What game are you wasting time on?

[Jack Of Owls]

I'm playing Bard's Tale II Remastered but it has to be one of the most pointless RPGs ever made. You just stumble from dungeon to dungeon with no cohesive theme or real storyline however the cleverness of the dungeon design is what keeps me interested. Michael Cranford wanted you to be his bitch and according to Becky Burger at least he intentionally designed this game to be unwinnable. But quite frankly Burger isn't all there and I'm willing to accept Cranford's own explanation that BT2 had very poor or even non-existent play testing so the game was released as quite unbalanced. But I'm just basically playing it until Bard's Tale 3 comes out soon which could be next week or month.

 

[octavius]

Just finished the Hall of Heroes map of the Keepers Campaign of Age of Wonders.

Leaders on Map is starting to be a problem. I killed off the Dark Elf leader very early with my secondary hero, and on day 42 a beefed up (9 in most stats) silver medal Dwarf First Born with the help of a Giant tore through the Frostlings like a hot iron through butter and killed the Frostling leader. And I hadn't even found a single Hero yet.

And to make matters worse I could not bring along my old Hero:

This is most exasperating. I mean, what's the point of allowing Hero transfers if you need more points than you are given?

Nor could I bring along my gold medal Dwarf First Born who dealt the winning blow.
And the two artifacts are rather useless.

And then you get a new lvl 3 Hero right away on the next map.
So, don't bring along heroes; it's not worth it in the long run.
Most useful transfer in the whole campaing so far was a Halfling Eagle Rider from United Cities to Earthquake at Deepmire, for the rapid scouting. Especially useful when you don't have Air magic.

 

[Starwars]

Playing Metro Last Light but I think I'm gonna abandon it. It's been pretty shitty so far.

If I ever hear one of these fucking voiceactors again it'll be too soon.

 

[HansDampf]

Ghost of a Tale. Gorgeous looking, mediocre stealth game, and fetch quest simulator.
This game fried my GPU. But it had it coming anyway. It was suspicious from the beginning. The game was either locked at 30 fps or it just ran really poorly. After I enabled vsync it sounded like my GPU turned to maximum and I got stable 60 fps. Weird, I thought, but maybe it's just one of those Unity things. Everything was fine until I entered the Shore (fairly late in the game), and my screen went black.
Thanks!

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Dropped Kileak: The Blood again on level 10 because apparently it won't get any better and all levels past level 5 sucked tremendously. I guess there's a special room in Hell where half-competent game/level designers are forced to play Kileak forever. IIRC the level designer wasn't working on Kileak 2 and BRAHMA Force, which probably explains why ~20 minutes spent trying were alright.

Gonna move on to Kileak 2 as part of my research and see where it leads me.

 

[No Great Name]

Finished my playthrough of Parasite Eve II a few days ago and after thinking some, I have some mixed feelings about it. On one hand I really liked the more Resident Evil vibe the game had with a bigger focus on creating that unique horror atmosphere mixed with some almost adventure-like puzzle solving that the Parasite Eve didn't have. On the other hand, the tank controls made a lot of combat encounters feel overly simplified since there wasn't really a whole lot of variety in enemy attacks and the equipment customization that existed in the first Parasite Eve was replaced with a far shallower one. The best way for me to describe it is that Parasite Eve is more JRPGish while Parasite Eve II is more Resident Evil with shallow RPG elements.

Having said that, I did find myself enjoying the plot and character development throughout the course of the game and I was also pleasantly surprised to learn after beating the game how much optional content there was that I completely missed that have an influence on which ending you get (RIP Flint the doggo from my playthrough).

Also a lot of the enemy sound effects are kind of goofy.

Gonna take a bit of break and replay The Longest Journey next since it's been years since I've last played it. I remember not being able to play the FMV videos and only getting a black screen before but it looks like that's been fixed with the latest GOG version.

 

[flyingjohn]

Continuing my ace combat retrospective with ace combat 5.

