Hawke64

The proportions of the faces seem to be somehow off (especially for the elves) and sliders would have fixed that at least. I think, Dragon's Dogma, Dark Souls, and Saints Row (which isn't even an RPG) had both body and face sliders and it was possible to make both "serious" and goofy characters, should one wanted to. SR2 also had different walking animations and layered clothing, while DD:DA had the height slider. --- Some relatively spoiler-free similarities to D:OS2: Got through 2 DC30 locks after several reloads, which didn't lead to anything too interesting. Then watched 2 large groups of NPCs killing each other in real time, because none of my party members was in that combat encounter (the rogue looted one of the bodies before teleporting out). Reached the point-of-no-return message in Act 2 after running in circles for an hour because I didn't understand how to spawn the critical quest items in the area. Also, some of the cut-scenes trigger only if the NPC sees the PC, thus, they are easy to avoid, but the game occasionally assumes that the PC has talked to those NPCs. A very specific example (Act 2, mid/end): On another note, there have been 2 battles during the Act that triggered right after dialogues, without a way to get out or prepare.

If anyone backed Stray Gods, the keys are out (my email with the key was marked as spam at first, so should be careful). Edit. The launch trailer:

Just in case, it is possible to reset the camera to face north, Home by default (rebindable and might be more comfortable if closer to WASD). Sort of a spoiler: ---- Still in Act 2. Got the first and probably the only non-Origin companion. Visited an optional area called the House of Healing. Would like to know the opinions if anyone has seen it. Regarding the guardian (spoilers for D:OS2):

Context Menu (RMB by default) => Examine. The one Sturdy object I needed to destroy had 22DR to piercing damage and immunities to everything else. Went down from a grenade detonated by a fire arrow (for some reason, the Fire Bolt spell resulted in lower damage). I think, I've reached Act 2 (the second map with DoT) and some issues are starting to show: Also, does anyone know what are the options in that area to negate the DoT (the stronger one)? And completely unrelated to the things above, the cut-scenes with shorter characters are done quite well - when I was hugged by a human-sized NPC, the NPC kneeled first. Additionally, one note about the guardian (light spoilers for Act 2):

Some story elements remind of D:OS2 as well, such as but not too much.

Thank you. I suppose, those subclasses fit their backgrounds best, so I'll stick with them. I think the success also might be related to the popularity of the IPs used. Baldur's Gate, D&D, and Larian itself are well known, especially with those D&D YouTube shows (Critical Something, haven't watched). I agree that the cinematics, multiplayer, and the advertisement campaign appealed to the more general mainstream audience, even if I was not fond of the latter (I prefer text articles or trailers but not the developers talking). The game has some interesting systems, but it also skips a lot of explanations, making decisions for the player. Though, I must admit the automation for some of the more routine options is welcome (e.g. supply selection during camping or companions' subclass selection). I guess, The Age of Decadence might have some similarities in terms of options, but also was extremely niche. Funnily enough, it is possible to switch to the other party members during dialogues and reposition them. But Ao forbids they help with the in-dialogue skill checks. I can't quite understand why, but it certainly is a deliberate design decision (one of the last updates on Steam mentioned it) that might have something to do with the MP aspects. Then again, in Wasteland 3 it was possible to switch the conversation to the other player (and their characters' skills) in one click. Regarding dangerous areas in Grymforge, On an unrelated note, the red dragon looks quite nice (screenshot): --- Edit. Is there any clear indication what causes events to progress, not counting the "Finish everything before proceeding" message, which, I assume, means the start of the next Act? E.g. (small spoilers for Act 1): Is it stepping into a wrong area or progressing an unrelated quest?

You can choose subclasses for the companions? I thought that the optional aspects are shown in red and possible to change (e.g. spells for wizards)? Also, I have discovered that there is non-lethal combat. After killing 2 hostile children and a possible companion. So, my issue with the UI is that, firstly, it is too small (just 30-50% larger and with the images on the icons filled instead of outlined) and secondly, spread out between the quick bar and the context menu with some actions possible to bind to keys and some not. The non-lethal stance is on the Passive abilities tab, while the dual-wielding is on the left from the bar. Picking up or examining an object or a character is in the context menu, pushing is on the quick bar. Considering the complexity, I doubt that it could be much better, but if it was at least gathered in one place and pointed out earlier, it could be comfortable. Though, there are a custom bar and the default interaction with objects usually makes sense. Unless you are a rogue and the object is locked, then you try to open it instead of lockpicking. In the full version, the guardian (the introduction line in the Character Creator "You need a guardian. Choose one") is a character who visits you in dreams and claims being the one who has saved you from certain death. In EA the introduction was "Who do you dream of?" and, as you said, if you dreamt about your grandfather teaching you to fight or a shadow druid who killed your family (in case if the robe and the jewellery were not clear enough), well, the following scenes were not exactly pleasant. So, I am glad that it was rewritten. A screenshot from the character creation screen: For Origins, the guardian is customisable. Tested with Wyll.

