Exploring the Depths in Subnautica

Sometimes you just have to look over your pile of shame and reflect on your choices.  I’ve purchased numerous games that I’ve thought sounded like something I’d be interested in only to find out that they’re an absolute miss.  For example, Civilization VI  is a very beloved title among some gamers, but I have found that I dislike 4X games.  They’re not bad–they’re just not my proverbial cup o’ tea.  Upon completing a re-play of DOOM (would recommend the demon smashing madness to any teachers trying to make it through the pre-holiday break weeks), I was browsing my library to find my next adventure.  I’ve been on a bit of a mission to re-play or just play titles from the pile of shame.  One title caught my eye–Subnautica.  I bought it back in 2016, played it for about 4 hours and then decided that it wasn’t for me.  I decided it was time to give it another go and actually found myself enjoying it (...and also not enjoying it at points).

What is it?

An open-world survival game based in a mostly underwater environment.  The basic premise of the story is that you’ve survived the crash landing of your ship and now have 1.) survive, 2.) find out if there are other survivors, and then 3.) discover the mysteries of the planet (not going to spoil it).

How much playtime can you expect?

This number could greatly vary.  If you’re invested in the more creative elements of the game (base building) you could invest many hours.  On the other hand, if you’re just wanting to stick to the main “story” elements you could probably finish it in ~15 hours.  As to replayability, once you’ve experienced the main story beats it kind of kills the replayability.

Pros:

+ The underwater setting helps provide some novel survival elements and unique exploration.  Besides keeping an eye on the normal food/water aspect you also have to make sure to watch the oxygen gauge.  The highlight of the game is definitely the variety of different underwater biomes–they vary from the giant coral tubes of the shallows to the deep volcanic zones of the endgame.  It’s highly enjoyable to find and experience a new biome.

+ Survival is the main focus, but there’s also several storylines to uncover.  You periodically receive distress calls and radio signals from other escape pods and can spend time locating them.  There’s also a hidden story tied to the planet itself that involves mysterious alien structures.

+ Exploration is the best part of the game.  There are new species of life to discover and scan in each new biome.  There’s also the promise of new, fancier minerals and other elements that can be used to craft increasingly more complicated items.  Many blueprints must be discovered, so it’s vital to find and scan wreckage scattered across the world.

+ Crafting and gathering isn’t too onerous and even endgame items generally don’t take a long time to create.  (*mostly).  There are several underwater craft that can be created as well as base building elements that offer up the ability to build an amazing underwater lair.  If building bases is your thing, there are no limits to the number of bases you can build.

+ Multiple game modes for different types of players.  If you just want to explore and build, there’s a creative mode that turns off the survival elements.  The default mode is survival mode where players must eat, drink, and try not to take too much damage.  If you do die, you’ll respawn at the closest base (or large craft, once you build it).  You lose some items, but they can be recovered (if you can find them).  Avoiding dying is fairly easy (although I will say that it’s easy to get distracted by exploration and lose track of your oxygen meter–especially early in the game when you only have a small tank) but you do take damage from certain aggressive creatures and environmental causes (like heat from volcanic vents).

Cons:

- No map.  Yes, it’s an exploration based game and the entire point is trying to find things scattered around the world.  However, I found the lack of map to be irritating.  I’m not saying that I want everything uncovered, but it would be nice to have a map that uncovers as you explore.  Especially as a new player, I didn’t understand that you basically need to be dropping beacons to mark anything you want to find again as your chances of finding something again are small (they’re cheap to craft, so it’s easy to do).  Just drop beacons anywhere you think you’re going to need to return to.  Even with dropping beacons I still had difficulties returning to some of the deeper zones in the late game.

Descriptions on where to find things are fairly vague–something like “1000m SW of this place”.  I found myself looking things up way more than I would’ve liked.  I’ve seen many comments from people saying “well, it’s an exploration game, what do you expect?”  Fair I guess, but I do not find it enjoyable to be fruitlessly searching for something for hours.

- Piloting the largest vessel is a chore.  Yes, it’s basically a floating base, but it’s slow, bulky, and difficult to navigate through some of the tighter areas.  I managed to get it stuck at several points and had to re-load.  You don’t absolutely need to use it, but without some of the key upgrades to the more agile vehicles it is a bit of a necessity at the deeper depths.

- Some players have described the game as “scary.”  I didn’t find it that way, but I suppose some of the sound effects from the aggressive creatures could freak some people out.  There are aggressive creatures that will attack you and your ship, they are threatening and it’s best to steer clear of them.

Recommendation:

Besides the annoyance at the lack of map and my own poor understanding of utilizing beacons, I ended up mostly enjoying Subnautica.  The exploration is enjoyable and there’s a lot of possibility for creativity in building up a mega-underwater base.  Don’t be surprised if you find yourself doing a bit of searching to discover elements of gameplay that aren’t well logged/explained.  I’m someone who tends to struggle with open-ended games that don’t have a clearly defined storyline, but found myself engrossed in exploration, building, and discovery.  Overall, Subnautica is worth your time and money despite a few shortcomings.

Big News in Witcher World!

Last night I logged onto the ol' socials to do some scrolling and got a pleasant surprise--one of the first things that popped up was the brand new trailer for the upcoming Witcher title!  As someone who is a huge Witcher fan, this is something I wasn't anticipating for quite awhile.  The next game in the series will be titled The Witcher IV (kind of uninspired, but continues the progression) and it seems that Ciri is the protagonist.  If you haven't had the chance to take a gander at it yet, here it is in all it's sparkly glory:

I'm sure in the coming days we'll get a bajillion analysis videos of people trying to pick apart every tiny detail.  It's inevitable, so why not simply join the fray?

I completely expect there to be an entire discourse about Ciri being a witcher for a couple of reasons.  Firstly, Ciri never underwent the full mutations to become a witcher.  Geralt and company didn't want to put her through that torture.  This doesn't mean that she's not capable of fighting off monsters, after all she trained with witchers AND she is gifted with extremely powerful magical abilities.  Curiously, her powerful abilities do not feature at all in this trailer.  Anyone who played The Witcher 3 knows that one of her best abilities is blinking as a form of dodging.  As the Lady of Time and Space, Ciri might not need those witcher mutations to be a top notch monster slayer.  I'm betting that people will also call out the fact that Ciri gulps down a witcher potion in the trailer--something that she likely shouldn't be able to do per the lore of the game.

(Spoilers below about The Witcher 3 endings!)

The second discourse will likely be about the the fact that choices that led to certain endings in The Witcher 3 seem not to matter--Ciri becomes a witcher appears to be the canon ending.  There will probably be some sad panda folks griping about the fact that their choices don't matter...blah, blah.  Honestly, Ciri becoming a witcher is my favorite ending and was the one that made the most sense for a potential sequel.

(ADDENDUM: The Game Director has addressed the questions about Ciri not being a full witcher and revealed that in the fourth game she is a full witcher--she took the trial of the grasses in the time between the third and fourth game.  It makes sense given the fact that she has gone the route of being a witcher--I am curious if it will be something detailed in story.  It's also bound to stir up some controversy because the Kaer Mohren witchers stated that they didn't want to ever have to do it again [during the scene where they administer the trial to Uma/Avallach].  Ciri becoming a full witcher tracks with me--there's a moment in the "becomes a witcher" ending where Geralt implies that she'll never be as fast or as good as a real witcher since she hasn't had the mutations.  I could totally see her making the big decisions to go through with it.  We'll just have to wait and see how it ties into the story.) *My sourcing for this isn't great--it was posted on a fan page with no source listed.  It seems plausible to me though.