-EMULATION
Unlike ace combat 4 this can be played with some tweaks in pcsx2 hardware mode.Here is a link to the relevant settings:
https://wiki.pcsx2.net/index.php/Ace_Combat_5:_The_Unsung_War

-STORY
The begging of the "heavy cinematic" ace combat games.(minus ace combat 3 ).The game actually has a story with fully featured characters instead of no name wingmen.
The story itself is less cringy then i remember but it still feels amateurish thanks to the writing and use of semi realistic cgi. The overall plot is full of plot holes and most of the things happening are cartoon level bad.But this has always been a problem for the overall plot in ace combat.I mean this is a series where a nation attacks a anti aircraft super weapon with airplanes and wonders why they lost.I prefer the aesthetics and tone of ace combat 4 compared to this when it comes to the general plot.
And i love how they try to hide the fact that one of the nation is blatantly inspired by Russia and yet they choose one of the most Russian sounding va to voice their president.

The characters are better then the main story in terms of writing.None of them are truly annoying except for space bird masturbating Nagase. And characters like Chopper and Snow are actually fun to listen to.
Your wing men talk a lot more then the previous games during your flight mission,but it never continues on too much for it to be annoying.And you can always just ignore them.
The best thing i can say about the characters are that at best they are funny and may give a chuckle and at worst they are just boring,not annoying.
Compared to ace combat 3(which is the only comparison in the series) it is miles better.

-Quality of the mission briefing screen
The mission briefing itself has been given a uplift.During the briefing you will see various statistics,notes showing up,making it feel like a actual briefing.No enemy models unfortunately.
At the end of the mission you get your entire flight path shown in the form of arrows. the same as ace combat 4.
A small improvement to the series.

-Mission variety and gameplay
They learned their lesson from ace combat 4.Each mission is unique in some way and even the more normal ones offer some kind of twist.In fact this is probably the biggest mission variety in all ace combat games to date.

You have air,naval,escort,radar invasion,boss fights levels,photography,defense,cas,etc. And all these mission always have plenty of air combat as well to not bore you.(well except 1-2 missions where you can't attack).
Also the maps are smaller from 4 but more focuses,which is a improvement.
And the pacing of all these missions is great as well.You never get the same of mission back to back.You always feel like the game is barely repeating content.And even when the mission objective is the same(like defending somebody) they always spice it up to make it unique(you move from defending static helicopters to mobile ground units that you have to follow and clear the way).
The only flaws are the radar dodging and one follow mission because they are quite boring to replay,everything else is fine.
Also the game increases the mission significantly.There is around 28 missions now compared to the series staple of 18.It gives a additional 1-2 hours more content which is great.

Alternative missions are back.You get around 2-3 alternative missions that are connected to the response you gave to your wing men previously.
There are also secret across some levels to unlock a new plane.There are medals now for doing specific things on missions,which is great and is a nce throwback to ace combat 2.
Ace pilots are back and now much closer to the enemy,so you don't have to hunt them down across the map like in 4 .

So plenty of missions and plenty to do is a great thing. Probably best in the entire series in this category.

The score system remains the same as ace combat 4.

-Planes
A couple of steps forward but one big step back.
Ace combat 5 has the biggest plane selection of all the ps2 games.And it introduces the family system of planes mechanic.Basically you level up a plane type (like f-16) and once you level it up you get a additional plane of that family with different stats.This is a great addition because flying the plane you like actually gives you something now.
You can also choose and buy planes for your wing men,which is a welcome addition.
Unfortunately it removes the second weapon selection from 4 and only gives one special weapon per plane.This is sad.And makes specif planes not suited for specif levels and there is nothing you can do about it.
If they retained ace combat 4 second weapon customization it would have been perfect.

--Difficulty
Everything seems to be the same as ace combat 4,at least in terms of ai aggressiveness and missile stats.
Unfortunately the game is easier because the ai has to cope with your wing men and their ai has been significantly improved.So the enemy ai will focus mostly on your wing men and you won't have much planes on your ass the same ways as 4.
When you are solo or playing arcade mode with a lots of planes you can see the same difficulty as 4.
So,easier difficulty because they forgot to program the ai to focus on you mostly.

