Recent reviews by ɠųąཞɖıąŋ ąŋɠɛƖ!

(mini-review.)

The game that started it all. Bioware's love letter to DnD and western RPGs created a PC-oriented WRPG renaissance that spurred the creation of dozens of classics including the incomparable Baldur's Gate 2, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment and non-Infinity titles like Morrowind and Fallout 3. All in all, Baldur's Gate sets the stage for all the tropes and key elements that led to countless classics. Yes, the game is a bit slow. Yes, very little happens in it, compared to other more grandiose titles but, ultimately, such faults can be forgiven for giving birth and spawning such a parade of excellence. Great buy.

Highly Recommended.

9/10.

(mini-review.)

NFS: Hot Pursuit (2010) was a wonderful racing game. Fantastic controls. Great graphics (for the time). Awesome music. A decent selection of popular cars. I was excited about the remaster. The game is barely a re-release much less a remaster, however. No graphical upgrades except for some mild AA. The game runs modestly on my 32 GB/Nvme SSD/OC Radeon VII system. At 4K/Ultra, I was getting about 80 fps, which is a bit embarrassing for a game that is over 10 years old, with an AA filter slapped on top. The menus are practically impossible to navigate, with dips into the teens. They corrected none of the rubber banding AI, nor issues with cheating police. The Origin thin client is a joke, with the game refusing to restart, even after I had started the full version of Origin on my machine.

The game is simply a sad insult to the memory of a once classic title. Even at 18 dollars, USD, this game borderline theft. I'm hoping to snag a refund.

Avoid this game.

4.5/10.

Gears of War 5 is a game with a metric ton of content, that is brimming with potential. The game practically bleeds promise. The game has solid, tried-and-true Gears gameplay, packed with muscular gun play and an action-packed campaign. Based on Unreal 4, the game is sumptuously realized, detailed and macabre in its aesthetic design. Both the voice acting and the soundtrack are serviceable and competent. Multiplayer possesses multiple modes including multiplayer, horde, as well as several other modes, like gridiron. The Coalition, Gears 5 developer, is constantly adding new multiplayer modes, upgrades, skins, maps and goodies. On the surface, the game would have everything someone would enjoy in an action blockbuster title. However, the game has an equally problematic stable of issues that perfectly counterbalance all the positive elements.

Yes, the game has traditional Gears gameplay and yes, the combat is still effective/fun but the franchise hasn't really evolved in almost 20 years. Some might argue that the gameplay is so good, that it doesn't need improvement but for a AAA title, it's still lamentable when a *distant* sequel fails to try *anything* new. If you've played Gears of War 1, 2 or 3, you've basically experienced Gears gameplay and Gears 5 is completely superfluous. Yes, the game tries semi-open world gameplay, especially with the extremely overused and drawn-out skiff chapters but the Gears franchise has never been an open-world game and Gears 5 does nothing to change that. The empty/barren landscapes served only as filler to prolong an already gossamer thin plot. Multiplayer balance hasn't been nearly as on point as its predecessors and the weapons often feel imbalanced.

The multiplayer is overflowing with content, easily containing more than Gears 1-3 combined, but most of it is targeted at micro-transacting monetization. The game often feels smartphone-esque with higher level rewards/loot feeling inaccessible or out of reach without investing some kind of money. Honestly, that's something that never used to exist in pre-Coalition Gears games. While the game is spectacularly gorgeous, the aesthetics have lost a bit of their horror-themed vibe that was so effectively on display throughout the first 3 Gears of War games. The game now often sports bright colors, pastel/neon maps and lots of over-the top robots/landscapes that make the game more generic in its tone and identity. Most importantly, the game is an absolute pig, sporting some of the worst optimization I've seen in any PC title.

While I do have a unique config, with a superclocked Radeon VII inside an external Thunderbolt 3 egpu chassis and, yes, while TB3 can throttle gaming at times, Gears 5 is unusually hamstrung by this problem. To be honest, this problem is endemic to the Unreal IV engine, which is a fat bloated pig that relies on streaming, rather than a combination of streaming, VRAM and compute, to get the job done. The game rarely climbed above 6 GB of VRAM, often streaming every frame from my nVME SSDs. Having more than *half* of my 16 GB of HBM2 wasted by this title is lazy and inexcusable, especially when the Radeon VII was starved for data to render on the screen. Egpus are finicky things. Doom Eternal only experienced a 10% hit over a PCIe based gpu. I was playing that game at Ultra Nightmare, 4K, with 70-80 fps.

