Recent reviews by LPockets

The perfect blend of poker and roguelike elements with lots of various ways to buff your runs and break the game in fun ways. Even when you win the game your first time, you just want to play more. Highly recommended.

An all-time great game, and now that all 3 games in the trilogy are bundled together and there's a FREE rogue-lite mode called Freelancer that I've been obsessed with lately, I think there's just too much value for anyone to pass it up. Oh, and it's also Deck Verified so you can continue playing on the go!

After 135+ hours, me and my group of friends finally beat the game. And man, what a 135 hours those were. I was compelled to write a review for the game because of it.

Simply put, Divinity: Original Sin 2 is one of the best RPGs I've ever played. If you love unique characters, a multi-faceted story, challenging tactical combat, and approaching situations differently depending on your builds, then this game is for you. I think we got this game on sale since it was highly praised and had online co-op (for up to 4 players I think?) and we got more than our money's worth out of it.

If you are a fan of CRPGs, it's definitely one of those, with DnD-inspired systems and world-building. You build a character (or party in multiplayer) and set off to discover the world you are placed into and learn the story of the divine beings that rule over it. You are also able to recruit (or even play as) one of the pre-built characters, who have their own voice acting and backstories. Since we were originally a party of 3, we were only able to recruit one extra character to fill out the max of 4. We chose Fane, an undead magic user who has his own questline to pursue. I am guessing that all the other characters on Fort Joy that you can recruit have their own quests you can choose to follow or not, which is a cool thing in addition to the main story.

Like most RPGs, you definitely are in a lot of combat and yes, there's loot to pilfer as well. The combat itself is excellent. It's a turn-based tactical model that doesn't rely on any kind of grid or hex system, but rather relies on distance to determine what actions can be done or how many action points you spend on movement. It makes for some interesting scenarios being used in the 3D space as you need to be aware of any obstacles or hazards in your way when performing actions. Also, the game leans heavily on using the environment and elemental hazards to your advantage (or disadvantage, when used against you). I feel like a good 50% of the game's combat I've spent being on fire (I embellish, but still). Once you learn how to master the elements in your favor, the combat becomes a bit easier; however, unless you are playing on the easiest difficulty you should be prepared to lose some battles. With that said, you want to save and save often, as you may find yourself in a combat scenario at any moment.

While the game has great combat, you also have other options for progressing. I played a sneaky rogue dwarf character, and there were several times where instead of just engaging a group of enemies head-on I could sneak by and grab a key to a locked door we needed to enter, or even pickpocket enemies or set up for a powerful sneak attack before engaging them. There is also value in having one character put points into Persuade as there are key moments where you can avoid combat entirely and still get a sizable XP reward for progressing. Just make sure to have that character always take the lead as you are many times locked into conversation using the specific character that walked into the trigger area. It would have been nice to be able to choose which person in the party can engage in the conversation as we sometimes missed out on persuasion opportunities unless we reloaded an earlier save.

As for the story, it's good. I think we didn't pay a huge amount of attention to it, as playing in co-op can be chaotic sometimes. We got the main gist of it and as the game neared its conclusion the pieces fit together in a satisfying way. Characters we met were referenced or returned later on in the story and they each had their own role to play in the world.

I don't have many complaints about the game, but if I had to pick one thing I wasn't a fan of, it's that the final battle is very tough, even if you have tried to level up doing side quests here and there. We had to look up a strategy for it and while still difficult, it became much easier once we knew which enemies to focus on and how the battle plays out. In hindsight, we would have tried to complete every side quest we could to get the most XP since levels matter a lot in this game. I guess you generally need to be a certain level to even have a chance of beating each chapter so there is probably a baseline level that you need to be at just to advance. Still, we ended at level 20 and I've read the recommended level for endgame is actually higher than that (21-23).

