Baldur’s Gate 3 (PS5) review

I spent about 68 hours of playthrough time completing my first game of Baldur’s Gate 3, and at the time of writing I’ve almost completed Act 1 in a new game. And here’s what I made of it. Spoilers will be kept to an absolute bare minimum.

 

Story

The premise of Baldur’s Gate 3, which is made plain right from the off and isn’t a spoiler, is that the player character has been infected with a horrid mindflayer ‘tadpole’ that will soon turn them into a mindflayer (psionic alien thingydoo with tentacles that eats brains). Luckily, the ship on which the player is captive is attacked and crashes, enabling them to escape and try to get healed, potentially alongside other infected ex-prisoners.

The player can have a party of up to four, with three pre-made NPCs or hired hands (without any special dialogue, quests, or other than wafer-thin personality) making up the numbers. Options in dialogue and action are significant and do not fall into simple good/evil variations (though some choices are obviously nicer than others). DnD fans should be aware there’s also no alignment here, so don’t expect chaos/law to be tagged in dialogue choices or affect anything. Naturally, NPC companions will like or dislike certain things.

There’s often more than two choices to be made that substantially affect an outcome, and these can occur via dialogue or by action. A minor example of this is how I freed someone only to then be confronted by an individual over this. The irate individual then summoned a lot of help and things escalated to a full-blown battle. While I’ve only played through once right now, it’s pretty clear that certain actions affect things down the line and it feels like choices can shape the story significantly (I’m quite tempted to start an evil playthrough to experiment with this, although I’m torn between Electra the drow storm sorceress, and the halfling bard Little Schmidt).

Discussing the story in precise terms is impossible, and I don’t want to spoil it. In general, very vague terms, I liked the way it unfolded and the very clear variety of different approaches that can be taken. In addition to the main quest, companions have their own quest lines which are among the most interesting in the game. It can also often be worth it to have conflicting party members to enjoy the antagonistic banter. The majority of companions are found in the first act, with a small number in act two and one in the third act, potentially.

 

Character Creation

It’s possible to play as one of the various pre-made NPCs (I think every companion that can be found in the first act). However,  most people prefer to make their own character, and this has a lot of options in most areas. In a shocking turn, there are actually multiple good hairstyles (a rarity in RPGs), although preset faces are only 10 in number. Skin and eye colour (including ocular heterochromia, or different coloured eyes), tattoos, scars, and more can be customised. Larger races also have a quartet of body types (essentially, slim male and female and stronger/bigger variants). No fat body types, though.

Be sure to switch nudity on or off as you like in the settings as this might be OTT for some, or delightful for others.

Aside from the physical side of things, character creation covers races. Each has their own features and sometimes offer unique dialogue options (my second character, a white dragonborn monk, has had quite a lot of class and racial dialogue choices). This is the most minor impact of the class, which determines combat style and, to a lesser extent, social engagement. Classes like sorcerer, warlock, wizard, and bard offer a strong magic focus, while the monk, barbarian, rogue, and fighter are largely about physical conflict. Rangers, paladins, and clerics are more mixed. Be aware the subclass (chosen at different levels, but all, I think, in the first three) can add a big degree of variety and the monk and fighter can take on an arcane aspect with the Way of the Four Elements and Eldritch Knight subclasses respectively. This can be a good way of balancing a party.

Charisma-focused classes such as paladin, sorcerer, warlock, and bard offer the best chance of doing well in social interactions (and if you want to be overpowered in these pick up the cantrip Friends and enjoy advantage, although this has later negative consequences on the hardest game setting, I believe).

Racial variety, incidentally, can vary a bit, as there are 10 different types of dragonborn. This determines not just appearance but breath weapon (with resistance [halving the damage] for the corresponding element). Elves, meanwhile, have just two (wood and high) with drow (dark elf) being considered a separate race.

For the most part, I like character creation a lot, although more facial variety would be good.

Appearance can be altered in camp via the magic mirror, while Withers (also in camp) enables changing class. Note that changing race is not possible.

Gameplay

Gameplay has three main aspects: combat, stealth, and dialogue.

Those familiar with Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition will be right at home, though there have been changes. I also recommend setting reactions (mostly opportunity attacks) to be asked about rather than occurring automatically. Even for opportunity attacks this can matter, but as other reactions can use up class resources (ki points for the monk or battlemaster fighter superiority dice) having them happen automatically can drain said resources unhelpfully. Some spells have changed how they work (polymorph has been massively nerfed) but, broadly speaking, it’s very faithful to the tabletop game.

For those unfamiliar with how this works, it’s similar to either XCOM or Divinity: Original Sin 2 (also by Larian). Physical attacks can be made any number of times, magical attacks, excepting basic cantrips, can only be done if there are available spell slots. These can only be replenished with rare potions or upon a long rest (save the warlock, who has fewer spell slots but gets them all back on a short rest). There are also some individual class resources, such as monk ki points, or channel divinity for clerics.

Summon spells, whether elementals near the top end or the cleric’s early spell Spiritual Weapon, are very useful because they not only add an extra attack or two, they also provide something else for enemies to target.

On standard difficulty, enemies behave in an intelligent way. Cast Grease on a foe and, if they can, they’ll jump out of the area rather than walk across it. It’s easy to be outmatched. Enemies do not scale to the player’s level and if you’re out of your depth this will soon become apparent. Some fights can be avoided entirely, including some major battles (in the second act I evaded/‘won’ a couple of these with good dialogue checks).

A good tip for ranged attacks is to dual-wield hand crossbows for two attacks rather than one (although I think this uses up the bonus action). In each turn, a character gets a main action, usually a spell or physical attack but this can also be ‘helping’ a downed character return from KO with 1 hp rather than risking them dying. They also get a bonus action, usually something like jumping (movement permitting), taking a potion, applying a poison to a weapon, or ‘dipping’ which is most commonly putting your weapon in a nearby flame to add fire damage on your next attack. Movement is as it sounds and is halved if you’re prone and stand up.

 

Stealth can be used to evade combat, steal from people, eavesdrop, or get an advantage in initiating combat. One fight I struggled with (I was slightly underlevelled and it was a tough fight) was eventually won by sneaking to start the fight in a more advantageous position. Note that the party can be easily split at any time so it can be worthwhile to send a rogue or monk ahead to scout things out and leave the clunking, heavy armour-clad fighter a little further back.

 

Dialogue is often just a matter of choice but there are three specific skills related to it: persuasion, deception, and intimidation. The former is the nicest, the middle is being a talented liar, and the third is a mix of charismatic power and threat level. However, as noted, there are also unique class and race options, and sometimes other skills (such as arcana or history) may offer alternatives.

When not out in the world, the player and party retire to their camp, which includes NPCs not currently in the party and reminded me a bit of Dragon Age: Origins.

All attack rolls, checks, and saving throws are made using a d20 (20-sided dice).

 

Graphics

The extra time and money Larian had means they were able to flesh out the Divinity: Original Sin 2 approach with much better character models allowing for closer shot conversations and cutscenes. For the PS5, there can often be a moment or two before textures decide they want to show up, with hair and armour looking rather potatoey until that happens.

