Recent reviews by GrumpyMelon

Conarium is clearly a labour of love. One can put it in the "walking simulator" catalogue as it is clearly one worth it for the experience and lore. It makes up for its flaws with the ambience and the interesting story that unfolds before you as you progress through the game. It is precisely for staying true to the works of Lovecraft and for creating the right atmosphere that it is worth experiencing. Not one for the horror fans that will be looking for proper scares and complex puzzles, even though that's not what is promised, so no fault there. The "mood" is there, the lore is good, the level design is interesting. All of this makes up for the short time it takes you to complete the game... H.P. Lovecraft enthusiasts (such as myself) can enjoy it and safely add it to the list of the most solid attempts at bringing Lovecraft's work to video games so far.

The price tag... a little high for the content on offer... I recommend that you look for it on promotion (like I did) and then get it at a more reasonable price.

All in all, a very solid H.P. Lovecraft game. Clearly recommend.

Even though the controls are clunky and the fact that if you try to alt+tab the world could suddenly implode... This was still an entertaining and rewarding experience. If you're a fan of the series you can handle the graphics (which are pretty decent with this HD remaster) and you can overlook the game's minor flaws. The classic fixed camera angles bring a sense of nostalgia. The environment feels pretty good and combining it with a good enough story it sets the mood perfectly. The limited inventory management, the interesting puzzles and the proper pacing of the game make it a nostalgic and unique experience.

As a long time fan of the series and SI, having played their CM games and all of the FM titles, I have to be honest and share a summary review that truly represents a feeling of disapointment I have as well as most of the long time fans.

FM is obviously the best football simulationg game, it has incredible features overall. But speaking about FM17... You might as well keep playing FM16. I bought it and I honestly feel that if things next year don't improve A LOT this was the last one. A lot of things can be said about the game but I'll just focus some major aspects:

1) The match engine hasn't improved at all. AI is still glitchy, I cannot understand how 1 year after we still get the same poor experience in terms of realism. "Added motion control movements to players"... this ins't FIFA, the goal should be achieving greater match realism/experience. Movement of players is clunky and it's almost as if your tactical decisions mean nothing... Your opponent can have a lone striker and play defensively, you focus on that player, mark him, close him down, build a powerful scheme... And yet he scores a hat-trick! Say again?

You can play and dominate a game against your opponent with 70% ball possession, 30 shots on goal, etc... and yet you're opponent who only shoots 3 times, scores all those times and you lose the match 1-3?

You can have games between two top league teams that end with results such as 7-6.... 5-0... Absolutely ridiculous. And these are just a couple of examples.

2) The social feed... This new feature adds zero to the game. What was the purpose of spending time doing this? You always get a couple positive and a couple negative comments. It will not affect your decision making at all... Just useless.

3) SI should've improved the realism in contract/transfer negotiations by now... This has been addressed by fans for a long time. Agents demand unrealistic bonuses that can largely surpass the bonus for the player itself and be similar to the overall value of the transfer. Also they get impatient and unless you give them what they want the deal burns and you can't speak to them again. This isn't "Football Agent Manager 17"... It's absurd the amount of failed negotiations because of their unrealistic demands.

Another ongoing issue... You can try and sell your top players but you'll never get a huge offer, involving loads of millions for them, even if it's fair. On the other hand if you want to buy one such player you always have to burn trough all your fortune... It's realistic that a team demands a huge amount from you for a star player. It just isn't that you can't get those same teams to do the same for YOUR star player...

4) Player moral is still uncontrollable and glitchy... If you manage well and you do it right your team will have a superb moral, but nowadays it just seems that the moral depends solely on winning matches on a roll or giving a lot of playing time to some player. This is a simulator and it should be about providing optimal training conditions, decent contracts, superb team management, among all the other conditions you need to keep a smooth level of moral amongst the squad. How long before the improvement of the Team talks (should be able to do it at any time with pertinent dialogue)? Why is it that if you fine or warn a player because he's been ejected with a red card 3, 4, 5 times in 9 or 10 matches he thinks it's unfair, causes havoc in the dressing room and demands to leave? For the love of god... get it straight guys, that's not how it goes in real life...

I could go on forever. The essential is that not only didn't the game improve from last year's... But also it seems the most absurd and irritating issues persist year after year. SI has an incredible team and a great working force. I know they are more than capable of doing better. This is a game that relies heavily on loyalty players and I honestly thinks their major concerns are being ignored...

Still the best football managing game. But, for now, stick with the '16 version.