Hawke64

Nothing can compete with the Frigid Outskirts (except the Blighttown in DS1 and the Farron Keep in DS3; poison and water/platforming mix poorly).

I did not know that there were issues with controls on consoles. I played on PC and after DS1:PtD, DS2 seemed like a perfect port. Also staying behind/under the boss would make the battle significantly easier. Maybe even using the NPC summon. --- Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. It somehow reminds me of Spiders' games more, than of Baldur's Gate. The first chapter seems to be quite combat-heavy and plot-light - I am to collect 4 escaped magical creatures in 4 city districts. The intellect devourer has been found and killed successfully. After wrecking havoc in "its" district.

Ubisoft successfully defended their IP. "Ubisoft have sued Apple, Google, and the developers of the mobile game that looked suspiciously similar to Mr. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege. Area F2’s developer Ejoy have now posted a statement confirming the game’s closure and it’s been delisted from both the Google Play Store and App Store". As much as I dislike Ubisoft, it is good to see this application (game?) removed.

nvm.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan. I reached the bridge (I forgot how it was called) on Kah-Wangaa (the third island). Boss battles finally became challenging - being caught in the boss' combo means death (not necessarily a restart, thanks to the revival items).

The absence of the "social" bs is the thing I like about EGS. I have claimed a copy of GTAV, but considering its download size, it will just sit in my library for now.

Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan. Action-adventure/beat-'em-up. It seems linear and very combat-heavy so far. I am unsure, if I am supposed to burn through consumables as I do during boss battles, despite the "strategic consumption" hint. I successfully left the second village, which name I forgot, and explored the forest. The guards on the road to the Isao village told me to get lost, so the forest was the only option. The mobs were damage sponges and the NPC companion could heal me to full HP in seconds, so the combat was not particularly exciting. But I like the story (two newly-crowned and freshly-exiled monarchs must get stronger and reclaim their thrones) and the controls are reasonably comfortable and rebindable.

Garshasp: Temple of the Dragon. I've completed the game. It was surprisingly short and pretty much story-free (there were narrated journal pages to collect, but it was lore). There was one more progress-stopping bug, so I had to reload the previous checkpoint. FPS during the final boss battle dropped to 20 (Steam has built-in FPS counter), which was unwelcome, considering that it was necessary to parry the boss. The titular dragon appeared only in the final cut-scene.

DS2 is more like Diablo (a lot of loot, a lot of mobs, some bosses), DS3 has dialogues, there are four characters to choose from (their names and classes are fixed, but there are several builds for each and you can choose dialogue options), but still a lot of loot. Both have companions. I quite liked DS3 and somehow managed to finish DS2. Haven't played DS1.

Garshasp: Temple of the Dragon. It is an action-adventure, it runs on Win10 and supports 5-button mice. There were some minor bugs (getting stuck in objects) and odd FPS drops. Otherwise, it is unremarkable - nothing particularly bad or good. The Surge 2. I've reached the Seaside Court in NG+. So far, it has been very similar to NG, the only differences are end-game nanite enemies and the intro scene. Not sure, if I should continue.

The Surge 2. I've completed the DLC. It was rather short, but there were two bosses, two armor sets and several weapons. Also one of the side quests unlocked an arena. The story is tonally closer to The Surge 1, there is no "happily ever after" outcome, but you can choose the flavor of the bad one. Though, the arena side quest introduced a quite nice and friendly NPC who has not died horribly by the end. Considering I was overleveled and had a fully-upgraded armor set and weapons, the difficulty was lower than intended.

