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During this visit to OBS got play a bit of a Mystary project ... so good. I think all will indeed be pleased! Also got to be reminded what 20 years with the community and OBS has seen artistically! Finally, Extra Life is this coming week ... super excited to be part of one of the sessions. Will post about that too!

I am busy with KOTOR as my next game as I mentioned, I have never played any of the Star Wars games but I love the movie franchise and I grew up as huge fan of the SW universe. I installed some recommended mods like Restored Content and some graphic updates. Anyway Im 20 hours in and Im loving it. Its classic Bioware fun with interesting companions, hilarious dialogue options especially when you decide to be rude, very flexible ways to complete quest orders and significant combat skills that really make a difference in battle. And Im seeing the importance of Jedi Powers in combat, I fought some really hard Mandalorians on Kashyyyk and my Jedi powers made the difference in ensuring victory. I am also enjoying the Dark vs Light choices , Im following the Light so far unless my intended Romance hottie Bastila becomes Dark.... " the heart wants what it wants " I also see where Bioware and others got the ideas of using a spaceship for further engagement with companions like we saw in ME which is similar design but more advanced. But great game so far, further updates to follow

Mystary… mystary is good 😌

Continued playing my Aeon run. So far the Mythic missions seem to be much more interesting than the Angel path.

That's strange. I went through the whole DLC, did every questline all the way through or almost all the way, and never had this issue with a low-level NPC who could not be kept from dying. You may want to check a guide. The Neoseeker and Fandom.com wiki guides are particularly good.

JUst as a note, as it sticks out so much also in comparison to other games (RE: Combat). In like 40 hours or so, I've encountered multiple enemies that are just for that one encounter, and that encounter only. I've never seen them again. Like . This is so wasteful, they even blend the music in and out seamlessly whenever one of them starts , actually, singing -- yes, they actually recorded a singer singing for this. And yet, it's just that one encounter, never to be seen again. This fits the entire "quality over quantity" approach that is attempted, and I wish more developers would run with it. I mean, this isn't Broken Roads (fingers crossed that it will be good) -- but it is also highly unusual that even a barbarian semi-regularly has options to just intimidate foes to drop their weapons. On much lower budgets, Tactical Adventures tried similar with Solasta, though mostly in their encounter design/density. If you really think about it, most areas in BG2 are dungeon crawls in disguise, with enemies everywhere. And ToB is just trash mob after trash mob either way, outside of the bosses to kill, which is the entire main quest of the game anyway (man, what a disappointment that was, no less as Icewind Dale did this all so much better years before). Generally, combat feels too easy though (still playing on normal mind). And a few of that can be attributed to their home-brewn stuff, such as shove and the like being a bonus action, rather than an action. However, my warlocks upgraded Eldritch Blast acts as a "shove" anyway upon hitting, so if an enemy, boss included, stands on a ledge into a chasm: GG.

Jarinko Chie AKA Chie the Brat (1981). Well, how's that for a messy poster? I think this is the final Takahata* animated feature I had yet to watch, though it seems to be a bit of an ironic title, as it should really be called (spoilers for just the premise) "Chie Is Very Overwhelmed and Her Life Is a Wreck Because Mom Ran Away and Dad Is a Deadbeat Manchild". (Who the hell makes blurays that are letterboxed on all four sides? Memories was like this, too!) Maybe that was too long, though. Now, from what I understand, the original manga that this is based off of is supposed to be a slice of life-ish comedy, and heck, even the movie's poster would seem to suggest that, but...while there are definitely funny parts, the film is way too hard of a commentary on machismo, broken families, and how children are affected by the behavior/decisions of their parents for it to really qualify as an out-and-out comedy, which I am perfectly fine with because this is Takahata at his best: I loved it. After the film was evidently a success, Takahata would also direct a TV series of Jarinko Chie just a handful of months later as well, which I'll have to check out at some point too. Man, it's tough when you go and watch something to finally get it done with and out of the way, and then it's good so you have to go and check out the other related media. *This also means that the only Takahata film I did not really like was his very first, Prince of the Sun...which is a funny contrast to Satoshi Kon, whose only film I did not really like was his last, Paprika. Weird.

I need to stop hunting for interceptors, I won't be able to decide what to get rid of. Still haven't found the "perfect" one tho.

Whoops I meant ian... just thought his name was Alex haha. I just have Katya and dogmeat. Ian is the one stuck in a cave.

Pizza! That is all.

