Hawke64

Immortal: Unchained. The jungles of Veridian, day 4 (?). I have lost track of time and the sight of the only other non-hostile humanoid, and started talking to rocks. A flying rock offered to "rub its sphere" and to "delight in its awe". I have defeated the third main boss by shooting it mostly in the face and in the weak point on the back when I could. The newly-found assault rifle, surprisingly, was shooting reasonably straight, unlike the other assault rifles I had tried, and dealing decent damage. It also was the only "Good" (upgraded to +3 from the start) weapon I had. At the moment, I can say that I like the visual cues - the armour upgrades and "bonfires" are marked by large cables running across nearby walls, thus clearly visible from a distance. There are no inventory limit or weapon durability (unlike Decay of Logos), the enemy and weapon variety is decent so far (unlike Mortal Shell), the level design is generally nice - not on the level of DS1 or The Surge, but not too linear either, and it is possible to continue from the exact point you left (unlike Ashen). Though, I am not looking forward to backtracking back to the hub, even considering that it should be faster with the shortcuts unlocked. I can see the fast travel option in the menu, but it is locked at the moment. Edit. Took about an hour to find the way back. The new gun is a wonder. About a half of the foes can be shot in the face, the other half must be shot in the weak point on the back, which means either baiting them (some approach if cannot reach, some hold their ground) or running to them. The latter is not recommended due to the high likelihood of ambushes - the undead can raise from the floor without a chance to spot and attack them first, but quitting to the main menu resets their positions and occasionally breaks the spawn triggers. Additionally, there is a light dismemberment system - damaging a body part sufficiently destroys it, but the opponent usually is almost dead at that point. Also, the optional chests require a certain number of key items to be unlocked and these key items are not consumed upon use.

Lost in Random. So far the most challenging part was getting the game to run. It cannot be family-shared on Steam, it uses an online-only double DRM, and has no graphical or control options. Unless it is a masterwork in terms of storytelling and gameplay, which I strongly doubt, these flaws are critical. 1 hour in, and it has been a linear action-adventure, granted, fully voiced and well animated. In terms of story, it is a fairytale about a girl who went looking for her kidnapped sister. Immortal: Unchained. Still in the jungle area, Veridian. Encountered an optional boss, whose arena was littered with suicide bombers who were digging themselves out of the floor (i.e. I couldn't shoot them first, but could bait them one by one, or three by three), and who could (and did) one-hit-kill me. Fortunately, I was able to loot the containers in the corners of the arena without fighting, but with a lot of running and dodging. The floor being slightly underwater (ankle-deep) did not affect the movement speed anyhow. Also, I met a single non-hostile (yet) NPC in the area. During the third meeting he was sitting in a hole, and talking to him after jumping down triggered an ambush. The NPC was just standing and doing nothing (the zombies did not attack him either), but told me afterwards that we were victorious. Probably, playing it after Lost in Random makes Immortal: Unchained significantly more enjoyable, despite the occasional unpredictable ambushes. It is also much more quiet - no overly-talkative narrator.

Immortal: Unchained. It is a sci-fi TPS/Souls-like that is not related to Immortal Plant, which was an isometric sci-fi Souls-like. Defeated the second boss and progressed through the jungle area. The game being a coverless shooter and a Souls-like at the same time works curiously, though it feels somehow odd that melee weapons are supplementary instead of primary. The location design is decent, but includes quite a lot of traps (spikes for the frozen world and vines for the jungles), which do not work on the foes. The armour progression is linear and locked behind Armour Shrines, each of them provides a specific improvement and may slightly change the appearance. So, now I have the Scarf of Not-Flinching 10%. The controls are mostly rebindable, with the exception of Shoot/LMB and Aim/RMB.

Rowling harasses trans people, including advocating of removing legal protection and healthcare access. Thought that it was well known. Unlike Atomic Heart, which developers might be connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, HL certainly benefits a person who attacks a vulnerable social group for kicks. --- Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-. Defeated 2 bosses on the first attempt. I like their design, though it is hard to adjust to the MC dodging back instead of in the direction of movement. The second boss, a Dark Elf, stole the recently-acquired mysterious item (no item description, looked like a dark purple sphere) and escaped upon being defeated. The pre-battle banter allowed to assume that the MC is not the only amnesiac person around.

