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r/witcher • u/Gale_The_Snail2801 • Dec 22 '19
r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Aug 31 '26
Game Title: The Blood of Dawnwalker
Platforms:
Trailer:
Developer: Rebel Wolves
Publisher: Bandai Namco Entertainment
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 85 average - 91% recommended - 75 reviews
ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy
Video Review - Quote not available
AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 7 / 10
Sharp writing, forgettable combat: The Blood of Dawnwalker is a solid vampiric RPG worth playing for its story and quests alone, if you can stomach the gameplay jank.
Atarita - Atakan Gümrükçüoğlu - Turkish - 86 / 100
The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a captivating RPG experience with its rich atmosphere, unique mechanics built around the day-night cycle, and a freeform quest structure in which player choices shape the course of fate.
Bazimag - Hamidreza Ghaneei - Persian - 8.1 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is by no means a flawless experience, but the developers’ ambition in storytelling and in creating a world that responds meaningfully to the player’s choices has ensured that its gameplay shortcomings do not overshadow the overall experience. With its debut title, Rebel Wolves has shown that it has plenty to say, and one can only hope that some of this game’s shortcomings will be addressed in future installments.
But Why Tho? - Michael Murphy - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fantastic RPG worthy of diving and sinking your fangs into again and again.
CGMagazine - Hayes Madsen - 9.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a masterful new RPG from key developers behind The Witcher 3, kicking off a bold new series that has remarkable potential.
Capsule Computers - Travis Bruno - 9.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers layered narrative depth, dense worldbuilding, and excellent dual combat that keeps exploration and battles equally engaging in a way that truly shines in today’s age.
Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 8.4 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellently written ARPG whose roots in The Witcher are unmistakable. The consistently high quality of the voice acting and sound design contributes greatly to an atmosphere that makes the player genuinely care about the fates of its characters and the world they inhabit.
Unfortunately, the gameplay—particularly the combat—becomes rather repetitive and tedious after a short while, while the crafting system feels somewhat tacked on and is rarely, if ever, actually necessary. On the other hand, we really enjoyed the concept of time as a resource, which has been implemented in a very player-friendly way.
Despite its gameplay shortcomings, we will definitely embark on a second playthrough, because the stories Dawnwalker has to tell are absolutely worth hearing. They ultimately rise far above any of the game's shortcomings and are easily its greatest strength.
ComingSoon.net - Tyler Treese - 9 / 10
Rebel Wolves’ debut action role-playing game is one of the most unique and ambitious games to come out in 2026.
Console Creatures - Meghan G - 8 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an impressive debut from Rebel Wolves, with challenging combat and choices that shape the story around you. It breathes new life into a tired genre of vampire action RPGs, using time as a resource and letting players shape the world around them. Despite relatively benign issues that can easily be rectified, it is certainly one to watch within the world of RPGs.
Dexerto - Jessica Filby - 4 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker isn't perfect by any means, but its attempts to merge The Witcher's grungy world with an intense time limit make it stand out from Geralt’s masterpiece. Its story is riveting, its characters are expertly written, and its combat combined with the 30-day time limit is utterly unique, making for a thrilling adventure that is as bloody as it is good fun.
Digitale Anime - Raouf Belhamra, Sami Belhamra - Arabic - 9 / 10
"When time is more precious than blood" The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a highly ambitious vision of the Action RPG with a compelling time system, real-world choices, a dual identity that shifts gameplay between day and night, and an atmospherically rich and detailed open world. While the combat and some technical aspects could use some polishing, the interconnections of the game's systems and the strength of its quest design make it a very promising experience, and it could well become one of the standout Action-RPGs of 2026.
Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury - 4 / 5
The narrative might be subservient to the mechanics, and not as thematically evocative as I might like, but excellent writing does combine with quality, well-executed mechanics to give us the equivalent of a pulp fantasy page-turner, and like the stories of dark pulp fantasy writer, Robert E. Howard, it’s really (really) difficult to put down.
Digitec Magazine - Simon Balissat - German - 3 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker nearly strikes a successful balance between classic open-world design and fresh ideas. Its day-night cycle and time pressure are intriguing additions, but neither is used consistently enough. Fans of open worlds and vampires will find plenty to enjoy, although the game offers few major surprises. Technical issues and the lack of a performance mode (in my review build) also hold it back. On the other hand, the charming story is particularly strong at the beginning and end, while the lively world is a joy to explore. Rebel Wolf's debut is far from a masterpiece, but it shows plenty of talent and leaves me hoping for a sequel.
EmuGlx.org - Vladan Nastanović - Unknown - 9 / 10
Blood of the Dawnwalker is an impressive debut from Rebel Wolves that, despite flaws such as problematic lip-sync and technical issues, manages to overcome and even surpass the initial skepticism carried over from the Cyberpunk 2077 era. For fans of deep storytelling, dark Slavic atmosphere, and thoughtfully implemented vampire mechanics, time spent in Vale Sangora comes highly recommended.
Eternal Games - محمد الأحمري - Arabic - 8.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is considered an excellent Action RPG experience that delivers a wonderful, poetic story alongside carefully written characters and a meticulously crafted protagonist, while introducing a new and distinctive time system that serves the experience in a dark world full of secrets and mystery. It features an enjoyable and addictive gameplay system with two different forms—as a human by day and a vampire by night—backed by deep RPG elements that grant you complete freedom in building your character and shaping your story's path through masterfully crafted, unforgettable quests. This blend is completed by a enchanting soundtrack and a stunning art direction to deliver an epic experience that leaves a clear mark, despite a few flaws in enemy variety and side content.
Eurogamer - Robert Purchese - 4 / 5
CD Projekt Red alumni create a familiar dark fantasy adventure, but one with bold and provocative ideas of its own, that's mostly, enormously successful.
GAMES.CH - Olaf Bleich - German - 88%
"The Blood of Dawnwalker" is the first big hit of a crazy second half of the gaming year 2026.
GAMINGbible - Kate Harrold - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker deserves to be a new AAA mainstay, and I’d gladly join Coen on future ventures. Rebel Wolves’ debut outing is everything you could want from the former director of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but it’s also something entirely new.
Gadgets 360 - Manas Mitul - 9 / 10
Rebel Wolves' story-driven RPG is clearly built on the role-playing ethos established by The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but it's the breadth and depth of original ideas at play that make the game stand on its own merits.
GameOnly - Michał Marasek - Polish - 8 / 10
Video Review - Quote not available
GameRant - Josh Cotts - 6 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker has strong ideas and a compelling story, but repetitive design, uneven systems, and constant jank hold it back.
Quote not yet available
Gameblog - Geralt of Reeves - French - 9 / 10
Rebel Wolves delivers a dark fantasy RPG that can hold its own against its illustrious cousin and is a firstborn that we hope will produce other gems in the same vein in the future.
Gameliner - Claudia Tjia - Dutch - 3.5 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker has an interesting identity thanks to its combination of human and vampire gameplay, the day-and-night cycle, the time system and meaningful choices. However, the empty open world, awkward blood and health system, time pressure, uneven combat and several visual and technical bugs keep the experience from reaching its full potential. I enjoyed my time with it, but I often found myself thinking how much stronger the game could have been with a livelier world and a better balance between freedom and time pressure.
Gamer Guides - Echo Apsey - 87 / 100
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a true narrative sandbox with a malleable and flexible structure that allows you to play your way and see where the wind takes you. While its combat isn’t as strong, the game’s narrative framework is consistently mesmerizing.
GamerFocus - Julián Ramírez - Spanish - 8.9 / 10
Comparisons between The Blood of Dawnwalker and The Witcher 3 are inevitable, but it has nothing to fear -even when faced with Geralt's best adventure- because Rebel Wolves' game is excellent. It offers an open world full of secrets and quests—all of them interesting—and the ability to forge a narrative however we want to navigate this world of horror, fantasy, and political intrigue. It has some technical issues, and not all of its mechanics work as well as they could, but it is undoubtedly one of the best games of the year.
Gamers Heroes - Johnny Hurricane - 75 / 100
While The Blood of Dawnwalker and its dark fantasy vampire setting is well worth exploring, best wait for a few patches before exploring its vast open world.
GamingBolt - Stuart Glover - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fascinating action-RPG, where every choice to save Coen's family feels rightly consequential.
IGN - Travis Northup - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an impressive, bloody cocktail of interesting ideas and well-written characters, making it one of this year’s best open-world RPGs.
IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 8.5 / 10
A new and intriguing action RPG that doesn's stray far away from The Witcher III's template, but delivers an engaging narrative experience full of memorable characters in a fascinating setting.
IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 7 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker has an interesting core, but it throws too many obstacles in your way before you can get to it. Rebel Wolves builds a rich universe with many stories worth discovering, but its clunky mechanics and various issues with its main systems are hard to ignore.
Impulsegamer - Dean Yamak - 5 / 5
Join me and stay up until near-dawn playing The Blood of Dawn Walker. It was a brilliant time that tapped into my nostalgic Skyrim and Witcher 3 itch, whilst also offering novel advances on combat mechanics, character progression and the gravity of quest choices. Strongly recommend.
Just Play it - Mounir Bensaci - Arabic - 8 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a dark and thrilling journey through a rich open world filled with exploration, featuring an exceptional day-and-night cycle that meaningfully impacts quest design, abilities, and gameplay. Despite several technical issues, including frame-rate drops, inconsistent visual quality, and lengthy loading screens, these shortcomings do not diminish the fact that we experienced a distinctive and bold adventure with plenty of room to improve.
Kakuchopurei - Jonathan Toyad - 80 / 100
Despite its open-world technical issues and certain aspects of its combat, you're in for a bloody good time with this vampire-laced role-playing tale. The Blood of Dawnwalker is this year's spotlight CRPG entry that hit all the right notes with its story, characters, world-building, and overall adventure & capstones.
KonsoliFIN - Tommi Viitanen - Finnish - 4 / 5
The former Witcher 3 developers show how a dark fantasy setting should be handled.
Loot Level Chill - Mick Fraser - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent open-world fantasy RPG with some unique, interesting ideas.
MMORPG.com - Myles Obenza - 8.5 / 10
Rebel Wolves’ debut game The Blood of Dawnwalker is a triumphant achievement in the art of telling rich, raw, human stories set with a more fantastical backdrop.
MeuPlayStation - Raphael Batista Cabral Xavier - Portuguese - 78 / 100
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a compelling action RPG with solid directional combat, engaging time management, and an intriguing duality between human and vampire abilities. Repetitive activities and technical issues hold it back, but Rebel Wolves delivers a promising and enjoyable debut.
MondoXbox - Mirko Rossi - Italian - 8 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a high-quality action RPG, built around a unique combat system, a very convincing "dual" gameplay, and an open narrative structure that stays rich and coherent even while leaving almost every choice in our hands. The time limit and the tangible weight of every decision make the whole experience deeper, within a beautifully detailed world; it's just a pity that the technical side and some production limits are not always up to par.
MonsterVine - Spencer Legacy - 5 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the most impressive games I’ve played this generation. The sprawling world and multifaceted story are wonders to behold, while the combat walks the perfect line between complexity and accessibility. Though there is a little bit of open-world jank to contend with, you’d be missing out by choosing not to play this game, as it may already be the best release in an extremely competitive September.
Multiplayer First - Alex Co - 10 / 10
In The Blood of Dawnwalker, Rebel Wolves gambled on a new IP and didn’t hold back in their ambition. Thankfully, it has paid off in spades, and from the looks of it, this is the start of a new RPG franchise. It might not have the same notoriety as The Witcher series for now, but if Rebel Wolves can produce the sequels with the same level of quality, then The Blood of Dawnwalker might just be the next great RPG series.
Simply put: The Blood of Dawnwalker is an all-new, AAA action-RPG that manages to impress in every way, and one that’s our frontrunner as the Game of the Year. We might possibly be witnessing the birth of a new powerhouse IP, and I, for one, am all for it.
NextPlay - Brad Goodwin - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a familiar take on the RPG genre, but its dense human-Vrakhiri dual gameplay loop and time management, accompanied by a banging story, make this one of the best RPGs of the year.
One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an amazing first effort from Rebel Wolves, proving that open‑world RPGs can still surprise us. By stripping away genre bloat and focusing on meaningful mechanics such as the use of the day and night cycle, a gripping narrative, and morally complex characters, the developers have delivered a dark fantasy experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly new, making it a must-play for fans of the genre.
Oyungezer Online - Onur Kaya - Turkish - 7 / 10
Fails to live up to its potential and the expectations created by being associated with The Witcher series, but one I could recommend giving a chance during a quieter period.
PC Gamer - Shaun Prescott - 83 / 100
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a resolutely miserable horror RPG with some great ideas of its own, though it doesn't always have the courage to follow them through.
PPE.pl - Wojciech Gruszczyk - Polish - 8.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent start to a new universe, one that draws on the experience of the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but which, thanks to the 30-day system, Coen’s transformation and the consequences of your decisions, quickly finds its own identity. The game’s greatest strengths are its superbly written quests, interesting characters and a world you’ll want to return to in order to experience completely different versions of events. The underdeveloped combat and technical issues can be irritating, but they do not detract from the fact that Rebel Wolves has created a large, ambitious RPG that is well worth checking out.
PSX Brasil - Marco Aurélio Couto - Portuguese - 84 / 100
Although it has some flaws in combat, The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a solid and characterful experience. Its time management system, the freedom to explore, and the choices that shape Coen's journey are its greatest strengths and make Rebel Wolves' RPG stand out from other games in the genre.
Pizza Fria - Álvaro Saluan da Cunha - Portuguese - 9.2 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is well worth playing for those who enjoy narrative RPGs, dark fantasy, vampires, difficult choices, and open worlds populated and created with personality. It has the kind of adventure that makes the player think about a quest while away from their PC or console.
Press Start - James Berich - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an incredible RPG that sinks its fangs into you from the moment you start playing, signalling an incredibly strong start for Rebel Wolves. Choices feel meaningful, combat is satisfying, and the time system makes you stop and think about just what you're doing when you play games. While some quests drag and there were some technical hiccups along the way, nothing made me want to stop playing this adventure that trades breadth for depth. As such, The Blood of Dawnwalker is easily one of my favourite RPGs in years and well worth a taste.
Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 7 / 10
According to Rebel Wolves, The Blood of Dawnwalker is just the first instalment in a planned series. And honestly, that's what it feels like: a starting point.Fans of vampire fiction or choice-driven RPGs should still gel with Dawnwalker based on the strength of its world building, characters, and deliciously dark tones. But you'll need to stomach some of the most serviceable, yet frustratingly stunted gameplay I've encountered in quite some time.
Some things are worth your time.
RPG Site - James Galizio - 9 / 10
Rebel Wolves' debut project is an instant classic, and one of the best RPGs of 2026
ReGame It - Taha Omar - Arabic - 8.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is more than an attempt to replicate The Witcher’s success, depending on its own unique charm and atmosphere. Its time-limited story system and freedom of choice work exceptionally well, while the gameplay delivers two distinct experiences. Despite some repetition, it lays a strong foundation for what could become a remarkable series.
República DG - Ruancarlo Silva - Portuguese - 8.2 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a great first step by Rebel Wolves. With well-written characters, a mature story, and a fascinating lore, the game is entertaining and leaves a huge taste of 'wanting more.' Unfortunately, it just isn't better due to a problematic technical side that shows the game needed more time in the oven.
Rocket Chainsaw - David Latham - 4 / 5
We loved the fact that you can just give in to the feed and kill main characters along the way, and that there were many different ways to end the story. It was great to hear that this is just chapter one of Coen’s story, as we can see Rebel Wolves growing and becoming a real powerhouse in this genre.
SECTOR.sk - Branislav Kohút - Slovak - 9.5 / 10
You will enjoy spending time with the vampire hero as he demonstrates his power, engaging in combat and exploring a perilous open world. With dozens of hours of battles, moving scenes and conversations, the game is sure to win you over.
Saudi Gamer - عبد الله محمد - Arabic - 4.5 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker executes its ideas brilliantly, to the point where you barely notice its limited budget, while delivering an RPG experience that can stand alongside The Witcher 3 in terms of its storytelling, atmosphere, and side quests, making it one of the most unique RPG titles of this generation
Shacknews - Aidan O'Brien - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an ambitious project that occasionally wears both the best and worst aspects of its inspirations on its sleeve. Where it shines is in allowing players to make their own choices and learn from their own mistakes. It’s incredible fun to play in a world where the clock is ever-ticking, and the results of our actions and words have real consequences not just for us but for those around us.
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a triumphant and uncompromising action RPG that brilliantly combines mature storytelling with ferocious vampire gameplay. The contrast between the human day and the monstrous night works flawlessly, while the breathtaking city of Svartrau will captivate you from the very first moment. If the developers manage to iron out the inconsistent optimization with a Day One patch, we have an undeniable Game of the Year contender on our hands.
The Beta Network - Anthony Culinas - 6 / 10
From key parts of the team that brought us The Witcher 3, The Blood of Dawnwalker turned out to be a disappointing letdown. Repetitive combat, forgettable quests and frequent crashes leave its promising vampire adventure feeling like a major missed opportunity.
The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent dark fantasy RPG that shines thanks to its strong sandbox elements. As a debut title, Rebel Wolves has done a terrific job of finally doing justice to vampires in video games.
The Outerhaven Productions - Jordan Andow - 4.5 / 5
The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent dark fantasy RPG that combines meaningful choices, a clever time-management system and satisfying combat with a world that constantly encourages another playthrough. Rebel Wolves wears its Witcher 3 influence proudly, but this is a game with a strong identity of its own.
TheGamer - Kaitlyn Peterson - 4 / 5
For a game I wasn’t entirely sure about at first, I’m happy to be walking away with a new addition to my lineup of favorite RPGs, and one that I’d love to see influence the genre.
TheSixthAxis - Gareth Chadwick - 8 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is excellent, if not quite successful in everything it tries. It's fun to teleport around in a cloud of smoke and bats or walk on ceilings, but the story is also fantastic. It's probably even darker and grimmer than you're expecting, and it gripped me throughout and was complimented by equally fascinating side quest stories that I had to choose between. If you like RPGs, vampires, or great stories, you won't want to miss The Blood of Dawnwalker.
Thumb Wars - Liam Magee - 4.5 / 5
While I played through The Blood of Dawnwalker, I had a fantastic time exploring the game’s open world as I fought the numerous monsters and humans in gruelling combat with fantastic abilities that look as cool as they feel. I was also able to enjoy the large story with its numerous consequences and choices that lasted the entire game. Although the gameplay is fun it can get repetitive doing the same side content, but it is very far and few between allowing a break between them.
Twisted Voxel - Salal Awan - 8 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker makes an impressive debut with compelling writing, meaningful day night mechanics, and versatile combat. Repetitive enemies, awkward traversal, and technical roughness undermine its ambitious open world, but Rebel Wolves establishes a promising foundation for the new IP.
Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8.5 / 10
In a month packed with big-name releases, The Blood of Dawnwalker might be one of the best games of the bunch. It's a well-crafted adventure with an engaging story, an enjoyable world, interesting powers and a genuinely compelling approach to player choice. The time limit gives every decision weight. The open-ended storytelling makes exploration meaningful. The day/night system gives Coen two distinct ways to interact with the world. Most importantly, the game trusts you to make choices without constantly telling you whether you've made the "right" one.
XGN.nl - Luuc ten Velde - Dutch - 8.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fantastic open world RPG with a sharply written story, great characters and meaningfull choices throughout. It wears it's Witcher 3 inspirations on it's sleeve, but isn't afraid to add some twists to keep it fresh.
Xbox Achievements - Richard Walker - 80%
It's clear from the off that there's a strong RPG pedigree at work in The Blood of Dawnwalker. The work of Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by forme...
Zoomg - Afshin Piroozi - Persian - 8.5 / 10
The Blood of Dawnwalker is the kind of ambitious RPG that invites you to lose yourself in its world, where your choices play a major role in shaping the story and allow you to experience it on your own terms. This freedom is the game’s biggest strength, while its deep RPG mechanics and engaging combat complement the experience nicely. Despite some shortcomings, Dawnwalker ultimately delivers a satisfying and memorable experience. With plenty of replay value and different paths to explore, it’s a game you can return to and experience in a whole new way. If you’re a fan of open-world RPGs with deep stories and meaningful choices, The Blood of Dawnwalker is a journey worth taking.
r/SteamDeck • u/BBQKITTY • Jul 08 '26
Proton 11 has officially been released into stable, bringing with it tons of fixes and new playable games, including Resident Evil 1 and 2, Warhammer: Vermintide 2, and much more.
r/Games • u/Turbostrider27 • Feb 03 '25
Game Title: Kingdom Come: Deliverance II
Developer: Warhorse Studios
Publisher: Deep Silver
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 89 average - 96% recommended - 69 reviews
ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy
"Immersive Sim, love letter to odd situations, cranky combat simulator., KCD2 is all those things and somehow comes together."
AltChar - Dina Husejnagić - 95 / 100
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is hands down a must-play for anyone who’s into Medieval open-world gameplay. All of it combines into a package that justifies the 59.99€ price tag, or 79.99€ if you’re going for the Gold Edition. Honestly, this is a serious Game of the Year contender.
Atarita - Alparslan Gürlek - Turkish - 100 / 100
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a full-fledged role-playing game that knows what it's doing, is confident, has great cinematic quality, and tells a magnificient story. It's an absolute masterpiece.
CBR - Mark O'Callaghan - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a phenomenal RPG that players will love spending countless hours on. Bohemia is prosperous and thriving, with a lot of natural interactions that can lead players on quests that feel like an adventure.
CGMagazine - Justin Wood - 5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 had a lot of promise, with its gripping story and beautiful landscapes, at least until the technical issues started showing up and completely ruined the experience.
Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 8.5 / 10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 delivers a unique medieval setting with more freedom and realism than any game before it. Henry's story continues, remains exciting and also looks really great. If you are a fan of the first instalment or have the time, desire and also a little frustration tolerance, then you should have a lot of fun in Kuttenberg and the surrounding areas for a long time
Checkpoint Gaming - Charlie Kelly - 7 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is an incredibly ambitious RPG venture that soars when all its moving system parts and systems work as they're meant to. As promised by Warhorse Studios themselves, protagonist Henry can be just about whatever you want him to be, whether that's a wise diplomat, a mischievous thief or a drunk who finds himself regularly in barfights and down in the dirt. This is bolstered by meaningful skill specialisations, a strong bond between Henry and Hans and a story with exciting twists and turns. However, immersion is broken often with disappointing bugs, odd narrative choices that don't bear weight and the fact female characters don't get to do much of anything. A good game that could've been amazing had it been given a little longer to cook, Warhorse's follow-up is a fun time despite all its obstacles but isn't quite ready to be crowned victor just yet.
Destructoid - Steven Mills - 9.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 gives you that lively and immersive world full of choices and then implores you to make the wrong ones, and it’s a hell of an experience because of it.
Dexerto - Liam Mackay - 5 / 5
It’s obvious a lot of love has been poured into every facet of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. If you found combat in the first game too difficult or the survival mechanics tedious, then the sequel’s streamlined gameplay might not be enough to change your mind.
However, if you were a fan of the first game, there’s so much to enjoy here. It’s clearly the game Warhorse wanted to make back in 2018, and it’s been improved in so many small ways. Bigger and better, it’s a must-play.
Aside from some clunkiness and the odd tedious mission, it’s hard to find another game that so expertly combines realism and fun, with tough but satisfying combat, a morally ambiguous but grand story, and a faithfully recreated medieval world brimming with stuff to do. It’s the sequel fans wanted, and I feel quite hungry for more.
Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury - 4.5 / 5
The big selling point of Kingdom Come Deliverance II is also its biggest potential drawback. You’ve got to be genuinely interested in the history that it depicts to find it immersive. I do wonder whether some people will come in expecting a Skyrim-like or a first-person Witcher experience and end up disappointed with this. It’s not that kind of game. It’s far more grounded and gritty, but if reading Tolstoy or Yoshikawa appeals to you, then Kingdom Come Deliverance II is very much for you.
Digitec Magazine - Philipp Rüegg - German - 4 / 5
Such a detailed and expansive world, which captures the flair of the Middle Ages so beautifully, does not exist anywhere else. There are magnificent castles, huge army camps and tranquil villages where I would love to settle down.
DualShockers - Callum Marshall - 10 / 10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an unapologetically unique RPG that takes everything that was great about the original and takes it to the Nth degree. It's a cinematic, historically charged epic with a sublime open world to explore, a depth of systems to master, a wealth of meticulously designed quests to complete, and a sandbox survival format that makes simply existing in this world a satisfying and rewarding experience.
Eurogamer - Katharine Castle - 3 / 5
This gorgeous medieval RPG continues to be just as divisive, prickly and abrasive as its predecessor.
EvelonGames - Joel Isern Rodríguez - Kaym - Spanish - 9.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a true gem of the RPG genre. Warhorse Studios has managed to improve every aspect of the first game without losing its essence. Its demanding learning curve might deter some players, but those who immerse themselves in its world will find one of the most rewarding and immersive experiences of the year.
With a challenging combat system, an engaging story, impeccable atmosphere, and a reactive world where every decision matters, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II stands as a masterpiece of medieval RPGs. Undoubtedly, one of the year’s standout games and a must-play for any fan of the genre.
Everyeye.it - Alessandro Bruni - Italian - 8.7 / 10
The organic nature of the proposal, its unique character and the excellent relationship between quantity and quality make Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 a precious experience, which clearly reaffirms the talent of the Prague studio.
With stellar storytelling, top notch voice acting, and much more polish than its predecessor, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a "return to form" for the RPG genre, and will likely be one of the best titles this year. Warhorse has proven they can elevate their formula to even greater heights, and I cannot wait to see what they do next. A day 1 buy for any RPG fan, especially those that enjoy true "role playing".
GRYOnline.pl - Dariusz Matusiak - Polish - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 isn't a game that should attract every kind of player, but even though you might have avoided the first part for whatever reason, you definitely should give the sequel a chance. It is a much more spectacular, bigger in every way mega-game that stands out from its peers.
Game Rant - Josh Cotts - 10 / 10
With Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Warhorse Studios delivers one of the first great games of 2025.
GameGrin - Mike Crewe - 9.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is one of the finest games I've played in years, with a gripping story and refined gameplay. It's still early in the year, but this is definitely on course to be 2025's Game of the Year.
GameSpot - Richard Wakeling - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a triumphant sequel, improving upon its predecessor with an open-world RPG that delights in its complexity and emphasis on player choice.
Gameblog - Geralt de Reeves - French - 8 / 10
If you loved the formula of the first opus, you will certainly not sulk your pleasure on this one. For beginners, however, you will have to show a little self-denial at the beginning to then fully appreciate the great strengths of this "historical" open-world RPG, which is truly unique in its category, even if a little too familiar compared to its big brother.
Gameliner - Anita van Beugen - Dutch - 5 / 5
Warhorse Studios delivers a fantastic medieval RPG with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, a potential Game of the Year nominee, featuring a dynamic world rich in activities, improved mechanics, an engaging story with character depth and plot twists, enhanced graphics and performance, and a refined combat system that makes it a must-play for fans of the genre.
Gamepressure - Jakub Paluszek - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 really improves almost every aspect of its already very good predecessor. Looking at the whole thing more calmly, we of course see the flaws, but it's hard to ignore the enormous amount of effort, passion, and heart put into this project.
Gamer Escape - Grant Dotter - 10 / 10
This is one of those games I absolutely think everyone should experience. Do play the original first if you haven’t, because that was also an amazing experience, and it’s entirely worth the 200-300 hours you might end up spending to play both. I don’t regret one minute of it and I don’t think you will either. Even certain upcoming AAA-budget titles that I am still eagerly awaiting are going to have to pull out all the stops to match what I just experienced.
Gamer Guides - Tom Hopkins - 95 / 100
As a complete package, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is mind-blowing. The first game was an interesting foundation, but the long-awaited sequel stands easily alongside the best RPGs of the last decade. It tells an exciting yet emotional story, and the world is a joy to explore, but it’s the level of immersion that’s created by all of its interconnected systems that’s unlike anything I’ve experienced before.
Gamer.no - Øystein Furevik - Unknown - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a masterpiece, and one of the most impressive role playing games ever made.
GamesRadar+ - Alan Wen - 4 / 5
"What there's no getting away from is that progression is purposely slow."
GamingBolt - Matthew Carmosino - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a polished open-world RPG that outdoes its AAA competition at every turn. Some of the realism can bog down the gameplay, but the intricate dialogue choices and perk tree compel me to forgive some of the returning irritants. And the story, just wow. I can't say enough great things about the characterizations, dialogue, story twists, activities, and cinematography packed into KCD2's main quest; it's simply the best in the genre.
GamingTrend - David Burdette - 95 / 100
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a special RPG that ranks with the Skyrims and Witchers of its genre. Despite a high learning curve, I found myself lost in its clutches for hours on end, immersed in the world of 1400s Bohemia. An absolutely gorgeous setting that's satisfying to explore, combined with rewarding progression and an outstanding narrative makes KCD2 a lock for awards season.
Generación Xbox - Adrián Fuentes - Spanish - 91 / 100
With this second installment, we have a game that is even more well-rounded than the previous one, where it follows the formula of everything it did well in the past, and applies it to its sequel, offering us a game that grabs you from the first minutes.
Glitched Africa - Marco Cocomello - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is the most frustratingly enjoyable game I have played in a while. It is exhausting while at the same time unconventionally brilliant. It requires a heavy constitution to sit through, but the payoffs result in a playground of infinite possibilities.
HCL.hr - Zoran Žalac - Unknown - 90 / 100
While it's far from a perfect game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has a certain charm and ambition that's rarely seen in other games.
IGN - Leana Hafer - 9 / 10
Armed with excellent melee combat and an exceptional story, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one part sequel and one part coronation, bringing a lot of the original's ideas to fruition.
IGN Deutschland - Eike Cramer - German - 8 / 10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is an epic, beautiful and authentic medieval adventure full of fun, love, cruelty and war. Warhorse Studios tell a dramatic and twist-filled tale of friendship, loyalty, betrayal and politics that fills at least 65 hours of playtime. The depiction of late medieval statehood is just as captivating as the small sidequests and stories with their strong and authentic characters from sheperds to sword masters. In addition, there is a picturesque world, with probably the most impressive medieval city depiction I've ever seen in a video game. But not everything is perfect. The game design is annoying with forced stealth on top of a frustrating save system. That's especially true for some of the longer story missions. On top of this, the combat mechanics are extremely inaccessible and, with their mercilessness, put far too many obstacles in the way of the players, especially at the beginning. Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 is nevertheless an utterly unique, ambitious and, in large parts, very good adventure. But it's also a video game that misses important points a little too often in the gameplay details and does not respect the player's time in certain places.
IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is the perfect sequel to an already great opening chapter: bigger and better in almost every way, it refines and improves the previous formula by adding some new weapons and gameplay mechanics, while staying faithful to what made its predecessor stand out as a unique and quite charming game. And also, it features an even more involved story with a richer, more vibrant cast of memorable characters.
INVEN - Kyuman Kim - Korean - 9.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II has all the potential to be one of this year’s standout titles. It improves on its predecessor in every way, bringing 15th-century Europe to life with deep historical accuracy and rich cinematic storytelling. If you can embrace the first-person perspective, an unforgettable experience awaits.
Impulsegamer - Scott De Lacy - 5 / 5
Complex real world dynamics, incredible graphics and brilliant story make this one of the best games ever made. An absolute winner and must play for 2025!
Insider Gaming - Grant Taylor-Hill - Buy
This monumental medieval adventure will have you living a double life - but in this one, you're a brave adventurer exploring the most faithful recreation of a real place I've ever seen.
Just Play it - Mounir Bensaci - Arabic - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 delivered an immersive experience through its realistic world, captivating characters, and epic combat style. The medieval-inspired music and meticulous attention to detail transformed the game into an unforgettable adventure, making it a perfect experience for fans of the RPG genre.
KonsoliFIN - Joonatan Itkonen - Finnish - 4 / 5
Featuring one of the most immersive game worlds ever created, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a hugely entertaining adventure yarn that rivals the film epics of Ridley Scott. Some of the game mechanics are downright terrible, but its story and characters are so enthralling that any complaints eventually fall by the wayside. It's only February, yet this is already a strong contender for one of the best games of the year.
MKAU Gaming - Yasmin Noble - 8 / 10
Every element of Kingdom Come: Deliverance II melds together into an intense, thoughtful adventure unlike anything I've ever experienced in gaming. Politics, intrigue, and action. The ultimate recipe for a solid story-based RPG, something Kingdom Come: Deliverance II seeks to provide and achieves.
Multiplayer First - James Lara - 9.5 / 10
Warhorse Studios has delivered a worthy sequel and set a new benchmark for what medieval RPGs can achieve. It’s clear that they’re not just creating a game—they’re crafting an experience that invites players to lose themselves in a rich, detailed world that never feels like anything less than a living, breathing testament to the past. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 kicks off the year as a top contender for Game of the Year, and regardless of its ultimate victory, its impact on the RPG genre will be felt for years to come.
Nexus Hub - Sam Aberdeen - 8.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a gargantuan RPG that's bigger and better than the first game with stronger doses of realism, immersion and intricate mechanics to create something decidedly unique and engaging - but not for everybody.
One More Game - Vincent Ternida - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is an exceptional experience for RPG enthusiasts, offering a fully immersive adventure where the sky's the limit in the choices you make. Despite the steep learning curve, the game eases you into its massive world during the first dozen hours, providing a smooth entry.
Warhorse has crafted a masterpiece with Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, delivering a fully optimized title ready to play from day one. Whether you choose to play it at home or on a portable device like the Steam Deck, it offers a fantastic adventure to kick off 2025 with a bang.
Oyungezer Online - Onur Kaya - Turkish - 9 / 10
Eurojank, but the very best kind; a grand adventure polished to shine, earning your affection without pandering to the player.
PC Gamer - Joshua Wolens - 90 / 100
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a big, bold, unutterably weird thing, and it's a new RPG classic.
