Wormerine

For whatever it is worth, I tend to not care for jRPGs, but I enjoyed CO:E33 gameplay anyway. It's jRPG systems are actually rather overshadowed by dodge/parry mechanic which makes it closer to baby's first Sekiro. One optional boss in particular felt very FromSoftware. That however, I think is also a weakness as while the game does have variety of characters with their own gimmicks, and neat character building system, it does just dictates how much dodging/parrying one will have to do per-encounter. That said, story is the selling point.

And limited unit selection, especially if playing zerg. So good. Endgame content and balancing is easily my biggest gripe with the game, but not enough to spoil the experience. But really, what we needed is a game about expedition 60

Yayy, I hope you will like it too.

Oh, that's a shame. I bought the whole package. It's next in line after Outer Worlds2. Did you feel the same about the KCD1? Finished Alters. I really liked it, though I felt the game started to run a bit out of steam at the end. They tried to shake things up in unexpected ways, and while it did have some narrative impact, it did greatly undermine gameplay making the final zone a bit dull. Not a brilliant game quite original, and quite enjoyable. It's a kind of a game where individual elements aren't that spectacular, but as a whole it's quite neat. Recommended at a right price point.

Well, it can be a valid criticism if a sequel fails to bring much new to the table, but I think both D:OS2 and OW2 are a major step forward from first installments and not just more of the same. In case of OW2 I would chuck those comments as "it is not New Vegas". And it is not. It is still very streamlined RPG with very silly premise. OW2 is very much a sequel to OW1. And I think it is pretty good, even if some aspects of it still don't grab me.

A bit too early for me to have my Outer Worlds2 thought, but this seems to align pretty well m with my impressions so far:

Yeah, came here to report it. Mine is missing left leg. Something off with leg prostetic replacemenent? (which I don't have.)

Yeah, now that you mention it is rather odd, and at least for now feels unnecessary. I am getting annoyed by the "corporate" jargon. I didn't mind it it OW1 as the whole concept was "What if Corporations started the colony". And I know this is very much an arm of the same movement, but just feels odd to me here and out of place.

Probably played a bit less then yourself but not by much. Eh, I do struggle to get into the world and story so far, but otherwise it seems like a substantial upgrade. Hopefully it will click for me soon.

https://eternity.obsidian.net/eternity/news/eternity/public-beta-for-turn-based-mode No GOG beta though?

That's interesting. My complain was how missing was very rare due to Larian's tinkering with values and abundant source of guaranteed damage. I do have major gripe with some UI choices, mainly hotbar which I found to be frustratingly maintenance heavy. I avoided having druids because of that, as doing wildshape would completely wreck my hotbar after switching back to human form. I will do another playthrough using hardest setting at some point, but just too many other things to play meantime. Speaking of which I got distracted from Outer Worlds2 by Alters. Gave it a go maybe two evening ago and it got my full attention now. Oh, finished Hades2. It's like the first one, with slightly better gameplay, much worse narrative, much more content, and even more grind. I didn't care for it.

Seeing melathi's post about Hogwarts Legacy I decided to give it ago before Outer Worlds2. Yeah, I liked it more then I expected. I thought they managed to capture the universe rather well. Definitely the amount of murdering player does feels rather odd. And while I mostly found story to be fairly alright, there were couple points I felt the inability to react to things felt really odd. Main character doesn't really have a personality but the game also doesn't allow players to express themselves in spite of conversation options. There were quite a few things, especially in the latter part of the game, were I feel characters just move on from some things that really asked to be brought up. Overall, better then I expected. As I enjoyed early Harry Potter books and films in primary school, HL managed to pull my nostalgia strings. Started Outer Worlds2 - looks promising so far. Opening mission promised reactivity that I missed in the original game had. Adding to it the overall buzz around the game, I think I will enjoy this one.

https://forums.obsidian.net/forum/191-the-outer-worlds-2-technical-support-spoiler-warning/

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/microsoft-pushing-for-profits-well-above-the-industry-average-is-reportedly-behind-xboxs-layoff-and-cancellation-misery

Can't get my controller to work on Gamepass, so might have to pass for now.

