Wormerine

I had the same association. Something about the fantasy style and poor facial animation that does it. The game itself... we will see. I like that they carry over and expand on the systemic part of old Fables. From what they show the whole thing feels too... easy? It could be just a demo, but games in which you can do anything you want at a whim don't appeal for me. I want the friction, so certain options (especially the less civilized ones) feel more tempting.

huh, didn't expect that. Dragon's Dogma2 is getting an expansion. Leading up to it will be two updates addressing some of the common complaints. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dragons-dogma-2-is-getting-a-frosty-dark-arisen-expansion-plus-two-big-updates-that-fix-some-of-the-things-you-moaned-about-back-in-2024

To me is how she doesn't fit into everything else. I dunno, maybe it's the point. Didn't play the first one.

yesss!

If you found System Shock2 scary, then yeah, probably not a good time. To me it was very good. I like tension of horror games, but I couldn't deal with gore of, let's say, Resident Evil 2 remake. Alien:I (just like first film) is my kind of horror - more about suspension and atmosphere. That said, alien in that game is nerve wracking - its active and hunting you throughout most of the title, and is fully systemic. Probably it's only fault is that it is a bit too long. Alien looses it's intimidation factor halfway through due to exposure, especially later on when it becomes harder to avoid which results in a lot of deaths, which results in me not caring anymore. Maybe I should replay it. Hmmm

Well... I hope story is good cause gameplay looks very mid. That has been my main reservation with C:R since the announcement - Remedy's gameplay tends to not be their strongest suit, and third person action gameplay is very rarely done well. Add to that RPG system, and the result could be really unsatisfying, unengaging smashy thing. That boss battle looked really dull - couple smacks in the face, chase it to the other side of the room while dodging some slow projectiles, smash again, chase it again etc. Reviews will definitely dictate how much I will be paying for this one.

Stuff that caught my attention from SGF (in addition to Alien Iso2 above): Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin is being developed by Platinum games. Their track record with the IP isn't great, but hopefully they will redeem themselves. I hear ninja Gaiden4 was alright My ex-Naughty Dogs. It will probably not be my thing, but I still found it quite compelling as a watch: Virtua Fighter6 finally got reveal, mostly focused on stuff previous entries didn't have - singleplayer story mode. I will be more curious what the veterans will think of gameplay once we know more of how the game plays. SF6 story mode helped me to get into SF, hopefully this will do the same for VI. Tried VI5 but to me being stuck in training mode and trying to figure things out the hard way just doesn't work. Eh, I hope it is good: SF6 roster reveal is bizzare. 3 newcomers (including story mode wet blanket of an NPC made playable character) plus Tifa. It could be very good - SF6 could use some more newcomers, but it is difficult to be hyped about characters you know nothing about. Also Allegedly no more new story content and it seems no new stages. Capcom is either brewing something big, or seeing how little they can invest in SF6 and still rake the same amount of money. And speaking of Tifa: Day one on PC this time around. Meh, I am mixed on this trilogy - the meta "uuuu we change the narrative" is very frustrating to me and it being the finale could be make or break story wise.

Maybe, sort of. Oddly enough we are supposed to get two Tomb Raider in 2027. One is remake of TR1 done by Wild Hog and Crystal Dynamics, and another is proper new Tomb Raider entry by Crystal Dynamic. My read it that it seems like a soft reboot trying to blend classic Lara with gritty Lara.

Yeah, to me it's one of those "less then a sum of its parts" game. Individual bits of this "action adventure" are done really well actually, but I didn't feel the games come together. Definitely, I would pick up DoW:F sometime later down the line if it came to PC, but I can't say I feel any FOMO by it being Sony exclusive once again.

GoWs were ok. Not on PC, though, don't care. So from things that matter: That's a bit disappointing. I am not sure why they remake Rayman Legends. I was hoping for new Rayman game. I am also not sure about the talking - talking tends to not do well in Rayman games. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKfG9hiueak That looks.... like a remake of a remake of the original Tomb Raider game? Are we back to OG Lara? Picked it up on recent sale and really liked what I played. Might finally be aRPG for me. Looking forward to 1.0. I hope it will be much better optimised then current build. Game looks fantastic but runs like ass sometimes. Onimusha out in September. Give us PC player the demo! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rpyWOiHkAg Control!

Yeah and that's what makes me apprehensive. Recreating BGs (especially BG2) as they are would be a tall order, and reinventing it... tricky. So many things that could be improved, but also so many things that could go wrong. Especially if they would aim to cater more to BG3 crowd. It's tricky. It is a great game of its time, and trying to make it new could result in either dated or not as compelling experience.

I would love love for BG1&2 to get Diablo2 treatment but I also believe that likely whatever it will end up being I will probably dislike it. Also Baldurs Gate4? Whoever would be working on that would have a tough act to follow up on - I doubt Larian licenced out their engine to WotC.

