Recent reviews by Bruise Killis 🥕

+ Great visuals
+ Hypnotic soundtrack
+ Masterfully designed
+ Creative premise
+ Very re-playable.

Aimbots make public servers unplayable, but are being addressed.

Read my lips, Bamco - NO. No to MTX, no to grind-central FOMO Battlepasses, no to predatory premium currency conversion rates (like needing 600, but able to buy only 500), no to online-only BP progression. And this is why the customization options are so obviously lacking, it all makes sense now.

I'm reconsidering buying Armored Core 6 and Shadow of the Erdtree DLC now. I can't in good conscience support such a greedy and deceptive publisher. What was wrong with the season system in T7? Why all this Overwatch 2 trash, are you that behind the times?

Finally, a 5th edition D&D RPG. The system is heavily home-brewed, but I definitely think it's more enjoyable than DOS2 was. Combat feels fast and impactful. The variety of builds and the amount of replayability are staggering. The great visuals, story and characters are just the icing on the cake. Combine all that with a very mod-able game, and I'll be playing this for a very long time.

Minor issues do exist: frame-rate dips in populated areas, inventory management between inactive characters can be a hassle, could use some additional tool-tips (like needing up-casting information on warlock level ups; explaining that spells are grayed-out because of equipped armor lacking proficiency; etc), AI can be kinda stupid (double dashing enemies; teammates walking over discovered traps).

Overall, a very great game, well worth the wait and the price!

Edit: 1st play-through took me around 150 hours, all while I deliberately avoided some content. I have a total of 20 play-throughs planned for this game, I love it!

As a beginner in the souls-like genre, I found this game to be a perfect starting point. Open world gives freedom in choosing next objective. Spirit summoning is makes boss fights a lot less frustrating. The variety of builds adds a lot of replay value. Landscapes are gorgeous and some vistas look like paintings.

So, as someone who often feels anxiety, rarely sees Game Over screens and doesn't finish very many games, I'm proud to 100% this masterpiece after 5 months of consistent game play.

One popular criticism that I do agree with is the rigid weapon upgrade system. The way it is now prohibits experimentation. It would be nice if it were possible with a rune fee to transfer upgrade level from one weapon to another. Also, the game sorely lacks a photo-mode. And the photo-mode mod seems to be no longer free. Here's hoping the upcoming DLC will implement these features.

Praise the Elden Ring
but just getting started!

Yep

Game language is in Turkish, despite Launcher language set to English. Have to create character using incomprehensible interface by guessing buttons to get in-game settings and change language there. Why?

Time to beat - 69 minutes.
100% achievements - another 40 minutes.

A fun, free and fast game. Check it out!

1.2 is out, amending my review as I spot changes.
1.3 is out, game long since uninstalled, amending review based on patch notes.

Some of the bugs like the ones during customization process have been addressed in 1.2. Many other serious bugs remain for now.

Other issues include:

- Quality of life issues
crafting items 1 by 1 takes 2 seconds when you need hundreds of them is tedious fixed in 1.2,
1st person driving view is better from what I can tell - need to test more,
minimap doesn't zoom out enough fixed in 1.3,
enemy marking will mark objects like doorways and explosive canisters that are in front of enemy,
unrebindable dashing fixed in 1.2,
throwing a knife doesn't put a new one in your slot automatically, also it destroys the knife after thrown

-Missing/cut features that were shown in gameplay trailers or mentioned in official interviews (monowire doesn't hack, only 1 crib, no metros, no spiderdrone, no wallrunning, no leaning out of car, no NPC routines)

-Lack of very obvious immersive features (no barbers, no designated tattoo parlors, can't eat at foodstands, no garage, no personal radio, no mini-games, no fun activities).
Honestly, after completing all of quests (around 70 hours) there is nothing left to do.

-Clunky key-mapping choices. Took me a while to find a comfortable layout.

-Lack of updates and little communication from the dev team. It feels like waiting for rain in the desert.

-Performance. I cannot get 60 fps on native resolution even on low with my GTX 1650. DynamicFidelityFX CAS allows to get 60, I believe it wasn't an option at launch.

