Recent reviews by FieldNinja101st

These CMx1 Combat Mission games might be older but they are still fantastic in their own way. For example, Afrika Korps offers a theater of war very few games cover. The game systems are amazing and while CMx2 titles are more detailed there is something to say about the older style of simulation with having more nations and units to play with.

Great games, get them all!

X4: Foundations offers one of the most immersive space sandbox games of all time. Does it have its share of problems? Sure it does. However, at the end of the day, this game has insane replay value, wonderful lore, beautiful music, and a hugely passionate dev team that continues to support and make the game better each time a new large version comes out alongside fantastic expansions. With 7.0 coming next year, I cannot wait to see what new enhancements this game will continue to get.
There is a learning curve but if you have the patience and give yourself some time, the game will reward you entirely.

Pros:

Unlimited Replay Value
Great economic simulation of goods moving through space
Many ways to play from setting up a new empire, piracy, trader, miner, etc.
Ship customization and full first person-perspective that makes it feel great to be on a battleship

Cons:

Learning curve that deters a lot of folks but well worth pursuing
Some bugs
Sometimes AI can be wonky in battles but understanding game mechanics can mitigate some of this

Neutral:

Needs more end game with hopefully 7.0 coming next year to help with this
Time-consuming for some aspects of the game
Problem with all sandbox games is the player needs to create their own goals (I love this so not a problem)

I hope this review helps some of you out there looking for other great sandbox games alongside the lines of Paradox games, Mount & Blade series, etc. The X series is totally worth putting your time into.

Good luck out there and have fun!

2024 Update: As of the November Roadmap being shown, this game is only going to continue to get better with fantastic updates ahead!

The Mount & Blade series has always had a special place in my heart. Many years ago, I discovered PC gaming as a whole and stumbled upon my first games. One of them was the original Mount & Blade and Warband.

The series was an interesting format combining elements of my favorite series including total war and third person/first person RPGs. The ability to command troops on the ground and discover ways to use those tactics while roleplaying was phenomenal.

Bannerlord is a sequel that sits somewhere in the middle for me. At it's core, it's still that very similar concept, but I feel the development was stagnated and didn't fill that full potential. Of course, modding has always been at the forefront of what enhanced these games, but what is here simply feels like some things too streamlined or cut out for time/budget reasons. Perhaps also to port to consoles as well? I'm not really sure.

It's a great game, it's still a phenomenal experience that I feel with time and modding support will bring the game where it needs to be. Overall, this series has always brought me laughs and a good time. Napoleonic Wars especially will always be in my heart.

I recommend the experience, but it's not a rush to buy. Perhaps wait for a deeper sale and check out the older titles.

It's a great social experiment. You can meet good people if you have the patience. Sometimes it's like having a dream and sometimes it's genuinely a good time with interesting conversations.

Nonetheless, I would say I learned a lot from this social experience and I'm very thankful for that.

This is a very zen like game to relax to with a good amount of realistic sailing. It's a journey on the waves, who knows what one will discover along the way?

I would definitely suggest supporting this developer as updates have been frequent and very good. Worth it.

Does Bioshock hold up all these years later since 2007? I would say it does. It's a nice journey through a strange world. It offered a unique take on environmental story telling. It took inspiration of its previous cousins like System Shock 2 and other immersive sims to offer something unique and refreshing at the time.

Gameplay holds up shockingly well (no pun intended) with a story that is dripping with lore.

Sadly, this genre is a dying breed only being made at triple AAA quality by Arkane Studios as far as I'm aware.

As for this port? I did have a few crashes but not enough to break my game or cause annoyance on the extreme level.

Enjoy a fantastic story through what it means to have control over our own actions.

This one will be one of the more difficult reviews I had to write. I have mixed feelings about Battle Brothers. I lean more towards a positive notion, hence the positive review. However, keep in mind that there are qualities about the game that I feel hold it back from being a "masterpiece".

Battle Brothers is on the fringe of one the greatest turn-based tactical games ever made. Those of you who will enjoy it and play it heavily will get infinite replay value out of it. It is super addicting and is something I will always come back to in some regards because of the artstyle, gameplay, music, and overall polish of the game is extremely well done.

However, there are some negatives that I feel as you play, two things will happen. Either you will eventually overcome and ignore the issue as you still find the tactical gameplay of numbers and RNG addicting or you will see the flaws. The major flaw of this game is its biggest strength. It is not the difficulty per-se, it is the fact that coming back from a "loss" is not impossible but extremely annoying.

The grind and repetitive nature of the fights start to sink in. You can challenge yourself and go to fights you are not ready for to keep things interesting or you can keep fighting humanoid enemies to grind skill level for your dead bros that you lose inevitably. This grind is apparent and in my opinion, is a major flaw when the game tells you at the main menu that "comebacks" are part of the gameplay. There needs to be a speedup option or something of the sort. Compared to other rouge-likes, the repetitive nature is 20 hours into a session. It's just slow and feels like too much of a grind for little enjoyment.

