Recent reviews by Gerald The Plant

Phenomenal, one of the best games I have played. I was thoroughly engrossed in the story, the artistic direction, and the gameplay. The first part of Inscryption is my favourite section of the game. I do wish more of the game was spent there but I'm sure that's simply a matter of preference. 9.5/10 would definitely recommend :)

Genuinely don't think I've ever left a bad review for a game but this unavoidably how I feel about this game. It's almost an insult to the original game. It's infuriating to play and not even because of the difficulty. The game is plagued with horrific visual clarity, I don't know what I'm looking at half the time. Is this cover I can hide behind, a solid object I can't get past, or a passable object? Who knows?

The masks are abysmal too. They heavily limit you to very boring playstyles.
-Twin machine guns? Cool? Unfortunately not because now you can't melee or use a different gun until you use up the ammo.
-Twin fighters, one with a chainsaw and the other with guns? Sick! Oh wait, no it isn't. The shooter twin always lags behind so you can never line up corner shots without getting killed. You also can't cover your six because he faces the same way as the melee fighter.
-One hit punch kills? Sounds like fun! Except you can use any ranged weapons now... get ready to walk in and out of doors trying to bait enemies with guns into melee range without getting shot for 10 straight minutes.
-Combat roll? Handy! If every enemy in the game didn't have feline reflexes and pinpoint accuracy because you'll get aced before you finish a roll. The enemies being hard is good but it means a roll is useless.

Next worse thing in this game is the maps. Terrible and poorly designed for the type of combat in the Hotline Miami games. They're incredibly large, the edges of the map are 2-5 times further away from where your shift-key will allow you to see, so you're constantly getting merced by enemies who you couldn't even see. It slows the game-play right down and makes the combo/chain killing style of combat of the first game into an impossibility which was arguably the most exhilarating part of Hotline Miami.

The story is okay, a little jarring with how much it jumps about from character to character. I didn't find myself gripped at all and there are a lot of unnecessary scenes of no consequence.

The Vietnam section is perhaps one of my biggest gripes with this game. It's awful and painfully generic. You pick one gun before the mission starts and are stuck with it for the whole mission. You can't drop it and can't pick up any weapons. You can only find ammo. This is so bizarre to me, why is my character so braindead he can't drop his rifle when it runs out of the 20 rounds he brought to kill 30 men with to pick up a fully loaded Vietcong weapon or even a machete? The limited ammo means you end up resorting to the same doorway dance of the melee only mask trying to save ammo for the Heavy enemies who are only killable with guns. You can't even survey the maps to check the amount of Heavies because the maps are too big. By far the biggest blunder of the Vietnam section is the 4th mission of the section you have the option of a sniper rifle... in a Hotline Miami game... where every enemy already dies in one hit! I mean at least I can see ~20% of the map this time with the added zoom.

The final thing I will add is a minor point but it's something I found greatly irritating. They are several missions where you spawn in rooms with enemies, the moment you move or wait to long enemies start chasing towards you. No cover to allow you to look at the map you're on or see where the enemies are. Watching patrol paths is impossible on these maps because you simply can't wait long enough to see the paths. You have to learn through trial and error which, given that some enemies don't have fixed paths or locations, is almost impossible too. Randomness and luck feel to be greater parts of the game than skill at times especially as the AI just feels worse in this game.

I would avoid this game unless you feel like the brutal violence and core gunplay of the game would supercede the problems I highlighted in this review.

Barely played this game but ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ is it good. Fast-paced and brutal when you get things going in this game you feel transcendent. One tapping every head you become confused you didn't miss the shot and nearly stop to check, the feeling of flow when things go right cannot be rivalled. For me this game isn't annoying when you lose, more confusing. You see, your health drains passively so you have to kill enemies who can also damage you, sometimes you just try to rush through a level and only kill the ones literally in your direction of travel but then the counter (3... 2.... 1... death) appears on your screen and you turn to kill the enemy you just passed out of desperation and you're immediately disorientated. The art style and graphics make it a practically invalid tactic to turn around. Perhaps that's by intention though, I may have to revisit this review.

An amazing game with fantastic gameplay but the lagging in quickmatches can be quite bad sometimes which is very frustrating. You match with people all around the world so that maybe the cause. Another problem is the amount of bigotry in the game. Offensive comedy doesn't usually offend me, on the contrary actually it's my favourite type of comedic expression but some of the players you meet are just flagrantly and genuinely racist and homophobic. It feels as if there is no effective way of dealing with them.

For the price you should definitely get the game. Exciting gameplay with lots of potential for skillful play. Reflecting a sniper bullet with my bare hands to kill an opponent has been my best experience yet.

Loving this game to death, quite literally! Controls wonderfully and has a fantastic physics engine. My only quam is that the game reboots every time you want to try again and you die a lot so it can get tedious. You really want to get back into the action immediately so any delay would be irritating.

Fantastic game. Invigorating soundtrack, satisfying gameplay and offers a lot of potential for brutality. Truly a must-buy! Only complaint is there isn't enough of it! Heard there's a second game though so I better check that out!

Fantastic game, very well made but the DLC maybe too expensive to some (including me).
Pros- Very in-depth game with plenty of mechanics to sink your teeth into
-All areas of the map are relatively historically accurate
-Most areas of the map are fun to play (particularly Europe and the subcontinent of India imo)
-Games last as long as you like and develop well with interlinked systems
Cons- If you like to win this game isn't for you as it can be challenging and intensive
-DLC is expensive (though not all) and some neccesary to make the game worth the money (Common Sense imo)
-The game can get frustrating because of historical accuracy e.g. starting anywhere near the Ottomans is a death sentence because they were the strongest empire at the time(1444)
-Time sink if you get invested in a game
-Takes a lot to learn

I have very fond memories of this game from childhood so my opinion might be biased but, this game is SO fun. Depending how you play it depends how you enjoy it. You can either attack your enemies early and harass them till they can't continue or wait and horde resources before crushing every other empire. It's a game I always find enjoying, the countries and different nations add a fun aspect to the game too. I'd say if you are into RTS's or just like the feeling of immense unstoppable power then this game is for you. Some people call it easy or forgiving but that's only if you stay on lower levels of diffuclty I'd say. Regardless, wondeful game, definitley worth a try.