I played Rogue so, I don't think it was that. I just thought it was unenjoyable to interact with. Visually flashy but not very readable. Counter icons often disappearing in the noise of explosions. Stuff like that. In the end I don't think it was much different then any other DA combat - just spamming skills once they are out of cooldown, just with more generic slashing inbetween.

Dragon Age: Veilguard was added to GamePass so I played it while I wait for Outer Worlds2. I thought it was pretty alright. Easily my favourite of Dragon Age sequels though it is not a high bar to pass. Few complaints, sure. Tonally, it is a bit inconsistant - but that's something I would say about every Dragon Age game, but Origins. The game is probably quite a bit longer than it should have been (again, Dragon Age staple). Combat sucks and gets really boring - again nothing new to DA... though as it tries to pivit a bit more into action-RPG territory it hurts it by how clunky and unresponsive it feels. There is also artificiality around the quests and systems which I found really detracting from the narrative. I don't know if it's because game's origin as liveservice, or just current Bioware team sensibilities, but how game was structured, how quests were presented I felt really made it difficult to feel immersed in the narrative, and therefore care. But it is not all bad. Like Inquisition I think story has more potential than Veilguard takes advantage of - and I do feel they are playing loose with some established lore. But for a very casual and distanced DA player it felt like it actually paid off on many things that previous games were establishing. Companions were alright, and I quite enjoy some of their banter. Finale is pretty alright, if contrived at times. I don't think it is a great game, but frankly best I have seen from Bioware since Mass Effect2 (didnt' play Andromeda nor Anthem though). I enjoyed most of it, but it's overstayed it's welcome and I am glad it is over.

I didn't know there is a new Heroes of Might and Magic in works, and there is even an early demo to try out. It looks like it's being done on budget, but it is actually quite snappy, and seems like could be a nice entry to the series. As the series have been in limbo for a while, it is nice to see a return to form, though it might be a bit too conservative. HoM&M3 die hards might not be willing to move on at this point, and I am not sure how much new blood with a budget title like this one attract.

Pretty good conversation with a lawyer about the acquisition.

Huh, seems Capcom kept a lot of C.V. sauce from SF4. I would bet they would redesign and simplify her for SF6. I am really curious how she will fit he game. Probably too technical for me at the moment, but looks very cool.

Yes, something I didn’t like about FiraXCOM was how pod activation was the most important mechanic on the game. You can go through a mission and not get a single shot aimed at you, or you can make last move in your turn, unveil one or two extra tiles and have a new pod or two take a shot at your squad.

I mostly agree, with coveats. I don’t think PoE story is “better told”. Too much of it is uninteractive, too much of it is told through NPCs talking at you and books abd too little through quests. But I do think it is a better story. What PoE2 lacks to me is personal hook for our protagonist. I never found Eothas destroying Caed Nua compelling as without experiencing this event in the sequel we get a “cutscene” and it is just not enough to care. It’s as if Mass Effect destroyed Normandy in a hand drawn cutscene rather than open with it. Similarly, reuniting our soul and confronting Eothas - it’s all confusing and impersonal and unrelatable. In PoE1 we experience consequences of the awakening and as we progressed we better realised what it could mean for us. In PoE1 it’s just “oh yeah part of your soul in in Eothas so keep close”. PoE1 had more relatable stories and dilemmas of companions which I think helped ground the god thread and give it resonance. Without it it’s tricky to care about bickerings of fictional gods.

Interesting. I own it on Steam and it is still on sale here in UK. From what I can find the game was/is banned in Germany? Would buying the game from third party sites not work? https://isthereanydeal.com/game/max-payne/info/ Edit. Apparently not. GMG regions for Max Payne don't include Germany. So weird. Seems like early 2000 violent video game panic ban, than never got reversed. Rockstar should do something about it.