Recent reviews by Wabango

Crusader Kings II is a fantastic grand strategy game which allows you to take personal control over the head of a family dynasty.

Graveyard Keeper is an enjoyable interpretation of typical farming and crafting games. I would highly recommend it if for no other reason than the unique setting.

The English translation is poor, and the story itself is also poor.

The mid-game is especially "grindy" and lacks the exciting exploration and learning found in the early game as well as the logistical imporvemnts provided late game by zombies .

Graveyard Keeper is a sort of dark fantasy, yet cutesy, pixel-art farming game. The tasks are enjoyable and diverse as well as residing in a cozy medieval-esque world.

If you are not concerned with mid-game lull or have a keen desire to bury corpses, this is a great pick for your next relaxing game.

Subnautica is a sui generis game, meaning that it is like nothing else I have ever encountered. Billed primarily as an open world, survival, crafting game - it is very much so all of the aforementioned. However, Subnautica also offers some excellent adventure components with a slow burning story-line that pops unfolds. Furthermore, I would say there are certainly horror components in the form of a few jump-scares that are inevitable - despite the colourful world the game takes place in.

• The sole issue that I can take with Subnautica is that there are a few points in the game where it is extremely difficult to understand where one must go next to progress the story - despite being a survival game there are some occasions where the lack of direction would be nigh impossible to solve without online guidance.

• The soundtrack, though distinctive, may be a bit off-putting for some.
  
• The demands on the player to figure out crafting recipes with very little assistance from the game during the early part of the game may frustrate some inexperienced gamers.

• The lovingly crafted world is both diverse in its biomes, flora, and fauna and feels very naturally seperate from one-another.
  
• The world-building of this future state of humanity is excellent with wit similar to that of Portal that elevates the story-telling considerably.
  
• The feeling of reward provided through crafting and especially base-building (even more so at great depths) was one of my personal favourites in the game. This, for me, resembled a Robinson Crusoe feeling of man thriving within nature.

Subnautica is an outstanding game that would appeal to those typically fond of adventure stories, to those who appreciate crafting, survival and exploration, to those who enjoy horror games. There is a wide breadth which Subnautica touches on and it does so wonderfully.

Northgard is certainly sui generis - in the best of ways. It is equal parts a city-builder and RTS combat game. On the city-building front I would say that it is a combination of Banished and Frostpunk. On the RTS front, I would say that it is a combination of Warcraft and Sid Meier's Civilization. A bit pricey - but, with the Story mode and Ragnarok coming this is definitely worth checking out!

Fantastic Game, well worth it.

Admittedly, I did not give this game much of a chance. However, it quickly proved itself to greatly resemble something like Assasin's Creed within the Tolkein universe. Although the "Power" dynamic is extraordinarily interesting the combat system fell flat for me.

Fallout: New Vegas is easily the greatest Fallout game of the franchise, best first-person post-apocalyptic game of the last twenty years, and one of the most compelling RPG games I have ever played.

I am a Fallout fanboy. I have played every canon iteration of Fallout. I have completed every Fallout 4 quest, achievment and storyline.


Update: I simply cannot recommend this game as it emerged as a blatant cash-grab and assult on modding.

• Settlements: By far the most noticeable change from previous iterations. While the Happiness system needs work, Settlements are extraordinarily welcome.
  
• Weather: Ubiquitous after several hours, yet the weather feature is fantastic. My first experience of a Rad Storm was sheer terror!
  
• Crafting: The crafting system has given unto the Fallout universe an economy of scale. From Water Purifiers to Cooking Stations, to Chems and Weapon Mods; the system feels great.
  
• Cities: While Diamond City has "Swatters" and Takahashi, Goodneighbour has Magnolia and the elusive "Silver Shroud." These cities feel alive, unique, and welcoming.
  
• Vertibirds: While the explanation for where fuel is found remains unfound, the mechanics are quite enjoyable. Zipping over ghoulies with a minigun is everything I imagined it would be.

• Combat: From bashing to sprinting, to V.A.T.S. and holding your breath while looking down your sights, combat got a grand over-haul. However, for unarmed and melee users there is far less available in both items and mechanics than in New Vegas.
  
• Karma, Perks, Skills, and S.P.E.C.I.A.L.: Due to the dramatic alterations to these systems, skills have been essentially removed and instead rely on primary statistics - or in the case of Karma, cease to be. The lack of traits is disappointing, it removes a level of choice from the game, one that leaves a void of player gameplay preference.
  
• Companions: The range of companion personalities is unparalleled compared to either Fallout 3 or New Vegas. However, it is clear that the developers favoured certain companions over others, due to involvement in quests, dialogue variety, and existence of companion quests (i.e. Piper compared to Strong).

• End Slides: While the ability to continue the game following the main questline is similar to Fallout 2 and Fallout 3, there is little variance in the ending slides between the four main faction endings.
  
• Premade Identity: While all Fallout protagonists have included a back-story, the Sole Survivor's identity is by-far the most over-bearing. There is little opportunity for players to break from the pre-determined trajectory of the Sole Survivor's identity during major quest lines.
  
• Radiant Quests: What was intended to give additional playability, depth, and immersion has instead resulted in frustration. The inability for players to refuse radiant quests, lest they be punished by dead settlers or hostile NPCs is a poor addition.
  
• Level Cap: It is unfortunate that there is no level cap. With the ability to increase all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats to maximum, and additionally raise those stats to 20+ by armour and chems, after a certain point it becomes meaningless. The lack of a level cap creates serious issues with high-level players and stat inflation.
  
• Dialogue: The changes made to the speech skill combined with an extremely limited response pool manifest as a disappointingly shallow dialogue mechanic. The standard "Question, Sarcasm, No, Yes," does no justice to an otherwise exceptional game.
  
  
  Conclusion
  Many of the gameplay mechanics are expertly done, the diversity of companions and factions are a wonderful addition, and the settlement mechanic creates endless possibilities for pacifying the wastes. The drawbacks are most apparent with the poorly executed dialogue system, though the primary and derived stats changes and lack of level cap are shallow. Fallout 4 seems to have shifted further from previous iterations of the game in most gameplay respects, but is still by all accounts a great addition to an extraordinary series.

Simple, but enjoyable.

While Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is certainly worth of mixed reviews, it is crucial to note that while the replay value of this game is drastically less than previous renditions of Civilization , it is still a solid strategy game.

• An excellent blending of traditional Sci-Fi strategy games and classic strategy games - the sci-fi feel exists even when centred on a single world.
  
• The civilizations presented are both fun, and believable.
  
• The environments are quite well done, and the difference between a fungal planet and desert planet (though strategically mute) adds great diversity.

• The tech-web is extremely disappointing: at best, overly simple; at worst, counter-intuitive.
  
• Trade routes are far-too basic.
  
• The rigidity of of selecting the ideal cargo, civillians, et cetera; has the game lose creative ingenuity.

I recommend this game if: money is not an issue; there is no expectation for long-term replay; you enjoy a game with less choice in playstyle.