Here's another characteristically disjointed blog post about my recent gaming activities. In case anyone hadn't noticed, my primary Internet activity consists of simply keeping track of my own gaming habits via a small YouTube channel, and any blogging duties will always take a backseat to my incessant video uploading (partly because it's far easier to just record some gameplay and write a quick paragraph or two rather than having to take time out of my busy schedule to actually write anything more in-depth about what I've been playing). With that clarification out of the way, this is what I've been doing since my last GB update;

Witcher 2 ends with a cliffhanger (or, to be precise, a ladybird) but otherwise does a respectable job of clearing up most of the important plot-related questions the player might want answers to at this point. As a whole TW2 leaves me somewhat cold - and the act of playing through it was accompanied by a fair amount of frustration - but I can't argue with the fact that the game's sheer ambition and great atmosphere makes it one of the true must-have titles of 2011. Impressive visuals aside the game was clearly designed from the ground up to work well on consoles, however, as there's absolutely nothing in this third-person dialogue-heavy realtime action RPG which strictly requires a PC or even - which is the most important point for me personally - caters particularly much to the tastes of old school PC RPG fans (i.e. fans of Wizardry, Might & Magic, Ultima and similar classics of the genre).

Now that I've finished both Witcher games once I have to conclude that I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the series and what CD Projekt RED is trying to do in gameplay terms, but the whole choices & consequences aspect is impressive so there are still plenty of reasons to go back and explore the roads not taken during my first playthroughs. An early example is this mini-boss fight in Witcher 1, which I have never seen despite having played the prologue quite a few times now (always went for the other option during the attack on Kaer Morhen).

One of the disadvantages of buying a new computer is that you tend to lose some save files in the process (thank the Gods for Steam Cloud, though!), and this was the case for me with BFBC2. Restarting the game and playing through the missions I had previously finished was accomplished a lot faster than expected, though, and this can in no small part be credited to the fact that a higher frame rate (exceeding 60 FPS most of the time) and better overall performance makes twitch-based shooter gameplay that much easier to handle. BFBC2's strongest feature apart from great sound design is definitely the feel of the core shooting mechanics themselves, and a silk-smooth frame rate is necessary to enjoy such aspects fully.

The new hardware also exposes BFBC2's graphical flaws, however, as its often painfully obvious that the game engine was designed with the current generation of consoles in mind. Still, in the thick of the action you don't have time to study individual textures and pieces of level geometry, and the PC version's anti-aliasing also goes a long way towards providing a smoother presentation.

These 3 minutes, while not bad in and of themselves, capture the full range of emotions at display in the entire Crysis series. CryTek is the new id Software in more ways than one; not only do they push hardware boundaries with each new release - they also seem hilariously incapable of crafting an intelligible story about actual human beings. Crysis 2 is by far the most effective of their games as far as narrative development goes, but it's telling that the only "character" in that game which undertakes a rich, transformative journey throughout the game's storyline is the Nanosuit itself.

Now, I'm the first person to admit that the plot and dialogue of a video game can be absolutely inconsequential as long as the gameplay holds up, but it's interesting and somewhat jarring to see the unparallelled graphical fidelity of the Crysis games exist alongside the outdated action movie clichés which define the game's storytelling. While it's obvious that games have not come a long way in delivering quality narratives, I feel like almost any generic but modern shooter (with the exception of CoD and Gears of War) has at least a bit more drama and psychological realism than what CryTek seems able to muster.

At this point, I have completely lost track of how many times I've restarted Drakensang: The Dark Eye and then quickly abandoned the game in favor of some other, somehow more pressing gaming commitment. To be fair, part of the reason for this is that Radon Labs RPG ran rather poorly on my previous computer, and hopefully the game should be easier to get into on my new rig (then again, the autumn is full of promising releases so who knows how far I'll get this time...).

Once again I've rolled a new character, and this time I tried to keep things simple by choosing a Warrior. Despite having realtime combat, The Dark Eye's pacing is *very* relaxed and clearly rewards a methodical approach. There's no fast travel within the rather area large maps which means that a lot of time is spent slowly traversing the game world, and it's a good thing there are plenty of barrels to destroy along the way and some idyllic high fantasy scenery to look at...

Nicely written blog. I'd really like to try out The Witcher 2 and Drakensang: The Dark Eye when I get a rig that can run them both, but that might not be for a very long time.

@Sparky_Buzzsaw: Given the very specific ways in which the game plays and controls, I have a feeling the console version of Witcher 2 is going to turn out to be a very decent way of experiencing this RPG. Sure, not as good-looking or anything, but graphics certainly aren't everything (and I'd be willing to bet that a very large proportion of PC gamers are playing the game on medium settings which don't differ substantially from how the 360 version is going to look).

Well, now that I'm getting a half-decent computer I will finally be able to actually play both The Witcher and Drakensang, both of which I have been wanting to experience for a while. The Witcher because of how apparently good the story and choices are, and Drakensang because it seems like a clunkier, more Germanic Baldur's Gate type thing and I could go for that about now. 
 
Of course, it also opens up a whole new can of worms in regards to my backlog. Now that I will actually be able to play more than half my Steam library at a comfortable frame rate, there are at least half a dozen games that immediately demand my attention, not even counting stuff that hasn't come out yet like Deus Ex. Ehhh. I'm fine with that. It's not like the stuff that is currently demanding my attention has really hooked me anyways. Eschalon, while certainly displaying the traits of something I'd be interested in, did not hook me in any significant manner for the hour or so that I played it. Same goes for Invisible War, although I feel like a blog on that game would be perfect right around now.

@Egge: I'm not at all bothered by the potential graphical downgrade on the consoles, so that's good to know. I enjoyed the original Witcher, and while I wasn't a huge fan of the gameplay, I think the remarkable work done on the world, story, and characters was enough to make me a fan. It doesn't hurt that I've enjoyed the novels off and on for a while now too.

Was that Psycho's pilot buddy he was trying to resuscitate? DAMMIT, EGGE YOU SPOILED THE CRYSIS STORYLINE FOR ME.

@ArbitraryWater: Nice to hear that you're getting a new computer; this seems to be the exact right time to do so (what with the rapidly aging consoles and the slow but steady resurgence of PC exclusives). But, yes, actually being able to play all those Steam games I've purchased during various sales does lead to some difficult choices. I spent most weekends during this summer playing through a bunch of good-looking but not very long action games in a productive but somewhat silly attempt to maximize my backlog-related completion rate before going into the busy autum season. Now I'm waiting for DX:HR to unlock, but since it doesn't do so until next friday here in Europe I just might be able to squeeze in one more shooter before now and.....argh, just stop it!