Looks like we're going to get another eruption on Iceland, this time near the town of Grindavik, or maybe the Blue Lagoon There's plenty of webcams up aswell

Not without buying me dinner first

The Fall of the House of Usher - Netflix I only caught the last 30 minutes of the last episode, but dang, it was a good 30 minutes! Then I peppered my wife with 50 questions about what happened in the first 7.5 episodes and now I want to go watch the entire season. EDIT: Whoops wrong thread.

I'd have thought Alan Wake 2 would have been bigger. I guess being stuck on Epic cut out the legs. I guess this is more fuel for the eternal PoE sales debates. I think more important to me than how Deadfire did is that Sawyer wants to do a hogwild PoE3. Microsoft, let him cook. This man will make a game where you need to have a PhD in math to understand half of it and an expert knowledge of the occult to understand the other half. It will be glorious.

Hilarious. I hope it was a good bonus. It must have been frustrating and confusing to watch indifference upon PoE2 release. Please, please do PoE3. I am more than ready to spend years complaining about another RPG. 🙂

You can get quite far into each faction's quests before you start breaking them, though doing certain quests ahead of others makes a big difference. But the problem is that it is not always clear when you are about to get to that point of breaking another faction's questline. It is even possible to cross the no turning back point in a questline without knowing it beforehand. I think they have done this intentionally to force players to not try doing everything in one playthrough, so that they can claim the game has good replayability.

https://www.gamesradar.com/golden-joystick-awards-2023-winners/ Best Storytelling - Baldur's Gate 3 Still Playing Award - No Man's Sky Best Visual Design - Baldur's Gate 3 Studio of the Year - Larian Studios Best Game Expansion - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Best Indie Game - Sea of Stars Best VR Game - Horizon Call of the Mountain Best Multiplayer Game - Mortal Kombat 1 Best Audio - Final Fantasy XVI Best Game Trailer - Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Best Streaming Game - Valorant Best Game Community - Baldur's Gate 3 Best Gaming Hardware - PSVR 2 Breakthrough Award - Coccoon / Geometric Interactive Critics' Choice Award - Alan Wake II Best Lead Performer - Ben Starr, Final Fantasy XVI Best Supporting Performer - Neil Newborn, Astarion, Baldur's Gate 3 Nintendo Game of the Year - The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom PC Game of the Year - Baldur's Gate 3 Xbox Game of the Year - Starfield PlayStation Game of the Year - Resident Evil 4 Most Wanted Game - Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth UGOTY - Baldur's Gate 3

Finally, last quest step and I could save-scum to get a Living Ship! So I did. Lots and lots of solar system spawns tried. They're largely egg-shaped with a fish/crustacean influence or something. Example of rejected ones: I asked around, and apparently there cannot be a "tiny" version. They're all sorta that size, not many possible "parts", but with some variation in front shape and appendages, maybe a few more unique colors, stuff like that. So I just picked the first one that didn't make me go "ugh." They have no large advantage, not my style, so not sure I'll keep it. 😛 Altho they do look kinda cool from side/behind if 3rd-person flying, but I never do that. Also I was wrong and there is a way to farm more but not worth the steps/cost/bother (unless one really really likes them, ofc).

I think I will go back to it. I might want to recreate my main character. Plus I think I'll need alex, and he's forever trapped in the scorpion cave currently. I went small guns, and low strength (4) which in retrospect seems like a dumb decision. I think I might have even boosted charisma over strength... and so far charisma seems pointless. And I can't imagine I'm taking down super mutants with a pistol. On the second DLC for wasteland. It's a lot goofier, but it's made me laugh out loud quite a few times. It also made me feel super guilty for I appreciate that they are switching up the combat, but I am getting a little annoyed by it. Both DLCs have very drawn out combat. It has kept my attention but it's also a time waster. It's kind of funny how DLCs tend to destroy any difficulty in the base game. You get all these advanced weapons and perks from the DLC that by the time you return to the base game you're very OP.

I am not finished with Solasta Lost Valley but I feel I should be relatively far along. I am progressing all factions at the same pace, though I guess I will be forced to choose who to side with eventually. There are far harder encounters than in the base game, I feel. Or it is a bit less linear and you run into encounters you aren't supposed to be able to beat at the time you can first find them. It isn't necessarily bad, but some encounters definitely could have used some tweaking. The campaign likes giving you NPC's to tag along until you complete their quest. So I beat one encounter by having double the party size, with a higher level wizard and barbarian than my own characters tagging along. The problem with NPCs in your party is that they gain no xp. But right at the start of the campaign you get the option to hire one of three NPCs to help you, and they never level up and you can't dismiss them. So I have a rogue with 10hp following me around - every combat I try to run her away so she doesn't die... If I were to restart, I would not take an NPC along.

