Kotor didn’t age as well as some games have. I only play it for the story nowadays and even that pales in comparison to some more modern stuff. That said it definitely defined a lot of my early video game life.

Kotor 2 has the better story though.

Gameplay in both would have benefited from being 100% turn based than the weird combination of the two.

 

It's the same under-the-hood system as Baldur's Gate and all the other aD&D games out there. I think it just feels weird cuz it's third person rather than isometric.

 

For what it’s worth I can’t stand the gameplay of many of those games either. For the same reasons. I’ve played BG exactly once bc of the epic story, but even with the EE gameplay is terrible.

If you’re making a DnD game, it needs to be turn based imo. The isometric real time is just bad.

Divinity did it right.

 

Speaking of, Divinity has shamelessly stolen the last few days of my life.

After finishing my first playthrough of Diablo 3, I decided to start both Dragon Quest XI and Divinity Original Sin 2 so I could switch between them whenever I got tired of one. Especially since I'd never played anything like DOS2 before and I wasn't sure it was going to click for me.

Now I'm over 54 hours into DOS2 and just stopped a certain hanging which somehow turned into a clusterfuck of apocalyptic proportions.

Dragon who?

 

Rimworld is my go to game for a nice, relaxing session of hat making. It's also hilarious in the same way Dwarf Fortress is, but without the awful, awful UI.

 

I just played DOS2 recently. I adored everything about it except the story, weirdly. Didn't even finish it, got bored in the last act. Felt like if the character wasn't a protagonist, they're a hilariously cartonishly evil antagonists. I could murder everyone when given the option and I didn't even feel bad once...

Unfortunately, I couldn't find another game of that kind with that level of polish to sink my teeth into. Anything else close or much better story-wise looks very dated.

 

That mirrors my experience. I loved the game while playing - it had so many fun elements, and the combat could get really challenging - but I also didn't make it through the last arc. I killed one boss on the new island, then stopped playing. It's strange because by all metrics DOS2 is the greatest RPG of recent times that found its way into my hands.

 

That was my experience too. The gameplay was perfect. The story...not enough to truly hold my interest. The story felt like a cartoonish archetype.

Playing an original character felt poorly connected, but at the same time, I didn't really like the origin characters. They all kinda sucked. Still love the game, but the story could have been better.

 

I liked playing as Lohse, so much so that once I killed the inner demon, I was done with the game, lol

 

After 80+ hours, I've finally completed my journey to become a god and was half-tempted to do it all over again. It was like playing a cross between Witcher 3 and Fire Emblem and I must have spent more than half of my holiday time on this game.

Had Lohse as my main, accompanied by the Red Prince, Sebille and Fane. My next playthrough will likely be playing as Ifan with Beast, Sebille and Lohse for a more classical team-up (and to see Lohse from an outside perspective) and maybe even followed by Fane as a Lone Wolf.

But I've still got more than enough games left to play.

Went back to Dragon Quest XI for all of five minutes before giving up on it. I got further with this than Dragon Quest VII - which isn't hard because I stopped shortly after the first town in that one - but I just can't bring myself to like it. Things like the boring silent protagonist, unappealling monster designs, an excessive number of cutscenes, the new companion Sylvando...

So Horizon Zero Dawn, here I come.

Edit: In other news, I finally started Pokemon Y and there are three things that have stood out to me.

One is that I have literally never had so much trouble just walking around in a Pokemon game before. The number of times I have walked into a wall instead of through a door or opening is unreal.

Two is that it's a really dumb move to gift me a pokemon that I was already able to catch the pre-evolution for and train to a even higher level anyway. Should have stayed with your trainer, Lucario. Enjoy the box.

And three is that the super duper Exp Share means that my starter has already reached their final evolution and yet has probably been in less fights than any other member of the my team. That's just weird.

 

Went back to Skyrim and downloaded the Modpack: Skyrim the Journey. A surprisingly stable modpack that implemented permadeath, realistic needs, and a host of other gameplay. Also added several companion mods and the Naruto overhaul that added the Uchiha Clan.

