MrBrown

https://www.gameinformer.com/exclusive/2024/06/18/a-deep-dive-into-dragon-age-the-veilguards-combat-abilities-skill-tree-and

Finished Skald. Not sure I liked the ending, but, oh well, it wasn't bad enough to make me dislike the game.

Not in the game itself, I don't think.

18 hours into Skald. It's pretty good. The mechanics are clearly D&D inspired, but different enough to be interesting, and not complex enough to weigh down too much. The game has stuff like eating, resting and crafting, but does all these more fluidly than games like the new Pathfinder RPGs, so they don't feel tiring. There's some rough edges to the mechanics, but overall it's decent. Somehow, the creator also managed to mesh the writing really well with the retro look. The game has a clear atmosphere to it and doesn't feel too generic or too weird to comprehend. It won't be the best RPG I ever played, but I found it to be worth the price.

I never thought Dragon Age was particularly dark fantasy, but now everyone on the internet seems to be saying it was.

Looks more like previous Bioware games than the trailer. Like DA:I and the later Mass Effects. Combat looks like what I'd expect when they said it's more into the ME direction from DA:I. Not sure which of the action the PC is taking is something triggered by the player, what is the consequence of some enemy action. The city depicted, Minrathos, certainly seems more high-magic than anything in previous DAs, but I guess that's true to lore. Certainly left me a more positive impression than the trailer.

40$ for an expansion. Well, with the base game being that pricey, I guess it was inevitable. Ultimate edition is 90$. Seems it's just cosmetics, no early access this time.

Did they say something like that? Or are you just assuming it based on the art style?

How so? Aside from the art style (which I don't like), it's a cinematic, and doesn't really tell anything.

Been playing the new season of Diablo 4. They revamped a lot of the itemization and other stuff, and... well, it's a bit better now, you don't have to spend hours comparing items, and late-game isn't as much of slow drudge as it was before. But it's still fundamentally the same game. If you were turned off by the slow late game, then you might enjoy the changes. But people who stopped playing for other reasons probably still won't find any reason to come back.

I hope they make different enough from Civ6. 6 was basically an upgrade on 5, but I'm not sure there's that much interesting stuff to explore that way.

So many announcement videos at Summer Game Fest... and felt like 90% where "check for gameplay video later this year". Bleh.

Now go crazy with speculation.

Looks like they changed the name. Gameplay reveal in June 11. https://blog.bioware.com/2024/06/06/TheVeilguard/

Yeah, I doubt it highly as well. But if I post every rumor, then I can go "I said so" when one of them comes true.

I read somewhere that it's turned more in the Mass Effect direction, where you mostly control the main character and the party members don't contribute as much. Can't remember where I read it, so no idea how true. EDIT: Oh, it was mentioned in that article too, guess I didn't imagine it.

https://www.guru3d.com/story/microsoft-reportedly-readies-billion-bid-to-acquire-valve-steam/

Free on steam for a week. Can recommend: https://store.steampowered.com/app/289130/ENDLESS_Legend/

Hinterlands can be annoying also because enemy mobs spawn close to each other and respawn fast, so you can get overwhelmed fast. Other areas in the game are much more manageable.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/05/13/square-enix-is-done-with-playstation-exclusivity-after-profit-drop/

Turns out it was not worth it:

How can this whole debacle be worth it for Sony?

Yeah, that's sort of the joke about it. It's so similar to their previous games, it feels like it was made 10 years ago.

https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/todd-howard-reckons-he-knows-why-starfield-was-so-divisive-it-was-too-different-than-youve-seen-from-us-in-past/