I really hate tearing down games because nobody sets out to purposefully make a bad game and people put passion and effort into Nobunaga's Ambition: Taishi, but not only does this game fail on its own merits, the fact that this is the 15th entry in an acclaimed series makes it even more disappointing. The way it tries to hide its lack of depth is almost insulting, and not even a decent character system can save it.
Dynasty Warriors 9 suffers from a lot of issues, most stemming from the terribly implemented open-world. Assets are reused, it's buggy, repetitive, bloated, empty and bland. These shortcomings are made all the more painful by the obvious potential this game had, and how fun the base combat can be once players waded through all the other nonsense.
Way of Redemption is all there technically and functionally, but it's empty and short on content. Every moment spent playing, the obviousness of it being an attempt at a forced e-sports success hangs over the experience, which is pretty dull to begin with.
Exorder is a technically sound game save for optimization issues, but fails to present a personality of its own or stand out from the crowd with any unique or creative aspects. With poor visuals, bland gameplay and a barely existent storyline coupled with the mobile-game feel leave a sour taste in one's mouth after playing.
Jade Dragon adds precious little to Crusader Kings 2, which would have benefitted much more from a playable and visible Chinese region. This expansion feels far too feature-bare for its price tag, and even at a smaller price point none of it feels really impactful. Even when you have access to the China menu, you'll likely find yourself progressing via other means.
SYMMETRY takes masterful atmosphere aided by great art and sound, and plugs it all into overly simple yet unfairly difficult gameplay strung around a story that starts in an interesting manner but goes nowhere meaningful. There is a whole lot of potential on display here that gets left out in the cold.
As it stands now, there is a lot to like for enthusiasts of the genre, but the game feels a tad threadbare. It is certainly the beginnings of something great, and should be nourished to reach its potential.
Motorbike Garage Mechanic Simulator is polished and incredibly detailed, and manages to be enjoyable even for non-enthusiasts. While a few things are missing, it's still a more than competent game which is both entertaining and relaxing.
The first time you encounter one of the Temple guardians will definitely wow you. Their design is so unique, outlandish and interesting that it is bound to impress, and then do so twice more as you meet all three of them.
Don't let my lengthy rant about the overarching lore fool you - Curse of the Pharaohs is a fantastic, content-rich DLC which takes what already worked well, added a few twists and turns, and gave us more of it. This is a solid ~15-20 hours of content if you're a completionist and explorer with some unique and otherwise underrepresented settings.