Hawke64

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. Became a Truesworn (completed the Warsworn quest line), reached Rathir (the largest city in the game, spent there 2-3 days), defeated Balor, the Niskaru Lord (why the game uses "Niskaru" for "a demon" and "Alfar" for "an elf" I don't understand, the definitions seem to match 1:1, though the Alfar have beards and elves usually don't). I guess, doing a completionist PT was not the best idea, this way the pacing of the main quest line is very uneven (obvious, but still unpleasant). But it has picked up speed, as I have reached the second-to-last area, the swamps of Klurikon.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. I defeated Templar Octienne and got out of the desert. Most of the local quests are resolved and dungeons cleared, though I think all rats will drop "Raw Meat" until the end of the game, as one of the side quests requires it and does not have an ending condition (e.g. "Collect 100 pieces of raw rat meat"). While the plains are technically similar (I guess, all areas are), the region looks more welcoming.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. I am still at the desert and it feels duller after the arena. I go into a dungeon, murder everything, go out, repeat. I am also pretty sure that 2 of them were story-related and meant to be visited later (there were locked doors, which I could not open). Though, the side quests are reasonably interesting. Like provoking a war between two local tribes, then finishing off the victor (there was no choice but to accept or to decline the quest). ---- Has anyone here played the Sword Art Online series? Does any of the games feature actual roleplay (i.e. I, the player, make story-related choices, instead of skipping non-interactive cut-scenes)? I've been watching SAO Abridged and it is truly amazing, so I am curious about the source material.

Sword Art Online Abridged. It is one of the best anime (animes?) I've ever watched.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning. I became the champion of the House of Valor (arena). The funny thing is that the only battle I haven't completed yet is against 25 sprites. They pretty easily stun-lock me to death with homing projectiles. Also the party for the quest line was quite enjoyable to work with - capable and adequate.

After trying to play D:OS2, the most important question is are animations skippable (including those fancy dice rolls)? Or it is as painfully slow as D:OS2 was?

Tyranny and Overlord have been mentioned already. There are also Avadon, Dark Souls 3 (2 of the endings), Prototype (not an RPG, though, and everyone is terrible), Furi (not an RPG), NieR: Gestalt (not an RPG).

And so I look forward for more independent games. Also Silent Hill 4 is available on GOG. It is odd that one of the least popular games in the series made it to PC.

Tell Me Why. An adventure game with customizable controls, gorgeous graphics, excellent VA and light puzzles. Completed the game, going to hunt for the collectibles. Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-reckoning. It looks and runs well. I remember the original vaguely enough to enjoy the remaster. And the combat is very satisfying, while not being Souls-like.

I'm optimistic enough about it to pre-order (on EGS, UPlay proved to be more user-unfriendly). It is a single-player action-adventure and should be hard to mess up (there's nowhere to put lootboxes or MTX). The graphics and animations seem good (though, some cut-scenes look less intense, but I hope that it will be fixed by release), level design and combat should be fine. I hope to see WW and T2T remakes as well. Also Jordan Mechner, the developer of the original game, has played a few levels and approved.

The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time series (3 games). Not sure, how many hours. Devil May Cry 3: Special Edition - Dante's Awakening. Played Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines recently and quite liked it, going to replay later. Same for BG1-2:EE and NWN:EE. I generally care little for the release date, as long as I can run the game (e.g. VTMB from Steam kept crashing).

It was sort-of resolved for second+ playthroughs. There should be a golden nug statue next to the stables in Haven or at the basement of Skyhold. It allows to share crafting schematics between your characters/saves. ---- Completed Titanfall 2. The story was rather touching, optimization terrible, controls customizable. ---- Completed Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition - Dark Dreams of Furiae. It had somehow odd pacing (no combat at the beginning, a classic NWN dungeon at the end), interactive-but-not-really objects (I could poke a door and see a message "This place is unimportant, move along") and all side quests included checking on NPCs each in-game day. Though, the implementation of time limits was interesting (I did not know that it was possible in NWN). Story-wise, I saved the city of Furiae from some planar evil thing, so it can transfer to the LE plane on its own? I also found a gelatinous cube. I don't remember seeing those in any other D&D game.

I understand that simulation (physics, pathfinding, crafting, etc.) aspects of RPGs are suggested to be most important, but I think, there are other more important forms of interactivity, such as the game's story and NPCs reacting to the player being a murder hobo (which The Outer Worlds and Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire have done). I value an NPC mentioning that my avatar is from the Vailian Republic more, than I would an ability to defeat a boss by dropping his own portraits on him, if neither the boss nor the game react to it. There are so-called "immersive sims" (Prey, Dishonored) and they might fit the description in the article better, than cRPGs.

