Recent reviews by MatthewRoot

After glorious 140 hours I've made it to the end of Baldur's Gate. I finished every quest, every companion story and turned every stone on its head and I have to say I'm really happy with how everything turned out. One of the best games I've ever played for sure. Now I'm not even sure if I want to replay it ever again with such a perfect and heart-warming closure. T-T

As a DOOM fan, this was an amazing ride. Not a 10/10 like Eternal, more like 8/10 here, but I still really enjoyed it. Finished the game on 100% in like 25 hours or so on Ultra-Violence.

+ The gameplay is fast, tight and aggressive.
+ The weapons and the abilities have a really good synergies you can play with.
+ The environments are huge, epic and awe inspiring.
+ The enemy variety and new visual designs, even for the older ones, are pretty cool.
+ The story really took me by surprise, which is a welcome thing and not something I expected from a single-player shooter.
+ The badass Slayer vibes are absolutely there and I loved every second of every cinematic for it.
+ As a fan of Pacific Rim I was giggling like a small kid, amazing job with the mech designs and presentation.
+ A lot of QoL changes and upgrades compared to the older games.

- Music is honestly kinda ok. It's a perfect background for the fights, you will be head-banging here and there, but nothing memorable.
- The mech gameplay was really simple, mostly just punching with some extra flair here and there, which is kinda shame.
- I really miss the cinematic executions, the simple kick here is kinda boring.
- Not a big fan of the huge open zones, I feel like it didn't fit the formula that well. As a collector I spent a lot of time just running back and forth on mostly empty zones (after killing everything).
- I wish there was a little bit more interesting customizations and skins, not just a few boring weapon color variants.

Just finished the game and I have to say that this game absolutely took my breath away. This is one of those rare gems that shine through the smoke of mediocrity that is plaguing this industry lately. Marking this as a simple game would be an insult, this a piece of art, nothing less. You can feel every bit of passion and energy put into this project as it all slowly falls into pieces to create this masterful painting.

It is truly stunning what such a small team was able to accomplish. Most AAA studios and games can't even dream of reaching this level, let alone stand toe to toe with it, it is just that good. Really. Just buy it and play it. You won't regret a second spend with this game.

I could probably write poetry about this game and its features for hours, so I will keep it short:

+ MUSIC - Going through this game is like sitting in a French concert hall with an orchestra taking you on a long journey with it. Every small zone, every new fight, every step has a new beatiful song to accompany it. This game is so packed to a brim with it, that by the end I was shaking my head every time a new one appeared. The amount and quality are absolutely mindblowing. One of the greatest gaming soundtracks ever. Period.

+ GRAPHICS - Playing this game is like watching a movie. The way it seemlessly switches between gameplay scenes and cutscene is amazing and still rare even these days. Incredible breath-taking vistas every single step of the way, beautifully crafted world with each zone having it's own architecture, style and color palette, extremely unique creature designs or creepy and terrifying places of darkness, it has it all. Cinematography is also worth mentioning, just incredible work, that made everything else shine so much brighter and took the whole story to a new level.

+ COMBAT - I'm not really a veteran jrpg combat guy, but I've been getting into them in the past few years and this game is exactly the combination I was looking for. Coming from Soulslikes, I like me some reaction based combat and this game is a perfect mix of character building, strategic planning and fast reactions. Truly a unique mix that blends incredibly well, is fun and hella satisfying to play. One of the best takes on combat I've seen in a while.

+ STORY & CHARACTERS - This game is a masterclass in writing, worldbuilding and storytelling. Characters feel alive, their dialogs are so human and witty, you cannot help but smile, laugh or cry with them. It knows really well when to be serious / dark and when to enjoy the lighthearted moments. The overall story was an incredible saga to behold with many great messages and meanings behind it. I'm pretty decent at reading stories, situations and characters, but even I was constantly being suprised and thrown off guard by where the story went, which kept me glued to the monitor from start to finish.

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Overall from me, 10/10 game, no compromises were made and the passion was seeping through every single step of this incredible journey. Thank you Sandfall Interactive, you deserve every single praise and penny you get. Sending love to all of you and cannot wait to see more incredible art pieces from you.

Very cozy and comfy game, which tells a short story by progressing through a small levels, each including a mostly simple puzzle you have to solve to progress to the next one. A great thing to spend your weekend lunch siesta on.

I just finished the game and I'm absolutely blown away. This game is everything I could ever wish from a Warhammer game. If you are a fan of linear shooters or action games in general, this game is a must-play. It's bloody, brutal and violent, full of spectacle and badass moments, where you feel like an absolute god of the battlefield.

The combat takes a while to get used to, but once you do, oh boi does it feel good to skewer and rip the Xenos open with the power of your fists alone or with the help of an iconic chainsword. The weight of the Space Marines is so perfectly conveyed, you can feel every step, every shot, every punch and the power it carries. The enemies are varied and force you to play around them differently based on their type and abilities, adding quite a nice tactical aspect into the combat.

The environments are insanely detailed, the atmosphere is absolutely breathtaking at times, the views are staggering. Graphic wise, this game is a feast for your eyes. It's honestly amazing how faithful the game is to it's source material and how well it managed to recreate the Warhammer universe and it's vibe to the smallest detail. Especially the armors and the different chapter designs and decals *chefs kiss*, the amount of customization you can do with this is amazing.

Apart from the visuals I think the sound design also deserves a big heads-up. Not only environmental and character / weapon sounds, but also music and at times stunning voice acting really helped to sell the situations and the characters.

Content wise, I'd say the campaign was well paced, with good variety and long enough to be fullfilling without overstaying its welcome and becoming stale. Coop works really well, your friends can basically join you at any point of any mission, so it's quite seemless. Multiplayer also seems to be quite fun from a little bit I've tried so far.