A fully custom halfling rogue with the urchin background. Whose friends and family were killed by.. something (bandits? Goblins? A flood?), while the guardian looks like the former neighbour whom Rogue (it is the name) had not interacted much with. I've just got to the first cut-scene with the guardian and the impression was similar to meeting Camellia. Might be because of the combination of appearance and animations. Screenshots: Also the HDD occasionally leads to rather amusing cut-scenes (Raphael). The NPCs look at the PC and not where a human's head would be, so reasonably good. On another note, I've found Withers and the hirelings. They are fully predetermined (class, name, and appearance) with 1 sentence of background story, so there might be no way to create another custom character in single-player. From what I've read on the forums, it is also impossible to kick out other players' custom characters if continuing the playthrough alone.

Played for 3-4 hours. The immersive sim/sandbox aspects, traversal abilities, and the applicability of non-combat spells are impressive. The camera distance and tethering to the active party member are not. The cut-scenes are mostly fine, but the auto-comments and facial expressions from the PC sometimes miss. Also, it seems that several evil deities were removed from character creation and most hairstyles clip through tiefling horns and elf ears. Not sure if I should put the screenshots here or in the Pictures thread, so spoiler-free screenshots: Style-wise, the D&D game seems lower on Larian's humour. I guess, if it started from the point before the kidnapping (like Dragon Age: Origins or even the festival in Kenabres in WotR), it would have been better, but due to the variety of locations, require more resources to implement. Gathered the party and reached the Goblin Camp, which was the same point I had reached in EA, though this time from the north and talking to NPC (instead of wandering randomly). Also, it is possible to set Grease on fire, but, thankfully, the fire does not spread. And, I think, blood is possible to freeze with cantrips. Most importantly, halflings can reroll failed checks which decreases the number of reloads per hour (loading times on HDD are longer than I'd like). Some screenshots from the road and the refugee camp (what was available in EA as well): Overall, so far the game has been significantly more enjoyable than DOS and I hope that it will continue beyond the EA tested area.

Yes, it does seem a bit off. I suspect it's because of the settings (medium/low for textures/details) or the HDD and the hair looks better on high/ultra/SSD.

Thank you, but I haven't defeated Malenia yet, just ran out of time yesterday. The Assassin could reliably get the boss to the second phase if I kept the spirit alive, but not much farther. The fully-upgraded tower shield and moving backwards mostly protected from Vergil's move (not sure how it's called, Waterflow Dance?) if I had enough stamina, while running under the boss protected from the Scarlet Rot Flower jump. So I am going to look up the guides, try to level up more, and try again. On another note, the only other DS boss with similarly aggressive regeneration was Lud/Zallen from DS2 - the surviving tiger went berserk after the first one was defeated. Though, the tigers also were perfectly beatable solo - the bosses' HP boost from the summons and their general inability to survive long enough made them harmful.

Thank you for the information. I had thought that the Haligtree would be closer to the main path and not require 2 obscure items and a "puzzle". Which is closer to a DLC area requirements (DS1 and DS2) than a normal secret area. Speaking of. Found and defeated Rykard and spent about an hour on Malenia. A sword&board PC does not work well against the boss, considering the regeneration on blocked hits. The Assassin Spirit, on the other hand, was quite effective. Will try again later. Edit. Played with Saints Row 2 character creator. It is still one of the best, which is ironic, considering that it was not an RPG.

The textures don't load in time and the loading in general is slow. I've just checked the settings and created a character (well, several). The issues from EA are still present - no full highlights or GUI scaling, the heads are presets, the additional body types available for humans and elves only. But you can choose between 6 options for genitals, which are, fortunately, not bound to the race or the body types, unlike heads. The masc heads for elves are not exactly aesthetically pleasing. Edit. Also, no full custom party without MP/multiple instances and no saving/exporting the PCs either. And no full level up preview during character creation. I'm unlikely to play Larian's D&D game now, but the character creator was amusing even if lacking. Edit2. If you purchased the EA version, there are the artbook and the OST in the game's folder.

