Wormerine

Sven explains his reasoning in the video I posted earlier. Chasing trends was never Larian’s MO. It seems Sven has a vision that he wants to reach one day and BG3 was just a stepping stone toward it. They took BG3 IP as they needed money and profile to evolve beyond D:OS2. Now they have both and they can do the next thing. it seems BG success did give them pause and they started thinking about continuing with BG. But they decided against it. That’s good. Milking same IP until it runs dry has been business staple for a long time. But it wasn’t always so, and I don’t think it is a good way to do things. Sure BG3 sold well, BG4 would sell well as well - but is there more for Larian to do there? Gaming (and not only gaming) is stagnating due to risk averse strategies. They did BG3 and seems they achieved what they wanted with it. Cool, let’s move to something new.

Well, there are. Seems the game runs fine, aside from the city, and issues there seem mostly be related to CPU. A powerhouse of a CPU seems to be able to pump out about 60FPS with dips, but frametimes are all over the place. Edit. Soo, with all this talk about Dragon's Dogma, I booted up DD1. As PC port is crap and can't even display prompts correctly, I guessed wrong and attacked NPC instead of talking to him. Now I am in jail....

Returning to BG3, there is a lovely interview with Sven at gamespot. While no BG4 is a great clickbait, I think there is much more interesting stuff in there.

Reminds me of Tim's video where he mentions companies and publishers tend to not look at other peoples ideas as to not open themselves for a potenial lawsuit.

As I said: , but thank you for the clarification nonetheless. It seems it's similar to SF6 (they also charge premium currency for editing your avatar, while at the same time allowing to do the same for next to nothing in WT mode).

Yeah, I am playing SF6 right now. I don’t find it too offensive as most of purchasable content doesn’t interest me, but there is some dodgy stuff in there. Not nearly as bad as OW2, but also SF6 is a full price game with chunky expansions. They really could allow players to buy skins for in-game currency….

Performance issues are widely reported. The also launched with in-game store. It seems there is no way to create more than one character, and game charges you if you want to change the appearance of your PC or your pawn. Also bunch of currency and items available for purchase. it seems nothing that you can buy can’t be earned in game, but it does bring concerns about game’s balance integrity. still I was thinking about buying DD2 but between me struggling with the original, poor performance and microtransactions makes it a pass for me.

Praise GOG! They still remain a positive force in the gaming landscape. Comes with free GOG propaganda video: Ex-Uncharted director's Marvel game has cinematic trailer - to be out in 2025 Overwatch2 is lessening it's FreeToPay bull****. I might be diving back in when season 10 drops, as other than superagressive monatization I enjoyed the update. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/overwatch-2-season-10-will-unlock-all-current-heroes-and-make-future-additions-free

Unfortunately, from what I know of @kanisatha he is particular enough, that finding something that would fit right into his preferences is tricky. I think Fallout: New Vegas is one of the better RPGs in recent memory so I would recommend it. It is based on Bethesda engine so you can play in third person, and you do have companions but like in Skyrim, you can't control them. Wasteland 2&3 are good, but they are turn based and combat heavy, and I don't think k. will like that (even I was a bit bored by frequency of combat encounters in W3: I played W2 too long ago to remember). Fallout1&2 are classics and must be recommended. I wish they would get a nice remaster to make UI less horrific, and add some quality of life features. Again, like New Vegas it is a single character control and turn-based, and quite clunky at times. How is Owlcat's new Warhammer RPG? I didnt play it, and didn't see much discussion about it.

