Recent reviews by ♡ Tiana ♡

Simple. Not fun. There's no saves or passwords for Arcade mode, so if you die you have to start all over with the easy (not fun) levels.

The RPG genre peaked with this game.

Cats

Cats

Great freeo (frio?) of games!

Shark Park has the most replayability. Astro Clash is fine. If you want some more achievements, Ski Fall exists.

The Zachtronics Solitaire Collection is best suited for players that like solitaire, that want variety, but hate plot, and are also overwhelmed when facing more than eight options of solitaire variants to play (too much variety?). That is a valid and existing demographic.

If you like Zachtronics games and the minigames featured within them, then you'll likely enjoy this too. If story/plot is mandatory for your enjoyment (why are you here?), skip this game, because it's a collection of solitaire variants. If you're looking for an easy game to perfect, go ahead and grab this, and pad out your perfect games list on Steam. The achievements are easily acquired. Win a specific solitaire variant one time, tens times, and one hundred times. Eight Solitaire variants, three achievements for each, for twenty-four total achievements.

I'll break down the individual variants:

This is my personal favorite, because I'm boring. It's a draw three solitaire with a draw stack that doesn't loop. Drawing the entirety of the draw stack opens up a free space you can stash an individual card within. It's worse than the version featured in Last Call BBS, the game it was originally featured in. In Last Call BBS, the Solitaire is great at knowing what cards are mathematically no longer required and will automatically feed them to the suit stacks on the left. The version of Sawyama Solitaire featured in the Zachtronics Solitaire Collection barely does this now. Cards above a 2 often have to be manually scored. I might be imagining this, it's hard to tell. The potentially diminished feature doesn't ruin the game, but I find myself opening up Last Call BBS when I specifically want Sawayama Solitaire, and only Sawayama Solitaire.

I don't understand this one, but it is easy. It's a solitaire variant that uses marbles. It isn't particularly fun or rewarding. Wins come easily. There isn't much strategy to it. This is the quickest variant to reach 100 wins in.

This variant is fun. Probably my second favorite variant in the collection. You want stacks of 10-6 in alternating colours and stacks of face cards of matching suits. It's pretty casual and fun. If you make a misplay, you'll know it, and you'll learn from your mistake.

I hate this variant. Luck plays an important role in the deal, and I didn't see an option within the game to new deal/reshuffle. If you get a terrible hand or make a misplay, you have to play it, or exit the app. Bad. If you were to receive a bad deal or make a misplay in Sigmar's Garden, you could force a new deal. If you were to get a bad deal in Sawayama, you could new deal. Same goes for Proletariat, Cluj, Shenzhen, and Fortune's Foundation. Cribbage Solitaire seems to be lacking a basic feature found in pretty much every other solitaire.

Cards must be arranged T-6. Colour and suit don't matter. You can "cheat" in the game. Cluj is fun.

It's okay. Complete stacks of four matching cards and isolate the stacks to score them. There's difficulties to choose from. It can kill some time.

Similar to Proletariat's Patience. Stacks of 9-2 in alternating colours. When all four face cards (dragons) of one type are revealed, they can be destroyed with a press of a button. Fun.

A lot of sitting and strategising with this one as there are six stacks for five suits. There's four basic suits (A-K) and a fifth "major arcana" suit that two stacks (foundations) are dedicated to. The major arcana suit ranges from 0-21. 0 and/or 21 have to be scored first and then the two separated Arcana foundations fill as you expose valid, playable arcana cards. There's an undo button that's limited to only the most recent move. The cards and table look nice.

Update: Fortune's Foundation is great.

An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire is an Action RPG that lacks levitation. An odd choice for a RPG developed by Bethesda before 2006. The entire time I was playing this game, I was developing a better understanding of 2006's Oblivion. It's strange how similar the two games feel. This game happens to take place during the Imperial Simulacrum (Jagar Tharn's reign over the Cyrodilic Empire). Jagar Tharn was the main antagonist of The Elder Scrolls: Arena and he's the one that gave Battlespire to Mehrunes Dagon (You can find letters written by Tharn within Battlespire). Dagon used the Battlespire to invade Shade Perilous (realm of the Nocturnal) and the Soul Cairn (realm of the Ideal Masters) and used those invasions as stepping stones in preparation and training for a full-scale invasion of Tamriel, which he would actually attempt ~35 years later with the Oblivion Crisis. This game is so connected to Arena and Oblivion, which is awesome. The lore surrounding Battlespire is the coolest part of the game.