"Games are important because they “grow the economic contribution of Australia’s creative industries”, the report says, and because they can bring new audiences to other more traditional art forms, like classical music. This speaks to the longstanding, limited ways in which games are understood. Their ability to make money and their inherent youthful coolness are championed, but the complex ways in which games are themselves a crucial art form, and made by creators who are themselves artists, remain unacknowledged". https://www.theguardian.com/games/2023/mar/06/finally-australia-sees-video-games-are-important-but-it-cant-be-only-because-they-make-money Interesting but sad. Just in case, building a career in any creative field is extremely risky, be it game development or novel writing. --- https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/03/06/videogames-history-rome-expeditions/ If as art, the article above seems fitting. If as products, then Bloomberg does investigative journalism (haven't read personally, but heard of it). I think, in general, there are enough quality articles, but due to the volume they might be overlooked.

Completed Song of Farca. I suppose, the general gameplay ideas (hacking cameras to access evidence and combining evidence to persuade/blackmail NPCs) are interesting, but the latter does not quite work - there is a specific piece of evidence for each line and they cannot be used in different order. Additionally, the story becomes about the MC's personal issues by the end, while the MC is hard to empathise with. Finally, somewhere mid-game failing puzzles slightly affects cases' outcomes, but it is not clear which puzzles have limited retries. Review:

If I'm not mistaken, the lighting/light sources in cut-scenes are different from the ones during gameplay, which allows to improve performance (players see mostly their characters' backs), while keeping the perceived visual quality high. Not sure how it interacts with photo modes, though. Completed The Feast. It is a point-and-click adventure/visual novel, and is focused on the Russian society after the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The story follows a young person during a family dinner where a dead man is hanging from the chandelier. There are 3 meters (Approval, Ruining the Party, and Suspicion) and numerous actions determining the outcome. The visual and audio design are minimalistic, expressive, and fitting. The controls are not rebindable but comfortable enough - WASD movement and mouse for choosing interaction or dialogue options. While it is not possible to save the progress, the length of one playthrough is around 20 minutes. The settings are limited only to the graphics presets, and it is not possible to adjust the sound volume in-game. Song of Farca. The mid-game cases have (not clearly explained) choices, it seems. Or at least I cannot connect the MC's replies with the outcomes. Also, the late-game cases introduce a limit on the persuasion attempts, which would be great if it were consistent throughout the game and clearly indicated.

Thank you for sharing the article. I strongly detest TW3 and agree that cut-scenes and VA are a resource sink, but it does not mean that the cut-scene-heavy RPGs and action-adventures with light RPG elements (such an inventory system) are going anywhere. I just would prefer to stop calling TW3 and, for example, Assassin's Creed, RPGs. They are not, otherwise Half-Life is and we are role-playing Gordon Freeman. Also, Larian's D&D game has a lot of cut-scenes, and the MC auto-comments OOC and without the player's input, so it is quite "cinematic". Fortunately, as far as I can tell, there is enough freedom to roleplay and develop the player's character.

Song of Farca. The linearity is becoming slightly uncomfortable - the MC blackmailed a random person in order to get a gift for her girlfriend. I suppose, the game highlights nicely why you don't want anything in your apartment to be connected to the Internet unless absolutely necessary (so the phone and the PC only, with the cameras and microphones unattached or covered while not in active use). The story in general has been interesting enough - some of the cases are related to major city (the titular Farca) events.

Steam reviews are mostly negative at the moment. I assume, the PC post suffers from the typical lack of polish and optimisation*, which should be fixed by the next major Steam Sale. The game itself seems to be something between Nioh (of the same developer) and Sekiro. I have mixed feelings about both (disliked the RNG'ed piles of loot in the former and the movement/combat/controls in the latter, liked the wide range of the customisation options including the spirits and the coherence of the world/location; also the bosses). *Edit. Mentioned in the PC Gamer review, but briefly, and nothing about the KB&M controls, aka the native PC input devices.

