Category: Uncategorized

I had to update Windows on my gaming PC this morning and it got me thinking about how we’ve lost the joy of updates for our devices (mostly).

When I got my Asus ROG Ally, I gave my Steam Deck to my wife (where it sits unused 😥), but I always looked forward to updates on the Steam Deck, because Valve was innovating, so I would likely get some new feature or experience from the device, and that made me happy. Updating the Ally is mostly a chore, because it is a Windows device, so all we get are bug fixes and hopefully performance improvements.

Innovative companies and devices make us look forward to updates because they are pushing the envelope and adding capabilities and features. Updates for my Tesla Model 3 are always exciting, because Tesla is innovating the user experience regularly (and generally moving in the right direction). My car is very different from the one I bought nearly 4 years ago, yet the hardware hasn’t changed. Apple used to be that way, but now we get the yearly updates with new features and mostly vulnerability fixes in between. At least Apple still supports their devices for years. I have recent PCs that won’t run Windows 11 for various reasons, so upgrades for them are just tedious patches.

Sony and Microsoft have also kinda stalled with their game console updates. For a while, Microsoft was frantically revising the XBox interface to try to come up with something to match Sony’s intuitive one, but once they got something reasonable, not much has changed.

I’m glad for bug fixes, performance improvements, and vulnerability updates, but I’d sure like it if companies gave us a reason to want to update our devices, particularly our gaming gear. Otherwise, it is just a chore.

I decided to get rid of the old theme I was using and switch to once of the fancy supported themes, but now the site looks lame as hell. All my pics went away, even those associated with the posts. I will need to figure out how to at least make it vaguely attractive again…

In California, we’ve been isolating at home for what seems like forever, but has only been a few weeks. I’m able to continue working from home, which is great, though pretty draining without all the social interactions and other disruptions a typical day at the office would bring. I joked with my colleagues that I need a vacation!

My game playing time has increased a little bit, mostly because my commute to work now involves a flight of stairs rather than a car drive of 30-40 minutes each way. Because of that, I’ve bought some new games and am playing several old and new ones at the moment.

Destiny 2

Of course I’m still playing Destiny 2, though less now than before. Destiny 2 is a very comfortable game where the gunplay and actions just feel right. Because of that, it was my go-to game that I’d play when could get a bit of time to play before bed. During the recent Iron Banner week, I played a lot so I could get pinnacle weapons to get my Warlock over light level 1000. Since then, I’ve not done much, though I did finally manage to fully upgrade the EDZ bunker.

Elder Scrolls Online

I try to log into ESO every day to get the daily reward, though this month, I’ve already managed to fail twice. There was a very short festival a week or so ago that I played nearly every day to try to get the rewards, and finally got the pig pet. My wife also plays ESO, so we occasionally go questing together.

Lord of the Rings Online

At the beginning of the quarantine (I know, I’m not really quarantined, but I call it that so I can justify quarantinis on weekends), I played a lot of LOTRO. I had just taken my Lore-Master into Beorning lands and was having a great time. More recently, however, I ran into some damn enemies that like to swarm me, so I died a few times too often and haven’t been back since. My LM and pet can usually handle 2 or 3 baddies at once, but this area had 4 or 5 going after me, and that seems unreasonable and un-fun.

Star Trek Online

All of the new activities in STO have been wonderful, particularly those with Jeri Ryan reprising her Seven role. I’m enjoying the First Contact Day celebrations, particularly the TFO to build and launch models of Zefram Cochrane’s rocket. If you like Star Trek and MMOs and you aren’t playing Star Trek Online, you should be!

Pillars of Eternity: Deadfire

I bought this on sale a few weeks ago and have been enjoying it quite a bit. There’s still too much micromanagement, but it is a very well done isometric view RPG. The skill trees are amazingly flexible, the quests are pretty good, and the interactions are well voiced. If you like single player RPGs, this one is great!

X4 Foundations

I loved Egosoft’s X series of space combat games years ago with X2 and all the incarnations of X3. I tried to like X Rebirth, but it bugged out on me and I gave up, plus it was quite different from the others. X4 is much more like the previous games, but with much more of everything. It is very daunting to get started, and there is almost no guidance to move you along. And, for the most part, that’s OK. You can fairly quickly start building your little empire of ships to make you money and earn reputation. I haven’t gotten very far, but it seems good.

