Hawke64

I have defeated the first boss and realised that I strongly dislike the combat system. The boss, unlike me, also could block the attacks. In terms of traversal and stealth, it is possible to travel via the rooftops, the PC kills really quietly (you can chain-stealth-kill), and the opponents have a relatively low range of vision. An early spoiler for the NPC companion: An early spoiler for the first boss battle: The game opened up afterwards, with several quests to choose from across the city. The clan representatives offer to unlock the other clans' abilities for some blood points. I have also spent some more time with the GameUserSettings.ini file. Can't say that I've achieved much, though. Screenshots: Screenshots with some spoilers:

I apologise for misreading the comment and thank you for the clarification.

I've got it to run with the -dx11 parameter. The store page explicitly stated that DX12 was the only supported version, so it looks a bit worse than one would hope. The only good thing I can say now is that the controls are rebindable. The on-screen prompts still show the default keys, though. In terms of story, the NPC companion is quite amicable (neither obnoxious nor hysterical), which is welcome, considering that the NPC is likely to be around for the whole game. I suppose, the installation size (~25GB) is good, especially considering that GOG runs installation through the system drive. I am feeling adventurous enough to continue, even if it is just an action-adventure rather than an RPG. However, I would not recommend to purchase it for more than £10 and earlier than next year. Then again, the Eternal Strands devs disabled -dx11 in one of the updates, so it was quite unpleasant to discover after purchasing (thank GOG for the 30 days refund limit). I think, an easier rollback should be possible on Steam via the CLI (because the developers did not offer a beta branch after worsening the system requirements), which would require more effort than I am willing to provide at the moment. It was on by default. I mean, there were not many articles of clothing in VtMB, but this is sad. On a "fun" note, imgur is blocked in the UK. I'd guess the owners chose it while that OSA bs blows over, rather than the local goverment went after the website. Given the situation with the human rights for LGBTQ+ and especially trans and intersex people, this is not the angle for humour I would use. https://diva-magazine.com/2025/10/13/coroner-trans-wait-times/

Fear the Spotlight is free on EGS. The game is nice if short.

1. You were right and the launcher skip worked. 2. The game still does not work. Using a username without a space in it changed the error, but then I updated the GPU drivers and the previous error returned. I have also redownloaded the game's latest version from GOG (the patch was for a newer version than the initial release), with no improvements.

I have tried both, the root folder and the "\Bloodlines 2\Bloodlines2\Binaries\Win64\Bloodlines2-Win64-Shipping.exe", executables with the same result. The "Launch.." shortcut directs to the launcher more clearly. True.

I have the game and here is a screenshot of the only gameplay I have experienced: The Paradox launcher mildly annoys me, but the firewall is handling it and the issue above is more significant. I suspect it is the usual UE5 thing (kindly, may Lumen and Nanites be gone), so I will try with Steam Deck later (not entirely sure how to install GOG games on it, but will try). I'd be more upset about it if I did not purchase it 5 years ago for a fraction of the current price. As is, I am just disappointed. --- Found the pre-rendered videos: Banu_BladedHand.mp4

City of Springs A reasonable and relatable protagonist is welcome to see. I think the game's been out before the 2024 GE. The combat. It did not happen often, but I stopped trying to jump out of bounds. Why? An ending spoiler. At that point, I laughed for a few minutes.

I have finished Saviorless (reached the epilogue where an NPC asked not to hit them, so I did not and quit the game). The visuals were quite nice, but everything else was not. Review: Absinthia. I have found an oni in a hidden location and the party was defeated in 3 turns. It is a very well-made RPGMaker game, even if I somewhat dislike the generic RPGMaker combat.

I suppose, I am going to try it and see how it goes even if I do not finish the game. It is £1.09 at the moment. Edit. It crashed with Curl error 7: Failed to connect to config.uca.cloud.unity3d.com port 443 after 6775 ms: Couldn't connect to server Crash!!! Will poke a bit more to see if it runs. The developers working with Unity forgetting to disable the analytics and hitting the firewall are not new. Edit. 2. It runs. But too hot for comfort, so until I get some better cooling, I'd rather keep it sitting in the library. Then again, you can play as a half-moose, so that's something to look forward to.