Song of Farca. It's a point&click adventure/visual novel. Looks nice, runs well, though somehow linear. I've reached the point of applying everything to everything by the end of the second investigation. In retrospect, the solution does make sense, though. Tried Arx Fatalis. Was successfully defeated by the first guard. For some reason, Steam Overlay wasn't working and the proposed on the forums solution did not help. Tried Celeste. Looks and runs well, and the climbing mechanic is interesting. The map, on the other hand, seems rather complex.

Finished Blue Fire. Managed to die once to the second-to-final boss. Defeated the final boss on the first attempt, but I doubt that I would be able to do so without looking up the guide after burning through a half of the healing items (the jumping outside of the arena part was unconventional, to put it politely). Overall, the game is fine, but rather light on the story and has some odd gameplay design (the wall-running controls and the sense of depth, in particular). Review:

I loved the game and I am happy to see that Obsidian are not going to worsen its performance or force me to download the content I cannot use. Considering that they did mess up the critical path in PoEII in one of the last updates, seeing that this is optional and, to be completely safe, paid is a relief. Which also reminds me that I wanted to replay both of them (PoEII before the "Ultimate" update, of course).

The Forgotten City. The game looks gorgeous on medium settings, and there is a photo mode.

The Forgotten City. Replayed the beginning as a soldier (had a gun and 10 bullets), discovered that a. (most of) the NPC don't have their keys on them (e.g. Horatius, the Philosopher, Desius) and b. the bullets can stop the shooting golden statues. So still had fun with it, though would prefer to be able to get the keys.

The Forgotten City. Completed the game. It is an excellent adventure game with immersive sim elements - the investigation makes sense, the writing and dialogues are consistent and fitting, the controls and movement are comfortable, the combat is present yet non-intrusive.

Completed Lamentum. It is a horror adventure game with combat. The main character arrives at an old mansion with his wife in hopes of saving her. Then something goes wrong, and the amnesiac protagonist spends the rest of the game looking for her in the mansion overrun by the undead. The more-talkative inhabitants of the mansion can provide assistance or hinder his search. Unfortunately, it is not possible to knife the suspicious but not outright hostile NPC. On the other hand, there are several weapons to dispose of the visible monsters, though combat in general is somehow clunky - there is delay between pressing the dodge button and the MC dodging and the weapons found later in the game, while more powerful, are also slower. The lack of rebindable controls does not help. The boss battles are unavoidable and reasonably challenging. But the bosses are not the only obstacle. Most of the puzzles are logical and there is enough information to solve them, thus gaining access to other parts of the mansion. The maps have to be found and are reasonably helpful - they show the current objective, discovered save points (the game uses manual saving at checkpoints), opened paths, and the current location. What they do not show is whether everything has been collected, and there are no maps for some of the areas, which is related to the several flaws of the game - the inventory space is limited and there are missable items that affect the endings. While it is possible to achieve a reasonably satisfying one, the "best" ending requires collecting several missable barely visible items, some of which in the temporary accessible areas without maps. Some of the less important items are hidden behind the environment as well. The graphics, sound, and GUI are good. Overall, recommended despite the above-mentioned issues. Started Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-. The game looks gorgeous, the movement is fluid and the controls are rebindable, though the mouse is not supported. As I understand, the story is a prequel or a sequel of an anime series.

Alaloth.

Played for 2 hours and requested a refund. It is a hack and slash action game. You get attribute points from clearing combat zones. There are character customisation and AI-controlled companions, but no dialogue choices, non-combat skills, or tactical combat (can't give commands to the companions or pause). One save slot per character.