Other games on my list

I have a huge backlog of games that I’ve bought on sale that I’d like to get to. Death Stranding is one that I have and haven’t started. Disco Elysium is another like that – everyone loves it, but I haven’t even started it. I bought EVERSPACE on deep sale because it looked interesting. It is, but is very easy to get killed, and since it is somewhat Rogue-like, that isn’t too great. I have lots more games that I’ve made progress in and should get back to, like Spiderman, The Division 2, and Borderlands 3, but I need to finish PoE II first! And then there’s No Man’s Sky… They’ve been adding so much cool-sounding stuff to that, yet getting back into it seems an overwhelming task. So much has changed since I built my character that I’d have to relearn everything!

I’m very thankful we have games to entertain us and help us explore other worlds during this time we’re stuck in isolation. Without games or books, I’d be pretty unhappy right now, but because I have plenty of both, I’m content. I wish the best to all my gaming friends during this challenging time! Live long and prosper!

I enjoyed pretty much all the content available for Assassins Creed Odyssey (for the moment, I hear that more is coming, including a level cap increase, which I hate), and have finally picked up God of War again! I started it and beat Baldur last year, but then put it aside for other games. Well now I’m back at it and really enjoying it!

I’ve played other God of War games, but have yet to finish any, so I hope this one will be different. I got sick of God of War 3 when I struggled to get through a rhythm puzzle (and failed – my fingers aren’t that dexterous, which is why I was bad at the piano when I was a kid). So far, nothing like that in the latest God of War. Sure, some of the puzzles are challenging, and a couple have been downright frustrating, but I’ve succeeded so far.

I like the story in the game, particularly between Kratos and Atreus. I thought all the reviewers were exaggerating when they said Kratos calls him “boy” all the time, but they are not. It is a little much, but doesn’t distract too much. The dialog is well done and makes you believe you’re in a world of gods and monsters.

The scenery is amazing and beautiful. One of the most frustrating things about the game is that while it looks like an open world, the paths are very defined and there’s no going off them. In AC Odyssey, you can walk or climb pretty much anywhere, but here, a few stones will stop a god (Kratos) from walking somewhere. On the other hand, if you really need to get somewhere, there will be a puzzle or a path so you can get there.

The game has also kindled my interest in Norse mythology – if the stories related by the game are to be “believed,” Thor is not the nice guy of the Marvel movies, but a right bastard! In fact, almost all the gods are bad and Kratos is right to continue his god-killing ways. I look forward to see if we kill a few more gods than Thor’s son – he’s the only one I’ve killed so far.

The combat is great. I’m not the very best at using combos and special attacks, but this game requires a few. Just button mashing won’t get us through some of the fights. Some enemies are good at parrying and some need fists rather than the axe or other weapons (I’m avoiding spoiling that part). Atreus is very helpful in combat and his actions are well designed. You don’t have to worry about protecting him and he can draw aggro when fighting tough enemies to let you attack from behind or do a special attack.
Some of the fights are quite challenging, so you feel great accomplishment after getting through them. Some are just annoying, but the meaningful ones make up for it.

The progression system is pretty good, too. I’ve run into many enemies that are too much for me to handle, so I can come back later after levelling up and getting better gear. You can upgrade your weapons, armor, and skills, as well as those of Atreus. Events in the game give Atreus different bow/arrow options that are helpful for many puzzles.

God of War is great and well worth getting. If you don’t have a PS4, get one and this game (and maybe Spiderman too – I hear it’s good).

I’ve been playing Assassin’s Creed Odyssey almost exclusively for a month, and I’m addicted! The plot is very compelling, at least what I’ve completed so far, and the gameplay is fun and almost never annoying. The use of Ikaros, your eagle, to scout out enemies and lootable chests is great, and the ability to call your horse nearly anywhere puts it on par with Witcher 3 in that regard.

