Recent reviews by Deimos_XIV | TTV

9.9/10

My only complaint is there are 4 different difficulties which only allows us to create arbitrary difficulties (ergo, not using certain bonus items) without receiving accolades for them.

Voice Acting is Great
Writing is Great
Pacing is superb, Leon vs Grace gameplay (the back and forth)
On-The-Fly 1st person to 3rd person camera is incredibly helpful

In-Game Issues:
Running a 4070 RTX, max settings is 90% of the time no issues at 60fps, however! Every once in awhile, switching from ADS or an interactable (picking up an item to examine it) I will have a sudden drop in frames for about 2-3 seconds. I believe this only happens in 3rd person view.

Excitedly waiting for DLC and Merc mode.

Update: Completed Whispers in the Woods

You can find my review of the base game below.

DLC TLDR;

DLC Story is not enjoyable, the music that made the original game is ruined in with distortion, somehow the optimization and performance of the game got worse, the gameplay itself is disappointing as compared to the original game.

If I could give the DLC and the base game separate recommendation, I would. The DLC I do not recommend at this time (bug fixes, optimization and much needed improvement to difficulty is needed).

Whispers in the Woods (WIW) is very watered down version of the base game. While the base game itself has a large amount of repetitive loops of gathering, crafting, improving, it is broken up by an enjoyable cast, a story you're involved with and different challenges presented in the form of specific tools needed, driving techniques, etc.

WIW does essentially NOTHING to contribute to the experience. It expands on the original tier of car components by adding a new attribute to them (to make them viable) and thus adding that attribute to the original loot (in order to craft them). That is disappointing and lazy on the devs.

Story Spoilers-

- You, the driver, have little to no role in this story, your involvement isn't known until the very, LITERAL last 'mission.' WIW, as i interpreted it, takes place some time before the base game and within the beginning. Oddly enough you can find some of the collectible tapes/documents from the base game within the WIW missions.

- The collectibles throughout WIW reveal more of the story than the main story does.

- All that being said, the story is interesting, but it is a story, as the player do not feel involved in.

- Voice actor change, Jack Whiteside to the Steward. Why? Why do this? I think it was meant to be revealed as a surprise since the Steward was the primary narrator and Jack has a very specific accent, but doesn't that beg the question? What happened to his accent? What happened to his voice? It completely changed.

- Bad Gameplay Spoilers

- There are several bugs, soft lock and game breaking. I am posting them as i go, but this DLC does NOT feel like a finished product.

- Frame drops and slow loading. I never experiences either of these in the base games. I had a lot of stuttering getting in and out of the car. I have a 4070 with max settings. Again, no issues with the base game.

- No additional achievements? This one is minor, but doesn't a DLC merit some sort of additional steam achievements?

Overall, play the DLC if you're a fan. Otherwise, I do not recommend it.

The base game review is BELOW.

All single player games, going forward will be compared to this experience. This story, about you, your car, the world falling apart around you. Taking direction from unseen people who's lives are not on the line, being protected by a machine that relies on you to survive.

For a company to find a way to make an emotionally-touching game about driving a car in an apocalypse is beyond impressive to me. I couldn't put the game down. I will break down the Pros and cons.

PROS:
1. The art style is beautiful. It's a very dark and moody game.
2. Progress tempo is what you make of it. You can go as slow you want or as fast as you want. There are a plethora of collectibles and side missions.
3. The story, I think the general plot is pretty simple, but the voice acting and the 'characters' are so beautifully written. This game is very touching. The additional dialog is also very enjoyable and insightful.
4. Crafting is pretty standard, nothing out of the norm, the building animations and interaction animations are funny.
5. The Quirk/Diagnostic System is so much fun and makes for a reference to real mechanic work on a car.

CONS:
1. Some soft-lock, game breaking bugs. I fell victim to the Deep Zone Crossing one. It did require abandoning the mission and restarting it, which came at it's own cost, but this was a real bummer.
2. Main story is very short. Again, you can play the game as fast as you would like to, but if you choose to play it fast, know that you will be done in a few hours.

I peronsally fell in love with the game. I plan on coming back and updating this review once I 100% the game.

As someone who is an avid sandbox-survival I will say that this game checks all the right boxes. The game produces some of the best atmosphere I have ever seen. The games does require a bit more optimization for lower-end machines. The typical recommendation to improve your performance (outside of disabling every graphical feature and scale) is to reduce your draw distance, but as you will find that being able to see long-distances is one of your greatest assets.

I have not gone down the mod rabbit-hole yet, but I've played through the entire standard game, visited the near-vacant ashlands, assisted Hildir, tamed every tammable animal, obtain all weapons, etc. It is challenging, it is rewarding, it is absolutely the best multiplayer-survival-sandbox I've played to date. I do believe there are areas that can be improved (outside of the previously mentioned graphic optimization).

The areas that could be improved I do believe the mod community is already taking care of that.

