they harvest it (ensuring its continued spread) and outright abandon people living in high exposure areas. GDI and Nod turn a blind eye to the world on fire so they can fight to be king of the ashes. It's hard not to see this reflected in the total apathy towards climate change presented by world governments and mega corporations 22 years after the game's release. The game's brilliant writing and worldbuilding elevates the game in ways that make the game incredibly relevant and haunting.

Wow that was a lot of fun.

These past few months, i've been playing a lot of games based on the IDTech engine, obvioulsy the classic Doom games, with both Heretic and Hexen as well. Also, a few Doom wads made by fans. So after all that, playing Duke Nukem 3D really shows how much of a progress the Build engine was for the time. And i know how repetitive i am about linking everything that happened in the genre between Doom and Half-Life, but i insist, it would be a crime to not acknowledge how Duke Nukem 3D helped A LOT to pave the way for Half-Life, specially when it comes to the interactivity. And not only because the build engine allowed the player to explode walls, floor, and whole buildings: Is also how the map designers put a lot of the elements (specially in the first episode) that would later be present in Half-Life maps: ventilation ducts, platforming through places where failing would mean instant death, and so on. Man, even that rocky desert levels from episode one are so so similar to the open areas of the Black Mesa Research facility.

I've seen quite a few people complaining about the level design and how the second and third episode were so inferior compared to the first. While i can easily see why the first episode is largely considered to be the best (it is not only the most iconic and the most diverse, it is also the one who has a stronger sense of storytelling, while the latter ones are more focused tematically), i don't really get this criticism. Episode 2 might be a little bit stretched out, but it has a lot of good levels, and the whole Alien-inspired aesthetic is very well handled. And Episode 3 may not be as cohesive (Map 3 felt kinda out of place in the middle of all this city-based maps) or innovative, is probably the most fun to play, also giving us a whole set of levels based on the city theme which is by far the most iconic setting when it comes to Duke Nukem 3D.

Weapons are just great. I don't really care about the laser mines and the freezethrower but the rest is just fantastic. It's not like in Doom 2 where once you've found the super shotgun you'll beat 90% of the game by using that sole weapon. Here, everything is balanced a lot better and you'll find yourself how almost all of the weapons are useful. They even made the best pistol for it's time, so pistol-starting isn't near as painful as in other games. It's worth noting how the pipe bombs and laser mines were basically pioneering the strategical approach that we later found in Half-Life. As for the items, i don't really care about the holoduke, and the steroids just made the whole thing way to fast to be playable. But the rest are pretty functional, the jet-pack being the main star. Both the jet-pack and the nightvision goggles (with it's hability to show hidden messages) helped a lot in bringing tools for a more interactive approach between gameplay and level design.

The enemies are overall ok, except for a few problems: First of all, the first boss. It is extremely unfair to make a hitscanner with so much health, and put it in an open space. At least the Spider Mastermind from Doom was balanced because it had a lot less health, and you could beat it with just two BFG shots. And then, the other two bosses are just way too easy. The third one? i finished that level in just 20 seconds and i'm no pro at all. About the regular enemies, the smaller versions of the first boss are just a real pain in the ass. But by far, my most hated enemy is the protozoid slime. They just make me feel really uneasy when i'm close to them, they have very strange hitboxes, and worst of all, they have to jumpscare the f**k out of you everytime they get to attack. Besides all those things, enemies are ok, but probably some other games handled that better.

What many people (maybe even the majority) remembers about this game is it's humour and it's portraying of women. On this very late subject, it seems that every review needs to have a position about it. Personally, i don't feel like talking about these topics because my main interest is about the gameplay and everything around it (level design, enemies, etc). Focusing so much about the sense of humour of this game (dated or not, misoginistic or not) is kind of unfair with the gameplay, which is just insanely good.

