Recent reviews by NormalBlueKangaroo

I log in after not playing for a while and it's a completely different game. I'm not against that. The issue is that there is no explanation or guide.

I'm not going to watch a video to relearn a game. There are too many great games to want to invest energy into one I found okay at best when it doesn't invest time explaining ♥♥♥♥ to me. If I am not worth the time to a game the game is not worthy of my time.

First of all, a game like this doesn’t exist. Similar titles with elements such as building, are singleplayer only or get wiped.

I didn't play the betas or watch videos so I could intentionally go into the game blind.

I love the game from start to finish. I am a deep desert enjoyer and I am excited to engage with that content just for the fun of PvP. Overall; I'm done with questing, story, and progression. I am now at end game, and I’m not even nearly done with the game.

Pros:
-Arrakis is scary.
-Aesthetic is amazing.
-Sound profile is incredible.

More Pros:
-Impressively low bugs for the genre.
-Can rush to fly (orni) in a couple of days.
-If you don't want to grind materials you can quest for your gear.
-Skill trainers make you use your skills, so some people can learn them.
-Watching noobs mess with worms is 10/10. Please record and stream it.
-Story is honourable to lore, not the feature of the game, and yet, it’s fantastic.
-Characters are NOT super high def, so they still look like video game characters.
-Building is fantastic (limited pieces). It has more stability (freedom) than Conan Exiles.
-Combat is fantastic. People complain a lot about this, because they don't understand it. I now watch a lot of streams and see people shooting shields with low tier weapons complaining that the game is bugged. 10/10 content.

Missing features:
-Deposit/fill all water.
-Bigger water containers for trading.
-Ground combat grids in the deep desert.
-Skill trees don’t display correct information.
-Batch salvaging (salvaging UI is already quite poor imo).

Cons:
-Market trade is limited through flying/paying to visit trade hubs (I know this is a design intent but I HATE this).
-A lot of quests are fetch or travel quests (time waste content).
-Deep desert is supposed to be empty, in lore. But it’s not fun in gameplay. I think it needs far more rock outcrops, and monuments. Thanks.
-Needs more Zantara.

On launch:

No hub.
No group meals.
Almost no town content.
Restocking is behind a soft loading screen.
Poor connectivity.
MASSIVE performance issues.
Terrible story.
Follow quests where you can't even sprint.
No elder dragons.
Very few monsters.
No endgame.
Low content.

10/10 game. Go play it.

The city is cursed. Textures overlapping and popping with incredible light issues. I was most hyped for this map of all the DLCs. A massive shame. This is my second negative review ever.

EDIT: hours are broken and not showing my playtime.

This game needs more attention. It's super fun and is an uncommon type of survival game. It's particularly welcoming to non survival players or people new to gaming, because of how simple (in a good way) and how many quality of life features it has. It's a fun game without the typical punishment of survival games while still having the soul of a survival game. There are a lot of unique mechanics, especially in unique combinations with other mechanics.

Pros
- The combat is fantastic, though simple. Dodge roll feels great and the ground slam melee is super fun. There is enough enemy diversity to keep things interesting.
- The aesthetic is clean and consistent.
- Collecting Drakes and learning their bonuses is fun.
- Progress is super fun: getting more drakes get more base levels. More base levels reveal more recipes. You need to find more schematics to be unlock them. Then resources to build them.
- Building features only without base building is interesting. This is a big con for people who love base building, but a boon for people who don't like that in survival games.
- Base inventory is massive. You can crafting and build from storage.
- A lot of super unique mechanics (fast travel, rewards for clearing enemies, drakes do work for you).
- Some of the best and most unique options for fast travel.

Cons
- Limited building options.
- Player inventory is limited.
- You can only build features, not walls and floors as in other survival games, this is a big con for people who love base building, but a boon for people who don't like that in survival games.
- Raid enemies destroy your buildings there is no replacement/repair feature for broken things.
- Building slots are absurdly limited. I often had to choose between getting a new drake or feeding all my other ones.
- Building features unlock is poorly balanced. Particularly with water for your drakes. The limited building slots don't allow you to place enough of the water generators they need. You unlock the second water option far too late in the game to supply your drakes.

