They all must go. You wouldn’t even believe the loss of revenue Nintendo suffers from the mere existence of SNES emulators. Money is being stolen right out of their pockets. Experts say they might never financially recover. ^[1]

I’ll echo this, and I’ll also say that for me personally the story of AW2 kind of demands focus and I myself would not be able to take it in properly if I was splitting attention - particularly splitting it with its predecessor and having to keep track of what happens in each timeline separately.

It’s just a bug.

It’s been attempted before with other game engines (like DA: O) but maybe this time it’ll happen. Though I hate to be a negative Nancy but don’t hold your breath with these fan conversions - they’re huge undertakings. Skyblivion actually looks like it might happen, but it’s exceedingly rare.

Finished Deus Ex: Human Revolution last week, and I while i enjoyed it I didn’t want to jump into Mankind Divided right away. It was a fine game but I felt like going back for more straight away might make me burn out.

Decided instead to finally get through Metro: Last Light. I really enjoyed 2033, but when I started LL right after I just couldn’t get into it. This time it’s going better and I’m having a good time playing it - very immersive on Ranger Hardcore. I still prefer the first game so far though, I think. Still not thrilled about the way checkpoint saving interacts with the moral points system (you sometimes have to sit for minutes on end rewatching the same conversation), but it’s not enough to completely sour me on it. Looking forward to eventually getting to Exodus.

Also playing some Deadlock games, though despite loving the game I’m already noticing it’s not always great for my mood.

Depends on what you’re looking for I think. For a lot of people (me included) 27" 1440p 144hz is the sweet spot. You get good DPI for your viewing distance, not too taxing on your hardware, the price point isn’t ridiculous and you can fit the whole screen in your field of view without having to move your head.

I could definitely see going slightly bigger for immersive games, but I’d have to start making compromises I’m not sure I’d be willing to.

Cass is great, and a lovely nod to Fallout 2 as well which I loved. She was the first companion designed for F:NV so she wasn’t as rushed as all the others. I wish every companion had as much to say as Cass does.

I guess they wanted a change after Keshiks and Camel Archers being completely busted in Civ V.

If you’re worried about bugs I think you should be able to get Mod Organizer 2 running on Steam Deck, and with all the various stability mods installed New Vegas runs fairly well. The Viva New Vegas mod guide is a great place to start, it should have most of what you need to get going.

Alex Casey (the detective from Alan Wake’s books) is essentially Max Payne - they had to change the name when making Alan Wake 1 because Rockstar had bought the IP.

There are callbacks in AW2 in both narration, atmosphere and character design that I really enjoyed, but you won’t miss out on anything story-relevant if you haven’t played it. Watching a couple of minutes of cutscenes from Max Payne 1 on YouTube is probably enough to get most of the references.

To be honest, when Nintendo has gotten to the point where this story sounds perfectly plausible you can’t say they don’t deserve all the hate they get (and more, frankly).

The only thing keeping them below Disney on my shit list is that Nintendo seem to act more like the grumpy out-of-touch old man, while Disney is fine being just overtly evil (see the recent wrongful death lawsuit debacle).

Love it! The level designs are so cool in Lonesome Road, and I agree that the final battle felt very cinematic in a way that a lot of other New Vegas fights don’t.

People love or hate Ulysses but I enjoy him as a character. I think the story as it ties through all the DLCs is very cool and the climactic, desolate journey through LR to cap it off was great for me.

I was planning on picking up Lily but I can’t remember how to get her as a companion.

I think all you need to do is finish the sidequest for the doctor in Jacobstown.

Funding is important, especially if you want to self-publish like they seem to intend to (thank god for no more Epic Exclusives) but I can’t help but feel a bit sad about these news. I hope Tencent won’t be a large enough shareholder to exert any influence over Remedy creatively.

Alan Wake 2 is amazing, but with the interconnected Remedyverse being what it is it also sort of wants you to “do your homework” - the experience is definitely enriched by having played Max Payne and Control before (with the AWE DLC of the latter being a direct bridge to AW2). The Quantum Break overlap is much more minor as they don’t own the rights to its IP. It’s fun for those who played it, but not necessary and not important.

Glad you found the toaster! It’s probably my favourite too, though I also loved the jukebox having an affair with the light switches. I hope you’ll enjoy Lonesome Road, it’s my personal favourite DLC I think, though objectively OWB is probably better. I just love the vibes and the levels in LR.

Two very different games in the pipeline after. Alan Wake II was my GOTY last year so hard not to recommend it here. Have you played the preceding Remedy games?

I’m assuming the jumpscare characters are Dr. Marmont & Marmont.

I am stoked. Looks like we’re playing as agent Estevez in this one? Have to imagine it’s setting up Control 2, as well.

I’ll throw in another vouch for it. Play blind, look up absolutely nothing about the game before playing.

Thanks for the super thorough reply, I really appreciate it! I did do the ritual, I think I got the “ring ending” for Morrigan as I entered the portal with her in the Witch Hunt DLC.

I agree with you on the appeal of these long series of games with save-import being the continuity, so it’s a shame to hear it’s not more elaborate than that. I know Welonz did a full Dragon Age series playthrough last year so I might just watch that some day. If Veilguard turns out to be incredible (doubtful) I’ll take your advice and just watch story recaps I think.

Would you say seeing your choices reverberate through the story by importing your saves makes it worthwhile, or no?

I’ve played and really enjoyed Origins, but haven’t (yet) taken on the other two. With the size of my backlog I’d be happy to leave the other two unplayed as I was satisfied at the end of Origins, but the fact that you can import saves and have your decisions matter does interest me.