Starwars

I think the main problem on Hardcore difficulty I had with the Rajani fight was that it's really easy to get disoriented when she hits her second form. It's easy to lose track of her and die quickly. But if I kept my head cool, it's a pretty easy fight I found. The patterns are not that difficult. I think I had more problems surviving some fights in Gunderic Manor actually, especially with those skeleton priests. Their projectiles *always* trip me up. I think the hardest fight in the main game is... hrm, well, a certain fight near the endgame. Sooooo much stuff going on, really hard to keep your focus there and really hard to keep your companion alive. Beating that one with Lucas was probably the toughest thing in the main game for me, since Lucas lacks ranged capabilities except for that special ability (whatever it was called). The boss in the Swamp area could also be really tricky at times for me. The DLC also had some really tough fights.

But you can go ANYWHERE! People love that stuff. Virtual worlds. I'm not sure about the Witcher 3 going that direction myself. I thought there was too much running around in the first two games already but it depends on the execution I suppose. I think Skyrim's dungeons go both ways. Visually I think they are much more interesting than Oblivion and many of them (not all) have some... *thing* to them that makes them at least feel a bit unique somehow. On the other hand, the actual layout of most of them is really boring in how they're corridor-like, and then the secret door that opens up back to the entrance.

Zion is one of those places I really want to visit before I die. Hope I can make i there one day. Get some pics up of it!

Think the most Obsidian related fun I had was around the time of Mask of the Betrayer. KOTOR2 was an interesting game that failed to live up to its potential and NWN2 left me very disappointed. At that time I was really thinking Obsidian (or the former BI staff I suppose) had lost it somewhat. But MotB news started to roll out and it seemed a bit different. Got excited about it and once I got it, I really, really enjoyed it. One of my best RPG experiences. Fallout: New Vegas and expansions also left me very impressed. Alpha Protocol was flawed but really unique and interesting as well. DS3 was somewhat tepid but still a pretty fun game.

Finished up Primordia. Really, really enjoyed it. One or two puzzles where I needed to consult a walkthrough but all-together I really liked the puzzles in this one, and the story/setting/atmosphere was fantastic. If you like adventure games, please check it out: http://www.gog.com/gamecard/primordia

Playing Primordia, a cyberpunk/post apoc-ish adventure games featuring a cast of only robots. Really enjoying myself with it, the writing is really good for one. Fantastic soundtrack too. Also playing some Dungeon Siege 3 as Anjali. I really enjoy the combat gameplay of this game (especially on Hardcore) but it is a somewhat frustrating game too since... well, you kinda want Obsidian's flair for writing to really bloom, but instead of being neither really talky or being almost only combat, it's kinda stuck in the middle.

I think Double Fine are the only ones who manage to entice me with the humor in their videos. Even if it's super cheesy, they're the only ones who make them fun in my opinion. Game concept sounds intriguing. Will probably plunk down some cash for this one.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fihvyLhP4Jo Beautiful waltz, and the melody is simply incredibly moving.

That Seven spoof above was brilliant... brilliant!

Finished up Metro Last Light. Pretty much echoes my views on the first game. Pretty and atmospheric. Occasional fun when the game gives you some freedom for a bit. All-together waaaay too linear, story-driven and "experience-driven". Lots of sections that are just meant to impress you audiovisually, and where the game just leads you around. Now, the game is certainly nice to look at so if you like those types of experiences, then Metro Last Light could definitely be a winner. But not a game for me all in all. Ah well, a good lesson of getting hyped up I supposer while still having that gutfeeling of "this game will probably disappoint me".

Condolences TrueNeutral. Had a pretty great weekend. Spent it with the girlfriend, enjoying the great weather we've had here. Spent Saturday on the beach and it was... oh-so-nice. Then lieing awake far into the night, feeling the summer-ish night breeze blow in through the open windows, chatting about nothing and everything until falling asleep. I've missed that stuff. Felt really good. Also good news is that we've found an apartment which she'll be taking. It's out a bit in the "country" which she likes a lot. The apartment itself is located in a house from the early 1900s, and it's really wonderful. She was a bit afraid of moving into an apartment since she's lived most of her life in houses, but the way the landlord has set it up, it feels almost half-house, half-apartment. There is a garden where you can go crazy if you want to, as long as you take care of it. The apartment is spaceous and very "home-y" . It's also being renovated before she moves in next month. I'm holding on to my apartment for now, we're gonna see how it goes for us once she's moved out from her current place and is "free" of her ex-boyfriend. But it will be a great second home these coming months for sure. Even though I have to work a lot, this summer will be a really exciting one.