Overall, the graphics are rather good, especially for the genre, but also not the main selling point.

 

Sound

Voice-acting is very well done, with a mostly British range of accents (although there’s at least one villainous American). This extends beyond the companions to the minor characters, from earnest tieflings to delightfully arrogant goblins. Also, the spell Speak with Animals will offer a large array of new interactions with friendly (and less amicable) beasts.

The music and sound effects are both good as well.

 

Bugs and Other Problems

Bugs were few, but I did have at least one crash. Over more than 70 hours that’s not horrendous but can obviously be improved. The texture loading I’ve already mentioned.

Occasionally it can be tricky targeting enemies on different levels in combat, or indicating which level a character should move to during battles with various elevations. For the latter, it’s easiest to find a ladder/rope etc and click ‘use’ on that, then move from there. For the former, enemies can be targeted with the left and right on the D-pad, which is a little clunky but can resolve the matter. Targeting can also be awkward either when characters are in close proximity.

 

Replayability

With a very large range of class and racial options, numerous party compositions, and varying major and minor decisions to make, there’s a super-abundance of replayability in Baldur’s Gate 3. If you have the time.

Be aware that while you can also re-spec NPC companions into new classes this may alter their available dialogue interactions.

 

Conclusion

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a great RPG, and well worth your time.

 

Thaddeus

 

Early Impressions Age of Wonders 4 (PS5)

 

Generally speaking, pre-ordering video games is a bad idea and I don’t usually do it. However, Age of Wonders 4 seemed to tick so many boxes that I made an exception and I don’t regret it, having played the game for about a week.

This is a preliminary sort of review so I can’t draw a full conclusion. I’ve completed multiple story missions (on easy, admittedly) and have just won a non-story, normal difficulty game.

Age of Wonders 4 is a 4X strategy game with a fantasy setting. Players have a relatively small number of cities (3 is standard but this can be modified by faction creation choices and in-game perks) and can achieve victory by either conquering other throne cities (capitals), expanding substantially, achieving magical dominance, or winning a score victory. The expansion and magical victories both require the construction of specific structures which must be defended.

Faction and ruler creation is an undoubted high point. By allowing for a multitude of small differences these stack up to an astonishing array of variety. Better yet, the system has been well thought through so there are very few, perhaps no, wrong choices and the dilemma between roleplay and gameplay choices is not really present.

There are around 10 fantasy races from which to pick, from fantasy staples of human, dwarf, elf, and halfling to feline, toad, and mole forms (others being goblin, orc, and rat). The forms do have default physical/mental attributes but none are fixed in stone, which is flexible but does reduce the lore flavour a little.

Players also pick culture, society traits, the starting magical tome, and their ruler. The ruler can be either a champion of the same race or a wizard king (think arcane dictator).

Other rulers will get along better with you if you have similar affinities, which are determined by culture, society traits, and tomes. Likewise, opposing affinities lead to a more antagonistic predisposition.

Affinities add to empire progression each turn. This works in two ways, with a specific affinity working along a specific branch, and all affinities combined adding up to a general branch. Perks are accessible with sufficient cumulative affinity, and unlocked using imperium, which is also used for major decisions like absorbing a conquered city into your empire.

Advancement also occurs by researching magical tomes. A good bet, especially early on, is sticking with the same general type (nature, for example) and deviating either rarely or never. One of the biggest advantages of research is minor and major race transformations. These upgrade your race in various ways and usually have a physical representation, though this can vary from practically unnoticeable to enormous.

Battles play out on a hex-grid in a somewhat XCOM style. The auto-combat option actually works very well most of the time and is a viable option if you aren’t inclined to manually run a fight. Occasionally it’s weaker than one might hope but sometimes it can turn in fantastic results too.

I’ve played with a few builds at this stage, having just won my first normal difficulty sandbox game and a few easy story mode games. There are a lot of valid strategies, and my last build was a straightforward but fun ranged focus which worked nicely. City development is critical, as is getting the right provinces (an early mix of farm, forester, and quarry plus taking advantage of special features like pastures that improve yields is advisable).

There’s also an underground on the map, although I’ve delved relatively little into this as yet. I do have plans for a molekin underground empire in the future. This adds another layer of flexibility as you can travel underground and emerge on the surface via tunnels (or vice versa). As many maps are broken up with rivers/seas, or lava, this is one more thing to consider.

Way too early for a definitive perspective but right now I’m liking Age of Wonders 4 a lot.

Thaddeus

Review: Wasteland 3 (PS4)

NB I completed my playthrough of this on the PS5, as my first (PS4) attempt was somewhat set back by the console breaking. 

Wasteland 3 is a post-apocalyptic RPG set in the USA (Colorado, specifically). It’s got a grim sense of humour throughout, a six-man party, and a very interesting setup for combat and non-combat skills, plus plenty of decisions to make. But is it a good game?

Gameplay

The combat of Wasteland 3 will be easily recognisable to anyone who’s enjoyed XCOM or XCOM 2, but does handle things differently enough to set it apart. For those unaware, this style involves a turn-based approach on a grid, with the entirety of one side progressing at once, which means getting the jump on enemies is worth a lot. Movement and actions, such as firing weapons or throwing grenades, consume AP (action points).

However, whereas XCOM 2 has two AP and that’s it, Wasteland 3 has a more nuanced system with characters capable of having more or less AP depending on stats, and different weapons consuming different amounts. Heavy weapons and sniper rifles consume almost a whole AP bar, whereas shotguns and pistols can be fired multiple times in a single round without difficulty. This increases flexibility and makes the choice of weaponry (a mix through the squad is a good idea) crucial. In addition to the player and enemy sides, you may have a friendly turn, which will be your non-controlled allies such as animal followers and extra chaps (or robots) you pick up along the way.

On standard difficulty I found the combat to be sharp enough I needed to stay awake but, for the most part, usually not too challenging. That said, I had several hours in my initial borked playthrough as experience so I wasn’t diving in fresh and that may’ve smoothed my path a bit. Nevertheless, combat is fun and if you take it for granted you can easily end up in trouble. This is a big Wasteland 3 review highlight.

Out of combat players have multiple significant decisions to make regarding who lives and dies, and who you help, or not. You can also unlock multiple new dialogue options by proficiency in various skills, most commonly the hard ass/kiss ass skills. The game does a good job of ensuring you can be as nice or dickish as you like.

 

Story

Post-apocalypse is a genre I can really take or leave, but I still liked Wasteland 3 a lot, which is a testament to how well it’s written. There are plenty of grisly moments and daft comedy, which both work well.

You play as the leaders (even if playing solo you make two characters at the get go) of Team November. And by leaders, I mean survivors, because the other four dozen get killed in the intro. Hailing from Arizona, you’re in Colorado at the invitation of the state’s ruler, the Patriarch. He’s got supplies which the Rangers desperately need, all you need to do is capture his kids and stop them causing problems. But things may not be so simple… The Patriarch’s children are Valor, Victory, and Liberty, or Nerd, Psycho, and Tyrant if you want to know their respective personalities.

