Wormerine

Looter games are just not for me, but I question how much revelance top down Diablo game has. Specifically: why would I play Diablo4, and not let's say, Destiny2 - a game that has loot grinding, but also fundamentally satisfying gameplay loop (or so I hear). I like town down RPG's very much, but Diablo is one of those franchises that doesn't really make sense to me as a top down game anymore - it is a game where one controls a single character and clicks on things for them to die - spacial awarness has not been a factor in my limited experience with the genre. It is, by all accounts, an "action-RPG" and those have progressed far in their "action" bit since 90s. Somewhere between Diablo3&4 I heared a rumor pf cancelled third-person "Dark Souls-like" iteration - and that would be such a logical place to move the IP toward. Not making it soulslike, mind you, but take a peek at how FromSoftware married action and RPG and make something similar for Diablo - grinding dugenons in crunchy, 3rd person combat would be such a more compelling proposition, than this top down clicker. Still it looks good. I would be interested if it was genre I had any interest in. If there will be an open free weekend, I might jump in, play for an hour or two and get bored, as I do with every Diablo game.

Double Fine’s Psycho-oddysey documentary shows development of one such project, and how team lead can not be the best fit for the team and the project in spite of being clearly competent. Eh, we will see if Avowed will show up in the Microsoft’s not-e3 showcase. I am still waiting for Silksong, which was allegedly supposed to be release before this years E3.

Well, none of the quest broke, strictly speaking, so that's something. Ending slide

Finished Solasta's Lost Valley DLC. What the base game did well (5e combat) the DLC does better - more variety, more fun encounter a bit more challenge and ability to run into high level enemies. I thought original's campaign decision to be fairly linear was a good direction to take considering the scope of the game. More open nature of the DLC was a bit of the mess. Narrative side of the title is still rather weak, so I can't say I had any particular feelings about the factions and without linearity I struggled to remember what am I doing and why. Completing quest became more of a checking of boxes exercised. I made lady with a pettable wolf happy, so that's all I cared about in the end. It also became abundabtly clear that even limited non-linearity of the DLC was beyond the capabilities of the studio. By the end of the game the campaign barely held together. Turns out I did final mission without realising, and was stuck babysitting a critical NPC for a solid couple hours of gametime as I was tying up loose ends. On top of that after completing their chain quests two other factions sent me to the same final dungeon, which made things a bit awkward. The ending was rather anti-climactic, but maybe it was my fault for choosing a fairly pacifit route. Convincing baddy to not fight us was even more lame than in ME1. Especially disappointed as I did a bit of grinding to get to max level, and was finally able to craft some nice weapons - that I never got a chance to try out outside couple random encounters. To top it off, ending slides didn't get my choices right, though it is hardly surprised considering how much the game struggled to keep up with what is happening by the end of it. I do hope the final story DLC will be a bit more coherent.

I am in the same boat - I watched Uncharted4 and Last of Us playthroughs when they released. I will be probably hunting for a deep sale somewhere down the line. I wasn’t under an impression that I am missing anything by not playing those games.

Dang. I was late this time

I don't quite see what point he is trying to make - it seems more like a wishful thinking. Witcher3 was a massive success. If another cinematic RPG comes a long of the similar quality, wouldn't it be a massive success as well? Andromeda and Cyberpunk mistake, from what I understand, was that instead of being a "bioware-style" RPG they dreamed much bigger and didn't manage to reach that. He also mentions Baldur's Gate3 ignoring the fact it is a cinematic BioWare-style RPG. We will see how it will turn out, as it tries to marry Larian's systemic sandbox with a crap ton of cutscenes - might very well fall into Andromeda/Cyberpunk trap of trying to do too many things at the same time.

Starfield got release date: September 6th, 2023 On June 11th there will be "Starfield Direct" showcasing the game in detail, so we will learn what it is, and if there is anything worth looking forward to.

He is not with Obsidian anymore, and is working for Playstation. According to his Linkedin he co Sound Design Lead GoW:Ragnarok, or at least the final stretch of it. So unlikely.

Played a bit of Wo Long. Port must be the worst one I experienced in a long time. Nothing my 3070 couldn’t power through so far, but There are stutters and framerate isn’t smooth. I hear mouse and keyboard are atrocious but I play with controller, so can’t comment. I am lukewarm regarding the game so far. Didn’t play Niohs, so can’t compare. It feels sloppier and messier than FromSoftware games.

Levels in Celeste get pretty crazy, especially near the end. Love that game, but it requires some patience.

I am very not much to speed with FF games. I lost interest somewhere around VIII and just heard that MMO go very good, and XIII was a disappointment. I find YP’s view of FF IP interesting, as I thought it is a guaranteed gang buster seller, but I personally do see series as stale. Going action route isn’t really boosting my confidence - outside few exceptions I really dislike action RPGs, as I see action combat and stats as designs that clash, rather than contribute to each other. Still, “combat designer of DMC5” does peak my interest - not that I expect FFXVI to be a spectacle fighter, but maybe there will be a satisfying core combat there. I am also not on board with “dark” take - if it’s really mature setting, with interesting geopolitics I might dig it, but I had my fill of teen angst games. Still curious how the game will turn out and be received. Without PS I won’t have means to play it by a long time (if ever), so I don’t really have a horse in the race.

