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gotthammer

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@khanwashere: not much there, yet, last I checked. Just saves for face presets and some lighting fx mods. DA Inquisition's Nexus Mods page does have a fair bit more, so hopefully ME Andromeda's fills up, too. :)

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gotthammer

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@H0RSE: reviews are always subjective, as each reviewer is different and has different experiences, backgrounds, gaming preferences, etc..
The only thing you can be objective about are stuff like specs and performance (and even then, in the context of a specific set of hardware) and reporting on bugs/glitches.

Review scores are trying to 'make objective' (?) something that's subjective. IMHO, it'd be best if reviewers did away with review scores. Not only are review scores arbitrary and vary from site to site, reviewer to reviewer, but they often seem to be used for conflicts between 'fans' and don't seem to add too much positive (if people want a quick impression, most reviewers have short conclusions/TL;DRs at the end of their reviews, anyway).

And, yeah, I also think that Andromeda's MP is better. The combat in MEA is better, in general, IMHO, because of jumping/dashing and how being up close (via biotic/melee) seems to be more 'optimal' (as opposed to the usually slower, more cover-dependent combat in the earlier games).

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gotthammer

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Haven't watched it, probably won't, as some friends said it wasn't great.

As for the whitewashing, I was irked/puzzled at first: why not Rinko Kikuchi or another seasoned/well-regarded Japanese actress? And while I was willing to accept a non-Asian Major Kusanagi, what with her having a full body prosthesis, and even body hopping in later manga, the other members of Sec. 9 should've been Japanese...but I thought 'whatever', as long as the story's good.

Seems like the story's nowhere near GitS Stand Alone Complex/SAC 2nd Gig/SAC SSS. And, judging by the promos I've seen, it seems super serious in tone (like the GitS movie and GitS: Innocence), something I didn't like about the original anime film. I thought the lack of humour/levity, present in the manga, made the characters too stiff in GitS & GitS: Innocence. The SAC series was better, IMHO, and part of why I was interested in this film 'cause I recall reports/an article saying they'd get cues from the SAC series (i.e., the Kuze arc).

Oh well. I'll probably wait for it to show on HBO or something.

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gotthammer

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@R4gn4r0k: I'm running a number of them. Cosmetic stuff that makes some characters prettier like Den's workshop's reskins, Better Black Orcs, Alluring vampiress, Blood Knights full helmets and reskin, Dark Water, Vlad with a helmet, etc..
For the overhauls, I'm currently using Steel Faith Overhaul, which is supposedly more lore-friendly. There's also a matching unit mod for SFO, but I think it's by a different modder.
There's also the Radious overhaul, which I played w/ for a bit, but I think it's not 'lore-friendly'. It does add a fair amount of units, tho'. Not entirely sure which I like better, but I think I like the feel/pace of SFO's battles more.
There are, of course, mods that just add units, like the Glory mod for the various factions or stuff like Ladies of the Red Kiss (vampire infantry melee unit) or Dwarfen Keg Tank (gives dwarfs steam tanks).
Then there's stuff that's either quality of life or 'cheats', or change stuff considerably: More Slots for Provincial Capitals increase construction slots (which also affect the AI); used to play w/ Extra Lord Levels (more pts. per level & higher level cap; disabled it 'cause SFO has it's own change to that); All Tabletop Lords adds more lord types; and when I just wanted to 'paint the world', there are literal cheats, too (one that ups the ward save of the player's units to 100%, or gives the player an almost-always successful hero action, and 100% upkeep reduction).
If you micro your fights, tho', it's not too hard to go conquering a lot, even without mods, esp. below the Very Hard difficulty (it just gets tiring/annoying since I don't have the game on an SSD, so battle load times can take like a minute going into one...and out of one, so I tend to micro only when I think it'll be 'epic')
All on the Steam Workshop.

Aside from the cosmetic stuff, I'm not sure what I'd recommend (and most of that is still dependent on personal taste). I've been thinking of turning off the current overhaul I'm using (SFO), and just turn on stuff like the Provincial Capital slots, mods that add units, and cosmetics for my next playthrough.

The player-made maps for the campaign cities/settlements being packed together seems popular right now, but I've yet to try that, or any map pack/custom map.

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gotthammer

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@gamingdevil800: depends on what era/setting interests you. For the longest time, Empire: Total War was my most-played Steam game. It had/has its issues, but it also has a fair bit of mods, and I enjoyed the setting (the period after the 30 Years' War and 'til after the 7 Years' War/start of the Napoleonic Wars, although Napoleon itself is stand-alone).
Total War: Shogun 2 is quite good and, thanks to its DLCs, has several eras covered (e.g., the Warring States period w/ your usual depiction of samurai warfare; the Boshin war which introduces much more Western elements such as rifles, gatling guns, cannon, steam ships, etc.).
If you're looking for a 'Total War: Middle-earth', there's the Third Age mod for the older Medieval 2: Total War, which I recall was quite good/fun.
In lieu of a properly licensed Tolkien Total War game, tho', then the newest one, Total War: Warhammer is quite fun. I've managed to clock several hundred hours on it after grabbing it a month or so ago during a Humble Monthly thing. It has an active modding community, too.
I also recently tried Attila, but that ran poorly on my system (unlike Warhammer), so I refunded it.

