Hawke64

Larian's D&D Game This is why the camera shouldn't have been pointed at the PC ever (no spoilers): Act 2 Act 3 End-game

It is possible to keep them alive, though I do not remember how I did it exactly, beyond just leaving the follower at the areas' entrances/hidden. (Checked the screenshots, the NPC was alive at the end. A small spoiler for one of the endings).

The difficulty goes up if the party does not complete most of the quests nor uses optimised builds. I've reached Act 2 on the 3rd playthrough at the moment and facing most of the foes in battle is very undesirable. It is fortunate that there are few mandatory combat encounters. Also, somehow odd that when playing as a githyanki, the Origin githyanki companion gets addressed more often (odd story-wise, not gameplay logic-wise). Spent 4 hours just chain-Long Resting next to the Grove, so all camp scenes triggered (which I didn't know on the first playthrough), and looking for the second hand crossbow and the first disk on the Prince of the Comet (accidentally spoilt the anti-magic flower and had to move the camera into the position to see the upper floor in the Arcane Tower to jump there and reach the disk). Then after 5-10 minutes in the Shadow-Cursed Lands, a merchant was selling a better hand crossbow and a really nice exotic armour.

Larian's D&D game

Agreed, except 1. That trailer was most glorious; 2. The quest design when no one tells the exact location, route, and landmarks does require quest markers. When some NPC told me to meet them in Baldur's Gate, they never mentioned where (it was a random cave with no clear connection to those NPCs) or how to get there. It is possible to not have to include quest markers, but it requires the map and the quests (and all that VA/mo-cap fluff) to be done in order, which might be challenging. Morrowind achieved it, but you also could ask any nearby NPC for directions (again, VA/mo-cap make it insurmountable to have that amount of lines*). --- Started another playthrough as a Githiyanki sorcerer (having unlimited Enhanced Leap is very convenient) to test a very specific theory, which requires a full run with some side quests completed. So far so good - 5 hours in and close to the end of Act 1 (at the post-Goblin Camp celebration). Need to find another hand crossbow, though, for the only mostly combat-focused companion, which will take another hour or two. *if I'm not mistaken, Skywind aims to have all lines voiced.

Can't see the video (requires the cookies), but the MP mode was not included in the remaster, if I remember correctly. Might be that. Edit. Might be ME: Andromeda 2. Also, I am happy to see a helmet and gloves, instead of a face (assuming, it is the N7 2023 video). The coat is odd (more biker-/cyberpunk-like), though. https://www.ea.com/en-gb/games/mass-effect/epsilon

They are playable. The system is based on D&D (3?). Can't remember much else. The MMO SW continues the story with the default ("canon") choices.

Serpent in the Staglands. Had a large pack of wolves appear upon loading a quick save (within their aggro range). The party quickly, but safely, retreated to the nearest settlement. So, the only things of note in that forest were a cave with at least 3 levels (I got somehow bored by reaching lvl 2 and fighting the same randomly placed foes) and the talking bandits who attacked after a short dialogue (I assume, I didn't have the right skills). Somehow disappointed by the lack of area maps. Shadow Tactics. Reached Kage-sama's camp and slowly cutting the way to the boss.

I see. I finished Disco Elysium, but didn't particularly like it. Though, not sure what could have made it better - more complex or more tactile actions and static skill checks, maybe? To stay on topic, Patch 4 has been released. https://steamcommunity.com/games/1086940/announcements/detail/3729602945703684316 Somehow odd that the full custom party is not available yet.

Not quite - there are high-level checks (and one of the difficulty options makes them even higher). Also, it is so nice when the team is actually a team and the party members help each other (unlike Larian's game where everyone for themselves).

The outcomes of the quests and the availability of the options depend on the MC's stats (and RNG, but may RNG checks in dialogues be optional) and there is a small party. There is 1 mandatory combat encounter, but a combat system is not an essential quality of CRPGs. On the other hand, the MC does have a very specific background and a certain scene at the end might come off as completely random, depending on the player. Then again, the same can be said about Planescape: Torment. I don't think that you have played Disco Elysium?

Available on Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3 and PlayStation VR2. I thought that it was a mod for Dishonored when I first watched the trailer. Can't check how similar the gameplay is, unfortunately - no VR.

While I am not fond of voiced PCs, the render/model of the PC looks quite good/androgynous. Haven't watched the video, so just replying - I am glad to have several clans to choose from, even if it is fewer than in the original, though not so glad to have DLC or post-launch content. I guess, no Nosferatu or Malkavian, as they had the most distinct playstyles and dialogue options? Also I am curious, how the replies about the MC's history will affect this history - are the events set by the answers or predetermined?

