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Elden Ring

Read More Demon’s Souls I was a bit surprise to hear that the 2009 Gamespot Game of the Year went to Demon's Souls. What was so surprising is that the game was hardly marketed here, I mean I didn't really see any advertisement for the game nor did I read any reviews …

Yes, I’m finally playing Elden Ring, the game that literally everybody was playing in February 2022. The game went on sale on disc, so picked it up. I popped in the disc, expecting to play the game. Guess what? You can’t just put in a disc and play the game.

The game required a 50GB download/update. This might be more common than you think, as sometime the game on the disc is actually not complete. For example, if there are cut scenes or files that are too large to fit on the disc, you need to download the missing components. It just basically suck, because you can’t really play games offline.

Having said that, I’ve been offline and playing the Elden Ring game, after that one-time 50GB update. In recent news (as of today): “Microsoft is making it easier to play games on your Xbox Series X, even if it’s offline — as of the 2208 update released earlier this month, you won’t be forced to do an online compatibility check to play a game from an Xbox One disc. Instead, you can just pop the disc in, install the game, and play; no internet connection required.”

That works out just fine for me, as currently I’m only connecting online via my iPhone’s internet connection on Visible Mobile.

As for Elden Ring, playing at first was overwhelming, as the game is open world and you can wander where you like. I like that sort of game play, but I found myself getting killed a lot and I didn’t really understand all the mechanics in leveling up or farming for “souls”. I’ve played other “souls” games, starting with Demon Souls on the PS3, so I’m familiar on how they work. To be honest, I’m surprised that this sort of role-playing/action game is beloved by so many gamers… as they are very hard game. They’re so hard, that I’ve never beaten any souls games. I like playing them, but man, I generally suck at my timing for defending and attacking.

What drew me into Elden Ring is that the software developer, FromSoftware, hired George R. R. Martin (Game of Thrones) as writer. There’s actually not much of a story, but it’s clear that FromSoftware wanted a Western perspective/writing style to the game to appeal the Western market.

Anyway, I’ve been watching some masters at the game explain how you can level up faster and how they did it. It’s fascinating. You can go from level 1 to 100 in just an hour. There are obviously some exploits, but I didn’t think it was cheating.

Right now, I’m at level 15 and I’m still learning all the basics. I still suck at defense, but I’m enjoying what I already put into the game. From this point, I’m just going to take it easy and explore the world.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Prime Day

Read More Video Games I take that back, Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is on sale, and it’s a game (three games actually) that I’m interested in checking out the new “remaster”. It’s currently on sale for $35 on Amazon, …

Every year Amazon Prime Day comes and go, and every year, there’s never anything good! This year, the two-day event is taking place July 12 to 13, and promises “epic deals on top brands and small businesses.”

Having scrolled through countless items, the sales and discounts are just not enough for me to want to buy something. Most of the sales are 10% off, to me, that’s not enough for a product I don’t need now. Some items that never goes on sale, such as Apple products are slightly discounted - for example the new Apple Watch 7 is $309 (normally $420) and Airtags 4-Pack are $85 (normally $100).

Undoubtedly, the biggest deals are on Amazon’s own products: the Echo Show (not the new models) and their Fire Tablets.

If you’re already a member of Amazon Prime, Amazon is giving away some free digital games, including Mass Effect: Legendary Edition. Originally when this re-mastered game came out in 2021 for a full $60… but since then the game is heavily discounted (as low as $20 on Xbox), and, if you have Xbox Game Pass, the game is “free”. Many gamers interested in the game, including myself, have already bought it. Still, getting another free copy from Amazon Prime is a nice bonus.

There are a few catches in redeeming the Amazon Prime free games. Some games requires you to have an account with a third party, for example, Legacy Games or Origin account. Personally speaking, if I don’t already have an account, I just won’t redeem them… but there are others that might sign up, just to get some free games.

The other catch is that Amazon is promoting their streaming game service, Luna, so some of their “free” games requires you to sign up for their gaming service (which I won’t do).

So, even though I poo-poo the “sales” of Amazon Prime Day, I have to admit that it is good for everyone. That is because Amazon’s competitors, such as Best Buy, are also reacting to Prime Day, with their own sales, which they are calling Black Friday in July.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is free on Epic Games

Read More Pathfinder As I’ve previously mentioned, I pre-ordered and looked forward to playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker. The game came out on Tuesday (September 25), and by Friday (September 28) …

You can hate Epic Games for their business practices, but you cannot deny that they are giving back to gamers with their free games. Many of them are Triple A games, including this Pathfinder: Kingmaker Enhance Plus Edition (which is free for Christmas).

