Recent reviews by Comrade Corwin

I will start by saying that, though I have a vast number of hours in this game, it is almost entirely due to mods.

That said, it is not because there wasn't a lot of work put into this game. Probably some fan love and tears, too. The vanilla game is fantastic, on its own. It is cinematic, with so much character, and conscious design put into it. Is it a true improvement on the previous Fallout games? I feel that is arguable.

Sure, Fallout 4 has them all beat in the graphical department, unless you are more of a fan of the 2D style, but most of the previous installments had more playable content, complexity, and philosophical depth. Bethesda may now hold the key to life and death of the franchise and they are responsible for 3 and 4, but it is 1, 2, and New Vegas that keeps this IP on the map. I am not saying that Bethesda cannot make great games, I admitted this is a great game, but people are here for the Fallout action and lore, which is not Bethesda's creation, alone. I actually started with 3 and loved it, but played the others and by comparison... not number one. I'll admit, though I still love them, I never even finished 1 or 2 because they were so long and they had their problems. Problems, which many have been solved or could be by Bethesda, but I don't believe this company needs to sacrifice what the others brought to the table to do so. If it removes more than it adds, then is it an improvement? I will say that New Vegas came very close to, if not being, the best thus far and I think Bethesda can continue to deliver on that quality by the standards of the day and beyond, if they chose to.

When it comes to the mods, yes, Fallout 4 has a pretty decent framework for modding. However, the way that Bethesda handles the community is legendarily bad. There have been constant attempts to monetize with little consideration for the consumer, which has negatively impacted that community. A lot of talent has been lost because of how they have handled modding. I expect that, to some extent, but Bethesda pushes the envelope far too often. Also, the tools and community to learn how to mod Fallout are phenomenal, but there were so many unnecessary obstacles. I've seen mods only fulfill half of their potential, because of some limitations that could be ironed out through adjusting company behavior to foster a friendlier environment and improving the tools for accessibility. That would have been a plus.

I do not regret buying Fallout 4. I got some fun out of playing an extremely modded form of this game and that would likely not have happened, had Bethesda not developed it. I also want to make sure they get close enough to their profit quota to continue the series, especially after 76... I've been hearing that's picking up a bit, I guess. Cool. Anyway, I'll probably buy the next one, so I hope it's great. Thanks for listening to my rant.

PS: I want to add that I disagree with vast numbers of people who HATE the voice acted main character, or the new dialogue system, or... whatever, most of the time. I believe that the voice acting of the main characters is awesome and allowed me to get more immersed. I never searched for one, but there should have been, if there isn't, an option to turn it off. Someone should have known that would have been controversial.

PPS: Also, I do agree that the dialogue responses should have been allowed to be switched between the XBOX wheel or original list style on the PC. I understand why people would want the ability to know exactly what their character intends to say. Sometimes developers make moon logic decisions and a character can have unexpected outbursts or have the player ending up in unknowingly preventable situations because of the chosen abbreviations to the response selection. I, personally, like it abbreviated, because I like to make quick decisions to have a flowing roleplay conversation. Sometimes this ended in something unwanted and unexpected, but the vast majority of the time, not.

I've played for nearly 2,000 hours... What have I become? What has this game done to me?

This is mostly a placeholder for a review that I plan to update once this game is declared complete, but I would still, here and now, adamantly suggest this game to anyone who is a fan of city-builders.

So, a quick overview of the game in the current state as of the writing of this review:
PROS
+ Intelligent, organic, self-evolution makes it seem as though your nuggets (citizens) truly have agency of their own in such a way that I have not yet experienced replicated by any other game within this genre.
+ Stylized art give this game a distinctive look that matches the tone and mechanics perfectly.
+ The sense of humor employed by those at Crytivo is a hilarious balance of playful jabs and carefree cynicism and fits perfectly with what would otherwise be a frightening allegory to situations we face in real world society and is found abundantly throughout the game's text, audio clips, and mechanics.
+ Ambient noise and sound clips make the world feel alive and even bustling in the late game, with a well-composed soundtrack that is soothing and well suited for long playthroughs.
+ Your role of Creator (a 'god') feels truly mystifying and impactful, from the single click at the beginning of a game to create the entire procedurally generated universe to using your powers do everything from acting as Cupid to even being able to completely rotate the entire planet to change seasons.
CONS
- The wonderful narrator is sometimes overly repetitive (improved with updates) and eventually peters out in the late game, losing a great virtual companion that is so endearing at the beginning of the game.
- Quests, exile (rival) faction interactions, and necessity for strategic variety are limited, which can cut short replayability after playthroughs begin entering into the double digits.
- There are some elements that are on the roadmap (like modern roads) that haven't been added because of the crunch to get the game to the stage where more important factors, like colonizing other planets, has taken such precedence. This is something I don't see being a problem in the long run, so take this criticism with a grain of salt, but it has gotten a lot of attention from a large part of the Universim community that would be more content having the game development finish one stage at a time, rather than rushing the main objectives and leaving the game feeling a little unfinished throughout the evolution of your civilization leading up to the space age.

Again, this is only criticism and praise that is applicable as of this time of writing and I don't suspect that many of the problems listed will continue into the finished product, but seeing as Steam users have been burned before by games that enter Early Access hell, it is always a possibility that they may persist. I suggest we be patient and respectful to this very communicative development team as it is plainly evident that they have poured a great deal of love and sweat into this project to make it the great game that it already is. I post this as a current fan, but I hope that what I say here can be seen as helpful and reliable to anyone considering getting this game.