rpg

An RPG rundown; recommendations and reviews of the best role-playing games on the market.

Deimos and Vince Watermelon
2024 has witnessed a surge in custom followers, both voiced and unvoiced, in the world of Skyrim modding. With the Nexus brimming with an abundance of companions, choosing the perfect adventuring partner can be a daunting task. Inigo, Lucien, and Auri remain some of the big names that even this Fox finds herself returning to time and time again. Their individual charms and the lively banter they share with each other create an atmosphere that's hard to resist!
By Fox and Quillabout a year ago in Gamers
Tarkov’s Flea Market has Changed Forever
(Intro) One of the most impactful changes to the flea market has come unexpectedly in the newest wipe, patch 0.16. It’s something BSG mentioned in passing during their October livestream but we didn’t have any context or clues as to how things were going to change. And now with the patch notes out and wipe dropped the day after Christmas, we know what they meant. This change alongside another one which we will talk about in a separate video, have very long lasting implications should these changes stand right now and stay for the duration of this and future wipe cycles. So let’s talk about the single biggest change that every play of every skill level will feel and have to adjust to.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Arena’s Player Fights Don’t Translate to Tarkov Very Well
(Intro) The skills and experience you gain when fighting other players in Arena doesn’t really translate over to Tarkov that well. Now that Arena has been out for some time with the revamped 2.0 version, that everyone is enjoying much more; after playing it and even the previous version for quite some time, you’d expect all the fighting you do to have a potentially more positive impact on your skills as a Tarkov player, but sadly that doesn’t feel like the case. Arena is such a condensed experience, that is strictly fighting other players. And while it sounds like that should make you better at fighting other players in the main game, Arena doesn’t take into consideration many of the other outside elements that are out of your control. You’re not always going to bump into another player at this exact spot. Every raid, people go into these maps for different reasons and goals, so how people navigate and make decisions is going to change every time you load in. So, yes, your shooting and aim might get better in Arena, but it seldom does little to improve your engagements in the main game, when it matters the most.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
A Non-ARPG Player’s Thoughts on Path Of Exile 2
(Intro) Path of Exile 2 is the latest in the ARPG to be released in the genre, and as someone who has always been interested in the genre but never played a game from this genre for any sufficient length of time to have a purposeful opinion, the more footage I saw of the game, the more inclined I was to give it a try. It looked both interesting with all the loot and different areas you will come across in your travels, but also engaging because of how much there is to do whilst you are running around slaying monster, collecting loot, and leveling up. The thirty-second gameplay loop of PoE 2 is both simple in presentation, but complex in execution. There’s a lot more going on from what you see in footage, and while there can be moments that allow you to kind of turn your brain off and just take aim at whatever is in front of you, there are also moments where if you aren’t paying attention and locked in, you will die again and again. And to me, that’s one of the elements that makes PoE 2 so compelling. But I’m getting ahead of myself a little bit. This video will be my thoughts about the game from the perspective of someone who has basically never played an ARPG to end game. I have some experience, but not enough to those who have been enjoying this genre for potentially decades.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Why Assassin’s Creed 2 Will Always Be My Favorite
Why Assassin’s Creed 2 Will Always Be My Favorite (But Valhalla Might Be a Close Second) Ah, Assassin’s Creed 2. The game that forever changed the way I view open-world action-adventure titles. When it first came out in 2009, it wasn’t just a game—it was a revelation. As we all know, the Assassin’s Creed series has had its ups and downs over the years, but I can’t help but feel like the franchise hasn’t quite been the same since AC2. But now, here comes Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, and I’ll admit, for a brief moment, I thought the series might finally be returning to its roots. In some ways, it does—but in others? Well, it still can’t quite capture that AC2 magic.
By Kayleigh Taylorabout a year ago in Gamers
Our Bi-Annual Pre-Wipe Conversation
(Intro) Well, wipe is soon approaching. And with it, our inevitable conversation about what to expect and some reminders for those who will be participating in the festivities. It feels like we do this twice a year. Maybe because wipes have slowed down to a bi-yearly thing, or maybe just because when I look back at the last video in this vein, it was a little over three months ago. Which is on par with previous years. We get a six-to-eight-month long wipe cycle, and then a shorter three-to-four-month wipe before the winter reset. Wish it was an even half and half, but I’ll take what I can get at this point. But patch 0.16 does have some interesting stuff on the horizon. We talked about it when we went over the October TarkovTV livestream, but some of the highlights are new guns and gear of course, an update to Customs, more stuff to do on Woods, new QOL mechanics for healing and more. And of course, the resetting of everyone’s progress back to zero so we all start over once more. It’s a good time; people are able to run around and have those scrappy fights that feel more desperate than anything else. However, people sometimes forget the tried-and-true mentality everyone should go into a wipe with. Which is simply, enjoy the wipe at your own pace. Whether it’s fast or slow; if you want to blitz through the game and be in the same position you were days before the game reset, go for it. If not, take your time. There’s nothing wrong with that too.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Heart of Ice: Orpheus, Craftian’s Masterpiece Follower for Skyrim
When it comes to Skyrim, the modding community has created an endless array of enhancements to breathe new life into the game. From city overhauls to revolutionary graphics and fresh questlines, mods expand the world of Skyrim and sometimes push beyond its boundaries. Among the most sought-after mods are custom followers, captivating players with their unique personalities and abilities. Whether it's a simple archer voiced by vanilla assets or a complex character built from the ground up, an intriguing follower mod never fails to capture the hearts of Skyrim enthusiasts.
