My First Ever Steam Refund (and Egyptian Adventures)

The holidays offer up plenty of exciting gaming opportunities.  There are many holiday themed sales featuring deeply discounted games (and some fabulous deals) and it's very possible that you're flush with holiday cash (or gift cards).  It's the perfect storm for snagging some deals and padding your library (or your pile of shame).  I've been doing some gazing (and a little buying) at the Steam sale.

I've never had much cause to test out Steam's handy-dandy refund option.  Most of the games I buy I end up playing (and usually liking).  Recently I got to enjoy the magical experience of attempting to get a refund.  The crazy part about the whole thing was the game I was trying to return--Assassin's Creed:  Syndicate.  I had purchased Syndicate in a fit of post-Odyssey excitement during the Black Friday sale--I enjoyed Odyssey and wanted to get a broader picture of the series and the entire thing was heavily discounted.

I was very excited as I started up Syndicate and was introduced to the brother/sister combo of the Frye twins.  The setting--London during the Industrial Revolution--looked absolutely amazing.  The first tutorial missions saw the twins navigating the sooty factories filled with child laborers and loud, clanking machinery.  Sadly, I didn't get far beyond the tutorial when I started experiencing problems.  The game crashed suddenly after I had assassinated my first target--we're not talking a crash-to-desktop but a complete lock-up of my PC (screen went black, couldn't do anything, and had to power completely off).  I was a little perturbed, but figured it was a one-off.  I grudgingly restarted my PC and dove back in.  A few minutes later, while I was perusing the database, it crashed again (same thing--black screen, had to power off).  Now, I was more irritated, so I decided to Google some information about the crashing issues.  Since the screen was completely blacked out and I couldn't see any potential error messages, I had no idea what was causing it.  Some cursory searching revealed that many people had/have experienced crashing issues with Syndicate on PC.  I tried some of the recommended fixes (namely running Uplay in offline mode and disabling the overlay) and lowering my graphics settings with the hope that it would solve the issue.  Attempt #3 ended a few minutes after restarting--again, while doing nothing more strenuous than reading the database.  It was at this point that I decided Syndicate was a lost cause (I read about some other possible fixes, but find it a bit ridiculous that a triple A title--and one that was released several years ago--has these sort of issues.  Also the fact that one of the top known issues for the game is "ACS.exe has stopped working.").  I had only played for 97 minutes so I was under the 2 hour cutoff imposed by Steam.  I decided to put in for the refund, but was warned that my purchase had taken place more than 14 days ago.  Within a day I had received my notice--no refund for me.  I'm not terribly upset about it, I didn't pay full price, but I am bummed that a game that looked so awesome isn't playable for me (I mean, it might be, but I don't have the patience to have to figure out fixes).

The view of Alexandria from atop the lighthouse at Pharos is stunning.

On a happier note, I have started exploring the other Assassin's Creed title that I had purchased--Origins--and it's working like a charm.  It's blatantly obvious that Origins was the template for Odyssey and I am seeing how the systems were refined over the course of the games.  So far, here's what I'm liking and not liking:  (possible early game spoilers for Origins)

Liking👍
--Bayek's story is filled with tragedy and gives players the perfect basis for his assassination spree.  While playing as Kassandra in Odyssey, I didn't feel the same rationale for killing--I had times where it just felt a bit gratuitous and semi-pointless.

--Ubisoft does a great job of using children as important parts of the plot.  Bayek's relationship with his son is touching and the part of the story that portrays Khemnu's death is tearjerking.  I really like the exploration task of finding the stone circles scattered around Egypt (a variation of the Mayan stelae puzzles from Black Flag).  Matching the celestial patterns is very basic, but the added feature of listening to the voiceover of Bayek recalling discussions with his son makes the task more meaningful.

--The gear system seems to be like a hybrid to the full-RPG system in Odyssey.  There are pieces of loot that drop--namely weapons--but the rest of your armor functions on an upgrade system.  Materials for upgrades can be found in the world, hunted/scavenged, or acquired through dismantling old gear.  The appearance of Bayeks armor changes as you upgrade, but doesn't drastically change.  I suppose the downside would be the fact that there's not much variety.  I'm enjoying the fact that I don't have to wade through oodles of drops.