Return of the Obra Dinn Such a satisfying experience. Easily the best detective game I have played. In case you are unfamiliar with the premise - you get to explore memories of crew of a West India Company ship, and you need to deduce identity, fates and potential killers of each of the crew members. You need to correctly solve three fates for the game confirm those as correct - so cheesing the game would be difficult. A minor nitpic would be that solving some of the last fates will require abuse of said system - "I have couple candidates, so if I try switching them around and see what combination the game will confirm" - meaning it is actually impossible to exactly determine character's identity without confirmation system's existance. That said, to get there still some deduction and process of elimination has to be made, so I found it satisfying from gamey side (also my brained was also wired by this point to rejoice at the sound que of 3 fates solved - I should make it my morning alarm for a better start of the day). [edit]Just one YouTube video in, and it is clear enough that I missed at least some of the possible clues. So it is very much possible that all identities are solvable through deduction, but I just brute forced some of the final solutions[/edit] An actual complain would be that the secret chapter, unlocked only if all available fates are solved was underwhelming. If there was something meaningful to be found in it, than I have missed it.

Elden Ring got an expansion name and a concept art. Beyond that, all one can do is speculate Shadow of the Erdtree

Well, there is always beta branch, like they did with Witcher3. Honestly, even Witcher3 has some features I am looking forward to try out, I am not sure what OW:SCE aims to bring. I don't know, $9.99 feels like too much. That's not far from how much they charged for actual DLCs, and unless I am greatly underestimating changes to the game, it seems like a very steep pricetag for a very little improvement. I am curious whose decision it is. Microsoft's or Private Division's.

It's a remaster for PS5 and XBOX X/S (and PC while they are at it)

Outer Worlds (Obsidian alrigtish FPRPG, not the best game of all times Outer Wilds) is getting makeover next week. Apparently it won't be a free upgrade for those who own base game and both DLCs, so it is a bit of a bummer. It will be $60 and reduced price for existing owner - how reduced, I do not know.

I didn't try collossal, but did a quick sprint to Morgott for a final achievement using two greatswords (used katanas for my full playthrough). I can't say I felt a difference - jump attack seems to take more or less the same time regardless of weapons I used, and it is simply the best attack to use, almost at all times. I couldn't mix up single weapon swings as easily, but it hardly mattered as my jump attacks did more damage, and staggered enemies more easily.

It is finished. I am actually dangerously close to platinuing the game. I miss All arnaments and all talismans achievements, so I might see how much I am missing, and if I can hunt the remaining ones in my current save. More annoyingly I didn't get the achievement for beating Morgott.... I might leave it, if I feel like doing another playthrough (he culminates what I would consider the good content of Elden Ring, so going that far one day might be a possibility) or I might see if I can hunt down a pre-Margott save somewhere for a quick completion. Great game, but darn, the final areas and bosses really sour the experience. If the game would end upon reaching the Erdtree, and got some extra polish instead, I think it would be better off.

In corpo you have relationship with Jackie, yeah, but I thought it was a professional one. I did feel a more personal relationship always develops in the montage in-between the intro and act1.

MS has so little to do with XCOM formula that it really shouldn’t have an impact. That did give me pause, though Firaxis doing third-person “hand-out and-talk-to-heroes” was an even bigger red flag. Played couple hours - disturbingly little gameplay so far. Combat has potential, though it is difficult to say how it develops. It’s far more casual - and I mean in in terms of handholding and complete lack of tension, rather than complexity. There is cool stuff there - it’s a hybrid of card game but positioning and “board” does come into consideration, so it actually feels quite natural to play as a computer game. Surprisingly I don’t mind writing. It is stilted, and corny but so far it is not without charm. But there is too much of it, keeping me away from being able to actually play the game. In all it is decent - at least it’s quite one of a kind. I am not sure if I will be convinced to make a purchase once the free weekend is finished. One day, but probably not now. oh and it runs like ass - or rather it runs fine, until it briefly doesn’t. So far every mission summary happens at 2FPS per second. Texture loading, geometry popping in, sudden frame dips when skills are activated.

Jake Solomon has left Firaxis. I wonder what it means for the future of XCOM3, but as Firaxis has been succesfully iterating on each Civ installement with a different lead I am not too worried about it. Worth remembering that Enemy Within was developed without Jake's input and was excellent. edit. Midnight Suns has a free weekend on steam.

As long as one stands still and doesn’t actually play the game. My favourite part were cars crashing on smallest bumps, like rail tracks, as if it were a solid wall.

Yeah, Jackie is easily the most well rounded character and it’s shame to see him go so far. Personally his death didn’t work for me as 1) it was spoiled in story trailer for the game 2) most of our relationship was hinted at rather than experienced. I learned more about him during his funeral, than actual act 1.