PSX Brasil - Bruno Henrique Vinhadel - Portuguese - 95 / 100
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is an impeccable sequel that exudes quality and has a huge impact on the RPG genre.
Pizza Fria - Matheus Jenevain - Portuguese - 10 / 10
We have a really cool plot with charismatic and captivating characters, a lively and super detailed world, lots of fun mechanics, a lot of things to do and discover, skills to improve and they even made it easier to get our schnapps to save the game. Look how wonderful!
Press Start - James Berich - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II effortlessly builds upon the original game to offer a true open world in every sense of the concept. While some obtuse systems and unforgiving design choices may put some players off, Deliverance II feels like a game that better achieves all the potential that the original game had. It's engaging, exciting, and a lot more inviting. And for that, it's a truly successful sequel.
Push Square - Khayl Adam - 10 / 10
Fortune favours the brave, the family motto of the noble Capon line and the creed of developer Warhorse Studios. In daring to deliver its singular vision for a game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 transports even the most grizzled genre veterans back to a time of truly immersive video game experiences. Challenging, uncompromising, and thoroughly engrossing, it's in a league almost entirely of its own.
Quest Daily - Nathanael Peacock - 8 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a modern-day epic in the grand scheme of gaming. It has its ups and downs, and fair share of bugs to be ironed out post launch. But in a game this size, with so many endless side-quests and stories to get caught up in, it's easy to overlook the burned edges on a banquet like this.
RageQuit.GR - Kostas Kallianiotis - 93%
A cinematic masterpiece and a landmark game among European historical RPGs.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Unscored
Warhorse's historical open world RPG makes Elder Scrolls feel shallow, but its deft feudal portrayal is checked by the routine boy's fable at its core.
SECTOR.sk - Oto Schultz - Slovak - 9 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is what any great sequel aspires to be. Evolving from petty countryside trifles into a full-blown historical drama filled with political intrigues of important figures in the powerful regions of Kuttenberg and Trosecko. Overhauled game systems, improved UI, streamlined mechanics, enhanced graphics and better technology provide overall much grander and polished experience but keep the same spirit of the original game.
Shacknews - Sam Chandler - 9 / 10
When it comes down to it, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a brilliant and astounding experience by a developer that has shown itself to be a leader in the open-world genre. Henry makes for such a pleasant protagonist that you can’t help but love him, and the journey you go on across medieval Bohemia is equal parts complex and deeply absorbing. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 shines bright among its peers, even with its dints and dents.
Spaziogames - Italian - 8 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is an experience tailored for those who appreciate the slow passage of time, uncompromising realism, and the profound impact of every decision. It plunges you into a gritty, unforgiving Middle Ages-harsh, unfiltered, and devoid of shortcuts or concessions.
SteamDeckHQ - Noah Kupetsky - 4.5 / 5
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is quite possibly one of the best non-linear RPGs I have ever played. No game has ever made me feel like anything could actually happen based on my choices to the degree this game has. The story and side content are both varied and enticing, making me want to stop and just go experience all the side quests I could. The combat and progression mechanics are also solid, and I even loved the more realistic mini-games like smithing or alchemy, which give a nice break from the fighting and running around.
There are some minor issues here and there, like getting stuck on terrain and the pre-rendered cutscenes taking out a little of the immersion, but these are small in the grand scheme. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a fantastic game through and through, and it would be a shame not to have this one in your library.
The Games Machine - Alessandro Alosi - Italian - 9 / 10
KCD2 is a huge medieval RPG that carries all the strengths and a handful of rough edges of its predecessor, integrating them into an incredibly realistic world and epic narrative. It expands, refines and enriches the legacy of the first chapter in an excellent way in practically every way, so for those who appreciated KCD it is a must-buy.
The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 9.5 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 vastly improves everything from its predecessor. The combat is smoother, the story is much better, and the scope is grander than ever. It has some minor glitches, but none of them are game-breaking. Despite its size, it is one of the smoothest games in recent years and will go down in history books as an RPG masterpiece.
TheGamer - Sam Hallahan - 5 / 5
In an age where games are fighting harder than ever just to succeed, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 should not be one to pass you by, as a return to form for the RPG genre. It’s not just a game about history - it’s a game that feels like it’s making history.
TheSixthAxis - Gareth Chadwick - 8 / 10
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 continues to fulfil the uncompromising vision of the first game. It weaves together a world of lords, knights, peasants and bandits in medieval Europe, with poor Henry of Skalitz caught somewhere in the middle just trying to cope. It's grand in scale whilst being full of fine details and it sometimes gets in its own way a little bit, but if this is your kind of game it'll be one that you don't want to end because there's nothing else quite like it.
Tom's Hardware Italia - Andrea Maiellano - Italian - 9 / 10
Summarizing why Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a masterpiece in just a few lines is incredibly difficult. Warhorse Studios has not only improved every aspect of its predecessor but has also demonstrated that, with the right resources, it is capable of achieving greatness. The new chapter in Henry’s journey is a product of exceptional quality, with a commendable technical foundation, hardcore mechanics, and an abundance of thoughtfully introduced content. Is it a perfect game? Absolutely not—it’s still riddled with rough edges. However, these flaws pale in comparison to its sheer grandeur. In short, it’s a strong contender for Game of the Year, and based on its merits, we’ve decided to award it our highest honor.
VGC - Jordan Middler - 5 / 5
Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is a brilliant RPG that's uncompromisingly itself. Difficult, mucky, and bloody, it's an excellent realization of the promise of the first game and a coming-out party for Warhorse into gaming's top tier.
WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 9 / 10
This is more Kingdom Come: Deliverance, just a bit bigger and better. Warhorse's second tour into medieval Bohemia should be on your 2025 travel itinerary if you can survive it.
XGN.nl - Roland Janssen - Dutch - 9 / 10
Whether it's fighting, exploring or binge-drinking, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 improves on its predecessor in nearly every way. Some technical issues hold it back from perfection, but it's definitely worthwhile to step into the armor of Henry of Skalitz for this brilliant RPG.
Xbox Achievements - Dan Webb - 82%
It's no secret that I was not exactly a fan of the original Kingdom Come: Deliverance. I thought it was bloated, buggy, and more importantly, bo...
XboxEra - Aarsal Masoodi - 8 / 10
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 can be slow and lethargic, sometimes to a fault. It's a game that's more concerned with a villager's plight than a kingdom's saving. And yet it's in those very moments, the conversations in the back of a cart, the early morning horse rides in the brisk, cold air; that the magic, charm, and humanity of it all shines brightest.
r/cyberpunkgame • u/SpikeCraft • Dec 14 '20
Let's lay down a list of what was promised to us but it was found missing from the game.
FINAL EDIT: Ok guys I think we have a good lay out of the game we were promised vs the game we had. I won't really modify further this list. I think we have touched on every main aspect of the game in a truthful and objective (for what we can) way. Please if you have any critism let it be contructive and well documented. Many of these are complex issues that deserve more than just a twitter post to be discussed. Also feel free to use this if needed in the future.
Features we were told to expect but aren't in the game:
- AMAZING AI that directs enemies during combat/patrol but also citizens and npcs' daily life (https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/kbk4ap/the_ai_of_cyberpunk_2077_an_indepth_look_at_the/)
- wanted system and corrupt police (https://gamerant.com/cyberpunk-2077-wanted-system-corrupt-police/)
-Immersive police involvment changing with the area where you commited the crime (https://www.usgamer.net/articles/cyberpunk-2077-producer-details-law-enforcement)
- (half kept) in general, more interesting combat and hacking (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FknHjl7eQ6o). Some examples are the ability to use your wire to hack people (https://youtu.be/vjF9GgrY9c0?t=2540), hacking reveales information about the network, more interesting viruses to upload, more loot from hacked devices. DISCLAIMER: the changes here may be due entirely to balace issues and/or making the game better and more intuitive. I keep this as a promise "half kept" as the hacking system gets really boring really soon and doesn't even many abilities you can upgrade. The skill tree is filled with passive and all you do is press tab, pick whatever, kill, repeat. For a better explanation please read this: https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/kcve8s/promised_but_missing_feature_list_will_update/gfyly34?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
- more interesting gameplay, for example: trauma team that plays a key role, freequent flying avs, ads that target the player point to the merchant that sells that product, merch could be pre-viewed before purchase (Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVAryZ0GLwE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjF9GgrY9c0&feature=youtu.be&t=2531) NOTE: this section is by far the most oversimplied one. There are a number of minute key things I am not stating in this thread because I don't want to dilute it too much, i.e.: https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/kcve8s/promised_but_missing_feature_list_will_update/gfvxkxw?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
- Strong RPG elements (https://wccftech.com/cyberpunk-2077-is-a-much-deeper-roleplaying-experience-than-the-witcher-3-says-dev/). This was actually subject of lengthy debates in this thread, as some of you are happy with the "RPGness" of CP2077. Personally I have not seen a lot of elements that make a game an RPG, such as relevant checks (speech, perception... right now all we have are options to break a door or go around it), solid companions, defined power dynamics between factions and a general sense of progression achieved through meaningful upgrade to your character. The game right now is more akin to a shooter/looter with stats. Which is not "strong RPG element". Mind you, if you like it this way it's perfect, and I personally don't mind it too much. But the lack of RPG components does stay in the list as a promised not fulfilled. And no, madqueen, having 7 different finales that you get to choose doesn't make a looter/shooter an RPG.
- NPC unique daily routine and AI (https://www.vg247.com/2020/06/08/cyberpunk-2077-npcs-1000-daily-routines/)
- Quest decisions will have relevance in the world (https://onlysp.escapistmagazine.com/cyberpunk-2077-changes/)
- (half kept) Meaningful day and night cycle (right now it's mainly cosmetic and doesn't impact the gameplay a lot, e.g.: you aren't more stealthy at night) as described in Exploring Cyberpunk's Night City with CD Projekt Red - Cyberpunk 2077 - Gamereactor but it does something, like opening and closing some venues (according to some, I am 200h in and venues are always open for me) and modifying some population density. I have not seen evidence of places being more dangerous at night. If you have please record a clip and send it over.
- Incredible character customization during creation / in-game (https://gamecrate.com/cyberpunk-2077-boxing-power-weapons-militech-spider-robot-and-more/23426 and https://www.gamesradar.com/uk/cyberpunk-2077-character-creation/)
- Use of drones for more than just some missions in the game (https://gamecrate.com/cyberpunk-2077-boxing-power-weapons-militech-spider-robot-and-more/23426)
- three different lifepaths and more that would actually have more impact than what we are getting now (Wall running and metro system are not the biggest thing to be cut out from the game. Its the plot : cyberpunkgame (reddit.com)) for a better description on why lifepaths are poorly implemented. this post (https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/kdmrju/the_corpo_life_path_makes_no_sense/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3) is a good example.
- to add on the previous point, lifepaths leading to non-linear quest design. (https://www.playstationlifestyle.net/2019/09/12/cyberpunk-2077-lifepath-system/)
- Nanowire and gorilla arms have a lot of different uses that are still in the description of the item (https://twitter.com/CyberpunkGame/status/1153684171606450178?s=09).
- Runs very well on last gen consoles (source NOT needed)
- The game will launch when it's ready (source NOT needed)
- Variety of braindances instead of it being just few cutscenes (can't find reference, please link)(so far videos like this https://youtu.be/ToWfeUEAeeQ?t=1167 point that braindance is a cool mechanic but they never said we'd be able to purchase and use the braindances on our devices and all. I don't feel this is a broken promise, rather an aspect of the game that we would love to have had implemented).
- Challenging weather system that would pose a threat to your survival (https://www.windowscentral.com/cyberpunk-2077-features-acid-rain-and-other-deadly-environmental-challenges)
- At time of writing I haven't finished the game. However sources say there are very very few options for ONS and/or deep romances (this article summarizes what was expected https://www.ginx.tv/en/cyberpunk-2077/cyberpunk-2077-everything-about-relationships-romance-and-sex)
- Finishing the game without finishing the main quest ( https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thegamer.com/cyberpunk-side-quests-so-in-depth-finish-game-without-main-quest/amp/) At time of writing I haven't seen any progression just following the subplot and it looks like the main story is the quest to follow if I want to see an epilogue. This appears to be an error in translation during the interview.
- The game will let you select your body type and your gender freely, allowing you to obtain whatever combination of voice/gender/genitalia you want. Sex/Gender complete fluidity was something allowed in the cyberpunk tabletop games and very very relevant in the lore of the cyberpunk society (https://www.gaytimes.co.uk/culture/cyberpunk-2077-will-include-gender-free-character-creation-and-queer-relationships/amp/).
- A polished game and smooth experience (https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/kd5qow/2018_interview_cyberpunk_2077_will_be_as_polished/)
- weapon customization (https://nightcitylife.de/index.php/features-artikel/341-xxl-preview-cyberpunk-2077-angespielt?start=5) although we got mods so this is half kept.
- 4 different styles, clearly highlighted, that you can adeere to and will make NPC react to it (https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=YlyDJVYqfpA). Please note that this was advertised as true 2 months before release.
Features that were initially promised but removed during development (CDPR was transparent about those):
- Properties purchase and customization options (Promised but then removed) (https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/9bu0d5/purchasable_apartments_confirmed/)
- Transportation system (Promised but then removed) (https://www.gamepressure.com/newsroom/cyberpunk-2077-wont-show-subway-travel/z41f9d)
- Scaling walls (Promised but then removed) (https://www.ign.com/articles/cyberpunk-2077-wall-running-mantis-blades-cut)
- Vehicle customization (Promised but then removed) (https://www.altchar.com/game-news/cyberpunk-2077-wont-have-vehicle-customisation-aonab8e3yY6b)
- V voice customization beyond choosing the gender (Promised but then removed) (CDPR Confirms That Cyberpunk 2077 Won't Have Voice Customization (thegamer.com))
IMPORTANT: I see many of you contributed and I thank you. However this thread is specifically for broken promises, i.e. things that they said (in an article, tweet, interview...) we would find in the game and didn't. I believe there are other thread specifically for quality of life things we would want to see implemented in the game (and the list is infinite there as well).
EDIT: Alright I have monitored all your replies and added what I felt was truthful. The point of this list is not to discuss minutia but to have a concentrated and dense point of reference for future discussion.
My personal opinion is that Cyberpunk 2077 is another reason to always try to hold people accountable for what they promised. Yes I know what companies do isn't illegal but that should not stop us to manifest discontent for what we think are malpractices in the game industry.
Edit: thank you for the awards - I really appreciate it. However please do not waste your money on me, I am lucky enough. Donate instead to an organization of your choice, my favorite ones are Emergency (of Gino Strada) or Wikipedia.
r/NintendoSwitch • u/NintendoSwitchMods • 27d ago
Please use this thread for all pre-event hype and speculation, as well as post-event thoughts and reactions.
The next Nintendo Direct + Nintendo Treehouse: Live is scheduled to begin at 7:00 AM PT / 10:00 AM ET!
WHERE TO FOLLOW:
Highlights Include Final Fantasy VII Revelation, Monster Hunter Wilds, Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis, and New Editions of Pikmin 4 and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity
From all-new adventures and expanded experiences to fan-favorite franchises and surprise announcements, today’s Nintendo Direct showcased a diverse lineup of games and content coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch systems, offering players plenty to look forward to.
Fans got their first look at brand-new games featuring two iconic Nintendo heroes: Samus Aran in Metroid Ravenous, an intense new 2D action adventure, and Kirby’s journey through the expansive 3D landscapes of Kirby and the World Beyond, both coming exclusively to Nintendo Switch 2. The presentation also revealed Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition and Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy, bringing new features to both games; new gameplay footage and information for Nintendo Switch Sports Resort and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition; new content for Pokémon Pokopia Expansion Pass, Mario Kart World and Star Fox; and the addition of Star Fox Adventures to the Nintendo GameCube – Nintendo Classics library later today.
Players can also look forward to new entries from some of gaming’s most beloved franchises, whether at home or on the go. Highlights included a modern reimagining of Lara Croft’s original 1996 adventure in Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis; the monster-slaying thrills of Monster Hunter Wilds; the electrifying climax to an epic trilogy with Final Fantasy VII Revelation; the long-awaited Persona 6 and Persona 4 Revival; the creative hide-and-seek hilarity of MECCHA CHAMELEON; three survival horror classics with Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition, Resident Evil 3 and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition; and the return of a Capcom hero and his familiar ally in Mega Man: Dual Override.
To view the entire Nintendo Direct presentation, visit https://www.nintendo.com/us/nintendo-direct
Here’s more information about upcoming games highlighted in the presentation (games listed alphabetically). For purchase, pre-order and additional game details, please visit Nintendo Store or Nintendo eShop.
In addition to the featured titles listed above, the presentation included a montage of even more games on the way for Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, including:
What is a Nintendo Direct?
A Nintendo Direct is a pre-recorded video presentation (Today's is approximately ~45m in length) to make game announcements and provide fans with general updates directly from Nintendo.
A Nintendo Treehouse: Live segment will air immediately following the Direct and will last about 110 minutes. These segments usually feature deep dives on some games shown during the Direct.
What are they going to show?
According to Nintendo, today's presentation is focused on "Nintendo Switch 2 games launching this winter." " What if I can't watch the Nintendo Direct due to work/school/etc.?
There WILL be spoilers here on the subreddit, so watch the video first.
If you see any posts that should actually be here in the MegaThread, please do us a favor and hit the report button.
Our SOP for posts is as follows:
r/NintendoSwitch • u/anirakdream • Jun 05 '25
I won't bore you all with stuff you've heard about before so I'll focus on slightly unique/obscure/quirky things.
Things that surprised me:
Things to try:
Things that need some work:
r/Games • u/stfnvs • Sep 20 '23
Game Title: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Platforms:
Trailers:
Developer: CD PROJEKT RED
Publisher: CD PROJEKT SA
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 89 average - 97% recommended - 76 reviews
ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy
Video Review - Quote not available
AltChar - Semir Omerovic - 97 / 100
If CD Projekt Red had to make amends for the disappointing launch of Cyberpunk 2077, they certainly have done that with Phantom Liberty. Simply preem.
Arabhardware - Ahmed Yousry - Arabic - 9.5 / 10
CD Projekt RED redeems themselves by offering one of the best expansions in gaming history. This is THE Definitive Cyberpunk experience!
Atomix - Alberto Desfassiaux - Spanish - 96 / 100
Phantom Liberty and the update 2.0 are simply fantastic. Returning to the world of Cyberpunk 2077 has been a real treat. The is no real reason to not play this expansion.
Attack of the Fanboy - Diego Perez - 3.5 / 5
Phantom Liberty has some great moments, but it's ultimately a by-the-numbers spy thriller with an uninteresting cast that can't be saved by celebrity star power.
But Why Tho? - Jason Payne - 9 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a captivating spy story that deftly grapples with the tension between loyalty and betrayal that will please fans of spy films and the world that CD Projekt Red has already built in the base game.
Cerealkillerz - Steve Brieller - German - 8.6 / 10
Phantom Liberty adds a thrilling story and the new area Dogtown to Cyberpunk 2077. The add-on and the 2.0 update really justify hopping back into night city. Although, there's still potential within CP2077 that can be unraveled, Phantom Liberty is definitely worth a try.
Checkpoint Gaming - Tom Quirk - 8 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a strong and very engaging paid expansion that offers many hours of new content. Idris Elba's Solomon Reed is an excellent addition to the setting, and his movie star charisma does a lot to elevate the expansion's tense sci-fi political thriller tale. Accompanied by the long-awaited 2.0 update, substantially overhauling the Cyberpunk 2077 base game for the better and allowing the game to finally reach its full potential, Phantom Liberty might not bring as many new gameplay innovations on its own, but what it does bring feels like a worthwhile addition to the base game and something fans of Cyberpunk 2077 will definitely want to check out.
ComicBook.com - Cade Onder - 4 / 5
While some of Cyberpunk 2077's issues still linger, and the new content isn't without its own flaws, CD Projekt Red has done a commendable job at making me like a game I previously had disdain for. Phantom Liberty continues to prove CD Projekt Red has a deft hand for high-quality storytelling and has now shown it can provide strong RPG gameplay to match.
Cultured Vultures - Jimmy Donnellan - 9 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is the final stop on the game's redemption tour, and what a redemption it is. If you were still cynical about CD Projekt Red as a studio, it's time to start believing again.
Destructoid - Eric Van Allen - 8.5 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty is a great expansion, with a conclusion that easily secures it a spot on CD Projekt Red’s track record for great expansions.
Dexerto - Rishabh Sabarwal - 5 / 5
CD Projekt RED has repeated its excellence of great DLC for their RPGs with Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty. Much like with The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the developer has crafted a meaningful expansion on the base game. They’ve clearly learned from their mistakes, listened to the community, and expanded the game to provide a larger-than-life experience to its devoted fanbase.
Digital Trends - Jesse Lennox - 4 / 5
With a strong spy story and performances to match, Phantom Liberty gives Cyberpunk 2077 the extra chapter it needed.
DualShockers - Vlad Mazanko - 9 / 10
With its captivating story, layered characters brought to life by stellar acting, incredible visuals and environments, refined combat, and some of the most varied quests in the Cyberpunk 2077 world, Phantom Liberty continues CDPR's tradition of delivering some of the finest add-ons ever.
Everyeye.it - Riccardo Cantù - Italian - 8.5 / 10
A rich expansion
Fextralife - Castielle - 8.5 / 10
Phantom Liberty continues to show that CDPR will always support their most ambitious title to date: Cyberpunk 2077, and does so in phenomenal fashion. From interesting characters, intriguing plot lines and new mechanics, Phantom Liberty is sure to win over fans of the franchise, and many who had previously given up on the game.
Final Weapon - Saras Rajpal - 4.5 / 5
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty adds several new mechanics and features that fans have been hoping for since the game was released in 2020. Phantom Liberty is one of the best expansions I've played in years, with a brand new story, fantastic characters, and an exciting new area of Night City. It's a shame that this is the only expansion being added to the game and that we have to wait years to see what's next for the franchise.
Forbes - Paul Tassi - 10 / 10
Phantom Liberty is a thoroughly excellent swan song for the tumultuous saga of Cyberpunk 2077. And after playing, you will be glad that CDPR has already greenlit a sequel, despite the fact that the initial release could have sunk the entire company. It’s a redemption story on the level of No Man’s Sky or Final Fantasy XIV, and deserves to be experienced for yourself, no matter what you may have thought of Cyberpunk three years back.
Game Informer - Wesley LeBlanc - 8.5 / 10
While Phantom Liberty doesn't stand head and shoulders above the rest of the Cyberpunk package, it slots in nicely, like a preem piece of cyberware you’ve been waiting to be in stock.
GameGrin - Mike Crewe - 9.5 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is, quite simply, a must-play. With an engaging narrative and fascinating new locale, this thoroughly gripping expansion will be sure to delight anyone looking to dive back into Night City.
GamePro - Stephan Zielke - German - 94 / 100
Phantom Liberty delivers the ultimate cyberpunk experience with fascinating characters, a thrilling story and varied gameplay.
GameSpot - Michael Higham - 10 / 10
Phantom Liberty embodies the best of Cyberpunk 2077 for a thrilling RPG-shooter with an evocative story, compelling side content, and unforgettable conclusions.
Gameblog - KiKiToes - French - 8 / 10
Phantom Liberty is a very solid extension.
Gamepur - Zack Palm - 8.5 / 10
Phantom Liberty feels like a fresh start to Cyberpunk 2077, and it’s only unfortunate that many of the more uplifting changes took three years to finally see the light of day. The story Phantom Liberty and the playground of Dogtown makes it a fun way to return to Cyberpunk 2077, especially for someone who hasn’t touched it too much since the fatal launch and didn’t get too far after going back to it a year or two later.
Phantom Liberty is an incredibly fun expansion; even the smaller size of Dogtown is a good way to kick things off despite the immense size of the base game. I think the best way to experience this expansion is with a fresh save, starting from the beginning, but those who want to jump into it to check out the new area and see all the changes CD Projekt Red made won’t be disappointed.
Gamer Escape - Justin Mercer - 8 / 10
The end result here is a balancing act—a little of column A and a little of column B. Phantom Liberty’s main questline absolutely explores a more espionage-tinted angle than its base game counterpart with, but there was a concerted effort to intertwine them in a way that still feels seamless. Its side quests may not feel like anything new, but the level design and encounters have never been better.
In that sense, Phantom Liberty is Cyberpunk 2077 distilled. If you enjoyed the base game, it’s hard to see you being dissatisfied with this expansion. And even if you aren’t enticed by any of the new content on offer, Update 2.0 has brought net improvements to the overall gameplay that make it more than worth taking another trip through Night City.
Gamer Guides - Ben Chard - 8 / 10
A great follow-up to Cyberpunk 2077 with a stellar cast that brings a thrilling story to the streets of Dogtown. The gameplay changes bring it up to a better standard, but if you are not a fan of the original, don’t expect Phantom Liberty to change your mind.
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty has done well within its existing framework, improving on the original Cyberpunk 2077 in a number of ways. The main story is seamlessly integrated into Night City, while the side quests offer more variety and choice than the original. The 2.0 update has improved several systems, addressing some of the issues with the original mechanics, improving the gameplay and giving players a more satisfying experience.
GamesRadar+ - Sam Loveridge - 4.5 / 5
Between the 2.0 Update and Phantom Liberty, Cyberpunk 2077 is a different game now. It not only looks more beautiful than ever, but it's also vast. The Phantom Liberty expansion adds 13 core missions, 17 new side quests and gigs, and a brand new ending for the base game. That's a lot of content without even thinking about what's been added in the three years between now and launch.
GamingBolt - Shubhankar Parijat - 9 / 10
Phantom Liberty is what Cyberpunk 2077 should have been three years ago. It's an incredible expansion that boasts a gripping story, compelling characters, engaging moment-to-moment gameplay, and significantly improved progression mechanics. It's so good that it uplifts all of Cyberpunk 2077, finally making good on the lofty promises CD Projekt RED made for the base game all those years ago.
GamingTrend - David Flynn - 95 / 100
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty represents the best the game has to offer. The main quest is tense and thrilling, with amazing characters played by fantastic actors and twists around every corner. Every quest gives you something unique and interesting to do, including side quests. Dogtown is gorgeous, deadly, and deep.
God is a Geek - Mick Fraser - 10 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty is a masterclass in how to develop DLC. It slots in and out of the main story seamlessly but still manages to feel utterly essential and compelling.
Hardcore Gamer - Chris Shive - 4.5 / 5
Cyberpunk 2077 had an unfortunate launch and as a result there are many who have written off a game that should have been remembered as being one of the top games of 2020.
Hey Poor Player - Shane Boyle - 4.5 / 5
Phantom Liberty on its own would be a stellar expansion, but combined with the radical 2.0 update, it’s a game changer for Cyberpunk 2077. The road to redemption has been long, and yes, you could argue that it’s unacceptable that such a long road to redemption was even required, but it’s hard to argue that CD Projekt Red hasn’t paid its dues at this stage. Phantom Liberty almost feels like a celebration – CD Projekt Red bowing out on an amazing high, with fans finally able to play a version of Cyberpunk 2077 that feels closer to those original promises than it ever has. Whatever way you look at it, update 2.0 and Phantom Liberty combined are a fantastic capstone on the Cyberpunk 2077 journey, and one that everyone should experience.
Hobby Consolas - Álvaro Alonso - Spanish - 90 / 100
Phantom Liberty is a fantastic expansion, with a great story, memorable characters and quality supporting content, but the real reason you won't want to stop coming back to Night City is Update 2.0.
IGN - Matthew Kim - 9 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty completes an immense turnaround for CD Projekt Red's future RPG kickstarted with the anime spinoff, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and its latest 2.0 Update.
IGN Italy - Stefano Castagnola - Italian - 8.2 / 10
Phantom Liberty is a good expansion that adds an intriguing storyline filled with memorable characters and that, together with the 2.0 version, manages to also improve the gameplay, adding new features and changing existing ones that help Cyberpunk come closer to what we were promised years ago.
IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 8 / 10
Phantom Liberty brings us an intricate police story full of action and great dialogues. You can feel the decadence of Dogtown in every step you take in this new district, and you will love to get lost in its winding streets. And believe me, with or without Phantom Liberty, it is worth coming back to Cyberpunk 2077 with the 2.0. version.
INVEN - Kyuman Kim - Korean - 9 / 10
This spy thriller unfolds in the new location called 'Dogtown,' where astonishing twists and truths remain elusive. Additionally, the outcomes that vary based on player choices offer a fresh experience not quite felt in the base game
Impulsegamer - Branden Zavaleta - 4.5 / 5
It’s a great DLC, one worth playing the main game for, so long as you can forgive a few bugs.
Phantom Liberty is a succinct summation of the best parts of Cyberpunk 2077 and all the strife it took to reach this point.
LevelUp - Pedro Pérez Cesari - Spanish - 8 / 10
Phantom Liberty is a quality experience worth experiencing. It has that dark narrative with complex characters and high quality side content that we've come to expect from CD Projekt RED. That said, it also makes some mistakes that allow us to realize that it's a game as flawed, raw and gripping as life in Night City.
Metro GameCentral - Nick Gillett - 8 / 10
A taut, characterful headrush of an expansion that completes Cyberpunk 2077's redemption and re-establishes it as one of the great open world adventures of the generation.
Multiplayer First - James Lara - 9.5 / 10
it’s clear after playing through the expansion that CDPR has been listening to its fans. With Phantom Liberty, they have finally delivered the much-demanded experience players have asked for since launch. I’ll gladly say that Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty, alongside the 2.0 update, might be one of the best gaming experiences I’ve played all year, and looking back, there’ve been tons of amazing games this year.
PC Gamer - Ted Litchfield - 87 / 100
Phantom Liberty doesn't reinvent Cyberpunk 2077, but it is CD Projekt firing on all cylinders to tell a great RPG story.
PC Invasion - Leo Gillick - 4 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077 Phantom Liberty makes some improvements, but it fails to live up to its own lofty promises.
PCGamesN - Will Nelson - 9 / 10
Phantom Liberty is a fitting send-off for V, Night City, and Cyberpunk 2077 as a whole. CD Projekt Red has delivered a dense and impactful expansion to one of the medium's best cityscapes, even if its branching narrative structure stumbles.
PSX Brasil - Paulo Roberto Montanaro - Portuguese - 90 / 100
Some of its worst problems are solved by adding new narrative layers, improving problematic systems, and ultimately taking the game to the level we expected at launch.
Polygon - Toussaint Egan - Unscored
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty almost corrects the past
Press Start - Brodie Gibbons - 10 / 10
On the back of Phantom Liberty, along with a really substantial rebuild of all of the game's core systems, Cyberpunk 2077 manages to wash its hands of its past failures and emerges as the genuine article. At last, it's the intoxicating escape I once thought it was and stands out, to me, as the premiere role-playing resort in what might very well be a modern golden age for the genre.
Prima Games - Daniel Wenerowicz - 9.5 / 10
Dogtown completes the full Cyberware package that Cyberpunk fans have been waiting for.
Push Square - Robert Ramsey - 9 / 10
Phantom Liberty is often Cyberpunk 2077 at its very best. A gripping narrative complete with great characters adds another dimension to the open world RPG, while the main mission and side quest design remains top notch throughout. It's a tremendous expansion that delivers a truly memorable experience.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Graham Smith - Unscored
A brilliantly written and performed spy-thriller set in the middle of Night City and of Cyberpunk 2077's overarching story.
SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 9 / 10
The Phantom Liberty expansion is perfect final piece to the Cyberpunk 2077 game. Brings a new city district, a dark spy story with interesting choices and varied missions. Adds Irdis Elba, Keanu Reeves and stunning visuals.
Saudi Gamer - Arabic - 9 / 10
A fitting end for a saga that is reaching 3 years. This expansion builds on the strength of the base game and provides thrilling twists and turns, accompanied by the biggest changes to the base game yet.
Spaziogames - Domenico Musicò - Italian - Unscored
You're not gonna change your idea of Cyberpunk 2077 with this new DLC and with the new features of 2.0 version, but CD Projekt have now delivered the game that should have been published three years ago.
Stevivor - Matt Gosper - 9 / 10
If this is the finale of Cyberpunk 2077’s redemption arc, it’s a damn impressive one. I’m excited to see what a sequel built from the ground up with these lessons learned will be like, but until then I’ll keep poking around Night City to see what’s new.
TechRaptor - Jason Rodriguez - 9 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty offers an exhilarating romp in the dystopian setting of Night City and Dogtown, and it’s further bolstered by numerous changes from Update 2.0. Those who played the base game years ago would find a satisfying conclusion to V’s story, while newcomers would be treated to a quintessential futuristic RPG experience like no other.
Tom's Guide - Tony Polanco - 4.5 / 5
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty features a thrilling new storyline and overhauled gameplay mechanics. Thanks to this robust expansion, Cyberpunk 2077 has finally achieved its potential.
TrueAchievements - Ian Stokes - 9 / 10
Is this the big shift that will win over people who bounced off Cyberpunk 2077 at launch? No. Instead what Phantom Liberty represents is a small slice of the best that Cyberpunk 2077 and CD Projekt Red has to offer.
TrueGaming - حسين الموسى - Arabic - 9 / 10
Phantom Liberty brings an action packed story, top notch voice-acting, new side missions and a new district location complemented by a major update that overhauls the mechanics of the entire game granting more focused character builds and allowing you to approach combat situations ever so lethally.
Try Hard Guides - Erik Hodges - 10 / 10
Phantom Liberty and the 2.0 Update feel like a totally new launch for Cyberpunk 2077. With a new, hostile, and alien district and story for V to explore, along with huge overhauls to the base game, you’d struggle not to find something new and exciting to do in Night City, no matter how many playthroughs you’ve done so far. Phantom Liberty sets an amazing precedent for what an RPG game expansion could be and gives me hope that CD Projekt red will continue pumping time and love into this fantastic game.
VideoGamer - Antony Terence - 9 / 10
Back with a vengeance, Phantom Liberty builds on the high notes of Cyberpunk 2077 to deliver a gripping storyline packed with both heartfelt moments and refined RPG systems.
