Recent reviews by Hren-kun

Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate - inscription after Date passed through the gate of Hell.

Want an authentic extract shooter genre experience? You've come to the right place. While Ark Raiders or other competitors in a somewhat similar style might be compelling and exciting, EFT is a game in itself.

The atmosphere, bugs, frustration, and community - only EFT can provide to you that extraction desperation and dopamine feel.

Most important warning - DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME ALONE IF YOU'RE A NEWCOMER. The Tarkov player base, albeit diverse, usually sums up as SBEU Komars. They might be ruthless, deceitful, cunning, and arrogant (due to the fact that they think this is an elite, hardcore, fast-paced bang-bang game not for everyone type).

But at the same time you can find friendly and polite compatriots, maybe even friends, and moments that you will remember for a while.

The technical aspect of this title is a long-running joke since Alpha (hell, it even worked better before 1.0 in some aspects). If your gaming rig doesn't have 32 GB of fast RAM (good luck finding that nowadays), a capable multithreaded CPU, and not a potato GPU, you will not have a very smooth experience. Every particle, interaction, grenade, and spawn will dip your FPS like a chocolate.

Netcode goes into the same category. Long searches for matches, disconnects, backend errors, etc. Sometimes bullets will hit you after a couple of seconds due to parsing through server-client, which takes its sweet time. Oh, and cheaters, there are plenty, but nowadays they're trying to play subtle and don't attract much attention to themselves.

Some of the players buy PvE mode and enjoy themselves there, some just delve into madness and become one with it in some shape or form. Either way, everyone chooses their own way to enjoy this broken but captivating title.

Quests and activities take a lot of your real-life time. Some of them can be extremely tedious, others will just give an item and be done with it. Crafting, trading, and interacting sometimes feel like they're from mobile games with microtransactions (buying stash slots is essential if you don't want to play Tetris after every late-game raid ;) ).

There's a small but pleasant benefit from owning this game on Steam - patch downloads from the Steam client itself. Downside - you cannot play this game in the BSG launcher outside your Steam account.

Being a lifelong fan since the first title, my heart skipped when I learned about somethin' something 30th anniversary will be released. And when it came out, I bought this package instantly (if I had waited, I could've bought it cheaper via the Rayman Collection bundle, but the excitement took the best of me).

Sidestory: I teared up a bit after seeing a DLC in my Steam library with an activation key to Uplay (sorry - Ubisoft Connect - old habits die hard), because I vividly remember the Rayman Legends pre-order fiasco when the game launched and nobody, including myself, was able to play it because there was no key.

Upon launch I was greeted with my favorite app. It still bothers me - why can't they integrate it like EA did with Apex Legends or Activision-Blizzard with Overwatch? After that, I saw the menu and paid attention to the Steam game's hero picture. Something with art felt amiss to me, like the style is somewhat alien to the original. But the History of Rayman section was made stylized and clean, so they were definitely able to match the artistic direction of the original, but why not do that in every menu?

The developers behind this collection are Digital Eclipse, and recently they made Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection (which, by the way, I also bought - sucker for nostalgia in a nutshell, what can I say?). And that release is also plagued with various problems. But why, for the love of God, is there no music in the menu? MK:LK have it, why this doesn't?

And here comes the most irritating part - music and emulation.

Emulation itself is okay-ish, with various FPS dips here and there (spoiler - on a Steam Deck it is also present). Rewind works quite well in recently patched MK:LK - but here it's a choppy 2 frames mess limited to 15 seconds (but still a fine addition nonetheless). After that (or somewhere in the middle of the gameplay), audio starts to delay (about 1 to 4 seconds, it might even be 9 in the worst cases), which is REALLY unacceptable (the game has shiny or even blank spots, which trigger a sound cue indicating something spawned - a cage, an enemy, or an object. For veterans it might not be that problematic, due to knowledge of most spots - but for any new player or one who doesn't know these by heart, this will be an unpleasant experience).

The new soundtrack is somewhat refreshing, but it doesn't feel like Rayman 1 most of the time (or I would even dare to say it feels like a different game). Christophe Héral is a talented composer, he made bangers for Beyond Good and Evil and Rayman Origins / Legends. But I would rather play with a remix or original OST from the game's original composer - Rémi Gazel. Or have a toggle to switch tracks to fit everyone's needs. Why this issue came to be is mind-boggling to me, Ubisoft owns the Rayman property (or there's a catch - someone correct me if I am wrong).