Elden Ring. Ran through the Haligtree without much exploration (I had all equipment I needed*), which was mostly enjoyable and I was shot by a not-Asylum-Demon only once. Loretta and Malenia's first form went down surprisingly quickly. Malenia's second form did not and the subsequent attempts were less successful, so I left her be for now and focused on the remaining shardbearers. I also discovered that there were 12 flask upgrades, while I had only 4 collected, which explained the healing feeling underwhelming. So, I looked up the locations and gathered the remaining Sacred Tears. Thus, after defeating Mogh and slashing the thing in the egg (without results), only the Volcano Manor, Malenia, and the final boss are left (not sure if I can reach the Leyndell sewers at this point or if I want to explore sewers in general). *in general, speedrunning through the areas seems somehow more fun.

Reached the secret snowy area. The invisible assassins were unpleasant and I doubt that I would have purchased the item that makes them visible even if I had found the merchant. I managed to sneak around and light the bonfires to open the portal while having to fight only one of them and running away from another. The Walking Mausoleum launching magic missiles from afar in the same area looked very impressive.

https://www.eurogamer.net/theres-an-official-assassins-creed-mirage-haptic-gaming-suit-on-the-way "Haptics firm Owo's Mirage-themed tie-in has been created in partnership with Ubisoft and looks something like an extremely snug short-sleeved shirt, albeit packaged alongside various bits of hardware. While wearing one, players can experience "multiple different sensations" that reflect those of Assassin's Creed Mirage's protagonist Basim. Owo says these "sensations" will include the likes of "impacts and parkour", with the standard version of the haptic suit able to mimic 30 different sensations, including "axe", "insect bites", "severe abdominal wound", and "ball"." https://owogame.com/owo-skin-acm/ It does sound interesting and unusual. Though, so do VR helmets and I still don't have one. The only drawbacks I can see is how many games would adequately support it to make having this hardware meaningful, otherwise, $500 seems a bit too much for one game (granted, I would have purchased it if I had enough disposable income and it was not Assassin's Creed/Ubisoft; Mirror's Edge or Mass Effect/EA would be fine).

The Crumbling Farum Azula. Though, I have not encountered the two-headed dragon and the one-headed ones kept disappearing after I tried to shoot them. Met the Godskin Duo, had to rethink my strategy and gather some flowers at river banks. When I entered the arena via the balcony I thought that the dragon's head would be the boss. Not sure what the area was in terms of lore or how I got there. I assume that the certain door could not be accessed as the barrier could not die on its own, while the area's boss held the rune, hence why I had to defeat him. On another note, the pacing has become much jollier - not counting the ash-upgrading diversion, the progress has been reasonably straightforward, though the balance is still odd - the Duo was rather challenging, Malekith was fine (but would have been more unpleasant without the AI companion), the following boss fell within seconds (something-something All-Knowing).

Elden Ring. Reached the late-game dragon area. Ironically, the only boss who didn't have long delayed and extendable combo chains, abilities to cross the arena in an instant or attacks faster than I could see them coming, was the Fire Giant. Granted, he also had an enormous health bar and the attacks were hitting hard if they landed, so even my upgraded tower shield could only take one. Also, visually, the boss strongly reminded of Daimon from Dragon's Dogma. Defeated Alecto the Ringleader. Took quite some time, as Alecto could cross the arena quickly and one-hit the PC at any point with little time to react (the AoE blood jump attack and the grab) and could extend the normal combo seemingly indefinitely unless interrupted, which could result in trading hits which is not a good idea with any boss. Fortunately, I was able to corner her between the mist wall and a rock and her health ran out before my stamina did. Edit. Also defeated a Godskin Noble (?) mini-boss. The boss jumped off the bridge where the battle was taking place, which was rather amusing and certainly preferable to fighting it head-on.

