Hawke64

If I'm not mistaken, Steam and GOG have some protection from VPN shopping, while Itch.io does not have regional pricing? Agreed about G2A - the fees from the banks hit the developers.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/piracy-preservation-and-the-devs-who-dont-mind-if-you-have-to-pirate-their-game Which reminds me to purchase Slay The Princess sometime this year - there should be an update. Not sure if getting it on GOG and playing the original version first would provide better experience and the ability to compare. Overall, I like the attitude, though with the regular sales and occasional giveaways, the price is less of an issue than the system requirements or DRM. Which the developers mentioned. Then again, with the number of titles released daily, I find it difficult to determine whether something from an unknown developer should be purchased or not, while the above-mentioned sales bring the insta-buy price significantly lower. The full/enhanced/definitive versions coming a year later after the initial release encourage patience as well. Granted, I do occasionally back crowdfunding projects or purchase Early Access, but it must be very close to what I want to play or from a developer I know well.

Yes, I've played Coteries and it was somehow more enjoyable - there was a choice in terms of missions and some of them were unique for the chosen clan. I was also able to choose a clan (with the background and appearance attached, but the MC still was nameable) and there were some resources to manage (I think, the blood level?). Additionally, it was possible to fail building the coterie, though I don't remember if I reloaded or the members still showed up during the pre-final confrontation. I have several other WoD games from the recent Steam Sale, VtM - Swansong, Werewolf: The Apocalypse - Earthblood, and Werewolf: The Apocalypse - The Forest. Will try them after Control. Speaking of, the optional bosses seem more unique and interesting than the main ones (fought the Fridge, died at the same time as the boss to gravity, but the game counted it as a win). The regular foes appearing out of the air are somehow irritating. It seems that the game would have been better as a more mission-based experience, with the hub in the Executive sector where the MC returns after each mission anyway.

VtM Shadows of New York At that point, the game railroaded me into the ending. An arguably good one, but still.

Vampire the Masquerade - Shadows of New York. Finished the game mostly by holding Ctrl - I have much lower tolerance for visual novels, pretty or not. While the art is outstanding, the saving system, GUI in general, the choices and the story make it hard to recommend. The writing and music are fine, the VA is not present. The protagonist is predetermined, from the name to the background to the clan. There are some choices that do determine the ending, but I was unable to follow the logic. There is no gallery to view the backgrounds and CG, but there is a dictionary with 1-paragraph descriptions. To elaborate on the saving system, there are 3 auto-saving slots, one per playthrough, and the game just deletes the save after the playthrough is finished. It was the same in the previous game and seeing it not fixed is disappointing. While it is possible to use Windows Explorer, the developers should have implemented manual saving at will as in any technically-decent visual novel.

Cult of the Lamb The mini-game was quite fun. Cloud Meadow (the community hub on Steam is not safe for work) Control I did not realise that it was a passage. Later on, it is frustrating to see them on the map and the outlines on the walls, but being unable to use them. Might be the temperature, but I wish it was a cover-based shooter. The regenerating ammo reminded of Mass Effect 1. The game is pretty, though I'm not quite fond of the general gameplay design - there are RNG'ed padding missions and rather pointless XP-based character development system.

Finished Cult of the Lamb. It is an action-roguelite with management elements. The management elements include raising the titular cult and taking revenge on the gods who demanded you to be sacrificed. The cult requires members, who can be found during expeditions or recruited after boss battles. In turn, these members produce Devotion, which is used to purchase new abilities and unlock new buildings, and require food and housing. The resources can be gathered during the above-mentioned expeditions, the Crusades, or grown at the base. The Crusades include venturing into the randomly arranged rooms, slaughtering the regular foes and the bosses, gathering resources, rescuing potential cult members, and occasionally meeting NPCs. The loss of progress on defeat is minimal - only the part of the dungeon in progress. The only negative aspects of the game are the random elements which are rather unpleasant - an unwieldy weapon, such as a hammer, can make a Crusade unsuccessful, the requirement to sacrifice 3 followers to progress in the post-game (as I understand, it was added after the initial release), and that the game is still in active development, which was not clear from the store page. The controls are rebindable, 5-button mice supported, no critical bugs have been encountered (some minor issues with building placement). The accessibility options allow to auto-pass the mini-games and stop the time at the camp when the MC is on a Crusade. The graphics, visual style, and sound design are lovely and expressive.

We also had a barge with the Legionella bacteria. Not sure if it's still there. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-dorset-67063219 The issue is that the Home Office works slowly (unless you throw about £1000 extra at them, then the decision is made within 24 hours) and there are many refugees who need housing while their application is considered. Additionally, obtaining a visa has become more difficult in general. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-48785695

Control. After resolving the issue with crashes, it seems to be fine. I don't like shooters much, regardless of the camera being first- or third-person, but I can tell that it is better than Alan Wake 1, despite the foes looking rather similar - twitchy shadowy dudes. Defeated a boss (a flying shadowy dude) by hiding behind a column, which was rather anti-climatic, but still on the first try (died 2 minutes later by falling from a cliff). Some RNG-looking missions appeared at the save points. I am unsure how character development works or why my Excalibur-gun cannot morph into, well, Excalibur.