Played more Eternal Threads. There was one interesting plot twist*, though I am unsure if it gets any continuation, as it certainly does not have anything to do with the "main" characters. My issue is that I find them mind-numbingly boring and the story surrounding them almost non-existent. Probably will drop the playthrough. *

The key systems, the narrative style, and plot-points are somehow too similar to D:OS2 (also, most battles were possible to "cheese" there). If the worse aspects were improved (the game spent years in EA with them present), it would be preferable. Larian did decrease the amount of environmental features (everything is not on fire all the time), but there is still no pause, the inventory and party management are awful, the party members sound like someone's first PCs, the lore does not work well with D&D or BG1/2, the final choice between two obviously Evil NPCs, etc.

I have no idea what is happening there, but looks impressive. Started Eternal Threads. The writing is plainly worse than Tacoma (also the scenes usually feature smaller groups of characters in the same location), but there are choices. The objective is to save 6 people by altering small decisions they made within a week before dying. There are also some doors to unlock. The background story (too much time travel to be fixed by more time travel and the story is the first test mission for the MC) so far does not seem to matter for the objective. Who are these people and why are we saving them? Edit. In order to launch the game, I had to manually block its internet access. In that moment, I missed my old antivirus, which was (still is on the other PC) giving me a warning window when anything not on the Allowed list was trying to connect. Also, the screen resolution settings don't seem to work at all.

Started Black Geyser. Increased the World Greed by 1 by accepting a side quest reward. Then had killing a non-hostile fox as the main quest objective, so stopped there. Started Serpent in the Staglands. Spent 2 hours slaughtering the aggressive wildlife and 3 bandits in the starting area. The game looks very nice otherwise (like BG1). The PC is the Moon God trapped outside of their domain and seeking to return there. Can't say that I understand the gameplay systems well, but clicking LMB on the red-outlined NPCs gives XP and the text notes as inventory items have different descriptions and content. Found 2 manuals on the official site. Finished Grime. The setting and the trait system (available after parry-killing some number of a specific enemy type; e.g. healing 4% HP on hit or increasing the damage after pulling) seem unique, though the difficulty spike (caused by not utilising the above-mentioned system) mid-game was unpleasant. I would say that multi-stage boss battles usually are more engaging, but not when the moveset changes too significantly and every major boss has at least 2 stages. Not sure if the starting sword/axe was the most effective melee weapon, but looked like it (some traits increase the damage regardless of the stat scaling, making the stat investment irrelevant; others scale with the stats). The final platforming sequence was fine. There are NG+ and boss rush modes, but I am going to skip them (the NG+ exclusive boss battle was rather painful to watch on YouTube).

The XP modifier, "Ardor". It increases from parry-defeating foes by 5%, from just defeating them by 3%, decreases from taking damage by 2%, and does not apply to bosses. Also it is the only thing that is lost upon death - the souls (Mass) remain with the MC.

Grime It did not go well. The Owl looked somehow familiar, like an Easter Egg.

Grime. Spent an hour on a boss only to discover that it had phase 2. The boss seems to be from a DLC.

Forgotten Anne Grime

Not directly related, just my visa application, which includes the work permit, was approved at approximately the same time.

Congratulations. --- I am delighted to share that I have earned my MSc Data Science with Distinction degree and was granted permission to work. Currently looking for work (IT Support Technician with 4 years of experience or Junior Data Engineer with no experience).

Finished Forgotten Anne. Had another soft-lock with a physics puzzle, when the "NPC" to use somehow clipped through the floor and I had to reload*. I am unsure how much difference the choices make, but from the Steam forums I gathered that the main narrative path remains unchanged, while only one ending is "true". It is somehow funny to compare it to Anno: Mutationem, which I've played recently, - Forgotten Anne has an adequately-written story, some minor choices, and the light and pipe puzzles are nice (slightly too easy, but not bugged), but also uncomfortable, unrebindable, and unresponsive controls with timed platforming sequences, while Anno: Mutationem has quite good rebindable controls, combat system, and encounters, but the story and characters are ridiculous. So, I am not reviewing either of them on Steam, with its "Recommended/Not Recommended" system. *a link to the video guide I used, which partially shows the bug. --- Started Grime, a Souls-like in a rather unique fantasy setting - something happened and life forms came from rocks. Another original concept is absorbing the foes by parrying their attacks with the head, which is also a black hole, in order to unlock talents (passive abilities). The controls are partially rebindable (mouse buttons and the I key are hard-coded), but the game can be played with keyboard only. The environments are slightly too grey, but very nice otherwise.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/meet-the-men-hiding-their-fifa-ultimate-team-addiction-from-their-families