Resident Evil III, Metro Exodus, The Division 2, GTA V and Apex Legends all play fabulously well on my system *this year*, running at 4K and ultra settings, nabbing over 60 fps each. So why is it that Gears 5 had to run at *high* and 1440p, only to nab ~50 fps? Because Unreal IV isn't nearly as optimized and well-built as Unreal III and it's a fat, bloated pig. If technical/performance issues, staid gameplay and nickel-and-dime multiplayer were Gears 5's only problems, it'd still probably pull a good review from me but Gears suffers from another major concern: woke politics. Gears is archtypically the most macho PC franchise around, comprised of blocky meatwagons smashing into each other with chunky guns burping and belching hot lead. Interspersed between these collisions are prototypical statements of pure testosterone-fueled masculinity.

What do they give us in Gears 5? A female protagonist without any compelling qualities. She's not smarter than anyone else. Or braver. Or tougher. And while magically she's able to hoist guns that weigh more than two of her meatwagon companions, she really is an empty vessel that is plot-shoehorned into each major development, without agency, driving the paper-thin plot constantly onwards. She's a mary sue that is destined to be "the one" and who exchanges ♥♥♥♥♥♥ gossip about her ex-friend in between bouts of constant whining/complaining. Gears of War 1-3 was about a broken, gruff soldier that loses a lot in order to win a war. The story is about the war, through his eyes. Gears of War 5 is about a woman constantly complaining about how terrible a lot she has in life. The other characters, the war, the previous stories all take a back seat to what she wants. She constantly pulls ranks on superiors, barks orders and acts like an insufferable git all because she wants to answer questions she has about her *own life*.

No one cares about that. At least, I don't. The nonsensical, stretched plot was painful and pointless to experience. And in the end, the game ended on a sudden, jarringly painful cliffhanger. Sadly, between the horrible optimization, the padded fetch quests, the freemium-vibe on multiplayer and the extremely sjw plotlines, this might be the last Gears I buy for a while.

All in all, Gears wasn't a terrible experience and, on a $10 dollar sale, with friends (especially on co-op), Gears is worth the buy. But don't expect to get an intelligent, polished game with longevity. This is strictly 10-20 hour junkfood.

Worth a look.

7/10.

(mini-review.)

An attractive, punchy, raucously funny title with a lot to like. Unfortunately, it lacks some of the spark of imagination that the madcap predecessor wielded with so much aplomb. The game feels like a slog at times, enemies are far too weak on the first play through and the game often feels like it was meant to be played on Vault Hunter+ instead. Even with almost 60 hours, I never quite hit level 50 and the game seemed to demand a second play through before it would release its best gear. Sorry, I don't have the time. The developers at Gearbox should've timed the game better to allow players to finish the game at level 50 and then offered farmable megabosses for sweet loot. Instead, you'll pop 90% of your gear from vending machines on Sanctuary and most boss/mini-boss/enemy drops are just trash.

The game isn't bad at all and it's even more fun with friends but it's not a classic, much less a masterpiece.

Good for a whirl, especially on sale and with friends.

Recommended.

7.5/10.

(mini-review).

Good atmosphere. Nice engine-based lighting effects sullied by 2008-ish character models/textures. Solid score & soundtrack tarnished by mediocre writing. Piss-poor shopping-cart style Resident Evil 2 controls. Horrid and pervasive QTE events for door-closing, hiding events and more. The QTE events are so frustratingly, badly executed that they sour the entire game. I found myself angrily storming about between the occasional jump scares looking for the solution to one badly contrived puzzle after another. Permadeath and the frequent cheap demises combine to make add the icing on the proverbial cake.

I was looking for a cool horror game that I could play over Halloween. This seemed like a Layers of Fear imitation I could enjoy. The controls, amateurish QTEs and weak writing had other plans. Pick this up only if you're hard up for a horror game and only if you can pick it up for $10 or less.

Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere.

6/10.

(mini-review).

Ash of Gods is not Banner Saga. Let that sink in. Yes, the game has many similarities: a unique, nihilistic, fantasy setting, gorgeously evocative hand-drawn artwork, powerfully inspiring music and of course the turn-based combat. However, the devil is in the details and Ash of Gods falls short in the details. The game's premise, that powerful beings have returned, in a cyclical event, to purge life in the world, is an unoriginal but ultimately well-executed one. While the game starts aimlessly slow, the anxiety of the culling's commencement is nonetheless palpable. Unfortunately, much like every other aspect in the game, the concept becomes overly burdensome and complex by the end of the game. Combat is derivative but poorly executed, with unnecessary features and options making combat cumbersome and fundamentally counter intuitive. Between the unwieldy combat and the poorly paced plot, I had to give Ash of Gods an early farewell.

