Hawke64

There is value in a large number of people with a wide range of hardware providing information on how software performs on it, so "didn't run - bad game" is a type of review I wholeheartedly appreciate as it helps me with my purchase decisions. If something indeed does not run or lacks crucial accessibility options, the developers can kindly go and learn to code. I can find a deeper analysis of the story or gameplay systems after purchasing if I enjoyed the game enough to care. I also can acknowledge that different people prioritise different aspects of the interactive art.

Larian's D&D game. I did 4-5 runs (a halfling rogue, a half-elf sorc, a gith warrior, the same half-elf but from mid-game, Wyll, started a dragon bard, but have not finished). It's not long (15-40h) and I enjoyed being able to choose what I wanted to do and to be able to control the combat (or the absense of it up to the end of Act 2). The thing is that you must not see the game as a CRPG, but an imm-sim - find interesting ways to do things, do not allow the corpses-to-become to monologue at you, sneak past ambushes. Would have replayed again if not for the size - 130GB+ are infuriating and the lack of will to fix the worst (or the second worst after the lore-unfriendliness) flaw of the software is disappointing. Here's to hope that the hardware shortages will align Larian's and my priorities. Nighthawks. Finished Act 1. Can't tell how much the story branches (got a game over when refused to become the owner of the titular nightclub), but the presense of the map is welcome. The UI not showing equipment stats before it is equipped is less so. There are some small interesting features, such as the lack of clothes being a functional choice of attire and the sewers having maps, and it is playable overall. Erotic content is present (mentioning as it was an issue with releasing the game), but it is not particularly descriptive. The developers are also actively engaging and moderating the Steam forums, which is commendable.

Drova So I sold him 10 swords. I finally could equip the axe I found in the first few hours. Went as good as one could expect. I have a magic rock I need to shove into a druid. The non-human corpses decay. Chapter 3 (Nemeton and Remnants) Chapter 4

Finished Drova. The first chapter was an excellent exploration experience offering multiple ways to solve quests and approach challenges, while the outcomes also were different. Unfortunately, from Chapter 3 and onwards, the main story had to move forward and it was a fairly linear endeavour - there was a series of dungeons to clear with little choice in terms of story. I could express being unsatisfied with some actions, but I could not not do them if I wanted to see the ending. There also were optional combat challenges locked behind the Misty Step ability, which, given the difficulty, was not wrong. The issue with linearity is that the less choice there is, the less attachment to the outcome. So, by the end I was mostly watching my stats going up. Still, it reminds me of what I appreciate about the Obsidian games - the ability to not compromise with cruelty or incompetence. To stand your ground and say no. Then to drive your sword through someone's face and loot their body. So, back to Drova, the equipment and level progression are very well done - each new item feels like a significant improvement and there are just enough of them to have options without spending too much time on inventory management (could go with more armour sets). On a related note, the non-human enemy corpses decay between chapters which is quite impressive, while the missed ingredients (due to the lack of the relevant skill) can be collected from the bodies after the initial looting which is nice. The NPCs have just enough time to get the general idea about them and I did like the smaller factions, though not so much the main ones. I am also delighted that the game is VA-free and the soundtrack is largely fitting and unobtrusive. In summary, it was a positive experience overall, despite the narrative weakness of the later chapters. Started Nighthawks. It is a visual novel in a legally distinct from the World of Darkness setting. So far, I've got through the character creation (it is decent) and managed to force the game to run in a windowed mode. The installation size is fairly large for a VN, 7.8GB, and I cannot bin the VA, as everything is one not-archive. The game uses Godot (which is an excellent general game engine) and has quite a few technical gaps (starting with the not working windowed mode and the presence of VA) - saving and loading in different places, no ability to view the previous lines, effectively no UI scaling. The thing is that all of it is available in Ren'Py out-of-the-box and it's not even animation-heavy like Stray Gods, so the choice of engine is puzzling. The art is somewhat unappealing. Beats VTM Reckoning, but it is not a high bar. I hope that the gameplay systems and narrative are better than the visual art and technical aspects.

Usual June (demo) Hypnos (demo) An open area. Needless to say, the GPU disapproved. Silly Polly Beast (demo) Drova

Drova Primeval Forest Somehow, my favoured weapon type is axe now and I usually go with swords or daggers. Tried Blackshard and Hypnos demos. They ran poorly.

SteamDB does not host the files, only the Steam metadata of the apps, such as depot IDs, which you need to download the files via Steam CLI. You also need to own the related game for it to work. I have not tried it for the larger titles, but it worked fine for Signalis - 1 command and the older version dropped onto my hard drive and I had to move it into the "common" SteamApps folder. For the more recent version, signing up is not required, so unless the game is actively patched, you should be fine. Admittedly, if Steam handled updates better and the developers allowed a less painful rollback (via the beta branches), using SteamDB would not be needed. This example is for a large game (Larian's D&D game) with frequent patches, so it would require an account: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3023295121. It is a relatively straightforward step-by-step guide and it explains the process. I would add that your approach, keeping specific versions on your own hardware, is safer as long as you have more than 1 copy. The modding unrelated use case for SteamDB is pricing monitoring.