Beyond this core of the game there are a good number of side quests, exploring the map will throw up some fun gems you can easily miss (I especially liked paying Santa a visit), and each major quest can go down various ways. It’s pretty good, with some interesting twists that I won’t spoil.

Companions could be better, though. I liked Lucia quite a lot, but the other (non-player made) companions stayed pretty much undeveloped through the story. They will leave if you act contrary to their interests, apparently.

 

Sound

In most areas good, this is sometimes excellent. One stand-out example was when I loaded up a game in the world map and the radio played some random nonsense. This happened and it was a psycho with a chainsaw and screaming in the background, which was very well done (although not great for those who are squeamish). Flamethrowers, explosions, gunfire, ambient effects, and voice acting are all either good or very good.

The music deserves a special mention as there are a small number of fights (including one in the intro area) that have their own excellent tracks, as does one (optional) fight that can lead to a new companion. The latter was a rare occasion when I deliberately paused mid-fight just to listen to the music a bit more.

 

Graphics

As an isometric RPG this is not the biggest deal in the world, but the graphics get the job done without being spectacular. Occasionally you see major characters (the Patriarch, for example) up close and they’ll look ok, but not amazing.

 

Bugs and Other Problems

There were some bugs. I had a small number of crashes, perhaps three or so in an entire playthrough (I’d guess perhaps 30 hours total, can’t be sure). In addition, I once got stuck in combat and the enemy turn just wouldn’t start. That’s not ideal.

 

Replayability

There are two ways this game offers good replayability: difficulty and choices. The difficulty has several basic levels making combat easier or harder, but with some degree of customization covering things like permanent character death and friendly fire (NB even when this is off, you’ll be affected by AoE stuff so don’t throw a Molotov on your animal follower or you’ll end up with a hotdog).

Choices are plentiful and missions can often have multiple outcomes. Sometimes failure to attend to a matter can lead to it being resolved in your absence (I have one confirmed case of this, unsure if other things can happen this way). And certain missions can only be completed if you ignore an alternative, which will have consequences.

 

Conclusion

Wasteland 3 is not flawless. It has the odd bug and could perhaps be a little longer (playtime is perhaps around 25-30 hours, I think). But it has fantastic combat, engaging missions with multiple outcomes, and the approach to skills is excellent as all of them are useful and deciding where to spend points (and which perks to get) will alter your playthrough significantly. It’s a very good game indeed.

 

Thaddeus

Alternative Civ Leaders

Been playing a spot of Civilization VI lately. Its final expansion came out a while ago and work seems to be underway on Civ VII, which made me think of some potential leader changes.

I disliked a few for historical inaccuracy in VI. Victoria was not Queen of the English, but the British (especially daft as if they wanted a female English leader then Elizabeth I is an obvious candidate). Saladin wasn’t Arabic, he was Kurdish (although he did reign over Arabs so this is more accurate, although ironic).

On the flipside, I was surprised and pleased they went with Basil II for the Byzantine Empire (which should be the Eastern Roman Empire) and Trajan over Caesar for Rome.

My experience with the main Civ games is VI and II (which came out around 1999 or thereabouts). So it’s entirely possible that I’ll be mentioning people who had leader roles before.

 

France – Philip Augustus

I’ve never actually read books specifically on French history (excepting the Albigensian Crusade) but reading English medieval history does necessarily involve a lot of French stuff, mostly in warfare. I’ve always quite liked Philip Augustus, whose shrewd approach brilliantly exploited the admittedly open goal of Henry II’s familial infighting to great effect (and he came very close to actually conquering England). Less flashy or well-known than Napoleon but he was critical to the long term success of France as a nation.

 

England - Aethelstan

The grandson of Alfred the Great, Aethelstan was the first man who could claim to be king of all England. Building on the foundations of his father and grandfather, he won crucial victories, particularly Brunanburh against a coalition of enemies. This cemented a unified England, bringing together the Anglo-Saxon people.

 

Macedonia - Philip II 

Alexander the Great still looms large in the public consciousness, and it’s easy to see why. But his father has been somewhat neglected by comparison. When Philip II became king his land was poor, wracked with war, and weak. Through astonishing military innovations (he was inspired by spending time at Thebes and witnessing Epaminondas’ success against the Spartans) he transformed the Macedonian armed forces from pretty feeble to the most powerful army in the world. He was also well along planning the invasion of Asia until he suffered an unfortunate bout of assassination. I think this is the least likely change to occur, but Macedonian history does have great men beyond Alexander and the foremost of these is Philip II.

 

Rome - Aurelian

Aurelian is one of those chaps almost nobody’s ever heard of but when they learn of what he did it’s impossible not to be impressed. When he took the purple the Empire had split into three, with the Gallic Empire of Gaul, Iberia, and Britannia in the west and the Palmyrene Empire breaking away in the east. He stitched the empire back together when it could have collapsed two centuries earlier than the western portion did, and along the way won victories over numerous barbarian tribes. (I’d change the name to the Western Roman Empire as well, and have the Byzantine Empire as the Eastern Roman Empire).

 

 

Carthage - Hannibal

Carthage is a free city in Civ VI (Dido is leader of Phoenicia). This is something of a travesty given how powerful Carthage was and how Hannibal is the greatest antagonist Rome ever faced. Who first crossed the Alps, in winter, in the face of hostile tribes? Who annihilated the Romans at Trasimene and Cannae? Who survived a decade in hostile territory, without defeat? Who would have won if it weren’t for that political lickspittle Hanno? Bring back Hannibal!

 

Thaddeus

Review: Final Fantasy VII (PS5)

NB this is a review of the base game only, I haven’t played the Intergrade additional content yet. There will be some minor spoilers in the story section, but only vague and items relating to the premise.

 

Story

So, a quarter of a century of so after the original game came out for the original Playstation we have the PS4/5 version. The story is not identical. For a start, it only covers the first portion of the original multi-disc game. In addition, some areas are more fleshed out, or slightly altered. The additions are fairly significant, in terms of both main story midway through, and optional side-quests.

For the most part, these work well. An especially good aspect is that there’s a not-at-all-subtle explanation for why things work out the way they do, and the ending of the story does give overt notice that things might be substantially different going forward.

Pacing is mostly good but there are times when it can be jarring. When one character is rushing to save a child, the game decides to throw a needless very mini-quest (30 seconds work) that is done at walking pace and pointlessly steals away the sense of urgency. However, for the most part the story is handled well.

 

Gameplay

This is the area where I changed my mind most from the demo on the PS4 to finishing the game. I really liked the materia system, and have no problem with either standard turn-based battles or the ATB approach of the original. Materia is kept in this game, and works well (as might be expected), but the ATB system has been substantially reworked. You now have two ATB slots which are slowly filled over time, and more rapidly when you attack. Most things (spells, abilities, and items) require a single slot although some abilities require both.

This actually worked very well and prevents the real time nature of basic attacks getting swallowed by spamming spells. In addition, the varying nature of the four playable characters does make a big difference, with Tifa super-fast and Barret able to deal plenty of damage (especially at range) but rather slower. Initially, I thought it was just button mashing, and while that can work with more basic fights, smart use of materia and understanding how the system works makes a big difference for tougher foes.

