Recent reviews by Lupus Major

Deep Rock Galactic is a super fun, atmospheric game that has tons of replayability and catering to both new and old players. The gameplay really builds on the core premise of the game, that you're playing as a grizzled old dwarf struggling in a hostile environment. You have limited light, collectables are often in hard to reach places, and the random cave generation makes just getting from point A to point B a mission. However, it never feels like these are annoying little mis-designs or overlooked flaws, because you always have the tools at your disposal to overcome these challenges in unique ways, like ziplines, flare guns, heavy drills, or platforms. It serves to make every encounter unique as you play around the strengths and weaknesses of your class and how it matches and interacts with the rest of your team.

There is also a plethora of different biomes, mission types, secondary missions, unique enemy types, and random events in the caves that further serve to improve the longevity of the game. Adding on top of that are customizations and deep dives that enhance the late game and keep bringing you back into the cave.

Deep Rock Galactic is absolutely a worthwhile purchase, and with a support and interactive dev team that are still adding content even after the 1.0 launch, you'll definitely get a lot out of this game.

Crusader Kings II is a fun game to play without taking too seriously. You can die or fail at any time from random events and it can get frustrating, but it's really rewarding to work your way back. The learning curve is crazy steep, especially considering all the DLC that's involved, but you don't necessarily need to know every single thing to play well, and it's a game where you learn as you go. It does take a decent time investment to get over the first humps and that can turn you off if you're on the fence about it, but overall an enjoyable experience.

Great game, easy to get into but has fun complexities that you can master, like the combo attacks of bosses and magical weapon upgrades. Really cool concept that allows all players to be doing something even when "dead", with some awesome artwork and an amazing announcer who gives you a creepy introduction at the start of every match. The game is pretty well balanced, the stronger one hero gets the stronger the monsters of the other players get to offset them, and the game gives incentives to try and deal as much damage to the hero as you can for gold when you become the hero, which curbs camping and kill stealing. The AI in the game are smart and fun to play against if you don't or can't gather enough people on your couch, and you can even get online multiplayer working with Parsec if you want. The customization and progression are also good, there are a lot of options for players to pick, but the progression trees for some of the monsters can be pretty restrictive. The randomization of levels and bosses also make the game really replayable.

If you're introducing this to friends, I suggest just letting them read the mini tutorial and then learning as you go. There are a lot of little unimportant details that can throw someone off when they start playing, but the majority of gameplay elements are self-explanatory once you encounter or use them. Overall though, a great gem that's worth the pickup, especially if you can get a local mp session going.

Still holds up after 14 years, really feels like a star wars experience. The space battles and conquest modes are exciting to play and the AI is smart enough to give you the feeling of being in a large battlefield. The only issues are that they sometimes get stuck if you take certain command posts on maps and some space maps are just super empty. The vast majority of the game is amazing and well worth the pickup, online works now (Albeit really laggy), and you can have a great time on your own offline.

Hollow Knight is a jam-packed game with a compelling storyline and tight, clean gameplay. The game has an exceptional soundtrack and stunning hand-drawn characters that help immerse you in the story. The map is HUGE and there is an unbelieveable amount of content in every zone. However, the sheer size of the map can make backtracking a pain, with only select fast travel locations and relatively few save benches in the map. The devs added some improved fast travel options you can find later in the game, and backtracking opens up a lot of new secrets and routes that you can use new movement abilites to get to, but you'll still be walking for a fair bit. This can get annoying in earlier sections of the game where you have to walk all the way back to a boss every single time and don't have any fast travel options.

Gameplay is fun and tight controls reward your reflexes. There are 150+ different enemies in the game, including unique and exciting boss fights that really test your skill and keep each new encounter fresh and interesting. The enemies, especially bosses, are difficult but fair, and you can keep at it with a ton of equipable charms and moves.

The money system is also pretty iffy, and you end up strapped for cash in the first half of the game and wiping with $100 bills in the second half.

The story is exceptional as well, told from the perspective of the other NPCs in the game. Every time you visit a new area, you learn another piece of the puzzle which entices you to explore even more and dive deeper into the kingdom of the bugs. The NPCs help by making the world feel more alive and interesting, and they all feel unique, making you want to talk to them and learn more.

Overall, Hollow Knight is a great experience and I'd highly reccommend it to anyone. This was my first metroidvania game and I was blown out of the water by it. There's always something new to discover, and the story entices you to keep exploring and keep having a great time. 10/10 for me, easily my best game of 2017.