Recent reviews by Cirinian

I don't often write reviews for games in general, much less AVN's, but this game has managed to frustrate me into writing this. I've been diving much deeper into this genre for the last month or two, and time and time again, this is a title that has turned up in nearly every conversation about high quality games that many regard as among the best available. Bearing that in mind, I went into this title expecting something great, something that would grip me and keep me eager to soak in every scene, every line of dialogue. What I got, however, was a constant stream of good IDEAS... with extremely subpar execution.

But before I dive into my critiques, I want to acknowledge the positives, because this game does offer some of those, as well. First and foremost, the renders are fantastic. The characters look great, the lighting is well-done. Every scene feels very pleasing to the eye, which is a massive plus in a genre that almost entirely consists of visuals and story. I have also grown to deeply appreciate a good soundtrack in these titles, and I am happy to say that Summer's Gone does not disappoint in that regard, either. The variety of tracks is slightly limited, but the songs Ocean has chosen are both contextually fitting and generally pleasing to listen to. If you're going to try this game, I strongly recommend leaving the audio on for the full experience.

Unfortunately... that is where my strictly positive notes end.

The reason I say this game frustrated me so much is that, in theory, I think the core themes and story ideas at play are extremely solid. I love the idea of a story heavily focused on damaged, traumatized individuals who are just trying to find ways to navigate those experiences and find healing in the midst of the ever-evolving stages of their life. I love the seeds that are planted for many of the characters and their personalities, and I felt a strong desire to find attachment to many of them as I began my playthrough. Unfortunately, it became quickly apparent that the details of the writing could not live up to these expectations.

Almost immediately, it becomes clear that the writing has a very uneven flow. Sentences flow strangely, and the pacing is extremely inconsistent. I don't know what language this game was originally written for, but I can only assume the english version is a translation because as a native english speaker, there were numerous instances even in the first chapter alone where characters would phrase things in ways that felt very awkward. I was willing to give this a pass based on that assumption, though this issue is consistent through the entire story, which pulls me out of the story very frequently.

To make this problem worse, however, the longer I played it became increasingly apparent that scenes had very little flow from moment to moment. Transitions to new locations were jarring, characters come and go with very little fanfare. Conversations would end abruptly before the game would pivot to an entirely new scene, a tendency that once again dampens the feeling of immersion that I feel is incredibly important to secure buy-in from the reader.

But the worst offender with respect to the issue of buy-in, is that there are simply too many characters introduced too quickly. I cannot bring myself to care about the vast majority of the cast because, outside of maybe two girls (three if I'm being generous), none are given enough time to make me feel the emotions that the MC is portrayed as feeling. His level of emotional attachment to the characters feels like it is significantly stronger than it should be, given he has quite literally interacted with most of these people 2-3 times before he is having internal dillemmas about his feelings for them. There is one character in particular where MC seems to have developed an extremely strong attachment, yet the journey to reach that point has been almost entirely left out from the reader's perspective. If I am supposed to "be" the MC for the purposes of the story, there should not be this jarring of a disconnect between the way I feel and the way he does. Whenever this happens, I am COMPLETELY pulled from the story, and it makes me simply want to stop playing altogether.

Finally, though this last note is not a dealbreaker for me personally, I feel it important to note that I am three chapters in at the time of writing this, and there has not been a single lewd scene. There have barely even been hints of a scene moving in that direction. I don't mind this because I am here for a good story above all else, but I do think that if you are going to do an AVN with a burn that slow, the story had better be damned good. Otherwise, what else do you have when there is no real gameplay to speak of, and no lewds to get excited for (which I can only assume a large number of potential readers are looking at games like these for)?

Overall, I cannot recommend this game. I think it could be something great, and visually it is certainly one of the better AVN's I have come across. But when the writing feels this awkward and poorly paced, I am finding myself struggling to find the will to even get through the chapters currently available. That feeling gets even worse when I also understand the glacial pace at which new content comes out for games like these. Am I really going to wait years to see the conclusion to a story that can *barely* convince me to get only partway through? I can't honestly say I will.

This is a simple but satisfying game that, while definitely not quite finished yet, still manages to scratch an itch I've had since the last time I sat down and dove into DayZ. I loved the early game loop of exploring, gradually building up my equipment, settling on a place to get a base going, and learning what kinds of threats would await me as I approached my first city, or later, my first military base. The zombie AI is very basic and easy to manipulate, making them rather trivial as you start to get even a moderate melee weapon or a single primary weapon with some ammo. On default settings, I did find the game very easy/casual overall, which was enjoyable enough to explore and enjoy finding new loot as I pushed further and further out from my base. The game also offers lots of options to tweak difficulty, things like loot scarcity, mob spawn rates, health values, and so on.

After 40h I managed to 100% the game, though I would say my first playthrough painting the map and becoming fully kitted out with backup equipment took about 30ish hours. Especially for this price point, I'd say this game was well worth my time, and I'm really looking forward to coming back once more content is added to see how everything shapes up. Strongly recommend giving this a try if you enjoy any experience similar to DayZ or Unturned.

Genuinely the most fun I've had in a co-op game since Lethal Company

This game is incredible, and the fact that I cannot tell you why it's incredible is, in fact, part of why it's incredible. Play it. Experience it. There are no wrong decisions. There are only different journeys.

Very few games offer as much co-op fun as this. Everything from the gameplay itself to the unfolding narrative, even to the way the developers interact with the community. All of it has been an absolute blast, whether I'm actively playing or just following the major orders as they unfold.

Game fun

Game's fun.

Similar feel to Vampire Survivors without feeling like a knockoff of it. Focuses more on upgrading single weapons than on piecing together a variety of them over time. The dash adds a more unique feel and allows for more interesting enemies. The bosses also seemed interactive, Im hoping there will be a wide variety of them to come.

I can see myself sinking a decent chunk of time into unlocking everything/falling into the simple but engaging gameplay loop.

I have never played a game as satisfying as this one. Need to relax? Need something mindless? Just like cleaning things? Buy this game. I'm serious, you won't regret it.

Took a long break from the game and came back to find that my account was completely reset, with the single exception of any paid purchases I made. After looking into this, I have found reports of this happening to people on their support forums for over a year now, and found only a single report of it being fixed. Even in that report, the user said they had to wait 1-2 MONTHS for their account to be restored. Even worse, CS is aware of it, yet nothing has been done to fix it. If you try to play/participate in events in the meantime, all of that progress will be wiped if/when your account gets restored, making it completely pointless to even play the game.

Do not play a game that will wipe your progress, much less when that problem has been known for over a year and has gone unfixed.

Alright. I'm basing this review off of the game itself, not the other factors like the playerbase, matchmaking, etc etc. That is a problem created by players, and fixed by players. So, for any prospective buyers, here's my pros/cons list of what I believe to be an extremely enjoyable game.

Pros:
-Wide variety of characters, each one feeling highly unique from the last
-Singleplayer/co-op story mode, complete with voice acting and all the Gearbox comedy you'd expect from one of their games
-Unique leveling system, which can make each playthrough of a character different from the last.
-Lots of cosmetics, if that's your thing (I love them, myself)

Cons:
-Story mode can feel a tad short and shallow, though the gameplay is still quite enjoyable
-Voice acting only slows when in the level up screen, which can make it somewhat annoying to read through perks, if there is dialogue going on
-The leveling system of each character can feel a little bit grindy, coupled with the loudout system

Overall, I love this game. I wouldn't recommend paying full price for it, but if you notice a sale, I recommend picking it up. At a sale price, even the story mode on its own is worth it, in my opinion.