I didn't review this game because at the time it launched everyone else was raving about it. It's obviously amazing, you should play it today. If you haven't tried it, I shake my head in your general direction.

A genuinely unique take on the open world survival genre. V Rising was almost instantly one of my favourite games of all time.

STORY:
You wake up as a withered husk vengeful and resentful at humanity. 10/10 story. It’s short yet everything we need. No gameplay blocks, no restrictions, no story you're forced to hear, just a quick (and awesome looking) cut scene. Please more games do this.

COMBAT:
-The strength of this game by far. Unsurprisingly, so. These mad lads and ladies are the makers of Battlerite; one of the most impressive and fun 3v3 PvP MoBAs.
-Combat is fast, clear, and reactive.
-Skillshots are clear to avoid or easy to understand how to hit on enemies.
-Boss mechanics sometimes take time to learn, but are always able to be learned, even on harder bosses.
-Bosses vary wildly in difficulty. Sometimes you prepare for a massive fight and you completely destroy them. Other times, you’re in for a fight you didn’t expect. I love that. It means you have to keep learning, adapting, and persisting.
-Persistence pays off, more so than most games. It also feels utterly amazing when you win an especially hard fight.
-Skills are numerous and changeable, making skill expression a high focus. Finding out what works best with other skills and your own play style is a massively rewarding part of the game.
-Killing lowly peasants can often get you killed. Some villages are prey, and some places will surprise with terrifying residents. You should always enter cities and towns with a clear head.
-When challenging or easy, combat feels so utterly badass and incredibly skill based that when you win you feel amazing. You genuinely earn every victory.

DESIGN:
-The sun is terrifying. I'm genuinely afraid of day time, despite the awesome lighting, I used to love the beach ... and now I cower in terror at a treeless expanse.
-Blood mechanics are implemented so well, that I spend hours on end seeking better thralls to imprison for their delicious high-quality blood.
-I love the early, middle and end game so much that I want to start over every time a new update comes out. This is how developers should should use early access. We start out on a fresh private server with friends who both play separately and together (multiple groups) – I highly recommend this.

BUILDING:
-Restrictive in the clearest ways while still allowing for high customisation, with little skill required.
-Building is done through tiles, that are slowly unlocked through game-play.
-It takes a lot of materials to build your home, but when that home is a castle, that is entirely appropriate.

FEEL:
-♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ this game is beautiful. The graphics quality and style just ads to the unique flavour of the game.
-The sound is amazing. Skills feel impactful when used against you on wielded against filthy humans.
-The lighting is terrifying beautiful. Usually when I say that, it’s a dark game, the scary part of this game is the bright sunny lighting. It feels amazing and so authentic to be scared of the sun.
-It’s gothic and creepy and we love it.
-More cosmetic DLCs, please.

PROGRESSION:
-The way forward is clear and exciting.
-No painful tutorial when the developers assume we’re far too stupid to understand their amazing vision. The developers actually like their players and say … y’all like gameplay, right? Thank you developers for not assuming we’re low IQ.
-Death is not the end, just a dash to get your materials back. It feels bad in the best way … didn’t you know I’m a badass vampire? Well I am … I promise.
-The way you earn skills is flawless. It’s not just the perfect amount of challenge, but such a unique and thought-out system that integrates seamlessly into the setting through easy to understand mechanics.
-Gathering is a grind that you will want to do. Only 50 more silkworms needed ....

If you haven’t at least tried it, you’re missing out. It might not look like your game, but give it a chance, I am confident that you will find something to love about it. If the combat is too hard you can always get a buddy to help (or carry) you.

I LOVE this game, but there are a lot of issues that are not typically seen with early access titles. To the extent that I would call it mistakes of developers who are new to the genre.

I am not even remotely done playing this game. I would continue to play the game in the current state. I’d be overjoyed to see some much needed changes.

The game has high negative reviews because people hate always online games. Especially in the survival genre. I am immensely lucky that it’s not an issue for me, but I entirely understand the outrage. I'm against online only games because the game will get review bombed for it and I want the game to do well.

No successful survival game is online only. The ones that are fail. (Such as Last Oasis – what an awesome game, such a pity … and Mortal Online 2). Online only is so hated in the genre that not knowing that is a failure of the developer. Market research needed to be done.

