Recent Game Stuff
So, let's see... quick stuff first...
I am not happy with Blizzard of late, though WoW: Shadowlands looks... maybe good? I like the underlying concept of going to the Shadowlands as something reasonably new, considering many expansions have been dealing with returning threats. I probably would have looked forward to it more if it had come after Legion, but right now it really makes me think "what was the point of BfA?"
The Diablo 4 reveal looks slick, sure, but that sort of gameplay has been less interesting to me since D2.
Overwatch 2 looks pretty and has some great animation to go with it, but I don't expect enough single-player content to really appeal to me. It also feels a bit soon, though they seem to be making an effort to move Overwatch over to 2, making it sound like more expansion than sequel (though many details remain fuzzy).
I played through Episode 3 of The Long Dark, which was recently released. I like that it felt like there was more to do than the first two (at least when they released). The slow treks while carrying someone might have been overly long. I'm not sure how I feel about the new wolf pack mechanics - some ups and downs there.
Overall, I did enjoy it, though I'm kind of bothered by the timeline of everything. On a small scale, there are situations where you have to do X and there seems to be about a day before something bad happens, but it really only happens when you check the completion boxes on the quest. On a larger scale, the main characters crashed with a bit electromagnetic event... weeks ago? But the airliner is still on fire, so seems to have gone down within days? The timeline is very unclear and fuzzy - best to just not thing about it.
I also reached the end of Code Vein. "Anime Dark Souls" really does sum it up pretty well, though that runs much deeper than surface level. Sure, characters match anime styles with pointy hair and such. The character creator lets you apply several stylistic items from hats to cat ears (though there is a "budget" for such things). A lot of effort goes into character look - less so the post-apocalyptic scenery, though it's not terrible.
The combat is perhaps less finely-constructed than the From Software games, but has the same general feel with a lot of flashy effects thrown in. And while Dark Souls games have a very barebones story (and lots of little lore details scattered around), Code Vein very much does have a story. Party characters tie into some bosses. Background is revealed through "vestiges" - memories various characters have lost in their resurrection process. There are cut scenes, some of which are a bit infodump-ish (and almost all of which are swelling operatic music). I found the story fine, but it's presented in a very "anime" way - highly overdramatized and often presented as if it's way more deep than it really is.
But the end wraps up most of what's presented and (for at least the good ending) leaves open exploration of what might have happened with the "Great Collapse" that messed up the world to begin with. That's my only real disappointment with the story - I wanted to know more about the Collapse, while the game focuses more on stuff that occurred after that.
Also, while I've known about this preference of mine before, this game kind of underscored what bugs me about silent protagonists. I get the intent (both in creation of a narrative avatar and not having to define all possible reactions). And it doesn't bother me so much in normal play. When there's a cut scene, though, and I see someone talking to my character, it is distracting to see them only respond with a nod or something (I'm looking at you Secret World (Legends), FFXIV, and others). Code Vein even lets you pick from a set of voices for you character, yet they only say a few words at the end of the game. That's weird to me.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Actiony anime fun.
Oh yeah, I also recently played through Curse of the Azure Bonds - an emulation of the old Gold Box SSI D&D game. That was a nostalgic little blast of "OMG, this is so awesomely terrible!" in many ways.
Credit where it's due, those games are a very good adaption of AD&D at the time. Sure, not all the spells are in the game and you can't really make use of most thief skills, but it's surprisingly faithful. That just means the horrible balance of AD&D comes to light, with things like how resource dependent (rest and spell slots) magic-users are and how horribly limited demi-humans (and thus multi-classed) characters are as they hit level caps. That latter didn't come up much in Pool of Radiance, but in Curse it starts to. In Secret of the Silver Blades, a demi-human character is kind of a liability and by Pools of Darkness it seemed like folly to be using anything but a human (probably dual-classed). Encumbrance is an issue, which can mean leaving behind a lot of coinage at times. And there are a lot of save-or-die effects. From a second-level cleric Hold Person spell can make a character helpless, and subject to immediate downing on a single hit regardless of HP, all the way up to beholder disintegration rays that render a character not just dead but "gone." Some major fights can see half your party out of action with some bad RNG... or a spell or two can totally clear a room in your favor.
Of course, the game itself shoulders some of the blame. It relies heavily on frequent random encounters that can make save-scumming to preserver resources necessary. Many of the enemies further reduce the value of spells: dark elves with high spell resistance, casters with active immunity to spells up to third level, beholder(s) anti-magic, etc. Some areas trap you in for long stretches with no ability to get supplies or train (which can result in lost XP). One section offers up a bunch of drow weapons (effectively +3, which is really good at that point), but leaving that area has them all dissolve in the sunlight (potentially hitting you with a dracolich right after losing that gear you may not be carrying replacements for).
But for all the criticism, it's a neat little adventure and I remember it as being particularly cool for its time.
