I'd love to know what engine they're using.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R with Tarkov graphics would be utterly terrifying.

 

Well, in completely other news, I'm looking forward to the announcement at Paradox-Con finally detailing the game that Triumph Studios have been working on for the last couple/few years. Only a couple more days to find out.

The only real clue that has ever been given is that, to paraphrase, it would be a game that "fans of the Age of Wonders series would enjoy."

Many people suspect it's Age of Wonders 4, but with a more modern game engine, allowing the developers to do some of the things they wanted to, but simply couldn't, with the last game. Well, along with a progression of the overarching story-line, I suppose. Well, there are a few theories, but that's the strongest one. Either way, soon.

 

@Koalas

Had some leftover money from vacations so backed Pathfinder: Kingmaker.

Been playing the beta.

So far it feels amazingly polished. It could probably release right now purely based on gameplay.

There are a lot of portraits/icons missing and a good bit of the story is yet to be unlocked, but based on the beta this is gonna be better than any of the Enhanced editions of Baldurs gate/nwn etc.

Story wise, it’s kinda generic so far but I’ve already felt myself pulled in more than pillars of eternity.

Worth getting if the beta is any indication.

 

From my understanding the Kingmaker story is fairly generic, the big pull being the Kingdom building mechanic. And presumably the companions. Glad to hear it's already a quality product though! I'll be grabbing it launch day.

 

Welp, it wasn't quite what I was expected(i.e. it's neither fantasy, nor a continuation of the previous games' story), but it's definitely an Age of Wonders game in game atmosphere and feel, and they've also certainly put their newer engine to some work as well.

https://www.aow-planetfall.com/?ref=fcba39

The following link has a collection of some compiled information on the game, as well as some pictures
http://aow.triumph.net/forums/topic/aow-planetfall-collected-knowledge/

Either way, I'm looking forward to it, as I've thoroughly enjoyed the previous games of this style that they have made, and I am eager to see what advancements they've made with a better engine for game infrastructure.

 

Whoa, I can only get so hard. BG2 is in the running for the best game I've ever played. It's the full package of gameplay, visuals, and story.

 

BG2 story is definitely better, but I’m liking the gameplay a lot better. The implementation of the Pathfinder system seems pretty seemless so far. I feel like I’m doing a campaign with friends.

 

Planescape:Torment would like a word.

 

Aye. My list of best CRPGs by story in order

Planescape Torment
Baldurs Gate 2
Tides of Numenara
NWN mods (sanctum of archmage especially)
NWN2 Expansions
Pathfinder Kingmaker (tentative considering beta)
Divinity 2 Original Sin (about halfway through game)
Baldurs Gate 1
Pillars of eternity 2 (enjoyed it more than 1 which I could barely start)
NWN 2
NWN Expandions
NWN
Pillars of Eternity 1

 

I knew someone would say that, but the gameplay is pretty average in that one.

 

Picked up Hyrule Warriors for Switch. It's exactly what I was looking for: mindless yet fun button mashing which I can play while half-watching re-runs of Archer.

 

Don't know if anyone else is playing DanMachi Memoria Freese (mobile gacha game), but someone put together a character comparison tool a while back, and it's pretty handy.

Reddit post here from the creator.

 

Gameplay is average and combat is terrible. Zero arguement there. The story still makes it my favorite overall crgp.

 

Had my first go at Detroit: Become Human today and finished my first playthrough. A wonderful experience told among three individual narrative strings which only ever intersect at exactly the right points.

Quantic Dream‘s games are not everyone‘s cup of tea, but this one is well worth checking out for everyone who has even a slight interest in science fiction or AI (representation) in modern narratives.

 

I'm glad people are enjoying it. I'm one of those where this isn't my cup of tea, but during the previews and trailers for this game, it rankled me so bad to have people ridiculing Cage's ability to tell a delicate story involving child abuse, and questioning whether he should even be allowed to. Naturally, this got my goat so I'm happy to hear it's reviewing well.

 

To be fair, Cage's record with delicate and/or nuanced storytelling is... abysmal, to say the least. In no situation is he not allowed to do it, but people being wary of his ability to do the subject justice is not exactly unearned.

 

David Cage's record with video games in general is abysmal.

 

Game informer have it an 8, but heavily criticized the lack of nuance in your options as it regards the story.

It portrayed humans at our worst and best, but few shades of gray in between

 

Translation: It works, but that's about the only good thing they can say about it.

Professional game reviews have this weird thing where game reviews, especially ones with a marketing budget, operate on a 7-10 rating scale. It's been getting a little better in recent years, but Game Informer isn't one of the places that have been fixing it. It takes something truly abysmal (see: Ride to Hell), or with literally no marketing budget for them to give anything below a 7.

Though that said, I have been hearing a fair amount of positive responses to the game from a couple friends, so maybe Cage finally managed to figure out how to make a halfway decent game.

 

The abuse part is dealt with relatively quickly, which… actually supports your argument, I guess? It makes some sense story-wise, though, as shit continues to hit the fan for Kara (the android) and Alice (the kid), so there‘s not really much time to focus on that. Couldn‘t help but think that was deliberate to at least some degree to reign in some of the inevitable controversy, though. In general, though, Detroit still offers a well-told story with interesting and relevant themes.

One more aspect I want to get into: the worldbuilding is very good, with magazines, ads, radio and news shows all helping to create a living, breathing world, although I thought one of the larger-world subplots you hear about constantly would play a bigger role in the resolution of the story, perhaps drawing away some of the government‘s focus.

Spoiler

Also, I had thought the news reports would be influenced to a larger degree by the public opinion rating towards the android cause. Instead, public support for my pacifist movement was only mentioned once or twice.