Monster Hunter World: Iceborne

MH:World is a game by Capcom, it has nothing to do with world of warcraft and it's not an open world game. There, let's start with setting your expectations. It's a game where you - hunt monsters.

The game is divided in large zones, and hunts are done either solo or in small teams with up to 4 players. In fact, the missions play much like Warframe. An average mission in MH:W will take anywhere between 5-50 minutes, so it's not a "quick rush" like Warframe. Other similarities with warframe include a wide array of weapons, but that's really kind of where the comparison ends.

Your first hunt

You're dropped onto an island where various prehistoric and demonic beasts roam. Look for footprints and gain knowledge about their whereabouts. You'll quickly realize the character depth of most NPCs is about as shallow as their names. This is intentional, the main heroes of the story are the monsters and the combat that surrounds them.

The monsters are big. Some as tall as, well - the size of a prehistoric monster basically. You start the game off with a stack of basic weapons to choose from, and if you've also gotten the Iceborne expansion then some decent armor.

Combat is fast paced, fluid, random and unforgiving. These are wild monsters after all. As a beginner you probably want to go straight for the BIG SWORD - don't. The big sword is slow, and will leave you vulnerable to attack. There are literally hundreds of guides and tutorials out there and you're highly encourages to view them. You can bash buttons and do fairly well "up to a point", but combos and special moves linked to each weapon type will make you shine.

Graphics

Graphically the game is very solid, and there's a free high res texture pack available from the developer which will put your system to the test. Be prepared to be impressed with fur, monster habits and their interactions with the rest of the world - even the snow as you walk through it.

Take a moment every so and then to just look around. Jump into some water or be mellow in a hot spring. Until you get charged by an angry monster and need to either fight or run for your life. Yes, getting chopped up in two hits is a very real danger for a monster hunter.

Aside the free HD-texture pack there's also a variety of extra hairstyles, house decor items and vouchers you can grab as "free dlc". Which instantly puts you to an awareness that there's also paid-dlc available for this game. Luckily these are generally no more than 1$ a piece, and completely optional. (no pay to win here)

The combat

I can't finish this review without touching on the combat in specific. As I mentioned earlier - you can bash buttons and do fairly well, but... You should decide pretty early on if you want to play this game with a controller (recommended) or mouse and keyboard. Being the stubborn pc gamer that I am, I had to go with the mouse and keyboard. Most guides will show you Triangle and circle, L2, R2 etc in terms of how to play - which is because this game is primarily a console game that was later ported to PC.

Some basic examples of weapon combos:
OOO = 3x Left mouse button (LMB) performs a basic slash, cross slash and circle slash with the sword and shield.
VVV = 3x Right mouse button (RMB) performs a cross slash diagonal slash and shield bash.
But,. you can chain combos!
VVVOOO = a good 6 hits in a row, nice n fast.
And then there's Guard, OOO + VVV, O+V for a spin attack, and various interactions with the environment.
You can even Guard + Back + V to perform a charge attack which may be followed by either V or O to perform a special move,. and well. That's just the tip of the iceberg.

There are 14 different weapon types, and each has their own set of moves to learn and master. Each weapon has a WIDE array of weapon elements and may be crafted from the parts of monsters you hunt/kill/capture.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GtThCk6qu3Y

Both Monster Hunter: World and Monster hunter World: Iceborne are available in the Humble store, fanatical, steam and various other places.

The game receives various updates and free content updates throughout the year and should keep you occupied for a good while. It's an action packed multiplayer game with fast paced combat and very detailed graphics.

Release date: 9 Aug, 2018

Minimum system specs: Windows 7+, Intel core i5 4460 or greater, 8 GB ram, Nividia geforce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon R7 260x or greater with 2 GB video ram, DirectX 11 and up, Broadband internet and at least 48 GB disk space.

UnEpic - Is quite epic

I swear this is the last metroidvania review for a few weeks. Maybe.

UnEpic is a game that's been around for a few years already. It's devs have also made the game Ghost 1.0, and are currently working on a game called UnMetal - slated for release October 2020. UnEpic is a 2D side view metroidvania (as most of them are). The game starts you off in a classic Dungeons and Dragons themed setting where you, the main character, need to use the toilet and leave the table. As you enter the dark room something feels off.

