Pain Indie Ass - Baba Is You
- Baba Black Sheep... -
-Third Pain Indie Ass review (two and a half years later...)-

I have thus far come nowhere close to completing this game, but it's been forever and a day since I've written a review, and this is one of the most recent games I've played. For those of you who are new to my reviews, I will be looking at the gameplay, art, level design, replayability, and anything else I can be bothered to add.

Baba is You is an enjoyable game and a fucking struggle rolled into one delightful, minimalist puzzle game. The core of the game is to somehow make your way to the goal by moving your 'character', and manipulating both environment and/or 'absolute statements' within each level, the latter of which changes the rules of the level. An example of this may be a case where connected (movable) blocks state that "WALL" "IS" "STOP", and by moving any one of these blocks out of the sequence, you may suddenly find yourself able to traverse through previously impenetrable walls. Some of the puzzles can take some thinking, though, such as how to move which blocks where, and in what order, to progress.

I bought Baba Is You during the Winter Sale, just before Christmas, though I don't recall exactly when I first played it. I have played for over two hours, and thus far have a single Achievement out of eighteen available... I get the feeling this may be a while.

Art Style

Now, this one is a tough one; Baba Is You has very basic graphics. I'm by no means calling them bad, but there isn't much out currently to easily compare it to. If I had to, I would say it's vaguely reminiscent of the ZX Spectrum (is it still showing my age if the console is older than I am?). Either way, it has a way of sparking a sense of old game graphics, even if you may not be familiar with older game consoles.

Level Design

What can I say about this? The levels are all similar in size, but definitely different in terms of complexity. There may be one where it's a straight shot to the goal, or one where you have to push a single rock out of the way... Then there's one where you have to alter the rules to make something that could kill you movable, move it, then get to the goal... Then there are the frustrating bastard levels, where you have to alter the rules in a very specific way, to be able to get through something that could kill you without rendering yourself 'null' by altering the rule that says Baba Is You... As I said before, sometimes some levels can require some deep thought, if it's your first time seeing them (I went in blind specifically so I could enjoy the puzzle), and this lead me to getting stuck for a little while quite a few times.

Gameplay

I believe this game is playable with a controller, though I haven't tried, and have no real intention of doing so. I find that the keyboard works perfectly for me, and am happy to stick with that method of doing things. Although in this case, things literally consists of moving around the map, and attempting to get to the goal through any means available. There's very little I can really add to this section that I've not already covered, to be honest: It's very simple in terms of what you have to do in game,  but can be very complicated in terms of what you have to do per level...

Replay Value

Replay... Is it worth replaying? That depends. The game is wonderful in its own way, and a fucking bane at the same time. It's not one you can really play idly; sometimes you have to think really hard, and others it might help to just step back a little. It's definitely worth playing, I would say, and there's a lot of potential to do better... If you can memorise, or take notes, I can't see the barrier for entry to speed running being very high. Even if you just want to improve your times for personal achievement, there's plenty of room for that too.

Overall, I'd say it has some replay value, but that depends on how you want to play it, and how frustrated you get/if you get frustrated easily. Of course, I can't say for certain because, as I said before, I'm far from even completing it, so far. Maybe I'll edit this if I do complete it, to explicitly state whether I'd ever pick it up again or not?

You May Like This Game If:

You enjoy puzzles, especially if you enjoy a variety of difficulties within the same game.
You can tolerate frustration if it takes a while to come to a solution for puzzles.
You like 'format screws', or being able to change rules on the fly.
You want something to force you to think.

Conclusion

Baba Is You is fun but frustrating, and I'd recommend anyone who does play it to be aware that they probably will get annoyed from time to time dealing with it. With that said, however, I still have to admit that I would still recommend it if you enjoy pure puzzle/logic games. It will make you think (or cheat by looking up a walkthrough), but it's not a bad game at all. I'd suggest anyone to at least check out a trailer or something on Steam or YouTube, and see what you think of it from an outside perspective before actually getting it; maybe it's for you, maybe it isn't, but I can say that, at the very least, I personally enjoy this game so far.

Other Reviews
PIA1 - PIA2 - PIA 3

Pain Indie Ass - Freedom Planet
-  I want to break free~!  -
-Second Pain Indie Ass review (two years later...)-

I'm reviewing this game as someone who has both played the entire thing, and earned every... single... Achievement. As before, I will be looking at the gameplay, art, level design, replayability, and anything else that may come to mind as I'm writing this review.

Freedom Planet is a nice little Sonic-esque indie platformer developed by GalaxyTrail. There's a good reason for it seeming like Sonic The Hedgehog: it originally started life as a fan game before becoming a standalone thing in its own right. This game can definitely be a challenge in places, especially some of the Achievements you can get, but for the most part it's a very simple "get to the right of each section as fast as you can" game. The (video proof) world record speedruns for each character are: Lilac - 32 minutes 47 seconds, Carol - 32 minutes 26 seconds, Milla - 30 minutes 38 seconds. I'd been playing it for thirty-nine hours before unlocking every last Achievement.

I don't know how long I've owned this game, or what I paid for it. I'm pretty sure I got it in some bundle or another, or at least a sale, so I know I got it for less than the full price. It's definitely worth at least what I paid for it, though.

Edit: I do not know exactly when I purchased this game or what for, but it was redeemed on Steam, via a code from a third party sale site, on the 24th of March, 2015.

