I've played Ghost Recon on and off since....well forever. I first played it on PS2, and it's the only game to get the honor of first install (and never uninstall) on every PC I've ever owned, paired with the incredible Heroes Unleashed mod. I'm going to try to explain why I still come back to it. I'll take you along with me via screenshots I took over my last few outings.

First let's set the stage. It's the futuristic year of 2008 and the world teeters on the brink of war. Radical Russian nationalists want to restore the old Soviet Union and invade neighboring Ukraine and Belarus, with Georgia soon to follow. In response the US sends your light infantry special forces unit known as the Ghosts to pull off important missions before and during the impending war. Far fetched I know.

Let's address the elephant in the room - the graphics. Ghost Recon isn't a looker, even for it's time. You can't even see your gun, just a reticle. Back then it was done due to limitations but today I still think it helps a graphically limited game hold up better than they would have. Your imagination helps fill in the gaps. Just look at this sick reload animation!

When you get down to playing and you're trying to figure out which bush hides the guy that just smoked your sniper team, all the graphic details are the last things on your mind. What you're focused on is moving in on the bad guys

At it's core the game is a tactical shooter. You use your team of 6 guys broken in up to 3 teams to scout ahead, lay down cover fire or flank. They don't do a lot on their own but the cool part is you can jump to any member of your squad. Controlling them remotely is done with a simple map, no in depth planning like in Rainbow Six/DoorKickers. You just tell what team where to go (you can link multiple waypoints to do flanks), how bold they should be in movement (stop when shot at or move forward no matter what) and how they should engage enemies (don't fire unless fired upon, normal aimed shots, or suppress/use grenades). If you want to get fancy you can even tell them what direction to face when they get to their destination

Compared to Arma 3, Ghost Recon AI is limited in functionality BUT they are so much easier to control in my opinion. In Arma it always feels like I have to be a keyboard pianist to do anything with them, let alone break them into separate teams doing separate things at once. In Ghost Recon I can't expect miracles but I can manually control them at any point to do the trickiest/coolest parts. This simplicity lets me focus on what's going on and not what key command to get them to do the right thing. More than anything I think that is the key to immersion in games, and Arma Reforger is doing well in that regard.

Enemy AI is surprisingly good for its time. If you shoot at them their first reaction will be to run for cover or maybe take some pot shots in your direction. If you pull back and hide they will slowly make their way towards you or try to flank your last known position. They will make you regret your mistakes. Under most circumstances if you are careful and have another team nearby to back you up you'll pull through okay. If you like to live dangerously Heroes Unleashed has game modes with XXL versions that spawn way more enemies than normal and you'll probably end up regretting your life choices!

Let me talk about the Heroes Unleashed mod real quick. It takes the core vanilla game and adds HUNDREDS of maps made or imported over the years, made them all compatible with all game modes, added tons of weapons and gear etc. Gigs worth of stuff added to a base game that takes up a few MB. It feels like a massive "more of the same but better" type of mod which is the kind I like most. And if you don't like something it's easy to change it through included mini mods that act as a settings menu. You can truly feel the passion which is always great to see!

The use of mid size levels instead of wide open worlds is underrated too. I love a good open world don't get me wrong but there's something to be said for having a game where you just load it up, make a few choices and get right to the fun without a ton of travel. Most missions will last from 15-30 min which makes it nice for busy schedules.

The simple, serious and surprisingly immersive fun it provides still holds up better than many. The controls are different (but not bad) and the graphics are very dated but it has earned a spot on my desktop even to this day. Thanks for coming to my Ted Talk!

As before, Steam goes strictly by the Steam release date rather than the PC release year when determining whether a game qualifies for most of the nominations. This allows to nominate quite a number of former Epic exclusives, Ubisoft releases, or other games previously unavailable on Steam, including:

• Anno 1701 History Edition (2020)
• Assassin's Creed Mirage (2023)
• Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (2023)
• Corruption 2029 (2020)
• Crime Boss: Rockay City (2023)
• Dead Island 2 (2023)
• Goat Simulator 3 (2022)
• Kingdom Hearts (2021)
• Palia (2023)
• Shoulders of Giants: Ultimate (2023)
• Star Trek: Resurgence (2023)
• Tchia (2023)
• The Alto Collection (2020)
• The Crew Motorfest (2023)
• The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria (2023)
• The Settlers: New Allies (2023)
• Tortuga - A Pirate's Tale (2023)
• Touch Type Tale (2023)
• Witchfire (2023)

Edit: Added Touch Type Tale; slightly corrected the intro.

