I have been replaying the Life is Strange series as well (except 2 I don’t have it), figured it would be nice way to wind down after the agonising slog to 100% RDR2. I have a soft spot for them for some reason, I think they are like precious gems only they haven’t been cut yet.
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As always, glad that you´re enjoying it and happy to point you towards a functioning version!
Hmm, weird. Never encountered this…
Lol, indeed. Not sure if this was supposed to be some kind of placeholder voice acting that they forgot to replace, or if they ran out of money for hiring Dennis Haysbert. Anyways, it´s a good example of why I hate absence of voice acting reflecting the setting (looking at you H1), particularly given the rather unique locations in this game (Indonesia, Israel).
Don Jordan is the one and only Lambert (missing Grim´s OG VA in this one as well…).
That one´s very much a bug of some sorts. It happens every single time, to everyone.
I have a soft spot for this one. The very first SC mission I ever played (PT demo). Still love it. The sneaky espionage atmosphere is brilliant here 
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I am almost done with Mafia 3 Definitive Edition, and I was ready to put it to rest, but after installation of Windows 11, 2K launcher is unable to start. Did anyone here experience the same issue?
Also, about M3 - I actually enjoyed it overall, only if it was not such a repetitive bore about 90 % of times. It had satisfying gun play, some nice and creative missions, music was amazing. Honestly, DLC’s helped this quite a bit - even tho they weren’t anything groundbreaking, it wasn’t just “go there, kill this guy, bust this business, confront racket boss”.
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This didn’t happen after the 4th and 5th missions but it did happen twice after the 6th mission. No idea what’s causing it.
I like this VA of Grim, the original one might be slightly better though.
The streets part of Jerusalem was nice and relatively easy, didn’t even knock out anyone I didn’t have to, though I did kill Dahlia knowing the consequences of letting her live. The last section in the base was hard enough even without her interference. I got immediately into forced combat when I got to the destination but didn’t let the mercs fire a bullet and took them out non-lethally. That’s not the only thing I dislike in that section though. It’s impossible to sneak up to anyone on the metallic floor so you have to awkwardly dash to the enemies when you get close to them (but not too early). Again not many new tricks in the level, just sneaking, climbing, shooting lights and taking out some enemies.
The Kundang Camp mission surprisingly wasn’t set at nighttime. Luckily there are still enough dark areas so you can stay hidden. One of the better missions so far, I really like the jungle setting and most of the level design. I got a hilarious mission fail in the refinery saying “you are out of your mind” because I accidentally took out the CIA contact I didn’t recognize as one. Then there’s the villa. I don’t see the point in the electrical traps because they deal no damage whatsoever. The ambush at the end is surprising but an ok action sequence, it’s not really forced combat because the guerrillas don’t shoot at you if you don’t move before Shetland’s guys take action.
It wasn’t until the submarine pen level that I realized not having used the night vision almost at all. I hadn’t really needed it before, but here some parts felt much darker and I had to finally utilize it. Certainly a way better mission than the horrible mess of a submarine level in the first game because here the actual submarine was only a small part of it. Some sections in the beginning felt a bit too easy but otherwise it was fun, we finally got to see some lasers too. There’s one area I don’t know the point of though. I was able to get there by squeezing though a small gap (from the area where one guy was shooting bottles) but couldn’t find anything there and had to backtrack. Pic below. Before infiltrating the submarine there’s one of my favorite parts in the game so far. Not entering the lift after activating it but sliding a cable under it for the stealthiest approach is ingenious design. Didn’t like the last part but I was able to get the guys from above after triggering them to appear.
Very excited about the last two missions because I remember barely anything about them besides the main objectives.
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Starting Cyberpunk 2077 tonight! Havent seen any footage except for a trailer and the botched launchfootage.
Also playing Snowrunner in my playseat with thrustmaster t300rs gt setup!
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Finished Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow! Went semi-blindly into the last two missions and I’m glad I did.
