Recent reviews by Buk

TLDR: If you want a fantastic adventure game to play solo or with friends, buy this one. If you are a fan of Trine, you will be a fan of this game. If you are not yet a fan of Trine, you are going to become one :)

Trine is a series known for its co-op adventures, incredible visuals and an excellent soundtrack. After the dip that was Trine 3, Trine 4 brought it back. And Trine 5?

The graphics
Not much to say here, it's just marvellous. The game is breathtaking. The landscapes are incredible and you get to visit multiple gorgeous locales. The characters look good, everything is nicely animated, the lot.

The soundtrack
Once again, the soundtrack is bliss. Ari strikes back with an incredibly beautiful soundtrack. Unlike in previous games though, a lot of the songs seem to be slightly adjusted songs from the previous games. The other games had remixed songs as well (the obligatory Astral Academy remix comes to mind), but this game seems to have loads. Mind you, this is not a bad thing. And you still get new songs regardless.

The gameplay
I only played in co-op, but I imagine my points will largely stand despite this. The gameplay feels nice. It's still got a whiff of the old Trine jank but it seems to have been ironed out rather nicely. The combat feels nice, the bosses feel satisfying and intuitive. The puzzles are nicely laid out and not too confusing. And, even on normal mode (yes, there is a hard mode for puzzles, I didn't play it tho), they can be challenging.

The progression
They stuck with the basic idea from Trine 4. But they improved it. I don't know how, as it seems rather the same, but I felt much better with the skills in Trine 5. Talent points are back once again. You can choose where you spend them, but some skills are locked behind progression through the story, rather than being unlocked for talent points. Each story skill also has a dedicated section where you only play as that hero and get to try out your new skill and it isn't overly long, all of which is an amazing design choice. This progression system lets the developers make challenging puzzles with increasing complexity and difficulty as the game progresses, which is a plus. Each unlock also brings a new skill to spend talent points on, which is nice. In terms of skills gained, the major ones are, of course, the story related ones. If you're afraid that it's just going to be some sort of rehash of the old skills, don't worry. Many of the old skills are back, but each character gets new toys to play with. I won't spoil any story related skills, but I will say, that Amadeus' double jump is insanely broken and I love it. I will also say that Zoya definitely got the short end of the stick. The only really exciting skill is the very last story related one. I will also point out that you don't get skill points right away. You convert experience to skill points, but only at major checkpoints, not regular ones and definitely not at will. That is, of course, unless you just go back to that checkpoint via the 'Back to Map' button and then selecting to start at that checkpoint, or just simply walking back to it... I don't understand the idea behind them, to be honest. One last thing to mention is that you can respec skills at any point without any penalty, which is very nice.

The co-op
Once again, the potential for shenanigans is huge. The puzzles are adjusted to fit the co-op style so that you need to work together to solve the puzzles. Since each player has their own talent points, even with just 2 people, you can cover a pretty good chunk of the skills available to you. And with more players comes the potential for cheese. Creative use of another player's presence (or skills) can lead to puzzle solutions surely not intended by the developers. In other words, the Trine charm is definitely still here. Despite there being only 3 characters, you can play in 4 players. If you are playing with less than 4 people, you can opt to play "Classic" mode, where each character is only present once. Or, you can select the unlimited mode and just have 4 Pontiuses furiously pounding the ground, or 4 Zoyas pitifully chucking a sticky dynamite 5 cm in front of them and exploding it with the hilariously unsatifying explosion sound. Also, just like Trine 4, please note that to play on the same save with all your friends, you, rather confusingly, don't use the 'Multiplayer' button, but the 'Continue Game' button.

The story
It's quite good. It seems to be a lot more connected to the universe that Trine takes place in, there are a lot of references to past games (which you do not need to have played to play this one) and overall, it's enticing and doesn't have the weird "nothing's really happening" midpoint like Trine 4 does. We get to meet a lot of characters in the world and visit many different (all beautiful, obviously) locations. I like it, it's like a fairytale, so very Trine-like.