25 Hours, 25 pain-staking hours into this beautiful adventure. I had only completed 60% of the side missions.

The Long Dark will test you and challenge you. It is relentless and rewarding. This is one not to be taken lightly. The story itself is outstanding and ever-evolving. I had hypothermia, verge of frostbite, clothing destroyed by a night of wolf-attacks. Through shear will and desire I wanted to overcome restarting and say I made it through this.

And I did. Not without fighting for Mack's life. This is bar-none the most top notch survival game TO DATE. Everything and I mean EVERYTHING is important in this game. There is no attribute that you cannot master.

There are bugs! There are some odd graphical glitches and the potential to get stuck in some spots (literally stuck like in a 1m spaces or inside the map). These little hick ups were either minor set backs or just little annoying things that didn't detour me from a great time.

Thank you Hinterland for such a great experience, excited for the next chapter!

Short Glory -

Hellblade is bar none, one of the single most tiny packages of epic story telling. Thoroughly enjoyable without the backing of AAA companies. Graphically it is beyond anything I expected. The controls are smooth and precise. The combat feels viseral within its simplistic nature.

Aside from what seems to be a fading support team for the game and its overall development. In its current state is very enjoyable. From a performance persepctive: do NOT attempt SLi. I've only found a couple of miniscual, non-game breaking bugs.

It has an overall well polished feel. Sad to see the blade go the way of the gate.

I recommend this game for a particular reason. It is good! Very good as a matter of fact however, it is NOT Resident Evil.

I cannot stress this enough that if this is your first game you're playing as you dive into the Resident Evil Saga, please understand that this game (VII) in no way shape or form reflects the plot and/or theme of the original series. Unfortunatley at the end they name drop one of the main protagonist from the series (SPOILER) Chris Redfield and the big bad company behind everything Umbrella. Aside from that, I am going to get into a detailed review about Resident Evil VIII.

Let's look at the good, the bad and the wrong.

The good -

* Storyline (Stand alone game) is great! Really enjoyable however once you realize you're unable to develop a further understanding without purchasing DLC, well... That hurts.

* Gameplay is smooth, crisp and response time is very well done. There are times where the character feels a bit sluggish, but it needs to be remembered that this is a survival horror, not a FPS. Realistcally some actions take delay, which is why this is a + on the gameplay.

* Graphically - Holy SH*T. From shading, lighting and the interactive qualities of the enviroment. This is some premium work!

* Unforgiving - Leave it to Havok. Make sure, as you play, to conserve and prepare. I actually found myself on the final boss, out of ammo for my primary weapons, and was basillcay SOL. RE7 does make an effort to prepare you for the battle, but its up to you to explore and find obtain said equipment.

* Video Taps (SPOILER) - While immserive breaking, they're very cool in assisting players not waste precious resources by implementing an almost demo bit to attempt a certain area.

The bad -

* Tool Tips/Loading Tips. This will give you near literal itteration on how to defeat anything you're having problems with. Why? It takes the learning portion of our survival out of it.

* Document Control. Unlike other RE's, you're unable to store (at least copies) of the articles, lab reports, newarticles, etc. that you find through the game. Perhaps it isn't very important due to the Tool Tips tell you all the answers...and...

* Grocery Questing. This is a horrible implementation for any game. By looking at the map screen you can see all the things YOU need to do. Boring! This really defeats the limited open world aspect of RE. This limits the player to think on their own and develop a crutch on the mini-map rathat than their ability to navigate and solve puzzles.


The wrong

* DLC for Story? This is for real. Additional content, further plot and story understanding can only be found via the DLC. That's a real shame considering the game is $60. That leaves a real nasty taste in my mouth.

* NOT Resident Evil. As it goes, this game is more of a Rob Zombie flick. The story, for the most part, is really enjoyable, Due to it being Capcom and having a Reisdent Evil title, you'll continue to try and wrap your mind around how exactly it fits into the genre. It's almost like a Terminator-Time-Line inception. And I am here to tell you, it doesn't make sense. The characters are all new, the plot deviates from Reisdent Evil (more on this...)

* Boss Battles (SPOILER). These are kind of lack luster. Almost kind of easy, but the problem is, there are 3 primary residences, but we only fight Jack and Marguerete (SP). I didn't recall exactly if we fought the 'son.' The concepts behind the 3 boss FIGHTS are interesting, but they're more offensive mechanics rather than structures way to defeat them. Pretty much unload enough ammo onto anything and it should die at some point.

* Bugs, Molds, Pukers. Again, not a Resident Evil game that I familiar with. I am grateful for the minor boss mutations, but where are the zombies? lickers? Ivys? There was a perfect oppertunity in the game for them to introduce a familiar monster, but instead I am left pumping a countless amount of ammo into the boss.

* Immersion Breaking (SPOILER). Are these guys all outfitted with GoPros? And who is rendering their digital footage into VHS Low Def? Maybe that's what Lucas is spending all of his time doing at the end of the game?

OVERALL -

Solid game, shouldn't belong in the RE series unless it is reintroduced a stand alone portion. Great graphics, enjoyable story, always use a Headset, and turned up, at night. alone.