always wanted macro management game like county of fortune

instead of micro management that let player place individual statue bill board and convenience store

hope this game work out

New D4 season, so time to work on my RSI

I started Void Marauders.

xcom clone in space.

The plot is literally that you are searching for an artifact that will make you king of the (space) pirates.

---Scritchy Scratchy. It was $5.60 and looked like it might be stoopid fun for a few hours. Then ofc, I never fired it up.
So I now have a game backlog of --- two. I blame Markiplier.

---Borderlands 4 has gone on sale a couple times now, where it's maybe $40-$45 or something. Each time I ponder for 10 seconds then say "nope, not cheap enough yet." Maybe one day it'll be $24.99. That might be low enough.

---7 Days to Die 3.0 went stable. So I'm still messing with it a bit. It's definitely the version I'd use if I really want zombies on because difficulty is so customizable without 400 .xml edits. But on the other hand, it feels a tad less flexible re: such simple, direct .xml file editing. They changed stuff, hardcoded more stuff etc. I still think I like 1.0/b333 (or even A20/A21) better for that. Also, the new "random better stats" on gear is nice. So you might find an early lvl2 Stone Axe or lvl1 Pistol with more damage or more range or less stamina used than a normal version of it. Makes loot hunting initially a tad more interesting.

Mafia - I'm playing the redone original. I finished it before the remake, and I remember enjoying it, but I really don't remember the story at all. It's well done though. The city feels alive and the story is solid. I bought the 3rd game with it as a pack (already owned 2) so I might play that next.

After looking through the screenshots, I've realised that I "finished" (as in, got pretty far and grew tired of bugs) Retro Abyss. A somewhat meta bullet-hell. The "numbers go up" part and the visual design were enjoyable, the story did not quite land for me (the in-game player seems to be a set character) and the writing was somewhat off in terms of phrasing or translation. The main issue is that the game stopped saving the progress between the sessions at some point and the cut-scenes were unskippable.

Decided to let Absinthia be - I really do not like the RPGMaker combat system and the linear story, even if the core party is quite appealing.

Replayed I was a Teenage Exocolonist for the "best" ending and got a few more along the way. It is welcome to see a mostly visual novel that takes the advantage of Unity not being a VN-only engine (i.e. you can run around the maps with the keyboard). It is somewhat less enjoyable when you are going from the start to the end and trying to optimise to hit few very specific things, but it was quite nice to see some mid-game endings and the full character endings.

---

Virtue and a Sledgehammer demo. I liked the aesthetic and the presentation, but destroying robots in a forest felt wrong. One must go for the squishy and, most importantly, not-flameable meatbag that had put the robots there. Which, I assume, was the goal, but unachieveable during the demo. Still, reminded me of Johnny Gat.

Edited July 4Jul 4 by Hawke64

Goal nr. 4/2026 achieved.

July 4, 15:15 – After few breaks in-between playing Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales from GOG, I have finally finished it 3 months after the first launch. It was my first and blind playthrough, which I have finished with unlock of all except two achievements, and which took me about 48 hours to play. I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised, how much I have enjoyed this game, despite it being a deckbuilder, which is a genre, which I usually avoid. The main reason would be tons of choice of consequences, which were sometimes very hard to choose from and the consequences which I choose were sometimes pretty damning. All I can do now, is just hope, that CD Project will one day decide to make at least one more Witcher Tale, because there are very few games with such rich C&C gameplay.

For some reason BL4's sale price went down further, to $35ish. So I bought it simply to see how it runs on my desktop/maybe refund. I'm expecting - not terribly well. CPU might be a bottleneck at anything below 4k, too. Unsure.

But mostly I came here to express annoyance at (DL) size bloat of some AA/AAA games these days. BL4 is 105GB and even with avg. 75MB speed still gonna be 25-30 minutes. Crimson Desert was over 100GB too. It's becoming more normalized vs. occasional outlier. Even with my fidelity nitpicks at times, I'd rather less micropixel texture, tbh, vs. all this space. I remember being "amazed" that FO:NV was 10gb.

In terms of being a gamer, I'm definitely starting to fall into the "ancient retired Warrior/King". It's all too ridiculous.

EDIT: also, can Steam at least increase the refund window to 2.5 hours? Games that may have you and your older rig sitting for 10+ minutes compiling shaders etc eats up that time before you can judge anything beyond "does it start when you click Play."

Edited July 4Jul 4 by LadyCrimson

BL4 - surprisingly it runs mostly ok with a lot of lowered settings. So 4k-DLSS ultra performance, some high, some medium, some low (or off if it lets me, doesn't always). Very clearly CPU bound (cpu 70-90%, GPU - 25%) or something, but stable 60, temps fine, VRAM fine, and clarity still looks decent re: BL funky graphic style. The increased/double jump is fun. The inventory UI/graphics suck (too many things look the same while looking for specific items). There's a new infinite heal item you equip that has a cooldown timer - which I suppose is nice, except I think because of that they also increased enemy hit damage and movement speeds.

Even more interesting, decided to create a Family Share for 1st time ever, so hubby could see if it would run on his desktop. He wasn't expecting it to - but it does. Even starting at 4k, with no DLSS (some kind of Temporal+generic scaling?) all low etc, 30-45fps but didn't notice any bad stutter/terribad frame-pacing. He could lock it at 30 and play (he's not that picky). He's using a Xeon W-2133 and gtx 1660. Could be some busy areas that would still be fps-tankers tho.

