LEGO Bricktales Review

As I mentioned before, converting the joy of playing with actual lego into a digital video game is a very tricky task. That is why we see LEGO versions of franchises such as Batman, The Hobbit, and even Starwars. That formula worked well in the past but after so many game it did start to feel a bit boring. LEGO Bricktales takes things in a new direction with a unique story and no iconic characters but a focus on building and puzzles.

Unique Story Packed With Exploration

The gist of the story is that you need to help your grandpa get his theme park up and running before it is shut down. Your grandpa happens to have a teleporter that can transport you to different places. These are the biomes that you explore. There is no action or combat but the game offers a really nice combination of exploration and puzzle-solving in the form of building with LEGO.

There are some cheeky dialogues that can keep you entertained if you are into that sort of thing and the whole story is pretty cute but I for one enjoyed the exploration and actual building segments more than the story. This is not a negative aspect keeping in mind that the puzzles and building are the core of the game. Yes, the story could have been better and a bit more captivating but I did not really mind it since I was mostly interested in what the next puzzle would be and what I would make.

Progress the game enough and you unlock new abilities. You can then backtrack and head back to previous locations to get collectibles that you could not access before.

Pretty Close To The Real Deal

Much like in real life, you will need to build different structures out of LEGO one brick at a time but there are no instructions that you get out of the box. The game does give you some rules to follow during the tutorial and as long as these are met, you are free to do as you please. So you can get pretty creative.

The only thing holding you back is the amount of LEGO pieces that you have at your disposal. The first time around, you will need to make something out of the limited number of LEGO pieces that you have. Once you have completed the puzzle you can then enter a sandbox mode which allows you to get as creative as you want to make your creation not only functional but aesthetically pleasing as well.

I for one did not feel like extensively testing the sandbox portion of the puzzles once I had completed the objective since I wanted to progress ahead in the game and did not really care about what my creation looked like. As long as it served its purpose and I was able to complete the puzzle, I was done and moved on. So there is a lack of incentive. This is an area that could be improved down the line.

During the building process, you can test your creation and make modifications accordingly. Robots test your structure for you and you are able to see the flaws without having to exit the building segments, which is nice to see. While this is a LEGO game you still need to use common sense in order to complete the puzzles and the laws of physics still apply. Just like they would in real life.

The Major Downside

Not all things are great though, getting the right viewing angle can be tricky and a single misplaced LEGO piece can be frustrating to adjust. The camera can be annoying not only in the puzzle sections of the game but while exploring as well, making it tough to find all the collectibles and check out the whole extent of what the biomes have to offer.

Verdict

While LEGO Bricktales is not exactly the same as physically building with LEGO but it gets really close to the real deal. Unfortunately, the camera does make things tricky and you can quickly make someone like me frustrated. I am sure this can be fixed down the line.

All things considered, this is a really fun and fulfilling game that we can recommend to all LEGO fans out there. LEGO Bricktales is unique and demands more creativity from the player and has solid gameplay. It gets an easy 7/10 from me.

The post LEGO Bricktales Review: Digital LEGO Building Done Right appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Impressive Privacy And Security

NordVPN does a great job of hiding your online activity from your IPS. NordVPN uses its own private DNS which will keep your data away from third parties. Its apps make sure that there are no DNS leaks, which we confirmed via DNS Leak Test, IPLeak, and other sites. You can also take advantage of the Double VPN system supported on PC, Mac, and Android if you want maximum security and privacy online.

If you need even better security then you can use the Onion over VPN support which sends your traffic through a NordVPN server first and then through three random Tor nodes, before it gets to its destination. I think this is as secure as you can get online. Bouncing traffic around does mean that you will have to deal with slower speeds but this is the worst-case scenario and not everyone is going to use the Onion over VPN feature.

NordVPN also has a kill switch that stops data leaks if the VPN connection is dropped. There are two of these in place. One is the general kill switch that disconnects from the internet when you are not connected via VPN. This can be turned off if you want. The other kill switch is the app kill switch which closes the application when your connection goes down.

With NordVPN, you get a Threat Protection system that protects you from trackers and malicious websites. It also blocks ads and can even scan your downloads for malware. You can use this feature with your anti-virus software too.

Great Performance And Functionality

I have used a couple of free and paid VPNs for gaming and content streaming in the past and the free versions usually cut my internet speed in half which is not ideal since I have a 100mbps connection which is nothing to brag about in the first place. Paid VPNs usually perform much better. While using NordVPN my internet speed was only reduced by 8-15% according to my testing. This is very impressive indeed and I did not notice any real-work speed degradation while working, browsing the web, consuming content, or gaming.

I was able to stream YouTube at up to 4K without any buffering and was able to play Destiny 2 without getting disconnected from the server. Matchmaking in the game worked too which has been an issue for me in the past using other VPN services.

I do have multiple people using the internet in my house and each member has multiple devices connected which should be mentioned, even though they are not heavy bandwidth users.