Art Style

Honestly, it looks like some of the older Sonic games, having similar graphics, though possibly a slightly higher quality. It has been far too long since I've played Sonic, but I feel like the comparison is a reasonable one. I actually like that it looks and feels a little retro, it makes me feel kinda nostalgic, I suppose? Overall, if you like the art style of 16-bit games, you'd probably enjoy looking at this. I think it definitely suits that style better. If it looked like some of the modern Sonic games, I don't think it would look as good; the 2D style just... fits.

Level Design

Much like SMB, levels vary in size. All have several separate sections, but some feel longer either because they are, or because you get caught up in a swarm of enemies that slows you down immensely. Especially in later levels, you can get some troublesome to deal with enemies, but overall it's nothing overly taxing.

The level design is is a pretty straightforward "make it to the next section"/"run to the right", for the most part. There is a little backtracking in a few levels, and if you want certain Achievements, or sometimes a decent 'power-up' in a level, you have to go off the beaten path a bit. Mostly, though, it's just like any standard platformer game.

As previously stated, there are enemies in this game, and environmental hazards. Unlike in SMB, there is very little that can one-shot you, thanks to having a health bar. There are only two things that can kill you outright, and both are stage hazards, not enemies.

There are 'glitches'(?) that speedrunners can take advantage of to get through the game far quicker than I feel I ever could, but I've only ever used two. One completely by accident that resulted in a softlock of the game (no crash, but unable to continue), and one deliberately to take out a certain boss far quicker than I could have doing it legitimately. Then again, if it's left in the game, why shouldn't I use little tricks to make it easier/quicker?

Gameplay

As with most games I've played, this one can be played with either a keyboard or a controller. I personally used an Xbox 360 controller to get myself through this game, since at the time I played it, I was used to using it for a certain fighting game that I may review at a later date. I have not tried using the keyboard that much, though I suppose I should make an attempt, in the interests of seeing how it compares...

Gameplay is straight up simple; you only have to use the arrows/WASD and three other keys, or the analogue stick(/maybe D-pad works? I don't use it.) and three other buttons, which I believe you can customise. Avoid or defeat enemies as you run right, trying to make your way past each section of a stage until you get to the boss, then kick its ass. Boom, done. Oh, most stages have mini-bosses too. You have to kick their asses too if you want to get past them, with like... one exception.

There are no special bonuses for completing a level in under a certain amount of time, but there is a way to get extra lives, or bonus 'power ups' at the end of most stages, if you get a certain collectable in that stage. There are, however, Achievements for completing each level in under a set time. Yes, I have them all. Yes, some of them were a total Pain Indie Ass to get. xD

Replay Value

Calling this replayable is dubious. You have three characters available that all handle very differently, along with a few character-specific Achievements, which means if you're going for completion, you definitely have to play the whole thing at least three times, once for each character. There are also (on Steam at least) leaderboards for level time, and crystals collected, so I suppose it could be worth replaying for the sake of improving your time. And certainly you may have to replay it to get all the Achievements, if you take too long on a level, or miss a collectible card, or screw up an Achievement. But I think it's more than reasonable to believe you could get every Achievement in the three playthroughs.

It's not an overly long game, but it is fun. I managed to get thirty-nine hours out of it just going for every Achievement. It does also give you an option to wipe your data (which I haven't tried yet), which means you can try and get all the Achievements again. I assume it only deletes the in game data, not the Achievements on Steam, or Trophies on PS4.

You May Like This Game If:

You enjoy platformers.
You enjoy nostalgia/retro throwbacks/16-bit games/2D Sonic.
You like playing around with a variety of characters with different handling.
You want a nice, easy game to relax a bit with.

Conclusion

This game was enjoyable, and I would definitely suggest that anyone who can play it does. Even if you just try out the demo version or something, if it's still available anywhere. Also, just to let everyone know, there is a sequel currently in development, which should be released some time in late 2017/early 2018; I'm cautiously optimistic, because I liked the first game. It's a great game with a few challenging Achievements, but it's just a little short.

I'm only reviewing games I actually like, huh? xD

(Review edited to follow ToS. Whoops...)

Other Reviews
PIA1 - PIA2 - PIA3

Pain Indie Ass - Super Meat Boy
-POST 666 MOTHERFUCKERS!-
-FIRST EcchiDreams REVIEW-

So far I have manged to finish (though not yet complete) only the Forest Chapter, which is only the first of seven, so this is by no means a complete review. For the most part, I will be looking at the gameplay, art, level design, replayability, and anything else that may come to mind as I'm writing this review.

Super Meat Boy is an infuriatingly difficult/die-a-lot indie platformer developed by Team Meat. This game is definitely a challenge, though a great time waster. At least, it challenged me. I've seen someone speed run the entire main game in under two hours (for those interested, I may link the aforementioned speed run). I've been playing it for five times that and am not even close to finishing. In fact, some perspective. In two hours, I had only managed to beat nineteen out of twenty levels in the first chapter, though ten of those were A+, and I unlocked two of the extra characters.

I've had this game since Christmas Day 2014, when I got it on Winter Sale for a mere fifty-four pence. Well, when I say I got it, I mean it was bought for me by a sibling, but nevertheless I have owned it since then. In my ten hours of gameplay, it has inspired more than a few rage quits, but mostly it's just made me want to try harder, over and over. In my view, it definitely suffers from Minecrafts "one more block" addiction, despite the rage it often induces.

