appiah4 wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:26:

For what it's worth I always thought Doom 3 was incredibly underappreciated, and I am of the minority that thinks the original release is a lot better than the BFG release. Having to switch between weapons and flashlight was what really made the game.

Personally, I found the flashlight mechanics clunky and annoying, but I still think OG Doom 3 > BFG Edition. In particular, I thought the lighting and sound positioning were much worse in the latter. Also, every YouTube retrospective of Doom 3 that I've watched recommended playing the original version. Apparently, there are other differences such as ammo being more plentiful in the re-release and so on.

For me, the only good thing about the BFG Edition is that it includes "No Rest For The Living", which is the best official expansion for Doom 2. At the time, that was the only legit way to play it on PC, if I'm not mistaken.

MagefromAntares wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:04:

And also monster closets, lots of monster closets 😁

Oh yes, and after a while, the monster closets become kind of a joke, honestly... You end up expecting them!

appiah4 wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:26:

I am of the minority that thinks the original release is a lot better than the BFG release.

Ah now you picked my curiosity and I will have to try out the original to see how it compares. But honestly I doubt I'm going to like it because fighting enemies in the complete darkness must be quite frustrating. I like the gameplay of the BFG edition in which you can hold the flashlight and a gun at the same time, but the light will only last for 20 seconds or so. SO during longer fights you inevitably will run out of light. It's just enough to raise you level of stress without being horribly cumbersome.

appiah4 wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:26:

I am of the minority that thinks the original release is a lot better than the BFG release.

I don't think that's a minority opinion. And not just here on Vogons.

appiah4 wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:26:

I am of the minority that thinks the original release is a lot better than the BFG release. Having to switch between weapons and flashlight was what really made the game.

If it's a minority, it seems a large minority at least. BTW, I only played the original version, and I found it very fun. Except the last few levels where devs got lazy so enemies literally appear out of thin air, supposedly behind you, but if you walk backwards through an area it looks very tacky. The last level and boss fight was cool, though.

I started playing Requiem Venging Angel. I beat this once back in the 90s. Fun to revisit. Love the box , love the powers. Fun game which can get hard at times.

dr_st wrote on 2026-06-16, 18:55:

appiah4 wrote on 2026-06-16, 09:26:

I am of the minority that thinks the original release is a lot better than the BFG release. Having to switch between weapons and flashlight was what really made the game.

If it's a minority, it seems a large minority at least. BTW, I only played the original version, and I found it very fun. Except the last few levels where devs got lazy so enemies literally appear out of thin air, supposedly behind you, but if you walk backwards through an area it looks very tacky. The last level and boss fight was cool, though.

Ha, I never noticed this, but I really ought to try it now 😁

The Outer Worlds
I finished this last year and mostly liked it, though I found the writing to be really awful. I didn't have the DLC then, but got it for cheap during the Steam winter sale, so I decided to play through it this month. Overall, I liked it.

The first DLC, Peril on Gorgon, takes place in one small area but is pretty fun. The second one, Murder on Eridanos, takes place in a hub world that's roughly the same size as the hubs in the base game. I really liked the second DLC, since It takes place in a unique area that's visually interesting, and gives you an "environment scanner" that is basically a high-tech magnifying glass. It's fun to follow the clues, and the DLC even allows you to make a major choice at the end.

After completing both DLC campaigns, I went and finished the game (again). It was definitely much easier, since I was at a much higher level, but that's fine. It's basically a reward for finishing the DLC, though I'm glad that I decided to play through the base game without the DLC the first time through.

I liked the game, in spite of the terrible writing, but I don't think I'd ever replay it. The game does have a lot of character build variety, factions, and multiple solutions to quests... but due to how the game is designed, you really aren't locked out of content based on your build. I think the only real difference you'd experience on a replay would be to choose difference factions, but I also think that the game isn't bold enough to really lock you out of much of anything worthwhile for choosing once faction over another (I might be wrong).

I discovered by chance this Unity port of Ultima Underworld called Unity Underworld: https://kweepa.itch.io/unity-underground. I've been playing it for 2-3 hours and it works really well on a semi-modern (2017) Linux box, with Lutris and Wine.

I've never quite finished that game despite several attempts. Maybe now is the time.

mtest001 wrote on 2026-06-24, 06:40:

I discovered by chance this Unity port of Ultima Underworld called Unity Underworld: https://kweepa.itch.io/unity-underground. I've been playing it for 2-3 hours and it works really well on a semi-modern (2017) Linux box, with Lutris and Wine.

I've never quite finished that game despite several attempts. Maybe now is the time.

I see they have added mouse & keyboard support, it originally only supported controllers which was certainly a decision.

I'll have to check it out myself too at some point, not many this type of games out there and I sure would like to see more of them.

Still going through Divinity: Original Sin 2.

Yesterday I hit level 14 at the end of my session. I felt like I finished every quest appropriate for my level that I didn't want to save for later. Also found some bullshit enemies. I usually have no issues fighting enemies one level above me, but the dwarf woman in the arena and the scare crows while being level 12 and I was 13 were really strong for their levels. The dwarf had a lot of AP and the scare crows had skills that overcame the level difference.

Also at some point Sir Lora died without me noticing, because now his ghost follows me.

