Completed The Medium, took just under 10hours, quite enjoyable for the most part. Gameplay-wise the most similar game I can think of would be SOMA, but with Resident Evil's camera/perspective (and then I'm talking about the OG)

I do wish they hadn't done the "cliffhanger" at the end though.

Game has some technical issues as well, I suffered two CTDs and it seriously stutters when switching to/from cutscenes, which kinda sucks when you need to react quickly.

If you like these types of games definitely worth playing through, though I'm not sure I'd pay the full price for it.

6 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

The fundamental problem with evil choices is that they're so often just chaotic stupid. Not even moustache twirling cliché (alt keys back, I can once again let my pretentiousness run wild), just out and out psychopathy for the sake of being able to say there's choice.

No doubt it's partly due to developers knowing that most players will never pick evil choices, so putting less effort in, but still.

The one game that I have played that truly provides an evil path is the Czech RPG Inquisitor

You can decide to align with the demonic forces, end up fighting the Archangel Gabriel as the end boss and plunging the entire world into eternal darkness

Of course I didnt follow that path but there are various dialogue options that align with the evil path you can follow

That game had the darkest narrative of any game I have ever played. Its really worth playing, you just need to accept the terrible combat mechanics

On 2/27/2026 at 5:56 PM, BruceVC said:

Here is an interesting story about the differences in the price of games on Steam depending on where you live

...

I never thought Steam would have such vast price differences for any game with the difference being where you live ?

You've obviously never lived in Australia 😂

The same game could be almost 100% more when purchased through Steam, if your geo-location was Australia. I think that was when I decided to get a commercial VPN solution. Also, at the time, there was some heavy censorship in games sold in Australia, because and old law forbidding the selling of 18+/R rated games in the country. Every attempt at repealing the law was met by one religious nutcase individuals veto until he eventually was forced out due to age. Aussies can now buy games with boobs and violence just like most other western countries (except Germany where blood is copper based instead of iron based)

Arenanet are bastards too when it comes to their cash shop for Guild Wars 2. The cash shop currency, "Gems", has a price that is the same in Euros and Australian dollars. I.e. the exact opposite of Steam. I can buy x number of "Gems" for either 50 AUD or 50 EUR. Guess what my VPN says on the rare occasion i actually spend money there? Hint, 50 EUR os roughly 80 AUD, so I of course chose to pay 50 AUD instead

Edit: A different consequence of regional pricing is the existence of cheap game keys from resellers. They get large shipments of otherwise legit keys redirected to them from low income regions and sell them at a markup to high income regions. The keys are valid, but also means low income regions regularly get deprived of the option of buying legit software at affordable prices

I finished up Tainted Grail. It was a fantastic game, really kept my interest and I enjoyed the story quite a bit. I was level 64 by the end and was uber strong. I went sword and board. I'd be curious to play again using magic. I got the good ending where you cure the red plague, although I did have to look up a couple dungeons I had missed to get that one. I also never did the expansion. I paid for it, but when I got to the temple entrance, I just didn't have the motivation to do that extra bit. I still ended up with a ton of hours in the game, about 55 in a few weeks, so it was well worth the price.

Now I'm playing Indiana Jones and the Perfect Circle. It's pretty solid, although a bit more combat heavy than I'd expect. Maybe I'm just not sneaky enough.

Edited March 5Mar 5 by Hurlshort

Slay the Spire 2 is very similar to the first one. Almost like an update.

Which means it's good, but also maybe not different enough for some players?

I'll probably play it more only after 1.0 hits.

I have finished Lyria part of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tale. So far, I am enjoying it. Some of the puzzles are pretty challenging, and some of them can be still won even if I messed up some moves ☺️ Story is interesting and already had few plot twists. I hope after I finish this, I'll find some guide, which will say, what would happen, if I choose different options 😄

New WoW expansion, is fun enough questing, although they're obsessed with family melodrama and seem to have redundant characters in Anduin and Arator. Guess they'll kill one off .

Thronebreaker is unironically best game in Witcherverse.