There are a few other details that I've seen some discussion around.  The very beginning of the trailer mentions that it's rendered with a "unreleased NVIDIA GPU," so I think folks can expect the 50 series cards to be dropping in the near future (*the folks who want to spend $2k on a GPU).  The trailer does look amazing though.

Personally, I enjoyed the fact that the same core Witcher vibes are present in this video.  You've got the scared villagers bowing to actually needing a witcher while simultaneously disliking them; you've got the whole "who's the real monster?" message hanging over the scenario--it's one of the best parts of the series.  I'm hoping that the new game keeps that core in place.

One thing that stood out to me is that Ciri is plainly older (*people will also probably complain that her VA seems to be different) and more seasoned.  Maybe part of the story will address the endings and the time between the end of The Witcher 3 and this new game?  Maybe Ciri's been honing her skills with Geralt (who, in my game, is living the good life in Corvo Bianco in Toussaint)?  Maybe she's been conquering the world with Nilfgaard (not my favorite ending)?  I'm curious about how this will be addressed.

I found the 2025 release date to be a bit surprising--it seems like next year has the potential to be a big year in gaming with the release of Grand Theft Auto VI and now The Witcher IV.  I've been thinking about building a new PC (it's getting to be that time) and maybe it's finally time.  In reality, CD Projekt games are usually delayed (*with the exception of the absolute fiasco that was the CyberPunk 2077 release--and I don't expect them to make that mistake twice) and they seem like they want to avoid a bad release.  We'll see what happens.

Overall, I'm pretty pumped about this trailer.  Lots of fans were hoping that they'd get a game with Ciri as protagonist.  I'm very interested to see where they take the lore since there aren't any more books.

Surviving the Onslaught

Even though every holiday sale makes me want to start scratching titles off my Steam wishlist, I managed to contain my purchases to just one game (and collected DLC).  The best part--all of it was under $15!  I've been mostly managing to die, but I did survive once (and it was downright magical).  Of what title do I speak?  Vampire Survivors, my friends.

What is it?

Steam uses the following tags: action roguelike, bullet hell, pixel graphics, and 2D.  Basically, you pick a character (who is maybe a vampire?), you pick a map, and you try to survive the onslaught of enemies and run out the clock.  You gain experience from picking up various crystals that drop from killed enemies.  That experience is used to gain new abilities.  Much of the gameplay is avoiding enemies, snatching up crystals, and trying to figure out the synergy between different abilities.  Basic, right?  It's anything but simple though.

How much playtime will you get?

Potentially an infinite amount.  There are a ton of unlockables that will keep you playing.  Most maps have a time limit (basically the point at which you are killed...in the rare case that you manage to make it that long) around 30 minutes.

Pros:

+ Almost infinite playtime for a low, low price.  I snagged the base game for $3.74 as part of the Steam Autumn sale.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to grab all the DLC for an additional $10-ish.  If you're someone who doesn't have a lot of money to spend on games, it's the perfect option.

+ Deceptively simple gameplay.  The entire premise of the game is surviving as long as you can.  Actually doing that is quite challenging.  A big part of the challenge is figuring out which combination of weapons/buffs work best.  There's definitely some strategizing involved.  Each time you level up you get to choose from a list of 3-4 random options--some are offensive/weapon options and some are buffs (like speed).

+ Roguelike elements.  Each map and the progression of enemies stays the same, but drops can vary.  One of the best parts are enemies that occasionally drop treasure chests.  These chests will give you one upgrade to an ability plus a certain amount of gold.  Gold can be used to unlock new characters or purchase permanent character buffs (such as +5% speed) that apply across the board.  Basically, your character gets slightly stronger with these buffs (that you can choose to purchase...or not, if you're super leet).

The character selection screen.  There's a scroll bar, so that's only a few.

+ Tons of unlockables. Certain characters are only unlockable once you've reached specific milestones.  New maps are also unlockable (again, they require accomplishing a specific goal).  Even if you just stick with the base game, there are a lot of options.  Each character starts with a certain ability and has their own strengths (and weaknesses).  It's a lot of fun figuring out how to play each character and picking out favorites.  There's also an entire system of weapon evolution that unlocks largely through discovery and picking the correct combination of items (you could always look it up, but that spoils the fun).

+ Low requirements.  Got an older PC?  This is a perfect choice.

+ Crossover content from other games/fandoms.  I'm not very familiar with them, but the newest DLC is Castlevania themed.

+ A fun soundtrack of high energy music.

+ Controller support.

Weapon/ability unlockables.  I've barely made a dent.

+ Multiple gameplay modes.  There's the regular survival mode and then "adventure" mode (*might be a DLC feature) which lets you play a story-based mode.  Each map in adventure mode has a specific goal that has to be accomplished before the next map unlocks.  Characters, weapons, and abilities from adventure mode can then be played in the base game.

+ 4-player local co-op.  Perfect for couch play with friends.

Cons:

- Moments of feeling repetitive.  The basic premise of the gameplay is always the same--run around, avoid enemies, kill as many as you can, and try to survive.  Mostly the roguelike elements make it feel fresh, but it's the kind of game that's best if played in shorter sessions.

- Can feel frustrating.  There's definitely a learning curve for figuring out which abilities work best together and you fail a lot.  I still haven't fully figured it out.

- No tutorial or explanation about certain aspects of gameplay.  The basic premise of the game is so simple that it doesn't really need a tutorial, but I was boggled by the concept of evolving weapons and had to look it up.  (Certain weapons and abilities work together and when fully upgraded can unlock a new, more powerful form of a weapon)   There are relics located on each map but no explanation about what that means (relics are items that unlock new, helpful features of gameplay--for example, finding the map of the Milky Way will unlock a map of each level that shows where certain permanent power-ups and, more importantly, coffins--which contain new, unlockable characters but require the ability to kill off all the guardians of the coffin--are located).  Expect to be doing some Googling to figure it out.

The one time I won.

Recommendation:

Vampire Survivors is an enjoyable game that is extremely affordable.  The almost infinite replayability and low requirements mean that it's perfect for a lot of gamers.  It has moments of feeling repetitive and frustrating, but mostly it's a lot of fun.  I would recommend grabbing it (even at full price--which is only $4.99).

Smokin' Hot Deals

Enjoying the 5 billion Black Friday e-mails you've received?  I know that I've woken up to my inbox crammed full of hysterical e-mails begging me to buy something because the deals are sooo amazing (fun fact--they're really usually not that great but our little peanut brains just like buying things waaaay too much).  But I'll admit...my little peanut brain has been buying things!  And, of course, the Steam Autumn sale is here so that I can extend my purchases to the world of video games as well.  What to buy though?  Here's my advice on what to grab in the current Steam sale.