Survival is my genre. I play literally every multiplayer (and some single player) survival game I find. So I have a far different perspective than most who would review this game on steam.

- Unique explorations system unseen in any survival game. With modifiers (cards) you craft that you can choose to add to exploration worlds, which no survival game has done before.
- Fantastic and challenging combat system with numerous ways to customise your experience; without being over complicated or confusing. Simple yet full of skill expression and customisation.
- Unique cross genre end game that's never been done in any survival game of this type. At first it confused me as to why it was there. But I played it for hours on end without realising. The end game is surprising and enjoyably repetitive.
- Numerous surprises throughout play that has shocked even me (that almost never happens).
- Crafting is fun and interesting ... although confusing and requires any guidance, developers, please help. (See cons).
- Auto loot by holding E is pure happiness. Thanks Rift for making games feel like we need auto loot.
- The survivors (followers) system are a fantastic addition to make the world feel less empty.
- No loading screens once in realms.

FEEL
- The aesthetic is perfect steampunk, fae, and demonic creatures. If you pitched that to me, I wouldn’t be able to imagine it. In game, it’s a flawless, attention to detail and incredible combination. Art team is genuinely skilled and has a crystal-clear vision.
- Ideal graphic quality for the genre. Outstandingly beautiful and overly creepy (in the best way).
- Music is perfect.
- Sound is ideal. A lot of gamers don’t realise the power of great game sounds. I don’t only focus critical hits because it’s good damage, but the (non ear hurting) glass shattering sound is so intensely satisfying.
- Lighting is fantastic. Day is super pretty and night is chilling. Ideal for a game in this genre but even more so since Nightingale doesn’t shy from the creepy aesthetic and themes. I love developers who aren't afraid to commit to the horror element of the genre.

- The UI. The UI is suffering. Why, just why is it like this? No button for take all (at least that I see in options)? No button for moving an item from one inventory to another (at least that I see in options)??
- Storage hell. Numerous items without images making the worst part of survival games even less fun (which is pretty incredible). The game doesn't even have a "stack with similar items" in chests type option.
- Crafting from chests is the new standard. It was only mods before, but since Palworld, crafting from chests is one of the top expectations. Even recently released Enshrouded saw how wanted this was and integrated this (poorly) into their game.
- Item quality. I’ve never seen this done well and this game it’s even more confusing than Last Oasis and Atlas combined. There are numerous items of better grades without clarity on item quality. Some items have no number for their quality, and the ones that do, are less and more than those without a number.
- Crafting can be a nightmare. Outcome is entirely trial and error. You have to gather numerous different sets of items and compare the outcome to see the level and which stats from the items actually apply. It's worse that you sometimes have to craft 3 items from one to even start to compare stats for specific items.
- Building and crafting item priority absent. If you’re trying to build multiple things and you have all the materials, a project can take far higher components than needed making you unable to complete another project.
- You can only build in three of the numerous exciting worlds you can find, and they are the least inspired worlds.
- The survivors (followers) system. When I am encumbered, they walk away from me making me slow walk to them. They can disappear at will, along with their inventory full of items. I lost my NPC on a server disconnect (not on my end). They keep putting high quality burnable items in fires and there is no way to stop them, except not giving them these heavy items.

STABILITY
- Because it's online only, crashes and disconnects revert progress.
- Servers (EU) are not entirely stable. I have been disconnected randomly while talking to friends in discord. When this happens. Thankfully these are not as common now.
- Loading times are suffering level. Disconnections in transitions are for me, around 1 in 6. It puts you back to where you started loading, making you start the overly long loading process all over again.
- You can get disconnected for inactivity while standing in your own base. Such as: waiting for things to craft while being at your PC, watching a video. WTF game? I'm at my own base.

PROGRESSION
- Progression isn’t clear. It’s not Enshrouded bad, but it’s lacking in understanding direction. Especially as to which is the main quest.
- The quest system need attention (I don’t even want to ask for love, please developers, play the game). Some quests are truly awful and made me want to stop playing. I spent hours looking for an enemy you can only find by walking on it. No alternative. It’s a main quest.
- Magic is progression gated too late in the game. It's the best thing about the combat system and you don't know about it until later.
- PRO: Unlocking a new table is as exciting as finding a new item in Terrerria. For those who didn’t play Terrerria, that model inspired one of the most popular games in the genre: Valheim.