I've been playing Kingdome Come Deliverance on and off for quite a while and after finishing the story years after my initial install and I feel like I'm finally qualified to write a bit about it!

It does two things I like. First is it takes place in a non fantasy medieval setting. No dragons, orcs or spell casting here. I like that it takes an look at the real world 1400s and all the good and not so good that comes with that. Don't get me wrong I love a good fantasy setting but it's refreshing to get something a little more grounded now and then.

Second I like that your character begins as a nobody. You aren't the chosen one. You aren't a noble in a position of power. You have few practical skills and can't even read at the start. If anything Henry's superpower is learning everything he can to become the character you want him to be. You aren't born a main character and even at the end of the game you won't be the most important person in the room.

I really grew to like the combat in the game. It's easy enough to learn but hard to master but once you figure it out combat can be a ton of fun, but it does get a bit janky in larger battles with everyone bumping each other everywhere.

The world is about the right size in my opinion. The world is large enough to get a sense of scale but with a decent amount of density. Towns have different character and they have enough to discover to keep things interesting. I rarely used fast travel preferring to enjoy the rides across the countryside.

I liked it a lot and I'll be keeping an eye on the sequel after it releases!

Citizen Sleeper, a light RPG with dice-based gameplay, feels like a classic sci-fi story with contemporary ideas and worries. It's tight gameplay; I felt on edge most of my time in this decaying space station, always a sense of urgency maintaining my body and getting enough scrip for my greater goals.

All this is underpinned by some great prose. It's not quite on the level of Disco Elysium or Planescape: Torment, but even after taking in positive initial impressions, Citizen Sleeper has a surprising amount to say. The developer said they wanted to tell a story about those on the fringes of capitalism, where many of us have had to learn to survive. I think they nailed it.

The player is a sleeper, a human-machine hybrid detached from the corporate network, having to start from zero. An interesting concept itself, the story is that sleepers came about as a loophole in AI prohibition: put a human to sleep and copy them into an artificial body for indentured servitude. The means of corporate control is a built-in body deficiency. You'll degrade without a very specific chemical. The sociological concerns presented by these concepts and putting these kinds of escapees in a "normal" society are also interesting. I never know who to trust as I try to survive, knowing that merely being off the corporate leash puts me at the mercy of someone looking for a cut of the bounty. Or, I might be taken advantage of by someone that knows I can't survive without stabilizer. That's just the start of it.

Very cool experience, and refreshingly compact (I was through the main story in under 10 hours). There's a sequel coming, and I'm eager to get more of a taste of the game world.

I really enjoyed the Witcher 3 so I thought I would go back and play the first two games even though some people seemed to have mixed opinions on what they think of them both. Then after playing the first two games my partner got interested in W3 so we then played through that together. I feel like now I have some good perspective to offer on the whole series and what people should do if they really enjoyed 3 but haven't gone back.

Witcher 1

Witcher 2

Witcher 3

Thanks for reading and let me know if you've played these and what you think or if you want play these in the future!

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/28151762

Bonus: it also seems that the episodes have been rolled into the base game. Full details of the anniversary update.

While for the most part this kind of damage is fine (this game is playable), it's questionable for how much longer. If you have the hardware or the capability, always remember to back up your physical games.

Having come across videos of that new Dragon Age game and its (by the look of it) cool looking combat I've gotten the urge for something similar. Action RPG of some kind, being able to rock on as a wizard and blast spells all day. Some tactical element to spell slinging and comboing would be nice.

Love me some recommendations!

Arcade car games don't seem that popular nowadays, so what is your opinion on this series?

Some food for thought (not mine)

It's hard to believe the OG NFS Most Wanted is 19 years old. To this day, I don't think there has been a better car game. In fact, I'd even claim it's the best car game ever, but that would be too dramatic, so let's just leave it at best in the franchise for now. I think a lot of people would agree with me though, and I mean a lot.