By Fox and Quillabout a year ago in Gamers
The Armor Hitbox Changes Did Nothing for Tarkov
(Intro) Tarkov’s armor hitbox rework that occurred late last year feels as though it didn’t have the impact BSG wanted it to. Previously before the change, armor was a relatively straight forward system in regards to the areas of the body it protected. If you have armor on, at the very least your entire front and back were covered. Some armors had extra protection including the arms, but for the most part at the very least most of your vitals were covered even if you just had a humble paca armor equipped. But at the end of the 2023, BSG showed off some videos showcasing a completely reworked armor hitbox system that put protection value only where the armor’s protective plates actually covered. So, armor went from this all-encompassing shield into something players would need to seriously think about. Gone be the days of the slick and hex grids being the top two armors for their level six protection. In addition, being able to swap out the physical plates of an armor and have extra modularity in that regard was probably the best thing about this entire rework, and while we spoke about the plate system shortly after release, a year later, and the armor hitboxes don’t feel like they had the substantial impact we all thought they would. So, what changed from the old system to the new one? What were some of the growing pains that plagued the system to this day? And was the system overhaul even worth it in the first place?
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
What I Hope Tarkov's Final Map Brings to the Table
(Intro) About a week or so ago, Nikita on his Twitter released some screenshots showcasing the final map that will be added into the base game of Tarkov, Terminal. This has been a long time coming; over a decade's worth of work for the team and we are starting to see the beginning of the end. And while there isn’t a ton to chew on from just the pictures, I figured it was a good time to have a conversation about Terminal, and what personally I hope to get out of the game’s final location. The potential layout of the map, how large it might be, what we can expect for gameplay and maybe even some answers to questions we’ve had in regards to the actual lore of Tarkov that hasn’t been talked about in the game directly. I’ll be bringing up the pictures a bunch throughout this video so we can go over them, but just from the four he showed off, there some interesting stuff to unpack. So, let’s do just that.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Is Tarkov’s Progression Screwed Up Forever?
(Intro) With the introduction of Arena’s 2.0 relaunch, one of the more enticing ideas that got added was for the ability to transfer money and items to and from both Tarkov and Arena. The cross-progression in the game makes for interesting situations where you might be playing Tarkov and go on a bad streak of deaths, to the point where you want to switch over to Arena and just play a couple matches to cool off without feeling the risk of and pain that comes with any loss in the main game. And while these ideas sounded interesting on paper, in actuality what has happened sadly, is the permanent shattering of the Tarkov economy forever. To be fair, Tarkov’s economy has never been properly balanced and that is unfortunately just the nature of the game itself. If you don’t log in everyday and play the game and do well, you won’t see tens of millions of rubles in your stash. And while I have always advocated for players having less and to feel the stress of making tough decisions while having limited supplies, the cross-progression change has essentially made that idea a dream that will sadly never happen.
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Tarkov Stims Need More Debuffs
(Intro) Stimulants in Tarkov are powerful. But what makes them strong isn’t so much what their effects are, or how long they last, but instead the fact that many stimulants in the game have weak side effects after the buff wears off. For how diverse of a range the positive effects are and how useful they can be in a variety of situations, it’s strange to me that most of the stims almost have no downside to using them. Something that makes you reconsider popping this particular stim because there may be no coming back from it. It doesn’t have to kill you once the effect wears off, but these things are like free stat boosts for a prolonged period of time. And because of that, not only do people use and abuse the stims, they combine them with other stims to make powerful concoctions that would rival real life PEDs. There are a couple examples of downsides actually having a drastic effect on your PMC once they kick in, but Tarkov would benefit from having harsher penalties after many of the stims effects wear off. It sounds blasphemous, but this is a mechanic in the game that isn’t tied down to any sense of realism. That conversation has left many years ago, so don’t think about stimulants from that perspective. Instead, if we are going to have items that grant powerful boots to stats or other effects to a player, how do we balance them more properly so there are costs and risks associated with using them?
By Jirasuabout a year ago in Gamers
Why F1’s Cars Are Now “Hanging On” as Qatar’s Lap Times Tumble by 3.4 Seconds
Why F1’s Cars Are Now “Hanging On” as Qatar’s Lap Times Tumble by 3.4 Seconds Formula 1 has always been a spectacle of evolution, where technological advancements, circuit design, and driver adaptability merge. The 2024 Qatar Grand Prix witnessed a staggering drop in lap times by 3.4 seconds compared to the previous year. This dramatic improvement stems from a combination of factors including car developments, tire behavior, track conditions, and the physical demands on drivers. Below, we delve into why the F1 cars seem to be "hanging on" to the edge of performance as they deliver these blistering times.
By Mahalakshmiabout a year ago in Gamers