Reviews by João Costa

Hearts of Iron IV: Trial of Allegiance
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A cool idea but hard to recommend

The new national focus for South America is a good idea.
The main problem of this DLC is the content/price ratio.
With 3 main national focus but more expensive than other DLC.
I think buying on sale is recommended unless you really want to playa s these countries.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 15th 2024

SpellForce 3: Soul Harvest
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Highly recomend it

IT is hard to recommend without spoiling this experience.
IF you are a spell force veteran this is a great expansion.

IF yo uare new this can also work as a standalone game. if you are new spellfoce 3. The game is mixture of RPGs and RTSs. It has a good narrative similar to classic games like warcraft 3.
If you like strategy games do give this a try. you won't be disappointed

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 15th 2024

Europa Universalis IV: King of Kings
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Interesting DLC for Middle East

This DLC revamps Persia and the surrounding factions. I personally like what it adds.
If you aren't playing in this area feel free to skip it.
If you like to play in this area I think you will find the DLC fun and a good way to explore the area.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 2nd 2024

Cities: Skylines II - Ultimate Edition
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Excellent city builder

Cities skylines 2 is an excellent city builder and a worthy sequel to cities skylines.
There are a lot of vantages and new stuff. For me the 2 best changes are the better UI and the better simulation. I highly recommend checking some videos online.

In terms of negatives it is important to know is that the performance is subpar. So for a bigger cities it requires a good PC.

If you like cities builers this is a game to buy

by João Costa, Portugal - Jan 6th 2024

Dungeons 4 - Deluxe Edition
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Great dungeon defense game

I highly recommend this game if you want something that is about managing and the defense of a dungeon.
The humor can be hit or miss so your mileage may vary.
I feel like this sequel is a step forward.

by João Costa, Portugal - Nov 15th 2023

Hearts of Iron IV: Arms Against Tyranny
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Excellent DLC

This DLC heavily expands Nordic countries. If you want to play with those i highly recommend it. They are a load of fun.
Alongside the above the new co-op trees also make for some cool co-op gameplay.

by João Costa, Portugal - Nov 1st 2023

ARMORED CORE™ VI FIRES OF RUBICON™ Deluxe Edition
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One of the best Mecha titles i have ever played

I highly recommend buying this game if you are a fun of Mecha. It is basically like playing a Gundam series where you are the ace pilot.
Not only is it fun but it is very satisfyingly building your mecha.
My only concern is that the game is hard.

by João Costa, Portugal - Nov 1st 2023

Stellaris: Galactic Paragons
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Highly recomended with a catch

This DLC adds more abilites as well as renown leaders to recruit to your empire.
If you want to give more personality to your leaders this DLC adds in spades!
THe thing is that it is very shallow in the sense that most of these leaders add relatively small modifiers to your empire. Not having the DLC won't matter much if you don't roleplay
Also the new origin is ok but nothing special.

by João Costa, Portugal - Jun 17th 2023

Age of Wonders 4: Premium Edition
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Excellent 4X game

Age of wonders 4 brings excellent ideas for a 4x game. This game has all the usual stuff from games like CIV. It has 2 main differences that really bring the genre to a new height.
1) Race creation. You can choose to create your race (or pick from the default ones). The customization is really good from both cosmetic and gameplay variety.
2)battles. Armies have a cap of 6 units and battles can bring up to 3 armies. during battle you can use both magic as well as abilities. It plays like a turnbase strategy game during this phase.

Alongside the above the premium edition brings 4 DLC packs. IMO you should play just the base game because it has a lot of content. Nevertheless with just the first DLC announced it brings a lot of interesting ideas. 1 new race and lot of new abilities to explore.

I highly recommend giving it a try.

by João Costa, Portugal - Jun 14th 2023

Company of Heroes 3 Digital Premium Edition
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Good RTS with a Caveat

Company of heroes 3 is a great RTS. The issue is that it is mostly an incremental upgrade to company of heroes 2.
IMO it slighlty improves everything from the previous game.
If it is worth buying at full price is up to how much you liked previous game.
If you haven't played company of heroes before this is a rgeat way to start.

You have a tutorial, a story campaign, a sandbox campaign, PVP, PVE, etc. every mode its expected of a strategy game. Well worth the price if you like RTSs

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 27th 2023

Tales of Arise
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Good JRPG but a bit predictable.