The Last Hero of Nostalgaia. Celeste Blasphemous (spoilers for the bosses) Elden Ring This was funny, though immersion-breaking. Get in the Car, Loser The combat screen. Larian D&D game (EA) Batbarian

Finished Get in the Car, Loser. Discovered that Final Fantasy XIII was the inspiration, which explains the design and specifically the combat. That is to say, the narrative and the story are excellent, while the writing accurately represents what I think the manner of speech of the 20 years old people is like and the pixel art style is lovely. The story follows a party of 3 (later, 4) in a semi-fantasy setting on their way to save the world, with the party leader being the not-Chosen One (the actual Chosen One died) and the main character a healer/support. The combat and inventory management, on the other hand, are atrocious. The former breaks into the middle of dialogues, which continue afterwards like nothing happened and the party didn't spend 2 minutes punching robo-dolphins. In terms of the actual process, 1 key = 1 party member performing 1 action and waiting through the cooldown + switching between the item sets, similar to the Paradigm Shift in FF13 (it is a minor improvement). The latter is the most interactive and creative part (for the player) of the game. The party members' abilities are tied to their equipment and in order to slightly upgrade an equipment piece, several others (from ~5 to ~30) must be sacrificed. The equipment comes from the stores, where it is sold in randomly composed packs of 10. The next tier becomes available only after all party members have their current items upgraded. So, the only challenge was the bosses, with the last battle lasting 20 (?) minutes and having several (3+) stages. The issue was that the "regular equipment sets" (used for normal battles) did not work for the 3rd and the 4th bosses, due to their special attacks and quite a lot of HP. Thus, attempting, dying, and trying again was the way. The first boss had its puzzle aspect unrelated to the loadout, the second could be brute-forced, though it would take longer. In conclusion, nothing is lost from watching (reading) it on YouTube.

"The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) have proposed a new method for guaranteeing parental consent to help protect children's privacy online. The method involves "Privacy-Protective Facial Age Estimation" technology, which would scan an adult's face to confirm their age before they're able to consent on behalf a child". https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-ftc-wants-to-know-whether-you-think-facial-age-estimation-technology-is-a-good-idea I can't quite understand how anyone could think that this is a good idea or could work reliably on the technical level.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous. Tried to replay for a bit, spent an hour respeccing (from a rogue to an Aldori Swordlord) and just running around Drezen. The CPU does not like WotR much for some reason, though I can't remember if it was an issue when I last played. Since it's the GOG version, the game couldn't have changed. I suppose, the replay will have to wait a bit longer - I'd rather feel more progress during short gaming sessions. Anno: Mutationem (not the grand strategy series). Explored the starting area, fought the tutorial battle. The controls are partially rebindable, the mouse is not supported during gameplay. So far, it somehow reminds of Devil May Cry in terms of combat (directional attacks, though Anno:M has a separate key for dodge, like Bayonetta), but 2D and sci-fi.

Concentration loss on hit is possible to disable in the options, if it is too irritating. Not sure if it applies only to the party or to the opponents as well. Also, as was mentioned, there are feats to protect from it.

I think, PoE is closer to PF, considering its single-player and story-focused approach (though, with more combat*), D:OS was more on the multiplayer sandbox side with awful stylistic coherence (gore + humour; but the narrative was backed up by the MP/competitive aspect). So, the full VA, while it was high-quality, was a pointless resource sink. Owlcat seems to know that their target audience does not need the full VA, while Larian is currently going for more "cinematic" games. Neither is inherently bad, but they are different. *PF still was offering more roleplay than D:OS, despite the amount of combat and the additional systems. E.g. the Trickster route was different from the Angel one in both mechanics and specific story content. I guess, it is good that Ubisoft keeps reminding me to avoid their products. Also, I am curious how it aligns with the customer protection laws in the EU - removing time-unrestricted licences cannot be legal.

It is applicable to any game with cut-scenes. E.g. the spawning animation for the Fume Knight in Dark Souls II allowed to take 20% of his health bar before he started moving, while during Godrick's cut-scene in Elden Ring, the PC was listening patiently to his introduction. In regard to BG, it was possible sometimes to throw a fireball, thus switching to the combat mode and skipping dialogues entirely. In D:OS2, usually (not always), only the character who initiated the dialogue was locked into it, while the rest of the party could reposition freely (preferably, behind the foe's back or on the high ground). The drawback was that the battles were balanced with the meta-knowledge on who would spawn where in mind. From what I've played of Larian's D&D game, they went with the "cinematic" hard-locking cut-scenes. Fortunately, like in BG, it seems to be possible to start combat with a well-placed attack and skip the cinematics. Pretty much, yes.