Recent reviews by 3Form

Multiplayer works fine on my machine!

City builder crossed with roguelike is pure genius, 130 hours in and every game still feels novel

Game has potential and a committed, enthusiastic dev team. Looking forward to see where this goes.

This is really neat. Looking forward to full release.

I never played the original and I'm not a huge MOBA player but this has been fun so far.

If you enjoyed Frostpunk 1 as a purely narrative experience then this game offers something similar and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

That being said, it is short (13 hours to do the story) and expensive, so I'd be reluctant to recommend it unless on sale. I'm not sure how much replayability there is or what the upcoming DLC will add.

Honestly I enjoyed this quite a lot. It was essentially an extended episode of Trek, with all the advantages that being in video game form brings: interacting and "steering" the story & modern graphics. More visually striking sets and aliens that whilst still humanoid are more distinct than having a ridge on their nose (or indeed pointy ears) - transcending the limitations of the 1990s. I also really liked the two player characters, it was an interesting choice to have two. I initially thought I'd be more interested in one than the other but it wasn't the case.

What lets the game down is mostly down to a smaller budget, I suspect. The graphics are generally good, but sometimes miss. Especially some of the scenes in the initial chapters I felt were a pretty weak introduction. And generally UE5 issues with frame rates all over the place. I also felt some character models were way more detailed than others.

Other than that, some choices seemed a little contrived, and some of the responses from your crew even moreso, almost manufactured "consequences". And then the general issues I have with the telltale style games: some of the QTE seem unnecessary, and then the fact that the games are so "short" (12 hours for me). But that's generally just a desire for more, these are visual stories after all.

On the whole though I can recommend, and would like to see sequels or DLC if possible!

It is a very modern ARPG with excellent theory/build-crafting potential. Very meaningful skill trees: not only for your class but also each ability can be modified greatly. Itemisation is also good with a great crafting mechanic that lets you tweak items that have dropped or even re-forge them into stronger equipment. There are of course items that can completely change how your abilities interact with each other and therefore how your class works. The game is very satisfying in this sense - your character really feels more powerful when you receive a better item.

The downside to this modernity is that it is very "fast". The campaign is short, there is little exploration to do, before you know it you are in the "endgame" which consists of playing random maps over and over. After 46 hours this is still satisfying though and I've yet to touch another class. With the next "season" coming up (more modernity) there is much promise.

The game is pretty solid, it has some flaws but it more than makes up for them in atmosphere and character - on its own it's a neat little deck building auto-battler. It's easy to be dismissive because it's an auto-battler, but there is more than enough depth around how you build your characters and how best to position them at the start of each battle.

I hadn't heard of Legend of the Five Rings before coming across this game but it was originally a card game set in a grim-dark amalgam of historical east-Asia. Numerous clans vie for political dominance in the 'Empire of Rokugan' whilst samurai man a great wall that keeps the horrors of the 'shadowlands' at bay.

Whilst that might have the potential to be a little clichéd or dare I say it, orientalist, it's actually pretty fun. There are a bunch of novels set in this universe and as a result of playing the game I picked one up and it was a good read!

If you're a fan on the show or the books then you'll enjoy this in its own right as a short story / prequel, particularly if you're fond of Drummer, the protagonist. I wouldn't expect it stands alone particularly well if you haven't seen or read them however.

Visually the game looks really nice with unreal engine 4, and you can edit an ini file to hack an HDR setting on if you're blessed with such a monitor. I'm pretty impressed by the character models and animations and the scenery is generally pretty good.

Main complaint is it's quite short. You can expect to get ~8 hours out of a single playthrough, maybe a little more with the DLC. You might get a bit more playtime replaying some episodes to try different choices because whilst they don't change the main storyline they do have an impact on your crew.

Hoping we can see more episodes in the future as there's quite a selection of characters in the Expanse that could make for interesting side stories / prequels.