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)