Beyond your usual fights there are also optional arena style locations/events (Shinra’s combat simulator, or Corneo’s colosseum, for example). The latter is especially worth visiting as some of the optional fights here can yield more powerful limit breaks.

And there’s a darts mini-game in Seventh Heaven, which I quite liked. Looking forward to when we visit the Golden Saucer.

 

 

Sound

I’ll be honest, I own several varieties of One Winged Angel so I was wondering how the score would stack up. It’s fantastic, building on the excellence of the original and generally adding more, including the boss theme (particularly when fighting the Airbuster) and One Winged Angel. The only thing I felt could have been better musically was the reactor theme.

There’s also voice-acting. Some of this is very good, particularly Barret (John Eric Bentley) who gets some great lines and delivers them very well, covering the range from heartfelt emotion to overblown comedy and the occasional dry remark. Cloud, being somewhat of a dick, was a difficult character to pull off, but he’s likeable enough to work as the protagonist without losing his capacity to be pretty laconic. The friendship between Cloud and Barret developing is handled very well, and that’s a combination of good writing and a strong voice performance.

 

Graphics

Comparing the game from the late 20^th century (which, even at the time, had poor character models) to today’s effort is a bit like comparing the drawing you did as a five year old to the one you did in your thirties. Overall, the graphics are very impressive, particularly the grand set pieces and character models for the main characters. They tread the line between realism and larger-than-life very well.

There are a few weak spots. Minor characters can have, er, interesting faces, and here and there textures are distinctly muddy. On the whole, however, it’s good stuff.

One minor weak point is that there’s a photo mode (which can also be used in almost every cutscene, exempting only FMVs) but because the player only ever controls Cloud (excepting rare times when he’s absent) you can’t really focus on other characters. Also, there’s no posing, as per Dragon Quest XI S’ mode, or facial expressions, as per Ghost of Tsushima. However, there is an array of filters and some other settings to fiddle with.

 

 

Bugs and Other Issues

During my playthrough (about 35-36 hours) I encountered no crashes, hangs, freezes, or other problems. I’m sure there is a flaw somewhere, but I didn’t find it. Overall, very impressed with how smooth the sailing was.

 

Replayability

Haven’t started this yet, but completing the game unlocks the hard difficulty (which can be played on a chapter-by-chapter basis). In addition, at least one chapter (there are 18) has differing endings, it seems. Overall, choices are not that common and you’re mostly on rails. However, the hard mode will suit those who like a challenge. There are also multiple languages, and I might try a German playthrough at some point.

 

 

Conclusion

It’s a bit weird playing such an up to date take (with some amendments) of an old favourite, but I think the Final Fantasy VII Remake is a very enjoyable game. If you’re on the fence then check out the demo (if it’s still available), but I’ve got to say that during the course of my playthrough I liked it more and more, and am looking forward to the next part.

 

Thaddeus

 

PS Having some technical woe so apologies for the lack of proofreading and any ensuing errors.

Retro-Review: Shadow Hearts Covenant (PS2)

And so my impossible quest to acquire a PS5 continues, but I have to say having a PS2 and some great games to play in the meantime is a very nice diversion. One of my favourite games (arguably the single best) I’ve ever played is the RPG Shadow Hearts: Covenant. But how does it stand more than a decade and a half down the line? I’ve kept this retro-review as spoiler-free as possible, though the premise is revealed.

As a side note: the PS2 remains magnificent. It’s smaller than its successors, quieter, and the load times are actually quicker.

 

Story

The story sticks with the protagonist of the first game, Yuri Hyuga. He’s an interesting lead for an RPG, as he’s half-Russian, half-Japanese, and the game’s set in the real world (during World War One). Yuri’s a bit of a smartarse, but a likeable fellow, and he’s mourning the love of his life. Germany’s rolling through the Ardennes Forest, and Yuri’s protecting the church where his paramour is buried. Until he suffers a curse and is defeated.

The premise, then, is to cure Yuri if possible, and to stop the group of politico-religious lunatics who attacked him in the first place (the German army brought one of them in to try and take the church). Aided by an assortment of allies including a former German soldier, a very cool wolf, and a vigilante superhero vampire wrestler, Yuri sets about knocking seven bells out of the secret society. But it turns out they have ambitions way beyond him…

It does help a bit to have played the first game, but it’s not essential. Characters that return stand perfectly well on their own and context should not be a problem. The plot moves along rapidly, there’s little flimflam, and my playthrough (not going for many side distractions) took me around 30 hours over the two discs. Yuri’s the focus but most other characters get fleshed out at least a bit. Lucia was, and remains, both my least favourite in gameplay and story terms.

I’d remembered well a certain clash of powers near the end of disc 1 (being deliberately vague) and it was just as fantastic as I remember. The second disc I was fuzzier on, but also has some great moments, both in terms of fun and seriousness. The pillow question still makes me laugh.

There are two endings, good and bad, and more by fluke than memory I managed to get the good one. Take seriously the questions Yuri gets asked about his happiness, if you want to try and get the happy ending. Also, I’d forgotten a post-credits plot revelation so stick around and see what happens.

 

Gameplay

This is a huge strength of Shadow Hearts: Covenant because it makes excellent use of its unique ring mechanic. Instead of just pressing attack and an attack happening, the ring is summoned. Players must then try to hit areas (ranging from 1 upwards, with 4 or 5 eminently possible) to attack the enemy, with strike attacks causing more damage. Miss one and the attack ends (unless you’re using a practice ring). Other ring variations include one with bigger hit areas and no strikes and, I think, small hit areas but bigger strikes. Both areas can be affected by boosts you find throughout the game.

In addition, the ring soul is a cool NPC who bestows an extra attack on you (you determine who gets it) and has some nice dialogue. Explore dungeons properly to increase your chances of finding him, and enjoy the fourth wall-breaking speech you get when you’ve seen him often enough.

The ring is also used for discounts and markups when buying and selling goods, for healing items and spells, and for the lottery. This requires tickets, which you can find here and there, and has some nifty prizes including accessories and crests.

Crests are demonic powers that everyone who isn’t a shapeshifter (like Yuri) can equip. These gift the wearer magical spells. But there’s more to it than that thanks to some smart design decisions by the developer. Slap two Cure crests on one character and that character can cast Cure for half the normal cost. And complete an area of Solomon’s Key (a book of demonic lore where you can place the crests you own) and you can unlock new abilities, so the old crests you got 10 hours ago can still be of value.

The ring also means there are new status abnormalities such as the line speeding up, areas getting smaller, or even the dreaded fake ring which presents a load of false areas to hit. Standard bad statuses (petrification, poison, paralysis etc) also exist and poison’s particularly well done as it can get worse, with deadly poison causing massive damage.

There’s also a sanity depletion system, characters losing one point per turn. Get down to zero and you lose control of that character who just starts going berserk and attacking stuff. This happened to me a grand total of once during the game. Not the most important feature, but it’s there.

