Here's some games I've played recently (since mid-summer to now) and some thoughts on them. Hope you enjoy! And be sure to let me know if you think I'll dig something!!!! Love you!!!!
I picked up a low-end laptop mainly for work purposes and it turned out it ran some games much better than I anticipated. So, what do I do? Delved into a cRPG marathon replaying and playing for the first time Infinity Engine games and games like them. I had forgotten how much I love this style of RPG. First up is:
Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition (4/5) (PC)
I love this game and with the EE it has aged very well. Sure, you really do miss a lot of QoL perks modern RPGs offer, but the charm BG has is timeless. It also does a great job easing you into D&D getting you familiar with terms like THAC0 and AR and things like needing to rest to refill spells and actually using buff spells.
Fun story and satisfying combat only held back by the fact that BG2 is infinitely better. Well worth playing as well as the Dragonspear expansion everyone hated for some reason.
Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition (10/5) (PC)
I've been through countless runs with this game and consider it one of my all-time favorites. The twisted and weird world is unlike anything else out there and the narrative is to this day one of the very best in all gaming.
This was my first time with the EE and of all the Infinity Engine EE games, this was by far the best update. Bugs squashed, graphics cleaned, QoL improvements that don't detract from the original experience put in, overseen by the amazing Chris Avellone, not having to install a million mods to get it working, all check!
I cannot recommend this game enough. Though be warned, choices and stats matter (especially Wisdom and Intelligence hint hint) and you are going to be reading A LOT!
Pillars of Eternity (5/5) (PC)
Take everything you love about IE games and updated it with modern graphics and modern QoL and you have PoE. Obsidian nailed everything great about old school cRPGs and brought it to the modern age.
Great philosophical story paired with mountains of prose and witty party members who are packed to the brim with tons of spells and abilities which give you crazy amounts of ways to build a party. This was my third time through the game, and it was just as fun as my first.
Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire (10/5) (PC)
Holy fuckballs am I loving this game. I am still making my way through it and just need to stop side questing and do the final mission, but at 100 hours in I feel confident to say this is one of my favorite games ever!
Everything I loved about the first PoE amplified by 1000%. This game is massive and if you love cRPGs you need this game. Since I plan on writing an in-depth review on this (due to Dtoids lack of one) I'll keep my thought here short. But, play this game!!!!!
Astral Chain (4/5) (Switch)
This game was good fun. It let me rescue cats.
It has fun combat too! It's Platinum Games, what else is there to say?
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 (3.5/5) (Switch)
Fun enough gameplay but the camera is screwy, and I felt there were too many characters for the amount of content provided. They took too long to level up and the challenge rooms got tedious, especially when I needed to grind a character to be able to pass a character specific challenge.
That said I did enjoy my time with the game. Pick it up if you really love Marvel or want a fun Co-op game. The matchmaking with randoms is utter shit but couch is great!
Blasphemous (4/5) (Switch)
I would have given this a 5/5 if not for all the bullshit 1 hit kill spikes and pits. Especially in the late game. So fucking frustrating having to trek back long and tough platforming sections because of a slight mistake.
Otherwise everything else is terrific! I loved the boss battles and the art style is to die for. Give it a go if you can look past the bull shit 1 hit kill spikes and knockback. It's more Vania than Metroid.
Yakuza 6: The Song of Life (4/5) (PS4)
I fucking love the Yakuza series and 6 was a great end to Kiryu's saga. As usual the story was gripping and the side quests wacky as fuck. My only gripes are that there wasn't much to choose from regarding fighting styles and that they went overboard with the cutscenes with some lasting up to 30 min. I know Yakuza is a cutscene heavy series, but seriously!
I can't wait till the PS3 collection hits PS4 so I can complete the series. If you have yet to play a Yakuza game go buy Yakuza 0 now and never look back!
Fire Emblem: 3 Houses (3.5/5) (Switch)
Too fucking long!!!!
The strategy part was fun and the overall story pretty good but all the bullshit with the school and class management and listening to often shallow dialog when not in the main story really grated on me. I'm not too big into anime stuff, so maybe that had something to do with it, but other entries in the series didn't grate on me like this did. I guess I hit my anime limit.
But still worth playing for the strategy gameplay alone. Just burn through anything that's not the main path.
Far Cry: New Dawn (4.5/5) (PS4)
I had a blast with this. It's Far Cry, but with lots of colors. You either love or hate this series and if you love it, you'll love New Dawn. Things go boom!
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (2.5/5) (PS4)
Deer god the story in this one is terrible. Like really fucking bad. By far the weakest of the reboot trilogy. However, the game is saved by having great atmosphere, actual tombs to explore, and fun gameplay. Butt fuck that story and acting and anything coming out of anyone's mouth is just atrocious.
Bad North (3.5/5) (Switch)
Fun little minimalist RTS roguelike with Vikings. It gets repetitive, but with 3-minute matches and a neat art style it's a fun game to pop in while pooping. Worth picking up on sale.
Ori and the Blind Forest (3.5/5) (Switch)
I kept seeing this game being referred to as the second cumming of Deer Christ and was really looking forward to playing it. It's pretty good, but not as great as everyone made it out to be.
I loved the art style and music and the map was fun to traverse. But the bullshit pixel perfect platforming paired with sloppy locomotion sent me into a rage more than a dozen time. Especially when you're on a timer moving as fast as possible and the way the camera is zoomed doesn't allow you to see where the fuck you should be headed. Fuck that jazz!
Still, worth playing, but don't let the hype get your hopes up.
And that's it for now. There were other games I played but I forgot what so maybe I'll talk about them another day. I'm currently playing Death Stranding (LOVING every second of this weird game), Divinity 2 (AMAZING GAME), Luigi's Mansion 3 (CUUUUUTE) and have Baldur's Gate 2 lined up for a replay as well as other IE games. I'll be picking up Disco Elysium as soon as I finish up this round of games and have The Outer Worlds and Control high on my wish list (Christmas/Birthday gifts ;) ).
Have a terrific day you sexy lot!!!