Hawke64

Completed Timespinner. It is a platformer/Metroidvania about a time traveller. The story is engaging and the characters are likable. The graphics and soundtrack are stylish and fit the game. The controls, despite being rebindable, are uncomfortable. The protagonist possesses flexibility of a tank, while all enemies at all times are inflicting damage on contact - jumping on a fluffy bird hurts just as getting hit by a mechanical spider. The lowest difficulty allows to face-tank everything without reloading and it is the only reason why I was able to complete the game. The map is reasonably large and fast travel is unlocked somewhere mid-game. There are several side quests that are tracked in the in-game journal. The weapons (orbs) are diverse in terms of movesets and appearance, but other equipment is not visible on the character.

I meant the immediate results, such as an item or an "NPC approves +5"/"vital plot information is acquired" message, as opposed to something more long term, e.g. the traveller from the vescavor canyon in Act II. It was shown for the Crusade management part - the tooltip explicitly told what you are getting. Or, if compared to other cRPGs, what Tyranny and, to a lesser extent, Pillars of Eternity had. It was possible to be unable to access some main locations in Tyranny depending on the ally chosen, but the game told explicitly how loyal the ally is to you and when you are breaking the alliance.

Considering that there is a dedicated thread, posting my review here: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous is an RPG. Considering how few actual role-playing games that require the player to actively participate in the story, instead of watching one non-interactive cut-scene after another, are there, where the avatar is customizable and does not auto-dialogue some nonsense, I highly recommend this game, despite its numerous flaws, from optimisation (poor, but better than Kingmaker) to balance (non-existent) to length (120 hours) to writing (subjective). Disclaimer: I am a backer and I had to purchase the game again in order to be able to play it without interruptions. While one could argue that the flaw is with Steam, the developers also could have released a finished product. But purchasing it now on Steam is less recommended - either choosing a DRM-free platform or waiting for 2 years is preferable, due to the frequency and size of updates. One could see end-users as paying beta-testers, but such developers at least should add the "Early Access" tag to their games. Also by default, the game attempts to send save files and statistics to the developer. It is possible to disable in-game or to black-list the application via firewall. The available portraits for the main character are lacking - not all combinations of races, classes and weapons are featured, which makes them effectively useless. It is possible to use images on your PC for the portrait, but it is disappointing that it cannot be generated by the game. The combat is built around pre-buffing and given the diversity of classes, races and equipment, one could find themselves unable to progress if not for the ability to decrease enemies' stats and damage drastically via the settings. Wrath of the Righteous is extremely combat-heavy and it is impossible to increase the animation speed in the real-time-with-pause mode, while it can be tripled in the turn-based mode. The size of the locations vary from a few rooms to enormous dungeons. There are no fast-travel options for the latter. It is impossible to attack non-hostile NPC first without initiating dialogue and explicitly informing them about it. In terms of story, the consequences of decisions can be shown 50 hours later the choice, while the choice itself might not be transparent. In other words, in some cases dialogue flags are not properly communicated to the player. Confusingly, usually it is explicitly stated why which option is available and even what it does (such as Mythic Paths or attacking). The quest journal, the map and dialogues can lack crucial information necessary to complete side quests, i.e. the party is often required to go to a certain location, but no directions are given and the location is not marked. There is no persistent dialogue log. The save files, while smaller than in Kingmaker, are large (up to 25MB) and located in a hidden folder (\username\AppData\LocalLow\Owlcat Games\Pathfinder Wrath Of The Righteous\Saved Games). The loading times without an SSD are long, thus it is strongly recommended to install on an SSD. The game allows to set the number of quick and auto-saves used. Frequent chance-based skill checks encourage using quick saving and loading often. It also can be used for the Crusade mode, as auto-resolution of battles seem to use RNG as well. Completing a single playthrough, with dropping the difficulty to the lowest possible by the last area, took me 120 hours (118 hours 27 minutes), not counting reloading. --- Repurchased on GOG shortly after realizing that it would be the same as with KM - patch after bug after patch, so encountered only one progress-stopping bug and several minor glitches, but was able to play when and how I want. I also would strongly prefer something shorter, around 40 hours for a completionist run, certainly not 120. On an unrelated note, Owlcat Games are based in Cyprus, wherever they were founded.

