"Generous checkpoints ensure backtracking is kept to a minimum, and though this eliminated frustration, the prevalence of safety nets meant I was rarely forced to alter my strategy. Mere competence is enough to get from one checkpoint to the next, which was disheartening considering how punishing similar games have been. It's difficult to strike that balance between challenge and accessibility, and Shovel Knight leans a little too far to the latter side."

Destroy checkpoints - problem solved. It also gives you a bonus.

It is great that the game gives you an option. If you suck, you can keep going and going with checkpoints, but if you are this competent, just destroy them all - if you fail, you can restart the whole stage.

Also, I'm no english major, but doesn't this sentence "The retro resurgence has made Tom incredibly happy because he still believes that much of what made the games from his youth so appealing hasn't been improved upon." mean that he likes those games and they didn't change at all? Because if yes, then it is another proof he is full of crap.

The game is easly worth an 8 - it is better than that boring-ass rip off Strider for example (which is a Metroid rip-off and not metroidvania - no RPG elements like in SotN, just maps with backtracking by using powers). The difficulty is just perfect - like I've said, newcomers or people with less patientce or time can go without a problem, if you want a challange, just get rid of the thing that makes it easier, ie checkpoints.

@Silverline62 Of course it should be, and also he is wrong with the difficulty - it's perfect. Yeah, you can breeze throught it most of the time, but you have to option to make the game ballbustingly hard by no checkpoints. You can destroy it, which this guy doesn't mention at all. I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't know - he is that stupid.

@gabtemps the bad - it made FF13 battle system work

20-40$/euro for this expansion is justified.

"the changes Reaper of Souls makes to the game won't be far-reaching enough to change your mind"

Bullshit.

The game is much more rewarding. I still remember in 2012 when people were pissed by 3 inf act run and getting lvl 30 worthless shit or barb items with int and dexterity. Now at least there are items 65 and up and all of them are useful, because...

You can make your own legendary/set items with smith and not only that, but if you will find item which has one stat wrong, you can fix it, because now there is an option. Legends are tropping more often too. In the last 3 weeks I was playing this and took short breaks for Child of Light and Spelunky, and from 40k dmg (which was not that bad for inferno back then) to 500k.

Crusader is another story - he's fucking awesome.

Problem is, it won't sell that well, because people burned on D3 - this expansion makes everything right and awesome, which should be from the beginning. Better now then never

@Ash2X if you will search, you will find it cheaper already, from what I see, you didn't bother at all. You can find it for half that price.

The only bad about this game are technical problems, and I'm not talking about teleport, because Xcom is THE KING of bullshit with this and there is no contender to take the crown from Enemy Unknown/Within.

I mean, the framerate is crazy - even though the back of the box says 8800/HD 3870 are the minimal, I would hate to see this game on specs like this. On gtx 460 it jumps from 27 to 60 FPS at random on nearly min/med settings. It is little bit annoying. At least this is an issue that can be fixed and I hope will be.

This game is really good and I expected nothing after nearly 12 year absance of the series and mediocre at best Overlord games. They did a great job

@Lach0121 well, money fixes bugs good

I love the change of the photo, because Carolyn looked exactly like that Maxwell guy. Also, no bad, of course, it spells lazy as always with this reviewer or site in general.

"Reaper gives those who already liked Diablo III"

This is so wrong on so many levels I don't even know where to start. It got annihilated by the fans, because of it's lenght, bullshit item drops, server problems, constant nerfing, etc. Also " She prefers not to be reminded that she has now spent well over 100 hours playing Diablo III." why not? You are ashamed of it, even though "it is liked"? Or you only did that because you were payed for it?

3 was a disaster, that's why they are not even expecting the money they wanted for 3. The sales are worse too. You had to wait 2 weeks at best or a month to get the vanilla, it was selling that crazy, because of the hype. Now? I already saw it for something below 30$, and it just got released. That show how much vanilla was liked.

@abcdefgabcdefgz few years? Wait 6 months max, it will get axed by half.

Pandaria got price drop after 3 months