Leaderboard

2019 saw quite a few games, and I think I ignored most of them. My personal gaming highlight was finally finishing Chaos Gate after 20 years. Of games that released this year, it seems I played 12. And an expansion. So in random order (because the term random has to appear somewhere in these kind of topics on this forum) : Breach was this year's grand failure. A multiplayer game with one player taking on the role of the bad guy and the rest teaming up to defeat them. It had a lot of potential and when it worked it was fun. But they may have entered early access too early. Or perhaps the idea was too complicated to ever properly balance. The community was too small, the wait times too long, and the skill and power difference between players too great, so the game was removed from the Steam store and the server shut down. Age of Wonders: Planetfall took the loved franchise away from fantasy and catapulted it into science fiction. It did a lot right with new systems, using the new setting to improve and innovate. It also did some things wrong. The new research felt dull. The economic research tree especially felt like the same slog every game. I'm waiting for the next DLC (one is already out), but mostly hope for more customization options for my leaders - they all look too alike. Triumph joining the Paradox family of course had people worried about nickle and diming with lots of tiny DLC, but so far that hasn't happened. Dark Future: Blood Red States was a hell of a lot of fun during the beta weekend. The launch version not so much - some missions had gotten so easy I could play through them literally without looking at the screen. Auroch has worked on the game and improved difficulty, making exploding cars a lot more fun again. Re-Legion is a cyberpunk RTS with a lot of neon. The premise is great, and you do get to make choices in shaping your cult. The gameplay seems to have you rushing your opponent though with a lot of converted civilians turned soldier, hoping your numbers are greater than his. So basically it is Syndicate's Persuadatron turned into a game of it's own. As an RTS not memorable. As a persuadatron horde simulation? Great. Woven had failed on Kickstarter. People are idiots. Or don't check Kickstarter for computer games for their kids. Woven is cute and well written with exploration kept interesting through little puzzles. My problem? Missing a collectable in an area I can't return to. Now I have to restart. Again. Spellcaster University is a casual Hogwarts simulation, where you build a new wizarding school to train wizards to face the Dark Lord. Cute graphics and quirky options can sometimes be overshadowed by bad luck with random events and simply not drawing the card you need. Narcos: Rise of the Cartels is not a bad game. But it isn't a great game either, but had people hoping for something like XCOM. Eventually I'll finish it. But with so many options out there, and the ability to just play old Jagged Alliance games, it just hasn't managed to convince me that there is a reason for it. Stygian has so much potential to be one of the best RPG games. Sadly the Kickstarter did not net as much money as the devs would have needed to complete their vision. They tried anyway and ran out of money. They released the game and did not slap an Early Access label on, which many believe was a mistake. Instead of people getting a half finished game with potential to improve and a clear indication of this, people were sold a complete game which was half finished. The devs disagree, but are pretty alone with that opinion. What is there is amazing. But it is impossible to overlook the big hole left by the things that aren't there. Pine has you exploring an island, searching for a new home for your tribe. You enjoy long walks on the beach, the mountains, the swamp, the forest... gather materials to craft new equipment and cook food to eat. You meet a number of tribes of animal people and eventually have to ally with one to gain the assistance you need to establish a new home for the humans of the island. I find it hard to decide who to ally with, but also to remember what resource I get where. Phoenix Point came with a lot of promise and riled people with the Epic store timed exclusivity. In the end people who'll wait a year may get a good game. In the current state the game just isn't there yet. Not because it is inherently bad (though the free aim issues should have been fixed a year ago), but because there is so much missing and the devs don't seem to understand what the game promises. Vampire: the Masquerade - Coteries of New York "gets" the World of Darkness like no vampire game has before. It doesn't get it's chosen medium. A visual novel RPG where no choices matter and the player, regardless of character or decisions during the game, is railroaded into one, single ending. And the store had promised multiple ending. Now it promises multiple variants of the ending. And on a personal note, and a lifelong Brujah, that is not what I pictured when I was promised a Brujah. Carpocalypse I haven't played enough and am missing screenshots. You take on the roll of a little girl (Jess) who's family moves to a new town where she goes to a new school. Everyone at the school is playing this one card game that is super popular. And which promptly gets banned when weird things start to happen. Build your deck and battle other kids in card battles, while exploring a story which seems similar in tone to Costume Quest. I'm looking forward to actually playing through this one. Spellforce 3: Soulstorm was the DLC for Spellforce 3 that released this year and motivated me to also finish the core game. The story helped flesh out the history of the game world, though the new UI and keybinding was extremely confusing. Spellforce 3 had moved away from the old formula, which was bad enough, but just as I had gotten used to it, the DLC changed everything again, feeling even more alien. On top of that, the game was obviously written in English, even though it is a German series, with a bad translation. That left a very sour taste.

Once again, the hardcore storymode community left out in the cold. I saved the world too ya know.

