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I just finished up, actually.

It's really, really good. I'm not sure I've ever seen lusher, more detailed interior environments. It's just staggering how good it all looks. There's rooms in the far corner of the castle, tucked away, that so many players may never see, and they look as good as the rooms in other games they lavish attention on because they know everyone will see them. It's just remarkable.

The other highlight is the combat. Magical combat in games is rare, mostly because it's just so stupid: spam buttons, spam a key over and over to win a "battle of wills" where your two colored beams meet each other to see who wants it more (there's some of that here but it's very rare and mostly a symbolic ending to some of the fights). But there's such a lovely mix of spell interactions here. Levitate them, hit them a few times, then slam them back on the ground. Freeze them, then hit them with a force spell. Set them on fire and then knock them back. Pull them closer to use a short-range spell instead. Different enemies with different weaknesses. And some have shields you can only break by matching a certain "type" of spell, based on color.

It's just shockingly fun and allows you to be really creative with which spells you equip at a given moment. I felt engaged in every little bit of combat there was, even at the end when I was able to fly around and mop up enemies in a few seconds each. Even that was fun. So, so impressed with how much thought they put into the combat.



A few downsides: the side quests are so-so. Nothing terribly special there. Some of the collectible/100%-style-options are lame, some are fun. That's kinda standard there. Personally, I'm not a 100% completionist when 100% means just running around finding things, but I actually bothered with that for several of the items here because it was just so fun to look around, period (and most involved some small level of discernment, so it was never just shoving my head in every corner). I didn't do all of them, and won't, but I did way more of that stuff than I normally bother with.

Main quest is pretty good, weaves in a lot of stuff naturally. Voice acting is superb. Writing quite good too. Just a really lovingly crafted game. Can't wait to see what they do next.

Ah, good to hear. Lisa saw this and asked me to get it, but she will probably do her now-standard process of playing for 30 minutes, saying it was fun, and then never going back to it. So, it would probably be me playing the game to completion!

I think I am right near the end of Cyberpunk 2077, which has been great. Like you, I am kind of doing more of the side stuff than I would normally do in a game like this, mostly because they have for the most part been engaging and worth the time. I doubt I will get all the NCPD engagements done, mostly because it seems like it takes a whole lot of driving up and down each street, scouring the areas to find each and every one. The gigs have been pretty fun, I have some fun vehicles, and the city has been a pleasure to explore.

The writing and storytelling are the main draw here, and like I said I am getting the idea and I am right near the end there. Really enjoyed the sort of side stuff that was V building up friendships with various personalities in the game, which I didn't expect. I played a female V, and she ended up becoming good friends with Panem Palmer, and that entire line was well done and engaging. I also did the friendship arc with River, the romance arc with Judy, and I enjoyed the twists in the line with Jackie. I went the friendly route with Silverhand, which was good, but not great.

The presentation here is all top notch, but my biggest complaint with the game continues to be it's lack of difficulty. Not sure how the other playstyles stack up, but the Netrunner side of things has been a complete breeze, even at high difficulty levels. Breach Protocol > Contagion...all enemies dead. Maybe there is a guy or two still staggering around to pop with Static Charge, or I can skip the contagion and fire off a few rounds from cover, but I am rarely hit, and even the boss fights are a joke. Someday down the road, perhaps I do a male V game and I stay away from the hacking stuff. Fir the most part, the game has been nova, but it's almost time to delta!

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Yeah, I find myself sticking with games where it's fun to just exist in the world, and Cyberpunk is definitely that. The vibe, the feeling, the atmosphere...that's stuff only a game can do. And more and more the games I'm interested in are the ones taking the most advantage of their medium, as opposed to the ones aping films or board games or what have you.

Glad you mentioned the side gigs, they're actually quite good. I was expecting them to all just be cookie cutter/radiant quests, variants on the same go-and-fetch or go-and-kill, but they actually had stories, voice acting, and delightful variation. I wonder how many people never do most of them because they assume (quite reasonably) that they weren't given that much bespoke attention, but many of them have been.

If you're like me, you're going to be surprised (maybe even shocked) by how much all your choices to this point factor into the end game. I was not expecting that. Won't say too much more, though.