Alright, here we go: KOTOR2 - Overall, I think it is a bit overrated - partially, because it is a sequel to an overrated game - system-wise KOTOR is just so very dull. It's a dumb down D&D, and unfortunately by doing it it stipped any remotely interesting things about D&D. Still, I like it a lot. I am not a fan of KOTOR1 vs. KOTOR2 conversation, as I think they complement each other rather well. Pacing of KOTOR2 is rather off, and its critique of established SW mythology is pulled of rather well for the most part. The whole of it could use more time and a hell lot of polish. Even with restored content KOTOR2 is more of a story of "what could have been", rather than what it actually is... but capturing imagination is sometimes all the game needs to do, and Obsidian is pretty good at that. Neverwinder Nights2 - I don't like it nearly as much as other folks. I like it much more than NWN1, but as NWN1 was less of a game, and more of a toolbox it's also unfair comparison. I find base campaign charming, but when I played it back in a day I found rather trite. Coming from BG2, I found it disappointing to see so many recurring elements - as far as I knew, unfamiliar with D&D lore and all, they took a sidequest from BG2 and tried to make a whole game out of it. Playing NWN2 I always wish I was just playing BG1&2 instead... or BG3. I really didn't enjoy my time with D&D 3rd edition. Personally, I find the system a bit too detailed to work well for a party RPG, but UI doesn't help. Whenever it is leveling up, exploring or combat NWN2 UI is clunky, uninformative and just unpleasant to use. I also didn't like 4 character party limit - I just find it to not be enough in a D&D game. That said, I do like both DLCs to NWN2 a lot. Alpha Protocol - Real, hate-love relationship with it. I was constantly frustrated while playing it, loved it when credits rolled, and am very reluctant to give it a 2nd playthrough. Another Obsidian game that really captures imagination, with some compelling ideas, and great reactivity. A lot of good, a lot of bad, and a lot of potential. Fallout: New Vegas - easily, the best and most complete game Obsidian has made. It made me do 360 and turned me into Obsidian fan, and made me angry at Bethesda that after playing Fallout3 it took me years before I decided to give NV a go. Great world, great reactivity to the character, and the best implementation of Obsidian style faction system. It's a game where you can create a character and there will probably be an interesting path for your character to take. Probably, the only downside for me, is Ceasar's Legion being a bit too evil. I think they are a great faction, but it's tricky for me to create a character who would see them as a valid option. Still, even so, three other endings one can pursue, allowing for variety of smaller decisions. While later games (like PoE2) did factions better, NV manages to offer both pretty free-style open world, while still managing to offer a coherent and compelling story. A brilliant balance of narratively dense game, and player agency. Pillars of Eternity 1&2 - In my opinion, a brilliant throwback to Infinity Games, keeping stuff I liked about those and changing things I didn't care that much for. Still my favourite modern cRPG system. PoE1 has a stronger narrative direction, and more consistant tone, but it feels like it is stretched thin, with too little content spread accross too much game. While story is great, too much of it is delivered through walls of text, rather than interactive quests. PoE2 addresses every single criticism for PoE1 I had, but tone feels more inconsistant, and narrative isn't as tight. Still, probably my 2nd favourite Obsidian game after Fallout: New Vegas. DLCs for both games are brilliant, with While March still being my favourite PoE pieces of content. Tyranny - 4 party limit, cooldown based combat, focusing on spamming same abilities over and over, rather than decisionmaking. And a lot of combat, with little enemy variation. Major reactivity favouring fewer more impactful decisions, over regular decisionmaking. All that I don't like. Still, pulpy, more approachable world than PoEs, but with some cool, edgy ideas. I wish we would get more of it, and in true Obsidian fasion, some really imagination capturing concepts - initial prologue setting the world state, custom spell creator. Fun game, worth a playthrough, even if not subsequent playthroughs. Unlike other titles, I found DLC for this one rather underbaked and forgettable. I struggle to recall what was it about. Outer Worlds - similar to Tyranny, I think it is a fun game to playthrough once, even if it lacks depth to warrant subsequent playthroughs. Not much roleplaying to do in this one, but it's a fairly tight, lighthearted adventure, with enough choice to keep me engaged. Combat got a bit old by the time the credits rolled, and it strongly overstayed it's welcome after DLCs were added. Grounded - played a bit of it. Installed on my PC for a while now. Survival games aren't my thing. Pentiment - great artstyle, unusual story for a game. It is a narrative adventure so it is, what it is, but I did find gameplay loop of running around the city and talking to everyone before progressing time to be tedious. Some activities pass time, so I felt pressured to find all there is to find before progressing time, and it just wasn't very fun to do. Edit. Hmm, there is a narrative going, that Obsidian isn't what it used to be, and while it is somewhat true, I am not sure if it's a bad thing. Overall, I think their output starting with New Vegas and going forward consists of the stronger output, with earlier games being interesting, but not well executed. I think biggest criticism for post New Vegas Obisidan, is that they started to be a bit more formulaic. They found a way to do factions, open world and companions into which they lean into, while it's been a bit more dynamic in the past. For that reason, I am somewhat excited to see Obsidian trying different types of games. Hopefully, they will find the spark of creativity that fueled their earlier, more one of a kind titles. Still, while one can draw pretty clear parallels between New Vegas and Deadfire, it's not like Deadfire didn't try new things as well. Unfortuantely, those new things (like companion reputation system) didn't work too well.

