Trying not to commit to anything too strenious with Lies of P and Starfield on the horizon, but I have found the time to start two games over the last few days. Those games are:

XCOM: Chimera Squad

It’s an XCOM game. I’ll probably play a it until I inevitably make a mess of the base management stuff and find my city in ruins, you know, like every other XCOM game that’s come out over the last decade.

The Life And Sufferings of Sir Brante

I started this today and I’m kind of blown away by it in all honesty. It’s a story heavy RPG where you play the role a child born into a semi-noble family. During the game you’ll do an awful lot of reading and then make decisions and judgements based on the character your playing. I’m maybe 2 hours in so far and it’s unlike anything I’ve ever played.

Vampire Survivors co-op!

Like many, I’ve been playing a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3. I love the game, but part of me is already longingly looking at the Pillar of Eternity or Pathfinder games for a bit less complicated level design.
The 3d worlds are nice, but I always have the feeling like I’m a little lost.

I played most of Cat Quest 2 only to reach the difficulty cliff that is Lioner. For the most part the game was quite easy then bam! multi-phase boss that’s immune to one of the game’s two damage types. Multi-phase bosses and total immunity to damage types are bullshit. The quest that involves killing Lioner is a level 80 quest and I first tried it at level 92 and failed. I grinded up to level 97 but I haven’t had the… passion? to fight him again. I’m seriously considering using something like Cheat Engine to lock my health at max. And apparently there’s a second difficulty spike.

I played a couple of hours Borderlands GOTY Enhanced and I’m sure the XP gain has been changed. In the OG Borderlands I’d get to Nine Toes around level 5, maybe level 6 if I grind a little bit but in GOTY I was level 7 when fighting him with no grinding at all. The graphics don’t seem to have changed much although it’s been a while.

I tried playing Baldur’s Gate 3 but I just could not get into it. It’s kind of odd though because I was able to get much further into DOS2 (I got bored early in the third act). It didn’t help that my GPU fans were going full brrrr the entire time.

I played a little bit of Holocure after watching Kronii Ouro play it but what she played and what I played seemed to be completely different games gameplay-wise, reverse bullet hell isn’t really my jam.

I bought Dwarf Journey and Shakedown Hawaii for a trip I’m taking this week so hopefully they’re good.

I have been playing Subnautica exclusively for over a month now and I can’t stop. Halp!

Edit: I got to the ice worm part in Below Zero, and now I feel ready to quit.

After finishing up BG3 I decided to replay kotor 2 with the restored content mod. I originally played it as a kid on Xbox, it’s been a trip down memory lane.

I finished Baldur’s Gate 2 and moved on to Baldur’s Gate 3.

Baldur’s Gate 2 still has, or possibly invented, a lot of common RPG trappings that carry through to this day, but it’s still very dated in some key ways that sucked the air out of the room, which was a shame, because the bones are solid. Sometimes there are just obscure knowledge checks against the rules of D&D or the monsters therein that make the game unsolvable unless you know the specific answer. Sometimes it’s a monster that can only be defeated by +3 weapons or better; sometimes it’s magic that can only be countered by specific counter spells. At the start of combat, enemy spells seemingly cast nearly instantly, but the defense spells to beat them take several combat rounds to cast, can be interrupted, or otherwise are ineffective unless you’ve already cast them before combat started, which means you’re save scumming a lot as a necessity. Not only that, but the game throws so much combat at you. I ran out of patience for its combat, after playing through BG1 the month prior, sometime around chapter 4 or 5 out of 7 and just threw it on “Story” mode, which is basically god mode. I enjoyed the story. I enjoyed the decision making. I just wish the designers had more restraint when it came to combat encounters and that they properly signaled these countermeasures, but perhaps they were trying to sell strategy guides.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is difficult to put down compared to its predecessors; not just because 5e is easier to understand; not just because the game goes to great lengths to explain its entire rule set; not just because I can avoid repetitive strain on my wrist by using a controller. Though separated by 20 years of game design paradigms, they’re remarkably similar games, as they should be, but this one just excels in every area it should. The presentation is phenomenal, all the way through the narrator that infuses some Planescape: Torment DNA into the game that wasn’t so much of a thing in the past two BG games. The combat encounters have more restraint; I took on a goblin camp from the inside out and basically faced wave after wave of goblin patrols, and still it felt less taxing than the typical BG2 dungeon, with more systemic ways to interact with the environment and just find clever solutions to things. I just feel like a damn genius and a sense of exhilaration when I get through a combat encounter, as opposed to having a sigh of relief that it’s over like I did in the last two games.