You can have up to 6 connections at the same time on a single account. This means that you can have the VPN across all your devices including your desktop, laptop, phone, and tablet. For an added layer of protection, you can even use it on your router. With 5500 servers in 59 countries, you have access to a large network, and even if some random server is not working up to the mark you can switch to another one nearby to get better results.

NordVPN is also great for accessing geo-blocked websites and content like watching HBO Max outside of the US. I was able to stream content from Amazon Prime Video, BBC iPlayer, Netflix (US and UK), and Disney Plus without any issues. You also get P2P-friendly servers that support torrents, allowing users to use torrents in areas where it is prohibited.

No Logs Policy

NordVPN has a strict ‘no logs’ policy. This not only covers general internet activity logs but sessions as well. Generally, when VPNs claim to have a no logs policy they do carry out some form of session logging. It is nice to see that NordVPN has ruled that out as well as mentioned in the no logs policy:

Nord guarantees a strict no-logs policy for NordVPN Services, meaning that your internet activity… is not monitored, recorded, logged, stored or passed to any third party. We do not store connection time stamps, used bandwidth, traffic logs, IP addresses or browsing data.

Pricing

NordVPN has three different plans that you can buy month, yearly, or 2-yearly. The prices included below are for the 2-year plan but you also get 3 months for free when you sign-up which increases the value even further. It should be mentioned that first-time buyers do get a discount and when you renew the service after the initial term is over you will need to pay more.

Verdict

NordVPN offers impressive security and privacy, not to mention high speeds and a bundle of extra features. All things considered, it offers decent value for money, at least for the first term. I for one would definitely keep subscribing for the ease of use and functionality that I get.

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Saints Row 2022 Review

As someone who has played the previous games and enjoyed them a lot, I have to say that Saints Row 2022 did not overwhelm me with joy but I was excited about the game when it was first announced and that it is fun to play now that it is out. I should point out that I was one of the people that pre-ordered the remaster of Saints Row the Third and finished it.

Out With The Cockery In With The Maturity

The previous games had a lot of cocky references and fun weapons that you could play around with. While the erotic elements have been replaced with a more mature approach there is still plenty of fun to be had in Saints Row 2022.

I am guessing that the devs thought the audience that played these games had matured with the game and that a reboot would be in order. I get that but I do have to say that some XX content would have been a nice touch. You can still cause a lot of chaos in the game and there are plenty of things to keep you entertained for at least a couple of hours.

There are some great action sequences that make the game worth playing and you also get to see how the Saints came into existence. How a group of misfits end up forming a gang and making it a criminal empire is a fun ride indeed. This is a Saints Row game to expect plenty of explosions, crashes and people getting shot.

It is worth mentioning that like many others I was a bit skeptical about the lack of “adult content” in the game and I do miss that but as it turned out, I am not 18 anymore and can do without all that jazz to keep me entertained.

Enemies Do Need More Personality

As you progress through the game, you are introduced to the various gangs and the private security that you will face off against. One of the gangs, The Idols seems to have been pulled out of Watch Dogs Legion and has more character and is more memorable than the rest but the enemies do lack personality.

Seeing how players are going to face off against waves of enemies in each and every mission, it would have been nice to see some more personality and a bit of enemy variety. You could take a rocket launcher and blow everyone off the face of the earth without knowing which enemy faction you are up against.

Combat Is Ok-ish, So Is Racing

Shooting enemies did take some getting used to. I had to tweak the settings a bit on PC in order to get things right. As a seasoned Destiny 2 player I like to control my aim and by default, the crosshair sticks to enemies when you aim down sight. I found that rather annoying during the opening missions but it was a quick fix.

During combat, you can use finishers and you also have access to 4 abilities at a time. I usually stick to traditional shooting and only used the skills if I was pushed into a corner. Finishers did break immersion at times and the animation could be better but nothing too major. There is something for everyone when it comes to combat. If you like spamming skills then you can do that. If you like shooting and using grenades as I do then you have that option as well.

Driving is not the best and handling vehicles does take some getting used to but having a dedicated button for drifting is a lot of fun and makes roaming around the open world in style much easier. You can also ram into the police causing their cars to blow up which gives off a Fast and Furious vibe.

Customization Is Great

The customization options in this game are great. You have all kinds of options you can tweak in the character creation menu. You can change your character’s appearance any time you want and really go crazy with things such as chrome skins. You can also use characters created by members of the community and share your created characters as well.

Other than that, you also have weapon and vehicle customization. While these options are not as extensive as the character creation options, they are still nice to have and allow you to personalize your weapons and ride. I made a rather vanilla female character and got a nice outfit once I was able to.

Best Looking Saints Row Game Right Now

While some would argue that the graphics look last-gen and so are the game mechanics and they would not be wrong. But this is still the best-looking Saints Row game that we have right now. The open world might not be as impressive or rememberable as GTA5 but that game has been around for a long time now. While GTA5 is updated regularly and people still play it, as someone who has not touched it in years, Saints Row 2022 is a nice change and I really appreciate it even it does not reinvent the wheel.