--Bayek and Aya are great together.  The couple that assassinates together....stays together, I suppose.  I didn't especially enjoy the relationship aspect of Odyssey, so I am completely fine with Bayek being a married man.  It's all kinds of awesome that he's married to another assassin.

The Great Library in Alexandria.

--Ancient Egypt is gorgeous and engaging.  There's plenty of ancient history to nerd out to--the Library at Alexandria, the lighthouse at Pharos, and the freakin' Great Pyramids!  I haven't had time to mess with the discovery tour, but can completely appreciate the addition of a historical mode.

--Assassination targets feature their own storyline.  Odyssey simply slapped down a stunning array of faceless cultists who had to be revealed, tracked down, and then killed.  Bayeks targets get their own story and it makes killing them much more satisfactory.  I am really liking the fact that you are given a wide array of potential targets at differing levels that are positioned in a level appropriate zone.

Not Liking👎 
--Combat feels clunky.  It wasn't perfect in Odyssey either, but it felt much more responsive.  I am especially peeved by the weird blocking and countering system.  There's no simply mashing "E" at the right moment, but you have to be in "defensive stance" and time it in response to an enemy blow.  Thus far I haven't managed to figure it out.  Mostly I just try to dodge incoming attacks using spacebar, but even that doesn't work well at times.  I miss Kassandra :(

Even with the clunky combat, I'm happily going to be continuing my adventure through ancient Egypt.  My camel awaits!

Bayek made some feline friends.

Are We There Yeti?

After fully realizing my pirate-y bloodlust in Assassin's Creed 4:  Black Flag, I decided it was time for a break from all the stabbing and shooting.  Luckily a brand new DLC for one of my favorite games from this year rolled out at just about the perfect time!  The Bigfoot DLC for Two Point Hospital offers even more whacky hospital management.  If you haven't gotten your fill of curing weird diseases and playing task manager, well, this is your chance to re-enter the fray.

Two of the three new hospitals in the Bigfoot DLC.

The Bigfoot DLC offers up three brand new hospitals located in on the snowy northern half of the Two Point county map.  Each hospital offers up unique challenges that include a few new diseases to cure combined with a theme.  The first hospital, Underlook, is situated near a hotel/ski resort that is looking to add hospital services for its accident prone guests.  This hospital reminds me of the nightmare that was Duckworth-Upon-Bilge, but it's more like a Duckworth-lite--you only get paid for achieving the random goals that the hotel periodically throws out and these can vary from promoting a certain number of staff or curing patients in a specific treatment room.  Like on the Duckworth level, you have to pay attention to your cash flow and make sure you aren't hiring too many staff or overspending.  The level is further complicated by a reputation mechanic--guests can review the hotel (and those reviews can be either positive or negative) and it will have an impact on your reputation.  Your reputation starts out at a pitifully low level and the scenario requires you to raise it much higher.  Luckily, marketing campaigns are very useful for raising your reputation and cancelling a few undesirable hotel requests won't damage your rep too much.  One of the more unique aspects of this level is that the hotel helps to cover your costs based on your cure rate.  This factor makes this level much easier than Duckworth.

The K-9 Away is used to treat patients with Barking Mad.

The next map on the DLC is Swelbard.  Swelbard is an abandoned research facility and requires you to start with a ruined building full of garbage that needs to be cleaned up.  The major challenge on Swelbard is that all your staff are completely untrained.  Every staff member you hire requires training, so hiring enough staff so that your rooms are covered while training occurs is a major balancing act.  At Swelbard a new disease crops up, Barking Mad, which turns patients into dogs (it looks like a human in a dog costume).  To cure this new disease you must build a K-9 Away treatment room that looks like a giant dog house.  A few other diseases with visuals also start popping up (diseases that can be treated in the treatment rooms you've already unlocked)--there's Eye Candy which has patients with giant lollipops over their eyes; Tartan Telomeres which presents as patients with plaid patterns on their faces; Bard Flu which populates your hospital with Shakespeare look-alikes who require some psychiatric treatment; Evergreen presents by coloring patients faces green with some nice leafy branches.  Partway through the level you will see patients dressed like giant Godzilla-like creatures or robots traipsing through your hospital.  The new disease Urban Metropolism presents in two ways and requires patients to storm through a miniature city, wrecking it and then getting cured by some mysterious laser attachment.  Curing all these diseases and hitting research related goals (training staff in the research skill...which always feels like a waste) leads you to victory.