2019 in review, nice! I felt like I spent a lot of the year discovering games from previous years and falling in love with them. I am too lazy to give the screenshot tour like Melkathi, but here is a bit of my favorite time sinks from the year: Stellaris: I had this in my library for ages and never got into it, but after binge watching a few seasons of The Expanse, I needed a game to fill the void of space. I sunk 49 hours into it, and I loved that I could play it at home and on breaks at work with cloud saves making it easy to jump computers. Still, my game kind of just petered out eventually. I mean, I had an inside track on conquering the universe, but it was going to be a lot of work. Time well spent though. Elex: Pretty solid RPG with a good open-world to explore. The setting was unique and engaging. Took awhile to get into the gameplay, and it is a bit rough around the edges, but I look forward to future games from them. The Witcher 2: I'm not sure why it took me so long to get into this, but I finally got past the awkward love scenes and embraced the gravelly voiced protagonist. I ended up with a solid 30 hour play-through. Maybe next year I will commit to the 3rd game. I own it, but I am afraid of commitment, just like Geralt. Vigilantes: This was actually a solid little Jagged Alliance style game with a story taken from Punisher. I ended up with a dozen hours. It really is a lot like the original Jagged Alliance, and it was fun. Star Control Origins: Silly and fun, just like the original. Avernum: I had this game in my library for over a decade, and then suddenly I got hooked on it while road tripping with my little laptop. I ended up with 70 hours or so in it. It was a solid RPG once I got over the lack of graphics. Conan Exiles: Ok, this was the big one of the year. This is simply the best game I think I've played since I was hooked on Neverwinter Night. First off, they nailed the setting that Robert E. Howard created nearly 80 years ago. It is dripping with atmosphere straight from his stories and captures the best parts of the movies. Throw an amazing survival and crafting game on top of that, and you get a game I can't resist. Funcom has also consistently rolled out new content and there is an amazing amount of mod support. It's fantastic. The Outer Worlds: I was spoiled this year by these world building devs. The Outer Worlds is easily the best story I played through. Great RPG and I can't wait for more in the universe. Battle Brothers: I don't know how I missed this gem. I was looking for a mercenary game like JA2, and I found it in a medieval setting. The strange graphic style put me off originally, but that was dumb, because it turned out to be excellent. I sunk a ton of hours into this game recently.

Code Vein The game that answered the question "What if you made a Souls clone and went Full Anime?" An entry into the genre that is good, but unremarkable. A solid entry point for Souls newcomers, as the game is significantly less daunting due to the (optional) companion (with surprisingly good AI) that accompanies you throughout your vampire adventures.

Playing God of War(2018) for the first time. Took me a few hours to get used to it but I'm liking it. It sure looks gorgeous though, and I am playing it on a base PS4. Also playing Drakengard on the PS2. Man, this game made me rediscover my love for the PS2.

I am pretty sure that, no, you didn’t, if I remember the ending correctly.

For a decades-long bounty hunter, Mando sure has a problem with killing. Overall probably the 'best' episode so far, but it's hardly saying much, and again, his character is a mess, a walking contradiction of a central conceit that mandates amorality and a spineless approach to the material that demands he be a 'good guy'. Mando's whole character is a long case of "Greedo shot first".

Yeah, I mean what exactly do people think Half Life 2 was, other than a Steam exclusive designed to force people including those who bought retail to use Valve's new online game launcher? What was the last Valve game that didn't require Steam? Sheesh, they've trojaned steam into their pre steam products as well, imagine the reaction if suddenly Dragon Age Origins required Origin or CiVI suddenly required Rockstar Launcher to get updates. People reward Valve for being first with the exclusivity and forcing them to use Steam first when- in reality- if you really hate exclusivity instead of just exclusivity that isn't Steam exclusivity you should hate Valve above all others for introducing, pioneering and popularising the concept in PC gaming... brand loyalty: it's a hell of a drug. OTOH and more on topic, nice to see DLC actually confirmed. I'm not a 100% convinced fan of TOW as it exists now and I played on gamepass so am not likely to be buying dlc there for obvious reasons but TOW's got a very good base to build on for sequels or DLC.

Greetings employees of Halcyon, We want to take this opportunity to thank the incredible team behind The Outer Worlds. It is because of their hard work and dedication to this project that we received the Best Narrative, Best Performance - Ashly Burch, Best RPG, and Game of the Year nominations at The Game Awards. To all of those who voted for us in The Game Awards, you are all fantastic and we are so grateful for your support. The reception to The Outer Worlds has been unbelievable to see, and even just being nominated means a lot. However, the journey isn't over yet as we are excited to announce that we will be expanding the story through DLC next year! Details will be made available at a later date. Now we would like to allow our game directors, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky, to share a message with you all: We just wanted to personally thank our team for doing a wonderful job and our fans for their tremendous support. And Tim would like to say what an honor it was to work with me. – Leonard Whatever, Leonard. Now that we’ve finished, I expect that certain photographs will be destroyed, as per our agreement. – Tim

While DLC has been expected by fans, official confirmation that it was in the works was just dropped quite casually. 🎊

The games I've completed and liked in 2019. GreedFall. It was a quite good action-RPG. The story, combat, controls and the absence of DLC made it one of the best games of this year for me. Omensight. An action-adventure, where you repeat one day and save/kill/use four characters in order to discover the truth and prevent the apocalypse. Lucah: Born of a Dream. A Souls-like hack&slash. I did not quite get the plot, but the combat was engaging and the controls comfortable. BattleTech. A turn-based tactics with RPG elements. The Surge. A Souls-like. Death's Gambit. A Metroidvania with RPG elements. Yuppie Psycho. A horror-adventure. The Talos Principle. A puzzle game. Dark Souls: Remastered. It improved the controls, thus it is ultimately better, than PtD. Devil May Cry V. It was exactly the sequel I wanted. Now with better mouse support.

