Upcoming Titles I'm Excited About

The bad news, I'm STILL trucking through my Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 playthrough.  I can't stop myself now that I'm like 75% done with all the scanner jobs and gigs.  I don't want to write about it any more though because I'm not feeling like there's anything too new or notable about what I'm experiencing.  I'd rather think about some upcoming games that I'm looking forward to.

Game #1:  SteamWorld Build

If you haven't already checked out the SteamWorld series from Thunderful Games, I would highly recommend them.  Interestingly, they stretch over several gaming genres but have a fun, shared world.  With their upcoming game SteamWorld Build, the series looks to branch out into the genre of city builder.  You get to build fabulous, steam-tastic cities for the steambots!  It looks like just the right combination of casual, relaxing gameplay and management.  Here's the trailer:

I'm very much looking forward to designing fabulous, steambot filled cities.  SteamWorld Build releases on December 1st!

Game #2: Slime Rancher 2

Speaking of cozy, fun games, it'd be almost criminal not to consider Slime Rancher 2.  While it is currently available in early access, I've been on the fence about purchasing it.  Part of me really wants to wait until the full release so that I will have access to all the features rather than watching things get cobbled together piece by piece.  At the same time, wrangling all those cute slimes is almost irresistible.  If you're looking for something casual, cute, and enjoyable, do check out the first game in the series--Slime Rancher (it's currently on sale on Steam for $4.99--a total deal!).

Overwhelming cuteness!  There is no official release date, but the early access statement on Steam says that the intention is for the game to be in EA for at least 18 months.  It might be awhile until we have the full release, but I can appreciate the statement that Monomi Park is a no crunch studio.

There really aren't any triple-A/big name titles that I'm clamoring for.  It was a bit disappointing to see that Cities: Skylines II released in a not-so-great state and that people have been panning it all week.  Not only that, but it's doubly disappointing that developers seem content to release unoptimized, poorly functioning games.  I think I'm going to be sticking mostly to my cute indies and non-tirple A titles.

Happy gaming and happy Halloween!

Wanted: Decent Male Romance Option in Games

That magical time has come in my current Cyberpunk 2077 playthrough where I get to make a major decision.  Is this decision about talents?  Nope.  Is it about some major story arc?  Also, no.  Is it about which uber-weapon I'm going to use to blast some baddies?  Not all all.  Instead, it's about the least important but weirdly gratifying part of many modern RPG's...which fictional character my fictional character is going to have a fictional romantic relationship with!  While quite possibly the silliest decision to make in any game, it's something that must be at least a little bit important to gamers because so many modern RPG's include options for these fictional relationships.  And so many gamers seem to care very deeply about them--I've encountered numerous lengthy threads bemoaning the many aspects of video game romantic relationships or with very detailed suggestions for improvements.  Don't get me wrong, as someone who is an introvert and sort of secretly loves the ability to play a confident, badass character who can pick up all the hottest video game folks out there, I too care about video game relationships.  However, I have one serious gripe (okay, semi-serious because as I've hinted, it's a pretty minor issue) about these relationships.  I would like to have some better male romantic options in my video games.  Gay, straight, I don't care, but romancing a male character is usually the worst option.

One of my main issues with male options is that they tend to be very bland.  They fall into two sort of general archetypes--the "good guy" or the "bad boy."  Take Cyberpunk for example--option #1 is River Ward, your stereotypical "good cop" who's trying to fight against a corrupt system.  Option #2 is Kerry Eurodyne (and that's only if you are playing a gay, male V) who takes on the "bad boy" role.  Of the two I find Kerry to be the better written and more interesting character--he's dealing with a bit of an identity crisis and that gives him more depth.

It just feels like so much more detail and nuance goes into creating the female romantic options.  Both Judy and Panam don't feel like they fall into the archetype trap and each character has their own unique set of character flaws to add depth.  I find it interesting that there's not really a super-feminine (the general "hot girl" vibe) option and that both Judy and Panam are attractive, but not overly "girly."

One of the best moments of the Shepard/Garrus romance.

I would love it if we could get some well-written, more interesting male romantic options that have more nuance than your typical "good guy" vs. "bad boy" spectrum.  I think BioWare games have offered up some of the better male romance options.  One of my favorite romances is the one between female Shepard and Garrus Vakarian.  Garrus falls firmly outside the spectrum I described above--he's kind of a dork (always trying to calibrate things), he's awkward (and it's just generally awkward due to the inter-species nature of the relationship), but he's also a badass sniper with a secret sexy side (remember the whole "reach & flexibility" commentary?).  So many people pass up the option to romance Garrus in Mass Effect because Turians aren't exactly the most attractive of the alien species in that series, but I would argue that it's one of the best!

If you're someone who writes characters for video games...please, write a male romantic option who has some nuance.  I know that the ratio of people who play video games skews strongly to the straight, male demographic, but it'd be great to have some variety.  Maybe a skinny, nerdy type who impresses through their knowledge and wisecracking attitude?  Or the confident leader with some serious emotional baggage?  Just please, no more bland "good guy" or edgy "bad boy" types.

Panam is my BFF

A thought occurred to me as I was playing my way through the story missions in Cyberpunk 2077--Panam is actually a good friend, maybe even more so than the other "relationship" options.  As a character, she has grown on me through my multiple playthroughs.  Sure, Kerry, River, and Judy all have their own fun qualities, but when it comes down to who would be an actual good friend, I'd go with Panam--here's why.