I'd probably recommend Total War: Warhammer if you want something fantasy and relatively straightforward, but for slightly better/more nuanced sieges and battles, some of the earlier entries like Shogun 2 and Empire (these two have naval battles, btw. Rome 2 as well, I think. Didn't play Rome 2) and Medieval 2 could be more to your liking.
Also, if you do get a Total War game, don't neglect to look at mods, whether on Steam, ModDB, or the Total War Center.

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gotthammer

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Ooh. Another Aquanox game. I enjoyed the first 2 (got 'em from GOG).
Curious to see how Xenonauts 2 turns out, since it's apparently going 3D. I enjoyed the first game and I'm curious to see how the new one is, esp. after XCOM2.
I hope Dawn of War 3 is good and closer to DoW1 than DoW2, esp. in terms of scale/unit numbers.
DOS2. I need to finish the first game, first (which I barely played despite backing it on KS). :P
Escape from Tarkov's an MMO? Was interested 'cause it reminded me of STALKER, and the detail/customization for the firearms looked cool...not sure about an MMO (even if it's DayZ/etc.-style).
Kinda surprised A Hat in Time is exclusive (wiki says Win & Mac) to PC. The gameplay, from what I recall, seems best suited to a controller.

That all said, It'd be nice if there were no exclusives. I know why they exist (e.g., to sell a platform, budget/tech constraints, etc.), but it'd be nicer to be able to play everything on one's platform of choice.
Wishful thinking, I guess, along w/ wanting multiplayer to be truly cross-platform, DRM dying, and region-locking going away for good (I hope the Nintendo Switch doing away w/ it encourages others to follow, tho'; 'cause region-locking happens even w/ digital-only stuff for some reason...).

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gotthammer

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@Daian: you should only complain/be upset w/ team cohesion if you're in a full team of 'friends'/people you know. Expecting cohesion and coordination while solo queuing is unrealistic. This is true of almost every multiplayer game, esp. those w/ a large player base.
Same goes for the problems w/ trolls & toxic players. Nothing you can really do about that (they tried that 'avoid this player' feature, but eventually removed it when it got abused, I think).

As for being a TF2 copycat: it's a pretty good iteration on TF2's, and other, concepts and is pretty polished that it stands well enough on its own. I never got sucked into TF2 as I did Overwatch, so Blizz did something right, at least as far as I'm concerned.
And while it's far from perfect, it does enough well that I wouldn't begrudge it the recognition it's receiving.

Lastly, GotY awards and review scores (along w/ reviews) are all subjective. If the reviewers/site really enjoyed something...then they enjoyed something.

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gotthammer

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@DEATHWlSH: these days, not much, I think. There used to be issues here and there. On my end, I had issues downloading big stuff like AC4: Black Flag. Had to redo the entire download 'cause repair/verify/whatever couldn't fix it.

Other than that, I guess it's the inconvenience of having to deal w/ another client, although if you buy a new Ubisoft game on Steam now, that means having to deal w/ UPlay, anyway.

I guess, for some people, it adds up. On PC, you have various clients that are required to run games: Steam, Battle.net (soon to be Blizzard Tech or whatever), Origin, UPlay, Bethesda launched their own recently (I don't know if it'll be necessary for their future titles, but it's the only official way to play Fallout Shelter on desktop, as far as I know), plus all the online-only games, like MMOs, w/ their own clients/launchers (even EA/Bioware's Star Wars: The Old Republic runs on its own launcher, independent of Origin). Only GOG's Galaxy, I think, is entirely optional (as GOG is DRM-free).
So...yeah, it adds up and can be inconvenient. Add to that if you own other platforms, which means PSN and XBox Live (which is also for PC). I think Nintendo has their own, too.

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gotthammer

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I recently subscribed, for the first time, for 2 months to unlock all the expansions, including the latest one, Knights of the Eternal Throne. IMHO, it was worth it. Starting from the Revan expansion, it started to feel more and more like the Mass Effect games, and more so in the Knights of the Fallen Empire & Eternal Throne expansion.

They've also made the game more 'accessible': lots more content you can solo, including the expansion campaigns...but it's still a 'typical, quickbar w/ cooldown MMO'.
Along w/ a change/improvement in mechanics, I do wish the game would get a graphical overhaul, tho'. There are noticeable improvements, over the years (started playing, on and off, when it went 'free-to-play'), but it could be better.
I know it's unlikely, but it'd be cool if SWTOR, like EA/Bioware's recent titles, also got the Frostbite engine treatment. :)

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gotthammer

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I'm glad for the free-to-play. I was sub'd for a short while years ago, and only came back during the occasional 'here, have a few days free to encourage you to re-sub' game time they used to give.
Now with free-to-play, I've even managed to log in to the trial account I made last decade.

EVE is the only MMO that I've ever really thought of going back to. Nothing else really has the sense of scale and being a spacefarer.
Gotta relearn a lot of things, tho'. :D