What are you Playing Now? It's not how you play the game, it's how you place the blame

[LadyCrimson]

18 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Not sure how it interacts with photo modes, though.

3rd person open world rpg's usually allow you to turn the camera while they are standing still, or running/turning corners, so you get to see their face all the time in gameplay.

Anyway, it's not a big deal, limitations of tech or glitches, most of the time I don't think about it or notice, usually only when stopping to smell the flowers/take in a view, or running thru certain types of lighting areas (dark but candles, sunbeams) etc.

[LadyCrimson]

Hogwarts: having started two other House chrs, it does have a slightly different feel for that first hour or so after you get to the castle. The way the game introduces you to different House chrs, some dialogue bits. In one case the oddball entrance to one Common Room is this painting that I stared at/could not interact with while with another House. They are brief/small and not hugely significant but it makes the first section a little replayable. I would guess it feeling "different" would largely end once you start seriously free roaming outside of the castle and get a few hours into the main quest/collect-a-thon of the game.

[Hawke64]

Completed Song of Farca. I suppose, the general gameplay ideas (hacking cameras to access evidence and combining evidence to persuade/blackmail NPCs) are interesting, but the latter does not quite work - there is a specific piece of evidence for each line and they cannot be used in different order. Additionally, the story becomes about the MC's personal issues by the end, while the MC is hard to empathise with. Finally, somewhere mid-game failing puzzles slightly affects cases' outcomes, but it is not clear which puzzles have limited retries.
Review:

Spoiler

Song of Farca is an adventure game in a cyberpunk setting. The story follows a private investigator, Isabella Song, under house arrest in the city of Farca as the tensions between the citizens and the corporations are rising. The main character’s personality and manner of speech are predetermined, and might be off-putting. She, a gay cis immigrant woman, uses homophobic slurs, casually threatens, blackmails, and sends a random person to prison without conclusive evidence. Additionally, the police are presented as well-meaning but powerless, while the protesters are universally sociopathic. Finally, the game briefly raises the topic of domestic violence without offering a resolution or providing agency to the survivor.

On the other hand, the setting itself features a diverse cast of characters, though it was hard to notice differences in the manner of speech, and the dialogues are not voiced. Also, some of the NPC appear in several cases. It could be said that it gives them more depth, or that the narrative roles were attached to the NPCs thoughtlessly.

As typical for adventure games, many dialogues are linear or the options are meaningless, making some of the story-significant choices hard to notice. The game structure is comfortable - the cases are clearly separated and mostly self-contained, with some choices and consequences in terms of story, though none of them affects the end-game turning point.

There are several types of puzzles - finding the information in a location from a top-down view, with all interactive objects, clues, and characters clearly marked. Another type is finding 4-digit passwords based on clues. In a highly digital society leaving hints on physical objects is most prudent, unlike such unimaginative software as KeyPass.  Finally, there are dialogue-based "conclusions" - combining two pieces of information into an argument to convince an NPC. At the beginning, there are no direct penalties for failing and retrying puzzles or time limits, but from mid-game and onward failing some of the puzzles affects the story, and it is not clearly communicated which of them allow retries.

The visual style is fitting - the top-down view of the locations and the investigation GUI are minimalistic and easy to read, while the portraits are detailed, expressive, and have some animation. The cutscenes in the apartment can be missed due to the interface, while being unskippable.

The music is present and not annoying, but changes according to the context automatically only for the last case, though the tracks can be changed in-game.

The quality of life features are severely lacking - there are no hotkeys, the game uses auto-saves, it is impossible to skip cutscenes and animations, actual choices and consequences are unmarked. On a positive note, the objective and the number of clues to discover is clearly shown and it is possible to reset a location to its original state. Also there are several hints and the answer for the 4-digit puzzles.

Overall, Song of Farca is a serviceable if unremarkable point-and-click adventure game.

Edited March 13, 2023 by Hawke64
Added story-/setting-related information to the review.

[Malcador]

WoW PvP is something else, after 17 years people still fight on the roads in AB, forgetting the lessons of their mothers and fathers.  Damn, my WoW main is almost 18.

[Humanoid]

17 minutes ago, Malcador said:

WoW PvP is something else, after 17 years people still fight on the roads in AB, forgetting the lessons of their mothers and fathers.  Damn, my WoW main is almost 18.

Oh for the (literal) day of AV. Play a bit, have a full night's sleep, rejoin in the morning.

[Malcador]

32 minutes ago, Humanoid said:

Oh for the (literal) day of AV. Play a bit, have a full night's sleep, rejoin in the morning.

