Dragon Age Origins.

Firing up a new character with the goal of romancing Morrigan, or bedding her at least, then going for the With Hunt dlc after the ending. This one's going to be my bad guy run.

He'll probably be an Arcane Warrior/Blood Mage, love that setup.

I always do the exact oppisite and try to piss her off as much as I can

Well I've never gone through Witch Hunt, and figured it's make more sense with a character who'd gotten horizontal with her.

Generally I leave Morrigan in camp once I get Wynne.

I would be playing CS:GO if it wasn't so broken!

Damn crashes all over the place!

I wanna do a big project in MC,would anyone wanna help?

Maybe we can go on the BethSoft forums server?

I am trying Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning again. Is there any way to stand with your sword out? My character keeps sheathing the blasted thing every five seconds, including when I am in a fight! That includes when I use the block button. She immediately sheathes the sword then and puts her hands up instead. (Apparently one would have to be crazy to use that five feet of steel to block attacks with, not when you have your bare hands instead!).

Didn't you know, Subrosa? The only weapon a true hero uses is their hands!

Edit: And for me, it'll be Skryim on a new gaming laptop, which I'm getting for free on account of being a jammy bastard. Just trying to decide what character to play at the moment.

Not without being arrested... ...Oh wait...Hang on...



Ah...Er...The default setting is sheathed...*Giggles*...You stand still or run and it just...does...I'm the same with my Knight...I just got used to it...

The blocking thing...Have you got anything set for the shield? Either proper or magic?...Sounds like the mechanic is activating without the thing it should use...

Excellent game though...Daughter went back to it for a while recently...

Haven't played Amalur, so I don't know, but maybe there's a way to switch it on and off in the options menu?

Does sound like a rather silly mechanic to put in there.

After many ours of mod setup, DLC downloading and general fiddling about, Skyrim is ready to go on the new PC.

THIS GONNA BE MODALICIOUS!!!

Pokemon Y.

Building a team for online battling is serious business.

I had KoAtR a while back, couldn't really get into it.

Somebody please make this happen!

I can stand around with my sword out in other games, and the guards don't even comment on it. Except to say that gods gave me two hands, and I use them both for my weapon.

The blocking problem was because I didn't have a shield yet. That is really weird, you have to sheath your weapon or spell to pull out your shield and block. A lot of things about this game does not make much sense. It can be fun, but I cannot help but to scratch my head and wonder what they heck the developers were thinking.



No luck. Though I did find that you can increase the resolution if you are at the main menu. I have gotten spoiled, because the 1024 x 768 default just does not cut it for me anymore.

What really gets me about this game is that there is no manual. The in game help is so generic that it does not really tell you how to do anything, and the manual you can download from the website is exactly the same thing. For example, there is nothing that explains how to dispel wards, or how to pick locks, or even how you heal damage. Except having healing potions is kind of obvious. It took me two days to figure out that your health regenerates very slowly over time. It might heal up when you sleep, but I have yet to find a place I can do that. Though one might be right under my nose without me realizing it.

There's a spell that you can use to regenerate health quickly too...

Sadly - and this isn't a shock at the mo - I'm having difficulty remembering all the names of stuff...

Having just asked the daughter for confirmation, you can sleep in the inns dotted about the place...I say sleep...It's much like Oblivion...Click on bed/time passes...

You can also acquire several houses too for the use of storage/rubbish chucking etc...The first of which is in the early section of the map...The only thing I can remember though, is that there's this long questline to do with a missing expedition and spiders...

Can't help you with the ward dispelling...None of us have ever bothered with it...

Lockpicking we found easy after FO3...Even McWife got that quickly...

But I know what you mean about the lack of manual...

Glad you found out what was wrong with the shield thing...

My magic knight was pretty much as I usually play...I just got used to the sword/shield thing...I don't recall having any problems with it...Mind you, I did kinda use the honking great electric chakrams pretty often...Sweeeet!!...My smithing - shockingly enough - was also top of the line...Kerching!!...

There's no manual?

They didn't do what they did with the console version, and just bolt in into the main menu?



Weird decision for them to make.

Oh yeah...I forgot about that!...Shockingly enough...Never used it though, probably why... ...

