I thoroughly enjoyed Witcher 1. The combat was more akin to an RPG like Dragon Age: Origins or KOTOR and the styles and combat animations were far more enjoyable than what little I played of Witcher 2 which was more of a hack and slash action RPG.

I'm having a lot of fun with Pillars of Eternity in contrast to how much I struggled to like Divinity: Original Sin. I really wish they hadn't given Baldur's Gate III to the Divinity guys now..

It's a better bet than BioWare nowadays...

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-07-22, 08:18:

It's a better bet than BioWare nowadays...

Bioware? What was the last good game they made, Mass Effect 2?

I was talking about Obsidian..

ME2 was their last good game indeed. But Baldur's Gate was BioWare's DNA back in the day.

Obsidian's last games such as The Outer Worlds were not very impressive.

Every since Chris Avellone's departure they seem to not have recovered.

I'm working through Tales of Monkey Island at the moment, done the first 2 chapters so far. Seems almost humourless compared to the original Monkeys, but I'm liking it OK.

GoblinUpTheRoad wrote on 2020-07-22, 09:39:

I'm working through Tales of Monkey Island at the moment, done the first 2 chapters so far. Seems almost humourless compared to the original Monkeys, but I'm liking it OK.

I thought it was pretty good overall. Bit different, but surprisingly good for a modern sequel.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-07-22, 08:47:

Bioware? What was the last good game they made, Mass Effect 2?

I really liked Mass Effect: Andromeda.

The characters are likeable and have a good backstory, the planets and places you visit have a huge variety - I especially liked that jungle world.
Also the fights against those remnant felt very rewarding.

I've waited after the gazillion patches came out, though. Seems like the game was unplayable at first release.

The only thing I really hated about ME: Andromeda were those damn Sudoku puzzles that took you out of the flow of the game.
At least the puzzles aren't randomly generated, so with a bit of googling they were done quickly.

It almost looks like they wanted to sell decryption keys that skip these puzzles for real-world money, but backed out of that stupid idea at the last minute.

I liked Mass Effect : Andromeda as well and never understood the absolute hatred it received. I'm not saying it was an amazing game but it was a good game and fun.

If you've played the first ME, ME:A is a very shallow rehash.

xcomcmdr wrote on 2020-07-23, 19:32:

If you've played the first ME, ME:A is a very shallow rehash.

I hated the first Mass Effect. I quit gaming for like 3 months cause that game was so bad to me. Boring wander around and have conversations for the first 6 hours of gameplay? Terrible. 2 was great, and 3 was fine. The first one was terrible. I eventually stuck with it and finished it but even then it felt like an intro to a game and not a full game.

Yes, I've tried to replay the first ME a little while ago and it hasn't aged well at all.

But back when it came it out, it was the hot sh*t and I remember having a lot of fun with it. The problem is, there were so many games after with better mechanics...I got used to comfort.

I should try ME:A I suppose, but Origin does not have regional pricing for me. Is it on Steam by chance?

EDIT: check my next post

FInally playing SIGIL 1.1 with Crispy Doom. Good stuff.

buckeye wrote on 2020-07-20, 12:59:

On a side note I've been pouring myself into reading the Witcher books. Currently finished Blood of Elves and just
bought Time of Contempt. Good stuff!

Don't forget you should read the stories in this order:

1. The Road with No Return
2. A Grain of Truth
3. The Lesser Evil
4. The Edge of the World
5. The Last Wish
6. Season of Storms
7. A Question of Price
8. The Witcher
9. The Voice of Reason
10. The Bounds of Reason
11. A Shard of Ice
12. Eternal Flame
13. A Little Sacrifice
14. Sword of Destiny
15. Something More
16. Saga
17. Something Ends, Something Begins
18. Season of Storms - epilogue

First and last hasn't been translated into English yet.

robertmo wrote on 2020-07-24, 12:23:

Don't forget you should read the stories in this order: […]
Show full quote

buckeye wrote on 2020-07-20, 12:59:

On a side note I've been pouring myself into reading the Witcher books. Currently finished Blood of Elves and just
bought Time of Contempt. Good stuff!

Don't forget you should read the stories in this order:

1. The Road with No Return
2. A Grain of Truth
3. The Lesser Evil
4. The Edge of the World
5. The Last Wish
6. Season of Storms
7. A Question of Price
8. The Witcher
9. The Voice of Reason
10. The Bounds of Reason
11. A Shard of Ice
12. Eternal Flame
13. A Little Sacrifice
14. Sword of Destiny
15. Something More
16. Saga
17. Something Ends, Something Begins

First and last hasn't been translated into English yet.

That's a different list than what I've been following, a lot of those I've not seen or heard of before.
Thank you though, will check them out.

appiah4 wrote on 2020-07-24, 09:24:

I should try ME:A I suppose, but Origin does not have regional pricing for me. Is it on Steam by chance?

Yes it actually is! EA added it a few months ago. 😀
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1238000/Ma … fect_Andromeda/

From that era of Bioware, I liked Mass Effect 1 and 2 (despite the sidequest tedium of ME1), and was a big fan of Dragon Age: Origins. However, I found Dragon Age II to be catastrophically bad, and it left such a bad impression on me that I never gave Bioware another chance. Maybe it was unfair from my part, but after watching gameplay of subsequent entries for both franchises I don't think I missed much (except maybe ME3). The release of Anthem was just the final nail in the coffin.

But man, Dragon Age II really pissed me off in such a way that few other games have, I used to joke that if Hell was real it would probably look just like the city of Kirkwall. Not only I found the gameplay atrocious, but it was also when Bioware's social discourse started to become so unsubtle and heavy handed that it was difficult to tolerate.

buckeye wrote on 2020-07-24, 15:17:

robertmo wrote on 2020-07-24, 12:23:

Don't forget you should read the stories in this order: […]
Show full quote

buckeye wrote on 2020-07-20, 12:59:

On a side note I've been pouring myself into reading the Witcher books. Currently finished Blood of Elves and just
bought Time of Contempt. Good stuff!

Don't forget you should read the stories in this order:

1. The Road with No Return
2. A Grain of Truth
3. The Lesser Evil
4. The Edge of the World
5. The Last Wish
6. Season of Storms
7. A Question of Price
8. The Witcher
9. The Voice of Reason
10. The Bounds of Reason
11. A Shard of Ice
12. Eternal Flame
13. A Little Sacrifice
14. Sword of Destiny
15. Something More
16. Saga
17. Something Ends, Something Begins

First and last hasn't been translated into English yet.

That's a different list than what I've been following, a lot of those I've not seen or heard of before.
Thank you though, will check them out.

2-5 and 7-9 are in The Last Wish
10-15 are in Sword of Destiny