Wormerine

Well, I didn't enjoy my experience, though to be fair I did consciously refuse to initially engage with what was clearly a rather important choice. From my perspective my gripes would be that: 1) initial choice felt rather sudden and arbitrary and didn't provide enough context to commit to such decision (I do wonder why they didn't go with more traditional route of NPCs petitioning you to do something, and you fulfilling their request meant supporting their cause) 2) and coming from that not fulfilling that person's request (or even doing the complete opposite) seemed to have no effect whatsoever on either of parties involved. It's as if they cared more about me saying I side with them, rather then actually helping. Anyway, I think it is safe to say I have abandoned my playthrough as I feel no desire to go back, especially as it seems the first bit I already experienced haven't presented the game from it's best side. Will give it another go on a later date once I am more in the mood.

I would probably give Ben Star for Verso, Lorien Testard for OST, maybe best narrative, though if it is any good I would always pick something like Kingdom Come2 over it, due to linearity and uninteractivity of E33 story content. Probably best Independent game and best indie debiut. I would definitely not give it best Roleplaying game, on account of it not having roleplaying in it. Maybe best direction, probably GOTY.

I always thought GameAwards RPG category was a mess, but Fighting Games easily win the most nonsensical nominees. 2XKO - limited early access build, the game isn't even in 1.0. (and not first time they did it. Multiversus was nominated two years in the row, once for it's early release, and once for it's 1.0 launch ) Capcom Fighting Collection 2 - a rerelease of 20+ years old games Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection - another rerelease of 20-30 years old games. Virtua Fighter 5 REVO World Stage - newest rerelase, visual uplift and balance patch to 15 years old release of 20 years old game. Fatal Fury City of the Wolves - the only 2025 full release and as such IMO the only game from the list which should be eligible. (2XKO might make it before the end of the year, but who knows).

15hours into it, finished first planet and I am really struggling with it. I don't disagree with anything you have written, I think system wise it's a really smartly designed, streamlined RPG, I just really struggle to connect with anything story wise. I found main area's first quest to be a bit of a mess:

Yeah, I feel there could be more done with choice and consequence gameplay wise, and there is definitely some smoke and mirrors going on when it comes to story and Alters. Two mandatory alters get easily the most narrative stuff, and out of other optional one one opened some major story opportunities and others seemed rather modest in content. Looking back at potential story choices and their outcomes there seem to be mostly better and worse options - which I think would be far less compelling on 2nd playthrough.

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.