The Diamond route was somewhere between creepy and morbid, watching the NPC's descend into madness was weird. I suppose, I appreciate that the lore started to appear and there was a little more action, granted it was mostly the PC dying and not the NPC, but it still was progress. I did not rage quit this time, because it was just too grotesque, unlike the Heart route, which was more casually sickening. The Surge 2. I restarted from the pre-endgame ("pre-end-game"?) save and went to hunt the last optional boss - Delver Echo Alpha. I remembered that it was somewhere underground, but not the exact location, so it took a while to find it. With fully upgraded equipment I still got defeated once when I ran out of stamina. The boss dropped an implant when it died. It never changed the moveset (the "panther" form of Delver the main boss), so I doubt that I'd be able to take him down when I was in the sewers for the first time. I've purchased the DLC on GOG (which was not on sale, unfortunately) and going to try it out tomorrow. In general, The Surge 2 felt less like a horror and more like an action, unlike the first part. And regardless of the final choice the endings seemed hopeful.

I've got the same impression. I made it to day 11 with the "Heart" guy and realized that my only desire was to beat the **** out of him, which considering that the PC looked about as tough as him should have been technically possible. Or to lecture him on personal boundaries and importance of trust, respect and clear communications in healthy relationship, then recommend to find a therapist first, a partner (much) later. I restarted from the prologue and trying another route with the Purple NPC. So far, it has been better. Though, I assumed that he and the PC were in open relationship, which would be refreshing. It seems that they aren't. For some reason the game does not allow me to role-play the meme version of Commander Shepard with the iconic "We'll bang, okay?". I was quite sure that it was the point of dating-sims. The dialogue options are still somehow lacking - I could not suggest threesome when the PC's BBF hit on the PC's BF. In another scene I was unable either to politely ask the Purple NPC to leave the PC's personal space or to suggest to continue in the PC's apartment. So it was just creepy/weird. I guess, I'm not exactly the target audience for this VN, but I'll try to complete at least one route.

The Surge 2. From mid-game to the ending. (mid-game) Goddess Helena defeated. (end-game). I think that the game subtly encouraged me to brutally murder this guy. It took more attempts than I would like, but it was worth it. That one optional boss, whom I found, but never defeated. Brother Eli, round 2. It went faster and much easier this time, despite his slightly changed moveset. I also got his weapon. The Cathedral of the Spark. The Great Wall and NG+.

The Surge 2. I defeated the final boss by equipping the most OP implants I could find with the Iron Mouse set (0 CP consumption) and face-tanking him. Somehow it worked - I was able to regenerate and leech HP faster than he could decrease it. There was one choice after the battle and I did not quite understand what was the connection between the choice and Athena's comment (the kid sort of survived, by the way). In NG+ there is an extra scene at the plane before the crash. In general, random enemies have more HP/defense, there were several nanite ones in the tutorial location, bosses seem to be the same, though I have fought only two so far. I am unsure, if I should continue the playthrough - the game is great, but the first PT was as complete as possible. I only missed several audio logs.

The Surge 2. I've successfully reached the top of the Great Wall and was KO'ed in seconds by the final boss. Going to try again tomorrow. Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf DLC. The good thing about it was the management mini-game and more dialogue options. The premise of the story, protecting the village of Ninim from gnolls, was somehow uninspiring for a post-game DLC. Same for the outcome. The combat encounters were easier, because I knew that there would be just one or two of them before rest, thus I could use special abilities each turn and not worry about running low on HP/SP by the end. Amnesia: Memories. It is a VN, which I got on HumbleBundle and it is unrelated to Amnesia the horror series. So far I can say that it was made for consoles (the font is quite large), the controls are customizable (I don't know why, but it is still good), the art is consistent and detailed. The PC is nameable, so I got "creative" with it and the dialogues became more fun to read. The story follows the PC who got amnesia and an invisible friend (and they repeat the information received after each scene, because the players are incapable of analyzing it themselves). The choices in dialogues lack variety and there is little to none environment descriptions. Edit. For some reason in the first world (there were four parallel worlds to choose from) it was impossible to establish PC's personal boundaries and the main NPC was pretty much a control freak just asking for.. physical encouragement to respect the said boundaries. I threw in the towel by day 11. The mystery of why the PC had lost her memories was not worth it. I restarted from the prologue and the second route has been better so far (day 2), excluding the imaginary friend's comments.

