Recent reviews by Obiwan

An hour in, and a few conversations with an incredibly transparent and communicative developer I think it is only fair before i commit to going over my 2 hours that I offer a review and some POV.

Alot of people are saying it is basically "dope wars" I have to disagree ... it is Drug/Dope Wars 2 maybe even 3 given the scope and breadth afforded here.

This game is not just dope wars remake, it capitalizes on everything that made that game fun and compelling and dials things up to 20. The dev clearly understands that making cash is all good and well - but fun and meaningful sinks and additions means that there are more ways to spend your cash and invest into all kinds of different bonuses, business, vehicles and facilities that further expand the potential for your drug empire but equally make you feel that your choices and investments are impacting gameplay and either alleviating previous challenges (they cops can't stop you in a chopper) or simply offering you more options and profit making capabilities (invest into legit business to bankroll more deals and head further down the rabbit hole)

So much from the original DOS game has been adapted here for a modern audience and modern gaming expectations and the result is a game that honestly is far deeper and richer than the screenshots would lead you to believe.

There is a genuine feeling of a day to day and moment to moment drug tycoon experience here that is being presented in the way the old DOS game was but to call this a simple remake is not doing Pusher justice.

With the new price drop I can whole heartedly recommend this quirky little title and given just days ago i made a post that I was not inlove with some of the new QTE and minigames ... the dev responded by offering difficulty based settings in the game options - note i said responded, meaning within days of a forum discussion it resulted in an update and changes to the game to have it appeal to even older gamers like myself who don't quite have the ninja reflex anymore.

Surely you would agree that's a dev worth buying a beer ? cause that's how much it will cost you to support Pusher :)

So the first thing I would say here is PLAY THE ORIGINAL FIRST!!! The only previous argument against this would have been the "stat decay" but there has since been an update that removes it so that if you really cannot stand it you do not have to deal with it. It will give you a richer experience with the sequel.

As for the sequel? Lazy knocked it out the park here, as a child of the 80's and 90s you are going to absolutely LOVE the throwback, pop culture references and cheeky digs the game makes, frankly the older you are the better here!

As for the GAME ??? Lazy have improved in every area ... I am nearly 9 hours in and still on chapter 1 - the sheer volume of side plots and side tasks dwarfs the original infact im pretty sure there are more "icons" representing side missions in Chapter 1 than the ENTIRETY of the original game.

Combat is fantastic, the skill tree and sheer volume of "schools" goes even further than before, things are alot more "themed" and "focused" now where as in the old game Kickboxing and Agility was your strongest pick (tip if you wanna get it and finish the story to enjoy the sequel), it really doesn't feel like there is a grossly better performing option here.

To do a full review would take pages because every single element of the original is improved, this is one of those sequels that KNOWS what made the first game great and has just doubled down ... this is a game for people from so many different demographics ... fans of beat em ups, point and clicks, story telling(play 1st game!!), time management ... i mean when you have a game that appeals to someone who loved Monkey Island as much as it does someone who likes Yakuza you really have something a bit special ... as it happens im a fan of both which is why this game was one of the few full price pre-orders i have and likely will make this year.

Absolute no brainer purchase - current price is very fair and any cheaper is one of the best purchases you will make!!!

Probably the new standard in arcade space combat, seriously.

As a fan of Freelancer and Descent and some of the old skool classics when I was a kid. Please pass on my HUGE thanks and appreciation to the entire team for what they have done. I know there was alot of questions asked about the change in direction from Rogue-lite to the formula E2 is using but they have nailed it ... they have caught some Freelancer, some Descent, some cool use of physics/puzzles and a fair amount of lightning in a bottle and they have made something very special that sends a message to the competition that there is still hunger for the classics and that they CAN be made for a modern audience.

I can't wait to see what the future holds I hope E2 gets expanded or that a sequel is already in consideration because Everspace could easily define itself with the formula observed here in the same way the X series has .... I really do not want the game to end and I hope more is to come one way or another.

This feels as close to Freelancer as a game has ever got and for that alone I am so grateful to feel the same excitement and fun and nostalgia again.

I also want to point out that those who feel the price is unjust - there is some stellar voice work and 3rd party contributions in this game, the price reflects the budget and expense Rockfish clearly went to. You will easily get your moneys worth here if you are the kind that values a dollar spent to an hour of entertainment and you will also sending a message to Rockfish that we want more, because this series should become as stape as the X series, it is THAT good and it has found its identity in E2.

Buy, play, enjoy!

Quite some time ago I had a dispute with the creator of this title, their last game changed direction from what was originally pitched to people who kickstarted it and their was a failing to see eye to eye.

I preface with this so that you know there is no bias in this review, it is about as objective as one can be considering to this day I am still banned from the DIscord.

The usual mantra in this day and age would be to damn the game out of spite or simply find something negative to highlight and feel like i got my own but did it truthfully ...

On the contrary if Startup Company was the prelude to this masterful piece of game design then what happened had to happen.

What you have here is an amazing mix of genres and ideas both new and borrowed to create something truly unique. So many "life sims" have come and gone in the past few years and none of them delivered anything more than a time management game with lots of clicking ... this is like a business sim done from the POV and gameplay style of GTA ... you are not a picture in the top left of the screen, you are an ingame character with needs and requirements to sustain your health.

In doing so you can then use your business skills and he tools the world gives you (courtesy of uncle Fred) to start building your first business, and you RUN this business this is a living breathing thing that exists irrespective of whether you are ready for it ... and then you conquer that challenge and you automate by hiring staff and training staff, you spend cash to further enhance the appeal of the premises to customers.