Finished Baldur’s Gate 3, Act 3 was much buggier than I thought. Still had a great time and want to do another playthrough in a year or two, once most of the bugs are fixed.

Started Quake 2, the recently released Enhanced version. It’s fun, I like the weapons more than in Quake 1, the Super Shotgun can actually kill stuff now. I also prefer the sci-fi environments more than the medieval ones in the first game.

Lastly, I randomly decided to give Baldur’s Gate 1 a shot, after I finished the third one. I never really played it or any of the other old Infinity Engine games before, although I got all the Steam releases years ago. I’m playing as a Half-Orc Fighter, named Big Stick, who goes around whacking stuff with a big stick (a quarterstaff). The game is ok so far, nothing spectacular. I’m still really early, only chapter 2, and I’m just travelling around everywhere I can, bonking stuff until it explodes, and helping people in need.

Trying to get into Baldurs Gate 3. Never played the original games, never played D&D, and this is the first hardcore RPG of this sort I’ve played in awhile.

It is a bit of a struggle - the game is intimidatingly big and deep. I am also having troubles wrapping my head around the battle systems, and the random skill checks really don’t make much sense to me (am I expected to save scam in this game?)

But all that seems to be a question of habit. I went into the game for the joy of exploration and discovery, and I hope to lose myself in it very soon.

I started a second run of Baldur’s Gate 3 this week. I don’t know the last time I’ve ever finished a game like this just to go right back into it. It’s certainly been 20+ years since I’ve done it with an RPG. Part of why I wanted to do it might have been how much more polish there is in the first act, so it’s a cozier experience. I also skipped a full zone and a half on the first play, so that’s all going to be new, and I want to see the other side of a big decision point in Act 2. Probably going to end this run around that point and maybe actually play a different game for once.

I’m realizing now that this game fixes all of my problems with Divinity: Original Sin 2, and that was an excellent game. There are very few steps back here, mostly just the lack of polish.

BG3 is still a triumph despite the (many) rough edges. I’m sure I’m going to go back to it yet again down the road after a few patches and some of the cut/unfinished content is in the game, especially around the ending.

Finally got the time to play Timberborn. Made some suboptimal decisions so can’t wait for playing on a new map.

Trying to finish FF7R and Intergrade in time for BG3.

Still playing Dysmantle, which I originally started intending it to be my background game that I’d turn on when I had only a short window to play or got bored or frustrated with my “main” game.

~40 hours later I think I’m nearing the end and dreading it because I don’t want to not have Dysmantle in my life. Ever since a played Subnautica a few years back, I’ve been looking for another game that scratches the same survival/crafting itch but with the critical components of an overall objective and calculated progression. Dysmantle is different in almost every way but it does hit those check boxes perfectly.

The gameplay loop is repetitive, but amusing enough on its own to be fun until your next upgrade, which are granted to you at just the right pace and open up new abilities to better dismantle your surroundings.

I think it’s flaws will probably hit harder for some people, but for me it strikes exactly the right chord. Luckily I still have the DLCs, and they have a spiritual sequel coming out next year that looks even more promising.

Getting back into Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker. I’m about at the end of the game and I’ve really enjoyed playing a portable full on stealth game. Its scope is quite limited, what with it being a PSP game, but it actually serves to breed a pretty easygoing stealth game with not too much of a cost for getting caught and pretty limited sound and sight ranges to match the small level sections.

While it’s totally limited it’s actually a bit refreshing compared to how tight being stealthy can be in even the home console MGS games.

I’ve been getting a shiny pokemon team ready for Black/White remakes that will come out one day ~ (shiny-egg-trading on the 3DS)

also swap-doodle on the 3DS - though I’ve been carrying it in my pocket for a few weeks in Sydney, Australia and haven’t street-pass’d anyone since 5 years ago (one person) the rest, 6 years ago @_@

Add me and trade hand-drawn postcards n__n 33/M/Australia name: Pushka Friend-code: 1822-1028-6857 (reply with your FC