Humble Choice January 2020 early review

This is was bad month for me as I already owned most games in this bundle, and the three I didn't, I got bored within minutes, hence the early review.TLDR: This is either a very good or a very bad month for you. I feel disappointed as I already owned ALL the triple A / headliners games, and some of those games are really divisive. I'll explain a bit more during my review, but TLDR of it, you got some solid value for your money if you like those kind of games. Otherwise, hard pass.As always this is a spoilers-free review.Shadow of War : 7.5/10This game alone is worth the $12 I paid for my Humble Classic if I didn't have it already. I think I bought it for more than $12 originally, but am not sure. Is this a good game? Honestly, any game that I played more than 30 hours is good, so yes. With that in mind, it's a game with several flaws that I cannot pass. However, some of my friends played it and 100% it.First, ignore the early bad reviews. This is THE game that put microtransactions and lootboxes at the forefront. Originally, it had lootboxes for SINGLE PLAYER and you needed to buy those lootboxes to finish the game. Yes, you read that right: you had to spend money in-game for lootboxes to FINISH THE SINGLE PLAYER. This has since been removed, mostly due to the backlash, and the game now has a well-deserved 9/10 rating.The game is an open-ended action game with combos, levelups, explorations, a bit like Assassin's Creed, but with more focus on combat instead of assassination. You fight enemies with shields, enemies with attack that can't be parried, bosses, etc. It's easy to see just how much time has gone into making this game. It's also a clear AAA game in terms of graphics, quality and polishing. The story is good, the combat is fun and for LOTR fans, it's a must.So why did I give up on it? Because at some point, the game just becomes incredibly tedious. I won't spoil it, but past a certain point, it just becomes incredibly repetitive. For hours and hours, you'll do the same thing, over and over, without any semblance of progression. Perhaps worse, if you die, which you do, a lot, well, let me just say without spoiling anything that it is not good. You can lose HOURS of progression.It annoys me that I've spent 40 hours on this game and will never finish it. For this reason alone, the game is a mixed bag for me. But I cannot deny the high quality of this game and how much work went into it, and how much fun I had in the first 40 hours of my play. Still, I still feel sad that I cannot finish it. At some point, I just realized I wasn't having fun anymore, and that I dreaded playing it some more.Then again, my best friend 100% it (after 150 hours) and says it was one of the best game he ever played. If you are buying this month's classic, you owe this game a try, if only for the genuinely fun combat system (for at least a while)I will conclude this review by mentioning a minor nitpick, and not a nitpick: this game is filled with SJW stuff. You have a 100-lbs girl fighting off 400+lbs orcs, for instance, and easily parrying attacks that should break her arm. Of course, she is dating a black guy as well. I have no problem with female soldiers (even though Gondor had none, but that's the LOTR nerd in me), but make her 200+lbs 6'0"+ like Brienne of Tarth for instance. It's not much, but I have to mention it: I thought it was BS.. It was the same crap with Jedi: Fallen Order. I think studios these days feel bad about having a male protagonist and feel the need to compensate otherwise. As I said, normally I wouldn't even mention this but it wouldn't be fair not to.Graveyard Keeper: 7/10This is another game I wanted to love, and badly. I absolutely love simulation games and this game was no exception, but I grew bored of it very fast. It's a very grindy game and it just made me feel like I should play Stardew Valley instead. Speaking of which, this game could be seen as an inferior Stardew Valley, but perhaps the comparison isn't fair. I loved Stardew Valley and perhaps I was expecting too much.In Graveyard Keeper, well, you manage a graveyard, or more specifically dead bodies, and you do this, over and over again. It's a great 5-6 hours then it just becomes incredibly tedious and boring. As far as everything else goes (sound, graphics, gameplay), it's solid, hence the 7/10, and well worth the couple of dollars you could spend on it.Two Points Hospital: 6/10I bought this one at full price and feel ashamed. As I said, I love simulation games, and one of my favorite games from my youth is hospital tycoon.This isn't hospital tycoon.This game's biggest problem is that it is split in scenarios and that every scenario is basically the same. Yes, background colors change, and hospital layers do too, but that's about it. It's a bit