It looks great. I hope it’s great, as I struggle with the original.

Well, it's only half the length of his "History of Video Games" video.

And it’s £35. Bring it on, I am ready for some more bull**** bosses.

Dragonfall is where things get good If you enjoy Returns, wait till you start the standalone expansion/sequel.

There has been a lot of drama at ZAUM for a while now, with key creators behind Disco getting fired from company and accusations being thrown back and forth between the fires three and the management. If you want to know more:

So: I think I gave up on Resident Evil2 Remake. Perhaps will be in the mood to try it again in the future, but I am done with it for now. In short: it is too good. Game nurtures anxiety rather well, and I do enjoy inventory/resource management, and how tempted it is to avoid enemies only to regret it later on. Just as one starts feeling comfortable the game drops something new to put you off balance. I didn’t appreciate gory cutscenes - but mostly I am just not in a mood for stressful experience. Schedule have been rather hectic for me lately, so RE2 just isn’t something I need right now. Might come back to it later. Reached the point where the guy in trench coat starts to chase you around the station. so things I gravitated towards: Immortal Fynix Rising - it’s very good! It has some Ubi staples, except it’s fun, and has actual mechanics, and tries to be funny, and there some neat challenges and dungeon. It’s just fun time all around. Story (with Adam Jensen actor doing questionable Greek accent as the narrator Prometheus) is silly, often cringy sometimes funny. I like it, even if jokes don’t always land. Writing isn’t exactly stellar but it is still fairly novel for a Ubi title. Street Fighter6. I have been trying to get into fighting games for a while now, and so far it is the most successful attempt. Single player campaign, while not amazing, is easily the best one I have seen in a fighting titles. Does a decent job easing into game’s systems and introducing characters and their kits. I am nearly done with single player content and am diving more into PvP features. Now the real test will be how engaged I will with online play - am I hooked enough to keep learning, or will I give up after getting my face smashed over and over again?

Yeah, I very fond of first 4 TR games. I did play through through all 6 original TR (the last two horrible ones for the first time) and while I enjoyed it, I don’t feel the need to return to them. Once I found nothing that would satisfy my TR needs, but oddly enough Dark Souls filled that void - with its exploration, oversized environments, intimidating bigger than you enemies. And I would rather replay Dark Souls than go back to TRs at this point.

Hey apparently there is demo for Homeworld3 available on steam. Didn’t give it a try yet myself.

Grown up baby perhaps? Will need to rewatch the trailer - I must say, I don’t know how I feel about Kojima, but he can always get my attention, even if just the sheer unusualness of his trailers. yeah, I was under impression Higgs is doing double cross in out favour in the trailer…. But than again I don’t know him well - I think I run into him once in my „ongoing” playthrough of DS1

True, I didn’t finish Death Stranding1 but I am very confused . The baby spitting ship made me think for a second it will be a fantastic voyage kind of a thing. Guitar thing seems very very corny. However! I do like what seems more dynamic environmental events (flood, dunes, avalanches). I found „walking simulator” of DS quite interesting and am keen to see them build on it.

At the same time, I think one can like BG3 and not D:OSs. The game is different/better enough. However, if one’s issue with D:OS was Larian (design goals and ideals), than yeah, BG3 will probably annoy that person as well.