Wormerine

Looks... good. And more or less what I expected. Seems they are aiming for newer Bioware conversation view, but with Divinities “vague” dialogue system. I am curious how it will gel together - I feel that silent protagonist works better in top down setting, rather then in your face JadeEmpire/KOTOR/DragonAge set up - in isometric all you do is implied and imagination takes over, while fancy presentations makes unanimated things draw attention to themselves.

What I would like to seperate is quality of writing vs. over-arching narrative. I would agree that "story" of the Deadfire isn't very good - but writing - actual work done by writers under constrains and directions given to them is pretty darn good. You can't blame writers on lack of development, or engaging direction, because it is not something that game supports structually. Deadfire presents the lore and setting in an excellent way - it explores factions role and impact on the Deadfire, explores further God's and their relations with mortals. You get to know and understand Huana culture and history in an engaging way. But none of it is "story". That's I think, the impact of Josh being directly involved in molding overarching narrative. He is a great lead, with a special appreciation for history and culture, which made PoE world detailed, believable and engaging. But Deadfire is a history/culture lesson, rather then a story or adventure.

If it is a bug, write to: support@vsevil.net

Confirmation of the google leak, that BG3 is to be released in 2020. It appears it will start up with Early Access, which is in line with Larians previous titles. https://www.pcgamesn.com/baldurs-gate-3/early-access-leak

Trying to make a dent in the free games Epic has been giving out. Started with Alan Wake. It's... not any good. The beginning was promising - insteresting gimmick, a cheesy Stephen King-ish story with all the subtelty of... well, Stephen King. But after first major chapter it becomes so repetitive and boring.

I wouldn't go that far, but it is Josh's particular sensibilities and interests which made PoE what it is. I would be interested in seeing what PoE under his full control would look like, and I would be interested in seeing what a new lead would do with the game - I did enjoy all three DLCs after all. What I am not terribly interested in, is a non-isometric PoE. The world doesn't have that much appeal to me, to automatically transfer my interest in PoE3 into another genre - it would need to sell me on the concept mostly from the ground up... that being said, being made by Obsidian is, for now, still a good start.

Yas! Can't wait.

In truth this is the announcement of the announcement of the announcement, that was somewhat announced alread, albeit in not such detail. In other news, the most awaited game of 2020 (the most objective and not biased statement) Empire of Sin has been delayed till Autumn. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/02/18/empire-of-sin-pushes-its-prohibition-crime-spree-back-to-autumn/

Installed Turn Based mod and returned to Pathfinder, and I am grinding away on Hard difficulty, at least now I can more or less see what's going on. Not very exciting to watch units miss each other back and forth. This game's time system makes it tempting to play with walkthough to see what areas I have a chance to tackle. I did loose over an hour of progress in the prologue section when I made a lengthy journey to an area for which I didn't have necessary items to deal with. Though as it turned out quest was timed very generously. But how were I to know I was allowed to waste my time?

And so another game rests in my library waiting for a stronger PC to run it.

He also claimed they are not working on Baldur's Gate.

@rjshae Imitation of PoE:D, or the mod that added turn based into Kingmaker?

Baldur’s Gate 3 might be releasing this year, if Stadia’s slip up is to be trusted: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2020/02/14/baldurs-gate-3-may-be-out-this-year-if-you-believe-this-goof-up-by-google/

The game will also include turn-based mod, and one will be able to switch between the two on the go. Game however is focused and balances around RTwP.

Shovel Knight: King of Cards. What a treat Shovel Knight turned out to be. The final campaign is probably my least favourite one - limitations of the King Knight movement set are interesting, making platforming feel more methidical but I don't find the nearly as fun and any of the three previous knights. On a flip side, there is a mini card game this time around, and it's quite clever. Not something I am into though, when playing a retro 2d platformer.

Pick up and play first Desperados. It's still very good. It used to have some performance issues, but it got patched when IP holder decided to resurect the series after Shadow Tactics success.

True, art-wise Dishonored is great. Partially, because it is not as old, and because art direction is sublime. On a side note, once I get a new PC Dis2 will be the first one to be played (very much like Dis1 was with my current lap(table)top).