Completed Aragami 2. Playing Nioh 2 (EGS). 1. I haven't figured out how to set it to offline mode without turning on the firewall, in which case the game cannot connect to EGS and does not start. 2. There are no auto-saves between "bonfires", thus if you return to the main menu, the progress is lost. Otherwise fine so far - looks lovely, runs well, 5-button mice are supported. Though, there are piles of colour-coded loot and a possibility of grind later. Nioh 2 is a Souls-like with a mission-based structure.

Completed Sword of the Necromancer. It is an action game with rogue-like elements, most of which can be disabled, and an emotional and touching story. There are several dungeon floors. The layout, including loot and monsters, is generated randomly, while bosses at the end of each floor are set. Numerous upgradable weapons and artifacts allow to create different character builds, but the inventory is quite limited - 4 active items, 4 more in the backpack, 16 can be stored at the base. The titular Sword of the Necromancer allows to raise and later summon the monsters defeated. They count as equipment, take 1 inventory slot, and can level up with random bonuses. Once defeated as summons, it is impossible to revive them again. The controls are partially rebindable, mice are partially supported - LMB always corresponds the main sword, RMB can be switched. The pixel art is clear, stylish and consistent, all text is easy to read. The soundtrack is adequate, with the final song being quite memorable. All dialogues are voiced and the VA is excellent. --- Replayed Journey. It is an adventure game with light action and platforming elements. The controls and gameplay are minimalistic - you need to reach the gates at the end of each stage. In order to do so, you might need to interact with the environment or jump. The character development system uses glyphs scattered around levels. Each found glyph allows one more midair jump/flap. Visually, the progression is represented by the protagonist’s scarf, which grows longer with each acquired symbol. Also the robe gains more embroidery after each NG cycle. There are some stealth elements and hostile NPC, but no combat - it is impossible to harm them, the only form of interaction with NPC and PC is producing sounds. When the player is in the area of effect of the sound field, their scarf restores its charge. The story follows a nameless and faceless person who is trying to reach a light atop of a mountain. The visual style and soundtrack are gorgeous and fit the game well. The character models and environments use simple and expressive forms and colours to communicate the information, though there are material physics and post-processing. There is an opt-out multiplayer - a player might join a session randomly. In order to play with an NPC companion, it is necessary to switch Steam to offline mode. The game does look lovely and is reasonably short, but feels somehow hollow. Still, it is better than ABZU, Pathless (the one with a pet bird), and Lost Ember in terms of narrative. --- Currently playing Aragami 2. Unlike the first part, it has combat, the protagonist can jump, and the game uses mission-based structure. Somehow reminds of Dishonored. So far so good.

Tried playing Alan Wake again. The gameplay and the lack of melee combat in particular were disappointing, though the design and the story seemed interesting.

Completed Lost Words: Beyond the Page. Content warning: The black dog is impossible to pet. Lost Words: Beyond the Page is an adventure-platformer. There is no combat and very few sequences requiring precision or speed. The level design is very linear, collectibles are mostly close to the main path. There is little interactivity and the player's choices are insignificant, but they are reflected well throughout the playthrough, though there is only one ending. The main appeal lies in the story and graphics, not the gameplay, despite it being well integrated. The plot follows a young girl rushing through the five stages of grief at a breakneck speed, while writing a story in a fantasy setting. These two storylines are deeply interwoven and the fantasy part is affected greatly by the RL one. It also possesses the pacing and logic fitting for a ten-year old aspiring writer. The graphics are gorgeous. The RL segments use mostly water-colour-like style with fluid animations and words used as platforms - next platform/line usually appears when the main character reaches the end of the previous one. Also there are very, ridiculously easy “puzzles”, such as combining 4 mosaic pieces into an object. The fantasy parts feature 3D models, but they are 2D design-wise. The protagonist can interact with very specific objects in the environment by applying magical words to them (right mouse button click to open the list of the words available, then dragging one of them to the object with the left mouse button). The number of words is very limited and only one word can be used on an object - for example, it is impossible to “break” or to “ignore” a gate, only to “rise”. The symbolism is extremely obvious and transparent, e.g. a large black dog (whom I attempted to pet at every opportunity) represents guilt or depression. The controls are not rebindable, but comfortable and intuitive enough. The game saves the progress every few seconds and in the case of falling, the playable character usually respawns on the previous platform or the upper left corner of the page. I have not encountered any bugs. The soundtrack is beautiful and fits the game well. VA is excellent and all lines are fully voiced. They also appear on the screen, as platforms for the RL part and in the background for the story ones. The language used is specifically British English. Recommended on sale.

