Hurlshort

This was definitely sarcasm. Nice to see @alanschu posting.

I've got a speeder and I've crossed some desert in Dune without getting eaten. It is strange playing single player, since you don't have the urban sprawl of the online servers. It's a bit more creepy knowing I'm the only one out there in the desert with the worm. I also started Cyberpunk and bought the expansion. The game seems to run much better than it did at launch. I'm playing a female V. 4 different choices of nipples is quite the customization options. I had my wife help with my character so it wouldn't be weird.

JA3 is a fantastic game.

You can add Dawnwalker to that list. Best story driven RPG I've played outside of Obsidian games. Colony Ship is the only one on your list I really dug.

I started playing Dune single player, which is nice. It basically works like Conan Exiles now and you can set all the rules yourself. I have no idea why they didn't do that at the start, but better late than never.

Unfortunately PoE was on life support when PoE 2 didn't sell well enough, and Avowed was the last chance for that IP to hit it big. Outer Worlds 2 basically did the same thing. It is frustrating because these are all very good games in interesting universes. But Obsidian isn't a small independent studio that can survive with a small loyal fanbase. They need mainstream success to be profitable, and they are only going to get that with an established IP. It's a bummer, but I still expect their Fallout game to be fantastic.

Finished Dawnwalker. I was happy with my ending. I did run out of time on some stuff that I wanted to do, but I was also ready to finish the game after sinking 45 hours into it. I really enjoyed the story and Lacra is my new girlfriend. She would never admit it, of course, but she is clearly sweet on me. Post credits scene was cool. Honestly I'm just glad to know the game did well and I look forward to future games. I've had a great month of gaming with this and Zero Company. I don't finish a lot of games, so finishing two in a month is a surprise. They were both fantastic.

The quests in Dawnwalker also all do a fantastic job of connecting with the main goal. They don't feel like detours, they feel like puzzle pieces that unlock the bigger picture of the main antagonist. It's really well done.

It sounds like you don't really need to remove the time because you an get through most of the content in the 30 days. I'm feeling a bit of pressure. I'm level 22, around Day 13, and I've only killed one of the court. But I'm doing a ton of different side quests and they are all extremely interesting. The day/night mechanic is really keeping me jumping around too, since so many quests are tied to it. I know games using certain times for quests aren't new, but Dawnwalker does a great job of it. It feels very different playing at night versus day. Also Coen is possibly my favorite protagonist in a game in a long time. I'm excited to see what the developer does with him next.

Oh. Is there crafting?

I finished Zero Company. It was a blast. If you enjoyed Clone Wars or Bad Batch, you are doing yourself a disservice by not playing this game. It is a perfect part of that corner of the Star Wars universe. It was a really good Star Wars game with very little Jedi and Sith stuff. So yeah, story and characters hit on all notes. Gameplay wise it was a more developed version of Chimera Squad. Not enough people played that game, so I'm not sure if that helps. It wasn't quite Xcom, with smaller maps and a more limited cast of soldiers, but it still had a pretty rewarding tactical combat experience. The game is really setup for a longer mode, a la Long War. There isn't really a reason the game has to end after a certain amount of cycles. You could keep doing missions, running intel, and developing your mercs for years if the game would let you. The systems are all there. I didn't even touch the black market or recruiting screen. So hopefully this games gets some post launch additions, despite the alarming furlough stuff, because everything is in place for it. Running a full droid squad, or Mandos, or Clones is definitely an option. The story kind of gets in the way of the decent strategy engine. Hopefully modders will take to it.

Ok, but Starcraft is a strategy game. Why does it need so many years in development? 2030? Are they waiting another couple years to start working on the game?

I would totally dig a pacifist DOOM game, btw.

I actually really prefer this over the way Bethesda RPG's give you what seems like an urgent quest, and then expect you to do a bunch of silly sidequests instead. Your kid has been kidnapped! But first you should clean some radroaches out of a basement. No rush. Dawnwalker is very clear about how much time you have, but also why you can't just rush off and save your family. So far all of the quests have been somewhat tied to the main story. Your spending your 30 days trying to weaken the bad guys, gain allies, and get strong enough to not get murdered right away. But yeah, there is some choice and consequences to how you use your time. We are used to C&C through conversations in RPG's, but this is just a different system. Sure, I wanted to help that lady rebury her kid, but I also needed to get some medicine to my mom before it got dark. It's an interesting system. I'm level 15 and I think I'm close to challenging the first minor boss guy. I prefer the daylight and witchcraft system, so I tend to use all my skill points at night, which shortens that part of the game. We will see if that bites me in the rear down the road. Witchcraft is pretty awesome. Blood boiling is terrifying.

There is an easy mode and I am currently playing it. Combat is complicated, with a bunch of different directions to block and attack. I don't love it. Easy mode seems to simplify it a bit. I can just block and attack. I'm only about 5 hours in though, so I don't know if it will get harder or boring. So far it hasn't been combat heavy. Lots of exploring and investigating.