Art Style

Where to begin? SMB has quite basic graphics, in an almost minimalist style. It reminds me a little of screen printing, perhaps a slightly pop art vibe, where everything is rendered in as few colours as possible while still maintaining detail. It takes only a glance to say "that is a tree", "that is a rock", "that is a rabbit". Due to a lesser focus on "make the game look as realistic as possible", a nice balance was struck between pretty graphics and not distracting from the game play, where sometimes in a game like Skyrim or Fallout you may get sidetracked by sightseeing.

Level Design

Levels vary in size, as with most games. Some fit on a single screen while others are either taller, wider, or both. The advantage to smaller levels is a clear objective, as well as less in the way to kill you. Usually. Even in some of the small levels I died. A lot.

Nevertheless, the level design is fairly linear A-B, or A-B(for key/button)-C. Some do involve backtracking, though, in an A-B-A, or even more than that sometimes. The only time you really have to go out of your way is to get bandages (used to unlock characters) and portals(often the same), but even then sometimes you can get bandages in a straight run.

There are few enemies, as such, with most hazards being environmental or objects, but there are some that follow your character, and pretty much everything can kill you.

I had found a bug, though I do not know if it is still present, in which you can sometimes clip through certain walls if you're running. I don't know if this is level design, a bug elsewhere, or even something deliberately put in to fuck with players. From how difficult the game is in general, I wouldn't put that one past the devs.

Gameplay

I'll get this out of the way: You can play with a keyboard or a gamepad, at least last time I played it. I got used to playing it with the keyboard, which is usually my preference anyway, though I did try it with the gamepad a few times. Whatever you use is up to you.

Gameplay is fairly basic, in a fun-but-infuriating kind of way. Run, jump, and (try not to) die your way to Bandage Girl, the damsel-in-distress du jour. There are plenty of things trying to stop you, just for the fun of it. You have to compete with circular saws, crumbling blocks, projectile saw blades, salt, the edges of the screen, and the list goes on.

If you're lucky enough to finish the level with an A+ grade (by beating the level in under a certain time), you unlock the Dark World counterpart to that level. While I won't go into it too much, these are basically more difficult versions of the original level, in one way or another.

Replay Value

I don't know that I'd really say this game is replayable. Certainly it encourages you to A+ the levels and collect the bandages (at least if you're a completionist), which may require more than one playthrough of the levels. Some of them, for example, you cannot A+ and collect the bandage in the same run. Others, it's just hard to A+ on your first try.

You'll get plenty of gameplay out of it, but more than replay it's a game that may make you rage but still somehow draw you back. I would probably play it more than once, and anyone looking at speed running it would have to to get used to the game, work out optimal routes, and so on.

You May Like This Game If:

You enjoy platformers.
You enjoy difficult games.
You like watching player characters die excessively.
You want to watch someone else suffer, for personal amusement.

Conclusion

I like everything about this game. It's infuriating and makes me hate it, but the same infuriation is what drags you back and drives you to work harder. I would definitely recommend this game. To pretty much anyone. Especially for "Why would you recommend this game to me you asshole?" comments.

(Review edited to follow ToS. Whoops...)

Other reviews
PIA1 - PIA2 - PIA3

First, the game takes up WAY more space than it says on the app store! When you first start up the game, you'll be notified that over 90 MB of extra data must be downloaded! That wasn't a big problem for me, but, if you have a lot of stuff on your tablet, you may have to delete some stuff, or transfer stuff to an SD card(the Kindle Fire doesn't have that capability, but the game is available for other tablets, too.).

With the download out of the way, the game hopefully takes you to a loading screen(the first time I downloaded it, it kept crashing, so I had to delete it, then redownload it.). After loading, you will get to see the "once upon a time" intro(I forgot what episode they used that for.). After another loading screen, Twilight Sparkle descends into Ponyville via a hot air balloon. You'll be seeing this balloon quite a bit. After a tutorial, which requires you to build a windmill, hire Twilight Sparkle to work there, collect Bits from the windmill, and "welcome(the game's way of saying "purchase.")" Bon Bon and Mrs. Cakes, you will be left to explore Ponyville at your leisure. However, there are many quests to be done.

The game is reminiscent of FarmVille, but it has a storyline. Nightmare Moon is attempting to shroud Ponyville in eternal night, and you are tasked with gathering The Elements Of Harmony in order to stop her. This is accomplished by activating various "Element Stones," which are scattered around Ponyville. This requires Element Shards, which can be obtained in various ways, the easiest of which is by collecting from shops. Once you reach Level 15, however, you gain access to a separate storyline, which revolves around the Royal Wedding. This also allows you to go to Canterlot, where there are more shops to build, and more ponies to "welcome(there's that word again! Be patient; I'm going somewhere with this.)." In addition to that, the game now allows you to play a mini-game based on the movie Equestria Girls. The objective is simply to make your character of choice dance.

I have yet to complete the game. In fact, due to the nature of the game, I doubt that is possible. However, these are some of the good things I've noticed about the game.