The Surge 2. Defeated Harold. It seems that I am close to the ending, as important NPCs have started to die. The city of Jericho had changed a lot since the beginning and it became much harder to traverse, despite the fast travel system between non-combat zones. The journal told me to go to the Great Wall and I had a quite vague idea how to reach it, despite that the Wall and Athena in her new form were visible from almost any point of the city. The nearest location I remembered was the Gateway Brave and it was the last non-combat zone to revisit, so I headed in its general direction. Fortunately, the entrance location was still there and I was able to get to the A.I.D. Command Center. Its layout changed as well. It seemed that something just crushed through walls and buildings. When I approached the hospital, the statue I had seen before at the lobby turned out to be a boss. It took just 3-4 attempts to defeat.

The Surge 2. Defeated Matriarch Celeste and attempted to follow Eli. He was faster. By the time I reached the CREO Institute of Technology, he managed to kill Jonah Guttenberg. I absorbed what remained of the nanite brain, which allowed me to break through nanite barriers, and went after Eli. Harold the AI fell to the cultists as well and one of his rigs (bodies?) attacked me in the main hall. I was relieved that I did not have to go through all 13 levels of the building.

These people still benefited, regardless of the reasons why you helped them. It is fine to feel good knowing that they might feel somehow better because of you. I can't say anything about depression.

The Surge 2. I've successfully infiltrated the Cathedral of the Spark (power plant) and reached the boss, Matriarch Celeste. At the beginning of the story I might have accidentally killed her sons, then one of them respawned and I had to kill him again. Unfortunately, Eli got resurrected again just as I was closing on the target (the "Spark" itself). He escaped the arena with it, leaving me with the matriarch. Celeste used an electrified staff or a spear, flew (literally) and had quite impressive reach in combat. The arena itself became electrified as well during the second stage. I have not defeated her yet.

Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf. Apparently, I have completed the main game and unlocked the DLC (haven't figured out how to start it with another ending). The game felt surprisingly anticlimactic from start to finish. There were no clear goals or coherent narrative, just a story about a bunch of normal people trying to survive. Roleplay was very limited - PC's class was not referenced nor it was possible to choose a personality. The combat encounters in the last act were less numerous and more meaningful - each concluded a part of the main quest, and I appreciate that. The final plot twist explicitly informed that I had made a mistake when I had chosen the character. I suppose, I should admire it, as subverting tropes and expectations is ultimately a good thing, but there was no warning at any point, so I am just quite disappointed at the moment. The song from the credits was rather nice. I don't get the connection to the story, though.

Discovered that the sport supplement store was open and bought sunflower protein powder (soy protein powder was out of stock). Unfortunately, I was unable to follow social distancing guidelines there (not enough space). --- Jogged for 80 minutes (my new personal record), then walked for 20 more. I suppose, I should increase my physical activity, I did not feel well during the last week. --- Jogged for 75 minutes, then walked for 30 more, because I misjudged the distance and my walking speed. Still, it felt generally good.

