Recent reviews by Ephysona

I'm kinda sick of devs these days trying so hard to prevent other devs from making a game concerning the same subject as their games. This has happened with Pokemon too much, and now it's happening here.

It's disingenuous as all hell, and I'm not gonna support a developer that can't exist in the same space as other developers. Schedule 1 is decisively different enough that it is legally distinct from your products, MGSA. You don't have ownership over the topic of dealing drugs in video games. Just like Nintendo and the Pokemon Company do not have ownership over the monster-catcher genre (they weren't the first, and neither were you).

Grow up. I'm removing DDS2 from my wishlist and I won't be purchasing it at any point any longer. I'm not supporting this kind of behaviour.

This was... not terribly enjoyable.

The puzzles weren't always very well put together and most of the time thematically don't make much sense. I consider myself to be very good at puzzle games, and I used to mess with puzzle boxes here and there back in the day. There also seem to be some very unnecessary steps (that I couldn't even get to trigger with a guide, like the red flag in the castle puzzle box, a completely extraneous step I found in a guide while unnecessarily stuck on the puzzle due to a single improper input, which I'll get into later, making me think I couldn't interact with a certain object) that either no longer trigger, are bugged, or you get locked out of if you don't do it at a certain time in the puzzle progression.

The game handles input poorly. It creates a lot of stress on the mouse hand, as you're constantly spinning and flinging and clicking everywhere just trying to get something to make sense. I'll always admit to when I mess up and miss something (which I did on occasion), but I should not be led to believe that an object cannot be interacted with at all just because I didn't click it or spin it or slide it in the correct direction to begin with, causing the camera to move instead. This would have been better handled by ensuring the camera doesn't move while clicking on an object that can be interacted with, decreasing the likelihood of user confusion when an action doesn't work.

Some interactive objects on the table (away from the box) sometimes wind up being too easy to overlook, as they aren't very visible through most camera angles. While it can be argued that the point of the game is to make you look everywhere, once you get used to how puzzles have been set up a few times in a row, a random small object can easily be missed, especially if there's already some other, useless objects on the table.

The story fell so flat, it's funny. While there are cards that you can pick up as you go along and read to get some semblance of a narrative, it just speaks as these random journal entries that hold very little value and do little to explain what you're doing. We get told of this "Aurora" entity, but we're never explicitly told that we are there, solving the puzzles, specifically to let this "Aurora" out. I wasn't even aware that I was trying to release this automaton until literally the last second as I'm completing the last puzzle, something that would appear (from the end card) my character had the intent of doing the entire time.

Some of those puzzles were fun, tho'. It all just needed to be tied together a bit better and have some consistency in design. Thematically, none of it really makes sense, nor does it make sense as to why "Aurora" is even locked behind all these unrelated puzzle boxes to begin with. There's not enough to tell me what the decisions behind what evidently occurred were influenced by, other than "it scares people." That's not enough to create an appealing reason behind the events or the decisions made thereafter, nor enough to get me to understand why I'm there in the first place. To me, it seems we just waltzed in, saw a bunch of puzzles, and said "Cool! Puzzles!", and stumbled upon a bunch of unrelated plot points in the process.

This game needed more polish before ever being released...

AI breaks quite often. At first I thought the enemy state indicator was bugged, but no. AI really does "hide" while standing out in the middle of the road. Explosions have absolutely no regard for walls or floors, so get ready to die to a grenade someone tossed on the other side of a big cobblestone wall from you. And don't sit right up against that wall or small arms fire will hit you with no effort at all.

AI also seems far too omniscient. If I shoot an explosive barrel 100m away with a suppressed weapon and nobody was around to hear me fire that shot and the only mention of sound on the bottom left of the screen is "explosion heard," why are they coming right for me? Why is my position marked? If all they heard was the exlposion, they should go to where the explosion happened or search randomly, not all come toward the player's vicinity single file. I refuse to believe that they just "guessed" I was in that particular direction approximately that far away from the explosion they heard.

