Hawke64

Ashen. Founded the town. The first and so far the only character with facial details. Not a bad thing, but it is an interesting design decision. The second boss defeated, fast travel unlocked. These things can use ladders. Amiren, attempt #1. Amiren, attempt #2. Success.

Ashen, a co-op focused Souls-like (more of an action-adventure, but it was advertised as a mix of Dark Souls and Journey*). After several hours I reached the second boss, Amiren. The dungeon that led to her was a 3D maze. Somehow I found a "short-cut" (it was not short enough and there was a large group of enemies) on my first try, but died before reaching the boss room. So the next 3-4 attempts I tried to reach my (in DS terms) "bloodstain" and recover the not-souls dropped. For some reason (probably, co-op), it was impossible to use a lantern and a shield at the same time and Ashen had quite realistic darkness - I could not see anything without a light source. In the end, I somehow lost my NPC companion (I assumed that he either despawned or fell to his death), but reached the boss. I lost two hits away from victory. And for the next 3 or so hours I tried to get back to the boss with the companion alive. At some point he got stuck somewhere again, but rejoined me when I approached Amiren's room. She had more HP and the battle was more chaotic, but we succeeded. The key to traversing the dungeon was memorizing the path and just running through, ignoring the enemies. *The NPC companions are (figuratively and literally) faceless, so any player can take place of any companion, but ridiculously effective and aggressive. The two direct consequences I see are low variety of builds (there are 2 stats, HP and stamina, and their increase are quest rewards; weapons don't have any stat requirements) and the above-mentioned lack of (combat) personality (also the necessity to warp back to the town and report to the NPC, while they were with you when you completed their quest). I strongly dislike the lack of manual saves and the game's attempts to connect to its servers. Switching Steam to the offline mode helps with the latter, but it is irritating.

Katana ZERO. It was more of a puzzle with action elements, than an action-platformer. It is stunningly beautiful visually (I could not take screenshots with Steam, though), the soundtrack and sound effects are quite good (I turned off the former after one of my unsuccessful attempts to beat a level). The controls felt tight and are rebindable, 5-button mice are not supported. The choices in dialogues and gameplay affect the later chapters. The story is interesting and well presented, using cut-scenes and gameplay sequences. I have not encountered any bugs or crashes. I've successfully reached the ending (there was a cliffhanger) and did not like the game, despite it being objectively good. I suppose, the instant-death combat was more frustrating, than satisfying for me.

I occasionally use Origin (the last time on 01/01/2020). The only technical issue I have is that the launcher does not save my password when starting in offline mode, everything else works fine - it allows to purchase games, to launch them and I disabled the "social" elements that were added few years ago, so it does not bother me. ---- God Eater 3. I've finished the 7th Rank (the story was presented via text-only mission descriptions), extra episodes "Another Devil" and "Traversing the Past" (for 5 companions). It seems that I probably should have waited longer - there is more content to be released that is crucial to the main story. I had hoped to complete the game during the holidays, so it is rather irritating.

God Eater 3. The game told me that I've finished the main story, but there are still more missions. For some reason, the 7th Rank marked as "optional" and the Extra missions as "story" (which is confusing). The ending (Rank 6) was quite emotional, though I would prefer,

I second Dragon Age and would recommend Dungeon Siege III, Shadowrun: Hong Kong and Dragonfall (cyberpunk setting with turn-based combat). Also there are Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen, GreedFall and Pyre, though they are third-person (not isometric) action-RPG.

God Eater 3. The story picked up the pace and is moving in the direction I like. It took just 19 hours. My party successfully defeated Anubis, the large aragami from the opening movie, and reached the 6th rank/story arc.

Two more games from 2019 I'd like to mention. Double Cross. It is a really good platformer. There is nothing exceptional, but it was engaging and enjoyable (and one bug I encountered was fixed a week ago). The Outer Worlds. While I do not like first-person view, open-world maps and combat-wise bland companions, TOW is a very good RPG - there are an interesting branching story with different choices, skill checks for non-combat actions, good writing and memorable characters (mostly, Martin the Moon Man Mascot). I have not encountered any bugs and was able to bind actions to the 4th and 5th mouse buttons.

God Eater 3. I reached Rank 4 and unlocked Assault Missions. In the offline mode I got 7 AI companions. They seemed randomized, but fairly capable. We could not defeat the Glacial Ra within 5 minutes, but there were some rewards, the most notable were new Engage (team-action-thing) abilities. The story became even more ridiculous, but I can't start the next mission before talking to key NPCs, who are not shown on the map and can be anywhere at the hub. On the other hand, I finally got reasonably good builds for my companions and bosses became challenging.

Code Vein (Demo)

Completed the demo of Code Vein. It is a decent Souls-like, gameplay-wise, and the controls are excellent (there's even 5-button mouse support). But the combat was disabled when I got to the hub, like in some linear JRPG. The story is very anime-like. Character customization does not include beards for some reason. I died twice during the demo, once to gravity, once to a zombie with a glaive. So now I'm considering purchasing The Surge 2 and waiting for 75%+ discount on Code Vein.

