Recent reviews by Red Mage

What a wonderful RPG experience.

While there is some bugs, it is an awesome CRPG. The little differences from your choices will really lead to being able to replay a couple of times making new decisions.

After 200+ hrs the game is still a blast to play and have really enjoyed the subtle and not subtle difference from different choices.

It is all that could have been hoped for out of a new version. There is more elements carried over from CK2 than I expected to show up in CK3.

It is hard to explain what this game is. If you yearn for a rather open experience where you aren't controlled by quests and just a world to do whatever you want in, to explore how you want, this is a game for you.

Warframe, what is there to say. A game years in development that keeps just getting better and a cash shop that doesn't detract from the game.

Hours and hours of enjoyment.

Great game for what it provides. If you like these types of games it is fantasic and is a great experience.

This is my favorite openish world quest story GTA type game. The combat system is amazing and the story and environments are engaging to keep me playing to the end and continuing to play after the story was over.

Do you like driving in cars? Martial arts or melee combat? Shooting guns?

One of the standout games of the genre you should really get it.

Do you like open world RPGs? Games that have a story but don't really force you into it? Plethora of character options?

That pretty much describes the Elder Scrolls games and Skyrim isn't any different. If you like these kind of games then you already have Skyrim and probably have numerous hours racked up in play time, this review isn't really for you.

If you haven't had any experiences with the Elder Scroll series would you like this game?

The main story of Skyrim can be completed with out much difficulty and in about 20 hours, it doesn't require that you have much knowledge of the elder scrolls lore to enjoy the game. The interface and systems are fairly basic and have been streamlined since Morrowind, it is easier for someone new to the series to get into the game. There is some caveats, these games are notoriously buggy. It isn't as hard to block all progress to quests as essential NPC are generally protected but there are still times when things don't happen they way they should. The upside is the console commands are quite powerful and you can normally get out of any mess.

This brings me to the final large drawing factor for me to games like this. After you have played the story the game is as much of a sandbox as you can get for a game like this. The Creation Kit is a powerful tool and the modding community continuously pumps out amazing content. There is hundreds of hours in mods and tinkering, playing with the world going about things differently.

If you like crazy lore, and I do mean crazy, the Elder Scrolls series has it in spades.

If you are looking for a super polished streamlined story driven game, this is not it. If the prospect of getting lost in the game and spending 3 hours collecting butterflies while admiring the scenery appeals to you then look no further. Skyrim is an amazing game but don't go into it expecting it to hold your hand, instead it sets you on fire and tells you there is 101 different ways for you to put yourself out go find one, or not you can always just stay on fire and collect plants.

This is one of my favorite RPG games and I consider it to be one of the best of the genre. The voice acting and character design were all fabulous. Fair warning I consider the game to be lore and dialog heavy, so i you are not into reading and getting into the environment and world then you are missing out on one of the best parts.

The average time for the game is maybe 35 to 50 hours. The combat system is a great mix of tactical map usage and live pseudo turn-based pause as you need. The tougher fights allowed to good decision making on how to make proper use of your party and their skills to combine magical abilities and skills to keep your party alive and victorious. Once you get the hang of managing your party and using abilities the difficulty becomes fairly easy even on the harder difficulties. I still felt that the combat was engaging but the same tactics worked for most if not all combat encounters.

If you are an RPG game fan this is not a game to skip.

Warlock - Master of the Arcane is mostly a fantasy army strategy game. The city/empire building management isn't the stand out portion of the game. In that respect the magical spells that you can research and cast don't really stand out to me much either.

If you are looking for a fantasy version of Civ with decent combat options for units and don't really care about the building and management of your empire then this game might be right up your alley. If you are looking for an in-depth strategy game with far reaching diplomacy options and deep empire management and combat isn't your primary concern then maybe this isn't the game for you.