Dark Souls: Late To The Party

So I picked up this game the other day, you might not have heard of it, it's a sort of action-RPG. It's called Dark Souls and I've died a few times already, but that's not really anything to worry about.

The game and fans love to talk about death, but death is not a permanent condition in Dark Souls

My previous knowledge of Dark Souls was when it became that super popular game that everyone was talking about, a console RPG at a time when I didn't have a console, it was then ported to the PC and I still didn't really get it. I'm still not entirely sure I get it, but at least I've seen enough to give it a shot and see how I do.

One of the guys from the intro, which no doubt will be a boss

My interest was piqued by a video series from the Extra Credits guys, where they're playing through Dark Souls and giving an overview of the design and various interesting bits of information. Not a classic LP by any means, but one that is far more interesting to me than any proper LP could be. Seeing the game in action, and having two people with a design background and an easy-going demeanour narrating it, made the game much more appealing to me.

Space Quest I: The Sarien Encounter (VGA remake, 1990)

Space Quest I, the start of Roger Wilco's adventures, going from lowly janitor to space hero and back again (and repeat).

This is the remake of the first game in the series, and I'll be replaying it for the good folks over at The Adventure Gamer!

So go check it out there, since there's no point in me posting it over here.

Pillars of Eternity: Character Creation and the Crisis of Countless Choices

Is this the spiritual sequel to Baldur's Gate that I've been waiting for all these years?

No spoilers here for Pillars of Eternity, I've barely started it. I seem to have got stuck on the character creation. Not because it's bad, but rather because it has so many options I can't quite make up my mind! Instead, I'll ramble on about RPGs for a bit and the gameplay posts will come later on.

The introduction: You are travelling with a caravan to a new settlement when you get stuck in a mountain pass.

If there's one thing I really do love about RPGs, it's the character creation. Good character creation can add a wealth of possibilities to a game. As a first impression though, it can provide a daunting plethora of options, many of which might be completely unknown to the player. How important every statistic, every class, every spell, every choice can have unforeseen consequences for the future of your character.

Cyberpunk Returns: Shadowrun: Dragonfall

Shadowrun: Dragonfall is the sort-of-sequel, sort-of-DLC for Shadowrun Returns. It's available as a standalone "Director's Cut", so you don't even need to play the first one (but I would recommend that you do, I really enjoyed it). I played the Director's Cut standalone version.

The world of Shadowrun presents you with a future filled with biomechanical engineering, magic, metahumans, dragons, virtual reality and so much more. It's futuristic cyberpunk meets high fantasy, and while the geography of the world might be the same as ours, this "Awakening" has caused huge wars and a massive change to political and social dynamics. There are new empires, new city-states and new dangers, and it's up to your team of "Shadowrunners" to navigate them.

Space Quest IV: Part 3: Out of Time

After having foiled Vohaul's plans in Space Quest 1 and 2, it seems that famous galactic space-hero, Roger Wilco would have to do it again. Armed with nothing but his charming personality, good looks, quick wits, a pocket full of acidic ooze and a cigar stub, I exited the time pod for the last time.

The Sequel Police dispatch station was empty, and their aircraft sat quietly in its hangar. The only other place to check was off to the right, where there had previously been a guard but now only a strange tunnel entrance lay ahead. Presumably, all of the Sequel Police were chasing my shadows around space and time, so they thankfully couldn't get in my way.

The tunnel entrance had a rather complicated locking system, but I was carrying what is commonly known as "a fool's lockpick", by which I mean a glass jar full of incredibly corrosive green ooze. Being very careful not to spill any on myself (something that would mean certain death), I melted the lock and that seemed to have the effect I was looking for.

Space Quest IV: Part 2: Babes, Burger Time and Back to the Future

Last time, on Space Quest IV...

So we've arrived in the past. Well, it's the future to Roger, but the past compared to where we were and oh no I've gone cross-eyed. Best not to worry about that too much and instead lets just get on with the game. We've arrived on a desolate looking planet, but thankfully it seems free of both cyborgs and other futuristic dangers so lets go and take a look around.

A brief wander leads to us meeting some local wildlife, and this avian fellow has brought us home, presumably to meet the family. How nice. The other guest, a Sequel Policeman (officer?), fared less well and has been impaled on a stray branch. A quick search of the dead (?) police officer gets us a piece of paper with some gum in it. These cyborgs don't seem to have the capacity to chew gum, so where did he get this from? Either way, it contains half a time code so we'll keep it next to that dangerous ooze for later.

Space Quest IV: Roger Wilco and the Time Rippers (1991)

Here is a game for which I have a lot of fondness for, a classic Sierra adventure game and one of my all-time favourites. It's a wonderful blend of comedy and science-fiction, as well as being a tale of an otherwise unremarkable person achieving great things against all the odds. Having an ordinary working slob as a hero is continued in space-comedies such as Red Dwarf and Futurama, of which I'm also a big fan!

Roger Wilco is a hero that is very easy to relate to, he's just an ordinary man who finds himself in extraordinary situations. He begins the first game as a janitor, but at the start of this game he has managed to foil Sludge Vohauls plan to destroy Xenon, escape the clutches of Sludge Vohaul's revenge, help the Two Guys from Andromeda and salvage a half-decent space-worthy ship. Now he finds himself at a seedy bar, taking a rest on his way back home, and regaling the locals with tales of his impressive feats.