January 2022: You will be Okay

Now that I'm done with Deadfire I've been finishing off Neverwinter Online's Dragonbone Vale campaign and hammering away at Pathfinder: Kingmaker which is a really long game . Certainly feels like it anyway. I'm still going through the steam freebies and have a few more suggestions to post but that feels like it's running out of worthwhile content too. I mean I'm only searching for free, Non VR, English single player games that interest me.

I do question the stupid discovery queue though. Despite explicitly selecting to never see "coming soon" titles, they are still being displayed - possibly because I've just "killed" so many games already (put on the ignore/never show me again list - around 9500+ titles). The result of showing me something not available or "coming soon" is... I kill/ignore that title too - which means when it does become available I won't see it anymore. Good way to shoot yourself in the foot there Steam/developers. Oh well.

I'll finish up this post with some musics for you all, starting with Peter Hollens doing a Disney and Anime medley, Phoebe Bridger's version of "Friday, I'm in Love" and "You will be Okay" from Helluva Boss which is a really great song.

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Neverwinter Online: Dragonbone Vale

Where Cryptic removes something else!

For those who have been doing the Echoes of Prophecy temporary "campaign" this is the culmination of your efforts! For those that didn't, well - Elminster needs you for a war against the Cult of the Dragon. Or is it just another battlefield in an ongoing conflict? Whatever. The Thayans and silly cultists are trying to raise dracoliches in what feels to be a shinier replacement for Dread Ring, except this time you can cosplay as Spiderman while treasure hunting! Don't worry though, the Dread Ring is still there (for now).

Magic grappling hooks for everyone!

What has been removed was the old enchantment system which went from rank 1 to 15 and needed absurd amounts of work / pay to get to the higher ranks. For those who don't play the game, each character is decked out with around 30 of these. Upon this modules release, congratulations! All those are now garbage! Well at least the ones from rank 1 - 9 which was the bulk of mine. If you have rank 10s and up you can trade them all in for points to get one or two of the NEW enchantments (at rank 1). Joy!?

I can just imagine the guys at Cryptic going "please work hard on ranking these ones up too (because its way more work / pay), we promise not to remove them in the future...", hiding the fingers crossed behind their backs. It boggles the mind why anyone gives these people money with all the shit they pull / remove but hey, as a free to player - I can just enjoy the ride!

Dexter and Dexter: New Blood

Everyone's favorite serial killer.

Mild mannered Dexter Morgan (Michael C. Hall) is an excellent blood splatter analyst working for the Miami Metro but also moonlights as a serial killer who takes out criminals that managed to evade the justice system, then chops them up and makes their bodies "vanish". Ok I lied. He is actually a serial killer that moonlights as law enforcement and somehow manages to stay under everyone's radar most of the time through 8 seasons, +1 with Dexter: New Blood which takes place after the first series. He is always fun to watch and each season brings a new nemesis.

Sometimes it gets messy.

Obviously as a crime drama, there is a bit on the drama side too as on top of all of this Dexter tries to balance family on top of everything else. It's a little annoying at times, but still works for the story. Great plot magics also take place from time to time that either see the usually meticulous Dexter goof up (to let bad guys continue in the story) or more often the law enforcement representatives miss obvious steps or procedures that surely would have caught on to crimes (to let both Dexter and the bad guys continue in the story). Still a very good show, but maybe not for those that dislike some gore (usually implied but sometimes visceral). Recommended!

Pillars of Eternity 2: The Loyal Crew

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Back at the ship the crew mutiny after learning what Gerrod's done. He, Iholikan, Ubin, Voghiln, Garrett and Fassina easily kill the many traitors who once were their allies then upgrade their ship and sail into the deadly sea, which apparently isn't so deadly at all with those upgrades. There they find an island guarded by a robot hydra whom they defeat, and further in find the giant statue of Caed Nua pummeling "the wheel".

Seeing this, Gerrod calls upon Wael and the monstrous tentacle creature appears - tearing the statue limb from limb until whatever god was inside there is gone. "Victory!" Gerrod screams, vindicated by the vengeance wrought upon the now worthless statue. With a nod, he and his team set sail back to more familiar shores - leaving Wael to terrorize the Deadfire archipelago and all the losers that reside in it as he sees fit.

