RIP BioWare

It has been a sad week for those of us who are fans of BioWare games as we received the (totally unsurprising) news that EA is closing the studio.  It's doubly disappointing because many of us were rooting for a new Mass Effect game that was supposedly in pre-production (or maybe production).  And, if you haven't seen the leaked trailer...well, it looks like it could've been kind of awesome (see below).

A totally different leak revealed a set of bullet-pointed details about the potential story/characters in the new game.  It would've taken place 600 years after Mass Effect 3 and your choices as Shepard would remain in place.  The new galaxy would have been divided between different factions that included Batarians, Krogans (maybe we would've finally gotten to see how the whole genophage decision plays out), humans, and even the Geth.  There also would have been a link with the Andromeda universe (I'm guessing some sort of initial contact because the timeline seems weird for anything more than that--if I'm remembering it correctly, it takes them like 600 years just to get to Andromeda).

Honestly, it looks and sounds very cool, but the entire point of trailers is to be the most stylish presentation possible.  Given the recent track record of BioWare games (which, to be totally honest, I haven't played the newest Dragon Age game) I'm not sure what we would've actually gotten.  The formula for the much touted early BioWare games just doesn't really jive with what EA wants--live service style games that can provide an ongoing source of revenue.  Many, many people have cautioned that the giant, sprawling single-player RPG is breathing its dying breaths--studios just can't (supposedly) afford to develop the massive, open-world monstrosities that they seem to think gamers really want.  We'll see how GTA VI fares.

The Mass Effect trilogy holds a special place in my heart as a series that I can endlessly replay.  The formula of building up a trusted crew of friends and companions is one that absolutely works.  The first game has some of the best sci-fi writing out there; the second has a fantastic combination of enjoyable gameplay and characters (story...not my favorite); and the third manages to do a bit of both (and provide one of the best fan service DLC's ever).  Shepard, Garrus, Liara, and the rest of the crew will always be some of my favorite characters.

There are a lot of people pulling for someone to offer to buy up BioWare and allow them to re-start as an independent studio.  I think the chances of that are slim, but people can hope.  It is a sad era when we keep seeing these older, storied studios get consumed in massive mergers only to quickly be shuttered.

Thanks for all the adventures BioWare--from Knights of the Old Republic to Dragon Age to Mass Effect, you provided countless hours of fun with some of our favorite virtual pals.  

Ridin' Dirty

I spent some time checking out the newest DLC for Two Point Museum recently.  The DLC titled "Rides and Relics" is a departure from your traditional museum setting and instead has you revitalizing a rundown amusement park.  It has definite Rollercoaster Tycoon vibes that made me feel very excited when it was initially announced.

Behold, the Lamb!

Before I get to my review, it's also worth mentioning that they've continued to add digiverse crossover content from some of my favorite games into Two Point Museum.  Now, you can tend to the spiritual needs of the clueless masses by adding in content from Cult of the Lamb.  You can unlock shrines, decorative items, and even the lamb (may he be praised) himself!

It's little kitty, in the city.

The newest digiverse content comes from a game I recently reviewed--Little Kitty, Big City.  There are new craftable perks that require shinies (a new commodity item that you can gather from a specific point of interest in the Kitty digiverse), a new wildlife exhibit (kittiy's friend, the hattted chameleon), and two new exhibits.  The kitty itself is the star of one of the exhibits!

Now, on to the "Rides and Relics" content!

What is it?

The newest DLC for Two Point Museum.  It adds an entirely new museum to the campaign map and features a wide variety of rides.  It is entirely un-museum-like...which, seems to be a tad controversial to some players.  It can be purchased for $10.99 on Steam.

How much playtime can I expect?

Like I always say...it depends on your playstyle.  If you just want to play through the three-star, story part of the museum, I would estimate ~20 hours.  If you want to unlock and upgrade every single ride, I would clock it much higher.

Pros:

+ Bang for your buck.  At $10.99 (which, sadly is a $1 increase over the typical $9.99 price for DLC's--inflation strikes again), it's a definite bargain.  You get a lot of additional playtime for a low price.