Playing Metro: Last Light. Not to far in and I hear it gets better later into the game but yeah... A lot of my problems with the first game persists here, namely the linearity and the way you're forced to follow NPCs around. Not too big on the whole "experience" direction either. I'd much rather have them open the game up just a bit, skip the "cinematic first-person" style and just let us play more. Still, guess that's just not what this series is about. Game is certainly gorgeous though even on my aging hardware. Like the first game, the thing that's keeping me going so far is the atmosphere of it all.

Favourite death metal band, this tune is heavy as hell: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMCC4EJNvUE

Haha, that's the best commercial ever.

New song I recently finished up. Hope you enjoy it if you listen to it!

Aaaand a few more...

From the NWN2 mod called Crimmor, bear with me...

Playing the recently released NWN2 mod called 'Crimmor' when I have longer periods of time to devote to gaming. Right now, playing the original FEAR in short bursts. Forgot how great the combat gameplay in this game is. The story and "boo!" scares I could do without, but the atmosphere combined with the deadliness of combat and how enemies approach you and react makes for a great experience. Add to that that the combat still feels extremely visceral and powerful at times. Aside from the bland colors and samey environs, the game still looks really good and the sound design is great. Really fun game.

wait, it's not a standalone game? I really want to try it (mainly because of this comment, "Zecorian's Demesne (the final dungeon of SoZ) was a brilliantly designed masterpiece by Jeff Husges, that made great use of exploration, stealth, traps, puzzles, conversations, customized combat AI, and devious boss encounters. I think it is a shining example of both strategic and tactical role playing") but I can't find my NWN 2 CD anywhere... None of the expansions are stand-alone. Also, that comment is in error. Most of the SoZ dungeons are very small, but numerous. Zecorian's Demesne is not the final dungeon of SoZ, though one of the "end-game" ones. It's a small dungeon, though quite difficult (probably one of the more difficult things in the game). The final area of SoZ is indeed longer though and quite nicely designed, both visually and game design wise. Especially rewarding is that you can sneak through the entire thing. But if you're after hardcore dungeon crawling, SoZ is not really the game to play. I really like the campaign but most dungeons are very small.

I'm playing a recently released NWN2 module called 'Crimmor'. It's a solo adventure for Rogues (featuring... well, rouge-ish gameplay). Really enjoying it, definitely among the top tier of NWN2 modules. Some bugs to be ironed out but it's an impressive effort.

Hm, fun to see a new horror franchise but I thought that trailer *really* tried way too hard. It also gave me a sense of... having seen it all before, it feels old. Still, hopefully the game will be good!

Good to see you around Justin. Has there been any work done on the sound front so far, or does that all come later? Or is there a "pre-production phase" specifically for the sound design as well?

Like or hate the games, but the Final Fantasies have pretty nice soundtracks! Did a quick little recording of Breezy from Final Fantasy 8.

^--- That's close to the amount I'm getting to. Really nice I must say. Spent the weekend with the infamous girlfriend discussed a few pages back. Went on a short trip to the parts where she grew up and spent the weekend at her best friend's house. Everything went extremely well I must say, the friend and her husband were great people. When I was alone with her friend she told me that she hadn't seen the gf this genuinely happy and carefree since the days when they first met, which was obviously a big boost for my confidence. Very happy with how it all turned out.

Looks really nice overall, very impressive stuff. And it certainly gives that IE vibe somehow. Main suggestion I would have is to maybe push lighting (and maybe colors) a bit further. This depends on the scene obviously but one thing I adored about Dungeon Siege 3 graphics was the colors were really strong, and the lighting was very nice. Like someone mentioned, the light around the campfire could be a lot warmer and a bit bigger (more like the firefly thing really). Gorgeous overall.