Buggy Launch

Playing the game at launch, it was clear that the devs needed more time to polish it and iron out the issues. There was a launcher issue that kept me from launching the game and I had to make do with a workaround. That is a bummer and kind of lets you down seeing how I wasn’t even in the game yet.

Once in-game, there were plenty of mission markers that were not positioned correctly and I would get prompts of leaving a mission even though that was not the case. The devs are working on these issues and with a view patches, things should be much better.

Why I Don’t Get The Hate

I have seen some really bad comments and reviews for Saints Row 2022 and while I respect what critics and players have to say I really don’t get the hate. The devs and marketing never hyped up the game to be something that it is not. If it was overhyped like Cyberpunk 2077 then I would be really disappointed for sure but that was not the case here. As far as I know, the developer has been very transparent about the game and did not oversell it.

While the launch has been rocky, the bugs and physics can be fixed down the line via patches. Not to mention that more content can be added to add some much-needed variety. There is little in this game that cannot be fixed. Would I pay $60 for it? No. Luckily, I did not have to due to regional pricing. I would not recommend paying $60 but if you are a fan of the franchise then you should pick it up once it is discounted. I paid $25 for the base game and would be fine paying up to $30.

Conclusion

While Saints Row 2022 does not have the best current generation graphics with features such as global illumination or ray tracing, it is still the best-looking Saints Row game that we have right now. It is a lot of fun to play and you can easily sink 50 hours into it. Some bugs need to be fixed and the open world is not the most memorable but seeing how the Saints Came into being is a fun ride to be on.

The post Saints Row 2022 Review: I Don’t Get The Hate appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels Review

It goes without saying that this concept is not new and this is in no way a revolutionary product. We have seen premium LED triangles that join together and we have seen cheap knock-offs as well. What Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels offer is a balance of price and decent lighting as well as build quality. Not to mention the software integration which seamlessly connects with the rest of the range of lighting products that the company has to offer.

Packaging And What Is Inside The Box

At first glance, the box is pretty good. There was some weight to it and the information on the box was very clear. From the box itself, you know that the product works with Google Assistant, Smart Things, Razer Chroma and Amazon Alexa. So if you are using these devices in your home then the Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels are going to fit right into your setup.

You can get the starter kit that comes with 6 light panels, this is the kit that I got. Alternatively, you can buy the starter kit and 3 additional panels or get 3 additional panels separately. Inside the box, the panels are neatly packed the there is a sheet between the panels that keeps them from scratching one another.

Inside the box, you get the controller that has different buttons including the power button and an audio jack so that you can connect your phone to it and sync the lighting with the music. Inside the box, you also get an audio jack splitter. You also have the charger, which comes with 2 different plug options, so you can plug it into the wall. The wire for the power adapter is pretty long and I had no trouble wiring and powering the device.

The box includes a pretty long aux cable which will allow you to connect your phone or other devices to lighting panels. You also get some double-sided adhesive strips so that you can stick the panels to the wall and the connectors that allow the panels to communicate with one another. Furthermore, there is an instruction manual that tells you how you can set up the panels in a variety of different languages.

Installation And Setup

The installation and setup are pretty simple. Once I had the panels out of the box, I put them on a table and decided on a shape that I wanted to make. I then arranged the panels in that layout but upside down and used the included adhesive strips on the back of the panels. I then put the connectors in each of the panels so that I would slide the panels into one another on the walls.

After that, it was a matter of sticking the panels to the wall one after the other while connecting them together. I connected the controller to the panel in the middle and connected the port cord to the left-most panel. Once I powered on the device, the panels lit up. I then synced the lights with the Yeelight app that only took a couple of seconds. All in all, it takes about 15 minutes to install the panels and a couple of minutes to get everything up and running on the software side.

The Experience

The panels are very versatile and as long as you have enough panels, you can make any design that you like. Furthermore, there are plenty of colors and effects to choose from. There are buttons on the controller that allow you to turn the lights on and off. There are buttons to change colors and effects as well.

While there is an audio jack that allows you to connect the lights to your phone and sync them with music, that is optional. There is a music sync button on the controller itself and it can pick up sounds and sync the music accordingly. But it does pick up noises around it such as people talking. So, for a better experience, we do recommend using the aux cable.

Since I already have the Yeelight smart RGB bulbs, the integration was seamless and the panels work with my Google Assistant as well. Not only can I use the panels via the controller and my smartphone but I can use my voice as well, which is very convenient. I have my Yeelight app linked to the Google Home app so I can control all my smart devices from a single place. If you do the same then you can use this feature as well. Alternatively, the panels work with the Mi Home app as well.

In the Yeelight app, there are a couple of different presets that you can choose from and you can change the color of the lights to whatever you fancy. You can also change the level of brightness and program the lights according to a schedule. I was sent the kit ahead of the official launch so I expect that the level of customization and the software are only going to get better after release.

