June Update

Beaten: 12-Jun-2019

I'm a big Borderlands 2 fan. It's one of a handful of games that I've spent an embarrassing amount of time playing. I've pre-purchased 3 on the Epic Games store. So naturally when I heard we were getting a free DLC to help bridge the plot between them, I downloaded it the moment it became available.

While the action is great, the level cap is now 80, there's a new raid boss and a new weapon class ("effervescent"), the actual story is a bit of a let down. There are the usual cheeky moments of trademark humor, but beyond the loss of Sanctuary and the vault key (and it's map), there's practically nothing here that sets up any known plot/locations/characters that we've glimpsed so far in the trailers and reveals of the third game. Maybe this is just one-half of the bridge and the new game will pick up where this DLC leaves off? We'll only know in September. For now the question of how we get from Pandora to a starship named Sanctuary 3 is as much a mystery as it's always been.

We do get to see Vaughn from Tales brought in and how he's introduced to Lilith and crew. But it's a plot point almost barely worth mentioning as he is quickly assimilated into the group and becomes a quest giver centered around his status as a bandit leader. He doesn't mention the other main characters from Tales or give any hints as to what might be going on with them.

Get it because it's BL2 and enjoy it for the new stuff it brings. But come September and beyond I doubt many people will be talking about it.

2nd Playthrough Beaten: 7-Jun-2019

I recently dove back into NMS to do a different play-through in "survival" mode. It basically means you are a lot more squishy, enemies are a little tougher, hazards more damaging, and aggressive sentinels are much more common on the planets you visit. The ultimate goal of the in-game story is still the same -- get to the center of the galaxy. And starting up was more difficult as I died three times and lost all my stuff early on. Most of the time it was from getting attacked by wildlife that can take you out in two hits if you haven't upgraded your shield. But after that rough start things got a lot easier, apart from having fewer safe planets to land on.

In the end I made it to the final Atlas interface and then chose to go to a new, lush galaxy called Eissentam. That meant leaving behind the galaxy where most of the player base is located (Euclid), but with more relaxed security it seems like a good place to continue that game save in the future. Haven't decided yet if I want to do the last achievement which is reach the center in permadeath mode.

I'm looking forward to the next update this summer that will include three major changes -- true multiplayer, VR, and a third unrevealed one as yet. Whatever the faults of the original release, this game has certainly come into its own as one of the best relaxing space exploration games out there that doesn't require a massive learning curve.

Beaten: 30-May-2019

I waited a full year to play this even though I got my copy as a KS backer when the game released. I have no regrets as the game went through several patches and with 5.0 they seem to have reached that steady-state point where I had almost no issues with playing and only two or three CTDs during my (so far) 132 hours of running the game. I still have two DLC and a couple of alternate endings to complete.

Deadfire improves on most of the game play of the original PoE except that now instead of chasing a mysterious priest who can suck souls out of people you are chasing a massive statue inhabited by a god on a mission to "save the world". As the titan moves across a tropical archipelago full of swaggering pirates, suspicious island folk, dishonest trading companies and lost ruins, you get to play pretty much like any CRPG, but with an amazingly diverse cast of characters and societal politics instead of the usual western European model of fantasy setting. It's a refreshing difference, all the while keeping with the same game engine that feels vastly improved.

Once again you get a select choice of followers including the return of Edér, your best bud from the first game who can be spec'd as a fighter, rogue or something in-between. I played again as a cipher and has a great time charming enemies to get them to temporarily fight for me. The group dynamics and banter are good. The quests are interesting and there's a TON of background lore to get deep into. Criticism? The main quest line is relatively short and can be completed well below level cap. But completing the main quest ends the game, so I'm sure this has more to do with re-play value by combining the four separate faction quest lines with a selection of different side quests for a different experience each time.

A big difference from the last game is that your castle -- a fortress that had numerous uses -- is now replaced by a ship for travel among the islands. While the ship serves as a home base of sorts and you can purchase bigger ones, it's primary purpose was to also be involved in combat with other ships. But ship combat was only ever realized a mini-game that many people found dissatisfying and a detraction from the core game mechanics. So the latest patch allowed you to bypass it and go straight to a combat "boarding" option where you go head-to-head with the enemy crew like any other battle map in the game. The practical effect of this is it makes buying the various expensive ship upgrades pointless. It's a real shame as it seems the team either didn't have the time and money to develop a truly engaging ship combat system. I would have been happy with something simple like from the game Windward, but the normal combat system for boarding was a good enough compromise.

If you are a fan of CRPGs and this series in particular I give it a satisfying thumbs up.