I finally decided to dig out Firewatch and try playing it again. The first time, I got horribly lost on the first day and failed to complete even the first task. I wound up stranded the wrong side from the lake, unable to find a way back to the tower.
This time I made different choices in the interactive introduction, and while everything on-line says that doesn’t affect the game’s ending, I swear it changed the beginning.
The first time I made the meanest, most selfish choices for Henry (the PC). This time I tried to make him less selfish (the story doesn’t let you make him good), and this time I got a map and compass right away. I don’t remember those from last time – just the maps on the storage boxes. I also got a camping-out scene on the way to the watchtower I don’t remember from last time.
Anyway, this time I made it though the first day, and while the trails can be frustrating to navigate, hey, I made it to Day 2.
I started today wanting to play an RPG - not one of the newer FPS action games labeled RPGs, but one of the old-style ones. I’d gotten a bundle of them from GOG awhile back so I went to install one (Dark Sun: Shattered Lands) but in the process I noticed that I had also bought but never installed or played Rebel Galaxy and FTL, so I installed them as well and thought that I would give them a try after a few hours of RPGing. While they were installing, I noticed that I also have Master of Orion, which I haven’t played in years.
I spent the entire day playing MoO. Never got to the others. I don’t regret it.
Yeah, I’m pretty annoyed at EA and Bioware for abandoning it. I guess they really needed stellar reviews and huge sales after what had to be an insanely expensive 5-year development, but since three and a half of those years were essentially wasted, it wasn’t likely it would be able to earn those sales.
But that’s not the fault of us ME fans, and it’s criminal that such a rich and evocative and mature IP is being put out to pasture for the foreseeable future. But man… they screwed it up. I mostly enjoyed the game, but since so very many of its gameplay mechanics turned out to be timewasting irrelevancies that didn’t materially affect the outcome of the game noticeably, I’m not tempted to give it another playthrough. This lack of replayability (or, more accurately, lack of tempting motives for replaying the game, since I wouldn’t expect any surprising differences no matter how differently I tried to play) devalues the $60 I spent on the game. Still, I’d spend good money on DLC since I simply want more story in that world (and I just have no interest in multiplayer competition). Bioware are making a big mistake, I believe, by abandoning Andromeda.
Given how popular and enduring the first three games are, and how much potential the world they’ve created has, I predict that this is far from the end of ME. Someone somewhere will pick up the IP and figure out how to do more stories in that universe, whether it’s a Shepard prequel or something completely new. I doubt we’ll see more Ryder stories, however.
I’ve been giving too many hours to Windward lately.
I grabbed a four pack back in the summer sale, so if any one is looking for something that almost-but-not-quite scratches the itch for the old Wooden Ships and Iron Men I still have a couple of keys.
Mobile
My games this week have included Pokemon replacement Pocket Mortys, Fire Emblem Heroes (v 1.7), and Pixel Dungeons. All available free on the Play store, and all of them very good. For a great paid app, try Knights of Pen and Paper 2. (Seriously, it’s freakin’ amazing)
PC
Guild Wars 2, Nethack, and Super Motherload dominate my time this week.
Divinity: Original Sin 2 (what an awkward title) is out on Steam and I’m managing to get myself killed in many creative ways.
Somehow the experience of playing it feels a bit more awkward than I remember, or maybe I’ve gotten too used to racing games and team FPSs and simpler games, all polished experiences where you don’t have to fight the camera or play spot-the-pixel. But the writing is good and there’s a lot of cool game mechanics going on here. I’m having trouble choosing what kind of character to start with for a nice balance of power and fun, so I’m probably going to try a little of everything until I get settled in.
I’m not a huge fan of Mario personally - never really grabbed me. I did like the look of Super Mario Galaxy so I’ve been hoping that they’ll bring that to the Switch. I’m surprisingly entertained with Splatoon - I like the premise and the battles are short enough that I can use them as a reward for getting work done (work for a couple of hours, take a 10-15 minute play break). I couldn’t really do that with BOTW, which is why I guess I haven’t finished it…
I’m definitely getting Wolfenstein when it comes out. That’s a game that goes waaay back for me, so I’m excited to see the latest version.
I’ve played it Xbox One. It looks like it’s available for PC, PS3/4, and Xbox 360/One. It’s $20 on Xbox One, or $30 with The Old Blood, a prequel (released afterwards) that I haven’t worked all the way through and doesn’t appear to be as story heavy.
Mild spoilers:
In this game, you jump from one plane into another, storm a castle, escape from a sanitarium, steal super-advanced helicopters, hijack a nuclear submarine, and go to the Moon. That’s not even everything.
Okay, I’m enticed. But one reason I got the Switch was because I wanted to get away from PC games. The only other console I’ve had recently was my PS3 which died in a lightening strike.
It’s only $20 on steam so maybe I’ll get it…your description certainly makes it seem like something I would enjoy!