Increasingly Necessity - 15 point guide to surviving authoritarianism

Dirty fighting has 10% chance to convert hit into crit. If you use only Azureith's Stileto without any offhand weapon or shield you should get +12 ACC (better crit chance) and with One-Handed Weapon talent another hit to crit convertion. Jolting Touch should be triggered pretty easily but only once per encounter.

The Party of Wales in English . Welsh looks and sounds like a pseudo fantasy language.

@Boeroer Okay, so I fired the game up again, and I have to clarify; the 150 Health healing was a figure I somehow pulled out of my ass for I dunno what reason. The Twin Eels' AoE heal with max Religion is actually somewhere around 50-60 Health per kill... which, when applied to every party member in range, is still fairly substantial burst healing.

Thanks everyone. The only thing I have to share is that baby diapers can be filled with many colors!

I was thinking X-Wing pilot that dies during the Battle of Endor.

No way to get rid of Tromp except maybe, you second amendment people... well, maybe there is a way, I don't know.

Poll: Impeached or not, Trump lead Democratic rivals.

Congratulations TN!

Breaking news: The government has not been completely truthful about UFO/UAP. Details at 11 https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/the-real-reasons-the-us-government-is-so-secretive-about-ufos Well, I for one welcome our new insect overlords....

when did Yoda speak his first word as a baby? right after the second!

then you are exact same place you are now, but trump will have been impeached (historical relevant) and republicans won't be able to claim exoneration with a sham trial. the thing is, there is reason to believe being able to actual interview the central players and acquire documents relevant to the ukrainian kerfuffle will produce embarrassing results for the President. the evidence has been daming with democrats needing interview tangential players and w/o benefit o' documents. if such stuff were tending to be exculpatory, there woulda' been a release o' such already. impeach trump now and then make him sweat the reality o' a future trial which will need recognize bolton and mcghan testimony... as well as documentation. the one thing 'bout which the republicans has been correct is that the democrats is rushing this situation. 'course they are doing so 'cause having a bunch o' democrats running for President and needing sit silent during an impeachment trial is less than ideal from a campaigning pov. as a lesson from the russia investigation, the democrats also know the public has a short attention span, and wait another year for resolution is risky. nevertheless, unlike censure, impeachment is historical relevant, so impeach today. when Court affirms all the past decisions on the matter and President needs surrender documents and witnesses for impeachment, then re explore the issues. new damning evidence makes this issue fresh meat even if is a year removed. HA! Good Fun!

Jmt19, the team is currently working to see what can be done in regards to widescreen support. I wish I had more to share with you at this time so you can have more information, but when I know more about what steps we will take I will share them with you and everyone else so you know what to expect. I do apologize for not only the inconvenience of this issue but for not having more to report. However, I do want to thank you for the continued reports not only to Private Division but to us personally as we continue to share these reports with the team.

Hello, if you can get your hand on this rulebook, you can get the basics about the world of Golarion. At least it helped me a lot to get into PnP gaming of Pathfinder. https://paizo.com/products/btpy82t7?Pathfinder-Chronicles-Gazetteer

Postal 2 giveaway on GOG 😄

Just wanted to give a suggestion, when you tell one of your accompanied crew members to go back to the ship give an option to replace them with another crew member

It’s certainly tackling the same theme as CIv, but there is inherent way Civ games progress. It’s all about positive feedback loop. What I am most interested to see is, if it is something they will try to tackle. Civ6 tried to fix some of Civ inherent problems, especially with Rising Storm expansion but I didn’t feel like they quite succeeded. RPShas written a nice article about it a while back. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2018/03/15/all-rise-and-no-fall-how-civilization-reinforces-a-dangerous-myth/

More Pillars of Eternity. I have finished two sidequests around Gilded Vale and unlocked few discounts that way. I have also died two times, when fighting against pack of two enemies which were to high level for me 😛 The third attempt after running around the whole Black Meadow map were successful, but still very close to death, especially my Eder tank was very close 😛 The reward was Fine Wand at the altar and few other thingies Aloth was amused If you do not have anything better to do, you can listen to my horrible Slavic accent here 😄 (3 videos uploaded so far in the playlist 😛 )

Looks like another quality of life Bethesda feature 😄

Plaid Cymru? Sounds like a Star Wars villain with lumberjack fashion sensibilities Wasn't sure whether to put this here or throw it up on the rando thread but decided here because of the political aspect. Millennials Are Leaving Religion And Not Coming Back I think I've discussed it a bit here before but I've known more than a few people that fell into this category due, in large part, to politics.

Blade Runner added https://www.gog.com/game/blade_runner