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Joshua Smith

Old Man Mordaith

Favorite Games:
  • Crusader Kings 2
  • Stellaris
  • Pillars of Eternity

32 games reviewed
82.3 average score
85 median score
87.5% of games recommended

Joshua Smith's Reviews

Joshua Smith loved working in retail, particularly in the realm of geeky things like RPGs, Video Games, and Comic Books. Life took some twist and refusing to let a diagnosis of a chronic pain illness keep him down, he set off in to the wild world of game journalism. Here he hopes to use his ability to recognize which products match up the best with which consumers.
9 / 10.0 - Battle Brothers
Mar 30, 2017

Battle Brothers is a single-player military strategy/rpg set in a low fantasy setting, developed by indie publisher Overhype Studios. When I read that this was a mercenary game with a character leveling system, I honestly expected something like Final Fantasy Tactics. What I got was something completely different than my expectations, however something that still felt very familiar. It also gave me the tale of No Nose.

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9.5 / 10.0 - Stellaris: Utopia
Apr 6, 2017

Utopia is being released alongside the Banks update, which adds a great deal of free content to Stellaris. Banks makes the game feels very different, as it adds Traditions and Unity mechanics, changes the way Factions are handled, and provides a complete overhaul of the way governments and ethics are done. It also adds ways to monitor your populace’s ethics and Faction support.

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7 / 10.0 - Has Been Heroes
Apr 10, 2017

It became very clear to me early on that it wasn't that Has Been Heroes was bad. I was just really bad at it. For the same reasons I shy away from bullethell games, I was really really bad at this one. So take everything I am saying from the perspective of someone who appreciates the game, but who struggled and screamed at it several times.

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9 / 10.0 - Asura
Apr 13, 2017

Right off the bat, I started asking who the villain of this game was supposed to be. Was it the heavenly Daeva with their making morally questionable choices? Or was it the Rhaksasha-empowered Asura, controlled by me, laying seige to the heavenly realms as a one man army? Normally in a roguelike game I don’t get wrapped up in plot or backstory. But Asura is a different beast. Touching on a mythology that we hardly ever see represented in video games, Ogre Head Studio’s two man team takes us on a challenging journey through Indian lore.

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5 / 10.0 - Shock Tactics
Apr 17, 2017

I noticed a bit of frame stuttering as the drop ship put my mercenaries down for our first mission on Hephæst. After putting the difficulty down on the lowest, most condescendingly-titled setting, I was prepared to get a feel for the mechanics. But then it crashed and I had to do it all over again. This was the first and only Crash to Desktop I suffered with the game, but unfortunately it wasn’t the only issue I wound up having.

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May 1, 2017

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 3 is the latest in a series of popular Real Time Strategy games put out by Relic Entertainment and published by Sega. Currently it sits at a modest price of 59.99 USD. So we’ll be digging out the old man glasses and taking a gander to see if it’s worth the cost of admission.

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When Renowned Explorers: International Society was first released I was unsure of what to make of its goofy but well-designed art style. I was quickly made a believer of the game. Put out by Abbey Games in 2015, two years after their other title Reus, RE:IS was a well received hit. Seeing the success of RE:IS, Abbey Games turned their focus to expanding the series and here we are now, at the next major DLC.

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May 8, 2017

This game tried to actively stop me from playing it and eventually it won. Sniper games are something I love, and there is a great game here, but it is buried deep under bugs, assumptive tutorials, and other problems.

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May 11, 2017

At the end of May in 2013, the company Logic Artists released Expeditions: Conquistador. The title was a well-received tactical RPG with a fantastic take on simulating a journey to the new world. It was with great anticipation that a sequel arrived on our shores here in 2017. Not a direct sequel mind you… This adventure would focus on another group of explorers: The Vikings.

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May 15, 2017

While I wanted to get in and explore the beautiful looking world of Shiness I was constantly routed in my efforts by the frustrating fighting system and some strange design choices.

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9 / 10.0 - Endless Space 2
May 18, 2017

Endless Space 2 is exactly what you would hope of a sequel to a beloved 4X game series. It takes what it learned not just from the previous incarnation, but also from community feedback via Games2gether and from other games as well.

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8 / 10.0 - MidBoss
May 22, 2017

This is the first game calling itself a “Rogue-Like” in a while, where I really feel fans of the inspiration are going to be extremely happy. The creation of Kitsune Games, MidBoss is a really clever take on the old idea.

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May 25, 2017

It has been a long time since I really felt empathy for a protagonist like I have for Kay. The reluctant head of his household, Kay inherits a crumbled ruin of an old great kingdom. He really has reservations about it, and at first flat out refuses – not in a typical whiny petulant way, but in the realistic way an ill-prepared person would react to having a great amount of responsibility thrust on them. Unfortunately, circumstances crop up forcing him to take over the kingdom, regardless of his own desires, and Kay, his two sisters, and his loyal bodyguard are forced to stick around and rebuild.

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7.5 / 10.0 - The Surge
May 29, 2017

The Surge is an action based sci-fi that follows the story of Warren, a protagonist who dreams of being able to walk again by signing up to work for the suspiciously altruistic company CREO. After a rather upsetting process, Warren awakens being hauled to an uncertain fate by a robot that really thinks he is garbage. Fortunately, his newly acquired exoskeleton rig has given him the ability to walk again, and as he stumbles through his first steps, we too join him in stumbling through the game.

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Jun 1, 2017

Developed by Swing Swing Submarine and published by Focus Interactive, Seasons is available on Xbox One, PS4 and PC at the price of 14.99 USD. The game has a fantastic design that sets a high bar for others in the same genre.

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This game really wants to take you back. So much so, that it seems new characters will even just start out in Morrowind if they skip the intro story. Fresh off a boat in Seyda Neen, you go through a lot of the motions of the original game. There are many shout-outs, call-backs, and Easter eggs for those familiar with the first Morrowind – so many, in fact, that you’ll nearly choke on them all. And that’s okay, really. It’s what we wanted.

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8 / 10.0 - Everspace
Jun 23, 2017

You kids may know by now, this ol’ salt really likes his space games. Strategy to cockpit – it doesn’t matter, done well space is a subject that always inspires wonder. As such, I tend to go easy on games that at least try, and get angry at games that promise the moon, but roll up a cheese slice and say it’s the same thing. (You know… cause the moon is made of cheese? Do people still say that? Forget it – I’m off topic) With that in mind, Everspace is decent game. But I can’t fathom how people are calling it a rogue-like.

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Sep 1, 2017

Simple in its implementation but opening the door to something both unique and complex, the team over at Cardboard Utopia has really done something impressive.

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8 / 10.0 - Immortal Planet
Oct 11, 2017

Get your controller out for this one, folks. It says recommended – I would check that in as mandatory. Take a breath, ease up on the button mashing, and follow the Old Man in our look at Immortal Planet. Currently available on Steam for the very reasonable price of 14.99 USD.

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9 / 10.0 - Hand of Fate 2
Nov 6, 2017

Well, gimmicky? Yeah, a bit. Needless? Oh no. Very needed. We aren’t going into all the details of the new games and challenges as part of the fun of the game is uncovering them. (And of course, in true Game Master fashion, listening to our NPC narrator gloat about his creations.) Everything is introduced gradually and, with the deck building aspects, you do have a hand in determining the types of challenges you will face.

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