Nirhilidja
Bio
Twenty-eight years old, Happily Married! Been reviewing games for five years and worked for two big groups with over 180.000 followers. I took a long break, but I post some reviews here occasionally! If you like my stuff, consider following my Steam Curator! https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/
Twenty-eight years old, Happily Married! Been reviewing games for five years and worked for two big groups with over 180.000 followers. I took a long break, but I post some reviews here occasionally! If you like my stuff, consider following my Steam Curator! https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/
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Introduction
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV is a grand-scale strategy game where players will play as a ruler, said ruler being one of the famous warlords of the era or an original one. The game allows you to use plots to carry out strategies across the land and the use of officers with troops to destroy foes and seize control of provinces. There is a bigger focus on the management of politics, loyalties, and alliances rather than combat, but the battles are still exhilarating and enjoyable to watch unfold.
What Does it Do Well?
The game narrative is focused on a personal level, as officers will have biographies and narratives that will develop along those of rulers. For Dynasty Warriors fans, the game can be an attractive choice despite the different genres, as Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV takes a more realistic portrayal of characters and goes into detail about the events that transpired during the age of chaos.
The base version of the game is decent, but the expansion truly adds much-needed fixes, quality-of-life improvements, better ally and enemy AI along other bonuses. Allies will exploit the player to get provinces with alliance at times, while enemies will launch powerful invasions. Some officers cannot be beaten in head on battles such as Lu Bu or Zhang Liao, requiring mastery of the tactics of the game and the hexagon system to come out victorious.
What Does It Do Poorly?
For starters, the entry level for this game is a tough one, leaving a lot of players with bad taste and uninterested in it. There is a great gem here if you can truly delve into it. The game mechanics are not explained properly when it comes to certain scenarios such as invading cities, and an inexperienced player can attack a base of 5000 with 14000 and be swiftly defeated. Think of Zhang Liao beating 800 men beating the 100,000 at He Fei.
That shows that the game favors a "learn by yourself as you play" approach, which can result in a more authentic experience for a select few, but will no doubt frustrate a lot of players. The title requires an "Art of Warfare" take where one has to plan out their invasions and overall large strategy to manage to survive well fed into the late stages of the war.
What Makes It Special?
The game crafts an individual story for you as you play it, who you fight, recruit, ally with, and subsequent developments all will depend on your approach to situations and where you start. Even minor details shine thoroughly, for example, ending an alliance before time leads to most of your officers betraying you and seizing your provinces from you. When Wu was being played by Shu, there was a reason why it didn't devolve into a war between the two allies. Your reputation affects how officers, and more importantly, other powers in the region see you.
To elaborate on that, you get a status in the game. That can be a rank such as Governor or a Noble heritage. As your deeds are told across the land, officers might come to serve you, others might leave, and factions could support you to defeat a major threat or unite against you. It makes the entire gameplay very dynamic and enjoyable.
For Who Is This Game?
For those that want to take a gamble on a hidden gem, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms fan. Please, if you get it, go for the expansion pass too. The base game is not worth it by itself, and if you can get it on sale with the expansion, you will have a better time with it. It takes time to grow on you past the initial 10 hours, but after that, it becomes a wonderful title to enjoy.
Conclusion
A fantastic piece of content to enjoy the Romance of The Three Kingdoms, XIV delivers great mechanics and quality on the expansion version of the game. The base version leaves a lot to be desired and thus makes the acquisition rather pricey. A must-play for fans of the period and an intriguing invitation to those who dare take a leap of faith, XIV does a fantastic job at delivering an experience that encompasses the whole package of being a warlord trying to unite the land.
Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV is a grand-scale strategy game where players will play as a ruler, said ruler being one of the famous warlords of the era or an original one. The game allows you to use plots to carry out strategies across the land and the use of officers with troops to destroy foes and seize control of provinces. There is a bigger focus on the management of politics, loyalties, and alliances rather than combat, but the battles are still exhilarating and enjoyable to watch unfold.
What Does it Do Well?
The game narrative is focused on a personal level, as officers will have biographies and narratives that will develop along those of rulers. For Dynasty Warriors fans, the game can be an attractive choice despite the different genres, as Romance of the Three Kingdoms XIV takes a more realistic portrayal of characters and goes into detail about the events that transpired during the age of chaos.
The base version of the game is decent, but the expansion truly adds much-needed fixes, quality-of-life improvements, better ally and enemy AI along other bonuses. Allies will exploit the player to get provinces with alliance at times, while enemies will launch powerful invasions. Some officers cannot be beaten in head on battles such as Lu Bu or Zhang Liao, requiring mastery of the tactics of the game and the hexagon system to come out victorious.
