toxicitizen

Most of the impressions I've been hearing pretty much boil down to: it's good but not good enough to bite just yet, wait for the first expansion. Would you agree with that? As for me, I started playing The Bureau: XCOM Declassified. Man, I want to love it, I really do. But it's just so ugh. The Mass Effect-like combat isn't bad but it is pretty average at best. And it would be much easier to look past the braindead squadmates AI and nonsensical story that basically contradicts Enemy Unknown if the game didn't insist on crashing every fucking 20 mins. At one point there was a fight I couldn't get past and the game would literally crash every single time I reloaded the checkpoint. It's so bad that if I hadn't already played a bunch of Far Cry 3 without any issues I'd be kinda worried that there might be something wrong with my new GPU. :/ Honestly, so far all the game is doing is making me wish I was playing Enemy Unknown instead. And since I still haven't taken the time to fully dig into Enemy Within, I'm really tempted to actually do just that...

What Ethan said. For which one? I know for a while (maybe still?) they allowed you to register your Steam key on GOG for a "backup copy" but this is the first I hear of them doing it the other way around. But yeah, I mean, CD Projekt are an awesome company overall. Like I said, nothing against GOG or them. I'm glad GOG exists. It's just not my personal preferred digital distribution service.

Lol. I had a feeling you would reply to that bit. It's not like I have anything against GOG, I just like Steam better. It's where I already have the vast majority of my games and I don't like splitting my library among multiple services unless I have no other choice. There's also extra stuff like achievements, cards, etc, but that's all just secondary bullshit. It really just boils down to preferring to have my games on my Steam account. I'll probably end up double-dipping the game at some point for that very reason.

Got it for free from the Nvidia promo. Seems like Newegg.ca arbitrarily decided to not include my card's model in the promotion but I insisted a little bit with their chat support and they ended up giving me a code anyway. It's for GOG rather than Steam, though, which is kind of a bummer. But hey, it's still a free game, can't complain. I considered trying to trade it but that seemed like too much of a hassle to bother, so I ended up just redeeming the code.

Rochard. Eh... it has some interesting stuff in it, I guess? I mean, I liked the space miner theme it had going. But it's just... not very good. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's outright bad, although having physics-based jumping that doesn't allow for precise control on the height of your jump is a goddamned retarded thing to have in a puzzle-platformer, but it is painfully average at best. There's literally tons of better alternatives to play. I only gave it a shot after all this time because it currently has some Playfire Rewards for some of the achievements, and if I didn't know going in that it was very short then I probably would've stopped halfway through. So yeah, unless you'll be making almost a dollar in GMG credit for playing it, I'd say give it a pass. Even then, it might not have been worth it... At least the next one I'll be playing for Playfire Rewards is The Bureau, which I actually do want to play.

Yeah, there were a few times where I got my next objective and thought "Oh God DAMN IT! I barely got here alive and now I have to go back?!", but mostly it was because I was dreading going back through an area where I knew the Xenomorph still was. So, I dunno, it was annoying but in a way that worked to the game's advantage for me. That being said, there was one time where an obvious shortcut I had just taken on my way from A to B was suddenly closed off when I had to go back from B to A. That one kinda pissed me off because it meant I had to go all the fucking way around the area and I actually spent a good 30 mins on that one section because I kept getting killed. I got so fed up that I said fuck it and just made a beeline for it. I didn't run (holy shit, never run) but I walked straight there without even trying to hide. And that's when it kinda dawned on me that, because of the way the Xenomorph's movements aren't scripted, just going for it can actually be a valid strategy. It's not always going to work but that time I actually made it without even running into the fucker. From that point on, I was a little more willing to risk going out into the open and it actually made the game more exciting.