And since it's already 2026, there are modern handhelds on the market, and that game is perfect for that form factor (I've completed Rayman Redemption just chillin' in bed). Guess what? No cloud saves for you. No Steam support (that's a given with Ubi games), not even Ubisoft's own service. Even Beyond Good and Evil Anniversary Edition has a wonky implementation of cloud saves via in-game cloud upload and download. Why doesn't this release support such a feature even though IT REQUIRES THAT APP INSTALLED?

I am hands down for projects like this, don't get me wrong. It's really heartwarming to see something dear to you coming back in a modern format, with the convenience of just buying it on Steam and playing anywhere, and I will gladly support that notion with my wallet. But why the hell does every similar release feel like something is amiss?

Why does the Rayman Redemption fan game work on a Steam Deck better than this collection? (Even MK:LK works fine on a handheld).

Here's my old drawing of our favorite hero just for nostalgia's sake:
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=276906479

I bought this game dirt cheap to play on my Steam Deck, and this game makes me mad very fast.

When you boot up NFS, you'll be greeted with EA Origins (or EA Play nowdays - same stuff, nothing changed). After that, on a handheld, you either will or won't log in. If you don't, reboot without touching anything.

After that, you'll face a main menu, which I guess is a love letter to Windows 8 with that block design, very intuitive. And you won't see single mode at all - you'll have to join an ALLDRIVE session, which puts you in a lobby with randoms. There is an option to be the only player in the lobby, but it unlocks after the first races, and you'll still be chronically online.

Next comes cinematics and modern comedy galore with few tutorial races. And realization - there's no pause at all - the game runs ALL THE TIME. Wanna change your grip, answer a phone call, or take a quick break? Too bad - stop all your activity and enjoy being AFK in a semi-multiplayer style.

Here comes the main bit - the car handling. I've heard this game has a fine tuning to control your vehicle, but all I can manage is a jelly-style wheel that goes brrr. Drifting attempts make my backside very hot.

Remember that this game doesn't have a pause function? Tutorials, notifications, and phone calls mid-race are just a peak addition to the overall picture.

Oh, and sometimes unresponsive or completely broken gamepad controls are fine additions too. The car won't steer in the direction of the stick? Just press a button on a keyboard and try your joystick again, simple. R2 (or RT) won't register sometimes (the same goes for L2 (or LT)), holding L3 (the driving stick) to change the tune instead of pressing a T button on a keyboard.

The soundtrack doesn't really click with me. Only one song does, which is The Chemical Brothers - Go.

I played this game a lot in my childhood, encapsulated in this game's overall atmosphere. Music is good, characters are lovable, and exploration was quite intriguing. When you're playing for the first time, you might get stuck on some puzzles or on how to acquire pearls needed for progression.

Despite the old version's charm, which needed some tweaking to work properly on a modern system (and it's a shame Ubisoft pulled it from the store), this one (surprisingly enough, well, not really) needs it too. If you want to play on a 16:10 monitor (like a Steam Deck's one) - behold, black bars from The Evil Within. If you want a frame rate higher than 60 - .ini file editing as usual (but beware - it does break some in-game logic, and the pearl mini-game won't register a score without a button press and will be very fast or slow depending on the frame time).

But despite all that, I enjoyed replaying this old gem on a Steam Deck with 90 fps high settings galore with no stutters at all. Achievements registered properly (because I was online all the time - thanks, UbiConnect) and didn't have any major issues (some at launch reported AMD graphics won't play nicely with this title).

Additional content with Jade's past didn't click with me. Characters are out of place and cringy. The pirate life backstory is not really fleshed out for me, due to the game's nonexistent explanation of WHO Jade really IS and why she has her powers.

While watching TechWeeb's video, I saw a pretty anime game cover on his Steam Deck, and it intrigued me. After that, I went and bought this game, thinking it would be a few hours just to try and then forget, but boy, was I wrong.

After remapping controls to R2 to shoot, L2 to target, the back buttons of the Steam Deck to switch weapons (without those aforementioned back buttons this game feels off for me with a regular controller), and the A button to roll, I got into action.

If you enjoy games from an old era (like Contra, perhaps), this title might be for you. For a casual playthrough, if you are skilled enough for a reaction and don't take too much damage, it would be a breeze. But to run 100% completion, you'll have to pray to gods for aim to work properly, because it won't target enemies you want near sometimes, nor will it target ones who are far away barraging you with bullets.

Aside from the 64-bit transition and bundling all of the expansion packs with the main game, this release is nothing more than lousy slop at this time. AI portraits, funky animations and models, misplaced fonts, and much more.

