Wormerine

Dumbed it down in what regard and from what? Bioware games haven't been very deep since KOTOR - after BG1&2 it's been always about increasing production value and they have been gradually moving from simplified D&D to action combat. DA:O would be an exception as they clearly tried to go back to cRPG roots, but I still didn't think it was particularly "deep" game. I feel what seperates DA:I from, lets say DA:O is a ratio of narrative content vs gameplay length. I feel it's a production issue, not an ideological issue. ha! you don't like turn based you don't like action. You are very hard to please. I fear real-time with pause is and will be a rare occurance as it is a bastard child of "we want to make a turn based game, but Diablo success forces out to make it run in real time". And I think Bioware's MO was always to make approachable RPG-like experiences. Baldur's Gates success was taking D&D and turning it into faster, more blockbuster experienced. KOTOR simplified D&D mechanics to the point that there was little player input and added somewhat cheated full VO and found a way to make RPG work on console. Jade Empire already played with making combat more action-like. DA:O pretty much stands alone as a deliberate "throwback" title.

Warhorse is easily the one I am looking forward to seeing more off. As to Obsidian - the parallel did come to my mind as well but I don’t think it is similar at all. Obsidian, regardless of their talent, were never a calibre of the studio BioWare was - BioWare set trends, set new bars for western cRPG production value over and over again, and created few, widely beloved strong IPs. Their work in existing IPs still stand as some of their best to date. Then they got acquired by EA they growed, spread thin and release shaky game after shaky game. BioWare’s issue wasn’t that they became too mainstream - it’s was that they stopped releasing widely liked games. Obsidian has been surviving pumping out rushed sequels to other people games, with just few original IPs that became “cult classics”, and frankly they seem to me to be doing actually pretty well under Microsoft’s acquisition. They did seem to have internal discipline to keep projects focused and on track and not grow too complacent under a guaranteed pay check. Avowed was troubled, but not without merit, but other than that they have been doing good work. Now that doesn’t keep them save unfortunately - Microsoft didnt shy from slashing down studios regardless of how good their output has been (Tango, ID). And we will see what fate awaits Obsidian under new Bethesda umbrella.

Yeah, a lot of people had mainly issues with Mass Effect3 ending, but personally, I didn't think the game was good overall. Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect2 were in my view the last games where Bioware stuck the landing. Later games had their moments but overall I felt that Bioware just stopped working under EA.

Expected, but still sad to see. Bioware is being shut down by EA. Mass Effect project is no more.

Anyone else played Control: Resonant? Doing a bit of 2nd playthrough to tick of remaining achievements and had a story revelation(spoilers!!!!): Contains Control1&2 spoilers.

Finished Star Wars Zero Company and Control: Resonant. I enjoyed both games, though neither of them is likely to become an "all timer". Zero Company is an all around "pretty-ok" package. Doesn't provide excel in anything, but all it does is pretty enjoyable. Combat is a bit too shallow and repetitive for my taste. It's a quite different combat model then XCOMs, and I would like to see the team expand on this game. Be it a sequel or an expansion. It is understandable, that licensed StarWars game will be aimed to be a highly accessible experience, but even playing on expert the game stopped being engaging about halfway through. It is FiraXCOM tradition, that difficulty curve is somewhat manufactured - a bit oppressive at first, then you enter (in my opinion) best middleground where you have genuine challenge and interesting opportunities for counterplay, and the end game is victory lap where you maw through enemies without fear of hurt. ZCOM in my opinion entered third stage far, far too early. Though of course your mileage may vary. Now story of ZCOM was what disappointed me more, mostly because it was so highly spoken of. It's easily best integration of a narrative in this time of game I have seen - though it comes IMO at a heavy cost of the gameplay fun. Overall, I found the plot to be just serviceable with one strong contrivance where everyone behaves in the most irrational manner just to allow a story beat to happen. The character writing is great, though, and the game makes good use of the IP - on that front, through, I felt I was missing out by not being familiar if some of game's references. I think some of its beats would come out of nowhere if someone wasn't at least somewhat familiar with the prequels. There was one element which I found kinda daft, but it seems to be canon and not game's invention🤷. Control: Resonant - good! Storywise it builds mostly on what Control1 established, so worldbuilding isn't as consistant and plenty as it was in the original. In general, story seems more like an excuse to run around in distorted Manhattan, rather than reason for play itself. It also felt smaller - Control1, while humble in its storytelling was evocative, painting a world of unending possibilities, while this one just feels far more contained. Still, I did enjoy the story that was there with some caveats. I really liked Dylan as a protagonist - I found him to be quite a nuanced and subtle character. Combat is ok - satisfying to press buttons, but pretty simple and there is a lot of it. What I liked the most is the map design and exploration. While it looks like open world game, and older zones can feel like it once you unlock new powers, for the most part progression is far more guided and maze like then it would initially seem. Gravity mechanic is novel, and I liked sidequests and puzzles. To me it was a perfect balance, between allowing players to figure things out without being frustrating. Still, there is something that feels incomplete about the title. Perhaps, it is due to how hard it teases a potential DLC/sequel. Overall, recommendation on both, perhaps on sale, as I didn't think either of games delivers anything exceptionally well. Still, perfectly enjoyable titles.

