Wormerine

Fall 2024 according to Microsoft Direct.

Ha! Those are tough cookies to try. Would take more than 6 buttons.

Now, if I came up with that during Uni, I might have been less torn between gaming and practicing violin https://www.thestrad.com/news/a-video-gamer-is-beating-elden-ring-with-a-violin/17486.article

In case you missed it there will be XBOX's Developer Direct in couple of hours: https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2024/01/09/xbox-developer-direct-2024/ We should finally get some info on the Indiana Jones game, and a deeper look into Avowed (finally! Please, don't disappoint...). On a less confirmed note: Elden Ring DLC news might be coming, or even shadowdropping. A while ago there was Elden Ring controller leak that suggested possible February 2024 Shadow of Erdtree release. Recent Elden Ring steam update made such possibility a little bit more likely: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/elden-ring-dlc-update-on-steams-backend-hints-that-shadow-of-the-erdtrees-release-could-be-very-very-close There is also some rumbling about Silksong and February - though from what I gathered, it is just wishful thinking at this point.

They are rather overpriced IMO. Worth picking up on deep discount. You get 4 new playable characters each of them with 3 story missions, and two bosses. They introduce new enemy types that are quite interesting, though their gimmick does get a bit old by the end of the campaigns. I started Uncharted4 DLC. I struggle to take seriously - due to my RPG background I find cast behind two lead ladies (Morrigan and Xoti) to be rather distracting.

Hmmm, aside of horrid music choices I thought that much was clear since the game was revealed. but yes it is a metroidvania - drawing inspirations from all the greatest hits - like Hollow Knight like charm system. Platforming and combat are very responsive with a good potential to grow. It seems fresh while paying homage to both original Pop and its later sands of time reboot. There is demo if you want to see for yourself.

I played through Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown demo. It looks quite excellent. it is also first time I noticed that Ubisoft games are missing from Steam - I suppose it shows how much I care for the usual Ubi releases. Last game I bought and played was from the very same studio - Rayman Legends. Hard to believe it's been 10 years already.

Yeah, my experience with Starfield was more or less the same as with Oblivion and Skyrim. I installed in, played for couple of hours, and after couple weeks of not launching it, and realising I am unlikely to want to play it again any time soon, I uninstalled it. Didn't give it much thought ever since.

Zehir felt really oldschool to me - like playing a game from amiga era. I seems people aren't fond of it (which is understandable as it had to follow MotB), but I found it very charming.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/actors-union-sag-aftra-strike-deal-to-allow-ai-voice-replicas-and-video-game-stars-are-understandably-pissed

I would overall agree. I think Uncharted does story and characters much better than TR reboots, but TR sequels did land on a rather satisfying balance between cinematics and gameplay. Stealth, puzzles, combat and climbing is so, so much better and more robust.

Finished Returnal and main campaign of Uncharted4. So Returnal I am quite disappointed - not necessarily because it is that bad, but because I expected it to be the Sony port that will be for me. Roguelite third person bullet hell with little meta progression? Hell yeah. Unfortunately, outside audo-visual experience, I found it rather underwhelming. Procedural generation is minimal. While individual levels are swapped around, level layouts, and what you can find are pretty much the same, and enemy variety is pretty low, so runs do tend to feel the same. Biggest change run to run is what weapon you pick up (you can carry only one at a time: Booooo), and I found some weapons to be simply more effective than others. This is is even more visible for bosses, which will really make it really tedious if you enter the arena with a wrong weapon. I dug the atmosphere and story and first, but unfortunately it turned out to be a convoluted allegory for a very basic thing, rather than a SF story. Uncharted4. Reallly enjoyed the story and characters. Game looks mostly great. But god, what an awful video game. Shooting is really clumsy and basic, and I feel bad for criticising Jusant for it's straightforward climbing - compared to U4 it was boundary pushing simulator. Worste of all - I really felt like game part didn't belong to the story part of the game. The set up is so slow, and characters so human, that when Nate starts gunning down auction house security in cold blood, it feels very off. In general, the unending army of Shoreline, white grab ledges, and conveniently marked grapple points feel like an artificial addition to what is a pretty good animated action adventure flick. Oh, and I am still not sure if melee system actually exists or if it's a QTA mascareding as a melee system. But dang, I would watch an Uncharted movie. Well, not THAT movie.

