Animavore wrote:It looks like if you have old, 20 year-old saves for Diablo 2 they'll still work on the remake.
https://www.ign.com/articles/diablo-2-r ... save-files

While a nice option, it's not something I would do. Part of the appeal of the remake, for me, is to replay it from the start.

Animavore wrote:This new game somehow mixes a card game with Diablo.

Perfect World + Cryptic, that's a double no for me.

Thomas Eshuis wrote:

Animavore wrote:It looks like if you have old, 20 year-old saves for Diablo 2 they'll still work on the remake.
https://www.ign.com/articles/diablo-2-r ... save-files

While a nice option, it's not something I would do. Part of the appeal of the remake, for me, is to replay it from the start.

Offline or closed bnet? They promised not to mess with xp exploits, supposedly.

arugula2 wrote:

Thomas Eshuis wrote:

Animavore wrote:It looks like if you have old, 20 year-old saves for Diablo 2 they'll still work on the remake.
https://www.ign.com/articles/diablo-2-r ... save-files

While a nice option, it's not something I would do. Part of the appeal of the remake, for me, is to replay it from the start.

Offline or closed bnet? They promised not to mess with xp exploits, supposedly.

Both, offline for single-player, bnet to play with friends.
If I want exploits, I'll wait for mods.

I'm not sure what all is considered an exploit, anymore. I'm pretty sure a level 1 character in Hell Chaos is technically an exploit, though... but it's integral to the game now, so unless they had their fingers crossed, it's staying.

arugula2 wrote:I'm not sure what all is considered an exploit, anymore. I'm pretty sure a level 1 character in Hell Chaos is technically an exploit, though... but it's integral to the game now, so unless they had their fingers crossed, it's staying.

I think the simple definition is any way to gain an advantage in the game, that was not intended by it's designers/creators.

That's how I usually view it. It can be a bit nebulous with badly designed game, but at the very least it's anything that they clearly didn't intend you to do.

Exploits becoming sanctioned features is probably routine. Every game is a work in progress, and Blizz has obviously embraced certain erstwhile exploits & made then official parts of the game. I’m curious about the lack of specificity... but their comments are open-ended, so... for $40 they’ll probably want to warn players if they consider bug rushes “exploits” again in the usual sense. They probably know that.

Surviving Mars (2018)

OpenCritic page

City-building sim set on Mars. Windows & MacOS. Addons here, one is free (Mysteries Resupply Pack).

Disco Elysium: The Final Cut is coming on March 30th on PC, PS5, and PS4. I put this on the back-burner recently because TFC was announced and I wanted to wait until that released with all its new content which is free for anyone already with the game. From the couple of hours I played of this I could already tell it was something special. I can't wait to start playing it.

Nice. Looking forward to that one, eventually.

I liked these two mini-docs about it:

This one is more hands-off, focuses on general game design philosophy, basically spoiler-free if you ignore dialogue boxes.

This one has a spoiler section in the middle (15:41 - 18:43) clearly delineated... but it also incorporates random game music & voice snippets throughout. It also references plot throughout, I guess in a manner that he thinks is spoiler-free.

The Fall (2014)

OpenCritic page

Adventure game with puzzle elements. Windows & MacOS.

Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance coming in June, I think. By Quebec developer Tuque Games, who have worked with Perfect World in the past, though this game is being published by Wizards of the Coast.

"Dark Alliance: Everything We Know About This New Action RPG" (Force Gaming)



It sounds like grinding the same 21 missions for gear upgrades until you hit max level (which is... 20? Que?) and then a few other dungeons open up. Sounds... cramped.

Go go D4!

ETA: Apparently the devs plan to launch the game, and then gauge how players respond to things like character variety, level cap, loot variety, grinding, etc., and decide what direction to take the game. Okay. buddy...

I’d like to say players want them to come up with and execute a fully fleshed out idea and release a completed game, but I’m not sure that’s what people want anymore considering how rare it seems. Oh well, back to Geneforge for me!

Article: Disco Elysium: The Final Cut Has Been Refused Classification in Australia (OpenCritic)

Due to optional simulated drug use. Embarrassing.

Creature in the Well (2019)

OpenCritic page

Pinball-inspired top-down hack n slasher. Windows only.

D2 remaster alpha... this Friday.

^ I’d like for this game’s legacy to be in defiance of the angry incels complaining that the remastered Amazon looks ‘ugly’. All the characters look ugly, imo. And there’s something particularly menacing about the Amazon here. Amazons show up on the battlefield ready to murder. I’d have it no other way.

Weird... D2 page shows beta opt-in, but when you sign up, it gives a confirmation page for alpha opt-in.

This one is shaping up nicely. A lot of comparisons to Hades, Metroid, and Aliens.