I am not happy with Blizzard of late, though WoW: Shadowlands looks... maybe good? I like the underlying concept of going to the Shadowlands as something reasonably new, considering many expansions have been dealing with returning threats. I probably would have looked forward to it more if it had come after Legion, but right now it really makes me think "what was the point of BfA?"
The Diablo 4 reveal looks slick, sure, but that sort of gameplay has been less interesting to me since D2.
Overwatch 2 looks pretty and has some great animation to go with it, but I don't expect enough single-player content to really appeal to me. It also feels a bit soon, though they seem to be making an effort to move Overwatch over to 2, making it sound like more expansion than sequel (though many details remain fuzzy).
I played through Episode 3 of The Long Dark, which was recently released. I like that it felt like there was more to do than the first two (at least when they released). The slow treks while carrying someone might have been overly long. I'm not sure how I feel about the new wolf pack mechanics - some ups and downs there.
Overall, I did enjoy it, though I'm kind of bothered by the timeline of everything. On a small scale, there are situations where you have to do X and there seems to be about a day before something bad happens, but it really only happens when you check the completion boxes on the quest. On a larger scale, the main characters crashed with a bit electromagnetic event... weeks ago? But the airliner is still on fire, so seems to have gone down within days? The timeline is very unclear and fuzzy - best to just not thing about it.
I also reached the end of Code Vein. "Anime Dark Souls" really does sum it up pretty well, though that runs much deeper than surface level. Sure, characters match anime styles with pointy hair and such. The character creator lets you apply several stylistic items from hats to cat ears (though there is a "budget" for such things). A lot of effort goes into character look - less so the post-apocalyptic scenery, though it's not terrible.
The combat is perhaps less finely-constructed than the From Software games, but has the same general feel with a lot of flashy effects thrown in. And while Dark Souls games have a very barebones story (and lots of little lore details scattered around), Code Vein very much does have a story. Party characters tie into some bosses. Background is revealed through "vestiges" - memories various characters have lost in their resurrection process. There are cut scenes, some of which are a bit infodump-ish (and almost all of which are swelling operatic music). I found the story fine, but it's presented in a very "anime" way - highly overdramatized and often presented as if it's way more deep than it really is.
But the end wraps up most of what's presented and (for at least the good ending) leaves open exploration of what might have happened with the "Great Collapse" that messed up the world to begin with. That's my only real disappointment with the story - I wanted to know more about the Collapse, while the game focuses more on stuff that occurred after that.
Also, while I've known about this preference of mine before, this game kind of underscored what bugs me about silent protagonists. I get the intent (both in creation of a narrative avatar and not having to define all possible reactions). And it doesn't bother me so much in normal play. When there's a cut scene, though, and I see someone talking to my character, it is distracting to see them only respond with a nod or something (I'm looking at you Secret World (Legends), FFXIV, and others). Code Vein even lets you pick from a set of voices for you character, yet they only say a few words at the end of the game. That's weird to me.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Actiony anime fun.
Oh yeah, I also recently played through Curse of the Azure Bonds - an emulation of the old Gold Box SSI D&D game. That was a nostalgic little blast of "OMG, this is so awesomely terrible!" in many ways.
Credit where it's due, those games are a very good adaption of AD&D at the time. Sure, not all the spells are in the game and you can't really make use of most thief skills, but it's surprisingly faithful. That just means the horrible balance of AD&D comes to light, with things like how resource dependent (rest and spell slots) magic-users are and how horribly limited demi-humans (and thus multi-classed) characters are as they hit level caps. That latter didn't come up much in Pool of Radiance, but in Curse it starts to. In Secret of the Silver Blades, a demi-human character is kind of a liability and by Pools of Darkness it seemed like folly to be using anything but a human (probably dual-classed). Encumbrance is an issue, which can mean leaving behind a lot of coinage at times. And there are a lot of save-or-die effects. From a second-level cleric Hold Person spell can make a character helpless, and subject to immediate downing on a single hit regardless of HP, all the way up to beholder disintegration rays that render a character not just dead but "gone." Some major fights can see half your party out of action with some bad RNG... or a spell or two can totally clear a room in your favor.
Of course, the game itself shoulders some of the blame. It relies heavily on frequent random encounters that can make save-scumming to preserver resources necessary. Many of the enemies further reduce the value of spells: dark elves with high spell resistance, casters with active immunity to spells up to third level, beholder(s) anti-magic, etc. Some areas trap you in for long stretches with no ability to get supplies or train (which can result in lost XP). One section offers up a bunch of drow weapons (effectively +3, which is really good at that point), but leaving that area has them all dissolve in the sunlight (potentially hitting you with a dracolich right after losing that gear you may not be carrying replacements for).
But for all the criticism, it's a neat little adventure and I remember it as being particularly cool for its time.
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