Oh, and the ring mechanic also makes it worthwhile to try your best even in easy fights because putting in good performances (such as a perfect ring battle, taking zero damage, or reducing the enemy to no or few turns) can yield rewards including extra cash, experience, and healing items.

 

Graphics

This was the most jarring difference for me, switching from the PS3’s Dragon Age: Origins to the PS2’s Shadow Hearts: Covenant. And your TV better able to take a SCART or you won’t be able to see the regular resolution. I got used to it fairly quickly but at first it really was a step back in time, and not in a good way.

Menus etc are all fine, and the FMV often looks surprisingly good (crying’s interesting. The scene where Yuri cries blood is great, the ones where he cries tears with a sad rather than angry face looks a bit… less so). Textures are often flat or basic and Yuri’s getup (dark grey) can occasionally blend in disconcertingly well with the background. The character design is good, especially Karin, Joachim, and Blanca, and the varying number of attacks is handled well too.

 

Sound

The music’s pretty good in this game and there are moments (again, crying blood scene) where the sound really adds to an already dramatic moment in the story. I also really liked the Saturday morning adventure style theme of Joachim. Voice acting varies a little, even with the same actors, which makes me wonder if sometimes they were lacking context. Kato’s voice is well done, and while we don’t hear Blanca talk too often (he is a wolf, but does speak with other wolves) his boundless confidence and occasional contempt for those who dare challenge him is rather endearing.

 

Bugs and Other Problems

I have very few gripes. No crashes, freezes, hangs, or suchlike, and while save points are required these are very common in dungeons and saving can also occur on the world map.

One problem that did irk me somewhat is that companions not in the party get only half experience. Throughout the game, until disc 2, you don’t need to worry about that at all, or buying them equipment. But then there are two parts (one early in disc 2, one optional and right near the end) that requires the whole party to have good crests and equipment. Because this wasn’t necessary until then you may find (as I did, having forgotten this part) your non-regular characters are incredibly weak, and the lack of warning means you can’t buy some fresh gear. I did get through the story part of this ok but decided to give up on the optional bit (a shame, as the Man Festival is a… unique videogame experience) because Gepetto and Lucia were just rubbish.

 

Replayability

This is an interesting one. There are optional things you can do, if you go looking for them. Completing steps in the pedometer challenge is one such example, likewise completing the Man Festival, finding wolves for Blanca to fight (I didn’t stress these but, if you want to, try going back to areas you’ve cleared out to find more, such as the wine cellar), and fighting the ‘ghosts’ that Solomon’s servant offers you.

The story is a good one and combines the personal strife Yuri faces with potentially cataclysmic events that threaten to reshape, or destroy, the whole world. A bit like The Last of Us, the strong but linear story means it’s a game I like a lot but not one I’ll be replaying in the near future.

 

Conclusion

Shadow Hearts: Covenant looks dated, but in many ways it still knocks the socks off modern counterparts. The ring mechanic really keeps combat engaging and is used smartly throughout, the cast is likeable, the story is both intriguing and moves along rapidly without padding, and the final boss is suitably challenging (I’d cruised through the penultimate fight only to spend an hour or so desperately surviving before getting the upper hand with the last fight). It’s a damned shame Shadow Hearts: Covenant didn’t get a sequel that it deserved, as it’s a humorous, innovative, and very enjoyable game. If you haven’t played it for a while or you’ve got a PS2 kicking about and have a chance to buy a copy, give it a shot. You’re in for a treat.

 

Thaddeus

(Retro?) Review: Dragon Age: Origins (PS3)

I really liked Dragon Age: Origins when I played it over a decade ago. It was one of my favourite games of all times, but how would it hold up nowadays? For the sake of reference, my PS3 is the original fat version.

Character Creation

Character creation is a whole different beast to other games because, in addition to selecting your sex, race (dwarf, elf, or human), and class (rogue, mage, warrior) players pick an origin. These determine the first two hours or so of your game before converging into the common thread of the plot. Elves have three potential starts (city elf, which is very dark, Dalish, and mage), dwarves have two (both cool, noble and common) and humans have two (noble, also very dark, and mage). Dwarves cannot play as mages for lore reasons.

You make your own face, which mostly works ok except that beards give your characters totally hollow cheeks that look weird. There’s also a decent range of haircuts which were copied in the sequel and replaced with mostly rubbish in Inquisition.

On this occasion I played as a female dwarf warrior with the commoner origin, but during the years I have played every single origin and all of them are good. It’s a great way of making each start distinctive and you will encounter again those you meet at this stage. It’s also excellent at immersing you in your own corner of the world and making you understand things from a certain perspective.

Story and Sound

The story is the single strongest point of Dragon Age: Origins, and the writing team hit it for six. The basic plot is very simple. There’s a blight. Think fantasy zombies called darkspawn plus an undead dragon (there’s more interesting lore to it than that, but that’s the shorthand). Ferelden (a sort of fantasy Britain) is at risk of annihilation. You join the Grey Wardens, the only chaps and ladies who can stop it, and that’s your job.

Players have to rally different factions obligated by ancient treaties to help. But with each group paths can diverge according to how the player acts. You can choose to be super nice (as I did on this occasion) or be brutal (lots of murder-knife action for those who want it). Often these are moral questions or dilemmas with no clear cut answer, but two legitimate yet opposing choices. And because the player has a few of these factions to get on-side, there’s a constant feeling of progress towards the greater goal.

The writing of dialogue, from cutscenes to party banter, is excellent, and the voice acting is great (a particular favourite of mine is Simon Templeman as Loghain). There’s a deep sense of authenticity to the world (if one can say that about a fictional place). The dwarves aren’t just short humans, they have their own civilisation and culture. Similarly with the elves. Companion dialogue is especially good, with differing people getting along well, or not (I went with the classic Alistair-Morrigan party, plus Leliana). Unlike other games, there’s not really a weak link (one might say the dog, who cannot talk) and you can go all the way from sleeping with a companion to annoying them so much they leave or try to kill you.

The music is also good, particularly the main Grey Warden theme.

Gameplay

Combat still works very well, with differing classes bringing different but complementary skills to the table. There are some minor niggles here as frames can drop or the game stutter a little. There’s a good but not enormous range of enemy types, with differing types and level of darkspawn, alongside the mindless undead, revenants, abominations, and good old-fashioned bandits. A nice touch is the mini-slowdown and animation you may get when you kill an ogre.

There’s also a party camp where you can recover from injuries and enjoy some chats with party members (also possible for the three you choose to take into the field), and a merchant.

Graphics

Graphically, things still look pretty good. Character models for companions and the like are decent but do look a shade dated now. Less significant characters are prone to hollow cheeks. I have this turned off, but if you have a sanguine sense of humour, leave the blood spatter on. Having your characters discuss things while covered in blood is, er, interesting. Menus etc are completely fine graphically, lighting effects could be better, fire has a notably low frame rate flicker, but things are basically fine given its age.