Overall, the game is excellent and you will get plenty of bang for your buck if you see it through, whether you buy it on sale or at retail price. 135 hours is more than a lot of games give you for just the main story mode but we definitely enjoyed almost all of those hours quite a bit (except maybe the end game grind). Even still, I had lots of moments where I was thinking how cool it would be to re-roll with a different build as each skill tree is interesting in their own ways. I highly recommend the game to anyone that's a fan of RPGs or tactical games as you will definitely get something interesting out of it. It will remain as one of my favorite RPGs I've ever played.

We are excited to see what else Larian puts out, and Baldur's Gate 3 is definitely on our list of games to play next for the group.

I recommend this game with a caveat: Buy it on sale if you must play it.

On the one hand, it's fun to feel like you're *actually* Batman. The intro where you put on your suit and gear is superb. The investigation stuff is cool. Throwing batarangs is cool. Doing most everything in the game is cool.

On the other hand, the game is extremely short. I played through the "story" and did some extra stuff in the Batcave and my total playtime was just a little over an hour. An hour or so of content, unless you want to go back in and do the riddler trophy challenges. This game feels more like a demo and is kind of a bite-size supplementary experience to the Arkham series if anything. There is a lot of potential for this to have been its own full-fledged game, and maybe in the future they will do so.

Another thing that bothered me, and why it feels unfinished, is that you don't even get to see inside of the Batmobile or Batwing. You get to choose which vehicle you take to your destination, but you are just treated to a black screen with sound effects while the next area loads in. It's weird that they didn't even do this, but my guess is they just ran out of budget.

So, if you like Batman and the Arkham games, this is a cool experience but like I said, try to get it on sale. For an hour or so of content, you will have to decide how much that is worth to you.

If you grew up in the 90's and got to experience the early days of the Internet or if you have nostalgia for that aesthetic, this is the perfect game for you. Hypnospace Outlaw puts you in the role of an enforcer in which you must identify and mark Internet infractions, all the while soaking in all of the Geocities-esque sites that you visit. The game has a great sense of humor - it's fun to just explore each page and see what kind of ridiculous things you come across. This era of the Internet may be gone, but Hypnospace Outlaw keeps it alive and nails the aesthetic.

I finished Cuphead recently and have to say, it's a wonderful game.

You take old-school side scrolling shoot 'em up games like Contra and Metal Slug and add in 1930's style animation and that's what Cuphead is. The game is hard. It is also a feast for the eyes. The soundtrack is also incredible with period appropriate big band and jazz style music playing over the cartoon action, as you would expect. Cuphead nails the aesthetic of everything but doesn't disappoint in the gameplay department. The game may be difficult, but jumping back in after dying on a level is made more palatable because of how good everything surrounding it is. The "one more run" mentality is in play here, and when you finally do beat that boss that was giving you so much trouble, you feel like you just climbed the proverbial mountain and came out on top.

If you are no stranger to difficult games, you cannot go wrong with Cuphead. Just be warned that it may be a turn-off if you do not have the patience to learn boss patterns while dying over and over again.

As a fan of LIMBO, I had heard many good things about INSIDE once it came out and people were saying that it was even better than its predecessor. There was a lot of talk about the game, specifically on how good the final section was and my interest was piqued to the point where I had to buy it once the Steam release arrived. I was not disappointed.

If you have played LIMBO, you may see a lot of the DNA of that game in INSIDE - the side-scrolling, the dark subject matter, the environment detail, and the fact the main protagonist is a boy trying to navigate the world in front of him. As many have said before, though, INSIDE is so much more.

The graphics of INSIDE are not what people would usually call "amazing" as far as detailed textures, but the game's artistic style is still impressive and fits the aesthetic quite well. The game really shines in the animations, and this is partly why many of the different gruesome deaths you may encounter are so unsettling. I am still impressed at how certain parts in the endgame were achieved from an animation and control perspective.

The gameplay has actually made leaps and bounds from LIMBO in the creativity of the puzzles contained within. I many times found myself thinking that certain puzzles were quite clever in how you need to solve them, but that is probably because you don't see a lot of other games doing them the same way. There were other times, however, where I had trouble with a puzzle due to the solution being a matter of inches away from what I was already trying. Regardless, the puzzles occasionally require some genuine thought and I'm glad the developers pulled off some of the more clever ones.