I think that's smart, yeah. And I can't disagree. I don't mind feeling overpowered if I get there by "putting in the work" though. Not sure why, but that still works for me. But I think some self-binding (or higher difficulty, maybe?) to have to struggle more is a fine idea. For me there's always the mutual exclusive desires of wanting to get over that fear of the world and missing it a little once it's gone.

I had done some self-binding, in that I pretty much made myself into a paper tiger, putting zero points into any sort of defense or body stuff. The problem is that the hacks are so good, the enemy never has a chance to get attacks off on me. I guess I could just walk into rooms brazenly and just shoot them with a pistol, but I spent the whole game building up a stealth play style etc., so that seems weird.

I won't play the game again right away, but perhaps in a year or two I revisit it and try a different approach and origin story (I went Nomad this time around).

Sooner or later, I'll get into that game (Cyberpunk). I NEARLY picked it up on the PS a few weeks back, but I am so back-logged on sale titles that there's just no sense it in. For now, I'm still with Returnal, though I've progressed NO farther now that the daily challenges are available. A quick 20-minute run seems to satisfy immediate needs. That kind of sucks though, as I want to get to Biome 3. Just that's a 1-2 hour path at the moment.

I DID, however, download a discounted Ghostwire: Tokyo title during the previously mentioned PS sale. I've yet to even load it up but that may be next on the list.

None of this is important. Just rambling, as I stall in a break from work. This morning was rough and I'm scared to jump back in.

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"My Dionne Warwick understanding of your dream indicates that you are ambivalent on how you want life to eventually screw you." - Joel

"Ever try to forcibly pin down a house cat? It's not easy." - Captain Steel

"I just can't get pass sticking a finger up a dog's butt." - John Dumbear

Aww, but that's the only type of magic my Minecraft budget would allow for

[35m10s]



(That grand battle was inspired by the magical duel in Big Trouble in Little China would you believe )

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If anyone wants to try a really gnarly / anarchic / anything goes magic system, def try the Magicka series some day. Great co-op game. (In part because the temptation to freeze/entomb/flambé your friends in unique ways is far too great )

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Virtual Reality chatter on a movie site? Got endless amounts of it here. Reviews over here

wait u finished this already :O im still going lol im level 25 now cause i been doing alot of side missions and puzzles and then campaign after that and been playing alot of destiny 1 also lol

@Golgot

So you still check in with Elite: Dangerous at all? I fired it up after years and was promptly smoked in the first encounter I tried, which saw me accidentally targeting a fed. Whoops! Can't even remember half the controls!

@Yoda: i passed on it because you can't go 100% *******



edit: it does look like a pretty sweet game, tho

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"This is that human freedom, which all boast that they possess, and which consists solely in the fact, that men are conscious of their own desire, but are ignorant of the causes whereby that desire has been determined." -Baruch Spinoza

I put like 40 hours into the 'Legs' DLC when it launched, but in the end the lack of VR support for the on foot stuff was too much of a barrier.

Worth a go if you see it on sale though for sure. (It also has the worst of ED's aspect's dialled up the max, with absurd grind challenges for upgrades the main villain. But the 'wild west town covered in pink space dust' highlights are worth the meander )

Unfortunately my joystick is so worn out now that it's like I'm genuinely wrestling a malfunctioning ship around. Think it'll take a major update to see me drop back in again. (And I'm not entirely sure they've got it in them now. Very radio silent. But if they ever release some alien beasts I'll be back in a flash )

I believe the alien invasion is currently ongoing, or at least it was! I haven't run into any infested systems in my short time back (let's face it, I have barely gotten out of the station, only to quickly have my ship blown up), but I see plenty of videos on tricking out ships in Engineered Anti-Xeno configs, how to cold-obit alien interceptors, and other such stuff that I really know nothing about. I think that update landed in December 2022, maybe?

Oh yeah there's ship aliens. Very cool end game / co-op stuff. (And once you stop exploding you could take on the low tier drone fights no probs . The basic Xeno weapons are easy to get, and a mid-range ship can duke with them. The big bois are where the mad soundscapes and light shows are at tho )

I was thinking more of the long-rumoured aliens on foot. A bunch of file-diving, and a leak that's panned out to date, point that way. But if they're working on them still, they're doing it in a very dank, dark corner

Ah, gotcha!

I don't have that expansion, so no walking about for me as of yet.

