The lady on the left in the hero-walk image is definitely a Siren; the question is: is she the Seventh Siren, someone who inherited the powers of one who fell in a previous game, or are they retconning that "limited number of Sirens" tidbit? Oh, and inb4 someone complains the Vault Hunter ladies don't have big enough boobs, or whatever.
Quick update, just finished AC Rogue and Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, so it seems I will be moving straight to Hades and AC. Unity if I am not in the mood for some reason on PC and finish Advance Wars Reboot camp on my switch. My mood was not for it before finishing the second game so it might be time
You know, I don't think my copy of Advance Wars Reboot ever shipped lmao. I guess my pre-order was cancelled when it was "indefinitely postponed" and I never really thought about it.
I'm jealous of your beating Echoes of Wisdom as I haven't bought or started it. What are your thoughts on it? Should Nintendo make more games like it? Was it cool to have Zelda as the main character? How'd you feel about the art and performance?
I think that happened to lots of people with Advance Wars while also releasing it on a bad date. I think they really did not think it through and that gave it less of a fighting chance.
As for Echoes of Wisdom, it is on the shorter side and I really enjoyed it. Gameplay is fresh and it takes the concept of Openness fron Breath of the Wild and applies it perfectly into a more classic Zelda. The only problem I had with it, was with the way Echoes are selected. You do get access to a more easy to understand menu where you can select them, but it feels like changing items all the time in classic Links Awakening, slow and inmersion breaking. They fell into the same pit they did with Tears of the kingdom with items selectable in that Horizontal menu, but you end up doing it all the time as echoes are one of the main ways you interact with the world.
I think it is great as a one time thing as I do not think the same mechanic could really be used in a more interesting/different way on a new entry to the franchise.
Zelda as the main character worked great and her abilities seemed apropiate to how she should work. I was worried about it being dull or not as fun as controlling link, as combat is not as direct and this way you are less in control, but in the end I had fun through the whole adventure and powerups you get open up possibilites in the way you use your abilities, not only having new echoes or getting more pieces to use more powerfull echoes (this makes it so you can't just abuse OP echoes from the start if you were tenacious enough to get them) but also making them cheaper to cast, so maybe there was a gap that requiered thinking to traverse and make you change the way you might think about a particular echo at the begining of the game, but later you just build a bridge way easier. This way you get more powerfull, but also do not lose that new ways of thinking wich make you tackle new puzzles in a different way.
Also, while it is true there are tons of ways to do every puzzle, there is also customization items you can equip on Zelda (other than skins) that can really change your experience. For example, you could use your spin to stun an enemy, or maybe you can jump a bit higher so you can traverse the map easier.
Talking about traversal, there are some OP echoes for it, mostly one that I won't spoil as it really changes the way you can play while basically skipping half the intended route, but other than that one, or some others I feel most have their uses even if you get new ones, so they do not get discarded midway. The bad thing about this is that the horizontal menu (even though by default it prioritizes showing the last used echoes) makes it hard to find them when you notice you might need this one echo 3 hours after you last used it (here is when I get into that menu I mentioned before).
Art and performance where both great (mostly played in handheld mode) it works much better than Link's Awakening did as I noticed close to no FPS drops. Maybe some on the final boss of the game, but stuff got crazy on the screen in that moment and got me expecting it to happen.
The game is in the shorter end for the series, but it feels the perfect lenght. I think there was just that much they could do with the system and they do not let it get stale. If I had for example 10 more hours of gameplay, I may have ended up with a less positive view of it.
I really recommend you give it a go when you have the time. I feel it is a solid entry in the franchise.
Had a really bad day, ordered a pizza and bought a key for Path of Exile 2.
"Hehe, I'm so quirky, with my lack of self control." - Me if I was a movie character. "I think I might have a problem with impulsiveness." - Me...talking to my therapist in real life.
