I’m curious, is there a reason you haven’t checked out Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 yet? Avowed is way more my speed as I’m basically over big open worlds, but it sounds like it’ll be relevant when discussing the future of open world games.
I’ve fallen in love with KCD2 since it released! I really hope they play it, especially Justin after listing what he wants for the next Frontier of gaming. KCD2 has a pretty robust reputation system with people remembering things you’ve done in there little village, they talk to each other and so other villagers learn of your deeds, good and bad. Even your cleanliness and class of dress change how people react to you. I heard one reviewer say he stole some clothes from a house, and then later the man’s wife recognized her husbands clothes on the player and called the guards! It’s truly the most immersive game I’ve played in years.
I also am loving kcd2. I've managed to get about 40 hours into it so far and it's been a blast. Really loving all of the survival mechanics coming together with how dark it is at night to make a really fun and interesting day /night cycle. Where every morning you have to ask yourself "ok what am I going to get done today ? Try and make some money? Explore? Tackle a side quest ?"
Thanks for the link. I remember the lead dev getting into some shitty GamerGate stuff but sounded like they were trying to back off of that for this one. Disappointed to see it still affecting their access policies.
I've been curious about Pi's for a while but they were out of stock/in high demand the last time I checked (a year or so ago?). What's a good resource to see what projects or systems you can set up like Justin has? They sound so neat!
Alternatively you might be led to the Pi platform from another project like building a MAME arcade cabinet or something.
Regarding the Pihole, I've been using that for years. A few clarifications, it is not a "fake" DNS server. It is a real DNS server that rejects responses for a given list of sites. There is a default block list that comes with the installation but you can tune this list to be more or less aggressive, some groups maintain their own block lists that I personally find more appealing. Running a pihole will stop many sites from working, as well as things like "ads-for-currency" in mobile games. You can unblock name resolution for these sites but that requires a basic understanding of the Pihole interface and how name resolution works (to a small degree). My most recent bizarre problem was Windows 11 activation would not work from behind the Pihole, I did some debugging and couldn't figure out which shady URL was necessary so had to effectively turn it off for that computer to get registered. When you hit a problem like that it can be infuriating, but the alternative is having random adtech companies creating browsing profiles of you, so I think it is worth it.
Help, I swear Chris recommended an audiobook with a very hard-to-parse title? Maybe it was a different ep, but recent? It was a single word that sounded like it started with a U... I desperately need new audiobooks! (I've already listened to all of Justin's recs.)
I haven't read the romantasy ones he rec'd most recently, but otherwise (and specifically in terms of audiobooks), I think so? Piranesi and Murderbot are fabulous; Chain-gang All Stars is good, I just had to start and stop a few times because the violence feels realer than most fantasy given real-world race stuff; the Red Rising series is A Lot but great if it's your kind of thing (hyper-violent science fantasy, sort of the opposite of Chain-gang in that it feels very unreal); Wool (Silo #1) I finished, but didn't like enough to listen to the sequel - the characters felt more like characters than real people. Did he recommend Horror Movie? That one is fun too.
For those of the Besties that found Wizard really weak: are y’all aware that the stat system in this and the Pillars of Eternity games isn’t a traditional strength-melee dmg, intellect-magic dmg system? If you have low Might you’re gonna do lower damage across the board, including with your spells! I’m finding a glass cannon wizard build (Might/Intellect) fairly powerful and enjoyable!
The skits in Tales Of games (where the side characters talk to each other) have shockingly been in the series since '97. One of my favorite recurring mechanics.
It’s funny to me how Pillars of Eternity didn’t come up at all. So much of what y’all like about Avowed originates there - the worldbuilding, the dialogue/stat system, the cool unique weapons… Just goes to show that even if a game doesn’t immediately hit, it’s worth it to not lay off all your staff and keep that experience going forward.
I’m really glad that Avowed seems to be getting more people interested in this setting!
I should expand a bit onmy previous comments: I'm bummed that Earthblade isn't coming out because (based on what little was released) it looked like a remarkable and interesting expansion on EXOK's previous games.
But I'm also bummed for the studio changes. It sounds like it was on relatively good terms... I'm still sad about that, too.
Have the Besties just skipped over KCD:II? Avowed was not good at all IMO. I can see where people like it but KCD is something massive taking the gaming community by storm where as avowed is just meh.
To Justin’s point about it feeling like it could’ve been stuffed with micro-transactions a few years ago, it did start out as a multiplayer/ live service/ MMO game so maybe that’s why it feels that way? Sucks it started out like that in the first place, but good to see they went another direction with it. I just want Obsidian to make the games they want to make without Microsoft swaying them every which way.
Hey Justin, if you’re looking for a fun raspberry pi project that is very easy to talk at people about, check out HyperBian. I was in the market for those TV backlights that react to what’s on screen a few years ago and decided to do this instead of buying the Phillips Hue version. All the materials cost ~100-150 bucks, but i learned a ton by following this DIY youtuber’s guide. When it started working I felt like a caveman discovering fire.
Thought I'd throw out a game recommendation in case anyone is looking for something in between big releases this season. Kingsvein is a 10-20 hr tactical rpg on Steam. It uses a Final fantasy tactics style class/xp system. The unique selling point is that the game structure is pretty open and the combat abilities/spells function as exploration abilities(kind of like a search action game). For example, one of the classes you can unlock is an ice mage. In battle, their spells turn the ground to ice, which slows enemies and extends pushes/pulls. Out of battle, these abilities can be used to freeze water to get across large gaps. Exploration is always rewarded with equipment(some of which enables more exploration) or encounters/battles. The music, spritework and overall presentation just oozes charm.
I played it back when it came out in 2024 and again in January. It really feels like something special. Apologies if it has been recommended before.