The panels support Razer Chroma, so if you have that set up and play a supported game then you can sync the panels with not only the rest of your lighting but the game that you are playing. That is something that I personally liked and I think that gamers are going to appreciate this added support.

All in all, my experience with the product was very positive. Everything worked as it should and there were no bugs or glitches. This is surprising keeping in mind that I was testing this unit before the official launch. Usually, when I test something ahead of release, there are bugs and problems that need workarounds. I can only imagine that the experience for the actual consumers will be even better.

Conclusion

The Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels are not revolutionary but they do what they do very well. They are built well and the level of customization is pretty good. They are much better than most of the cheap lighting panels that you can find online and I have had a great experience with them.

PS: It is worth mentioning that I have been using Yeelight products for a little over a year now and none of them have failed me so far. All of the smart bulbs that I have and the lighting strip are still working. Furthermore, I was a bit bummed that I only got 6 panels out of the box. I really want to get some more and mess around with different designs.

If you are interested in buying the Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels then you can check out the official store page. If you want to check out the other products that the company has to offer then you can check out the official Yeelight website.

The post Yeelight Smart LED Light Panels Review: Versatile And Convenient Ambiance appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Castillo is evil and when I say evil, I mean really really evil. I am not going to give away any of the story, because why read about it when you can play it? All his scenes are captivating AF and the guy knows how to hold your attention. You are really going to hate Castillo as you progress through the game. That is going to give you purpose as to why you are blowing stuff up.

The story is impressive and you feel immersed until the end which I find a major plus seeing how I left Far Cry 5 in the middle and have not bothered to touch it ever since. I think Ubisoft has learned a lesson here and the player engagement is much better this time around. The characters might seem a bit too stereotypical but the journey is pretty great and there are plenty of twists and turns that will surprise you. There are character deaths as well but I am not giving away any names!

Now I know that calling Far Cry 6 the best in the series is going to be controversial, so I am calling it the “all-round best”, as it does fix multiple issues that previous games had. That does not mean that it does not have issues of its own. The new inventory system for one is not all that great and I can see how some fans of the franchise might be a bit fussy about it. This could be improved upon further.

Fans of older games will be surprised to learn that there is no skill tree. But there are weapon mods and gear that have different perks, Which can come in handy. The catch here is that to get said weapons and gear, you need to explore and open chests. Or you can just use the in-game currency and buy the equipment that you want from the vendors. Exploration is the better option though. You are in Yara after all, might as well check out the place and what it has to offer.

You cannot save loadouts so you will need to change weapons and gear individually. That might not seem like a big deal when you are going in solo but in co-op, you cant pause the game. That is when you start seeing the problem.

This is Far Cry, so you will be taking over enemy checkpoints and bases for the majority of the game. You can either be sneaky about it by using EMPs and silenced weapons or head-on in with rocket launchers and heavy machine guns.

What are you buying the new Far Cry 6 game for? The repetitive combat cycle? Nah, it’s for the story and Yara. Yara is inspired by Cuba and is a beautiful place to start a rebellion. You are surrounded by all kinds of terrains including bodies of water, hills, forests, and all that green stuff no one really pays attention to.

This gives you an excellent playing ground to try out all kinds of different stunts like jumping off a plane or taking a helicopter out for a spin. You do need to stay clear of the anti-aircraft cannons, or you could just blow them up and not have them bother you at all. Oh, and there are plenty of animals that are out to kill you including vicious crocs. Besides the friendly one that you see in the trailer. They can come at you out of nowhere and take your leg off if you are not careful. Trust me, it has happened to me twice.

From on top, the game seems to touch on some political issues but it does not go too far in that regard and some might say that Ubisoft has played it safe. It is also worth mentioning that the game does cover some social issues and it does that pretty well.

Far Cry 6 also does an amazing job of letting you blow stuff up. The gunplay is amazing and very fluid but that is expected at this point keeping in mind how many Far Cry games have been released so far. There are plenty of traditional weapons that you can use and mod but there are some special weapons that are worth looking into as well.

The vehicles in the game are also pretty cool and they are armed so you can wreak some havoc while on the roads of Yara. The level of customization is also decent. I mean who does not like a buggy that can start flying with a flick of a switch? That is pretty cool. The game also pays tribute to older titles in the franchise. A particular mission I enjoyed had me burn down fields of tobacco with a flame thrower while Bella Ciao was playing in the background. A nice combo indeed!

The new destructive addition to the game is the supremo backpack that can deal some real damage if you want it to. There are different variants that have different functions. One can fire missiles at enemies which can come in handy if you want to blow things up. Then there is the EMP backpack that jams everything around you including alarms so enemies cannot call for reinforcements.

Furthermore, the action can get a bit repetitive for some people. Then again this is a Far Cry game and that is pretty much the formula that Ubisoft has gone with. That is something that you are going to experience in Far Cry 6 as well. So beware of that!