I loved the simple elegance of how they handled sleep in Baldur's Gate II. Once you selected sleep, it faded to one of three short little animated scenes (instead of staring at some stupid countdown menu). The scenes were location-dependent depending on where you were when you chose to sleep. One was of a room at an inn, sort of a shot of the bed that even had a little mouse squeak and run under the bed. Another was in a generic dungeon with a tiny campfire that flickered away with some creepy music. And the last one was out under the stars in a forest of a tent, with campfire and crickets chirping. Pretty low tech, but I found the mechanic delightfully elegant and immersive.

I think that's why (despite using the mod 'See You Sleep') I've always been unhappy about staring at a stupid menu countdown as you sleep in Oblivion. BGII is an ancient game but they had OB beat on that one.

That sounds like a terrible design choice. Who the hell thought that withholding that kind of information would be a good idea?

Also, currently playing Skyrim in my bedroom! It's very exciting!

What?...On the computer or have you built yourself a little fort from sheets and cabinets?... ...

*Pictures Mustardio running around going "FUS-RO-DAH Draggies!!"*...

...

BTW...Back on the Multiplayer for AC4...Stabbie-stabbie-stabbie...

That...that idea is so awesome on so many levels I don't even have words for it...

Um...The fort or the stabbie?...*Worried ...*...

The fort!

Though by all accounts, AC4's multiplayer is pretty fun too.

I am still playing Kingdoms of Amalur. It has some big flaws, and most of them incredibly simple little things that the devs for some reason decided to ignore. My guess is because it was obviously made for the consoles and then only absentmindedly ported to the PC (and if you think Skyrim was half-assed ported to the PC, then you have not seen anything yet).

For example, you cannot change the distance of the camera. You can rotate it, but it remains far away as it feels like, and moves back and forth whenever the mood takes it. You cannot remove the hud or change its layout or elements. You cannot back up or sidestep, though you can turn around or turn sideways. When you hit the dodge button, it makes you go straight forward, into what you are fighting. There is no command console for tweaking the game. So far as I can tell, there are no mods either. You cannot drop anything, though you can move items to your stash in a bought home, and you can junk items in your inventory. There are no clutter items at all, so you cannot decorate your house, or just pick up ordinary stuff, or move it around. You cannot wait. While time passes between day and night, there is no clock you can reference to see what time it is. This actually can make a difference, as there are weapons that do more damage whether it is day or night. As I said in a previous post, there is no manual that comes with the game, and ingame help is so vague that it is no help at all. After you create you character, you can look at your stats and such, but nowhere does it say what race you are. Hardly something that breaks a game, but if you come back to play a character after a few months hiatus, you might be wondering what you are.

The graphics are not bad, but OTOH, still dated, and plainly made to support the low amount of ram and cpu power of consoles (which granted, you can say about every PC game made in the last five years). There is an FXAA injector that works with the game which can brighten it up though. I started using it a few days ago, and it is an improvement. The art direction itself is also basically cartoonish. I am not completely opposed to this. It does give the game a flavor to it that an ultra-realistic design would lack. But I also cannot help to think that it is a sign that the game was meant more for children than adults.

Add to that the combat, where you cannot hold a shield and a sword at the same time. You cannot stand with a sword or bow or other weapon out, even in the middle of a fight. Yet it is filled with uber combination moves that are performed by acrobatically mashing buttons in a specific order. It often feels like I am playing Mortal Kombat. As a spellcaster or archer, you cannot hit anything that is not close enough to detect you and start combat mode (when it pops up on your radar and attacks you). So no sniping from long range. You cannot aim either. At least not where you want to aim. Instead the game decides what it wants you to aim at. My character can be looking directly at a 20 foot tall troll bearing down upon her. I hit the fire button, and I watch her turn 90 degrees and blow up the crates beside her. Probably about half the time I miss what I am aiming at because you cannot really aim.

Then you have the basic encounter philosophy. Time and time again, you will find monsters magically appear all around you, literally poofing out of nowhere to all rush at you at once. I suppose that is really exciting to twitch gamers, but for someone who actually likes to think about what they are doing, and plan how to approach an enemy, it is disappointing. Combat is more about mashing buttons quickly, and in the proper order for those special combos, than it is about using any sort of strategy.

Finally you get the handholding on a monstrous level. You literally see glowing arrows and question marks floating over every character that has a quest or other sort of important plot point attached to them. Gee, think I should talk to her? Likewise, every chest or other container you can loot has glowy wisps of light floating up from them, so you cannot miss them. Which again makes me think this game is aimed at children, rather than adults.

