Mento

This makes me concerned for the Star Control sequel the original developers (and co-founders of Toys for Bob) Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III were working on, which finally resumed once they'd sorted out the little legal furor with Stardock about the copyright. According to the amicable resolution of that lawsuit, there was some kind of provision that meant Ford and Reiche had to wait two years until they announced anything about the project. That two year period actually ends this June, but now I'm thinking whatever they had planned going to be put on ice indefinitely due to this reshuffle.

Honestly, it kinda feels like that project was cursed from the get-go. Maybe it's best it doesn't come to fruition given Activision would no doubt get its grubby little mitts all over it. As much as I'd love another SC from the original creators, I don't my heart could take one that was permanently online, had microtransactions and F2P mechanics out the wazoo, and was surreptitiously given lootboxes after a few months of release to escape any requisite ESRB warnings about gambling.

@wollywoo: Oh I turned all those on immediately. The ship's log auto-pause was vital.

Still gotta futz around with scrolls and tablets though. I liked that the only surviving documents were often a floor away from the place where they could be read.

@liquiddragon: Dang, how did I miss that? You're absolutely right. I'd take that new Pokemon Snap over anything else coming soon from that franchise.

@imunbeatable80: The story as a whole is decent, and if anything the planets are different parts in the tale of what happened told out of order. For instance the first area of the game, Xenophon, is also the last chapter as far as the fate of the expedition is concerned and the game works slowly backwards from there. Then there's everything happening in the present and how that's linked, so it's layered without ever being too difficult to follow.

They're very different games in most respects, but there's a connection you could make to Return of the Obra Dinn. In both cases you've got a pile of bodies and need to use the clues to work backwards and figure out what happened.

@arbitrarywater: Dubious might be pushing it for Operencia, but certainly a little mean-spirited in spots. I guess that's just being truer to the spirit of old Wizardry and Might & Magic than a lot of these throwbacks. There's other reasons to play besides the combat too, but I'd perhaps caution against playing on the harder settings all the same.

I'm not sure I can help with other dubious RPGs, at least on PC. The only one I've bounced from in the past few years is Arcanum, and many regard that as a classic. There's this one called Legrand Legacy that may or may not be too dull to be dubious; I'm almost curious enough to pick it up on Switch since it's heavily discounted on the eShop right now.

Say... have you heard of a little game called Descent to Undermountain?

@cbake76: I'm never quite sure how to respond to developers who take the time to read these reviews of mine, so... thank you? For both the game and for not feeling too slighted by my criticism.

I'm in the Copper Forest now so no more spawners, just mana-sapping enemies around every corner. It's been a real trip so far.

@mightyduck: I haven't heard much about Origami King since it came out. I doubt it'll make GB's final ten, but I hope they consider it for best writing/moment (if they have a category like that this year).

@sparky_buzzsaw: Thanks. And yes it was. I was hoping to pick up the Trails in the Sky the 3rd in the recent sales, but...

...they do not seem to want to discount it any lower than 25%, ever. I'll bite the bullet eventually.

They should probably just stop the series now, and then resume the playthrough months later in the spring with the title Welcome Back, KOTOR.

Force Kin.

I'll see myself out.

Glad to see Nioh 2 getting more love. It's not perfect but it's my second favorite Souls game that isn't Souls and does everything a good sequel should. (I'll admit to being late in the game when I discovered Sloth, despite going heavy on Onmyo from the outset, but man what a lifesaver.)

Have fun with obscure PS2 JRPGs this year. Hopefully that PS2 feature I did a few years back gave you plenty of inspiration, though I've no idea how rare most of that stuff is. Shadow Hearts is definitely number one with a bullet (from Mata Hari's gun) on my list of trilogies that should get a HD remaster.