All things considered, Far Cry 6 is fun to play and is one of the best games in the franchise that you can play right now. Antón Castillo is an impressive baddie and taking him down is going to be a joyride that I recommend. I can see myself clocking in 100 hours in this game easily. Shitting on Far Cry might be the new cool, but at its core Far Cry 6 is still Far Cry. I’ll leave it at that!

The post Far Cry 6 Review: The All-Round Best In The Series appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Xiaomi Yeelight W3 Smart LED Bulb Review

The product packaging is simple but you get pretty much all the compatibility information that you need on the box. If you need the lights to sync with other smart products in your home such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant then you can learn about the compatibility right on the box.

The installation process is pretty straightforward. All you need to do is screw in the bulb in the holder. Once you have done that, you can turn it on and off 5 times and the light will flash. This will indicate that the bulb is in pairing mode. You can open up the Yeelight app on your phone and then connect the bulb to your network.

You have the option to name the bulb and add the bulb to a group of lights. This can come in handy if you have many of these in different rooms. I for one have one of these grouped with my desktop RGB strip in my workspace.

In the app, you have plenty of presets that you can play around with and set the ones that you like. There is plenty of customization for the lights and you can even have the lights sync to music that you have playing. I do have the older bulbs and syncing them with the W3 and them syncing them all to music does have a slight delay but if you have all the same bulbs then that should not be an issue. Plus this could be fixed in a firmware update.

The customization is very cool indeed and it helps set the mood for parties, watching movies, or even when streaming. Razer Chroma integration help increases the immersion when gaming. But the number of supported games is very limited. I hope that more games are added to the game soon. I would love to play Genshin Impact with synced lighting.

A small issue that I noted was that if you have a blackout the lights are going to turn on when the power comes back. This is a third-world country issue and you might not face this issue if you do not have load shedding in your region.

Before the 1S came out, I was actually skeptical about these kinds of RGB lights. Even though I have RGB lighting in my PC and even on my peripherals. Once I got these smart bulbs, I actually was so satisfied that I bought a Google Nest in order to be able to set routines and use them with voice commands. If you already have a smart assistant then these smart bulbs would make a good addition to your home or office.

Compared to the 1S Bulb the new W3 is brighter at 900 Lumens. The W3 also has a lower power rating of 8W as compared to 8.5W. The price is also lower at USD 19.99 as compared to USD 29.99. So what you are getting is a cheaper bulb that has all the features as the older one. Win-win in my book.

With the lower price tag, the W3 smart bulbs are very competitive as compared to other products on the market right now. Is till am using the 1S models and they have worked without any issues. If that is anything to go buy then you can rest assured that the W3 bulbs are going to be just as reliable and durable.

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Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids Review

Wrath of the Druids starts like any DLC expansion for an RPG. A new guest has arrived with a particular problem for the players to solve and promise rewards in return. In the case of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids, a mysterious guest has arrived at the docks of Ravensthorpe with a message from the King of various Ireland territories.

While there is a compelling reason for Eivor to go to Ireland but, it feels rushed. It doesn’t feel like going to Ireland and creating an alliance there is a necessary step. However, it’s hardly anything to complain about.

Ireland is where players will run around and complete quests. One would think that Ireland would look different compared to England but, I felt like I was still roaming around in the latter. However, there are some locations that give a bit of personality to the new map. Overall, Ireland looks exactly like the map in Valhalla. But, it’s still beautiful to look at.

The Order of the Ancients was more of a side activity in the main game and The Children of Danu works similarly. However, there is a greater emphasis on tracking down The Children of Danu, and eliminating them as Children of Danu is the main focus of the DLC. Players must track and assassinate certain The Children of Danu members to progress the main story. Not only that, finding and reading the clues is crucial as they reveal important details.

Now let’s talk about gameplay. It’s the same as the base game, but new enemy types make things interesting. The druids who serve The Children of Danu will be cannon fodder for the players to go through.

These druids have hallucinogens which makes Eivor believe that they have mystical powers. They dance around, move at the speed of light, and use elemental attacks like fire and poison.

However, any enemy type that is not Druids fights in the same manner as the enemies in the main Assassin’s Creed Valhalla campaign. They are just the same encounters and it becomes unsatisfying pretty quick.

As for the quest structure, nothing has changed here. It’s just more of the same. Go there, steal something or kill someone of everyone in a particular area and return to the quest giver. The expansion leans too heavily on the mechanics laid out in the base game, which is not bad, but it gets boring. This highlights the lack of gameplay variety.

Royal Demands is a new quest type or activity introduced in the Wrath of the Druids expansion. It’s a different name but works the same way as other quests. These quests are assigned to Eivor anonymously at pigeon coops, reminding me of a certain quest type from Assassin’s Creed 2. These quests are important for Eivor’s allies in the region to gain influence but, they feel nothing more than busy work.