The other negative is the "strategy map". Yes, yes, I know this is a "turn-based-tactics" game but I feel there was missed potential to expand on the strategy layer. The latest expansion added "retinues" which did help with some decision making and felt like they were thinking about some of that potential. Still, I know we are controlling a mercenary company but it feels like there could be camps to set up or towns to temporarily take over. There is a whole screen that describes the noble families that are in your world, yet you can only interact with them by indirect means mostly. Add on to the fact that there are only two speed options (and yes I know there are mods that fix this but I do not review a game based solely on what the devs could fix or if they even see it as an issue)

Finally, I wish the game gave more information about injuries, what you can craft etc. I am a firm believe that all of this information should be in the game and not on some wiki. Have a list of crafting recipes or perhaps a book that writes new things in it as you fight enemies and gain materials. As you gain injuries maybe there is a book of injuries list so you do not have to memorize or use the wiki or mods.


These are my general gripes and flaws of the game yet underneath it all I still really enjoy it. Getting gear, leveling up, and the general polish of the mechanics in the turn-based environment is amazing. If you think you will like this game, by all means get it. Just understand that there are things holding it back from being that masterpiece and you wish so badly it could get there.

Ahh, Project Zomboid.

A game that has been in development for quite some time. Part of that is due to some very troubling history of the devs losing data without backups (Which they learned from I can imagine) and the other half is due to the devs not killing themselves like many will end up doing in this industry. They have a vision and they're making slow but steady progress.

As for the game itself, it's quite something. It's got the atmosphere of any zombie apocalypse scenario you want. Want 28 days later? You got it. Want the classic shambling Romero zombie? You got it. Want zombies to be strong and intelligent but few? You got that as well.

I have played every zombie game out there just about but Project Zomboid captures that survival feeling that is missing from so many. The latest build updates the characters, animations, and weather which bring so much life to the game and is fantastic.

You will die and probably a lot, but that is what makes the game when you start feeling like a true survivalist. Then you have mods to shake it up. This game has a LOT of depth than you would first realize.

Can't wait to see what this beast becomes.

(I'll update this review upon final 1.0 release)

A great addition to my FPS collection. Dusk offers a great take on the classics of our time. It reminds us of the time when there was just a focus on great games over heavy microtransactions business models. Enjoy another classic as Dusk has made its mark. Dusk will test your wits and skills. It shall consume you.

The most out of the box polished Total War to date. User interface, music, game mechanics, and more importantly, challenge. It all blends well into this game.

The Expansion Fall of the Samurai offers even more substantial content if you're someone who enjoys the musket period transition into rifles as I do. A conflict of tradition and modern ideas arises in Japan with this expansion which introduces new challenges.

Rise of the Samurai is interesting as well, but it is not for most people as it relies more on campaign diplomacy and different approach to overall strategy.

Most people complain about unit variety in Shogun 2, but I think the unit variety present is just enough in both the base game and the major FOTS expansion as it gives enough tactical fidelity without it being convoluted with units. There are other total wars for that.


Lots of siege battles. Personally, it's fine and I find myself fighting both land and sieges willingly.

Naval Combat in base game is interesting for me but for many it's boring as they were fighting platforms on water essentially.
FOTS has some of the best Naval battles however.


As with all Total Wars, AI can make some questionable decisions on the battle map. However, this Total War offers one of the most interesting and challenging out of the box. It is up to the individual to limit the cheese factor against it when discovering its weaknesses or choose to exploit it.

Some minor bugs but offers the most polish compared to other Total Wars


As with any of the Total Wars, you should base your decision on which Time period you are interested in the most. These are not historically accurate games but instead give you the "atmosphere" of the time. Go into that mindset and feel the times from there. Learn from other sources. ;) Use these games and enjoy them slowly and you will be rewarded with immersion. Even buggy titles like Empire Total War are still great in my opinion because they offer excitement, strategy, and tactics in Civ-like one more turn format. Shogun 2 and the expansions is my favorite Total War followed by Medieval II and Rome I. To me, Shogun 2 is where Creative Assembly came together and went back to its roots and understood itself best. The newer Titles, (Rome 2 and onward) cannot keep me interested with the uninteresting mechanics. (Example, Tech in Shogun 2 is rewarding and interesting while in the newer titles most bonuses are superficial stuff such as "+10% melee defense")

P.S. I wanted this review to be more detailed and objective as possible. In time, I might come back to achieve this. As of right now and due to time limitations, this is mostly my biased viewpoint and my own opinion on this title and the series as a whole. Take it as you will and thank you for reading.