The Reanimator freezes, then reanimates patients with Monster Mishmash.

The last map in the DLC was the one that I found had the most unique twist--Roquefort Castle throws some real doozies at you.  The castle is haunted, this means that bunches of ghosts (5-10) randomly pop-up throughout the hospital.  Your janitorial staff has to be on their toes because capturing all those ghosts is time consuming and requires cleaning up the ectoplasm that they leave behind.  The map itself also presents some challenges--the castle offers plenty of space, but it's made up of very long corridors that don't directly connect to each other.  Everything is very spread out and ghosts can pop-up in any part of the hospital.  The castle is also prone to several natural disasters--avalanches and hailstorms--which will have your janitors scrambling even more!  Avalanches will damage your machinery and cause trashed pieces of the building to fall onto the floor and hailstorms will deposit large chunks of ice (similar to lava, but without the burning) that could damage machinery.  I would classify this level as one of the "janitorial nightmare" levels.  A new disease, Monster Mishmash, is also introduced and requires a special treatment room in the form of the Reanimator.  The most challenging part of Roquefort is the janitorial aspect--it was very common to have a rash of ghosts followed by an avalanche or hailstorm.  This situation would leave your machinery damaged, your hospital littered with unsightly garbage, and a bunch of ghosts scaring patients and leaving blobs of ectoplasm everywhere.  Then throw in the way that the map is spread out for some real craziness.

One thing I noticed about all three hospitals in the DLC was that they seemed to throw quite a few diseases requiring treatment rooms at you.  You really need to hire more staff to cover those rooms and it complicates things even further.

Treating Urban Metropolism means letting patients smash a miniature city.

So, the big question remains, should you buy this DLC?  If you enjoyed the base game I would definitely recommend it.  The DLC offers the chance to play a few more hospitals and cure some clever diseases (Bard Flu is my favorite).  It sells for only $8.99 and will add about 20 more hours of hospital managing fun (if you're shooting for the illustrious 3-star level).  Sadly, there is no bigfoot disease (but there is a yeti who will visit your hospital and inspect it).

What's new in this DLC:
--several new visual diseases to cure
--three diseases with unique treatment rooms
--new items (some are Christmas themed) to spruce up your hospital
--three new hospitals with unique scenarios
--new research projects (this may have been added in an update prior to the DLC)
   

The Pirate's Life for Me

After playing (and enjoying) Assassin's Creed:  Odyssey, I decided that it would be worthwhile to further explore the extensive Assassin's Creed franchise.  I had read that Odyssey marked a departure from past games and had veered into a decidedly more RPG-oriented focus (which, as an RPG fan, is awesome).  Part of me wanted to understand how much the franchise has changed so, after a bit of research, I picked out a few games from the series in an attempt to understand more about those changes and more about the backstory of the games.  Many lists that I viewed mentioned that Assassin's Creed 4:  Black Flag is one of the best games in the entire franchise.  Luckily for me there was a sale going on and I was able to snap up several games from the series for very cheap.  Why not start with the best?

Black Flag focuses on the story of 18th century pirate-turned-assassin, Edward Kenway.  The story follows Edward as he tries to accomplish several goals 1.) becoming filthy rich so that he can win back the heart of his wife (who was persuaded by her family to separate from him due to his poor social standing and lack of means), 2.) interrupt the plotting of the Templars and finding a mysterious location known as "the observatory," and 3.) working with his fellow pirate friends to establish Nassau as a free city where piracy can thrive.  Things grow more and more chaotic as some of these individual strands start connecting....and some need to be trimmed.

