Recent reviews by chronque

she jimbo on my painted deck til I Oops All Sixes!

I really hope this sets a standard for gaming going forward.

Played a bunch in early access (EA) about 1.5-2 years ago, and stopped so I wouldn't burn out on release. Been playing since release day now, and even though currently a lot of it is retracing old steps, it's still a lot of fun, and it's clear how much caring polish and hard work has gone into the game since I last played. There are enough new and reworked things to keep me interested, including story beats that were noticeably absent last time due to the nature of early access. I can't wait to dig into the new content now that 1.0 is upon us!

Hadn't played in years due to issues with high RP costs (i.e. a large grind), high SL costs (i.e. it being costly to then use the vehicles you spent hours grinding for), and unbalanced BR mechanics (i.e. matchmaking being unfair), and in particular how there seemed to be no response from the devs about these issues. These issues were very much present even if spending money on the game in the form of Premium and Premium Vehicles, but were of course worse if playing "for free" (where having spent £100s on a game and then stopping means you're now playing it "for free"...).

From looking at recent news, it seems these are still the same issues, and that Gaijin has never learned to listen to its players or utilise feedback. Hopefully this is a wake-up call for them, but I doubt it.

Extremely good survival game. Mechanics are such that there is a large amount of replayability, and it's obvious a lot of thought was put into them. One of the few games capable of causing a proper emotional response in me when playing, e.g. anxiety, relief, dread, elation, etc.

The story mode, Wintermute, is really well done, especially the later episodes. Episode 4 in particular was one of my favourite gaming experiences, and comes close to Firewatch for me in terms of enjoyment and feel (but with more to do). I can't wait for Episode 5.

A truly phenomenal game. Highly recommended, I rarely write reviews but Lucas Pope deserves all the credit he gets and more; this is one of those games that is an entire experience that leaves you wanting to know more and with butterflies during, and feeling empty afterwards - a feeling which to this extent was only matched for me personally by the Witcher 3.

For the price, you could buy a few books. I'd encourage you in this case to not bother with some books, this game will give you a far greater and more impactful experience.



Additional note: The soundtrack is phenomenal and very memorable, and changes with each chapter. I will be downloading it immediately as soon as it is available on streaming services.

EDIT: A few years later, and I'll just add that Baldur's Gate 3 and Disco Elysium are probably the only other games I've played so far to match this feeling.

Super expensive with DLC but worth it to convert Anatolia to Orthodox Christianity.

amazing game, absolutely fantastic devs, everyone should at least give it a go