The game needs work. But we know that, it's early access.

It feels like it was made by developers who dreamed of making an MMO but didn’t have the capital, the people, or skill. That likely sounds like a scathing insult. It's not. Because what they did with those dreams is create something better. Something genuinely unique and re-playable.

The developers took risks, that is the basis for all exceptional games. Not all of their risks worked out. The ones that did made this a wholly unique experience that you can't enjoy in any other game. At this point, it is especially exceptional for the genre.

Despite its numerous shortfalls, I absolutely love this game! As I said at the start, I will continue to play it even in this state. But as I also said, this is my genre.

Nightingale is the most (recent) original title in the survival genre. Anyone who loves survival games should give this game at least (an estimated) 30 hours. I am certain that it will surprise you as to what's waiting for you beyond the main quest line.

I’ve never written a negative review before but Bathesda needs a wakeup call.

Is this a roleplay game? One of the premade ships had one toilet, no shower, 9 workstations (not including the flight chairs), one kitchen and one bed … for a 5-person crew. A hallmark of roleplay games is immersion. Hard to be immersed when the five people (and one literal child) who share the same bed haven’t showered in the weak you’ve been in space. Gross, Bathesda. Take a shower, Bathesda!

Too many prebuilt ships don’t have a toilet. Just saying. TBF one of them had two kitchens, so I guess that’s the toilet/shower kitchen. Gross.

I played this game for so long without enjoying it. I thought it was my fault. I kept trying to have fun, but I didn't. I can compare this game to only Skyrim of 2011, or FO4 (Fallout 4) of 2015 (not their original IP) to show how Bethesda themselves has made better game features, had better focus and made games more fun.

It under performs, even compared to other Bathesda games in story, exploration, survival, collection, and as a settlement game.

The house mechanics of Skyrim are far better than this “modern game”. FO4’s settlement system was great in FO4’s time, when there were no first/third person settlement games. Starfield is even worse than Fallout 4, which, while still fun, is horribly dated. But even FO4’s settlements are more creatively implements, have better mechanics, and more significance than the useless settlements in Starfield.

Bathesda’s formula was tired and a little ill fitted for a story game even in FO4’s time. BUT, Bathesda made it work for FO4 and the companions in FO4 had great story. The companions in Starfield are copy paste of each other’s morality. They just have different flavour.

Exploration is the weakest point of the game. WHERE IS THE MAP BATHESDA?! Exploration game but no map? Okay (that’s not okay). The loading screens … and auto flying through space, oh boy, my favourite.

There are over 1,000 planets. But only four cities on those planets. That’s weird math. The planets with a city, have one. Bathesda, do you know that a planet can have more than one city? The flavour of the cities is also weird and highly limited. One is a version of future Japan, one is wild west, one is futuristic US, another is an US holiday planet, and impressively tiny. That’s it. The creative flavour of a potato. And sadly, not even a fresh potato. A sad US potato, with a little Japanese spice.

The forced diversity feels uncomfortable and as thinly painted on as everything else in their game. Especially since everything is flavoured on the US (save one city), it feels like Bathesda is saying in the future, everything will be white washed US … except the Japanese city. Apparently, no other Asian nationality survived Earth? What a sad representation of humanity. What a truly depressing setting.

This game also Africanises ancient Egyptian people, which is horribly racist and something Egyptians keep pleading with people not to do. It’s 2023, there isn’t an excuse to be racist. They also make the only character with a dark past of Constellation, middle eastern. Stop Bathesda. Stop.

Putting random NPCs with racist accents doesn’t make their cultures feel represented. It just points out that you know they exist, but don’t care enough about them to make them part of the setting. Just part of the backdrop.


I wanted to enjoy this game. I tried so hard, and that in itself is saying something. I have played every Bathesda game. And now, (because of Starfield), I can’t say I enjoyed them all.

Starfield is loveless, dry, dated on release, and overall, just plain sad and embedded with racism at every point. The product of no soul, poor research and minimal creative investment.

Genuinely depressing.

Mandatory game for any self respecting gamer.