bringingyouthefuture

Been playing for a few days, the intro to the game/story is a little off at the beginning which is interesting, I am gonna give them the benefit of the doubt and say they took a creative approach to the intro/tutorial trying to set the pace for the game and make it feel fast and upbeat, but fell short on getting the pacing of the cut scenes to action to backstory just right - pacing is super important and they just missed the beat slightly. After the beginning and once the world map opens up the game is pretty great, totally got the bug where I don't want to put it down. Mostly due to the plot picking up, as well as solid character building, the exploration and combat mechanics. I am kind of into the art style, kind of sick of realistic people moving and speaking weird, in a lot of way the art style feels better for a video game, but I also think the art style isn't for us older folk who have been playing RPGs for far too long. And in that vein the writing is a little easier and geared towards a younger audience, which isn't terrible, as they have done a pretty good job at flushing out the characters' personalities and motivations, and the plot so far is interesting, in a good against evil lets save the world way. The character side quests so far have been good, and they opened up the story while also adding to the stakes, obviously haven't finished the game. I feel like the companion interactions in DA:O were a little to overt and outside the story, where DA: I they felt more embedded in the game, and so far in my experience this has trended positive and the companions and backstory feel even more part of the game. The only outlier to this in my memory is Morrigan / Alistair in DA: O, those two characters were so tied into the story, and I am curious if any of the Veilguard characters can capture that same sense of consequence. But totally geared towards a younger console generation. I am gonna go out on limb and say DA: O use of dialogue I enjoyed, but only because it led to real consequence, and I think they stepped a little away from this in DA: I, so my best guess from what I have read is this might be a little further diluted. But for me that doesn't take away from enjoying the story or the game, it just makes the storytelling device different. I mean Origins did such a good job with consequences, I can't think of many other RPGs in the past 20 years that have come close or been better. BG3 possibly, the main difference being in BG3 with so many types of characters/races and story options it felt a little diluted. CyberPunk 2077 Phantom Liberty would be the other game where the consequence of actions was that intense. Elden Ring had its moments in this regard too, though they buried some of these so deep in side story that I would say they are more Easter Eggs for the diehards vs actual story devices. Lot of people will also point to Disco Elysium as an example, but its consequences and story were way more subtle and buried in modern day criticism of society, which makes it comparing it difficult as we all know modern day ennui and failure means little, while high fantasy dilemmas are extremely important, world ending stuff. In regards to exploration and world map, pretty much the same as DA: O and DA: I, basically areas you visit where there are quests, major story events, etc. Maps are a decent size and packed with things to do. Not a huge fan of the way they locked off areas in the world, not against doing this but they could have done a better job tying the unlocking to animations and items in the game, but if we are talking about a balance between open world exploration and more story focused content, they did a pretty great job so far. Every area feels meaningful, the maps have hidden secrets, and the game gives you reasons for being there. My best guess is much of what I read, that if you have hangups over the art style, the writing geared towards a younger audience, and the action orientated combat then you might be better off skipping. I just came off playing Final Fantasy 16 which was terrible in terms of story, graphics, gameplay, character, writing etc ... and this is miles above that, but if I was to make a comparison between the two it would be that they are both targeting the younger console audience.

Elden Ring done~! I mixed in the DLC, ended up over-leveling (no one told me I was supposed to stop at 150 but that is real), and then steam rolled the rest of the game including Melania, Farum Azula and the final boss beast thing ... c'est la vie! Was about to do NG+ with a different build since my level got pretty high, and was testing some weapons / builds and realized learning an entire new combat playstyle didn't really catch my fancy ... I'm just not a backstep, roll dodger, kill you with status type of person I guess I will admit when I got to "PROMISED CONSORT RADHAN" and the freeze frame with him looking into the camera I had kind of lost interest in the crazy boss fights so YouTubed the trick to beating him to save me a few hours, maybe a full day who knows. He was still tough though even with that, but got him pretty quick. Now to decide on Warhammer 40K Chaos Gate or go back into Pathfinder WOTR now that it is complete and play the DLCs ... Another question: Avowed, Dragon Age Veilguard or Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2? Having mixed feeling on Dragon Age Veilguard and Avowed, but I did get a controller (hence Elden Ring) in case I want to play the new ones coming out ... I am ready. Actually got excited when I heard Avowed had a 3rd person option, that made it more appealing for sure! I could even play Final Fantasy 16 too soon ... omg I feel like I sold my soul to controller games ...

