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Reviews
Jagged Alliance 3 (2023)
One of the GOATs
One of the all time greatest games ever made. Seriously no BS. I've had so much genuine fun with this game it's ridiculous. If you're familiar with turn based strategy games then you'll get the basic premise of this game but it's sooo much more. I'll explain below.
The game has a very steep learning curve that I wasn't aware of but once I explain it, it'll make perfect sense and will be easier for you to start going in. So basically I started a new game without looking any tips up online or anything and just started to play and figure things out. It was fun but pretty difficult of a game, and this is after buying legendary mercs to be on my team. So long story short after playing for 15 hours or so and never gaining a profit but actually in debt by almost $300,000 I was frustrated with the run I was doing and started a new game.
This time I did my research and picked the best mercs to choose for starting a new game and they are as follows:
1. Ivan - Considered one of the top S-tier mercenaries. His unique talent allows him to melt 4 enemies in a single turn with a shortened UV dot assault rifle.
2. Barry - Another S-tier merc, known as "Blow 'em to God" for his powerful explosive abilities. Basically he creates POWERFUL explosives that detonate in a large cone area that he can also throw pretty far. You can take out 3+ enemies with that alone. He can also disarm anything that is explosive which is necessary to have since there are many traps in this game to disarm.
3. Livewire - Provides a maphack ability that trivializes the game and saves a lot of time. Considered one of the top value mercenaries.
4. Thor - Gives the entire squad caffeine pills/herbal medicine every 2 days to remove fatigue modifiers, which is very useful for tough boss fights.
5. Ice - Can empty 5 unaimed shots at a boss with armor piercing rounds, making him a cheaper and more effective option than Kalyna.
6. Len - While not a solo carry, he provides the valuable "old dog" perk to increase squad XP gain, and his unique is good for taking down heavily armored enemies.
So starting a new game with those characters gives you a serious advantage. Don't be fooled by their relatively low marksmanship rating as that can be improved. Also the game emphasizes zooming in for better accuracy and/or choosing different body parts to target. In my experience not zooming at all and always targeting torso (unless you absolutely have to) pretty much always guarantees at least 1 hit. Whereas if you zoom in you get less chances to shoot during that character's turn. So worth the trade off in my book.
Also the game doesn't really explain about which guns to get and use or even how to modify the weapons to make them better and have better accuracy.
The guns to get right away are the:
RPK (Best weapon in the game - most powerful, can eliminate most enemies in one shot).
G-36 one of the better weapons to equip your team with (at least 2 squad members) for its ability to fire at least 3 separate times in a single move while still allowing you to fire after that. It's not as high damage as the RPK but good enough.
Those 2 weapons are the most effective for your team. I'd say 3-4 team members with the RPK (when you can because it's hard to find, usually need to buy it) and 2-3 with the G36.
(Tip: don't save any weapons if your team is stocked. Scrap them for parts which you can use to upgrade your equipped weapons - give them to "Livewire")
Then another thing the game doesn't explain well enough is the monetary situation. After going into major debt during my first attempt at the game, I didn't want that to happen again. So focus on the first 3 diamond mines closest to your starting location during a new game and claim those. Then (the most crucial part that isn't explained that well) you need to train militia forces to essentially look after and protect the mine once you leave it. Otherwise the enemy will keep sending forces to reclaim it which is very frustrating. After doing this and upgrading the starting cast of characters I am now flush with over $350,000 in funds and can do and spend it on anything while taking my time clearing the map.
That's what I found to be different about this game over something like XCOM 2 or something. You need to take your time with this game as there isn't a deadline or rush. And when you don't have to worry about the finances or other issues in the game it's a lot more fun.
Also after getting all the best gear and the aforementioned weapons above, I can clear entire maps with 14 enemies and not have the other team make a single hit on my team. So it's definitely a lot of fun. I'm just surprised I didn't know about this game or series. I happened to see it on sale, watched a review and figured I'd check it out. Had no idea it'd be a game that will be in my top 5 greatest games of all time. It's seriously that good. Well worth it.
Hey developers! How about some DLC for the game. Eager to play the next one! Cheers!
Starfield (2023)
Good at Times, Not Great
Have now logged over 5 days playing this and have reached almost level 60 and have one last mission for the main quest so I have a good understanding on this game. Spoilers below for the main story but it honestly won't hinder your enjoyment of the game as the story is terrible. I will explain below:
The main story is so DRY and FLAT and incredibly boring. There is absolutely no excitement to be found throughout the entire campaign. When I finished the campaign (except for the very last mission which has you enter the "Unity" which essentially is a New Game Plus and you lose your crew and progress and restarts the game) my only reaction was "What? That was it? That was the whole story?". Complete and utter waste of time.
Essentially what it boils down to (stay with me for this because it's a doozy) traveling to lifeless boring planets over and over again. Enter a boring temple that looks exactly the same as every single other temple. Float in the air, move toward beams of light then get the "artifact".
Repeat this over and over until the final mission when you confront the 2 "Starborn" essentially inter-dimensional people and convince them to give you their artifacts. Then they disappear. Then you're supposed to enter the "Unity" and it starts a New Game Plus. Basically do it all again!! How Fun!!
I have never been so disappointed in a video game's story than I have with this game. A complete and utter farce and they should be ashamed for allowing such a terrible story to diminish what could have been a great game.
Honestly they should have made everything more fun without having to rely on "proper" physics and reality. Essentially they should have made it more sci-fi, like what was done with the game Outer Worlds by Obsidian. If they had done that this would have been an easy 10/10. Instead they focused on making 1000 planets (which you DON'T WANT to go to and land because they are randomly generated boring with nothing to do or see). They would have been better off with a smaller map and they could have done it like the Outer Worlds where you don't explore the whole planet just a specific zone. But each specific zone would be handcrafted and interesting to explore. Including interesting characters that don't just speak in a dry monotone like in Starfield. If they had more interesting characters that were maybe funny or outlandish. Something. But Starfield doesn't, 99% of all characters are boring to speak to.
I keep trying to find more quests with interesting stuff to do but everything is just simple missions. Multiple missions are, I kid you not, take this item and deliver it there. Mission over! Honestly Bethesda should be ashamed with releasing such a disappointment of a game.
When it comes to space combat with your ship, it can be fun at times but what I've found is if you are looking for enemy ships to fight, it can take FOREVER to even find enemy ships as everything is so spread out with so many empty lifeless boring planets.
The fact that when you loot a body of their gear and it stays on their body is weird and doesn't make sense. Almost like the developers ran out of time. There is still fun to be had in the game but it's sparse and you need to look for it.
Also one last thing regarding the so called relationships in the game. There aren't any. You literally just keep selecting the "flirt" dialogue choice over and over and after a hundred times (spread out over many many hours of other gameplay) they ask you to marry them. Terribly stupid and beyond boring.
I paid $48 for this game which I believe to be a ripoff. This game is honestly worth $30 AT BEST.