1.) Mass Effect: Legendary Edition

If you're like me, you might be somewhat opposed to purchasing remasters/remakes/basically the same game(s) twice.  Buuuut, thanks to the magic of the SALES you can grab the updated Legendary Edition for the smokin' hot price of $4.99.  For the price of a fancy coffee drink you can play one of the best sci-fi RPG's out there.  The legendary edition does have some benefits over the basic games--firstly, the first game has received a graphics update and a few minor gameplay tweaks.  It looks good for a game from 2007, but it unfortunately does still play like the original game from 2007.  Secondly, you get all the DLC (this includes special promotional content/pre-order bonuses).  Lastly, it's nice not to have to manage importing saves and having everything just carry over from game to game automatically.  There are some other fun features like a new screenshot tool that make your $4.99 worth it.

Avoid the baddies and grab those crystals.

2.) Vampire Survivors

Don't want to spend a fortune on a new game?  Well, for $3,74 you can get an oddly enjoyable game that I've found myself being really bad at, but still wanting to play.  I knew very little about the game but thanks to crossover content in Balatro and a goofy meme about games that are great and don't have uber-leet graphics, I decided to give it a try.  It's a sort of survival/roguelike/bullet hell/run around grabbing crystals for as long as you can/video game.  There are a ton of different characters to unlock and it has some mechanics that give it a ton of replayability.  

3.) Dave the Diver

I can't rave enough about Dave the Diver and would recommend it to someone who's looking for a relaxing, but fun game that doesn't require a top of the line PC to play.  It's part action adventure/exploration/roguelike/management and has a great cast of characters, story, and gameplay.  You can grab it for $13.99 and there's a lot of fun crossover content from other games that has been added in.

4.) Red Dead Redemption 2

No, I'm not recommending the recently released re-master of the original Red Dead Redemption (I am still of the opinion that it's overpriced), but would steer folks toward the amazing RDR2.  For $19.79 you can grab one of the best RPG's out there.  Us PC folks had to wait a long, long time for it to finally migrate to the PC world, so there's a chance that some people might've slept on it.  It's definitely worth your time and is one of my all-time favorites. (*Who knows when we'll actually see Grand Theft Auto VI on PC....I wouldn't anticipate it any time soon though)

5.) Cyberpunk 2077

Maybe you were turned off by the extremely bad release back in 2021 (it was a disaster) and just never pulled the trigger on it.  Thanks to years of redemptive work by CD Projekt, Cyberpunk has evolved into a fun and replayable RPG.  It's still not perfect, but I do have a special place in my heart for Night City and all its violent dysfunction.  For $26.99 you can easily spend 100+ hours tooling around as a decked out V.  (*for $46.90 you can get the base game and the "Phantom Liberty" DLC).

There are a ton of other deals out there, but those are my personal recommendations.  And, in just a few weeks the holiday sale will roll around and there will be even more deals to consider.  Happy shopping and gaming!

Retrospective Platforming

There's a feature on Steam that I mostly ignore--recommendations from your library about what to play next.  Mostly it picks games that you haven't played either at all (AKA the ol' pile of shame) or for a long time.  I had just finished up my latest quest for cult domination in Cult of the Lamb and just happened to glance at he recommendation.  It was showcasing Ori and the Will of the Wisps--a game that I had purchased but never played through Steam (I did play it during my brief foray into the world of the XBOX PC Game Pass back when they offered an introductory month for $1).  I thought to myself "huh, why not?" and decided to start my Ori journey with the original game (Ori and the Blind Forest).  I thought I would reflect on it after replaying for the first time in seven (woooow) years.

Ori and Naru

What's Great About It:

1.) Modern platformers are so much more than ye olde Nintendo classics like Mario Bros.  Ori takes the classic formula of jumping, navigating risky terrain, and fighting off enemies and adds in a ton of fun variations that truly make cute little Ori feel like the lithe forest spirit that they are.  I love the bash mechanic that lets you move for long distances without touching the ground--it requires a bit of practice before you'll get the hang of it, but once you do, it's downright magical.

2.) The story (yes, there's a story), the artwork, the environments, and the music are all fabulous.  As much as you want to just stop and take in everything around you while you play, you've gotta keep Ori moving along on his quest.  The soundtrack is by far one that deserves to live on your video games playlist--tons of beautiful piano that perfectly accents the mood of the game.  You'll find Ori navigating through a diverse array of environments--a lush forest, a swampy marsh, a rocky mountain....each environment has its own enemy types and unique hazards to avoid.

3.) Hidden secrets to find.  As you unlock new abilities for Ori it's very worthwhile to travel back to previously visited areas to use those skills to traverse terrain that was previously unreachable.  Finding all the hidden energy orbs and health boosters is an additional challenge (*extra points for finding them yourself and not looking up a guide)

4.) Ori and the Blind Forest features a save mechanic that is unique--using Ori's energy, players can create save points almost anywhere.  It's nice to be able to save throughout particularly tricky areas and not have to completely re-navigate them (if you have enough energy, that is).

5.) It's short.  If you're looking for an option that's not going to take months to complete...you can finish the entire story of Ori in ~10 hours (if you decide to go secret hunting, it could add time to that).

What's Not-So-Great:

1.) If you're someone who gets frustrated and gives up easily, Ori is likely one that will push your buttons.  It has the ability to simultaneously make you feel awesome and also like chucking your controller through the nearest object (don't do it!).  You die a lot--that's just part of learning the mechanics of the game.  I could see how this might turn some players off.

2.) Pulse pounding chase sequences that require near perfection.  No spoilers, but at the end of each zone there's some sort of event where Ori must quickly escape from some encroaching threat.  These are set events and they must be 100% completed--there are no saves!  It can take many tries, but you'll eventually get it right.  It can be VERY frustrating and there are times where that controller chucking urge is needs to be quashed.  To those who want games to be harder...well, here you go (there are also multiple difficulty options for the leet among us).

Retroactive Opining:

I thought Ori and the Blind Forest was great the first time I played it, and I still fully agree with that assessment.  Even if you're someone who's not big into platformers, it's an all-around enjoyable experience.  If you haven't played Ori yet, I'd recommend picking it up (*the Steam autumn sale is right around the corner and I'm sure you could snag the two game Ori bundle for a song).

Bless the Lamb!

I decided it would be worth investing $5.99 in a little DLC for Cult of the Lamb and decided to fire up an entirely new cult.  After conquering the evils within and building up a cadre of loyal cultists, I'm ready to report on the "Pilgrim Pack" DLC.  It's always nice to fire up a game that I haven't played in a minute and see what has been added.

Firstly, I have to admit that I didn't read the description of the DLC that closely, which is something that you should do.

The comic book and additional fun book.

Pros:

+ It's only $6.99!  That's pretty cheap for some additional content (I saved $1 from a sale).

+ The DLC adds in a short, comic book style story based in the world of Cult of the Lamb.  The comic book is a fun piece of artwork/additional storytelling.  It's short and probably takes 10-15 minutes to read through.

+ As part of the story tied to the comic book you unlock two new followers (and follower forms).  There's a quest to initially rescue one of the characters from a dungeon and then later there's another one.  Upon rescuing the second character there's an additional quest to travel back to the dungeon to find the personal effects of the character.  Once found, this also unlocks another goofy little artbook that is fun.

+ There are a few new decorative items added in as part of the DLC.  They're sort of bamboo garden inspired.

Cons:

- As I admitted at the top, I didn't fully read the description of what the DLC was (like a dum-dum) and absorbed that it involved new quests, a story, and some new followers.  I figured there would be a bit more to it...and, I suppose the comic book/goofy book were that other part.

