cirdanx

In fairness, neither of those titles is currently on a daily or flash sale, those are just the regular lesser discounts that last for the entire duration of the Summer Sale. Both titles are highly likely to get a deeper discount at some point during the sale. You have a point, falsh sales are supposed to be better most of the times...but this time? A lot of -10 to -20´% isnt´t very impressive. Also, is it just me or have some games gone up before the sale? I can´t remember if a 2+ year old game like Fallen Enchantress: LH was still 37.- full price o.O Nevermind...they just adused the -% for the 2nd time in 5 minutes on flash sales..this is a mess.

But thats the problem, it has nice ideas and is it was fun for some hours..not enough Mechs,maps, guns, etc it got boring really fast. Also DLC for horde mode..ugh..it came out with hardly any maps and content. Thats why it fell on its face. It´s one of those games noone cares anymore, overrated and hyped and no substance. (the groundwork was there which makes it sad it could have been better) BUT Shadowwarrior is a GREAT single player shooter..****ing awesome really. If you don´t have it, get it..steam sales should help. Edit: OMG Shadow Warrior2? REALLY? YESSSS! THIS IS GREAT! ALso **** co-op never design a game around that. NEVER.

I have to say something. In my opinion, Revan was never really light nor dark side, (a principle i always found stupid, there should be WAY more "grey jedis" out there). He started off as a good guy and ..well what? THe Mandalorian wars were horrible but he DID help and got into it, and wars change people. we can arguee if the sith side is evil (i would say no) had his reign as a "bad" guy, then you get kotor 2 and then he flies off, as you said, because there is a bigger threat. Which comes back in the latter novels and hinted at in SWTOR. I was never happy with his storyline, but to me he was a guy who couldn´t deal with the silly restrictions and wannabe heroes that the light side provides, while standing aside and letting horrific things happen, (why he went into the war), then matured as a man, clearly influenced by the war and went for power to take it over and make one big empire to end war and brnig the jedis to justice (in HIS mind). Now thats character grow and i can even understand and releate to it. And he gets confronted and realizes that he has gone to far...also realizes that there is a far more dangours threat out there (which eventually came in the books) and sets out to find them. That was a rather nice story, not great but ok. It was character development, thats the reason why he was and is so popular and no one gives a **** about star child as an example. He is not inhertly dark side, and i don´t think he ever was one side, he just tried to find his way. Something star wars lacks in term of force users, there is dark and light, for the movie we have Han as the rogue guy to compensate for that. also everyone loves the simpel bad/good guy arc. But then..all the fanfiction and books came after the movie, and now everything of this is NON-canon anyway. Anyway, i think Revans story as "dark" jedi is more interesting, the last thing we need is another good jedi sitting around and doing nothing. Not to menton that this story paved the way for several books about a "bigger threat" for the best or worse, i don´t like them much, *shrug*

1. Yes i believe you have no idea what you are talking about. 2. You are part of the BRICS in South Africa, so it is in YOUR interest, or should be, that russia stays strong. Because THEY will be your basis of wealth, not america or europe who are happy to plunder everything you still have left. 3. We have seen the western strategy, its coups, warfare and nothing more...the moment a new player comes up like russia or china, they fear for their wealth, well it´s a wealth on debt anyway, which they hold..oh the irony. 4. Russia is in no way isolated. Washington tried, failed and can now watch as Russia turns to rest of the world, who are very happy to deal with them, sadly as an european that also effects us. and quit frankly, i would like the EU to go to hell so we can repair our relations with russia again, because everyone benefits from it here..except america.. 5. there is nothing agressive nor militant about russia, so far they have only reactet and never acted except crimea which goes hand in hand on what the people wanted there and thanks to referendum visited by over 70 international observes was legal and conform with the UN charta, no matter what Whasington or their vassals says. (who never gave a crap about internatiol law anyway and stole land) Blah

The f2p works in the beginning, but later on you will be severely restricted by it. Compared to other games (like Rift as an example) it´s a horrifically bad one. Well it's actually a preferred account, since it used to be an active sub. I think it will be fine for a 5 year old. Sure, it´s a nice option and good you can play with your kid. But they could have some trial system with a better f2p system in place. It´s not like your 5y old kid will go on with the storyline and raid with you? So for trying around it´s nice, as i said the first levels are all easy to play without a sub or more money. My point is just that the system is horrible (and i was also subed before for a year)

"Dumb fun" probably works very well, i have not seen it yet, but it´s exactly what i think it will be. Basicly a fun monster movie for the summer. I don´t think you can recreate the feeling of the first movie anyway.

