Wormerine

Ha, no shame in that. Personally, I abused the hell out of Ancestor's Memory/Salvation of Time combo to get through DLCs harder content. I generally really enjoy the challenge presented in them, but it is a bit too much when rushing a playthrough for Avowed. Yeah, I still thing PoE1 and PoE2 DLCs are a glimpse at what Pillars game could be. White March is still my favourite bit of PoE content (though it's been a while since I played through it).

As long as you prevent her from casting Llengrath's Safeguard too often it's not too bad. In SSS the story requires doing relatively few combat encounters - most of them are optional. Backstory of SSS is quite interesting, I thought.

I have been mulling over that for a while - if PoE3 were to happen, would it be a Watcher game? Really none of the PoEs were about the Watcher, and while his unique skills were used as a crutch as to why we are a chosen one (more so in the sequel), narratively he is irrelevant to the games main narrative. the main story best I would want to be followed through on is dealing with the consequences of Eothas’ actions in the finale of the Deadfire - and that could take place generations after the events of those games. You could be “reborn” watcher or something like that - though without the wheel it should be possible anymore, though I am sure one can write around it.

Not too big. I think a bit over 10GB

That's all good. My favourite part of Mafia were the calm bits. Driving in town from and to jobs, having a train ride with Paulie and scauting bank before robbery. Combined with Untouchables it's been a bit thing in my teenage age. Also public service announcement: SOLASTA2 DEMO IS OUT. Download on steam and play! Edit. Solasta2 - hmm... much, much prettier, not sure about everything else. It feels like a lot of small things that made Solasta interesting and unique to me have been shaved off. My worry that vertical design has been greatly simplified seems correct, and there are some major options missing. I hope that it is pre-alpha problem, and not Solasta2 problem. While far prettier, it also feels more generic than the original.

Is it first person though, or just quality of presentation. Do people like first person over top down, or do they like game with nice modern graphics, and detailed models that talk at you. I think it is also important to acknowledge that marketing for Outer Worlds was very well done. I thought 2k did a great job presenting they game they sell. and priming the audience for it. I can't say the same about PoE1&2, Tyranny and Avowed. I am curious to see how Avowed will do comparably to Outer Worlds.

OHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! That's all one had to say to sell me on KCD, and you are first to do so. I think that is the last push that I needed to launch the game (after Avowed that is).

Yup, once I got to explore Paradis I started to enjoy the game much much more. It's is clicking with me. Also a lot more rooftops to climb. And I can cast fireballs now. And have a flaming dagger. And a pistol. Am I serving Woedica or Magran?

yeah it does. But PoEs were always more concerned about metaphysical/sociopolitical side of the story, than characters. It’s too early for me to see what Avowed is planning, but so far it seems more straightforward. Still, I actually thought Deadfire did well in creating scenarios that would engage you with local issues, rather than sitting down and talking at you. While it’s too early to me to see where Avowed is going, I don’t think I could tell apart Paradis locals from Aedyrians from Rautaians. So far factions feel far less defined and distinct. and even if they were equivalent in writing (I don’t think they are) the cinematic nature of Avowed does bring writing and delivery requirements, that top down PoEs didn’t have. Yes, but I would rather have NPC be hostile toward me, rather than using friendly, water cooler conversation while complaining about Aedyr (me), and how they are terribly afraid of Steel Garotte (uhm, thanks for telling me?). So far one NPC really raise my eyebrows - the Aedyr soldier lady near palisade to the first story quest. I felt as a character she really didn’t gel with the story she was saying and faction she is meant to represent - unless there is something I am missing. Anyway, those are my very first impressions anyway. Things are likely to change.

So Avowed. First impressions are mixed. Gameplay is indeed pretty good, and I like exploration so far. Writing has me increasingly worried. Conversation trees seem to be well below Obsidian's standard - there is a rather blatant "NPC has same response recorded for all of the choices offered to you", and character's just don't feel right so far. They speak casually, which is at odds with Avowed still being just of a lore whore as PoEs were. I also find NPCs to speak more to the player than a character. Multiple NPCs keep talking to the Envoy of Aedyr things they probably should keep to themselves. In first instance I thought it might be characterisation, but it keeps happening, so it seems like it's more of an exposition dump for the player, rather than a believable in-world interaction. Edit. So pwetty though

It's not the game we deserve, it's the game we need.

Also what is fashionable and what isn't is in constant flux - that's why chasing trends with a multiyear production cycle is dangerous in itself. I remember when it was difficult to come by a game that offered any challenge to the player. Console manufacturers were aiming at "casual audience" (aka. newcomers) and titles were designed to not dare to challenge your progress. Than stuff like Demon/Dark Souls and Super Meat Boy came out, and it turns out there was a sizable audience hungry for such titles, and the taste for it spread. I remember about 10 years ago, when IO was saying how tricky audience testing was for Hitman2016 - as players were so used to be lead by the hand, that most didn't know how to engage with systemic sandbox. I think a recent success of Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate3 and now KC:D2 show that general audience is more open to a more player driven experiences. Now of course, those are three rather good games, so it is no easy way to success. But I think those three studios prove a value of specialized, slowly developing studios. Very much different mindset than AAA's pick the marketable thing to do, buy/make/hire a studio with no experience to make it, and fire everyone when it underperforms.