Since I am a shameless completionist, I tried my best to complete as much of the game as I could.  I managed 94%, which meant that I did most of the tasks, but didn't manage to get them all (those legendary ships tho'....crazy hard.  I also managed to hack 32/33 computers...I missed one measly computer).  I made it a point to discover all the locations and complete them.  Somehow I missed two treasure maps...still don't know how.  Anyway, I completed the game and here is my review.

The real reason Black Flag is so great....petting dogs!

Pros:
--The absolute highlight of Black Flag is the naval combat.  You get to captain your own 18th century pirate ship--complete with a rowdy crew of pirate friends and absolutely bristling with weapons; mortars, broadside cannons, frontal cannons (that shoot special chain shot to slow enemy ships), fire barrels, and swivel guns for precision aiming.  Learning to effectively use all these weapons can be challenging at first, but once you've figured it out there's much joy to be had in sailing the high seas and attacking the various types of ships.  Once a ship is weakened, it can be boarded which offers up a chance for some good ol' hand-to-hand combat.  I enjoyed the fact that you also get to choose how to deal with a captured ship and have options that can all be beneficial.

Success in naval combat allows you to seize items that can be used to upgrade your ship or to be sold for some extra cash.  It's really fun to see how your ship changes and becomes an absolute killing machine by the end of the game (legendary ships are still brutal)--taking down a man o'war becomes no issue.

--Buried treasure, brawls, and the freedom of piracy.  There aren't enough pirate themed games out there (although I've seen more recently) and I appreciated the fact that the game included tasks like using treasure maps to find buried chests and lots of attacking and capturing ships for the booty.  It felt appropriately pirate-y but not too overly cheesy--there aren't any parrots or peg legs.

--Scampering around rooftops and finding places to hide is a blast.  I can definitely see the roots of the Assassin's Creed series in the way that Edward deftly navigates the areas in the jungles and throughout the various cities.  I also liked the way that they incorporated the use of distraction--hire a bunch of drunken pirates or "dancers" (aka prostitutes) to create a scene while Edward slips away.

--A variety of weapons to utilize.  Edward wields special assassin's blades, two swords, multiple pistols, and a blowpipe.  Each type of weapon can be upgraded and there are many varieties of swords and pistols to choose from--from slow-swinging pirate's cutlasses to speedy, rapiers--from highly accurate hand cannons to wide-spreading blunderbusses.  The addition of the blowpipe midway through the game offers a stealthier option for dealing with enemies.

--Plenty of exploration and sidequests.  The map is covered with treasure chests, lost islands, and animus fragments to find.  There are critters to hunt and sea creatures to harpoon, shanties to track down, assassination contracts (both on land and at sea), and underwater shipwrecks to explore.  Not all of these activities are mandatory and players have the freedom to pick which of these activities that they want to complete.

--A cast of famous pirates to befriend (...sort of).  If you're a fan of pirate history or know anything about these characters you will appreciate seeing them pop-up in the game.  I really enjoyed seeing Blackbeard with his hat full of burning wicks.

--Story within a story.  Being new to Assassin's Creed, I understood very little of the animus related part of the story in Odyssey.  Black Flag really shed some light on the entire concept of the animus and how it is tied to playing all these characters in different historical periods (honestly, this concept is sort of genius because it really doesn't have to make any sense and allows for games to be set in any time period with virtually no need for ties between games).  I liked the modern part of the story (I'm still not completely sure what exactly is happening, but at least I have some idea now) and connecting all the dots about what is happening with Abstergo and the Templars.

--Upgradeable pirate hideout.  I really liked the whole concept of having your own island complete with mansion and docks.  Your docks can be used to manage a fleet of ships in a mini-game like activity (which can be used to make some extra cash but also offers unique pieces of art as rewards) and the special art items you unlock are displayed in your mansion.

--For a game from 2013, I thought the graphics looked great.  They aren't 2018 graphics, but the world is still pretty and there are lots of small details to take in.  Each city has a unique look and I loved how the color of the ocean would vary depending on where you were at.

--Assassins armor.  I liked the artistic style of Edward's armor and the various armors worn by the other assassins--it felt simultaneously pirate-like and assassin-like--a perfect combination! 