While being a consfused child of Thief and Deux Ex, and not being good as either of those series? :-)

Necrooooooo! Ahhh, good old times.

As far as I am aware, yes. Oh, I also am not a big fan of 4. That might the hotter take. Never could get into it, I tried many times. Well, yeah. At this point JE2 would be an unfinished live service. But Action RPGs have progressed a long time since JE times. I would love a good action-kungfu RPG. In my hot take, monthly fee wasn't a complaint - it was a reason people keep playing them.

That's true. Therefore, RTwP RPGs should mimic stat/roll based Turn-Based design. If playing in real time doesn't allow to engage with game systems, then it shouldn't be real time. I like RTwP RPGs but they should be turn based, or have a rulset designed to be consumed in real time. HAHAHAHA! No. I don't like any of them (didn't play Inquisition), but it's short and forgettable, so... maybe? Well, Deadfire nailed it. Unless, you are still following your moral compas, rather then your character's, in which case sure: you will always feel one of the sides is better then the other. Though as to examples you mentioned: yeah, successful in making "good" sides look bad, not succesful in justifying how "bad" sides could be considered not evil. Yes... RTS have high difficulty floor, and strategical competency can only be tested between euually matched opponent. In most cases it comes down to greater dexterity in managing macro. Still fun. Too bad W3:Ref is a pooper. Wouldn't mind diving into it - never tasted Multiplayer side of it. Problem, would end up getting wiped for the next 3 months before getting bored. As StarWars games? No. As RPGs? Yes. Now my turn: Beyond Good&Evil lays groundwork for future titles (like Arkham games) but is itself pretty crap - weak gameplay, annoying characters, lack of charm and coherent story. Pillars of Eternity would be a better games if they were designed to be turn based. Divinity: Original Sin 1&2 are horrible games when you play them by yourself. Civilization 6 improves on Civ5. Epic Store is not the worst Digital Gaming Store on the market. MMORPGs are bad games, played by people who don't want to admit that they got duped into paying every month for a crap game. Vampires: Bloodlines is an a-ok RPG. It's fine. Wouldn't recommend it. From all Bioware games, the one that deserves a good sequel is Jade Empire. Fallout 1 is better then Fallout 2.

[shrug] On my part, it's speculation of someone who has little knowledge of what happens to make this appear on my monitor. It is not impossible, that PoEs use old kind of technology, for which Unity is simply not built to effectively handle. Whenever the problem lies in approach itself (using high definition chunks of 2nd backgrounds) or in not investing enough in engine that would support this approach I have no idea. PoEs have loading issue, there is no doubt about it. Deadfire improved a lot in that regard, so it is not impossible that it could be improved even further with some smart engine tweaking. Considering how little space, let's say, Witcher3 takes I am not sure it is true. Another thing which comes to mind is, that a 3d game might use a mix of high and low texture and streams in more details as we get closer to things - even so many objects don't have high quality textures.

Doesn't a problem lie in loading and streaming high definition 2d images, as opposed to reading data and generating it into on screen graphics an a go? Outerworlds is full 3d and "maps" are generated - while majority Deadfire's maps are high definition pre-rendered images with effects simulated on top of it (lighting etc.).

I dunno. I wouldn't say that it doesn't matter - I do remember how my character looked like, and it was tied to my roleplaying, even if his face wasn't visible during gameplay. It does seem like a lot of commitment. Couple ignorant guesses of someone with no knowledge of how games work: 1) As it is only visible in menus, and doesn't interact with systems within the main game, most of the workload was on the art team, which would finish working earlier then rest of the team, therefore making space for creation of this feature? 2) benefits this game already, and lays groundwork for potential sequel with Third-Person Camera option?

I did beat all challenges in SSS on upscaled Veteran with my completly noob character and party, and PotD with my 2nd, more thought out character. It was certainly a challenge, but not as extreme as OP suggest. I, for one, am yet to beat half of the Megabosses, though mostly, as I can't be bothered to repeat them more then 3 times with how poorly my laptop runs Deadfire. HPs to tend to be more inflated in DLCs but that works with per-encounter skill design. I don't remember it to be a problem in RTwP, but found it quite tedious in turn based.