Has anyone played Edge of War? As I understand, it was Early Access, lost the publisher and now to be taken off the store after the final sale. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1786070/Edge_of_War/ https://steamcommunity.com/games/1786070/announcements/detail/532110628895065299?snr=2___

I have finished City of Springs and it was not horrible. While it is as engaging as Assassin's Creed without parkour (one can try to parkour and fall through the level geometry), it is functional. The story follows a young unemployed engineer in a steampunk/post-apocalyptic city after the local government executes the engineer's sister. The stealth is functional and the combat is unusual, for what it's worth. The unusual part is that there are 2 lines and you can summon small drones, so can your oppponent. The goal is to destroy the opponent (bug-like robots). It vaguely reminds of DotA/MOBAs in general, but not quite it. And the opponents have slightly different shells - the starting ones are white, then the stronger ones are purple, and the late-game ones are golden and grey. And their shells have no bearing on their abilities beyond the health bar. The bosses have a slightly fancier shells with decorations on them and do require attention. The visual and sound design are present. Again, they are not the worst I have seen, but I generally struggled to notice the interactive objects without the highlight (looking for 3 "machines" in one of the missions was decidedly unfun). The VA is there and line skipping was skipping 2 at a time, thus, somewhere from mid-game I was getting about 50% of the dialogues because listening to it was not exactly engaging. The journal consisted of "Talk to [NPC]. There might be jobs to do" and put markers on the next objective. The controls are not rebindable, the game autosaves in 5 slots. There are some side quests most of which I've skipped. I suppose, "it works" is not the best recommendation, but given the price I had expected crashes or game-breaking bugs and there were none (I had to reload after getting stuck once), and the story was concluded at the end.

I have finished Promise Mascot Agency. I stand by my initial assessment - Saints Row without combat and all your gang members are mascots. I have started and finished Fear the Spotlight. It is a horror game, it is (surprisingly) shorter than I would like (~5 hours), but it does not overstay its welcome, so fine, I guess. It looks nice, the pacing is good, the puzzles are on the easier side.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1154960/Ardenfall/ I've played for 40 minutes or so (got through the tutorial cave and walked around the first town). Looks like Morrowind with (much) better combat.

Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness? Promise Mascot Agency

Finished Hollow Knight and strongly disliked it. Thus, I can safely skip Silksong. Currently playing Promise Mascot Agency. The game is incredibly enjoyable in both story and gameplay and feels like Saints Row without combat (the car can climb like a Tamriel horse and glide) and with every gang member having their own sub-plot. The main character is not customisable, but having an ace vegan who can and does beat the **** out of everything on his way while talking about the joys of the chosen family is quite welcome. Also this:

From the article, Let us work towards affordable renewable energy and the fossil-fuel dictatorships having no power over us, wherever they may be located.

Also this, as mentioned in another thread: https://internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that-caught-the-car-britains-world-leading-internet/ Not sure how realistic was the ChatGPT subscription (sounds too ridiculous, but so does everything coming from the current government and the 3 previous ones I have witnessed), but the combination with the Environment Agency’s comments was interesting. https://www.gov.uk/government/news/national-drought-group-meets-to-address-nationally-significant-water-shortfall https://www.tomshardware.com/tech-industry/artificial-intelligence/sam-altman-and-uk-government-minister-reportedly-discussed-giving-chatgpt-plus-to-all-brits-for-free

Meanwhile in the UK. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/palestine-action-terrorism-charges-b2825342.html "Would anyone think of the planes?" It is ironic that the supposedly left-leaning party is as bad as the far-right one in going after the refugees, the disabled people, and the trans community. While I was unsatisfied with the latest GE (voted for the Green party), I did have a small hope that they might have been slightly better than the Tories, though many of the former Labour voters now share this sentiment. The new Green leader sounds good, so there is something positive.