If I press "W", why am I suddenly going right, then left, *then* forward? Why is that enemy investigating the same dead body over and over? Why did my grenade that I threw 30-40 meters away from me kill me outright? How did my mine just kill me when I was an entire floor up with a full physical barrier between me and it? HOW DID A NAZI FLAG BILLOWING SOFTLY IN THE WIND COMPLETELY STOP MY .308 ROUND?

I literally can't believe the drop in quality here. Some of these are just blatant issues that I suspect definitely should have been caught during QA, and others just seem like downright oversight or lack of care. Please stop rushing your games and properly test them. While code and engines get more complex with each passing year, a lot of the processes wind up far more streamlined and useful with each iteration. Use it. And hire/pay your QA team. Stop outsourcing to non-gamers or people with no idea how to break a game.

It was 2022. And you have had 3 years to improve or fix this game. You decided instead to release buggier DLC because you don't care about the quality of your game. You care about the money you get from the franchise.

It's 2025. We already know that game development is hard. But we should also know by now that games take time. If you rush it, it will not be good. Stop overhiring. Stop overfiring. Create more efficient communication methods for your team. Don't overwork people. No crunch. There are so many things we can do outside of the programming/designing of the game itself to improve the process and product.

Also also yes.

THIS GAME IS EARLY ACCESS SO EXPECT THIS REVIEW TO CHANGE AND EXPAND AS DEVELOPMENT CONTINUES

Does this game?

I started playing this game pretty early on in it's life cycle. There are constantly bugs needing to be quashed and back then, there was only one map. The game has changed quite a bit since then. Now we have three maps, a PvE(ish) mode in addition to PvP, and different enemies for each map (Sorta). So far, development is going great. Whenever my computer is not being an ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥, I take a bit of time out of my busy schedule to play this. The devs (there aren't many) are highly involved with the game, playing on the servers themselves with others, and always willing to talk about bugs and investigate with people. They dedicate a decent amount of time to actually adding new features and smushin', and thus fabricating more, bugs.

The way the devs view this game and the direction they want to head in is very promising, as is the progress they've made so far. As of right now, it's a nice little lobby shooter. It does not have any of the cool ♥♥♥♥ that we want it to have, like space ships and an actual trading system or anything. The core game mechanics for on planet/station battle is being fleshed out right now, which is perfectly fine.

I forget if this game was free to grab (pretty sure it was) or if I paid dirt cheap drug/blood money for it, but hey. Doesn't matter. Point is, this game is progressing well, and talking to the devs, I can tell they have big plans for it. With the people currently playing it, we have steady updates for fixing bugs and adding new content. The gunplay is fun, and firefights can get real heinous, real quick.

TL;DR Controls are jank, combat is jank, sorry.


You know how when you've been playing a certain kind of game for awhile and they have a specific control scheme and combat style and you really enjoy it? Well, MHW doesn't have either of what I'm used to.

We're not supposed to compare MHW to the Souls games, but it's kinda hard not to. The kind of game this is happens to be the kind of game Souls took over and perfected. I'll be talking purely in the context of controller use for this review (Specifically PS Controls so, to avoid confusing those who use XB controllers: Square=X, Triangle=Y, Circle=B, X=A, R/L1=R/LB, R/L2=R/LT, R/L3=R/LS), as I didn't use keyboard and mouse, not for this kind of game.

The Souls games had very intuitive controls. R1 and R2 were your Light and Heavy attacks for your right hand, respectively, L1 for guarding (Or light attack for left handed weapon) (Transform in Bloodsouls), L2 for parry (or heavy with left hand weapon) (Special in DS3, Shoot in Bloodsouls). You held Circle for running, but it was also used for dodging. Triangle was for healing (in bloodsouls) (switching weapon stance in DS games), square was for items and such... you get the idea. The shoulder buttons were specifically for equipment. Now, this game went for the other style of fantasy action controls, which is fine. That one uses the face buttons (X or Cross, Circle, Triangle, Square). And most games do this well. Triangle for heavy, square for light, circle for dodge, X for contextual actions.