A little explanation for that title: If you're a Need For Speed fan, chances are you support one of the following opinions:

1. Underground 1/2 is the best NFS.
2. Most Wanted is the best NFS.

Now, let's see how Underground 1/2 is objectively better compared to MW:

• Customization is more extensive

The end. That's literally it. MW on the other hand has:

• Better graphics, physics, etc...it's just more polished in every way, which is to be expected from any game sequel, or at least it used to be.
• Police pursuits (more on that later).

I could of course say a lot more, but I don't want to cross the blurry line of subjectivity, so let's leave it at that. Most Wanted is simply a better made game, with an extra added mechanic: Police Pursuits.

Honestly, you could have an entire post just for the pursuits alone. Arguably what made the game as legendary as it is, at least partially. I don't know if I've ever played another game that features police as good as this one. And its beauty is in its simplicity as much as it is in its execution. There are levels to how "serious" a chase can be, called "heat". There is a counter and as long as you run from the police, it keeps counting. Get chased long enough and the heat level rises. Every time that happens, the police get more aggressive and use different methods to stop you. And it's just done beautifully. It starts out easy, and you get cocky. Maybe you feel like challenging them. The heat rises, but you keep having fun. Eventually, you feel like it's time to bail, and that's when you realise that you have been played. Now they won't let you leave. The difficulty really sneaks up on you, even though it's absolutely linear and predictable in its progression. It can be fun, annoying, stressful, hard, in all the good ways.

That alone is enough to lift MW above any of the Undergrounds. And I've said virtually nothing about the rest of the game. I'm going to get into the subjective stuff now. The map is frigging awesome. You start out in what looks like the countryside, with its beautiful forested highways and what look like higher income areas. Then, as you progress further through the story and unlock more areas, you turn towards a more...dystopian look, for lack of a better word. Brown, filthy, rusty industrial areas, with garbage and graffiti. I mean look at this. This is a perfect image to give you a great idea of what this game is all about. Grunge, decadence, dystopia. You don't get the neon lights of Underground 1/2 here, as cool as they are. And the whole thing is absolutely elevated by its metal/rap mix soundtrack, one that would be called "grimdark" today, but would also be instantly recognizable by any fan of the game. This is another way MW excels over the predecessors in my opinion. And that is the vibe. The atmosphere. I know people love the night from Underground, but in my opinion, MW offers a far more cohesive, far more complete package, and not just when it comes to aesthetics.

I feel like the whole experience is streamlined beautifully. Each thing flows into the next. The story is simple, yet it has stakes. At the same time, it plays into the game's Blacklist mechanic, which has you competing with members of the "blacklist", in order to climb up the ladder. But you have to challenge these drivers first, by completing milestones. That's how the game basically "forces" you to experience all it has to offer. No shortcuts here, you have to work to get to the top and earn back what's arguably the single most iconic car ever to be put in a video game: The BMW M3 GTR. The absolute legend, the unicorn. A car so iconic, they're still milking it 20 years later, to remind you of the long past glory days of the franchise.

Yes, I am fanboying. I mean, this was THE GAME when it was new, especially for car people. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it is, to this day, my benchmark for car games. Seriously, it holds up, graphics look good to this day (if you don't focus on the backgrounds), driving physics are arcade-y, but still grounded enough to make you feel like a hero, even though they're not even close to being realistic. This game has the mojo and the franchise has been in steady decline ever since. There were some highlights of course. Carbon was a good attempt at a sequel, but rushed, it even brought back the customization from Underground...or most of it at least. Shift tried to do something. Then there was the 2015 reboot, which is easily in my Top 3 Need For Speeds, plagued by issues as it may be, some tiny, others not so much. And ever since then...crap.

