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Steam Review of The Council (2018)

I thoroughly enjoyed the time I spent with The Council. Having played many choices matter games, I truly enjoyed seeing a game that innovated on the formula. The Council allows you to pick 1 of 3 classes to customize the experience and what skills you may initially be more proficient in. I enjoyed that you could still put points into skills under the other classes. It simply takes longer to reach max level within those skills. It provides another layer of complexity and changes the way you may approach puzzles as well as conversations. The use of vulnerabilities and immunities within conversations was another pleasant surprise. Each character you encounter has both strengths and weaknesses that can be discovered through exploration and interactions with that character. By exploiting weaknesses you can gain effort points (which are used to unlock dialog options, the more proficient you are in a logic skill for example, the less expensive it is to use that option). Instead of just "good choice or bad choice" I felt the game took time to justify why these characters had these strengths and immunities so you could make more informed choices that would affect how the game plays out, especially near the end. I would heavily recommend that you take time to thoroughly explore all areas, even if the objective does not necessarily ask you to go there. There are many encounters and locations that are open to you which you may not realize if you do not deviate from the path, when the game lets you that is. Overall, it is quite linear but depending on how thoroughly you complete puzzles and explore, you may find that things play out quite differently as you may be missing information, or have found another way to complete an objective that someone who made another choice might have missed. After completing each section the game informs you as to your successes, failures, and alternative paths which may help inform your next playthrough which is another helpful addition! The Council's only downfall is perhaps at the technical level. Character designs can look a tad wonky and some textures glitchy or unpolished. For a game that focuses so much on conversations and interaction with these characters I found it distracting that the subtitles were sometimes completely different from what the character had said, or contained glaring grammatical and spelling errors that broke immersion. Overall, a great experience for those that enjoy choices matter games and may be looking for a game that shakes up the formula. I truly hope this is a taste of what is to come for the genre!

[atortheadventurousgator]

Steam review of Haven (2020)

*Received the game as a gift* What a beautiful game. Haven will undoubtedly be one of those games I return to in the future. The main characters, Yu and Kay, are among the best written I have seen in any game I have played. Ever. From beautiful locations, exotic (and cute!) creatures for you to fight, scratch, and play with, or slice of life gameplay in the Nest, every action you perform places the leads in centre stage. Haven clearly displays a complex, intimate, and mature relationship that is not only endearing, but relatable, and as the game advertises it is treated with humour and maturity in a world where forging a new future and escaping the past are central themes. Not everyone will enjoy the gameplay which is perhaps the game's only contentious point as far as I am aware. My love for the story (as cliche as it may be in parts) and characters usually allows me to look past any gameplay flaws. By its end, Haven may seem repetitive as you gather the same ingredients and clear yet another fragment of rust. However, I found it more relaxing and fun than repetitive, so this may depend upon your enjoyment of other aspects and how much exploring you do in general. Many fragments contain extra scenes (many of them achievements) and items for you to find that make the process more enjoyable in general. The moments I most enjoyed were watching Yu and Kay reflect upon their lives together while gazing into a beautiful sky that highlights how far they are from home, and what a joy it is to start anew. TLDR: Haven is a flawed, yet beautiful ride where its strengths far outweigh the negatives with well-written lead characters and a gorgeous world of fun, exploration, and adorable scenes to explore. Cannot recommend enough.

[atortheadventurousgator]

Transformers: War for Cybertron has been everything I have ever wanted from a Transformers game. It saddens me to think it’s no longer available as I’d love to play Fall of Cybertron. Now that the Decepticon campaign is finished it’s time to play as Optimus! 

Decepticons, transform and rise up! 

Autobots, roll out. 

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Act II completed. This game is far too addictive, and it also contains way too many things I love. 

It has occurred to me that I’m complaining about a game in which I can play as a necromancer... I take it all back. 

[atortheadventurousgator]

I’m delving back into the world of Diablo III!

Act I was finally completed so I’m making some progress. As always, I’m quite enjoying both the lore and gameplay I’m happy to say. 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Played Rise of the Tomb Raider recently and had an absolute blast. In some ways, I wish more of emphasis had been placed on stealth in some locations, but man oh man this game is beautiful. It took me on a memorable adventure and I look forward to going back to complete all the extra content. This is one of those games that I think I’ll 100%. Fun combat, tombs, challenges, character missions, collectibles, and more reward players for exploration which is keeping me hooked. I can also appreciate the growth of Lara as a character between the two games, her story is expanded upon in Rise which is always what I look for in a good sequel. 