-Unique stuff and extra content
All the generic extra mode stuff is here.Sp continue,music player,free flight mode,higher diffciulty once you beat hard,etc.
But ace combat 5 has a additional extra mode,the arcade mode.Basically you fly only fly one plane(f-22) with limited missiles and unlimited gun ammo and have to destroy a specific amount of enemies within a timer that increases every time you destroy something.It feels like a homage to ace combat 2.
Later on you will get awesome air brawls where you don't have any missiles left and are gunning down enemies in a rush to extend your time.It is awesome.

-Overall verdict
Best ps2 ace combat,hell probably best ace combat so far.Play this game even if you aren't a fan of ace combat.

 

[RRRrrr]

I started playing VtM Bloodlines yesterday and I literally can't stop. I link the skill system, but the combat is far harder than I remember on my previous playthrough about 5 years ago. It probably has something to do with me investing only in non-combat skills. I am playing a female Ventrue and have only invested in seduction, persuasion, domination, lockpicking and hacking. The warehouse was a challenge.

The game is so much more atmospheric than I remember. I can't believe the attention to detail for a 2004 game.

 

[Humppaleka]

I've used godmode in my VtM playthroughs. That's how much I care about the combat.

 

[someone else]

Got Far Cry 4 cheap, turns out to be somewhat fun, so then got Far Cry 5 cheap, turns out better, so got Far Cry 5 dlcs cheap, turn out poor, got The Division cheap, playing it now, seems ok.
I love the low recoil Kriss Vector in FC4, it reappeared in FC5 and just got my first Kriss Vector in The Division from my first Dark Zone loot haul.

 

[tomdavis]

I play csgo most of the time

 

[noctilucent_samizdat]

I like mine craft . And dawn of war 1! But I don't like dawn of war 2...

This is my first post Hi everybody.

 

[Freddie]

Still playing Resident Evil 2 Remake.

I finished all story router Lean and Claire A and B. Haven't managed S rank on hardcore yet, but I think I will manage. S+ rank on hardcore is a big maybe, if have attention span to get that good in this. Anyway, this is my final verdict for the game.

I can't do any comparison to original 1998 game. I recall I got RE1 it on some juarez CD back in the day, tried it for perhaps 2 minutes and laughed at console peasants and their poor games and continued with my Fallout or Baldurs Gate run, or whatever. I didn't get back to the series until year or two ago. I found RE5 for €1 or something from the bargain bin few years ago, didn't get to play it untill... anyway, I ended enjoying RE5 a lot and later got 1st and 2nd Revelation as well RE6 from Steam sales.

I can't compare post RE4(?) games to originals and I can't compare RE2 remake to original. I don't know about the lore and frankly I don't give a damn, this ain't an RPG.

In RE2 Remake there is sort of two layers, like in some other RE games. One is story, the mission and for me it was good enough to play through all routes in this game. I found Lean B hardest and Claire A or B easiest. I think it is mostly because Claire's weapon arsenal is simply more suitable for different encounters than Leon's. I can't hold that against the game however. What would be the point if they were the same? Even there are different routes and segments in police station and sewers (and some boss fight stuff) IMO that alone wouldn't make runs different enough, even when time and effort was put in to make them different characters runs have different tone also writing wise (simply introduction to first major NPC in police station is different for Lean and Claire) and different sub story segments reflect that too. Most important in repeating plays for me is that it's different to play Lean or Claire also game mechanics wise and that is where different weapon layouts matter. Maps, enemies, items, they aren't that different but if you learn to utilise your weapons arsenal you have tactically very different kind of options (for example miniboss G2). It's worth a note that they are different enough that if you only play Claire's campaign, you may miss entirely how good knife is against Lickers.

Game has somewhat counter intuitive approach how it leads into boss fights. I appreciate humour or whatever of the developers enough not to spoil it, but when I kept dying on some boss fight, it later turned out I was quite clearly doing it wrong, LOL. This is sort of important also regarding difficulty levels, standard is much more forgiving than hardcore.

All of the above is somewhere there when player goes through the game. Getting this, boarding that window, planning the route, searching through police station and other places, solving a puzzle, there is quite a bit of thinking behind a good run. In the end it's quite an action adventure, except players may not think of that, but genre associated, horror. But horror isn't a mechanic really.