What Does It Do Poorly?
For starters, the entry level for this game is a tough one, leaving a lot of players with bad taste and uninterested in it. There is a great gem here if you can truly delve into it. The game mechanics are not explained properly when it comes to certain scenarios such as invading cities, and an inexperienced player can attack a base of 5000 with 14000 and be swiftly defeated. Think of Zhang Liao beating 800 men beating the 100,000 at He Fei.
That shows that the game favors a "learn by yourself as you play" approach, which can result in a more authentic experience for a select few, but will no doubt frustrate a lot of players. The title requires an "Art of Warfare" take where one has to plan out their invasions and overall large strategy to manage to survive well fed into the late stages of the war.
What Makes It Special?
The game crafts an individual story for you as you play it, who you fight, recruit, ally with, and subsequent developments all will depend on your approach to situations and where you start. Even minor details shine thoroughly, for example, ending an alliance before time leads to most of your officers betraying you and seizing your provinces from you. When Wu was being played by Shu, there was a reason why it didn't devolve into a war between the two allies. Your reputation affects how officers, and more importantly, other powers in the region see you.
To elaborate on that, you get a status in the game. That can be a rank such as Governor or a Noble heritage. As your deeds are told across the land, officers might come to serve you, others might leave, and factions could support you to defeat a major threat or unite against you. It makes the entire gameplay very dynamic and enjoyable.
For Who Is This Game?
For those that want to take a gamble on a hidden gem, and Romance of the Three Kingdoms fan. Please, if you get it, go for the expansion pass too. The base game is not worth it by itself, and if you can get it on sale with the expansion, you will have a better time with it. It takes time to grow on you past the initial 10 hours, but after that, it becomes a wonderful title to enjoy.
Conclusion
A fantastic piece of content to enjoy the Romance of The Three Kingdoms, XIV delivers great mechanics and quality on the expansion version of the game. The base version leaves a lot to be desired and thus makes the acquisition rather pricey. A must-play for fans of the period and an intriguing invitation to those who dare take a leap of faith, XIV does a fantastic job at delivering an experience that encompasses the whole package of being a warlord trying to unite the land.
Fate/Samurai Remnant Review
Fate/Samurai Remnant is a hack-and-slash game that borrows elements from Musuo games, as its gameplay is fast-paced and flashy. The game centers on a new Holy Grail War, with the location for this entry being in Japan.
You will assume the role of Miyamoto Iori as you try to survive the ordeal, recruiting powerful servants during the game and facing epic enemies in grand battles. Yet, for all its appeal and grandeur, does this game make good on its content? Keep reading to find out.
Story
First and foremost, Fate is a heavy story game. Games of the series have been known to take an approach to visual novels, with a lot of text and character exposition being its essential traits. Samurai/Remnant keeps up with the tradition, as you will spend more time reading and watching the story than clashing in battle.
The story starts strong as the contest participants are shrouded in mystery; you don't know their goals or origins, and old servants add fanservice for fans of the series while new servants are exciting additions to the world of Fate. It's an enjoyable story, and it pulls you into it. Still, by the end of the game, it starts to decay horribly as characters are taken out of the tale quickly while others ' fates are resolved off-screen, and the game keeps repeating itself as it takes multiple cinematics to get one point across the board.
Gameplay
The game's controls can sometimes be stiff, lacking the fluent speed that other Musuo games are known for. Enemies have a mechanic in which they have barriers to protect them from damage. While this initially makes for an exciting approach to combat that makes you feel weak, by the latter half of the game, it becomes a chore as foes become giant sponges that cannot beat you and are a chore to face off.
And tedious is the right word for defining Samurai/Remnant later half. The game keeps throwing you into boring leylines battles that feature the same repeated enemies, prolonging the title's hours by adding content that is not worthwhile to play through. The game wants you to play multiple times to see new variations, but does it warrant a second try between a chore of gameplay and prolonged segments?
Strong Points
The strong point of Fate/Samurai Remnant is that the game shines during its first half, as the story progresses at a good pace that allows you to get to know the characters without being overbearing. The gameplay likewise features strong bosses that can eliminate you with ease if you are not careful, and barriers require innovative thinking to avoid losing damage to them.
Weak Points
The game focuses on playing it multiple times to access new content. Yet, it becomes a chore as you will easily find a sequence to follow that involves doing the same thing in a particular order each combat, no matter the enemy you face.
To make matters worse, Iori's stances can be detrimental as Fire and Wind make every other element useless, while Fire can sometimes do Wind's job, making for a monotonous experience. Servants suffer because they have valuable skills, while others are useless and pointless.