Hello. There is 1 romance, though between NPCs, whom you might never meet.

Completed Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten King. Shattered - Tale of the Forgotten King is an action-adventure game with platforming and RPG elements. The story follows an amnesiac entity who tries to recover their memories. The protagonist canonically does not speak, but can nod or shake their head in some dialogues. The gameplay involves mostly hack&slash combat with stamina and few spells. I used a melee-focused build, thus the spells were used as utilities - to pull enemies from groups or sneak past them. There are 2D platforming sequences in early-/mid-game and 3D ones throughout the whole playthrough. Due to the level design, it is hard to determine if a path found is the main one or optional. While the spells vary from simple magic missiles to weapon buffs to invisibility (which for some reason messes up collision detection for elevators), weapons feel quite similar - all are swords with roughly the same movesets and slightly different stats and one different animation per weapon. Also there are the traditional for Souls-likes Estus flask (Catalyst) and Homeward Bone (infinite), as well as bonfires (Wells). Level design and items suit the sci-fi setting and the story well. The optional bosses are diverse and engaging, while most of the main bosses are very similar to regular enemies, all of which are humanoids with weapons, with one or two extra attacks. There are no penalties for death by environment and it is possible to recover all souls (essence) lost by killing the enemy who has defeated you. The saving system is typical for Souls-likes - auto-saving with checkpoints. The visual design is consistent, reasonably detailed and generally beautiful. 2D portraits look gorgeous and expressive. The soundtrack is beautiful and fitting. There is very little VA, only at the end. The controls are comfortable and responsive, 5-button mice are supported. There are numerous bugs, starting with the game freezing when I was trying to rebind the controls, to the MC clipping through walls. None of them were progress-breaking and the former was possible to overcome. The endings have quite specific conditions to achieve them and it is hard to make an informed decision in advance. I have used a guide for the last area after running in circles for an hour, because I have missed a passage that looked like a part of the wall. In terms of navigation, it was similar to the Cathedral of the Sacred Blood from Code Vein - a lot of indoor spaces with white walls. In general, I would recommend the game.

I've just completed Solar Ash. While it is quite different from Hyper Light Drifter in terms of gameplay, the game is absolutely amazing - fluid, responsive and rebindable controls, engaging and interesting gameplay and story, gorgeous graphics and soundtrack. The location design felt unique yet somehow familiar - variable gravity was novel, though making navigation slightly more difficult, clear separation between areas and their general design reminded of Prince of Persia (2008 reboot). The boss battles were excellent - neither soul-crushingly difficult nor too easy (played on Normal). There were few collectibles - only armour sets that provided different bonuses and some lore, and very basic character development system (more HP) that did not distract from exploration or combat. I have not encountered any bugs during my full playthrough. Highly recommended and currently on sale (coupons are applicable) on EGS. Praey for the Gods was similar to Solar Ash, though compares unfavourably to it. Praey for the Gods is an action-adventure with optional survival elements. In my experience, it consisted solely of finding and defeating giant unique bosses. The story is linear, there is 1 human character (the nameless and silent protagonist) and 2 "dialogues" (3 if the intro counts). The lore is provided via the notes scattered around the island. The inventory is limited, but most of the items are not needed, so it can be safely ignored. Survival elements seem redundant, but they do not affect the gameplay much - the only necessary tool, the grappling hook, is easy to craft (a bow was required for 1 boss). The character development system relies on exploration - every 3 idols found allow to increase health or stamina. There are several ways to traverse locations, though no fast travel system. There are manual saving, rebindable and comfortable controls, 5-button mice support. The graphics and sound are quite good. Recommended on sale. Disclaimer: I backed the game on Kickstarter. My Game of the Year would be Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, if I finished it in 2021. Currently I am still in Chapter 3 and have been progressing quite slowly due to circumstances unrelated to the game.