like if every roller coaster tycoon had the same attraction, the same objectives and was 90% smaller, and forced you to do the exact same thing every time. You really feel like you are building the same hospital over and over again. The game is incredibly easy too, which doesn't help, and after a while, you just know everything ahead of time. Oh, there is this illness? You have to do X Y Z. Oh, there is that doctor? You need to train him in X Y Z.The game is incredibly shallow and could be a portable game. It really feels like the kind of iPad game that is free to play, but has you pay to get hints or play levels faster. It's just not deep enough for me. It's also that kind of games with an infinite amount of DLC coming, but unlike games like Cities Skyline, the DLC do very little, apart from cosmetic that IMO should be free, especially in an isometric game.The game isn't all bad however, and it's certainly fun for a bit, treating every patient, dealing with ghosts (patients who die), cleaning, getting reviews, etc. After 10 hospitals you will be bored to death. I think my disappointment has more to do with paying full price for this.Dirt Rally 2.0: 5/10Going to say right away that rally games aren't my niche. Also going to say that I've gotten so many dirt games for free that I have no idea where I got this one. There is little to say about this game: you drive trucks in the mud. You race. Doesn't mean the game is bad, but I'm not really into racing games. If you are, this could be for you. Graphics are the best ever, controls are great, and races seem fine if you are into that stuff.Street Fighter V: 3/10Am not into fighting games neither. If you are, I have been told this is one of the best. I mean Street Fighter is a classic and all that. Why the bad review then? Simple: you have to pay for characters. You know Super Smash Bros has you play or complete objectives to unlock champions? This game has you pay for them. $1.50 per champ on average. Just because of this hidden bullshit, I've taken it from what should be a 6-7 (from someone not liking fighting game, so 8-9 if you like them) to 3.I've played it and liked the game, but I cannot encourage it because of this BS DLC policy. And by the way, they have other DLCs for other stuff as well. F that.Bad North: Jotun: 6/10Another game that was a big "meh" for me. This was given for free to me through Epic's giveaway. In this game, you manage a team of fighters on an island, and have to fight back invaders. Game has a moderate amount of depth and strategy. I hated how the game didn't tell you anything or give you any tutorial. I didn't learn I could split my armies, for instance, until late in the game.Overall, this would be a fine flash game, but I understand flash games don't sell. It's an ok game, not more, and I got bored with it within minutes. I just have so much better to play, you know? I mean, every map, you just take your soldiers, move them around, and wait. Archers coming? Bring out shields. Bersekers coming? Bring out archers. Soldiers coming? You get it. It's a fine game for a couple of hours. No more, no less.Trailmakers: 6/10One of the few games in this bundle I didn't have. Played it for an hour and it reminded me of that game where you try to build planes, a game I still have nightmares about, so I gave up. It's a building game more than anything. Simply said, you make cars. Submarines. Both. Everything. It's a good game for what it tries to do, but not what I'm into at all.You put more tires to get more traction for instance, but it slows you down. You put a lower body to increase speed, but are weaker. That kind of game. I'm just not into minecraft, Kerbal Space or so on, but if you are, I think this is fairly good. Unlike that other plane game that was impossible to control (where you built your own place in a manner similar to this game, another humble bundler, forgot the name), this one plays very fine. I might even play it again one day.Unrailed: 7/10This game was another I didn't have, and another close call. After playing it for an hour, I asked myself one question: did I genuinely enjoy this game? Surprisingly, the answer was yes.I played online coop with a friend and I would say we might pick it again. The game has no single player, so expect to play with (or against, which I haven't tried) with someone. In this game, basically, you work together (in the coop mode at least) to build a train track. The best way I could present it is that you collect resource, build stuff to extend the track. You help one another, a bit like in overcooked if I could make a comparison, as the train is always pushing on and you have a time limit. In terms of coop games, it's a great game.I expected to hate this game and almost forced myself to play it, I was pleasantly surprised. It's not a masterpiece