[h1] Conclusion[/h1]
Fate/Samurai Remnant is neither a good nor a bad game. Instead, it walks a very fine line between both and ends up being an okay game. The game could had the benefit of cutting down some grease out of its story and forced monotonous combats, and this is plain as the title has to rely on reusing bosses and prolonguing its life through chores and slowing the pace. A game that, unless you are a hardcore fan of the Fate series, I suggest you wait for a sale to get.
7/10 OKAY
If you enjoy and find the review helpful, please follow my curator StarsDeck! https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/
Fate/Samurai Remnant is a hack-and-slash game that borrows elements from Musuo games, as its gameplay is fast-paced and flashy. The game centers on a new Holy Grail War, with the location for this entry being in Japan.
You will assume the role of Miyamoto Iori as you try to survive the ordeal, recruiting powerful servants during the game and facing epic enemies in grand battles. Yet, for all its appeal and grandeur, does this game make good on its content? Keep reading to find out.
Story
First and foremost, Fate is a heavy story game. Games of the series have been known to take an approach to visual novels, with a lot of text and character exposition being its essential traits. Samurai/Remnant keeps up with the tradition, as you will spend more time reading and watching the story than clashing in battle.
The story starts strong as the contest participants are shrouded in mystery; you don't know their goals or origins, and old servants add fanservice for fans of the series while new servants are exciting additions to the world of Fate. It's an enjoyable story, and it pulls you into it. Still, by the end of the game, it starts to decay horribly as characters are taken out of the tale quickly while others ' fates are resolved off-screen, and the game keeps repeating itself as it takes multiple cinematics to get one point across the board.
Gameplay
The game's controls can sometimes be stiff, lacking the fluent speed that other Musuo games are known for. Enemies have a mechanic in which they have barriers to protect them from damage. While this initially makes for an exciting approach to combat that makes you feel weak, by the latter half of the game, it becomes a chore as foes become giant sponges that cannot beat you and are a chore to face off.
And tedious is the right word for defining Samurai/Remnant later half. The game keeps throwing you into boring leylines battles that feature the same repeated enemies, prolonging the title's hours by adding content that is not worthwhile to play through. The game wants you to play multiple times to see new variations, but does it warrant a second try between a chore of gameplay and prolonged segments?
Strong Points
The strong point of Fate/Samurai Remnant is that the game shines during its first half, as the story progresses at a good pace that allows you to get to know the characters without being overbearing. The gameplay likewise features strong bosses that can eliminate you with ease if you are not careful, and barriers require innovative thinking to avoid losing damage to them.
Weak Points
The game focuses on playing it multiple times to access new content. Yet, it becomes a chore as you will easily find a sequence to follow that involves doing the same thing in a particular order each combat, no matter the enemy you face.
To make matters worse, Iori's stances can be detrimental as Fire and Wind make every other element useless, while Fire can sometimes do Wind's job, making for a monotonous experience. Servants suffer because they have valuable skills, while others are useless and pointless.
[h1] Conclusion[/h1]
Fate/Samurai Remnant is neither a good nor a bad game. Instead, it walks a very fine line between both and ends up being an okay game. The game could had the benefit of cutting down some grease out of its story and forced monotonous combats, and this is plain as the title has to rely on reusing bosses and prolonguing its life through chores and slowing the pace. A game that, unless you are a hardcore fan of the Fate series, I suggest you wait for a sale to get.
7/10 OKAY
If you enjoy and find the review helpful, please follow my curator StarsDeck! https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/
Mortal Kombat 1 Review
Mortal Kombat 1 is a restart of the Mortal Kombat series that follows the events of Mortal Kombat 11 as Liu Kang becomes the God of Fire and replaces Raiden while creating a new universe that has some of the cast that are known from this classic game. The new roles given to characters make for a fresh experience that gives Mortal Kombat a coat of new paint, and the roster is of decent size for an AAA game of this quality and visuals.
Featuring multiple game modes such as ranked matches or invasion and an excellent story mode gives this title a lot of content to explore and discover as you unlock different cosmetics and rewards from leveling up your favorite fighters. NetherRealm focused more on the single-player content than the multiplayer side of things for this entry, so keep reading to find out whenever this entry might interest you.
Single-Player
As a single-player game, this entry is fantastic thanks to the new story mode that revisits the classic tale of Mortal Kombat while adding new twists and events to the mix. The voice acting is pretty good as characters become imposing on the screen; an example is when Liu Kang speaks, he sounds like a benevolent God, yet he doesn't mind exercising violent force and aggressive tones if he is disrespected.
