It was okay. Really takes from that Fallout NV/Elder Scrolls "go here and talk to this NPC" formula. I didn't enjoy the companions so for what I played I just didn't use them. I like the perk and level up system, but I found that instead of specifying to a specific skill set I was switching gear often enough to just spread everything out evenly. Overall it just didn't hold my attention for long enough, and I was tired of having my 10 minute walk to the next NPC interrupted by fighting 50 space rats and 20 bandits. If I do return it will be for the decision making and action alignment elements. I enjoyed some of the more narrative driven RPG aspects.

After increasing my playtime from 10 hours to nearly 100 hours at this point, I figured it was time to actually talk about this game and give it a more thorough review. Plenty of people will tell me that despite increasing my playtime tenfold I still have not given it enough time because in order to truly experience the endgame pvp content you have to dedicate hours to grinding lifeskilling in order to make a good enough build to actually compete. However, to be so honest, lifeskilling was an aspect I barely enjoyed. I might even go so far as to say that one of the few elements that I enjoyed about this game was the sense of achievement that came from leveling with friends and getting a slightly better gearscore than before. They weapons are fun to tinker with at a lower level but as time moves on you get punished for trying to switch to new weapons due to each weapon being underleveled. This discourages learning new playstyles and makes the combat generally less enjoyable, which is dissapointing because the combat in new world often felt more interactive than other MMOs I had tried. The PVP I did play felt unengaging and the never ending cycle of leveling up life skills in order to have a better chance at getting select perks on gear makes me cry when I think about it. In the end I felt like I got my character to level 60 as a way to participate in a system that once I tried I decided I didn't enjoy. Maybe one day I'll give it another shot.

Nothing special here. That's the best way that I can describe this game. The building mechanics are simplistic and the scoring mechanic boils down to "how many hidden objectives did you find and complete in this prompt" which you can always easily get all three. Sometimes the game will be picky with you about which components you choose to install (Especially GPUs and what is considered an "upgrade") which leads to burning money where you do not need to and wasting a day waiting for a new part to ship. All that said, it can still be a pleasant waste of time if you have nothing else happening and want something to busy your hands while you listen to a podcast. I'm gonna play the second game and see if it got any better.

This was my first survival horror game and it is just spectacular. I tried to play the original first and I found that the controls were just from another era. I'm glad this version exists so I could experience the story, otherwise I might not have.

The atmosphere is always unsettling and rich in brutal detail. The story was well paced and never gave me a reason to put the game down. One thing that I struggled with (purely as a skill issue) was getting myself into fights with a lot of enemies and very few resources, but I found that with a little determination and focus I was able to fight my way out of a lot. Some of the Ashley missions were difficult because the AI has some weird behavior around positioning (I'm looking at you chapter 7). Other than that the gameplay was always charming. While I felt that sometimes the enemy variety was a bit lacking, this complaint is balanced by the fact that every new enemy is a new fight to be learned, especially when dealing with several different types at once. The merchant and collectable system was well executed. Treasures with gem slots make exploring side paths and fighting additional enemies feel rewarding not just for the completion aspect, but also by giving you additional money to purchase upgrades. The same goes for challenges and spinel.

I still have a lot left that I want to experience, and the game makes sure of that. Lots of treasures that I missed, challenges to complete, achievements to hunt and a DLC to play. On top of that there's an additional difficulty to master and a New Game Plus to encourage any completionist. There's so much in this game, and it's a fantastic demonstration that you do not need an open world live service game in order to get more than 20 hours out of a player, even an inexperienced one such as myself. This game changed the way I think and feel about survival horror as a genre, and as a result I'm far more likely to play more in the future.

Wow this art is stellar. Really compelling environments with interesting enough mechanics to make you pause to scratch your head. After finishing the game I'm not sure what to make of any sort of "narrative", if there even is one. One thing that I will comment on is that I'm not sure you can really get away with calling this a puzzle game. While the mechanics are often interesting enough (and unexplained enough) to get you to stop and think, the whole game feels more like an extended tutorial than a real puzzler. Either way, this game is an extremely curated experience which lends itself to that more linear, single-solution gameplay.