I originally paid full price for Pathfinder: Kingmaker, and when I played for the first time, Oct 2018, I said there are so many bugs in the game that it wasn’t quite ready for release. The studio have since patched most, if not all, of the bugs I experienced, but it still left a sour taste in my mouth.

Clearly the game wasn’t finished back then, but I think the product is good now, as it stands. If you don’t have the game, please get it for free now.

Since that time, I have purchased the sequel, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous and plan on supporting the developer on upcoming games.

I just love the idea that the original Pathfinder game is free, and I hope it opened up to a larger audience.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Divinity: Original Sin II on the iPad

Read More Larian Studios I have been hyped about Baldur’s Gate 3 since Larian Studios announced their teaser in August 2019. I’ve already mentioned that I was a massive fan of Black Isle Studios …

You know I’m a big fan of Larian Studios, the Belgium company that is currently developing Baldur’s Gate III (which I already pre-ordered) and the successful Divinity series. While I haven’t loved the original games from 2002, I came around with 2014’s Divinity: Original Sin and its sequel Divinity: Original Sin II.

Sadly, I haven’t beaten either of the Divinity: Original Sin saga, but from all my hours of gameplay, I love it. So much that I’ve decided to spend $25 to see how Divinity: Original Sin II will work on my iPad Pro 12.9. I saw that it supported Bluetooth controller and keyboard, but I will likely just use touch to play.

In the past, I’ve played around with Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II on the iPad, but those games originally came out in 1998 and 2000 (and yes, I bought and played them back then).

With Divinity: Original Sin II, which originally came out in 2017, on the iPad, I was just eager to see a semi-recent, modern game on the iPad. We all know that Apple have never been known for video games… so I’m glad to see companies, like Larian, take a chance.

So, for some bad news, those with older iPads, they cannot run the game. The game will run on iPad Pro 2018 to 2021 (basically any iPad with the A12 Bionic chip or later). The other bad news is that the game will take up at least 18GB of storage, so if you have an 32GB iPad, it’s going to take up half your space!

Even many users might feel that $25 is expensive (especially for an iPad app), you have to understand that this is a first-class game. I’ve played the PC, I’ve paid $50 for the game originally, so $25 is really bargain, in my opinion…. But it’s true, $25 is a million times more expensive than the typical $1.99 iPad.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous

About the Game The realm of Sarkoris was destroyed when Areelu Vorlesh, a scholar and practitioner of forbidden magics, opened a rift to the abyssal planes of existence, and hordes of demons invaded the world of Golarion. Led by the evil Demon Lords Deskari and Baphomet, the abyssal forces crushed all who stood against them, turning Sarkoris into a demon‑infested land now known as the Worldwound. Join the Crusade against the demonic invasion and rise as a new hero wielding unimaginable powers in this classic CRPG. The fate of this world lies in your hands. Read More Pathfinder As I’ve previously mentioned, I pre-ordered and looked forward to playing Pathfinder: Kingmaker. The game came out on Tuesday (September 25), and by Friday (September 28) ..… Cyberpunk 2077 For some odd reason, Best Buy, allowed me to pick up my pre-order for Cyberpunk 2077 video game for the PC. The game is not officially out until ..… GOG As you know, I’m a huge GOG (Good Old Games) fan and was very excited about the news of GOG Galaxy 2.0 in June 2019. I have been using the GOG Galaxy …

I’m probably going to regret this (again), based on my previous experiences with Owlcat Games’ Pathfinder: Kingmaker in Oct 2018. I pre-ordered Kingmaker and was hit with game-stopping bugs, as part of their 100+ bugs on launch day. It was clear that the game was not ready for launch. Eventually, Owlcat was able to fix the numerous problems and was able to save their reputation (at least in my eyes).

The most famous disappointing game launch in recent memory was for Cyberpunk 2077… which left a permanent scar on developer CD Projekt. While the game was not such a problem on PC (which is where I purchased the game), it was problematic for Xbox and PS4 (which was almost unplayable on the aging platform).

Anyway, the upcoming sequel to Pathfinder: Kingmaker, called Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, will launch on PC on September 2, 2021, with the console versions (Xbox, PS4) to be available later next year. Yes, I pre-ordered the game so I can start playing as soon as possible.