The cinematics are a joy to watch as they unfold due to the high visuals of the game, and it is akin to watching a movie in a theater. For other modes, Invasion Mode turns the game into an RPG as you select a fighter and a Kameo (an assist), then fight different types of enemies while getting unique challenges, quests, rewards, items, and other content. It is addictive and a lot of fun, and thanks to the seasonal currency it gives, it is worth playing to unlock seasonal content.
Multiplayer and Balance
The multiplayer of the game is good as it can offer a lot of adrenaline as you fight rivals from all over the globe. It uses a best-out-of-3 system where the first player to win more matches will be victorious, giving you some room for mistakes and learning your opponent's tactics. The tournament formula benefits the multiplayer matches and creates good battle pacing. That being said, the game does suffer from balancing issues.
Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Scorpion, Li Mei, and Liu Kang are all extremely powerful, making the rest of the cast pale in comparison. Scorpion can combo from attacks that cannot be blocked and can take all of your HP down in a single chain, while Sub-Zero gets a ton of offensive and defensive options as he can lay out ice clones, shoot ice balls, and even get moves with super-armor, making him incredibly hard to counter.
In contrast, characters like Kung Lao, Kitana, Sindel, or even Raiden, supposed to be the new Liu Kang, all feel they could be better. During my time online, I played around 30 matches, and most opponents only played Sub-Zero, Scorpion, or Li Mei. Scarcely were when I found other characters, and the game mode novelty would have fared better with a diverse pool of opponents, making the multiplayer less stellar than the single-player experience.
Performance
The game has some issues with performance at launch; this is due to the developers focusing more on the PS5 version of the game and treating the launch on Steam as a port. Sadly, the optimization is not the best here, but patches should eventually make running the game smoother as the quality of changes should be implemented.
On an RTX 2060, the game runs fatally on most graphics settings at 2K, yet running the game at 1080P results in enjoying 60FPS on high settings. If you struggle to run the game, consider lowering your resolution until the patches come out to fix the optimization.
Longivity
Suppose you are a hardcore player who loves the sensation of dominating opponents online. In that case, a great title here can last you for a long time, especially with DLC characters such as Omniman and Homelander coming in the future. Remember that the roster has a hierarchy, so if you don't play the top fighters, you be handicapping yourself.
If you are staying for the long run, be prepared to put some money down on the table. Based on how Shang Tsung performed as a DLC/pre-order fighter and the hype of future DLC characters, you can expect those fighters to outperform base game ones as they are released. Either way, adding these future fighters to your roster as they come out will add more replayability to the title and give you more options to choose from when playing the game.
Visuals
The game graphics are pretty good; characters feature a lot of detail when losing body parts or becoming wounded as they suffer a fatality at the hands of their opponents. Speaking of deaths, some of the finishers in this game are phenomenal, as you can get scenarios such as Liu Kang, The Fire God bringing you to space, and then using a black hole to suck your guts until you disappear.
The visuals are crips, adding details to attacks and making battles a shown to witness; during brutality or critical moves, the screen turns black on the edges, giving the screen a nice contrast as it focuses on the action and the colors that remain "pop" masterfully on your monitor. Mortal Kombat 1 is an immersive venture that is the best-looking title in the series to date.
Conclusion
Mortal Kombat 1 shows you that there is potential in fighting games to create an outstanding game for single-player fighter titles. The story mode reimagines a classic tale in the game industry that is as old as the hobby origins, and the other methods give good content to explore and discover.
The seasonal system promises to deliver support and life to the game in the long run, and the multiplayer is excellent, too, if you can ignore some heavy imbalance and have the backbone to grind your fist against your opponents in Mortal Kombat (pun intended). Whenever you are a relaxed player wanting to enjoy some tremendous single-player content or a multiplayer hardcore expert ready to demolish your opponents, Mortal Kombat 1 is a game that excels at reinventing the series. Go forward into the tournaments of Earthrealm and Outrealm fighters.
8/10 GREAT
If you enjoy and find the review helpful, please follow my curator! [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/] StarsDeck[/url]
Mortal Kombat 1 is a restart of the Mortal Kombat series that follows the events of Mortal Kombat 11 as Liu Kang becomes the God of Fire and replaces Raiden while creating a new universe that has some of the cast that are known from this classic game. The new roles given to characters make for a fresh experience that gives Mortal Kombat a coat of new paint, and the roster is of decent size for an AAA game of this quality and visuals.