I completed Atomfall after about 50 hours

I really enjoyed it and I hope they make an Atomfall 2 and because the game exceeded sales expectations this is possible

I ended up choosing the Dr Holder ending, I wont go into details because of spoilers but I was happy with the end result

I have already mentioned what I liked about the game, the shortfalls dont detract from all the positive aspects of it

So in summary

• its a well done open-world game

• lots of different quests and several different endings that motivate exploration

• Quests tips and updates are provided by notes you find and its a good way to progress without making objectives too easy

• clever mechanics like the barter system, skills advancement and metal collector as a way to find resources

• a good survival balance of having to find resources and how you find those resources. Its challenging but not frustrating

• Combat is fun and different skills and weapons matter

• A good and realistic fast travel system, you can use a rapid travel network which is basically an underground train that only takes you to a single location on each map. So it saves time but you still need to walk to specific locations on each map

I decided to play the DLC Red Strain in the middle of the main narrative. You have to play the DLC like this because the game ends once you choose a final option. Red Strain is a worthwhile DLC with new weapons and a whole new map that ties into the main narrative around Oberon

Defintely recommend this game and it scores a 70/100 on the highly respected " BruceVC game rating system "

Diablo IV: Season of Slaughter

Ah, just kidding. It wouldn't be a Blizzard D4 season if it actually worked an hour after going live.

One of the best things about being a gamer is looking at your list of unplayed Steam and GOG games and deciding what to play next

Another best thing is finding a game on a sales special that you have always wanted to play

I am finally playing Red Dead Redemption 1, I have waited 14 years to play this game on PC

I spent close to 300 hours on RDR2 and Im looking forward RDR1 🤠

is anyone playing crimson desert ?

Finished Wavetale. A lovely and concise adventure, though easy and the full price does not quite match the quality.

---

Started Clash - Artefacts of Chaos. At some point, I spent 10 minutes staring at the left buttcheek of a humanoid boar because it was the only "safe" spot and the opponent was KO'ing me in 2 hits. Otherwise, the camera is the greatest foe, especially in group battles, and the dice mini-game feels useless. The invisible walls and the MC inability to vault over thigh-high fences is annoying.

The unique aspects of the game are the setting (feels like post-apocalypsis) and the focus on the unarmed combat. The bug with the stances (the game auto-selects the second stance randomly while I explicitly kept it empty because there is only one I am comfortable with) is unpleasant. Still, I am going to try to finish it, though cannot recommend.

---

Got the DLC for Saints Row on the latest Steam sale. The LARP one is fairly funny and fun. The heist one is 3 missions. I've also been trying to finish the optional activities on the map with relative success. The issue with pacing is less noticeable after completing the main story, though there is more fairly similar side quests than in the previous parts (as far as I remember). I still enjoyed the timed races ("Pony Express"), but would have preferred there being 50% less of it.

Edited March 14Mar 14 by Hawke64

2 hours ago, Hawke64 said:

---

Got the DLC for Saints Row on the latest Steam sale. The LARP one is fairly funny and fun. The heist one is 3 missions. I've also been trying to finish the optional activities on the map with relative success. The issue with pacing is less noticeable after completing the main story, though there is more fairly similar side quests than in the previous parts (as far as I remember). I still enjoyed the timed races ("Pony Express"), but would have preferred there being 50% less of it.

I really enjoyed the LARP DLC. With the heist one... I liked the start - the hubris of the celeb. The setup is great but then it is just two run of the mill missions.

I had fun with the murder circus. Reminded me a bit of Moxxy's arena in Borderlands 1. And I liked the stories of the characters in it.

On 3/13/2026 at 9:49 AM, Gorgon said:

is anyone playing crimson desert ?

No one but well-known twitch/review/game influencer people are (and they're still under non-disclosure), since it doesn't release until the 19th. :D

Not sure when the ND for those folks review video, will be lifted. I'd guess the 17th or 18th, assuming it'll be pre-release at all.

Edited March 15Mar 15 by LadyCrimson

Started and finished Starweave. It is 2 hour-long tactical game. It is linear, lacks many QoL features, but also affordable and looks fine.

Spent 2 hours sorting and uploading screenshots from the past 2-3 weeks. I suppose, it gives time to reflect on the games played?

On 3/13/2026 at 6:49 PM, Gorgon said:

is anyone playing crimson desert ?