Quick update, just finished AC Rogue and Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, so it seems I will be moving straight to Hades and AC. Unity if I am not in the mood for some reason on PC and finish Advance Wars Reboot camp on my switch. My mood was not for it before finishing the second game so it might be time
You know, I don't think my copy of Advance Wars Reboot ever shipped lmao. I guess my pre-order was cancelled when it was "indefinitely postponed" and I never really thought about it.
I'm jealous of your beating Echoes of Wisdom as I haven't bought or started it. What are your thoughts on it? Should Nintendo make more games like it? Was it cool to have Zelda as the main character? How'd you feel about the art and performance?
Came close to buying into Path of Exile 2 earlier today, after learning you actually get something out of it beyond just a key. Trying to "stay strong" and "endure", as Sinti would put it, and wait until the game is totally free to give it a go - I have 364 hours of playtime in PoE1, but I didn't enjoy it thoroughly. At least the whole "must slot gems into equipment, hope your good equipment can hold them" situation is gone, thank God, but still: no need to drop $30 for an unsure bet as-to whether or not I'll enjoy the game.
Thus, I continue on with BG3: currently in the Underdark with the full team. Found a couple mods I'm happy with, and it does help make things interesting:
Party size is scalable, so I have everyone from Act 1 plus my Tav. Will add the remaining "major" companions when I get to that point later: Minthara, Jaheira, Halsin, and perhaps Minsc too. We're gonna be a roaming warband!
To go with the above, the difficulty is also being scaled based on my party size, to make things more sporting. When enemies have bonus health and actions, they become a lot more dangerous D:
I modded out negative approvals - now they don't pop up at all unless they're positive. Juggling everyone's approval was going to be next to impossible, so I'll just ensure everyone stays happy and doesn't bail on me.
Lastly, I have the "Underwear of Rituals", which does what it says: puts Ritual spells on your underpants, an otherwise useless bit of clothing gameplay-wise. Now I can Speak With Animals, Speak With Dead, etc.; on everyone regardless of their class or whatnot. More a convenience mod than anything.
Also playing Marvel Rivals now that that's officially released; there are several new characters to try out, which is cool...but also new asshole-players to deal with. I don't remember anyone being a jerk in the beta. But on day 2, we've already got those "you suck, uninstall" type people: I encountered one in a Practice Versus AI game, of all things! Just shut the fuck up and let us mess around with our characters in a no-stakes environment, for crying out loud.
Quick update, just finished AC Rogue and Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, so it seems I will be moving straight to Hades and AC. Unity if I am not in the mood for some reason on PC and finish Advance Wars Reboot camp on my switch. My mood was not for it before finishing the second game so it might be time
It is possible some of this is in-dev stuff so its printed to be playable and thats it. It's very easy for them to just pull out existing art assets from the universe, much like how Hearthstone started with WoWTCG art (which makes the base set so iconic imo).
We also didn't see any crazy foiling or special effects on any of the cards, which I refuse to believe Riot won't be having serious chase cards in the packs - the secondary market is so important for longevity whether we like it or not.
But yeah, I'm a bit disappointed they didn't just dive right into some real gameplay. I'm still interested though since the Runeterra universe is incredible and physical cards are so much more fun to play with than digital.
I updated my D4 review from last year to include the term Exilelike lmao. Going forward, all content on the site for Diablo 4 that I write will be including the term Exilelike because Blizzard has lost the plot and I hope that it, in general, sticks.
Super hyped but also tempering my expectations as I know it's going to be brutally challenging and my theory crafted Demon witch build probably won't get that far in the campaign 😅
Do we know if POE 2 will have the same server locations as POE 1? Specifically asking if anyone know if there will be a South African server as that 9ms ping in POE 1 is glorious
I was excited at first but became more disappointed as I watched this trailer play out.