Used to have them last 4-5 days, see people log in after work, out for sleep, repeat.  Was a great experience though, battle would have ebbs and flows then ends on maintenance day, hah

[LadyCrimson]

Hogwart's -

For different Houses, the flavor and certain early bits change, but it pretty much ends after the Trophy gain point. So they created/filled in a Trophy incentive re: Houses but that's about it I think. I'm not going to bother doing full run with all 4.

But I think I will do a (quicker) full run as Slyther House, because I can use that Any Time Companion mod to use Sebastian or Ominus most of the time. Mostly because I like the idea thematically. Plus it'll be a run where I purposely try to stay somewhat underpowered (no mega-enchants on gear at least). And maybe also because, it's been raining for days and it's still better than watching a lot of TV etc. 

[Serrano]

I was  obsessed with Midnight Suns over January and February. I remember the game took a bit of a kicking over it's writing when reviews first started coming out but once I got used to the tone that the game follows I think the writing was pretty good, if a bit cringey in places. The cast of characters really grew on me and there were some good one liners and a very wholesome dynamic between the cast, it really felt like a little family. Overall I'd rate Midnight Suns pretty highly, it's got a much shorter lifespan than something like XCOM by being so story-driven but it was a great experience while it lasted.

[Gorth]

On 3/13/2023 at 9:28 AM, Malcador said:

WoW PvP is something else, after 17 years people still fight on the roads in AB, forgetting the lessons of their mothers and fathers.  Damn, my WoW main is almost 18.

I'm not normally a fan of PvP and generally avoid it in games... but I do have a blast playing the large scale "PvP" in Guild Wars 2. Just something fascinating by scores of people fighting, sometimes hundreds around a truly contested objective like "Stone Mist Castle"

It's a game mode called WvW (World vs. World) and pits servers against each other on a set of maps where 3 teams fight it out in a all vs. all (i.e. team vs. team) kind of way. Featuring sieges with catapults, mortars, ballistae etc. trying to break down walls (or repair them), fighting over supply lines, outposts, castles and sometimes citadels. Much bloodshed and much violence. Unlike the PvP arena where you have a limited selection of gear and skills (to ensure fair fights on a small scale), on the large scale fights, anything goes for your build and your gear. Structured groups are well organized with the role assignment for buff, heals, area denials etc.

 

[LadyCrimson]

Hogwart's - possible Windows CTD fix:

Deleted the files in this folder:
---\Users\$yourname$\AppData\Local\D3DSCache

They repopulate themselves, but you can back them up to be safe. It's apparently a Windows DX related folder that normally you wouldn't touch, but if one or multiple games are crashing a lot, it's something to try. I haven't had any CTD in Hogwart's, over multiple session, since (couple of days), whether trying to start the game or after a few hours or more. 

I also did yet another round of nvidia gpu and game cache folder deletions at the same time, but not sure that was necessary as I'd done that before and while it sorta seemed to briefly help, it would always get worse again, for me at least.

[Malcador]

12 hours ago, Gorth said:

I'm not normally a fan of PvP and generally avoid it in games... but I do have a blast playing the large scale "PvP" in Guild Wars 2. Just something fascinating by scores of people fighting, sometimes hundreds around a truly contested objective like "Stone Mist Castle"

It's a game mode called WvW (World vs. World) and pits servers against each other on a set of maps where 3 teams fight it out in a all vs. all (i.e. team vs. team) kind of way. Featuring sieges with catapults, mortars, ballistae etc. trying to break down walls (or repair them), fighting over supply lines, outposts, castles and sometimes citadels. Much bloodshed and much violence. Unlike the PvP arena where you have a limited selection of gear and skills (to ensure fair fights on a small scale), on the large scale fights, anything goes for your build and your gear. Structured groups are well organized with the role assignment for buff, heals, area denials etc.

 

WH:O was supposed to be like that, but gamers pursuit of efficiency led to it being trading, if I recall

WoW PVP is also good for getting abuse by Gods that deigned to slum it if you don't heal them all the time.  Shame these addons eliminate situational unawareness by people, I get primaried after first or second heal.

[Keyrock]

I finished the Hogwarts Legacy main story, I am level 38. I thought about trying to hit the level 40 cap, but you level so ridiculously slowly after level 35. I'll play through the game again and on hard difficulty in the future, perhaps I'll try to hit lev 40 before the final main story mission then. My current play time, according to Steam, is 69.8 hours.