What happened to Need For Speed? When did they lose the recipe? At some point, they went back to doing classic NFS, no customization, no story, not even the option to buy cars, nothing, just races to get to the finish line first. They just can't seem to get it right anymore. I still go back to the original MW every now and then and I can't help but appreciate how perfect it is, within reason. Everything in that game is what it needs to be, and every thing works with each other to create a great well-oiled machine that just does what's it's meant to do. I don't understand why newer games can't get it right. I thought the aforementioned NFS 2015 was an honestly GREAT attempt, but some of the decisions made for that game baffle me. But I can forgive virtually everything about it...except for one thing. Always online? Really? I can only hope that they patch the game before they inevitably take down the servers. Anyway, I digress.

Need for Speed used to be THE franchise for car games, and now it's but a shadow of its former self, if not a joke. I guess it still sells though, which is why they're still pushing the games out. I just wish we could once again reach those same highs from -sigh- 20 years ago. It really is incredible that it's been that long.

Play Need For Speed: Most Wanted if you haven't, it's great.

Arcade car games don't seem that popular nowadays, so what is your opinion on this series?

Some food for thought (not mine)

It's hard to believe the OG NFS Most Wanted is 19 years old. To this day, I don't think there has been a better car game. In fact, I'd even claim it's the best car game ever, but that would be too dramatic, so let's just leave it at best in the franchise for now. I think a lot of people would agree with me though, and I mean a lot.

A little explanation for that title: If you're a Need For Speed fan, chances are you support one of the following opinions:

1. Underground 1/2 is the best NFS.
2. Most Wanted is the best NFS.

Now, let's see how Underground 1/2 is objectively better compared to MW:

• Customization is more extensive

The end. That's literally it. MW on the other hand has:

• Better graphics, physics, etc...it's just more polished in every way, which is to be expected from any game sequel, or at least it used to be.
• Police pursuits (more on that later).

I could of course say a lot more, but I don't want to cross the blurry line of subjectivity, so let's leave it at that. Most Wanted is simply a better made game, with an extra added mechanic: Police Pursuits.

Honestly, you could have an entire post just for the pursuits alone. Arguably what made the game as legendary as it is, at least partially. I don't know if I've ever played another game that features police as good as this one. And its beauty is in its simplicity as much as it is in its execution. There are levels to how "serious" a chase can be, called "heat". There is a counter and as long as you run from the police, it keeps counting. Get chased long enough and the heat level rises. Every time that happens, the police get more aggressive and use different methods to stop you. And it's just done beautifully. It starts out easy, and you get cocky. Maybe you feel like challenging them. The heat rises, but you keep having fun. Eventually, you feel like it's time to bail, and that's when you realise that you have been played. Now they won't let you leave. The difficulty really sneaks up on you, even though it's absolutely linear and predictable in its progression. It can be fun, annoying, stressful, hard, in all the good ways.

That alone is enough to lift MW above any of the Undergrounds. And I've said virtually nothing about the rest of the game. I'm going to get into the subjective stuff now. The map is frigging awesome. You start out in what looks like the countryside, with its beautiful forested highways and what look like higher income areas. Then, as you progress further through the story and unlock more areas, you turn towards a more...dystopian look, for lack of a better word. Brown, filthy, rusty industrial areas, with garbage and graffiti. I mean look at this. This is a perfect image to give you a great idea of what this game is all about. Grunge, decadence, dystopia. You don't get the neon lights of Underground 1/2 here, as cool as they are. And the whole thing is absolutely elevated by its metal/rap mix soundtrack, one that would be called "grimdark" today, but would also be instantly recognizable by any fan of the game. This is another way MW excels over the predecessors in my opinion. And that is the vibe. The atmosphere. I know people love the night from Underground, but in my opinion, MW offers a far more cohesive, far more complete package, and not just when it comes to aesthetics.

I feel like the whole experience is streamlined beautifully. Each thing flows into the next. The story is simple, yet it has stakes. At the same time, it plays into the game's Blacklist mechanic, which has you competing with members of the "blacklist", in order to climb up the ladder. But you have to challenge these drivers first, by completing milestones. That's how the game basically "forces" you to experience all it has to offer. No shortcuts here, you have to work to get to the top and earn back what's arguably the single most iconic car ever to be put in a video game: The BMW M3 GTR. The absolute legend, the unicorn. A car so iconic, they're still milking it 20 years later, to remind you of the long past glory days of the franchise.