It is odd. The only information I have related to the modding from Capcom is that they consider some mods negatively affecting their reputation (because purposefully lowering the performance and removing modding do not /s). In the context, I assume it might be related to a modded copy of Street Fighter running during a competition. I hope that the blow to the public image from the DRM will be larger than from the nude mods, not to mention the time and resources it will take to implement. https://www.eurogamer.net/capcom-warns-of-reputational-damage-from-mods-which-violate-public-order-and-morals https://www.pcgamer.com/street-fighter-6-tournament-accidentally-broadcasts-chun-li-nude-mod-to-the-world/

I've tried to play it on EGS, but the Ubisoft DRM kicked in and after several windows, the demo still was not running. So, I guess, missing this one. I doubt that it will be available on GOG or Steam/EGS without double DRM. The RPS review was favourable and I like the screenshot-on-the-map feature, accessibility settings, and the visual style.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/resident-evil-revelations-update-reportedly-adds-drm-to-decade-old-game-breaks-it-then-removes-drm-for-now It is always disappointing to see such customer-hostile actions, but even more so concerning older (and presumably, safe) software.

The legal regulations might catch up, which will make most existing generative AI models effectively illegal due to the copyrighted or personal data used for training. (Generative) AI can improve many aspects of development, such as animations or speech recognition (though, I would prefer just to ditch VA in general), or NPCs behaviour, and it can improve some aspects for independent games and mods (e.g. if the developer is 1 person and can't do some things on their own), but I doubt that it will be used that way. Then again, there are already Ubisoft games that look incredibly similar to each other with all parts created by humans. I know I won't notice the difference if some of it is AI-generated.

I hoped that the development did not restart from zero. It sounds like it did. But the tool is interesting.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crowns-accessibility-options-are-a-neat-deconstruction-of-metroidvania-design I would say that the Eagle Vision was the (temporary) high contrast mode in the previous Ubisoft games. Still, more options are welcome. The Ubisoft DRM is not. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/maplestory-publisher-nexon-fined-record-89-million-for-misleading-loot-box-mechanics I am unsure if the fine is sufficient (doesn't sound like it), but it is something. Banning the loot boxes would be preferable, though.

Played Cult of the Lamb. It is an action-roguelite with management elements. The management elements include raising the titular cult and taking revenge on the gods who demanded you to be sacrificed. The cult requires members, who can be found during expeditions or recruited after boss battles. In turn, these members produce Devotion, which is used to purchase new abilities and unlock new buildings, and require food and housing. The resources can be gathered during the above-mentioned expeditions, the Crusades, or grown at the base. The Crusades include venturing into the randomly arranged rooms, slaughtering the regular foes and the bosses, gathering resources, rescuing potential cult members, and occasionally meeting NPCs. The only negative aspects of the game are the random elements which are rather unpleasant - an unwieldy weapon, such as a hammer, can make a Crusade unsuccessful, and the requirement to sacrifice 3 followers to progress in the post-game. As I understand, it was added after the initial release. The controls are rebindable, 5-button mice supported, no critical bugs have been encountered (some minor issues with building placement). The accessibility options allow to auto-pass the mini-games and stop the time at the camp when the MC is on a Crusade. The graphics and visual style are lovely and expressive, the sound design is not annoying. --- Finished The Outer Worlds and the Peril on Gorgon DLC. While the main game is quite touching and enjoyable, the Peril on Gorgon made the issues more noticeable - there was too much random loot (which, fortunately, was still possible to sort and dispose of easily after obtaining it), and the main NPCs were I think, the game would have benefited from a more thoughtful approach to the enemy and item placement. Still, I am looking forward to Avowed and The Outer Worlds 2.

Unironically, being able to jump and to skip the monologues from the corpses-to-become. Granted, the final boss monologued anyway, but significantly less than usual. And the "inspirational" speech could be skipped by attacking that Flaming Fist. Discovered it only on the last playthrough, but it was satisfying, nonetheless. I would add that the social systems were either partially implemented or broken, e.g. when a Harper guard tries to arrest you for stealing from the Moonrise Towers or a 1XP citizen attempts to prevent you from looting a freshly-killed Steel Watcher. I don't think that the non-combat spells could be used for anything except making the skill checks slightly easier (e.g. Guidance or Friends). Though, I once got a unique dialogue after casting the Ray of Frost cantrip on a companion. Edit to avoid double-posting. Not exactly specific to the game, but I find the auto-upload feature to be rather intrusive and undesirable. Then again, I do not have an Xbox. https://www.pcgamer.com/larian-and-microsoft-working-to-address-annoying-and-uncool-xbox-account-bans-caused-by-the-unfortunate-combination-of-baldurs-gate-3s-notorious-horniness-and-automatic-gameplay-uploads/

Cult of the Lamb

Saints Row (reboot) is free on EGS today. Unfortunately, it also requires 64GB of free space, so not playing it now.