The story of INSIDE is probably one of the biggest draws of the game - the fact that there is definitely a story there, but not a word is ever uttered so it is up to the player to pick up on context and piece together what is going on in this world for themselves. INSIDE is a game about showing, not telling, and it is this kind of storytelling we honestly need to see more of. It is this same kind of mystery that encourages players to continue just so they can see what the next part of this dystopian world is. The fact that there are scores of forum posts discussing what is actually happening in the game is a testament for how involving a 3-5 hour game can be.

And that is really the only downside of the game - that it can be finished in a single sitting. That said, it is quite a ride from start to finish, especially the final moments of the game where many a gamer will likely have their mouth agape in awe as to what is happening. It is also worth mentioning that INSIDE allows you to load from any "chapter" quickly and easily, and this also helps those who want to find all the hidden collectibles to reach the "secret" ending. I recommend those who have enjoyed the game's main story to seek out how to get this ending - but if you don't have the desire to go back in, you can always watch it on YouTube. I will say, though, that it really is great for people that are into philosophical stories and those that require reflection after playing. INSIDE nails it.

All that said, this was a highly entertaining 5-hour experience that I would say is a contender for Game of the Year awards of 2016.

9/10

I went into this game already knowing that it had gotten critical praise, so I decided to check it out - and I am glad I did. Brothers is basically a game about two brothers trying to find medicine for their dying father. You control both of them via the left stick and trigger and the right stick and trigger, if you're using a controller. Those are the only controls, but this simplicity is necessary so you can effectively control both at the same time. If I had to place a label on this game, I would call it an adventure/puzzle game. It does both of these aspects wonderfully. The puzzles feel fresh and unique enough that you will enjoy solving them since almost all of them require both brothers to work together and to their strengths, though I managed to solve most of them with relative ease. The adventure aspect is what this game was made for; the places you visit are beautiful and breathtaking and they frequently prompt the player to sit back and marvel at their beauty. In fact, the developers have placed benches throughout the game for that particular purpose. Now some people might see the 3-hour length as a downside, which is probably one of its few flaws, but this game is not meant to be rushed through. The experience and the story alone are worth the price of admission. I think the fact that the characters are all speaking a nonsense language is worth mentioning because it actually helps people to empathize with the emotional points of the story much better. Overall, it was a wonderful experience and I recommend this game to anyone looking for a light game, but with some good emotional impact.

Dark Souls is perfect for anyone feeling like games these days are too easy, or that they hold your hand too much instead of letting you figure out and explore things yourself. The game addresses this issue by making a challenging, but fair, experience. As if the subtitle of the special edition wasn't apparent enough, you have probably figured out that you will die in this game. A lot. The casual gamer would give up and quit, but the determined gamer will pick themselves up and try new strategies to figure out how to defeat the world's many interesting and dangerous foes. This is where the game really shines (Praise the Sun!). The greatest reward the player can get from the game is overcoming the challenges contained within. On top of that, there is plenty of reason to play through the game a second time...and a third...and a fourth. Different character builds, weapons, spells, optional bosses to defeat, plus lots of other intricacies that can only be experienced by playing more than once through are what increase the longevity of this game even more - after the 50+ hours it will take you to complete the main "quest", that is. In short - Dark Souls is not a game for everyone, but if you are looking for a challenge and are a determined gamer, you will get one of the greatest experiences that video games have to offer right now.

For the hardcore FPS player, this has got to be the game of choice. Still unmatched in speed and the pure adrenaline rush of competitive play, this classic game is just fun to play and I always find myself going back. This game is good for long gaming sessions, LAN play, or just for a quick match or two. It really has it all. Unreal Tournament has it beat in number of configuration options, but for core gameplay I will have to say Q3 wins out.