The white space on the cards and the rehashing of art from Legends of Runeterra and League splash art makes this look very cheap and tacky. One of the biggest appeals of a physical TCG is the fact that it brings out a lot of unique artistic takes often on familiar characters and from what I've seen in this trailer, there almost no new art that we haven't already seen. Not to mention this is using old pre-Arcane designs, which is really strange especially on Viktor.
Can't fully judge given the the gameplay hasn't really been shown but... not feeling it at all.
Welp, RIP Legends of Runeterra. I ended up dropping you off, but you put out a valiant effort. You ended up doing better than any Hearthstone contender would've ever dreamed of doing. I'm not gonna say that the game is going to go unsupported now, but it feels incredibly impractical to manage both a digital card game, and an entirely different physical card game.
Which also begs the question as to why they're trying to go into the physical card game market. Getting a successful physical card game is extremely hard because the genre is monopolized by the three TCG overlords that owe a lot of their existence to the fact that they were there first. Flesh and Blood has seen some pretty good success and Lorcana has been holding its ground alright, so it's not impossible, but most card games end up dropping out of market after a year or two. I guess if there's a chance, people will take it.
The way the cards are designed visually also looks a bit off since the non-hero cards just have this white space of nothingness on them. I realize this is still in development, so we might be looking at early versions of the card design and this isn't the final product, but it'd be really weird if it is. It feels as if part of it is still a blank sheet of paper, which make it feel a bit lifeless.
I'm very intrigued by a new physical card game, and from Riot of all people. Legends of Runeterra was a cool game, but it just missed the mark, which is quite clear when you witness the decline of the game.
Collectibility is something Riot is very good at digitally, so seeing them transition to over to cardboard will be interesting. Secondary markets are immediately going to pick the game up because it has a titan behind it, and Riot's dedication to supporting events and competitive play all over the world makes it a worthwhile investment if you love competition.
We didn't get to really see mechanics or very many cards in full yet, so it'll be interesting to see what information they show us about the game as we approach the Macau TeamFight Tactics tournament, where a demo will be available at the event. Also, Arcane-themed pre-order next year? Super cool idea!
Welp, RIP Legends of Runeterra. I ended up dropping you off, but you put out a valiant effort. You ended up doing better than any Hearthstone contender would've ever dreamed of doing. I'm not gonna say that the game is going to go unsupported now, but it feels incredibly impractical to manage both a digital card game, and an entirely different physical card game.
Which also begs the question as to why they're trying to go into the physical card game market. Getting a successful physical card game is extremely hard because the genre is monopolized by the three TCG overlords that owe a lot of their existence to the fact that they were there first. Flesh and Blood has seen some pretty good success and Lorcana has been holding its ground alright, so it's not impossible, but most card games end up dropping out of market after a year or two. I guess if there's a chance, people will take it.
The way the cards are designed visually also looks a bit off since the non-hero cards just have this white space of nothingness on them. I realize this is still in development, so we might be looking at early versions of the card design and this isn't the final product, but it'd be really weird if it is. It feels as if part of it is still a blank sheet of paper, which make it feel a bit lifeless.
Continued the farm last night in Stardew which rolled us over into Fall Year 2. We barely got all the Pumpkins, Artichokes, and Beets planted before it hit 2 AM. The chickens and cows went unloved for a day but it was worth the chaos. Regretfully, I didn't buy the seeds for next year's summer crops so a trip to the store will be mandatory come Summer 3, cutting into the possible planting time.
What was great though was be barely had any plowing to do which is the only reason we were able to plant the entire farm. Planting Wheat across all the fields, which is a multi-season crop, allowed us to quickly harvest it on the first day of fall and not have to plow the bulk of the farm. No plowing means it was also all watered for us. I have not been happier to transition seasons because we actually accomplished all of it - also made room for three new iridium sprinklers too so that's an extra 72 crops planted.
We also got our first Shed which is half full of preserving containers. I know that Barns are ultimately more space efficient, but we aren't perfectly going for min-max and the Sheds just look nicer. Another pond has been started too so we can breed more fish. That puts us at three ponds and we've got the perfect amount of room for another three in the bottom corner, turning it into our own little fish market that would make Willy proud.
