DM Schmeyer
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Writing For
IGNLatest Reviews
After a very rough start, I met Outward on its terms, finishing several quests and exploring each of its expansive regions from top to bottom. In doing so, I saw some cool sights, fought some worthy opponents, and cast a lot of cool spells with its impressive magic system. I spent more time, however, slogging through long, boring battles with an otherwise poor combat system, working around major bugs, scrounging berries to eat, sleeping in tents, and just walking the same roads, back and forth, from one familiar town to the other and back again. These flaws didn’t just crop up regularly – they defined the experience. There is the seed of a better RPG here, but it’s buried under too much rough terrain. At its best, Outward can offer novel experiences, a good challenge, and a fun way to play with friends. It spends more time at its worst, though, and that’s boring and tedious.
Call of Cthulhu is a dark ride through a mad, cosmic horror nightmare with a paranormal detective story as your vehicle. Occasionally poor level and encounter design can make the eerily atmospheric road a little bumpy, but the engaging mystery and an intriguing utilization of RPG mechanics make it one of the more enjoyable Lovecraftian games in years.
Pathfinder: Kingmaker delivers a fantastic story and a deep character system to dive into. Without a Dungeon Master on the player’s side to smooth out the rough edges however, its balance is wildly inconsistent and its event design, flawed. So many promising ideas fall well short in execution.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire improves upon the Pillars of Eternity formula in nearly every way, creating an RPG loaded with both strong combat and important, character-defining choices that frequently have an impact on your numerous and deep side-story adventures. A refreshingly different island setting makes it feel dramatically distinct, though travel can be laborious because of unavoidable and repetitive nautical encounters. From a long list of quality-of-life upgrades to a new and impressive attention on companions and their relationships and an astonishing commitment to immersive storytelling and roleplaying, this sequel takes a strong step forward past its predecessor and presents exciting possibilities for the genre going forward.