To be fair, by most AAA publishers standards, 2 million would likely be considered a disappointment. Good on your Czech mates and I hope they will continue delivering bangers. Looking forward to adding my copy to the 2 million once it releases on GOG.

I agree about the Islands - I would much prefer fewer, but chunkier locations. DLCs are a great example of how much more effective content can be if it's more substantial. I suspect it is a result of amount of story they packed into Deadfire - less locations means less side plots - and between three factions, Eothas path, and side content there is a lot of ground too cover. No, I don't think there was any change to the ship - however, depending on what flag you fly, ships will treat you differently. If you use default Watcher flag, you will be left along by most ships but pirates, unless you piss a faction off. If you switch the flag for pirate one, though, for Fort Deadlight quest and leave it like that, more ships will see you as the enemy.

According to Mort, though, the hud is very scalable and customisable - how far one can remove it without impacting actual gamey, though, we will see.

At the moment I don't think much as I am yet to play either. I just have seen a lot of K:CD2 being mentioned under various Avowed videos. Any impression I have at the moment is 3rd party accounts. Will be diving into Avowed next week, and will probably finally start KC:D1 sometime after that.

I don't think I have seen an overwhelmingly positive review for Avowed. From what I have seen people invested in Eora, found a lot to enjoy in Avowed, while people not invested in the universe mostly found it underwhelming. So it seemed Avowed might have missed the marked in trying to bring in new audience, while the existing audience would likely prefer PoE3 to begin with. Eitherway, it seems that Obsidian is continuing playing it safe - which is disappointing. I was hoping that lesser player agency came with some unique upsides, and so far it doesn't seem to be the case. While Outer Worlds benefited from Bethesda creating a lot of goodwill for it with Fallout76, it seems K:CD2 created the opposite for Avowed. Which is a shame, A detailed, hardcore medieval adventure is kinda what first person PoE adaptation should be IMO. Fantastical powerfantasy, I think runs against the IP's nature. Alas Obsidian continues to pursue mainstream appeal with Outer Worlds and it seems, Avowed, producing simpler friction-free experiences. Still, looking forward to it. Based on what I have heard I should enjoy the game well enough.

Huh. Well done Obsidian.

Still not as bad as the "restored planet".

Solasta2 will have a playable demo this Steamfest on February 24th: It seems that just like with Solasta1 it will be a selfcontained, standalone adventures showcasing what we can expect in the final game. I am wondering, however, what purpose this demo serves. In Solasta1 it was part of crowdfunding campaign. I don't believe devs mentioned reaching for crowdfunding this time around, and I though S2 was to release in Early Access at some point instead. Still, creating a demo sounds like an odd allocation of resources in this case, unless it is something they just do as part of the development process.

Interesting.... Well we know:

Oh, I didn't know that you get discount on pre-order if you have Gamepass. Still, I am happy to wait those couple extra days. I don't think I will struggle avoiding spoilers. I will save those $25 to get the game later, on a proper platform once it gets discounted later down the line (assuming of course, that I want to play it ever again... finger's crossed). You might have noticed that Critical Role joined Mercer in the sequel - companions are mostly voiced by CR cast, and they got some other major roles (Eothas, narrator, Imps). It was definitely a marketing thing as well, though it didn't seem to help them much considering how much Deadfire underperformed initially. Eh, Obsidian has always drawn heavily from P&P, and both PoEs used story adventure sequences to expand scenarios that the game could support. Personally, I still think the ones from White March are the most interesting ones, but Deadfire is good. Neketaka is massive - it is a Hub you will be visiting and revisiting throughout the game, so my advice is to not spend too much time there are any given time. Do a major quest or two if you feel like it, gather quests and bounties and sail out. You can explore districts and all that they have to offer at your leisure, no need to try to complete it all in one go. While initially jarring I think party of 5 is a good choice. You still have a lot of flexibility in how you build your party, and I didn't feel loosing the 6th member impacted negatively my enjoyment of the game. As someone who micromanages my parties, 5 was a very good sweet spot where everyone is actively working on accomplishing something.

Well, because it didn't sell well . Though why a game wouldn't sell well is sometimes difficult to understand, and I would advice against using personal preferences as a reason why other people didn't buy the game. I don't know Veilguards cast enough to parse if there is any validity to its critique (from what I understand romances in Veilguard are rather underdeveloped to begin with). My personal interesting in Veilguard: 1) For me Dragon Age as an IP is not a very strong one. I didn't love a single title in the franchise, and as such I am not particularly invested in seeing the story through. I was mixed on Origins, and leaning toward negative for both sequels. 2) Bioware doesn't inspire confidence in me. The last game I truly enjoyed from them was Mass Effect2. They need to really deliver for me to pay more than a handful of bucks for their title. 3) Marketing for Veilguard didn't make be believe I would find the game enjoyable. I didn't like the tone of the trailers, and gameplay footage looked dull. 4) The reviewers whose opinion on Veilguard I was looking for, found it rather underwhelming. The writing examples they have showed made their critique seem legitimate.