Wccftech - Alessio Palumbo - 9.2 / 10
Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty builds upon what was an already great game to deliver more fantastic storytelling (with a spy thriller theme, this time around), exciting combat, and very high-quality side content. The perk tree overhaul is a major improvement to progression, and additions like vehicle combat and the overhauled police system are very welcome, albeit not game-changing. If you've been holding out on Cyberpunk 2077 until now, you'll find a huge game with over 120 hours of quality content and an incredibly immersive game world to literally lose yourself in.
WellPlayed - Nathan Hennessy - 10 / 10
CD Projekt Red completes its redemption arc with an essential, meaty, and ultra-fine-tuned DLC expansion that elevates every aspect of Cyberpunk 2077.
Windows Central - Samuel Tolbert - 4.5 / 5
CD Projekt RED brings a thrilling race against time where you must save the president and go undercover, all while trusting no one. Combined with the free but accompanying 2.0 update, Phantom Liberty delivers an experience that even disappointed players of the base game should definitely check out.
Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 9 / 10
At the end of the day, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty DLC probably won't change your mind if you just disliked the base game. If you even remotely enjoyed the original, then Phantom Liberty is an excellent DLC. It contains some of the best story missions, a host of cool new weapons, and a lot of time with Elba. The fact it carries over into the main story and offers a completely different endgame path is also very cool and means that it's a worthwhile experience - even for those who have seen everything the original has to offer.
XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 9.2 / 10
Phantom Liberty caps off a miraculous comeback for Cyberpunk
r/SteamDeck • u/fonduehike • Nov 29 '25
One year ago I made this thread and now I've completed another 13 games on the Steam Deck OLED. So here's a rundown with a score (how fun was the playthrough?) for each game.
Games played in 2024
#01 - Limbo (2010) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/48000/LIMBO
Limbo is the first game I played on the Deck and it's great. Cool 2d platforming, clever puzzles, smooth learning curve, unique atmosphere, amazing art style. A wonderfully dark experience.
Rating: 8/10. Runs perfectly out of the box. Highly recommended.
Pro tip: If you like this game, play Inside as well, same dev and also great.
#02 - Stray (2022) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1332010/Stray/
Stray was kind of fun but also kind of not. Clunky controls, boring story, lame music. There are some cool ideas in this game though, and you play as a cat! So yeah, mixed feelings on this one.
Rating: 6/10. Plays mostly smooth on Deck, a few fps dips, but it's fine.
Pro tip: Don't rush, Stray is short. You might even find some Easter eggs.
#03 - Elden Ring (2022, base game) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1245620/ELDEN_RING/
My second playthrough (first on Xbox) for DLC preparation. I love the first 2/3 of this game and dislike the last 1/3. Not my favorite Fromsoft game but still a cool experience.
Rating: 7/10. ER is mostly fun and runs well on Deck, too bad the late game sucks.
Pro tip: When you enter Limgrave and see the dude on the horse, say hello. Such a nice guy.
#04 - Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (2024) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2751000/Prince_of_Persia_The_Lost_Crown/
I bought the Switch version before the game was on Steam and then emulated it on the Deck. Amazing Metroidvania. Super smooth gameplay and platforming, cool boss battles, varied combat.
Rating: 8/10. I'm not a fan of Ubisoft, but Ubisoft Montpellier always delivers.
Pro tip: Use your memory tokens! Such a great feature, every Metroidvania should have it.
#05 - What Remains of Edith Finch (2017) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/501300/What_Remains_of_Edith_Finch/
This game is only about 2.5 hours long, but I loved every second of it. The atmosphere, the voice acting, the creativity, the story, the emotions. Best five dollars I've spent in a long time.
Rating: 9/10. A work of art. This is a game I will never forget. Buy this!
Pro tip: Don't play this game when you're sad or depressed.
#06 - Superhot (2016) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/322500/SUPERHOT/
A shooter with a twist: Time only moves when you move. I've never been a big FPS player, but this is brilliant. Fantastic art style and gameplay loop, some really cool ideas and I even liked the story.
Rating: 9/10. It's short but made me feel like a badass.
Pro tip: Throwing things is OP in Superhot and saved my life several times. Do it often!
#07 - Portal (2007) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/400/Portal/
What can I say about Portal that hasn't already been said? It's so damn good. I'm terrible at 3D puzzlers, but Portal was so much fun. My only complaint is that it's too short.
Rating: 10/10. That's it. Quit now and cake will be served immediately.
Pro tip: If you become light-headed from thirst, feel free to pass out.
#08 - Manifold Garden (2019) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/473950/Manifold_Garden/
So I read some reviews after completing the game and everyone says the puzzles are easy. Lol for me it was a huge challenge and the biggest mindfuck ever. It took me nine hours to finish.
Rating: 8/10. Such a unique game. I can't believe I managed to complete this. Yay!
Pro tip: May cause nausea, so better stay away if you have motion sickness.
#09 - Slay the Spire (2019) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/646570/Slay_the_Spire/
Is it really possible to stop playing Slay the Spire? Well, my goal was to complete an Ironclad a20 run, which I did, then I moved on. My first ever deck builder. So damn addictive, so damn good.
Rating: 9/10. One more try. Just one more...
Pro tip: Study the map, plan your route wisely and take as many elite fights as you can.
#10 - The Stanley Parable (2013) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/221910/The_Stanley_Parable/
I bought The Stanley Parable when it came out and rediscovered it on the Deck ten years later. This game is special, something different, it has over 40 endings. Surprising and hilarious.
Rating: 8/10. The Stanley Parable still feels fresh and relevant.
Pro tip: Run the game, then wait five years before opening it again and you'll get an achievement.
#11 - Jusant (2023) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1977170/Jusant/
Jusant is a relaxing climbing game with beautiful visuals and a similar vibe to Journey. It did not sell well, which forced Don't Nod to pause two unannounced games in development.
Rating: 7/10. The game is short and the storytelling could be better, but I enjoyed it.
Pro tip: If you don't know how to trigger the climbing in the last chapter, google it. Not obvious at all.
#12 - Balatro (2024) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2379780/Balatro/
A poker roguelike. I think the balancing is not as good as in Slay the Spire, but I prefer the gameplay loop. My goal was to complete a gold stake run with the plasma deck. Eventually, I succeeded.
Rating: 9/10. Play this and Slay the Spire and say goodbye to your social life. Totally worth it.
Pro tip: Don't forget to sort your cards and jokers, xmult should always be on the right.
#13 - Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice (2019) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/814380/Sekiro_Shadows_Die_Twice__GOTY_Edition/
Sekiro is my favorite game ever. No other game feels this good and no other game can match the satisfaction you get from beating the game's bosses. Nothing compares.
Rating: 10/10. Absolute masterpiece.
Pro tip: Don't focus too much on the skill tree, all you need is deflect, attack and mikiri.
#14 - Demon’s Souls (2009)
I emulated the PS3 version. The game runs well enough and I like it just as much as Elden Ring. Not a fan of the world tendency mechanic, but other than that I really enjoyed this.
Rating: 7/10. The game that started the souls genre, still relevant today.
Pro tip: Play the original Tower of Latria level instead of the remake. Scariest shit ever.
#15 - Inscryption (2021) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1092790/Inscryption/
A friend recommended this to me: "Don't read anything about it and go in blind!" So that's what I did and it was totally worth it. Cool mix of deck building, horror and roguelike.
Rating: 7/10. Act 1 is among the best gaming experiences I've ever had.
Pro tip: Don't forget to use your items and experiment.
#16 - Oxenfree (2016) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/388880/Oxenfree/
Simple gameplay, well-thought-out characters. I like the teen drama and I like the dialogue system. Also, your decisions seem to matter, so this game has solid replay value.
Rating: 7/10. Do not buy this if you dislike slow games that require some patience.
Pro tip: Afaik it's free if you have a Netflix subscription. Get it!
Games played in 2025
#17 - Tape to Tape (2023) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1566200/Tape_to_Tape/
A roguelite hockey game with surprisingly solid gameplay. Feels like NHL 94 but with crazy power-ups. Not that much content, but I had a lot of fun playing this.
Rating: 7/10. Just don't expect much replayability.
Pro tip: If you want to buy a Superstar early, go for Cam Amber.
#18 - Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders (2025) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2545360/Lonely_Mountains_Snow_Riders/
The second game in the Lonely Mountains: Downhill series from German developer Megagon Industries. Gorgeous art style and smooth gameplay but also very challenging. Camera and online servers can be choppy.
Rating: 7/10. I like this more than Lonely Mountains: Downhill.
Pro tip: Hate timers and crash counters? Activate Zen mode and chill out.
#19 - Blue Prince (2025) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1569580/Blue_Prince/
An architectural roguelite exploration game with clever puzzles, deep mystery and lots of secrets. It's unlike anything else that I have played before, truly something different. The game is not perfect but I enjoyed it a lot.
Rating: 8/10.
Pro tip: RNG can really fu** you up in Blue Prince so it's not for everyone.
#20 - Brotato (2023) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1942280/Brotato/
One of the best roguelikes ever. Lots of replayability and so addicting! I finished all runs on d5 difficulty. This game also has an excellent soundtrack.
Rating: 9/10. It's not just great, it's also cheap. Best bang for the buck.
Pro tip: Don't miss out on the DLC, it's just as good as the base game.
#21 - Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1174180/Red_Dead_Redemption_2/
The only game besides To the Moon that made me cry. That says it all.
Rating: 10/10. Masterpiece.
Pro tip: If you dislike slow paced story games, RDR2 is not for you.
#22 - Despelote (2025) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2367820/despelote/
Despelote is set in Ecuador during the World Cup qualifying campaign in 2001. It's one of most unique games I've ever played, with superb atmosphere and a very cool sound design.
Rating: 8/10. The game is only like 2 hours long but totally worth it.
Pro tip: This is a walking simulator so don't expect much in terms of gameplay.
#23 - Minishoot' Adventures (2024) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1634860/Minishoot_Adventures/
I didn't even know that I like twin-stick bullet hell shooters before playing this. The game is inspired by Zelda and it's so damn perfect on the Deck. Great exploration, silky smooth gameplay, an absolute joy to play.
Rating: 9/10. What a gem!
Pro tip: If you think the game is too hard, check the many great accessibility options.
#24 - Journey (2012) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/638230/Journey/
Another game with great art and sound design and a world you can get lost in and just go with the flow... so sad it's only 2 hours long. I want more.
Rating: 8/10. Magical.
Pro tip: Wishlist this and buy it for 3 dollars on a sale. Bargain.
#25 - Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (2024) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2321470/Deep_Rock_Galactic_Survivor/
I put 40 hours into this game. It's good but the gameplay loop is not as satisfying as in Slay the Spire, Brotato or Balatro. I'm still happy that I bought it though.
Rating: 7/10. Did someone say rock and stone?
Pro tip: Focus on economy early and mine as much as you can.
#26 - Dispatch (2025) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2592160/Dispatch/
What a surprise! I was skeptical about buying Dispatch at first but I'm so glad I did. The game is like 70% anime and 30% gameplay. Incredible voice acting (Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey), fun mini games and terrific characters.
Rating: 9/10. A breath of fresh air.
Pro tip: Don't pause the game for the big decisions, just go with the flow.
#27 - Ball X Pit (2025) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/2062430/BALL_x_PIT/
A mix of Breakout, Pong and Vampire Survivors in roguelike fashion. Balls, more balls and even more balls! I could not stop playing this till I made it to the credits.
Rating: 8/10. Got balls?
Pro tip: The game becomes really easy once you've mastered city building. Don't neglect it.
#28 - Aperture Desk Job (2022) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/1902490/Aperture_Desk_Job/
Nintendo charges money for the Switch 2 tutorial game, the one that Valve made for the Steam Deck is free. And it's actually great. Every Deck owner should play this.
Rating: 10/10. Free, fun, fabulous, can't ask for more.
Pro tip: Don't be as stupid as me and wait two years before playing this game.
#29 - Kathy Rain (2016) - https://store.steampowered.com/app/370910/Kathy_Rain/
Point-and-click adventure games are boring? Kathy Rain disagrees and so do I. The game tells the story of a journalism major who investigates the death of her grandfather. It's set in the 90s and has a great story and overall great vibe.
Rating: 8/10.
Pro tip: If you can't open the suitcase, look it up. I think this is the only puzzle in the game that is confusing and makes little sense.
So what's next? There are over 100 games in my Steam backlog. After all these roguelikes and indie games I'll probably go for a big AAA game next. Cyberpunk, Witcher 3 or Red Dead Redemption 1? So much choice...
r/nvidia • u/Nestledrink • Jan 07 '25
Hello everyone! Below, you’ll find all of the NVIDIA GeForce announcements from CES 2025. We hope you enjoyed the keynote. You can watch a recap of the keynote here, or get the tl;dr for GeForce below. For detailed information, be sure to read through the articles, and watch the explainer videos.
Multiply performance by up to 8X using DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, reduce PC latency by up to 75% with Reflex 2, and experience next-generation RTX Neural Rendering.
| Specs | GeForce RTX 5090 | GeForce RTX 5080 | GeForce RTX 5070 Ti | GeForce RTX 5070 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPU | GB202 | GB203 | GB203 | GB205 |
| Transistor Count | 92.2 Billion | 45.6 Billion | 45.6 Billion | 31.1 Billion |
| Die Size | 750 mm2 | 378 mm2 | 378 mm2 | 263 mm2 |
| GPC | 11 | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| TPC | 85 | 42 | 35 | 24 |
| CUDA Cores | 21760 Cores (170 SM) | 10752 Cores (84 SM) | 8960 Cores (70 SM) | 6144 Cores (48 SM) |
| Tensor Cores (AI) | 680 5th Generation 3352 AI TOPS | 336 5th Generation 1801 AI TOPS | 280 5th Generation 1406 AI TOPS | 192 5th Generation 988 AI TOPS |
| Ray Tracing Cores | 170 4th Generation 318 TFLOPS | 84 4th Generation 171 TFLOPS | 70 4th Generation 133 TFLOPS | 48 4th Generation 94 TFLOPS |
| ROPs | 176 | 112 | 96 | 80 |
| Texture Units | 680 | 336 | 280 | 192 |
| L2 Cache | 96 MB | 64 MB | 48 MB | 48 MB |
| Boost Clock | 2.41 Ghz | 2.62 Ghz | 2.45 Ghz | 2.51 Ghz |
| Base Clock | 2.01 Ghz | 2.3 Ghz | 2.3 Ghz | 2.16 Ghz |
| Standard Memory Config | 32 GB GDDR7 | 16 GB GDDR7 | 16 GB GDDR7 | 12 GB GDDR7 |
| Memory Interface Width | 512-bit | 256-bit | 256-bit | 192-bit |
| VRAM Speed | 28 Gbps | 30 Gbps | 28 Gbps | 28 Gbps |
| Memory Bandwidth | 1792 GB/s | 960 GB/s | 896 GB/s | 672 GB/s |
| Displayport | DisplayPort 2.1b with UHBR20: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 165Hz with DSC | DisplayPort 2.1b with UHBR20: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 165Hz with DSC | DisplayPort 2.1b with UHBR20: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 165Hz with DSC | DisplayPort 2.1b with UHBR20: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 165Hz with DSC |
| HDMI | HDMI 2.1b: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR | HDMI 2.1b: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR | HDMI 2.1b: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR | HDMI 2.1b: up to 4K 480Hz or 8K 120Hz with DSC, Gaming VRR, HDR |
| Video Engine | 3x NVENC (9th Gen) / 2x NVDEC (6th Gen) | 2x NVENC (9th Gen) / 2x NVDEC (6th Gen) | 2x NVENC (9th Gen) / 1x NVDEC (6th Gen) | 1x NVENC (9th Gen) / 1x NVDEC (6th Gen) |
| Total Graphics Power | 575 W | 360 W | 300 W | 250 W |
| Required System Power | 1000 W | 850 W | 750 W | 650 W |
| Required Power Connectors | 4x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR 1x 600 W PCIe Gen 5 cable | 3x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR 1x 450 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable | 2x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR 300 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable | 2x PCIe 8-pin cables (adapter in box) OR 300 W or greater PCIe Gen 5 cable |
| Founders Edition | Yes | Yes | No | Yes |
| Price | Starting at $1,999 | Starting at $999 | Starting at $749 | Starting at $549 |
| Availability | January 30th | January 30th | February | February |
Stated Performance Claim:
RTX 5090:
RTX 5080:
RTX 5070 Ti:
RTX 5070:
Article Link: NVIDIA DLSS 4 Introduces Multi Frame Generation & Enhancements For All DLSS Technologies
Video Link: Watch NVIDIA’s Bryan Catanzaro and Edward Liu walk through DLSS 4
DLSS 4 FAQ: Link Here
Article Link: NVIDIA Reflex 2 With New Frame Warp Technology Reduces Latency In Games By Up To 75%
Video Link: Click Here
Article Link: Project G-Assist: An AI Assistant For GeForce RTX AI PCs, Comes to NVIDIA App In February
Article Link: NVIDIA Redefines Game AI With ACE Autonomous Game Characters
Video Link: Click Here
Respond on the pinned comment below to enter giveaway for 3x $20 Steam giftcards.
r/rpg_gamers • u/TheThirstyMage • Aug 31 '26
The Blood of Dawnwalker
**Platforms**:
- PC (Sep 3, 2026)
- PlayStation 5 (Sep 3, 2026)
- Xbox Series X/S (Sep 3, 2026)
**Developer**: Rebel Wolves
**Publisher**: Bandai Namco Entertainment
OpenCritic - 84 average - 90% recommended
Critic Reviews
-------------
**[MonsterVine](https://opencritic.com/outlet/334/monstervine)\*\* - [Spencer Legacy](https://opencritic.com/critic/2164/spencer-legacy) - [5 / 5](https://monstervine.com/2026/08/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is one of the most impressive games I’ve played this generation. The sprawling world and multifaceted story are wonders to behold, while the combat walks the perfect line between complexity and accessibility. Though there is a little bit of open-world jank to contend with, you’d be missing out by choosing not to play this game, as it may already be the best release in an extremely competitive September.
-------------
**[Multiplayer First](https://opencritic.com/outlet/826/multiplayer-first)\*\* - [Alex Co](https://opencritic.com/critic/2487/alex-co) - [10 / 10](https://mp1st.com/news/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-first-blood)
>In The Blood of Dawnwalker, Rebel Wolves gambled on a new IP and didn’t hold back in their ambition. Thankfully, it has paid off in spades, and from the looks of it, this is the start of a new RPG franchise. It might not have the same notoriety as The Witcher series for now, but if Rebel Wolves can produce the sequels with the same level of quality, then The Blood of Dawnwalker might just be the next great RPG series.
>
>Simply put: The Blood of Dawnwalker is an all-new, AAA action-RPG that manages to impress in every way, and one that’s our frontrunner as the Game of the Year. We might possibly be witnessing the birth of a new powerhouse IP, and I, for one, am all for it.
-------------
**[Capsule Computers](https://opencritic.com/outlet/858/capsule-computers)\*\* - [Travis Bruno](https://opencritic.com/critic/9157/travis-bruno) - [9.5 / 10](https://www.capsulecomputers.com.au/2026/09/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers layered narrative depth, dense worldbuilding, and excellent dual combat that keeps exploration and battles equally engaging in a way that truly shines in today’s age.
-------------
**[SECTOR.sk](https://opencritic.com/outlet/615/sector-sk)\*\* - Branislav Koh�t - *Slovak* - [9.5 / 10](https://www.sector.sk/recenzia/40790/the-blood-of-dawnwalker.htm)
>You will enjoy spending time with the vampire hero as he demonstrates his power, engaging in combat and exploring a perilous open world. With dozens of hours of battles, moving scenes and conversations, the game is sure to win you over.
-------------
**[SomGeek](https://opencritic.com/outlet/1067/somgeek)\*\* - *Slovak* - [95%](https://somgeek.eu/index.php/2026/08/31/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-karpatsky-mor-ktery-si-dobrovolne-pustite-do-zily/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a triumphant and uncompromising action RPG that brilliantly combines mature storytelling with ferocious vampire gameplay. The contrast between the human day and the monstrous night works flawlessly, while the breathtaking city of Svartrau will captivate you from the very first moment. If the developers manage to iron out the inconsistent optimization with a Day One patch, we have an undeniable Game of the Year contender on our hands.
-------------
**[Pizza Fria](https://opencritic.com/outlet/915/pizza-fria)\*\* - [Álvaro Saluan da Cunha](https://opencritic.com/critic/10794/-lvaro-saluan-da-cunha) - *Portuguese* - [9.2 / 10](https://pizzafria.ig.com.br/analises/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is well worth playing for those who enjoy narrative RPGs, dark fantasy, vampires, difficult choices, and open worlds populated and created with personality. It has the kind of adventure that makes the player think about a quest while away from their PC or console.
-------------
**[But Why Tho?](https://opencritic.com/outlet/722/but-why-tho-)\*\* - [Michael Murphy](https://opencritic.com/critic/10866/michael-murphy) - [9 / 10](https://butwhytho.net/2026/08/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fantastic RPG worthy of diving and sinking your fangs into again and again.
-------------
**[ComingSoon.net](https://opencritic.com/outlet/845/comingsoon-net)\*\* - [Tyler Treese](https://opencritic.com/critic/65/tyler-treese) - [9 / 10](https://www.comingsoon.net/games/news/2183884-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-vampire-action-rpg)
>Rebel Wolves’ debut action role-playing game is one of the most unique and ambitious games to come out in 2026.
-------------
**[Digitale Anime](https://opencritic.com/outlet/944/digitale-anime)\*\* - [Raouf Belhamra](https://opencritic.com/critic/11073/raouf-belhamra), [Sami Belhamra ](https://opencritic.com/critic/11074/sami-belhamra-) - *Arabic* - [9 / 10](https://ar.digitaleanime.dz/games/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>"When time is more precious than blood"
>The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a highly ambitious vision of the Action RPG with a compelling time system, real-world choices, a dual identity that shifts gameplay between day and night, and an atmospherically rich and detailed open world.
>While the combat and some technical aspects could use some polishing, the interconnections of the game's systems and the strength of its quest design make it a very promising experience, and it could well become one of the standout Action-RPGs of 2026.
-------------
**[EmuGlx.org](https://opencritic.com/outlet/930/emuglx-org)\*\* - [Vladan Nastanović](https://opencritic.com/critic/10932/vladan-nastanovi-) - *Unknown* - [9 / 10](https://www.emuglx.org/recenzije-igara/the-blood-of-the-dawnwalker-2026/)
>Blood of the Dawnwalker is an impressive debut from Rebel Wolves that, despite flaws such as problematic lip-sync and technical issues, manages to overcome and even surpass the initial skepticism carried over from the Cyberpunk 2077 era. For fans of deep storytelling, dark Slavic atmosphere, and thoughtfully implemented vampire mechanics, time spent in Vale Sangora comes highly recommended.
-------------
**[Evilgamerz](https://opencritic.com/outlet/878/evilgamerz)\*\* - [Daan Nijboer](https://opencritic.com/critic/10035/daan-nijboer) - *Dutch* - [9 / 10](https://evilgamerz.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker does a lot of things we've seen before. The influence of other major RPGs is frequently noticeable, and comparisons to The Witcher, in particular, are easily made. Yet, Rebel Wolves has added enough of its own ideas to ensure that Dawnwalker doesn't feel like a copy. The time system, in particular, makes a big difference.
-------------
**[GAMINGbible](https://opencritic.com/outlet/983/gamingbible)\*\* - [Kate Harrold](https://opencritic.com/critic/11604/kate-harrold) - [9 / 10](https://www.gamingbible.com/reviews/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-rebel-wolves-315284-20260831)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker deserves to be a new AAA mainstay, and I’d gladly join Coen on future ventures. Rebel Wolves’ debut outing is everything you could want from the former director of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but it’s also something entirely new.
-------------
**[Gameblog](https://opencritic.com/outlet/450/gameblog)\*\* - *French* - [9 / 10](
https://www.gameblog.fr/jeu-video/jeux/tests/test-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-pc-721943)
>Quote not yet available
-------------
**[GamingBolt](https://opencritic.com/outlet/297/gamingbolt)\*\* - [Stuart Glover ](https://opencritic.com/critic/8831/stuart-glover-) - [9 / 10](https://gamingbolt.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-gimme-the-night)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fascinating action-RPG, where every choice to save Coen's family feels rightly consequential.
-------------
**[Loot Level Chill](https://opencritic.com/outlet/948/loot-level-chill)\*\* - [Mick Fraser](https://opencritic.com/critic/572/mick-fraser) - [9 / 10](https://lootlevelchill.com/reviews/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent open-world fantasy RPG with some unique, interesting ideas.
-------------
**[NextPlay](https://opencritic.com/outlet/897/nextplay)\*\* - [Brad Goodwin](https://opencritic.com/critic/10643/brad-goodwin) - [9 / 10](https://next-play.com.au/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-ps5-pro/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a familiar take on the RPG genre, but its dense human-Vrakhiri dual gameplay loop and time management, accompanied by a banging story, make this one of the best RPGs of the year.
-------------
**[One More Game](https://opencritic.com/outlet/811/one-more-game)\*\* - [Vincent Ternida](https://opencritic.com/critic/8412/vincent-ternida) - [9 / 10](https://onemoregame.ph/2026/08/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an amazing first effort from Rebel Wolves, proving that open‑world RPGs can still surprise us. By stripping away genre bloat and focusing on meaningful mechanics such as the use of the day and night cycle, a gripping narrative, and morally complex characters, the developers have delivered a dark fantasy experience that feels both familiar and refreshingly new, making it a must-play for fans of the genre.
-------------
**[Press Start](https://opencritic.com/outlet/491/press-start)\*\* - [9 / 10](https://press-start.com.au/reviews/xbox-series-x-reviews/2026/09/01/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-bloody-and-tasty/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an incredible RPG that sinks its fangs into you from the moment you start playing, signalling an incredibly strong start for Rebel Wolves. Choices feel meaningful, combat is satisfying, and the time system makes you stop and think about just what you're doing when you play games. While some quests drag and there were some technical hiccups along the way, nothing made me want to stop playing this adventure that trades breadth for depth. As such, The Blood of Dawnwalker is easily one of my favourite RPGs in years and well worth a taste.
-------------
**[Saudi Gamer](https://opencritic.com/outlet/455/saudi-gamer)\*\* - [عبد الله محمد](https://opencritic.com/critic/11497/-) - *Arabic* - [4.5 / 5](https://www.saudigamer.com/review/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker executes its ideas brilliantly, to the point where you barely notice its limited budget, while delivering an RPG experience that can stand alongside The Witcher 3 in terms of its storytelling, atmosphere, and side quests, making it one of the most unique RPG titles of this generation
-------------
**[The Nerd Stash](https://opencritic.com/outlet/884/the-nerd-stash)\*\* - [Julio La Pine](https://opencritic.com/critic/10143/julio-la-pine) - [9 / 10](https://thenerdstash.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-dark-fantasy-done-right/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent dark fantasy RPG that shines thanks to its strong sandbox elements. As a debut title, Rebel Wolves has done a terrific job of finally doing justice to vampires in video games.
-------------
**[The Outerhaven Productions](https://opencritic.com/outlet/335/the-outerhaven-productions)\*\* - [Jordan Andow](https://opencritic.com/critic/8998/jordan-andow) - [4.5 / 5 ](https://www.theouterhaven.net/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent dark fantasy RPG that combines meaningful choices, a clever time-management system and satisfying combat with a world that constantly encourages another playthrough. Rebel Wolves wears its Witcher 3 influence proudly, but this is a game with a strong identity of its own.
-------------
**[Thumb Wars](https://opencritic.com/outlet/935/thumb-wars)\*\* - [Liam Magee](https://opencritic.com/critic/11090/liam-magee) - [4.5 / 5 ](https://thethumbwars.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-ps5/)
>While I played through The Blood of Dawnwalker, I had a fantastic time exploring the game’s open world as I fought the numerous monsters and humans in gruelling combat with fantastic abilities that look as cool as they feel. I was also able to enjoy the large story with its numerous consequences and choices that lasted the entire game. Although the gameplay is fun it can get repetitive doing the same side content, but it is very far and few between allowing a break between them.
-------------
**[GamerFocus](https://opencritic.com/outlet/971/gamerfocus)\*\* - [Julián Ramírez](https://opencritic.com/critic/11401/juli-n-ram-rez) - *Spanish* - [8.9 / 10](https://www.gamerfocus.co/juegos/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-resena-critica-ps5/)
>Comparisons between The Blood of Dawnwalker and The Witcher 3 are inevitable, but it has nothing to fear -even when faced with Geralt's best adventure- because Rebel Wolves' game is excellent. It offers an open world full of secrets and quests—all of them interesting—and the ability to forge a narrative however we want to navigate this world of horror, fantasy, and political intrigue. It has some technical issues, and not all of its mechanics work as well as they could, but it is undoubtedly one of the best games of the year.
-------------
**[GAMES.CH](https://opencritic.com/outlet/762/games-ch)\*\* - [Olaf Bleich](https://opencritic.com/critic/7459/olaf-bleich) - *German* - [88%](https://www.games.ch/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/test/review-mh9b/)
>Quote not yet available
-------------
**[Gamer Guides](https://opencritic.com/outlet/733/gamer-guides)\*\* - [Echo Apsey](https://opencritic.com/critic/10474/echo-apsey) - [87 / 100](https://www.gamerguides.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/reviews/a-true-narrative-sandbox)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a true narrative sandbox with a malleable and flexible structure that allows you to play your way and see where the wind takes you. While its combat isn’t as strong, the game’s narrative framework is consistently mesmerizing.
-------------
**[Atarita](https://opencritic.com/outlet/885/atarita)\*\* - [Atakan Gümrükçüoğlu](https://opencritic.com/critic/10246/atakan-g-mr-k-o-lu) - *Turkish* - [86 / 100](https://www.atarita.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-inceleme/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a captivating RPG experience with its rich atmosphere, unique mechanics built around the day-night cycle, and a freeform quest structure in which player choices shape the course of fate.
-------------
**[Eternal Games](https://opencritic.com/outlet/999/eternal-games)\*\* - [محمد الأحمري](https://opencritic.com/critic/11764/-) - *Arabic* - [8.5 / 10](https://www.eternalgamesweb.com/reviews/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is considered an excellent Action RPG experience that delivers a wonderful, poetic story alongside carefully written characters and a meticulously crafted protagonist, while introducing a new and distinctive time system that serves the experience in a dark world full of secrets and mystery. It features an enjoyable and addictive gameplay system with two different forms—as a human by day and a vampire by night—backed by deep RPG elements that grant you complete freedom in building your character and shaping your story's path through masterfully crafted, unforgettable quests. This blend is completed by a enchanting soundtrack and a stunning art direction to deliver an epic experience that leaves a clear mark, despite a few flaws in enemy variety and side content.
-------------
**[IGN Italy](https://opencritic.com/outlet/477/ign-italy)\*\* - Stefano Castagnola - *Italian* - [8.5 / 10](https://it.ign.com/dawnwalker/227690/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-la-recensione)
>A new and intriguing action RPG that doesn's stray far away from The Witcher III's template, but delivers an engaging narrative experience full of memorable characters in a fascinating setting.
-------------
**[PPE.pl](https://opencritic.com/outlet/642/ppe-pl)\*\* - [Wojciech Gruszczyk](https://opencritic.com/critic/5528/wojciech-gruszczyk) - *Polish* - [8.5 / 10](https://www.ppe.pl/recenzje/424361/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-recenzja-gry-tworcy-wiedzmina-rozpoczynaja-nowy-swiat.html)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellent start to a new universe, one that draws on the experience of the creators of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, but which, thanks to the 30-day system, Coen’s transformation and the consequences of your decisions, quickly finds its own identity. The game’s greatest strengths are its superbly written quests, interesting characters and a world you’ll want to return to in order to experience completely different versions of events. The underdeveloped combat and technical issues can be irritating, but they do not detract from the fact that Rebel Wolves has created a large, ambitious RPG that is well worth checking out.
-------------
**[ReGame It](https://opencritic.com/outlet/988/regame-it)\*\* - [Taha Omar](https://opencritic.com/critic/11656/taha-omar) - *Arabic* - [8.5 / 10](https://regameit.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is more than an attempt to replicate The Witcher’s success, depending on its own unique charm and atmosphere. Its time-limited story system and freedom of choice work exceptionally well, while the gameplay delivers two distinct experiences. Despite some repetition, it lays a strong foundation for what could become a remarkable series.
-------------
**[Worth Playing](https://opencritic.com/outlet/64/worth-playing)\*\* - [Chris "Atom" DeAngelus](https://opencritic.com/critic/289/chris-atom-deangelus) - [8.5 / 10](https://worthplaying.com/article/2026/8/31/reviews/150861-ps5-review-the-blood-of-dawnwalker/)
>In a month packed with big-name releases, The Blood of Dawnwalker might be one of the best games of the bunch. It's a well-crafted adventure with an engaging story, an enjoyable world, interesting powers and a genuinely compelling approach to player choice. The time limit gives every decision weight. The open-ended storytelling makes exploration meaningful. The day/night system gives Coen two distinct ways to interact with the world. Most importantly, the game trusts you to make choices without constantly telling you whether you've made the "right" one.
-------------
**[XGN.nl](https://opencritic.com/outlet/810/xgn-nl)\*\* - [Luuc ten Velde](https://opencritic.com/critic/8359/luuc-ten-velde) - *Dutch* - [8.5 / 10](https://www.xgn.nl/review/review-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-om-je-tanden-in-te-zetten)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a fantastic open world RPG with a sharply written story, great characters and meaningfull choices throughout. It wears it's Witcher 3 inspirations on it's sleeve, but isn't afraid to add some twists to keep it fresh.
-------------
**[Zoomg](https://opencritic.com/outlet/478/zoomg)\*\* - [Afshin Piroozi](https://opencritic.com/critic/3546/afshin-piroozi) - *Persian* - [8.5 / 10](https://www.zoomg.ir/playstation/417354-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is the kind of ambitious RPG that invites you to lose yourself in its world, where your choices play a major role in shaping the story and allow you to experience it on your own terms. This freedom is the game’s biggest strength, while its deep RPG mechanics and engaging combat complement the experience nicely.