Cons:
--Controls can feel mushy and slow--especially during hand-to-hand combat.  I would frequently be irritated by the fact that I would be mashing the counter button only to watch it not work at all.  Attacks can also seem like they don't happen very fast--there's a bit of a combo build-up type of thing, but it mostly just makes it feel like you're not in control.  Fighting someone on top of stairs or standing on something is also very awkward and doesn't work at all.  It doesn't ruin the game or anything, it just makes certain things more annoying.

--I wasn't terribly impressed by the story.  I am getting the impression that AC is all about massive conspiracies...which is fine, but I didn't feel anything special about hunting down people or the way the story resolved itself.  After playing this and Odyssey I am getting a strong sense that story isn't really the focal point of AC.  The huge worlds and parkour style stealth seem to be the main focal points.  There were parts of the story I liked, but overall it felt pretty meh.

--I bought it on Steam and still had to activate it through Uplay.  It's yet another game launcher that I have to download and maintain.  The game runs on this weird dual setup between Steam and Uplay.  If you already have Uplay....just get it there.

Recommended for:
--fans of stealth action games
--wannabe pirates
--exploration junkies who want a game chocked full of locations to explore and items to track down
--PARKOUR!  *you like climbing, jumping, balancing, and games that give you the feeling of astounding agility
--people who like stabbing people in video games (you probably shouldn't admit this one...but it's true)
--conspiracy theorists
--people who started off with Odyssey but who want a better feel for the series

Not recommended for:
--people who want an astoundingly strong story in their games.

The holiday season is fast approaching and Black Flag is more than worth the low price that it will be offered for on various sales.  Give piracy a chance!

#TheDreadWolfRises--Fans of Dragon Age Rejoice!

If you're a fan of BioWare games, particularly the Dragon Age series, there has finally been a tiny bit of good news.  For years fans have waited for news of a fourth installment of the fantasy RPG series.  There were some hinting Tweets and comments from the architects of the game, but really nothing concrete.  Yesterday, something concrete finally appeared in the form of a short teaser type of video.

SPOILERS SHALL FOLLOW!  If you haven't finished Inquisition give the next section a pass.

It appears that the fourth game will have much to do with the huge cliffhanger at the end of Inquisition--the fact that Solas was actually an elven god in disguise and who appears to have some very sinister plans for the world of Thedas.  There appears to be some link to the red lyrium that was spreading throughout Thedas and to the lyrium idol that was part of the story in Dragon Age II.  There's also references to events that happen in the Trespasser DLC.  Honestly, there's not much to go on, but just the fact that it appears that they are working on a fourth game offers a huge glimmer of hope for fans of the series.

Spoilers over.

As a fan, I'm fairly excited, but I'm feeling cautious.  Mass Effect:  Andromeda was not a high point for BioWare and there are still many fans who are very bitter about that nightmare--look at any post on social media and usually the top comment is a no-holds-barred smackdown related to Andromeda.  It's hard to forget that entire situation.

My hopes for a new Dragon Age game are that BioWare sticks to what it does well--story, characters, and relationships.  That's naively optimistic--Anthem appears to be taking a completely new tack with its multiplayer focus and I really don't foresee a new game that doesn't include some sort of MP (AKA a continuous revenue stream--which is something that EA definitely wants).  I'm still maintaining my opinion that the success or failure of Anthem could mark a huge change for the way BioWare does games.  If they are able to successfully capture a combination of MP and strong story/character focus, it could mean all future games adopt that model.

It has been a very long time since I've played Inquisition, but watching this trailer has given me a desire to fire up another inquisitor.  I think I've only played the DLC once and I can barely remember it.  I'm currently neck deep in Assassin's Creed glory, so Inquisition is going to have to stay on deck for now.  That's perfectly fine because much of the information related to Dragon Age 4 appears to indicate that a new game is at least several years off.  Until then, we can all fantasize about our perfect DA4 world.

