There's some stuff I disagree with here and some stuff I agree with, but I don't think you do yourself any favors by disparaging "mainstream reviewers." Casting yourself as an outsider with better taste makes you seem pretentious.
Thank you for including Hearthstone. Hated the game, especially after more than a decade of playing MTG. Too simple for my liking.
You're looking down here for "in-depth analysis"? Dude, it's an off-hand comment in a comments section.
I'm afraid I don't have any in-depth analysis of Star Citizen for you. Until the game gets closer to its indeterminite release date, we only have the bits and pieces that have been cobbled together, along with misguided notions of being able to get out and -- gasp! -- walk around a space station, none of which point to the realization of the grand vision they're foisting off on their unwitting whales. But, hey, no one ever went broke from telling people what they want to hear!
ding. right on the money tom.
I also had the inverse reaction to Banner Saga. The combat was OKAY (although a lot of story choices made some fights mathematically impossible to win) and kind of reminded me of Betrayal at Krondor with the "missing health reduces your stats" mechanic.
But the story...bleach. It seemed like a straightforward deal but they presented it in such a pointlessly cryptic and incomplete way, probably to give it the illusion of depth. You start in medias res playing some giants you know nothing about walk into a kingdom you know nothing about and intervene in a coup attempt you know nothing about before hunting down some rebel faction you know nothing about so a king you know nothing about can thank you before a landing party of more giants arrive led by more characters you know nothing about offer to escort a prince you know nothing about to another nation you know nothing about where some kind of peace treaty you know nothing about is being considered. The brief background you get in the beginning seems to be at odds with what's actually happening. There's some barbaric race of even bigger giants that the game says was defeated long ago, but there's tons of them running around and you're constantly fighting them. Nobody seems very surprised by them so they're still at war? Is the peace treaty about fighting them? Then it cuts away from your group to start an all new plot about a hunter and that's where I quit.
In addition to the story, the tone was very off putting. It was this bleak hopelessness which combined with the impenetrable story that defied me to give a crap about it. It's like they were shooting for the plot of Bungie's Myth games (down to the Trow giants as antagonists) but didn't understand what made Myth's story compelling.
Either way, game got way too much hype. Everyone was holding it up as some golden child proving that Kickstarter games aren't all terrible.
Dude, I'd love to be a "mainstream reviewer", but this is a tiny site with tiny amounts of traffic. I haven't written a review for anyone else in years. If that's not niche, I don't know what is. It's a matter of numbers, not pretension.
As for my taste, I make no claim to its inherent superiority or inferiority. On what grounds would I possibly believe such a thing? Like anyone else, I like what I like, period.
So I've got this board game called Terra Mystica...
Yeah, that's one I've been wanting to try for some time now. It's been sitting on my Amazon.com wishlist but I haven't gotten around to pulling the trigger, partly because I already have so many great games to get to the table. My boardgaming time is precious in a completely different way than my videogaming time. :)
Regarding "This War of mine". I come from area that was in civil war some 25 years ago, and even I personally didn't experience worst of war (and I was a kid back then), people who did and who played this game, say that it's quite spot on as far as game can be. There are no two wars that are same, and this game is based on experience from just one of many wars. You can judge game as game, her gameplay elements and by experience you take from that game, but judging it by saying it doesn't represent your picture of war, when you clearly don't have personal experience of war is worst insult that what you claim this game is.
It's a tree in a box. Kinda like Caverna it's positively overflowing with bits. But Terra Mystica is organized a little better and the last time I set it up and played it went amazingly fast. That was a two player game and you really want more to put a little more pressure on map space. Plus more people more actions will stretch the time. The actions themselves are about the complexity of Archipelago maybe a little less so I would call it a solid middleweight.
I should tie it to Endless Legend. The 14 races you can be in Terra Mystica will mostly play the same. I don't know how radical Endless Legend gets but the Terra Mystica races usually get one or two rule breaks on the level of what happens in Small World. In a much deeper game, of course.
I'm praying for force feedback support. I got my joystick out for this one as well and it's sad how it doesn't make any odd noises or jerk around like it's possessed.
Elite dangerous has been a bit of a flop for me so far. I really want to like it, but it lacks so much. If you are into space trucking its fine, but if you have been playing space sims for the past two decades you really hoped Elite wouldn't just be a graphical update to a game they designed in the 80s but something fresh and new. Unfortunately it is just the game from the 80s but with better graphics, online only and randomly spawning enemies with zero persistence. Its still in development though, so i might be drawn in yet.
how about five nights at freddy's 1 and 2, they are so extremely overrated
This entire no name website is nothing but pure click bait and lacks any real journalistic merit.
Hi Tom, Thanks for your opinions. I don't agree with many but can see why you think what you do.
Hearthstone: Hardcore pack building and in depth card combat this game AIN'T. But then I don;lt have time for any of that. Just becasue you are too hardcore to enjoy something doesn;t really make it bad. It just makes it too softcore for you. But I get it. It is.
Banished: Play with mods. I only started ploaying 6 months ago., The mod commnity is AMAZING. PLus the game is still being developed. Open GL is still being added as of June 2015. Things like Golden Llama and Black Liquid change the game fundamentally - and in terms of depth and challenge for the better IMO.
Elite Dangerous: On release this also was not much cop. Gameplay wise barely better than my first game of Elite on the school's BBC Mico in 1983 or 84. Again, this game just gets better and better. It's already got a ton more content. But really? I'm thinking "give it another year"
Far Cry: Yes it's a reskin of FC3 I loved FC3, I quite like FC4 but yeah. A total reskin is taking the mickey a bit. I wanted more FC3, so FC4 foots the bill for me. But if you expected a real progression? FC4 was not it. (Campring it to Watchdogs though? Watchdogs is complete tripe)
Civ Beyond Earth: I hope this game gets better soon. A Civ 5 in vanill aform with a reskin and not much else. Every new Civ game seems to be a retcon of the vanilla version of the last with prettier graphics and nothing else to add. The full version of Civ 4 still rocks my world, Before that it was Civ 2 5 and BE are very poor in comparison IMO.
DA:Inquisition: Sad to see Bioware "trim the gameplay experience" over and over again. In 10 years we'll have the prettiest DX15 version of Pong available, and they'll sell it to us as if it was a next gen RPG "With ball redirecting machanics and movable hyper paddle" It's not a bad game, but from Baldur's game Bioware have sunk loooooooooooow
The rest?
Not played 'em
You mention Gnomoria? I love Gnomoria, (over 1000 hours on Steam and barely started) for me that and Banished are all about the building and expression. While I do keep aggro mobs in Gnomoria they are not what I play it for. Building a 9 tier water capture device that doesn't suffer from condensation loss while feeding my mushroom farm next to my Golem manufacturing centre and Goblin crushing mega turret... and on and on with more elaboration on top of elaboration. Designing hugely complex systems and getting them to work. That's why I play Gnomoria and Rimword, and Stonehearth, and Clockwork Empires, and Timber and Stone and Factorio and Dwarf Fortress and....
Diablo 3 in the top shot.
Was crap. Now ok. Divine Divinity (not the new one the old one, that still works on most new OS's) FTW and Titan Quest.. Titan Quest ROCKS!
Scritty
great piece.