Decided to bite the bullet and purchased Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake on EGS. It seems that Ubisoft games can be downloaded from the EGS client and I was unable to navigate the UPlay store (it showed a loading image and froze), so it made the choice of platform easy, despite the possibility of two DRMs.

Decay of Logos. Finished the game and left a negative review. The first half of the final battle was a joke.

Decay of Logos. Defeated the third and the forth bosses. Technically, it was one battle, I am unsure how it would go, if I defeated the first boss, then lost to the second. I found a short-cut to one of the early-game areas and could not understand why it was there - walking from the main hub would take less time. I also found a fire zweihander and a mask. I think, I am close to the ending.

Decay of Logos. I gave up on the Vallis Sanctum and its glass floors and went in another direction. After some platforming and a very light puzzle, it ended with a boss battle. The boss, Prince Ethos the Oppressor, took two attempts and I got his shield (since I didn't need it and couldn't sell it, I threw it into the Well of Holding). Back at the main hub the wizard trainer decided that it was the time to teach me the most basic pyromancy, which allowed me to progress a bit further in the Vallis Sanctum by burning poisonous vines on one of the doors.

Decay of Logos. Defeated the first boss, Prince Pathos, the Alchemist, after farming for an hour.

About Chancellor Wellager. You might be right, I have not tried to purchase spells from him, but Bonfire Ascetics worked for the armor merchant in Majula (as the wiki says). I'd recommend to avoid DS1: Prepare to Die Edition (the port is terrible) and go for the remaster (stable FPS and good PC controls). It has one of the best boss and location designs I've seen in games. DS2 felt easier, than DS1, but it might be because I was already familiar with the gameplay systems (combat, weapon upgrades, general area design, etc.). While there were several directions to choose from at the beginning, locations were reasonably easy to navigate (not counting the DLC). PvP and PvE were completely optional (as they were for the other games in the series). DS3 was very friendly for new players - the hub already had a smith available, who explained mechanics. Though, the areas were more linear than in DS1. If the choice is between DS1:PtDE and DS2 on PC, then I suggest DS2.

You could use 2 Bonfire Ascetics on the castle bonfire to get his NG++ stock (it would require defeating NG+ Throne Watcher and Defender, Nashandra and Aldia, though). Edit. 1 Bonfire Ascetic, if the bosses are already dead and you are in NG+. ---- Completed Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of Underdark. It was great. ---- Started Decay of Logos. It somehow manages to be much more punishing than Dark Souls 2 with its health decrease (all stats are decreasing on death, weapon and armor durability does not restore on rest and I don't know where I can find a smith; chests and levers are impossible to interact with if there are enemies nearby). The first boss keeps one-shooting me. But the game has customizable controls and well-optimized. I am trying to find a way increase the PC's stats to "dies-from-5-hits-from-the-first-boss" by editing save files (unsuccessfully; additional information would be most welcome). If I try farming, the armor and the sword will break (anything requires 10+ hits to die; I require 2) and I'd prefer not to fight the first boss, the Alchemist, naked and unarmed.

Played SWTOR 2-3 years ago (Jedi Knight). It reminded me of SWKOTOR, but with lags. --- Observation. Seems to be a puzzle-adventure. So far, so good (graphics, VA, controls, story).

Hollow Knight, Timespinner. Tried both. When a boss' entire body is a hitbox and it does not have a health bar, it is very discouraging.

Jeanette, yes. I couldn't find anything more similar to her outfit, though.

Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. Completed the game. It holds very well despite the age (used the Unofficial Patch). I am going to replay it soon and look forward to VtMB2. Code Vein. Completed the game. For what it's worth, it was well optimized, the PC controls were comfortable and customizable, the AI companions were adequate (i.e. could play about 70% of the game by themselves), the combat was pretty decent (Souls-like, but I could not feel the impact of the weapon), build variety was impressive. The level design, story, lore and everything role-play related were plainly terrible or non-existent. How this got "Very Positive" rating on Steam I fail to understand. Some of the achievements did not trigger, so now I am running solo with my OP PC (same NG) cycle to collect them and skipping all cut-scenes. About Dark Souls 2 DLC. They must be experienced. Also some sections are meant to be played in coop. They are solo-able and there are summons, though.

Code Vein. Spoilers for the final boss and the ending. I could not create Shrek (the most relatable protagonist ever), I am sorry. Apparently, Louis disliked my most glorious beard.