Started Alaloth. It gives me the "Diablo with stamina" impression so far, but the store page claims similarity to Pillars of Eternity. Has anyone played and/or completed it? Blue Fire. Reached the Steam House and got 3 (out of 4) McGuffins. In general, despite the level design and story, the action/platforming-focused gameplay is quite enjoyable, even if simplistic. The penalty for falling into lava is also very low - 1/4 of a heart (I think, you start with 5-6 and obtain one more for every challenge room completed) and returning to the nearest safe platform, except for the challenge room, which return to the last checkpoint within the room.

Not exactly news, but RockPaperShotgun has been covering noteworthy independent games about magic this week. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/celebrate-magical-games-of-witchcraft-and-wizardry-with-magic-week-on-rps https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-last-spells-magic-ruined-the-world-and-im-so-here-for-it Considering the volume and quality of the new releases on Steam, it is most welcome.

Blue Fire. Reached the Lava River, defeating 2 main bosses on the way. It is a metroidvania, after all. The level design even in terms of gameplay has become noticeably odd - in many cases I was not sure if I was on the right path (clipped through a wall once). The story came to the "gather 4 McGuffins" (a knight's soul fragments) part with the MC being the chosen one. In general, the story is certainly present, but somehow as generic as it can be. Same with the combat - it is there, but poorly made. The character development system includes the HP (for completing the platforming challenges), MP (for XP from combat), damage (the swords found), and passive abilities (e.g. higher movement speed or negating the falling damage). On the other hand, the robes (the only aspect of visual customisation) are somehow amusing, though they do not provide any gameplay advantage. Replaying Shadow of the Colossus. It is an excellent and concise action game - only the Colossi to slay, no gathering/crafting/trash mobs, no Assassin's Creed-like icon hunting. Also, the aiming somehow much more comfortable than in Uncharted, though less comfortable than it would be with a mouse.

Started Gamedec (it's been on my wishlist for some time, but I've got it during EGS giveaway). It is an RPG, but dialogue-focused and without a combat system. The graphics are nice, and the fixed camera angle and position are welcome. There are several character customisation options (also several premade PCs, including the MC from another game), though allocating the stats before the Professions (i.e. the thing you need the stats for) are known seemed rather odd. The dialogues have some easily noticeable typos, and the general quality of writing, while adequate, is lower than in Disco Elysium. On the other hand, it does not have RNG skill checks - you either have the information/Profession/previous action or you don't, which is brilliant. The dialogue options provide some space for roleplay, but they also required to earn stats (the stat-giving options are marked only after they have been chosen) to unlock more dialogue options. I think, there is an overarching story, though I am in the middle of the second case, and it does not seem anyhow connected to the previous one. The journal and the Deduction (decisions?) pages could give more context, but decent otherwise. I probably will pause the playthrough for now. Started Blue Fire. It is a platformer, which I had thought to be a metroidvania. The controls are partially rebindable and comfortable. The graphical settings are lacking, but the game is heavily stylised (the MC looks like a balloon with a cape). The location design is fine for a platformer - does not quite make sense in terms of realism, with the Void (challenge rooms) having floating platforms with spikes.

Despite it neither being isometric nor having a silent protagonist (i.e. less resources would be wasted on decreasing roleplay options in an RPG), it sounds generally fine. Console-orientated controls handle tactical combat poorly either way, and a hub has been around for some time. While the game originally seems to have MP elements, at least it is single-player now, and hopefully single-player only.

Same. It was fixed in DSR, which was a much more enjoyable experience. In the later FormSoftware games (I think, from DS3 onwards) there was full KB+M support, from 5-button mice to the correct on-screen prompts. I would like to play Demon's Souls on PC as well, though due to it being a PS# (4? 5?) exclusive, it is unlikely. Bloodborne also would be welcome, but it seems to require quite quick reaction time. In general, the input device is a personal preference and the only possible issue is the quality of the port, not the game's features (granted, I doubt that grand strategies or FPS are fun with controllers, but it is not impossible to optimise them). I find playing anything with a controller much harder than with KB+M/KB only. The current frame of reference are Dragon's Dogma (a perfect PC port) and Prince of Persia (2008; some QTEs are extremely hard to complete with controller).