Hades 2 just released in early access on Steam yesterday so I'll be giving it a go tonight. I still haven't finished the first one properly but I loved it so I'm happy to shell out the money for this one now. I have faith they'll work hard on it and make it every bit as good.

Other than that I'm still playing Palworld on and off with my manager and a couple of weeks ago there was a demo up of Assassin's Creed Mirage. I hate their rpg ones (Origins was fucking awful, I admit I haven't played Odyssey and while Niall enjoyed it I've felt no pull towards it, and Valhalla just looked terrible from the moment it was revealed) but Mirage is a step back to the old style ones so I figured I'd give it a go. Fell instantly in love with it. It feels like #1 but with all the improvements of titles like Brotherhood, Black Flag and Syndicate. I think the setting also helps; being a similar area to the original gives nostalgic vibes. The 'Hidden One' (they're not assassin's yet) bureaus are basically the ones from the original game, where you drop through a hole in the roof into little courtyards with fountains. Oh and they removed the idiotic block on being able to assassinate heavy enemies. If you sneak up on them you can one hit kill them again so I've given in and bought that.

I also got Manor Lords. I know, 2 early access games in a couple of weeks of each other, I feel ashamed. But it's surprisingly well done and has a lot to it already. I think there are 3 scenarios. I chose the one with no combat first and it feels a lot like Banished but a bit more forgiving. I haven't really found any bugs yet other than when I completed that scenario; it gives the option to end game or continue playing in sandbox mode, but if you choose sandbox mode every few seconds it pops up the "Victory!" window again. I have started one of the combat scenarios and died horribly.

Edit: Played Hades 2 for about an hour. Every bit as good as the first one so far. Some interesting changes as you now have a bit more magic and gathering but it's very well delivered so you don't feel overwhelmed at any point by all the new things you can do. The powers still feel very similar yet different enough to feel refreshing and there are a couple of returning characters so far but they've been revamped. I've managed to defeat the first boss but my very first run I died in the second room

Funny, even weeks before Hades 2 was announced I got back into Hades because of a friend of mine who had started playing it and was telling me about his runs. Got the itch again. Then I ended up playing countless hours trying to beat it at the highest (rated) difficulty setting before him, and then decided to 100% all the achievements and prophecies for the hell of it as I was getting close anyway. Was very much addicted and had the "one more game..." bug. Now that I've reached my goals I'm free again...and then they literally release Hades 2 in the same week.

I might buy it in Early Access because let's face it, i'm gonna play it eventually anyway so might as well give the devs a boost up front.

lol @ pev dying in the very first room. I hope it was because you didn't understand the control scheme or something

haha do it ox, buy it! I did it coz let's face it, we know it's gonna be high quality.

I think it was because I hadn't played Hades in ages so had to get back into the dodge mindset instead of 'stand and swing' mindset. The dodge system is slightly different too now; you have a pause before you do your dash and I think that's because if you just press it, you dash, but if you hold it in you dash then start sprinting. Also some of the early mobs called Wailers are total bitches. They come after you with a scream that does damage in a cone. Fine 1 at a time, you can interupt them, but multiple from different directions just leads to you having to run for ages until you can get a shot in.

Anyhoo I'm pleasantly surprised how much is already in the game! I had a great run the other night, got lucky with all my boons etc and went from being stuck on the second boss to beating that, and the third and almost getting to the final boss. They've mixed things up a little too; the third area plays rather differently to the normal areas, yet also similar. I don't want to say more and spoil it because it was a nice surprise (and a scary surprise lol) when I got to it. Honestly it already feels like a polished and finished game to me so I assume it's more around tuning of the abilities and controls that they've put it into early access. There are definitely some disparities (like those bloody wailers).

I also purchased Hades as it was on sale and I don't want to play it on switch very often. So I'm also doing some playthroughs of that now

True, I know it will be really good regardless...maybe I'll buy it once I'm done with this period of big expenses.

Makes sense that they changed the dash system! In the original you'd basically be dashing non-stop so it made it just an extra button you needed to push pretty much all the time. How far can you get in the game so far? I guess not to the actual final boss yet?

No I'm surprised, I think you can get to the final boss! I haven't, I got almost to it (got to the 4th area) then died. Also it seems there might be two final bosses... as in there are two ways to get out of your base now, but one needs unlocking. I don't want to say too much for spoilers' sake, plus I haven't done that myself yet so don't know much about it. I've just spotted random comments on the boards about it and deduced some things. They've changed some things up too; the third area is... a very different feel. Again I won't say how as it was a fun thing to discover (I thought at least) and it still feels like Hades but also a welcome change of pace.

