Hawke64

It was somehow low on interactions, and the ones present were rather uncomfortable, from the slow exploration to the mini-games to the very low interactivity of the story. Speaking of, the first MC becomes severely unrelatable, as a major story event happens off-screen, and (end-game spoilers):

Finished Tacoma. Nice, but linear. End-game spoilers:

While regional pricing is an issue, especially with the last year Steam guidelines adjustments, waiting for a more bug-free and less expensive versions of the AAA games* seems to be the most reasonable course nowadays (the last 15 or so years). Starfield is also a Bethesda game, which are well-known for their issues on release. *Not applicable to independent developers, they do need support and less likely to attach invasive DRM or exploitative monetisation to their games. --- On another note, I am curious if the Prince of Persia reboot requires the Ubisoft DRM. As is, the game does look interesting, but not outstanding. I guess, I would prefer it to be a separate IP. Also, I think, it would look better with cell-shading, considering the visual style. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-is-so-much-better-than-it-looks-in-the-reveal-trailer

Agreed. I hope, there will be different ways to approach the oath and the employment, even if their presence is pre-determined.

Finished Dreams of an Exile. It is a functional and minimalistic action-adventure with platforming. Due to a bug, I was able to achieve only the bad ending and not quite inclined to replay the second half of the game. Review: Started Tacoma. It seems to be a walking simulator. Unironically, the character models are very impressive - the NPCs have different heights and weights, which is rather rare. Usually, there are at most 2-3 models of the same height in sci-fi games (thinking of Mass Effect in particular).

Sounds reasonably good, though I would have preferred more races and specific classes. Curious if it is possible to do a complete diplomatic pacifist/stealth/murder playthroughs. Also, I am very happy to see a purely single-player game. An adequate integration of co-op tends to mess up SP and drains resources. Speaking of, I doubt that Obsidian would go for text-only dialogues in a first-person game, so less interactive dialogues, I suppose.

A fair point. The developer and publisher is Neowiz. I haven't played any of their titles, but have 2 of them on the wishlist. I suppose, Lies of P looks somehow similar to Steelrising (a fancy-looking robot* fighting other robots in a European city), but, according to Steam forums, is better optimised. I didn't get further than the main menu, but unlike Steelrising, Lies of P (demo) does not support the 4th and the 5th mouse buttons, which might be fixed in the full version. *I also can't quite unsee that P looks somehow similar to Evie Frye (Assassin's Creed: Syndicate). I don't think that it is intentional, though.

Lies of P PC demo is available on Steam. The price seems rather high for an independent game. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1627720/Lies_of_P/

Finished Self-Checkout Unlimited. It was a quite surreal 2-hour-long walking simulator, despite the first scene implying horror.

There is some sort of complex survivability rating for each character, depending on their role, loyalty, and team composition. So, it is entirely possible to have a fully loyal team and lose some of them and vice versa. The non-combat crew survivability depends solely on the reaction time - the sooner you start the final mission, the more survives. It also introduces a problem with the ME3 world state generator - it is either the loyalty missions or alive non-combatants, but not both. As mentioned above, the OOC PTSD was worse. Kai Leng is poorly introduced and written in-game (he first appeared in one of the ME books and seemed less annoyingly dumb), and covered in plot armour, but fine otherwise. The ending is fine, though I would have preferred it to be more open. --- Finished Record of Lodoss War ~Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth~. Enjoyed it overall, though cannot see another playthrough. Review:

Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-. I have realised that I should have watched the anime (or at least read the summary) first - the MC recognises NPCs and bosses, but does not elaborate on their background nor there is an in-game wiki (that I could find). The elemental system (Fire and Air spirits charge one another when the MC attacks foes, and when the charge at level 3, the MC regenerates HP and MP) is rather convenient, but it feels slightly OP. Then again, it also seems to be incorporated into the boss battles - when you get hit by a Fire/Wind attack and the corresponding spirit is active, you take no damage and regenerate MP. Thank you for the information. Could you elaborate if there is any branching in the story, alongside the sponsors (what do they affect)?