From Philosophy to Piracy

After completing Assassin's Creed: Odyssey (which I enjoyed very much), my yearning for more assassination didn't feel fully sated.  Not to mention the fact that Steam was right in the middle of its Autumn Sale (just call it Black Friday, Steam--we all know that's what you mean!), so it was the perfect time to look into expanding my recently piqued interest in the long-running Assassin's Creed series.  I decided to pick up three other games in the series; Assassin's Creed 4:  Black Flag, Syndicate, and Origins.  I had read that many people consider Black Flag to be the best game in the series and Syndicate and Origins were mentioned as praiseworthy entries.  I've decided to continue my AC journey on the high seas of the Caribbean during the golden age of pirates in Black Flag.

Edward's crew is an assortment of pirate types.

The protagonist in Black Flag is the roguishly handsome Edward Kenway.  Kenway has been introduced as Welshman who has married above his station and who wants to make a fortune.  He decides that the best way to make his fortune is to head off to sea as a privateer (AKA pirate).  After joining up with a crew he finds himself aboard a ship that is attacking a larger English ship.  The firefight is fierce--cannons are booming and ships are ramming each other.  The battle doesn't turn out well for either ship involved, both sustain heavy damage and are sunk.  Edward manages to survive the sinking and finds himself washed ashore on a deserted island--but he's not the sole survivor; a mysteriously hooded Englishman has also survived and has washed up on the beach.  As both men awaken, the hooded figure runs and Edward pursues him.  Upon catching the mysterious character a sword fight ensues and Edward finds himself victorious.  He rummages through the pockets (AKA looting--but it does feel very rummag-ey in Black Flag) and discovers that this man isn't a regular English soldier but is an assassin in possession of a strange object--a small, glass cube.  A letter carried by the assassin implores him to reach a contact in the nearby major city of Havana...it also conveniently mentions that the contact has no idea what this assassin looks like--the perfect opportunity for some 18th century identity theft!  Edward decides to assume the identity of this assassin and head to Havana.  He finds a group of pirates actively searching for the assassin on the opposite end of the island, and after some brief sneaking and assassinating, he manages to find a place aboard a ship heading to Havana.

I've definitely noticed that Black Flag feels much more like a stealth/parkour game than Odyssey does.  Edward can handily scamper up the side of a building and scramble across rooftops like a wily, stray cat.  There are fewer RPG-like features--no dialogue options, no talent points, and no fancy loot system.  Like Odyssey, there is a sprawling map filled with various locations to explore (it's nowhere near to the insane size of ancient Greece, but for a game from 2013, it is impressive).

The highlight of my early adventures in the land of piracy has been the naval combat.  Edward's ship, the Jackdaw, starts off as a ramshackle tub in desperate need of some upgrades.  Even in this early stage the ship offers a formidable array of offensive abilities--chain shot that can be used to slow down enemy ships; broadside cannons that can spew a deadly rain of cannonballs; fire barrels that can be dropped as annoying floating hazards; and smaller deck guns that can pick off enemy sailors during boarding.  Managing those weapons is fairly complicated and involves using the camera to look in a specific direction--it's a little bit crazy.

Thus far, my major dislike has been the sword combat.  It feels much more complicated than it needs to be and engaging multiple enemies is difficult (and, I know that the goal is to avoid this situation, but sometimes things go south).  It's challenging to figure out when to break defenses, counter, and learning how to avoid getting stabbed has been a bit of a learning curve.  Poor Edward has died many times in sword fights due to my poor stealthing skills.

Playing Black Flag has helped me understand the animus technology that was mentioned in Odyssey.  I've learned that it's a type of advanced VR that uses genetic memories.  Part of the story revolves around the idea that you're working for an entertainment company that is testing and developing the technology for public consumption.  The company hopes to use the story of Edward Kenway as one of its scenarios and it's your job to play through that story and pick out the most useful parts.  I haven't been overly concerned with that part of the story, but it does help shed some light on some of the things I didn't understand in Odyssey.

My Assassin's Creed journey has just begun, but it promises to span several historical eras and be filled with much, much more stabbing.

*A quick addition that I forgot to mention--I decided to buy the three games I mentioned on Steam only to find out that you still have to go through Uplay (Ubisoft's digital store).  It was annoying to see that you have to use both platforms.  Just be prepared--you might as well just buy it on Uplay.