Alien: Isolation. Holy shit, this game is fucking amazing. I seriously do not get how this one was so divisive. That guy at IGN who gave it 5.9 is a fucking idiot! Also, why did people think it was too long? I mean, considering how the internet likes to lose its fucking shit whenever a game is deemed too short, you'd think a 16 hours game would get some love. The pacing isn't perfect but it's not like it's bad or anything, and the game didn't really overstay its welcome, either. Anyway! With that out of the way, holy fuck did I love the hell out of this game! Not only is it a very effective horror game that had my heart racing pretty much every single time I was in a room with the Xenomorph, it's also an incredibly well-designed one and one in more ways than one. It was kinda surprising when Relic, a studio mostly known for strategy games, released Space Marine and it turned out to be a quite decent third-person action game. But here, what Creative Assembly have managed to put together is downright mind-blowing considering they're mostly known for the Total War series, which as far as I can tell has been kind of hit-and-miss. When Alien: Isolation bills itself as a sequel to Ridley Scott's original 1979 classic, it really means it. The game's sheer dedication to the look and feel of the movie is actually kind of impressive. And it paid off because the retro futuristic style applied to everything looks great. I don't think the game wouldn't have looked anywhere near as good if they had tried to unnecessarily modernize the world design. And this isn't strictly limited to the world design and visuals either, the game is actually shock full of hints and references that I never would've picked up on had I not rewatched the movie right before I started playing it. The soundtrack also feels like it would be right at home in the movie and the sound design is simply fantastic. I played the entire game with headphones and I wouldn't recommend doing it any other way. As for the gameplay, it's actually a pretty solid stealth game, which is admittedly right up my alley. But the way the map is laid out and the levels are designed is very reminiscent of something like System Shock. Sevastopol station is full of corners and rooms to explore and it actually feels like a real place rather than a series of corridors. You'll very often come across doors that are either locked or require new or better equipment to open. Some are places you'll be going to later on but a lot of it is just rooms full of supplies for you to pick up. The game rewards exploration in a very metroidvania way, which I am all about. But more than anything else, Alien: Isolation a damn fine horror game. After the last few I played, it's good to finally play one that actually scared the shit out of me. I mean, when a game that's all about hiding actually manages to make you feel so unsafe that you go "No, fuck this! I ain't got time to hide, I'm getting the hell outta here!" then clearly it's doing some very, very right. I think it might actually retroactively be my 2014 GOTY. I just loved it that much and I'm kinda kicking myself for waiting this long to play it. Up next: rewatching Aliens and then playing Aliens: Colonial Marines. Because ending things on a high note is overrated. This is going to be awful, isn't it?

Good to hear. I can't wait for it to come out on PC. Hopefully it's not too far out.

How long did it take you? I've wanted to go back and Platinum it for a while but I just don't have the patience to deal with School Mode or whatever the hell it's called. Just seems so tedious.

350$ after shipping and taxes. PC components are way more expensive in Canada than they are in the US. Overall, this model is almost 100 bucks more. I would've saved a little over 60 bucks by going with the 2GB model but I figured the extra VRAM would come in handy sooner rather than later.

The day has finally come! I was initially eyeing the Asus Strix 960, but like a week before I was ready to order I found out about the new 4GB model. That was pretty lucky timing because it would've sucked to find out about it too late. Newegg.ca didn't have the 4GB version for the Asus model, though. But I've been hearing scary things about Asus' customer service anyway, so I was already thinking of going with EVGA instead. I've had really great experiences dealing with them in the past and everyone seems to agree that their customer service is second to none. So, I feel a bit safer going with them. Also, I think I qualify for a free copy of The Witcher 3! And with that, my new build is essentially complete! There's still a few things I'd like to add here and there, like an extra stick of RAM, maybe another HDD and some better cooling wouldn't hurt either. But the core parts have all been upgraded now, so that feels pretty good. Now I'm all set for Witcher 3, Arkham Knight and The Phantom Pain!

But if you played as Sheva on a first run then you'd miss out on all the boulder punching! I think Capcom had their priorities straight here.