If I remember correctly, the werewolf is to be encountered somewhere in the late-game. Finished Hob. It looks good and the changes in the areas are quite original - a lot of them literally rise from the ground, but the fixed camera angle, poor collision detection (worked more often in my favour in combat), and the somehow simple combat are disappointing. The worst aspect is the story and its presentation - there are no spoken dialogues or written texts, the characters just gesture vaguely, then a quest marker appears. Maybe. When it does not, trying to guess how to progress, when you also do not know the objective due to the lack of dialogues, is somehow unpleasant. The map takes some time to get used to and still does not cover the dungeons, but it is serviceable when it works. Additionally, there is one unique boss, the rest are regular foes with armour. Occasionally, it is not clear when killing everything on the screen is required to progress. The most reliable indication is an inactive mechanism in the room. If it is still inactive when everything is dead, then the battle was optional. The character development system is present - the health can be improved, the sword can hit harder, the glove can charge faster. There are also outfits that change the stats, but I was unable to unlock them - they required both to be found, then to be unlocked with XP points, which seem to be better spent on the glove.

Replayed Weird West (demo) and went directly to the husband's location after the opening cut-scene. It was possible to get through without skills or weapons, though the lack of lockpicks led to the need to find the keys (1 key, to be fair) which were in the pockets of mini-bosses. So I had to circle and knock the targets out one by one and drag them into the bushes. In the other area it was a bit harder to cross unnoticed, but running, rolling, and jumping were sufficient to get away from the foes who could not jump. They could go the default way to my destination, but their attention span was short enough to forget about me. It was just the wind, after all. Also, found a Dishonored easter egg.

Weird West (demo). Finished and somehow annoyed. Enemy positions randomise on reloading a quick save, the loot mostly consists of junk items sold for $1 taking the limited inventory space (a side quest earns about $100), the controls seem to be console-focused - from the GUI to holding and pressing a key being different actions (using a melee weapon requires both - holding the "aim" key and pressing the "attack" key), the quest descriptions unclear - "question the NPC" did not mean "talk to the NPC", but "go into the basement and talk to another NPC". Additionally, there are children NPC, who are immortal but possess the same ability as normal NPCs to report if you are trespassing. Just in case, tried to shoot them and to stab a "Mysterious" child surrounded by the corpses whom I had not killed (at a later interaction a pack of dynamite made the plot-armoured abomination run away). Also, it does not seem to be possible to aim up or down at a distance (possible when the auto-aiming kicks in), but at the same time there is very little verticality for a stealth game. The detection of interactive objects feels imprecise, especially when they are close (e.g. an unconscious NPC and a bucket; a door and a random rat who, unlike the children, cannot harm the PC, but are possible to kill accidentally). The NPC followers are not particularly intelligent - one caught fire by standing next to a torch and kept standing there until I moved. On a positive note, you can pet horses and there are some surface/elemental interactions (i.e. throwing lamps to cause a fire AoE). The character development is bound to exploration and most of the abilities should carry between the playable characters, who cannot be chosen, only played in order. The strategy of knocking foes down in one-hit, then slashing them with melee weapon 4-40 times has been very effective (defeated the final boss that way). At least in one area it was possible to lure the human foes to be killed by a monster. I guess, I am glad that there was a demo. Overall,Weird West feels like a worse version of Seven (which had its own issues) in the Wild West setting. Playable, but not exactly enjoyable.

Thank you, yes. I've looked it up, and there are 2 games (and a turn-based tactical prequel) with Very Positive ratings on Steam.

If I'm not mistaken, there was a stealth game about a goblin assassin in an orc fortress? I've seen it several times on Steam front page, but haven't played. Probably, not quite like Gollum in terms of story, though. Also, a Stardew Valley-like game in the Shire or a competitive fighting game about the Mordor orcs would be curious to see. I think, there were several action-adventure and RTS games in the setting and an MMO RPG.