OTOH, for all of that KoA has its high points. I find the world they created to be interesting. It takes a lot of inspiration from Celtic/Irish mythology with a little Norse sprinkled in for extra flavor, and it not shy about owning up to it. You have the Fae, baddies called the Tuatha, one of the first people you meet is named Fomorious, and there is a place called The Sidhe. The Fae confused me at first, because I kept thinking they meant elves. But the Fae are actually separate creatures, immortal spirits of nature, who while they can be killed, simply reincarnate again later. The elves OTOH, are called Alfar, which was a nice nod to Norse mythology. I also like how they look. For all of its cartoonish feel, I have to say I like how all the characters look much better than Skyrim.

Something I like is that while it is a game that does have three basic classes (mage/fighter/thief), there is a lot of fluidity between the three. You are not locked into anything at any point. Every time you level up you get points to buy abilities with, and you can choose them from any of the three categories. So hybird characters are just fine. The basic class idea (called Destinies) lay over top of that. After you spend a specific amount of points in a certain category of skills, you can choose a Destiny. That Destiny gives you bonuses based on your class category. For example, the mage Destinies all give you extra magic points, quicker magic regeneration, etc... There are six Destinies per basic class, and some more for hybrids of the three. So as you go up in levels you can move to an improved Destiny with better bonuses.

The main quest actually interests me, which is something I have never said about an ES game. The game world is heavily invested in the power of fate, which is plainly not just an idea, but a real force that does indeed spell out an entire person's life (and death), before they are even born. There is even a bunch of folks called Fateweavers who have the ability to read the fates of others. I am reminded very heavily of Norse Mythology here, which likewise had that idea that your wyrd was something you could not escape.

Enter the protagonist. Its another Chosen One, which initially made me groan. But I like this Chosen One concept, because the character is not fated to succeed, or to do anything in fact. Your character has been brought back from the dead by a gnome mage/scientist, who is trying to find a way to save the people lose in the terrible war with the Big Bad that is going on. You are the one and only success, and you come back to life a literal blank slate. You are completely outside of the power of fate. You have no fate in fact. And because of that you can not only make your own fate, but remake the fates of everyone and everything you touch. Nothing is set in stone anymore, which is a wonderful way of turning the whole Chosen One trope on its head. I always hate the CO, because being Chosen by Fate, they cannot fail at their appointed task. The world will rearrange itself to make sure they succeed. Because they are the Chosen One after all. But your character can fail. They can do anything in fact. They can do things they aren't supposed to. If anything the protagonist is the Unchosen One.

Like every RPG, it has the usual war of Light vs. Darkness. Yeah, we all know it. This is a little interesting in that the Big Bad are Fae that have been somehow corrupted. The Fae, being creatures of nature, are split into two basic factions. The Summer Court represent the warmth of summer, and the phenomena of birth, growth, etc... The Winter Fae represent death, decay, and decline. All the not so nice things that are necessary in order for life to flourish without utter stagnation. In normal times they are not fun at parties, but not outright baddies either. They just have an unpleasant task to perform. Something bent them, and I have not gotten far enough to figure out what yet.

Wow, SubRosa, thanks for the fabulous and detailed review of this interesting game. Since we are both veterans of Oblivion and Diablo II, I understand your perspective on the game - especially your take on 'fast twitch' reactionary combat like you have to do in DII vs the ability to stalk and plan your attacks like OB allows. Very interesting!

I read someplace before that it was originally being created as an MMO, which explains some of the design choices and issues it has if that is true. All around however, it is a pretty good hack and slash game with a good story and an interesting lore.

Starcraft Brood War. Classics never die!

Found an old favorite of mine on Steam: Age of Empires 2.

So simple, yet so addictive.

Unfortunately, years of playing Bethesda RPGs means my twitch gameplay is very rusty. If I want to hit the arena against other players, I need to get that together.

Having played it for a wee while ourselves (I mean us as a family) I do know what you mean about that...I really love the design of the whole thing...

The thing about the combination of classes is how I've got my Mage-Knight thing...I love him, he's Proper Awesome™!!...Actually, despite his lack of talking, I think he's one of my fave characters that I've ever played... ...

Aaaaamywho, the reason I quoted that bit in particular, is that I agree that it seems a bit kiddified in places, and yet, over here, it's rated 15...*Shrug*...

It's an excellent game if you just accept its faults and just enjoy what's awesome about it... ...

KoAtR has it's upsides, for instance the destinites system and the way that you can actually choose how questlines end. I recall the House of Ballads, the only I remember with any real clarity, gave you a major choice about how to end it, but I don't know how much of an effect that hoice has.