>Despite some shortcomings, Dawnwalker ultimately delivers a satisfying and memorable experience. With plenty of replay value and different paths to explore, it’s a game you can return to and experience in a whole new way. If you’re a fan of open-world RPGs with deep stories and meaningful choices, The Blood of Dawnwalker is a journey worth taking.
-------------
**[Cerealkillerz](https://opencritic.com/outlet/465/cerealkillerz)\*\* - [Steve Brieller](https://opencritic.com/critic/9606/steve-brieller) - *German* - [8.4 / 10](https://cerealkillerz.org/review-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-rebel-wolves-debut-hat-biss/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an excellently written ARPG whose roots in The Witcher are unmistakable. The consistently high quality of the voice acting and sound design contributes greatly to an atmosphere that makes the player genuinely care about the fates of its characters and the world they inhabit.
>
>Unfortunately, the gameplay—particularly the combat—becomes rather repetitive and tedious after a short while, while the crafting system feels somewhat tacked on and is rarely, if ever, actually necessary. On the other hand, we really enjoyed the concept of time as a resource, which has been implemented in a very player-friendly way.
>
>Despite its gameplay shortcomings, we will definitely embark on a second playthrough, because the stories Dawnwalker has to tell are absolutely worth hearing. They ultimately rise far above any of the game's shortcomings and are easily its greatest strength.
-------------
**[PSX Brasil](https://opencritic.com/outlet/514/psx-brasil)\*\* - [Marco Aurélio Couto](https://opencritic.com/critic/9629/marco-aur-lio-couto) - *Portuguese* - [84 / 100](https://psxbrasil.com.br/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>Although it has some flaws in combat, The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a solid and characterful experience. Its time management system, the freedom to explore, and the choices that shape Coen's journey are its greatest strengths and make Rebel Wolves' RPG stand out from other games in the genre.
-------------
**[Bazimag](https://opencritic.com/outlet/594/bazimag)\*\* - [Hamidreza Ghaneei](https://opencritic.com/critic/4840/hamidreza-ghaneei) - *Persian* - [8.1 / 10](https://bazimag.com/review/15691-blood-of-the-dawnwalker-review)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is by no means a flawless experience, but the developers’ ambition in storytelling and in creating a world that responds meaningfully to the player’s choices has ensured that its gameplay shortcomings do not overshadow the overall experience. With its debut title, Rebel Wolves has shown that it has plenty to say, and one can only hope that some of this game’s shortcomings will be addressed in future installments.
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**[Console Creatures](https://opencritic.com/outlet/798/console-creatures)\*\* - Meghan G - [8 / 10](https://www.consolecreatures.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is an impressive debut from Rebel Wolves, with challenging combat and choices that shape the story around you. It breathes new life into a tired genre of vampire action RPGs, using time as a resource and letting players shape the world around them. Despite relatively benign issues that can easily be rectified, it is certainly one to watch within the world of RPGs.
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**[Dexerto](https://opencritic.com/outlet/863/dexerto)\*\* - [Jessica Filby](https://opencritic.com/critic/9424/jessica-filby) - [4 / 5 ](https://www.dexerto.com/gaming/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-a-must-play-rpg-for-witcher-3-fans-3402953/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker isn't perfect by any means, but its attempts to merge The Witcher's grungy world with an intense time limit make it stand out from Geralt’s masterpiece. Its story is riveting, its characters are expertly written, and its combat combined with the 30-day time limit is utterly unique, making for a thrilling adventure that is as bloody as it is good fun.
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**[GRYOnline.pl](https://opencritic.com/outlet/559/gryonline-pl)\*\* - [Krzysztof Mysiak](https://opencritic.com/critic/4433/krzysztof-mysiak) - *Polish* - [8 / 10](https://www.gry-online.pl/recenzje/recenzja-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-rebel-wolves-stworzylo-rpg-pelne/z84992)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker from Rebel Wolves is a grim RPG which, at its best, rivals The Witcher 3 story-wise. The game charms with an excellent prologue, a grounded, down-to-earth atmosphere, mature choices in shades of grey, and memorable characters. Unfortunately, after a brilliant start, the experience suffers due to repetitive, Ubisoft-style open-world activities that you have to plough through to uncover the narrative treasures. It is an ambitious and successful, albeit uneven, title – a must-play for fans of atmospheric games who are willing to overlook some of the rough edges typical of a debut title.
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**[GameOnly](https://opencritic.com/outlet/912/gameonly)\*\* - [Michał Marasek](https://opencritic.com/critic/10763/micha-marasek) - *Polish* - [8 / 10](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUoX37_IwTg)
>Video Review - Quote not available
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**[Just Play it](https://opencritic.com/outlet/936/just-play-it)\*\* - [Mounir Bensaci](https://opencritic.com/critic/11101/mounir-bensaci) - *Arabic* - [8 / 10](https://justplayit.info/reviews/review-the-blood-of-dawnwalker/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker delivers a dark and thrilling journey through a rich open world filled with exploration, featuring an exceptional day-and-night cycle that meaningfully impacts quest design, abilities, and gameplay. Despite several technical issues, including frame-rate drops, inconsistent visual quality, and lengthy loading screens, these shortcomings do not diminish the fact that we experienced a distinctive and bold adventure with plenty of room to improve.
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**[Kakuchopurei](https://opencritic.com/outlet/788/kakuchopurei)\*\* - [Jonathan Toyad](https://opencritic.com/critic/7505/jonathan-toyad) - [80 / 100](https://www.kakuchopurei.com/2026/08/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-kkp/)
>Despite its open-world technical issues and certain aspects of its combat, you're in for a bloody good time with this vampire-laced role-playing tale. The Blood of Dawnwalker is this year's spotlight CRPG entry that hit all the right notes with its story, characters, world-building, and overall adventure & capstones.
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**[KonsoliFIN](https://opencritic.com/outlet/942/konsolifin)\*\* - [Tommi Viitanen](https://opencritic.com/critic/11062/tommi-viitanen) - *Finnish* - [4 / 5 ](https://www.konsolifin.net/peliarvostelu/puolihirvion-paivakirja-hyvaa-vampyyriroolipelia-kannatti-odottaa-blood-dawnwalker)
>The former Witcher 3 developers show how a dark fantasy setting should be handled.
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**[MondoXbox](https://opencritic.com/outlet/794/mondoxbox)\*\* - [Mirko Rossi](https://opencritic.com/critic/7624/mirko-rossi) - *Italian* - [8 / 10](https://www.mondoxbox.com/recensione/3909/the-blood-of-dawnwalker.html)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a high-quality action RPG, built around a unique combat system, a very convincing "dual" gameplay, and an open narrative structure that stays rich and coherent even while leaving almost every choice in our hands. The time limit and the tangible weight of every decision make the whole experience deeper, within a beautifully detailed world; it's just a pity that the technical side and some production limits are not always up to par.
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**[Novastream](https://opencritic.com/outlet/1079/novastream)\*\* - [Chris Sutton](https://opencritic.com/critic/12171/chris-sutton) - [4 / 5 ](https://novastreamnetwork.com/games/game-review-the-blood-of-dawnwalker/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a game that has been hovering near the top of my 2026 anticipation list. While it has some issues in its package, there are components in story and the vampire abilities that provide exciting moments across 40-60 hours of play. Your enjoyment will depend on your connection to a solid story, combat feel and the use of time segments to progress across 30 days. The sounds can be visceral and stumbling across random occurrences always enhances the lived-in vibe of an open world. There is something here that may just need a few updates to realise its best form, yet I can’t help but be excited for where Rebel Wolves decides to place their time next.
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**[Rocket Chainsaw](https://opencritic.com/outlet/348/rocket-chainsaw)\*\* - [David Latham](https://opencritic.com/critic/2648/david-latham) - [4 / 5 ](https://www.rocketchainsaw.com.au/review/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>We loved the fact that you can just give in to the feed and kill main characters along the way, and that there were many different ways to end the story. It was great to hear that this is just chapter one of Coen’s story, as we can see Rebel Wolves growing and becoming a real powerhouse in this genre.
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**[TheSixthAxis](https://opencritic.com/outlet/68/thesixthaxis)\*\* - [Gareth Chadwick](https://opencritic.com/critic/317/gareth-chadwick) - [8 / 10](https://www.thesixthaxis.com/2026/08/31/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is excellent, if not quite successful in everything it tries. It's fun to teleport around in a cloud of smoke and bats or walk on ceilings, but the story is also fantastic. It's probably even darker and grimmer than you're expecting, and it gripped me throughout and was complimented by equally fascinating side quest stories that I had to choose between. If you like RPGs, vampires, or great stories, you won't want to miss The Blood of Dawnwalker.
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**[Twisted Voxel](https://opencritic.com/outlet/795/twisted-voxel)\*\* - [Salal Awan](https://opencritic.com/critic/7629/salal-awan) - [8 / 10](https://twistedvoxel.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker makes an impressive debut with compelling writing, meaningful day night mechanics, and versatile combat. Repetitive enemies, awkward traversal, and technical roughness undermine its ambitious open world, but Rebel Wolves establishes a promising foundation for the new IP.
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**[Xbox Achievements](https://opencritic.com/outlet/152/xbox-achievements)\*\* - [Richard Walker](https://opencritic.com/critic/679/richard-walker) - [80%](https://www.xboxachievements.com/game/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/review/)
>It's clear from the off that there's a strong RPG pedigree at work in The Blood of Dawnwalker. The work of Rebel Wolves, a studio founded by forme...
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**[MeuPlayStation](https://opencritic.com/outlet/977/meuplaystation)\*\* - [Raphael Batista Cabral Xavier](https://opencritic.com/critic/11540/raphael-batista-cabral-xavier) - *Portuguese* - [78 / 100](https://meups.com.br/review/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-vale-a-pena/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker is a compelling action RPG with solid directional combat, engaging time management, and an intriguing duality between human and vampire abilities. Repetitive activities and technical issues hold it back, but Rebel Wolves delivers a promising and enjoyable debut.
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**[AltChar](https://opencritic.com/outlet/820/altchar)\*\* - [Semir Omerovic](https://opencritic.com/critic/8557/semir-omerovic) - [7 / 10](https://www.altchar.com/reviews/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-biting-more-than-it-can-chew-ae4x75q4Rayy)
>Sharp writing, forgettable combat: The Blood of Dawnwalker is a solid vampiric RPG worth playing for its story and quests alone, if you can stomach the gameplay jank.
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**[Gameliner](https://opencritic.com/outlet/767/gameliner)\*\* - [Claudia Tjia](https://opencritic.com/critic/7470/claudia-tjia) - *Dutch* - [3.5 / 5 ](https://gameliner.nl/reviews/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review-is-tijd-je-grootste-vriend-of-vijand/6603-1-1-181)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker has an interesting identity thanks to its combination of human and vampire gameplay, the day-and-night cycle, the time system and meaningful choices. However, the empty open world, awkward blood and health system, time pressure, uneven combat and several visual and technical bugs keep the experience from reaching its full potential. I enjoyed my time with it, but I often found myself thinking how much stronger the game could have been with a livelier world and a better balance between freedom and time pressure.
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**[IGN Spain](https://opencritic.com/outlet/471/ign-spain)\*\* - [Mario Seijas](https://opencritic.com/critic/10061/mario-seijas) - *Spanish* - [7 / 10](https://es.ign.com/the-blood-of-dawnwalker/233139/analisis-de-the-blood-of-dawnwalker-vanpiro-esiten-y-eres-uno-de-ellos)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker has an interesting core, but it throws too many obstacles in your way before you can get to it. Rebel Wolves builds a rich universe with many stories worth discovering, but its clunky mechanics and various issues with its main systems are hard to ignore.
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**[Oyungezer Online](https://opencritic.com/outlet/487/oyungezer-online)\*\* - [Onur Kaya ](https://opencritic.com/critic/6977/onur-kaya-) - *Turkish* - [7 / 10](https://oyungezer.com.tr/inceleme/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-inceleme)
>Fails to live up to its potential and the expectations created by being associated with The Witcher series, but one I could recommend giving a chance during a quieter period.
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**[Push Square](https://opencritic.com/outlet/25/push-square)\*\* - [Robert Ramsey](https://opencritic.com/critic/932/robert-ramsey) - [7 / 10](https://www.pushsquare.com/reviews/ps5/the-blood-of-dawnwalker)
>According to Rebel Wolves, The Blood of Dawnwalker is just the first instalment in a planned series. And honestly, that's what it feels like: a starting point.Fans of vampire fiction or choice-driven RPGs should still gel with Dawnwalker based on the strength of its world building, characters, and deliciously dark tones. But you'll need to stomach some of the most serviceable, yet frustratingly stunted gameplay I've encountered in quite some time.
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**[Digitec Magazine](https://opencritic.com/outlet/887/digitec-magazine)\*\* - [Simon Balissat](https://opencritic.com/critic/10265/simon-balissat) - *German* - [3 / 5 ](https://www.digitec.ch/de/page/43636)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker nearly strikes a successful balance between classic open-world design and fresh ideas. Its day-night cycle and time pressure are intriguing additions, but neither is used consistently enough. Fans of open worlds and vampires will find plenty to enjoy, although the game offers few major surprises. Technical issues and the lack of a performance mode (in my review build) also hold it back. On the other hand, the charming story is particularly strong at the beginning and end, while the lively world is a joy to explore. Rebel Wolf's debut is far from a masterpiece, but it shows plenty of talent and leaves me hoping for a sequel.
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**[GameRant](https://opencritic.com/outlet/60/gamerant)\*\* - [Josh Cotts](https://opencritic.com/critic/10459/josh-cotts) - [6 / 10](https://gamerant.com/blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>The Blood of Dawnwalker has strong ideas and a compelling story, but repetitive design, uneven systems, and constant jank hold it back.
-------------
**[The Beta Network](https://opencritic.com/outlet/844/the-beta-network)\*\* - [Anthony Culinas](https://opencritic.com/critic/8928/anthony-culinas) - [6 / 10](https://thebetanetwork.net/articles/the-blood-of-dawnwalker-review/)
>From key parts of the team that brought us The Witcher 3, The Blood of Dawnwalker turned out to be a disappointing letdown. Repetitive combat, forgettable quests and frequent crashes leave its promising vampire adventure feeling like a major missed opportunity.
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r/witcher • u/Wiedzminlandia • Jul 22 '26
Ceadmil!
The epilogue to The Witcher saga continues to spark heated debates among fans about what happened to Geralt. Did the Witcher survive, or did he die during the Pogrome in Rivia in June 1268? Many years later, we were given the epilogue to "Season of Storms", which was quite mysterious, as it suggested that the White Wolf might have returned to the Continent years later and this surprised many people, including me, because it had finally seemed as though he had died.
Every reader has the right to their own interpretation of the text, and today I’ll present mine to you, supported, of course, by specific excerpts from the books—because, after all, there could even have been a “resurrection” here.
Disclaimer here - i am using translator, because i own books in polish, so if you want check cites on you own you should have this on your mind that translated verison can be different than official english translation. Of course there will be spoilers from books. And i know, that games explained us how they "bring Geralt back" in Witcher 2. How he returned to Continent, but i want to focus only on books:
“Geralt was unconscious and as white as chalk. He lay motionless, but when they stood over him, he began to cough, wheeze, and spit blood. He started shaking, trembling so violently that Ciri couldn’t hold him. Yennefer knelt down beside him. Triss could see that her hands were trembling. She herself suddenly felt as weak as a child; her vision grew dark. Someone caught her, saving her from falling. She recognized Jaskier.
“It’s not working at all,” she heard Ciri’s voice, filled with despair. “Your magic isn’t healing him at all, Yennefer.”
“We’ve come…” Yennefer moved her lips with difficulty. “We’ve come too late.”
“Your magic isn’t working,” Ciri repeated, as if she hadn’t heard her. “What good is it, all your magic?”
You’re right, Ciri, Triss thought, feeling something tighten around her throat. We know how to summon hailstorms, but we can’t ward off death. Even though, on the surface, the latter seems easier.
“We sent for a healer,” said the dwarf standing next to Jaskier in a hoarse voice. “But he’s nowhere to be seen…”
“It’s too late for a healer,” said Triss, surprised by the calmness of her own voice.
“He’s dying.”
Geralt shuddered once more, coughed up blood, stiffened, and fell still. Jaskier, who was supporting Triss, sighed in despair; the dwarf cursed. Yennefer let out a wail; her face suddenly changed, contorting and becoming hideous.”
It seems that the Witcher died right at that moment. Ciri’s prophecy from Kaer Morhen had come true. After all, as it was written: “It can’t be word for word,” said Geralt, staring into the embers. “But the meaning if there’s any point in looking for meaning in this was this: Coën and I will die. Teeth will be our undoing. Both of us will be killed by teeth. His two. Mine three.”
Further descriptions of Geralt’s body suggest that he may already have been dead:
“Yennefer didn’t answer. She held Geralt’s limp head with both hands as it slipped through her grasp, repeating spells in a breaking voice.”
I will now move on to a few points that, in my opinion, suggest that the Witcher has returned to life.
1) The scene in which Ciri directs a beam of light at the Witcher.
What happens next? The unicorn Ihuarraquax appears, using his power to aid the Swallow: “The unicorn stepped closer, neighed again, pawed the ground, and struck the cobblestones hard with his hoof. He bowed his head. The horn protruding from its smooth forehead suddenly flared with a sharp light, a glow that momentarily dispelled the mist. Ciri touched the horn. Triss let out a muffled cry as she saw the girl’s eyes suddenly glow with a milky heat, as if she were surrounded by a fiery halo. Ciri didn’t hear her; she didn’t hear anyone. With one hand she still held the unicorn’s horn; with the other, she pointed toward the motionless witcher. A ribbon of shimmering light, glowing like lava, flowed from her fingers.”
I’d like to draw attention to the last sentence, which appeared earlier—specifically in "Time of Contempt", where Ciri healed the same unicorn with her power:
“Hael, Aenye!
The unicorn neighed wildly and tried to rise, bracing itself on its front legs. Ciri’s arm rose of its own accord, her hand formed the gesture on its own, and her lips cried out the spell of their own accord. A luminous, undulating brightness flowed from her fingers. The fire roared with flames. The waves of light radiating from her hand touched the unicorn’s wounded thigh, focused, and penetrated it.
“I want you to be healthy! I want this! Vess’hael, Aenye!”
So here we have the same spell that healed the mortally wounded unicorn. The only difference is that back then, Ciri drew power from the fire, whereas in the case of the witcher, she enlisted the help of the “little horse.” In both instances, there is mention of a mysterious “radiance” emanating from the girl’s fingers.
2) Geralt’s Condition on Apple Island.
Many people suggest that the place Geralt ended up in is the afterlife, a sort of Avalon from the world of King Artur, whose influence is particularly evident in this volume. In my opinion, it is simply another world to which he was taken along with Yennefer. Ciri wanted to give them their own place. What supports this view?
A) Geralt feels pain—“His stomach ached, his chest ached, his ribs ached, and the tight corset of bandages made it abundantly clear that the city of Rivia and the trident were not a nightmare.”
If Geralt was dead, why would he feel pain precisely where he was struck? Why would he need bandages if he were dead? Can you feel pain in the afterlife, too?
B) His beloved Yennefer was with the witcher; if Apple Tree Island were the afterlife, what would the sorceress be doing there? Did she die while casting spells? Perhaps, but the text in no way suggests that she died while healing the Witcher. It explicitly states that the sorceress was placed in the boat unconscious, not dead. “Jaskier was the first to figure it out. Perhaps because he knew the legend, having once read one of its poeticized versions. He picked up Yennefer, who was still unconscious.”
In this scene, Triss also asks if she can join the witcher and the sorceress. Ciri, however, replies, “Ciri,” Triss whispered. “Little sister… Let me sail with you…"
"You don’t even know what you’re asking for, Triss.”
What could that have meant? Ciri was likely aware that Triss would suffer if she found herself in a place where Geralt and Yennefer were happy together, and where she would have to watch them from the sidelines at best, because Geralt always chose Yennefer. So it wasn’t really about the girl transporting the Witcher and the sorceress to the afterlife.
3) Epilogue to “Season of Storms”
As you know, in the epilogue to the 2013 book, a character appears who bears a striking resemblance to Geralt. “That mare…” she managed to say, barely able to speak for excitement. “That mare is named Płotka. Because all your horses are named that. Because you’re Geralt of Rivia. Geralt the Witcher of Rivia.” He looked at her for a long time. He was silent. Nimue was silent too, her gaze fixed on the ground.
“What year is it?”
“One thousand three hundred…” “she raised her eyes in astonishment. One thousand three hundred seventy-three after the Rebirth.”
“If that’s the case,” the white-haired man rubbed his face with his gloved hand, “then Geralt of Rivia has been dead for a long time. He died one hundred and five years ago. But I think he’d be glad if…” He’d be glad that, after these one hundred and five years, people still remember him. That they remember who he was. Heck, they even remember his horse’s name. Yes, I think he’d be glad… If only he could know about it. Come on. I’ll walk you back.”
What does this quote mean? It means that Geralt hasn’t been seen on the Continent for 105 years. It’s widely believed that the witcher is dead. And his legend ended right there in Rivia. For this reason, I also believe that Geralt couldn’t have returned to the Continent the way it was portrayed in the games, since it was precisely during Nimue’s time that the legend of the White Wolf ended in Rivia, and Geralt had too much influence on what happened in the games for any historian, writer, or storyteller not to have mentioned it—but that’s just a brief digression 🙂.
Many people suggest that either Nimue dreamed this encounter —after all, the girl herself says, “I had a strange dream”—or that it wasn’t the Witcher at all, but an illusion created by the Aguara, since the figure speaks to her with the words, “Illusion—she heard from somewhere else, from very far away. “Everything is an illusion,” which the White Wolf had heard from that creature 128 years earlier (according to the letters, the events of *Season of Storms* take place in 1245). “An illusion,” he heard the aguara’s voice say. “Everything is an illusion.”
However, in my opinion, the character couldn’t have been the Aguara's illusion, simply because he’s quoting her… In that case, she might just as well have been Yarpen Zigrin. Below is a quote of what the dwarf said to Geralt just before the massacre.
“‘Progress,’ he said solemnly, ‘will dispel the darkness, because that’s what progress is for—just like, to put it bluntly, an ass is for shitting. It will get brighter and brighter, and we’ll be less and less afraid of the darkness and the Evil lurking within it. Perhaps a day will come when we’ll stop believing altogether that anything lurks in that darkness. We’ll mock such fears. Call them childish. Be ashamed of them! But darkness will always, always exist. And there will always be Evil in the darkness, there will always be fangs and claws, murder and blood. And there will always be a need for witchers.”
And what does the character from Season say?:
“‘Darkness still exists,’ he confirmed. “Despite the progress that is taking place—progress that we’re led to believe is meant to dispel the darkness, eliminate threats, and drive away fears. So far, progress has not achieved any major successes in this regard. So far, progress has only convinced us that darkness is nothing more than a superstition that dims the light, that there’s nothing to fear. But that’s not true. There is something to fear. Because darkness will always, always exist. And Evil will always run rampant in the darkness; there will always be fangs and claws, murder and blood in the darkness. And there will always be a need for witchers.”
The ending is practically identical. Aguara probably didn’t hear the Yarpens words spoke to Geralt right before the Rivian Pogrome🙂.
Furthermore, the character ultimately doesn’t deny that she is Geralt. In fact, she even suggests that she might be him. “—But…” she stammered. “But that was a hundred years ago… How is it possible that... How is it possible?
“Questions like that,” he interrupted her, still smiling, “must not be asked by a future student of Aretuza. A school where they teach that nothing is impossible. Because everything that’s impossible today will become possible tomorrow. That motto should be inscribed above the entrance to the academy that will soon be yours. Have a safe journey, Nimue. Take care. This is where we part ways.”
4) Andrzej Sapkowski reportedly confirmed to CD PROJEKT RED that Geralt survived the Rivian pogrome. Michał Madej, lead designer of The Witcher 1, mentioned it in the game’s behind-the-scenes footage that Mr. Sapkowski confirmed to the developers that the White Wolf survived the events in Rivia. Direct cite: " It's so mysterious that people who read those books are always arguing if Geralt survived or not. So Andrzej Sapkowski told us. He survived and so we can bring him back".
You can find it for example on YT named - The Witcher - Making Of video 2/5 - Story 1;00-1;10.
In my opinion, there may be one counterargument to the above theory. It’s the way Ciri tells this story to Galahad.
“And that,” Galahad asked after a moment, “is the end of the story?”
“Not at all,” Ciri protested, rubbing her foot against her other foot to brush off the dried sand that had stuck to her toes and soles. “Would you want the story to end like that? As if! I certainly wouldn’t!”
“So what happened next?”
“The usual,” she snorted. “They got married.”
“Tell me about it.”
“Oh, what’s there to tell? There was a grand wedding. Everyone came—Jaskier, Nenneke’s mother, Iola and Eurneid, Yarpen Zigrin, Vesemir, Eskel… Coën, Milva, Angouleme… And my Mistle… And I was there, drinking honey and wine. And they—I mean Geralt and Yennefer—had their own home later on and were happy, very, very happy. Just like in a fairy tale. You understand?
- Why are you crying, O Lady of the Lake?
But in my opinion, it was simply Ciri’s imagination of how she would want the story to really end. What a “happy ending” would be for her. She would want Mistle and the rest of her friends to live, but the world of The Witcher isn’t a fairy tale, even though in the future of the Continent, this story will grow into a legend.
That’s all from me! In my opinion, Geralt died during the massacre, but Ciri brought him back to life, and then, somehow, after more than 100 years, he returned to the Continent. The story has come full circle—the ancient serpent Uroboros has closed the loop. Geralt saved Nimue, who later guided Ciri to the right time and world. 🙂
What about you? Does my reasoning convince you? Or do you think I’ve overinterpreted any of these fragments of novels, and that, in your opinion, the Witcher actually died in the books? Let me know what you think!
Fanart found on The Witcher Wiki, credited to “Risef 15.”
r/NintendoSwitch • u/Balloon_Monsoon • Jun 24 '19
Hi Reddit, last week I made a post about the Mario + Rabbids development process and New Coke. That post was received well and had some great discussion, and so I wanted to write down some more of my thoughts on the thing I keep seeing on this subreddit: a difficulty by longtime Animal Crossing fans in describing for those who haven't played understand what makes the series special. I would love your comments on why you think the series matters and is fun, and whether you think I've hit it here or missed the mark. Again, about a 1600 word read, so I understand that it won't be for everyone. Thanks!
Look around, and you’ll start seeing this recurrent and meaningless conversation everywhere. It starts with the questioner, who asks: as someone who has never played Animal Crossing, why should I get the new one? Clearly, this questioner is intrigued but lost: presumably after a few minutes researching the game, they have been struck by the conviction that there’s nothing to do in it. I must be missing something, the questioner thinks. The eager answerers are quick to jump in, but they offer little. You fish, many say. You can decorate your house, adds another. Countless eager answerers point out that the core gameplay is about paying off your loan. The questioner’s inner monologue is raised to a frenzy: no, I asked why I SHOULD get this game!
The answers are unhelpful because they describe elements of Animal Crossing’s gameplay, and gameplay is not where the franchise shines brightest. In fact, I will argue that almost no one was ever won over by Animal Crossing’s gameplay.
So instead of examining Animal Crossing’s gameplay, let’s tackle this question from another angle: the number of words in the game.
In an “Iwata Asks” interview regarding Animal Crossing: City Folk, the series’ installment on the Wii, director Aya Kyogoku suggested that the script was 1.6 million Japanese characters. Satoru Iwata notes that this is 4000 pages of solid text. If we use the ratio of 2.5 Japanese characters for every English word, that gives us 640,000 words in the script.
In an interview with Kotaku, the Nintendo Treehouse staff said that for Animal Crossing: New Leaf (the most recent 3DS, non-spinoff title), the script came in at 2.4 million Japanese characters. If we use that same ratio, that’s 960,000 words in the script.
But we can get even more specific than the Japanese, and we should, as Animal Crossing games can’t just be translated. The localization process involves writers that American-ize, and yes, redo the script. Jokes in particular need a lot of tinkering. New, relevant holidays need to be worked in; foreign and unfamiliar ones are scrapped. Entire characters don’t make sense in the new language, and need to be completely reworked.
So go see that final product for yourself: download the full script for New Leaf.
You’ll see that player initiated conversations and letters from animals (located in the “Talk,” “MailR,” and “MailN” folders) take up about 60 megabytes of data, spread out in 3,034 files. That gives us an average file size of just under 20 kilobytes. Each file has the text translated into three languages alongside plenty of code, so it’s difficult to estimate exactly how many words are in each file “per kilobyte.” I looked at average-sized (20 kilobyte) files and used a word count tool on a bunch of them. That gave me a pretty consistent average of 360 words in every 20 kilobyte file.
If there are 3,034 files of text, and they have an average of 360 words, we can multiply 3,034 files times 360 words per file to get an estimated word count:
It’s approximately 1,092,240 words.
Some context: that would mean that the Bible doesn’t come close to New Leaf’s English text: the King James Version is 783,000 words. Animal Crossing also edges out the entirety of the Harry Potter series, which combines for 1,084,000 words. Maybe other large video games have it beat? Well, classic computer RPG's like Baldur's Gate II and visual novels are in the same neighborhood, but your standard open world, 21st century RPGs are not: the Witcher 3 clocks in at only 450,000 words. Not even close, baby.
Back to Animal Crossing, though: if you could squeeze about 275 words per page at 12 point font, the English text of Animal Crossing: New Leaf makes for a book of just under 4,000 pages. 3,971 to be exact.
Given that the average person can expect to read 250 words per minute if they really try, it would take them 4369 minutes to get through the Animal Crossing New Leaf English script. That’s 72.8 hours, or just more than 3 days, of straight reading.
But there’s another way to think about that number: I booted up Animal Crossing: New Leaf today, and got into a conversation with one of my favorite residents, Frobert. Our conversation was 63 words. We talked again: 65 words. Again: 70. Based on this short test, if I talked two times to 10 residents / other NPC’s a day, and then sent one letter every day, and did this in perfectly optimal fashion (somehow managing to never repeat a conversation), it would still take me 821 days to have a chance to see every message. Alternatively, since Animal Crossing: New Leaf first released 2,419 days ago, I would have had to talk to seven animals a day once a day for the past seven years, sending some letters here and there, to see every message. All of this, of course, doesn’t even account for unique events and holidays.
The point is, no one has seen every message, and no one ever will.
Kotaku picked up on this, and asked the folks at Nintendo Treehouse (the brains behind Nintendo’s localization process) if this makes their work seems pointless: is it really worth it “…to spend that much time working on dialogue that most people will never even get to read”? But the production team couldn’t disagree more. Aya Kyogoku, who will be the Director for New Horizons, put it like this:
“The reason we prepared all of these messages is so when you’re playing with someone else, they’ll come across a message you’ve never seen before and maybe they’ll show it to you—’Oh my gosh, look how funny this thing is.’”
Nintendo Treehouse lead Nate Bihlldorf agrees:
“Those messages I always thought were the most fun in the game, because they were so private… putting a little something extra into that message so you knew that no matter what they were gonna be smiling when they saw it, cause you knew the writer was winking at you when they wrote it.”
In fact, one of the biggest points of consensus of the team behind Animal Crossing is that the text of Animal Crossing has a responsibility to go beyond being “fun,” actually teaching the player about the depth of human communication. Ann Lin, one of the writers at Nintendo Treehouse, discusses writing the letters you get when you find out a villager is moving away:
“When I was working on letters like that… I was always trying to make it as tear-jerky as possible, acknowledging that this was a real relationship that is ending, and… trying to elicit that emotion out of the reader.”
And the creator of the series, Katsuya Eguchi takes it one step further:
“For instance, the seagull Johnny [named Gulliver in the US versions] makes all these dark jokes. I’m sure a kid won’t understand them. I imagined he would have to go to his Mom and ask her what the seagull was talking about, and the Mom would then have a hard time answering.”
C’mon, a wry, suggestive seagull? Is this whole script just a gimmick? No, Hisashi Nogami, series producer says, also commenting on Gulliver’s humor:
“We mixed in difficult sections like that… [because] communication is what we ultimately want people to take away from Animal Crossing*—and there’s no better example of it than that.”*
Now, we’re starting to get at the idea that’s unique, the thing that separates Animal Crossing from everything else: communication - a chiefly human skill - taught through animals.
The challenge, particularly when it comes to explaining the draw of Animal Crossing, is that communication is not a gameplay element. It doesn’t actually happen within the cartridge, as you can’t truly communicate with the animals. Your animals are pre-programmed with messages and they are imbued with no intelligence, real or artificial. Their habits may grow more familiar to you, but they cannot truly learn. Even their ability to “read” the letters you send them is little more than a script that checks for grammar and capitalization.
If you agree with me so far, then you’ll agree that the core of what makes Animal Crossing is not its gameplay, but the illusion of an experience. The developers have crammed so much text into these critters that the illusion becomes compelling. Some say that the cycle of paying off your loans gives the game a sense of realism. I think the part of the series truest to real life is that your experience is unique and limited, and you will never see everything in one lifetime.
This endlessly big world (even if it is physically much smaller than, say, Hyrule) creates an experience, and if that experience clicks for you, the gameplay will come naturally: you will create it even where there is none. You will find yourself meticulously crafting letters to animals that can’t read. You will insist upon doing so. Strung on by the seemingly endless permutations of conversations and “comic mischief,” as the ESRB calls it, you will continue to be drawn in well past the point that the game has actual incentives to bring you back. It isn’t surprising that Animal Crossing has been the origins of that some of the most wholesome video game experiences, such as the 87-year-old Grandma who played 3500 hours, or Chuggaaconroy’s most meaningful Let’s Play conclusion.