Anyway, great game, I had a blast playing it. This game was wildly successful, both critically and especially financially, despite some (rather unsuccessful) calls to boycott. Apparently JK Rowling is cancelled or something? I don't know, I don't pay attention to these things, nor do I care. I assume she had an opinion that people didn't like, or maybe she clubbed a seal to death? Perhaps she's bankrolling the war in Ukraine? Whatever.

Clearly there's going to be a sequel after the billion dollars, and counting, that this game made. I think the way to go is to set it in one of the other magic schools. The obvious choice would be Ilvermorny in Murica, but I hope they go with Castelobruxo in Brazil. I could go for some rainforest wizarding, plus the name is way better.

Edited March 14, 2023 by Keyrock

[Wormerine]

Finished Solasta's Lost Valley DLC.

What the base game did well (5e combat) the DLC does better - more variety, more fun encounter a bit more challenge and ability to run into high level enemies.

I thought original's campaign decision to be fairly linear was a good direction to take considering the scope of the game. More open nature of the DLC was a bit of the mess. Narrative side of the title is still rather weak, so I can't say I had any particular feelings about the factions and without linearity I struggled to remember what am I doing and why. Completing quest became more of a checking of boxes exercised. I made lady with a pettable wolf happy, so that's all I cared about in the end.

It also became abundabtly clear that even limited non-linearity of the DLC was beyond the capabilities of the studio. By the end of the game the campaign barely held together. Turns out I did final mission without realising, and was stuck babysitting a critical NPC for a solid couple hours of gametime as I was tying up loose ends. On top of that after completing their chain quests two other factions sent me to the same final dungeon, which made things a bit awkward.

The ending was rather anti-climactic, but maybe it was my fault for choosing a fairly pacifit route. Convincing baddy to not fight us was even more lame than in ME1. Especially disappointed as I did a bit of grinding to get to max level, and was finally able to craft some nice weapons - that I never got a chance to try out outside couple random encounters.

To top it off, ending slides didn't get my choices right, though it is hardly surprised considering how much the game struggled to keep up with what is happening by the end of it.

I do hope the final story DLC will be a bit more coherent.

[LadyCrimson]

@Keyrock So what cha playing next? I liked running the early section of other Houses and I intend to finish a 2nd full story playthru, minus the collect-a-thon, but after that ... I guess it will be back to pressing the Meow button in Stray.

eg. I need a new game again. I've seen some videos of "upcoming 2023 rpg's" and a few singleplayers look maybe interesting but I'm so clueless these days re: what's supposed to be good/what's out.

...I wish I was interested in Diablo4. Or rather, I wish there would be an Offline version of Diablo4. Assuming it's actually not a minefield of transaction fees.

[Keyrock]

52 minutes ago, LadyCrimson said:

@Keyrock So what cha playing next?

AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative

If it's anything like the previous game, or other Spike Chunsoft games, it's going to be really weird and go to some extremely dark places.

[Hawke64]

16 hours ago, Keyrock said:

Anyway, great game, I had a blast playing it. This game was wildly successful, both critically and especially financially, despite some (rather unsuccessful) calls to boycott. Apparently JK Rowling is cancelled or something? I don't know, I don't pay attention to these things, nor do I care. I assume she had an opinion that people didn't like, or maybe she clubbed a seal to death? Perhaps she's bankrolling the war in Ukraine? Whatever.

Rowling harasses trans people, including advocating of removing legal protection and healthcare access. Thought that it was well known. Unlike Atomic Heart, which developers might be connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, HL certainly benefits a person who attacks a vulnerable social group for kicks.

---
Record of Lodoss War-Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth-. Defeated 2 bosses on the first attempt. I like their design, though it is hard to adjust to the MC dodging back instead of in the direction of movement. The second boss, a Dark Elf, stole the recently-acquired mysterious item (no item description, looked like a dark purple sphere) and escaped upon being defeated. The pre-battle banter allowed to assume that the MC is not the only amnesiac person around.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Hawke64

[Keyrock]

AI: The Somnium Files - nirvanA Initiative. The game starts out with a flashback scene of some quiz show and then these faceless bodies get split in half, from top to bottom. Then I am playing as Mizuki, who was the sort of adopted daughter of the protagonist of the last game. She was a kid back then and now she's 18, which is still a kid to someone my age, but that's besides the point. Anyway, after a sniper takes shots at me I discover half a body in the center of a stadium. Turns out it's the other half of the body of a famous businessman that appeared after a brief blackout on the floor at the quiz show from the flashback, accompanied by a sign with a QR code (I naturally scanned the QR code and it took me to a YouTube video surreal and weird enough to make David Lynch jealous), which was 6 years earlier. If that's not bizarre enough, the coroner determines the time of death to be just hours earlier, so somehow this half of a body whose other half was discovered 6 years prior died just hours earlier. 