I did enjoyed Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but it does take getting used to the way the game may seem really harsh. The game is based on an off-shoot of Dungeons & Dragons rulesets, so at times it can seem unfair … but it’s because the game is observing a random d20 dice roll. While games such as the upcoming Baldur’s Gate 3 have implemented “second chances” or other modifications to make the game enjoyable… I do not believe Pathfinder will do this. They will strictly follow the rules.

Am I concern that Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous will be full of bugs when it launch this week? A little big, but I feel that it probably won’t be such a big deal. This is because the sequel is using the same Kingmaker game engine… and the developers have already ironed out all the kinks in the engine over the two years of development.

At least I hope that’s the case… if not, I’m sure you’ll hear from me, complaining about all the bugs.

Anyway, as a special bonus to those who pre-ordered the game on GOG, Owlcat will offer these items in your game:

Silver Tongue Amulet

Free Dancer’s Boots

Owlcat Pet

Skins for three animal companions

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: A Plague Tale, Ultima, and Syndicate

Weekend Gamer here. Here are a few more free games to add to your digital library.

Read More Epic Games I guess all that waiting was worth it, as currently, the game is free on the Epic Game store. I know a lot of people hate on Epic, saying they’re a bully, saying that they’re …

A PLAGUE TALE: INNOCENCE
epicgames.com

I’m very excited to see that A Plague Tale: Innocence, a game developed by Asobo Studio and published by Focus Home Interactive, is currently free on the Epic Game store.

I’ve always wanted to check out this horror/survival game since it came out in May 2019, but have always resisted on buying it, because I’m just not a fan of steath games. I entertain buying the game on the Nintendo Switch in July 2021, but due to the Switch’s lack of power and hardware limitations, the game requires an always-on internet connection to get it to run properly.

Although I happily added the free game to my Epic Game library, I probably won’t have the time to play the game. I’ll probably initialize the download today and probably check it out later.

Anyway, all these free games from Epic is good for gaming fans … but there are concerns.

First of all, according to PC World, Chinese company Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games. The fear is, based on China’s anti-free speech, human rights issues, and cybersecurity, that somehow the Chinese Communist government can use this data against Americans. I am worried, but until it’s proven that Epic is doing wrong… then I’m fine with accepting their free games.

The other concern is a report that mentioned that Epic have spent $500 Million Dollars on free games… and won’t turn a profit until 2027, according to PC Gamer. I personally doubt they can turn a profit. Epic can write off these loses because they’re making so much money on their flagship Fortnite. However, what happens when that game is out of fashion?

Anyway, for now, enjoy the free A Plague Tale game. The promotion ends on August 12 at 10am. The next free Epic game will be for Rebel Galaxy, which is free August 12 through August 19th. The sequel, A Plague Tale: Requiem, is set to be released in 2022.

Read More EA Ultima VII The Complete Edition Even if you're not into PC gaming, you can't ignore what a good deal this is. The Humble Bundle Origin #2 Bundle ends in five days. …

ULTIMA UNDERWORLD/SYNDICATE
gog.com

Last month, major game publisher Electronic Arts, asked GOG to remove their games Ultima Underworld and Syndicate from their store.

The move was seen as a move to make these games exclusive to EA’s Origin game store. For those that already purchased the game on GOG, it probably wasn’t good news.

I’ll be 100% honest and say that I would never buy these old games from EA directly. That’s because Origin has DRM-restrictions over its games. And to be completely honest, I probably wouldn’t have bought these games on any platform.

I won’t deny their importance to the gaming genre, I mean the Ultima series inspired many games that came after… but they’re just very old games. The graphics and game mechanics are very dated and the only reasons why you would want these games is out of nostagia. I totally understand, I’ve have bought old Might and Magic games, because I remember playing them when I was younger … but could never commit to playing them in the modern age.

Anyway, I am assuming GOG cut a deal, behind closed doors, with EA to make these games available to GOG customers. To celebrate, for a limited time (until September 3rd), all four games are free: Ultima Underworld 1+2, Syndicate Plus, and Syndicate Wars.

