[DoctorEldritch]

Hello Legion Gamers!

The Gamescom 2023, one of the biggest game events in Europe this Summer starts today till the end of the week! The opening night was yesterday, and you can see it here:

It had a few big releases, so for those of you who (like me) have no time to sit through 3 hours of ceremony and protocol, here is a release digest!

See anything you like? I am all for the Cyberpunk 2077 DLC so I can finally play it, but there are many good releases, hopefully something for everyone. Maybe Tekken 8 for @GoLLuM13 and next season of Diablo for @DracoTarot. All that and Alan Wake 2!

...That was a bad pun, I know...

And to keep track of the releases of Gamescom 2023, here is a Steam page!

[GoLLuM13]

I watched the whole show yesterday, and in addition to CB2077 Liberty Phantom, Alan Wake 2 and obviously Tekken 8 there were Dustborn that looked interesting

[DoctorEldritch]

@GoLLuM13 This one?

The premise looks interesting (reminded me of Allison Hargreeves and Zebediah Killgrave), but with games like this, much depends on the story execution, especially in a setting like that one. I hope it will be good. The visual style;e is certainly a plus, reminds me a bit of Borderlands.

[GoLLuM13]

Yep, exactly this one. The story is one if not the most important part of this kind of games, and seeing that Quantic Dream is involved, I got hope :D

[DoctorEldritch]

@GoLLuM13 That's true, they are known for their stories. Though IMHO, Detroit did have some lapses in inner logic. The analogy to segregation they tried to convey is there, but the overall world-building is at odds. I mean, can the sentient AI be cheap enough for the single alcoholic father from the suburbs to be able to afford one? Perhaps, but in a world more advanced than what is shown in Detroit, where androids seem to be about the only major difference from the world we live in, a few futuristic cosmetics notwithstanding. And that's just one example. But then again, Detroit is not a sci-fi story as such, and it is entertaining, so what more should you ask for, really?

Anyway, that's me rambling. Hopefully, Quantic Dream will deliver again. That said, the presence of "Pull my finger" joke in the trailer image makes me pause.

[Saka]

I am excited about the Stormgate, I know a lot of people interested in it because Activision Blizzard has been doing a good job at killing off Starcraft II. Still, it will take a quite long time before we actually see the game on the shelves.

The Stormgate reveal is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSxqwnlCi0k&t=8702s

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka is this the one?

Starcraft is an interesting example, that game has decades of fan love and lore behind it. How a newcomer will compete with that remains to be seen, but you're right, Activision Blizzard is doing wrong by Starcraft (among other things).

Though the current visual style seems a bit off to me. I had the same feeling about Starcraft II and more so about Dawn of War 3. It is a bit too "cartoonish" for a serious lore setting, I think. Breaks the atmosphere a bit. Currently, it looks as if Starcraft I and LoL had a baby... But maybe they'll change it before the final release, it is a pre-alpha still, after all.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch The similarity to StarCraft/ II style is not accidental. The studio was founded by former developers of Warcraft III and StarCraft II. You can see that on their website. They pretty much announced this game as "what StarCraft III could have been if Activision Blizzard let us make it".

In my opinion the graphics are fine. They look very much like a modern version of Warcraft III/StarCraft II.


Unless something happens at Activision Blizzard, there wouldn't be much competing with StarCraft II. The game is pretty much abandoned and the community is really upset. There have been no changes to the game for a very long time, only now there's a rumour of an upcoming balance patch that was made with the help of community, but it feels like too little, too late.

These people are waiting for Stormgate and hoping it delivers. They don't want a revolutionary new game, they want a variation of StarCraft that is still alive and getting some love from the developers.

(I have friends who know a lot and despite not being a SC player myself - sorry, the game is too demanding for my terrible micromanagement, so I don't dare playing past the campaign - I am one leg in the Finnish SCII community. Maybe Stormgate could be something I could actually play, the developers said it is supposed to be slower mechanically than SCII, making each move hold more importance. More of my style)

[DoctorEldritch]

@Saka Gameplay sounds good, and yes, micromanagement can be an issue, I never play RTS outside campaigns either. But graphics do bother me. It's just that, with StarCraft I, for example, they had a more serious space fantasy setting, and graphics to match (for their time). But in StarCraft II, they moved towards a more...I don't know, "friendly" design, and it does not sit well with the overall lore for me. Same with Dawn of War 3, but on a larger scale. Warhammer 40K is generally a very gothic and lore-rich universe with a distinct style. But in Dawn of War 3, they moved towards a more "toyish" design. My guess is that they were trying to mimic the original tabletop, but to me, that did not look good.

But anyway, that's just me being a grump. Let's hope indeed that Stormgate will be good.

[Saka]

@DoctorEldritch I don't really think StarCraft II graphics were cartoonish. And it might be just my personal opinion, but StarCraft I with the Carbot pack looks amazing. I am a big fan of the cute zerglings.



But I would also think that for a lot of the players of the genre the graphics are a secondary matter and not the primary focus.