The Outer Worlds. Tried another option for a late-game main quest. It turned out clearly superior to the one I chose first. So, the ending was as good as it could. God Eater 3. After resolving the issue with crashing, the game is quite stable. In general, it is more engaging than Monster Hunter: World, mostly because there are NPC companions that are not cats. The plot is generic (dystopian post-apocalypse with world-saving teenagers), but it is better than nothing, I suppose.

You can riposte-to-death pretty much everything (played on KB&M), and, as parry interrupts any action, the PC is almost invincible (does not work AoE attacks and magic missiles). Also firearms are OP, if you don't mind skipping combat (I tested heavy weapons vs one-handed blades vs firearms, the latter shorten combat encounters to seconds). Companions' AI leaves a lot to be desired, but they survive longer, if well-equipped.

The games I've completed and liked in 2019. GreedFall. It was a quite good action-RPG. The story, combat, controls and the absence of DLC made it one of the best games of this year for me. Omensight. An action-adventure, where you repeat one day and save/kill/use four characters in order to discover the truth and prevent the apocalypse. Lucah: Born of a Dream. A Souls-like hack&slash. I did not quite get the plot, but the combat was engaging and the controls comfortable. BattleTech. A turn-based tactics with RPG elements. The Surge. A Souls-like. Death's Gambit. A Metroidvania with RPG elements. Yuppie Psycho. A horror-adventure. The Talos Principle. A puzzle game. Dark Souls: Remastered. It improved the controls, thus it is ultimately better, than PtD. Devil May Cry V. It was exactly the sequel I wanted. Now with better mouse support.

The guide books are currently available on HumbleBundle: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/pathfinder-lost-omens-paizo-books The second tier includes the Guide to the River Kingdoms, where the game takes place.

I mostly agree with the table or have no strong opinion about or can't articulate it clearly, except: 4. I like when there is not just one guy you need to murder to get your happily-ever-after in an RPG. Though, I appreciate that I did not have to listen to Thanos and was able to get the password from his soul. It was very refreshing. 5. SSS. It was quite pleasant to laugh at Galawain, though the DLC lacked the Watcher-first angle - there were not enough options to indicate disinterest in the contest and it being only the means to resolve the issue with the spirits at the arena. I can't say anything about it being better or worse than The White March; 8. I liked how PoEII was structured - large map with reasonably-sized locations and the ability to complete the critical path fast (until the last patch broke it). It was possible to explore completely (all/most of the locations were possible to visit from the start), there was an indicator of how much territory left to cover (clouds on the world map) and I did not have to look for a quest-starting NPC in order to acquire the quest item. 11. I prefer the Defiant. It's a ship and fulfills its main function without any optional RNG'ed fluff. 12. There were the Old City Ruins in/under Neketaka. It was just as large and difficult as I like - 3 large locations and a boss that requires some preparation. 14. Full VA was unnecessary, partial VA worked well enough and required less resources. And I mostly detest when the avatar is voiced, unless it is to indicate that it (not he, she or they) completed its action (movement, critical hit, casting, etc.) or is low on health. 18. I agree, dragons and the possibility to resolve the encounters diplomatically are awesome.

There are consumables and some of them have tags. One of the tags is "Meat", which increases base HP. It would offer more role-playing options, if there was a "Vegan" perk, reversing this bonus (like, -50% base HP, if it is meat, +10%, if it is not). And it would be nice, if there was the option to play as a left-handed person. Considering that it would affect only animations and the animations are independent from each other (as far as I know), it would require just mirroring the existing ones for the PC.

The Outer Worlds. Completed the game. In general, the ending was reasonably satisfying, except that awkward moment when Now I going to try one option, which I was unsure of and which is likely to take about 3 hours. Less, if I just run and ignore terminals. Somehow the open-world (or just very large locations with very imprecise maps) structure, a lot of small interactive mostly-useless objects and the first-person view (with my preference for melee combat) do not inspire me for another full completionist run.

The Outer Worlds. Finished Monarch.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/950670/Gothic_Playable_Teaser/ Gothic. I am unsure, if it is possible to recreate the original game and make it accessible for wider audience, but it does look interesting.

I remember uninstalling most of the pre-installed apps via CMD and disabling telemetry when I upgraded to Win10, but I can't remember how nor find the commands I used. Soon I will have to upgrade my PC (it is old) and reinstall the OS, so any advice is welcome.

God of Collecting Unique Equipment and Potions. At least, that's what I was doing in BG. I would add "Adventuring", but it is in Tymora's portfolio.

Do quest items and enemies appear only after I've taken the related quest or they are presented on the map from the start and I can grab the item/kill the boss first and receive the quest reward later?

As any companion can wear any piece of gear, is there a reason not to give them the heaviest armor and the biggest guns, regardless of their "class" or personality? I did not see weapon-specific skills on the character page, thus I assume that the default value is used to calculate damage.

A city is a hub with merchants, taverns, quest lines, a something to return to, that changes and grows (and, occasionally, burns). Kirkwall was unique as it changed over time, more than any other city (excluding Baldur's Gate and its DLC) could due to the structure of the game. I appreciated that. Also there was the capital in Fable III, but I don't remember much about it. A town is a something to get a few unimportant quests to turn in, loot everything lootable, kill everything killable, then move on and forget that it ever existed. Though, I did like Majula from Dark Souls II, but it was a hub with merchants and all NPCs ended up there, so it fits the definition of "a city in an RPG" above.