Stylised graphics, including pixel art, is significantly easier to read, it looks good longer, and provides lower system requirements. On the other hand, highly detailed, including "realistic", styles age rather quickly and are much harder to process. The mitigation usually includes various forms of "eagle vision" (Assassin's Creed) or "Witcher's senses" (The Witcher 3). I think, one of the Tomb Raider reboot games (haven't finished any of them) had the option to disable the paint on climbable walls. Curious how it mixed when the initial design was based on the not-subtle "hints". I suppose, if it was possible to completely disable visual junk (grass, foliage, non-interactive items that look similar to interactive ones), it would be preferable. The closest I can think of (again, haven't played) is The Last of Us 2.

Stealth (non-lethal KO) is mostly viable. Then a boss battle happens and suddenly it is not. If I'm not mistaken, the dialogue skill checks are static and the options unavailable are not shown, so it might be considered to use a guide for them and to avoid investing skill points unless necessary (e.g. important dialogue or boss battle). Playing Weird West - Bounty Hunter's Journey (demo). It seems to be a stealth-action. Fine so far, but feels somehow restrictive. The controls are rebindable and the saving possible almost at any time. The opening with the Data Policy was interesting to see. I also managed to set myself on fire within the first 2 minutes of gameplay.

The Talos Principle 2. Not sure how it is going to work, considering the ending of the first game, but it looks interesting.

Looks very good. The first game was an excellent port - it ran very well and supported the native PC input devices, including 5-button mice, from the start. Though, I would love to see an adequate saving system implemented (not copying and pasting files via Windows Explorer) and the ability to create the whole party without additional Steam accounts.

Encased. Replayed the last act for the mayoral elections. The elections themselves, gaining backing of the Wings within one long dialogue while decreasing their support for the other two candidates*, were reasonably interesting, though there was not much to do afterwards nor it was clear how to complete the quest after it was marked as "Completed" in the Journal. The terminal for City Projects was hidden in the corner of the area and it did not seem to be possible to utilise the PC's funds for them, while the projects themselves provided only Reputation bonuses for one of the Wings. On the positive note, the ending slides included one more for Junktown. On an unrelated note, it is possible to increase the reputation with the companions by bribing them when they are out of the active party. *I greatly appreciate the ability to save mid-dialogue, especially if it is long. Tried to continue my playthrough of Expeditions: Rome. I was able to gain the second rhetoric skill successfully** and reach Africa. Somehow the only positive thing I can say about the game is combat. The inventory management and crafting, the legion management, the timers for everything, the voiced dialogues feel like pointless bloat. **there was 1 line from 1 NPC at 1 point suggesting to do so within a very limited time frame (after the first time-skip but before leaving Rome).

The first run was probably 40+ hours - played the GOG version without Galaxy and there are no in-game indicators. The second, critical path only, playthrough took a day*. There is quite a lot of replayability, though it might also be possible to see almost everything in terms of story in 2 playthroughs (different quest outcomes, stat/reputation-dependant random events, etc.). I don't think that there is an option to respec mid-game (only to edit the appearance), so there should be some variety in combat builds as well. For the party compositions, the limit is the PC + 2 NPCs and the companions auto-level up. *

Completed Encased. The density of the locations decreased by the second half, though I also looted more consciously (only every second container) and interacted with fewer NPCs. Overall, the ending(s) reflected what I achieved, while the reactivity in general was very high. On the other hand, the other gameplay systems seemed to mix rather oddly. Going to attempt anther critical path-only playthrough, which should be significantly shorter. Hob. Ran in circles for 15 minutes. The map was not as helpful as I hoped - the walls, untraversable bushes, and paths were not clear. I also discovered that the controls can be reconfigured by editing a text file in the game's folder.

Metro: Last Light Complete Edition is free on Steam (until 25 May). https://store.steampowered.com/app/43160/Metro_Last_Light_Complete_Edition/ DEATH STRANDING is free on EGS (same). https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/death-stranding

It certainly will be released. Eventually. Encased. Unlocked the best vehicle in the game. Though, the puzzle to acquire it was rather odd - it was a text-based (like a dialogue) puzzle and it was necessary to check a certain parameter by choosing a specific dialogue option repeatedly, which was not obvious. Also, it is nice that some of the quest items are possible to loot before taking the respective quest.