Roleplaying the son of the former Jarl of Ivarstead (descended from Akaviri) who was executed as a favor to the Thalmor in the White-Gold concordat by the Emperor. Character is sent to the the College of Winterhold. Learns magic and goes through that whole storyline. Have a mod that prevents you from becoming Archmage. More just going through magic training.

My character, desiring physical training, joined the Companions, did that questline and became harbinger at the young age of 21. At this time, he has activated his sharingan and mastered it. Master swordsman with a Katana in one hand and lightning in the left.

During this time, did a lot of side quests. Did Falkskaar. Rigmor of Bruma. Fell for Rigmor, but she left.

At this time, was contacted by the Dark brotherhood. Did that storyline. Killed the Emperor for revenge and to regain lands. Have the Jarl of Ivarstead mod installed. Rule as Jarl. Start doing the Civil War as supporting Stormcloaks

At this time, start main Alduin quest with Inigo and Vilja by my side. Marry Vilja. Realize not strong enough to kill Alduin. Kill Vilja for Mangekyou. Get MS. Kill Alduin. Start to go blind. Do EMS quest and gain rinnegan.

Do Rigmor of Cyrodiil Mod. Marry her.
Do Wyrmstooth.

Have High King Mod. Use politics to become High King of Skyrim. War with the Thalmor mod. Defeat Thalmor. Rigmor dies in war.

Character, despairing of life, does Dawnguard. Becomes vampire. Makes sky dark. Brings back Rigmor and Vilja via resurrection and turns them into Vampires. Lives out eternity of his days as the Vampire High King of Skyrim.

 

It was a fun spring break considering i'm poor.

 

Here's a game I learned about recently: Subverse.

"Since the dawn of time, humankind has stared up at the cosmos with a mixture of trepidation and wonder. Turning our curious eyes toward the glittering stars speckled around our little blue planet, we have often asked ourselves the eternal question:

Are we alone in this universe? What is out there? More importantly… can we bone it?

That’s why we made Subverse - a tactical RPG/SHMUP hybrid that takes place in a fully explorable galaxy where you get to be the Captain of your very own ship...which is crewed by the sexiest and deadliest waifus you can recruit. Oh, and you can also befriend a perpetually stoned imp mechanic with six testicles."

 

... huh. So that's a thing.

On another note, if you've enjoyed Hotline Miami, a similar-ish game was released some time ago: Katana Zero. You're a junkie edgelord wearing a bathrobe that commits a small scale genocide with a katana... and it's glorious.

Watch it in all its glory:


The bad news is that it's really short (~5h?), and feels like the game is only half-finished 'story' wise. I'm all but certain that more stuff will be released in the future, be it in dlc or free updates - but the end does come rather abruptly. Hotline Miami's soundtrack was also superior, but alas.

Other than that, if you're looking for an evening or two of hyper-brutal adrenaline rush combined with an acid trip, Katana Zero hits all the right spots.

 

Saw down for a minute and figure out all the games that I'm excited for (and the rough order of expected release)

Mario Maker 2

Classic WoW

Borderlands 3

Star Wars Fallen Order

Link's Awakening Remake

The Outer Worlds

Cyberpunk 2077

The Last of Us 2 (sooner rather than later hopefully)

Age of Empires 4 (2021 probably :< )

Metroid Prime 4 (2021 probably :<<<<<< )

 

Figure I'll hop on board that train:

Cyberpunk 2077

Bloodlines 2

Fallen Order (IF EA keep their promises)

Elder Scrolls 6...though...I'm more excited about these projects adding all of the provinces of Tamriel to Skyrim. They've already added Bruma.
https://beyondskyrim.org/

Ghost of Tsushima

Star Citizen (IF it ever gets made)

Ancestors

 

(Probably) not in release order, but...

Control

Close to the Sun

The Sinking City

Crash Team Racing remaster

Fallen Order

Sea of Solitude

Cyberpunk

Ghosts of Tsushima

Elder Scrolls 6

 

shit, idk how I already forgot about VTMB2. And I did think about putting star citizen on the list with a 2030 date, but honestly I feel like there's a bigger chance of halflife 3 coming out than that game actually getting released. I have to forcefully stop myself from ever getting hyped about it anymore.

 

For me it's really just Control (Second Sight nostalgia) and Ghost of Tsushima (because samurai).