Hawke64

I find it somehow uncomfortable when there is advertisement in the game itself. By the way, the text in the lower right corner can be edited in some of the configuration files. The Outer Worlds The Pathless You can pet the bird. Steam seems to compress the images a little too much.

The Murder on Eridanos. In progress. Somehow surprised at the number of assassination attempts the victim had survived before dying. After spending 2 months on LinkedIn, the writing seems especially touching and thought-provoking, while remaining humorous. I also remembered that I was not particularly fond of the combat and items, though, the former has been mostly avoidable so far. Spirit of the North. It is a walking simulator with light puzzles, platforming elements, and collectibles (bringing staves to skeletons). The protagonist is a fox who follows a fox spirit across a northern landscape. It is an impressive project for 2 people - it is playable, consistent, short, and it looks and runs fine. On the other hand, there are no rebindable controls, the controls in general feel clunky, the last area was a navigational nightmare, and I had one soft-lock. I also was unable to launch the EGS version through Steam, so there are very few screenshots taken. Still, it is significantly better than Lost Ember, another game with a fox following a spirit, due to the spirit being a silent fox instead of a narrator.

The people targeted by MTX and lootboxes are slightly more vulnerable to addictive gambling*. The monetisation also destroys the design and quality of the original work, like can be seen with Middle-Earth: Shadow of War (currently available on GOG with 85% discount). Granted, most "games" that use those are trash with or without MTX. *https://www.ign.com/articles/heres-how-loot-box-addiction-destroys-lives Not the best example, as does not cite statistical research numbers, but suitable enough. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/please-stop-huffing-your-steam-deck-vent-fumes-valve-plead-as-players-obsess-over-new-deck-smell https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/how-does-time-dilation-set-exodus-apart-from-mass-effect-it-supersizes-all-of-the-choices-that-you-make Curious if they will be able to make it work. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-has-a-big-brewing-frenemy-battle-on-its-hands-and-it-cant-come-soon-enough

Started The Outer Worlds Halcyon DLC. The antivirus quarantined one of the files, so spent some time trying to figure out why the game was not launching. Spent an hour talking to people (and checking their pockets for access cards). The game looks gorgeous (might have something to do with running at 60 FPS), from style to animations, and the dialogue options are varied. I also greatly appreciate the static skill checks.

Thank you.

Act 3 (House of Hope) Act 3 (ending) Act 3 (Good Dark Urge unique epilogue)

Yes. While the controls are rebindable in both, Larian's game tends to reset the custom hot keys, 1-0. Some QoL features might be implemented later (some party management was added recently), I doubt that it will be as good as WotR. The cut-scenes do not work well with the immersive sim elements and the general plot clashes with D&D lore and occasionally BG1/2. Still, the critical path is much shorter than WotR, which encourages replaying it (to test whether the final boss can be defeated while dual-wielding salamis).

WotR very rarely tried to mess with the player* and was generally physically (rebindable controls, pause, etc.) comfortable to play, while the story was stylistically consistent for each Mythic Path and the companions, even of the opposing alignments, were cooperative. Though, I was not particularly fond of the length of a single playthrough, continuous updates (still ongoing, I think?), Season Passes, and especially the attempt to install spyware. Fortunately, GOG allowed to ignore the latter. *with that backer's turn-based quest, the puzzles, and the conditions to get an extra companion being the exceptions.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/rogue-trader-is-the-first-warhammer-40k-game-ive-played-that-feels-genuinely-epic The RPS preview seems to be favourable. For those who have played, could you confirm that the system requirements are correct (storage space and VRAM, in particular) and, if you have experienced it, whether the overheating issue that was present in PF has been fixed? Considering how the previous Owlcat titles went technically and the presence of a Season Pass (which, as I understand, was not available for backing), I probably will wait for a few months. Still, looking forward to the game. MINIMUM: OS: Win10 Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4590T CPU @ 2.00GHz Memory: 8 GB RAM Graphics: AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 / Intel HD Graphics 630 DirectX: Version 11 Storage: 40 GB available space

Epilogues (Dark Urge) Epilogues (Githyanki) Epilogues (general) Act 3 (Dark Urge, Orin's questline)

Thank you for the information. I am happy to see a DRM-/MTX-/DLC-free game to get those awards. --- Regarding my playthroughs, played the epilogues for the existing characters, though the Dark Urge bug persisted, so currently trying to finish the run without the bug. Discovered that (spoilers for Orin's questline): Now they jiggle, by the way. Discovered when failing to respec a hireling and having to go through all visual customisation options (I do not know why these two different aspects requiring different NPCs were somehow connected). For the future reference, pressing "Random" populates all the fields and allows to close the customisation window and successfully respec the character. --- The epilogues include the dialogues with the companions (animated and all), short newspaper (Baldur's Mouth) headers for some of the quest outcomes, and the letters from the surviving NPCs (some are generic, some depend on the player's choices). The latest point to trigger the epilogues is final decision above the city. Otherwise, the unpatched scene will play out. Also, for some reason, Wyll called the gith PC "Lae'zel" in the epilogue.

Well, if nothing else, it seems to cover the violence (melee/magic)/stealth/persuasion approaches. So, technically fine. Curious if Banu Haqim can utilise the social and stealth aspects at the same time (will there be enough skill points?).