Played some more last night, and had a pretty memorable chain of gameplay emerge. I did some bounty hunting, went and turned in my contracts, then grabbed another mission or two. The first had me heading over to help in a battle of Feds vs...I guess some deserter feds or something? Both the feds and the enemies were in Fed Navy Corvettes. I was a bit out of my depth, and it quickly became apparent that I was overmatched. I did OK, but eventually took a gauss round to the canopy, which ended up shattering. I had 7 minutes to get back to safety.

I didn't make it, mostly due to my nav being hard to deal with with a busted windshield. I almost made it, but was gasping and dying as I tried to approach the landing area. My ship exploded and when I redeployed... I was over 1,000 LY from civilization! I was way out in the black, and couldn't figure out why I spawned there. Nothing to do but plot a course and start jumping. I think it was something like 88 jumps back (!!!)

Ended up being kind of a cool and peaceful trip, as I would fire my discovery scanner at each system, and every 15 jumps or so I would pause to fuel scoop at a star.

I am almost all the way home, having to log out to go to bed once I finally got back to a system that had a station in it. Anyway...really cool stuff.

Nice one! Yeah the canopy breach is such a cool touch. Trying to navigate back with the slivers of UI you can see, the pressure on executing each space action right as you pant for air. Properly epic, whether you make it or not

Yeah the combat zones can be properly gnarly now. (They tend to have a couple of phases now, with brutal mobs of engineered ships rocking up part of the way through). The prog gen does spring up some odd mixes at times though, which are challenging for the head canon

That's a bit weird on the respawn. It normally dumps you at your last station. (Did you shoot some friendlies again? That might have seen you dumped at the nearest prison ship, which can be faaaar away )

Yeah the jump-n-scan can be v chill. I always struggled with the bigger scale exploration in the game, but there is something to be said for just nosing around 'The Bubble' and seeing what you see, for sure

(That said all of my ships had some alien mutant shit slammed on the jump drives as soon as possible, even if it fried all of the other parts. I'd still rather get places quicker after a while )

This had to be it, but I was pretty careful to use my kill warrant scanner etc., and I don't recall targeting any greens during the battle. It was a wild, chaotic fight with a lot of ships though, so anything is possible.

Next time I play, I am going to relocate to a better home base with the 15% discount on modules etc., and then do a little reading on what all this Engineer business is about. That all came after I stopped playing last time.

Engineering is where ED's infamous grind really kicks in properly. It's all totally optional though if you're playing PvE, and you can totally ignore it for ages if tinkering with your latest modules is keeping you entertained.

The best way to look at it is that it does layer in a ton more customization for the ships. Want some missiles that also inhibit thrusters on impact (so you can slow down your piracy target, as they flee spewing goods)? You can do that . Want a laser weapon that works better when you're running stealthy and cool? Want to juice up some mini-cannons to face-melting levels, and take on a Combat Zone with 6 strapped to your head. Go for it

The downside is the sheer mass of material gathering you have to do, and the insane mileage to get to the various Engineers.

My top tips would be:

* Just collect materials 'organically' as you play. (You get lots of data naturally by scanning ships, but scooping up the top tier mats that ships drop when they pop is worth the salvage chill too).

* Always 'pin' the best recipe at an Engineers. That means you can implement it again even if you're miles away.

You know...Atomic Heart's not that bad. Does it have some of the worst dialogue/writing in a video game? Sure. Well, maybe not entirely seeing as some of it did make me laugh. Maybe even intentionally. Did I get stuck in random corners and had to restart a level? Only about 300 times. Just slightly more than average. I just think we should cut it some slack. I will say, it's visually stunning.

Cool...thanks for the tips!

Y'all playing Elite Dangerous on PC? I picked that up on sale for PS but looked like it required a PSN sub to play. I never tested it though.

This morning, after a conference call, a coworker asked if I had heard of Outer Wilds. I asked, "that the Fallout game?" he closed his eyes, took a sigh, and said no. Then I asked, "Oh, is that the one in space where you're an alien flying around a solar system caught in a time loop?" he opened his eyes and said, "well, yeah, but that's a spoiler." I replied that yes, I have played it and traced my steps to where I left off then added I got a buddy here that found a VR mod for it.

I talk about you guys all the time.

I am on PC for all my games these days, so that is where I play Elite. If I recall, FDev doesn't support the console version as much (or at all) anymore.