Edlen Ring finally got around to playing it ... very great game but very much typical of a JRPG: grinding, oversized weird looking weapons ... and the side quests omg please save me from them lol. If they threw a flying ship in there we would close the loop. And very much suffers from what I hate most about action games and why I don't really play them anymore, having to do that jump from one ledge to the other that takes way to long to perfect. Otherwise fantastic and fun, beautiful too, great lore, great exploration, great combat, and damn if it doesn't have me sitting on the edge of my seat ... Also, just gonna mentioned played Cyberpunk 2077 ... around Xmas of 2023 - it might be my favorite crpg of all time, not sure if that is controversial or not, but the story and quests, rpg elements, graphics, combat, progression ... that game really surprised me with how good it was considering all the controversy. EDIT: Cyberpunk2 is definitely my most anticipated sequel that I am waiting for right now.

I really fell in love with Shadowheart's story and had a screaming good time moment with it - really made my week. I think its amazing that they gave you these pre-generated characters to play, and did so well with them, but also gave you the option to create your own. The lore crafting was excellent for each character. I got to say they killed it in a good way with this, and happy that everyone on this forum is buttkicking hurt it did so well lol No love lost I am sure. Anyway, this game really took it to the next level and deserves all the hype. It still amazes me that I never liked BG2 because of how much it stepped away from the classic Ultima games, but as BG3 goes back closer to the Ultima experience and away from the Infinity engine games, I understand why I am liking it so much.

Obsidian, thank you for such a great game, I finally picked it up again after a few years (needed of course to start a new character from scratch in POE1 so took me a little to get back to POE2:), and the story/gameplay is even better than I remember. Appreciate the blood, sweat and tears you all put in to create a true classic. Much love and happy holidays from a fan.

So I honestly think they could balance the game better by just cutting back on the amount of encounters and/or the number of enemies in the encounters, they did a descent job of creating some interesting boss fights, and I like the fact that the hardest fights you can skip if you want, but around the time of Drezen the game goes a little overboard in the encounters, there was a clear dropoff in enjoyment for me after that point, though this was definitely helped by the leveling up my mythic abilities I was still playing when you couldn't turn of Aivu's frightful presence too, it was intense ...

It all depends on what type of challenge you want from the game. If you want challenging combat, unsolved mysteries, in-depth character building, strategic planning and expansive exploration in immersive beautiful environments - then you might sit in front of your computer everyday wondering why you are still playing this game after Act 1 because it doesn't get very deep in terms of the above. I haven't explored much character building and synergy with units and equipment, but it seems not to matter much unless you want to take on enemies 10 levels higher than you, which in each map there seems to be 1 or 2 of these harder encounters (I am playing the game on Brutal now so I avoid these for the most part) but playing on hard I did them constantly with very little challenge. Combat is limited by the map and environments mostly as you can only do so much within a fixed area they create, but also from the limited abilities available per turn. The other issue combat is super repetitive. I feel its strongest point is the number of choices you make as the story progresses, I can't speak how much they effect the world around you but as far as I can tell there is definitely consequences, for instance I think I killed of a whole map by turning them into zombies, though I doubt I will play through again to figure out if I can save them. Also I like that I made some bad choices early on in terms of building alliances and hamstrung myself a little, I feel like any good game doesn't pull punches in terms of this so while it is frustrating I appreciate them not hand holding. There is also the ability to go evil in the game, but again I am only on one playthrough so not sure it is a very rewarding evil (also I don't often take the evil path and didn't in this game, but the world is full of demons and undead and you can join them, plus some of the NPCs are clearly evil). The story itself is Good vs Evil stuff and what happens to everyone caught in between, but there is some good twists, and I do find myself wanting to finish the tale. Writing is passable, kind of tongue in cheek and pithy, and I don't feel necessarily attached to any of the characters, but there is some fun in the writing, some drama and sadness etc, etc it covers all the bases though if you like reading (btw I recently read Patrick Ruthfus' The Name Of The Wind and then Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora I highly recommend them) you will definitely be able to point out where it is lacking. Honest I am on the fence for recommending the game, I keep playing it, but if you want a simple game to waste some time its not bad ... I read it described as a mobile game and I think it would play very good on an tablet while on the plane or in the car, or if you are at work and it is slow I don't know ... hope this helps!! If you have any specifics you are curious about let me know!!!