Game Awards Bingo
I hope Elden Ring: Nightreign doesn't fall into that "Live Service, Dead Within a Year" category, but it sure seems like it might be D:
Astro Bot Wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards - All Winners Revealed
Anytime, Flux. :)
Astro Bot Wins Game of the Year at the Game Awards - All Winners Revealed
Thanks Demon for keeping this updated throughout the show and pushing thumbnails out for me and Nirast!
Borderlands 4 Gets a Gameplay Reveal Trailer at The Game Awards and it Looks Amazing
The lady on the left in the hero-walk image is definitely a Siren; the question is: is she the Seventh Siren, someone who inherited the powers of one who fell in a previous game, or are they retconning that "limited number of Sirens" tidbit? Oh, and inb4 someone complains the Vault Hunter ladies don't have big enough boobs, or whatever.
Elden Ring: Nightreign Announced at The Game Awards - World Premiere Trailer & New Info
*deep intake*
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH"
*deep intake*
"YESSSSSSSSSSSSSS"
Edit: *sees it's meant to be co-op*
"Wait, what? NOOOOOOOOOO"
Game Awards Bingo
Final board. VR is only there as a technicality, because they showed Arkham Shadow a few times, but that's it, so it's smaller.
Pokemon TCG Pocket Teases New Mythical Island Pack Featuring Mew ex
My 249 pack hourglasses are standing by!
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
I think that happened to lots of people with Advance Wars while also releasing it on a bad date. I think they really did not think it through and that gave it less of a fighting chance.
As for Echoes of Wisdom, it is on the shorter side and I really enjoyed it. Gameplay is fresh and it takes the concept of Openness fron Breath of the Wild and applies it perfectly into a more classic Zelda. The only problem I had with it, was with the way Echoes are selected. You do get access to a more easy to understand menu where you can select them, but it feels like changing items all the time in classic Links Awakening, slow and inmersion breaking. They fell into the same pit they did with Tears of the kingdom with items selectable in that Horizontal menu, but you end up doing it all the time as echoes are one of the main ways you interact with the world.
I think it is great as a one time thing as I do not think the same mechanic could really be used in a more interesting/different way on a new entry to the franchise.
Zelda as the main character worked great and her abilities seemed apropiate to how she should work. I was worried about it being dull or not as fun as controlling link, as combat is not as direct and this way you are less in control, but in the end I had fun through the whole adventure and powerups you get open up possibilites in the way you use your abilities, not only having new echoes or getting more pieces to use more powerfull echoes (this makes it so you can't just abuse OP echoes from the start if you were tenacious enough to get them) but also making them cheaper to cast, so maybe there was a gap that requiered thinking to traverse and make you change the way you might think about a particular echo at the begining of the game, but later you just build a bridge way easier. This way you get more powerfull, but also do not lose that new ways of thinking wich make you tackle new puzzles in a different way.
Also, while it is true there are tons of ways to do every puzzle, there is also customization items you can equip on Zelda (other than skins) that can really change your experience. For example, you could use your spin to stun an enemy, or maybe you can jump a bit higher so you can traverse the map easier.
Talking about traversal, there are some OP echoes for it, mostly one that I won't spoil as it really changes the way you can play while basically skipping half the intended route, but other than that one, or some others I feel most have their uses even if you get new ones, so they do not get discarded midway. The bad thing about this is that the horizontal menu (even though by default it prioritizes showing the last used echoes) makes it hard to find them when you notice you might need this one echo 3 hours after you last used it (here is when I get into that menu I mentioned before).
Art and performance where both great (mostly played in handheld mode) it works much better than Link's Awakening did as I noticed close to no FPS drops. Maybe some on the final boss of the game, but stuff got crazy on the screen in that moment and got me expecting it to happen.