The game is huge! Not just the game world, which is amazingly huge and without loading screens (yes, entering certain locations will require loading screens, as does fast travel), so you can start at one end of Greece, jump on your ship, sail to the other end, then explore other islands seamlessly. The main story seems to have multiple parallel parts, each of which is substantial and I’ve maybe completed one of them, though I bet there are a few bits left of that even. The side quests are overwhelming. Even the story-related ones are incredible numerous, and the contracts and random pop-up quests add hundreds more. Most of the side quests are simple and quick, but some involve killing sharks or destroying ships, so some travel and searching is needed. I have no complaints about the quests, except if I were trying to complete every quest, I could never finish – this is not a game for hardcore completionists.

I’ve seem complaints about the fighting, with critics complaining that this isn’t an AssCreed game at all, because we get into big brawls, chipping away at huge health bars. Yes, there are some big melees, but I tend to be stabby where I can, and then use my bow for really hard enemies. It depends on what playstyle a player wants to use, but I like the stealth in this game way more than I liked the stealth in say Metal Gear Solid V. And with the abilities we acquire as we level, it can be very quick to take out 4 or 5 enemies from stealth. I think the combat is great fun!

The ship combat is also quite good. It seems about as fun as that of Black Flag, which I also enjoyed a lot, and even adds the ramming option to the ranged attacks (spears and arrows rather than cannons, this time). Once you unlock fire arrows, the fights become lots of fun. There’s also an exploitable mechanic that makes the fights easier: if you board a disabled ship (and kill the baddies), it automatically heals your ship fully, so if the battle isn’t going well, disable a weak ship, board it, and continue the fight with a fully-healed ship.

I have lots more to write about Odyssey, but that’s all for now. I think it is great and am thoroughly enjoying it. I bought the gold edition on sale and it is worth every penny.

I’ve been playing Destiny 2 exclusively since it came out, which means Diablo III, Elder Scrolls Online, No Man’s Sky, LOTRO, Star Trek Online, etc. have been gathering dust (digitally speaking). I miss them all, but the compulsion to level up in Destiny 2 is an addiction that takes precedence. I imported my Destiny characters into Destiny 2, but I sort of miss that I didn’t create new ones. Besides, my Warlock is pretty pale in Destiny 2 – I don’t remember him being quite so pasty before.

I enjoyed the story of Destiny 2 more than that of the original Destiny. While this story didn’t seem as long, not as diverse in terms of discovery and exploration, it was more epic (there was a specific villain, not some unseen “Darkness”), and the conclusion was more definitive.

Though the story seemed short, the amount of stuff to do seems great. Each planet has many quests (now called Adventures), in addition to the usual patrols and public events. There are new challenges and other things to keep us busy.

Levelling up to level 20 is easy, but getting to a reasonable light level is harder. I know plenty of people who are in the 280s, which I’m 253 with my Titan at the moment. My Hunter and Warlock are still early in the story, so they’ve got a long way to go.

There seems to be a great controversy about the changes to Shaders, which change the color/appearance of our armor. It is now a consumable and must be applied to each piece of gear, rather than the old approach of applying to all the gear at once. It is also purchasable for real money, and we know we don’t like paying for stuff like that. At first, I would have been concerned, except I’m not much into fashion, but as I levelled and opened loot chests and such, I now have more Shaders than I know what to do with. I’ve yet to apply one, since I don’t think any of my gear is final, but sometime I may experiment.

The never-ending grind for better stats is not new, but it is very intense in Destiny 2. I hope I can sometime turn it off to play other games again, but we’ll see. I’ve been getting crashes (well, lock-ups) on my PS4 Pro in Destiny 2. It’s apparently a known and common problem, though not universal, so I hope they fix it soon. It is frustrating to crash at the end of a Public Event and not be able to loot the chest. Crashing in a mission is worse, however, but that’s only happened once or twice.

Overall, it seems like Bungie learned a lot from Destiny and has made Destiny 2 a very good game.

For the first time in weeks, I played Destiny last night, and I made a huge mistake. My Warlock had a bunch of the SRL helmets that I’d won during the excellent Sparrow Racing League matches in the mailbox, since I don’t have a ton of vault space. Now these were nice helmets, ranging from about 310 to 318 light, so I could use them to infuse into my combat helmets to raise their light level. Alas, I didn’t have enough armor materials to do that, so I left them in the mailbox as storage. (Anyone who plays Destiny sees where this is going.)