Stuck near the end of Disciples: Liberation, my love interest just turned into a zombie ... I am on the fence if I like the game, I put in a lot of hours, but I think mostly to see how the story ends, not much in terms of game play and difficulty ... it feels like a turn-based Diablo 3 ... not the Diablo people play to build characters and finish difficult levels in a certain amount of time, just straight run around and mash-buttons until everything is quiet Diablo and you open a chest.

Couple questions if you all will humor me. So what's the general consensus on difficulty? I got through the game on core difficulty with an Azata dual-wielding fighter, mixed in some sneak attack damage, and played with all NPC party, mostly just kept each NPC to thier class which seemed to work the best in terms of bonuses. Next question, how is the gaming playing once you get past Drezen and into the When I picked it up it was in a pretty sad state, especially some of the battles where enemies would walk a straight line literally off the maps, not to mention the poor balance. Still was alright and probably won't go back to the game until all the DLCs release, etc. but that being said if I never have to fight another demon again in a game I wouldn't be to upset, there was a lot of demons ... is it safe to say the games release felt rushed? I mean even in terms of story and continuity, but I have a feeling with better balance and bug fixes it will feel more cohesive.

Got some free time and played The Ascent all the way through. Rare for me to play top-down arcade style games, but I read a few good reviews and decided to push buttons constantly for a futuristic romp. Story is fun (super linear), setting is great, world building is a mix between The Fifth Element and Blade Runner, graphics are good, and gameplay is challenging but not arcade game impossible. Just did single player and bugs were minimal. There is some running back and forth, and halfway through you have fought every type of battle scenario, they just keep getting tougher, but the story kept me grinding through. I got the esteemed Steam achievement that only 1 percent of players achieve, died more than 100 times. But obviously didn't play it for the action elements, I got it hand it to the developers they did a pretty good job, probably would have kept playing if they had more missions, story and lore to uncover. But with the size of the gaming area, I am glad they ended it where they did ... anymore running back and forth shooting people would of dampened the experience.

Anyone play Indie games often? Curious if anyone knows about Mechajammer and/or Wartales, thinking of downloading the demos this weekend to see what they are all about. I tried a couple of Spiderweb Software games and couldn't get into the old graphics style, I need cool trees and mountains, so curious if I would enjoy the full games. They sound pretty cool - one Cyberpunk and one low-fantasy ... both with a twist they say on TB combat, with Mechajammers allows for cool things like motorcycle combat I think though not in the demo.

I just got air from RL myself, but still in the middle of limited time for anything ... I defaulted back to POE1 for the few spare hours I had, nice just to cruise through the game on autopilot I intentionally chose no to bump the difficulty for higher level content and am not playing it on the harder difficulty so getting to enjoy the story a lot more. Now am interested in Wildermyth more, was debating but now I might pick it up. Edit: For some reason I keep thinking about a sequel to Disco Elysium, did I read somewhere they started working on the sequel?

The question is it enough to play the early access again or do I wait for the next update, sounds like in one of the QAs during that insane LARPing session the next update is gonna be content and perhaps a new class and/or race. It sounded like they wanted to get most of the classes into early access eventually. As for camping, now if they would just add the day/night cycle I am going to be really excited.

Finished Solasta, interesting enough even with the straight forward story I think I might replay it, though might wait for the Sorcerer DLC. The power gamer in me wants to create the ultimate party now that I have all the meta knowledge in what gear is available, and what to expect. I also just read the studio is opening a partner studio to create a new game in the world, which is pretty cool. Would love them to continue to work on the graphics and interface because I would love them to come out with something as polished as POE2, that ran as smooth. Solasta is a little chunky ... is that the right word? Also, would love them to expand the level cap and add more classes ... I am a sucker for isometric RPGs ...

A new Phoenix Point DLC released today, Festering Skies: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/839770/view/3026960867714652838 Tempted to boot back up the torture room that can be Phoenix Point, actually enjoyed the game quite a bit. Read a little about the DLC and the changes that go with it the other day: I am sad they reduced the Sneak Attack damage to 50 % ... not sure how I could beat the final level on hard without the extra damage ... still not sure worth another play through, maybe after I finish Solasta, catch of on Troubleshooters, potentially play the new Wasteland 3 DLC, and somehow finish my stalled playthrough of POE1 ??? Lots of choices for gaming coming up