It’s awesome that they are free, but as I previously mentioned, I’m not so sure I’ll be playing them any time soon. There are later versions of Ultima that I would rather play first…

P.S. All this talk about old dungeon crawler games, made me want to revisit my Forgotten Realms Achive Collections (I purchased them during a sale a few years ago). I’m going to play Eye of the Beholder III: Assault on Myth Drannor for the first time.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Solasta: Crown of the Magister

Synopsis Wizards of the Coast granted Tactical Adventures a license to use the Dungeons and Dragons SRD 5.1 Ruleset, furthering our vision of making the most faithful video game adaptation with the Tabletop Ruleset! Solasta: Crown of the Magister will bring the thrill, tactics, and deep storytelling of tabletop games. As you play, you'll feel yourself reaching for your dice and miniatures. It's time to dive into the world of Solasta. Roll for initiative! Created and written by lifelong fans of Pen & Paper RPGs, comes Solasta: Crown of the Magister. Read More Baldur’s Gate I have been hyped about Baldur’s Gate 3 since Larian Studios announced their teaser in August 2019. I’ve already mentioned that I was a massive fan of Black Isle Studios, the original maker of the PC Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games …

It’s E3 week (June 12th-June 15th). The Electronic Entertainment Expo took a break last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but it’s back… although it’s mostly live-streams with some small in-person coverage. Hopefully it’ll be back to normal next year.

E3 is still a big deal in the gaming industry, and already in its first day, we’ve gotten to see Far Cry 6 new trailer, Ubisoft’s Avatar game trailer, Mario + Rabbids sequel for 2022, Sparks of Hope is coming in 2022, and we’re getting a director’s cut of Death Stranding on the PS5.

Sadly, since I (and many gamers) have still not been able to own a PS5 or Xbox Series X… any games announced on the latest gen consoles, I just have no interests.

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve somewhat become a Nintendo Switch and PC gamer, because, say what you will, but anyone can walk into a store and buy a Switch or gaming PC.

The last game I purchased and enjoyed was Solasta: Crown of the Magister. This is a turn-based RPG by Tactical Adventures, available to purchase on GOG or Steam. The game uses the Dungeons and Dragons SRD 5.1 Ruleset, which is something that I’ve enjoyed since the version 3.0 rules. I believe this is one of, if not, the first game to use the new rules, so I was very excited to see the new changes and how it’s presented in a video game. I think it translates well, especially represented by the 20-sided die that is displayed whenever the game calculates if you hit or miss an enemy.

Unlike Baldur's Gate 3 (which also uses Dungeons & Dragons rules), Solasta is more tactical/strategy than role-playing… so if you’re more interested in building your characters and exploration… Solasta isn’t for you.

So far, I’m very early in the game, only visiting the first outpost… but I’m having a good time. Like many strategy games, you never really want to pause/save in the middle of battle, until you finally win. Some battles can take very long to play out, due to the turn-based style, so the game can be very time consuming, even though you’ve only entered in one or two fights. This also means that this isn’t a random casual game you can pick up and leave in three minutes… you really need to dedicate the time to really play a game session.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Early Access: Baldur’s Gate 3

Read More Games First, I’m very happy to hear that Larian Studios will be making Baldur’s Gate 3. The last Baldur’s Gate game came out in 2000, so it’ll be a good 20 years since the last game (considering that BG3 probably won’t launch until 2020). …

I have been hyped about Baldur’s Gate 3 since Larian Studios announced their teaser in August 2019. I’ve already mentioned that I was a massive fan of Black Isle Studios, the original maker of the PC Baldur’s Gate and Icewind Dale games… so naturally, I wanted to see more Dungeons and Dragons games.

As promised, Larian Studios offered fans early access to their game-in-progress. The final game won’t be officially released for another year (to be honest, I think it’ll be two years before they can release it to the public). The early access to the game only grants you part one of the game, which will get you about 20 hours of gameplay. From what I’ve heard, there final game will have three parts, so you’re looking at a massive 60+ hour game.

The game came out in early access on October 5, and by October 10, I had already reached my level up cap (you can only get to level 4) and got to the end of the map. Sure, there are tons more area to explore, so I’ll have to backtrack and hit all the areas I didn’t see. However, seeing as I can’t progress grow anymore at level 4, I feel like there’s no point in continuing.

So far, there are six original characters created for this game, and they can join your party on this adventure. You can only have a maximum of four in your team, so any excess characters will have to go to your camp to wait it out until you return for a long rest. My favorite character to hear is Gale, as the voice actor does such an excellent job in his dialogue delivery.

Now for the bad news - if you want to get in early access, you’ll have to pay full price of $59.99. You do get the full game when it comes out, but it’s a steep price to pay for an incomplete game (at least for now). I wish they would’ve given us a little discount.

The other bad news is that the game is rough. There are bugs all over, not to mention visual glitches or camera locks. Plus, cross saves doesn’t always work correctly. All normal things you might expect for an advance look at the game. Also, if you’re unfamiliar with D&D rulesets you may be frustrated with no help from the game.

