Hawke64

Sea of Solitude. An adventure game. Very lovely graphics and almost no settings for it, only resolution, AA and V-Sync. The controls are customizable, though. I get what the game was trying to express, but the only thing I could think of was "How can anyone go to such great lengths to make themselves so miserable?". The design of monsters was interesting (the black dog was too obvious), but the game lacked combat*. I guess, I should have waited for 75%+ discount. *I had hoped for something more like Shadow of the Colossus. So, I look forward for Prey for Gods, which is in Early Access now and certainly has enough combat.

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. I've completed the second chapter. The boss was rather disappointing lore-wise - just some random lizardfolk with a large party (2 mages, 2 archers, 6+ fighters). I was able to aggro them by smaller groups. On the other hand, now I think that 6-level-deep troll cave was somehow related to the final (?) boss.

The Soul Reaver series and Tyranny on GOG. The ability to switch between versions is worth repurchasing. Titanfall on Origin. It is finally in the "it is fine if I don't like it" price range, but it also has giant robots so I am quite optimistic. Dragon Age II on Steam. I'd prefer GOG, though. Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality on Itch.io. Self-explanatory and there were several games I was interested in. Edit. Refunded Titanfall and bought The Sea of Solitude. The former required to be online in order to be able play the campaign (and I had forgotten about it), the latter is a single-player only indie.

Yes. But it is possible (and preferable) to add the Origin versions to Steam as non-Steam games* - launches much faster than the Steam versions and free from Steam "social" features (the user base being what it is). I've tested it with Dragon Age II (re-purchased and generally recommend it, though maybe not the Steam version). On the other hand, having all DLC in one might be convenient. The launch delay might have something to do with my anti-virus. The DA/Origin folder is whitelisted, the Steam library folders are not (Steam does not check its products for viruses or being able to run at all). *Steam Overlay offers the best free function for taking screenshots - uncompressed, but not too space-consuming. GOG Galaxy does not or I could not find it. FRAPS uses BMP by default. DA itself saves in JPEG. Edit. The Steam version of Dragon Age: Inquisition also does not seem to feature the infamous "You are a pirate, aren't you" language lock for certain regions. So, I suppose, if/when Titanfall comes to Steam I might consider purchasing it, with the other option being Kinguin or another key reseller.

Previously Origin-exclusive EA games are available on Steam. https://store.steampowered.com/sale/electronicarts?snr=1_4_4__118

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. The party found a random cave with trolls. The cave was larger (7 maps) than most of the main story dungeons. Though, I acquired a +2 fire kukri (the Cutting Star), so it is not too bad.

The final chapter is optional. You can try to let Nyrissa use her artifact/magic cup. Something interesting might happen (depends on a side quest).

Lucatiel of Mirrah, mostly. She appears often enough, her story is relatable, she is a decent tank (not an excellent one, but able to survive long enough). There are also Ornifex the weaponsmith and the (potential) settlers of Majula, but they have shorter story lines. Except for the armor merchant, whose name I forgot, but he gives a unique armor set for free at some point.

Very good. By the way, there are several quest chains that require to defeat certain bosses with an NPC companion being summoned and alive by the end. Nothing major, but might be interesting. Also you can challenge the NG+ version of the boss if you have a bonfire ascetic, which also drops Old Witch Soul (though, it would be more useful for dex and pyromancy builds).

Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition. I've completed the first chapter. For some reason, the boss gave up at "Barely Injured". The battle could have been more difficult, if I had not kited most of the zombies from the boss room to the corridor, killing them one by one. The second chapter takes place in Port Llast. The goal is to investigate four leads and find the headquarters of the cult that had caused the plague in the city.

The Pursuer does require either good timing for parries or patience. Still, it is a victory and I look forward to your next video.

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+.