One last thing to mention is my play time. At the time of writing this review, I finished the game exactly once, collecting every piece of experience and getting every Steam achievement. See for yourself, that is a lot of content for not that high of a price.

PS: Some achivements are BS (I'm looking at you, 'As Luck Would Have It' and 'Boreal Bowling')

Trine 4 is, just like the previous 3 games, gorgeous in terms of visuals and soundtrack. I'm confident in saying that the graphics are the best they've ever been. Amazing landscapes, excellent characters, magical creatures and an ADORABLE BEAR OHMYGOD!

The soundtrack is spot on. Ari is just the best, man.

Gameplay-wise the game is good. They ditched the 3D, which is a shame on the one hand. On the other hand, after seeing what it did to Trine 3, I think it's for the better. The physics are wonky as always, but at least it's managable. What's not as good is the progression system. In Trine and Trine 2 you could save up points early on for your favourite character. Puzzles could be tackled in multiple different ways, which made the game replayable. In Trine 3 it was gone altogether, which made people complain. In Trine 4, the system is WAAAY too linear. Some skills require skill points to unlock, these you can save up for. Some, however, are unlocked through the fighting encounters, which of course are in set places. Thus, linear progress. Some skills are locked behind the linear skills and that honestly kind of sucks. There are 2 types of puzzles. The ones you figure out right away, and ones that take you longer and you've completed them by "cheating". The former is encountered especially after acquiring the linear progression skills. Amadeus can now conjure 2 boxes? Here are 5 puzzles that require nothing else than 2 boxes. The latter are usually in secret spots which, to be fair, is understandable.

Story-wise, it's back to Trine fashion. After the misstep that was Trine 3 with the cliffhanger and whatnot (which is referenced in a funny easter egg after collecting all the collectibles), the story in Trine 4 is nice and tidy. It starts and ends within the same game, kinda makes sense, and isn't 5 levels long. The middle part of the game feels like nothing is happening, but who can fault it, when you can look at amazing fantasy scenery and listen to the excellent soundtrack and OHMYGOD THE BEAR IS CUTE.

What makes Trine 10x more fun has always been multiplayer. While I have yet to try it with 4 people, just playing with 1 other person makes the game infinitely more fun. I want to put a disclaimer, though. DO NOT PLAY THROUGH THE 'MULTIPLAYER' BUTTON. IT ALWAYS CREATES A NEW SAVE FILE AND AS SUCH DOESN'T SAVE YOUR PROGRESSION. Instead, use the 'Continue Game' button and join your friends through there. Don't make the same mistake we did :-).

All in all, Trine 4 is definitely a step in the right direction. My rating may have been influenced by the cute bear, but I honestly think the game is fabulous and after Trine 3, I will accept anything even remotely close to Trine and Trine 2. Worth it. Especially since it's Trine, so it will probably go on sale often.

The Crew 2. There are people who love this game and then there are those who hate it.
I'm the former. This game offers a lot of variety that I feel is missing from many racing games. Because apart from cars, you get to race boats and planes.

The story is cheesy at best. It kind of reminds me of NFS 2015 in that you're a rookie, who gets recognized by families. You get a companion who is annoying as hell. Everyone is motivating you and it's all a bit too perfect. But I was in it for the racing so I just overlooked it.

The gameplay is divided into 4 families: Street, Pro, Offroad and Freestyle. Each family has multiple disciplines. You buy vehicles already built for the given discipline (unlike in The Crew, where you bought a car and then put kits on it). This can prove costly and Ubisoft offers an easy way out in the form of currency which you can buy with real money. People don't like it and I think that's fair.

After meeting winning conditions of a race, you get Followers (exp), Bucks (money) and parts for the vehicle you're driving. Parts are shared by all vehicles in a discipline as long as they're not equipped (meaning if you have a max level exhaust on one car, you can't put the same exhaust on another). They are not, however, shared across disciplines, so to get max level for all vehicles, you'll have to invest some serious hours.