The voices tell me...

You will be dead soon, but not for a while. As the dark spirit takes possession over your body, it realizes it can't actually do anything anymore. Comedy gold will ensue as you now have a lifetime companion in your head whispering you "good advice" (Not really) in order to help you on your quest and release itself.

The game is very dark and gritty, controls can take a bit to get used to but the light effects more than make up for it. The bosses may pose a significant challenge unless you spend some time farming magic reagents. The main drawback the game poses in it's design.

I'm a packrat

There are a ton of items to find, and you have an inventory size to match that idea. Keys and secrets, NPCs hidden in various locations. Aside the lovely narrator of the ghost you'll encounter various easter eggs referring to other games.

The game does not take itself too seriously, and that's honestly one of the reasons why it just works as well as it does. It's not an easy game by any means. But if you aren't shy of a little grinding for reagents the game is very fun and worth a good few hours of entertainment. (Or so the voices in your head may tell you)

UnEpic may be found on steam and the Humble Store, personally I've already put in 25 hours of gameplay - and didn't even finish it yet. It's worth keeping an eye on it when it goes on sale. Currently it's 15% off at HB, but it's historical low was seen at less than 2$ on Gog.

Release date: 25 Jul, 2014

Minimum system requirements: Windows XP, Dual core CPU, 4 GB ram, 256mb openGL video card, 256MB disk space, Direct Sound installed.

Sundered: Eldritch Edition

On the subject of metroidvanias (hey, I warned you I love these things) the game Sundered: Eldritch Edition is an absolute pearl to the collection. How many games do you own that are fully hand drawn? Probably not that many. The detail here is well done, and only on the "upscaled" enemies will you really notice the pen lines.

Sundered sucks you in and keeps a firm grip. An H.P. Lovecraft inspired metroidvania melee hack and slash with a skill tree that does not quite rival Path of Exile, but is certain to remind you of it.

The voice of the trapezohedron

The first thing you'll notice once the game actually starts is the voice of the "narrator". It speaks a dark language which will remind some of you of German, and will often taunt of tempt you. Bring me the elder shards and I will make you powerful. The choice to give in, or resist will determine the game's ending as well as the skills you have available. Personally, I find the voice to be one of the best selling points of the game.

The game itself plays very fluid, fast and the pacing is perfectly done. It's not often I bother getting ALL the achievements for a game, but this one can be done in about 2-3 playthroughs. It also lets you freely roam most of the world and each of the 3 BIG bosses may be killed in any order to progress to the final boss. Image below for scale. You are small and insignificant.

Death is inevitable

Or so the eldritch terrors and would have you believe. Once you do get killed, you'll respawn (there is no escape) and get access to your skill tree. Spending gems will improve your abilities, health, shield, ammo, armor - you name it. But also special perks which you may find when killing stronger enemies. These will give you a bonus, but also a drawback. For example increased armor, but lower health and shields. Increased crit chance, but lower health. A total of 27 perks are to be found and may be upgraded.

You can play Sundered alone, at night, or locally as a 4 player shared screen game. It's available for Windows and MacOS, and currently 75% off at the Humble Bundle store.

Release date: 28 Jul, 2017

Minimum system requirements: Windows 7+ 64 bit, or mac osx yosemite. 1.8 GHz processor, 4 GB ram, DirectX 10+ compatible graphics card with at least 256 Mb video ram, 3 GB storage space

Yoku's island express

And now for something completely different! Personally I'm a big fan of the Metroidvania genre, and will go out of my way to get them when they show up in new bundles. Like UnEpic or even Hollow Knight for example, but we may have to cover those in another review later.

Yoku's island express is a metroidvania unlike ANY other you've ever played. It has all the classic metroidvania elements, but mixes it's gameplay with Pinball. Yes, Pinball. My curiosity was honestly tickled when I read that. Available on Nintendo, Playstation and PC. Overwhelmingly positive reviews on Steam.