Bugs and Other Issues

When it comes to problems I’ve already mentioned the potential in combat for things to stutter a little (it is only a little, it’s an annoyance but not a major one). I did experience three crashes during my playthrough of around 33 hours or so (NB I did not do everything that was possible by a long way). All occurred when entering the menu during combat, and in the latter half of my playthrough. Not ideal. Load times can be on the long side, and you’ll encounter shorter loading when just entering a house in a village, or suchlike.

Replayability

Replayability is excellent. Not only are there the usual differing classes and races to pick, but the unique origins add a lot to the depth of a playthrough. Plus there is a very broad range of outcomes and serious decisions with major consequences. You can be delightfully nice, or a demon-shagging, child-murdering, elf-slaughtering psychopath. Your character might end up dead, or on the throne of Ferelden.

Conclusion

Origins really does stand up as a great game. A few technical points weigh against it (dated graphics, the odd crash) but the core of the game is a match for anything that’s been released since and it remains the best entry in the series by a long way.

 

Thaddeus

First Thoughts: Stellaris (PS4)

Stellaris is a real time with pause strategy game that’s been out for quite some years now, especially for PC. Being a console peasant, I’ve only just gotten around to getting it. So, is it mind-bendingly complicated or easy to get into?

Yes.

It’s complicated. There are multiple resources/currency types, huge timescales, diplomacy, internal political factions, bureaucratic limitations and various policies, as well as racial bonuses and disadvantages you can give yourself.

And yet despite that, I haven’t had too much difficult so far with my first game. The tutorial tips are really useful, and, although complex, everything seems to make intuitive sense. I’ve made some mistakes, which is to be expected for a complicated game the first time it’s played, but nothing horrendous (probably should’ve built more starbases and fewer districts).

Let’s start at the beginning. There are preset races/civilisations you can play as, or you can make your own. I toyed with being Cosmic Dragons or a reptilian version of Rome (may create those later) but decided to go with the British Space Empire, exporting tea, cricket, and intergalactic violence to anyone who crosses me. There’s a range of cosmetic stuff you can play with, as well as gameplay mechanics such as boosting how adaptable your species is (handy for colonising more worlds). Another cool feature is that empires you create may then appear in your future games as AI civs (you can enable or disable this feature as you like for each individual empire).

Start up the game and you’ve got your homeworld, a small military force, and civilian ships. These last ships are the most immediately useful. Constructions ships create mining facilities, and can build starbases in other systems, claiming them for your empire and enabling the constructions of mining operations. Science ships fly about surveying everything so you know which systems are worth claiming. They also analyse anomalies which can yield significant benefits (mostly scientific, but one example of something different would be that found a ship way more advanced than anything I had, trapped in the gravity of a planet. I tried and succeeded to retrieve it, substantially boosting my military capacity).

It’s a really laid back game. Mostly. The vast distances can mean that if you get caught short militarily you end up unable to defend if your ships are too far from the action.

Other empires can have wildly varying attitudes towards you, based on xenophobia/xenophilia and how similar/far away you are from them. Butter them up with trade deals (or gifts), or crack some skulls and go to war (I did this and claimed two systems from the Figyar Star Commonwealth, including a natural bottleneck to stop them annoying me in the future).

The speed can be varied from slow to average to fast, as well as pausing possible pretty much any time you like. There’s a really nice level of creative writing with the varied anomalies and special research projects that I appreciate. Still relatively early days (I’ve been playing for less than a week), but right now I’m enjoying it a lot. Recently formed a federation with my best alien friends, and a third member just joined, putting us in what I hope is pretty good shape.

I have to admit to a perverse desire to try playing it in German. I’ve played quite a few games that way, and it’s the only reason I can remember more than a handful of words.

Thaddeus

Age of Wonders: Planetfall (PS4) – First Impressions

I snagged this for £6, having been intrigued for a while by the seeming mix of Civ and XCOM mechanics. But how does the sci-fi game stack up after a couple of hours of play?

Pretty well, actually. There are six factions available, of which I’ve only played the Vanguard (think humans with advanced war machines and laser guns). The others are the man-hating tree-huggers, insects without a hive mind, cyborg vampires(ish), human resource capitalists, and Russian space dwarves. You can customise your own commanders (who partake in combat) and there’s a decent array of options, from flags to vices.

There are two tenets of gameplay: a strategic world map, and tactical combat on a battlefield. I’m a console peasant but like the idea of strategy games (may get Stellaris next month) so I’m still getting to grips with all the strategic stuff, but so far I think it’s fairly intuitive and easy to follow. In addition, the research often leads to amusing little quotes, and it’s nice the game doesn’t take itself too seriously.

You start off with a planetfall colony, to which you can annexe adjacent sectors for more food, productions and other resources. It’s also where you create new units, including the coloniser to set up new colonies.

The tactical battles play out significantly faster than XCOM’s. Beforehand (when initiating, at least, unsure if it happens when you defend) you get to compare the relative strengths of the armies, which is very helpful. You can also have an auto-combat option, which simply gives you an automatic result. During the battle you can also hand over to the Machine God to run auto-combat from there (you’ll see the moves taken in this instance). There are options to cut down on the brief overhead intro and make enemies’ turns quicker, which I adopted to cut down on noise (see below).

A really nice feature is modding units. Research soon yields bonuses, from ammo that inflicts bleeding to hitpoint restoration abilities. You can apply these to units individually or en masse, giving that template a name (the suggested ones, such as Butcher and Eviscerator, are usually pretty good). That way, you can create these specifically upgraded units at your colony, if you want to. It also makes tier 1 units more useful later on, it seems, rather than just becoming obsolete.

The biggest drawback I’ve encountered isn’t the game, it’s the console. Fellow PS4 owners will be aware that the machine (I’ve got a fat original version) can be noisy a lot, and occasionally mimic a jet engine with alarming authenticity. It’s audible during the strategic map, but during the tactical battles it can get pretty damned loud. Can’t fault the game for this because I’ve had the same with many other titles, and it’s obviously a console cooling weakness, but if, like me, you get nervous of your console melting itself, this is a downside.

The game itself, however, is pretty good.

Thaddeus

A Day in Oblivion – Unearthing the PS3

The controller’s sticks had turned unhealthily gunky when I removed the controller from its stone sarcophagus. Not sure if the meltiness was because my room is south-facing or a side effect of encasing my old consoles in the cursed sarcophagus of an Egyptian mummy.

But would Oblivion live up to my memories?

I’m a little wiser and a lot balder than I was when I played then back in those heady days before global pestilence had returned. Would time have eroded the delight I recalled, or would the plucky older game hold up well? I heroically decided to spend Sunday finding out.

The several hours I spent in Cyrodiil at the weekend were laced with nostalgia, so it might jut be rose-tinted glasses, but I really rather enjoyed my stay there. I played as a Breton battlemage, going with the suggested class rather than the custom one that I habitually created way back when.

The graphics are still perfectly reasonable (bearing in mind the ag), the major exception being the character faces. One big plus I’d forgotten was that the hotkeying on consoles is miles better than Skyrim. In Oblivion you get 8 (via the D-Pad) whereas there just 2 console hotkeys in Skyrim (up and down, selected from the favourites list accessible by pressing left or right). This came in very handy as someone focusing mostly on magic.