The Jakarta TV station was a brilliant mission. Several areas had multiple paths you could take – in the very beginning there were two ways to climb around the areas but you could also stay in the streets. After that you could distract a turret and run past it or climb the fence and sneak through the greenhouse area. The TV station also had turrets and a route that required some climbing. I don’t know why this is the only mission that gives this many options. The thunder is a great idea and you can always predict the flash by the sound (though realistically it doesn’t make sense to have the sound come first). In the sewer section I got to use the camera jammer for the first time and it’s been reworked nicely – now it automatically snaps onto the camera and I don’t have to care about aiming it. The landmine and spotlight section is better than the one in abattoir, but can be pretty much skipped if you just keep close to the wall where you’re not supposed to get past that line of mines. Actually the sewer and landmine section feel overall a bit useless because there’s a window you could just easily shoot and climb through to skip them, but that doesn’t seem to be an option. The TV station looks great and I don’t have much to complain about it. You have to take out five guys to help Ingrid but it’s not forced combat because they don’t necessarily see you. Then it’s just to finally capture Sadono and skedaddle to stop the last bomb. Bombastic!
LAX looks beautiful outdoors but unfortunately we don’t see much of that. I don’t know the point of the second outdoor section after the garage because that’s a completely wrong direction, yet there is a guard and a camera. Getting in is really easy as Sam says and actually this is not that difficult of a last mission as a whole. The objective is fun though I wished it was possible to interrogate all of the terrorists. Then there was a door that required an access code but it couldn’t be found anywhere. Looking it up on the wiki made me realize that it’s a secret code so you have to take the long route if you don’t just happen to know it. I wished it was obtainable, for example, from that guard in the “wrong direction”. The wiki also made me realize how few security codes there are in the game, only three missions have them. Hiding behind the suitcases in the next area was a fun idea. Unfortunately, that part was glitched so that the suitcases turned left and went through a wall way too early. I was able to do it by rushing to a suitcase that was already going like it should so it didn’t break the game. Climbing around the elevator shaft and the maintenance area was fun, though the terrorists seemed to spot me randomly if I was to take out the two workers in the last area so I had to find my way around them. I’m glad the last part was doable without forced combat so points for that. I have to say that the way Sam took care of the bomb was hilariously unrealistic and dumb lol.
These missions were surprisingly easy to rank, I’m still not sure about the order of some missions in Chaos Theory and in the first game’s case it took some time as well. I know these are not the actual names of the missions but I don’t like how they’re named. I’d be interested to know how other Splinter Cell appreciators would rank these, I have many unpopular opinions.
1. TV & Radio Broadcasting Station - Offers several options to proceed in many areas and the environments are varied and look pretty cool. Easily the best mission in the game. Chaos Theory-tier, if you will.
2. Cryogenics Lab - There’s a lot of creative design and some surprises that don’t complicate things too steeply. Surprisingly, this one has more gimmicks than most later missions. The motion sensors and wall mines are never seen again.
3. Submarine Pen - Slightly better than the preceding jungle mission so it gets the third place. Lasers are a rarity in this game so they come as a nice surprise that will probably catch you the first time. I love the lift trick before the submarine section, one of the best moments in the game.
4. Kundang Camp - Traps and cannabis fields! Tripwire mines are a fun idea, though the execution is a bit too easy and boring. I’d prefer not being able to disable them. Otherwise good design and a neat setting. Trailing the main villain without being allowed to do anything to him is interesting.
5. LAX Airport - Easier than I feared though the last section offered challenge due to some randomness. The objective is interestingly executed and there are some good ideas in the level design, though a glitch tried to ruin my experience.
6. Jerusalem - The streets part - good. The base part - poor. Sneaking in the streets, roofs and even in some random people’s apartment is fun, but I hate that unnecessarily forced combat and those metallic floors. The decision you have to do fast is an excellent idea because it affects the end of the mission too.
7. US Embassy - Veeery basic excluding the cool spotlight trick we never saw after this mission. This one also has the best music in the game, what an atmosphere.
8. Hesperia Railways - Sure, the concept is cool and it was surely even cooler back in the days. Unfortunately it’s a very short and linear mission with not much to do and no replay value. Just like Untouchable, train missions don’t work for me.
I don’t know whether I like this game or the first one more, the first one might have a tad better missions but this game has some nice overhauls. Well, it’s another one from the series down, I’ll probably play Blacklist very soon too. I’m not sure about getting Double Agent, I bet it’s a good game but the Steam version has a bad reputation. 
We’ll see!
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Hey, should I buy standard or deluxe? I see the bonus content can be bought separately too for Series X. Thanks.