Appropriate for some but only at half the price.

Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere.

6.5/10.

(mini-review.)

Little Hope fails to learn from its predecessor's mistakes. It's a game with a great hook/idea and the very real allure of co-op horror multiplay that ultimately suffers from a litany of foibles compromising the entire offering. A sumptuously lavish visual experience, Little Hope simply oozes atmosphere. Unfortunately, the music, voice acting and, most importantly, the plotting are hit or miss, at best. The game lacks serious scares, packing only a few jump scares at most. The controls are simply awful, with characters controlling like shopping carts and the ending is more psychobabble nonsense on par with Man of Medan. Tons of crashes, glitches, and poor performance optimizations abound. Still waiting for Until Dawn. A reasonably fun diversion with a friend if you can get the game on the cheap but certainly not for $30. Maybe not even worth half that.

Worth a look.

7/10.

(mini-review).

Poor, plodding controls that don't lend themselves to a speedy supernatural race against time. Amateurish graphics, with malformed models, prepackaged textures and laughable antagonists. Rote gameplay. After about 4-6 games, you've basically seen everything this game has to throw at you. Minimal atmosphere beyond jump scares and dark, settling rooms. 0 story and real theme. The community is considerable but 90% of players don't use mics and those that often do already have teams and will promptly boot you from the lobby. The game feels like an itchy.io mod.

Not worth 15 dollars. Hell, not really worth half that. I'd say it's fine at list price if you have a group. Otherwise, anything more than 2-3 dollars, USD, is theft. Oh and crash.crash.crash.crash.crash.crash.crash.

Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere.

5/10.

(mini-review.)

What happens when you take proficient cut scenes, a fantastic sound track, vastly detailed graphics, marry them to the love child of an insipid Icewind Dale mod and Age of Empires? You get this game. If you love 3 minute M.2 load screens, Geralt of Rivia whispering sweet nothings into your ears, a throw away multiplayer mode and a grand adventure that has you squashing wolves and spiders 2 feet from each other, then boy do I have the game for you! If you have more things to do than play a purposefully and obscurely complex title, then avoid this.

On sale for ten bucks or less, maybe worth it for some, but not for me.

Not worth the time. You'll find better games elsewhere.

6.5/10.

Banner Saga 3 is a fitting conclusion to a uniquely, singular and special RPG experience. With a rich norse-themed story and a complete resolution to all of the story's major plot points, Banner Saga 3 creates a lasting experience that all RPG gamers will remember & enjoy. The story continues where Banner Saga 2 left off, with an alliance of humans, giant-kin like varl and centaur-like horseborn taking refuge in the last bastion of civilization: Arberrang. The human capital is beset by desperate dredge, monstrous warped creatures and a giant serpent that was created for one purpose only: to destroy the world.


The game, quite frankly is a modern take on the apocalyptic concepts of Ragnarok, replete with memorable characters, an ever darkening-outlook and thought-provoking decision-making that will decide the fate of every living soul in the world. Main characters live and die based on your cleverness and choices and the game's spiraling web of choices quickly becomes a completely personalized experiences. Choices are obscure and often difficult, with many results couched realistically. Don't expect simple moralizing to always win the day and your band of heroes will suffer if you're not careful. The game's artwork is once again beautiful and the music is hauntingly soulful. The game game's design from menus, to UI to even the end credits background all creatively portray a unique universe that is wholly Banner Saga 3.


Combat is still deep, tactical and unforgiving. Do not expect to "turn your brain off" and expect to power your way through the game (especially at higher levels). Past decisions will haunt you and at times, limit your ability to challenge/tackle the game at higher difficulties. That should be ok since Banner Saga 3 is only exceeded in its tactical combat by its sumptuous storytelling. The game runs on junk systems, is fiercely unique in a crowded landscape of traditional RPG imitators, and has other cool add-ons like multiplay and various gameplay modes.


You might also want to replay the game to explore the various sundry of choices. The game isn't without faults. The game's decisions and combat can be unforgivingly unfair at times, even at lower difficulty settings and the game crashed/got stuck on me about 3-4 times (once during the end game climax no less). That said, for a total of 28-30 dollars USD, the Banner Saga trilogy is a fantastically unique and mature RPG experience.

Highly Recommended.

Banner Saga 3: 9/10.

Banner Saga Trilogy: 8.5/10.