Recent reviews by Dave Grigger

Great DBG

Wow

Great game.

I'll give it a 9.5/10 - it improved on the 1st one in every way but I have one gripe, the ending felt a little weak compared to the rest of the game. The ending wasn't bad, it just didn't feel like the ending the game deserved. The DLC (Valhalla) is good fun and has some great story points.

While I enjoyed the story and the matches of Gwent (puzzles included), I cannot recommend this game as it punishes you way too much for playing it like an RPG.

Resources are finite and very hard to come by. If you misspend your money then it's gone, no vital building upgrades or unit unlocks for you. The decisions you make in the game can also cause you to lose characters permanently, which wouldn't be a problem if those characters weren't also vital in your ability to beat the game.

I didn't play the game optimally, I mismanaged my eco, I made choices that caused characters to leave and I was left with a selection of cards that made it impossible to beat the game and worse yet, I couldn't do anything about it. I couldn't make any more money, I couldn't get those characters back - I was stuck. I could reload an old act (there's no manual saving, it's ironman - but allows you to restart at the begginning of an act) but why should I have to do this if it's an RPG?? It should be possible for me to make non-optimal choices and still beat the game.

Idk, maybe skill issue.

Phenomenal game.
Beautiful visuals, using top notch graphical effects.
Amazing sound track that will play with your emotions.
Incredible story that will be bound to shed a tear, both happy and sad.

This game gets an A+ for it's story, atmospheres and characters that I couldn't help but care about. Mechanically, it is not a good game, the combat is bland but engaging enough to not turn you off entirely. You will keep playing for the story, to find out what happened to the characters that are so well written (and voiced). The graphics are not anything to write home about but they do offer an optimized experience and do a great job at building atmosphere even with very mid graphics.

TL;dr if you need engaging mechanics - do not play this game. If you instead, need an engaging story with engaging characters and can look pass the rest, then give it a go!

Watched TheRadBrad play through the original PS release, watched the TV show, and experienced the story for the 3rd time in this game. It never got old. I knew exactly what was going to happen but it still hit so hard.

Bird

Story is good, not great.
Combat is a lot of fun, has a tonne of variety and feels flashy.
Character writing is ok, pretty vapid at most points.
Missions are fun but become cumbersome towards the end.
Crafting/leveling system is rewarding.
Relationship management is fun and simple enough but hindered by the poor character writing.

Overall good game, lots of content. Worth it on a sale.