Regarding time limits in games in general, it can work if the game is balanced around it and not you vacuuming all map of XP. I liked it in The Séance of Blake Manor, so I had to prioritise the relevant items and dialogue options without having to go through everything. There also were several ways to gain specific information. I cannot quite recall how it was in Expeditions: Viking (there was a timer and several paths to victory), but I have not finished Expeditions: Rome which did not have a time limit and expected you to clear whole large maps (and frequently with random mercs, which annoyed me a lot). There's also Pathfinder: Kingmaker, though there were several factors that could lead to a death spiral. Tried Silly Polly Beast demo. Got repeatedly bodied in a corridor where 2 waves of foes spawned in front and behind me and I ran out of ammo. After a few more attempts, I got to the next room, with low health and no ammo with predictable results. It is heavily inspired by Silent Hill (you wake up in some demonic realm after doing a thing and falling into a well), the art is lovely, the controls are rebindable, the saving system is bad (a single overwriting auto-save per playthrough, 3 slots in total). The gotcha is that it is combat-heavy, up to being an action game, rather than a survival horror, and you need to hold the interaction key to unlock the next door, so you have to clear the rooms, while the foes revive when you re-enter. The one and only defence option, rolling, amusingly, does not consume stamine, but hitting enemies in melee does. There's also something about the setting that bugs me, but I cannot quite pinpoint it (it being Eastern Europe? The MC being very anime-styled, but everything else not?). Good audio design, though.

I've read the reviews and some comments for Dawnwalker. It might be fun, but I am definitely going to leave the paying testers to face the first wave of bugs and performance issues. Speaking of, the price tag and me strongly disliking TW3 do not encourage purchasing it now either. Played Drova some more and visited the main towns. After ~10 hours of exploration, I forgot what the main quest was about, so had to reread the journal. I also was able to avoid being kidnapped (this time the bandits were not immortal and died to the same type of mini-boss), then, after several attempts, reached the potential kidnappers' base and somehow cleared it (of bandits only, as the giant worms were 2-shooting me). So, the exploration is satisfying overall and the story should get going more actively now.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-internet-we-once-loved-is-gone-steamdb-founders-announce-the-community-run-database-has-been-acquired-by-nexus-mods-owners https://steamdb.info/blog/steamdb-nexus-mods/ No strong opinion - something as large as SteamDB can be challenging to run and it is easy to burn out, while the new owners may or may not try to en****tify the service. It might be beneficial for the core model of Nexus, as Steam still forces the updates (unless you beat it with a metaphorical metal pipe), which break the mods. So, it can go either way, but I understand the SteamDB founders' logic.

Drova A random side quest near the start of the game

Drova. Kited 2 immortal and hostile NPCs to a mini-boss. They were getting repeatedly KO'd throughout the battle but overcame the boss by the virtue of their immortality, however slow it was, while I sat behind a rock and poked the occasional spawn (my hits were not even visible on the mini-boss' HP bar). Ironically, the mini-boss defeating them counted as my victory, so the side quest was completed as well. Otherwise, it has been quite story-light - I've been exploring and not seeing many talking NPCs. I finished the session when I reached the Remnants' Camp and befriended a cat there.

I'd say that there was significantly less exploration in TW3 than I would like in general but more than I could take in TW3 (i.e. I started jogging straight to the next quest marker after the prologue village and looked up some armour locations). The traversal and combat were atrocious. It was not great in TW1, but it was less actively unpleasant. Climbing a chest-high cliff or opening a chest was also impossible in combat which annoyed me quite a lot. I do not have any strong memories or opinions about the VA, though I generally prefer either silent or close to my range VA (~Dante from DMCV). I suppose I enjoyed the opportunity to ask NPCs to get to the point a few times. They are mostly third-person. Similar to Saints Row, but offered less customisation and were less fun in general. I think I got pretty far in Vice City but could not do the cinema plane mission. I played San Andreas, though less, and focused more on just running around. No recollection of GTAIV, Steam shows that I have it.

Naughty Dogs used to count the polygons in the original Crash Bandicoot. Regarding The Witcher increased system requirements, if the developers locked the new story DLC behind the new version, it is a rather user-unfriendly move. They are welcome to ship a new GPU, an SSD, and a few RAM sticks to all affected users, of course. Given how it went with previous "upgrade", I am somewhat sceptical of the performance. For what it's worth, the developer left the pre-upgrade version available as a separate download on GOG (under the Extra panel) and as a beta branch on Steam, so that's something. But I also somewhat dislike the series, despite playing it back to back, including the DLC, so neither purchasing nor replaying in any event. Edit. Checked GOG, now there are 2 editions (Complete and not) and 2 editions (default and classic) under each. The not-Complete classic takes 10 files + separate DLC (3 files) to download. The Complete default takes 22 files. 1 file is up to 4GB. Fortune's Run - Valve Removing Access - Steam NewsValve is removing my access from the game. I've made it 1$ and discounted it maximally. Goodbye everyone. -DZI hope that the developer will recover from it, providing that the information shared is accurate. Fortune's Run is definitely $1, though. From the store page: https://www.eurogamer.net/take-two-rockstar-gta-6-leaks-subpoena-discord-response Well, here is to hope that Take-Two and its CEO will have the same privacy they wanted to "grant" to random Discord users. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/rather-than-calling-for-gta-6-boycott-fired-rockstar-workers-urge-players-to-support-them-in-their-legal-battle-against-the-studio-by-buying-union-merch On a positive note, Well Dweller is releasing on 22 September. https://steamcommunity.com/games/3699590/announcements/detail/698773621583119093 The cat game, Fable, and the D&D action-adventure look quite nice as well.

Drova