Recommendation:

I would say that it would be best to try to get this DLC on sale--you don't get a ton of new content and $6.99 feels steep for what do you actually get.  Granted, I did want to re-play it and the new content does help give you something to look forward to.  If you're a fan of the game, you'll likely enjoy it (I did).

That Ending Tho--Part 2

This summer I finally decided it was time to invest in the "Phantom Liberty" DLC for CyberPunk 2077.  Yeah, I'm a bit late to the party, but I wanted to see how everything shook out before dropping an additional $29.99.  I did enjoy the DLC, but thanks to a recent conversation with a student about video games, I realized that I never wrote up a reflection on the "new" ending that's one of the added bonuses of purchasing the DLC. (Here's the link to my "Phantom Liberty" review--link) Spoiler warning:  This post will reference ALL endings to CyberPunk 2077.  Read on with caution!

Like any good RPG/CD Projekt Game, the end of "Phantom Liberty" forces V to make some heavy decisions about the key characters wrapped up in the events taking place in Dogtown.  There's Solomon Reed, the sleeper FIA agent whose loyalty to the NUSA seems unwavering (voiced and modeled after the excellent Idris Elba).  And, of course, there's So-Mi "Songbird," an enigmatic netrunner type whose motivations are hazy at best.  Your choices of endings comes down to decisions made during the last mission of the "Phantom Liberty" DLC--you can choose to help Songbird escape or to work with Solomon to capture Songbird.

I opted to help Songbird escape and if you're someone who enjoys intense combat, I would highly recommend choosing it as an option.  To help her escape, V must travel to the lunar launch port (a referenced, but inaccessible part of the base game) and infiltrate it so that Songbird can make it to a rocket that will help her escape to the moon.  The downside is that the FIA/NUSA is onto the plot and once V makes it to the port, it's crawling with goons--things fall apart quickly and escaping turns into a desperate sprint/battle through hordes of NUSA soldiers.  The entire thing culminates in one of the most intense combat sequences in the game--one last defensive stand against waves of soldiers trying to capture Songbird.  I've gotta admit, it's a rough battle (you probably want to holdout on starting "Phantom Liberty" until later in the game for the best combat abilities).  V, with Songbird's ability to utilize the dark magics of hacking the Blackwall, holds out long enough to escape...but Songbird is in rough shape and is barely hanging on.

Dogtown has its own vibe.

Once V and Songbird arrive at the shuttle, none other than Solomon Reed appears for one last plea--V must turn Songbird over to the NUSA.  He makes very few guarantees of her safety and dangles a big bonus to the deal--if V turns over Songbird, they can have access to the best doctors and scientists in the NUSA...specialists who could likely extract the Relic and save V's life.  Alternately, you can shoot Reed and put Songbird on the shuttle to the moon.  There's no deal, but Songbird lives.  Since I wanted to experience the "new" ending, I opted to turn Songbird over.

One of the most interesting aspects of opting for Reed's deal is that it seems like you don't even have to play through the rest of the game (if you choose to).  You can call him up at any time and the new ending will play out (that's the impression I got anyway).  I did choose to play through the rest of it and when you get to the point of making the "big" choice with Johnny you can opt to call Reed.  Reed shows up with a helicopter and a doctor who can assess V's condition.  There's an uncomfortable discussion that's basically Johnny's goodbye--V can apologize for the choice but Johnny's pretty salty about simply disappearing.  I don't love Johnny, but it feels bad to just cut him loose to save V's life.  V's condition declines and the doctor is forced to give them an anesthetic...everything cuts to black.

The next scene starts with V waking up in a hospital room.  A few seconds later, Solomon Reed appears and explains the situation to V--the surgery was a success, the Relic is gone (and Johnny with it).  The bad news...V has been in a coma for three years...plus, the Relic caused so much damage to V's nervous system that they will never be able to utilize any cyberware.  He then presents V with some options--they can choose to stay and take a desk job with the FIA or they can return to Night City.  Before the choice is made, a scene that is slightly similar to the Arasaka ending plays out.  V can call up some of their former pals from Night City.  The first call my V made was to her romantic partner, Judy.  Judy is shocked to hear from V, but the reality is that three years have gone by...life, and Judy, has moved on.  Judy is happily married and has left Night City.  It's a bit of a bummer, but V can still try to contact their other pals--calling Panam results in no answer (weird for someone who was best pals with V).  Viktor does answer and offers up his medical expertise to try to see if V can actually use cyberware.  Solomon then re-enters the room and you can make your final decision--stay or return to Night City.  I opted to have V return.

Upon returning to Night City, V is greeted with a city that has obviously been overtaken by Militech interests (there are some newsy type of references that imply that Arasaka withdrew from the NUSA thanks to internal family turmoil)--the streets are crawling with Militech soldiers and mechs.  V arrives at what used to be Misty's store to discover that it's gone--replaced with a Zetatech tech store.  It turns out that Viktor finally chose to sell out to the corporate interests and is now under their employ.  V manages to negotiate a quick visit with Viktor and heads down to his shop.  Viktor is pleased to see V and assesses her condition...unfortunately, Reed was correct, V's system is beyond repair and they can't equip any cyberware.  The whole situation ends awkwardly when a Zetatech client shows up and Viktor has to essentially push V out the door to handle them.

V is understandably shook and is trying to navigate the narrow alleys around the shop when they are confronted by two street thugs (a common occurrence in Night City).  V of the past wouldn't even blink at these two fools, but current V is cyberware-less and still recovering from a three year long coma.  V takes a beating, but luckily a bystander shows up...it's Misty, but a much different Misty--she's lost her punk aesthetic.  They're shocked to see each other and strike up a conversation--V asks about the store and Misty discusses Viktor's decision to sellout.  Of course Misty was adamantly opposed and it has strained her relationship with him.  In fact, Misty is there because she's saying goodbye--she's leaving Night City for good.  Misty's always good for a deep conversation and V reveals their inability to wield cyberware.  Misty implores V to accept things--yeah, V can't be the badass, edgerunner that they wanted to be, but they still have a life...even if it is bland, normal one.  Misty grabs a cab and departs...V blends into the crowd of nobody's walking the streets of Night City.

Like any good CD Projekt Red ending...it's a mixed bag.  This is the only ending where V gets to live (longer than a few months and as themselves--not Johnny's consciousness in V's body).  The obvious downside is that V's dreams of climbing the ladders of Night City success have been completely dashed.  I guess it does really come down to Dex's two choices--would you rather live fast and die young as a Night City legend or live a long, boring life?  V's faced with the long, boring life choice (but is that such a bad thing?  It definitely feels like it in this context).  I was vaguely excited for this ending because I had seem someone comment that they cried...I thought they meant that in a good way!  It turned out to be a bit of a bummer.

It's nice to have another ending after having played through ALL of the others (and honestly, none of them are "perfect").  I like to envision V as staying in Night City and becoming a top fixer.  At least that's semi-positive.

So Far, So Good

Dragon Age: The Veilguard released on Thursday--no, I haven't purchased it (it's a potential future investment) or played it, but I'm watching the chatter on a very active Dragon Age fan page.  I've also been semi-reading at least the headlines for reviews and they seem pretty good.  I figured that if it was an absolute dog that I'd know pretty quickly--so far folks seem content.  There have been some gripes (normal release day stuff like slow downloads) but it seems like things have mostly been smooth sailing.  I'm awaiting the impressions from first playthroughs from the fans--reviews are great and all, but I like to see what actual players say too.  If you are playing, I hope you're having a great time and you get that Dragon Age fix that folks have been waiting for.