This all happens in the first 10 minutes of the game, so I'm not spoiling anything.

The best part is that Spike Chunsoft games start weird and typically get MUCH weirder from there. Also, all the pieces of the puzzle always fit at the end and stay consistent with the logic of the game, even if that logic is bat**** crazy. I'm guessing that it's a clone. I'm probably wrong, but that's all I can think of to make this make any sort of sense.

Edited March 15, 2023 by Keyrock

[Hurlshort]

6 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

Rowling harasses trans people, including advocating of removing legal protection and healthcare access. Thought that it was well known. Unlike Atomic Heart, which developers might be connected to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, HL certainly benefits a person who attacks a vulnerable social group for kicks.

 

I have mixed feelings on the whole JK Rowlings thing. I certainly don't put her on a pedestal. But at this point, the whole Harry Potter IP is way bigger than her narrow opinions. The development team that made Hogwarts Legacy certainly doesn't deserve to be condemned for her actions.

[HoonDing]

Didn't she insult disabled people too or was that just Drump

[MrBrown]

20 hours ago, Wormerine said:

Finished Solasta's Lost Valley DLC.

What the base game did well (5e combat) the DLC does better - more variety, more fun encounter a bit more challenge and ability to run into high level enemies.

I thought original's campaign decision to be fairly linear was a good direction to take considering the scope of the game. More open nature of the DLC was a bit of the mess. Narrative side of the title is still rather weak, so I can't say I had any particular feelings about the factions and without linearity I struggled to remember what am I doing and why. Completing quest became more of a checking of boxes exercised. I made lady with a pettable wolf happy, so that's all I cared about in the end.

It also became abundabtly clear that even limited non-linearity of the DLC was beyond the capabilities of the studio. By the end of the game the campaign barely held together. Turns out I did final mission without realising, and was stuck babysitting a critical NPC for a solid couple hours of gametime as I was tying up loose ends. On top of that after completing their chain quests two other factions sent me to the same final dungeon, which made things a bit awkward.

The ending was rather anti-climactic, but maybe it was my fault for choosing a fairly pacifit route. Convincing baddy to not fight us was even more lame than in ME1. Especially disappointed as I did a bit of grinding to get to max level, and was finally able to craft some nice weapons - that I never got a chance to try out outside couple random encounters.

To top it off, ending slides didn't get my choices right, though it is hardly surprised considering how much the game struggled to keep up with what is happening by the end of it.

I do hope the final story DLC will be a bit more coherent.

Sounds like they haven't fixed much in the DLC since release. Sad.

[Wormerine]

3 hours ago, MrBrown said:

Sounds like they haven't fixed much in the DLC since release. Sad.

Well, none of the quest broke, strictly speaking, so that's something. Ending slide

Said that I left the valley in chaos without anyone ruling on the throne, which I don't think is correct as I left Orenetis alive and well - just reunited with his other half. Unless he pissed off to do some soul searching and slide is correct, but if that is the case, than the game didn't properly explained that. 

[uuuhhii]

On 3/15/2023 at 10:34 PM, Hurlshort said:

I have mixed feelings on the whole JK Rowlings thing. I certainly don't put her on a pedestal. But at this point, the whole Harry Potter IP is way bigger than her narrow opinions. The development team that made Hogwarts Legacy certainly doesn't deserve to be condemned for her actions.

heard rowling was donating massive amount of money to some dangerous group

so many people are desperately trying to not give rowling more money

too late at this point

[uuuhhii]

going back to more choice of game

struggling with reading more and more with worse eye

[majestic]

Everyone involved in making these two achievements needs to die, perferably in a very uncomfortable, painful way, something out of the medieval ridiculous executions book. To quote Lindsay Ellis: "Thanks, I hate it!"

[LadyCrimson]

3 hours ago, majestic said:

Everyone involved in making these two achievements needs to die, perferably in a very uncomfortable, painful way, something out of the medieval ridiculous executions book. To quote Lindsay Ellis: "Thanks, I hate it!"

LOL  Well,  they wanted those saying that they 100% the game, to truly mean it.

But yeah, I have those two and the battle areas (so, 3) left. I think the Collections one is worse because when you're missing one or three it can be hard to figure out how to get them. It's probably Butterflies one missed, something like that. Or a chest/counter bug.