The game is in the shorter end for the series, but it feels the perfect lenght. I think there was just that much they could do with the system and they do not let it get stale. If I had for example 10 more hours of gameplay, I may have ended up with a less positive view of it.
I really recommend you give it a go when you have the time. I feel it is a solid entry in the franchise.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
Had a really bad day, ordered a pizza and bought a key for Path of Exile 2.
"Hehe, I'm so quirky, with my lack of self control." - Me if I was a movie character.
"I think I might have a problem with impulsiveness." - Me...talking to my therapist in real life.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
You know, I don't think my copy of Advance Wars Reboot ever shipped lmao. I guess my pre-order was cancelled when it was "indefinitely postponed" and I never really thought about it.
I'm jealous of your beating Echoes of Wisdom as I haven't bought or started it. What are your thoughts on it? Should Nintendo make more games like it? Was it cool to have Zelda as the main character? How'd you feel about the art and performance?
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
Really fun Hearthstone combo I've been using.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
Came close to buying into Path of Exile 2 earlier today, after learning you actually get something out of it beyond just a key. Trying to "stay strong" and "endure", as Sinti would put it, and wait until the game is totally free to give it a go - I have 364 hours of playtime in PoE1, but I didn't enjoy it thoroughly. At least the whole "must slot gems into equipment, hope your good equipment can hold them" situation is gone, thank God, but still: no need to drop $30 for an unsure bet as-to whether or not I'll enjoy the game.
Thus, I continue on with BG3: currently in the Underdark with the full team. Found a couple mods I'm happy with, and it does help make things interesting:
Also playing Marvel Rivals now that that's officially released; there are several new characters to try out, which is cool...but also new asshole-players to deal with. I don't remember anyone being a jerk in the beta. But on day 2, we've already got those "you suck, uninstall" type people: I encountered one in a Practice Versus AI game, of all things! Just shut the fuck up and let us mess around with our characters in a no-stakes environment, for crying out loud.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
Quick update, just finished AC Rogue and Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, so it seems I will be moving straight to Hades and AC. Unity if I am not in the mood for some reason on PC and finish Advance Wars Reboot camp on my switch. My mood was not for it before finishing the second game so it might be time
Riot Announces the League of Legends Physical Trading Card Game
It is possible some of this is in-dev stuff so its printed to be playable and thats it. It's very easy for them to just pull out existing art assets from the universe, much like how Hearthstone started with WoWTCG art (which makes the base set so iconic imo).
We also didn't see any crazy foiling or special effects on any of the cards, which I refuse to believe Riot won't be having serious chase cards in the packs - the secondary market is so important for longevity whether we like it or not.
But yeah, I'm a bit disappointed they didn't just dive right into some real gameplay. I'm still interested though since the Runeterra universe is incredible and physical cards are so much more fun to play with than digital.
Path of Exile 2 Has Over 1 Million Key Redemptions - Launch Queues & Issues Expected
I updated my D4 review from last year to include the term Exilelike lmao. Going forward, all content on the site for Diablo 4 that I write will be including the term Exilelike because Blizzard has lost the plot and I hope that it, in general, sticks.
Path of Exile 2's Early Access Preload is Now Available on All Platforms
Super hyped but also tempering my expectations as I know it's going to be brutally challenging and my theory crafted Demon witch build probably won't get that far in the campaign 😅
Do we know if POE 2 will have the same server locations as POE 1? Specifically asking if anyone know if there will be a South African server as that 9ms ping in POE 1 is glorious
Path of Exile 2 Has Over 1 Million Key Redemptions - Launch Queues & Issues Expected
Yes, more people need to make fun of Rob Fergison and his immature twitter comment. We need more Exile-like and less Diablo-like games
Riot Announces the League of Legends Physical Trading Card Game
I was excited at first but became more disappointed as I watched this trailer play out.