The other side

When I was playing I felt there was something quite familiar in this game. How rewarding it may be and on opposite how frustrating it can get and something else. When I was playing the Hunk extra game mode it dawned to me. There is a lot of familiarity with Shoot 'em Up's and sidescrollers we used to play during 8-bit computer era back in the 80's.

Many games back then were arcade conversions, inheriting mechanical quirks like game being impossible to beat unless you used your coins and purchased an extra life. On computers there were sometimes alternative methods to get those extra life, or super shield or something because some boss encounters were impossible to beat without them (Gradius spin off Salamander aka 'Life Force' for example IIRC). For many games it was also crucial to memorise patters because there were situations where there really wasn't any reaction time. Trainers existed for a reason, there were game that were impossible, due bug or oversight (I'm looking at you Delta!) and patching was unheard of.

RE2 Remake in it's hardest, which is playing about how fast you can beat the game, is about the same, though a bit easier. There is curious RNG factor though, it's impossible to know how many bullets exactly you are going to waste. I think it's all right in main game and it's extra modes, but I think free DLC (I played through most of the scenarios) fucks something up. 2-3 bullets to dog is manageable, but when discrepancy increases with other foes, it rises questions. All scenarios are winnable anyway, but in the gaming in it's purest, I don't know if the best time or score should be that much based on RNG.

For audio, there is something that I appreciate a lot, dynamic range selector, which is called something else, but it's under audio properties. For me game sounds served very well their purpose (some echoes were perhaps off). Soundtrack is quite subtle, in style of many other Zombie games, for me it worked.

Recommended for full price:

- Big fan of the series
- Like playing challenges for yourself or RE.net wise

Recommended for discount price

- About anyone else who likes good games even when they aren't role playing games.


For those interested about game developing:

- Generation gap may be a major unseen factor. People who praise good old times of the 90's can't understand what made 8-bit era home computer gaming / arcade
- Game can have a good to decent story, good production values and also have very solid mechanics
- Potential franchises flopped in the 90's, did they fail one or two of the above?
- According to Steam stats 10 - to 11% of players have completed the game on hardcore, which appears to be bit high in comparison to many other titles. Perhaps every game doesn't need to be 100+ hours alternative life simulator to be successfull

 

[RRRrrr]

Finished Bloodlines today. With all side quests, too. It was great. I played it absolutely non-stop for three days, I don't know happened to me.

Combat turned out to be fun once you level up combat skills. With Ventrue, I had a lot of fun with the Dominate abilities-putting the last enemy in trance so you can feed off him, possessing enemies so they can tank, killing enemies with a single click with suicide and using mass suicide on large groups...you barely need weapons, I was just using suicide and putting the last enemies in trance so I get regain my blood points. I think I barely used any disciplines on my previous playthrough. This time, I was actually looking forward to fights and the last long dungeons.

But more interestingly, I really liked the guns this time. They have firing modes, which I didn't know. The .44 Magnum was especially fun to use.

The strangest thing was that I ran out of money by the end. I did all side quests and regularly collected from the bar, but buying all guns, manuals, clothes and charms while constantly restocking on ammo drained my budget fast. The .44 Magnum ammo was extraordinary expensive, despite my haggle skills.

But my general impression is that people dislike the combat in VtmB because it is not introduced very well. The mechanics are there and are actually pretty solid. You just have to level up your combat skills and use disciplines properly. But I can see why someone might hare the combat if they just slash/shoot without leveling your skills and using disciplines. If I am in the mood, I might even write a defense of the game's combat. It is certainly misunderstood rather than badly done. Sort of what happened later to Alpha Protocol.

All in all, I truly can't believe the ambition and labour that went into this game. It has the best sound design and voice acting of any game I have played, lovely graphics (that have aged extraordinarily well, except some animations), great dialogue (and the facial animations convey emotion better than any game I have played), varied quests, nice skill system...It is criminal how badly the game sold. I don't think a game of this scope and sheer ambition is possible today. Hell, it was not possible even back then, which is why the development and release were so problematic.