+ Rollercoaster Tycoon vibes.  (And, I'm going to chart this one as a pro and a con) One of the original Theme games from back in the day was Theme Park.  It saw you managing a silly amusement park and was the forerunner to one of my ultimate favorites Theme Hospital.  I'm fairly certain that the founders of Two Point are from the original Theme developers (Bullfrog), so in a way, it's getting back to their roots.

The amusement park theme is fun.  There are a wide variety of rides--ranging from your more traditional carousel all the way up to several different types of rollercoasters.  I was impressed by the sheer number of different rides that you can unlock.  The new map features over 20 points of interest (not all feature a new ride, but most of them do).

My wildest rollercoaster.

+ Creativity unlocked.  You can design whatever whacky rollercoaster idea pops into your head--loops, corkscrews, massive drops...as long as it's feasible, you can make it.  The controls to design coasters are very easy to use and minimally confusing.

+ Mascot fun.  A new feature is the ability to train assistants to don mascot uniforms to entertain your parkgoers.  You can unlock mascot uniforms at special points of interest and each has its own benefit.  The roachburglar (a mascot for the silly fast food chain Roachburger) uniform helps to reduce nausea.  Mascots also help ease the impatience of guests waiting in queues.

+ New decorative items to spruce up the outdoors.

Cons:

- Many people have pointed out that the museum and theme park theme don't really go together.  Some of the key gameplay aspects from the museum-based part of the game aren't in play--for example, you can assign experts to give tours, but your experts are also responsible for maintaining your rides (that's basically all my experts did).  There aren't donations either--guests pay for tickets and then pay for each ride.  Money is definitely not an issue in this DLC, but a key part of the museum gameplay is hiring security guards to patrol for thieves (also, not an issue).  If you're some kind of museum gameplay purist, there's a good chance you won't enjoy this DLC.

- Vomit everywhere.  The park is huge and I found that my janitors struggled to keep it clean.  You have to hire an absolute army of janitors to keep your paths nice and vomit-free...and even then they still won't get to many spots.

- It's a bit buggy.  I had an issue where one of my assistants got stuck in mascot mode (but wasn't wearing the suit...was just assigned the mascot task) and wouldn't shift out.  I ended up firing the employee and it fixed the issue.  I also had a story-related side task that wouldn't complete (there's a task to do "full maintenance" on a ride--this requires a ride to reach a low-medium maintenance level and then to fully shut down the ride so it can be fixed).  I had several rides enter this mode and the task wouldn't complete--it finally did after 3-4 different completions (and, it turned out that the side task did absolutely nothing...I guess the purpose was just to show you the option to perform full maintenance).  They seem to be working the bugs out, but don't be surprised if you encounter some weirdness.

- The variety of rides is great, but I wish there were more shops.  There's a new popcorn cart and a hot cocoa (weird choice...) vendor, but that's it.  Part of me wishes there were more carnival-like aspects--tickets to earn prizes, differing food and drink vendors (your typical fair foods--corndogs, whatever they have at British fairs--fish and chips?--maybe even some fried Twinkies), and giant plushies.

- Personally, I lack the patience and creativity to design cool coasters.  The controls are very easy, but I kind of wish there were some pre-built designs that you could just slap down.  I don't want to spend a bunch of time finagling my design to get it to a certain level of thrilling--just give me pre-builts at different levels.  Leave the design to the patient, creative folks.

Recommendation:

If you're in the mood for gameplay that is decidedly more in the vibe of Rollercoaster Tycoon, you'll enjoy this DLC.  If you're hoping for more museum-like content, you will likely be disappointed.  I played through the three-star story level of the DLC and then was ready to stop (I didn't even unlock all the rides--there are a ton!).  

Cat in Hat

Have you ever thought to yourself, "there aren't enough games that have cats wearing cute hats?"  Me neither, but then I played Little Kitty, Big City and realized that the genre is really lacking.  Please, give us more games that feature cute felines wearing a wide selection of silly, but adorable, hats.

What is it?

An action game where you play as a a poor kitty who has accidentally fallen from its favorite perch and has to figure out a way to get back home.  It's tags on Steam include, "cute," "wholesome," "cats," "exploration," and "sandbox."  All of those feel right with maybe the exception of "sandbox."

How much playtime can I expect?

I would estimate ~5-10 hours depending on playstyle.  If you're achievement hunting it'll be on the higher end.  The lower end estimate is also probably a bit high--you could just do the main story and be done in 2-3 hours.