It's not the quality that Age of Mythologies provided. Hell, not even a proper definitive edition experience is shown in this release. I hold out hope that they address some of the issues, but based on my experience with DoW III, my expectations are low.

Hope that DoW IV will be at least at some level of what the first game provided, because from the looks of the first screenshots and trailer, it's going to be another aforementioned DoW III, which is deeply saddening.

Not going to refund it just yet, 'cause hope dies last.

If you like tactical shooters and/or played old Rainbow, this is your jam. You theoretically can run 'n gun everything, but that depends only on your luck.

After finishing the campaign on standard difficulty with an S rank, I've decided to write this review. Teammate AI often can make me very, very angry. And enemy bots can scam kill you across the map or even break out of a stun animation in seconds only just to ignore all flashes and kill a civilian - and only after that lie on the ground.

Some achievements made my head spin, like on Rust Belt and 3 Letters Triad. ALT+F4 will be your friend in Ironman mode due to AI (friend and foe) being a you-know-what.

RoN truly shines the best in co-op only. Reliable and knowledgeable teammates will guarantee you a more pleasant experience with this game.

Current censorship shenanigans are upsetting. While I wholeheartedly support the console release - the more the merrier - but I don't approve of taking stuff from a PC version just like they did. The game's whole premise is that you're a good guy trying to fight all kinds of horror society and the world throw at you, trying to save life and apprehend evil in the most gruesome situations. And that's the setting's charm.

To mention, sometimes you might get crashes, and loading times are going to tire you if, just like me, the mission won't play the way you want over and over again.

Waaay back my relatives gave me a PlayStation 3 disk called Split/Second: Velocity and told me to try it because they enjoyed it. And oh boy, I've tried it so hard 'till I platinumed the game.

Now, sadly, the PC version doesn't have a functional multiplayer, only LAN and split-screen. Despite saying it doesn't support Steam Deck, it is in fact playable on it. Back then I didn't imagine I could've enjoyed this in its full galore on a handheld. Despite not having all content from consoles (this will bring back some of the missing stuff), it is still pretty much enjoyable, albeit being a PC port.

Using Lossless Scaling and this guide, you can even up the frame rate to 60 (and now it even works on a Steam Deck[github.com]).

The dynamic soundtrack is a banger here. Few of the tracks are in my playlist to this day since its release in 2010. I'd recommend either playing seasons at your own pace or downloading a 100% save file and finding a LAN lobby with randoms or creating one with friends.

This video might sum it up better than my review.

Ma! My time in Hoyo games wasn't for naught!

This is a Persona title, plagued with gacha mechanics. So even if you are an avid Persona fan, be ready to soak in many types of craft materials and casino gameplay. I didn't advance much in a story at the time of writing this review, just doing dailies to avoid the LV cap (I have a hunch it would be like in any Hoyo titles - until your profile level is not at the appropriate level, you won't be able to continue).

So, if you came from Persona games and don't play gacha titles that much - just as the game says, take your time and avoid FOMO.

Storywise, welcome to a parallel (?) world, boys! Remember you fought another P-game protagonist? It's the same story here - they are quite literally phantoms of sorts (ha, just like thieves I'm sorry for that).

The music and art style are still a banger (Atlus and P-Studio's work is quite noticeable). Shadow Loop, Desire Surrender, and Deep Zone are nonstop in my playlist at the moment.

My only real problem aside from the gacha plague is the clutter on the screen. It is a mobile game first and foremost, and most of the menus are on the screen all the time, despite having a quick access wheel and the phone. Also, playing with a controller will always display that annoying PRESS R3 AND TRIGGER TO SWITCH TO THE MOUSE MODE.

Runs beautifully on Steam Deck with little tweaking, locking to 45 on OLED and disabling some graphic options will significantly improve the stability of the frame rate. And you will need to bind the mouse to the trackpad, otherwise, some menus will be inaccessible, or you can use the touchscreen.

Vicarious Visions made a fantastic remake of my childhood game (and a sequel, which I will play someday, I hope). And it saddens me that they're no more doing stuff like that and making some pew-pew and technical stuff for CoD.

I played a ton of the first title on PlayStation 1 and 100% it on my PlayStation 4. Warped is my favorite out of the trilogy (despite water levels, I hate them immensely).

Performs very well on my PC and Steam Deck. Music (wake me up at 3 AM, and I will guess the main theme immediately) and gameplay are still very good (despite sometimes clunky platforming and rough out-of-the-screen jumps).