If I had to list some gripes I have with the game, it would be:
- slight problems with optimization here and there, where we couldn't load in the middle of a mission
- story might be quite confusing for people who haven't played the 1st one or don't know any Warhammer lore
- enemies in the 2nd half get a little bit repetitive after a while

In the end this is exactly my type of jam. I freaking love this. Absolutely phenomenal, fun, run and gun, balls to the walls story full of spectacle, explosions, gunfire, xenos blood and unbreakable brotherhood. 8/10 would server the Emperor again. FOR THE EMPEROR!!

One of the best games that came out this decade.
10/10 would call Eagle-1 again. For Democracy and Libertea!

A really good game. It's jank, but it's a good kind of jank.
It has a bunch of really good and interesting ideas I haven't seen elsewhere.
If you have a few spare bucks and you like to have some pure fun for a few hours, grab this.

Standing up to From Software and their master class in Souls design is a really hard task on it's own, but not only standing up, but also keeping up and getting ahead in some aspects, that's really impressive. And that's exactly what this game managed.

They took all the Souls mechanics we all love and turned them into what they were supposed to be from the beginning, utilizing their maximum potential. The visuals are absolutely breathtaking, overall vibe and atmosphere are top notch, perfectly complimenting the dark and gritty industrial London-style city. Costumes and cosmetics are also pretty neat.

One of the highlights and by what this game really stands out is the weapon system. Not only does this game have loads of them, including normal ones and special ones from bosses, but it let's you combine parts of the weapons between each other however you want. So you can end up with combinations like butcher knife handle with a great-sword blade, or an extendable shovel handle combined with a chainsaw. The possibilities are endless and each one of them has it's own unique move set and abilities.

The game also gives you a ton of materials so you can experiment however you want. I ended up with like 6 maxed out weapons and I could probably still go for more. The balance between parrying and dodging is also a breath of fresh air. Both are perfectly viable and to get the best results you often want to combine them together, which rarely happens in souls-likes I feel like.

Overall level design wes quite linear which was a nice change of pace after Elden Ring. That doesn't mean it's boring tho, they really showed that FS isn't the only studio who knows how to do intricate, complex and thoughtful level design, with perfect shortcuts and well placed bonfires.

Story is relatively simple, with an on-going mystery in background which you are trying to solve as you progress through the game. It also gives you a surprising amount of choices throughout your playthrough, which can determine your ending it seems like. Side quests are quite fast and simple giving you more context and background to some of the characters and the world building.

And last but not least, music. Just...wow. The sound design of this game is honestly insane. The voice acting is jaw dropping at times and the soundtrack records you collect on the way just caresses the soul. Never thought I would discover a love for a classical french music. Especially not in a game like this.

Anyway, that's all. The game is basically a masterpiece, so go and pick it up. Yeah it might be a bit harder than your usual run of the mill action game, but I can safely say, that it's absolutely worth it.

Honestly, one of my most favourite games ever.

I replayed this game many many times with quite a few friends I myself pushed into trying this with me. The coop in this game is phenomenal as it let's you play together from start to finish almost flawlessly and even if you don't have friends to play with dw, you still have an Ai partner that's a really good stand-in (sometimes better than your friends ehm...).

The combat itself is not the smoothest in the business, but the story and the characters more than make up for it. The character editor on the other hand is probably one of the best anime character editors I've seen yet. And speaking of graphics, playing this game really feels like being in an anime, with awesome visual effects, character models, environments and music.

The build variety and the amount of playstyles is also one of the strong suites of this game. You wanna be a teleporting guy with a katana? Or a Hulk with a giant greatsword that throws blood slashes? Or wanna keep your distance and cast spells and shoot from a gun? Well you came to the right game, everything is perfectly viable and hella fun to play.

Even if you are not the biggest Souls-like fan I'd still recommend buying this just for the story itself, you won't be disappointed. And if you are a Souls-like tryhard and an Ai companion or a friend sounds too easy, dw you can still turn them off and bash your head against the wall solo.

I know it's not a perfect game by any means, but for me it has everything it needs to have and much much more.

10/10 - Absolutely amazing game.

Playing this really takes me back to the good'ol Playstation era full of adventure jumping games I played as a kid. Game like this is really something rare in these days. It's just a game made with fun and creativity as it's forte and you can really feel it from every bit.

I love everything about this game:
- Combat is cool, flashy and feels great.
- Environments are stunning and varied with some nice world building built into them.
- Characters are awesome, from visuals to performances, everything fits just right.
- This game is genuinely funny, I really missed some good light hearted humor.
- Story is quite simple, but delivers what it needs to and does it really ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ well.
- The art style is really unique, comicsy and the devs really know to utilize it to it's full potential.
- Animations are phenomenal, almost jaw dropping at times, in some scenes it felt like I was watching an anime.
- Progression and the way they keep you engaged with a new mechanics and enemy types is really well done.
- Nice built-in tools to help even rhythm dummies like myself to enjoy the game.
- I mean it's a rhythm game so you'd expect it, but maaan is the soundtrack a ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ pepejam....
...and on top of that how EVERYTHING is synched to the beat is just stunning, really awesome job on all fronts.

Only gripe I have are the parry sequences and some of the bosses, but most of my problems got fixed with a handy parry assistent I found in the settings + the game is really generous with the save points so no biggie.

This game is honestly way better and than most of the AAA games out there and only for half the price, which is still mindblowing to me. This game just deserves a way more attention, it's a hidden gem in the sea of trash that is this industry lately.

An absolute blast from start to finish, I can only recommend this, just go and buy it.