Pros:

Prancing through the streets.

+ Cute kitty.  You play as an adorable, little black kitty.  Your character can do many, cute cat things, like jump, climb, meow, squeeze into tight spaces, and zoom around.  You can also unlock several emotes that include behaviors like laying down, grooming, walking in a fancy way, and some others.  All add to the overall cute vibes.

+ Enjoyable, exploration based gameplay.  As the little kitty, you run into several helpful animal friends--a crow with a predilection for "shinies"--AKA any slightly sparkly item laying in the street.  These shinies are sprinkled around the city (often hidden in high areas) and are basically the main resource for purchasing items.  There's an inventor tanuki who has created a system of portals to help you get around the city.  There are several other felines who mostly just want to catch birds...or naps.  The map is scattered with lots of hidden areas that require mostly upward traversal.  It's quite enjoyable to jump from ledge to ledge to reach the top of a building.

+Fun achievements that mostly revolve around the feline theme.  There's an achievement for pawing items off of ledges (a favorite of all cats), another for catching (and releasing--there's no bird murdering) birds, one for sleeping in boxes, one for finding various, hidden napping spots--they're cute and mostly easy to get.

Feelin' crabby.

+ Collectible hats.  Scattered throughout the map are tiny capsule toys (they look sort of like a Poke-ball).  Each contains a hat that your cat can wear.  These hats are extremely cute and make you want to find more hats.  You can also purchase hats from machines (with the help of your crow friend) at the cost of a few shinies.  There are over 60 hats and they're all awesome.

+ Customizable kitties!  Once you help the tanuki get back to his lab, you unlock a special piece of technology that allows you to create custom kitties.  You can play as the default kitty or one of your own custom creations.  There are a lot of options for creating any kitty you can dream up (I mean, purple kitty...why not!)

+ Gameplay that is enjoyable but not too easy or too hard.  Perfect for any gamer.

+ Saves often, so no worries about losing content if you need to quit.

+ Photo mode with tons of options.  (*You do have to explore and find special items to unlock all of them)  There are frames, specialized settings, stickers, and everything you need to take a billion photos of your cute felines with all the hats.

A custom kitty.

Cons:

- Controller recommended.  It's probably possible to do mouse/keyboard because the gameplay isn't too demanding.

- Short.  I want more kitty, and more city.  You'll also likely find yourself feeling a bit disappointed that the adventure is over.  Hopefully they will make another kitty game.

- I wish the in-game map was a bit more helpful.  It would be nice if the hat machines were marked on the map (I mean, the overall play area isn't that big, so it's not too bad).

Recommendation:

If you're looking for a relaxing, cute and wholesome title, look no further.  I got it on sale during the autumn sale and would recommend it for the sale price (maybe a bit steep for the short playtime at regular price).  It is a perfect game for kids (not too challenging and very safe, wholesome content), so it's a good option if you're looking for something to enjoy with a younger kid. 

Little Card Shop of Horrors--Mostly Horrible Employees

Since my disappointment at my own lack of reading and/or comprehending skills earlier this week (I thought that the "Songs of the Past" DLC for The Witcher 3 came out at the same time as the remaster), I've been spending my time running my Pokemon-akin card shop in TCG Card Shop Simulator.  Cardapalooza is truckin' right along thanks to my amazing management skills (ha.).

My star employee, Zack.

My little card shop has grown into a slightly larger store with hopefully fewer stinky customers (I invested in a device that sprays deodorant at the stinkers).  I've expanded my stock and even managed to hire an employee to help out.  I've named him Zack (I don't remember what his real name is) and he works at the pace of a glacial sloth.  To keep myself from firing Zack, I made up a story that he's either the teenage child of a friend or someone I'm trying to help out.  He cannot run the checkout because he is so slow that I would only make a handful of sales a day, so he does what he's marginally okay at--stocking shelves.  Does Zack stock empty shelves first?  No.  Does Zack take a stunning number of breaks?  Yes.  The best part about Zack is that he only cost me $50 a day.  And I just can't fire him because his imaginary parent would be upset.  (To tell you the truth...Zack's days are numbered.  As soon as I start making a bit more money, I think he's going to have to go)

I've also noticed that the customers in my shop buy some odd things.  Why do you need 5 deck boxes?  Or 6 playmats?  Or 6 different copies of the same comic book?  It's not my place to pry, and in the end, I'm making money, so keep on buying your weird quantities of stuff.