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That’s entirely up to you really. Bonus content is just some nice little things to mess around with but that will leave you with a significant advantage.
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Ok I bought standard and I like the challenge of being undergunned (?) 
How’s it run on SX?
It runs pretty damn well, especially with Performance enabled. Not a noticeable graphical difference between the two. I mainly use Quality for Screenshots that’s just it.
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Whatever has 60FPS then…
Is the overrated RT on Quality then?
RT is with quality but it’s not noticeable.
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Ah, thanks. That’s why I used “overrated” RT 
I’ll never get the hype. OOOOO KINDA SHINY. Meanwhile the game is dropping frames like a motherfucker.
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It has its novelty, but it’s something I personally won’t keep on since I prefer a smoother picture over anything. A smooth 60 is worth more than more vibrant colors in RE 8. It’s nice that you can swap between the two on command though.
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Only in the main menu.
What a gorgeous game. Holy shit.
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been playing the original PS2 version of GTA III via PS4 (grabbed it before R* delisted it)
I only ever played it on PC as a kid so it’s cool to see the differences, and to practice so I can blast through the Definitive Edition when it releases in a week
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That’s nice! I am curious about the old trilogy’s controller scheme for DuelShock 4. They are the same as the classics’ gameplay, right? (press X to accelerate, press O to shoot) And the game has auto-aim always turned on, I presume? Do you think it’s still better to have a mouse and a keyboard to aim manually?
I totally forgot about Forza Horizon 5. I have to buy that as well.
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Discovered yesterday evening that Forgotten City has been added to game pass.
Honestly it’s a great 5-10 hour game, a well written non violent RPG. All things I search for (I still have to play Disco Elysium, and apparently Josh Sawyer will soon announce one of his own making).
The developers made a good job on their scripts. If you think that something would make sense to try or say in front of what the story told you until then, you can almost certainly do it. And it will responds to that, sometimes in your favour, sometimes not, always according to the logic of their universe.
The game is dialogue heavy, but the flow is natural. Half of the time, what I thought of and wanted to say ended up being an actual option.
I appreciated that they used the time loop gimmick to sometime give you complete failed state. If you anger an NPC and they told you to go and not talk to them anymore, that is it for this loop. Sometimes even beyond that.
All the stories (and there are a lot) have the same thematic, but they all are diverse and explore an other facet of the theme (morality). The game is an in depth tapestry you will unravel bits by bits.
One of the final twist (mild spoiler the Karen twist) was the very first thing I thought about during the first minute of the game and its introduction dialogue (what with her saying she has “a dead end job with endless commute”).
I don’t know if it’s a let down or a reason to commend the writing. Looking at some of the other twists and how they are presented during the whole game before their respective climax, I will go with the commendation.
10/10 game. It’s like a good book you read in one cozy evening. If you have game pass, give it a go.
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i’m currently juggling three games:
final fantasy xiv: my first mmo. on the surface it is wholesome and chill, but i find the mmo framework unnerving. i haven’t fully fleshed out my thinking on it yet, so i shan’t bore anyone here with my meanderings. i think im in for the long haul though, even if it is a bit creepy.
cyberpunk 2077: i’m giving this another shot after originally getting a refund around act 2. it’s much better than i gave it credit for, but it still has some significant problems, even outside the prolific bugs.
again, i won’t go into detail until im further in, but suffice it to say that, given the game’s central theme is identity, it’s kind of funny that it isn’t quite sure about what kind of game it wants to be. at least, that’s what i’m picking up so far. still, the city’s environment design is world-class.
sekiro: im a big old weeb, so souls going samurai was a dream. i’ve had this since launch but stopped a couple of times at bosses that i could not beat (guardian ape and o-rin were particularly difficult for me). im definitely nearing the end and im fixing to finish it before the year’s out.
i adore the combat system, but had a particularly amazing battle last night against the vilehand ninja mini-boss that opened my eyes to something: i’d been playing the game more aggressively than other souls titles, but not nearly aggressively enough.
every fight has been protracted because i keep giving opponents too much room to breathe. that simple realisation - that is explicitly stated in a tooltip, multiple times, and which people have been telling me whenever i’ve asked for help - has completely reframed how i look at combat. it’s finally sunk in and i feel like i can see the matrix code now. i’m still shite at it, but i can see what i need to be doing a lot more clearly.
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