The last bad news is that your early access game might not be able to carry over the final release. I personally don’t mind this, as I’ve made plenty of mistakes and wouldn’t mind replaying it to correct them (or make a different choice). However,

Otherwise, if you don’t mind roughing it and love Dungeons & Dragons, you need to check out the early access to Baldur’s Gate 3. You can buy it at my favorite digital game retailer, GOG.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ facebook.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic

Weekend Gamer: Shadows: Awakening, Tower of Time, and Pathfinder: Kingmaker

Shadows: Awakening Read More Games For the 10th anniversary of the popular Assassin’s Creed franchise, its publisher Ubisoft is offering the fourth installment, Assassin's Creed Black Flag, as a free download. …

With the extra day off because of Labor Day, I had a little time to catch up on some games I’ve recently purchased and played. I mostly buy games on GOG, because I believe in DRM-free games and currently own over 200 games. Below is some recent isometric, top-down RPG games that I’m playing (or looking forward to playing).

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SHADOWS: AWAKENING
Released: August 31, 2018
Publisher: Games Farm / Kalypso Media Digital

This game Shadows: Awakening just came out on August 31st. The publisher or GOG gave me a free copy, I believe because I had previously purchased Shadows: Heretic Kingdoms.

A lot of people compared this game and previous games to Diablo - it is not the same. A lot of games tried to clone Diablo, but in all my years of trying them out, nothing comes close, with the exception of Torchlight.

If you’ve previously played any of the Shadows series, you know the gimmick: you play in the “real world” and a “shadow world”. It does take a little strategy, as you have to solve puzzles using both worlds to progress in the game.

In this new game, you start off as a demon bounded to one of three character types (Warrior, Rogue/Ranger, or Wizard). Gameplay is simple point and click, but adding the warping in and out of the two worlds for a tactical advantage (your character heals while you’re in the other world).

Love: Great graphics and dual-world gameplay. Voice acting dialogue.

Hate: Pre-made character builds. Linear storyline.

Tower of Time

TOWER OF TIME
Released: April 12, 2018
Publisher: Event Horizon

Tower of Time is an action role-playing dungeon crawler game. Based on that description, this sounded like my cup of tea, but unfortunately, I quickly realized that it’s not really all that’s cracked up to be. Maybe it’s because I’m only in the first few floors, but the layout is quite simple. You go here, you pull a lever, and you open up a new area. At first, I was playing on Normal, and it was a breeze. That is until you meet the first boss, who was incredibly hard to defeat. I had to turn it down to easy, just to get to the next level.

The real-time battle is also hard to manage, you can “pause” (it’s not really pausing, but sort of slowed down the action) and give directions. Again, I’m in the early stages of the game, so I only have three characters to work with… but it still feels like such a chore directing everyone to attack or heal. The characters aren’t smart enough to auto move and attack, but maybe it’s an option that I need to turn on.

Love: The RPG elements like rare loot and equipment. Great graphics and character builds.

Hate: Micromanaging the battle tactics. Unable to create your own character. Linear storyline.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker

PATHFINDER: KINGMAKER
Released: September 25, 2018
Publisher: Owlcat Games / Deep Silver

Pathfinder: Kingmaker is not out yet, but I was so excited about this game coming out on GOG that I pre-ordered it. This game is based on the Pathfinder tabletop game, which was and offspring of Dungeon and Dragons, but with modified 3.5 rules set.

I own all the Dragonlance, Ravenloft, Dark Sun games, plus obviously already big fans of the Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale series, so I’m more than excited to see how they bring Pathfinder to life.

I’m hoping it will be similar to Pillars of Eternity (which is not an official D&D game), at least give me the ability to create and maintain a group of adventurers. We’ll see how it works when it arrives September 25, 2018.

Other games I’m looking forward to:

Fallout ‘76: I’m a mostly offline gamer, but Fallout is my all-time favorite game series… so there’s no doubt that I’ll be first in line to play this. I love everything about Fallout, from its 1940s music and art style to its SPECIAL and perks system.

Torchlight Frontiers: As previously mentioned, no other games come close to Diablo than Torchlight. This is the third game in the series, and hopefully will address some of its shortcomings in the previous two games. There are also mobile game version coming out… but I’m assuming will be a remake or re-working of their first two games.

Cyberpunk 2077: I love The Witcher series, so obviously I’m looking forward to CD Projekt’s next project.

Exanima: I’ve actually already pre-ordered this game, mostly because I wanted to check out their beta. And based on playing the Beta: it sucks! I’m hoping they fix the bugs and make it a more enjoyable game when it is finally released.

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com/weheartmusic