I have to agree with you Subrosa when you say it's aimed at children. While I had fun when I played it, after a while the combat began to get tiresome, the unmissable golden glows got annoying, and the characters in the main plot pissed me off by having gear that looked much cooler than anything I could get.

@McBadgere: The game was only rated 15 to get it onto the shelves. But everyone knows that some parents will buy their kids any game they want, regardless of it's rating.

Half the time those same parents will started complaining about the content of the 18-rated game they bought for their five year old son.

That is something that really annoys me.

Quoted for truth.

Hey, I resent that!

Sounds like an interesting game and the pixie lookes nice ( in two ways ). And I do see the traces of it being made as a MMO

I'M GETTINF MY BUTT SERIOUSLY KICKED BY THE COMPUTER! OH NO, ANOTHER ZERGLING SWA-

Yeah...Me too...

Even things like Skyrim and Fallout...We've let the kids play well before the rating...

We winced a bit at the swearing, but...*Shrug*...I know they've heard worse in school...Not that it excuses, really...But...*Bad parent *...

Ummmm...

We've drawn the line at all the Call of Duty/Grand Theft Auto types...No way...I don't like that sort of thing, so while I have the choice, I'm going to exercise it and be a grumpy dad about things... ...

Why? What´s wrong with hitting people with your car and/or bat and hiring professional business women after dark?

I keep meaning to install this, considering it's age it should work on my laptop.

*launches into grumbling rant about integrated graphics*



I've got no problem with a parent choosing to let their kid play a game rated for a higher age, as long as they've actually looked at the thing first.

Heh, I imagine it's got worse since I was at school, but by the time I was ten I could swear in five different languages Never used any of them in front of my family of course, wasn't that stupid

I see it all the time in shops, some parent buying their excited kid the new GTA or something. Clearly they know nothing about the game, but have assumed that because it's a videogame, something they consider to be inherently childish, it's fine for kids of all ages.

As for the last bit... Parents perogative, banning things you don't like. Have to agree with the choice of games though.

Tis true,it was going to be an MMO.

Sadly no one at all has bought KoA's rights.

Sid Meier's Cvilization 4: Beyond the Sword.

And as soon as I can find an actual manual for the game; Starcraft Broodwar.

The one that came on the disc is just installation instructions and the license agreement.

The agreement everyone always reads?

You mean those things can actually be read?

I can't even look at one for more than 20 seconds without feeling sleepy.

But seriously, this is an RTS, which apparently provides no descriptions of the units and such in the game

The same with me. I am getting on in years, and my FPS reflexes are not what they used to be.



That is pretty much what I am doing. I like the setting, and I like the quests. I have been having a pretty good time with it.





I really like how the Destinies work in KoA. It is something that other gaming developers ought to take notes from. I also liked that you can pay a Fateweaver to reset your stats. I have already done it once. As often happens the first few times playing any game, I took a few abilities that I later realized I did not want. Being able to get rid of those and put the points back into the things I did use was nice. I do that with the command console in Skyrim with perks when I realize I do not like them. But it is better when something like that is a part of the game itself.




Says the guy whose avatar is a psychopomp!


I am not an MMO player, so what are those things? I just assumed it was made for the X-Box, and then ported to the PC as an afterthought to make more money.

I´m not an MMO player either but the screenshot has sort of a WoW look to it. You know, stuff cluttered around the screen and such. It only needs a little more to be an MMO

As an MMO player,yes KoA's HUD is very MMO-like mainly because of the hotkeys and XP bar placement.

Starbound! Making a new character at the moment.

Well, I've now got three new games to play: Metro 2033, Metro Last Light (limited edition with Ranger Mode and all), and Xcom: Enemy Within.

So I'm gonna fire up Metro 2033, see what it's like.

Dark souls.

Just finished making my character. This seems awesome so far

Prepare to die.

I've died multiple times already lol

Was that just during character creation?

Sound advice.

Dark Souls is a game that will kill you just to see if your paying attention.

And then it'll get nasty.

Needless to say, I love that game.


And I'm about to fire up Starcraft.

Boy's just bought Gran Turismo 6 with his Christmas money...*Drools*...I forsee an abandonment of the AC4 Multiplayer coming on... ...

Wise words; that game is so vindictively cruel that it gets absolutely hilarious. It did, however, teach me 9 valuable and hilarious life lessons readmyblogreadmyblogreadmyblog

As for me, still on Skyrim.