There's a myriad of ponies that can be "welcomed." The list includes The Mane 6, The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Vinyl Scratch(referred to as "DJ Pon3" in-game.), The Great And Powerful Trixie("Trixie The Magnificent."), Photo Finish, almost the entire Apple family, Octavia Melody, and even Doctor Hooves! Derpy is in the game, but she can't be "welcomed." She hides in a cardboard box. If you find her, she reveals herself and gives you Bits, and, occasionally, even a Gem(more on this in a minute.)! Also, the music in the game, while quite loud, is pretty good! Plus, some important characters(The Mane 6, Mrs. Cakes, and others.) talk when you tap them. However, with good, there's also quite a bit of bad. You're about to see why I've been treating the word "welcome" like a swear word.

There are 3 different types of currency in-game. Bits, Gems, and Hearts. Bits are the standard currency, and the easiest to obtain. You can earn them by collecting from shops, playing the Magic Wings mini-game(required to level up one of your ponies.), playing the Balloon Pop game(once a day, or anytime for 10 Gems, or 30 Hearts.), or as a gift from Princess Celestia when you level up. Gems are the premium currency, and are harder to obtain. As I said before, Derpy sometimes gives you one. You also get them sometimes as rewards for quests, alongside Bits and Experience Points(speaking of quests, they tend not to reward you NEARLY enough for what they require you to do!). At higher levels, you may also get one upon leveling up. Hearts are fairly easy to obtain, but you can only get them one way: sharing your progress on Facebook or GameLoft Live. Now, Bits and Gems can also be purchased, but the price isn't cheap. I actually did purchase Gems during a sale, at a price of $2 for 55 Gems. This normally would cost $5. Now, I'm fine with having to pay extra for things such as DLC, but not if it's REQUIRED TO BEAT THE GAME!! Rarity and Rainbow Dash both cost Gems to buy. Also, there's the matter of the Balloon Pop game I mentioned earlier.

There are certain characters who can only be unlocked via that game, and only by paying Gems to do so. You are presented with a screen full of balloons, which you must pop. Once you've obtained something from 3 balloons(some of them are empty; these don't count towards your total.), the mini-game ends. Ponies only unlockable via Balloon Pop include Dr. Hooves, The Great And Powerful Trixie, Daring Do, and Photo Finish. Not to mention, you may not win the character you want, and you may not even win any character at all! Risky, but rewarding, especially since you can get Princess Celestia this way for only the 10 Gems it costs to play, whereas she would normally only be available at a cost ot OVER 900 GEMS!!!!

In conclusion, if you like games like Oregon Trail: American Settler and FarmVille, this game will likely be worth your time! You don't necessarily even have to be a brony or a pegasister to enjoy it. However, getting the most out of it requires patience, time, luck, and some spare cash. I enjoy games with variety, but not when they try to screw you out of your hard-earned money.

Please note that this article was originally posted up on December 2nd 2013; we have since redone our articles system and moved the review - which has given it a new "Published Date". Apologies for the inconvenience. 

Dungeon Fighter Online is an Action/Beam 'Em Up MMORPG for the PC which is currently in Alpha release by the South Korean based Developers NeoPle. A member here, @MegaZero64 (whom I've known personally for many years) suggested Dungeon Fighter Online (DFO) and gave me a link to download the Anti-Cheat shield and downloaded so I could play it. @MegaZero64 is none other than DatLoli. @MegaZero64 may release a review based on his perspective as a seasoned player, even before NeoPle took the project on.

Review may contain bad language.

I have to admit at first I wasn't sure what I was looking at, honestly. I even said to myself "Fuck that doesn't look like something I want to play, ever." I tried MapleStory, made by the people originally behind this game Nexon, I will talk about that later. But even as I was typing my initial impressions I was thinking about events that happened earlier this year; short version of the story behind this is in the quote below.

Basically events earlier this February gave me a chance to learn about my fiancee's family more. I *TRULY* kept an open mind and for once; and I got to learn about them; they got to learn about me but most importantly I got a chance to speak to her dad about stuff and life. He reinforced what I learnt, unknowingly in loads of different ways. Like making me try something new (Like adding red wine to beef while I was frying it!) I honestly did a lot of stuff that I never did before. Sure I didn't like all of it but I did like the trying new experiences and ultimately I decided that I'd keep more of an open mind.

So as I was saying; I remembered to try something new. Hell "You never know. You might fucking like it." So I said "Fuck it. Bro; I'll at least try it." To cut a long story short; Good decision. I went to the website, and connected my Facebook account to it (I'm not sure if that's mandatory; it could be optional). It wanted to download a "Plugin" as well as HackShield by AhnLab Inc, as an administrator I wasn't overly happy about it but I took the plunge still. So downloading even on my own connection was a bit slow at first. In total the game used 3.21GB on my hard drive; but I don't know if it grows the more areas I visit (and thus cached). There was a small issue originally - I had no idea what I was doing. Ultimately if you don't have a fast connection downloading it may take a while.

