Reviews by Batavorn

Europa Universalis IV: Res Publica
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Marginal improvements

Paradox releases a great deal of dlc for its grand strategy game. The quality of these dlc's varies wildly in quality and scope from overpriced cosmetic and music packs to dlc that completely changes the game.

Res Publica falls somewhere in the middle. It changes gameplay considerably for republics by overhauling their political systems, but unfortunately there aren't that many in any historical start and the ones that do exist are very small and weak.

RP offers additional features for the most important republic of the era: the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Even with the improvements Europa Universalis is not capable of simulating that republic's strenght and versatility correctly. Unlike the historical Netherlands they usually get overrun by more powerful neighbours.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Surfs Up! DLC
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A modest splash

Yet another Tropico 5 dlc with a new building and scenario. The new dolphinarium is yet another tourist attraction (albeit a very popular one) and as such does not. The scenario, filled with funny references, is highly enjoyable.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

The Wolf Among Us (Telltale Key)
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Excellent voice acting and graphics save the day

The Wolf among us is in most respects a very typical Telltale game that foregoes gameplay and meaningful choices in order to concentrate on storytelling. The story in question is a prequel to a series of comics (graphic novels if you want to be a snob about it) about characters from fairytales who live in our world. You play Bigby Wolf, the sheriff and as you go about your business you meet characters like Snow White and beauty and the Beast.

What lifts this title above other Telltale games are the high quality of the voice cast and the game's unique graphical style (which resembles the comics). Together they make for surprisingly expressive and compelling characters that help you forget the mediocre story and missed gameplay opportunities.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: T-Day DLC
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Bunker bust

One of ten dlc's for Tropico 5 that offers a new building and scenario. The new bunker building can be used to fortify positions and is very useful for that limited role. The mission is rather annoying in that it is a bit of a grind and when you finally come to the end you might find your planning was faulty and you have to start all over.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Inquisition DLC
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Below par

This dlc is like all the others for Tropico 5 in that it offers a new building, scenario and costume. Unfortunately the new inquisition building is not all that useful and looks out of place on the island. In the scenario you are stuck in the colonial era which means you never have to worry about happiness and plentiful gold deposits make you so rich it is very simple and short.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Supervillian DLC
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Swing and a miss

In this Tropico dlc you get to embrace your inner supervillain with a new building and scenario. Unfortunately the giant laser building is utterly useless, both in the scenario and other games. The scenario does offer a few good laughs, but is otherwise standard fare.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Gone Green DLC
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Gone with the wind

Yet another Tropico dlc with a new building (wind farm) and scenario. Unfortunately it's one of the weakest of the lot.

Whereas the windmill was a good alternative to larger more expensive power plants in tropico 4 the windfarm here becomes available too late and is too expensive to be useful. The scenario is just a boring grind that forces you to build a great many wind farms you have no use for.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Supercomputer DLC
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Does compute

An expansion for Tropico 5 with a new building and scenario.

The new Super computer building is a powerful research tool which provides a good haul of research points without the need for college educated workers.

The mission is a research race which really allows the computer to shine. It contains a few good gags as well.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: The Big Cheese DLC
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A decent little dlc

The first of ten small tropico dlc's. Like all the others it offers a new building (the creamery) a scenario that is particularly suited to the building and some new cosmetic items for you presidential family.

The big cheese is a little better than average because the building is rather useful both for food variety and exports and the scenario is pretty funny.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Never Alone (Kisima Ingitchuna)
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Warmth and charm in the snow

Never alone is a wonderful game about a young girl and her fox companion as they set out into the polar landscape on a quest to save their village. The game is a puzzle platformer where Nuna and her fox have to cooperate to overcome obstacles. The puzzles never become too hard or frustrating and the landscape is lovely. During your travels you unlock videos that offer snippets of information about the cultural background of the game.

On release the game was tricky to play solo because the AI was not capable of keeping up, but this has been fixed. All in all it is a lovely little game that manages to stay fresh and enjoyable for the handful of hours it should take you to finish.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Mar 24th 2016

Tropico 5: Waterborne DLC
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Set sail for fun

The first of two major dlc's for Tropico, together with Espionage. The main features are new sea-based buildings and a new campaign.

Although the missions are enjoyable the new buildings are the real stars of this dlc. Many of them are very useful and change the way you play the rest of the game as well. The fishing trawler for instance is so effective that you never need to build fishing wharves again.

The campaign missions don't really pose much of a challenge for a seasoned presidente so long as you remember to switch islands after every mission. Otherwise some missions might pose challenges you can't face within the available time. Just like in Espionage the campaign can be beaten rather quickly.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Jan 15th 2016

Tropico 5: Espionage
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An excellent addition to a very good game.

The espionage dlc adds new buildings and a highly entertaining new storyline. The buildings are either geared towards the military or espionage and as such are highly specialized. Therefore you will probably not build many of them outside of the campaign missions. Luckily those missions are a lot of fun with great jokes they provide a good challenge. The highlight is a missions that parodies f2p city building games. The only real downside is the campaign is somewhat short.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Jan 15th 2016

Shelter 2
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It just can't live up to all the praise.

Although the graphics are unique and the cubs adorable this game is severely lacking in content. Hunting animals to feed your cubs is really the only thing you can do and on the default difficulty that is not even terribly challenging or fun. When after a few hours your cubs are grown it just starts over from the beginning again. Maybe the "Mountain" expansion shakes things up, but I have no desire to spend more time or money on this game.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Jan 15th 2016

The Walking Dead: 400 Days
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It doesn't add much

Because the stories are so short and not strongly connected to either the original game or each other they lack the emotional impact of the main game. Although not a bad buy you will not miss anything if you skip this one. Voice acting is strong throughout.

by Batavorn, Netherlands - Jan 15th 2016

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