Nonek

I like a nice Codlin for eating fresh, and of course a Bramley for pies and such.

Serendipity. I was chatting with an American colleague this morning, he seemed baffled by my support for Brexit. "How could you guys vote to leave that huge institution? People are better working together and united, not isolated and outcast! I just can't understand why you'd go it alone." "Strange that you'd object to a need for independence, a couple of centuries past I might have asked you the same!"

Yes, i'd have liked an option that advocated using Poe's art style, it's superior to both of the Pathfinder ones.

Thinking about it you could also try the Strangler's Waltz in Black, very weird and gets weirder as the music perpetuates. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ynd2A91cXA I suspect the chaps may have been sampling a little "Golden Bown" during the creation of this...thing.

Holst's Planet suite springs to mind, with Mars for the combat scenarios etcetera. Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition has quite a few dour tracks, and obviously Night on Bald Mountain. Prokofiev's Dance of the Knights, Montagues and Capulets from Romeo and Juliet. The obvious Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. A smattering of Wagners grimmer works perhaps. Berlioz' Symphonie Fantastique, and especially Dream of a Witches Sabbath of course. Saint Saen's Danse Macabre. Perhaps some of the more moody parts of Verdi's Requiem. The old ARPG Revenant has an absolutely fantastic soundtrack with some of the later tunes especially evocative of a weird hellscape, intentionally so

Re the tooltip exposition: Can one turn off this feature and just rely on either reading the manual to accrue that knowledge, as with great old classic games where preparing for the game merited an exhaustive and satisfying perusal? Or can one simply rely on good worldbuilding and excellent design to provide backstory and detail, as the best of games demonstrate? I'm not a fan of clumsy exposition in any form, especially not this tasteless MMO variety of pop up mid dialogue.

And vice versa.

Ran into the same problem I get in every survey, lack of specificity: For instance the impact question is too broadly wrapped up in low, medium or high, in Warhammer 40k I may save a world and billions of inhabitants and yet at the other end of the Astronomicon a number of worlds have fallen or been rendered into ash by Inquisitorial decree. This can be both a very personal story, epic in a sense as well but also futile and pointless. I prefer complex narratives that are not resting on any one level, Arcanum would be a good example here, yes the story becomes personal, and epic and prophetic, and then spins into entirely different stratospheres and trajectories by the end, making you doubt and question everything.

Wait until Matt Damon and the Film Actors Guild becomes involved! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOH9trJLedk QAPLA'!

Yes, this is a tremendous plus for the game in my personal opinion, I adore the strategising and optimal gameplay decisions that time constraints force on me. In BG2 for instance my playthrough was molded through completing the various companion quests before the timers ran out, be that Yoshimo involving me in Shadow Thief business as I am about to leave for my stronghold quest, from there finding Edwin and accepting his quest, being reminded by Korgan that he has business in the Government district or plumbing the Graveyard for Korgan and Edwin. RPGs need more strictures, punishments for failure and failure states in my opinion. Also get rid of quest markers, as always.

Huge sales, doesn't matter what the impression of the game was, if it sells then Blizzard will obviously produce more of it. My bet would be a new MMO set in Sanctuary, or a merging with WoWs setting.

The last words of the narrator on this video, "How could we have known that the fate of thousands would rest in your hands?" Isn't the answer to this provided in the video itself, because that's part of his job as a Fatebinder? Seems a little silly to not know that. I think that nobody expected the situation that arose around that specific Fatebinder : two Archons in charge of the conquest who hate each other and allow for a rebellion to arise (the rebellion's leader in one of the gameplay videos even imply that the Voices of Nerat helped them to thrive), forcing the Fatebinder to take an even bigger role than they usually do. I've no doubt you're correct Mr Sannom, but this Fatebinder holding the fate of thousands in his hands for different reasons than the other Fatebinders who hold the lives of thousands in their hands...well it doesn't strike me as particularly informative or logical to mention. Obviously I don't know if the fate off the Tiers will be decided by our protagonist, but if so then perhaps a more specific summation would be, "How could we have known that the hopes of the last free nation on Terratus would rest in your hands?" Though obviously better written than my weak prose.

Ha, seems Mr Trump is receiving support from other sources! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-gSJW3sHXE Personally I think he'd be more drawn to Slaanesh than Khorne, while Mrs Clinton would be beholden to Tzeentsch and possibly Nurgle. In this case is Mr Johnson Malal approved?

The last words of the narrator on this video, "How could we have known that the fate of thousands would rest in your hands?" Isn't the answer to this provided in the video itself, because that's part of his job as a Fatebinder? Seems a little silly to not know that.

Always a difficult decision for me as well.

Who knows? Obsidians financial situation is their own busines. They seem to be in a far better situation than a few years back, however the modern realities of business often mean that one is forever staring into the abyss. It's a publisher funded game, so they have been paid for it presumably, and have less of a personal investment than Poe. As creators they may well want to see their creation prosper naturally. After being a touch dissatisfied with Poe personally i'll be waiting for trusted reviews and solid feedback. Of course I wish for a good RPG despite all my complaints, and hope Tyranny is successful based on inherent quality.