Another nice touch I’d forgotten was the Black Horse Courier, which helped get me back into the world before the empire started falling to pieces. Quests unfolded naturally too, with a couple of people seeking me out in Skingrad (one of whom had walked from the Imperial City), and my nirnroot-harvesting leading to another. There seemed more freedom wandering about this way and that, and I encountered a couple of ruins which I successfully navigated by summoning undead to do the hard work for me.

It was also a little sad to see the Mages Guild in Skingrad appear to have more spells than in the whole of Skyrim.

One diametrically opposing difference was the clear lack of voice-acting variety. That said, the races do stand out a lot more, especially in height terms. In Skyrim, Bretons, Nords, and Imperials look pretty damned similar (although the beast races are orders of magnitude better).

It’s early days, but I really rather enjoyed my Sunday in Cyrodiil. Had to swap the console back for other reasons, but looking forward to joining the Mages Guild and crafting my own spells.

Thaddeus

PS And, for those wondering, a day or two of leaving the controller out plus an hour of playing degunkified my cursed controller.

Oblivion Reminiscing

Occasionally I go back to my old consoles and play games of yesteryear. I was considering doing just that with my PS2 and enjoying classics like God of War, Shadow Hearts, and so on. But lately I’ve been wondering about playing Oblivion.

Made by Bethesda in the good old days when paying for horse armour was laughable and games didn’t take over a decade to be released because studios were too busy dicking about with live service bullshit, Oblivion has a lot of points I remember really fondly. And one I loathed.

Skyrim’s got a more realistic world in terms of paths and mountains, but the infamous sideways mountain-hopping is far easier in Oblivion. What this means is you can go practically anywhere, which means the world’s a bit less realistic but players enjoy a lot more freedom. I’ve gone multiple different ways after leaving the starting dungeon, whereas Skyrim does more heavily lead you by the hand.

Another big plus is that the cities feel larger, and more distinct. The city size in Skyrim is significantly smaller than in Oblivion, and the cities tended to feel like they had their own identities more. Markarth is nice and different, but mostly the architecture and feel of Nordic cities is pretty similar. That’s not the case in Oblivion.

Quests are also better in the Elder Scrolls IV than the next instalment. I won’t spoil it, decade and a half old as it is, but the Dark Brotherhood questline in Oblivion is orders of magnitude better than anything in Skyrim. If you haven’t played it, give it a look. It’s engaging, enjoyable, and compelling.

Creating your own spells is a nifty feature you gain if you join the Mages, but for some reason it was stripped out of Skyrim. Why? It’s cool being able to create your own spells, and the range of spells in Oblivion, even without making your own, is substantially more too. And you can cast them whilst having a sword in one hand and a shield in the other. Plus the touch spells make being a battle mage a cool option.

Character creation obviously comes with inferior graphics, but against this you can alter the colour and length of your hair, and even fiddle cleverly to make your orc red (move the relevant slider all the way right, then left, then repeat until he’s red).

These are all things I like. So, what’s the thing I didn’t?

Levelling.

Now, maybe I’ll view things differently if I ever go back, but from memory the levelling system pissed me off. Enemies level as you do. Which can work. But if you don’t get your skills right then you become relatively weaker, making you less powerful as you level up. Which is insane.

I’m currently replaying Divinity Original Sin 2. Undecided if I’ll take a hiatus upon leaving Fort Joy or keep going, but it’s interesting to consider going back to Oblivion.

And the PS3 also has Dragon Age: Origins as well. Ah, happy days…

Thaddeus

Review: Civilization VI (PS4)

Please note that this is a review of the base game only, and that, at the time of writing, I’ve played exactly three games (winning the last) all on standard/Prince difficulty.

My prior experience of Civilization was Civ II (released in 1999) and Civ Rev for the PS3 (but which is a lot more streamlined than main Civ games).

For those entirely unaware, Civ is a strategy game whereby the player picks a civilization and leader from history and aims to lead them to greatness, with victory being achieved in various ways (science, culture, etc. In my win I went for a domination victory, which means conquering everyone else’s capital city). Players can forge alliances with other civilizations, research together, trade, or declare war. Cities themselves flourish or flounder based on food, resources, housing, amenities and whether or not your enemies invade and annihilate your hopes and dreams.

In terms of the learning curve, it took me about three games on standard difficulty to feel like I’d gotten to grips with most of the mechanics, using the base game (there is an expansion bundle available as DLC).

Generally, controls worked well but there is room for improvement. There’s no handy button to flick from city to city. The game does auto-prompt you to pick things when a city’s finished whatever it’s doing and lets you know when housing/amenities are a problem, but it still would’ve been nice.

The AI isn’t the most challenging. Once you get how combat works, the computer-foes tend to be rather foolish and easy to defeat. This is both in terms of combat and diplomacy. I was attacking everyone, one by one, and regularly got denounced as a warmonger, but nobody ever declared war on me.

Barbarians, however, are more numerous and a bit trickier early on than they were in other games. Scythia can be a handy civ for this as they gain a bonus against damaged units and heal upon defeating enemies, which can make an early game a bit more straightforward.

Changes I enjoyed include cities with walls getting to shoot nearby enemies, and the ability to link units as escorts (so your settler can have a warrior companion) without needing to move them separately.

Changes I did not enjoy were housing and, to a lesser extent, amenities. Housing decreases growth when you don’t have enough (you get it from water sources, plus improvements). It just seemed a pointless faff to me. Amenities are pleasant distractions to keep people happy. That said, on Prince I had a lot of unhappy cities but not one ever revolted.

There’s a nice variety of civilizations from which to pick although I must admit it still annoys me Victoria is described as English (a far better choice would’ve been Elizabeth; Victoria was British).

The search function in the Civilopedia didn’t seem to work. Most stuff is easy to get to grips with but early on that would’ve been handy.

And I only found the lens menu (L1, the left hand menu) late on. Probably very useful for people after a religious victory.

In terms of PS4 performance and the jet engine noise that certain games cause: this didn’t happen. From start to finish, there was a low amount of noise but with earphones in I couldn’t even hear it. This was a pleasant surprise given that (albeit on a standard-sized map, which is still pretty large) at the end of my third game I had a hefty empire and quite a lot of units moving about.

Good music, and I like Sean Bean’s narration. That said, still a very good game for the radio or playlists.

One annoyance was the total absence of any instructions. It’s an ideal game for a basic instruction book, even if it's just civics and research trees.

Overall, I like Civ VI a lot. It’s very moreish, most of the mechanics etc are easy to get to grips with, and there’s a lot of customization possible when it comes to setting up games. It’s not without the odd flaw or room for improvement, but the base game is well worth a look.

Thaddeus

Great Games in Early 2020

I haven’t written too much on videogames recently compared to a few years ago (my Civ VI first impressions aside), but the release calendar for the first half of 2020 is one to delight the soul and wound the wallet.

Dates are correct at the time of writing (UK), obviously delays can and do happen. Information revealed through trailers is mentioned but no spoilers beyond that. I’ve listed the titles and dates immediately below if that’s all you’re after, with more detail underneath.

