Hawke64

I've got a spare key for Lucah: Born of a Dream for Steam. It's a really good hack&slash action-RPG (by default it's reasonably challenging, but there are difficulty options).

Lucah: Born of a Dream I thought it was a Souls-like at first (there was a stamina bar), but it is more of a general hack&slash action-RPG. The key combat mechanic is parry, as the damage increases dramatically (~10x) on parried enemies. The Corruption system slightly discourages exploration, because the bar fills with time slowly and much faster upon death, and the bad (?) ending triggers when the meter hits 100%.

BattleTech Completed the Arano Restoration campaign. The game was incredible (design, difficulty, graphics, soundtrack, VA, controls, the ability to skip animations), though slightly RNG-heavy in optional content (side missions, loot, pilots).

BattleTech Acquired my first Assault 'Mech, a Highlander. It is ridiculously slow, but very sturdy. I guess, it relies on cold climate and jump-jets? The first mission I was able to test it with my team took place in tundra and I managed to defeat 7 other 'Mechs (2-3 heavies, the rest were mediums) without injuries or broken parts.

You're right, it seems to be similar to a Centurion in terms of armor, but it acts one turn later. What heavy 'Mechs I should look for?

Wandersong Completed the game, got all achievements. Encountered one progression-stopping bug, had to skip that part with a cheat. I still don't understand how this game got 98% positive reviews. The platforming part lacks precision, but has bugs. The adventure part requires only the ability to memorize 3-5 numbers (or directions or colors). The ending somehow reminded of Okami (excluding any sort of catharsis), the "singing" mechanic was more meaningful in Aquaria, the subversion of the "Hero" trope was more engaging in NeiR: Gestalt (or Replicant). BattleTech Acquired my first heavy 'Mech (Dragon).

The pace of the story gets better after the initial info dump. Though, the main quest becomes clear (as "This is the biggest baddie, this is how we beat them and we are doing it now") rather late. On protagonist's personality. Some dialogue options have follow ups, which allow you to express your opinion about the topic and define your alignment.

Wandersong I don't know what else I could expect, but the game is a collection of QTEs without any player's agenda. Turning off sound and trying to ignore the plot made the game less irritating, but if nothing changes, I'm going to refund it.

Sea of Solitude has been released. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2019/07/05/sea-of-solitude-review It's unusual to see EA supporting indie developers. Ironically, at the moment Sea of Solitude is the only Origin game that interests me (it doesn't seem to have MTX or any online features).

The Surge Completed the game, despite frequent crashes in the last area and its boss battle. "Nanite Mass uses Crash to the Desktop".

The Surge, "A Walk in the Park" Defeated the Carbon Cat as Iron Maus. The implants available in the DLC made the battle significantly easier - I could tank several hits in the second phase, while normally most bosses could 1-shoot me. The DLC itself is much more colorful (literally, it's an amusement park, and metaphorically, as there are sane and alive people around), than the original game. I was overlevelled for the first half, but the second half was on par with the area I was going through in the main game. And there was some lore about CREO and the MC's background. The latter was interesting, but I prefer silent story-free avatars, if I can't customize them. The former was rather surprising as I hadn't progressed that far in the main game.

The Surge

The Surge Defeated the third boss and upgraded my weapon to Mk.III. Unlocked several short-cuts to the hub in the second area. The level of interconnectivity is impressive, though the map is hard to memorize. I'm quite sure that there's some commentary on social issues, such as data privacy, climate change and affordable healthcare, but I can't tell what exactly the devs are trying to express.

The Surge Started the game. It is a Souls-like in a more dystopian setting (not a bad thing). The only issue so far is that I can't tell if an enemy is going to attack me or not yet when I enter its aggro range. The intro movie had very detailed animations and was slightly off-putting.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate Spoilers for the last part of the campaign.

Artifacts with stories of the people who wielded them before were essential to world-building in BG (and Baldur's Shield was essential for that dungeon with beholders in BG2). They were making the game more immersive. Dropping a randomized magic hammer +3 to STR every level or so would not be "fun" by any standard, so there's no reason to implement it. Right?

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate I'm quite sure that I'm getting near the ending (reached the second hideout of the Night Masks and got stuck at the altar). Though, so far there was little information on the item that started the story, the cursed domino mask.

If one considers it from the out-of-the-setting perspective (including CDRP's previous statements), then yes, as Malcador said, this seem derisive. From the in-universe perspective, the ad may fit. It's still 10 months to wait. Edit. I've read an interview with the designer. It seems to be social commentary on corporations using hypersexualization in marketing. I'm afraid that the discussion is moving away from news. Does anyone know, if Code Vein is a PS4 exclusive?

CDPR. They could go with just "Chrom-something", but putting a (theoretically, as the game hasn't been released yet) non-binary/trans person and "Manticore" together is an odd choice. Also another game in cyberpank setting was announced: I guess, it's going to be something like Remember Me, but VN/adventure. I find it ironic that messing with people's memories and basically destroying a large part of the city was never addressed in Remember Me.

They spelled "flavours" with U (i.e. used British English), while the game takes place in the US. Might be immersion-breaking, if you're paying attention or live in the US. The other issue with the ad seem to be just poor taste.

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mysteries of Westgate I'm pretty sure that it was because of the remains of the physical edition (MoW was saved in username\Documents and the root directory).

There should be tooltips, showing effects from the stats or equipment on skills or saves. I miss them now in NWN2. Though, there also might be some minor bugs. Reloading until you roll 20 is recommended for the Kingdom management part, by the way. --- Neverwinter Night 2: Mysteries of Westgate Ate mysterious (failed the Lore check) berries and took a quest from a giant Rashemi hamster (not Bloo, the stalwart companion of Minx, another one) to investigate the Ferret Brotherhood. It seems that I can't use my companions' stats for dialogues, unlike SoZ, so it is possible that I'm going to miss some quests or the best outcomes.

Elden Ring trailer, as no one has posted it yet. I care little about the writer FromSoftware hired, but the bosses in the trailer look interesting.

Furi Completed the game. The Star, the optional boss with melee combat disabled, was just as difficult as the first time - semi-transparent floor and many semi-transparent projectiles did not improve my survivability. By the last phase (traditionally, a bullet-hell sequence) I was counting the rhythm of attacks with the 1-syllable f-words. I guess, the victory would be less satisfying, if the battle was easier. I'm thinking about starting NWN2: Mysteries of Westgate. Should I create a new PC or import the one from Storm of Zehir?

Guacamelee 2 Somehow depressing. So subtle attempt to sell DLC. Not exactly immersion-breaking (as there's very little immersion to begin with), but somehow disappointing. Is the cat a reference to anything?