Tried to play Calico, which I got from a bundle on Itch. It looks like the game is supposed to be cute, but it feels a bit surreal. Started Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. So far so good, though, the game is closer to Aragami (if it had combat) than to Dark Souls.

Completed Black Legend. Black Legend is a tactical game with turn-based combat. The story is linear with 1 choice at the end. There are side quests with different objectives, which do not offer any choice story-wise, but include a lot of backtracking. The character development system is class-based and classes are unlocked with equipment. In turn, equipment provides active abilities (they can be used with another class) and passive ones (only for their class). Stat growth depends on the class chosen. Equipment includes weapons (possible to dual-wield), armour, trinkets (various bonuses), and consumables (from healing potions to grenades). It is possible to customize the appearance and the name of the player’s (main) character (but they can't be a person of colour or left-handed for reasons unknown - the PC's appearance is never referenced and animations are independent). There are two unique companions, other mercenaries are random. The combat system is focused on Humours. Humours are passive status effects, they do not do anything by themselves, but can be Catalysed, causing damage. There are also more typical status effects, such as Bleeding and Poison, buffs and debuffs. The areas become available as the story progresses. Combat encounters respawn, sometimes with different enemy types and numbers. Some of them are possible to avoid. There are shortcuts within areas and a fast travel system between them. The latter becomes available only by the end-game, thus it is recommended to do side quests after unlocking it. The equipment did not seem random as the most powerful items were located in the second-to-last area. The controls are comfortable and customizable. The saving system supports manual, quick- and auto-saves (possible to set the number before rewriting) and it is possible to save the game mid-combat (on Normal difficulty; blocked on Hard). Combat animations can be sped up. The artstyle is consistent and fits the narrative, units and interactive objects are easy to see. The game has one of the best armour and weapon models I have ever seen in games. The voice acting and music are adequate. There were minor bugs, mostly graphical and harmless. Once a boss’ loot did not drop.

Black Legend. Reached the second-to-last area, judging by the map. There was a lot of OP equipment, from the "counter any melee attack" dagger (Nemesis) to the double-effect trinket (Merchant's Scales). Considering that the amount of backtracking and respawning cultists, these items are most welcome.