But then they had to go and screw with that. Suddenly I'm using X for dodging, Circle for one kind of attack (Contextual based on weapon), Triangle for another, Square for items (not an issue, but it sheathes my weapon first, which is upsetting)... this completely ruined me. R1 to run? I couldn't even... I used L3, that felt better, but still. I could have used R1 for something else. Seems like a wasted opportunity.

That wasn't even the worst part though. Controls aside, combat was... Janky. To say the least. Specifically: Lock-On. It seems so useless. I would be attacking an enemy. And instead of me following the enemy with my attacks, I would be sitting there, spamming the air in front of me with attacks. This wouldn't have bothered me so much if I could move my left stick to reorient my character toward the enemy mid combo, but... that's not how it works. I have to stop attacking, move toward the enemy, and then resume my onslaught. I was wasting time and effort.

I could have taken the time to get used to the controls, sure. But at that point... what if I still didn't like it? It would take me more than the 2 hours allowed by steam to make a decision in order to get fully used to the controls, retrain my brain to manage this. And most of that 2 hours was taken up by story and tutorials. I got a solid 20 minutes of gameplay in, and maybe there were less than 20 minutes left in which I could continue to attempt to get used to them.

But I got this game as a gift. A friend very kindly gifted it to me. And I truly appreciated the gesture, but I wasn't about to let him spend $30 (during summer sale) on this game just for me to not like it and never play it. I couldn't do that... maybe in the future I'll buy it dirt cheap and really give it the old college try. But as for right now? I cannot recommend this game. Not for people who are like me, who are used to a specific control style, a specific combat style, have been trained by games like the Souls series. I will say, I really like the combat and controls of the Tales series, or Star Ocean. Which bear much more resemblance to MHW, in my opinion.

As for my friend. If you're reading this, I still love you so much for getting this for me. I still deeply appreciate your kindness. And I am still wholeheartedly apologetic that I couldn't do it... Maybe this game isn't for me. But I still want to thank you for the chance to know that it isn't for me. Isn't better to know than not? Thank you.

Review Written As: Ephy's Game Time Fun Corner

We play games so you don't have to! Why would you want to play games? Games are dangerous!

(Names of characters have been redacted to protect their identities, families, and well being)

While playing this game, I felt a terrible sense of dread during the first few minutes, mostly while playing the tutorial. Now I'm not saying that THE GAME caused this, this is just a general feeling I got while playing it, unrelated. I got through the tutorial, having saved the █████████ with the help of ███████ and some weird lady who had just started her career as a clown make-up artist before being forcefully kidnapped by the XCOM organisation to work for them, for minimal pay might I add.

Following this, a wormhole opened up from my keyboard. Now, this may not have been the game's fault. My keyboard is a particularly dangerous and problematic model. I have had similar issues before with my previous keyboard of the same model, before having to get it replaced by Razer. Anyway, this wormhole then proceeded to suck in all of the electronics in my 3-story apartment building. I mean, I lost my phone, my vape pen with the "VapeNaysh" logo taped onto it, you know, that one band? The one that yells "GO GREEN VAPE NAYSH" in nearly all of their songs? Except for that one they did with Green Day, where they just sang it sadly, and in hushed tones.

Anyway, the hole closed, and I got to keep playing. I met ████, this cute little button that called herself an engineer. She didn't look much like any engineer I've seen. They all wear hard hats, and enamel pins that say "GO WEREBATS" on them, as is the custom. She did not have either of these things. But I just nodded along and pretended that what she said had some bearing on my decisions. Then I met "Tiger" "Teegan" █████, who struck me as very suspicious. However, the game (and I know it was definitely the game this time) shot a bolt of lighting directly through my wall and into my next door neighbor's house. Luckily, no one was hurt, but it just went to show: Games are dangerous.