System Requirements (Curtsy of System Requirements Lab):

Minimum:

• CPU: Pentium 3 800 MHz or Higher (Athlon)
• CPU Speed: 800 MHz
• RAM: 128 MB
• OS: Windows 2000
• Video Card: nVidia GeForce 4 MX 440
• Sound Card: Yes
• Free Disk Space: 5 GB

Recommended:

• CPU: Pentium 4: 3.0 GHz or Higher
• CPU Speed: 3.0 GHz
• RAM: 512 MB
• OS: Windows XP or Better [in fact you shouldn't be using XP - Friends don't let friends use Windows XP.]
• Video Card: GeForce FX Series with Support for Pixel Shader 1.4
• Sound Card: Yes
• Free Disk Space: 10 GB

Once I was actually in game I found myself going through to select a server; however I selected the wrong on (A more advanced server) it's best to go for the Beginner Servers and advance up. I didn't know this but I do now. I should point out that I have played MapleStory before, years and years ago for all of an hour. It didn't hold my interest (And still doesn't). I had started with a Male Fighter Class - I usually find the best way for me to start as I've said before, is if I have the choice my first character of any game will be male (like me) and will be a Gunner (Or someone who uses heavy weaponry a lot, the exception to the rule for this was PayDay2, a review for another time.) I called my character Tripp (surprised it let me, to be honest) and off I went.

As soon as you select your character and name it you're shown some backstory associated with your character. It gives you a feel for the game and I'm told that it's different per character type. I think this is a good touch and it's very well done.

I found myself going through a Tutorial of sorts. Mashing keys on my keyboard I'd normally never use in this way. Before I knew it I completed the tutorial but still had many, many questions about how to do the simplest stuff, luckily I had MegaZero64 over on Steam Voice Chat answering every annoying question I possibly could; like a good 'newb'. But I took attention and really the learning curve wasn't all that bad actually. I truly feel the game was completely unbalanced, in the gamer's favour. but really "it gets more challenging; and a hell of a lot more fun" (and it's already pretty fun) or so I am told.

Two hours went by in a flash, and by then I was already picking up the game at a fantastic learning curve. I figured out that I didn't need to mash keys and that really I could do some impressive combo-stuff. And BOY did I take that chance. I like to think my little Digital Tripp was learning as I was learning.

Now apparently that they do a lot of resets; or have done resets in the past but as you all know if I had a gripe about this I'd be; 1) Hypocritical and 2) Stupid or ignorant. As I said it is in alpha phase at the moment (Not even in Beta) so I expect shit like this to crop up from time to time, and honestly it doesn't feel like an Alpha. Sure some it looks very Beta (coming soon stuff), for a free Alpha it functioned, operated and preformed beautifully, I explain this later. I should point out it is something you can play on your own; but it is much better with a friend or four.

Unfortunately Neppy then informed me that it was 2AM and she was going to bed. She said she didn't mind me staying up and continue playing but I decided to call it a night and off to bed I went.

... Moving on to the next day (Sorry everyone! xP)

After I played an unrelated game (already mentioned, tut tut) to do some much needed "Anger Venting" (Things during the day piss me off sometimes. Non-Neppy related things.) I got into a Voice Conversation again and hopped back on to DFO. My second day kicked ass.

We went off to do some quests and kill hordes of ... By this point Fodder, and bagged ourselves a tonne of loot and gold. We even met Gabriel a few times (Trader after the boss fight) which I've learnt is a very good and uncommon thing. Eventually I upgraded my skills and leveled them up and got new weapons (ditching the cannon), armour and even a hat!

My Armour loadout towards the end was a Ring Shoulder (Heavy Armour), Red Tiger Leather Coat, Red Tiger Trousers, Leather Strap, Sya Overshoes, Cross bowgun (Weapon) Used Cotton Arm Guard, Durable Plantain Ring and an Avatar Item Navy Duty Cap. In this play time I figured out how to use my classes better, and started working on putting them closer together so I could string better combos and ultimately do horrible, horrible things to the even more Fodder. My skills? Rising Shot Lv5, M-137 Gatling Gun Lv3, M-3 Flamethrower Lv1, RX-78 Land Runner Lv4 and two more slots that I paid absolutely no attention to what so ever because by this point as I said; the game was unbalanced in our favour.

The game was no longer about mindlessly mashing keys, sure I wasn't immersed in the storyline (Might have something to do with the Spam "Buy Gold" bots that seem to be plaguing it) but I was having so much fun. This time I spent a good 3-4 hours if not more, and even went through the 02:00 - 03:00GMT invasion of the town, which as the title says the town becomes invaded with creatures which you have to kill and drive back. I learnt a lot about the mobs or enemies that were to come; as well as ways of dealing with them. MechaTau however = Screwed. All fantasy of it being lopsidedly unbalanced in my favour was smacked in my face as it came crashing back into reality, this game is going to get tough later on and I need more and better party tricks.

MegaZero64 and I contributed 26-27 wins or so for the nearly 50,000 wins that the server had. That gives you some idea how many people play this game, and that was one server. I enjoyed it a hell of a lot and I would definitely rush to do it again, it's very rewarding especially after questing and looting for hours and it was a great way to end the second night.

You hold down CTRL and click the enemy you want to fight (Depending on level, so watch out for what works and what doesn't. It's a great way of earning experience.

After the battle the next thing I noticed was how nice a lot of people were. And I noticed that the community snubs and dubs the enemy as Nexon, (I am largly unaware of what's going on but from what I was told; I can see why) but really they were thanking and congratulating everyone for taking part and winning (We reached our target, collectively).

Perhaps this game has something big in store. I don't know. But I could play it over and over again and that's good. Also as far as I am aware there is nothing officially in game that you can buy to advance yourself quicker, and whilst this is because it's an Alpha I actually LOVE this model. I hate Pay2Play, I hate Pay2Advance and Pay2BeAhead. The best things in life really are free, so; NeoPle - I give you free advertising. This is the first review I've written for something that I actually genuinely liked. I know NeoPle will likely introduce something to pay for the service; but right now it's awesome, it's free and stable (at least for me).