There have been a couple of patches since that post and they tweak a lot of stuff in the patches. One was the dash; I think it's been made a bit more fluid again but still differing. I haven't actually played it in a couple of months, I need to get back on it and check out all the changes. They're constantly changing the boons and the weapon upgrades too. I don't tend to read through all those bits on the patch notes as I forget which boon is which half the time but there's a lot of work going into it based on feedback from the players.

Satis, I keep seeing you on Soulmask, what's that like? I'm intrigued

hey! Holy crap, I haven't posted in a while. Sorry. Soul mask is pretty good. It's like Ark mixed with Conan, plus its own thing. For early access, it's remarkably polished. Assuming you like Ark/Conan and don't mind the cost, I'd definitely recommend it. Just a word of advice if you do... remember that you are playing as the mask, not as the character that you created. That may not make a lot of sense until you start playing, but it's game-changing if you do play. I wish i'd realized it sooner.

If you do decide to play, give me a shout.

Well that 'playing as the mask' thing sounds pretty intriguing... I may well give it a go. I'll definitely shout if I do. I gave in and bought Enshrouded the other day, mainly for the building system. It still hasn't gripped me yet (I played the demo and found it pleasant but not an 'omg this is awesome' sort of feeling) but I'll persevere and see how I feel as more options open up.

Enshrouded is pretty good too. The building system is really good once you figure it out. You can basically build at a block level with any block type you've learned, which is really great. The rest of the game is good, but to me the building system is standout, though it would be nice if you could have even finer control of the blocks. Still, good stuff.

Just tried the Dragon's Dogma 2 free trial. 2 hours you're allowed. I noped outta there with 76 minutes left. At least 10 minutes were spent loading the game. Feels clunky, looks awful (ok I had it on low but there were shadows flickering everywhere, character models had weird sharp corners), the UI is super low res, it didn't even detect my resolution so started in a window like some 2007 game that was never designed for more than 1024 x 768, the combat is so boring. Yes ok early game is not going to be flashy but it tells you to dodge whilst not actually having a dodge button, it also locks you onto a target so you can't see other things coming for you and thus can't 'dodge'. I am so glad I didn't just get it when it came out due to liking the first one. Oh yes also it has a big sign on the steam page for it about controllers may show incorrect glyphs and you'll need a keyboard at points but when you start the game it flashes up a window saying a controller is pretty much needed... make your minds up!

Ew, that sounds terrible. Not that I was tempted by that game, but thanks for the warning.

Some pics of Soul Mask. It's a decently pretty game. The sunsets are pretty nice. The other pic is of the baby jaguar I yoinked, prior to having it grow up and become a mount. Not sure how to hide the UI (if it's even possible), so sorry in advance.

It does look nice, there's a lot going on with that UI! Why did you mention you yoink animals to use... getting more tempted

My regulars are:
Men of War AS2. I know, ridiculous but there's hardly any game that interests me at the moment that is actually complete and not Early Access.
L4D2. What can I say, the greatest zombie game of all.

This sale i got:
Terra Invicta - got bored real quick. Think of Xcom with deeper geoscape stuff only. Huh, guess I need to blast some alien in the face with plasma rifle occasionally after all.
Last Train Home - Decent, still playing.
Palace of ice expansion for Solasta - more on this below.

Random game i played:
Stellaris - It is quite good but I got bored, these grand strategy games just don't do it for me anymore.


Solasta: Crown of the Magister and the expanison Palace of Ice.
If you are looking for that dnd fix then this is good place to start. If Bg3 is a Bentley then this is a decent Ford or Volkswagen. While it lacks the budget and scope of BG3 there is enough here. The game feels a bit linear but the combat encounters are quite good. It is turn based like bg3 and this is why i would suggest it over the pathfinder series. As far as I can tell 3 classes are behind a paywall (druid, warlock, barbarian) but there's plenty to choose from without the dlc. All in all I enjoyed my time in Solasta and the main game is like 10€ when discounted.

Regarding the yoinked pet/mount... in Soul Mask the only way to get a jaguar mount is to go through a bit of a questline... you have to find a jaguar momma, track it back to its home, then trap the baby it's feeding. Most of the rest of the mounts are just about finding a baby version of the mount and trapping it, so the jaguar is a bit more involved. However, none are particularly difficult thus far. Shiny and I are still only about to the mid-game with several more mounts to go (I think), so I can't give any definitive answers. Shiny's not smitten with the game... she plays because I do. I'm personally enjoying it, though I get drawn more into the grindy stuff. I did tweak a bunch of settings to make it easier and less grindy. I don't usually do that, but this game was a bit too difficult on defaults in my opinon.

Playing Fallout 4: London. So far ok. Had occasional crashes at the start but runs good now.