Ketram

Starfield was garbage IMO. I didn’t even pay for it and wanted my money back in less than 3 hours.

But I AM still hopeful for Elder Scrolls 6. The weakness of Starfield is exploration is barely a thing; incredibly boring procedural generation is the cause. There is little to no value getting excited exploring the world and the incredible world of Skyrim is what makes it good.

I seriously doubt Bethesda is dumb enough to try procedural generation with the next elder scrolls game, and if they are then it will be dead in the water just by association. But a game similar to Skyrim will likely still find a stronger audience, even if just for the return to form.

Oh man, just made my own comment on black and white, and I assumed I was the only one. Black & White 2 is still the best God game out there for me and it was so much fun.

A bit of an obscurer one, but I would love another Black & White, based on Black & White 2. It’s a god game where you control a giant bipedal creature, control a city (or several) and battle against other gods through architecture and combat. You can train your creature to do things you prefer and expand your influence however you like.

It had a good/evil morality system, is completely winnable by being a pacifist, and has a really cute style of humor.

No other God game has quite scratched that itch and it’s still fun to this day almost 20 years later.

Anything above basic content in 14 (which is lowest common denominator content) can honestly be quite challenging, and savage and ultimate content is very very difficult content overall. It’s all about how much time and effort you’re willing to invest, the first 70 levels of content is pretty braindead so anyone can beat it.

Curious if elder scrolls online is similar because I honestly don’t know, haven’t played it in a decade.

Thank you so much for the detailed guide. Did this expedition on a whim (got a steam deck and was trying games) and I think I’m at dropzone 3 or so. I haven’t touched underwater since NMS release, since I actually have Thalassophobia (fear of underwater stuff).

How spooky would you say NMS underwater is, and how deep is it? Because I’ve been avoiding it out of fear that I’ll just nope out immediately.

For reference I can’t go beyond the shallows in subnautica without panicking. Luckily, in NMS you can just shoot shit and its overall pretty easy so I’m less worried but trying to get a gauge on it so I don’t have a panic attack.

If you like ARPGs, I remember enjoying Untold Legends a lot as a kid. Was a PSP launch title, and had a very dark themeing. I don’t know if my kid memory can be trusted on the quality but I’ve seen a few other people recommend it on here so I doubt it’s bad.

I only recognized this as Might & magic because I’ve watched too many Sseth videos.

Super-excited to play Runemaster on release. Been playing for years and still so much endgame stuff I haven’t touched. Here’s hoping the servers survive on Wednesday!

So this is a AA Studio that has been working on this game for a few years. They have some investments from outside companies (including tencent) so do with that what you will.

There IS a micro transaction store, with a bunch of cosmetic only items. I haven’t really glanced at these yet and we won’t know them all til release but I’m happy with the in-game drip currently.

I really enjoy the game and have been playing the early access for years. They aren’t selling quality of life like stash and space etc. like Path of Exile does. They also seem like a small but dedicated group of people who have always wanted to make this kind of game and have implemented/will implement many awesome ideas (great crafting, crazily customizeable skills, cool class designs).

They are a smaller studio so despite their prep, I would expect server failures on release day. They DO have an offline mode, but not for the current ‘Cycle’ (their seasons ala Diablo, PoE) so that will be playable on release even if servers are a mess and will have all cycle content as it releases (for now).

Really big fan of this game. If you want to give money to a studio for an ARPG, I would definitely recommend this one, or Grim Dawn.

Makes sense! Yeah I have kind of slowed my roll on things that are JRPG or JRPG adjacent, probably from less time to play stuff mostly. I keep hearing how awesome Sea of Stars is though!

Sorry for the bad take! I didn’t play many JRPGs or JRPG inspired games this year, as I usually find those more story led and have less room for roleplay. Does sea of stars actually have much roleplay? Or is it mostly combat/ability focused choice-making?

Of the games I played that came out this year, I would only classify BG3 and Rogue Trader as RPGs. I have a LOT of issues with the roleplay in BG3 (though I love it). I don’t feel like JRPGs that have little to no roleplaying aspect whatsoever should count within Role-Playing-Games, since I think some facilitation of roleplay should be provided. BG3’s class/race reactivity or Rogue Trader’s Dogmatic/Iconoclast/Heretic convictions fit this very well.

Really excited to see this patch. Lots of little things to dissect too, and possibly some big hidden things not mentioned.

Epilogues are what this game needed to feel complete.

I agree with others, man. What’s the age difference? Because I understand someone being too young (I’m 28 and I’m not sure I could date someone under 24 for example). Just very curious! You never know

I think the big issue with a personal preference of realism vs. Fantasy is that Starfield has no commitment to realism in its execution (I say this with 12 hours played before I gave up). It is very much made to cater to lowest common denominator in other space travel things. The ship movement is very primitive and simplified. Travelling to new solar systems, landing on a planet, etc. Is done through fast travelling on the map to connect the different cells. It does not feel immersive in the slightest to me, and I have really enjoyed the “realism” of games like Elite Dangerous in the past.

Most damning is the lack of environmental planet differences. The only affect of a planets negative traits is suit protection reduction. There is no life support, your oxygen is just a stamina system. There is no vehicles. You are just running across barren, boring, procedural planets with none of the pomp and circumstance of games that have done effective space exploration.

Maybe in 2 years of mods you might have a more realistic experience out of starfield.

Thank you, sounds fantastic. Might try making this myself next week.

Beautiful color in that first picture. Absolutely awesome.

Agreed. Last time I got the Boar’s Head chipotle Gouda, I ate the entire block in a single sitting with no crackers or anything. It was ridiculous.