Currently Playing

[Raid]

If I hadn't played in the beta I'd have bought the game at launch, and I think that would have been a mistake. They need to prove they've fixed all of the technical problems associated with it being always online.

I'm really hoping they'll be pressured into making significant changes to the game overall though. The shared world concept adds absolutely nothing to the experience (I really don't think that's hyperbole), it only detracts from it. I know it's unlikely given it's a monetisation thing for them, but remember that Diablo 3 launched with a real money auction house and a loot system handicapped to support it, and they did eventually relent and fix those unpopular choices.

As it is, it's not a game I think I'm going to buy. I'll see how long that opinion lasts as I do love the franchise and the gameplay is still pretty strong, but for now I don't feel like supporting the decisions they've made with a purchase.

[DjchunKfunK]

If I hadn't played in the beta I'd have bought the game at launch, and I think that would have been a mistake. They need to prove they've fixed all of the technical problems associated with it being always online.

I'm really hoping they'll be pressured into making significant changes to the game overall though. The shared world concept adds absolutely nothing to the experience (I really don't think that's hyperbole), it only detracts from it. I know it's unlikely given it's a monetisation thing for them, but remember that Diablo 3 launched with a real money auction house and a loot system handicapped to support it, and they did eventually relent and fix those unpopular choices.

As it is, it's not a game I think I'm going to buy. I'll see how long that opinion lasts as I do love the franchise and the gameplay is still pretty strong, but for now I don't feel like supporting the decisions they've made with a purchase.

There is no way the shared world is being removed, it's going to be integral to the architecture and is necessary for the World Bosses. I think you are being a bit hyperbolic, you might not like it but there will be plenty who do and those like me who don't mind it. I like doing the world events and having someone join in to help for instance.

[Mantis]

I think the World Bosses mechanic is terrible and not suited to this genre at all. Particularly with how it's implemented on a simple timer with the same spawn location each time. It's too much like WoW and shows how unimaginative the devs have been with coming up with something actually new and interesting.

I don't think any of the new mechanics are egregious enough that they will ever be revised though. Nothing can quite beat how shockingly bad that auction house was at launch on Diablo 3. Dropping that entirely with the expansion pack was what salvaged that game.

[DjchunKfunK]

Yeah the game itself is mostly OK, it's small things that I have issues with that can be fixed. I think the World Boss stuff can work, it works really well in Lost Ark, but it seems a bit half arsed in Diablo 4.

[Animalmother]

Farcry 5: Anniversary
A next gen update for FC5 that ups it to 60 fps. It's fine I suppose, you can't really polish a turd at the end of the day. I have to take Ubi's word that it's running at 60 fps but truth be told I can't tell any difference, for a game that's only 5 years old the visuals haven't aged well and it all looks a bit grainy. One thing I have noticed is the enemies now seem to be able to kill you in seconds often before I have a chance to react. I've had to restart missions multiple times due to being instantly spotted and killed, gets a tad frustrating. Either that or I'm just getting shit at games.

I think this is a console update only and honestly not really worth the bother unless you've never played it before. It's also available on Game Pass.

[Raid]

Divinity: Original Sin 2

Having played a few JRPGs recently (I'm still forcing myself to finish FF7, which has grown on me a little but is still a massive disappointment), I decided to give another genre I've wanted to play but never gotten into a try. CRPGs (the Baldurs' Gate and Planescapes Torment and the like) largely passed me by back when they were popular as I was more into action games at the time, and I didn't actually get on with Original Sin 1, but as I wanted a new game for the Steam Deck and the sequel has a very well thought out controller scheme, I figured I'd give it a go.

It grabbed me right from the off with a good opening and surprisingly good voice acting (something that I found really annoying in its predecessor), but I'm finding myself feeling a little out of my depth. In the five hours or so I've played, I've lost half an hour's progress three times because of a surprise encounter, and I don't think there's yet been an encounter against humanoid enemies that I've been able to win first time. I don't know if my party composition is wrong, whether it's my equipment, or whether I'm just not playing it very well. It's probably all three. When you pick up a new party member it asks you what skill set you want them to have, and I'm not sure whether it's better sticking with that character's default or whether their stats change depending on what you choose. At the moment my protagonist is a Ranger, I have the Red Prince as sword and board, with Fane as a wizard type and Ifan as a more magically-attuned ranged type.

The problem is that it doesn't go out of its way to explain anything beyond the interface, and while the tooltips are usually adequate to describe skills, I'm frequently flummoxed by statuses and strategy. It took me an age to work out that the reason my two rangers couldn't fire at a target wasn't because he was out of line of sight like the game told me (I wasted entire turns moving them trying to find somewhere they could shoot from despite there being nothing obvious blocking their shots), but because they'd been blinded by an enemy's ability and so their ranges were drastically reduced. And annoyingly, though the game does autosave when entering a dangerous situation sometimes, it's not reliable, hence why I've lost so much time. It really feels like the odds are stacked against you and it's not all that interested in telling you so.

That's not to say I'm not enjoying it, I am, but it's a bit of a frustrating experience for someone new to the genre.

[Wrathbone]

Trust me, it's frustrating for someone who's played just about every game in the genre. There's something about the Divinity games that just doesn't work for me, despite them ticking just about every box I have for a CRPG.