I recomend this game if you can get it on sale. The storyline is good but the last part is a bit underwhelming.
For me the biggest problem is the (relatively) small soundtrack and the JRPG tropes. Those 2 will make the game boring if you already played a lot of JRPGs.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 13th 2023

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord
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Create your medieval adventure!

Mount and blade is all about creating your character and create your story in the world.
From a warlord to a thief, you can also be a trader so just follow whatever you feel like.

The only con is that the game still doesn't feel complete (diplomacy feels very shallow).

Lastly i want to mention modding comunity. There is a lot of modding on this game, if you like mods you can heavily expand the game!

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 12th 2023

Team Sonic Racing
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Great Kart racing with a few caveats

IMO this is one of the greatest kart racing games. Witha rgeat singleplayer carrear that can be played in co-op.
Its a lot of fun.
The game has 2 problems:
- Sonic racing transformed is as good or probably is slightly better. So the question is if it is worthwhile to buy this VS sonic transformed
- Has a lot of team mechanics which means that if you only play SP you might have a better experience in the sonic transformed.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 10th 2023

Hearts of Iron IV: By Blood Alone
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Low ammount of content for the price

I'll start by saying the DLC isn't bad per se. It just feels low on content when compared to other DLCs. So lets get into what it brings:
- Aircraft designer -> cool feature to customize your planes. you can also use auto if you don't want to bother.
- Ethiopia and Swiss national focus -> ethiopa is a very hard start and swiss is a weird one. ALl this said IMO they don't influence the war like most other national focus:
- expanded italy national focus -> they are cool alternatives paths for italy BUT IMO the historic one is a lot harder
- better peace conferences -> personally this is the best feature. it allows for example to claim the enemy fleet or just resources. I like it a lot. My only Problem with it is the extreme border gore that the AI does. Hopefully PDS improves.
- lots of models -> this is good for mroe variety BUT maybe if it was removed fromt he DLC PDS could have sold the DLC for less?
- Medals for your troops -> this is my favorite feature. Youc an reward the troops that did somethign special like Hold the line in dificult situation, conquered the enemy capital,etc. It makes divisions a lot more interesting.

As you see the above the features are good but for 20€, IMO, are very small changed to the game. I recommend the DLC on sale.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 8th 2023

Victoria 3 Grand Edition
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Victoria 3 is a great economy simulator

I highly recommend buying vitoria 3 if you are interested in a strategy game where economy is king.
The visual flair is fantastic, it has relatively good UI and it gives enough information so you can get the basics down easily.
My only problem is war that is not only too costly but really hard to get "right". Do note that Paradox is working on updating it and it has gotten better but, IMO, it still doesn't feel right.
If you are wondering between the base edition or the expensive edition with the DLC depends on your experience with PDS games. I recommend going the base game and buying the DLc if they interest you.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 7th 2023

Europa Universalis IV: Guns, Drums and Steel Volume 3 Music Pack
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More Metal music

THis EU IV DLC adds 12 more metal music to the game.
If you want more music this DLC is worth its price.
If you want more content just skip it! this is a very optional DLC

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Planet Zoo: Australia Pack
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Good DLC but expensive

This pack adds new animals and a lot of decorations.
It is good but extremely hard to recommend at full price.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Crusader Kings III: Friends & Foes
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Good for roleplay but low ammount of content

This DLC has quite alot of events specially around friendship and rivalry.
It is great for roleplay becuase it creates a lot more interesting stories between your char and your court.
THe dlc also adds some new music
If you enjoy roleplaying with char i think you will like the DLC but that is it. I feel like at undiscounted price might not be worth for most people.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Prison Architect - Gangs
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Excellent DLC for prison architecht

This DLC adds much needed new mechanics to gangs.
Yes gangs are still a difficult problem to handle BUT now you have more tools to handle.
From being able to "convert" gang members to normal prisoners to the gangs having more tools to wreck havoc this DLC is a lot of fun!
I highly recommend it if you want a deeper (slightly harder) experience of PA.

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 5th 2023

Stellaris: Toxoids Species Pack
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Interesting story pack

Alongside great toxic theme cosmetics (portrais new 3d fleets,etc) where this DLC shines are the new origins.
The knights of toxic god is almost like a contextual story inside the game. Without spoiling i found great fun in following the storyline and each event was exciting and interesting. The payout at the end is also fun.
Highly recomend this pack

by João Costa, Portugal - Mar 2nd 2023

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