I have watched several gameplay videos on this game and it looks excellent, almost too good to be true but its real

Crimson Desert -- initial setting/performance evaluation etc

Spent 70 minutes trying to find performance that fits me. I will say that if you're a 1080/1440 type, the game looks decent, whether native or a bit of upscaling. You can have a lot of things on High/Ultra and it may still get you 60fps, which is good re: older systems. With 4k as the starting resolution, it's a bit tougher on my old rig. I can get the usual mostly 60 if I fiddle a lot, but the game has the usual modern day problem where dropping a lot of settings doesn't really do tons for FPS until you go so low it's awful - and if you go below High on lighting, post-processing, shadows etc it start to look like poo ( especially if using DLSS 4, Quality or Balanced), like more and more artifacting and blurriness. Motion Blur, btw, is under Accessibility.

oh, if you have it don't use ray reconstructuring, it appears to dramatically tank fps at the moment. EDITEDIT: so for me it's not that I can't get ok FPS, it's that upscaling doesn't seem to work very well/doesn't look as good as DLSS usually does. Like the way they optimized graphics = less pixels for DLSS to work with and the result is kind of a mess.

My main issue in this early time is that Kliff moves like a brick. I feel like if I'm walking and want to get him to turn, he's a 3ton brick. Stiff, slow to respond. It's driving me crazy, can't get used to it yet. This is using KB/Mouse, haven't tried a controller.

KB/Mouse can be remapped - somewhat. But there are so many actions that require two or more button inputs, and many actions that use the same key, that it's difficult. I typically want to move anything tied to CNTRL and ALT elsewhere, to the right, and it's tough in this game. And I think WASD cannot be remapped, if you're left-handed or other preference.

I am undecided. I guess I have 30-40 more minutes to figure out if refunding/trying later would be better. :P

Edited yesterday at 03:44 PM1 day by LadyCrimson

OK, semi-scratch some of the above. For some reason, for me, it looks better on DLSS-Ultra-Performance vs. Balanced. >.>
Post-Processing Quality seems to hit fps fairly hard and so far doesn't seem to lose much looks if you have it Low. I might even like it better, since stuff like chromatic aberration/other seems tied to it. Ray Tracing (global illumination) vs. non-RT global seems to have little fps effect on/off so I left it on. Anyway, I got it where it looks pretty good/better on the big TV at 50-55fps. I'll post a vista scenic SS in the pic thread.

Don't judge graphics vs performance too much in the tutorial section, wait to you get to the first town/world proper (won't take too long).

There's a simple PhotoMode.

Kliff still feels like a brick.
Flavor NPC's say the same things over and over and over.
Voice acting is ok but nothing distinctive.
Horse riding is fine.
There seems to be an auto-loot chest available but you cannot (?) put anything into it, it's only for "rescuing" dropped loot that you missed/didn't see.
I picked up a bird and Kliff just held it in his hand
I've gone over refund time, so I guess I'm keeping it. :P

Edited yesterday at 04:03 PM1 day by LadyCrimson

If you see reviews/gameplays of Crimson Desert and they go on a small rant about UI/interface control setup, it's true. It sucks. Can you get used to it and eventually "memorize" enough for it to work. Sure. But they suck, to the point where you wonder if the UI/interface designer should be fired. It's bad enough that the first few hours feels like learning how to not hate the Ui.

I did try controller for a bit but it's not much better. And apparently you can't remap controller layout at all, unless some 3rd party app can force it.

I got stuck on that arm wrestling bit (you have to do it re: main questline) because I couldn't do the QTE mash timing, even after 30 tries, no idea why I usually can do those things fine. I finally realized I could spam both the general key on KB and controller at the same time and that bypassed even needing the QTE press timing. Which seems like an oversight but whatever.

The world outside is quite pretty even with lowered settings - but lower settings can turn candles/lights/fires into murky/artifact-y low res bloomy lighting making it hard to see in caves and/or at night occasionally. Camera inside tighter areas is annoying.

Actual gameplay - it's fine. Exploration motivation is there. Early area combat is super easy (I'm sure it's not forever). The controls/UI is just klunky, time-wasteful/tons of extra clicks and button holds to do anything etc. Cats/dogs to pet everywhere. Little quests, random occasional bandit surprise in early/training area. Many early sidequests you may want to skip, you can't really, because rewards are often inventory increase bags.