Card-wise, I've managed to purchase and find a few valuable cards.  Then, the real question is, what do I do with those cards?  I've been sending the most valuable cards off to be graded (because if they are of a high quality it can quadruple the value).  But should I hang on to them and keep them as part of my own personal collection?  Or should I be cashing in for the good of my shop (and maybe even poor Zack)?  I have been hoping to get some duplicates and then sell those off, but man, it's tough to get the more valuable cards in duplicate (which totally makes sense).

The play area in my shop has expanded to three tables and I conveniently located them close to the windows for the light.  I make a small amount from folks playing in my shop.  Only occasionally do I have to douse an entire table down with deodorant spray.

Being a fake card shop owner is hard.  Prayers for Zack and his slowness.  Have a great weekend!

What to Play While You're Waiting

While I'm waiting for the "Songs of the Past" DLC for The Witcher 3 (supposed release date September 29th), I'm spending what little gaming time I have with some relaxing titles.  Fall weather has slowly been settling in and there's something nice about grabbing a blanket, popping on some relaxing tunes, and playing something decidedly non-stressful.  If you're also feeling those vibes, here are a couple of suggestions for cozy, gaming time.

A stunning bouncy mess to clean up.

PowerWash Simulator 2 just released the last of its free Caldera Chronicles updates.  The newest level to spray down features an absolutely amazing bouncy castle.  This object could not exist in real life (it's huge!) but there is something very satisfying about levels that feature very bright, primary type colors.  Cleaning off all the muck and revealing the colorful playground underneath brings a very odd sense of joy and accomplishment.

There's also some additional good PowerWashing news--there's new DLC coming out later this year (official release date is "late 2026," so I'm thinking maybe Black Friday/holiday time).  It's possible that not everyone will be jazzed about the content, but seriously, the goal of the game is to powerwash things, so does it really matter what you're spraying?  If you've got some 80's & 90's nostalgia or are a big Barbie stan, the next DLC is perfect for you.  The Barbie DLC offers up the ability to powerwash some of the most iconic Barbie items out there--we're talking the Dream House and the camper.  And, of course, there are some new Barbie themed cosmetics so that you can do your powerwashing in pink style.  Personally, I am not someone who is a big Barbie fan, but I enjoy fake powerwashing and nostalgia, so I will be grabbing this DLC in all its pink glory.

If powerwashing isn't your jam, maybe running a fictional card game shop is more in your lane.  I decided to grab the newly out of early access TCG Card Shop Simulator and take a stab at running my own fake business.  Your goal is to open a shop that sells a Pokemon-like (but definitely not Pokemon because copyright) card game and other tabletop gaming items.  You have to manage sales, stocking/pricing items, and making sure to pay your rent and electric bills.  As you earn more profits you are able to expand your shop and buy a wider selection of items--plushies, accessories like card sleeves and collectors albums, special decks, and a ton more!  You can add tables so that customers can play (you make money from people playing in your store).

My card shop is fairly basic.

One of the surprisingly fun aspects of TCG Shop Simulator is collecting and managing the Tetramon (the fake Pokemon game) cards.  You can open card packs that you purchase and keep your own collection.  With the cards you gather you can sell them or send them off to be graded.  Grading cards takes time and costs a small fee, but can triple or even quadruple the value if the card turns out to be in a certain condition.  I have never played Pokemon but I can definitely understand the thrill of opening a pack of cards and finding a particularly valuable one.

As your shop levels up (you earn experience from your daily sales) you can purchase licenses to unlock additional items (they get more and more expensive) and can even sponsor tournaments in your store.  You can also decorate your shop with a variety of fun posters, statues, and other items to make it look nice.  Unfortunately a lot of the big upgrades are fairly expensive, so you have to wait quite awhile to unlock new floor and wall designs.

Probably the best aspect of TCG Shop Simulator is the ability to spray down stinky customers.  I'm pretty sure that they added this in as a bit of a joke/commentary on the personal hygiene (aka non-belief in deodorant) struggles that can impact the average con.  As a person who works with teenagers everyday I would love to be able to douse the stinky ones with some deodorant spray.  At least I can live out this fantasy in a video game.