The handling itself differs discipline to discipline. Overall, it's very arcadey, collisions are funky, visual damage is small and actual performance damage is non-existent. What people don't like is how Drift cars handle like they were boats, which is "unrealistic". It's an arcade racer though. What?

The PvP is actually not bad. As of the time I'm writing this, there are 2 playlists: Streetrace and a limited time playlist (usually Demolition Derby). The Streetrace one gets fair rules:
- Everyone's car is max level.
- No collisions.
- People who don't own a car for a dicipline can loan one, but can't earn parts.
- No affixes (part bonuses)
- There are cars only races and bikes only races (♥♥♥♥ those bikes, man)
This seems like it heavily favours people who don't put the time in. And to be fair, it does. However, if you put the time in to explore races and if you're good at the game, it's rewarding in the fact that you will, most likely, win.

So what to conclude of this? The Crew offered a better story and different handling. The Crew 2 offers much more variety and light heartedness. The PvP doesn't require you to put an unholy amount of hours in, while rewarding those who have. It's just a shame not many people do PvP. Overall, I think this is a great game. Besides, it really needs the thumbs up.


Edit:
The Summit has been out for a few months now and here are my thoughts:
- It sorta keeps the game alive. It certainly keeps ME going back every week to claim it. Every week a new set of races with unique conditions and cars comes out and helps me not feel burned out from the game.
- Finally an event that rewards people who put the time in. Such as myself. In the Summit your parts and icon points count and that is good, since PvP gives all people maxed out cars.
- The unique vehicle rewards are good. In my opinion, these rewards are excellent and reward players who put in the effort to complete the races as best as they can. These cars are all amazing in their class, although some would argue that it isn't good when the new ones totally dominate their class (such as the Divo Magma Edition or the Carrera GT Green Flash Edition dominating the Hypercar class). Let's put it this way: If you care about the leaderboards and a good time, you probably care about the Summit. If you care about the Summit, you will try to get Platinum rewards.
- People complain about the accessibility of the Summit, especially in relation to the car requirements, because often, buying all the cars (albeit in a pack with a discount) is rather costly. See my previous point. If you care about the Summit, you're gonna put the time in.

I want to mention one last thing about the Summit. I'm not a great driver myself. I don't have the best of the best parts in every class for every situation. Yet I have never missed a plat reward. Think about that.

Why do people hate it?
Actually, I don't know. They say something about it not being a TRUE TrackMania they used to know and love. They say the Trackbuilder is bad. They say all sorts of things.
What do I not like?
-First of all, the Trackbuilder is awkward to use. That much is true. I sometimes do have trouble making the game do what I want to. However, if you don't like it, you shouldn't have put a ring on it can use the original builder. What the ♥♥♥♥, people? Why do y'all gotta complain?
-Secondly, and this is a very minor thing, i don't like that the game puts a score screen immediately after you finish. It's not the old "watch your car fly away/crash into a wall for a few seconds" finish.
-The ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ Down & Dirty Valley races.
That's it. The game is otherwise awesome. Great graphics, good optimization, good sounds, it's coulourful, you can turn off the annoying voices... It's perfect! No, that's a lie. But it's good enough to buy. If not for the full price, then definitely for a discount. I enjoyed it and I believe you will too.

Tl;dr: This game is awesome, buy it. You won't regret it.
This is Half-Life, but it's got improved graphics. If you wonder: "Why should I pay $20 for Half-Life?" then don't. Because while it's a remaster and almost every area is remade to look better but stay the same, some puzzles are different like, for example, the mortar puzzle after you get chased by the big blue flamethrower thing. It's a remaster and it is definitely worth playing.
I'd say the only negative thing is that the multiplayer is kinda dead. It's a lot of fun though. Pure carnage and it's so awesome.