Now for the negatives: Battlespire features more platforming than the two previous Elder Scrolls titles. The platforming sucks and I would suggest saving right before any platforming attempt. There's no levitation, so no getting out of the platforming that way. The Apprentice (player character) has to jump, run, and swim around. The jumping is janky, and can lead to your character getting stuck to walls/edges or falling off (no matter how well executed the jumps project to be). The swimming can be too fast paced (If you choose Swimming as a major skill) and can lead to your character clipping through walls and out of the dungeons. The running is fine, Bethesda didn't screw that up. There's a major bug on level 5 (that I luckily didn't experience because I just so happened to decide to read a guide for the level before reaching it). The bug is a save game bug that involves the expansion of the file size of save files than can eventually lead to saves becoming corrupted and unloadable. DO NOT save during Level 5. Remember to take advantage of all your save slots when you're not actively on Level 5.

After completing An Elder Scrolls Legend: Battlespire I now feel as though The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is more a sequel to Battlespire than it is a sequel to The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind. The Oblivion Crisis was partially an act of revenge against the Septim dynasty and the Cyrodilic Empire over how the events of Battlespire were resolved. Mehrunes Dagon's attempt to invade Tamriel was delayed by the Apprentice.

The endgame cinematic is really good. There's technically multiple endings (you can uncouple Battlespire's anchors...if you want).

I shouldn't recommend this, but I'm going to because I'm evil, and it might lead to others experiencing this game.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is an interesting experience. A great portion of what makes this game difficult are the unexplained (within game) controls. The graphics are dated and the game has a flatness to it. When I write "flatness" I mean that the player character and NPCs don't move in a three dimensional manner like they do in the sequels. If your character casts levitate, that character isn't flying through the air, she's only just hovering over the floor and lava pits. That's most of the negatives. Controls, 2D feeling (compared to future TES installments), and dated graphics. This game wasn't developed with this modern, digital era in mind. This game needed to be accompanied by a manual so its players could understand the controls, and it was (back in the day). The manual can be found in pdf form online. Key binds are on page 37 of that manual. This game is so exciting, even with the issues I just mentioned. There's a full world to explore and an elite antagonist.

The main quest is to gather the hidden, shattered pieces of the Staff of Chaos. Gathering these pieces is a little formulaic (excluding the individual dungeons). You receive a vision from Ria Silmane telling you what location to look for, you ask folks around town and eventually one will tell you what region of Tamriel to visit. Once in the correct region you'll be pointed to the correct city by asking around. In that correct city you'll find the specific Palace/Temple/Guild you need to visit to find someone that knows about the location revealed to you by Ria. The individuals that have the information you seek, always need you to perform a personal quest for them first. Complete the personal quest and you'll be rewarded with the specific information that you need. Go to the location that's now been marked on your map, retrieve the staff piece. Repeat that formula seven more times. There are no guild quests. Arena is one note in that regard. The main questline is the experience.

The dungeons of Arena are less sadistic than the dungeons found in Daggerfall and not as basic as what Skyrim provides. The dungeon designs here are decent. There's a spell called "Passwall". It's incredible. It lets you remove portions of wall, so you can get around more freely within dungeons. Amazing spell. Diseases are a big deal in this game. I highly recommend knowing a Cure Disease spell or having some Cure Disease potions in your inventory. Watch out for rats. The fire daemons might be tough, the medusas might be annoying, but the rats carry some serious diseases. Spiders and medusas like to inflict paralysis. Paralysis can be fixed with a spell of Free Action. Some enemies can only be damaged by weapons of certain material. Be careful. Dwarven weapons are useful, but eventually an Ebony weapon will be required for use against fire daemons, vampires, etc. The combat is fine, but it may take some getting used to. Hold RMB and move your mouse in the direction you'd like to slash onscreen. Spellcasting is accessible and useful.

The dungeons in Arena feature quite a few fun riddles to answer. Correct answers open doors. Incorrect answers often open other doors, doors that were holding back monsters. It's fun, and I wish other entries in the franchise went this route. I can only remember three essential riddles within Daggerfall's main questline, and all of them were in Aetherius. The riddles in Morrowind are mostly related to the trials of the Nerevarine and figuring out what the player character needs to accomplish. Oblivion and Skyrim prefer puzzles in general rather than riddles specifically (Secret message in Mythic Dawn commentaries and the Whale/Hawk/Snake rotating pillars). Riddles are a fun feature and Arena is filled with them.

Jagar Tharn (main antagonist) is an amazing villain. He repeatedly taunts and threatens the player character, sending minions to kill and collect the player character's body. Brilliant villain, very dramatic. He might have the greatest death line of any Bethesda villain. The audio file for that is 1404_00A within the game files. Classic line.

There is a modding community for Arena but it's not as active as the modding communities of the other mainline entries within The Elder Scrolls franchise.

