Recent reviews by Cosmic

Immortals is.. decent. I'd agree with others here that it's probably a 6 or 7 out of 10. For the positives, the shooting action is pretty good, the 'guns' are pretty fun to use and it feels satisfying blasting bad dudes with magic. The environments also look good and it's definitely cool to look around the world as you explore. So far from what I've played, there's a decent amount of enemy variety and different upgrades to change up your guns a bit.

For the negatives.. my god the performance hurts. Immortals is a pretty game sure, but it's far from the prettiest game I've played, and yet it runs really poorly. I've got a 3070Ti and I play at 1440p which should be absolutely fine for this and yet it really chugs sometimes. I get random fps drops down to 10 or 20 fps while not doing anything at all and often I'm struggling to maintain a solid 60. This game needs some serious optimization. Oh and the protagonist is a super entitled teenager who thinks he's the biggest legend the world has ever seen.. kinda annoying.

Outside of the performance though, the main issue really is that the game just doesn't really stand out. Immortals is sitting in a genre which has had SO many absolute bangers in the last few years. From Doom, Doom Eternal and the upcoming Doom the Dark Ages, to Wolfenstein, Dusk, Ultrakill, Prodeus, Forgive me Father, Amid Evil if you want the magic feel or BPM and Robobeat if you want music too. There's just so many awesome singleplayer boomer and arena shooters, and Immortals is.. fine. I just don't really understand why you'd play this rather than loading up anything else. Sure you'll have a bit of fun, but wouldn't you rather have more fun..?

So yeah sure, at a steep discount or the EA subscription, give it a whirl like I did. But I would never buy this full price.

I'd be insane not to recommend this, Kingdom Come is absolutely fantastic! I'd seen a lot of reviews complaining about the combat system so I held off on getting this, but now that I've picked it up, I really don't understand what the fuss is about. Sure it's not Skyrim, you can't just spam click and vaguely aim where the enemy is, you actually need to practice a bit and learn how the system works. It feels unique and interesting, it's fun to learn something a bit more in-depth and it gives it a bit more of a challenge!

Outside of the combat, the world is completely full of life, NPCs all have realistic schedules and there's a lot of references to real history which is very cool! The game looks and sounds gorgeous too! It feels very immersive and really enjoyable exploring the world.

There's a couple of small things that have annoyed me, no game is perfect - you need to open your inventory every time to see the clock, something you'll be doing regularly. The stat screen doesn't show enough information about the different stats and perks as I would like. The game is also missing a couple of obvious graphical options like brightness for example.. but these are only small things really.

This is an absolute must play for most gamers. I would mention that KCD doesn't hold your hand as much as other RPGs though, especially early on it can be difficult but take your time and stick with it. More casual gamers may struggle.

(and yes you should also play this before Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, the second game continues the story!).

(Steam shows I have a lot lower hours than I do, I played offline on Steam Deck mostly)

Forgive me Father is a classic boomer shooter with a great lovecraftian art style. The enemy designs, graphics and environments, especially in the first half of the game, are fantastic and the short 15 minute-ish levels keep you wanting to come back for more. The overall game is actually a lot longer than I expected coming in at 25 ish hours and it gets really wacky in the second half, for better or for worse!

Overall I enjoyed it, I think it probably could have been a bit shorter, the bosses are great but the last few levels are confusing to navigate and the game ends up dragging a bit. The game sets up a cool mysterious/spooky ambience in the first few levels but kinda throws it out the window by the end with you travelling across what feels like 7 different dimensions and everything in between. But the blasting demons, zombies and cultists with shotguns and laser rifles is still good fun as always!

Would recommend if you like boomer shooters with a cool art style, a fun pickup in a sale or bundle.

If you've played CRPGs like Baldurs Gate 3, Divinity Origin Sin (1 or 2), Pillars of Eternity etc. and liked any of them, this is absolutely a 100% recommend, you'll love this game. I had this sat on my wishlist for a year or two, gave in and bought it, I literally haven't played anything else for the last 3 weeks it's that good. Pathfinder feels immediately familiar and grabs you as soon as you load up character creation and utterly refuses to let go.

Similar to BG3 and Divinity, Pathfinder WOTR is a massive game. This is not something you'll complete in a week, even a month of solid gaming. But all of that time is extremely fun and addictive, Pathfinder has a ridiculous number of classes and customization, I've played BG3 and Divinity 1 and 2, but was blown away with the sheer amount of options given to you out the gate, some will find it overwhelming. It has a decent story and you move from area to area completing quests, doing a tonne of combat, improving your party etc, pretty standard stuff. As mentioned by others though, this is a game that screams 'replay me' just due to the amount of options, classes and paths available to you.

Where Pathfinder differs from BG3 and Divinity, is in a few ways. Probably the biggest is the Mythic system which, particularly mid-late game, turns the game into more of a hyped up power fantasy. Essentially you pick one of about 8 'paths' to follow for your main character, each path gives you increasingly powerful spells and abilities at certain points in the game (on top of your already very powerful class related spells). One for example is the Angel, which gives you a bunch of crazy powerful heals, summoning various warriors from heaven to help you and huge AOE holy spells for big damage. Pathfinder leans heavily into you going from basically a nobody in the early game, to an absolute god in the late game, going further than BG3 or Divinity does. It's incredibly fun watching your character grow and if you like delving into the details and stats of your characters.. oh boy prepare for a lifetime of options..!