Sadly my PC isn’t quite up to the task of playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider at a decent framerate, given that Rise of the Tomb Raider was a struggle at times. I look forward to seeing what other adventures Lara goes on. It’s always nice to see a sequel that builds on the previous game’s story and gameplay. 

I never did get around to playing all the other Tomb Raider games besides Tomb Raider (2013) and Rise... guess I’ll have to add those to my ever-growing list... again... someday they’ll get played I’m sure. 

Oh, and I guess there’s Rise of the Tomb Raider DLC I should get around to playing too, huh?

Here’s to making dramatic leaps and missing platforms horrifically (you’d think I’d be better at it by now). Some things never change! 

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Now that I’ve played the “An Automaton with a Plan” DLC I suppose that’s the end of my Syberia III adventure for now! Unfortunately, the DLC was rather short. I would have enjoyed spending more time with our clever automaton companion.  

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Well, that’s the end of Syberia III... 

I have to say that ending left quite a lot to be desired. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that the ending did not provide a satisfying conclusion. As much as I can understand the motivation behind keeping the plot and character’s fates unresolved for a part IV, I tend to feel that it leads to the journey feeling incomplete.

I wish I had more positive thoughts about this game, I truly do. I look forward to playing a Syberia IV, if it ever happens, to see the true ending to the Syberia series... let’s just hope it resolves everything! 

[atortheadventurousgator]

First off, those goggles are awesome and I’m loving the steampunky vibe as always. Secondly, Baranour, in my humble opinion, was the best location in the game thus far. The Syberia series has always done a great job depicting locales that are past their prime and giving you the illusion of what they must have looked like when a town was booming, an amusement park was thriving, and so on. 

Many of my criticisms of this game still stand, but there’s no doubt that there are still those moments of wonder and imagination that made me fall in love with this series in the first place, especially Syberia I. 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Off to Baranour, we go! What could possibly go wrong? 

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I’ve been on a point and click rampage recently, having completed Grim Fandango and Noctropolis. I figured it was finally time that I played the most recent addition to the Syberia series, given that Syberia I & II are among my favorite point and click adventure games.  

Sadly, I’m a tad disappointed. 

While I knew Syberia III would never truly live up to my unrealistic expectations, the technical side of things is rather jarring and distracts from some of the nice visuals and story (so far). Kate’s movements are clunky, the camera seems to sway sickeningly from time to time, and audio frequently clips out. Voice acting is another issue. Many characters don’t seem to have a voice that suits them and the ones that do are plagued by... subpar voice acting at best. This isn’t to say that I thought the older games had perfect voice acting, but at least the voices appeared to suit the characters. 

The good news is that for what the game is, I’m still finding things to enjoy. Kate’s voice actress is back and her performance appears to be as good as ever, at least from the few hours I’ve played, and I’m interested to see where this adventure is going to take me. I just wish that this game had been given the polish it deserved. There’s a good game in there, it’s just tarnished by what appear to be some unfortunate design decisions and a rushed release. 

Keep in mind that this is only based on the first 3 hours or so of the game, I’m hopeful that perhaps my experience will improve in later areas especially after I get used to the semi-fixed camera and movement. 

Oscar, you are sorely missed. 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Not much to say about this one. It was a good day to just sit down and play. 

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Finished Queensdale today. Now I have to decide which lands to explore next. 

Should probably do the story missions at some point... hopefully Caithe is still waiting for me at Dreamer’s Terrace! 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Queensdale has been my favorite location so far. There’s some absolutely gorgeous scenery and I’m only around 30% done! 

I need to get some new pants.... and shoulders... slowly but surely perfecting my look. 

Who are we kidding, I’ll take good stats over good looking gear. For better or worse! 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Finished up Kessex Hills today! From underwater adventures to volcanos, this game is varied for sure. Next stop: Queensdale. 

Now that I have elite skills I can also call on my Sylvan Hound. I am quite alright with this. 

The dream is to be a necromancer with a skeleton/demon army and hounds of hell. Sylvan Hounds, Blood Fiends, Bone Fiends, and Bone Minions shall have to do for now. 

[atortheadventurousgator]

Update: Exploring Kessex Hills has been a joy so far. I’ve been focusing more on gathering materials which has improved the experience immensely now that I’m finding more upgrade components. 

A win-win situation from where I’m sitting.