• Final Fantasy VII Remake – 3 March [PS4 Exclusive]
• Cyberpunk 2077 – 16 April [PS4, Xbox One, PC]
• The Last of Us Part II – 29 May [PS4 Exclusive]

Final Fantasy VII Remake – 3 March [PS4 Exclusive]

When I first got my original Playstation back in the late ’90s, the games I got with it were Resident Evil 2 and Final Fantasy VII. And I really liked them, especially FFVII. The materia system was simple to grasp and brilliant to use throughout the game, interacting with weapons and armour to create interesting combinations. The characters were fun, the world huge, and the villain has gone on to become an icon of videogames. Plus the music, especially the reactor theme and One Winged Angel, are great. Bit tricky for Square Enix to decide what to update and what to keep the same, but the combat system has been modernized (mingling real-time action and strategic commands, apparently). Will it live up to the hype? No idea. But I reckon it might just sell by the bucketload.

Cyberpunk 2077 – 16 April [PS4, Xbox One, PC]

The Witcher 3 was the game that made CD Projekt Red’s reputation for a lot of people. It combined an open world and meaningful choices with a pre-determined character who already had relationships with most of the major characters. On top of the fantastic writing, storylines, music and graphics, CDPR also handled the DLC brilliantly, giving away 16 items for free (from quests to costume changes) and then charging reasonable sums for substantial expansions. Cyberpunk 2077, featuring the breath-taking Keanu Reeves, is a long way from Novigrad. It’s the near future, where corporates hold sway in crime-ridden Night City. Cybernetics are routinely used to enhance humans, and the player-character V is after one that might just grant immortality.

The Last of Us Part II – 29 May [PS4 Exclusive]

The first game has a strong claim to be one of the best ever made, combining visceral combat and nerve-shredding tension with an enthralling story and engaging characters. The surrogate father-daughter relationship of Joel and Ellie worked fantastically well, and a lot of people have mixed feelings about a sequel given that living up to the first game is a pretty tall order. From what we’ve seen so far, Ellie appears to be the primary (possibly sole) protagonist. She’s a young adult now, and Joel’s grown a little greyer. Although they do seem to have found a semblance of civilization there’s still a very grim and violent world. We’ll have to see if Naughty Dog can live up to the very high expectations they’ve created for themselves.

Whilst this is a PS4-heavy list, that’s just the way the calendar’s worked out. If you’re more of an Xbox player then there is good news down the line, with Halo Infinite anticipated as a launch title for Microsoft’s new console (set to come out at the end of 2020).

Thaddeus

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Civilization VI (PS4): First Impressions

I was rather looking forward to this. Although I’ve played Civilization: Revolution for the PS3 the last ‘proper’ Civ I’d played was Civ II for the original Playstation, which released in 1999.

As preparation I cunningly watched quill18’s excellent mini-series on Youtube (it’s well worth a look), and then completed the tutorial, which was rather more forgiving than I deserved.

Then I cracked on as Rome. At the time of writing I’ve probably played an hour and a halfish of my first game.

The basics are mostly intuitive, although it took me a little while to realise that clicking on a city first selects the unit on that square (and units, excepting siege/settlers, don’t appear to stack) and you need to press up or down on the d-pad to select the city. One thing missing is a straightforward toggle between the cities. Not a problem early on but I’m guessing that could be irksome late on in a massive game.

The housing and amenities stuff is a little bit over my head right now, but I'm sure I'll get the mechanics down after a game or two.

All the combat stuff is basic but sensible, with bonuses/penalties based on terrain, damage, and policies (which are very simple to set and change).

The art style is cartoony but works fine, although the pedant in me has to point out that Victoria was a British not an English queen (Elizabeth I would’ve been a better choice).

When it comes to the perennial PS4 problem of noise due to insufficient cooling, there’s a little bit but it’s nowhere near the jet engine certain other games produce.

One problem others may face (which I learnt via the Multiplayer Media Youtube channel) is that screens sometimes eat the edges. Which is a huge problem if that affects you here because critical info is on the edges of the screen. You’ll need to satisfy yourself that isn’t the case, or have a tricky time of things. Multiplayer may or may not be functional, but as I’m a solo player that’s not a problem for me.

I’m enjoying it a lot so far. Even being acutely aware of the time, I found myself losing an hour or so before getting ready to leave the game (currently, Qin and Gilgamesh like me, and Cleopatra’s being a bit of a bitch). I’ve already managed to bugger up one city’s location (although Ravenna’s looking good). Incidentally, renaming cities can be done by entering the screen with all the housing/happiness info and tapping triangle. Units can also be renamed but do need to get two promotions first.

Bit of a learning curve right now, which I expected. On Prince, the standard difficulty, things seem decent enough for someone who does have outdated experience of the series.

The loading time (standard map size) was not very long, which was another pleasant surprise.

All in all, I’m liking it a lot, minor quibbles notwithstanding.

Thaddeus

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Review: The Outer Worlds (PS4)

I finished my first playthrough of this game a few days ago, playing as a high intellect sniper type of character.

I’ve got to say my expectations were pretty high, and they were met. This is a great sci-fi game, with a range of options in main and side-quests, as well as varying combat playstyles and a lot of freedom (you can kill a lot of characters, maybe everyone, whereas other games in this genre might make them ‘essential’).

Downsides: it is shorter than some comparable games. However, it still clocks in at something like 30-40 hours, and Obsidian were totally up front about this. They never claimed it was a 200 hour game. Textures on an old, fat PS4 can take a second or two to show up. And if you do the vast majority of quests, as I did, you’ll end up feeling overpowered relatively quickly (which suited me as I have the combat skills of tortoise stuck in a bucket).

Dialogue is an area where the excellent character creator (in terms of setting up strengths and weaknesses) really shines. You get special dialogue options for lots of skills, such as Engineer prowess, and the Dumb option if you make your character a little bit dim.

In combat you can go for a melee approach, sniping, guns blazing, and I’d guess full stealth would work too (I have zero experience of the latter, the others all work fine). Be sure to get the tinkering skill (Engineer 20, I think) to improve your weapons/armour, as this’ll help out quite a bit. Enemies come in the form of automechanicals, mischievous people, and rabid creatures (alien apes, dogs, and insects). The variety could be a little better but it works fine.

The world-building is another especial strength, creating a plausible corporate dystopia in which perfectly reasonable people are constrained by the bounds of a hyper-capitalist society. It does a great job of making the inhabitants of the Halcyon system credible, rather than 2D cardboard cut-outs, and nowhere does this work better than with the character of Parvati, who was my ever-present companion in the first campaign.

Genuine moral (and personal) dilemmas are presented, with legitimate choices either way, and often scope to be pretty evil if you want to be (not that I was).

During my first run I didn’t encounter a single serious bug, no hangs, freezes, crashes, or offers to pay $100 a year for a game I’d already bought.

Although not the longest RPG in the world the decisions with consequences plus varying play styles in combat and dialogue means it’s easy to envisage multiple playthroughs (I’ve just started a ‘dumb’ run).

The Outer Worlds a very good game.

Thaddeus