and I'm not going to spend countless nights on it, but for what it tries to do, it's solid. One of the better coop games out there.Whispers of a Machine: 8/10First of all, do not play this game.Go buy Technobabylon and play this game instead, it's way better. And if you like it, then buy Whispers of a Machine.Both games are very similar, not only in terms of being point and click, but in terms of drawing, animations, items and gameplay, as well as story. Is it as good as technobabylon? No, but it's not far neither. Story is solid, art is amazing, the puzzles are clever, etc. I bought this game a while ago and it's one of the better point and clicks. If you have any interest in it, play it. Technobabylon would be a 9, this one is easily an 8.Them Fighting Herds - 5/10This is the last game in this bundle I had never played. There isn't much to say about this except that while I'm not 100% sure, I'm still 99.9999% sure this is a Bronies game. What can bronies do well? Draw, and yes, they draw well. This game's art is amazing, probably the best of all 2d fighting games ever. If you are into cute poneys, this is the game for you.With that in mind, is that a good game? I mean, apart from its art, it's no worse or better than most 2d fighting games. Is there any reason to play this? No, not really. I played the single player for a bit, then just realized it's not my type of game.There's probably a lot of people out there dying for a game with cute ponies, so props up to them if that's the case. I just don't like fighting games much. Kudos to them for making a game they love however. Oh, the game is still in early access btw.Mages of Mystralia - 6.5/10It's hard for me to criticize a game that so much time, effort and passion went into.The game's main appeal are the dungeons/puzzles and how creative they are, even for a veteran games, and making your own spells. It's a bit like someone took the mod to create spells in Oblivion and pushed it into a game. The game was developed by just two people and it's clear it's their passion. I would say just for this, give it a try. They really gave this game all they had.Could it have used a few more people to improve the story, design, writing, etc.? Yes. Could they have improve the difficulty, zones and everything? Yes. Is it a game I enjoyed playing? Eh. You know, you can play this or Dark Souls 3, or even Stories: the path of destinies (also made by a small studio). It's a fine game that plays fine. The studio clearly had a set project with a set budget and, as far as it comes, delivered fine. As far as games go, well, it did manage to make me finish it, and it's certainly better than 80% of indie games in that genre, but there are far better games to play. Take of this review what you want and perhaps help a few indie developers.​Grip: 4/10Another racing game, this time with more fighting. I really don't want to be mean to the developers because it's clear they gave it their best shot, but this game is... meh. You race in nice environment, try to shoot stuff, and that's about it. If you like racing, beating times for laps, shooting at other cars, give it a try. I found little to no reason to play this game more than an hour. The cars are nice and it feels nice to play, but... eh. Just don't see the point. Boring as hell after 5 mins.​Humble Original: Unparallel 4/10You know how some people think you can make an entire game from one idea? This is one of those games.Is it bad? As far as it goes, I feel it's one of the strongest Humble Originals. It's a short game, more of a demo really, but the general idea is that there is a mirror, and you have to move in both the mirror image and, well, regular image I guess. It's a cute idea, executed well, but one seriously has to wonder just how much money Humble Bundle spends on this.I mean I had more fun in this than Grip but I can recognize way more effort went into Grip.Verdict: Weak Buy or Strong Don't BuyI cannot help but feel disappointed with this month's classic plan, but this is mostly because I already had all the nice games. I have a classic plan and gave every game a try. You have a lot of variety there, so there has to be something for you. I would say this is one of those months where 3 choices is enough: Shadow of War, Graveyard Keeper and any other as your third, probably Whispers of a Machine (if you like point and click).Avoid Dirt, Street Figther and Grip, which are clear no-no except for a very small nice of people. See if you like playing as cute ponies, if you like an average hospital manager or if you have enough friends to make Unrailed worth it. And if you already have Shadow of War and/or Graveyard Keeper, consider giving this month a hard pass. https://www.reddit.com/r/humblebundles/comments/ejo1ed/humble_choice_january_2020_early_review/?utm_source=ifttt