I have finished The Shadow over Cyberspace. It is a visual novel in an alternative history "modempunk horror" setting. The protagonist is an amateur hacker afflicted by the Yellow Sign, slowly destroying their body and mind. The way to salvation lies through the Artificial Minds, virtual entities of immense power. Most of the gameplay consists of visual novel-style dialogues, with several dialogue options, opening different paths and providing information. Depending on what has been discovered and in what order the AMs are approached, the dialogues change. There are several endings and the main cast are quite likeable and relatable, aside from the main antagonist. The writing is clear, understandable, and consistent, with each NPC having their own distinct speech style. While a lot of the vocabulary used did not exist in the US in the 90's, this is covered by the alternative history setting and this is what localisation does - finds the closest actively used terminology to convey the meaning. My only complaint would be that the extent of animal abuse in "research", including the space one, was significantly understated. The full list of content warnings is available on the developers' website. Another gameplay system is closer to point&click adventure games, though it is quite light. Finally, there is the Minesweeper mini-game to represent hacking (the mines' positions persist between reloads). The visual style feels closer to the 00's, though fits the game well. The sound design is well done. Most of the dialogues take place in text format in-universe, so they are not voiced, but the ones that are supposed to be spoken are. There is built-in self-voicing function. The installation size is very reasonable (<600MB). As the game uses the Ren'Py engine, it is possible to save at any point in multiple save slots (~60). Overall, it was a very enjoyable experience and I have purchased the donation DLC to support the developers. The game itself is fully available for free. --- I have also finished Leap of Love. I'd like to preface that I received it for free, as a part of the Freedom to Buy campaign and the default price is $15/€12.50/£11.40. Leap of Love is a mix of a visual novel and a stat-raising sim. The protagonist is a frog-turned-human who is trying to marry a princess to remain a human. There are several storylines to follow and characters to engage in sexual activity with (GOG blocks posting with the 4-letter word). The only positive aspects are the reasonable length of the game (I would have dropped it if it were longer), the ability to save at any point, and I have not noticed any bugs. I suppose, an anti-semitic caricature for the first NPC should have tipped me off, but, to my deep regret, I proceeded. The art, be it sprites or CGs, is uninspired, unskilled, does not match the text descriptions, and generally unpleasant to look at. The writing is painful to read and the text is filled with typos. The ability to acquire story-relevant items seems to be almost random. The game was not worth my time, let alone the asking price. --- I find it somewhat ironic that the free (as far as I know, Patreon-funded) game was excellent, while the paid one was a waste of time. I have also finished Return of the Obra-Dinn. It is a quite good first-person adventure game. The lack of rebindable controls is unwelcome, but there are no action sequences. I also was almost guessing the last few corpses (there were few names left and I was just matching the uniforms with photos).

I have tried Leap of Love and it was horrible, including the art, with the noses floating across faces and limbs being disproportionate and different on every image. The Shadow over Cyberspace, on the other hand, was a wonder to behold in all aspects.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/valve-appear-to-be-blocking-mature-themed-games-from-steam-early-access-release https://dreadxp.com/vile-is-banned/ The game is free to download (I have not played it yet, so cannot comment on the quality) and there is a donation link at the bottom of the page (50% goes to a charity which I have not looked into).

I have installed Hollow Knight. Then I have attempted to mod it (twice), failed, and uninstalled. The lack of the HP bars on bosses annoys me immensely and I somewhat dislike the visual style. On a positive note, now I remember how to rollback games on Steam, so I can get the less-bad ending in Signalis (one of the updates disabled the command that allowed to select it). Alas, I do not like the game enough to replay it as a third-person shooter with camera mods (the ending's requirements include a high body count). Still, the final boss battle is fairly enjoyable with the SMG if not particularly challenging. Granted, it also was the 4th or the 5th time I was replaying it. I have tried Daemon x Machina (EGS) and got through the character creation in 15 minutes. Not sure about the rest of the game, but paintable giant robots and rebindable controls are appealing.

Finished Signalis. A very pretty game with a lot of irritating design choices. The game successfully replicates everything I dislike about older console games - the unrebindable controls, the limited inventory, the severely restricted saving, and obscure ending requirements. Additionally, the most labyrinthine section misses the map. The combat system, with the combination of reviving foes (because zombies), limited ammunition, and the damage dealt depending on the time spent aiming (i.e. the longer you aim at a particular opponent, the higher the damage), is unpleasant, but this is expected and the least irritating of the design choices. If one can tolerate it and does not care about the outcome, it might be an interesting survival horror in a sci-fi setting, with a strong critique of communism in general and the Soviets/PRC in particular. The puzzles and bosses are easy enough (on the default difficulty) to keep the pacing consistent. Arguably, for the right-handed players with the QWERTY keyboard layout, the control scheme should be comfortable enough. The system requirements are adequate, the art and sound design are gorgeous (excluding the foes' screams upon noticing the protagonist, which get old fast), and 5-button mice are supported (the 4th and the 5th buttons are used for reloading and using the equipped item). Finally, the game is mostly VA-free (there are some spoken lines in German, but they are in the background).

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/valve-now-require-uk-steam-users-to-verify-their-ages-using-a-credit-card The petition to repeal the OSA: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/722903