There's a few other smaller differences, you have a party size of 6 rather than 4, you move around/travel a lot more than BG3 or Divinity. There's a tonne of spells, especially if you play a caster, you can be overwhelmed!

As for bad points, there's a couple; during the story you're given command of an army for a while and it plays out in a turn based-top down fashion a bit like Heroes of Might and Magic does. The gameplay is 'fine' but controlling your army is definitely less fun than the usual controlling your own character and party. Using mods you can speed this part up or skip most of it if it bothers you though. The whole AC system can also be frustrating at times, essentially every enemy has an armour value and if your character(s) don't or can't roll above it, you'll just forever miss attacks. This forces you to use your buffs before certain encounters to ensure you stand a chance.. you can work around it, but it is annoying when you miss 6 attacks in a row..!

Overall it's an definite recommend for most people. The only people I wouldn't recommend it to are those who really don't have the patience for small details or don't like Tabletop games. But if you enjoyed BG3, Divinity or Pillars, this is an obvious must buy! Oh and this game has a tonne of mods too!!

(No you don't need the DLC, there's insane depth anyway. But the latter 3 DLCs are definitely better!)

This was my introduction to the Deus Ex series and overall I really enjoyed it. It reminds me most of Splinter Cell but slightly more action orientated, you often have the choice to stealth through areas or charge through guns blazing. I will say that because it has both options, neither are quite as good as games that focus on one or the other. The stealth is fun but not quite as complex as Splinter Cell or Thief e.g. While the shooting is good but not as good as a full FPS game.

But regardless the game is great, it's much longer than I expected but the story keeps you immersed and I really enjoyed the ending with some big moral/ethical choices. The voice acting, music and cinematic scenes are all great too.

I would say as a caveat, and this may not bother some people, but this game does show it's age. The textures are a bit ugly in places and the open environments can feel small, there's also a few annoyances like the map not always being clear, it often shows multiple markers even though you only have one quest/mission active and the sensitivity is super weird. There's also so much side lore and readable content in the game, too much in my opinion. But all of these are small things that, if you like stealth games or older games in general, shouldn't bother you.

Overall I'd definitely recommend it to stealth/action fans, just be aware that this game is over 10 years old and does show it sometimes.

Honestly Detroit is an absolute must play, it's not a long game but it's extremely well done and a fantastic experience I'd recommend to almost anyone. In a nutshell, it's a very choice heavy game set in a near future dystopia where Robots (called Androids) walk among humans and help us with tasks like housework, cleaning, construction etc. However these Androids are right on the verge of becoming sentient. You play as 3 different Androids throughout the story, flipping between them during different story scenes. Through each scene you have to make numerous choices, often quite quickly, some of which drastically affect the rest of the story. The game goes a lot into the ethics of humanity and sentient androids, how we treat them etc.

Remember all those games that say "your choices impact the story' and inevitably it doesn't really affect the story that much. Yeah, Detroit is one of the few exceptions. Make the wrong choice and vital characters can die and you'll literally never see them again. Without giving anything more away, it really is an incredible experience that you have to try at least once. The game looks incredible, all the characters you meet are deep and interesting, the music is fantastic and of course the whole choice affecting gameplay is brilliantly done. If you play certain ways it can also get quite emotional at times, I cried a bit at the end! There's quite a bit of replay value too as the game encourages you after you finish it to go back and try again, making different choices to see their effect.

You must play this game.

So far I've played about 12 hours of Ghost of Tsushima, I feel I'm pretty far from completing it so my opinion might change, but thus far I'd probably recommend it to most people. For the things I've liked, to state the obvious first, this game is absolutely beautiful. If your PC can handle it on high or max settings, the recreation of Tsushima Island is stunning, the game looks incredible pretty much everywhere! I'd say it has genuinely inspired me to visit the island for real someday, I'd love to compare it to the game..!!

I'd also say the story and the characters are great. Many characters have interesting stories and you feel like you want to continue each of their 'tales' to learn more about them and their motives. You often have to help them with their own problems before they'll help you with defeating the mongols (and it's fun doing so!). There's also plenty of side quests and the majority of them are fun to complete too.

However, some people won't really mind this, but from a gameplay/mechanic perspective, Ghost of Tsushima feels very 'safe'. Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game and will absolutely play more, but nothing thus far has really made me go "Wow I haven't seen that before". If you've played any Assassins Creed game or AAA third person stealth action game, chances are you've seen basically every mechanic in Ghost of Tsushima (at least in the first 10 hours). From the combat, to the stealth mechanics, to the unlockable skill trees to the clearing out bases of bad guys.. it's 'fine'.. but I've seen it all before in countless other games. I know it might be a hot take, but purely from a mechanical perspective, it can almost feel like you're playing an Assassins Creed game with a Japanese skin at times (with a vastly better story and prettier world mind you). I don't know how this will compare to the new upcoming Assassins Creed Shadows.

