HoonDing

I didn't know about this. Excellent news. I absolutely hated the book that didn't have Mat in it... I think it was book 7 or 8. Mat's plotlines were the only thing that saved books 9 & 10 for me... Mat's probably the only major male character that doesn't turn into a whining pussie. I had a really hard time not skipping the plotlines of most of the girls in the book. Jordan really turned an epic (books 1-5) into the fantasy version of Dawson's Creek. I was really surprised & glad that there were actually things happening in book 11 & the most tedious plotline in the entire series wrapped up. That's a huge can of worms you're opening, mate...

I wonder when the NPC action figures will be released.

This reminds me, where did RPGMasterBoo disappear to? RPGCodex?

That's why in FO3 you shoot first (mini-nukes, by preference) and ask questions later.

I thought it would be something like "Whack the Elf!" or "Outdrink the Dwarf!". Disappointing.

If Oghren cannot be tossed in the middle of a group of mooks and do a insta-kill roundhouse attack with his battle-axe, I will be sorely disappointed.

The CE is all sold out here. I blame Marilyn Manson.

Morrigan's ears are hideous, more gorilla-like than human. Too much shapeshifting, perhaps?

Collagen aside, I don't really like the look of crazy Leliana either. In most screenies I've seen of her she looks like she just drank a bottle of vinegar. Wynne must be the only good-looking woman I've seen in DA so far.

Was Sten modelled after Mr. T?

The woes of the fledgling adventurer:

Why? It's pretty short and fun. Besides:

Wait... is it possible to spontaneously kill NPCs? Not just by ticking them off by destroying holy urns or strangling their grandmother?

It makes sense to do it yourself though when you don't have a follower around. Sarah Lyons was supposed to lead the Brotherhood after her father, so she couldn't die.

It's dark fantasy. It's all about losing.

Combat & story is all meaningless for me if the game setting isn't interesting. Oblivion, generic as it is, at least takes place in a setting with unique & imaginative lore. There's tons of detailed lore-books dealing with geography, religion, racial phylogeny, history... pretty much everything. The same is true for the Dark Eye universe. I don't doubt BioWare can craft interesting stories/characters & write witty Eddings-like banter, I just hope DA:O doesn't disappoint lore-wise. But from snippets I've read so far on the wiki it doesn't sound very earth-shattering.

Bloom is for newbs. Just look at the HDR in Fallout 3... so lavishly frivolous..

My most anticipated 2010 game so far is Drakensang - the River of Time. It's set 23 years before Drakensang and is apparently returning to the North (as in Realms of Arkania). The developers have promised new archetypes & a game more focused on story/characters... and possibly even romances (lulz). Though I had wished that the game would continue from where Drakensang ended... the ending was a major event lore-wise and could change a hell of a lot in the game setting.

Risen/Drakensang/Shadows of Undrentide

?

Spiritual successor to Blade of Darkness! *Every battle is epic *Mockingly useless ranged combat *Frakin' awesome melee combat *Grisly atmosphere *Bone-crunching difficulty Too bad it's lacking in the gore department. Once you get the hang of things and figured out enemies' tactics, BoD becomes easy too. Not to mention, twitchy noob players can get through the game easily with the Amazon.

Is this game a case of Nintendo Hard?

The game flow in Risen reminds me a lot of Divinity 2... excellent opening with quests that can be solved in multiple ways (even choosing between factions, although nothing as major), but then halfway the game sidequests start becoming rarer and the game turns into a pure dungeon delving hack/fireball grindfest. I just hope Risen's ending won't be as hideously atrocious as Divinity 2's.