EDIT: After having played the Xen release, I can only add that the wait was worth it. Xen is totally reimagined, although many parts are vaguely similar. New challenging puzzles and combat await in Xen and the graphics are gorgeous and the Nihilanth fight is just the cherry on top. One thing I would recommend, though: get a good PC. I was having trouble keeping up 30 frames at times ^^.

It hurts me to check "No" on the "Do you recommend this game?" thing. Why do I check the "No" then?

Let's adress the positives first.
-The game looks stunning. Like in both Trine and Trine 2 the graphics are beautiful. I'd say even better than that.
-The soundtrack is astonishing. Again. Trine and Trine 2 also had awesome soundtracks.
-The story really makes you want to know how it
ends. Again both previous Trine games also had this.
-The 3D is a nice idea.
That's about it. It took what all the games had, made it slightly better and bam! A new game was born. Sounds awesome, doesn't it?

The negatives.
-The physics are dreadful. On Trine and Trine 2 the physics weren't perfect. But it wasn't as frustrating as this. There are a lot of physics based puzzels. With the horrible physics chances are that you will get through them (eventually) a different way than intended. Usually using a bug of sort.
-The 3D. Yes, it's a very nice idea. But. The controls are dreadful. You can't get anywhere without falling to your death sometimes, because you can't really control the characters. They do what they want. Speaking of falling, you fall either because you can't control them, or because you can't see them. See also:
-The camera is awful. You can't tell the camera that you want it to move so you can see what you're actually doing. It's just there and you have to stare at the rocks. Or whatever background/foreground there is.
-The story is really, REALLY short. The first chapters are tutorial and necessary, but don't develop the story. Done the tutorials? You've done about a quarter of the game already! The final chapter? THE cliffhanger. "Yay, we've got one of the things. Two more to go!" Roll credits. End.

What to conclude of this? Don't buy this game. It's an awesome idea and I hate giving a Trine game a negative review. But for god's sake do NOT buy this game. Or at least not for $22. Buy the other two. They're cheaper and better.

I can say just:
"That dog worked with the Nazis!"
"Your hamster is a hamster!"
"This place is a dead parrot, and I have proof!"
"This place talks to strangers, sir!"
and
"Your mother was a platypus, mate!"

Magicka 2. You can see an unpleasant amount of negative reviews. And yes, they've got a great point. Magicka 2 feels like an expansion to Magicka. People compare these two a lot. And I mean A LOT. Yes, the campaign is fairly short and there are quite harder enemies.
But, you mostly can't see them mentioning to use the new mechanics. The enemies are hard, yes, however if you use the new movement system to your advantage, they become much easier. It is hard to get used to, don't be mislead, but once you get the hang of it, you fly (not literally). People dislike the fact that now you can't SPAM. Yes, literally. You cannot spam the same op spell combo for the whole game. You have to differ your attacks. And people hate it. Enemies have elemental resistances which, in my opinion, is a great thing. You now have to use different combinations and A-S-S (lightning-death-death) or A-R-S-E (lightning-cold-death-shield) are not the way to go the whole campaign. And the thing about magicks having a global cooldown? Meh. I don't mind.

In conclusion people got so used to Magicka, they cannot accept the new mechanics. And look at how much time most people that reviwed negatively have put in the game! Less than me! (and I don't have much) It is a matter of adaptation. If you adapt to this game, you will love it (especially if you are new to the Magicka "franchise"). But if you can't adapt to this new thing, then you won't enjoy it. And you won't find out until you have bought the game (lols). I really recommend you adapt to this system. And if you do, I can almost guarantee you will enjoy the game :-)

You know, Season Passes should include ALL DLC. Not with this one. We don't get the most important ones: Wild Run and Calling All Units. Not even a discount or anything. Just no.

Magicka je skvělá hra, která má zajímavý příběh, vtipné scény, parodie, PvP, Co-op... Cena odpovídá. Je tu taky možnost koupit si DLC, pokud opravdu hodně potřebujete. Je to sranda hlavně s jinými hráči. Hra je supr, doporučuju! :)