I agree with most of the points mentioned except these two. Ironically, the Evil, murderhobo-style, path is less developed than the heroic one, ranging from the fewer quests (the dead NPCs don't have replacements) to the increased difficulty. The only genuinely Good-aligned (CG) and sympathetic companion is Karlach, the tiefling barbarian. Also, Wyll, the human warlock, but the "I am the Blade of Frontiers and definitely not a warlock" thing might get on one's nerves. --- https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/skyrims-latest-update-brings-back-paid-mods-with-an-easier-way-for-creators-to-sell-their-work There is a suspicion that Bethesda broke the older mods on purpose, as only the newly-developed independent mods are eligible for the programme, but I would bet on negligence rather than malice. Also, the GOG version should not be affected by the developers' poor decisions post-release.

Wyll's companion quest. End-game. Epilogue.

Finished the playthrough and updated the game. While I like the low-poly style in general, I would prefer it to be consistent. Other than that, the epilogue party is present. The new difficulties seem to be selectable for the new runs only. Spoilers for Wyll's quest.

I acknowledge that I was not asked but I would like to reply. My main issue at the moment is how poorly Larian handles the setting and the storytelling. (Also, the UI, system requirements, RNG, and the inconsistency of the character controls[*] but those I can get used to). The combat encounters can be minimised and the animations, while lacking, can be skipped. Though, at the max settings and 60FPS, the effects blur away the limitations of the mo-cap, so it at least looks technically well and some scenes (e.g. Dame Aylin's armour summoning or Astarion's companion quest ending) are over-the-top enough to be good. On a positive note, I adore the immersive sim elements (would prefer if they were consistent, like in Dishonored), the number of diverse LGBTQ characters (especially that paladin), and the absence of DRM, MTX, and DLC. [*] The turn-based combat, the real-time without pause exploration, the time-freeze dialogues where, as a bonus, the characters do not move for the onlookers. Looking forward to it. Though, I am worried about the DRM - it effectively kills the preservation (as my recent experience with DA:I has reminded me). The game is also likely to be released half-complete with the patches and paid DLC coming for a year or two.

I generally prefer to have one powerful boss rather than a crowd-vs-crowd encounter, especially with turn-based combat systems. It makes them more unique and memorable.

Somehow disappointing: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/dungeons-dragons-co-op-multiplayer-game-on-the-way-from-payday-devs

If the official modding tools are released, there could be something interesting - there were some good modules for NWN.

Act 3. Spoilers for Orin's quest. I approve the reasonable NPC naming - a Flaming Fist called Fist who clearly does not have quests or information. The great battle of the fireworks store. No laws of space can stop the officers of the law. Act 3. Companion quests.

Act 3. Used a summon to kill the rock-wielding boss, then proceeded to investigate a fireworks shop. The only door I noticed initially was firstly, invincible (literally - no health bar, no option to attack), secondly, in a clear view of the guards. So, I entered through the roof and the store owners confirmed that they were indeed up to no good. Since only the MC could use that route and there were 10+ foes, I reloaded and got the party on the roof of the building next to the store. The party had alchemist's fire and opened the assault with it. The foes were shooting back through the windows and balconies (it was a 3-story building), as the Door proved to be an insurmountable obstacle for them as well and they certainly did not have the key. Several minutes later, the party was victorious and the evil-doers dead. But when I tried to loot my hard-earned corpses, a Flaming Fist very unwisely interrupted it. So, another battle, more corpses, more loot. At that point, I discovered an unlocked door to the fireworks building and entered. Another Flaming Fist spawned underground and threatened the party. He was defeated, but a squad of them appeared, so after battle that I fast-travelled away - the quest was completed, the loot probably was not that important, and it likely could go forever. I suppose, it was the same in BG1/2, but with the turn-based combat, the infinite guards seem less appealing. Then the party ventured forth to the House of Grief, carried Mother Superior out of the hall, and shot her down while she was trying to talk to the MC. Got a very nice +3 shield and a very pretty robe, which, unfortunately, was combat gear, instead of camp attire. Thus, it was given to the only wizard in the party. I somehow hoped that I would be able to access Cazador's palace from the sewers entrance, but it was not interactive, so the party went in through the guard tower as expected. The cleric was able to defeat the vampire lord and his party single-handedly (everything was dying either to Daylight or Spirit Guardians), though on the lowest difficulty. I guess, ~10-15 hours left - only the quests depending on Gortash, Raphael, and the end-game. I remember the bosses in Solasta having Legendary actions on normal difficulty. Curious why it was limited only to the Ironman one in Larian's game.

Act 3 (some spoilers)

Nioh had a rather straightforward story - an Irish pirate has his spirit BFF kidnapped by a Japanese wizard and goes to save her, while participating in the most well-known historical battles in the region. Can't say that it was horrible (though, any "great unifier" is a genocidal maniac; then again, the concept of the human rights was different even 70 years ago), but the story was not particularly deep or compelling. The boss and spirit guardian design was probably the best aspect of the game if one is anyhow interested in folklore. In DS, on the other hand, there was the lore and the context of the PC's actions - basically, the Chosen Undead prophecy was sending the newly-arisen zombies to become firewood and to prolong the Age of Fire. I will probably get Lies of P when I am more confident that I can run it - the reimagining of the classic story seems like an interesting concept and I am fond of Souls-likes in general (though, not so much of the Sekiro combat style). Haven't played the newer ones, but Uncharted 1-3* were ridiculously dumb actions with a lot of explosions and cut-scenes. Might be fun, if the expectations are very low. *the first one was structured as "3 waves of enemies => cut-scene => running => repeat", so haven't finished. Uncharted 3 had some puzzles and more climbing at the beginning.

Larian's D&D Game Act 2 (ending sequence)