If you can stomach the technical hurdles of getting it working acceptably, Arcanum is a phenomonal example of the genre that's well worth playing (the GOG version does make it marginally easier to work, but not hugely so).

[DjchunKfunK]

I love DOS 2, it's probably one of my favourite RPGs of all time. I would say that you are better off just sticking with the default skills the characters have. The trick to the game is that the surface effects are really powerful, so taking advantage of that and being able to counter the effects enemies use is important. It's not an easy game though and it does have a tendency to throw in hard enemies that you need to come back to later in an area that you think you are the right level for which, yes can be a bit annoying if you haven't saved for a while.

[Raid]

If you can stomach the technical hurdles of getting it working acceptably,

That unfortunately is the sticking point. I want a game for the Steam Deck, and while it does have mouse capabilities, I wouldn't want to play a game with a largely mouse-driven interface on it. Almost all CRPGs seem to be mouse-driven, and DOS2:DE is one of the few I've found with a lot of thought put into its interface for controllers.

I think my issues can be overcome just with a few new-player guides. I've got one of my party reasonably kitted out, and he fared pretty well in one of the surprise encounters, I just need to get the others some better gear too.

[Sly Boots]

I'm with Dj on DOS2, one of my favourite RPGs. Try to use the environment more than you would in a D&D game, electrifying puddles to stun enemies, blowing up barrels, creating poison clouds etc. There are some really powerful perks too like healing when you stand in blood, which makes melee characters near unkillable...

[Sly Boots]

To expand, experiment with the different classes... I found mages and then rogues to be most effective, and, sad to say, rangers the least. Generally my party would include two mages who between them could cover off all the various magic schools, and a backstabby rogue, who collectively could dominate. Also, make sure you're buying a shit-ton of skill books as these, arguably even more so than equipment, dictate how effective you'll be in combat. And be flexible, some class skills are good on any class, like the archer skill that acts as a teleport, crazy good for any character.

[Sly Boots]

FYI, not sure how far along the story you are, but not too far in you get access to a free, infinite respec for all characters should you need it, if you feel like you've borked a build or chosen the wrong class

[Mantis]

If you want to do any damage at all with physical characters you have to mainline Warfare stats as a priority. Even for a ranger with a bow and arrow, the damage increase you get per skill point into Warfare drastically outpaces any improvements from the archery or huntsman skills. You only really need as many points into Huntsman as you want to access the skill requirement for any abilities that take your fancy. Beyond that, the extra damage from height advantage is a nice bonus but it's not strong enough and too situational to really warrant a massive focus of skill points into.

Same if you're making thief/rogue type character. Stick a bunch of points into Warfare and all of a sudden that improved crit chance becomes fierce as your critical hits will have a lot more wallop behind them.

A general sound plan is to have a balance in your party between Physical armour and Magic armour damage so that you can deal with a variety of enemies and then rely very heavily on battlefield control skills such as polymorph/atrophy/charm etc. I played the second game on the highest difficulty and you really have to abuse every mechanic you can as the computer often throws equally matched parties against you who will abuse all the same tools you have access to. Anything that can make an enemy miss a turn is incredibly valuable.

It's a great game. One of the most satisfying combat systems in any cRPG I've played.

[Raid]

I did eventually decide to drop magic archer Ifan in favour of Lohse who's a water / ice mage. I had another crack at the fight with Griff, one where I got steamrollered on the first occasion, and won reasonably easily because of positioning and better gear. My ranger now has a bow that does more physical and adds shock damage, as well as the awesome teleporting gloves. I started the fight after positioning the ranger up high and rather than taking shots to start, teleported the enemy that was up there with me as far away as I could removing an immediate threat. For two AP I can make a melee opponent miss their entire turn closing the gap again, and presumably I can just teleport them into fire or next to an exploding barrel (and then shoot the barrel), which just seems crazily powerful.

Do wands create surfaces when they hit? Fane has a couple of them now; in his main hand is a poison one, and he off-hands a fire one, but it looks like the poison wand creates a flammable puddle which is immediately detonated by the fire.

[Lenny Solidus]

Grim Dawn

Back in my core 2 duo days there was legitimately one good thing that came about from being held back by the hardware that I owned, I played a lot and I do mean a lot of rts and rpgs. Tons of them and often nothing but. As I oh so slowly acquired better and better hardware I fell face-first into playing nothing but graphically demanding games - of course first person based variety mostly, and I genuinely forgot the love I once held deep for other genres because of it.

I never played this game until only recently, the long and very short of it is that it has reawakened that pure love for the arpg genre that I once held, and I honestly could not be happier about. It's such a fantastic mixture of the new firmly grasped with the old and there's so much content it's quickly become one of those plan ahead for the next session types that commits to the fact that it's an amazing game. I've already had to pull myself away from it numerous times as you can cast a portal and pick up directly where you left off. Just me and my Necro companions running around slaying everything in our path, well not quite everything.

Alongside it and directly because of the fun I'm currently having on it, I now have War Mongrels and Warhammer 4k Mechanicus both in tow. It wasn't all that too long ago my interest in gaming was starting to feel somewhat strained, it's nice to have something I can feel truly invested in again.

But not too much.