Another good thing about Wrath of the Druids is its story. It kept me engaged despite the repetitive mission structure and minimal gameplay variety. Depending on the player’s choices, it takes around 10 hours to see how the story unfolds. Characters have solid story arcs and the voice performances make the heavy tone of the story that much more compelling.

Aside from the new map, quests, and characters, Wath Of The Druids also includes new armor sets. Some of them are really cool looking with stats to match their visual beauty. However, if your build is already set, you won’t find much incentive to swap it out with the new gear you find in the expansion.

The post Assassin’s Creed Valhalla: Wrath of the Druids Review – More Of The Same Yet Something More appeared first on RespawnFirst.

Let’s start with the graphics; Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning is updated with a higher graphical fidelity but the overall style and feel of the game remain the same. Whether you are new to the franchise or have played the original, you will see sharp details, better shadow quality, and higher quality textures.

Character designs complement the sprawling cities, buildings, areas of this fantasy world. Each detail is meticulously crafted for a magical feel. Although a lot of the NPCs look the same, facial features-wise, it is still an immersive world.

Speaking of immersion, the music plays a big role in the potency of the game’s fantasy feel. Another layer of immersion is the game’s voice acting. It is not perfect but still well-done although I would have preferred better lip-sync.

In terms of gameplay, it is very easy to get into but if you want to customize your controls, the game does have key-binding options. There are 4 races in the game and each comes with its own unique pros and cons. You can choose the name of your character, and customize it before you jump in, pretty standard stuff for RPGs of this nature.

The HUD is smooth and gives all the necessary details like skills, abilities, HP, mana, equipped weapon. You will have access to magical abilities alongside your primary weapons.

You can upgrade your skills as you progress in the game. After you choose what skills and abilities need to be upgraded, you can pick your Fate as well. Fate is presented as Tarot cards in Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Primary fates are might, sorcery, and finesse but as you upgrade you can unlock different combinations. The combat and its related mechanics are the heart of this game and are incredibly fun. Once you upgrade your skills and abilities, get the weapons you need, Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning combat becomes satisfying and unlike many others in the genre, it doesn’t suffer from repetitiveness.

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Cyberpunk 2077 Review

Whether it’s day or night, even with the neon signs always glowing your path, Night City is filled with dread at every corner. I ignored the game’s instructions and walked towards a building, where I could hear punk music and some thugs shouting at each other. It felt familiar like many open-world games, but something was slightly different here. Using my focus, I scanned and “breached” one of the cameras, and then “Pinged” it, identifying everyone near it. My screen highlighted enemies talking and walking, unaware of my presence, and electronic devices near them. I scanned one of the enemies and realized that my options were quite limited, and I did not have enough “RAM” to manipulate his cyberware to my advantage. Without raising any alarm, I decided to walk away.

I checked my inventory and found I had sufficient funds to make some useful purchases. I ran towards the nearest fast travel point and fast-traveled to a ripper doc available at a central location. He was rude, and not really helpful, but who cares, he had the wares I needed. I replaced it with the basic OS and installed an upgraded Cyberdeck. It instantly gave me 10 Rams and about 7 mod slots. I had sufficient eddies and experience, so I chose to add some additional mods.

It was time to check back on those goons again. They were right where I had left them, but this time when I scanned, they had switched their places and were rather scattered. Before entering their location, I decided to look around a bit, and what do you know?! I found another gang ridiculing a poor citizen in a back alley. I decided to keep my chores quiet and avoid any rackets. With my smart sniper equipped, I “Breached” one of the goons, lowering his defenses this time.

Then I rebooted his optics; he went blind. Before he could panic, I grabbed him and snapped his neck. I moved ahead, fried another goon’s cyberwar, and burned another one’s eyes. While they were confused, I tracked another one’s head and blew it off with a single shot of my rare but powerful smart sniper. Before others could alert, I snapped at them with another cyber attack, this time frying their optics with a burn effect, and knocking them out. The bandits in the alley did not even know that their friends were disposed of, and I simply explored the area and looted what I could find.

A cop thanked me for making a clean getaway. It was a win-win situation. Night City felt safer even wrapped under its darkening sky, but it was a lie and I knew it.

A Never-Ending Story

So many stories in Night City start just like a routine mission, but become something else based on your actions. The experience I just shared is only one of the many side gigs; one of hundreds this game offers. The experience is so immersive that you forget what you really wanted to do in the first place. And once you get the idea behind the core loop of this game, it is too late to turn back.

While I decided to tackle the enemies with stealth and hacks, there are many instances where your sheer will to empower others lets you burn goons with your trusty weapons, adding thermal damage while bullets shred through their wares. The effects on limbs, and the response of enemies, and the countermeasures were taken by the enemies, is a sight to behold and makes every encounter a unique experience.

