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Latest Comments by Kimyrielle
Life Is Strange looks like it's being ported to Linux by Feral Interactive
17 March 2016 at 3:21 pm UTC

I played this game in Windows (it was one of the last ones I made an exception for not having Linux support to date) and loved it. I used to play a lot of adventures in the (g)olden days of games like Indiana Jones and Police Quest. But the genre mostly lost me when it largely moved to achieve difficulty by designing obscure and counterintuitive puzzles that don't make you open a door by looking for a key, but doing stuff like using a branch and duct tape to create a fishing rod, using that to fish a salmon which you place in front of the door to attract a grizzly bear to charge in and break through the door. When adventures started to become basically unplayable without walkthroughs or methodically testing every possible irrational combination of steps, I moved on, because I don't want to tackle puzzles defying logic and reason.

And then came Life is Strange, which is nothing like that. It's a almost classic approach to adventures, where you can figure out the puzzles by applying logic and common sense and just doing what you would do in the character's place. On top of that, the story is compelling, the characters believable and relatable and the art is fantastic. And on top of the top, it even features a strong female lead character, which is (sadly) still something unsual in the video game industry, even in 2016.

It is probably the best adventure game in many years.

And normally I would stop writing here, but unfortunately this awesome game also features one (actually two) of the worst endings I have ever seen in a game. There is a "good" and a "bad" ending for the sheer sake of giving players a choice, but the "bad" ending is so completely out of character for the main character that you know that she would never, ever have chosen it. The "good" ending, on the other side, is not only a completely uninspired, "have-seen-this-10,000-times- in-time-travel-plots-before" cliche way to end the story, but also leaves every single choice you ever made in the game basically irrelevant in a way that you wonder why you even played the game. And the worst thing is that it's completely predictable and obvious from at least the 3rd chapter on that this and nothing else will be the outcome.

The game is still awesome, and I still absolutely recommend it, but it really didn't deserve the horrible, unsatisfying ending(s) they gave it.

Hearts of Iron 4 to be released on D-Day
16 March 2016 at 6:26 pm UTC

Quoting: chris200x9I hope it has workshop support, the game looks great but it really would be a shame to limit it to World War two. I'd like to see mods where you could like deploy mechs on new fantasy maps.

Agree. The game is an automatic buy for me, like most Paradox titles, but I have to admit I am growing a -bit- jaded of the standard WW2 theme. I have kicked Hitler's ass countless times in various strategy games, so there is that. And while kicking Hitler's ass is obviously a satisfying thing to do, I also wouldn't mind seeing some mods using the awesome HOI engine for a near-total conversion. HOI Middle Earth, or HOI World War III maybe? :D

I am still totally looking forward to that game!

Obsidian and Paradox team up for new RPG called Tyranny and it's coming to Linux
16 March 2016 at 6:16 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: Stupendous Man
Quoting: Kimyrielle... I just wish they would voice over -all- their dialogue in their next game, including the player character(s).
Please no! If the player character had a voice I wouldn't be able to decide his/her personality myself. Then they might as well remove the choices and just provide one or two pre-made characters.
It's an RPG, I decide the 'role' of the player character.

I dunno. I have been a roleplayer for a bit over 30 years, and while I keep hearing the "voice overs kill my immersion" argument I lot (apparently people were bashing Bethesda for giving the PC a voice, too), I cannot say that I can remotely agree with it. But for the sake of compromise, I am fine with them adding a toggle for it, so people disliking it can disable it. Choice is good! :D

Obsidian and Paradox team up for new RPG called Tyranny and it's coming to Linux
16 March 2016 at 3:53 pm UTC Likes: 1

Quoting: BeamboomWhat's wrong with 3rd person perspective - heck even first person perspective? Come on Paradox and Obsidian, surely you guys got enough resources and skill to make it into more than the standard isometric view.

Apple vs Orange?

Isometric view isn't inferior to 3D, it's a different art style. One that I personally love, despite the characters tend to be sprite sized (which is its biggest shortcoming). But try to paint such beautiful world renderings in 3D.
Personally I am the camp that hates first person view. With a passion. I go like you go for isometric view and wonder if they were just too cheap to add a character model and creator . :D

About Paradox: I see the point about them releasing too many tiny DLCs with big price tags, but they have been one of the first major publishers to jump on the Linux train and their games are always of great quality (at least I cannot think of a single truly bad game of theirs). That puts them waaaay into good territory for me. Actually, Paradox games are almost always an automatic buy for me and I consider Cities Skylines one of the best five games available for Linux.

About Obsidian: With Bioware's ongoing EA-inflicted decline, I'd say their RPG writing is now industry leading. I just wish they would voice over -all- their dialogue in their next game, including the player character(s).

GOL Asks: What have you been playing recently?
16 March 2016 at 3:11 pm UTC

Prison Architect. I picked it up during Early Access but never played it much. It's really good fun.

Stellaris, Paradox's space grand strategy game, gets a release date
16 March 2016 at 2:18 am UTC Likes: 1

Now that is a game I am really looking forward! :)

Serious Engine 1 Linux source code is coming
15 March 2016 at 5:16 pm UTC Likes: 2

I wish more studios would follow their example and release code for older games they are commercially done with, so that their fans can mod them or make them run on newer machines. There are a lot of games out there that deserve to live on and be preserved.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance doesn't look like it will come to Linux any time soon
14 March 2016 at 9:06 pm UTC Likes: 2

Quoting: scainebut there's a reason I don't back Kickstarter any more and developers like these guys. They use Kickstarter as a springboard to canvass money from a platform group (whether that's Linux, consoles or Mac), then completely do them over when the ball is in play. Project Cars did it to the Wii (and us) and countless projects have promised Linux support only to renege when the chips are down.

Yeah, I must admit I am now more careful than I used to be, too. I will still back KS projects (obviously only those who promise a Linux port), but these days I do require the studio (or at least a high ranking team member working for them) to have released at least one Linux game already. In the hope that if they did it once, they can do it again. Harebrained will still get my money, but I will no longer back unknown studios with no Linux track record. Too many of them think they can write Windows games that magically compile in Linux without ever taking the platform into consideration.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance doesn't look like it will come to Linux any time soon
14 March 2016 at 7:43 pm UTC Likes: 20

I bet it's yet another middleware issue.

I find it so hilarious that many studios not only announce but sort of sell (I know that legally backing a product on KS isn't regarded a sale, but still) Linux support, but then build their product for Windows only, without even thinking about how to get it to run on the other platforms they planned to deploy on. And halfway through the development process it suddenly occurs them that they maneuvered themselves into a Windows only corner.

Can I call that "unprofessional"? Because that's what it is.

How big is Linux gaming? Some estimates
14 March 2016 at 5:55 pm UTC

Quoting: sasannWhat survey? I've been playing games on my linux box for quite some time and never got this so called survey.

Same. That's the biggest complaint people have against the Steam Hardware Survey. It might or might not be based on a solid methodology. We don't know, as Steam doesn't disclose how they conduct it, which alone justifies to dismiss it as not being based on solid science. The numbers could be anything between accurate and off by a landslide. We know with some certainty that at least some Linux users are not counted, as the survey isn't getting displayed on Big Picture (which some are probably using almost exclusively if they use Steam Machines.)

But sound methodology or not, the number -is- somewhat consistent with the reported sales of a number of devs having published games on Linux, so there is that.

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