If you're not afraid of bolts of lightning destroying your home and attacking your neighbors, I would definitely recommend this game! It has the perfect mix of RTS Action, stealth, and cooking* that makes this a great game to play at home. Alone. In the dark. Where no one can hear you scream.

This has been Ephy's Game Time Fun Corner!

"Are we ever going to get a trademark on that?" -Evan, head of sales

*There is no cooking in this game. -Sara, Department of Corrections.

I had. A ton of fun with this game. Holy damn. Around the time I bought this game, I had just started a class on programming. I dropped out of said class, but I learned about unix terminals. So that made it easier to play this game as I already knew a lot of the commands. Which is better than DOS, or Windows Command Line.

It makes a few references to Uplink (another good hacking game that I suggest you also go and play), which made me giddy as all hell to see. The UI is beyond beautiful, and also rather simple. The storyline was rather intense. Although it left me wanting more.


DLC was pretty fun. Sucks that I couldn't communicate with the characters, but that'd be complex and would require some form of AI Neural Network, or just predetermined text to put in. But I liked the conversations, everyone had an interesting personality.

If you're into Unix terminals and speedhacking, this is an excellent game.

TL;DR AT BOTTOM


Metal Gear... Survive?
I mean... do I click it? Do I not?
I mean, it's not huge, I can knock out the download pretty quick...
Eh. Screw it. Worth a check.


Let's assume for a moment that the Konami/Kojima Drama Llama didn't come strapped to the back of this "Beta," kicking and screaming and being an overall nuisance because it's been pretty much Super-Glued®™©℗ there and there's not much anyone can do about it. Let's just... drown out the sound with the soothing music of Pure Objective Thought.

Wow, that's kinda hard to do. Might just be easier if we play some music.

Now that we can't hear it, mostly, let's talk about the game.

Specifically, let's talk about the good points. Barring any bad points for this section, this game (or at least the Beta) is actually pretty fun. I ran around with a friend in the missions, learned a lot about the "new" game mechanics, enjoyed collecting resources, levelling, and upgrading my gear to its fullest. Now, I stuck with the Machete, Spear, and Pistol. Specifically because I had already spent so much time trying to learn everything about them, and I only got one other Primary weapon (the Shock Baton) much later. After learning that the Shock Baton had more damage and had a status effect perk(?), and had the same moveset as the Machete, I switched to that.

Overall, I felt like the weapons and combat systems were done pretty well. The interesting (yet completely unexplained) precision system for the Spear was rather fun to mess around with, learning all the little intricacies. Combat was a little hard at first, until I realized I could level up and get that nice Combat Step(?) skill, and that I could get that Counter skill. Made life so much easier. After that, I was all about those weapon moves, especially the sprint skills. I thought that was a nice addition. And the swing timing? I didn't even expect it until it dawned on me real freakin' hard whilst wishing I could hack away at my enemies faster. Purely accidental discovery. Another little unexplained treat.

The "Creatures" make for some real interesting characters. They trip all over themselves, countering them into tank traps or Spiked Barriers was really fun. Watch them squirm as I laughed maniacally at its pain, soaking up every movement as pure enjoyment. It was quite theraputic. Being able to knock a limb off here and there, make them hit the ground. Really hard. And then stomping the pathetic, wasted life out of them, drinking the Kuban Energy from them, as if it were the only meal I'd ever get for another 20 years.

I swear, I'm not crazy. My mom had me tested.


Again, barring the Konami/Kojima dungfest, there were a lot more problems than I care to admit.

Here's a bulleted list:

• Controls were EXTREMELY oversimplified from MGSV. (I'm going into a little more detail on this one in a bit)
  
• Keyboard Controls were less than satisfactory (from a personal standpoint)
  
• Controller support was pretty spotty, often cutting out on movement and other actions after hitting shift+tab to respond to some messages.
  