Cyberpunk 2077 is an enriching experience. But only if you keep yourself glued to an almost never-ending cycle of side missions and gigs. The core story is a short experience, but it is not why you want to buy and play this game. I have already spent 30+ hours in the game and have not even started with the main prologue mission, the one about the infamous Johnny Silverhand. The story does end, the game does end, but only if you choose to follow the linear path highlighted by the yellow lines. I say, stop following the directions and carve your own path.

The Beginning is the End

Let me put the core disappointment out first, as there are so many great things overshadowed under a hollow marketing stunt done by CDPR. The lifepaths are not a big deal. No matter who you start, you will eventually end up with Jackie Welles and a naked lady you must save. The intro sequence might feel as if it will make some good difference, but unfortunately, it only reflects some dialogue choices and minor story changes that do not really affect the overall experience. Whether I was a Street Kid, or a Nomad, or a confident Corpo, I was eventually who I wanted to be, and none of the choices I made at the start of the game really mattered. It felt disappointing because the marketing by CDPR made these choices relevant. However, Night City had its own plans and those plans happen no matter how much you choose to delay them. It is inevitable.

However, with that out of our way, the game itself is engrossed with multitudes of characters, paths, and choices, and even though your actions don’t really change the city, Night City does change you.

The Not-RPG RPG

Marketed as Adventure Role Playing Game, CDPR once again missed its actual mark. The game may have multiple choices of dialogues, customizations, and weapons; and even gets you to earn experience points like most RPGs nowadays, it still does not really give you sufficient choices to define itself as an RPG. If you sneak a lot, it does not give you the preferred experience of your playstyle; it gives you further options to tweak yourself more and create further choices, without affecting your core basic skills of stealth. I have invested almost nothing on COOL (the core feature for stealth), and I can still master most of it by investing all the stealth-based points on hacking and technical abilities. Instead of enhancing my options to hide better, the game gives me options to affect the detection abilities of enemies or take them away entirely.

Actions like clearing up goons and bandits in different parts of the city, also do not affect anything else apart from the status change of that certain gig. The behavior of police and bandits remains the same, even if you have saved any of the bandits or have saved some cop. I love my experience in Night City, but these little aspects leave me wanting a lot more, as I am not getting what I was marketed. This is one of the core reasons for disappointment in an otherwise masterpiece (almost).

The Grind, The Loot, and The Glitches

Once you get the hang of the core gameplay loop, you will be affixed to it for hours without getting bored. But eventually, you will face either one of these, irrespective of your playstyle or story path:

The Tiresome Grind You want a new upgrade? Too bad it requires you to reach a certain number of levels. Have you finally got the required level? Well, now you gotta earn the Eddies! But there are so many options to choose from, and only enough funds to choose a few.
The game has a robust economy, but unfortunately not many options to earn better. Your gigs and your loot will hardly be enough if you prefer to invest in yourself. You might win every battle because of your skill (and sometimes dumb AI), but you will not experience the many choices that only originate if you grind and choose to spend lots of money on yourself (Yes, do not pay back that Ripper Doc).

The Trash Loot There are many types of weapons and gears in the game. You can either loot them, or you can craft them. Looting is easier considering you don’t have to pay anything for them. But unfortunately, you will have two weird options to deal with them.
Most of the loot is a lot similar to one another, with slight changes in their DPS, and most of it simply becomes monotonous.

If you dress to kill, you will look ugly. If you dress to impress, you will die ugly.
One of the weakest elements of the game is the lack of options to wear a better-looking outfit, without killing your stats. Right now, my V looks like a dumpster hooker wearing a helmet. Not the choice I would have made if I had better flexibility.

The plethora of weapons become useless once you find some powerful epic gear. I wish there was an option to mark junk and sell/dismantle them with a single click.
The Game-Breaking Glitch By the time I wrote this review, the game had Hotfix 1.06, and I had spent 30 hours in it. Ever since this patch, I have not really faced a game-breaking bug. But I must warn you, you will eventually face one, and it will most likely crash your game or make a mission unplayable.

So save often, and create multiple save files. Press F5 whenever you are not in combat (if you are playing on PC).

If you can let these looming shadows stay behind, you will eventually find a highly addictive game, covered in dirt but with lots of options to clean it up.

Patch to the Future

Cyberpunk 2077 pledges lots of promises, gives numerous hopes, and sustains only a few of them at the current stage. But it will eventually reach a point when we can say that it has become what it was destined to be; The New Crysis, The Benchmark for PC Gamers, The path every game will supposedly follow to be labeled as a true next-gen experience.

But all of this will take lots of patches and buggy sacrifices. This is one of the main reasons I believe most of us should wait till March before they should buy this game. If your regional price tag is above 50 US Dollars, it is not worth your money at this stage. I got this game for 30 bucks because of regional pricing, and while I believe that it is a sufficient price for the current version, I would have eventually refunded as well if it was even 5 bucks more than this.