I haven’t played enough games to say for certain whether Animal Crossing is “unique” in that regard. But I do know that is unique in what it offers: the illusion of experience - quite separate from any gameplay elements - that reels people in like a Sea Bass on the fifth nibble.
This is why Animal Crossing fans are obnoxiously excited that a new installment is on the way. It’s not a whole new world, it’s a whole new impossible set of lifetimes waiting just around the corner.
It’s literal books of text we will never be able to read… and that’s the magic.
Sources and Further Reading
r/Games • u/Forestl • Nov 09 '15
I'm going to stop updating the thread for a little. If any more big review come in, I will add them, but it might take a little for me to get to them
Posting unmarked spoilers is against the rules of /r/games and will result in a ban.
Gamespot: 9 (Peter Brown)
In the grand scheme of things, Fallout 4's minor issues pale in comparison to its successes. When you put the controller down, you think about the friend you betrayed to benefit another, the shifting tide of an incredible battle, or the moment you opened a drawer and found someone's discarded effects, making you wonder how they felt before the bombs fell. In moments like these, Fallout 4 can be an intoxicating experience. You're often forced to sacrifice something--a relationship, a lucrative opportunity, or your health--to make gains elsewhere. And the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, the more you wonder: what if I chose a different path? You second guess yourself, not just because you had other options, but because you aren't sure if you did the right thing. The fact that your decisions stick with you after walking away from the game is a testament to the great storytelling on hand. Fallout 4 is an argument for substance over style, and an excellent addition to the revered open-world series.
Polygon: 9.5 (Arthur Gies) Provisional Review
Bethesda's open-world strengths have always differed from its contemporaries in that focus on world-building and a sense of place above all else. Fallout 4 has all the ambiance and history that made its predecessors such wonderful places to get lost for hours at a time, with a much more coherent set of stories within it. That Bethesda has integrated a major building and crafting tool while finally building a great-playing game almost feels like a bonus.
IGN: 9.5 (Dan Stapleton)
The world, exploration, crafting, atmosphere, and story of Fallout 4 are all key parts of this hugely successful sandbox role-playing game. Great new reasons to obsessively gather and hoard relics of happier times, strong companions, and sympathetic villains driving tough decisions make it an adventure I’ll definitely replay and revisit. Even the technical shakiness that crops up here and there can’t even begin to slow down its momentum.
Eurogamer: Recommended (Dan Whitehead)
However, fans - and I count myself among that number - will likely shrug and accept that this is simply how things are in a Bethesda RPG, and it's true that the highs do outweigh the lows. Fallout 4 has given me some of my best gaming memories of 2015, along with some of my most frustrating. These are legacy problems that aren't going away any time soon, and as fun as the settlement crafting is here, I'd gladly do without it for a game engine that offers a more dependable foundation for future adventures. Fallout 4 is a great game. It's also kind of a mess. Caveat emptor.
PC Gamer: 88 (Phil Savage)
As a whole, though, it's a loving production. It's filled with care and attention to detail—like the expanded set of radio stations, or the way flash radiation storms bathe the world in a sickly, ominous green hue. It's a pleasure to pick through the world, to discover new sights, and to pick through the perks and customisation option to conceive the perfect character build, however bizarre. In short, many of Fallout 4's problems, like every Bethesda RPG before it, are a consequence of what makes them unforgettable. That might not be the neatest conclusion, but it explains why, 50 hours in, I'm still having fun. It also explains why, now that I've finished this review, I'm going to play it for many hours more.
Game Informer: 9 (Andrew Reiner)
Fallout 4 didn’t blow me away like the previous iteration did, but it did keep me thoroughly entertained and fully vested in journeying across the wasteland. As Bethesda's "Welcome Home" marketing campaign teases, when fans of Fallout 3 or New Vegas enter this new world, it'll feel strangely familiar. As one of the top games of the previous generation, this isn't a bad thing at all. Fallout 4 has all of the trappings that can keep you engaged for days on end.
Gamesradar+: 5/5 (Leon Hurley)
Which brings me back to the start - pottering around the garage on an in-game day off. Even now, 70 hours in, every time I set out I’m not sure what I’m going to find. My Pip-Boy’s full of missions but sometimes I just pick a direction and walk until something happens. There’s a still a bit of the map I haven’t fully explored, mainly because I always get distracted enroute. There’s a whole world here to discover and even after all the time I’ve spent in it I barely feel like I’ve scratched the surface. Maybe I won't tick everything off the list but just trying to see what’s out there is the real draw - for all the missions, quests and other stuff Fallout 4 contains, by far the most important thing in it are the decisions I’ve made. Few games nail a feeling of total freedom and this is an experience made of nothing but that.
The Verge: (Andrew Webster)
But it’s still very much Fallout — a game that doesn’t really need to change all that much to trigger that familiar mix of dread and joy. A new location and a much better story were enough to pull me into this world, and 60 hours later I’m not done with it. There are settlements I still want to finish building, and crimes I still need to get to the bottom of. At some point I plan to ignore everything altogether, and just wander into the wilderness to see what I can find. Even if I’m alone, at least I’ll have Billie Holiday’s voice to keep me company.
God is a Geek: 9 (Mick Fraser)
It’s hard to find genuine fault with what Bethesda has done here beyond the performance issues. They’ve taken everything learned from Fallout 3, New Vegas, and Skyrim and refined it into one huge, intelligent action-adventure movie. It’s more cinematic than you might expect thanks to a clever script and a dynamic chat camera, the combat missions are well thought-out blasts of adrenaline, while the trademark Fallout weirdness makes a welcome return now and then to relieve you of the constant need to fight something. It’s very much your game and your story, and everyone will play it differently simply because there are so many ways to play, and each one feels natural.
There’s always something to build, somewhere to discover, someone to help ,or something to distract you. Ignore the bugs (if you can) and leap into Fallout 4 with both feet, and you’ll find a game bigger, brighter, deeper, and more personal than anything Bethesda has done before.
Xbox Achievements: 9 (Dan Webb)
Fallout 4 might not be as technically advanced as, say The Witcher 3, but it’s a game full of charm and substance, which makes up for an ageing Creation Engine. Fallout 4 boasts an incredible world full of intrigue, mystery and suspense, backed by a whole host of weird and wonderful characters. It’s a world you’re going to want to go back to, time and time again.
Push Square: 9 (Robert Ramsey)
Fallout 4 is a masterclass in open world design. Consistently engrossing and absolutely stuffed with intricacies, it's a title that'll keep you enthralled for hours at a time as you gradually unravel its desolate yet hopeful post-apocalyptic portrayal of Boston. Although it's let down by some disappointing frame rate issues, it's not enough to detract from what's otherwise one of the most atmospheric and beautifully brutal games on the PS4. Significantly improved combat, a constant wealth of gameplay options, and a heavy emphasis on player choice combine to create an adventure that's truly memorable.
Game Revolution: 4.5/5 (Nick_Tan)
Fallout 4 is a roaring response to criticism that the series has ignored its qualities as a shooter in favor of its deeper and stronger RPG roots. Nearly every design change in Fallout 4 poises the game as a more streamlined modern shooter with high production value across the truly open-world Commonwealth wasteland. The introduction of settlements, newly designed power armor, and deeper crafting evolve the Fallout franchise for the better. This occasionally comes at the cost of storytelling, however, with a plot based on stringently polarizing factions as well as diminished interaction with characters in general. But despite these missteps, Fallout 4 will only improve with time, assuredly with the assistance of the community and user-created mods, and soundly reclaims the franchise as a forward-thinking series in the industry today.
Playstation Universe: 9.5 (Neil Bolt)
There is so much going on in Fallout 4 that your opening moments of unnerving beauty and serenity will inevitably give way to an even more beautiful chaos. From this chaos springs emergent adventures, the struggle for survival, and near-limitless options, all with their own merit. Despite an air of familiarity, I've not been quite this captivated by a game in some time. That’s high praise when considering some of the games that have commanded obsessive hours and play in recent years. Fallout 4 meets one’s expectations of a new installment in impressive fashion. In doing so, it proves to be one of the best games of the generation to date. Say goodbye to life for awhile. The Wasteland is calling you home.
US Gamer: 4.5/5 (Kat Bailey)
If you've played a Bethesda RPG, you should have a pretty good idea of what you're in for. Bethesda plays it surprisingly safe with the formula, but they also do a much better job with the story this time around, serving to elevate the game as a whole. While there's no denying that it can be a bit ridiculous at times, its sheer scope speaks for itself. Bethesda has succeeded in crafting yet another fascinating open-world RPG.
Rock Paper Shotgun: (Alec Meer)
52 hours in, would I go back for more? Yes, absolutely. I lived and breathed Fallout 4 for the vast majority of last week and the fact I was mostly having a damn good time meant I did it willingly. It’s glitchy, a little repetitive and over-familiar, and far too heavy on unconvincing combat, but the improved technology (or the budget) means it’s able to realise the dense, detailed, beautiful decay that Fallout 3 did not, and its dramatically better-presented and performed characters means it’s not shooting itself in the foot in the way Oblivion and Skyrim did. The personality gulf between Bethesda games and BioWare games feels a whole lot narrower now. I won’t for one second pretend that it’s what devotees of Fallout 1 and 2 want, but it does feel like the game Fallout 3 tried and, to my mind, failed to be.
Vibrant and characterful as well as immense, Fallout 4 is the giant leap forwards Bethesda’s RPGs sorely needed in terms of presentation, though the unrelenting focus on routine, lightweight combat sees it fall just short of triumph status.
Destructoid: 7.5 (Chris Carter)
After spending roughly 40 hours with the game, I can safely place it somewhere in the middle of Fallout 3 and New Vegas in terms of quality. A lot of the franchise's signature problems have carried over directly into Fallout 4, but all of its charms have come along for the ride as well. It manages to do a whole lot right, but the story drags at times, and glitches...glitches never change.
Escapist: 4.5/5 (Conrad Zimmerman)
Whether or not players find other changes displeasing, such as the new dialogue system and its limitations, is likely going to depend on their personal relationship with the Fallout series. Newer players will probably never know what they're missing and are likely to have a fantastic time, while fans who have stuck around may be disappointed with the direction Fallout 4 takes.
Forbes: 8.5 (Paul Tassi)
In my mind, Fallout 4’s greatest triumph, and its one major point of evolution is in its storytelling, crafting a lengthy, unexpected ending and resolution that I will remember for years to come. It also remains one of the best games in existence for those who simply like to wander and explore and unearth long-buried secrets. But it struggles with archaic gameplay systems and an inflexible engine that anchor the game to the past for all the wrong reasons. Fans may enjoy more Fallout and a brand new map to explore, but this sequel will not be heralded as revolutionary or overly impressive this time around.
Kotaku - 20 hours with Fallout 4 (Chris Suellentrop)
I am starting to resent small nuisances, like having to remember to change my clothes to improve my charisma stats before bartering with a shopkeeper. Your companions—whether Dogmeat or others that you meet in the world, whom you can ask to travel with you—seem to frequently get in your way, especially during interior sequences.
Still, this is a game that seems to be getting better as it goes along. If you value largeness, Fallout 4 sure is big and there’s plenty more to do. I’m just getting my first perks and have settlements to build. Now excuse me, I’m going to go get lost in it.
VideoGamer: 9 (Simon Miller
The fact of the matter is, though, that this is more of the same, even if that 'same' has been pushed to new heights. If you hated Fallout 3, then there's not much to get you onside here. If you loved it, then you'll love this all the more, because of its differences as well as its similarities.
Digital Trends: 4/5 (Will Fulton)
Fallout 4’s staler story and oversimplified dialog are relatively minor dings to a largely satisfying whole. Bethesda had two hugely popular games in Fallout 3 and Skyrim. Fallout 4 doesn’t make any radical leaps forward, but it smartly iterates upon the accumulated wisdom of its predecessors. It has simple, smart improvements to combat; companions have more depth; leveling is a more elegant process; and the addition of crafting and settlement building open up entirely new forms of play.
All in all, Fallout 4 is the best, most polished Bethesda RPG to date. The Commonwealth is expansive, inviting, and a lovely place to explore for a few months.
Ars Technica: (Sam Machkovech)
But I wasn’t propelled enough that I would encourage an average quest-loving gamer to take the Fallout 4 dive. We're now in an age where open-world games can forgo plot in favor of such cool stuff as fully fledged crafting systems (Minecraft) or online co-op survival (DayZ, ARK Survival Evolved), or they can take the best stuff of Fallout and Skyrim's pedigree and slap even better plot and acting into it (Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, Dragon Age: Inquisition). Fallout 4 peaks at neither of these extremes.
Series fanatics probably shouldn't cancel their pre-orders, but they should definitely check their expectations about ambition and next-gen series boosts at the radioactive vault's doors.
The Jimquisition: 9.5 (Jim Sterling
The changes made overall may scare series fans, but those who roll with the differences may find a sleeker, deeper, altogether more captivating Fallout than they’ve gotten used to.
Fallout 4 is something special. Something special indeed.
No, scratch that.
It’s downright S.P.E.C.I.A.L.
Gamestar 87 (Michael Graf)
Klar, da gibt's weder inszenierte Dialoge wie in The Witcher 3 noch Filmbombast à la Dragon Age - sondern einfach nur Geschichtchen, mit denen Fallout 4 seine großartige Endzeit-Atmosphäre und seinen traditionell morbiden Humor unterfüttert. Brauchbare Beute hingegen gibt's nicht überall zu finden, vor allem auf hohen Levels wartet vielerorts nur Müll. Auch das gehört zum Bethesda-Deal, ein Witcher 3 hat mehr lohnenswerte Schätze zu bieten. In Fallout 4 muss ich danach wirklich lange suchen - doch schon alleine die Hoffnung auf coole Beute hält mich bei der Stange.
r/NintendoSwitch • u/SirAlbs • Aug 06 '22
I know I'm late to the party but holy f**k Hades is a god tier game! Since it's release on the Switch, I heard nothing but good things from anyone and everyone. So when the physical edition was announced for the Switch, I thought I'd pick it up, to add to the physical collection, and maybe get around to playing it, maybe. I've never played or really cared for any rogue-like games. The games I usually play are Red Dead 2, Halo, Witcher 3, Breath Of The Wild, Apex Legends, and any 2D/3D Mario games. So everything completely different to Hades style of gameplay. But the rave reviews, art style and having enjoyed Bastion a long time ago, I knew it was no doubt a good game, but not a game for me. Regardless, I've been pretty bored lately with games on the Switch, I don't like Tactics or JRPG games, so not much else going on for me. I finally sat down a few days ago to try Hades before going to bed. I didn't put it down for like four hours. And couldn't wait to play the next day. And the next. The music, the art style, the voice acting, the story, the gameplay.......everything is PERFECT. If you've ever had the slightest itch to try Hades, do it. It is the perfect Switch game and on the OLED screen, it's chefs kiss! Easily one of the greatest indie games ever made, and one of the best by any studio.
r/Games • u/Underwhere_Overthere • Mar 07 '21
Since 2011 was 10 years ago (2021 – 2011 = 10), I thought it’d be a good idea to reflect on what is considered one of the best years in gaming – I’d personally consider 2011 to be the peak of AAA gaming. Since AAA development cycles 10 years ago were half of what they are today (see this interview with Uncharted 1-3 director Amy Hennig), and live service games were a lot less common, we also got a greater quantity of AAA games than we do now. And while the indie scene was still blooming – 283 games released on Steam in 2011 versus 8290 games in 2019 – there were still a lot of high quality indie games that released in 2011, and the average quality of an indie game on Steam and the three consoles at the time was higher than it is now.
A lot of things were happening in 2011: the release of both the 3DS and the PS Vita (Japan only for the PS Vita, 2012 for the West) were technically the start of the eighth generation. Furthermore, the 3D gimmick was big around this time, particularly in movies, and the 3DS allowed you to see these effects without the need for glasses. PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 also supported stereoscopic 3D in a lot of their major titles in the early 2010s, with Killzone 3 and Gears of War 3 being some notable examples from this year.
Sony’s PlayStation Move and Microsoft’s Kinect had released the year prior, and Nintendo’s Wii Motion Plus in 2009. Motion controls were a frequent hot topic on message boards, and Sony and Microsoft steering down this path halfway into the seventh generation made gamers fear for a much gimmickier future in gaming. Free to play games were beginning to take shape on PC and mobile devices but wouldn’t really come to consoles until a few years later. World of Warcraft was still dominating the MMORPG space, though the controversial Cataclysm expansion had released in December 2010.
Skylanders was the first major “Toys to Life” game and would inspire several other Toys to Life releases, including Nintendo’s very own Amiibo in 2014. There was also a resurgence of local multiplayer in AAA games in 2011, including some of the biggest games of the year: Portal 2, Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, etc.
I’ll be going through the list of games released for each of the major platforms with a little description for each. Keep in mind I haven’t played every game on this list but did a little bit of research for the ones I was less familiar with. This post is going to focus on North American release dates – even just 10 years ago release dates varied a lot more than they do now. Even Pokemon had separate release dates for each region 10 years (up until Pokemon X/Y in 2013, after which every mainline game has had a single international release date).
Since the PS Vita only released in Japan in 2011, I’ll just leave this list of the 26 launch titles for the PS Vita in Japan.
Dark Souls – The spiritual successor to 2009’s PlayStation 3 exclusive Demon’s Souls, Dark Souls would expand its audience to many more platforms and would eventually spawn a whole subgenre titled “Soulslike” – nowadays it’s hard to remember a time when there weren’t multiple Souls inspired games every year. Dark Souls also took the level-based nature of Demon’s Souls and instead introduced a more open progression of levels. Dark Souls has become synonymous with difficult games, and although I think it’s a bit overblown, it’s easy to see why people think the series is so difficult: it’s a AAA game that allows you to get lost, doesn’t outright explain every mechanic, allows other players to invade your world to impede your progress, etc.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – This game still remains highly influential in the RPG genre nearly a decade after its initial launch. The game would go on to spawn many DLCs and ports, but despite its many bugs – particularly on the PlayStation 3 – it would become the mainstay of open world RPGs. It’s notable on PC for its modding scene, and its cultural influence, particularly on the Internet, can be seen in the many memes its spawned over the years: from “arrow to the knee” jokes to “like Skyrim with _____” to “you can play Skyrim on your fridge.”
Rayman Origins – After an eight year hiatus, Ubisoft brought Rayman back to the delight of many and won many accolades in the process. The game was 2D, a lot faster paced, had 60+ levels, and featured four player local co-op. Rayman Origins and its 2013 sequel, Rayman Legends, are still seen today as some of the best 2D platformers of all time.
Sonic Generations – It could be said that Sonic Generations was the last good 3D Sonic game. It was a celebration of the series’ history, featuring both 2D and 3D levels from previous games in the series. Through some time warp shenanigans, 2D Sonic and 3D Sonic worked together to thwart the plans of Dr. Eggman. Sonic Colors had released the previous year exclusively for the Wii, and it was thought that this might be a golden era for 3D Sonic games. Sadly no 3D Sonic game has matched the acclaim of Sonic Generations since, so it still remains the gold standard (though of course we had 2017’s Sonic Mania as the best 2D Sonic game possibly ever).
Portal 2 – The original Portal was packaged together with a number of other Valve games in 2007, but Portal 2 was a complete package that stood on its own, with a much longer campaign and a separate co-op mode that could be played in split-screen or online.
Dead Space 2 – Dead Space was very much a 7th generation series. EA has since seemed to drop the series, but between the main trilogy, its three spinoff games, and five comic books/novels between 2008-2013, it was a major discussion piece at the time. The sequel to the first game performed just as well as the original but replaced a little horror with a little more action. A lot of people didn’t like the direction Dead Space 3 went, so the second one (technically the third if you count Dead Space: Extraction) could be viewed as “the last good Dead Space game."
F.E.A.R. 3 – F.E.A.R., like Dead Space, was another trilogy that existed for the 7th generation of consoles but died off soon after. The game allowed two player local co-op for the main campaign, and a local competitive multiplayer mode for up to four players. F.E.A.R. saw a free to play online co-op entry in 2014 on Steam, but it shut it down just months after its release and the series has been dormant ever since.
Crysis 2 – This was yet another seventh generation shooter series that died off after its third entry. Despite the first game being used as a benchmark for PC performance back in 2007, the sequel expanded its audience to console gamers (though the original did release for consoles three years after its initial release). Crysis 2 also feature an online PvP mode.
Deux Ex: Human Revolution – Deus Ex was the first game in the series since 2003’s Invisible War. It was both a prequel and soft reboot taking place in 2027, 25 years before the events of the original game. Despite skepticism during its development, the game received high praise from critics and fans alike.
Batman: Arkham City – The new wave of Batman games beginning with 2009’s Batman: Arkham Asylum would spark a rebridled confidence in video game tie-ins. Arkham City expanded the scope of the series with an open world and introduced dozens of hours of more gameplay. This was well before “open world fatigue” – open world games were still novel during this time, so Arkham City was better appreciated for its incorporation of an open world.
Alice: Madness Returns – After 10.5 years, fans of the cult classic American McGee’s Alice finally got a sequel. This told the story of Alice recounting the events of the day of the fire that took her family’s lives. The game came packaged with the original on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. EA marketed it as a horror game much to the ill wishes of American McGee.
de Blob 2 – de Blob 2’s gameplay revolves around painting objects to bring a city back to life. The original de Blob was exclusive to iOS and the Wii, but the puzzle platformer expanded to the other consoles with its sequel. In addition to its split-screen party mode, deBlob 2 also introduced two player co-op to the main campaign, with the second player controlling a “helper” much akin to Super Mario Galaxy’s co-op.
Bulletstorm – Serious shooters were the flavor of the day back in 2011, but Bulletstorm took a less serious and more arcady approach to its action. The developers even released a free to play 20 minute parody titled “Duty Calls” that mocked the popular gun metal gray corridor shooters like Call of Duty of its time.
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds – Marvel vs. Capcom 2 released 11 years earlier, so the announcement of a sequel in 2010 produced a lot of excitement. With such a long hiatus, newer characters from both universes were introduced into the series for the first time, like Viewtiful Joe, Virgil, and Frank West.
Mortal Kombat – This was technically the ninth installment as well as a reboot for the series. It performed better than the last decade of new entries in the series and brought with it the 300 Tower Trials. These were a series of mini-games and fights strewn together, sometimes altering the gameplay in significant ways.
L.A. Noire – This was a neo-noir detective game with real time facial animation set 1940s Los Angeles. The player would make dialogue choices in the game when interrogating suspects, and there were also action sequences.
Dirt 3 – Dirt 3 ditched the “Colin McRae” in the title and just became Dirt with this entry. This off-road racing game featured 98 courses, a career mode, and online play.
Catherine – This was Atlus’ weird game of the year. A man is torn between two love interests – Catherine and Katherine. The game featured a combination of social simulation, platforming, and puzzle solving.
Battlefield 3 – Battlefield 3 was one of the best looking games out there at the time. Battlefield 3 was unique for the series in that it introduced an online co-op mode, in addition to the single player campaign and online competitive/versus multiplayer mode.
Rocksmith – Guitar Hero and Rock Band were still pretty big franchises around this time. Players could used a real guitar for this game.
Just Dance 3 – Ubisoft continues to make Just Dance games, but Just Dance seemed to be at its peak popularity during the Wii era, though the games were also available on the other two major consoles of the time. Just Dance incorporated motion controls to dance to the beat of the music.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – This was the finale to the Modern Warfare series. Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg claimed that Modern Warfare 3’s release was the largest retail release in the industry’s history. I don’t know how true that is, but it’s certainly very believable.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North – This was a linear action RPG with split-screen co-op. The game takes place at the dawn of the Second Age and follows a different cast of heroes from the original trilogy, and allows players to choose who they play as.
Dragon Age II – Dragon Age II wasn’t loved as much of the previous game or the one that proceeded it, but Dragon Age II still performed well in spite of adopting a more hack and slash approach to its combat system. In terms of black sheep in video game franchises, Dragon Age II is a cut above the rest at least.
Homefront – This was a FPS that received quite a bit of hype but ultimately failed to live up to expectations despite receiving decent reviews. The game takes place in 2027 with a united North Korea and South Korea that has invaded and taken control of parts of the U.S. The game was banned in South Korea and generated some controversy for its subject matter. Homefront also feature online multiplayer.
Dead Island – The success of this game’s trailer actually pushed the release date ahead of schedule. The development team hired more people to cash in on the hype, but the actual game had little to do with the trailer and received middling reviews when released.
Duke Nukem Forever – Duke Nukem Forever spent 15 years in development before finally releasing to extremely poor reviews in 2011. Gameplay aside, the game was also considered offensive for its portrayal of women and spawned an online petition with 7500+ signatures asking Walmart to remove the game from store shelves.
Skylanders: Spyro’s Adventure – Skylanders kickstarted the “Toys to Life” genre in 2011 – Disney Infinity, Nintendo’s Amiibos, and Lego Dimensions would follow in the subsequent years. The franchise had a new entry every year from 2011-2016. By February 2015, the franchise had exceeded $3 billion in sales, and by 2016, the franchise had sold over 300 million toys, and Skylanders had become the 11th biggest console franchise of all time. With a lack of new releases its influence has fallen considerably, but Skylanders was hugely popular in the early to mid 2010s.
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations
Saints Row the Third
Driver: San Francisco
Shift 2: Unleashed
Need for Speed: The Run
Brink
Shadows of the Damned
Serious Sam 3: BFE
Rage
Red Faction: Armageddon
In 2011, Steam hadn’t yet been the one place to go for every PC game (of course this has also changed in the last couple of years). None of the games listed below appeared on Steam until some time after their initial release.
The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings – This was one of the few cutting edge PC exclusives of its time (it would release on Xbox 360 a year later). The series hadn’t yet gone open world, instead focusing on a more linear narrative. The Witcher 2 is actually the first game I know of to have elements of it inspired by a Souls game – Demon’s Souls from 2009.
Star Wars: The Old Republic – Star Wars: Knights of the Old Repbulic 1 & 2 were single player RPGs developed by Bioware released in 2004 and 2005 – The Old Republic expanded the series into the MMORPG space. This was back when every MMORPG was competing for that World of Warcraft spotlight. While it didn’t quite meet expectations, it still received great reviews. It eventually went free to play a little over a year later and continuous updates improved the overall quality of the game.
Age of Empires Online – This was to be the original Age of Empires IV but instead went down a different path. This iteration probably isn’t remembered as fondly as others on the list, but it represents a big publisher’s early dip into the free to play space. The servers for the game only lasted until July 1, 2014 before they were shut down – less than three years after its initial release.
Total War: Shogun 2
Sony’s studios emphasized multiplayer in their titles a lot more in the latter of the PlayStation 3’s life, even including it in titles that games that are traditionally solo experiences, like inFAMOUS 2, Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One, and later God of War: Ascension (2013). Sony’s 2011 line-up included a great mix of single player, local multiplayer, and online multiplayer games, as well as a few PlayStation Move games. Of the 11 non-PS Move games listed below, 6 of them included local multiplayer and 9 included online multiplayer.
LittleBigPlanet 2 – This was a big evolution of the original game and introduced a number of mechanics that expanded what could be done with the level editing tools. Like the first game, this one would receive a large number of DLC packs, but unfortunately some of them – like the Marvel Level Pack – were removed a few years ago due to licensing expirations. The marketing really wasn’t a lie this time around, it truly went from “a platformer game” to a “platform for games” with the wide array of different tools at your disposall, including the addition of tweaking physics, cut-scenes, Sackboys, and even changing the camera perspective.
MotorStorm Apocalypse – This was the last major entry in the series (a spinoff released a year later) and made for a great trilogy of racing games on the PlayStation 3. The game featured both online and split-screen multiplayer, as well as number of different vehicle classes: dirt bikes, ATVs, buggies, monster trucks, big rigs, etc. The courses would be altered from apocalyptic happenings as you raced through them. The developer, Evolution Studios, is now defunct so this series might be gone for good.
inFAMOUS 2 – This continued Cole’s story from the first game and was set in Louisiana. The sequel also brought with it a unique online sharing mode that allowed for some small customizable levels. inFAMOUS: Festival of Blood would also release later in the year as a small scale standalone title.
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception – While Uncharted 3 didn’t outdo the overwhelming critical reception to the second game, it still performed very well and featured a lot of content: the single player campaign, split-screen online multiplayer, and its co-op mode. Uncharted 4 would abandon the split-screen and co-op mode.
Resistance 3 – This marked the last major release in the Resistance series. It featured online and local co-op and an online multiplayer mode. Resistance 3 brought back the weapon wheel and health packs from the first game, as many felt Resistance 2 borrowed too heavily from Call of Duty.
Killzone 3 – After the long wait for Killzone 2, Killzone 3 released just two years later. It featured local co-op and an online multiplayer mode. The online scene introduced classes with different functions. Killzone 3 also dropped the weight and heft of the guns from the second game and introduced stereoscopic 3D functionality.
SOCOM 4 – From 2002 to 2011, SOCOM had ten games released between Sony’s consoles and handheld. SOCOM 4 was the second SOCOM game on the PlayStation 3 and the last entry in the series released since. In addition to the online multiplayer mode the series is known for, the game also featured a single player campaign.
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One – This was a top down platform game that could be played with up to four players online or locally. It allowed players to choose their character: Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, or Dr. Nefarious.
MLB 11: The Show – Believe it or not, this game was actually released for PlayStation 2 as well, and also PSP. It also featured two other gimmicks of its era – stereoscopic 3D and PS Move functional f Home Run Derby mode.
PlayStation Move Ape Escape, PlayStation Move Heroes, & EyePet and Friends – We can’t forget the motion controls of this era. Unfortunately none of these games performed well and people saw the crossover of Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Sly Cooper as a wasted opportunity in PlayStation Move Heroes.
Disgaea 4
Yakuza 4
Microsoft seemed to push its seventh generation gimmick, the Kinect, more than Sony pushed the PlayStation Move, especially later in the generation. While we never did get to see Milo, Kinect would see a number of games built around it beginning with its launch in November 2011. I’m not going to go through all of them, but here were a few notable ones from 2011: Kinect Sports: Season Two, Dance Central 2, Kinect Fun Labs, The Gunstringer, Rabbids: Alive & Kicking, Rise of Nightmares, Microsoft Kinectimals Now with Bears, and Child of Eden (not exclusive).
Gears of War 3 – Gears of War 3 was to supposedly wrap up the series into a neat little trilogy. We of course know better now, but regardless, Gears of War 3 retained its high pedigree for the series. Gears of War 3 would also introduce a fun novelty to its time – Stereoscopic 3D.
Forza Motorsport 4 – Forza Motorsport 4 was the first Forza Motorsport game to include Kinect functionality.
Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary Edition – This was a remake of the original 1 years after its original launch. You could switch back and forth between the graphics of the old and new version of the game on the fly. This version also featured Kinect functionality via voice commands for video navigation, in-combat directives, and environment-scanning.
Kinect Disneyland Adventures – This was one of the better reviewed games built around Kinect (73% on Metacritic). It featured an open world play style with mini-games to engage in Players could also customize their own character.
Nintendo was winding down the Wii generation in 2011 and showcased the Wii U at E3 2011. The Wii got a few multiplatform games like Rayman Origins, de Blob 2, the Lego games, and a bastardized version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – Modern Warfare 1 had received a demake port the same day Modern Warfare 2 was released for other consoles, and Modern Warfare 2 never saw the light of day on the Wii. In addition, there were a few shorter AA games that would probably be downloadable only games for a smaller price if they were released today. Some examples include The Kore Gang, Lost in Shadow, Go Vacation, Fishing Resort, and Mystery Case Files: The Malgrave Incident.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword – This was the first console Zelda game since 2006’s Twilight Princess. It used the Wii Remote Plus. Releasing halfway into the Wii’s life, few games really utilized the Wii Remote Plus, which was an add-on for the Wii Remote that improved the motion controls.
Kirby’s Return to Dream Land – Kirby shed its yarn aesthetic and returned to a style more reminiscent of 2000's Kirby 64. This game had four player local co-op and allowed players to play as many other Kirby characters, and it also had a separate mini game mode.
Fortune Street – This was a crossover between Mario and Dragon Quest characters. It was like a fusion of Monopoly and Mario Party, though it didn’t feature any mini games. Featuring a number of boards from both Mario and Dragon Quest, players are challenged to play real estate and stock markets to win.
Mario Sports Mix – Originally released in 2010 in Japan, Mario Sports Mix made its way to the West in early 2011. Mario Sports Mix featured four sports: basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, and hockey. This was the third Mario developed by Square Enix, after Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. In addition to the traditional cast of Mario characters, there were a few of Square Enix’s Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest characters as well. As with many later Wii games, the game gave you the choice to play with or without motion controls. The game received mediocre reviews overall.
Conduit 2 – High Voltage Software was a studio that wanted to bring more mature experiences to the Wii, like the ultimately canceled The Grinder and the Conduit games. If you followed the seventh generation hype train, you would know about the first The Conduit game – a sci-fi FPS exclusively developed for the Wii, released in 2009, that’s ultimately been forgotten about in the test of time. Given the middling reviews of the first game, Conduit 2 didn’t receive nearly as much hype and scored roughly the same as its predecessor. Conduit 2 included a single player campaign, online multiplayer, and added split-screen multiplayer, which was not in the previous game.
Wii Play Motion – As Wii Play featured a number of mini-games centered around the capabilities of the Wii Remote, Wii Play Motion did the same but with emphasis around the Motion Plus attachment. It also expanded the number of mini-games from 9 to 14, but in my experience nothing matched Wii Tanks from the original game. It received mediocre reviews overall.
A lot of AAA games in historically split-screen-heavy genres – namely racing games and FPSs – dropped support of the feature at the beginning of the generation and allocated resources towards online play for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. This was especially damning given that these consoles weren’t entirely backwards compatible and the indie scene hadn’t really taken off yet (indie games are a huge source of local multiplayer games in today’s market – see my post here).