Lastly though, the negative stuff; beware of scammers. As with all MMORPG's I'm sure, don't accept trades until you know what you're doing. People will try ripping you off, it's inevitable. Spambots are fucking annoying and make the chat practically useless, as they pretty much flood the chat across all servers and can even bypass mute/blocking, which makes the Blocking quite pointless to, seeing as the person you block can just buy Megaphones and keep talking to you. Not good. The Tutorial is lacking, a lot. It didn't cover or convey a reasonable message to me about the UI (User Interface) and such. Or it did and I lost focus or attention on it, the UI isn't clear on a lot of things but once you know it's there, you pretty much know where it is. The option to full-screen should be put on the settings menu in my opinion so it is switch-able. All minor and relatively petty things that I am sure will be patched or sorted in one way or another and NeoPle should be forgiven for that considering.

Pros:

• It's learning curve is actually quite excellent.
• For an Alpha it's feature rich, virtually bug free (As far as I could tell, although I know there's no such thing, really.)
• Its got a nice neutral sound track and awesome battle/boss music tracks.
• The community is friendly, from what I've seen although very random sometimes.
• No disconnects. Their servers are pretty solid.
• It's free.
• It's fun.
• Character Backstory is clear and concise. Yet optional. You can skip it.
• Good for players new and old to the series.

Cons:

• The Spambots. Oh fucking hell the Spambots. Abusing Megaphoning.
• No option (at least I could find) of hiding the chat. I believe it should be an option.
• Tutorial is lacking. Some of the most basic features are not in there.
• Option to fullscreen isn't made clear, to be honest it should be.
• There was one NPC who would literally die if someone didn't love him or whatever. That kid needs to see a psychiatrist, immediately. Like I would literally die if I didn't type that.
• The Anti-Cheat System it downloads and installs on the computer is dubious at best and in my research of it, it's plagued with problems.

All in all the game wins it for me by being virtually bug free, feature rich, well thought out and makes you the player think about what to add to your character with varying bonuses. All in all it's the best damn Alpha I've ever seen (Well it's in the top 10. Kerbal Space Program, Take on Mars and Minecraft were/are also awesome in Alpha).

This is no an official endorsement from EcchiDreams. But the personal endorsement of a member of staff who happened to like the game. I will say under good faith; I was not asked to write a review nor was I paid. I genuinely think it's good, ultimately I think the game might be just the sort of thing people who come to EcchiDreams would play, and I highly (and personally) encourage you to "Give it a go." I haven't found Ecchi or Hentai in it, but I'm a newb so take that as you will.

Peace.

Please note that this article was originally posted up on May 23rd 2014; we have since redone our articles system and moved the review - which has given it a new "Published Date". Apologies for the inconvenience.

To start; I’d like to make it clear that I have no personal, or professional relationship with the developers. I have not received money, or any rewards (Digital, Material, Sexual or otherwise) to give this review. However I do have a personal bias for Frontier Developments, as I have stated in my teaser. Being a massive fan of Frontier: Elite II, I have been waiting for at least a decade for a new game in the series and here it finally is. Yes; I realise this isn’t a Game Reviews site, and it’s just a section within a Hentai community of all places but what can I say, EcchiDreams is pretty diverse, but not at the expense of ethical practices. 

Minimum System Requirements are as follows:

• Windows 7
• Quad Core CPU (4 x 2Ghz)
• 4 GB System RAM (more is always better)
• DX 10 hardware GPU with 1GB video ram
  • Nvidia GTX 260
  • ATI 4870HD
• Continuous Internet Connection (Internet = Always On)

With four hundred billion stars, some people will say “But even if I play online, and even if everyone on Earth played and didn’t stick to one system it’d feel empty” but I’d say “Elite Dangerous makes you appreciate the unfathomable vastness of space, where you can explore and may never see human’s ever again, if you so wished and I think to be able to explore gallivant around the Galaxy is a very generous trade off… In my case I’m probably getting a very sweet deal”. There is a sense of pride and wonder when you are exploring a system that potentially no one has ever been in before, and perhaps no one will ever go to. Elite: Dangerous is set in 3301 (34th Century).

Graphically speaking Elite: Dangerous is inspiring, each point of light is an actual star within the universe, unlike the X-Series in which it seems like a fixed image wrapped around your view. Nebulae and even the galactic core gets bigger the closer you travel to them too, which really adds to the all immersion of the game.

As for resolutions, even though there aren’t monitors capable of displaying it the game can be played on 4k, 8k and even 16k resolutions. I personally use 2715x1527 (DSR by Nvidia) on a 1920x1080 screen, ultra settings (of course) and sometimes I get lost in the stunning visuals from time to time. Stars look almost fluid like, and speaking of which - every planet follows a real time orbit which means if you are in orbit of a planet and wait long enough you’ll see Day and Night cycles, and this is true with stations, some of which the planet eclipse’s the systems star which causes night to fall on them. The level of detail and design is absolutely breathtaking when you stop to look at it. I am concerned by the lack of lighting on the dark side of a planet, from cities that you’d expect to see on Earth. But from what I read this morning this will be added into the next update.