The Surge 2. I've successfully cleared Gideon's Rock (a park). The vegetation and nanites were slightly problematic, because the former hid many (most of) optional paths and the later happened to cause damage if I stood in it. There were several NPCs with quests. The most remarkable was the garden droid - it asked me to collect and plant 5 seeds (I spent about 15 minutes looking for the last one, which was on top of the hub) and gave me a staff as the reward. The boss of the area was the nanite beast from the tutorial area. During the first attempt I discovered that my PC did not particularly liked the boss or the arena (I blame particle effects). Thus, after careful consideration I turned on the aggressive dynamic resolution mode. The first phase of the battle was fairly easy - the boss had large hitboxes and slow attacks, so as long as I had stamina, it was safe. The second phase was much harder, mostly because the boss' hitbox changed and I was plainly unable to hit it and ended up using the drone. The third phase required me to use charged attacks and I realized it (looked up a guide) only on my second attempt. Then there was another vision of the kid and the boss - Athena had sent it to save the PC. I did not know that she could control it nor that it was at the detention facility specifically to get me out. Besides the weapon, the boss dropped its brain. I was to deliver it to the CREO Institute of Technology. The entrance was within the area, so there was no reason to delay. I could not find the other hunters, the non-hostile ones, which was odd, considering that we had agreed to share the reward. At the CIT I finally met Jonah Guttenberg, I had heard of him in The Surge 1 and assumed that he had died. For obvious reasons the area around him was marked as non-combat. Guttenberg asked me to rescue his granddaughter, Athena, who apparently was held at the A.I.D. Command Center with other children. So it was my next destination. Tales of Aravorn: Seasons of the Wolf. Act III was somehow more engaging than the previous two - the structure was clearer and there were less trash mobs. Also Legendary (unique) weapon started to appear. Edit. The Surge 2. I've cleared the A.I.D. Command Center. "Cleared" as in "slaughtered everything remotely hostile, grabbed everything that was not nailed down, completed every quest available". One of the NPC I've met turned out to be the protagonist of the first game, Warren. He did not participate in combat, but his quest chain has been great so far (uncovering what and why had happened). I finally found the Force Hook, only to realize that there was also a Lift Hook, thus I could travel only down exo-lines, not upwards. The force hook was at the highest point of the area and this tool was necessary to reach the boss. An NPC near the med-station asked me to give him the hook and warned that I would have to get another one at the same point as the first. That was unexpected, but with all shortcuts unlocked another run through the area was much faster. From the narrative standpoint, the area was depressing. Athena was the last surviving child in the center. The thing I don't understand is why she needed a human to save her, if she could control that nanite beast, which was arguably stronger. Then I went to face the boss, Major General Ezra Shields. There were two scenes before the battle. I suppose, they were meant to inspire to brutally murder the general. That part did not go as planned - the target had power armor. A really sturdy large suit with a flamethrower, a laser and a mini-gun. All of them regenerated, if destroyed. I managed to separate them, the armor still was at the arena and shot at me. The general himself used only power gloves and had another armor suit, fortunately, normal-sized. After many attempts I defeated him (my first "hardcore" kill), only to see Athena dying. Also there was a warning before the boss battle about it being a point-of-no-return. Not exactly immersive, but really nice. The Surge 2 has infuriatingly hard, proper bosses. I somehow missed it.

The Surge 2. (pretty low settings) No gory intro this time. I admire the level design - large green arrows that fit the setting. Little Johnny defeated. It feels a bit ironic to play a game about a city on lockdown now. Captain Cervantes defeated. There was a similar thing in DS. Delver defeated.

The Surge 2. Defeated Little Johnny. It took much longer, than I had hoped, and in the end I used turrets to destroy the cooling tanks on his body, because I could not reach them myself. Then I spent half an hour running around the area and looking for the entrance to the Underground I saw earlier. To proceed it required a tool I did not have yet, so I returned to the main quest - reporting Johnny's death to his brother who had requested it. The reward was another boss battle, this time against Eli and two other cultists. It became very obvious that I was supposed to directionally parry his attacks, which I could not do reliably, so I kept dodging and carefully counter-attacking. Unfortunately, I killed Eli before I managed to cut off his right hand and, most likely, missed the chance to obtain his weapon. The interconnectivity is as high as in the first game, judging by the first two locations - there was a single med-station ("bonfire") and a lot of shortcuts. Though, it was hard to remember where to go. Edit. Tales of Aravorn: Seasons Of The Wolf. It is VN/RPG from the developers of Loren. I've reached Act III, which, I assume, about 50-60% of the game. The story seems smaller - nothing particularly epic or significant, the art became more realistic. It also has randomized colour-coded loot in abundance, which I strongly dislike. There seems to be more combat and management in general - HP does not restore after battles and there are time limits for side quests. And sounds in combat are somehow off. I can't say that I like it as much as Loren, but it could be worse, I suppose.