93 years old. A high age and a lifestory that could fill books, farewell Saruman the white.

I agree, Deus Ex did this far better than DA or ME. I think it is the workflow, a lack of organization is likely, thats my impression though. While i agree with you, i think Metacritic is worthless. Raitings can easily brought down by a small hate train. That has happened too often. Not that it matters, in my opinion no player should judge a game by their metacritic raiting or reviews from big sites/magazines. Not when it is so easy to find a bloger/youtuber etc you can "click with" and who represents your taste in gaming and even shows you gameplay. Are you sure you searched the horse barn? He runs a round a lot, i even found him basicly behind the house once (bad AI). You may also lack approval. Or it could be a possible bug. Sera also only triggered at the end for me because of lack of approval i think. The game aspects you, in my impression, that you do the main quests almost as soon as they come up, and then go out and do side quests, i did the opposite because i like to finish zones if possible. That kinda messed it up Edit: don´t forget to search, there is a letter in the barn that starts blackwalls quests when he is gone^^

Just got Wolfenstein the new order...for 12,45.-? Thanks :D Otherwise i must say that the summer sale so far has been kinda lame. But it just started and i´m hopeing for some good deals on games like Darkest Dungeon or Hands of Fate.

I don´t know, maybe because it´s nice to be the bad guy once? Usually you are the hero anyway which gets boring. As a side note, i think Kotor 2 is better (except the technical problems) than 1. Yes, lynch me

The f2p works in the beginning, but later on you will be severely restricted by it. Compared to other games (like Rift as an example) it´s a horrifically bad one.

I do agree with you regarding the dialogues. Personally I like voice acting if it is good and doesn't interfere too much with the dialogue (or rather the writing thereof), whether it is fully voiced like DA:O or only partially like PoE or Baldur's Gate. On the other hand Bioware's specialty are hero-saves-the-nation/world/planet/galaxy games, they have always been like that, and they moved towards a more cinematic display of these stories even before they were acquired by EA. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. Bio has created a bunch of hits and a bunch of misses in terms of plot quality, but they almost always were told really well and set in excellently crafted settings. Sometimes the telling of the barest thread of a storyline is so great that you almost don't notice it. Like Mass Effect 2, which is essentially DA:O in space (just without the gathering the army part, that was rehashed in the third one). You are right, Bioware´s storytelling usually doesn´t exceed the typical fantasy hero stereotype. However, most don´t, they just add a twist, but in the end most are the same. I never had a problem with Blizzard playing the "hero saves the day" card. If written well it works. And of course, if we take apart most famouse stories we will always end up with the same principles of story structures. Not a bad thing. They made it interesting, usually thanks to good hero and especially companion writing. I don´t really see the approach to a more cinematic feeling in their old games, the grand scale yes, but more cinematic...DA:O had some of that, but was executed well in my opinion. But before? I mean sure we could argue about KotoR, which in dialogues was very cinematic back then, but i always had the impression that was because of the movie feeling this game was based on anyway. Getting the Star Wars feeling right. Don´t get me wrong, i like almost all of their games, but the writing, in my opinion has become...crap...as far as mainstoryline goes. DA2, ME2+3, DA:I nope. That doesn´t mean i had no fun with them. ME2 had fantastic side stories. DA2 had some nice side stories. ME3 ..oh **** that :D DA:I did better..but again some nice side stories who easily get lost within the amount of fetch quests. Anyway, point being. I love standart hero saves the world quests, no problem with that, if it is written well and the npcs along with you are written well and draw you in (the sub character stories draw you really in, in bioware games i think) then everything is good. Then i can also let go of logic flaws or cheesy writing (ME2). But DA:I, in my opinion, doesn´t even have that. While i enjoyed some banter and some dialogues with characters, i think the mainstory started out interesting, turned out horrible and characters (as in party members) were to...i don´t know...detached, but thats in my opinion the result of your character just being a token and the game not giving you a chance to develope your character. again a rant damn it :D but i find it interesting