I definitely recommend you to play Duke Nukem 3D, one of the finest FPS of it's times.

woah

This game was a love letter to the original Pathfinder adventure path. That's what I believe. The game must have been made with a sort of reverence to the AP. There's just so much here, it would take me an hour to even describe all the systems in this game, all the dialogue choices, how deep everything really is. It's an incredibly faithful adaptation of Pathfinder's tabletop mechanics, and that isn't even the most impressive part of this game. The thing that really blew me away, that actually surprised me, the thing I've really not seen in another CRPG like this, is the depths to which you could roleplay your character, and how much your roleplay actually mattered. Who you are, what you say, what you do, the world reacts to it all. Dialogue changes, events change. I was consistently impressed by how the game acknowledged and respected who my character was. There was never a choice that I remember (long ass game btw), where I thought to myself, "I don't have a way of expressing my character here".

This game is nothing short of Impressive. And yet I have to wonder what Owlcat are going to do next. The Pathfinder system has PROBLEMS, especially when you get to high level play (this stuff is documented elsewhere, I don't want to write a freaking dissertation on a 12 year old TTRPG system). The last act of this game definitely suffered from the Pathfinder system. The other issue is with the encounters. I have to compare this game to Divinity Original Sin 2 (that's how good this game is!!). Encounters in DOS2 all feel handcrafted - the same cannot be said about this game. You will fight trash mob after trash mob, as the resource grind is necessary to make boss encounters difficult (or is it?). It's a limitation of the Pathfinder system. You grind the PCs down, then they fight the boss. It's how it Works. Except this isn't very engaging for a video game. In fact, at times, it's boring. It makes me wonder what Owlcat does from here. They clearly have the chops to produce these amazing ports of tabletop APs, but I can't help but feel like they're sort of trapped. Do they continue to port these games faithfully, or do they start designing fixes? I'm not sure, but I'm excited to see what they do next. I so want these games to be something I can recommend to people in the same way I can recommend DOS2. Like, this game deserves to have a million billion fans, it's amazing. BUT! There are so many issues inherent to it that I can't.

So, for now, I'll remember fondly the time I spent with Wrath of the Righteous. I'll meet it where it's at. I'll praise it for what it is, flaws and all. And, at the end, maybe one day, Owlcat will figure out a way to make the perfect game.

This obviously isn't a review and I'll be back to make proper reviews soon, but my first impressions with the beta are VERY good so far. While I would like to see some better optimization on PC and I kind of hate the new shotgun, everything else so far has been great and especially for a beta. The grapple shot is the best thing ever, the new personal A.I.s add a lot of personality, every weapon has a place in the sandbox unlike Halo 4 and 5, the movement is extremely fun, and they finally added bots fight against. Absolutely phenomenal. I could see this being one of my favorite games in the series. I hope they eventually add playable elites, assassinations, and more weapons that I miss, but 343i has done a fantastic job with the beta. I can't wait until its full release and here's hoping the campaign is par to quality.

Well written as a Numenera game with a good and unique setting, though not as well paced and focused as Planescape, and unlike the original Torment, the best moments come from stories unrelated to you. Interesting characters and situations fitting for the setting. Can avoid combat if you want to. Interesting results can come from skill failure, events, stat changes, ability to use tide powers. Merecasters were a good addition, giving you short stories you can play through either showing off other parts of the Numenera world or giving you more information on story relevant characters and events.

Dominant tide rarely effects anything and the amounts you get can feel unbalanced or oddly chosen but the idea is relevant to the story. Small areas keep everything very close which can lead to some ridiculous things like someone telling you to find someone or something that is standing right next to them.

I played it when it first released before some fixes and additions likely made some improvements and it is well worth playing more for the stories you discover and the people you meet than for the main plot and certainly more than the combat would be if you decide to fight when you can. One of few games that makes it easy to avoid almost all combat through conversation or planning and one of the few that makes failure (or results that would normally seem bad) both amusing and potentially helpful.

Screenshots: https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/837074637838221312
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https://twitter.com/Legolas_Katarn/status/838287076109910016
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