If you are wondering what some of the ex-Disco Elysium devs are up to... they released a 70euro book about it? I suppose it is one way to reveal your game, though probably a bit pricey one to reach a wide audience. https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/we-are-here-to-give-you-something-to-believe-in-the-former-disco-elysium-devs-of-summer-eternal-reveal-new-rpg-red-rooster-a-game-of-fire-water-and-alternate-selves

Will send you a private message.

Got Had a spare steam key for Double Fine’s excellent Psychonauts2.

Granted, most of my experience with BG3 is from early access and early 1.0 which might not represent what the game fully became, but at a time I found game's reactivity to greatly fall short of systemic freedom game seems to permit. A lot of events seemed to be scripted or assumed certain actions being game, so in general attempts of truing to engage with BG3 systems left me disappointed - that said, no issues noticed in my current playthrough - outside the dialogue options not being able to make up their mind if my Dark Urge has amnesia or not.

Yeah, for the last couple months I have been trying do my 2nd playthrough (honour ruleset, without perma death). I created a drow character and this time around I decided not to roleplay at all - be a passive passager and pick options that seem amusing rather then aim for any character consistency. I definitely enjoyed the game far more this way, got to discover couple reactivities I didn't know about. I also find myself less annoyed by the story - I know it doesn't go anywhere, and for some reason it makes it easier to endure - I also seeing it before, I don't feel obliged to sit through all of it. I installed some light mods - including fixed to hotbar and WASDa controls. WASDa actually transformed my experience - one I think it fixes some issues that mouse control has, and because it doesn't play like cRPG I am not annoying how inefficient and clunky party controls are. Still, got to ACT2 and the game went on pause. You know how some games are clearly flawed but still capture your heart and imagination? That is, to me, a complete opposite. On paper I like a lot of it, and it should be my type of a game, but I just find it a bit boring. It's a Bethesda effect to me.

Diving back into Zero Company. The game has grown rather stale. It's been really lacking chesspieces. StarWars has so many cool units, it's a bit shame (so far) that mostly all we get to fight are droids and coil dudes. I am not terribly fond of coils gimmicks - for one, they kinda look the same to me, so I keep having to check which unit responds with what actions (yeah I know they have icons but they are tiny, and I can't remember what Icon means what). I also feel that rather then forcing you to shake up your tactics, they reward using same tactics over and over again. Then there is Cly... she feels like she should be a secret cheat unit. Between her high mobility and insane damage output with pistols and electric darts she can pretty much clear rooms by herself as long as you can feed her decent amount of advantage. That's usually how round one looks if she is around (sorry for poor capture, haven't adjusted my software to 4k resolution): meh, it is still fun though. Just gotta force myself to leave Cly at home. I am also trying to finish Horizon: Forbidden West before diving into Control: Resonant. I really liked this one. I somewhat liked Zero Dawn, and Forbidden West is a great sequel. I wish progression was a bit more streamlined, and status effect more interesting. I also find few late game machines to be supremely annoying to fight (though maybe I still haven't found a right tactic). There is also a nitpick of mine - throughout the journey your will be unlocking couple tools that will act as keys - granting you access to new areas. However, those act only as keys, and have little or no utility outside clearing obstacles - that always feels like a copout to me. Story and character's is hit&miss. I quite like Alloy as a protagonist, and she has a stronger and more present supporting cast. The world and story toys with being interesting, but to me it just never dives deep enough to deliver. Some interesting ideas, some big leaps of logic, and tendency to use SF setting of the world like mystical magic where everything is possible if devs want it to be. Still I really enjoyed the base game and I am moving on to the DLC.

The game went a long way since launch. To me system redesigns (2.0) were far more meaningful plus additions to the open world made it feel less like a tech demo and more like a game. I will have to give it another go at some point. Unlike everyone else the expansion left me completely cold, but I will admit I simply wasn't in a mood for that type of game when I played it.

Oh, I knew there was something big I I forgot - Kingdom Come games.

BG3 definitely, I just thought the story was a mess 🤣 (on my 2nd playthrough now.. currently frozen in act2…). I don’t think they are much of “RPGs” but Witcher3 and Cyberpunk have strong narrative component with choices. With even less on “choice” side, Expedition33 was really pleasant jRPG style title. I also wouldn’t discount - FromSoft titles. I personally find worldbuilding and small story bits to be very important aspects of those titles. Cutscene watching isn’t my preferred way of delivering narrative these days anyway. edit. More on Beth/Obs: https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/bethesda-say-new-underlings-obsidian-will-retain-their-distinct-creative-identity-despite-no-longer-being-as-free-to-work-on-their-own-creatively-distinct-series