Recent reviews by TheRotFox

This is a bite-sized, well polished incremental game that you can consume in one sitting that really sticks the landing. The gameplay is simple, but still compelling. It takes everything that feels good about incremental games, the grinding, the rush of pushing past a wall, and the obscene power levels and injects it straight into your veins. If this is was longer game it might overstay its welcome, as it stands, it's perfect, and worth full price of admission.

I had originally picked this game up when it first hit early access. At the time, it was a fun but limited romp, but I instantly knew it had a future ahead for it.

I didn't return until after release, and wow! The gameplay loop is so much fun. My friend group and I have beaten Reincarnation 8 a number of times now and we still enjoy getting together to just mindlessly blast enemies. Great game, good amount of replay.

My previous review for SAR was almost two years ago when I barely had more than a dozen hours in the game. After putting over a thousand+ into it, and with its release, I felt it was time to give it a more in depth shake.

The concept is simple, a top down battle royale with cute animals in the mix. Don't let its simple aesthetic fool you though, there is serious depth to this game. It will take hundreds of hours to compete at the top level, and stand toe to toe with the best players in the game. If there is one concern I have, it's that this widening skill gap could cause some new players to shy away. I have to say though, that the journey is worth it and some of the most amazing competitive gaming experiences I've had were in this game. And yes, there is a competitive side to this game with tournaments organized, etc.

Everybody has their one game, the game that just sinks its claws into you and grips you in a way that no other games can. SAR was that game for me. I went from casually playing for fun, to streaming the game, to becoming a content creator, then becoming an officially partnered content creator for the game. I fell in love with this game's mechanics, its community and its development. It has given me so, so much and is responsible for kicking off my streaming career.

I wholeheartedly recommend SAR to everybody I know, and those I don't.

Pros:
Gameplay has surprising depth due to well structured mechanics.
Fun for casual players and competitive players
Fun for playing with friends in duos or squads
Is in active development so new stuff being added
Dev team really cares about the game

Cons:
Some specific monetization I feel could be adjusted.
The community has taken a hit from console releases, but is being policed.
Might take some time for new players to win a match.

Short, horrifying, masterfully executed.

Parent company or not, if they reverse their horrific modding policy, I'll change my review.

**EDIT**

The massive protest has worked, and modding tools are back in the game. I am changing my review back to positive.

An intense, brutally difficult and deeply rewarding game. There are few games as fulfilling to succeed at as the Souls games. Dark Souls II is well worth your time. Praise the sun!

TL;DR An enjoyable romp through isometric RPG nostalgia that is slightly marred by bugs and a slight lack of polish. 8.5/10 would endorse its purchase.

For those of us who grew up with the isometric RPG greats, it was heartbreaking to see the genre remain unrepresented and aging as the 2000's crept on. As the developers of these games were slowly cannibalized by triple A studios, hopes for long awaited sequels were seemingly dashed and the genre seemed to only exist in blips on the emerging indie scene.

And then suddenly, there was crowd funding. Larian studios had a vision, they knew what they wanted to accomplish. They wanted to bring the glory days back, and build something amazing. Divinity: Original Sin might be one of the best and most polished examples of Kickstarter done right. Instantly with character creation the game evokes that marvelous feeling of choice that has been missing from the more popular RPG's of the current generations. I'll be the first to admit that I probably started 6-7 new games, trying out various combinations and watching a few of them fail miserably, happily. Finally, an RPG that reunites me with a long lost love of mine, the potential to fail horrifically. So badly even, that you could waste hours of your time and not be able to pass various challenges the game throws at you due to negligent character creation.

As far as the story goes, I wasn't particularly moved nor was it very novel. However, it did progress well and kept the ball rolling. I do think that the challenge of the game and the thrill of exploration will push you to continuing the game more than the main storyline will. This game is filled with little, tantalizing secrets and interesting sidequests. Some events occured during sidequests that I never would have expected nor experienced in any other RPG.

Combat is sufficient, but by no means is it fantastic. The most interesting aspect of it is how much it utilizes the environment. Some seemingly one-sided fights can be overcome with setting up explosive barrels, laying traps or creating barracades. Once again choice and planning are showing through as a main development philosophy. There were things that annoyed me. Enemies sometimes glitch out, simply standing still doing nothing even though there is nothing impeding them. Strangely it can be difficult to click on some enemies, making your character waste precious AP in the early game by moving when you wanted to attack or caste a spell. This can be especially annoying when you completely whiff a spell or god forbid send your mage to his/her death by moving them into a large group of enemies. Luckily, the game allows you to quicksave AT ANY CONCIEVABLE POINT, however a bit of polish could have done wonders. Towards the end of the game, combat becomes a tiring unengaging affair. After about 50 hours or so, you've seen every possible engagement and know how to successfully handle all of it.

I mentioned that a bit of polish could have done wonders, and I think that leaks into many parts of the game. The UI is useable but by no means fantastic. Crafting is annoying and not particularly engaging. At the time of this little review, the game liked to crash during combat and cutscenes every now and again (Thank god for that quick save button).

At the end of the day, I sank 80 hours into this game. I enjoyed it thoroughly and even though this copy of mine was a gift, I would not regret purchasing it. Its charm and playability overcame its bugs and quick development. I hope we see more like this from Larian in the future and I hope other devs take note on how successful a game like Divinity: Original Sin can be.

This game is a work of art, truly. One would think that it would be difficult to pull off such a gripping narative with its simplistic, repetitive gameplay but no other game has left me feeling so amazingly helpless and corrupt. It's a fun, difficult dystopic ride that should be heavily evaluated.

This game is bringing action platforming back. An intense, brutal game with solid gameplay and smooth controls.

A short (5 hours) but very enjoyable zelda-esque game that packs a lot of character.