
I am also to some degree but I think I went into this with different expectations, not expecting punishment and so therefore I was taken aback.
Thanks for the tips, I have read you can break the game within a few hours but that isnt what I’m really looking to do so I’m going to try and use a guide as little as possible and just look up specific points I need clarifying.
Apparently I inadvertently chose the more difficult character but the storyline differences does seem interesting. I’ll see how well the game clicks over some more time!

I went in wanting to play as blind as possible but after being thrown into combat with no tutorial what so ever and then absolutely no explanation of what anything is, skills, specials skills, skills sets etc etc I started doing some cursory searching. Then everyone is screaming about levelling determination fully first and so I had to go down a rabbit hole just to find out where to get that because everyone spoke as if you had it from the start, which you don’t.
Even the guides for this game aren’t super helpful to someone that has zero background knowledge on the game at all. I’m still not sure if I actually want to delve as deep into it as it seems is necessary but I’m going to out a few more hours in and try to not fuck up my characters in that time and see how well it clicks.
I heard the first one is even more painful! How did you find it?
Why would you encourage that day 1 DLC bullshit behaviour by ever giving them money?
That aside 3 was such a steaming pile of shit I will not ever be buying another Borderlands game, I loved the first couple and will go back and play them if I need that kind of experience.
If you absolutely must play it, why not pirate it? These companies don’t deserve your money.

But the question wasn’t give a fair assessment of a sequel to a game you like.
I realise that it isn’t objectively a bad game or anything like that and a lot of people still play it until this day and I for sure appreciate them keeping the servers up for the old game so I can still go back to play it should I choose. But the question was what sequel to a game I loved ruined it for me and anyone who played both can see they are blatantly not the same game at all.
GW2 was a complete departure from how the first game worked to a more generic MMO style, I’m sure it is a great game in its own right but for me personally, when compared to the amazing first game, it just doesnt hold a candle.

I didn’t, I remember falling asleep playing it not long after release which didn’t bode well, I wanted to like it but couldn’t. I “enjoyed” it for a while many years later as a co-op experience on a console (I forget which one) whilst getting stoned but it was more scratching an itch for that genre and playing with friends locally that really won it over in that instance rather than the game itself.
Likewise with 4, I didn’t even give it the time of day tbh, I still haven’t really seen much about it.
I’d have liked to play the remaster but I refuse to give those assholes any money and the main draw for me was multiplayer as a kid. I played the SP briefly on a pirate version but it was always about the MP for me.

Two of my favourite games of all time are Diablo 2 and Guild Wars.
Both of these games I was insanely hyped for the following games in the series and got them both on their respective releases days. Both were utterly disappointing crap when compared to their previous games and both probably contributed heavily to how I will now no longer get hyped for any game let alone buy one in their first year or two of release.

I realise you are having health issues from reading your other posts and you should always prioritise that!
I really have so little interest in that short form twitter esque posting that I actively reject it so if I’m being completely honest I doubt I will go there.
Don’t push yourself to post the long form posts, get better and the best of luck with your upcoming appointments. I will look forward to your return to the long form post and hopefully with accompanying info of how well you are doing physically in the future :D
You are not an imposter, you are the fediverses premier gaming journalist and I’ll fight anyone that says different xD
Have a good day!

I’ve always avoided games based “journalism” (and all journalism really) as in my experience it tends to be full of over opinionated bullshit however your posts are different.
I genuinely enjoy your posts, they are well written, clear and succinct. You offer your opinion on things you genuinely enjoy but usually as a side note rather than baking it into the news or subject you are writing about and it is generally clear you are just passionate about the things you are writing about.
Where can I join the PerfectDark fan club?
Do you have any more information on those manuals in terms of how they made them? (Or a link to where I could read the info) Things like printing process, materials used etc. I work in print so that kind of interests me and from the photos they look of an OK quality so I was just curious.
All the best with your health, I enjoy reading through your posts even if I am not commenting every time but health is always more important so I hope things take a positive turn for you!
Couldn’t agree more with your take on Early Access bullshittery. I too refuse to pay for anything that is “released” and described as much. It is just another thing after micro transactions that have further ruined gaming and despite a personal boycott of these practice’s still gets ever more common :(

I would describe them as not great currently xD
I haven’t played Heat but like you I like the Forza Horizon balance of pretty arcadey feel with some sim elements mixed in without it really going too far to either extreme.
I don’t want to be excessively harsh on a game that is still pretty early in its development so far but also not having played any of the previous entries I dont know exactly what feel they are going for, so maybe this is already pretty close to their goal (which would be a shame I think)
As it is right now though it is very arcade-y feeling and in all honesty the “upgrades” didn’t really make the car feel any different as I spent money on the car, it was consistent throughout. The cars don’t really corner that well, you cant really initiate a drift or have any real control through the corners to that level, you can yank up the handbrake but the car doesnt slide in a nice, predictable manner at all. You can either use it to cut a lot of speed suddenly in a quick jab or hold it and spin out.
So generally you’ll be driving flat out dodging traffic until a corner at which point you’ll slam on the brakes to cut your speed enough to try and get around the corner without riding the walls (the races use a battle system with “health bars” to win or lose and hitting walls depletes your health bar)
As I said in the previous post as well the opponents definitely need balancing as well as you will often need to cheese the harder battles or just hope to god that they crash and you can get far enough ahead to win. A lot of the AI drivers will hook their front onto your rear and plow you into a wall which is extremely frustrating.
The game itself is set in an open world of sorts. So when you leave for the night you choose which highway entrance to enter on and in which direction. You are then free to cruise the highways (you start with a small loop and then a little more opens up as you play, I presume the full game will have a lot more) and challenge any other vehicle you see to battles. You can race all the civilian trucks or cars if you want or you search for other rival gangs. When you beat a certain amount of members from each gang then you unlock the boss of that gang for a boss battle.
Whilst cruising you are stuck going the direction you began with unless you pull into a parking spot. Here you can chat to random people about inane shit or challenge some others that are parked up. Here you can also leave the parking area to go in the opposite direction on the highway. It is realistic but also frustrating sometimes to try and find a parking area if someone you want to battle is on the opposite side, I wanna have some places where I could illegally switch sides really.
If you dont like JDM shit then I would say the appeal would be even narrower for you cause it is focused on those cars. This is what I love so what kept me involved to see it through but the selection of parts and wheels etc is honestly shite (nightrunners blows it out of the water by a long way in this aspect).
TLDR: you probably won’t like it that much based on what you said, even cruising the majority of the available world is really fucking long straights and is pretty boring and you dont even like JDM stuff :)
I don’t cheat as for me that takes away all the satisfaction I get from seeing a game through from beginning to end however as I have gotten older I no longer try and force myself to continue playing games that I am not enjoying. I have enjoyed gaming on the whole a lot more since I started doing this. Sometimes I’ll go back if it is something I really want to like and sometimes that works but I no longer get hung up on quitting a game if it is doing nothing for me.
It says “Early access play starts 4 days early on May 15”, implying the release date is 19th May.