Music and sounds is by far where Elite: Dangerous knocks most games I’ve played out of the ballpark. The satisfying “Pop” when a ship explodes, the sounds of the engines (which is different in every ship I have tried so far) to the weapons systems - absolutely amazing. I have included a video of actual game play (my game play) which shows what I am talking about. Although the one thing I do have complaints about here is the quality of VoIP, which leaves a lot to be desired.

Elite: Dangerous features a fully dynamic economy and galaxy. Meaning what we (as players) do, does affect the system or galaxy (if the “thing” is big enough to) in a number of ways. As of yet I’m not sure if this is a good thing or not, as it’s a computer game I suspect an exploit in something is going to unfairly balance something and cause the carefully stacked deck of cards to come crashing down. But this as far as I am aware hasn’t happened yet, so fingers crossed?

Something a lot of people have complained about is the Docking Mechanics, now call me a fanboy but I say “Learn how to fucking dock then” and word of advice; don’t completely trust the Auto Docking Computer either - the one time I took my eyes off of it, was the one time it did something really fucked up and got stuck inside the station’s textures… How the hell it managed that - I have no idea (I wasn’t looking), certainly don’t take your eyes off it when using it with a Lakon Type 6, because that bitch will skid across the docking pad like butter in a frying pan. The Classical music (Blue Danube) is a nice touch and feel like a economically privileged bastard when I’m using it, perhaps the only time I will feel that way.

Controls took a little while to get used to, but once I got used to them they’re almost second nature, although I did change the mouse behaviour and tweaked the A and D keys for rolling to more fit my style of playing, the keys are fully customisable and whilst I haven’t had chance to try it out yet- the 360 controller does work quite well with it although a specialised Joystick and Throttle is supposedly the best way to (and the way in which your character) operate(s) the ship, but I can’t justify paying for one of those when my current set up works just nicely. Unfortunately one complain I have here with the GUI is when Hardpoints are deployed, let’s say I have a beam laser on my primary and missiles on my secondary. Primary is triggered by the left button and secondary is triggered by the right button. So why in Gaben’s name is Primary put on the right of the screen and secondary put on the left? That doesn’t seem very intuitive at all.

Then we get to Gameplay Mechanics… Currently you start off in a small Sidewinder (or Eagle if you got the Beta, like I did - I still don’t condone Pre-Ordering especially after Egosoft’s debacle) and 1,000 credits. You’re in a space station (LHS 3447 for most people, for some reason I stated at LHS 1914) and what you do from there is your business. Start a trading job, do missions, be a courier, pirate, bounty hunter, explorer, asteroid miner, whatever! The World(STRIKE) Galaxy is your oyster. It’s “Level” progression is split into three camps “Combat” “Trade” and “Exploration” of which you can “Progress” the ranks independently. There are also a number of “Super Power” groups such as the Federation, the Empire and the Alliance and countless of smaller groups, organisations, corporations and so on, each with their own missions and such.

The only loading screen I see for the whole game is the one when you go into a game, other than that there aren’t any visible loading screens. We are in the 21st 34th Century - It’s about damn time.

There is currently a serious problem that needs addressing with the Private Group feature in that if the group is split on different servers you can absolutely forget about trying to talk with them, massage them and even see/meet up with them in game. Both/All sides must restart the game just to have a chance of connecting to the same server. This is majorly off putting and at times frustrating, especially when the game decides to move you to a different instance to your friend(s) in mid-game.

Exploring

What I personally would like to see is spatial anomalies and “Weirdness” that could be backed by science, like newly formed systems, T Tauri type stars in which cloud matter surrounds them, alien races or particle fountains! I understand we’re going for realism here but then… When I checked HDE 226868 it didn’t even have a black hole in the system, let alone a star having it’s mass being “consumed” by one. As for HR 7012 I see no planetary collision, in a game that prides itself on realism with stuff we (As humans) know, this was majorly disappointing and sorely underwhelming, at this point I’m hazarding a guess that Fomalhaut doesn’t have the dust cloud, but I haven’t been there, yet. There are more bones to pick with Blackholes in the game such as time dilation and/or spaghettification, but seeing as I haven’t seen one since Beta/Gamma I have no idea if they’ve improved or not (I haven’t been to HDE 226868 since Gamma either). 'Don’t fuck me around on this, Elite' I'd protest. Other than actually going to them and seeing them myself - I know my stars and shit but basically what I am saying here is this mechanic (Exploring) could do with some work.

Some have asked “Why aren’t there Quasars?” Because there isn’t actually any in our Galaxy (that we know of), so this is accurate. Although fun fact; some scientists believe that we might have one that "comes back to life" when Andromeda and the Milkyway merge in several billion years time.

You can make a fair bit of money off Exploring, but I really didn’t bother until I got an Advanced Scanner. You can sell the exploration data to any (as far as I know) starport for some cash, as long as the explored system is 20LY or more away- fair enough… However I found there was little to no point in it unless you got yourself an Advanced Discovery Scanner, not that I am complaining about this. I think it’s great that there are extra tiers to the Discovery Scanner. Trust me you’ll want one, if your aim is to explore.