Every shop, is a physical building in the 3D world the player plays in. You don't use an order form (at first) to get your stock you physically drive to a wholesaler and carry boxes of items you intend to sell to the trunk of your car ... in time you will hire delivery vans, rent a warehouse and automate all this within the simulated world ... hell you will skip the middleman all together and start shipping contracts direct from the suppliers.

The scope and potential for where this little masterpiece can go is measured only by the desire Jonas has to realise it ... honestly this is an Early Access title you don't just buy, but you support because you want to provide the means and feedback and benefit for just how far this rabbit hole can go.

If you love tycoons and you love management games but you are not impartial to a bit GTA or something similar you would be absolute crazy to not give this a spin given it has a very reasonable pricetag aswell.

Genuinely can't wait to see where this one goes and MAYBE just maybe my whole hearted support might mean I can return to the Discord and bygones be bygones.

Just about as good as management games get.

Developed over the course of many years. Now this is in Beta I think a review is more than warranted.

Will update as necessary but if you enjoy management games that simulate rather than fabricate then I assure you this is a no-brainer.

Absolutely superb!

How do you tank one of the greatest Management franchises ever made?

You hire a mobile games designer as lead and ignore your community.

Post HawkEye + Roadmap gets a YES from me.

Despite a YES however I need to stress that management of expectation is essential here - if you liked Marvel Heroes you are gonna like this, if you like Diablo and ARPG lootem-ups then you might well like this.

It's had alot of flak and all of it was justified but replayable campaign, Kate, Hawkeye are now in Black Panther is scheduled and there is an extensive Roadmap now available.

Provided they honour all this and don't drop support (Anthem) then we may just see another NMS comeback story here - watch this space.

The thing about HOI4 is that once you learn how to play it .... you realise how shallow Stellaris is.


This is the playlist of bite-sized guides that taught me the game, WAY more manageable and watchable than 2 hour long tutorials that drag oooooooooooooooooooon

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkQMBP16-XLEVHqSC4CM82aHB10OaG9-T

Beyond the obvious which can be seen by every review the key points here are not what this game does but HOW it does it that sets it apart.

Progression - a sorta suedo Terraria style of boss fights = unique mats = unique utility/crafting options = progression and it works SO well.

Exploration - Sea faring - genuine sea faring and that feeling of "land ho!!!" - Sea of Thieves fans will feel right at home - 1 player managable, HAZARDS AT SEA!!!

Survival - Similar to ECO and Subsistence but more abstract and simplified food mechanics means that your health is directly reflected by what you eat - this leads to one of the best things about this game that usually comes with "survival" - NO THIRST OR HUNGER!!!! but that does not mean no risks of not eating, because health bar = food quality not eating means u sit at low health indefinitely but unlike every other survival game you are not stuffing your face ever 2mins and drinking like a fish to stop yourself from dieing - you can keep your mind on what matters :D
However surviving is paramount because the death penalty is steep but not brutal - when you die you will lose 1-2 levels of your skills with no means of recouping them other than to level them again .... thankfully subsequent deaths do not come at a cost due to "no skill drain" buff that triggers on death and a "corpse run" buff will allow u to grab your grave and loot and very quickly regen health/stamina while taking much less dmg to afford you a chance to get stuff back and regain your footing.

Just as an aside to this point - repairing is free too ... and this adds to both Survival AND Exploration because you are not being punished for venturing forth and having a go, using items doesnt mean u need even more mats ... something games like Ark really hammer you with at the start - the more you loot the more u need to repair the more u need to mine - the more u need to repair and so on. Repair bills are free in Valheim!!!

Skill system - A very Skyrim approach of you do it to level it but the aforementioned "Death Penalty" will keep you weary of getting too reckless when the levels take more than a run across the island to level up .... a very good balance of genuine penalty for recklessness and making sure the player understands they are perhaps too undergeared but equally allowing for flex and versatility in character progression and how you want to play.

Combat - Weapons pair with the skill system and something i didn't mention which is the ability to upgrade existing equipment and improve it. Combat is very refined albeit quite simple. Attack, Block, Special Attack unique to weapon type and a very satisfying and responsive Parry mechanic for buckler shields and weapons you would expect to parry with.

Item upgrades - You can upgrade items - using a fraction of the base mats a level 1 Bronze Sword can become a level 2 and 3 and the balance of this is notable when you get your next material type and find that your previously pimped out weapon is BETTER than the baseline "next tech" version meaning that upgrading is meaningful and worthwhile and thanks to no repair bills - very very satisfying.

These are just some refined examples of where Valheim is taking core concepts found in the open world survival genre but putting spins on them that remove the tedium and annoyances that are staple just because the genre is "survival" without sacrificing difficulty, challenge and the feeling you are in a living, breathing world that wants to kill you.

The balance of all this plus everything else you can read in the plethora of reviews before this one really highlight why Valheim has gone platinum TWICE in as many weeks since launch.

With only 50% of its' actual planned content available.

Probably the most no-brainer early access purchase this side of 2021.

EDIT: Just wanted to point out that unlike Skylines - THIS GAME DOES NOT CHEAT!!! - It uses "agents" ala impression games, Sim City 2013 but where SC was arguably diluted in its simulation and complexity - the opposite exists here.

Every. Single. Thing. Is. Simulated!!!!

Quite simply the best City Builder money can buy.

Not to forget Skylines but it has had its' day in the sun and is now showcasing that is is too long in the tooth to add anything compelling.

In contrast you have never played anything like this.

These guys deserve the support and this game - provided you can get over the UI which is indicative of the compliexity - will not disappoint you.