The stage plays mxmtoon's songs during the week.

Me, I'm still re-playing Dave the Diver but am about to the point where I'm getting ready to move onto something else.  It's still great--(and this playthrough has gone exponentially better since I understood the upgrade system for food and have made way more money than on my first playthrough) and there are a few new events.  One event involves a budding music star who wants to dive with Dave to find green sea urchins for a special dish.  It winds up being an escort style mission where she searched for the urchins and you have to defend her from unfriendly fish.  Completing the mission rewards a new item, a speaker and microphone that can be placed in Bancho Sushi and the singer (mxmtoon--no clue who this person is in real life) will perform on the weekends.

The best event that has been added is the Dredge crossover.  Once in awhile a red mist will show up--this allows you to play a sort of Dredge mini-game where Dave can pilot the ship to special whirlpools and dive for aberrated fish.  The fish are the same as those found in Dredge and they are aggressive, so it's similar to a regular night dive.  The best part is that those aberrated fish can be cooked into special dishes for the hooded figures who appear in Bancho Sushi--they'll pay a premium for the dishes and any extra fish can be sold to the merchant (from Dredge).  You can make a decent amount of cash from this event, but it only appears once in awhile (I've only had it pop up twice in my current playthrough).

I did purchase the DLC Pilgrim Pack for Cult of the Lamb and will probably give it a go once I'm done diving with Dave.  Happy gaming eveyone!

Geek Chic

I've decided to re-visit one of my favorite games of the last few years, Dave the Diver, and would recommend a re-play for anyone who hasn't played in awhile.  They just added in some fun crossover content with some other indies--namely Balatro!  I was surprised to see a new mission appear when Dave traveled to the Sea People village and then found myself engaged in a few bouts of Balatro with various citizens.  It's fun and rewards a new charm.  Previously, they also added in content related to the creepy, mystery game Dredge.  Apparently there's even more that I haven't encountered yet!

It's also worth mentioning for all my BioWare fan peeps out there that Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on October 31st.  For the sake of BioWare, I'm hoping that it turns out to be a hit.  I'm worried that another flop might drive the last nail into the coffin of one of my favorite studios.  Let's all collectively cross our fingers.

Since I'm not playing anything new, I thought I would talk about geeky clothing and some options out there for folks who are looking to put their gamer status on public display.  I'm not someone who's super fashionable, but I do like a fun, gaming themed t-shirt.  Nowadays it seems like our shopping options have expanded, but it's always a bit nerve wracking to order online because you just never know if the place you are ordering from is legitimate or if their items are of a good quality.

So you want to buy some gaming themed-gear--here are some options with pros and cons.

1.) Official Merch Stores

Pros:

+ It's licensed merchandise from the studio.  You can generally expect it to be high quality.

+ If a title is popular enough there will be lots of fun designs and plenty of new stuff.

+ A variety of products--art, clothing, collectibles, etc.

+ Good sale prices for less popular titles and discontinued items.

+ Sometimes free shipping is included (if you spend a certain amount)

Cons:

- Spendy. That "official" label means you're probably going to be spending more.

- Customer service for some merch stores can be iffy.

- Less popular titles usually have fewer available items.

I've purchased items from the BioWare, Bethesda, and CD Projekt Red stores and had good experiences with each.  Mostly I purchased clothing but also some posters.  The posters all were shipped in sturdy tubes that kept them from being damaged.

One of the designs I purchased from RedBubble.

2.) RedBubble

I decided to give RedBubble a try even though I had read pretty mixed reviews online.  I ordered three t-shirts (and am currently washing them, so we'll see how they hold up)--all different designs and colors.

Pros:

+ Lots of designs and options for many games.

+ Options for many different types of items--stickers, blankets, posters, clothing...etc.

+ T-shirts can be ordered in a wide array of colors/styles

+ Website was easy to use.

+ Cheaper than official merch.

Cons:

- Designs purportedly come from "artists" but I'm skeptical.  It really feels to me that graphics are likely copied from...somewhere and then used/re-used.  (I mean, when you have multiple "artists" offering the same design...c'mon.)  If you're someone who wants to actively support artists and not just pay someone who is copying a design, look elsewhere.

- Slow shipping (unless you want to pay a small fortune for expedited shipping).  Maybe it was just my personal experience, but I was almost at the point of asking for a refund because my order took so long.  Firstly, it takes several BUSINESS days before your order is printed.  Then it actually ships--my order was UPS Mail Innovations which delivers through the USPS.  It took 3-4 days before my order was ready, then it took 4 days for my order to depart the first stop....then it took 5 days to finally make it to my house.  If you're expecting an Amazon Prime Style 2-day experience...it's not that.

- The quality of the t-shirts themselves seems mostly okay.  They are a thinner material that's soft-ish.  If you're expecting super high quality, spend more and look elsewhere.

-Many online reviews are mixed and the print quality on the shirts can be iffy.  (Mine all looked fine, so no complaints here)

- Designs can only be placed directly in the middle on the front or back of the shirt.  It's a bit plain and not as fun as shirts that feature front and back designs.

Some other options:

*I haven't ordered anything from these retailers, but I'm interested in their products and they look to have some cool items.  I thought I would just throw them out there as options for people who might be looking.

1.) Insert Coin Clothing (link)

They have a wide variety of items including clothing and accessories.  You can shop by game and there are a mix of older and newer titles to choose from.  Their prices are a bit on the higher side, but they do have some pretty cool looking stuff.

2.) fangamer (link)

If you're looking for gear from non-triple A titles, fangamer offers up a diverse array of items from some notable indies.  There are plushes, clothing, collectibles (like artbooks), and other items.  They have some awesome looking designs, but the downside is that they are probably the priciest option out there (t-shirts run around $36).

3.) Draculabyte (link)

If you want some unique t-shirts from movies and games, their designs are heavy metal inspired and very unique.  They only sell t-shirts, but I would encourage you to check out the variety of designs.  I'm keeping them bookmarked for the future.

Happily Ever After

The latest "special pack" for PowerWash Simulator features locations from a perennial favorite--the Shrek franchise.  It's one of numerous additional content packs from my favorite (and really the only) powerwashing simulator.  But is it worth spending another $7.99?

What is it?

The latest additional content features 5 locations from the Shrek movies.  Like all the "special packs" it also adds in a new player skin and washer skin (knight themed).  If you're hoping for new attachments...wish more.

Pros:

+ I love Shrek and I think there are a lot of people out there who are also fans.  Some of their other "special packs" felt like somewhat odd choices (Back to the Future is definitely one that will appeal to older gamers...which, I'm guessing is their target demographic).  There are 5 new locations to clean and they tend to fall in the range of the first and second films (the third one was a bit of a dud, so no loss there).

Each map is sprinkled with cute little details like the ogre doll.

The 5 locations are:

1.) Duloc--a large map with lots of Lord Farquad related details.  The famous Duloc information board is featured (but sadly, it doesn't play the song).

2.) Hansel's Hideaway--the location of Shrek and Fiona's honeymoon.  It's a smaller map, but there are tons of cute candy details on the cabin.  The best part--you get to wash the onion carriage!