 

[Genma:TheDestroyer]

Decided to finally give the PC version of GTA V a complete playthrough, even did the iFruit app mini-games. 'Street' can suck my dick. But at least I got to soup up Franklin's initial ride and Chop is rocking the gold bling collar.

Far Cry 5 is super fun...but those unavoidable capture segments are the work of the devil. Doesn't matter where you are, what you're doing and how many waves of elite chuckle-heads you've killed off everything stops and you're forced to listen to one of Jacob's minions wax philosophical.

Started a Necro run in the M&B module Solid and Shade, but then created a whole new save file for a fanatical Poseidon worshiper. Having more fun going against the grain of the mod itself.

Running through some of Glados' early test chambers in Portal 2, with Wheatley bumbling in the background.

Bought the PC version of Turok for a nostalgia trip.

Playing through the original Huniepop again in preparation for the sequel. Goddamn it has some catchy music.

Edit: And in honor of Enderal's Steam release I'm setting up Arktwend, the Morrowind-era precursor.

 

[track02]

Had a chance to try Anthem yesterday but got bored after an hour
The gameplay is okayish, I like the movement and the suits/powers look neat but guns are dull and there really doesn't seem to be depth to the game
I was hoping for more character progression rather than just swapping between a few different skills/items as you get upgrades

Now I'm playing Metro Exodus which after the hand-holdy intro is feeling pretty good
I'm hoping there's an option to turn everything to Russian though, just so I can't understand what's being said - the writing/VA is truly awful.

 

[flyingjohn]

Continuing my ace combat retrospective with ace combat zero.

-EMULATION
You only need min-mapping to be set to basic in order for the game to run normally.

-STORY

The game tries to copy ace combat 4 minimalist style with a documentary gimmick about you by interviewing your enemies after the war.It is boring and has been done better in ace combat 4 with the kid.
The main plot is a mess with a random terrorist reveal happening at the end,it just feels out of place.Also the belkan war was is quite disappointing plot wise since it was so hyped in ace combat 5.
The game also tries to copy ace combat 5 when ti comes to your wing men. Unfortunately there is only two actual wingmen. The first one is your mercenary buddy which the game really tries to make you care for,but fails.He is boring and leaves at half point of the game anyway.The second is a young annoying pilot which replaces him.
He is the typical new guy trope.They just don't work here.Ace combat 5 had interaction between you and your wing men and they all had character,here there is nothing.
Also there is too much radio chatter for a minimalist style writing,it feels out of place.


-Quality of the mission briefing screen
The ace combat 5 screen gets a nice 80's retro style theme.It has been given more effort then the story ironically.

-Mission variety and gameplay
They fucked it up completely.

The game is back to 18 missions which cuts the game length significantly.
Mission variety is nonexistent.Almost all missions are just get here bomb some ground targets and then fight a giant air brawl,some of them don't even have ground targets.
In fact,one location and mission type(air brawl) is used three times in the game,it feels so lazy.The air brawls are made special but having a special enemy ace squadron appear at the end of most misson,and they are actually quite fun to fight.
The only other mission type is a ace combat 4 like score mission which is nice since it has unique ground structures to destroy.
The missions lack any form of scripting or surprise,it is really disappointing compared to 5.I get they were going for all or nothing air brawls,but ace combat 5 integrated everything(ground and air) better.

The major new addition is the ace ranking.Basically you get colored targets now in every mission.And given which you destroy you either get three rankings which influence you money and the enemy ace types you will be facing.This sounds nice,but all this means is that you have to replay the same map and destroy mostly the same targets,this time destroying some houses or windmills which is boring.It feels like they added this to pad out the game.Remember you have to replay each misison three times to unlock everything,which is tedious.

Alternative missions are somewhat included.Some missions are broken down in 3 parts which you get to select which one you want to play.The problem with this is that it feels like they took a coherent mission and then chopped it up in three pieces.I am not a fan of this change.

There are no secret levels or any secrets found on any levels,a shame.
Medals have received no change,you get them for doing special things like shooting down specif enemies.

