Recent reviews by Chabs

Hundreds of games in my library, yet here I am playing this masterpiece for the 63646th time

Worth it if bought on sale. Ubisoft didn't bother with the achievements, but ultimately that's not a deal breaker.

If you've played the 1st, it's basically more of the same, but slightly better. I much preferred NYC's look and feel, specifically because of the snow and the fact that it takes place just a few days after ♥♥♥♥ hit the fan.

DC is also great, it's beautifully minified and modeled. But there's something about playing in the immediate aftermath vs 7 months later.

If you're new to the franchise, The Division 2 is basically a looter-shooter with your usual bulletsponge enemies. But unlike most such games, it takes place in a very realistic setting. If you're anti looter-shooter, it's not for you, especially if you hate spongy mobs.

Otherwise, it's great fun. The progression is very engaging and rewarding. It's ripe with a HUGE variety of loot: weapons, armor, clothes, gadgets... There's a LOT of variety. And this variety allows for a wide array of stats and skills which can be fine tuned to your liking. Hell you may even need an Excel sheet once you hit the endgame to min/max your stuff to oblivion.

I really love that the game doesn't stop you from adjusting your gear to your liking. That means both transmog (for armor) AND skill tweaking. That's a HUUUUGE plus compared to the first.
Rest assured, you don't NEED to tweak your gear, but it makes a world of difference if you find yourself enjoying a particular playstyle. In my case, I fell in love with the "demo" style, essentially maxing my explosive damage with all manner of weapons and skills. And it's GLORIOUS!

Small note regarding the storyline, it's very much meh, but good enough to keep you going. It's very generic, very surface level. You know who's bad, you know who's good... It's basically like the first game, but cringier.

Regarding performance, I know it's talked about a lot. I haven't had many issues with the game, save for a few crashes. So far, I've had 6-7 happen. It's annoying, but the game throws you (almost) right back into where you left. Performance-wise, a near solid 60fps on the highest settings, with a few dips here and there.
However, do note that while I didn't, a number of users have mentioned that they experienced many crashes. Some fixes have been suggested online, with varying success.

Edit 06/03/23:
The longer I play, the more I realise how barren this game is, and the less I feel like recommending it.

Sure, it looks big. It IS big in fact. It's also beautiful at times, the scenery, the weather effects, the models...
But all of this is trumped by how generic and boring it is.

It reminds me of Just Cause 4. Previous entries had GREAT gameplay, so much ♥♥♥♥ to do, the world felt vibrant. Then 4 came out, and while it perfected the gameplay and looked great, it was extremely shallow.

It's clear as day that Ubisoft cared more about exploiting a license to pump out a product that looked the part, while giving zero care about what actually made it great.

I do not recommend, not even at a discount.


Original review:
It's really not as much fun as Wildlands somehow.
But it's still alright if you get it for extra-cheap. Plus you can play with your friends without them needing to own the game.

There's a certain number of updated aspects since WIldlands, like the gameplay mechanics (skills, upgrades, gadgets). Also the fact that you can tailor the game to fit your preference (UI, AI difficulty, core mechanics difficulty). It's really super flexible.
I'm still very early in the game. But from the jump, it also feels like there's far more downgrades IMO.

The UI for one is atrocious. It makes the game feel so clunky, there's so much fodder, navigating menus is sometimes convoluted... Options, within options, bad UI... Just really meh all around.
The general flow of the game is also a massive downgrade. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this game feels so clunky, slow and shallow at times. Wildlands felt a LOT snappier in comparison.

It's not a BAD game, but it feels so damn generic.

10/10, absolutely recommended.

Love the art style, LOVE the seemingly limitless variety... No 1 playthrough is the same.
Dead Cells has inSANE value for the asking price. It's still being supported to this day, a very rare quality nowadays.

A beautiful emotional adventure with simple yet sometimes tedious gameplay.

Most of the gameplay is centred around exploration, resource gathering and crafting.
Some very minor resource management is involved, but there's next to no risk or challenge overall. You can't lose, and you can most certainly do everything no matter what your skill level is. It's a very very chill game.
While it can often feel grindy and annoying (some animations for repeat interactions are a bit too long), it's still somewhat fun to engage in the loop.

The main appeal is the story, the characters you get to interact with throughout your journey, the overall mood and the art style. All these elements are beautifully crafted to make for a cohesive and immersive experience.
It's one of those rare games that just knows how to strike a chord.

A truly soulless game. I really couldn't stop cringing.

If it was anything but a Battlefield game, it'd be an easy "get it on sale".
But because it is a Battlefield game, I can't in good conscience recommend it. Nor will I ever spend actual money getting this game.

I truly hope the franchise makes a triumphant comeback. It really wouldn't take much at all.

Activision is just a small indie company.
Please buy more bundles so they can afford to hire more staff. Maybe then they'll be able to avoid the performance-tanking updates.

Valve really has a knack for putting out excellent games when they put their minds into it.

Half-Life Alyx is a ground-breaking VR game. It's technically impressive, great looking, and so damn fun.
It felt just like playing Half-Life 2 for the first time all these years ago: mind-blowing.

Back in the day, Half-Life and Half-Life 2 spawned countless mods and stand-alone games. VR adoption is nowhere near the same as PC, but I'm really hoping Half-Life Alyx has the same effect. The VR ecosystem is in dire need of games that make it worthwhile.

A true classic.

It's still alive and kicking.
There's plenty of full servers to this day, so if you see this baby on sale, don't hesitate for a second.

Bit on the fence to be completely honest.

The FH series is very simplistic, but really fun to play. Mostly because the vehicles are beautifully rendered and the maps are diverse and pretty, and there's some amount of customisation.

But it's starting to feel a lot like FIFA or Madden. There's marginal improvements, and a lot is just copied and pasted over.

FH5 is almost a carbon copy of FH4, and by extension, of FH3.
The gameplay mechanics are the same, the UI/UX is the exact same (not that there's anything wrong), most of the car roster is the same, the game modes are (mostly) the same, and the cringy "campaign" plays the same.
For the most part, that's alright because the core is solid.

As for the main differences, here they are (roughly): updated graphics (RTX), new location, new cars.
That's pretty much it.

So, final verdict? Forza Horizon 5 is still a fun arcade racing game. The core mechanics are solid, it looks absolutely gorgeous, but the game leaves a sour taste if you've experience the 2 previous entries.
Overall, 100% worth it if you're new. If you have experienced the other ones, I'd say wait for a deep discount on this one, you'd mostly be paying a lot for more of the same.