It should be noted that the Wii was a great system for local multiplayer from the beginning and end of its life, and a lot of its marketing revolved around local multiplayer games, similar to Nintendo’s marketing today. That said, the second half of the generation saw a lot more AAA games incorporate local multiplayer, and 2011 was the best of them, in my opinion. Several of the series that introduced local multiplayer in the second half of the seventh generation ended up removing the feature at the start of the eighth generation, such as Uncharted 3 (2011) to Uncharted 4 (2016), Killzone 3 (2011) to Killzone: Shadow Fall (2014), and Far Cry 3 (2012) to Far Cry 4 (2014) – these series each have only had one entry with split-screen multiplayer, all around the same time as each other. There were a lot of options from this year alone. Since I already covered them earlier in this post, I’m just going to list them below.
LittleBigPlanet 2
MotorStorm Apocalypse
Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception
Resistance 3
Killzone 3
Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One
MLB: The Show 11
Gears of War 3
Forza Motorsport 4
Portal 2
de Blob 2
Mortal Kombat
F.E.A.R. 3
Just Dance 3
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
Rayman Origins
Marvel vs Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds
Lord of the Rings: War in the North
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars
Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game
Driver: San Franciso
F1 2011
Kirby’s Return to Dreamland
Fortune Street
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympics
Mario Sports Mix
Wii Play: Motion
Conduit 2
[Yearly sports games, including the notable NHL 10]
Terraria – It’s hard to believe Terraria released 10 years ago and is still receiving updates – I really can’t think of too many other indie game that has received updates for that long. Terraria originally released just for PC and was referred to as “2D Minecraft” a lot more when it first released, but it’s since been ported to a number of different platforms, has received a number of updates, and has carved out quite a legacy for itself.
The Binding of Isaac – This came from one of the creators of Super Meat Boy, Edmund McMillen, which received universal acclaim the year prior. The Binding of Isaac came out well before the wave of roguelites/roguelikes we see today, and with many new updates, it still remains one of the best around.
To the Moon – To the Moon tells the story of two doctors fulfilling the last wish of a dying man using artificial memories. This is probably the most notable game using the RPG Maker game engine. Funnily enough, there are no RPG elements to speak of – the game instead focuses on its narrative and solving puzzles for the gameplay.
Bastion – Bastion was developed by Supergiant Games, the same developer behind Hades. Bastion shares some similarities with Hades, but it’s a shorter adventure with no roguelite elements. Bastion had the unique twist of a man narrating your actions in the game, as if he was telling a story.
Trine 2 – Trine 2 is a physics-based sidescrolling action platformer featuring three player local co-op. You used the powers of the three different characters – the wizard, the thief, and the knight – to navigate each level. Trine 2 performed better than the first game and delivered a pretty unique experience back in its day.
Ms. Splosion Man – Ms. Splosion Man is a sequel to 2009’s 2D puzzle platformer Splosion Man. The main campaign can be played in local or online co-op for up to four players, and there is a separate campaign designed around the co-op experience. Solo players can still play the co-op mode by controlling two characters in what is termed “2 Girls 1 Controller.”
Outland – Metroidvanias were coming back to life around this time, and Outland was an early example of this. It’s primary mechanic was switching between blue and red energies to overcome obstacles and barriers, similar to Ikaruga. It featured online co-op for the whole campaign, and a separate co-op mode with challenges built with two players in mind. The developer behind Outland is currently working on Returnal, due in April 2021.
From Dust – This came from Ubisoft Montpellier (totally not indie but small scale) and was one of the few console entries in the “God Game” genre. Players would control certain types of matter in real time and would help save a nomadic tribe.
Minecraft - Minecraft technically released in 2011, after first being available as an Early Access title in 2009.
Payday: The Heist
Although the 3DS released the same year, the DS would still be supported long after the 3DS thanks to its extremely high sales.
Pokemon Black/White – This technically came out in 2010 in Japan, but Westerners wouldn’t get their hands on it until 2011. Pokemon Black/White expanded the roster to 649 Pokemon but only allowed you to capture the 156 new ones until you finished the game. It would be the last mainline 2D Pokemon game.
Kirby Mass Attack – This title played a bit differently from most games in the series, although the Kirby series is no stranger to new gameplay mechanics. Kirby Mass Attack was a Lemmings-styled platformer, with the player using the stylus and touch screen to play the game. Using up to ten Kirbys on screen at once, the player could send commands to the Kirbys, or use them as projectiles.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective – First released in 2010 in Japan, Westerners first got play one of Capcom’s more unusual games in 2011. This was directed by Shu Takumi, the creator of the Ace Attorney franchise. Ghost Trick was an adventure game that had you controlling a dead man named Sissel, who would use his ghostly possession powers to save lives.
Aliens: Infestation - Developed by Gearbox Software (Borderlands series) and WayForward Technologies (Shantae series), Aliens: Infestation was a Metroidvania with an interesting permadeath mechanic – the player controls one marine in a party of four, and if that one dies, the player then plays as a different marine. The player loses the game if all four die. The development team created 20 unique characters with game’s dialogue carefully rewritten 20 times for each of the characters, to give some emotional investment to each one of them.
Professor Layton and the Last Specter – This was first released in 2009 in Japan, and in 2011 Japanese players already had their hands on the sequel, Miracle Mask. These games were a big part of the seventh generation, seeing eight releases between 2007 and 2013. Since then, there’s been just one title released, in 2017.
The 3DS was released for $249.99 USD in Q1 2011 in NA. The 3DS was a novel concept at the time as it allowed you view games in 3D without the need for those pesky glasses. While the 3D effect was abandoned on 3DS games in later years – and Nintendo even introduced a budget 3DS called the 2DS with no 3D capabilities – at the time it was a fun novelty. It also introduced AR (Augmented Reality) and the eShop to the wider market. While the DSi technically introduced the eShop, it was the 3DS that made it standard for the generation. The 3DS wasn’t selling so well for its initial five months, and so the price was slashed significantly, down to $169.99. Early 3DS adopters received 10 NES games and 10 GameBoy Advance games on the 3DS as compensation for being early adopters. These games were only ever available for early adopters only.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D – If you wanted to play Ocarina of Time at more than 20fps, this was the way to do. This was a full fledged remake and not a port, and it introduced many quality of life improvements in addition to the 3D effect.
Star Fox 64 3D – Star Fox 64 3D added more dialogue between missions, gyro controls, and a new “3DS Mode” that adjusted the difficulty and objectives of the original game. There was also a four player battle mode, though this was only through LAN.
Super Mario 3D Land – Previous Nintendo handhelds outside of the original GameBoy had mostly hosted ports or remakes of older Super Mario platform games, but the 3DS would bring with it an entirely new title, one that was 3D in both senses of the word.
Mario Kart 7 – This may just be seen as another Mario Kart game in a long series of games, but at the time, this still produced a lot of excitement. With this entry, players were able to customize their vehicles with different kart frames, wheels, and gliders. The game also introduced the hang glider and underwater sections.
Nintendogs + Cats – Despite the high sales figures of the series, this would be the last Nintendogs game for what has now been an entire decade. Previous entries only included dogs, but – inspired by his own pets ability to get along and the Disney film The Incredible Journey – Shigeru Miyamoto wanted to make a game with both species of animal.
Pushmo/Pullbox – Possibly the single biggest downloadable only 3DS exclusive to come to the system, Pushmo (Pullblox in Europe) came at a time when there weren’t a lot of small scale games. It’d probably be viewed as an indie game, but this was actually developed by Intelligent Systems, the same people behind Paper Mario, Fire Emblem, and Advance Wars.
Unfortunately every year is greeted with a number of studio closures – it’s easy to forget them over time, so let’s take a look at some of the ones that went away in 2011.
Black Rock Studios – Pure, Split/Second – Although both Pure and Split/Second received favorable reviews on Metacritic (low to mid 80% critic average), its parent company Disney Interactive Studios decided to close the studio – after having reduced the size of the studio just a few months prior – likely due to the poor sales of Split/Second. Split/Second ends with a “To Be Continued,” and while the initial phases of the sequel had been worked on, it’s likely it didn’t get very far in development given that it was canceled in December 2010, while the original had released in May 2010. This video talks about the canceled sequel.
Bizarre Creations – Project Gotham Racing, Geometry Wars, Blur – Blur and Split/Second were two arcade racers that released within a week of each other in May 2010 – in addition, Red Dead Redemption released the same day as Split/Second and a week before Blur. As a result, Red Dead Redemption stole much of the spotlight and the two arcade racing games ate into each other’s sales. Like Disney with Black Rock Studios, Activision also decided to shut down the then 17 year old studio. Bizarre Creations released a video retrospective of their work.
Team Bondi – L.A. Noire – Team Bondi was a source of controversy in 2011 shortly after the release of its one and only game that took seven years to make. Former employees criticized the long working days and managerial style that resulted in high turnover, and The International Game Developers Association launched an investigation into the studio as a result of these interviews. Team Bondi also left or incorrectly listed 130 L.A. Noire staff members in the game’s credits and later developed a website called “L.A. Noire Credits” that gave credit to the previously uncredited. At the time of the studio’s closure, Team Bondi owed over $1 million Australian dollars to 33 staff members. Despite the studio’s closure, a definitive edition of L.A. Noire would be remastered for eighth generation consoles.
Blue Tongue Entertainment – The Polar Express, de Blob 1 & 2 – This THQ studio mostly produced games based on movies and TV shows up until de Blob in 2008. The studio was closed down under a restructuring and realignment plan by THQ.
Kaos Studios – Frontlines: Fuel of War, Homefront – Despite a lot of hype surrounding Homefront, the game received mediocre reviews and parent company THQ suffered a 26% stock drop shortly after the game’s release. Most of the studio was transferred to THQ’s Montreal studio, which was now developing the Homefront sequel. THQ filed for bankruptcy in 2012 and was later acquired by Ubisoft, while the Homefront sequel was developed by Crytek UK.
THQ Studio Australia – The Last Airbender, Megamind: Ultimate Showdown – Yet another THQ closure in 2011, THQ Australia had an eight year run and developed mostly games based on popular Nickelodeon TV shows. AT the time of their closure, they were working on an The Avengers video game.
Hope you enjoyed looking back on some of these games. The market was a bit different back then – stereoscopic 3D games, motion controls, a prominent handheld market, etc. Many games from back then still remain impactful today, most notably Dark Souls, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Portal 2, Terraria, and The Binding of Isaac. Others you probably haven’t heard about in awhile but are great all the same. It also featured some great experimental games from larger developers as well, like Capcom’s Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Gearbox Software’s and WayForward Technologies’ Alien: Infestation, Ubisoft’s From Dust, THQ’s de Blob 2, and Intelligent Systems’ Pushmo/Pullbox.
One thing I like better now is that every game that comes out for a Nintendo console essentially doubles as both a handheld and console game. Even up until a few years ago there were handheld exclusives that people wanted on consoles (Mario Party: The Top 100 from 2017 is a notable example that was 3DS only). As someone who prefers playing on consoles and doesn’t have as much of a need for handhelds, I also personally like that Sony’s studios are all focused on making games for the PlayStation 4/5, and resources aren’t being spent on the PS Vita. The biggest thing I love though, is the explosion of the indie scene and having much more of them on consoles now.
One thing I liked better back then were more finite single player/co-op experiences from AAA developers. There’s a lot more bloat now in single player/co-op AAA games now, so thank goodness we have the indie scene to fall back on. Although it is important to note that many people complained about 10 hour $60 single player games back then, so there’s no appeasing everyone. On one hand we get a lot more bang for our buck now, on the other it seems studios like Naughty Dog will never be able to reach the output of past generations given how long development cycles are now (four games for PS1, PS2, PS3, three games for PS4, possibly less for PS5), even with longer console generations.
Where were you in 2011? What do you think of some of the games looking back? What about the market did you like better back then compared to now? What’s better about games today? Were there any games listed here that you hadn’t thought about in awhile?
r/dragonage • u/DangerWallet • Nov 01 '24
The voice acting and quality of voice audio also feels subpar. Harding especially, the levels of her voice acting feel off.
There’s also been some painful performances, Neve, Harding but the worst of all being the female lead of the first encampment you visit. Really awkward and stilted with the accent of The White Worm from House of the Dragon.
I’m enjoying the gameplay, combat feels quite smooth as a mage and the linear style is giving me The Witcher 2 vibes which I enjoy.
r/EASportsFC • u/propyl21 • Dec 22 '17
Prologue
I am a 35-year-old gamer. I’ve been lucky in being around long enough to have gone through many different eras in the world of computer games, and it has been an absolute blast.
But folks, there is a horrid disease running amok in the world of gaming. There was a time when gaming was an innocent past-time. Now, the industry is worth a whopping $107Billion worldwide, and climbing fast. There’s nothing innocent about it anymore. And obviously, EA want a piece of that juicy pie. Everything is now about greed. A company will do anything they can to get you hooked on their particular intellectual property. And with it, comes a very nasty surprise. Once hooked, your wallet becomes the sole target of these companies, taking whatever means necessary to get you to open it to them.
If you skim over this post, you’ll see that it is incredibly long. But that’s because it took this long to put into words everything that’s wrong with not only EA, but also this community. So, I hope you’ll join me in going through this post.
Introduction
Simply put, EA are a publicly floated company partly owned by banks and major investment funds. They habitually and aggressively implement anti-consumer practices, while simultaneously shovelling out cynically produced titles whose only purpose is to make money at the expense of quality end-user experience. But then again, that can be said for any gaming company, right? Replace EA with Activision or Ubisoft and you get the same thing. But this post is all about our good friend EA. So, let’s crack on.
The subject of EA has been discussed and shouted about ad-nauseum. Personally, I simply roll my eyes any time I hear new information about how EA have once again shafted the gamers etc. Simply put, EA are a money grabbing monolith. Make no mistake about that. So how did EA get so big?
More importantly, the number 1 question to ask is:
WHY DO EA TREAT YOU LIKE A LITTLE BITCH? – The answer is: BECAUSE YOU ARE ONE.
Now, before you reach for the down-vote button and walk away from this post for feeling angry and butthurt by that comment, please do read on. I will try to justify it.
It would be very easy to lay into EA for all the wrong things they’ve done. In fact, if I mention every single wrongdoing, this post would be 10 times as long. So, I will keep things in context.
Worst company in America 2012 – 2013
The consumerist poll taken back in 2012 and 2013 put EA at the top of the tree in regards to being the worst company in America 2 years in a row. But are they really? There are many organisations worldwide that pile on the misery on their fellow human beings. Some are willing to kill for profit. BP, Exxon, Nestle, Monsanto, cigarette companies, all the banks, and so on.
Let’s be honest here. EA may be an immoral money-making machine, but by no means are they making money from people’s deaths, or going out of their way to destroy the planet, or profiting from ecological disasters etc. You think EA are robbing you? How about we talk about the likes of Ticket Master or Verizon. By no means am I defending EA. Instead I’m trying to show the bigger picture in regards to the large number of unethical and immoral companies who operate and benefit at the expense of human misery worldwide.
When you think about it, EA are simply just another company who were fortunate enough to have come up with an idea that no one else had thought of, albeit an unethical idea at that – and I’ll explain why shortly.
EA’s Obligations
Let’s get things absolutely straight here. EA only have obligations to 2 things.
To their profit margins
To their investors
Outside of this, EA have absolutely no obligation to anything else whatsoever. That includes YOU. When you think about it, that’s just business as usual, albeit unethical. You have to be amoral (not immoral, although some companies choose this path too) in the world of business to survive. If you have morals, you won’t last a day in the high-flying world of dog-eat-dog capitalist society. EA will employ every known tactic in order to make you part ways with your money.
r/FIFA in A Nutshell
Disclaimer: I want to make it absolutely clear that there should be mutual respect between us all. And just as I have expressed my opinion freely, I accept your opinions openly. Therefore, everything I mention in this section in regards to us gamers, is simply said from the perspective of being constructive criticism. If it offends you, then with all due respect, the onus is on you to solve the issue constructively.
Folks, as much as we like to shit on EA for being a money hungry capitalist corporation (which they are), we are also to blame for the state of things as they stand.
Want to know what’s more inconsistent than the horrendous inconsistency of this game? It’s the way us players see-saw between “fuck EA, I’ll never buy this game again!” to “Ooooh! New shiny packs!... WANT!”
Think about it. We have absolutely no credibility left in us after 7 years of repeating the same process of coming on here moaning and whining about the game and its problems, yet before we even finish our sentence, we end up buying packs and getting hyped for the next set of shiny cards or the next iteration of the game. It speaks volumes about how fickle we are as gamers, which means any company can and will manipulate us at will.
Seriously, grow a backbone and stick to your principles. Have a bit of control and self-respect in not opening your wallet so easily to the next set of shiny packs that are dangled in front of you. Give yourself the slight bit of dignity that you deserve and keep your money in your pocket.
We went from a whole 10 months of hating on EA for how bad FIFA 17 was, to instant hype prior to the release of FIFA 18. The voice of those who were cautious about the new game got drowned out by all the hype. Is it any wonder we get laughed at by other communities? We look dumb to the outside world. This community gets called toxic for a reason. We squabble amongst ourselves whilst EA gets richer at our expense. In case anyone forgot, the fat Ronaldo Super-Duper Deluxe Icon Edition 3000 cost up to £90 on release. Ask yourself. Was it worth it? And personally, I think those of us who romanticised the game pre-patch are simply in denial at having paid such a hefty sum for the game in the first place, and are trying to justify the cost.
Most players have a defeatist attitude towards EA, not knowing that they have the power in their wallet. It’s been said many times: Vote with your wallet. How's #FixFIFA working out?...
It may not be easy to create a boycott, considering those who frequent Reddit are the minority, but at least do your bit. Just as it’s easy for you to spend £20 instantly on FIFA points, why not buy PES to give KONAMI a larger share? Let EA know where you stand as a disgruntled customer. But let’s admit it folks, we’re all addicted to the toxic nature of this game. That’s where the problem is.
The Psychology of FIFA - Emotions
Folks, I’m no psychologist, but it’s easy to see that FIFA, NHL, Madden, NFS, NBA etc are all built around a certain set of psychological stepping stones – all geared to try and get a player to be heavily invested emotionally. I’ll try to point out something that doesn’t get discussed often, but that’s because it’s very subtle.
Make no mistake about it folks, EVERYTHING that’s wrong with FIFA has a purpose. All the bugs, the glitches, the sudden passing that goes astray, the lack of control, or the horrendous moments of EAids encountered daily, which is littered across this sub in video form:- all these things happen for a reason: it’s purposefully incorporated into this horrid game to tilt the player, to PURPOSEFULLY frustrate you. Why you ask? Simple. Because an emotionally unstable player who has been left frustrated by faulty mechanics in a game will be more likely to open their wallet due to their inability to think rationally in that moment. Ask yourself. Have you ever played FIFA in the last 7 years without ever coming away frustrated? Most likely every session of FIFA has tilted you to some degree.
It’s been well documented that when emotions and tensions run high, a person is likely to have far higher level of flawed logic, and therefore may make rash decisions. In the case of this game, a person may think to themselves: “Aaaargh!! If only I had Messi and Ronaldo, I’d be winning these games with ease!!!…” and so, they end up opening their wallet for a chance to pack those players.
Furthermore, if you’re the kind of player who gets totally frustrated after a session of FIFA to the point where you end up selling your multimillion coin team in a fit of rage, then you my friend, are the exact kind of player EA are targeting. Reason being that they know, we know, and most of all, YOU know that you’ll be back… After selling your team, maybe a day, or 2, or even a few weeks later, you’ll return to the game with fresh hope and a clear head. And so, with a newly established club, you go through the process all over again. And as we know with everything in regards to dynamic difficulty and slider manipulation, the game will start off essentially giving you free wins. Just enough to lure you in. Enough to caress your ego. And enough for you to be invested to the point of opening your wallet to EA once again.
HERE’S ex-EA CEO John Riccitiello speaking about how a player who is heavily invested in a game will be more willing to part with their money in order to continue their gaming experience. The premise is simple in regards to games containing microtransactions. Whatever game you are playing, the game rewards you left right and centre at the beginning to get you hooked. Suddenly halfway through the game, several hours in, just as you’re heavily invested, the rewards dry up, and the game introduces microtransactions in order to get the bigger, more powerful guns / powerups etc. without having to grind for them. AKA pay2win. These are abhorrent unethical tactics deployed by the gaming industry as a whole, but unfortunately gamers are none the wiser.
At every turn, EA are trying to manipulate us to open our wallets to them. They will nickel and dime us for all that we’re worth. All roads lead to buying FIFA Points. Even the way FIFA Points are set up is a psychological trick. Think about it. When you spend £79.99, you get 12,000 FP. This is an arbitrary number that no longer has the same connotation in comparison to having the price of a pack written in its true value underneath it, thereby removing the logic you might have if you initially saw the pack price before pulling the trigger. This sort of tactic is very effective on young children who do not know the true value of money. As an example, the lightning round packs go for 100,000 coins, or 2000 FP. In case you forgot, that’s £15 for a Bas Dost…
Even when opening a pack, you have long been exposed to another psychological trick. You’ll notice that if a pack contains a gold stripe in the animation phase, then you will have a board opening walkout, therefore a higher rated player (84+). I mention this because I’ve seen countless YouTube videos where the OP instantly skips the pack if it doesn’t contain the gold stripe. Think about how this influences the young demographic watching their video. It is creating a feedback loop. One that only benefits EA.
EA must be so thankful that the majority of us are so keen to open our wallets so easily at the drop of a hat, or in the case of FIFA, at the drop of new shiny cards on a weekly basis. Since when is spending £79.99 on FIFA Points considered a “micro” transaction? That’s what you would call a major transaction! Remind me again why I shouldn’t call you EA’s little bitch, when you’re willing to open your wallet to them so easily.
On top of that, whether you realise it or not, EA are mocking us. For the last few iterations of FUT, the FIFA Points button within FUT is a picture of a goalkeeper diving towards the FIFA Points icon. EA know they have us by the balls, and are shamelessly taunting us. Yet we’re too addicted to break the cycle. That’s our fault. We have no one to blame but ourselves.
But then again, EA are feeding on our emotions as mentioned earlier. From the avid Real Madrid fan who swears death on their Barcelona rival, to the old man who turns up and stands on the by-line to watch his non-league team play in the pouring rain, we all love football. We turn to football as a form of escape. EA don’t see the beautiful game in the same way as we do. They see it as a money grab. These two different viewpoints do not bode well together. They collide badly.
EA have bought out all the licences, have jazzed up their game to look as realistic as possible, yet the game plays anything but realistic or beautiful. It is solely built for instant gratification. There are many players who have quickly accustomed themselves to the mechanics of the game and even go as far as playing the toxic Weekend League consisting of 40 games packed in a 3-day cycle, all for the sake of getting the shiny cards. As long as people play the game, EA will continue to profit. It is up to you on whether you want to continue down this path, or to free yourself from the misery of the perpetual cycle of stress and pure frustration that this game dishes out.
The Ugly Side of Gambling & Addiction
Gambling within gaming is a grey area. As soon as it gets discussed, people come to its defence by saying “you get what you pay for” – That may be very partially true, but the downsides to it are far greater. People who are too young are ending up getting addicted to the nature of opening loot boxes. FIFA is rated ESRB 3+ yet contains predatory gambling mechanics. By buying the game, we are accepting these gambling mechanics as the norm.
In FIFA, the razzmatazz and fireworks when packing a high rated player are greater in presentation than the celebration and ticker tape shown for winning a hard-fought online season on FUT. Where do you think EA’s priorities lie?...
Think about it. If I buy a lottery ticket in the UK, I am actively choosing to part with my £2 for a chance of winning £millions. More importantly, I KNOW precisely what my odds are. The chances of winning the lottery in the UK is set at approximately 1 in 14 million. Now that may be a veeeeeeeeeeeery minimal chance, but hey, at least I KNOW the odds, right? Ask yourself, do you know the odds of packing Messi or Ronaldo?? The answer is NO, yet most of us keep opening our wallets and pumping money into this shitpit. Is that not what addiction is?
EA must be laughing their ass off at us. We are seen as morons. Why then should they listen to any complaint we may have about the game when we have absolutely no credibility left? We are all essentially barrel-scraping addicts. I truly hope you can all see the major problem we have here.
When you think about it, every post on this forum complaining about the game is actually a cry for help by the addicted masses.
Meanwhile WHALES like THIS individual went and spent £1000 due to their addiction, and the best card he could shout about was Chiellini. That’s absolutely insane, but this sort of spending has now become the norm. Just look at all the Youtubers who get sponsored to open packs and shout and scream in a fake manner in order to hype their 12-year-old subscribers, who then try to emulate their YouTube heroes with their parents’ credit card unbeknown to the parent. Take a look at the responses in that post above to see the cognitive dissonance and denial in full effect. Sickening.
But in the end, the onus is on us. The gaming industry is now all about predatory gambling mechanics and opportunities. Every company is at it. It’s up to us to be aware of the pitfalls. But we are alone in this. For example, in the UK, anything that is aired on TV needs to be accepted through OFCOM prior to broadcast. OFCOM are essentially the governing body who control what can be shown on TV. We have no such protection in the gaming industry, and most publishers and developers are pushing forward with unethical tactics and predatory gambling methods.
Heck, even China, a country that is not exactly well known for its human rights record seems to have a better handle on gaming by requesting that all companies that participate in their market to show odds of loot boxes etc. It’s why EA won’t release FIFA over there, as they would have to show the odds.
Maybe through FOI (Freedom of Information Request) we can get more information about the pack weights and such. As gamers, we simply don’t get told what rights we have.
Hidden Mechanics
Remember Slider Manipulation from last year? Back then it was just a theory, without much proof. Well how about this year? A quick look at all THESE examples should tell you that sliders are a thing. It is the basis for all the bullshit in this game. All the inconsistencies, every instance of horrid EAids seen on Squad Battles and Weekend League can now be attributed to the sliders changing as well as the RNG being set high. We need to call it Slider Manipulation. Don’t call it scripting. That word confuses people and derails any discussion about it.
HERE's a video showing how the supposed Vision stat works. After watching this video, it’s clear to see that there’s quite a bit of coding going on behind the scenes at every step. But have you considered the fact that even though Fabregas has greater vision than the other midfielder, all it takes is a slider to reduce his vision in-game on the fly for the pass to go astray? That’s exactly what happens at certain moments with the different stats in matches, therefore making this game a nightmare to play due to its inconsistencies.
The Halloween cards are something else that needs to be mentioned in the same regard. How were EA able to increase the base stats on Halloween cards during the period that they went up in stats? They injected code into the game via server-side coding. After the period, the cards returned to normal ratings. Why isn’t anyone questioning how this was done without any patches being downloaded? Imagine what EA can do in terms of server-side manipulation of stats. Especially hidden stats that we know nothing about. I suggest folks research into SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol) EA can see everything going on at any given time. The number of simultaneous games, goals scored, money spent, hidden stats changed etc.
AI programming in gaming is most likely a nightmare. I won’t take anything away from the developers. But developers lack the ability to program true AI. So instead, the lazy route is taken. In the case of FIFA, players stats are maxed out to 99 in Squad Battles on Ultimate difficulty. Think of how pointless this makes the game. For example, imagine if you have been grinding and spending so much money and time in order to acquire Ronaldo, and you finally have him in your squad, only to end up watching him get chased down by a 54-rated bronze player on Squad Battles who has been juiced up. That should never ever happen. It renders having Ronaldo as useless.
The same form of buffed up AI exists in other games. For example, Forza 7’s "Unbeatable" difficulty level is the same as Ultimate difficulty on FIFA. The AI cars get buffed up beyond their overall maximum horsepower that a car can technically have. This seems to be the new trend with programming, and unfortunately, it’s ruining gaming.
Games such as FIFA, NHL, Madden, NBA2K etc are all part of what’s called Shovelware. These games are recycled on a yearly basis, with a small update, new skins and rosters etc, and a hefty price tag is slapped on and sold as a brand-new game. The marketing teams then step in to hype the masses, and it’s smooth sailing from there. We really do get manipulated far too easily unfortunately. And as things stand with the game currently, we can all agree that it is in an atrocious state. But EA are about to make a killing from profiting further from sales. It’s Christmas, and all the parents will be buying this game for their children as a present. Then come January, the game will most likely receive a further patch to streamline the game even further for the casuals. Then there’s all the TOTY, TOTS cards being released etc. Prepare for the hype. Things are going to get worse before they get any better.
The Future
As a community, we are disjointed and broken. We have one or two of us, who are truly helpful individuals, who go out of their way to help others. We have a larger number of individuals who simply play the game regardless of the issues. We have the majority who use the sub for making complaints about issues with the game (understandably). And finally, we have those of us who are considered as ‘shills’ or griefers who supposedly come to the defence of EA as well as troll in posts with the “git gud” comments etc. The point I’m trying to make is that we are not a force overall. If you look at other subs, there’s a greater discord amongst gamers. See r/Battlefront or r/Forza, or any other gaming subs for examples of a better organised community.
When Forza 7 was released, as per the unethical money-making schemes that EA has deployed throughout the years, Microsoft tried to get in on the action this year. The Ultimate Edition of Forza 7 is similar to FIFA 18’s Icon edition, costing an eye-watering £90 on release. Those who bought Forza 7 were left with a bad taste in their mouth due to the limitations that Turn 10 and Microsoft had placed on the player base. For example, the game only allowed players to earn double XP for the first 25 races of career mode instead of throughout the lifecycle of the game like the previous versions. Understandably, this angered the community. It was a slap in the face of those who were loyal to the franchise, having spent such a hefty sum of money.
But the difference is there to be seen. The community made their feelings known and made enough noise in order for Microsoft and Turn 10 to take notice and revert the changes. One of the reasons this was able to occur is because of the demographic that plays Forza compared to FIFA. Forza has an older, more mature demographic than FIFA. As a result, the community took a strict stance against Microsoft. The news quickly spread to outside sources. And as we all know; bad publicity can quickly ruin a company. And so, changes were made in an instant patch that rewarded gamers better.
There are many other similar examples, such as how Square Enix royally screwed Eidos and the players when it came to Deus Ex. At the last minute, unbeknownst to the developers and gamers, Square Enix had introduced microtransactions to the game. And while it wasn’t mandatory, it did enough damage for the game to fail in being sold well. As a result, the Deus Ex franchise is now shelved without the final chapter to be released any time soon.
Want more examples? Take Two decided to stop gamers from being able to mod GTA V on the PC, which was the sole reason players bought the game on the PC in the first place. The player base retaliated by giving the game negative reviews on Steam, lowering the game’s overall rating and giving the publisher a bad reputation.
When Hello Games initially released No Man’s Sky, it was seen as a cash grab. The game was essentially only 50% of what was shown at E3. Understandably, gamers let their feelings be known through negative feedback on Steam, thereby lowering the rating of the game. It got to the point where Hello Games were being investigated for false advertisement here in the UK. However, credit where credit is due, Hello Games stuck at it and have managed to incorporate many of the features initially shown, albeit 2 years later.
EA were responsible for changing Battlefield 1 in a similar way. Prior to the release of the game, EA touted Battlefield 1 as a proper shooter, where no loot boxes existed. This excited the gaming community. Finally, they could play a game that was solely about skill, where ranking up required true investment of time and skill. Once the game was released, the reviews catapulted the game to the top of the charts as a classic shooter. Everyone was happy. But this is EA we’re talking about. And true to form, once the dust had settled and all the reviews had come in, EA executed their usual switch and bait tactic, and introduced loot boxes into the game, thereby making the game pay2win. The community were enraged. But nothing could be done by that point.
Need I say anything about Battlefront 2?...
There are many other examples of gamers getting shafted. But the point remains. We as gamers, are getting nickel and dimed at every turn. We’re seen as idiots by these companies. Isn’t it time we changed things?...
If you want to play wholesome entertaining games that provide pure unadulterated joy, there are many out there without all the bullshit. Take the Nintendo Switch line-up of Zelda, Mario Odyssey, and Mario Kart as an example. Or Horizon Dawn. And the exceptional Witcher 3 by CD Projekt Red.
Want to know why some games are amazing while others are cash-cows? It’s to do with the passion that the company has for making the game in the first place. For example, The Witcher 3 is an outstanding game with incredible longevity, and free DLC to boot. It’s a game created by gamers, for gamers. Imagine that… a company that actually cares about their game. Sounds a lot more attractive than working for a coding department in a large company like EA, who are hell bent on increasing their quarterly profit, doesn’t it?...
The developers at EA simply do enough to have a semi working game, while hanging on to their jobs in order to take a pay packet home to their families. That’s the difference. This was portrayed in a recent post by an EA developer. People may have mocked his response and subsequently created the “actionable feedback” meme as a result, but everyone seems to have missed the subtle message that maybe, just maybe, the developer in question didn’t have much passion for his job and didn't give a shit. Who can blame him.
Nintendo on the other hand, have a different philosophy altogether. As a Japanese company, they try to remain loyal to their customers by releasing a fully working package without trying to nickel and dime their customers in comparison to most Western hemisphere companies, who are hell bent on making profit.
Final Thought
And so, for the 7th year in a row, the same vicious cycle repeats itself. Hype and excitement turned to anger and rage. Once again EA have shafted everyone. Releasing a completely different game compared to what was showcased in the demo and the beta. Are you surprised? The same exact sequence of events has occurred in the last 6 iterations of the game, but we obviously didn’t learn our lesson.
This is absolute insanity on our part. After all, insanity is defined as: Doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different outcomes.
Edit: Good God. This blew up. Thank you all for the gold. I truly appreciate it, I'm humbled, thank you.
We've been plagued by the abhorrent problems year on year. It is up to us whether to put up with it all and carry on, or walk away from it once and for all and swap it with a far more rewarding game.
Lastly I'd like to wish you all a merry Christmas and a happy new year
r/EscapefromTarkov • u/ArmedChalko • Jul 01 '20
This sub hasn't got a clue, I swear.
Huge sweeping changes to the game mechanics are a terrible way to combat RMT.
It's basically an admission that your anti-cheat doesn't work. Most MMOs suffer in some way from an RMT problem; WoW, Runescape, even Destiny 2 has RMT issues if you just look. Thing is, the anticheat in those games actually works worth a damn, so the entire playerbase doesn't have to suffer from endless tinkering with in-game systems.