The Elder Scrolls: Arena is a fun game to boot up and beat, but I recommend that new players familiarize themselves with the controls before leaving the starting cell. The player is provided ten save slots, and I recommend using all ten. This RPG is difficult and old. Having multiple, gradual saves can help with backtracking to before something's gone awry. DO NOT limit yourself to overwriting one individual save slot. Make use of all the slots.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning gets everything right. The combat is smooth and similar to what could be experienced in a Fable game, except with a greater variety of combat options available to the player character. You can utilise traps, poisons, and spells. You can wield bows, swords, greatswords, faeblades, chakrams, staves, hammers, and sceptres. The skill, perk, and combat systems combine to provide an experience that accommodates many play styles. The settings (The Faelands, Gallows End, and Teeth of Naros) and stories are good. They won't disappoint. The main characters, factions, and their quests are adequate. The graphics of this remaster are fine. The soundtrack is epic. The fast travel locations are good enough to prevent any annoying backtracking. This game even allows the player to toggle Aggressive Mode, allowing the player to kill scummy non-hostile NPCs.

It's difficult to find something to complain about with Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. I only experienced two bugs: An item duplication bug for a jug of water and one game crash that I experienced while rapidly selling potions to a merchant. That's it. Kingdoms of Amalur provides a stable experience. The only complaint I can come up with is how often one specific underground background is repurposed throughout the game. That's it. The background (underground city) isn't bad, it looks fine. It was repurposed just often enough for me to realize (Probably only three or four times across the whole game). That one tiny complaint has no real bearing on the quality of this game. It's a pleasant experience until you reach the postgame DLC.

Mark Nelson, Ken Rolston, and everyone else involved in the original release (Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning) knocked it out of the park. The team that handled this remaster did a fantastic job polishing an underappreciated gem.

Alright, so ACT 6 is the campaign introduced with the River of Blood expansion. It's a shorter act, only having one chapter (River of Blood) and six missions. This act is the freshest one, if we're going by looks. It's surprisingly pleasant to look at, but it sure as hell ain't balanced. It's a genuinely difficult act. it's easy on Veteran, of course. Act 6 really shines on the No Hope difficulty. Acts 1-5 on No Hope don't feel hopeless. On Act 6, you may face the temptation to give up. It took me multiple tries to get through 6-1. It's easier after that. The difficulty is really in 6-1 and 6-3 (and whether or not Ridden Hive Entrances spawn). If you can beat Act 6 on Veteran, you can beat Acts 1-5 on Nightmare, no problem. If you can beat Act 6 on Nightmare, you can beat Acts 1-5 on No Hope. RoB is a strange difficulty segue into replaying the entire game on harder difficulties. It's the Act that'll push you. It's like the final test of a school year. Act 6 tests you on all the skills you've developed. Anything you're bad at will stand out. If your deck is bad, you'll know. The act features a strange finale. Not bad, but definitely different. I can see why some people consider it anticlimactic because the ending ties little together. But I personally think that's fine. Not every story should end with a perfect resolution. The ridden remain in the world and will continue to be a threat to mankind. It's a fun campaign.

Tala becomes playable if you own the RoB expansion. She's the best cleaner. A good character with amazing individual and team benefits. +1 Warped Chest and Jeff's Favorite Whistle spawns per mission. That's amazing! Inflicting bleed damage? THAT'S AMAZING! She is truly an excellent character. I have a crush. Oh, but watch out, there are no ZWAT achievements or skins for her.

RoB also introduced an ally: Jeff. He's a Tallboy (a mutation) that can be controlled with Jeff's Favorite Whistle. He's a fantastic distraction during hordes and boss fights. Jeff's Whistle takes up a Quick Slot, but it's certainly worth it. It's not quite as valuable as toolkits, but it's not too far behind. The Whistle should be muled by a Cleaner in multiplayer. It is that good. An offensive accessory was added. The LAW rocket is a great offensive option. Shreds through Ogres. The flamethrower was added as a temporary weapon. It's pretty solid, it can burn through mutations. There will however be the risk of friendly fire when operating the flamethrower. Does lots of damage.

A new mutation group was added. The new mutation group is "the Sentinels". They add some fun variety to enemy types, but seriously, watch out for Lobbers (They launch explosive orbs at the Cleaners). There's also the Harbinger, but that mutation is quest specific. That's all I'm saying on the Harbinger.

There's a cosmetic element to RoB as well. Steampunk themed outfits for cleaners. There's some bloodstain themed weapon skins too.

I almost forgot to mention Trial of Worms. It's a game mode that gives the players a random choice of three maps to play and some game elements than can be altered to boost the score multiplier. There's four map votes overall. You could run through a Trial that goes 4-1, 1-3, Brood Lair, 2-2. But the Cleaners always get three choices of map before each mission is played. Adjustments in difficulty can be made between missions too. It's a great format if you have an hour to kill and don't need the story.

TL;DR: It's a good expansion, but playing Act 6 on the No Hope difficulty may cause some mild frustration.