Featuring multiple game modes such as ranked matches or invasion and an excellent story mode gives this title a lot of content to explore and discover as you unlock different cosmetics and rewards from leveling up your favorite fighters. NetherRealm focused more on the single-player content than the multiplayer side of things for this entry, so keep reading to find out whenever this entry might interest you.
Single-Player
As a single-player game, this entry is fantastic thanks to the new story mode that revisits the classic tale of Mortal Kombat while adding new twists and events to the mix. The voice acting is pretty good as characters become imposing on the screen; an example is when Liu Kang speaks, he sounds like a benevolent God, yet he doesn't mind exercising violent force and aggressive tones if he is disrespected.
The cinematics are a joy to watch as they unfold due to the high visuals of the game, and it is akin to watching a movie in a theater. For other modes, Invasion Mode turns the game into an RPG as you select a fighter and a Kameo (an assist), then fight different types of enemies while getting unique challenges, quests, rewards, items, and other content. It is addictive and a lot of fun, and thanks to the seasonal currency it gives, it is worth playing to unlock seasonal content.
Multiplayer and Balance
The multiplayer of the game is good as it can offer a lot of adrenaline as you fight rivals from all over the globe. It uses a best-out-of-3 system where the first player to win more matches will be victorious, giving you some room for mistakes and learning your opponent's tactics. The tournament formula benefits the multiplayer matches and creates good battle pacing. That being said, the game does suffer from balancing issues.
Sub-Zero, Shang Tsung, Scorpion, Li Mei, and Liu Kang are all extremely powerful, making the rest of the cast pale in comparison. Scorpion can combo from attacks that cannot be blocked and can take all of your HP down in a single chain, while Sub-Zero gets a ton of offensive and defensive options as he can lay out ice clones, shoot ice balls, and even get moves with super-armor, making him incredibly hard to counter.
In contrast, characters like Kung Lao, Kitana, Sindel, or even Raiden, supposed to be the new Liu Kang, all feel they could be better. During my time online, I played around 30 matches, and most opponents only played Sub-Zero, Scorpion, or Li Mei. Scarcely were when I found other characters, and the game mode novelty would have fared better with a diverse pool of opponents, making the multiplayer less stellar than the single-player experience.
Performance
The game has some issues with performance at launch; this is due to the developers focusing more on the PS5 version of the game and treating the launch on Steam as a port. Sadly, the optimization is not the best here, but patches should eventually make running the game smoother as the quality of changes should be implemented.
On an RTX 2060, the game runs fatally on most graphics settings at 2K, yet running the game at 1080P results in enjoying 60FPS on high settings. If you struggle to run the game, consider lowering your resolution until the patches come out to fix the optimization.
Longivity
Suppose you are a hardcore player who loves the sensation of dominating opponents online. In that case, a great title here can last you for a long time, especially with DLC characters such as Omniman and Homelander coming in the future. Remember that the roster has a hierarchy, so if you don't play the top fighters, you be handicapping yourself.
If you are staying for the long run, be prepared to put some money down on the table. Based on how Shang Tsung performed as a DLC/pre-order fighter and the hype of future DLC characters, you can expect those fighters to outperform base game ones as they are released. Either way, adding these future fighters to your roster as they come out will add more replayability to the title and give you more options to choose from when playing the game.
Visuals
The game graphics are pretty good; characters feature a lot of detail when losing body parts or becoming wounded as they suffer a fatality at the hands of their opponents. Speaking of deaths, some of the finishers in this game are phenomenal, as you can get scenarios such as Liu Kang, The Fire God bringing you to space, and then using a black hole to suck your guts until you disappear.
The visuals are crips, adding details to attacks and making battles a shown to witness; during brutality or critical moves, the screen turns black on the edges, giving the screen a nice contrast as it focuses on the action and the colors that remain "pop" masterfully on your monitor. Mortal Kombat 1 is an immersive venture that is the best-looking title in the series to date.
Conclusion
Mortal Kombat 1 shows you that there is potential in fighting games to create an outstanding game for single-player fighter titles. The story mode reimagines a classic tale in the game industry that is as old as the hobby origins, and the other methods give good content to explore and discover.
The seasonal system promises to deliver support and life to the game in the long run, and the multiplayer is excellent, too, if you can ignore some heavy imbalance and have the backbone to grind your fist against your opponents in Mortal Kombat (pun intended). Whenever you are a relaxed player wanting to enjoy some tremendous single-player content or a multiplayer hardcore expert ready to demolish your opponents, Mortal Kombat 1 is a game that excels at reinventing the series. Go forward into the tournaments of Earthrealm and Outrealm fighters.
8/10 GREAT
If you enjoy and find the review helpful, please follow my curator! [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/43679955/] StarsDeck[/url]