Early summation: seems like one of those games where if you can get past the bad UI, is one of those "it gets good after 15-20+ hours!" types.

Edited 17 hours ago17 hr by LadyCrimson

Tried Brush Burial. It is a stealth-focused immersive sim in a fantasy setting. Realised that I need to see the PC's model to navigate effectively (less of an issue when everything is slower and/or the PC feels "heavier"). Also, a map. So, I've got the 2 plants I needed to unlock the next level, but I do not know how to return to the portal I need to stick them in.

The controls are not rebindable, the game saves when you kick a checkpoint, and, when you reload, everything respawns. The health is restored only on reloading, which is odd.

The game does look quite good - the visual style reminds of the PS1 games and it is coherent. The UI does not - the health bar is the MC's face, while the inventory panel either takes too much space or you have to guess what items you have (no 3D model for the selected item; the key in hand is shown as an icon, but 2 of them have the same colour), the grab icon is black and mixes with dark environments. The sound design is present (i.e. there is combat music and things make sounds) and there is no VA.

---

Also tried to resume my Serpent in the Staglands playthrough. It did not go well, as I did not remember where and why I stopped or how to play. I liked the story premise (a god stripped of their power trying to recover it) and the visual style, but the lack of a quest log (that is not a map in the inventory with the "Go there and talk to Bob" note; "Bob" was several rooms deep and unhelpful). The very close camera distance, the lack of item highlights, and the respawning enemies did not help either.

---

Dungeons of Hinterberg looks and feels much less junky after playing Clash - the target lock actually works and you can both chase the target or hit in another direction effectively, the visuals are clear and crisp, and the game has a functional saving system. I also dropped the difficulty from Hard to Normal. It did not do much difference, but the opponents became less spongy.

---

Clash: Artefacts of Chaos. Got the second Great Artfact out of 4-5 (not sure), then a corridor run started. Fortunately, the game helpfully highlighted the corridor I was to run and the levels are much shorter when cleared of enemies. Then the boss battle with an unavoidable mini-game started and the auto-battle option was unavailable for story reasons. The boss was both tanky and quite hard-hitting. I am fairly certain that this is a character from the previous game in the series, but I do not remember much from it. It also might be an effective roadblock as the game does not have difficulty settings.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by Hawke64

Crimson Desert: Taming a pet requires "100 appreciation points" - you can only get 25pts per day (petting it). Dogs generally stay in place so you can return to a spot each day to pet it. The cats, so far, because you have to pick them up and pet while cradling them in arms, then put them down again, do not stay in place (they tend to run off) and if I return to an area I can't ever seem to find it again to pet it again.

Hadn't seen a cat I liked much anyway so I was eh. Then I saw --- a sleek black cat! It reminds me of Mr. Black! I must have it! So I picked it up. But if I set it down again, how would I find it again? So ... I never set it down again. Made Kliff stand in place, doing nothing, for 3 "days" while I did other IRL things, petting kitty each day. Until finally:

Forget anything else, this game is now a 10/10. Yes.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by LadyCrimson

That floating shield & weapons are triggering me.

27 minutes ago, HoonDing said:

That floating shield & weapons are triggering me.

Oh you. :D I didn't notice it while taking the shot because I was just staring at the SOFT KITTY WARM KITTY. Hehe.

But yeah. It's not something you're going to notice in normal gameplay - typical 3/4 top down 3rd person - outside of photo mode or full zoomed in and spinning the camera. There is a 1st person view in the game but I think you cannot fight/combat while in it - it'll knock you into the overhead 3rd person.

I have maybe 8 hrs of total gameplay and so far it's a mix of 50% "wow, cool, totally rad" and 50% "F! How annoying, how unnecessary, balderdash!"

I can also begin to see that while you can technically free-explore probably as much as you want, and there are some things you can discover/do on your own right away maybe, many of the mechanic features and/or larger things to do are going to be kinda gated by main questline progress steps, at least in the first several "chapters".

Edited 2 hours ago2 hr by LadyCrimson

Playing CO:E33. I wanted to try it just so I can say I tried it, but tbh I am surprised by how much I am enjoying the game so far.

Is there any point in pumping any other stat apart from luck?