Yes, I am fanboying. I mean, this was THE GAME when it was new, especially for car people. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that it is, to this day, my benchmark for car games. Seriously, it holds up, graphics look good to this day (if you don't focus on the backgrounds), driving physics are arcade-y, but still grounded enough to make you feel like a hero, even though they're not even close to being realistic. This game has the mojo and the franchise has been in steady decline ever since. There were some highlights of course. Carbon was a good attempt at a sequel, but rushed, it even brought back the customization from Underground...or most of it at least. Shift tried to do something. Then there was the 2015 reboot, which is easily in my Top 3 Need For Speeds, plagued by issues as it may be, some tiny, others not so much. And ever since then...crap.

What happened to Need For Speed? When did they lose the recipe? At some point, they went back to doing classic NFS, no customization, no story, not even the option to buy cars, nothing, just races to get to the finish line first. They just can't seem to get it right anymore. I still go back to the original MW every now and then and I can't help but appreciate how perfect it is, within reason. Everything in that game is what it needs to be, and every thing works with each other to create a great well-oiled machine that just does what's it's meant to do. I don't understand why newer games can't get it right. I thought the aforementioned NFS 2015 was an honestly GREAT attempt, but some of the decisions made for that game baffle me. But I can forgive virtually everything about it...except for one thing. Always online? Really? I can only hope that they patch the game before they inevitably take down the servers. Anyway, I digress.

Need for Speed used to be THE franchise for car games, and now it's but a shadow of its former self, if not a joke. I guess it still sells though, which is why they're still pushing the games out. I just wish we could once again reach those same highs from -sigh- 20 years ago. It really is incredible that it's been that long.

Play Need For Speed: Most Wanted if you haven't, it's great.

Seems to be the remaster of a PS3 / Xbox 360 title. The name rings a bell, but I never played it.

Some context on the remaster (not mine)

For those who never heard of the game, it's a remaster(?) of an old PS3 Action RPG that apparently had a real rocky development. And you're absolutely gonna notice some rough areas with quests that don't really resolve, story wise, or choices that seem big having few(if any) consequences while others will turn a whole faction into your sworn enemy.

Despite all that, there is certainly fun to be had here. I'm playing a pure rogue build at the moment and the shit I can get up to is downright silly. In town I rob basically everyone. If the pockets can be picked or the chests/drawers/desks/etc can be looted, I'm taking a look. I've got a smoke bomb to drop the odds of being detected to near 0%(or literally 0% when not picking pockets), and I use alchemy to craft potions to turn me invisible when the smoke bomb is on cooldown. Most recently I hit up a gnomish capital, robbed everyone of note I could find, and used their stolen bank keys to burgle the local bank.

In combat, I've got a permanent poison application buff for my daggers and bow, and a permanent crit damage buff. I like to sneak up on enemies and assassinate them quietly, dealing absolutely absurd damage and often leaving a poisoned corpse that will likely explode and poison every enemy nearby. The smoke bomb I mentioned earlier? In a combat setting it stuns and poisons enemies while cloaking me. So often when I'm spotted I'll let the enemy get close, drop this and get behind the stunned, dying enemies to start assassinating again.

When that's not an option is typically when the bow and mines come out. I've got a pretty chill set up for most battles where I scatter a bunch of bleed inducing mines in front of me, then fire a scatter of arrows that inflict poison and can stack bleed. And because of another silly skill of mine I've a chance per hit to add a nice chunk of damage against bleeding foes.

But yeah, did I mention the game is fucking big? I think I've been at it for 50-60 hours and I'm still nowhere near the front lines.

I love this game. I played the Dreamcast version as a kid so many times and recently replaced the PC version.

I learned that you can unlock metal sonic after 100% completing the game, but he is just a cosmetic for sonic and thats it.

My problem with this is that once the game is 100% complete, do I want to still play just to see a different cosmetic?