The Electric Dream Might Not Be True

You want to experience this game without flaws; you have to run it with sheer brute force under your hood. It runs remarkably well on High-end PCs, a computer that can literally chew your annual paycheque right from the bat. If you happen to play on a mid-range PC as I did, you will have to use lots of tweaks, prayers, and low settings to achieve a sustainable frame rate. While the game does look gorgeous on everything set to high even without Ray Tracing enabled, it runs under 10 frames for most parts, making it more like a nightmare than a dream coming true.

If you want to play the game in all its glory, upgrade. If you can’t upgrade, I would suggest that you wait. It might not be worth your bucks if the game looks like a PS3 game for you even though you just played Assassin’s Creed Valhalla on everything set to max and frames higher than 60. CDPR’s requirements table is not reliable at the current status.

The Unfaithful Lover

CDPR was the poster child for customer-centric companies. But Cyberpunk 2077 made us doubt their love for the community that has supported them for years and us. Is it because CDPR should not have committed anything outside The Witcher franchise? Is it because CDPR had committed a lot more than they could swallow?

Yes, to both. And these are enough reasons to forgive their mistake, for the love they have earned from us goes beyond the mere glitches and bugs, which we know, will be fixed in due time. We pushed them in the corner and made them release a game in fear of yet another delay, and now we have come to realize that perhaps another delay of four months would not have led to a breakup, in this long-standing relationship.

I am willing to forgive them, I have invested enough time in Cyberpunk 2077’s Night City to have my claim of refund revoked forever. I have to own it, and I have to keep playing.

Epilogue

Regina was calling again. Wish in this year 2077, we still had the option to deny a call, or turn off the phone, like back in 2020. She told me about yet another gig, similar in design, but I know I could make it different in execution. Besides, the lore and shards I will uncover would be worth my time.

The night wasn’t over. The quest indicator told me that Jackie was waiting for me at Afterlife. Regina wanted me to rescue a ripper doc. I still had to pay back my doc’s 20,000 eddies. Radio jammed a familiar tune, upbeat and synth-like. I decided to ignore everyone and started to drive, in hopes that I will bump into yet another secret of Night City and one of its many colorful characters. I was not willing to wake up from this dream; this life still had so much potential, and real life can wait.

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Immortals Fenyx Rising Review

In Immortals Fenyx Rising you can climb anything if you have enough stamina. The gliding mechanic is something that you might be used to if you have played Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Genshin Impact. It is a nice way of traversing around the world and you can experience some breath-taking sights along the way.

The exploration and open-world experience is similar to pretty much any Ubisoft game that you might have played in the past. There is plenty to explore and much to do. You have puzzles and challenges to complete apart from the main storyline. You also have hidden chests that you can open in order to get additional rewards.

The issue with exploration is that you are never truly exploring or truly lost in the game, so to speak. The game holds your hand and what you will be doing most of the time is going from point A to B. The element of surprise is just not there. Farsight is going to mark all the points of interest and will tell you what to expect when you get to any of the locations. So the mystery factor is not there but that does not mean that all the activities in the game are not fun.

The vaults are one of the activities that are fun to complete. They can be very challenging at times and they will require you to unlock certain abilities in order to complete. Which is something that you can do and come back. The game is going to tell you if you are missing an ability that you need so that you can quit the vault and come back later on.

Simple Combat That Works

The skill tree and the abilities that you can unlock are not as elaborate as Assassin’s Creed games but they do the job and help keep the game light and breezy. The weapons are also limited but they do not break and you do not need to find new ones. Which helps keep the combat simple enough while also keeping it interesting.

The ways in which you can use the godly abilities that Fenyx has depends on you. You will find clever ways of using abilities while in combat and also when traversing the world. Abilities like Athena’s Wrath, when used properly allow you to do a triple jump and get to higher places quickly without using as much stamina.

While the initial godly powers that you get are pretty basic, progress the game and you will unlock some killer abilities that you can chain together to pull off some sinister moves. The combat is satisfying and timing dodges will slow down time so that you can land some critical hits.

Stealth is also an option in the game and you can deal some serious damage with a stealthy approach. But I did not find it all that useful apart from the initial stealth blow. Upgrade your gear and abilities and you will truly become a god and be able to bully bosses.

The Flawed Storytelling Of Immortals Fenyx Rising

The storytelling is by far the weakest element of the game. The story is narrated by Zeus and Prometheus, and both have their own style but their jokes are not even funny and the tone of the story is never consistent. Both the gods rarely provide any insight regarding the story or the locations that you experience.

The narration is really off and the jokes can get cringy at times. I do agree that the game has a moral that we can all learn from and it is an interesting one but the way in which the dots are connected could have been much better.

Conclusion

Immortals Fenyx Rising is an impressive game that has interesting combat and decent exploration. The story is the weakest aspect of the game but if you are not interested in the cringy jokes and just looking for a refreshing game that you can jump in and kill some time then this is something that you might like especially if you like games like Zelda Breath of the Wild. This is an easy 7/10 game.

If you are interested in learning more about the game then you can check out our Immortals Fenyx Rising guides hub.

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