Completed Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Solasta is a party-based RPG with four protagonists, closer to a dungeon-crawler or a tactical RPG, than other cRPGs. There are several NPCs who can temporarily (for one or two battles) join the party in combat. There are several classes, weapons, backgrounds and manners of speech. Backgrounds provide unique quests (1 per background) during the game. Most of the time the party uses auto-dialogue according to their personality tags, but there are dialogue options as well, which may affect the story. The main story is mostly linear (there are few choices), with new objectives appearing after completing the previous ones. There are several side quests. Combat is usually unavoidable (the game cannot be completed without it), but it is not possible to attack neutral or friendly NPCs without announcing your intention first (there is one exception, where the boss turned hostile after the party looted the room). In the situations when it is possible to use diplomacy, the XP reward is roughly equal to the one gained by killing the boss. The combat is turn-based with adjustable difficulty, from damage dealt to spell requirements to random encounters. There are also separate settings for AI. Maps are fully 3D and vertical movement is meaningful. The reputation system affects only the items available for purchase, but not the story. The crafting system is easy to understand and crafted equipment and consumables provide advantage without being balance-breaking. The graphics and sound are adequate, they fit the setting and do not distract from combat. The style is consistent and animations are expressive. GUI is comfortable to use, but relies mostly on the mouse and there are too few hotkeys. The controls are responsive and rebindable, 5-button mice are supported. Tutorials are easy to understand and helpful, but some important features are not mentioned, such as Identifying magical items. The number of save files is limited to 50 and they are located in AppData (why would a hidden folder) and names for custom characters cannot be repeated. I have encountered several small graphical glitches (animations not playing when speeded up; wrong portrait shown after combat), several small audio bugs (VA and subtitles did not match) and one softlock (during a late-game main quest, “The Mind of the Master”). Optimisation is lacking - frames per second dropped in areas with water, GPU temperature was high during gameplay. Completed Boyfriend Dungeon. Boyfriend Dungeon is a rogue-lite/dating-sim. There are 2 dungeons, 4 bosses, several equipment pieces. The MC's name and appearance are customizable, level progression is completely automatic and linear (higher level = more HP and higher damage). Difficulty depends on the PC's level, because nothing scales and it is easy to out-level everything. There are no penalties for defeat in dungeons, XP and loot acquired are kept. The controls are responsive and rebindable, 5-button mice are supported. The game uses 1 auto-save. There are 7 weapons that are unlocked as the story progresses. It is impossible to alienate or antagonise them, they love the MC no matter what and always available to use after acquiring them. Dialogue choices are rather limited, but often reflected in following dialogues. The main story itself relies heavily on the MC's passivity and lack of attention, while the main antagonist is extremely obvious and ridiculously incompetent. There is no in-game journal or log. In general, clearing 1 floor of a dungeon is enough to trigger next event. I have not encountered any significant bugs. Recommended on sale, because the game technically achieves what it states on the store page - there are weapons who are possible to date, randomly-generated dungeons offer action-based combat, despite both aspects being shallow. Replayed Mass Effect. Mass Effect is an action-RPG/cover-based third-person shooter. There are several classes, companions and weapon types. The game supports auto-/manual and quick saves. The character is customizable (class, equipment, appearance, background, first name). It runs on Windows 10. 2 DLC are available for free from the publisher's site*. The controls are rebindable, 4-button mice supported (the fifth button is not recognised). Some in-game bonuses (i.e. +10% to shields or weapon proficiencies) are locked behind in-game achievements (not Steam achievements). The dialogue system is lacking - the answer shown can be very different from the spoken line; sometimes the player can choose only the tone, but not the meaning. The vehicle, the Mako, has very unusual physics and controls. Replayed Dark Souls: Remastered. Still feels reasonably challenging and engaging. Also, unlike the Prepare to Die Edition, it is very comfortable to play with keyboard and mouse. Not sure, if I should repost my reviews here, but why not. Currently playing Black Legend. It is a tactical game with RPG elements. Good controls, combat, graphics, story, optimisation.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker - Beneath the Stolen Lands. I successfully created a party and cleared 15 floors, discovering 1 piece of lore and gathering a small pile of loot. There was supposed to be a main/non-random boss on the 15th floor of the standalone version of the dungeon, but he apparently did not spawn. I'm going to try the shorter version from one of my old saves. One of the merchants, the Honest Guy, strongly reminds me of Patches from Dark Souls. Tried Tales of Berseria. Well, mistakes were made - camera speed seems way off, which is most inconvenient for a 3rd-person action-adventure. The combo system is quite interesting (possible to bind specific chains of attacks to keys before battle). The presentation of the story is not anyhow appealing.

NieR Replicant ver.1.22474487139... has been released on PC. Judging by Steam reviews, the port is quite bad (animations are bound to FPS and FPS are unstable, the controls are unrebindable). A pity, but it was to be expected.

I continue my attempts at digital drawing with relative success. Corel Painter Essential 4, the only software that recognizes my tablet (and does not assume it to be just an additional mouse) and has reasonable size of its specific file format. The character is Kainé from NieR: Gestalt.

I've started Varnhold's Lot and realized that I don't remember most of character building. Any advice on Rogue builds (who is also the face of the party, thus needs Persuasion)? I've also installed 3 mods, one of them is Cleaner, which hopefully will allow me to reduce the size of save files if and when I replay the main campaign. By the way, how is it (save file size) for the Wrath of the Righteous? Anyhow better or the same?

Completed Hardland. It was mostly an enjoyable experience, though I've got stuck a couple of times (got unstuck by looking up info on the forums). I managed to reach 3 endings (out of 13) and they seemed not too terrible.

Hardland. An open-world action-adventure. Seems nice so far. The combat is simple, AI is weird, the depth of field effect is strong. Somehow reminds of Dark Souls and Gothic. I've reached Snow Peak and met Queen Ingrid. Still not enough Great Hearts to gain access to the Root Hall (in the previous "area"). I guess, I shouldn't have eaten them (eating hearts allows to level up).