I wouldn't touch Fig with a bargepole personally. From the looks of it however there is no funding needed, it already began with a large chunk of investment and isn't really relying on small backers, if you wish to get an early cheap copy however now seems an ideal time to snag one. I'll probably purchase on a GOG sale if the game is worth it, the inclusion of multiplayer gives me serious doubts about the whole prospect though.

The art style doesn't really worry me, after all the first DOW was very stylised, however I think that the MOBA-ish looking hero units is a problem. The stated reason is that they want them to stand out, yet I never had a problem finding the Force Commander in DOW, nor the Librarian, the garish colour schemes of the Astartes help here: The Force Commander has a large amount of trim and customisation, the Librarian is a different colour, as are the Chaplain and Apothecary, the Techmarine has his Servo Arms etcetera, and as a last resort there was a button on screen linked to each of these characters to switch to them immediately. The problem they're solving doesn't exist. As for removing synch kills, one of the real joys and rewards of the original games, I simply cannot understand why anyone would do that. A replay of a good skirmish was a joy to behold: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRiU2N03Rzs

Just a jape referencing GhostofAnakin's Geralt being addicted to gambling via Gwent.

The new Witcher 3: Wild Hunt dlc, Intervention.

Two linked examples of the ambitious and convoluted narrative that the Legacy of Kain series provides, still some of my favourite moments in any medium:

Too many to name really: Being eaten by a Grue for the first time, a hint at what games might become. The graphics of Marsport, utterly stunning. Completing the Quest of the Avatar, a monolithic satisfaction. A passer by opening a set of windows in Trinsic, revealing my Avatar rifling through a store owners goods, and then giving me a good telling off for doing so. An open world still not bettered or even matched. Forging the Black Sword. Being mistaken for Deaths Hand by the Khans and walking away with Tandi Scot free. Meeting and talking with Harold the mutant and then discovering how integral his story was to the plot of the game as I played through. Arcanum, the revelation of who the antagonist was at the end of the game, which looking back was clearly signposted throughout if i'd paid more attention. Torian Kel. Torment, the first meeeting with Deionarra, and later her sensory stones revelation. The confrontation with Ravel, and the sad return to the fading branching of her that is Mebbeth. Walking around Kuldahar, in large part thanks to Mr Soule. Almost every moment with Kreia in the Sith Lords. Nolaloth in Neverwinter Nights 2, the Treeman in Mask of the Betrayer. Alpha Protocol, my first meeting with Conrad Marburg in Rome, fraught with tension and revelation. G22 and my first encounter with them in Taipei, managing to sneak a single bug into their network, despite all my others being detected. The magnificent chessmaster ending to Alpha Protocol. Finding where Jayne Kassynder murdered the last of the Tenth Legion in Dungeon Siege 3, and damned herself as well as the divine spark at the heart of the Mournweald. New Vegas, Vault 11. This one area changed my whole conception of the game and its factions, the Legion might be cruel and repressive but the NCR were blindly stumbling down the same path as the pre war world, and that was infinitely worse. Previously I had supported the NCR out of pride in how it had transformed from Shady Sands due to my actions, when I walked out of that vault I decided any way was better than theirs. The Witcher, almost all of this bawdy Chaucerish romp amused me, so nice to see vulgar humour and such a well realised world. The Witcher 2, being pincushioned by Iorveth's Squirrels because I decided to be flippant, any other game would not have the balls to kill the player at that point and implement no punishment or impediment for the player. I laughed with delight at a game actually having a logical consequence rather than as usual over catering to the spoiled player. Oh and of course almost all of the Lords of Midnight, tremendously ambitious and way ahead of its time, RIP Mr Singleton. Etcetera. Edit: I must add that there are too many moments to remember in Thief 1&2 where Garrett is hidden mere inches from an enemy who will no doubt kill him if discovered, only his supernatural Keeper shadowmastery and skills saving his hide. Sometimes I actually hold my breath while playing in such fraught circumstances, silly.

Congratulations Mr Fenstermaker. I have heartily enjoyed a lot of your work in Obsidian games, and of course wish you and your family the best of health and fortune, both now and in all future endeavours. A toast in your honour sir, cheers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-PIckHrZ0o

I keep looking at the art style of Tyranny and being put off, some of what's been revealed about the game I like but that DA2 art design is just really repulsive to me. I can understand that the designers wished to have a stylised artistry, and ofttimes that's no bad thing, but what they chose seems so simplistic and one step away. Then today I booted up a game I played awhile ago and found the perfect design for a faux Bronze Age setting: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oypl2xVpPBI Edit: Beautiful, recognisable, stylised, distinctive and just a little weird in that familiar Hellenistic manner. Enchanting all told, especially to those of us raised on the classics.