To me at least, the EA App (despite its lame name) is better than Origin ever was. I know that’s not saying much, but there it is. It’s more stable and has a better layout.

I just wish they’d stop thinking I “play The Sims” just because I tried a demo 5 years ago and decided it wasn’t for me.

Not a perfect analogy, but it fits. 11 is literally 10 with a higher build number and a different shell. The same relation exists between 2000 and XP.

The problem is that the shell is what people interact with, and what they equate “Windows” with. Which is understandable and to some extent even correct.

I also think there’s a fair amount of memory bias. People complained about every new Windows version.

Baldur’s Gate. No, not the new one. Not yet anyway.

I’m very interested in what the offending page looked like. itch.io in the first reports seemed to suggest it was a false positive, without outright saying so. Both Funko and BrandShield are quiet about it, but between the lines you can infer they think the AI tool’s report was legitimate.

It does - but with a bit of patience you’ll get to play for free within a year or so.

Which GOG makes possible by offering DRM-free and offline installers.

I know several big GOG customers download all offline installers and keep them on their own NAS. Some even keep the different versions.

My ‘otel’s as clean as an elven arse!

The warmth of life has entered my tomb.

Yes but this time, it has quick load too!

I was very excited when they announced GW2. Sadly it is a very different game from the first one, and while I can still enjoy the story, it is not really a game for me.

I’m still enjoying Mass Effect Andromeda. The combat is a bit too action-oriented - I miss the tactics and strategy of other RPGs. But it’s not so bad that it detracts from the game’s enjoyment.

I’ve also (re)started Baldur’s Gate 1 (enhanced edition). I’m not far in yet but I can already tell it’s going to be hard picking only 5 companions. They’re all so interesting.

Opinions will differ, but generally people really like the first and/or third. The second was rushed, and it shows, mostly by a ton of reused assets and locations.

The first is more loved by hardcore or oldschool RPG fans. The third is more action oriented, generally a lot more colourful, and very much larger. Its combat is generally liked more than the first (except, again, by CRPG fans).

All three have memorable characters.

You can save and stop playing whenever.

The world is dark - especially in the first game. There is slavery, racism, demons, and a few even darker topics. There are optional sex scenes, but they’re rather clean. One of the demon models is rather skimpy. But in the third game you can pick your time in the game while kids are watching to be mostly fun with bright colours and some fantasy fighting. That might be harder in the first.

There are similarities with Mass Effect, but they do play very differently. The dialog system is very similar in 2 and 3, as are the companion interactions in all three.

I recently finished Mass Effect Legendary, a very nice experience. I’m now starting Andromeda and so far I’m enjoying it a lot. The game is gorgeous! Its flaws may start showing later, but for now it’s great - and it’s not like the other ME games don’t have flaws.

It may work for a subset of the Dragon Age fans, but the old school DA:O CRPG fans are left to look elsewhere.

Gothic 1 is my all time favourite RPG. 2 is everything a sequel “should” be: bigger, some mechanics improvements without losing the core, and (with the expansion) callbacks to 1 and familiar characters. And yet it also lost some of the atmosphere. This is why 1 will always be my favourite.

Despite that, it’s still a great game, and many people’s favourite. I hope you’ll enjoy it.

I started playing through the series a few years ago, having never played them before (I finished Origins a while ago and am now on a break).

AC2 is quite playable still - in fact all of them are. But there are some things that I would’ve liked to know beforehand.

The keyboard and mouse controls are bad. Unity is the worst here: I’d try to run from an enemy and suddenly the character would decide to jump onto a fountain and run around on top of it. AC2 has less of this, but the parkour can feel clunky.

There are too many collectibles, and they all get icons on the map. It’s hard to ignore these, but in trying to collect everything I started to resent the games. To a lesser extent, the same is true for trying to get perfect scores on missions, or doing all side content. The problem is that some of the side content is actually good, but some is just filler and you can’t really know in advance.

Something that bothered me a lot: often you’d get a new mechanic thrown at you looong before the main story introduced that mechanic.

Overall my advice is to play the game - and others in the series - by picking and choosing what you want to do, not by trying to do or see everything.

I’m going through Mass Effect 3 now. When I started the series I thought it seemed good, but I didn’t really understand why it was so very popular. And then the story picked up, and I understood.

Then the opening scene of 2 came, and that was amazing. What a way to start a sequel.

Now in 3 I feel like they nailed the atmosphere. I can’t wait to see where the story goes.

+1 for The Talos Principle, it’s a very good game - but be warned it is less accessible than Portal. Where Portal gives visual clues to solutions, The Talos Principle actively hides them. Especially the bonus stars can get very hard.

A couple of years ago I started playing through the AC games in order. Like you, I had picked several up for free (starting with Unity when the Notre Dame burned), and completed the collection (except the most recent ones) with nice discounts.

I liked Syndicate a lot, especially after Unity which I really disliked. The not-quite-steampunk setting appealed to me, and compared to Unity it controlled much better. I absolutely hated the PC controls in Unity.

I also liked Evie, but honestly could’ve done without Jacob. The sibling idea sounds good on paper, but I don’t think it works. And Jacob is just the less interesting one. I also feel some of the twists in their relationship came out of nowhere.

Gameplay wise the rope launcher was fun. I disliked how often you’d get into a fight just for walking down a street, and using the rope was a good way to escape or avoid that.

Looking back at it, I think this is my second favourite AC. The story is much less compelling than several others, but the setting and characters make up for it.

I’m finally getting around to Mass Effect. So far I’m really enjoying it. The first time you get to explore what I assume is the main hub, it’s pretty cool.

I also enjoyed The Witcher 1 a few years ago, but was thoroughly disappointed with 2.

Last year I played Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2 and enjoyed both, though I prefer 1.

I’ll join the others in saying it’s definitely worth a try. The main character’s actress does a phenomenal job.

As for the hardware, I think it will do fine, but be sure to try it within 2 weeks of purchase (and not play more than two hours) so the Steam refund policy can protect you if needed.

This is a good point. Everyone harps on Epic’s exclusivity, but there are a huge amount of games that only exist on Steam. Most of these never go on other platforms, and many that do, do so only years later.

When put like this, it sounds a lot like Steam and Epic are similar. Of course the difference is that, as far as we know, Valve doesn’t pay for this exclusivity - except indirectly by visibility.

This may or may not be illegal, depending on what the “this” is you’re agreeing to. As a simple example, if it is “you agree to functional cookies by continuing to use the site”, that’s fine. If it is “you agree to us scraping your computer and selling everything we find to China”, that is most definitely not legal, nor is refusing service if you don’t agree.