3.) Fairy Godmother's potion factory.  This is a large map that has a ton of moving machinery (that can be stopped) and small details (the potions have fun names from the movies).  I'm fairly certain it took me the longest to clean.

4.) Shrek's Swamp.  This is a medium sized map, but is a signature location from the films.  Rather than being simply mucky, it features fun layers of different colored glitter (which is surprisingly enjoyable to clean).  All the little details from the movie are present--the jar of eyeballs that Shrek is snacking on, the bucket shower in the swamp, and all the warning signs.

Dragon's Cookbook for "Knightly Treats"

5.) Dragon's Lair.  I wasn't sure about this map at first, but even though it makes only a brief appearance in the films, they packed it with a ton of cute details.  There's a giant frog statue of King Harold (the frog king from the second movie) and an entire sparkling pile of treasure to clean up.  I enjoyed all the fun stuff they added.

+ No vehicle-only maps (which has been a gripe of some players).  All five of the maps will take you a good chunk of time to clean.

Cons:

- It might be a bug, but on two of the maps that featured the large, movable tower for cleaning, the tower would become unmovable if placed in certain locations.  In order to fix this I had to quit the map, start another one and reset items to their original position.  It's slightly annoying, but nothing too major.

- I'm sure some people will be upset that there aren't any new washer attachments.

Recommendation:

If you're a fan of Shrek or PowerWash Simulator, this pack is definitely worth your $7.99.  It was a bit of a nostalgia trip to be cleaning up the swamp--tons of fond memories of the first two films.  The maps are all good sized and packed with tons of details from the film (and added stuff that is fun).  

Cleaning up the Swamp

I've been happily tooling away at cleaning up fictional locations from the Shrek cinematic universe in PowerWash Simulator's latest special pack.  It's fun to see the settings from the film spattered with muck and then sparklingly clean.  So far I've only managed to clean one map--they start you off with Duloc and it's a big-un.  I'm looking forward to spending more time spraying away at some other Shrek themed locales and writing up a full review of all the spraying good times I'm having.

In other news:

1.) Red Dead Redemption is making its way to PC!

If you're at all familiar with how Rockstar does things, you know that PC gamers just have to be patient.  Eventually the titles will make their way onto our favorite platform...I mean, someday, right?  The news dropped this week that the OG Red Dead will be releasing October 29th.  The PC version promises all the bells and whistles that certain PC gamers clamor for--fancy-shmancy graphics settings (4k and whatnot) mostly.  For the completely non-2004 price of $49.99 you can grab the base game plus the "undead nightmare" DLC.  Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of my all time favorites, but I think I'll be waiting on this one until we start seeing a great price reduction.  ($50 for a game that came out 20 years ago!  Seems a little nuts, but I'm sure they've thrown in all the great re-mastering)

Here's the trailer--it has some real 2004 vibes, but it is a Rockstar game which means that it's gonna be worth playing:

2.) Remember:  You don't actually own any games.

If you logged into Steam at all this week you were prompted with a pop-up window to agree to a new subscriber agreement.  Did any of us actually read it?  Probably not.  Apparently though, part of the new agreement was none too gently reminding us that we don't actually own the game...just a license to play the game through Steam.  It's when these things start happening that you feel a little itchy and nervous.  Even though I've never experienced it, other distribution platforms have pulled games that people paid for and they've lost the ability to play said game.  Yeah, it's not exactly a consumer-friendly business practice, but they're holding all the cards.  If you want to own your games outright, GOG is your best option (and they were crowing about that fact when this news dropped).

Happy gaming!  Whether you're counting down to the new/old Red Dead or Dragon Age: The Veilguard, there's plenty to look forward to.

Make Singleplayer Games Great Again!

I've got nothing new to report on my own personal gaming front--I'm still just waiting in excited powerwashing anticipation of the Shrek themed special pack that releases on October 10th.  One piece of gaming news/research made me perk up this week--in 2023 a research firm surveyed gamers in many different countries about their gaming habits.  The survey largely revolved around what types of games players preferred--PvP, Co-op, PvE, or singleplayer.  Younger gamers (in the 16-24 range) definitely leaned toward PvP/online games.  Older gamers tended to lean more toward singleplayer (with the percentage drastically increasing as the age range gets higher) games.  It's maybe mildly surprising to me--the percentage of younger gamers who said they preferred singleplayer games was lower, but still about 30%.  The big takeaway is that 53% of gamers say the prefer singleplayer games--this when it seems like so many games are focused on being "live service" or multiplayer.  53% isn't an overwhelming number, but for years we've heard that singleplayer gaming is in its death throes and that doesn't seem to be the case.

Singleplayer games reign!

When I was younger, I definitely preferred multiplayer games.  I was a dedicated World of Warcraft player who leaned toward the more PvE aspects of the game and was heavily invested in raiding.  WoW was always one of those games where I felt like you had to choose a path of dedication--either you let it consume your soul or you were a filthy casual who popped on once in awhile to mess around.  To me, spending $15 a month to just mess around once in awhile didn't seem worth it (I definitely got my $15 worth).  I still have (mostly) fond memories of playing WoW and the people I raided with--they were good people from all around the U.S. (and world!).

The reality of being younger is that you have more free time to spend on gaming--you usually have fewer commitments.  It was easy for me to dedicate 2-3 hours 2 or 3 times a week to raiding (but let's be real...that time was usually greater because if you were going to do raiding RIGHT you also had to make sure you had stocked up on all the potions, food, and other consumables that were needed).  As people mature, life starts getting more complicated--people have families, they start thinking more about their careers, and that amount of seemingly endless time to game just evaporates.  Scheduling time becomes more difficult.

Now that I'm older, I spend almost all of my time gaming playing singleplayer games.  It's nice to be able to start up a game and play as much or as little as I want without inconveniencing anyone else.  I have no desire to play a multiplayer game.

My hope is that some developers or publishers see this information and start thinking more about investing in singleplayer titles.  And no, I'm not necessarily talking about whopping, AAA titles--some of the games that I've enjoyed the most and that have been unique, fun experiences have been smaller or indie titles.  It makes me really sad when I see studios like Tango Gameworks make a great game and then get shuttered (but fortunately saved by another large gaming company...we'll see how that works).  There's definitely a market for singleplayer games (even on mobile!) and I think they're due for a bit of a makeover--I think the days of the ginormous, UbiSoft map marker nightmare games might be waning and that players are looking for shorter, unique and enjoyable titles.  (*I am interested to see how Dragon Age: The Veilguard plays out)  Let the singleplayer renaissance begin!

(Here's a link to the research article)

Doom Spiral

As the spooky October 31st release date of Dragon Age: The Veilguard creeps ever closer I've been keeping my lil' peepers on any prominent news.  It feels like almost every week there's a semi-bi-polar slide between items that fans find "good" and those that are "bad" (but thanks to the general cynicism of the interwebs are painted as downright catastrophic).  I've seen excitement over the character creation options (especially the hair...which if you've ever followed any RPG you'll know is absolutely VITAL) that immediately turned into an absolute doom spiral with this piece of news--apparently, few of your decisions from Origins and Dragon Age 2 will carry over into The Veilguard.  Instead, only 3 choices you made in Inquisition will have an effect on the world state.  (Read the interview with the creative director here)  I am a member of a very well moderated Dragon Age group on social media and I would classify the reaction as a total freak out.  Is that reaction warranted?