Combat

Combat is amazing, for me I find that the blue bar on the speedometer is the “Sweet Spot” that allows me to turn faster, and I highly recommend investing in a Kill Warrant Scanner if you’re a bounty hunter, you will not be disappointed. Unfortunately… As you can see in the video this is far from perfect. For example if a Federal Security Service ship nicks you (hits you accidently in combat) there’s no apologies, they’re not wanted, nor do they face repercussions. You hit anything but a target that isn’t “WANTED” and you’re in for it. 200cr fine, which seems reasonable-ish, but the problem is every fucking “Cop” will be after your blood. Yes I suspect my aim might not be good, but come on - when a ship comes up from under you quickly OBVIOUSLY seeing you’re firing then they should expect to get hit… Seems a bit “Entrapment(y)” and "Overkill" to me.

Protip: Resource Extraction Sites are the best place to “Farm” easy kills. If you’re into Piracy you might want to consider this too. I know I am. I highly recommend doing the “Combat Training Demo” before doing any combat. It should also be noted that Resource Extraction Sites are significantly more demanding on the GPU for obvious reasons.

Trade

Trade back in Beta used to be pretty awesome, especially with Slopey’s Trade Calculator tool which Frontier Developments seem to not like the use of (as it scraped market data from their servers) as a result we have to use manually updated data. This is fine with me as far as I am concerned - to a degree. You see in Elite: Dangerous there is a number of systems that I’m going to call “Open” about their trade information and such (Systems you don’t have to spend in game Credits in order to obtain the information), these systems should be allowed to be scraped for these calculators… At the very least I’d expect useful information when I buy trade data, as it currently stands it’s useless. Trade as far as I am concerned right now is pretty broken, although I did make 8/9 million off of buying Palladium at Worlidge Terminal at LHS 3447 then selling it at Cleve Hub in Eravate. Its several trips mind, and the way back to Worlidge is pretty time consuming but worth it if you have a Cobra MkIII, with lots of cargo space or a Lakon Type 6, or bigger ship with lots of cargo space. (Free tip there)

Extra Stuff

There was some controversy a month before release when Frontier Developments announced that there wasn’t going to be an offline mode, this is probably due to the fact that the game is dynamic, and action affect the Galaxy (or portions of) now the gameplay itself is endless server costs and maintenance isn’t and there is a bit of uncertainty as to what will happen. What compacts this problem is the features that will be implemented over time in Expansion Packs which is even more concerning - because I’m sensing “£40 for Expansion Pack”. Some of these features I was under the impression would be included, but eh it is what it is. What it does have going for it is that the Developers are also players of the game, and it’s something they very clearly have a lot of pride in as it can be seen in the next video, it’d definitely seem that there is much for them to do as there is for us (the players to do) and to see this kind of enthusiasm from a dev team on a game… Is heart warming.

Features we can expect to be included in these “Expansion Packs” are apparently:

• Landing / driving / prospecting on airless rocky planets, moons & asteroids
• Walking around interiors and combative boarding of other ships
• Combat and other interactions with other players and AIs in the internal areas of star ports
• Accessing richly detailed planetary surfaces (and even cities)
• Availability of giant ‘executive control’ ships to players

In Conclusion

Now I’m already sensing that there is going to be at least one comment saying “Star Citizen is better!” And quite frankly I don’t care, lets set something clear. We haven’t had a decent space simulator to this magnitude and quality in a very long time, certainly not with this generation of computers. But really they have a lot of differences and it’s like comparing Golden Apples, to Golden Oranges; they’re both Golden and Fruit, as well as not very edible (I’d imagine) but that’s it - they’re different. That said if the rumours of StarCitzen’s Pay2Win are overblown or false I might pick up that game too, and review it… Unfortunately; despite its flaws, Elite: Dangerous has me, well and truly hooked. Elite: Dangerous feels like and is pretty much a Work in Progress, but it’s a damn fine Work in Progress and I look forward to the new features and future updates.

I do fear for some aspects of this game’s future, I was a late backer due to money constraints (I couldn’t afford 2x Alpha copies, otherwise I’d of gotten ten) and there is a lot of work that needs to be done in some areas. However this game is fucking awesome, graphically, sounds, immersion, music, it’s hit after hit and in these areas it does feel very well polished. I do like the fact that this game is dynamic, none of those scripted cheap ass endings we saw in Mass Effect 3 and I think I will be playing it for years to come.

The problems with this game are small or are outweighed by positives. I feel most of the things wrong with this game can be fixed, and probably will be fixed at some point. It certainly did better on launch than X-Refail even if comparing those to games is like comparing a Golden Apple to a Kick in the Bollocks.

Pros:

• Ability to play Solo or Private Group instead of jumping into public.
• Music and Sounds.
• Graphics, obviously.
• Somewhat future proofed with 4k, 8k and 16k graphics and textures.
• Truly Dynamic Economy.
• A truly dynamic galaxy, shaped by the Players actions.
• Immersive.
• VR/Oculus Compatible.
• Exceptional attention to detail.
• 400-billion fucking star systems!
• Extremely promising future.
• Absolutely free-ranged.
• Dedicated and passionate staff behind it.

Cons:

• Bugs with the Private Groups is infuriating.
• Systems that we know of, aren’t accurately portrayed.
• VoIP is dodgy, at best.
• VR/Oculus Compatible (I don’t have one ~envy~)
• Authorities over-react to NPC’s Pilot error.
• Trade Data is useless.
• It’s online only (this is a deal breaker for some).

Well worth your money? If you like this genre of games then hell yes it is.

Please note that this article was originally posted up on January 23rd 2015; we have since redone our articles system and moved the review - which has given it a new "Published Date". Apologies for the inconvenience.