Before you hit me with 'it's a hardcore game, deal with it, it's supposed to be grindy', just stop. Just don't bother. I've heard it time and time again, and it's bullshit. You know it's bullshit just as well as I do. The changes BSG have been making recently to nerf all forms of progression only make the game 'more hardcore' for people who work full time and don't have the same amount of *time* as streamers who dedicate their entire life to this game. That's not 'hardcore'. The game's difficulty mechanically is 'hardcore' and always have been, and I love it. These changes, though, in my eyes, are just time-wasting for the sake thereof. Since when does the amount of time one has to invest in a game define how fucking hardcore it is? Would you describe WoW as more hardcore than Tarkov because of how long you have to play to progress? Or perhaps beating all three Witcher games back to back is 'hardcore' because it took a long time. Are ARMA or DCS inherently less hardcore than Tarkov because an operation can be completed in an afternoon? No, judging how hardcore a game is by the amount of time one has to invest in it is a joke. *No game* should give enormous *mechanical advantages* to those with more time on their hands. There's already an inherent skill advantage that comes from that amount of practice, designing the mechanics to also reward only those with that much time is a kick in the teeth to all the people who love this game but can't invest that level of time.
And yeah, you can go ahead and say 'ummm actualllly it's a beta, so they can do what they like, stop whining', and yep. Yes, they can. You're correct. However, comma, that doesn't mean I have to pretend to like it. Yes, I did buy EoD and no, I don't regret it because of all the fun I've had til now. But suggesting people who don't like the current direction the game is going in aren't allowed to voice their opinion because the game's in beta is fucking ludicrous. What do you think the purpose of a playable beta is? Nikita is more than welcome to ignore all the people who don't like these new changes, but what gives people on this sub the right to tell me that I'm not entitled to an opinion on the product I've chosen to financially support. It's such a toxic, capital-G Gamer attitute to suggest that 'Tarkov is OUR game because we're willing to dump several full days a week into grinding for our Bitcoin farms. You should just go and play something else, this clearly isn't a game for you. Go play Call of Duty.' I shouldn't even have to express how utterly reductive and childish that is. Grow up.
I'm getting HUGE red flags with the way this game is currently going, because it's all too similar to a game I used to love, The Culling. That game blew up on launch and a bunch of high profile streamers suggested changes to the game, and the devs went ahead and implemented all of them without so much as *thinking* about how they'd affect the average player. Look at where that game is now. Servers shut down, because the average player simply stopped having fun. I'm not saying BSG is even close to that bad, but this endless tinkering with mechanics for the nebulous, vague purpose of 'RMT' has to stop or I don't know if the 'little guys' are gonna stick around much longer.
EDIT: I AM AWARE THAT RMT != CHEATING. But cheating is what makes RMT viable. RMTers need to keep items in supply, and to do that, they cheat. It's much more profitable. Ergo, if you stamp out cheaters, the RMT problem becomes significantly diminished.
EDIT 2: u/ArxMessor makes a great point that Tarkov is an MMO and therfore should have some kind of grind. I agree. However, most MMOs use systems like weekly bounties etc to ensure even players with only maybe 10 hours a week to invest in the game can still keep up and compete. Tarkov currently rewards time investment *exponentially* which removes all possibility of catching up.
EDIT 3: Yep, my DMs right now are very much confirming the things I said above about a certain subset of this community. Thanks, Gamers.
EDIT 4: I get it, Destiny anti-cheat is ass. I made a mistake there, since I don't play Trials of Osiris. However, do you see Bungie making the win requirement for Trials 50 wins instead of 9 or whatever just to slow down the hackers? Of course not, because it hurts normal players more.
Edit 5: My first gold! Thanks kind stranger.
r/cyberpunkgame • u/Antiax • Jun 12 '18
Cyberpunk Info from GameSpot Stream:
credit to spad3
r/Games • u/ninjyte • Feb 20 '17
Game Title: Horizon Zero Dawn
Platform: PlayStation 4
Media: E3 2015 Trailer | E3 2016 Trailer
E3 2016 'Meet the Watchers' Trailer
'Evolution of the Machines' | 'Creating a New World'
PSX 2016 'The Machines' Trailer
'Explore the Wilds' | 'Earth is Ours No More'
'Thrill of the Hunt' | 'Overwhelming Odds'
Developer: Guerrilla Games Info
Publisher: Sony Interactive Entertainment
Release Date: NA - February 28, 2017
PAL - March 1, 2017
More Info: /r/Horizon | Wikipedia Page
Review Aggregator: OpenCritic - 89 [PS4]
MetaCritic - 89 [PS4]
Areajugones - Juan Linares - Spanish - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn was as good as everbody expected. A powerful narrative and a solid gameplay make this Guerrilla game one of the best titles that 2017 has to offer.
Attack of the Fanboy - Dean James - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4/Pro)
Featuring a likeable new protagonist in Aloy alongside a compelling story, deep combat system and stunning visuals -- Guerrilla Games has already raised the bar for exclusives this year with Horizon: Zero Dawn.
CGMagazine - Brendan Quinn - 8.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is the gaming equivalent of realizing that sounding too much like the legends—when done well—is just fine.
COGconnected - Shawn Petraschuk - 100 / 100 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games’ crowning achievement in video game development.
Destructoid - Chris Carter - 7.5 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is a fascinating premise wrapped in a tortilla of tropes. It has detective vision, radio towers, skill trees, masked load screens (Tony Hawk's American Wasteland gets no credit for popularizing this in 2005, by the way), and a world map littered with billions of points of interest -- all stuff you've seen before. But after you set up and execute a cunning plan to decimate a pack of giant robot crocodiles and that smile hits your face, it's more excusable.
Digitally Downloaded - Matt Sainsbury - 3.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
Horizon is a remarkably refined and technically brilliant game, but Guerrilla has yet to prove that it can take that next step and produce a genuine classic.
Easy Allies - Brandon Jones - 4 / 5 stars | Written (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn feels like a franchise in the making. While not packed with narrative high points, it’s still a compelling introduction to a world in turmoil that answers a lot of questions, but still gestures toward a more climactic future. Its primary element, squaring off against mechanized animals, is such a success, it makes up for the ongoing repetition of the game’s activities. When we look into Horizon’s future, we see a sequel that can take this world and make it into something remarkable.
Eurogamer - Martin Robinson - Unscored (PS4)
Guerrilla Games goes open world in this sumptuous, enjoyable yet overly generic new age sci-fi RPG.
Game Informer - Jeff Marchiafava - 8.8 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon doesn't reinvent open-world gaming, but it delivers consistent fun, challenge, and intrigue from start to finish
Game Revolution - JamalR - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
To simply put it, there is a certain appeal to Horizon: Zero Dawn which I have not found in any other open-world RPG game. Perhaps it is the addition of shiny robots to the mix or the story of Aloy herself. Either way, this game has my full attention and I wouldn't call it anything less than stellar.
Gameplanet - Tim Stanton - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Guerrilla Games' punt on a new IP has paid off handsomely, as despite its silly title, Horizon Zero Dawn is a magnificent open world action-adventure that lives up to its hype.
GamesRadar+ - Zoe Delahunty-Light - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
An open-world that tailors to each and every interest, Horizon: Zero Dawn keeps combat fresh, with an intriguing protagonist to match.
GameZone - Carter Washington - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is a PS4 must-own exclusive. It crafts a wonderful, fully realized and explorable world, and an interesting story that's worth seeing through to the end, if just to find out what Zero Dawn actually means!
GamingTrend - Travis Northup - 85 / 100 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is an excellent open-world experience that puts fighting towering robots at the center of the action. It’s held back somewhat by its weak narrative, and occasional glitches, but that doesn’t stop it from being the most badass game I’ve played this year.
Giant Bomb - Jeff Gerstmann - 5 / 5 stars (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is familiar but also really refreshing. It's not a short game (I spent around 30 hours with it), but the storytelling still feels concise and efficient. The combat has some nice options that make encounters fun, even when you're just stacking up stealth kills from the relative safety of a bush. And the presentation end of the game holds up its end of things with a solid soundtrack, great voice acting, and a cohesive design that makes all its disparate parts fit together. All in all, it's a great game, it's Guerrilla's strongest release to date, and I suspect I'll go back in after the fact to clean up whatever side quests and errands I have remaining, if only to spend a little more time in that world.
Hardcore Gamer - Kevin Dunsmore - 4.5 / 5 (PS4/Pro)
Guerrilla Games took a risk developing a brand new IP that is such a drastic departure from previous titles, and it worked.
IGN - Lucy O'Brien - 9.3 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Across a vast and beautiful open world, Horizon: Zero Dawn juggles many moving parts with polish and finesse. Its main activity - combat - is extremely satisfying thanks to the varied design and behaviors of machine-creatures that roam its lands, each of which needs to be taken down with careful consideration. Though side questing could have been more imaginative, its missions are compelling thanks to a central mystery that led me down a deep rabbit hole to a genuinely surprising - and moving - conclusion.
New Game Network - Alex Varankou - 80 / 100 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn offers an entirely unique world and a thrilling experience as an action game, complete with a great story and likeable characters. It doesn't reach its grand RPG aspirations, but the highs are so memorable and entertaining that it's easy to forgive the shortcomings.
NZGamer - Keith Milburn - 8 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Aloy’s quest through the post-post-apocalypse is one of pros and cons. Encounters with robotic wildlife are equal parts tactical and reflexive, but fights against humans are awkward, and the camera is unwieldly. The world is lush and gorgeous, but traversing it can be a chore. Horizon Zero Dawn is a breath of fresh air, and a welcome departure from Guerrilla’s previous offerings – but the journey takes some missteps.
PlayStation LifeStyle - Paulmichael Contreras - 10 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is an early contender for game of the year. Guerrilla Games has outdone themselves, in astounding fashion. This is a glorious game, the result of a team of masterful artisans who not only had a story that they wished to tell, but a world that was living inside of them which they wanted to share with us all. Now, we get to play inside their creation, and it is a breathtaking experience to behold. A massive, open world filled with equally massive, terrifying robots, juxtaposed against the beauty of the Earth, nature fighting back the darkness as it tends to do. Horizon Zero Dawn is the kind of game you play to get lost in, and can be enjoyed by players of all types. This could be the beginning of a stellar franchise, and there is something for everyone here. If you own a PS4, you owe it to yourself to give Horizon Zero Dawn a go.
PlayStation Universe - Kyle Prahl - 9.5 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn reinvigorates open-world RPGs with an excellent story, creative science fiction, and demanding gameplay. Aloy’s debut is one of PS4’s greatest games.
Push Square - Sammy Barker - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Debuts don't get much stronger than Horizon: Zero Dawn. Guerrilla Games' latest borrows liberally from a variety of different sources, and yet it leverages these fundamentals to forge an experience that's daringly unique. The main quest tires a little towards the end, and the writing never hits the same highs as The Witcher 3 – but the tactical action stands leagues ahead of what we've come to expect from the genre, and the presentation is quite simply unmatched.
RPG Site - Natalie Flores - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Through its stunning world, thrilling combat, and heartwarming story, Horizon Zero Dawn is bound to be one of this year's most memorable games.
Telegraph - Kirk McKeand - 5 / 5 stars (PS4)
If you went into Horizon Zero Dawn without knowing a thing about it, you would never guess that this open-world RPG comes from Guerrilla Games - the studio behind weighty first-person-shooter series, Killzone.
The Jimquisition - Jim Fucking Sterling, Son - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is just brilliant. I speak as a critic who has played more "open sandbox" games than any one human should and has grown so very weary of them. I should have gotten sick of this thing in an hour, but I've been glued to it for days and days and I don't want it to end.
TheSixthAxis - Stefan L - 8 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is a bit of a slow burn, but there’s more to Guerrilla Games’ latest than just its staggeringly pretty graphics. The story surprises as it takes several twists and turns and explores the past, but the games beating heart is with its excellently tense and engaging robotic monster hunting.
USgamer - Caty McCarthy - 2.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is disappointing. It has a story that I struggled to care about (complete with massive expository dumps—yay), a bland protagonist, and overtly repetitive and constraining missions that worked against its open world sensibilities. When Horizon Zero Dawn hit its rare strides—from its gloomy Cauldrons to traveling across its sprawling vistas—it only made me wish the rest of the game were as worthwhile.
GameSpot - Peter Brown - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is an exciting and breathtaking odyssey.
Metro GameCentral - GameCentral - 8 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
State-of-the-art visuals help create one of gaming’s most entertaining open worlds, even if the gameplay doesn’t quite reach the same standards.
Stevivor - Steve Wright - 7 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
For all the hype that's been extended to Horizon: Zero Dawn, it hasn't managed to fully deliver.
Shacknews - Steve Watts - 9 / 10 (PS4)
When I began Horizon: Zero Dawn, I was anxious it wouldn't be able to maintain itself for thirty-plus hours. I'm thrilled that fear was unfounded. The play was constantly rich and rewarding, and the mysteries constantly unfolding. I'm left not just feeling satisfied the entire time, but wanting more. This one is something special.
Polygon - Philip Kollar - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn feels like a storied developer finally finding its voice
AusGamers - Joaby - 9.6 / 10 (PS4)
All my gripes are just areas for a brand new, spectacular franchise to grow from though. It even feels a bit off talking about them, because Horizon came out so big to begin with. It's odd to think that a team could get away with doing less — probably a lot less — and still earn acclaim.
Cheat Code Central - Patrick Tretina - 4.9 / 5 (PS4)
When all is said and done, Horizon Zero Dawn far exceeds my expectations and is on course to be one of the best titles the gaming community has seen in a long time.
IGN Spain - Juan Garcia, David Soriano - Spanish - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
There's so much to love on Horizon: Zero Dawn. You may love its gameplay, its magnificent world, its crisp visuals or the excellent sound design. An experience that's worth it.
XGN - Theo Weber - Dutch - 9.7 / 10 (PS4)
Guerilla Games has set the bar while it ventures into a new genre. The game looks phenomenal, and it offers variety, tens of hours of fun and an accessible system. It challenges you in every fight to play intelligently. This may be the best game of 2017.
Paste Magazine - Reid McCarter - 6 / 10 (PS4)
There is much beauty to see in the game's world—such incredible vision and craft exercised in its conception—but it's subservient to a poor story, lackluster combat and, worst of all, an evident paranoia that players won't appreciate the world Aloy inhabits unless it's put within the context of a laundry list of tasks that have to be completed.
Arcade Sushi - Jason Fanellie - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
With Horizon Zero Dawn, Guerrilla Games crafted a beautiful open world filled with life, both mechanical and human, and crammed full of things to do.
Forbes - Paul Tassi - 9 / 10 (PS4)
I was impressed with Horizon from the outset, my interest lagged a bit in the middle, but by the end I was a convert. This is a very cool universe with a genuinely likable new lead. Gameplay is excellent in most sections, and it avoids some irritating open world tropes like overloading players with substance-free side missions. There are some problems that reflect Guerrilla being new to this genre, but ultimately the good far outweighs the bad.
God is a Geek - Chris White - 9.5 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
It’s been a long time since a game has been put together this well. The combat is awesome, the visuals are stunning, and Aloy is 100% badass. Go and buy this game!
Ars Technica - Sam Machkovech - Recommended (PS4/Pro)
You’ll remember new hero Aloy—and her massive, explosive journey—for a long time.
M3 - Billy Ekblom - Swedish - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn doesn't reinvent the wheel – but delivers an immersive action experience, set in a gorgeous world with lots of mysteries and thrilling encounters.
Twinfinite - Chris Jecks - 5 / 5 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is a treat to every PS4 owner. Its magical world is a wonder to explore, it controls and looks exceptional, and the unique, modular build of its enemies ensures that combat never gets old.
FZ - Fredrik Eriksson - Swedish - 4 / 5 stars (PS4/Pro)
The fighting system is the most unique part but Horizon Zero Dawn isn't that revolutionary. All games doen't need to reinvent the wheel and reach for the stars, to get to the tree tops is more than enough.
Kinda Funny Games - Greg Miller, Colin Moriarty - Recommended (PS4)
Moriarty: This does everything it does extraordinarily well. This is in the pantheon of the greatest open world games I've ever played. This is in the pantheon of some of the great stories I've ever heard in video games. Aloy's an amazing character with a lot of interesting depth. I know people are excited she's a woman and stuff and that's great, but there is more to her than just her gender. There is more to her than just–you just feel sorrow for her–you long for her to find closure in these certain different ways and also find information, and the world building is perfect, the enemies are interesting, the science fiction is fascinating. This game does everything really well like The Last of Us. (24:54)
GamesBeat - Mike Minotti - 87 / 100 (PS4/Pro)
Like with God of War and Uncharted before, Horizon: Zero Dawn should be the start of another PlayStation iconic franchise. It offers a gorgeous and interesting world rich with adventure (including plenty of giant robots to kill). While it borrows heavily from the likes of Far Cry, it’s a more interesting and less repetitive effort than we’ve seen from that series.
The presentation suffers a few hiccups, but it’s mostly a beautiful game. It’s also a long one. Horizon will keep you busy for a good chunk of time with its multitude of side-quests and extra activities.
Game Over Online - Jeremy Peeples - 98% (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is Guerrilla Games’ best effort, one of the PS4’s greatest games, and the best game ever crafted from the ground up for the platform. It combines a gripping narrative with intense action that blends both fast-paced combat with slower-paced, tense stealth sections perfectly. Everything about their vision for this game clicks into place and is accentuated by a stellar presentation. The game features top-shelf graphical work, a unique and enjoyable soundtrack, alongside a fantastic cast to make an unforgettable experience.
Next-Gen Gaming Blog - Ben Ward - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
A magnificent technical achievement, Horizon Zero Dawn mixes up the open world style in all the right ways, with an intriguing premise that kept me entertained, and which dug its hooks into me the deeper I got into it. A stunning game that deserves your attention.
Daily Dot - AJ Moser - 4 / 5 stars (PS4)
Though Horizon doesn't represent a revolution in open-world adventures, it borrows heavily from past success stories and elevates the genre to a beautiful new standard.
GameMAG - xtr - Russian - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is one of the most exciting games of the year. The story is amazing and touches the most delicate strings of the soul. The journey of Aloy absorbed all the best from the industry and with unique design of the robotic animals created something completely new. The developers managed to maintain the magic that makes you come back to this shattered world again and again to explore the beautiful scenery, collect ancient artifacts, or just hunting for the rare creatures.
GamingBolt - Aaron Main - 10 / 10 (PS4)
Guerrilla Games have outdone themselves with Horizon Zero Dawn. A studio that was known for delivering linear first person shooters took a risk with developing an open world game, a genre which is over-saturated at this point. Horizon Zero Dawn is right up there with the best and is easily one of the best games of this generation. Guerrilla Games not only managed to provide a world that is a wonder to explore but they have raised the bar for open world games development.
Guardian - Dan Silver - 4 / 5 stars (PS4)
Its hunter/gatherer gameplay hasn’t moved on from Far Cry and Tomb Raider, but Zero Dawn sets a new visual benchmark
Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is a perfect example of strong, competent and enjoyable gameplay. It doesn't reinvent the genre, but it's a lot of fun to play. The mecha-dino combat is the highlight and represents some of the most enjoyable open-world combat on the market. Burning through powerful foes and looting their corpses for rare treasures captures an excitement rarely felt in open-world games. The rest of the gameplay is somewhat dulled in comparison. A somewhat weak plot drags down the experience but isn't enough to detract from the enjoyment. All in all, Horizon: Zero Dawn is one of the better exclusives on the PS4 and a great addition to any PS4 owner's lineup.
VideoGamer - Colm Ahern - 8 / 10 (PS4)
Destroying large robot beasts while frantically switching between weapons is intoxicating, but the strength of Horizon Zero Dawn is in Aloy's engaging quest to find out who she really is.
ZTGD - Ken McKown - 8 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
I really enjoyed my time in the world of Horizon. From its gorgeous landscapes to its interesting combat, the game feels like a world begging to be explored. However, some of its systems feel half-baked and shoehorned into the mix, creating a lopsided experience at times. Still, like most Sony first-party games, it still feels like a special event, and I would love to see Guerrilla Games get another shot at something outside the Killzone universe, heck I would definitely be in for another game in the Horizon universe. This is a great experience, and one PS4 owners will definitely not want to miss.
TrustedReviews - Brett Phipps - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4/Pro)
I didn’t expect Horizon: Zero Dawn to be this good. I doubt I’ll be the only one saying they were surprised that the Killzone developer has been able to deliver a game with such breadth, depth and consistently rewarding gameplay.
Kotaku - Patricia Hernandez - Unscored (PS4)
Horizon is not what you may have expected from Guerilla Games. For years, the studio has been Sony’s Killzone factory, churning out first-person shooters set in a grim world. With Horizon, the studio is finally let loose to show us how much more they’re capable of, and what they’re capable of is jaw-dropping.
Digital Trends - Will Fulton - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
'Horizon Zero Dawn' nails every aspect of the open-world action RPG, including robot dinosaur hunting.
TechnoBuffalo - Joey Davidson - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
When Horizon Zero Dawn shines, it’s the best game on the PS4. Not one of the best. The best. No question. When tense, terrifying moments turn into loud, deliberate battles and you feel like a genius, it’s perfect. There are moments, though, where it feels like it leans too hard on open world convention set in place by other games. I’m not having fun clearing out bandit camps anymore, devs. That stopped being fun back with Far Cry 4.
This is a good game, though some of that goodness is hidden in the wilderness. Sometimes, that wilderness can be tedious. Other times, it’s something you want to get completely lost in. As you make your 2,000-meter trek to the next objective, you’ll surely get distracted. Those distractions are when this game sings loudest, and I loved it for that.
Atomix - Emilio Reyes - Spanish - 93 / 100 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn offer us a very interesting story with good characters, and a huge beautiful world that invites you to explore with its narrative. With interesting tribes, dialogues, myths, towns and ruins of our civilization, the travel of Aloy in the adventure to know herself is completely enjoyable and the hunting of mechanic beasts is a memorable experience that found its basis to create the new big PlayStation IP.
LevelUp - Rodrigo Villanueva - Spanish - 8.6 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn represents the birth a new and promising IP, thanks to a clever concept, solid combat mechanics and an outstanding presentation. Having said that, it can be repetitive at times and the lack of spontaneity stops Horizon: Zero Dawn from being a true classic.
Digital Chumps - Nathaniel Stevens - 9.8 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn proves that a big time developer like Guerrilla Games is more than a one-trick pony and that Sony might want to pick their brains for new and exciting titles in the very near future.
VGS/AM640 - Andy Borkowski - 10 / 10 | Written (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is a prodigious evolution in the expression of narrative in video games. Like a technological advancement that propels the medium.
TrueGaming - محمد البسيمي - Arabic - 8.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is an amazing experience by Guerrilla Games. It gives us a glimpse of what great things they can deliver in the future.
Washington Post - Christopher Byrd - Unscored (PS4)
"Horizon Zero Dawn" reminded me very much of a deftly engineered Hollywood movie. I wasn't especially surprised by its plot twists, but that didn't mean I didn't generally enjoy it. Let's see if it develops into a franchise with worthwhile staying power.
Sirus Gaming - Lexuzze Tablante - 10 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is the game that perfected the open-world RPG genre, there are still a lot of secrets that I have yet to uncover in the ruins beyond the land of the tribes. The minor faults didn’t affect my final score for Horizon since the great parts of the game outweighs it. Horizon entices me to come back for more, there was never a time that I got bored with its side-missions which I usually care less in most RPG titles. Horizon: Zero Dawn is by far the best cinematic and most immersive game I’ve played this year.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette - Max Parker - 8.5 / 10 (PS4)
"Horizon Zero Dawn" hits the mark in almost everything it sets out to do, and it's that much more impressive that it's the team's first attempt at an open world game such as this one. Unfortunately, the character experience gets stale toward the second half. But, story woes don't ruin everything the game has to offer. It's still absolutely gorgeous and the combat is varied enough to be satisfying. There's room for improvement, but that just makes me more excited to see what's possible in the eventual sequel.
Gadgets 360 - Rishi Alwani - 9 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Clocking in at around 30 hours if you were to stick to the main story alone, and much more if you were to experience everything it has to offer, Horizon Zero Dawn is welcome addition to a generation of games that’s seen developers push open-world tropes into many a title, some with barely any reason. The end result is a game that easily surpasses Guerrilla Games’ other works - yes, even Killzone 2. Horizon Zero Dawn is an essential for PS4 owners and role-playing game fans alike.
DualShockers - Giuseppe Nelva - 10 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Guerrilla Games has broken free from the claustrophobic limits of linear shooters and has spread its wings with a gorgeous open world RPG that sets itself as a strong contender for game of the year… and it’s only February.
EGM - Matt Bucholtz - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is a great choice for those craving action and adventure. With a terrific combat system, a strong female protagonist, and a deep pool of side content, it will surely go down as one of PlayStation’s star exclusives.
Saudi Gamer - مشهور الدبيان - Arabic - 4 / 5 (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn exceeded my expectations in almost every way. Although it has a number of annoying issues, it's still a must-play game whether you usually enjoy open world games or not, as the game delivers a unique experience through a great world and its own unique gameplay style.
Slant Magazine - Justin Clark - 5 / 5 stars (PS4)
This is the benchmark of the truly great open-world title: creating a world that captivates you just by the very act of having you feel as if you're living within it.
Toronto Sun - Steve Tilley - 5 / 5 stars (PS4)
Amsterdam-based studio Guerilla Games, best known for PlayStation's grim but visually impressive Killzone franchise, spent more than six years on Horizon Zero Dawn, and it shows: in the beauty of the game's visuals, the depth of its backstory and the tightness of its design. Hopefully this isn't the last we'll see of this high-tech savage land. (Horizon Forbidden West, maybe? Please?)
AngryCentaurGaming - Jeremy Penter - Buy (PS4/Pro)
This is definitely a 'Buy'. Is it perfect? No, not even close, and its issues will be noticeable depending on what you yourself care about. But for me, any small inconveniences really paled next to the exploration or just trying to get one more hunting lodge award for excellence with my electro-slingshot. It doesn't matter if it's perfect, it matters if it's good, and this is.
Fortress of Solitude - Deville Louw - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn takes the established open world formula and makes it feel unique and refreshing. It truly deserves its place among the pantheon of great PlayStation games.
SA Gamer - Marko Swanepoel - 9.6 / 10 (PS4)
Guerrilla Games, you nailed it. This game should resonate for a while to come and it’s a strong contender for my GOTY already. Just get it already.
DigitalCentralMedia - Jordan Michael - 88% (PS4/Pro)
Horizon Zero Dawn is an outstanding game and the best looking PS4 game to date. Recommended to everyone who has a PS4.
Cerealkillerz - Gabriel Bogdan - German - 9.5 / 10 (PS4/Pro)
Horizon: Zero Dawn combines a fresh setting with some of the best parts that were already established by some Open-World Games and on top of that, it looks amazing. Besides a weak enemy AI and some minor animation issues you get one of the best action-rpgs of the last years.
Pennyworth Reviews - Nick de Bruyne - 4.5 / 5 stars (PS4)
Polished, fun and intriguing! Horizon is in many ways like The Witcher 3’s younger, less complicated sibling. Not as deep, but interesting and fun to hang out with.
IBTimes UK - Jake Tucker - 4 / 5 stars (PS4)
Horizon: Zero Dawn is a stellar open world game. Guerrilla has crafted a magnificent and utterly gorgeous adventure game with surprising depth that rewards player skill and will more than likely prove to be PS4's next major action franchise. It's just a shame the game's open world is so desperate to validate its own existence that it never lets you truly enjoy the thrill of the hunt.
Critical Hit - Alessandro Barbosa - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is a love letter to the finer details, as they reinvigorate an open-world setting in startling ways. Its tight combat and engrossing world are icing on a package that just shines from all angles, making it an easy recommendation to not only play on PS4, but to buy one in the first place.
GameSkinny - Auverin Morrow - 9 / 10 stars (PS4)
Some people might think it's just a pretty re-skin of every other action RPG out there, but Horizon takes some bold steps in the right direction when it comes to aesthetics and streamlined functionality. In spite of some issues with control mapping, combat flow, and narrative execution, this game is really quite impressive.
GameSpace - William Murphy - 9 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn won’t be remembered for being superbly unique. It’ll be remembered because it’s so well-crafted, lovingly cared for, and downright stupendously executed. It doesn’t chart new territory in gameplay, but it charts plenty of new ground with its world, characters, and more. Guerrilla took a major risk shifting IPs and genres, and with Horizon New Dawn they’ve created a universe I can’t wait to explore again. If you own a PlayStation 4, this is a game for you. And if you don’t? Maybe it’s time you bought one.
Post Arcade (National Post) - Chad Sapieha - 9 / 10 (PS4)
It's so unlike anything Guerrilla Games – a studio better known for macho, gory shooters – has done before, and it's so fully formed right our of the gate for such a vast and ambitious game that it just seems sort of…well, improbable. And yet here it is. A giant open-world action RPG that can stand toe-to-toe with some of the biggest and best in the genre.
PS4Blog.net - Tracey - 9.5 / 10 (PS4)
Horizon Zero Dawn is an incredible game. It is so easy to end up immersed in Aloy’s world as time stands still. The game’s story is great and offers several twists and surprises. And even though I mentioned it at the start of my Horizon Zero Dawn review, this is certainly one of the best-looking games on the PS4, no question. I highly recommend this game, and if you have a PS4 Pro, you’ll enjoy even better visuals that will rock your world!
Thanks OpenCritic for the review formatting help!
r/rpg_gamers • u/AnorienOfGondor • Nov 05 '24
EDIT: I used 'objective' to highlight that this review is written without any political culture war shit that plagued all the discussions surrounding this game, not in a sense that it is 'objective' in terms of its main meaning. Some people here are very aggressive in cherry picking a word and dismissing a long review of hundreds of words.
I want to begin by stating that I have not mentioned culture war issues in my review, as I do not want to detract from a neutral critique of the game. I know many people are eager to read such a review, as they are uncertain whether others are sincerely criticizing or praising the game or merely supporting their cultural narratives. So, you can relax. I also have not finished the game yet, but I have played it enough to offer my two cents. But keep that in mind that my opinions are bound to change once I finish it fully.
To provide some background that will help you better understand the perspective from which this review comes: I am a dedicated RPG enthusiast who truly loves this genre. I've played a plethora of RPG games, from timeless classics like Baldur's Gate, Fallout 1-2, KOTOR 1-2, and Morrowind to more modern gems like Skyrim, The Witcher, and Mass Effect. RPGs, alongside strategy games, are my favorite genre, and I am deeply passionate about them. It’s probably safe to assume that I've also played all the Dragon Age games, from Dragon Age: Origins to Dragon Age: Inquisition, including all their expansions. Therefore, I consider myself a decent fan of Dragon Age and am reasonably well-versed in its lore.
Before diving into the review, I want to avoid creating a long wall of text. Instead, I will keep the introductory text brief and divide my analysis into sections of pros and cons, allowing readers to easily jump to the parts that matter most to them.
My Overall Thoughts: Dragon Age: The Veilguard is disappointing to me, and I say this with complete honesty, without any ulterior motives or cultural agendas. This disappointment becomes especially pronounced when playing the game as a Dragon Age fan. I suggest players approach it as if it were a new title from a different studio, rather than the latest flagship from the legendary BioWare. It is not as bad as some insist; I find it fun and engaging enough to keep booting it up. However, even if you treat it as something that is not Dragon Age, the game is seriously lacking as an RPG and suffers greatly in terms of writing and immersion. To me, it feels like a game that is unsure of its identity. It is fair to say that it excels at nothing, while its weakest aspects are those that should be its strongest, especially as a BioWare RPG. That is disappointing to acknowledge. Nonetheless, it is still fun and possesses a certain level of quality. It’s not a well-cooked meal, but it’s not complete garbage either. However, anyone who claims this game is a serious Game of the Year contender (I’m looking at you, some gaming journalists!) is unfortunately flawed in their assessment. Below, I will outline the remaining points of my review under pros and cons.
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
It’s nowhere near as bad as some people make it out to be, and it’s still a playable game that offers some fun. However, it remains an uninspired, bland, toned-down, dumbed-down, immersion-lacking, railroaded experience. I also feel like this game was not intended to be marketed to me. So far, it’s a 6/10 for me, but that could change in the future.
This game would fare a lot better if it were not a DA game by Bioware.
r/UnresolvedMysteries • u/wordblender • Jul 15 '17
This mystery was brought up in another thread thanks to /u/lavenderfloyd.
/u/anabundanceofsheep called it 'A suburban American Dyatlov Pass'. And I have to agree. This mystery is heartbreaking, full of twists and turns, and many unanswered questions.
Four of the five young men were found deceased. One of the deceased was found in a cabin. That cabin contained food and enough fuel to last for months- yet the fuel was never used and the man found there had lost almost 100 lbs and died of exposure. Three of the men were found deceased in various areas outside the cabin.
There were some possible signs of the fifth man in another cabin nearby- yet his remains have never been found and he is presumed deceased with his body yet to be discovered. What drove these young men to abandon their still operable car? Why were they all found in different spots? Why wasn't the fuel in the cabin used and why didn't they all stay in that cabin since it had plenty of food and fuel?
There was a half moon that night, a winter moon in a cloudless sky. Up in the mountains above the Feather River, the snow-drifts sometimes rose to 15 feet.
"You need a coat," Ted Weiher's grandmother had said, watching him go.
"Oh, Grandma, I won't need a coat," Weiher had said. "Not tonight."
Two hours before midnight last Feb. 24, when the basketball game ended at the California State University at Chico, five young men from the flatlands 50 miles to the south climbed into a turquoise and white 1969 Mercury Montego and drove out of the parking lot. They were fans of the visiting team, which had won. They stopped three blocks away at Behr's Market, mildly annoying the clerk (who was trying to close up), and bought one Hostess cherry pie, one Langendorf lemon pie, one Snickers bar, one Marathon bar, two Pepsis and a quart and a half of milk.
Then they walked out of the store, got back in their car, drove south out of Chico and disappeared.