A friend and I did three Heroic Strikes, which resulted in a bunch of lousy blue engrams (mostly arm armor – why does Destiny think I need more of that?). These crappy blue engrams pushed the valuable high light level SRL helmets into /dev/null. All I have left are 2 helmets with light 212 and 213. Oh NO! I was pretty bummed… Oh well, easy come, easy go. Now back to Fallout 4.

I played WAY too much Destiny over the last week because of the new House of Wolves expansion. In some ways, HoW has revitalized the game. In other ways, it has made it more depressing. First the good:

While HoW doesn’t have a raid, it adds new (and quite fun) story missions, though now that I’ve done them with all three characters, I can’t imagine actually wanting to complete them again. On the other hand, they were all better than the ones from Destiny’s first expansion, which Bungie tried to get us to repeat every day via the daily mission rewards.

HoW also adds a new strike, which is pretty good and quite difficult, particularly as the Nightfall strike (where everything is much tougher and if the entire fireteam wipes, it dumps us back to orbit). Notice I said “us” in that last sentence – my fireteam wiped several times, including once at the end when the boss had just a sliver of health left. Darn…

HoW has two new types of cooperative game play: Prison of Elders and Trials of Osiris. PoE pits a 3-person fireteam against waves of ever-harder enemies, but can give nifty loot if you survive. ToO is PvP and I haven’t tried it, so I can’t comment on it other than saying it sounds hard and very unforgiving.

I have done PoE a few times, and it is a mixed bag. There is matchmaking at level 28, so you can always find people to play with. On the other hand, they are all better than me. I came in with the lowest number of kills in all the rounds that I played, sometimes by a lot. This is depressing, since I felt that I was always contributing and making kills, reviving others, etc., but when all it shows is that kills stat, then it looks like I’m being carried. Maybe I am, but it doesn’t feel that way at the time, so I’m pretty annoyed about this.

The other issue with PoE is that you need a key to get the good loot. We all got a key for finishing the story missions, but the rest must be “farmed” by killing “wolves” bands out in the wild on Earth, Moon, and Venus and looting the chests after they are defeated (often speeding away to re-loot the chest if there’s time). So I’ve looted a lot of chests and have yet to get a key. Some of my PSN peeps have managed to get several, and there are always groups in the Skywatch on Earth waiting for the wolves to spawn. It’s almost back to the bad old days of the loot cave – unless you waste a lot of time farming, you don’t get the good loot.

Which brings me to the bad stuff (in my opinion). All our gear got invalidated by the new expansion, but not as badly as with the first expansion. Now we can upgrade our stuff to the current levels if we have certain very rare components. I’ve already upgraded several of my exotic weapons and armor, so one of my characters can be level 33 (max is 34) and all of them have one or two fully leveled guns.

So what does all this mean? Well, to paraphrase Yahtzee Croshaw of Zero Punctuation fame, it’s all about the numbers. We need to play harder missions to get better gear so we can play harder missions and get better gear. This was Yahtzee’s complaint about World of Warcraft, but is true about most MMOs, and particularly Destiny now. The materials needed to upgrade gear is almost impossible to get unless you play the highest level cooperative Prison of Elders missions, so those of us that aren’t very good or aren’t part of the “in crowd” will be left farther and farther behind.

Speaking of which – the raids needed fireteams of 6, so it was fairly often that you’d run into someone trying to put together a raid run, so even I could run the raids reasonably often. PoE will be a different story, since it is only 3 people. And the missions are hard enough that it won’t be easy to carry an under-levelled or under-skilled player. So I think PoE may actually lead to more frustration and disappointment.

I haven’t mentioned Bungie’s new emphasis on PvP with better daily rewards as well as the new weekly bounty system, but these seem to be improvements. But overall, while I like the gameplay improvements in HoW, I am disappointed in many other parts of it, including the race to get better gear for the sake of getting better gear. Since I just bought Bloodborne, we’ll see how much hold Destiny retains over me.