Looks interesting, but I gotta be honest: when I click on the Steam page and the first thing I see is a cash shop to buy “Epoch Points” for this early access game? That’s an instant turn-off for me. I’m sure it’s not as predatory as what Blizzard did with D4’s monetization, but I don’t want it in my games, period.

Re-Logic (Terraria’s developers) have already gone on record saying, "even if Unity were to recant their policy and statements, the destruction of trust is not so easily repaired.” That’s the stance I think every developer should be taking. Unless you have a Unity game that can be released by the end of the year, all devs need to seriously consider switching engines.

I hadn’t heard about those changes, but that’s quite a relief. I hated traveling to individual ripperdoc clinics to snag all the best upgrades. Especially because the best cyberware for your frontal cortex can only be bought from a VDB ripper in Pacifica, and I didn’t want to give those assholes any of my eddies.

I only have a small amount of experience with generating images using AI models, but I have found this to be true. It’s like making a photocopy of a photocopy. The results can be unintentionally hilarious though.

The base game has improved considerably since launch, though it still lacks some promised content and performance will vary depending on your hardware. I have a PC with a Ryzen 7 and a RTX 2070, which can run the game well enough, but have not tried it on a machine with an AMD video card.

I think the base game might still be on sale and now might be a good time to pick it up for 50% off. Major updates will still be coming to the base game even if you don’t buy Phantom Liberty… including vehicle combat, I believe.

Considering how well the Super Mario movie worked out for Illumination, I’m expecting to hear something about a new movie or short TV series. Maybe more Mario, maybe Legend of Zelda. In any case, there’s no way Nintendo won’t be going hard in that direction now that they see what a gold mine it is.

Andromeda is fine as long as you don’t compare it to the core Mass Effect trilogy. Ryder is no Shepard, and none of your squadmates are as memorable as Garrus, Tali, Mordin and the rest. But take the game as its own thing, and it’s a pretty good time.

Yep, Live Another Life is usually in my list too. I inevitably wind up downloading a mod that breaks the wagon scene, so it’s a life saver.

Modding Skyrim is a rabbit hole that leads straight into the Mines of Moria. And the Balrog has opened an adult bookstore.

Nothing wrong with that answer! Skyrim can even be played in 3rd person, and there are mods to make 3rd person combat more satisfying if you get it on PC.

The last FPS I really got into was Overwatch, and my two mains (Mercy and Reinhardt) weren’t gun fighters. Some FPS games actually try to innovate, like Titanfall, and while I can’t get into them, I can see the appeal. But then there’s the Call of Duty and Battlefield series, which largely give us the same gameplay over and over again. I know they’re popular for a reason, and they continue to sell really well, but… yeah. I just don’t get it.

I thought “Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion” was a game trying a little too hard to be quirky, with an attention-grabbing title and little depth beyond one or two jokes.

That game… went places. Places I did not expect.

I played a couple of hours of the first game. The atmosphere and audio design were amazing. The core gameplay, though… it needed some work. Repetitive combat and lack of clarity in navigating the game’s world made me give it up. If the sequel improves on those weak spots, it could be very enjoyable. But yeah, the trailer told us very little about that.

Is Kotaku’s business model rage-baiting to generate clicks? Yes.

Is toxicity toward female gamers online a real problem? Also yes.

Some of my friends get annoyed when I take that stance, but it’s absolutely possible for both statements to be true simultaneously. I want women to feel safe if they want to try online gaming, and it’s counter-productive when sites like Kotaku constantly post fear-mongering articles about it rather than offer any solutions.

Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the President of the NUSA?

It sounds like they’ve backed away from making this an open world game like Skyrim, and are styling Avowed in a similar fashion to the Outer Worlds. I have mixed feelings about that… I was hoping we’d see a successor to the Elder Scrolls series, just in case Elder Scrolls VI gets stuck in development hell until the heat death of the universe. However, if the Obsidian devs don’t want to do open world, and think the game will be better without that expectation hanging over them, it’s probably best to trust them on that.

They actually brought back the Annoying Adoring Fan from the Arena in Elder Scrolls IV. Same voice actor and everything.

They’re trying hard to push it as the new standard, but not every publisher is doing it yet. It’s been tried before, and fizzled out because consumers stopped buying as much but unfortunately, it might stick this time.

$70 USD to play an open world Bethesda game on launch day is a joke. There’s no other way to describe it. It’s laughable that Microsoft and Bethesda think anyone should be paying that much money to beta test the buggy, unstable, maybe even unfinished version of Starfield we’re likely getting in September. You’ll be paying the most money for the worst version of the game, period. And this is coming from someone who bought Skyrim on launch day in 2011.

Even if Starfield is better than expected, and surprisingly playable on launch day, I have no doubt in my mind that it will be an even better game by late 2024 thanks to the modding community, and you’ll probably be able to get it on sale by then. Especially if you plan to buy it on Steam, where big sales events seem to happen every week. But I doubt Starfield is going to be finished in September, because Bethesda has been given a mandate to hit a product launch target determined by Microsoft board room executives. We’ve all seen enough games this year, especially on PC, that were practically broken on day one, and especially after Redfall, I have a feeling that Starfield won’t be any better.

One of the things that bothered me about the original FF7 is that certain party members felt completely arbitrary. You could ignore them completely, and it would have zero impact on the game. I mean… why did we need Cait Sith? WHY?

With FF7 Remake and Rebirth though, they have a chance to improve things. If the game forces us to use Red XIII in order to meaningfully develop his character in the process, I don’t have an issue with that, even if I have to bench Tifa for 30 minutes. Make the characters more memorable, give them greater relevance in the story, and I’m willing to put up with the occasional railroading.