Bounce left and right

So, about that pinball mechanic. Your character "yoku" as you may have guessed is a little beetle that pushes around a big ball. You can walk left, you can walk right - and later swim. But, this critter does not jump. Instead you use the island's many pinball paddles to get kicked and rolled around all over the place. It may sound harsh, and often times it most certainly is, but the mechanic is refreshing and quite unexpected.

The publisher is Team17, which was another surprise. For anyone who has not heard of them before, they're known for games such as Worms and Alien Breed. More they've also published games such as My time at portia, and Overcooked. In short, they're a publisher that goes back many years. Before EA was even a thing.

The island

It's a big island with many inhabitants and you've just arrived to take up the position of mailman. Or, mailbug in this case. The game is pretty casual, you can't actually get killed, and there are no special achievements for not letting the ball get lost too many times. There's a lot of items to find, and hidden items to discover. Much like any good metroidvania.

In Yoku's you'll find an entertaining game with lots of charm and a decent few hours of gameplay. The replayability isn't huge, but it's a great game to share with your younger family members. Some of the moves can be challenging, but a few tries is usually all it takes - and there's no time limit.

Yoku's island express is a colorful game about exploration, adventure, and full of charm. Put this on your wishlist if you enjoy either pinball, metroidvanias or both. The game features a charming soundtrack and many friends to discover along your journey on this magical island.

Release date: 29 May, 2018

Minimum system requirements: 64 bit cpu and OS, windows 7 or higher, Intel i3-2100 at 3GHz, 4 GB ram, Nvidia GeForce GT 630 1 GB or AMD Radeon 7770 1 GB or Intel HD 530, DirectX 10 or up, 3 GB available hard disk space.

Opus Magnum

Have you ever played a zachtronics game? Honestly, it takes a special kind of masochism to really enjoy their games fully. But there is beauty in creation, improving and finding the perfect solution to the open ended puzzles that are part of Opus Magnum.

Not for the faint of heart

And it seems I'm one of those masochists. Opus magnum is/was part of the Humble choice April 2020 so you should be able to trade for it fairly easily still. If not, it's worth the money even without discount.

Zachtronics has also created the 3D construction puzzle game Infinifactory, and it's a work of art in it's own right as well. As well as various other open ended puzzle games. Be sure to look it up.

In Opus magnum you play the role of a young alchemical engineer, fresh out of the academy and working the transmutation engine. With the above screenshot you'll pretty much be spending most of the game. All the board pieces may be placed along 6 directions and freely moved across the board. Input atom and fuse them together with specific instructions for each handler arm to create molecules as output.

It seems simple enough, but creating gold from lead is probably one of the easier missions. Soon you'll be taking apart large molecules, replacing bits, creating strings and moving whole chains of atoms across the board through carefully crafted instructions to each arm. Timing suddenly becomes crucial, and a slight tweak here and there,. before you know it you've been working a single machine for hours.

Each solution has three measurements which you may compare to the creations of your friends. Cost, number of cycles and area. Can your machine be made better than it was when you first made it?

The storyline

The game's storyline is engaging enough, and helps explain what you're creating and why. If you're looking for a quick getaway from the regular machine, the game also features a solitaire mode called sigmar's garden. (Depicted above) It functions much like a game of solitaire mahjong in that you unlock atoms by removing other atoms. The exact rules for this are explained in game. Opus Magnum is not your average puzzle game, this one requires you to actually think and plan well beyond the usual. And you can increase the difficulty as you get better at it by setting your own challenges.

Release date: 7 Dec, 2017

Minimum system requirements: Windows Vista though 10, 2 GHz CPU, 4 GB Ram, 1366x768 screen, DirectX 11, 600 MB Storage space.