As for the things I don't like... I wish the Island was a bit more fleshed out. For example, it's very beautiful but a lot of it is quite empty, it can feel like you're spending a lot of time just travelling (or fast travelling) from one point of interest to another. Witcher 3 has a massive area to explore, but it always feels more 'alive' than GoT does. So far there also hasn't been any big cities or towns to explore, it's all just small villages. There's not really much to buy in shops either, I was super excited when I found a shopkeeper for the first time and then disappointed when literally the only thing they sell is cosmetic skins for in-game collectable items. The island is stunningly beautiful, but can feel a bit shallow when you actually get to gameplay.

Overall I'd definitely recommend it, if you can get it in a sale then the game is absolutely worth it for the beauty and story alone. But I wouldn't go into it expecting lots of unique gameplay. If you enjoy Assassins Creed or another big stealth action titles, then you'll love this too!

UPDATE: As I've continued to play more, I have enjoyed the story more and more, but I think my original criticisms still stand. The story, characters and visuals are great but even after basically completing GoT, there hasn't been anything/any gameplay mechanics that feels truly unique. That's not necessarily a bad thing, if you've played another open world 3rd person action/rpg then you'll feel right at home here. It's a great game, for me though it's just missing something that would truly put this into my favourites.

Balatro is definitely a recommend for me, but honestly while I enjoy the game, it didn't quite blow me away as much as I thought it would after seeing all the hype online. It's a good fun roguelike with a unique theme and I don't want to put it down for that... If you want that kind of addictive roguelike experience that you can easily pick up and put down at any time, this is absolutely it. So far I've won a couple of times and lost a lot more, it's a bit tricky at first and takes a few games to learn what works. I think a bit of the issue of seeing all the "THIS GAME IS ABSOLUTELY REVOLUTIONARY" hype online, is that it then doesn't live up to the expectations when you actually play it, so I'd almost recommend going into it without looking up anything first.

For me, it's good. I wouldn't say it's mind blowing, once you kinda get past the cool and unique theme, it's very similar to many other roguelikes. If you've played any of: Isaac, Hades, Slay the Spire, Dead cells, Risk of Rain, Enter the Gungeon and many others, then the overall gameplay loop will feel very familiar. Once you've had your fun with the poker theme, it felt a bit samey to me. I think I'm just getting a bit tired of roguelikes maybe. But either way, it's a recommend, especially if it's on sale.

I have been really impressed with Marvel Rivals, it's a hero shooter very comparable to Overwatch but from a third person perspective. A bit of Smite thrown in there. The game is great, it's a lot of fun and all the characters are very unique, not only that but they're all completely free! There's options to pay for skins but the game doesn't push it in your face which feels refreshing with most AAAs nowadays. Marvel Rivals is absolutely blowing up at the moment and it's easy to play for only 30 minutes and see why.

It's not completely without fault, some characters definitely need a bit of a balance pass. Characters like Venom, Magneto, Jeff and maybe Iron Fist feel a bit too strong and you see them in almost every game. While Hulk, Doctor Strange and Wolverine feel pretty weak, but I'm sure this will be sorted in future updates. I'd also really like to see more variation in game modes, game maps and game lengths. For me, TF2 always smashed Overwatch in terms of sheer number of modes and maps especially, so I'd like to see Rivals take a piece of this. Something that would also be super cool would be variety within characters, TF2 allows characters to change weapons which changes up their playstyle a bit. Imagine how awesome it would be if Rivals characters could swap between a couple of choices of abilities or ultimates... you could choose before the game starts or something.. but I'm not betting on this.

Either way in it's current state the game is great. I think a lot of people (myself included) aren't that happy with the way Blizzard has taken Overwatch/Overwatch 2. If more characters, maps and game modes are implemented, especially if they are available for free, I genuinely believe this could remain the main big hero shooter for a good while.

(I have played more than it shows, just offline on Steam deck).

Overall Booth is good, it's clearly very reminiscent of Papers Please with the same kinda mysterious dark dystopian undertone. If you enjoyed papers please or any game like it, you'll almost certainly enjoy this too. You're doing a fairly menial task while also trying to uncover more about the world and why you're in the situation you are.

There are a couple of annoyances I've had with it, the biggest being lack of controller support. This being a smallish indie title, it seems perfect for the Steam Deck, but you have to rely on mouse control with the touchpads and it feels a bit off. You have to quickly and accurately click a lot of things and it just doesn't work great with the deck controls. It would be really nice to see some proper controller support.

Also, I don't know if I just haven't played enough or I'm dumb, but sometimes when I do tasks I could absolutely swear I'm doing it correctly, I've double checked everything is correct and yet still I get a message saying the item was wrong. It's weird because on most tasks I get a high score where I only miss one or two. But then occasionally I'll do a task and get like 95% of them wrong and I really don't understand why. Maybe I'm missing something obvious but I can't work it out at all.

Either way, I think Booth is a great game that (if you're not playing with a controller) is a lot of fun and definitely worth the price. I'd say it's almost as good as paper's please but not quite, but it's a definite recommend if you want more of that gameplay.