God of War: Ragnarök

Bought this on the Steam Summer Sale a few days ago. I've been a fan of the God of War series since the mid 2000s, and as I recently got a PS5 controller, the time finally seemed right to give this game a try. So far, it's very similar to the 2018 (soft) reboot, which I had played at launch. Not bad, but for me personally, the series peaked with GOW2 and GOW3. Anyhow, I mostly got this for the full DualSense support, as the controller's adaptive triggers and advanced haptics are utilized superbly.

Command & Conquer Remastered Collection

I replayed C&C1 and RA1 around six years ago on a real DOS retro rig. They were among my favorite games from that era, though my fondness for the RTS genre has diminished over the years. Still, I decided to pick up this remaster as I was thoroughly impressed with the reviews. It's amazing how they got the original developers to work on it, and even had the voice actress of E.V.A. reprise her role. Also, the remastered DOS setup screen, complete with sound card selection and testing, was pretty neat. Not to mention the faithfully updated hi-res sprites, the remastered music (by Frank Klepacki himself) and all the quality of life improvements. Just fantastic work overall.

I enjoyed Red Faction 1 and 2 in the past, lately played red faction guerrilla

It's a fun game, like a kind of turf war / gta sa on Mars hybrid! really like the demolition mechanics and the ability to go around doing what you want (albeit received constant calls for help). The EDF, supposedly in charge and oppressively dominant are a bit strange though, wouldn't they just retake everything if they were that fearsome? anyway, the game is fun and should just be enjoyed as an open (Martian) world actioner

Guerilla took a while for me to appreciate and I had to hold off on it for DRM reasons. Created a GFWL account just to play it.......right before it got Steamworksified. RIP volition

I've been very slowly playing Pillars Of Eternity and enjoying it quite a bit - I never playing this one way or another but now that there's a turn based mode I felt like it was time.

But I've also been keeping my eye on reviews for the Gothic Remake and decided to give it a try. I was very dubious about it but it's exceeded my expectations I must say. It looks great and is more faithful to the original than I thought it would be. The voice acting is OK and it does actually feel like Gothic I think. Movement is frustratingly ponderous - getting in and out of bed is infuriating, particularly when you have the owner of the bed standing over you with a sword. Combat was never going to match the original (sadly) because no-one would buy it, but it seems to be somewhat tactical in the remake - hard to tell without having leveled up at all. It runs OK but weirdly CPU usage is high and GPU usage is very low - common with U5 engine games apparently.

I've only played 1.5 hours to get a feel for it and I think I'll stop soon and go back to PoE, but I won't be returning it for a refund like I suspected I would be. Next time I'm in a Gothic mood I'll give this a proper go.

One complaint - the forests aren't as ominous as the original:

Otherwise it looks pretty good and the level design is close enough to the original (so far) that I have no problem navigating it without a map.

Back to playing GTA: San Andreas. I'm closing on the final storyline missions - decided to take a break and complete a few side missions that count towards completion.

badmojo wrote on 2026-07-01, 07:22:

But I've also been keeping my eye on reviews for the Gothic Remake and decided to give it a try.

Nice to hear your thoughts on this! 😄

Based on what I've heard from other trusted reviewers as well, I've decided to wait until this game receives a few more patches. Which seems to be the best approach for UE5 titles in general.

Still progressing through Divinity: Original Sin 2, just arrived at Arx.

My party is coming along nicely.

Mahalia - medium range air+water magic finesse build (with no fashion sense, green gloves, bronze chest plate, and blue leg armor, but the stats are good 😁)
The Red Prince - close range melee with earth magic.
Fane - the archer/magic artillery using fire, earth and necromantic magic rocking the vulture armor.
Loshe - the teams medic/general support character with some offensive air and water magic.

Joseph_Joestar wrote on 2026-07-01, 08:05:

Based on what I've heard from other trusted reviewers as well, I've decided to wait until this game receives a few more patches. Which seems to be the best approach for UE5 titles in general.

It has a demo. I'm planning to try the demo once I'm done with Divinity.

RandomStranger wrote on 2026-07-04, 19:45:

It has a demo. I'm planning to try the demo once I'm done with Divinity.

I think the demo is based on an older build of the game, as it lacks FSR and DLSS support. Also, we don't play as the nameless hero in this demo, but as an NPC from the original Gothic game.

Still, I gave it a whirl, and performance wasn't so great on my system. For comparison, that PC runs Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 (another UE5 title) at 1080p High with a mostly stable 60 FPS.

God of War: Ragnarök

Finished! I liked the main story, and a few side quests were pretty good as well. Especially the ones that flesh out Freya and Mimir even further. The gameplay was ok, though I still prefer the combat mechanics from the first three games. That said, I do like how there's a toggle in the options menu which allows you to hold a button instead of having to mash it repeatedly. This is very much appreciated now that I'm in my 40s. The Valhalla DLC wasn't really my cup of tea due to its "roguelite" gameplay. But I did watch the cutscenes on YouTube, and enjoyed the story callbacks to GOW 1, 2 and 3. Lastly, the DualSense support remained excellent all the way through, both for haptics and the adaptive triggers. This game is a great showcase for that controller.