• Some "common" resources were actually way too hard to find (e.g. Gunpowder). I shouldn't have to rely on my Salvage Mission Rank for these "common" materials. I should be able to find them in the field with relative ease.
  
• A few too many features went completely unexplained, and the fact that there were tutorials in the Database was not mentioned, so I was flying blind for quite a while. (Partially my fault, I should have checked.)
  
• Our new way of accessing gadgets is rather upsetting. (ties into oversimplification of controls)
  
• Training Dummies were not very accurate at representing actual damage output. (I assume they're meant to be at your level, but at Level 20 I was doing 300dam to them and 100-700 to non-special enemies of my level)
  
• Controls/Keymapping didn't include controller.

Coming back to the Controls being REALLY oversimplified: I'm sitting here smashing Triangle (I use a PS4 Controller in an XBox Wrapper, so Y) trying to dive. Only to find that it was remapped to "Double-Tap X(A)." I'm tapping R1(RB) trying to iron sight aim, only to find that it was remapped to L3(LS), and that my Shoulders(Bumpers) now serve the function of using my gadgets, instead of me actually selecting a gadget and using it.

There are other problems, but I won't bore you with them any further. Essentially, though, I feel as if I have less control over my actions now, whereas in MGSV everything was just complex enough that I felt empowered having mastery over the controls in an effective manner. This feeling has been wrenched from me, and now I'm left with a feeling of confusion as I attempt to figure out why I just threw a molotov instead of pulling up my binoculars or aiming down my sights. And being subsequently upset about the fact that I just wasted a perfectly good molotov and/or just set myself on fire.

The controls are, honestly, my biggest problem with the game/beta.


Crafting was nice.

So you got that goin' for ya'.


Let me just say this. I am indeed upset about the Konami/Kojima issue. I have been for awhile. Konami screwed a good man out of his best IP's. They get to make awful cash grabs using those IP's. This is highly upsetting.

However. This doesn't take away from the good experiences I had playing this beta. So personally, I'll be purchasing the game... at some point.




What? I'm broke. I'm an adult. I have other priorities.


It's cool, if you wanna buy it, go buy it. Maybe wait for a sale, tho'.

TL;DR Worth the price of $10 USD, incredible story. You're gonna like the way you get hooked. I guarantee it.

*sigh* This game is gonna leave me scarred for a little bit.

So. Orwell is a short interactive narrative game where you take the seat behind a new, high tech computer system called "Orwell." This system is meant to be a means to an end, a platform for an investigative war or terrorism.

The story is deep and rich. And there's a lot of different events going on, all of which tie into the decisions you make and how the characters feel about everything going on.

It all starts off with a single bombing and a letter. At first, all seems simple. You watch a little CCTV footie, you think "OH THAT'S THE PERSON. RIGHT THERE. THIS GAME'S GONNA BE EASY AF." No. Because soon, you don't know what to think. You'll find yourself conflicted as the information provided to you begins to conflict. You begin to feel lost, like you're not really sure what or who you are looking for.

At the end. It'll take you for a loop. And you're given a huge decision. A decision that impacts who you are.

Do you go through with it? Make it all finally end? Or do you sympathize? Bring everyting to a fitting end?

It all comes down to what you feel justice is for you. In fact, this game will have you questioning that the entire time.


Now, I'd like to bring up something I felt was... ehhhhhh, displeasing. We'll go with displeasing.


Or so it seems.

There are a lot of things to consider. If you just focus on the main issues, the main information, yes. It can seem a little short lived. But if you take the time to read everything, get to know the characters for who they are, their interests, their emotions, their... thoughts... It's really not that short at all. And all of this information can affect your ability to make decisions in this game. At times, you'll feel something is unjust, or unfounded. You'll struggle at times to think about what information is relevant.

I've said it before. I'll say it again. The way you play this game is heavily reliant on your own sense of justice.

So think about it. And think about it again.

What decisions will you make?