Hi everyone,
Hope you’ve been well!!
Apologies for the late update - it’s been A Week* and things have gotten away from me. Let's jump straight into it!
(FYI for new patrons: if you ever wonder about any deviations from normal scheduling, both for these channel update posts or for videos themselves, I’m pretty good about mentioning them on BlueSky/Twitter, or you can always ask me directly as well.)
* yes it’s been more like Multiple Weeks… 😭
TL;DR
Finished: Dragon Age: The Veilguard
Ongoing: Baldur’s Gate 3, Lost Records
Next Up: not sure - let’s do a poll?
Finished Stuff
Dragon Age: The Veilguard: Overall I have mixed feelings about Veilguard, maybe with a lean towards the negative given the not-small time investment. Narratively the finale is a series highlight and a great send-off, but the journey leading up to it is pretty flat. It’s a technically polished experience but I didn’t feel like the writing was made a priority. There’s enjoyment to be found here but I’m not sure it’s a particular standout with how competitive the market is these days.
As first looks we also checked out:
Eternal Strands: A third-person action adventure by Yellow Brick Games, a new studio co-founded by Bioware veteran Mike Laidlaw. There’s obvious thought into the worldbuilding and they made effective use of the opening hour to acquaint you to the cast, their relationships & future conflicts, which I think is a positive sign that the later narrative will be solid too. The gameplay I’m more iffy on: the movement felt kinda slippery and I didn’t end the first look feeling like I had a good grasp of their intentions for the combat. (i.e. There’s ranged heat/ice magic and physical melee attacks, but you get hurt by your own magic, so I’m not sure how they want you to mix using these fighting styles.)
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II: An RPG set in medieval Europe featuring a main character that isn’t a chosen hero but more of an everyday guy. There is an emphasis on realism with the complexity of actions that are usually streamlined in similar RPGs, e.g. instead of just clicking to attack, combat involves considering the side of the enemy you’re striking from. Potion-making has the player look at a recipe book, pick out ingredients, popping it all in a cauldron and boiling it for a manually counted amount of time. I don’t feel like I made it deep enough to see whether this realism remains enjoyable and immersive or will become irritating in the long run though. The UI & UX overall seemed a bit jank but I had fun with the first look.
Current Stuff
Baldur’s Gate 3: Still in Act 3 - we defeated 1 of the 2 (?) big baddies so it feels like progress is being made! Guestimate based off gut feeling that we must be at least 60% though Act 3 now!?
Lost Records: Bloom & Rage: DON’T NOD’s latest adventure set in a paranormal American summer 1995. People who enjoy the nostalgia and chill-out vibes of LIS (me) will love this – DON’T NOD takes care in the fine character details like no other. The slower plot pacing could drive some away, though it didn't bother me personally.
I’ll have one more Tape 1 vid checking out some alternate scenes, and we’ll return to the second half of the story when Tape 2 releases in April. (An aside: the staggered release feels like a nice nostalgic return to LIS1 too. Thinking about & checking out community discussions/theories for Tape 2 has been really fun!)
Upcoming Stuff
They said I was crazy for doing BG3/Veilguard simultaneously, but I did it! Mentally I think I handled it better than a few years ago when I did Witcher 3 and RDR2 lol, I didn’t actually feel too bad going through it hahaha.
I think I need time to recharge before the next Big Commitment though esp with BG3 still on the plate, so I’d like to focus on shorter things/indie things/first looks for a bit. For upcoming releases, I’m paying attention to:
Mar 3: Scarlet Hollow’s new update (by the Slay the Princess devs; I’ve heard it’s an incredibly reactive VN)
Mar 11: Wanderstop (by Ivy Road, founded by Davey Wreden who created Stanley Parable & Beginner’s Guide)
Apr 11: The Talos Principle: Reawakened
(Apr 15: Lost Records Tape 2)
I’m probably going to first look the first two (as well as going back to Roottrees – I haven’t forgotten about it!) to “shop around” a bit. Other than that I don’t have anything solidified, so I’m going to open a poll in the next few days. Feel free to leave any suggestions and I’ll include the ones I’m most interested in. No hard rules but I’d say I’m looking for quick turnarounds this time, so games finishable within ~15 hours…?
FYI I’ll be out of town on a quick vacation around mid-March. I’ll be looking forward to coming back, refreshed & ready to check out the poll winner!! 😊
Thanks for your support as always, and drop your comments/questions/suggestions below!
Have a lovely day,
Welonz