No real LAN in BL4 however (so Family Share wouldn't work to co-op, can't both play at same time if Online mode).
With all the jumping and grappling now tho, early on feels less like BL and more like a jumping/platform gameplay. Hubby has the week off so I guess I'm not refunding/we'll see if we like it more after 10 hrs (vs. 2-3).

Edited July 5Jul 5 by LadyCrimson

Finished Mafia Definitive Edition. I wasn't going crazy, they did change the story quite a bit. The ending was pretty good. I'm going to play Mafia 3 next.

Since he discovered Borderlands 4 will run on his old PC, hubby bought his own copy and I disbanded the Family Group.

Neither of us have really played it tho. We both did the tutorial and then I did the first couple quests, where they teach you another new ability (short gliding to reach areas too far for a jump) and how you'll find "safe haven" spots (teleporter, machines, kind of a mini-base in a way). They changed it so ammo/backpack upgrades aren't purchased with general cash anymore, now you get "points" as mission rewards (dunno if there are farmable items for it) and spend those.

Nothing about these short early ventures inspires me to play long sessions. I could see myself doing one or two missions at a time, but that's about it. Could feel more "Borderlands-like" at some mid-point tho, who knows. But the backpack/gear/other menu UI still sucks/feels annoying to deal with, which is part of the "I think I'll stop here" sensation.

Ixion. This game is good despite its gameplay. The game has negative QoL mechanics, it's like they tried to make the game difficult by making the gameplay obnoxious. The simplest example being cargo ships which will go pick up a resource from a pile and if that pile has 1 unit of resource it will pick it up and go back to base to deliver it, instead of first filling its cargo limit from another pile before going back. But wait it's even worse than that. If another ship picks up that 1 unit that remains in the pile and a second ship was also going to that same pile, the second ship will visit the empty pile, not pick anything up because there is nothing there, and then return to base with nothing before going to the next resource pile.

That is just one example out of many, but even taking that in to account the game is very addicting and fun to play. It's just that it could have been that much better...

Edited Saturday at 04:09 PM2 days by Sarex

I've been playing Lost Eidolons: Veil of the Witch and it is an amazing improvement over the first game in all aspects.

The developers addressed the issues I had with the first Lost Eidolons - they culled the small talk and fetch quests, made the characters distinct and good-looking, and even added helmets and character customisation (granted, only name, gender expression, and skin colour, but it is progress). The combat encounters are also more varied and challenging, while the character skill progression has a good pace.

While it is still just a tactical game with a linear story and some optional content, now with RNG in the mix, it is, nonetheless, enjoyable. There are difficulty options, fairly frequent auto-saves (on every area transition, though the OS file management system has to be used for the save file management), rebindable controls, adequate system requirements, and skippable animations. There are also persistent upgrades (most things reset between expeditions due to the game being a Rogue-like) and a limited ability to replay the previous battles.

The soundtrack does not seem to have any vocal tracks, but it fits the game well and is quite pleasant to listen to.

I have reached the Normal Ending and currently trying to farm for the Completionist one and gather all optional party members. Hopefully, I will be able to achieve both around the same time and within a reasonable time frame (without getting bored).

Ok - played more of BL4, a bit at a time. Still in the first map. I'd say this game "does get better" after the first 2-4 hours. Then ofc as you lvl and get more perks/gear to play with. Mostly, after that prologue and early few missions, where you start to feel like you can go do whatever you want and ignore the main mission for a while.

The world design is somewhat denser than previous, in terms of both small/not much to larger bits smushed together. The double-jump and short jump-glide make exploring "what's over/up there" more engaging. The 1st vehicle (a sort of motorcycle I guess) you get drives 100% better than any BL game, although I still have little use for it vs. running. Because of a lot more heights (there's even a zipline system as well as teleport station), snipers seem more fun to use again too. I guess there's a big-bad villain but I keep not caring. Better than BL3's silly plot stuff but still not Handsome Jack.

Main problem is I still don't really like any of the playable chrs. Tried 3 of them/their action skills. They're not bad, but don't fit my playstyle, not even the pet-chr. Usually I like at least one a lot. This time around they're all "eh." Also, while exploring is more fun than in BL3, I don't have a sense I'd want to replay it much, like it'd be a 50-100hr game and then over. And that might be ok. But just saying. Early conclusion: it's nowhere near as terrible as reputation might lead one to believe, but it's also not exactly compelling. I actually think in the long run I might prefer it over BL3, but not sure that's saying tons.

Edited 15 hours ago15 hr by LadyCrimson

Im 50 hours in ToEE and time for another update

I cant keep singing the praises enough of the combat mechanics. Almost every single battle is interesting and several require a serious change of strategy.

There are too many memorable events to cover so I will just discuss the main ones

My party is now on level 6 and additional access to new abilities and spells adds even more variety and strategy to combat

I initially entered the Temple through the Tower Ruins and faced a massive battle with bandits, mages and witches. But I was successful on my third try by using spells and there AOE. So spells like Fog Cloud and Glitterdust helped with enemy archers. And Charm Person is incredibly useful, seeing the main bandit wizard use fire magic on his comrades was hilarious

The Tower took me directly to level 3 and I also found the well entrance near the burnt farm. So I started exploring level 3 before levels 1-2 and I was able to defeat enemies I met. Then I met Prince Thrommel who joined my party and initially I thought this was great but he is too powerful and he was undermining the fun in the risk of battle. But then when I left the Temple to sell loot in Hommlet he left my party anyway. But he did help clear the shadow area in level 3 which was very useful

But now Im going back to exploring levels 1-2 and fighting the various elemental factions. I had to avoid the Harpy trap because my party keeps getting captivated endlessly but I think Silence should help?

I will proceed back to level 3 once Im done with the higher levels