HoM&M: Olden Era sold 1m copies. Woop, woop! There is also roadmap, though it is fairly basic. The most unusual thing is a plannned rogue-like mode, which... could be interesting. https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3105440/view/716780409378046732?l=english Mina the Hollower, the next game from Hollow Knight folks is out. I quite liked the demo a while back, but wasn't blown away. We will see I end up loving it just as much as Shovel Knight: Final character for SF6 season 3, Ingrid is out, and with her come a lot of questions, hopes and fears. Capcom seems to be breaking away from tradition: no major patch was dropped balance wise, and apparently they work on something. They also announced that Ingrid is the "final character to receive additional World Tour story content [SF6 singleplayer mode] upon release." Playing through it, I can't tell if it's clumsy wrap up on the mode, or tease for something bigger coming in the future. There a rumors of Tifa being a guess character in the next season, and there is SF6 movie coming out. It could be a big year for SF6, finally doing some shaking up, as game has been quite samey since its launch and discontent is spreading among the playerbase - though the game still breaks its concurrent players records with each new update.

I decided to try to finish some of the almost finish games sitting on my drive. First one to go: Outer Wilds - got as far as to figuring out final solution, but with DLCs announced I stopped short of finishing the game. Time passed, bought the DLC, but didn't play it. Time to remedy it. The DLC (Echoes of the Eye) is a neat addition to the game, though I found it harder to crack then the base game. It also, however, make you think "is Outer Wilds a bad puzzle game, actually?". Something I noticed in EotE is that a lot of it is less about puzzle solving and more about wondering around, until you find pretty explicit information on what to do next. It's a bit as if game had a walkthrough in itself. I think I notices less of it the base game, as open universe feels more organic to begin with, both in terms of obstacles put in front of you, as well as how the hints are presented. EotE feels overall more contrived, so most solutions could at best be accidentally stumbled upon (hidden doors and invisible bridges, that sort of thing), and hints feel more contrived this time around. Still, some puzzles that require logical thinking are to be found, an atmosphere of Outer Wilds is special. Good game.

eh... I can't imagine Deathloop working without the heavy guidance. I don't think it would be a rewarding game to solve.

Xbox's murder of Arcane Austin is not something I will soon forget. Prey and Mooncrash my favourite Arcane's output. I also don't understand how Deathloop was received as well as it was.

I did I think 3 contracts so far. I am more or less the same boat. Enjoyed it so far and looking forward to playing more. I like some solutions (grapling gun seems like a sensible variations on Thieves' arrows or Dishonored blink), though feel it's utility is quite more limited then both examples. The game is pleasant, scratching Thief-lite itch, but as you said it feels very basic. I am still not clear if it is it, or if they plan to sell more content later. I wonder if harder difficulties will add any spice. I also find lighting to be somewhat vague - which part of the room is and isn't lighted doesn't seem well communicated visually, especially in the first level. Not so much issue now as enemies are few and far between, but I wonder if it will become a problem if difficulty increases density of guards.

What do you think of it?

I don't think I mind that. But it seems like they try to make games that will advertise like a AAA, just not deliver when you play them. I mean I hear Outer Worlds2 is solid. I didn't get past the first planet yet. Honestly I just wasn't in a mood for it, so I don't trust my judgement 100%. Also I can run it with more acceptable framerate now.

The only thing not exciting to me about Warhorse announcement is that two projects like that seems like a lot (unless they work on one while other is in preproduction etc). I love love KCDs, and it seems they finished with Henry’s story but might do another historical RPG in that vein - I am all for it. Lord of the Rings - I have never been a fan of the use of the IP beyond the books, but I am curious of Warhorses take on fantasy. Presumably they won’t change their DNA, similar to Larian not changing it for BG3 - and result might be a new fantasy RPG that I love. Maybe it will be what I wish Avowed would be. Yeah, Obsidian… I love PoEs, but I haven’t been feeling their later releases. It’s like they try to mainstream their titles so hard, they end up generic. I am yet to play OW2 post starting few hours. I am just not interested in it, and I find that somewhat disturbing. I will get to it eventually, I am sure. I picked up Thick as Thieves yesterday, but played just a tutorial. I liked what I have seen so far, though $5 does the heavy lifting - a single look at options screams barebone release, you can’t even rebind your keys. Also visually light and shadow doesn’t seem very well distinguished - when the game does and doesn’t light up feels somewhat arbitrary - we will see if it will carry on to game proper.

Ghost of Tsushima. It's alright. It is just a better done Ubisoft-like open world games. While "following GPS" is nicely hidden within game's presentation, it is still a game that expects you to follow map markers and as such doesn't really encourage curiosity and exploration. It also looses its charm fairly quickly due to extremely repetitive and predictable nature of the title. And while, I must stress, it is very well done, it still suffers from some pitfalls IMO. Ratio of repeatable activities vs story missions is highly stacked toward filler content, which results in a game which IMO is both wayyy too long if you try to 100% it, and narratively underdeveloped, touching some potential narrative themes, but never exploring them beyond the surface level. Still had a-ok time with it, and if someone if feeling a need for a decent check-list title to pass quiet evenings, this one is worth giving a go.

Never played older entries but Wizardry8 was a fantastic dungeon crawler.

i definitely run into it in my university days (so that would be specifically around 2012-2014). I didn’t have internet in my flat so I would play games on steam in offline mode. I had to bring my laptop to Uni and connect Steam to internet every couple weeks otherwise games wouldn’t launch anymore. But yeah, I don’t know what is Steam, what is optional DRM through steam, and what is third party drm.

Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era. Seems like a very solid, if budget HoM&M installment. I enjoyed the demo they released a while back, and this already feels stronger. Only spent a bit time in a custom match, and I am a very casual HoM&M player - very little multiplayer experience. Still, I really like it so far, especially for £25. Looking forward to seeing how it develops.