-Car and NPC AI is really bad. Cars can't drive around a vehicle if it protrudes into the street at least a little bit, your vehicle will spawn inside of ground or other cars, NPCs freak out when accidentally dashing into them, cops are basically just another gang out to get you. There are events where cops are fighting another gang, but they will not engage them outside of such scenarios in an emergent fashion. In fact if a cop spots a gangster body they will decide to hunt the player as if it was a crime. Cops will teleport right to the player even in the forsaken Pacifica district or inside of a secluded apartment when a crime is commited. When stealthing temporary companions will run right under enemy noses undetected and then complain that V will get spotted. There are like 4 different ways of disabling cameras, except they sometimes turn back on as soon as the player is in view. Racing or following another car are unfair as the cars will either teleport closer behind the player or speed up ahead respectively in order to stay at least a certain distance from the player (50 meter ghosting).

-Low replay-value for RPG fans. Lifepath dialog choices matter little, some unskippable scenes, voiced protagonists severely limit the role-playing potential with no option to mute V, failing timed choices doesn't matter or results in death, some side quest choices that seem big don't matter.

-Swimming skills and items are useless. Not a big deal, but still a waste.

-Some game play mechanics aren't explained well. Double-tapping radio button can cycle through radios instead of needing to use the list, certain gangs are immune to smart-weapon targeting making bullets miss everything further than close range, grenade launcher mod for the hands has infinite ammo (now has a cooldown after 4 consequitive shots, not clear how many shots left) and doesn't use existing grenades, netrunning perk that should prevent RAM from depleting below a certain amount doesn't work, rerouting an occasional fusebox with engineering unlocks something but it isn't clear what.

-Experimentaion with attribute points is punished.. Perk points can be reset and reallocated for a price, but not attribute points that go into Body, Intelligence, Reflex, Cool and Engineering. And with a level cap of 50 it's possible to run out of attribute points. Boxing quest line is a big waste of body points for example for little pay-off. Engineering on the other hand is too good not to pick as it opens many locked doors, tech weapon handling, crafting, disassembling and upgrading items. Also, grinding skills at levels 18-20 (max) takes far too long for the game's amount of content

-Nothing to spend hoards of money on except cars in mid to late game. If you're not a collector all you need is 200k or so to get decent cyberware and a fast bike. Extra cash should allow to buy apartments or make some other meaningful purchases besides vehicles.

Now the things that were done well:

-The selection and the amount of detail of augmentations, clothes, weapons and vehicles are adequate to great.
-All quests are memorable in some way and quest buildings usually have multiple routes allowing for immersive-sim style of game play very often. Getting the leg cyberware early really increases the verticality of the gameplay. Quests can have multiple resolutions but not as complex as the Maelstrom spider-drone quest.
-Radio songs and OST tracks are often memorable bangers. Too bad many in-world radios at enemy hideouts seem to play the same 4-5 songs. Combat music is different depending on the district.
-A lot of great vocal performances from the English cast especially towards the end.
-Multiple endings are emotionally impactful but basically let you choose at the end which one you want.
-Occasionally dialogue choices are remembered and brought up again in a very natural way, sometimes much later in the story.
-Quest-related NPCs go through natural poses when speaking, have unique designs and often seem 3-dimensional.
-Breach minigame is well designed, fun and scales with netrunning well.
-Quickhacks are effective and diverse, can be used on objects as well as enemies - a rarity in cyberpunk game.
-Netrunner build is a enjoyable way to experience combat in a very different from the standard stealth FPS approach. It's entirely possible to stealthily and quickly complete entire combat-oriented gigs without ever drawing a gun.
-There is a depth to the game where it doesn't openly flaunt every available car, cyberware or blueprint and it's up the player to try and find them.
-Perk trees are vast and often have significant upgrades or even entirely new gameplay mechanics tucked away inside.
-Loot is bound to player's level so any new equipment could be useful. If you enjoy seeing big damage numbers pop up when you shoot, it's possible to make guns that deal damage in 100k range - overkill for regular enemies. Generally the enemies are not bullet-sponges.

Overall, I completed the game twice and well into the third one, but I am out of steam mostly because the 3rd character was supposed to be a smart-gun only build, which don't work against 2 different gangs. I definitely didn't even come close to seeing 100% of what the game has to offer as I want some bug and performance updates to come out first.
Some of the issues I listed can be fixed with a lot of time. Game will also benefit from modding support.

So unless you're part of the niche crowd who craves cyberpunk open world games, wait until it's more complete!

It's just as fun as I remember the first two games being. Workshop support is a great feature too.