That statue got owned.

That's really the problem with the whole place. There were no "good" people. Also, why set a high fantasy adventure in a janky pirate setting? Strange game design decisions for sure. Oh well. That's it for Pillars of Eternity 2! Not really recommended as its too different from its predecessor! :P

The Accountant and The Misfits

A couple of odd flicks.

The Accountant

Christian (Ben Affleck) is an autistic yet brilliant accountant who usually works for criminal organizations (they can't really go to any standard ones) to balance their books. The first third of this is exactly this, a slow job involving writing a lot of numbers that isn't very interesting to watch. Fortunately he also doubles as a killer / hitman because why not? Many people die in the process and this action film picks up nicely, but there are a few too many questionable logic bridges to get to that point. It's ok, but I'd not recommend it. Crazy to put that first third in an "action" film too.

The Misfits

Sums it up nicely.

In this heist / comedy, a team of criminals hire break out artist / conman / thief Richard Pace (Pierce Brosnan) to help them steal gold from a prison. There are a few funny moments nowhere near enough to save this from being a good or even mediocre film. Having near constant narration is a bad sign, explosions leave no logical damage, and a ten minute barf sequence doesn't really equate to comedy. My recommendation: Stay far away from this one.

Pillars of Eternity 2: Merchants Murdered

[Part of the Cursed story line]

Only the two merchant factions remain as viable allies, and since the Valian Trading Company seem like nicer folk (despite trading in slaves) - the team agree to help them sabotage the Royal Deadfire Company by blowing up their base in Neketaka. This goes pretty smoothly until Ludin is killed by an RDC firing squad. Everyone is brought in for questioning at the palace and Gerrod spills the beans on the Valian plot while somehow maintaining innocence and the ignorant queen believes him.

As such the VTC members are put under arrest while the remaining RDCs are left in shambles, scratching both of as potential allies to get through the deadly ocean. Knowing they now have to go it alone, the crew start hunting down the remaining items they need to upgrade their ship including one piece at an undead haven where Rook is killed by a fampyr trio.

Soon after their old ally, archmage Llengrath, pays them a visit while riding atop her dragon requesting help investigating another island. Sure enough, its full of tentacles and horrible things but these horrible things also fight each other. Gerrod makes the most of that as they explore deeper, eventually finding it is the mysterious beholder-type god Wael asleep down here. Despite Llengrath's warnings, Gerrod makes a deal with Wael - freedom in exchange for destroying the giant statue. Wael agrees - all they need to do is find the target and call for him.

 

All beholders have lazers!

The horrible, gigantic tentacle monster that's full of eyes is then set free into the ocean and Llengrath leaves angrily - knowing full well the chaos such a creature will cause.

The Witcher (Netflix) vs The Wheel of Time

Two pretty good fantasy series.

The Witcher (Netflix)

Henry Cavill stars as Geralt of Rivia, a monster hunting witcher in this high budget series that has some really good visuals, casting and world building. Pacing seems to be the main problem with is show as season 1 has numerous time skips per episode which thankfully is lessened in season 2, but still present. There are also episodes where things just move way too slowly and some where magic is incredibly OP (I guess mages are just lazy otherwise there's no need for witchers) and lastly, despite the title the show doesn't focus soley on Geralt which might be a problem for some as they take a more Game of Thrones approach at times. Still very good and recommended as I look forward to season 3.  

The Wheel of Time

Rosamund Pike stars as Moiraine, an Aes Sedai in search of the Dragon Reborn who is prophecied to be the one to either save or destroy the world. The budget is clearly not as high as the Witcher, but this fast paced tale gets its hooks in you quick and brings a more exciting story all up for season 1. Obvious problems here seem to tie in to political correctness where people in a remote village are cast super diversely where infact they should almost all be cousins by now sharing "the old blood" and most of the time girl power is the only way to save which I think is baked into the source material. Don't expect this (or the Witcher) to follow the books though. Still very entertaining and in my opinion, the superior of these two shows for now. Looking forward to season 2.

Moiraine wins.