The white space on the cards and the rehashing of art from Legends of Runeterra and League splash art makes this look very cheap and tacky. One of the biggest appeals of a physical TCG is the fact that it brings out a lot of unique artistic takes often on familiar characters and from what I've seen in this trailer, there almost no new art that we haven't already seen. Not to mention this is using old pre-Arcane designs, which is really strange especially on Viktor.
Can't fully judge given the the gameplay hasn't really been shown but... not feeling it at all.
LoLTCG? Looks interesting!
I'll just copy-paste what I said in the article.
LoLTCG? Looks interesting!
I'm very intrigued by a new physical card game, and from Riot of all people. Legends of Runeterra was a cool game, but it just missed the mark, which is quite clear when you witness the decline of the game.
Collectibility is something Riot is very good at digitally, so seeing them transition to over to cardboard will be interesting. Secondary markets are immediately going to pick the game up because it has a titan behind it, and Riot's dedication to supporting events and competitive play all over the world makes it a worthwhile investment if you love competition.
We didn't get to really see mechanics or very many cards in full yet, so it'll be interesting to see what information they show us about the game as we approach the Macau TeamFight Tactics tournament, where a demo will be available at the event. Also, Arcane-themed pre-order next year? Super cool idea!
Riot Announces the League of Legends Physical Trading Card Game
Welp, RIP Legends of Runeterra. I ended up dropping you off, but you put out a valiant effort. You ended up doing better than any Hearthstone contender would've ever dreamed of doing. I'm not gonna say that the game is going to go unsupported now, but it feels incredibly impractical to manage both a digital card game, and an entirely different physical card game.
Which also begs the question as to why they're trying to go into the physical card game market. Getting a successful physical card game is extremely hard because the genre is monopolized by the three TCG overlords that owe a lot of their existence to the fact that they were there first. Flesh and Blood has seen some pretty good success and Lorcana has been holding its ground alright, so it's not impossible, but most card games end up dropping out of market after a year or two. I guess if there's a chance, people will take it.
The way the cards are designed visually also looks a bit off since the non-hero cards just have this white space of nothingness on them. I realize this is still in development, so we might be looking at early versions of the card design and this isn't the final product, but it'd be really weird if it is. It feels as if part of it is still a blank sheet of paper, which make it feel a bit lifeless.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
That's awesome! Congrats!
Continued the farm last night in Stardew which rolled us over into Fall Year 2. We barely got all the Pumpkins, Artichokes, and Beets planted before it hit 2 AM. The chickens and cows went unloved for a day but it was worth the chaos. Regretfully, I didn't buy the seeds for next year's summer crops so a trip to the store will be mandatory come Summer 3, cutting into the possible planting time.
What was great though was be barely had any plowing to do which is the only reason we were able to plant the entire farm. Planting Wheat across all the fields, which is a multi-season crop, allowed us to quickly harvest it on the first day of fall and not have to plow the bulk of the farm. No plowing means it was also all watered for us. I have not been happier to transition seasons because we actually accomplished all of it - also made room for three new iridium sprinklers too so that's an extra 72 crops planted.
We also got our first Shed which is half full of preserving containers. I know that Barns are ultimately more space efficient, but we aren't perfectly going for min-max and the Sheds just look nicer. Another pond has been started too so we can breed more fish. That puts us at three ponds and we've got the perfect amount of room for another three in the bottom corner, turning it into our own little fish market that would make Willy proud.
I love Stardew Valley.
What Are You Playing? Decadent December 2024
I platinumed A Hat In Time last night.
Without any of the DLC sadly. :(
Azeroth's Top Chef, a 145 cards custom food and reality TV based expansion (Main Set complete, Mini set Completed)
Hope everyone has a great holiday. Mini set And The Winner Is... is completed.
Seven Countries Have Passed the Threshold for the Stop Destroying Videogames Petition
Fixed, eventually. Thanks. That's an embarrassing one.