Warframe

Few games in my library hold a time played with over 100 hours. Let alone over 1600 hours as Warframe does. Let me start you off with saying right off the bat, this is not a "First person" shooter. And that was the first thing that bothered me when starting this game. As time goes by that'll bother you less and less however - even though I've been a fervent FPS player for a good portion of my life. (Duke 3D, Quake, Half-life,. just to name a few) 

Few reviews will be worth reading without a proper introduction, but this time I think a video should get your attention quite well,. please enjoy the following: 

Before warframe

Before Warframe I was enjoying Destiny 2. That was before they went free to play for the base game however, and it's not done that game much good imo. Some will agree, some will disagree with that, and everyone is entitled to their opinion on that matter. for me the biggest, and absolutely most noticeable difference between the two games is the speed. Both are referred to as "looter shooter" in the sense that you kill enemies, and they drop loot which will improve your character over time. It's basically an RPG in a way, but you're much more in control over your character and surroundings than you would be in a classic turn based RPG for example. Destiny 2 is slow by comparison. You walk most places, jump like your legs are weighted down, and your weapons are "meh" by comparison. Both games have over time borrowed a lot of features from each other, but you'll quickly see which one did it better as you try and play both. Destiny will appeal more to those who prefer a slightly more tactical, slow pace gameplay, while Warframe will suck you in and get you right into the action.

Bounce all around

Now Warframe, was classically referred to as "epic pinball", for good reason. The game plays very mobile, any jump left or right will happily propel you dozens of meters through the space, and you can dodge and glide in almost any direction. It just responds very intuitively. For your weapons you've got a huge amount of choices ranging from melee to straight up cluster bomb arrows, giant laser beams and homing rockets.

Literally hundreds to choose from. All the colors are customizable in a variety of themes, and so is your player, or "Warframe" as you'll find out through the quest system. I'll try not to spoil, but honestly play through the quests - it'll blow your mind.

A fashion for everyone

Aside epic pinball, Warframe is often referred to as "Fashion Frame" because of the wide array of customization. Players happily make use of this, men and women alike - from big boned ping colored feather winged tank farmes, to dainty but dark gothic frames alike. Melee and ranged weapons, pets, sentinels (a robotic kind of pet), wings, attachments, logos, and even your space ship and clan dojo can be modified and altered, designed to your liking. You could spend dozens of hours doing exactly that.

You should know, Warframe is free. Yes, free, you read that right. And as with most free games it's "free" - quotes intended. Game devs don't work for nothing, they get paid just like anyone for their job and that money has to come from somewhere. In this case in the form of platinum. You can buy platinum from the developers for a pretty fair price (I bought like 4k of it once when the 75% discount coupon showed up, and still have 2500 or so after a year of playing). But, you can also trade platinum with other players, so you'll never actually run out of it - in fact you may end up getting more than you need as long as you are wise with what you spend it on.

Premium currency

The most important thing to spend your platinum on is warframe and weapon slots. Anything else - is great if you're rich in platinum, but should be secondary if you're planning to be a pure F2P player. Never "rush" finish any crafting construction because honestly this game will last you a while and you'll unlock all the things you need eventually anyhow. If you have no patience for seeing a rush button then walk away now. But if you can ignore those and enjoy multitasking so and then (or even use the phone app for it), then the game's F2P aspect should not bother you at all. A big thing to note is that P2W is not part of Warframe. Everyone is equal after leveling your weapons and mods.

If anything it's worth spending some coins to support the wonderful dev team. They've been doing frequent streams explaining the upcoming features and are simply very involved and dedicated to the community.

Space ships

One of the latest features is called Railjack - 360 degrees space combat missions. With your very own (again, customizable) space ship, and crew. Personally I've enjoyed piloting a space ship like this since playing EVE online (Yes I've actually played that one as well), well, only a month or two, mostly as a miner. Warframe brings you space combat against all the usual bad guys - and more to come. Board, steal and control enemy crewships, or just destroy them with ever more powerful weapons.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2f8Hhczjd8

All this has ensured Warframe has been in the top 10 of Steam's most played games for about 7 years now, and if you enjoy the Action / FPS (even tho this is third-person shooter)  genre of games, then I suggest giving it a spin.

Warframe does have a variety of extra stuff, even on humble bundle. But, you'll find the main game for free - right here on steam.