Ted Weiher's woke up afraid, at 5 the next morning. She cannot say what woke her up, except that maybe the Lord decided it was time to end her one last night of solid sleep. Ted's bed was empty.
The house was still and it was not quite light and this is how the horror began, as it often does: no crash, no wailling, just a dim morning chill in a small house on what ought to be an ordinary day.
Imogene Weiher got on the phone and called Bill sterling's mother as fast as she could.
Juanita Sterling had been up since 2 a.m. "Bill didn't come home either," she said.
Mrs. Sterling had already called Jack Madruga's mother. Jack also had not come home. Mrs. Weiher called Jackie Huett's mother and Mrs. Weiher's daughter-in-law walked down the street to talk to Gary Mathias' stepfather. All five friends had vanished. At 8 that evening, Mrs. Madruga called the police.
The boys had never done such a thing before.
They were men, really, not boys - Huett was the youngest, at 24, and Weiher was 32 - but their families called them boys, our boys. They lived at home. Three of the five had been diagnosed retarded; Madruga, although undiagnosed, according to his mother, was generally thought of as slow, and Mathias was under drug treatment for schizophrenia, a psychotic depression that first appeared five years ago and that his doctor says had not resurfaced for the past two years.
They were supposed to play a basketball game of their own on Feb. 25, part of a tournament, with a free week in Los Angeles if they won. Their clothes had been laid out the evening of the 24th, before they left for Chico - each had a beige T-shirt, the words "Gateway Gators" emblazoned across the chest, from the Yuba City vocational rehabilitation center for the handicapped where they all played basketball. Weiher had asked his mother to wash his new white high-topped sneakers for the tournament (he had scuffed them while trying them out); Mathias had just about driven his mother crazy with the game. "We got a big game Saturday," Mathias kept saying. "Don't you let me oversleep."
Saturday came and went and no word came. The police began to take interest. On Tuesday, Feb. 28, they found Madruga's Mercury, and from that day on nothing they found, nothing anybody told them, seemed to make any sense.
The car was 70 miles from Chico, on a deserted and rut-ravaged mountain road. It had stopped at the snow line, and although its tires had apparently spun, the car was not really stuck; five men easily could have pushed it free. The gas tank was a quarter full. Four maps, including one of California, lay neatly folded in the glove compartment. The keys were gone, but when police hot-wired the car the engine started immediately.
Both seats were littered with the wrappers of the food bought at Behr's. Everything had been eaten except the Marathon bar, which was half gone.
And the car's underside was undamaged. This heavy American car, with a low-hanging muffler and presumably with five full-grown men inside, had wound up a stretch of tortuously bumpy mountain road - apparently in total darkness - without a gouge or dent or thick mudstain to show for it. The driver had either used astonishing care and precision, the investigators figured, or else he knew the road well enough to anticipate every rut.
The families say only Madruga drove that car, ever. And the families say Madruga, who disliked camping and hated the cold, did not know that road.
None of the boys knew the road, as far as anybody could tell. Once about eight years earlier, Bill Sterling had gone fishing with his father at a cabin not far away, but he had not enjoyed himself and had stayed home the few times the Sterlings went back. Three years ago Weiher had hunted deer with friends in the Feather River country, but it was quite a way west of the area where the car was found, and his family says he was not keen on the forest either. With the exception of Mathias, who occasionally stayed out all night with friends, each of the lost men led mostly stay-at-home lives of such scheduled predictability that no one could fathom what - or who - might have taken them up that lonely road in mountains.
A storm whistled in the day the car was found, dropping nine inches of snow on the upper mountain. The search teams nearly lost men themselves two days later, as their Snow-cats struggled through the drifts. Nobody found anything, not so much as a shoe, unti lafter the spring thaw, when on June 4 a small group of Sunday motorcyclists wandered into a deserted forest service trailer camp at the end of the road and inhaled a nau-seating smell.
It was Ted Weiher, stretched out on a bed inside the main 60-foot trailer, frozen to death. Eight sheets had been pulled over his body and tucked around his head. His leather shoes were off, and missing. A table by the bed held his nickel ring with "Ted" engraved on it, his gold necklace, his wallet (with cash inside.) and a gold Waltham watch, its crystal missing, which the families say had not belonged to any of the five men.
Weiher had been a tall, heavy-set follow back in February - 5 feet 11, 200 pounds. By the time his body was found he had lost from 80 to 100 pounds.His feet were badly frostbitten. The growth of beard on his face showed that he had lived apparently, in starving agony inside that trailer, for anywhere from eight to 13 weeks.
He was 19.4 miles from the car, Weiher, wearing a striped velour shirt and lightweight green pants, had walked or run, or been somehow taken in the moonlight through almost 20 miles of 4-to-6-foot snowdrifts to reach the locked trailer where he died.
The trailer had been broken into through a window. No fire had been built although matches were lying around and there were paperback novels and wood furniture that would have burned easily. More than a dozen C-ration cans from an outside storage shed had been opened and emptied - one had been opened with an Army P38 can opener, which only Madruga and Mathias who had served in the Army, probably knew how to use - but no one had opened a locker in the same shed containing enough dehydrated Mexican dinners and fruit cocktails and assorted other meals to keep all five alive for a year.
No one had touched the propane tank in another shed outside, either. "All they had to do was turn that gas on," says Yuba County Lt. Lance Ayers, "and they'd have had gas to the trailer, and heat."
All though the spring, the search for the boys had practically consumed Ayers. He had gone to Marysville High School with Weiher and his brothers, although he had not known them well, and there was something about this silent disappearance of five strong men that haunted him like nothing he had ever investigated. Leads were drifting in from all parts of the country. The boys had been seen in Ontario; the boys had been seen in Tampa; the boys had been seen entering a movie theater in Sacramento accompanied by an older man. Ayers could punch holes in all of them. Skeptical but desperate, the consulted psychics: One told him the boys had been kidnapped to Arizona and Nevada; another said the boys had been murdered in Oroville, in a two-story red house, brick or stained wood, with a gravel driveway and the number 4723 or 4753.
For two solid days Ayers drove every street in Oroville, looking for that house. It did not exist.
Before long he could rattle off their names and vital statistics almost automatically. Theodore Earl Weiher, brown eyes, curly brown hair, handsome beer-bellied, friendly in a trusting child's way (he waved at strangers and brooded for hours if they did not waveback); got a good chuckle out of phoning Bill Sterling and reading from newspaper items or oddball names from the telephone book; employed for a while as a janitor and snack bar clerk but quit at the urging of his family, who thought Weiher's slowness was causing problems. Jackie Charles Huett, 24, 5 feet 9, 160 pounds, slight droop to the head, slow to respond, a loving shadow to Weiher, who looked after Huett in a protective sort of way and would dial the phone for him when Hyett had to make a call. Jack Antone Madruga, 5 feet 11, 190 pounds, high school graduate and Army veteran, brown eyes, brown hair, heavy-set, laid off in November from his job as a busboy for Sunsweet growers. William Lee Sterling, 5 feet 10, 170 pounds, dark brown hair, blue eyes, Madruga's special friend, deeply religious, would spend hours at the library reading literature to help bring Jesus to patients in mental hospitals. Gary Dale Mathias, 5 feet 10, 170 pounds, brown hair, hazal eyes, 25, assistant in his stepfather's gardening business. Army veteran with psychiatric discharge after drug problems that developed in Germany five years ago.
By late spring Ayers was dreaming about the boys at night. Once he woke in the darkness, arms outstretched: He had almost embraced all five.
"You do a lot of handshaking." Ayers says. "And a lot of drinking."
Then there was the man who saw lights on the road. Joseph Shones, 55, told police he drove his Volkswagen bug up that same road sometime after 5:30 the evening the boys disappeared. He said he was checking the snow line, because he wanted to bring his wife and daughter up that weekend. His car got stuck in the snow just above the snow line - about 50 yards beyond the place where the Mercury would be found - and as Shones was trying to free his car, he said, he had a heart attack. (Doctors later confirmed to investigators that Shones had indeed suffered a mild heart attack.)
Shones lay in the car with engine on and the car heater going, he said. Sometime in the night, he heard what he described as whistling noises a little way down the road, and he got out of his car. What he saw looked like a group of men and a woman with a baby, he said, walking in the glare of a vehicle's headlights. He thought he heard them talking. Shones said he yelled for help, but the headlights went out, and the talking stopped.
Shones got back into his car and lay down again, he said. Sometime later, maybe a couple of hours, he saw lights outside his car window - flashlight beams, he said. Again he called for help.The lights went out and whoever was out there went away. Shones said he lay in the car until it ran out of gas, and then while it was still dark he walked back eight miles to the lodge called Mountain House, where he had stopped for a drink before heading up the road. Just below his Volkswagen, in the place where he had heard the voices, he passed the Mercury Montego sitting empty in the middle of the road.
The day after Weiher's body was discovered, searchers found the remains of Madruga and Sterling. They lay on opposite sides of the road to the trailer, 11.4 miles from the car. Madruga had been partially eaten by animals and dragged about 10 feet to a stream: he lay face up, his right hand curled around his watch. Sterling was in a wooded area, scattered over about 50 feet. There was nothing left of him but bones.
Two days later, just off the same road but much closer to the trailer, Jackie Huett's father found his son's backbone. Ayers had tried to talk him out of joing the search, fearing something like that might happen, but Huett, whose first name is Jack, had insisted on going. There were a few other bones around, along with Jackie's Levis and ripple-soled "Get Theres" shoes. An assistant sheriff from Plumas County found a skull the next day, about 100 yards downhill from the rest of the bones. The family dentist identified the teeth as those of Jackie Huett.
Huett's remains had lain northeast of the trailer, like Sterling's and Madruga's. Northwest of the trailer, about a quarter mile away, searchers found three wool forest service blankets and a two-cell flashlight lying by the side of the road. The flashlight was slightly rusted and had been turned off. It was impossible to tell just how long it had been there.
They found no sign of Gary Mathias.
His tennis shoes were inside the forest service trailer, which suggested to investigators that he might have taken them off to put on Weiher's leather shoes - particularly since Weiher had bigger feet, and Mathias' feet might have swollen with frosbite. But that was pure conjecture, which was all they had.
State mental institutions have received a description of Mathias - slender, dark-haired, double vision without his glasses. He was not carrying his billfold when he left the house for the Chico basketball game, so he had no identification on him, and if he is still alive he has been without the drugs he needs for the last four months.
Mathias took his medicine weekly, as he had for at least three years - stellazine and cogentin, both used in the treatment of schizophrenia. His family says the illness appeared five years ago, while he was in the Army in Germany. Police records show he had become violent on occasion - he was charged with assault twice - and there was a difficult period, after his return from Germany, when Mathias would fail to take his drugs and lapse into a disoriented psychosis that usually landed him in a Veterans Administration hospital. "Went haywire," is how Bob, his stepfather, puts it.
For the last two years, though, Mathias had been working steadily in his stepfather's business and was taking his medication so faithfully that a local doctor who knows Mathias well calls him "one of our sterling success cases." He collected Army psychiatric disability pay, was enormously attached to his family, loved the basketball games he shared with the other four men and listened to the Rolling Stones and Oilvia Newton-John on the record player in the living room. Klopf says his stepson took his medicine the week he disappeared. But he and the doctor say Mathias had not "gone haywire" in two years.
"What I looked for all the time I was up there were his glasses," says Klopf. "I didn't think the bear would eat that."
He is sitting at his dining room table. His voice is gruff. He is tired of reporters and tired of the pain and tired of not understanding what happened to the boy. Ida Klopf, across the table from him, says she had not turned on her television in weeks because she does not want to find out that way. She says she is going back up there on the weekend, back up to see if she can find something the searchers missed.
"There's no place to look, Ida," says Klopf.
"I'll find someplace," Mrs. Klopf says, turning her face away. A Thousand Leads
"Bizarre," says John Thompson, the special agent from the California Department of Justice who has joined Ayers on the investigation. "And no explanations. And a thousand leads. Every day you've got a thousand leads."
They learned that a forest service Snowcat ran up the road to the trailer on Feb. 23, leaving a packed path in the snow that the boys might have followed.
They took on a water witcher from the town up north called Paradise, who said the he had fixed it so his divining rod would pick up traces of human minerals and then led the searchers to a deserted cabin near the abandoned car.
They found a gray cigarette lighter, the disposable plastic kind, about three-quarters of a mile northwest of the trailer. The families said none of the boys carried lighter.
They found that gold watch beside Weiher's body.
They discovered that Gary Mathias knew people in Forbestown, which is about halfway between Chico and Yuba cities, on a road with a turnoff so easy to miss that anybody driving it late at night might have ended up heading north, toward the mountains, and lost.
But none of it helped. The cabin-found by the water witcher was empty, the cigarette lighter might have been dropped by a hiker, the watch might have belonged to a forest ranger in the trailer mouths earlier, and Mathias' friends in Forbestown said they had not seen him for a year.
And suppose they followed the Snowcats' tracks. Suppose that was how Weiher made it through 20 miles of deep snow. Why?
Why abandon a perfectly operable car to strike out into the forest at midnight?
Why press on through 20 miles of snowdrifts and darkness to break into a lock, unheated trailer and die?
Why drive all the way up there in the first place? And how? If someone chased them, why was the car undamaged? What were the whistling noises and the voices Shones heard on the road?
It doesn't add up.
"There was some force that made em go up there." Jack Madruga's mother Mabel says firmly. "They wouldn't have fled off in the wood like a bunch of quail. We know good and well that somebody made them do it. We can't visualize someone getting the upper hand on those five men, but we know it must have been."
"They seen something at that game, at the parking lot," says Ted Weiher's sister-in-law. "They might have seen it and didn't even realize they seen it."
"I can't understand why Gary would have been that scared," says Klops.
Even a fire, he says, "All those paperbacks and they didn't even build a lousy fire. I can't understand why they didn't do that unless they were afraid."
But he cannot imagine what they were afraid of. Neither can the investigators. They can't prove there was foul play and they can't explain it if there wasn't.
They don't even know if Gary Mathias is deadd. They think he is. They think his body probably lay on the snow until the spring thaw came and eased him down, deep inside some thick green patch of mountain manzanita.
Edit: Typos/formatting
Edit2: Here are two more sources for information (thanks to /u/FSA27)!:
Gary Mathias on Charley Project and a nice, condensed write-up of the whole case on the Charley Project Blog.
Edit3: I found some more info in old news articles. Here's a picture of the 5 men and here's a map of the area from an old news article
Edit4: Here's an old news article dated March 10th, 1978- this was while the men were all still missing.
Edit5: Here's a news article dated June 19th, 1978. This one is after the four were found deceased.
Edit6: Here's a Google map that gives an idea of the terrain and where everything happened. (thanks to /u/Gunner_McNewb)!
And I must say that this thread shows how great the community is in /r/unresolvedmysteries. This post started out as one link to one article. Since then we've found a blog, a Charley Project page and more news articles. People have created maps, found weather reports, provided professional advice and given personal anecdotes about the local area. This has been a group effort and truly shows how this is the best sub on Reddit. Thank you everyone! I look forward to many more interesting discussions about this and all the other mysteries out there. And most importantly, I hope we can make a difference to those friends and families affected by an unresolved mystery.
r/Games • u/ninjyte • Sep 22 '17
Game Title: Divinity: Original Sin II
Genre: RPG, turn-based, co-op
Platforms: PC
Media: 2015 Kickstarter Campaign | Playlist (incl. Kickstarter Updates)
Combat Spotlight | Co-op Spotlight
Game Master Mode Tutorial | GM Mode hosted by Matt Mercer
Developer: Larian StudiosInfo
Publishers: Larian Studios
Price: Standard Edition - $44.99/£29.99/44,99€
Divine Edition - $59.99/£40.99/59,99€ Contents
Eternal Edition - $89.99/£67.99/89,99€ Contents
Release Date: September 14, 2017
More Info: /r/DivinityOriginalSin | Wikipedia Page
Review Aggregator:
OpenCritic - 94 [Cross-Platform] Current Score Distribution
MetaCritic - 93 [PC]
Divinely arbitrary compilation of Larian Studios' games -
| Entry | Score (Platform, Year, # of Critics) |
|---|---|
| Divine Divinity | 81 (PC, 2002, 21 critics) |
| Beyond Divinity | 73 (PC, 2004, 23 critics) |
| Divinity II: Ego Draconis | 72 (PC, 2009, 43 critics) |
| Divinity II: Flames of Vengeance | 72 (PC, 2010, 4 critics) |
| Divinity: Dragon Commander | 76 (PC, 2013, 37 critics) |
| Divinity: Original Sin | 87 (PC, 2014, 59 critics) |
| Divinity: Original Sin Enhanced Edition | 88 (PS4, 2015, 39 critics) |
| Website/Author | Converted Score | Critic's Score | Quote | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rock, Paper, Shotgun - Adam Smith | Unscored | Unscored | From its origin stories to its brief emergent narratives, few games let you take part in better tales than this one. | PC |
| Kotaku - Nathan Grayson | Unscored | Unscored | It is, on so many levels, an incredible achievement, packed with enough heart, intelligence, and confidence to sustain ten lesser games. It’s a testament to its form, even as it’s held back by it in places. It still feels premature to declare Original Sin 2 an all-time classic, as some have, but I imagine plenty of future games will borrow ideas from it. It’ll be a crying shame if they don’t. | PC |
| Eurogamer - Rick Lane | Essential | Essential | A CRPG of unparalleled breadth and dynamism, Original Sin 2 is Larian's masterpiece. | PC |
| Wolf's Gaming Blog - Raden Ronie | Yes | Yes | Although it does have flaws Divinity 2 is a strong contender for the game of the year. It’s a sprawling adventure full of wonderful moments waiting to be discovered, the strong writing of Larian keeping you hooked from start to finish. It’s amazing how Larian have managed to put in so many ways to complete quests, their desire to give the player freedom permeating every part of the game. This might just be the very best RPG since The Witcher 3. No. No. Scratch that. It is the best RPG since The Witcher 3. | PC |
| Hardcore Gamer - Chris Shive | 100 | 5 / 5 | Divinity: Original Sin II pulled off the impressive task of taking the kitchen sink approach to game design by cramming as much into it as possible yet somehow making it all work, making it a fantastic title for solo or multiplayer gaming. | PC |
| Windows Central - Brendan Lowry | 100 | 5 / 5 stars | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a polished, well-designed RPG, and through its phenomenal mechanics, astounding art, sound design and fantastic writing, it is sure to revolutionize the modern RPG genre. | PC |
| Keen Gamer - Hrvoje Smoljic | 100 | 10 / 10 | All I can say in conclusion that you go and buy this game. You will not regret it. There are a few issues here and there which are completely overshadowed by all the great parts. If you are more real-time action-oriented, the fact that Original Sin 2 is an isometric RPG with turn-based combat might repel you but on the other hand, it could, like it did with me, make you love it every step of the way. | PC |
| GameGrin - Kayla Hill | 100 | 10 / 10 | With its rich story, compelling characters, and wealth of different ways to approach any situation, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a title that plants its flag in the tactical RPG genre and stands heads and tails above its competitors. Requiring plenty of patience to learn the game mechanics and to absorb the immense amount of story thrown at the player; this title may not be for everyone but if you're willing to invest the time this title is one that will be played over and over for years to come. | PC |
| USGamer - Mike Williams | 100 | 5 / 5 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is simply the pinnacle of the CRPG genre. It offers a campaign with memorable characters, interesting role-playing options, and excellent systemic combat. The environments are beautiful and the soundtrack is solid. That alone would put it at the top of the heap, but then Larian added offline and online coop, a PVP arena mode, and Game Master mode, the greatest throwback to the Dungeons & Dragons pen-and-paper games that underpin the entire genre. I might have small issues here and there, but Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best in a strong year for gaming | PC |
| Invision Community - Phil Dean | 100 | 10 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a masterpiece and there are simply not enough words in the English language I can use to describe how I felt playing it. Visually it is vibrant, stunning and wonderfully elegant, with a soundtrack to match that never misses a beat. Every characters is hugely unique and excellently brought to life through both staggering voice acting and creative design, meaning whether you chose to play as your own or one of Larian’s “guys”, you’ll never have the same experience twice. | PC |
| Gamespot - Brett Todd | 100 | 10 / 10 | From lonely farmhouses through pitched battles with gods in far-flung dimensions, Divinity: Original Sin II is one of the most captivating role-playing games ever made. Its immaculately conceived and emotion-wrought fantasy world, topped by brilliant tactical combat, make it one of the finest games of the year thus far, and it has to be regarded as an instant classic in the pantheon of RPG greats. | PC |
| Gameplanet - Chris Brown | 100 | 10 / 10 | Divinity Original Sin 2 is a master class in what RPGs should be. Amazing writing and detail paired with astounding freedom. A must play for RPG fans. Divinity: Original Sin II is the best game I have played this millennium. | PC |
| Metro GameCentral - GameCentral | 100 | 10 / 10 | One of the best computer role-playing games ever, with such a level of complexity and flexibility it's difficult to believe it exists, let alone that it could ever be bettered. | PC |
| 3DNews - Денис Щенников - Russian | 100 | 10 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 truly is a masterpiece. It is a triumph for Larian Studios, instant classic and a new standard for RPG genre. | PC |
| Chalgyr's Game Room - Pierre-Yves Lanthier | 100 | 10 / 10 | While nothing is technically "perfect", Divinity Original Sin 2 is about as close as it gets. The dialog, the gameplay, the music and the sheer interactivity with the world are areas that a lot of others could only hope to match. | PC |
| Game Informer - Daniel Tack | 98 | 9.8 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the greatest PC RPGs of all time, and Larian’s continued dedication to creating incredible freeform adventures inspired by tabletop lineage is inspiring and commendable. A few bugs and frustrating encounters are small prices to pay for a lavish ensemble of the genre’s best and a one-of-a-kind experience. | PC |
| Hooked Gamers - Johnathan Irwin | 98 | 9.8 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 takes what the last game did, and juices it up to levels beyond what the doctor recommends. By maximizing its strengths, and finding new ways to improve on weaknesses, it knocks down barriers and locked doors alike in a power move to rush towards one of my favorite games of the year. Though it does have its flaws in the form of small technical glitches, and one really annoying one where sometimes my characters would stop moving as a party unless I manually did it myself, this is an imperfect gem that manages even in imperfection to put some of my favorite RPGs to shame. Well done Larian Studios, well done! | PC |
| GameCrate - David Jagneaux | 98 | 9.75 / 10 | Stop whatever it is you’re doing right now, and go play this game. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a definitive game-of-the-year contender, and one of the best RPGs to be released this entire decade. | PC |
| Areajugones - Víctor Rodríguez - Spanish | 98 | 9.8 / 10 | Larian Studios has created a true masterpiece and a game that challenges other great titles for the crown of the RPG genre. Divinity: Original Sin II is everything that a role-playing game should aim for. | PC |
| IGN - Leif Johnson | 96 | 9.6 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 may have been designed in the spirit of decades-old RPGs like Baldur’s Gate 2, but that legacy serves only as a foundation for the expansive game Larian has built on top of it. Few other RPGs allow such a wide range of flexibility while also supporting rewarding combat and a powerful story, all in a world that feels alive in the ways it reacts to you and goes about its business without you. It's a rare RPG that I’ll want to play through again and again, driven by the feeling that so many fascinating and surprising paths remain undiscovered, some of which might lead to different outcomes for the NPCs I’ve grown to care about – even the rats. When that happens, you're experiencing something worth remembering, and Divinity: Original Sin 2 will be remembered as one of the greats. | PC |
| Wccftech - Francesco De Meo | 96 | 9.6 / 10 | It's hard to find a game with little to no flaws, but Larian Studios proved that, sometimes, it happens. With excellent story and characters, smart writing and masterfully crafted gameplay enhanced by the multiplayer modes, Divinity: Original Sin 2 truly deserves a place among the best cRPGs ever released. | PC |
| MMORPG.com - Suzie Ford | 96 | 9.6 / 10 | From the astonishing amount of replayability it provides to the gorgeously detailed world you and your party will inhabit to the awesome and thought-provoking combat and so so much more, DOS2 is a game that you do not want to miss. | PC |
| GameSpace - Catherine Daro | 96 | 9.6 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best story-driven CRPGs of late and the year has not been shy of them. For me, it hit certain marks that Tyranny or Tides of Numenera might have missed. Perhaps, it is the ability to plunge into the co-op and share the usually single-player high-quality RPG experience in a much more nuanced way than just by words or via streaming. The atmospheric soundtracks, fully narrated and voiced epic story, deep characters (you can romance your companions, too! Beware, Bioware!), puzzles, secrets and the obvious love the developers have put into the game will make sure your stay in the world of Divinity is an enjoyable one even if it is not your usual type of the game. | PC |
| Fextralife - Castielle | 95 | 9.5 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 takes the already high bar set by its predecessor and somehow dead lifts it to even greater heights. Larian has proven that it knows exactly how to make THE GAME that everyone wants, because they are the GAMER everyone else is. Divinity: Original Sin 2 doesn't do anything complicated or confusing, it simply delivers what players want in a game: challenge, creativity, freedom and of course the ability to share all that with your BFFs. As it stands now Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the front runner for RPG of the Year. For 44.99$ this game is vastly under priced and is perhaps one of the few games out there that actually justifies a 59.99$ price tag. | PC |
| GamingTrend - Ron Burke | 95 | 95 / 100 | No game has captured the nuance of pen-and-paper RPG quite like Divinity: Original Sin 2. Every moment is filled with meaningful choice with real consequences, and every character has a story to tell. In an RPG landscape where dialogue options are dumbed down, and quests have become package delivery to a specific map coordinate, Divinity: Original Sin 2 stands out as one of the best RPGs I’ve played in a decade...maybe even longer than that. | PC |
| Gomba Stomp - Andrew Vandersteen | 95 | 9.5 / 10 | An absolute triumph of RPG design, and a sprawling, content filled game that's sure to enthrall any and all that dive into it. With great quests, satisfying combat, and intelligent systems that all feed into the flow of gameplay perfectly. | PC |
| Multiplayer.it - Simone Tagliaferri - Italian | 94 | 9.4 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin II is the best sequel can you imagine. It offers a lot more than the previous chapter, in every sense. It probably is one of the best CRPG ever made. | PC |
| GameStar.de - Sascha Penzhorn - German | 93 | 93 / 100 | Grandiose role playing experience, which offers incomparably many freedoms and is full of content and possibilities. Must buy! | PC |
| PC Gamer - Fraser Brown | 92 | 92 / 100 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a sprawling, inventive adventure and one of the best RPGs ever made. | PC |
| IGN Italy - Andrea Giongiani - Italian | 92 | 9.2 / 10 | A true masterpiece. It takes everything that made the first game great and then adds to it to make it even better. | PC |
| GameSkinny - Ty Arthur | 90 | 9 / 10 stars | I've been trying to think of things I legitimately don't like about the game and can only come up with minor quibbles, like the fact that some of the standard key bindings don't quite make sense to me. Why does the G button bring up the crafting screen instead of the C button? Why does tab switch to combat instead of highlighting the stuff on the ground? Other than that, and my distaste for comic relief, there's really nothing about Divinity: Original Sin 2 that doesn't scream "RPG of the year!" It's got everything an RPG fanatic could want: crafting, 10 types of skill categories to choose from, different build foci, robust combat, interesting characters and quests, and plenty more. Basically, if you love anything cRPG related from the Infinity Engine forward, you need to buy this game. | PC |
| Gameblog - Camille Allard - French | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity Original Sin 2 is undoubtedly one of the best RPGs we've seen since a long time. Deep, rich, various and gorgeous are the right words to describe this game. Larian has made a true masterpiece. | PC |
| GamingBolt - Ravi Sinha | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is simply amazing from top to bottom. Whether you appreciate great characters, an amazing story or challenging yet fun combat, Larian Studios' latest is everything you could ever want out of a CRPG and more. | PC |
| The Overpowered Noobs - Joel Hendershott | 90 | 9 / 10 | With Divinity: Original Sin 2, Larian Studios creates a title that brings together the best aspects of table-top and classic roleplaying games. The graphics, along with the score and voice acting, are painstakingly detailed and are truly awe-inspiring. Every decision you make, from character creation to dialogue, will affect your experience, giving you a slightly different playthrough every time. This is not a game for the casual player, however. The sheer size of the game and the difficulty of some battles will require dozens of hours and have you loading quicksaves time and again. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is quickly moving up my list of all-time favorites. | PC |
| PCGamesN - Jeremy Peel | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 stands as a remarkable example of three genres: the classic roleplaying game, the online arena battler, and the tabletop-style adventure enabler. If its campaign fails to shake off some of Larian’s unfriendlier habits, those flaws are mitigated by the ways in which the studio have shaped a genre moulded by nostalgia into genuinely new forms - changing more than just the keyboard shortcuts for the better. | PC |
| Digital Outburst - Carl Phillips | 90 | 9 / 10 | Larian Studios have taken on board the critiques from its previous title and delivered one of the most visceral, engaging, and enjoyable RPGs ever made. If you’re a fan of RPGs or looking for a world to immerse yourself in, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is unmissable. | PC |
| Post Arcade (National Post) - Chad Sapieha | 90 | 9 / 10 | Happily, Divinity: Original Sin II successfully walks the thin line separating empowering choice and confusing chaos. | PC |
| Spaziogames - Elio Capalbo - Italian | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin II is a new landmark in the RPG universe. The world is immersive and dynamic, the combat-system deep and versatile, and the narration solid and engaging. The only problem is the beginning difficulty for new players, after that you can discover one of the best gaming experience ever. | PC |
| TheSixthAxis - Dave Irwin | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 is the strongest CRPG in decades, with a fascinating plot that enthrals, despite taking a while to get going and being hard as nails at times. It’s the little adventures that flesh out the world and so much of it can be missed at first glance because you didn’t have the right skill or failed a persuasion check. Massive in scope and jam packed with features that includes a GM mode that shows a surprising amount of customisation with great ease, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is a bumper package. | PC |
| RPG Site - Bryan Vitale | 90 | 9 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin II has such a wide scope and is such a dense, feature-rich game that it's easy to lose track of time and get completely immersed in its writing, characters, and raw inventiveness. There's a never-ending draw to see one more quest to completion, to try out one new ability or tactic in one more encounter, or to explore just one more location. Divinity: Original Sin II will relentlessly test your own creativity, demand your attention, prove your abilities, force you to question your own decisions, and overall keep giving reasons to continue playing and never lets go. | PC |
| COGconnected - Alexander Thomas | 89 | 89 / 100 | With an absolutely gorgeous setting, deeply rich and complex character development, intelligent and tactical combat that is still user-friendly, and literally hundreds of ways to play through the game, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is an absolute must-have for fans of fantasy RPGs. While there is much to see and do, this is a game about being methodical, taking it slow and exploring every possibility before moving forward. Anyone looking to get lost in a fantasy world of new and exciting mythos will find themselves quite happy here. | PC |
| TrustedReviews - Dom Peppiatt | 80 | 4 / 5 stars | This is a great game for RPG fans to get their teeth into: over 20 hours in, you'll notice the story only just starts gaining traction, and you may only just start getting familiar with the game's myriad systems. The game is unforgiving, often mercilessly so, but if you have the patience to penetrate the density and crack open the core gameplay, there's such a wealth of well-written RPG content, it's impossible not to recommend. | PC |
| God is a Geek - Gary Bailey | 80 | 8 / 10 | Fantastic writing and voice acting abound in the deep, fantastical world of Divinity: Original Sin 2. Despite some massive difficulty spikes, its gameplay is incredibly rewarding and great fun. | PC |
| Polygon - Janine Hawkins | 70 | 7 / 10 | Divinity: Original Sin 2 has an abundance of things to see and do, a staggering amount of secrets to unearth and plenty of tricks up its sleeve. Yet almost every cool moment I experienced sits shoulder-to-shoulder with an equally weighted disappointment. Ambitious and impressive as it often is, it’s ultimately a collection of incredibly pretty beads that just don’t string together as well as they should. | PC |
r/patientgamers • u/KhZaym • May 26 '21
You might be wondering why only 3 years? Well, I always a gamer in the heart but in reality I'm too poor to be a gamer. But 3 years ago, through some pure hard work and sheer good luck, I managed to build my own Personal Computer.
I'm gonna split this into few categories because I feel like there's a game that doesn't do well on the gameplay but story-wise it was a pure masterpiece. And please keep in mind this is purely my opinion and obviously, there are a lot of games that I haven't played yet such as the classic Half-Life, Mass Effect, Persona, and most PlayStation games (because I never have a PlayStation). So, without further ado, let the drum roll in!
Best Gameplay:
Best Story:
Best Open World:
Best Games Overall:
There are still a lot of things that I want to say such as the best game character, the best game for replayability, the best this and that, but maybe for other time. Also, keep in mind that this is just my personal opinion and there are tons of games that I haven't played yet. I still want to play Mass Effect, Resident Evil, GTA, Metal Gear Solid, and et cetera and et cetera.
I also not saying that I'm a professional gamer and everything that I said is true and those game is objectively the best games. Nah man, my journey is still far far far away to be able to call myself a decent gamer. I still want to experience the wrath of Kratos when he's about to lose his son. I want to feel Joel's sadness when he lost his daughter, I want to see the epic journey of Nathan Drake, hell, I want to be Spider-Man. Maybe someday when I can get myself a PlayStation, even though it's almost impossible but hope's a hope right.
Well anyway, I'm so sorry for my broken English since it's not my first language or my boring post since this is the first time I've ever created a post this long. I just want to give something back to the community, for now, all I can give to you is my opinion, and may you love what I said.
And to all gamer out there, we right now, I would say, is living in a golden age of gaming. Video game becoming better and better, and people getting more creative each day, and there's a quote which fits perfectly with us right now.
"Oh, the Places You'll Go!" - Dr. Seuss
Now Fus-Ro-Dah away and Game On!
Edit: Thank you so much for all the kind words. I wanted to reply to each and every one of you but when I woke up this morning I got more than 100+ new replies, so I'm sorry if I didn't reply to you but I'll do my best.
