Recent reviews by Decuplets

When I first played this, it made me feel so pressured because I was meta-gaming by looking at the wiki of which crop to plant at what time while trying to beeline the fastest way to upgrade my tools, and I had to put the game down for a few years after that.
That was the wrong way to play the game for me. Maybe it's not for you, maybe you like that grind.
For me, it clicked when I realized I could just
not engage in the farming.
and I didn't have to go into the mines.
Hell, I didn't even have to talk to anyone if I wanted to.
The game basically lets you do whatever at your own pace. If you really wanted to, you could just sleep in bed for a couple of years without speaking to another soul.

I quite enjoyed avoiding the wiki and learning about the townsfolk at my own pace. I'm not rushing to make their favorite gifts and spam them everyday like I know a lot of people would do. I want to learn about them organically, slowly picking up details of their lives as much or as little as we cross paths.

10/10, we need more games like this.

I find that Wanderstop is best accompanied with another game, something a bit harsher than this one; one where you fail a whole lot perhaps. Maybe that game for you is DOOM, a Souls-like, Balatro, a certain toxic MOBA. Whichever game you do, pick Wanderstop up when you start tilting, and treat Alta as if they were the main character of that game.
A stranger who's entered these lands as someone who's experienced a series of losses, and ended up in a cozy one. When you're ready to go, your character will follow, and when you start tilting again, Wanderstop will always be here.

I spent most of my time in the character creator pretending to play the game rather than actually play the game.
10/10, Very authentic experience.

Okay, but for real? This game, especially compared to 2020's rose tinted pop culture's sudden obsession with the D&D, presents a more gamified version of it with a very railroad-y DM. Exploration is somehow both encouraged and heavily punished depending on your level, and - unlike the tabletop - you cannot scale back the difficulty to accomadate your players. They die, and you're expected to just shake it off. It's one of the main problems in RPGS (even in pkmn) where it doesn't work at all for the story, but it's a social contract you kinda have to shrug off. If you can do that, then you'll be golden.

There is no shame in starting your first character in the easiest difficulty. The game wants to be played multiple times and expects you to play along to it with your queues (levels) to enjoy it to the fullest.

Oddly enough, VK feels a lot like playing a slower RTS, notably in how you have to plan ahead for certain buildings you won't have for a while. Certain scenarios require certain buildings that need a certain amount of resources that you have to be prepared to use the terrain to take advantage of. For example, if you see a rock patch, you have to decide if it's best to build your quarry first or later and how big to make that "district." You'll want stone early because it can't be built on the cheaper buildings, but is that even optimal? Questions like these will be racing through your head while
It's also like an RTS where the best solution is often to simply not bother with the expensive stuff and play the cheap stuff quickly. There is a timer that comes in the form of citizen needs, but those are pretty easily dealt with (albeit a bit annoyingly since you usually only need one of the appropriate building at a time).

It's... FINE as a "while you listen to your podcast and sip coffee" game. The base building aspect does make for a decent dopamine loop, but you will be WAITING a lot of the time.
My advice? Buy a second monitor and put this in the background on the normal speed. It'll be like having a James Bond themed aquarium.

If you were expecting a polished game in the style of the Arkham titles where a new thing is found every which way with the original animated series voice cast, it's not exactly here. Don't get me wrong, the roots are there (alongside getting blindsighted and then stun locked), but don't expect Gotham Knights to receive the same praise you might remember Arkham Asylum getting. Not until some additional content or features get seriously polished.
What Gotham Knights is - exactly - is a mmorpg without the first m, which is a good thing depending on who you ask. The game closest to this kind of multiplayer is akin to Journey, where sometimes the game will match you up with players where they can either assist or spread out Gotham, and I especially love how each of the different characters act as their own "class" with different roles to play in combat. For example, Robin is the only one able to use stealth takedowns with heavy targets, which means he's the optimal character to start fights with, but Nightwing excels at spreading out damage in an open space without taking too much damage, meaning he's able to deal with groups of enemies. It's synergies like this that make Arkham Knights' multiplayer work. Personally, I'd wish the game dug deeper into the multiplayer aspect and was able to support up to 4 players per session with conversations that happen between characters for more of that sweet writing, but that sounds like an engine issue more than anything; there's probably a good reason why this isn't the case.

I'd praise it's writing more than anything. ♥♥♥♥, Barbara, Jason, and Tim are way more defined by their human flaws and doubts than anything Bruce has been portrayed in, and this is a very enjoyable family dynamic to watch as you see each of them coping with Bruce's death in different ways and turning to each other for support. The cast as well as animators for this game does a fantastic job portraying each character, and that's a lot to ask for a studio that's probably largely been remote for the majority of the development.
But a good writing staff who knows how to direct does not make a 60 dollar game. I'll recommend the game - sure - but my final consensus is to wait for a price drop and a spike in the community and most definitely after some much needed updates and polish.

Saw this game through Harry Partridge, and I was hyped. I'm talkin' wait-until-christmas-cash hyped.

Booted up the game and started playing as a mage. Got to the College of Winterhold after it gave me the quest and got through the dungeon until the boss, who's immune to magic damage by the way. I think, "Hm. Maybe there's some other way I'm suppose to deal with him aside from destruction magic," so I go around the room looking for maybe a secret tome or a trap or a cutscene to finally beat the boss.
Turns out there's no way to beat this guy without getting physical. If I hadn't accidentally picking up a long sword from a draugr I killed earlier in the dungeon, it would've been impossible to complete this quest.

Played through different characters until the realization hit that a game labled as an RPG surprisingly doesn't want me to roleplay.

It also doesn't want me rushing the main quest for some reason, even though the story clearly wants me to believe these dragons are the next Metal Gear of this world.

It's stunningly visual game, don't get me wrong. The soundtrack just melts with the atmosphere,
but the execution is done so poorly, it makes me want a refund.

Unlike my friends, I never really caught on to turn-based strategy games. Fire Emblem struck me as "get behind the horse guy that can insta-kill bosses," and Xcom was more "hide or you die."

This game falls under neither of those categories, and I was thoroughly pleased.

Cookie Clicker, I'd like you to dress yourself in fantasy clothing and put yourself on Steam.
Don't worry, you're still addicting and insignificiant as ever.
Who's a waste of hundreds of people's time?
You're a waste of hundreds of people's time!
Ya sick bastard.
I hate you and love you with all of my heart.