Well, best luck to him, i´m sure we will find out soon enough on what he will work on

As far as romance goes, i hate DA:I. I was fine with no Morrigan or Leliana action. To me Morrigan is the gf of MY warden and Leliana his friend who certainly deserves better. I played a female warden, at first i got into Iron Bull, but..well his design is just..ugh...i never found any of them interesting, except Blackwall which is probably the most "real" interaction you can get with anyone. (if i ever play it again i will choose him) but i ended up with Sera just for the sake of it and man do i hate her. I think my biggest problem is, that in general the options are simply not very interesting. They all have nice banter and dialogue sometimes when it comes to you, as in you, the inquisitor, but you are such a token character that there is no deeper conversation. Nothing like Morrigan breaking out of her shell and giving you a ring (an actual item). You are just a nobody with no backstory (unless you read it up) that has a deus ex machina on his hand that serves as the main plot device. End. Compare this to DA:O where, let´s say you are a human noble, you see and talk to your parents, your dog, your home gets attacked you flee, you lose everything..thats a backstory you playthrough and gets you engaged. DA:I lacks that. And i just couldn´t get personal with any of the npc´s (though i like cassandra a lot). Despite some very nice banter and dialogue, the often act so illogical it just makes my head hurt. Blackwall might be the best romance option with a real drama and secret involved in it (which comes out anyway if you do the side quests). The rest..nahh..not so much..and i want to punch Sera in the face because she has the IQ of a 3 year old. /rant...sorry :D

That dumb wheel never gave a good indication of what your char says. That was a problem from the get got when they came up with it and my biggest reason why i don´t like it. It´s even worse in the Mass Effect series but Bioware seems to love it. Though, i guess i´m lucky that the translation team did a good job on that and it´s not that missleading as in english (which i also played...for like...2 hours..) The dialogue wheel is the logical consequence of fully voiced player characters. How interesting would it be to have your character just repeat the very same sentence you just picked out of the available dialogue options? You are right and i understand the problem But that is also why i´m against a fully voiced player char. I think it works very well with the old model of saying just some lines, or none at all. It worked well in the old games and DA:O. It would indeed just save money and allow players to imagine the voice in their head. In fact, a voice you don´t like can be total immersion breaker for some people. But EA and others want to be so hollywood like these days with their characters and hero saves the world stories that they rather waste their money on 100+ game of recorded audio with a big name, rather than improving their gameplay. Thats a shame in my eyes.

I can clearly see Stens face Vivienne is really underwritten. There isn´t much about her. Iron Bull really dies easily but was one of the more interesting characters to hang out with. I liked his little gang a lot.

That dumb wheel never gave a good indication of what your char says. That was a problem from the get got when they came up with it and my biggest reason why i don´t like it. It´s even worse in the Mass Effect series but Bioware seems to love it. Though, i guess i´m lucky that the translation team did a good job on that and it´s not that missleading as in english (which i also played...for like...2 hours..)

Really looking forward to XCOM 2! And the best thing? Only a few months...i hate it when companies announce a game a year or more before launch, this is refreshing.