-Planes
The game has less planes then ace combat 5 because of the removal of the family system.The game starts nice with the inclusion of a draken,making you think you will be getting some old interesting aircraft,but it just goes back to the normal planes you are used to after the second mission.

Also the ace style will effect your plane choice since planes are really expensive.

Customization wise you loose the family system but gain the option to choose multiple second weapons.This is a welcome change.
As for your wing men customization,you trade the ability to choose airplanes for the ability to choose their second weapon.Kind neutral on this decision.


--Difficulty
The toughest ace combat to date. Generic enemies retain their ace combat 5 ai which is good enough,but the ace pilots have been buffed significantly.They will maneuver like humans,and speed away the moment any missile get near enough and will use guns very effectively if in range.Also every ace squadron has its own style,which makes them especially fun to dogfight.

Ground targets are still easy except one or two targets that are put behind stuff that seems like they are in the open,it is annoying since you can't really see them clearly and waste a missile.

Since you will be air brawling a lot, primary missiles have been somewhat slowed down.This is done so you have to actually engage in dogfight or wait for a specif time to fire on the aces.


-Unique stuff and extra content
Well,as usual all the generic stuff from 4 and 5 are back.
But the game removes arcade mode,which is a big negative for me.
Replay ability is expected thanks to the ace style system.

-Overall verdict
Personally the worst ace combat for the ps2. But if you want a difficult air combat focused game then this is for you.I just expect a more full package from the series.

 

[Abu Antar]

I've completed games #10 and #11 for the year.
河洛群俠傳 (Ho Tu Lo Shu ： The Books of Dragon) was very fun, even if it was all in Chinese. I don't like to use the term, but I have to this time. A lot of autism was involved in completing this game. Took me around 75 hours to beat it and get all achievements.

Game #11 is Beneath A Steel Sky. Never played it before, to be honest. Didn't even know that it was free. It was quite fun. It took me 3 hours to finish it.

Now that these two are done, I am going to try and play some Steam games in the chronological order that I bought them... After I beat Dragon Quest XI and Pathfinder: Kingmaker. I've had some games for 5+ years in my library.

 

[octavius]

Just finished the Hall of Heroes map of the Keepers Campaign of Age of Wonders.

That Mole has lasted all the way to the last map. Atta boy!

 

[Dux]

Wing Commander II: Vengeance of the Kilrathi

What a ride, with ups and downs. Mostly downs. In the context of the game's story, that is. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece. The narrative is absurdly engrossing and probably the best that any game has ever offered. That's my opinion. It's edge-of-your-seat all the way through. Characters grow increasingly tense and bitter as the Kilrathi push on relentlessly. You're always accused of being a fuck-up and a turncoat, so you're an outcast even among your wingmen and supposed friends. Your boss is on your ass about everything. Victories are intermingled with defeats. Triumphs are countered with tragedies and sabotage. Just as you think you're on a roll something blows up in your face. That's war and it taxes people in a variety of ways - makes them say and do things they normally wouldn't. This game certainly shows that and it garners a kind of sympathy that is rarely evoked in gaming. The odds are stacked against you but if you're a true wing commander you'll do just fine.

Even got the chick in the end.

 

[RK47]

NWC's final work on Heroes of Might & Magic isn't as well received but I still find it fun to play.

Graphic-wise it's a downgrade from the beautiful 2D graphics of the third game, but the game soundtrack is still top-notch.



The new factions may have limited creature roster but their meta is completely refreshed. Despite the loss of unique hero abilities, the units themselves and faction mechanics are worthy replacements.

Male, female, it doesn't matter - you're all the same as long as you have the same class.

Take for example the Might/Stronghold faction. Their Barbarian heroes are no longer a non-participant in combat, they actually stood in battle and capable of dishing out enough damage in the end game to punch a Black Dragon dead. The Nature/Preserve faction on the meantime has a Druid/Archer hero. The Archer is a standard shooter, while the Druid has a Summoning skill that spawns XP worth of creatures daily. Level up that Summoning skill and you may even be able to summon Elves for free! The armies also no longer require a hero to lead them, leading to cheese strategies like deploying Nature's fast Sprite in the early game to scout and steal resources.