Completed Haven. It is an action-adventure game, yet it is tagged as an RPG*. The main characters are predetermined, from the build (all stats, abilities and equipment are the same for both characters; progression is tied to the main story) to appearance to names. Dialogue options are similar and lead to the same outcomes, though some of them increase a hidden parameter called "Confidence". Exploration is bound to the main story. In other words, it is not an RPG in any shape or form. The story follows two people who fled from an oppressive regime to be together as they explore their new home and repair their ship. The combat is partially real-time and partially turn-based. It is impossible to choose targets or formation in combat or to flee after initiating an encounter. If one character is knocked out, the other can revive them. If both characters are KO'ed, the party returns to the base to heal (except for 1 instance where the last save is reloaded). There are 2 types of attacks (+block and finisher) and 4 types of consumables. The NPC opponents are reasonably diverse and require specific approaches. There are several optional mini-bosses. 2D animated art looks good and detailed. 3D models are adequate, but either increasing the number of polygons per model or cell-shading would make it a lot better. All lines are voiced and the OST fits the game. The controls are only partially rebindable at the time of writing - most actions (from combat to cooking) require to hold 2 keys at the same time and the ones on the right are impossible to change. 5-button mice are not supported. Difficulty options are listed under the "Accessibility" tab in the menu, with separate sliders for enemy speed and damage and attacks of the main characters. The game uses auto-saves upon changing location. There are no sex scenes, no swearing and no corpses of humans or animals and the game is very vegan-friendly. *Incorrect advertisement bothers me. The devs could claim Haven to be a third-person shooter, because there is 1 (auto-targeting) ranged attack. So, I am puzzled why they did it? Action-adventures are popular enough.

Replayed Dead Space. It works well on Win10, it is atmospheric, and it has a (relatively) unique combat mechanic. Though, the horror part started only by Chapter 11 (story-wise). Almost all necromorphs dropped ammo for my equipped weapons, there were plenty of healing supplies (Normal difficulty), the map was very helpful and reliable. Completed Soma. I guess, it was not a bad game, just not as good as The Talos Principle as a puzzle or Dead Space as a horror. Edit. The thing with JRPGs for me is the lack of role-play, which is supposed to be present in a role-playing game (I mean, it's in the name). They are like adventure games with partially-turn-based combat, (usually) grind and as much choice in the terms of story as first-person shooters. So, I might like a JRPG, if the combat is engaging enough and purely RTwP or TB (but not mixed) and the story and its presentation are decent. The worst JPRG in my experience was Final Fantasy XIII (the series seemed popular and I was curious). Fortunately, the cut-scenes were skippable and I was fighting a giant flying sword at the end (not sure, if it is a spoiler). Ironically, FFXIII-3 was actually a decent adventure game, I could customize the MC's equipment and build, resolve quests in different order, and fail the main quest (which I didn't, because it was rather easy, but I could).

The Pathless. Completed the game. Mechanically, it is an open-world action-adventure with very light puzzle-platforming elements and boss battles. Thematically, it is two not-quite-reasonable people shouting at each other and talking to/shooting at magical animals (also the MC was climbing towers and collecting glowing emblems). The graphics and sound were stylish and fitting. The controls, while not customizable, were reasonably comfortable. In other words, the game is pretty and easy in terms of narrative and gameplay, but not anyhow ground-breaking.

I wouldn't complain, if the checks were static, instead of chance-based, so I would be able to pass them from the start or level up and return or unable completely. As it was, most checks were possible to pass with enough persistence. Building the PC in a specific manner with some certainty that the build is viable is RPG (also, roleplay); RNG is not (unless it's combat and DE did not have a combat system).

Disco Elysium. Completed the game (caught the killer, kept the job). Really nice adventure game. Really not nice RNG. While failed skill checks were well-written, they still were failures, and reloading because of RNG was not exactly fun. I can't really call it an RPG, despite it being advertised as one. I guess, the main theme is that you can get up no matter how hard the world tries to bring you down? Or that there are giant stick insects?