There's a part of me that thinks, no, it's just people being overly cynical.  I think BioWare has always done a good job of making your decisions feel like they had weight and part of the fun in carrying over those decisions is seeing the outcome in a subsequent game.  But in reality, how big of an impact did those decisions really have on the world?  You might get a brief reference to someone you saved or have a slightly different character be part of something.  In reality, I think the illusion of choice is what players experience.  The main outcomes generally don't vary much and it's usually a very outcome A vs. outcome B type of scenario (think of Mass Effect 3's controversial red, blue, green ending--I mean, did many of your choices from previous games really matter there?).  It also sounds like they're trying to separate the game world from the tangled web of lore and decisions from the previous games and do something new-ish (which...given Andromeda...I don't know).

On the other hand, I can somewhat empathize with the naysayers.  Part of the fun of making even the small decisions is witnessing their outcomes.  The Keep offered players the chance to experiment with various decisions and make each new playthrough unique.  That has always been a hallmark of BioWare games and given them the ability to be massively replayable.  Are we going to be losing that factor?

I've read several articles about how the ginormous RPG's of the modern era have become so unwieldy that maybe we're due for a change in the size and scope of them.  Maybe this decision is a reflection of those changes coming to fruition?  I'm not someone who is going to be pre-ordering or playing on day 1 and I'm interested to just sit on the sidelines and see how things play out.  I would highly encourage people not to get sucked into the overly negative reactions to every piece of news that comes out and to play it first. 

We've Got Some Dates!

Two of the upcoming titles from my previous post announced their release dates this week!  Here's the lowdown:

Two Point Museum will be released on March 4, 2025.  It's a bit further off than I was hoping--I was pulling for a holiday release--but, oh well.  The announcement also offered up info on the two "editions" of the game.  There's the boring ol' regular edition and the "explorer edition"--there are plenty of goodies to tempt players into the undoubtedly more expensive edition--(see graphic below):

I've never really understood the draw of "you can play x days early," (especially in multiplayer games) but I guess if you ABSOLUTELY cannot wait.  The only part of these additional items that seems good to me is the exclusive map location--I'm assuming this means that there's one bonus museum for you to run.  The rest of it looks like cosmetics and additional items.  What I learned from Two Point Campus is that a lot of these "exclusives" will usually be offered as some kind of bonus later on anyway.  Personally, I will not be forking out the extra cash, but to each his/her/their own.  They're also offering up a bundle of Sonic themed items as a pre-order bonus.

PowerWash Simulator announced that the Shrek themed expansion pack will be releasing on October 10th!  This is great news and I'm very much looking forward to cleaning up the swamp and Duloc.

In completely non-related news, I was a bit bummed to find out that one of my favorite geeky clothing vendors, J!NX clothing, had closed down two years ago (yeah, I'm a bit behind the times).  I was hoping to buy a few new gaming themed t-shirts and I don't buy them too often.  It seems like there aren't a ton of good options out there if you're hoping not to spend a small fortune and go with official merch.  I was eyeballing some stuff on Redbubble but everything I read about the quality of their items was negative (plus, I sort of got the vibe that their stuff is basically graphics that people copy off of the internet and then print onto t-shirts).  FanGamer has some very cool items...but dang if they aren't pricy (like $36 for a t-shirt).  There's also Insert Coin, but it's a similar situation--$$$.  I'll have to keep exploring and see what I can find.

The Interminable Gap

Sadly, I haven't been playing anything new--I'm waiting for the first paycheck of the new school year to materialize before I think about any new purchases.  It always feels like that first paycheck is soooo far off!  While I wait, I've been re-playing Two Point Campus for fun.  They've added a bunch of new items, so even though I've played through it a few times before there's still some new stuff to ogle.  A few pieces of news caught my eye this week, so that's what I'll write about.

Stray is such a great game.  I hope we get another.

1.) The entire staff of Annapurna Interactive (publishers of hit games like Stray and Outer Wilds) resigned this week (source).  It seems like no one really knows why although there seems to be some sort of dispute regarding the film division of the company and the gaming portion.  This is a shame because they've rolled out some great indies.  Apparently, some games that are already in production (like Control 2) won't be impacted.  I'm hoping that these folks make their own studio and continue to roll out more great titles.

2.) The PS5 Pro (the high tech version of the lame-o regular PS5) debuted this week with a $799 price tag and promises of 4k, 60FPS gameplay.  It seemed like people were pretty shocked at the high price.  For console gamers, sure, it's spendy.  As a PC gamer...that price doesn't seem so bad.  I guess if you have the money to spend and you want to stick with consoles...dish out that $799.  I'm not sure the uber-graphics horse race matters much to the vast majority of gamers though--according to this article, the best selling console is the Nintendo Switch (which has graphics equivalent to a PS3).  Many gamers are also perfectly content playing older games (like GTA V).

I'm going to keep it short this week because like System of a Down, I've been down with the sickness--I've managed to absorb enough new school year germs to achieve a nasty cold.  Anyone who works in education knows that it's inevitable that you'll get sick, but it came extra early for me this year.  I'm looking forward to a weekend of relaxation to hopefully get feeling better for work next week.

Tech Repair Wiz

A few weeks ago I encountered an alarming noise coming from my PC.  Although not as soul-shattering as your PC choosing to no longer run, it was still a bummer.  My PC is getting to be a bit on the old side as it has been a little over 5 years since I built it, so having something wear out is likely.  With some light detective work and disassembly I managed to isolate the problem to my GPU--one of the fans was making a grindy noise.  Other than the noise, my GPU was working just fine (although I did notice at one point while I was playing CyberPunk that my case was pretty hot.  To solve this problem I dragged a floor fan over and aimed it toward the air intake on my PC and it did help)--never did I experience it crashing or turning off, so it was mostly still fine.

Obvious option #1 would be to simply replace the GPU.  I didn't want to do this for several reasons--firstly, the cost.  Even if I went with a lower-end GPU it would still cost ~$300 (and no, I wouldn't want to buy a used GPU).  Secondly, if I wanted to get the most out of a newer GPU I would need to upgrade my CPU.  If I upgraded my CPU I would want to upgrade my memory...it's a real If you Give a Mouse a Cookie kind of scenario that could have easily increased my costs to ~$500 - $800+.  My motherboard has an AM4 socket, so it's at the end of its life (sadly).  

Instead, I decided to do some research and find out if it was possible just to replace the fans on the GPU.  Fun fact--it is possible, it's affordable, and it was actually pretty easy.  I thought I would detail the process for anyone who might be facing a similar problem.  First though, a disclaimer.  If your GPU is still under warranty (I think the usual warranty is 2-3 years) you should send it back to the manufacturer and have them fix it.  Yes, it's a pain in the butt because it could potentially take awhile, but the risk to further damaging or breaking it is much lower (if not completely negated).  Just know that if you do attempt repairs or are taking it apart, you could be voiding the warranty and the manufacturer could refuse to repair/replace it.  (*And I know there are all those videos of people saying that it's not true and "right to repair" and so on, but I think I would want to avoid any arguments with the manufacturer.  Best to play it safe.)

Step 1: Try to find out the exact model of your GPU.  You can simply visually check your GPU or look in GeForce Experience (or the AMD equivalent).  Luckily, I had saved all the parts from my build on PC Part Picker, so I was also able to look there for any details.  You want to be as exact as possible because there can be slight variations in fan size between cards that might be SUPER or OC or whatever random variant it is.