Maybe if there was some variety to make the levels a bit different or if he was able to be used after getting all the B rank emblems so there is still some challenge to complete.

https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/warcraft-2-orcs-and-humans-remastered-apparently-leaks-ahead-of-the-rts-series-30th-anniversary-direct-next-week

Found this review elsewhere (credits at the end). First time I hear about it, curious to see what people think

I expect most people have heard of Return of the Obra Dinn. It’s a 2018 Game where you are investigating the fate of the crew of the ship Obra Dinn, and its perhaps even more mysterious return. Your task is to discover what became of each crew member (and passenger), with the aid of a watch that lets you return to the point of their death and a ledger that confirms correct fates in sets of three. It’s probably one of the best known and regarded indie games of recent years.

I started the game years ago, got stuck, and gave up. Last week I went back and started a new game, and completed it fairly quickly. As far as I know Obra Dinn is the only game where you play as an insurance investigator, which makes me regret never completing a Chartered Insurance Institute qualification as that might have given me an advantage.

To keep from going on too long I'm just going to talk a tiny bit about the gameplay, then focus on the atmosphere & story, before giving a few tips that I hope might help new players avoid frustration.

Gameplay

Return of the Obra Dinn is partly a game of deduction. But I think it’s a game of observation most of all. Paying attention to where people are, who they’re with, what accent they have, making sure you look all around, being careful to pick up on every mention of someone’s name.

It’s meant to be possible to complete the game without guessing at all, but I expect only a vanishingly small number of people manage this. How much to guess is really up to you. I generally held off unless I had 1 in 2 odds or was particularly struggling. (I was more flexible with the notoriously difficult Chinese topmen.)

Atmosphere & story

To me Return of the Obra Dinn is a triumph of atmosphere and empathy. The stark presentation, the design of the scenes, the vivid voice acting, the need to pay attention to what’s around you. There are few, if any, games that have made me feel for the characters so much; the crew cracking as the voyage goes from bad to worse.

There are scenes that stay vividly in my mind: on a walkway around the edge of a deck, peering in through narrow viewports to a scene of terror and violence; perched on the rigging as a lightning strike cracks the sky; two characters sitting in shock by the bloody body of another in the mess, one holding his head in his hands.

I wonder if this is helped by the fact that you don’t interact with the characters. There’s never a reason to think of them instrumentally, as a means to a gameplay end, and they will never react (or fail to react) to you in ways that seem odd or limited.

What feels less successful is the overall story and characterisation. The story never seemed to fully come together. It mostly followed logically enough from an initial incident, but there were a couple of things that seemed to come out of left-field (eg. the background to “justice at sea”). The background to what’s going on should be mysterious but I never felt quite satisfied with how it was set up. Of course it’s always possible I missed some important details.

If anything I think the limited characterisation matters to me more than the story. It was hard to get a read on the characters and how their feelings and knowledge changed over the course of the story. I would have loved to get a better idea of the relationships between the officers, why some groups formed, exactly what motivated some actions, even why some people were on the ship at all. This would add depth to the scenes and tie them together better.

That kind of detail is always going to be difficult when you have 60 odd people to investigate, and you’re only seeing flashes of them at particular moments. It’s perhaps a problem that can’t be solved within the format of the game, without incongruously jamming in extra information or scenes.

Tips

I don’t want to stop people figuring things out how to approach the game by themselves, but these are a few things that I wish I’d thought of when starting the game. The first two are to help keep track of what you’re doing, the last is something that can potentially screw you over a bit if you don’t do it.

1. Write down fates you’ve tried which aren’t correct: when you verify three fates, you know that every other fate you’ve put in is wrong.

2. Write down your guesses at matching names and faces: you’ll usually have a mix of people you’re certain of (but don’t know the fate of) and those you’re not sure of, so it helps to know the difference.

3. Use fates you’re certain of strategically: if you’ve got three fates you’re sure of, fill in two and then test out one you’re unsure of.

Conclusion

Return of the Obra Dinn is a highly praised game so you probably don’t need me to recommend it. What I will say is that it worked for me. I got caught up in the atmosphere of the game, which doesn’t happen easily, and the deduction in the game struck that tricky balance between challenging without being frustrating (well, second time round).

Also the music gets stuck in my head really badly.

https://old.reddit.com/comments/1gjd93l

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/22140088

PS. Play Grim Dawn! Amazing ARPG with really good classes and customisations.

If you'd prefer something older and simpler, the same devs made Titan Quest.