EDIT 9/29/26:  It's future me here to reply to my own dumbness.  I excitedly logged into Steam this morning thinking that "Songs of the Past" released today when, in fact, it does not release until 2027.  The free "remastered" upgrade to The Witcher 3 did come out today.  My reading and/or listening skills really failed me and I think I just was so excited about new content that I completely ignored the fact that the DLC was not a part of the remaster.  Carry on with your life now (hopefully filled with tons of The Witcher 3: Remastered).

Semi-Familiar Kind of Farming Game

The Fields of Mistria have stopped calling to me, so it's time to finally write up my thoughts.  I haven't accomplished everything in the game but I've reached a point where I just have little desire to play anymore.  Don't read too much into that about the actual quality of the game, there might be a few issues that led me to this point.

What is it?

Fields of Mistria is a farming sim that feels like it was almost directly birthed from Stardew Valley.  You start a farm, you befriend the villagers, you fall in love (or not--it's up to you), and you work to restore a town to its former glory.  Seriously, it's very similar to Stardew.

How much playtime can I expect?

Depending on your playstyle and goals, you're easily looking at upward of probably 50+ hours (that's my low estimate).  I did not complete everything and am sitting about about 82 hours.  (*As a reference point, my town level is 87--Gold and my character is not married but has 10 hearts with a romantic interest)  If you're someone who wants to do all the things, you could easily be looking at 100+.

Pros:

+ Since it is so similar to Stardew, you'll have no problems understanding the basic controls and general gameplay.  Everything is fairly point-and-click so it's easy to get the hang of.

My decorating style is called "nothing matches."

+ Tons of cosmetic options.  One area where I think Mistria outshines Stardew is with the sheer number of furniture/cosmetic items that are offered up.  Many are earned through completing museum collections but others can be purchased from vendors or found while exploring the mines.  You can totally change the hairstyle, hair color, and outfit for your character at any point.  As you expand your base home you get tons of space (a full kitchen/living room area, two ground level rooms, and an entire upstairs area).  Many of the options are seasonally themed (you can get spring wallpaper, flooring, and beds) so you can swap the look of your home every time the seasons change.  You can even add small touches to give it more of a home-y feel like jars, hanging pots and pans, and other miscellaneous household items.  If you were so dedicated, you could undoubtedly design something much better than the mish-mash of random items that populate my Mistria home.

+ Enjoyable animal breeding system.  Rather than simply increasing your herd size you can also produce unique coat colors.  Initially you can purchase animals in one of three basic coat colors (make sure you purchase a male and female).  Once they've reached adulthood and you have befriended them to the two heart level, you can purchase an animal cookie from Hayden and feed it to the animals to have them breed.  After a short time they will produce offspring in in a new, unique color.  This new animal will be a tier 2 coloration (*they definitely don't care about inbreeding in this game) and if bred with another tier 2 animal will produce a tier 3 offspring and so on, all the way to tier 5.  It's enjoyable to see all the fun new coat colors and the cute (but totally unrealistic) offspring.  You can also enter your prize critters into the annual animal judging contest to win some prizes.

+ Hotter characters than Stardew.  Stardew definitely has wholesome vibes, but Mistria leans into anime-style characters.  All the dateable characters have a degree of cuteness to hotness.  Personalities range from friendly to flirty and even slightly hostile (it's always fun to see the cranky ones warm up over time).  Personally, I enjoyed the fact that characters will change their outfits to match the season (wearing lighter clothing in summer and warmer styles in the winter).  It's fun to see what they're wearing.  There's nothing too risque about Mistria, but definite efforts were made to make characters attractive.

+ Friendly neighborhood gossip can help shed light on the loves/likes of the community.  Figuring out what each character enjoys can feel like a huge pain in the buttocks.  Each day you can talk to Elsie and she will offer up a set of three characters to choose from.  You can pick one and she will reveal one of their liked or loved items.  There are a lot of characters and each has a TON of liked/loved items, so this process is slow moving, but it is better than trying to randomly guess (of course there are tons of dropped clues when you talk to people).