Release date: 25 Mar, 2013

Minimum system requirements: Windows 7 64 bit, Intel Core 2 duo e 6400 or AMD Athlon 64 bit 4000+, DirectX 10+ compatible graphics, 4 GB ram, 32 GB available HD space, broadband internet connection.

Terraria

The best way to describe this game is “Minecraft 2D”. Even if you’ve never played minecraft, you’re sure to have heard of it by now, and terraria was initially released two years after it. (2009 vs 2011) The game is nearing it’s 10th birthday, and with that said it’s going to receive a another MAJOR patch titled “Journey’s End” this coming May 16th 2020. For any game it’s always great to receive updates after release, but Terraria really stands out in this regard.

The game is available on Humble Bundle and steam, often at 50% discount during major sales. I can highly encourage you to have a look at it when it is. That said, I’ve paid the full price for it myself, and have over 400 hours into it – it’s well worth the mere 10$ that they’re charging for it. Terraria – imo – has more features and content than Minecraft, so the time you spend in here is likely to be LONG when you’re having fun.

So, if you have never played a digger game, what can you expect?
Well, you get dropped in a grassy meadow with the occasional rabbit jumping around. Equipped with a weak little copper sword, a pickaxe, and an axe. And with this you are on your own. You can use the pick to dig down and likely end up dead after a while or walk left or right – and end up in the same way as you are molested by slimes or night falls and zombies start to spawn. You can’t fly “yet” so going up isn’t an issue for now.

Go left or right, chop some trees and start with a crafting table to build yourself a log cabin. A basic “house” has fully covered walls, a table (or any flat surface) and chair, one door and a lightsource. That’s all you need “for now” to get your very first NPC to move in. Soon you’ll be building skyscrapers, desert pyramids, an ice getaway, underwater fishbowls or castles in the sky.

Crafting in Terraria is quite simple. If you have the materials, you can make it. To find out _what_ you need is another story entirely, but there’s a big and comprehensive official wiki if you don’t mind the spoilers.

Terraria is one of those games that is better with friends – but then, which game isn’t?
In this case however it really helps to have friends, as you can help against bosses, explore twice as much or one player explores while the other builds. It’s the perfect game for you and the kids, and if they are being naughty you just toss them into the lava 😉

Various game modes aside just dig, build and do silly things exist. Plain pvp is possible, as is capture the flat, or building a fortress, even dungeons full of traps and other deadly things. As mentioned the game has various bosses and things to unlock beside just building and digging – the amount of customization is HUGE. As you dig deep and unlock the second or even third wave of more difficult monsters you’ll also gain access to gear which is that much stronger. You character is permanent, but you have to keep in mind that some of your gear may be dropped on death – do be sure to get it back, and save some backup weapons in your house.

On weapons there is plenty to choose from as well. You start with the simple copper sword, and there’s various metal upgrades (silver, iron, gold, etc) of the basic sword. And as swords go there are about 80 (at the time of writing), and that’s just the swords. Then there’s spears, bows, yoyos, boomerangs, flails, repeating crossbows, guns, launchers, wands, spellbooks, staves, throwing weapons, explosives… *breathes* are you impressed yet?

Most weapons you can craft with the proper materials, some you get from killing bosses. In regards to those – you will probably die a time or two and if you have been playing with a friend, they will die too. But things get better, and easier as you get better weapons, dig deeper (or higher). The sky is *not* the limit.

When at some point you’re done with the base game, there’s a giant community of players that have been making mods, have privately hosted servers you can join and look around their creations, mazes, dungeons or just play some semi-friendly pvp against.

Full day and night cycles, blood moon, oceans, deserts, jungle, frost, swamp, corruption, hallow, and various other biome areas to explore both above and below ground. Fully randomized maps, crafting, wiring system for making machines, pets, vendors, tons of different monsters. Why haven’t you gotten this game yet? It’s rated overwhelmingly positive on steam for a good reason.

Release date: 16 May, 2011. Available on Humble Bundle and steam.

Minimum system requirements: Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, 7 though 10, 2.0 GHz cpu, 2.5 GB Ram, only 200 MB hard disk space, 128mb Video memory video card, capable of shader model 2.0+, DirectX 9.0C or greater.