Get it now from GOG at just $2.50 IMO. I just did.

 

[Mark.L.Joy]

Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown, was feeling the need for some jet popamole, nothing much to say about it anyone who enjoyed previous titles will like this one, just wish they'd go all in on plane porn and replay system to see all the finer details, they could also get greater mileage out of the maps with better challenge system or they could even allow custom stuff.

Meh/10

 

[Latro]

Playing Majin Tensei II: Spiral Nemesis.

How is it? Pretty fun. Feels more like SNES Fire Emblem than Devil Survivor (not a big surprise), but it's very fun for how simple the mechanics are. Standard SMT strength/weaknesses/demon fusion. Each demon/unit is just as important as any in FE, because if they die you may be locked out of getting that super-kool stronger pokemon you want. In a sense, it's just as punishing as any FE, but you don't get locked out of plot/character stuff because demons are just demons. The perma-death for demons fits in nicely and at least makes you consider risk/reward.
CONS:

* MC DOES NOT get spells, at least for the first half (which I'm at). Just pump away with VIT and STR. I'm disappointed with this. At least the way magic works means your MC will probably die if you let magic dudes pump away at him, magic resist is tied directly to WIS/MAG stat.
* Start is slow, so it's a bit shitty because the game has 4-5 different endings.

Misc:

*AI is weird, it has the standard "target nobody else but MC" rubberbanding, but then it will specifically camp certain areas by design, and mix between targetting the weakest ally available or actually gang up on a ranged unit.
So it's not "bad", it just sorta bounces between the usual SRPG enemy strategies.
*Music is nice, art is more generic than Kaneko flavored (I don't think even saw his name attached at all to this game).
* There's no free battles or auctions in the game, so there's additional risks you need to take when you converse with demons, which I think is better personally.

 

[HansDampf]

I've completed Return of the Obra Dinn, a really cool detective game from the guy who made Papers Please. The goal is to identify each of the 60 lost crew members on the Obra Dinn and determine their cause of death. Walk up to a corpse and use your magic pocket watch to load a diorama that captures the exact moment of their death. These can look spectacular despite (or because of?) the black and white pixel look. Be prepared to take notes and pay attention to detail.
My main gripe with this game is the validation system. Only after you've correctly identified 3 people and their fate, the game will confirm and save them. This is done to prevent you from guessing. But it doesn't go far enough. When you are 100% sure you've got 2 fates correct you can still start guessing on the third one, or sometimes you get them correct by accident. I can't see a good solution for this problem except not validating them at all until you've got everything right, which would lead to a lot of frustration. I would move the threshold up to 10 though. Every single crew member can be identified without guessing, and when you manage to get one of the more difficult ones it's really satisfying (certainly more than gaming the system). The game should also have provided and easier way to traverse the dioramas in chronological order. And direct/separate access to the crew roster and the sketches would have been useful.

 

[octavius]

Finished Age of Wonders, the Keepers Campaign.

As a campaign I liked it much better than the HoMM 3:RoE campaigns and quite a bit better than the HoMM 3:AB campaigns.

As a whole the game is more uneven than HoMM 3. It is overall better, but has some crucial flaws, like the AI not being able to search ruins and such, equip items or buy spells, which makes the SP game feel slightly unfinished. And with über heroes and Leader on Map proper strategy sometimes flies out the window, as Leader assassination is too easy and too tempting.

Also, none of the stand alone maps are suitable of SP; all are designed for MP, which is a bummer.
Fortunately there's lots of user made maps and even campaigns available, but the first ones were made 1.5 after the game was released. I guess the Editor didn't ship with the game originally.

I think I must have played an unpatched version of the game back in the days, since the AI was not as pathetic as I recall. NM, I was using a mod.

Next games on my chronological play list are Opposing Force, PST, They Hunger and (maybe) Demise: Rise of the Ku'tan, and then I will be finished with 1999. But before reaching AoW 2 I will have to play the Cult of Storms campaign for Age of Wonders.