+ Dating/romance system that is fun.  Once you reach eight hearts (out of twelve) with a character you can choose whether or not to date them.  If you opt to date them you can ask them on actual dates--these are special cutscenes that take place on the weekend.  Initially you have two or three options, but as you do different daily activities you can unlock more options for dates.  Each date will advance your heart meter more than normal gift giving and you get a fun picture souvenir item that you can hang in your house.  Some of the dates do seem a little strange though--I unlocked an option in the mines for a romantic date where my character is forging something at the blacksmith anvil.  Sounds hot (because of the forge, you know).

Cons:

- I've already said it in multiple posts, but I feel like a lot of the basic gameplay is a direct copy/paste of Stardew.  The way farming works (copy), the mines (copy), gift giving (copy), the museum donations (copy--but slightly less cool), fishing (easier copy), crafting/smithing (copy)...etc.  I just wish that they had come up with something that didn't feel SO similar in a lot of aspects.  As I mentioned above, there are plenty of unique aspects, but to me, this feels a bit...I don't know, lazy/icky and like they could've come up with something different.  I think that's the challenge for games that want to fall within the "farm sim" category--how to make it unique and not just another version of Stardew.

- End game is draggy.  Once you've reached level 100 in the mines and unraveled the story of Mistria, there's just not much to do.  Levelling up the town becomes a lot slower and you have to rely on fulfilling villager requests (and there seems to be fewer capital requests as you progress).  You can add a new vendor who gives mine-related missions each week which reward 100 renown but if you don't complete the quest within the week you're stuck waiting until the next week.  I just got bored with it (there are other things to do like focusing on improving friendship levels, trying to complete museum collections, etc.).  I was hoping to max out the town level (I guess there are a couple other building related missions that are unlocked).

Recommendation:

I think Mistria is a great option for someone who is totally burned out on Stardew and wants something similar but just different enough.  There are aspects of the game that I like and are an improvement on the Dew, but I really wish that the gameplay itself was more unique.  If you enjoy the farming sim genre, this is yet another option and yeah, it has enough to offer in terms of enjoyment and length of play.

It's Over :(

With the beginning of the new school year my gaming time has been very minimal (*insert sad trombone noise here).  The start of the new school year is always a bit nutso so I've caught a few hours here and there and haven't really been playing anything new.  Once school starts and I just want to come home and relax I tend to seek out some soothingly familiar content or games that tend towards the "relaxing" side of the spectrum.  Lately I've noticed a new genre of game creep into the "wholesome/relaxing" game space--Steam tags them as "organizational" and they involve sorting a massive pile of random objects into a correct location.  There has absolutely been a glut of these games and I am feeling a bit curious because they definitely would seem to fall within my strange love of cleaning games.  I worry though that their simplicity means wading into a pool of AI generated slop and I don't want to venture into that.  The upside of these games is that they're generally on the cheap side.

My first tier 5 animal--a cute, golden calf!

My "new" gaming time has been spent in Fields of Mistria.  I haven't quite accomplished everything (and probably won't) but I've made to the bottom level of the mines (and revealed the shocking secret--no spoilers--about what is going on in Mistria).  My ultimate goal is to max out the town level (not quite there--I think I have maybe 2 more levels to go) and to befriend all the folks (or most of them...since some new townsfolk get introduced at various parts of the game...and they're market day only peeps).  My character hasn't managed to land a romantic interest yet (I've been focused mostly on the dang mines and have neglected my relationship building).  I'm leaning toward Hayden, a fellow famer and animal lover.  He seems like a perfect match for another farmer, he's cute, and he has a fun relationship with his prize-winning chicken Henrietta.

I'm a bit torn about Fields of Mistria because I still feel like many aspects of it are just a little too close to exactly Stardew Valley.  Why make something new when you can just copy what you already know works, amirite?  I think this specific genre of games needs something fresh and I'm not sure Mistria's really doing it.  That doesn't mean I'm not having fun--there are definitely some aspects that I am enjoying.

If you're a teacher who has recently returned to the grind--I hope all is going well and you're starting to feel a bit more settled.  It's the last gasps of summer around my neck of the woods, so I'm hoping to enjoy some outdoors time before fall sets in.  It is a bit nice to just cozy up with a nice game and relax though.