Resident Evil 5. Still can't see what the problem is with this one. Sure, it's not as good as RE4 but, I mean, very few games are. I still think it's a solid game and a decent RE, much more so than RE6. Although that's not really saying much, I suppose. That being said, I had forgotten just how fucking annoying Sheva is. I mean, holy shit, that stupid bitch just wastes everything. It got to the point where I never let her carry any healing items and specifically made sure to take away any weapon she had that used the same ammo as one of mine. Anyway, I think that's enough Resident Evil for me for a while. After finally playing RE6 last fall, then REHD in January and now Rev 2 and this pretty much back to back, I think I'm getting a little burned out on the series. It was fun getting back into it but I don't think I'll touch it again until the next major release. Also, it's good to finally have most of the main series on Steam properly and free of that garbage GFWL. And if the rumored RE Zero HD Remaster is real, Code Veronica X will pretty much be the last big one that's missing. I'm surprised it wasn't ported right after RE4 last year, to be honest.

It's not that the key itself isn't legitimate, it's the way it was acquired that's a little shadier. I mean, even Valve have been cracking down pretty hard on regional price exploitation lately. Pretty much everything on Steam is region locked at this point, from what I understand. I mean, buy from them all you want. I'm not trying to tell you you shouldn't. It just seems a bit risky to me, that's all. The Ubi thing was probably the largest and most public case and I'm guessing Ubi figured they've been getting enough bad press as it is lately lol. But I've often heard about people getting screwed over after buying from G2A. It's not like it happens every other week or anything but it's regularly enough that I'll never buy from them.

I meant more in the "buyer beware" sense. Like, if EA suddenly decides that your key isn't legitimate and blacklists it, you're gonna be shit outta luck. G2A are very likely going to tell you to go fuck yourself when you ask them for a refund. It's been known to happen.

Isn't G2A known to be a pretty shady key reseller? Or am I confusing them with another one?

Sega publisher week-end on Steam. I've been absolutely loving Alien: Isolation so I was really tempted to get the season pass. But I still haven't tried Survivor mode and the season pass content is mostly just maps for that. So, I think I'll hold off on that one. But, since they're not included in the season pass, I did get those two story DLCs that recreate specific moments from the movie. Should be fun. And speaking of fun, rewatching Alien and then playing Isolation has been a pretty enjoyable experience so far. So, I figured the obvious next step is to follow that by rewatching Aliens and then playing this Hopefully it'll be enjoyable in that "so bad it's good" kinda way. If not, well it was only four bucks.

Shit, they did? That sucks. I'd much rather see a second season of TWAU than a third of TWD, to be honest.

Played the second episode tonight and it's definitely still going strong. Felt a little shorter to me but that might just be because the first episode had to spend so much time introducing everything, so it started out much slower. This one had some pretty strong moments, more so than the first ep. I enjoyed the first episode a lot but it's this one that sealed the deal: I love this way more than I did any of Telltale's games so far. It's gonna be a long wait for the next episode, May seems so far away. Oh, and I'm a terrible person.

ITT: people don't understand the difference between Greenlight and Early Access. Poor Mister Jack, he made a thread about Steam Greenlight and people just keep discussing Darkest Dungeon, which isn't even on Greenlight.

Heads up: seems that the second episode dropped yesterday. Haven't heard much about it outside of NeoGAF. I've avoided most discussions about it but it seems impressions are very positive. I'll have to play it soon, maybe tonight.

Oh they're already 3 eps in? Guess it's due for a 40-50% sale then. I'll pick it up when that happens. Although, I should probably get around to playing TWD S2 first...

Wait, what?! The original AvP was meh but enjoyable enough, imho. Kinda like Mortal Kombat and the first Resident Evil movie (coincidentally, all by the same director), far from great but not offensively bad or anything. But I thought AvP: Requiem was unwatchable garbage. It bored the shit out of me so much that I actually lost track of what was going on.

Alien Resurrection is way better than Crystal Skull, though. Like, not even close. And that pack doesn't include the AvP movies now, does it.