Nice quote That was pretty much my experience also. I finished the game two days ago with around 112h playtime. I had to give it a shot when i got it cheap. The game looks ok, nothing that impressed me very much but they did a good job with world building, for the most part. Overall though, i would say it´s forgettable. The main plot is weakly written, full of holes and logic flaws and the ending is one of the biggest cliffhangers ever. It answers no questions whatsoever and instead opens a whole novel of "why, what, how" etc. I really liked some of the side quests, who sadly got overshadowed by a lot of filler content. I often got the feeling of playing an mmo with the sheer amount of pointless fetch quests. As a whole i had the same experience as i had with DA:2, where the mainplot became dull to me and i only kept playing because of the better side content. Some characters were nicely written, but as far as romances went, i couldn´t be bothered. (as last as a female mainchar, i did end up with Sera and hated it...) I will say this though, it was better than i expected, but i guess thats because i went into it with zero expectations My highlights were returning characters and hearing about my hero of Ferelden and exploring the world in search of more lore. It´s kinda sad that talking with Morrigan for a few minutes is more interesting than anything else. And yes the combat sucks, it´s flashy and nice looking but dull and extremly repetitive. I spend the most part of 100+ hours hitting the same buttons, and i hated the fact that you are restricted to 8 active skills because of stupid console controls. In the end...i would say it´s just forgetable, but worth the time if you can get it on a sale and want to hang out a bit with some old beloved faces from DA:O. (thats a stretch though..) It was a spiritual successor, that was the whole point and idea from the get got of DA:O. They said that several times. They also wanted to improve on DA:O to make things better in DA2. Just like they did in Baldurs Gate 1 to 2. That was what David Gaider clearly said on the forums back then and i even defended his view because some people were crying that a new game with a new IP is not as good as BG2 was. I don´t know what happened after this, but they obviously changed their plans (see DA2). Which, in my experience with EA games means, it was likely EA´s call. I don´t see Bioware as it´s own studio anymore, they are just another branch of EA now and EA is the boss. It´s that simple. Also deep, tactical games with a lot of on-use skills don´t work well with console controls, we all know that. They tried it with the wheel in DA:O but that was kinda a hit/miss with the players, some liked it, others hated it. I´m not sure what Biowares style is, they made a lot of games and not always classic RPG´s. But this action gameplay, is in my opinion, a direct result of being developed for consoles. Also, i have to disagree with the last part. More complex, tactical combat systems (with and without pause) are having their renaissance thanks to crowed funding. Divinity OS, Wasteland 2, Pillars, Shadowrun etc. Or thru more clever publishers like XCOM, BG and Icewind Dale revamps. And more coming. These games all did well, they just don´t sell as much as mindless action games. (what does that say about players?^^) This is a typical problem with big publishers. They think the more money they (mindlessly) throw at something, the more it will make and of course console pandering. But in terms of investment - return ratio, "smaller games" do better. Just look how well games like Child of Light, Rayman Legends or Valiant Hearts did for Ubisoft. I don´t even want to know how much DA:I cost EA, but i bet there is a "small" difference compared to something like Pillars of Eternity or Divinity OS. Which are games that i will play through several times and i can´t say the same about DA:I.

Weird that there's an issue with Dwayne Johnson and Daddario's respective ages (Johnson is 14 years older than Daddario) but not Gugino's and Daddarios (15 years and assuming Daddarios is playing Gugino's and Johnson's characters child) Maybe it´s just me, but yes she plays their child and i would also not believe that she is Calra Gugino´s daugther. She is just to grown up, sure she looks great and younger then her real age (almost 30 now damn) but i would have gone for a real teenager.

Watched San Andreas yesterday. Well what started as a promising disaster movie, soon became an awful, nonsensical, cliche, CGI fest. Thats really all it has going for it, the CGI is well done. Not even the Rock could save this movie, nor could Alexandra Daddario, who i really like but she is too old to be the Rocks daughter, it just isn´t believable. Stupid stuff like basicly ignoring millions of dead, dialogue no person would ever say, the worst forced love story and the forced characterisation that comes from it just made me hate this movie. And the ending with the stupid flag and the "we will rebuild everything" crap just made me walk out of the cinema in anger. Waste of money.

I hope GoG gets more games in the future. I find Origin deals kinda lackluster, Steam still has the better deals and summer sales are around the corner. The new refund policy is also a step in the right direction.

hm. by your comments, you have no idea about japanese culture. you may stop now...

That may not be true, Varrics storyline with Bianca and even more so Dagnas research suggest that Lyrium is more than that and may even be alive. Coles comments when in the party add to that. Without more information it´s open to discussion but thanks to the ingame information it is pretty clear that it´s more than just some mineral.

In theory yes, but the AI is pretty bad at handling dagger rogues. If you babysit him he is pretty good.