If I remember correctly difficulty mostly just raises enemy health and attack, requiring more effective use of your skills. Complexity comes with story progression. Stuff like collecting ingredients for EMO Kids just helps in acquiring cards quicker. Speaking of which, look for opportunities to upgrade your character's base cards by combinging two of the same kind. Heroes don't quite show their capabilities until you upgrade their cards (I can't remember how early this mechanic get introduced, but it took me too long to figure out how impactful it is)

That BG3 just didn't resonate with me is a good way to put it. I didn't find characters endearing or interesting, I didn't find games premise to be well explored, I can't think of many choices that I particularly found difficult or interesting to make. Combat was a bit to messy for me to really engage with. A lot of systemic interactivity, but nothing that resulted in interesting problem solving. And just overall the "vibe" (visuals, music, character design) of the game didn't work for me. It's a very broad title, with many things to like and appreciate, but it felt like all promise and little payoff.

You do unlock new chess pieces, but unfortunately, combat does lack in complexity and variety. Combat is definitely the better part of the title, but outside novelty, I didn't think much of it. Harder difficulties do help. I remember normal being quite a bore. If you do well (stars of something of that sort in missions) you should unlock new difficulties farily quickly. You should be unlocking one anytime now and I recommend trying it out as soon as its available.

And, while I am sure that isn’t their intention, it felt a lot like posturing, as they limit writing content for minor NPCs after act1. It feels as if the game is puffing its chest early on hoping, few will look further. Not that I have issue with it per se - random NPCs in act3 having unique barks is pretty good anyway, but it doesn’t make up for unfinished story arcs, dodgy world building and messy plot. I am still far more impressed by Arcanum than Bg3. It just felt smarter, production wise, and more effective.

I remember it took me a while before I realised I can upgrade my weapons - game got much easier after that.

This is supposed to be a remake, not a remaster. I would imagine some rewrites will take place (it is Sam’s Lake first outing afterall) but even if not I would assume they would re-record lines. Audioquality probably isn’t up to 202x standards.

James McCaffrey, voice of Remedies Max Payne, Alex Casey and Trench have passed away. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/james-mccaffrey-the-voice-of-max-payne-and-alan-wake-2s-alex-casey-has-died#comments On a more selfish note, I wonder what it means for Max Payne's remake. Supposively Max will have to be recast now, and it's one of those castings that will be hard to replace.

I agree, but I also wouldn't discount an achievement that is making a mass appeal RPG. There is also the thing of Larian being independed studio making such a shiny AAA game, with their own creative stamp on it. That what I wish AAA would be, rather than suit driven cash shop. Just the other day I got a message from a coleague of mine about cRPG recommendions as he is wrapping up BG3. It's not exactly new to him - he owns quite a few of the classics, including original BGs, and just bounced of each of them rather hard. We even tried D:OS2 in coop, and he got fairly quickly bored of it. So BG3 did something right.

A yes, I did miss the trailer commentary (didnt' watch the actual show). Does sound un-Arcaney.

Couple things from Game Awards trailer roundup that caught my attention: Arcane is working on Blade game. Hopefully it will turn out better than their last Vampire game. I could be hopeful about this one: I don't know much about the IP, but I can imagine it being used to build a more traditional Arcane immersive sim experience with wider appeal due to Marvel. At the same time, I am very, very weary of Arcane at the moment after what I see as two major misfires. No Rest for the Wicked - a grim dark town down fantasy action (hack&slash?) from the folks who did Ori. I dig the art of the trailer a lot. Prince of Persia - I still quite like the look of this one. This trialer seems to suggest some Dark Souls influences? Not really something I want in POP game. Not that I don't enjoy a good 2d DS Metroidvania, but why can't we just stay true to the roots of the IP?

The DLCs are surprisingly pricey though.