It looked like a compilation of official trailers with some commentary. Still, I am looking forward to the game, whenever it is ready.

It was formatted with Rufus initially (tried both FAT and NTFS). The issue seems to be with the recovery partitions, which were not formatted, though I am unsure why they were interfering with booting the USB drive. Installing Windows at the moment, so I hope it has been resolved.

Vampyr Chapter 4, boss battle Chapter 5 Some random vampire in the sewers, because there was no boss battle in this part of the city yet. Found a police officer, but was unable to report anyone, except a dead vampire and a still-alive vampire hunter. The only way to deal with the murderous civilians was to bite them lethally. And the game seems to suggest doing just that. Somehow disappointed that the MC's father's watch is technically junk. Could not help the NPC - the vampire mind-controlling her was not in the game and just killing her would have messed up my run. Chapter 6 Was bitten. The mini-boss was nameless, but the door I needed to access was not interactive while he was not sufficiently dead. The final boss. Epilogue

Finished Vampyr. It is mostly fine, though, there are issues. In Chapter 5 (out of 6), I found a police officer, but was unable to report the previously-met serial killer, gang leaders, the child abuser, or the poisoner. The only way to anyhow prevent them from causing harm to random people was to lethally bite them, which would result in a worse ending. From what I've read (haven't tried myself), killing or not killing civilians is the only way of interaction with them - quests do give XP, but the NPC's state does not seem to change, while, for example, if the serial killer is killed, his mother adopts the homeless orphan. Additionally, as mentioned, slaughtering the nameless vampire hunters was perfectly fine and did not affect the endings or the MC's appearance (again, haven't tried myself, but the more civilians are eaten, the redder the MC's eyes become). In terms of combat, while most of the regular opponents were possible to interrupt with normal attacks (thus, just hitting them until the stamina ran out was a viable strategy), it only partially worked with the bosses, though the later ones resisted the interruptions with normal attacks (the abilities mostly worked). The targeting was somehow odd - sometimes, the opponents could glide several meters forward while also changing directions mid-swing, sometimes, the attacks worked like they would in Dark Souls. On a positive note, I quite liked the second form of the final boss, easy may it be, - the boss was impossible to bite (so, no healing in combat) or interrupt, but the boss' damage was low and attacks clearly telegraphed, so it was defeated on the first attempt (the first stage took several, because I counted on being able to stagger the boss and did not notice how much damage the stacking poison clouds were doing). The ending was funny, partially, because the information told by the NPCs was presented in a diary found 2 minutes before the dialogue. I also found the best sword (by accidentally seeing it mentioned on the forums and having the collectible required to solve the puzzle leading to it) and water for the plant at the MC's office (that one I almost missed). I did not rest after the Chapter 5 boss battle, because I was worried that the districts' condition might worsen and did not have enough XP to level up. Another thing I noticed is that one of the Irish NPCs was using the American date format for his diary, mm/dd/yy, instead of dd/mm/yy. Overall, while Vampyr was not anyhow close to VtMB, it was playable. Considering that I still have the manual saves created via Windows Explorer, I might try to see what happens if more people are bitten.

Thank you for your reply. Was going to say that I know what I'm doing (the BSc Computer Science degree kind of suggests that, old may it be), but I've never had this issue with any new PC or VM (the exact same Windows 10 USB worked on them). Anything of value was backed up already, so I will try to unallocate the partitions from one of the drives on the weekend. Not sure, if it affects the USB drive not being recognised as bootable (so no the "Which type of installation do you want?" question, the PC just tries to start Win 7 and fails), but it might. The USB port is working, otherwise, Linux Mint wouldn't be able to interact with the USB drive, so I assume that the issue is with HDDs. Shouldn't be BIOS (no UEFI), but can't confirm nor inclined to touch any firmware.

A PC, 10-14 y/o, had Windows 7. After some time, Linux Mint was installed (not dual boot). Now, when I try to install Windows 10 from a USB, the PC attempts to launch Windows 7 and throws an error. The PC does not boot from the USB, but sees it after starting Linux Mint. The force boot options are Windows Boot Manager, Linux Mint, and the empty DVD drive. The USB is not among them. I've looked through the files on the OS drive and there are Windows-related folders, though I am unsure if they can affect anything. How can I perform a clean Windows 10 installation, wiping everything on the PC?