I mean... I did. 🙂 It's positive, while acknowledging game's shortcomings (story problems, neven companions, lack of difficulty, Quality of Life features, apparently ongoing technical problems in act3). Mostly interesting, as he did beat the game multiple times, with each origin etc. so it's nice to see feedback on individual characters as well.

It also may point to piss-poor marketing as a major culprit here. Potential fans had to find or stumble upon the game over time because Obsidian did not lead them to it.

Agreed, except 1. That trailer was most glorious; 2. The quest design when no one tells the exact location, route, and landmarks does require quest markers. When some NPC told me to meet them in Baldur's Gate, they never mentioned where (it was a random cave with no clear connection to those NPCs) or how to get there. It is possible to not have to include quest markers, but it requires the map and the quests (and all that VA/mo-cap fluff) to be done in order, which might be challenging. Morrowind achieved it, but you also could ask any nearby NPC for directions (again, VA/mo-cap make it insurmountable to have that amount of lines*). --- Started another playthrough as a Githiyanki sorcerer (having unlimited Enhanced Leap is very convenient) to test a very specific theory, which requires a full run with some side quests completed. So far so good - 5 hours in and close to the end of Act 1 (at the post-Goblin Camp celebration). Need to find another hand crossbow, though, for the only mostly combat-focused companion, which will take another hour or two. *if I'm not mistaken, Skywind aims to have all lines voiced.

I am happy to see this. So hopefully we might see PoE3 before my retirement (or at least before Star Citizen release). 🤷‍♂️

So maybe people only had fatigue of games like this and dropped in later. It's certainly possible that a game doesn't push that hard on release, but will keep selling steadily over time. Shame we can't see the statistics.

Unnecessary Sequel #3 (2021) Woops, I mean, Matrix: Resurrections, now that it is available on Amazon Prime. Big spoiler right from the start: I did not hate it. With that out of the way, is that really enough these days? It almost feels like it is. I would not say I enjoyed this, so it is different from Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, but as far as the sequels go, it might be the best of the bunch, although that is such a low bar to clear that it is practically worthless as measurement. Half of the film is a parody anyway, and it seems like the Wachowskis are almost aware of how much their pseudo-philosophical ramblings in Reloaded and Revolutions failed to be interesting, and how uninteresting and rote their other films are. A part almost feels like a meta commentary, especially the development meetings where everyone is desparately looking for a way to make a Matrix sequel (it makes sense in the film) that has a game-changing, impactful component. Half of the film makes no sense in the context of the other films, and the other half is a mix of parody and remake of the first one. The one thing that is immediately noticable as it is often directly in juxtaposition with the original 1999 film is that shaky cam adds nothing to the feel of an action scene, and the first film is so much better for its lack of screen shaking. There's a time and place for it, but a Matrix film sure is not it. Still, it did not make me want to kill myself or fall asleep like Reloaded and Revolutions. Eh, I probably am going soft. Always fun to see Neil Patrick Harris though.

I like it when zombies somehow never managed to lose their hats off their head when they died, or in all the days/months they've been lurching around as a zombie. Or maybe zombies covet hats as reminders of better days and go around picking them up, moaning "braiiiinnnnsss, braiiiinsss ... haaaaaaaat!" It's even better if the game lets you loot/take their hat to wear yourself. Not that they typically allow that, but just saying.

and don't forget their weird fascination with puzzles. enigma? most o' oner's complaints is gonna be echoed by other gamers to greater or lesser degrees. we personal enjoyed wotr, but am not gonna try and convince anybody owlcat is a great developer. is also the politics angle which might offend people. with owlcat doing a warhammer 40k game, is more than a few legit concerns. furthermore, am thinking a warhammer 40k crpg is gonna be tough for any developer to get "right," 'cause in our experience, most fans do not view similar to Gromnir... most fans don't view as does games workshop. The Imperium Is Driven by Hate. Warhammer Is Not is a good argument you need a particular deft collection o' writers to strike the right balance so as not to offend many 40k fans and still remain true to 40k. owlcat is such a developer? HA! Good Fun! ps am personal trying to think positive, but is not in our nature to do so.

While reading this, my first thought was: hey, you already said it is a Takahata film. Spoils enough.

I quit my Solasta Lost Valley run. The low level NPC you can't dismiss is just supposed to get killed eventually and there is no way to keep them alive, because eventually you will run into a scripted ambush where your whole party gets hit with a fireball. Screw this. Devs should know better than to put players in a situation where they will challenge themselves to keep an NPC alive. If devs actually played games they would know how part of their playerbase is wired.