Step 2: Order a replacement fan.  If you are only ordering one fan, make sure you note which fan you are ordering--they have different length connectors and you can't just freely swap them around.  I decided to order two fans and just replace them both.  It cost me around $30 (plus shipping, which I think was like $6-7).  I ordered from GPUfanreplacement.com (which is legit) but you could possibly find the replacements on Amazon (be cautious about buying from 3rd party sellers though).  My fans shipped from China but I still received them in about a week.

Possible Optional Step 3: Note the type of screws that are holding the cover onto the fan side of your GPU.  It turned out that mine used a torx type screw and that I would need a special screwdriver head to remove them.  If you do need a special screwdriver, just search for "electronics repair kit" on Amazon and make sure it has the screwdriver head you need.  You can get one pretty cheaply if you get a simple one or you could opt for a fancier one (I got one that had like 142 different tools/attachments which was overkill).  I would also highly recommend a magnetic screwdriver.

Step 3: Once you've received your replacement fans you'll need to remove your GPU from your PC.  Ideally you'll also want a magnetic container to hold your screws, but I would find some sort of small container in which to store them.  I would also do my deconstructing in a place away from any small children or pets.  The screws are tiny and very easy to lose.  They are definitely the kind that you don't want to drop because you'll never find them again (and you have to reuse them all because you don't get any spares with your new fans).  Remove the fan cover case--I think mine was like 6 screws.  Be gentle because there are some tiny cords/cables that can easily be damaged.

A zoomed in view of the tiny connectors.

Once I got the fan case removed I also discovered that I had to remove a small plastic cover on the back of my card that was over the connectors for the fans.  (You can follow the cords on your fans to find where the connector is). Gently unplug the connectors for the fans--they are small and you don't want to yank too hard and damage anything.  I have small hands, but this could be awkward for people with larger hands.

Step 4: Remove the old fans.  My fans each had 3 very tiny screws holding them down.  Be careful with the screws.  I also had to snip some very small plastic zip ties that were holding the fan cords down (even though you are replacing the fans, be careful not to snip the power cords).  Remove the zip ties (this could require some pulling and the use of tweezers).  I had to fish the power cords through a very small metal opening on the side of my card--it might require some twisting of the cords to get the connector through.

Step 5: Install the new fans--use your old screws.  Probably the hardest part for me was finagling the connectors and cords through the metal opening on the side of my card.  You want to make sure that the cables are pushed into the little hooks/holders on the card and not poking up.  The connectors are pretty short, so it can be a bit of a tight fit to connect them.  Make sure they're tightly connected and that the cables aren't kinked and are resting snugly on the card.  

Step 6: Re-install any covers you removed.

Step 7:  Re-install your GPU in your PC.  Remember to push firmly until you hear the click to make sure it is seated properly.

Step 8: Re-connect your PC and give it a go.  If everything is working correctly you should see your fans spin up nice and silently.

I, a person with negligible tech skills was able to accomplish this repair, so it's possible for anyone really.  I would also recommend looking up videos on YouTube to see examples of how to do this--I searched my card model and was able to get a good idea from a pretty mediocre video.  There are some videos that purport that you can re-lube your fans but I would be hesitant to attempt that as some fans aren't able to be separated from their motors and most of the videos involve cutting through a layer of plastic to reach the bearings (and a lot of those kinds of videos seemed to be crypto-mining related).

Upcoming Title Excitement!

As summer starts to transition to fall, there's plenty to look forward to--cooler temperatures, pumpkin spice (not for me, but I do enjoy apple cinnamon vibes), and even some upcoming games to play during those rainy, cool days.  A few titles don't have a release date yet, so maybe not the fall, but soon-ish.  I'll highlight a few titles/DLC's that I'm excited about.

1.) Two Point Museum

We've mastered our medical skills in Two Point Hospital and educated the clueless masses in Two Point Campus and now we get to build fantastic museums!  The Two Point games are a personal favorite of mine and are semi-serious management games.  This summer there were a series of in-game challenges that were clues that led to the eventual announcement of Two Point Museum.  Several short videos have rolled out that show various parts of the gameplay.  You get to run, design, and discover artifacts to display in your new museum.  There's also an aquarium section that you can fill with fish, turtles, and other fun aquatic species.  Personally, I'm very excited for this title and am looking forward to finding out more.  Thus far, no release date has been announced.  I'm hoping for a holiday release (because then I will be off work and have plenty of time to dedicate to my awesome museums).  Here's the announcement trailer:

2.) PowerWash Simulator: Shrek Special Pack

If you're feeling a desire to relax and clean a variety of virtual surfaces, PowerWash Simulator is rolling out the perfect DLC.  The best part--it's themed with one of the best movie franchises of the early 2000's!  (I stan Shrek & Shrek 2--they are amazing.  Fight me!)  That's right, we get to clean up Shrek's swamp and other Shrek-themed locations in the upcoming Shrek Special Pack.  Of all the DLC that has come out for PowerWash Simulator, this is the one that has made me the most excited.  (I just noticed the sword sprayer skin and the armor set!)  Apparently the pack will feature 5 maps that include signature locations from across the film franchise.  There's also no release date on this one, but I would anticipate it anywhere from a few weeks until maybe the holiday season. 

3.) Strange Antiquities

The makers of the plant-themed mystery game Strange Horticulture announced Strange Antiquities awhile back and I've been watching for any news.  The news has been sparse, but I very much enjoyed their quirky, clever first game, so I'm definitely looking forward to another strange group of events and people to analyze.  Oh, and also apparently antiquities--no plants this time.  The announcement trailer doesn't reveal much in terms of gameplay, but it looks like we'll be returning to Undermere AND that there's a cute new shop kitty (named Jupiter) to pet.  There's no release date on this one either and it's actually listed as "to be announced" rather than "coming soon," so I'm assuming that it might be a ways further off.

4.) Dragon Age: The Veilguard

I'm listing this as #4 because it is actually a ways down on my excitement list.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Inquisition but BioWare's recent struggles have put a damper on my...let's say expectations.  Since it's a triple-A title there have been numerous teasers, trailers, and gameplay previews released.  From what I've seen, it does look pretty cool.  Also, shockingly, the requirements on PC seem reasonable.  I would say that the fan reaction has been a bit mixed.  Like me, a lot of BioWare fans have a healthy dose of caution when it comes to their recent titles.  I've seen a lot of negative reaction to the fact that you can't control party members (I think you can still issue commands) and it sounds like combat is going to play like Mass Effect: Andromeda with players primarily focusing on controlling their character.  I'm definitely not pre-ordering (c'mon folks, just don't do it!) and will likely wait on this one.  There has been one VERY GOOD piece of news--if you buy it on Steam you will not need to go through the EA App.  Praise the baby cheeses because the stacking launcher problem is stupid and annoying (not to mention that the EA App is a bit notorious for problems).  I'm not gonna lie though--this most recent trailer is AWESOME!  It's got everything to make a Dragon Age fan feel pumped and a little extra--you've got fan favorite returning characters, dragons, a stunning variety of environments, and some pretty fantastic enemies (oh, and some light romancing).  Dragon Age: The Veilguard releases on October 31st--a Halloween treat (let's hope that BioWare pulls it off and we don't wind up feeling tricked instead).