1.) Panam seems to be genuinely concerned about V after the biochip issues become apparent.  The other "friend/relationship" characters do too, but none as much as Panam.  She immediately wants to help find a solution and expresses a lot of worry.  The other characters all feel like they have a very surface reaction to V's distressing state of being.

2.) At first I found Panam to be a bit needy.  She texts V about her personal problems (her tenuous status with her clan) and it can feel whiny.  However, after helping Panam and the nomads, they are genuinely accepting of V--I mean they are even willing to take the risk of launching an all out assault against Arasaka.  They freely welcome V into the fold.  The nomads just seem like a cool group of people.

Iconic weapons have new, unique abilities.

Other than deep thoughts about Panam, I've also noticed that most (if not all) iconic weapons now have a special ability.  For example, Jackie's pistol now features an increased chance of burn damage and a temporary crit chance increase for each headshot.  You also receive bonus ammo the next time you use the weapon that is equal to the number of headshots.  I've been using it as my "in case of emergency" weapon for when my sad stealthing skills result in the need to pop a fool in the melon.  I slapped a silencer on it and I've got to say that the increased crit chance is very nice.

My Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 adventures are slowly, but surely progressing.  Thus far, I feel like they oversold some of the "major improvements" that were part of the 2.0 hype.  I wish that they had added in a few new missions that actually utilize things like vehicle combat or conflicts with the NCPD, because so far neither have figured into my current playthrough.  A couple of times the police weren't happy with getting run over (it happens) but speeding off in a different direction easily solved that problem.  Some Witcher 3 style free stuff could've made that possible!

In a way, I'm kind of happy that Cyberpunk has been having a bit of a redemption arc.  I'm just not completely sure that the changes to the game have been as drastic as they were made out to be.  I've yet to try out Phantom Liberty, so maybe it'll offer a vastly improved experience.
  

The Definition of Insanity

Unsurprisingly, my Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 adventures are continuing.  What can I say, it's a big game and I like to play one thing at a time.  My V has become a regular stealth powerhouse and I'm digging the talent path that I've chosen.

Last week I expressed some disappointment in the fact that it seemed like the stealth talents that added in movement bonuses were gone.  That was wrong, and in fact, there are several different movement bonus oriented talents that unlock with points in cool.  Best of all...there's a new "stealth sprint" ability that is pretty awesome.  And, the best part, it works in concert with optical camo!  Sneaking around has gotten so much better with the ability to quickly and invisibly buzz past a problem area and set up a plan to choke out a bunch of bozos.

Slightly less harcore V.  (with cursor because I used the wrong screenshot key)

Beside all my stealth talents, I've spread out the remainder of my point in a few areas.  Reflex talents are nice for those time when you can't avoid a straight up fight--mostly for boss fights and cyberpsychos (although I did still manage to stealth takedown one psycho).  If you want to utilize a decent amount of cyberware, the ability to expand your number of slots is tied to the technical skills tree.  Point in intelligence aren't usually wasted either--especially if you want to do some light hacking.  My only concern is that I may have spread my points out a bit too much, but I haven't had any problems so far.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over...right?  As I was playing, I noticed that I was following my normal pattern of working on side content first and then saving the story missions until later.  One of the things that I dislike (and it's a very petty and silly thing) is the fact that for some missions a specific amount of time needs to pass before you get a call and the mission triggers.  Could I do the simple thing and just "wait" for an amount of time?  Why, yes...yes, I could.  But I refuse!  I don't like to wait and I would rather that my gameplay flows together--I hate the entire concept of "waiting."  My ideal play state is completing side content while I wait for the main missions to trigger with no waiting.  It's dumb, I know.  So, this time around, I'm completing the main story missions first and saving the side stuff for later.

I haven't purchased Phantom Liberty yet, but there do seem to be some tie-ins in the form of new side content.  While completing scanner gigs and side missions in Watson I encountered a new gig that involves rescuing a wounded merc from a safehouse that has been swarmed by Militech goons.  The dude is called "Tiny Mike" and I got the impression that he's somehow attached to part of the new DLC.  He seems cool and rescuing him was a cinch.

Initially I was a bit perplexed by the crafting and upgrade system, but it seems pretty straightforward.  Iconic weapons start at a specific tier and can be upgraded to the next tier with a significant number of tier components.  The confusing part is the fact that they added in a sort of half tier that might make a weapon "tier 3+."  It's fairly expensive (component wise) to upgrade iconic weapons, so I'm trying to be selective by only improving my favorites.

Sadly, my venture into the world of "very hard" difficulty has come to an end.  Most of the scanner missions and gigs are a piece of cake, it's the story missions where the difficulty becomes an issue.  It surprised me in a strange place...the mission with Panam where you sabotage the power station.  Four drones pop out and you have to use the roof turret on Panam's rig to quickly shoot them down.  Those stupid drones were wasting me in like 2 seconds flat!  After attempting it about 25 times I decided that it just wasn't worth the pain (there's no achievement for completing it on "very hard" and I mostly just wanted to see how much harder it actually is).  I turned down the difficulty and the turned it back up--only to shortly encounter the Oda fight and find myself in the same predicament.  Maybe my idea to do the story missions first wasn't so great.

Happy Cyberpunk-ing to everyone out there checking out 2.0!  (Or if you're lucky enough to be playing Phantom Liberty)