First of all, I am not going to repeat what other reviewers said: if you like the Mecha genre, there is probably no better product out there which offers the same mix of roleplaying and strategy and "crunch". But I want to address some things regarding the 2nd edition, and a few issues I had with the 1st edition.

So what's new in 2e?

1) It's still the same game, which is a good thing. Sadly, the author doesn't specify what's really new. On a cursory reading, I couldn't find any difference in the rules; perhaps it's in some Mecha configuration or some other little detail? It would be useful if the author produced a small document which tracks the changes. I have already a print-out of the 1st edition with which I am familiar, and it would be nice if I could avoid to print it out again.

2) Despite the fact that an editor was hired for this new edition, the number of typos has not been reduced drastically. On a random sampling of pages throughout the book, I reckon less than half the typos has been corrected. And the number of typos in the 1st edition numbered at an average of approximately 2 per page. That's really, really annoying. PLUS, there is a boat load of page XX references. 31, to be precise (and what's worse, they are in the cheat sheet which is supposed to be helpful.) That's just sloppy editing. The layout on the other hand is better, and a few glitches in the graphical presentation have been fixed.

So, all in all this 2nd edition needs work, perhaps more than the 1st edition did (at least there weren't any page XX references.) I am only giving a rating of 3 because of the presentation and the annoying typos, and the lack of a "what's new" list.

Disclaimer: I was credited in the book, though my role was mostly as a consultant for (some of) the statistical aspects of the game. So I was not involved with the actual writing, playtesting, nor setting development (except very few bits.)

This said, this product is absolutely stunning. It goes back to the roots of the hobby's inspirational literature and original mechanics, and gives them a thoroughly new spin, without creating too much of an hurdle to learn the game (a thing which cannot be said of, say, DCC RPG by Goodman Games, which completely rewrites the roots of the D&D game.) Also, it implements weird fantasy much better than what other games do or claim to do (like Lamentations of the Flame Princess RPG.)

The art is fantastic and inspired; the Cthulhu mythos critters are some of the most beautiful, enticing and repulsive representations I have ever seen; some of them far better than anything Chaosium itself ever did.

In short: if you want a game which threads very close to AD&D, yet streamlines it in a meaningful way and at the same time adds SUBSTANCE; and if you want an excellent setting for weird and sword & sorcery fantasy gaming, look no further.

Excellent production quality, and having followed the development of the game I can tell it's an original and inventive rediscovery of old-school tropes.

I had high expectations, but sadly this game did not satisfy me. For starters, I am not a Marvel comics expert, though I enjoy reading a comic every now and then, or watching a movie. But this game has absolutely zero background. I was also expecting something fast-moving and quick (as advertised), much like the old beloved Marvel TSR FASERIP game, instead we get tens of pages of rules just to solve conflicts. Between forming a dice pool, rolling the dice, sorting them, comparing with a reaction roll (which involves more or less the same steps as before) then adjudicating the effects; it takes a LONG time (literally minutes.) On the good side the character writeups are nice (though absolutely incomplete: no Thor, no Hulk just to name two ICONS of the Marvel universe,) and in general the game is very light on stats. If it weren't for the dice-rolling method, this could have been a blast. Then I compare this with my old Marvel RPG revised basic set, and frankly I feel ripped :(

The product is interesting, a space-opera game built on the foundations of D&D. The mechanics look simple, and the game seems complete enough to enable the GM to run a decent campaign. I will note that there are quite a few typos, for example:

• on page 6 Table 2, the Base Hit Bonus is referred to as BTB for Soldiers.
• on page 7, Table 4, Specialist column: the entry "1 hit" I suppose refers to "+1 attack" like the following entries, but it's not clear.
• on page 8, Table 5, "Slight of hand" (should be Sleight of hand)
• on page 24, creature stats define a THB. Why introduce a different stat when the Base Hit Bonus has already been defined?

These are the typos I spotted on a cursory read, so it's possible there might be more.

I would give 4 stars for the products, but 2 for editing, so on average 3.

I won't write a the detailed description since other people did it already. I will only add that this seems the perfect tool to reproduce mecha anime action in a fast and true-to-the-genre way. I am in the process of preparing a mecha sci-fi campaign based on the Universal Century timeline (Gundam), and I have been considering the options as to which game to use, the main contenders being Mekton Z and Jovian Chronicles. Well, if Mecha here will allow customisation of mecha and characters in a reasonably complete way, it will be my game of choice replacing those classics above. It's THAT good! Brilliant game.

This is an excellent horror role playing game, focusing on investigation, survival and deep character creation. Forget long lists of skills, pedantic rules, or endless lists of equipment, which are common to other modern games which only pretend to support horror and instead thinly disguise narrative for a game (you know who you are). Here you will find plenty of ideas on how to evoke horror atmospheres, and how to design characters whose motives and actions are ingrained in the resolution mechanics; this is a TRUE storytelling game! The GUMSHOE system makes relevant the decisions of the players after the acquisition of clues, not the acquisition itself. Rules are provided for psychic phenomena and for sanity, also. The game only uses six sided dies (one die, actually) for all action resolution, which makes it ideal to teach to new players. With this game you can run games based on personal or survival horror. I have done both, and it works very very well. The game works as an excellent toolbox for horror stories. The only drawback is that there are some typos, and some missing rules text (which can be found on the Pelgrane website anyway); hopefully a corrected pdf will be issued. A larger "bestiary" would have been nice (only two horrors are described), however it's very easy to create monsters and NPCs to suit individual campaigns. So, if you want an easy to play, deep and novel horror role playing game, you have found it. And you do not need other volumes to play.

I received as a gift the last edition of the main book of Vampire: the Masquerade. I liked the setting, but not the rules system. Then, I saw that a rulebook for a new edition of the Storytelling system came out, and I gave it a look. I bought it, and read it all in three days. I must say that the system has improved a lot, it is much more consistent and easy to use. Furthermore, you start creating humans, so if you like the World of Darkness and want to "explore" it from scratch, this is a nice point to start. This book can stand on its own also without getting Vampire, Werewolf or Mage. The setting is very nice, and it can host lots of story types, which does not force you to use the same vampires and werewolves of past editions. I think I will use the book to start a human-based campaigns, centred around ghost stories. Thumbs up! I recommend it!