Hey Besties, turns out that there may be a reason you had different experiences when it comes to loot. It sounds like the quality of unique items you find may be based, at least partially, on the quality of your current items. So if you don’t upgrade your weapons early, the gear you find is of less quality, leading to a poor-get-poorer and a rich-get-richer situation.
There’s still some investigation to be done, and I think the system isn’t as bad as that might seem if it is the case, but it might be the reason you had such different experiences with loot.
I’m trying to start a newsletter about historical sports matches that ended in a draw in central Greece, but thebesties.substack.com is taken.
I’m curious, is there a reason you haven’t checked out Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 yet? Avowed is way more my speed as I’m basically over big open worlds, but it sounds like it’ll be relevant when discussing the future of open world games.
I’ve fallen in love with KCD2 since it released! I really hope they play it, especially Justin after listing what he wants for the next Frontier of gaming. KCD2 has a pretty robust reputation system with people remembering things you’ve done in there little village, they talk to each other and so other villagers learn of your deeds, good and bad. Even your cleanliness and class of dress change how people react to you. I heard one reviewer say he stole some clothes from a house, and then later the man’s wife recognized her husbands clothes on the player and called the guards! It’s truly the most immersive game I’ve played in years.
Some one also asked last week, link to their reply here : https://open.substack.com/pub/thebesties/p/the-best-combat-in-a-metroidvania?utm_source=direct&utm_campaign=comment-list-share-cta&utm_medium=web&comments=true&commentId=91930209
I also am loving kcd2. I've managed to get about 40 hours into it so far and it's been a blast. Really loving all of the survival mechanics coming together with how dark it is at night to make a really fun and interesting day /night cycle. Where every morning you have to ask yourself "ok what am I going to get done today ? Try and make some money? Explore? Tackle a side quest ?"
Thanks for the link. I remember the lead dev getting into some shitty GamerGate stuff but sounded like they were trying to back off of that for this one. Disappointed to see it still affecting their access policies.
I've been curious about Pi's for a while but they were out of stock/in high demand the last time I checked (a year or so ago?). What's a good resource to see what projects or systems you can set up like Justin has? They sound so neat!
You can start on the rpi site:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/tutorials/
Alternatively you might be led to the Pi platform from another project like building a MAME arcade cabinet or something.
Regarding the Pihole, I've been using that for years. A few clarifications, it is not a "fake" DNS server. It is a real DNS server that rejects responses for a given list of sites. There is a default block list that comes with the installation but you can tune this list to be more or less aggressive, some groups maintain their own block lists that I personally find more appealing. Running a pihole will stop many sites from working, as well as things like "ads-for-currency" in mobile games. You can unblock name resolution for these sites but that requires a basic understanding of the Pihole interface and how name resolution works (to a small degree). My most recent bizarre problem was Windows 11 activation would not work from behind the Pihole, I did some debugging and couldn't figure out which shady URL was necessary so had to effectively turn it off for that computer to get registered. When you hit a problem like that it can be infuriating, but the alternative is having random adtech companies creating browsing profiles of you, so I think it is worth it.
I'm looking for the same thing!
The description says that Obsidian worked on Fallout 76. It should say New Vegas.
Help, I swear Chris recommended an audiobook with a very hard-to-parse title? Maybe it was a different ep, but recent? It was a single word that sounded like it started with a U... I desperately need new audiobooks! (I've already listened to all of Justin's recs.)
Damn, you've read all of Justin's recs? Thoughts on them?
I haven't read the romantasy ones he rec'd most recently, but otherwise (and specifically in terms of audiobooks), I think so? Piranesi and Murderbot are fabulous; Chain-gang All Stars is good, I just had to start and stop a few times because the violence feels realer than most fantasy given real-world race stuff; the Red Rising series is A Lot but great if it's your kind of thing (hyper-violent science fantasy, sort of the opposite of Chain-gang in that it feels very unreal); Wool (Silo #1) I finished, but didn't like enough to listen to the sequel - the characters felt more like characters than real people. Did he recommend Horror Movie? That one is fun too.
For those of the Besties that found Wizard really weak: are y’all aware that the stat system in this and the Pillars of Eternity games isn’t a traditional strength-melee dmg, intellect-magic dmg system? If you have low Might you’re gonna do lower damage across the board, including with your spells! I’m finding a glass cannon wizard build (Might/Intellect) fairly powerful and enjoyable!
The skits in Tales Of games (where the side characters talk to each other) have shockingly been in the series since '97. One of my favorite recurring mechanics.
Love the idea of FPS (First person snappers) are there more/others that people know of?
Some good photography games: Toem, Umurangi Generation, pupperazzi (I unfortunately didn't like this one very much, but maybe still check it out)
Ones I haven't played but I have heard are good and might fit the description：Season：a letter to the future, Toripon
Also the Fatal Frame games if you wanna get scared
It’s funny to me how Pillars of Eternity didn’t come up at all. So much of what y’all like about Avowed originates there - the worldbuilding, the dialogue/stat system, the cool unique weapons… Just goes to show that even if a game doesn’t immediately hit, it’s worth it to not lay off all your staff and keep that experience going forward.
I’m really glad that Avowed seems to be getting more people interested in this setting!
I should expand a bit onmy previous comments: I'm bummed that Earthblade isn't coming out because (based on what little was released) it looked like a remarkable and interesting expansion on EXOK's previous games.
But I'm also bummed for the studio changes. It sounds like it was on relatively good terms... I'm still sad about that, too.
That team made my favorite game.
Hopefully things were as amicable as they seemed.
Also: I went down the same Raspberry Pi hole Justin is going down.
I still have a whole drawer of Pis and Pi-related items that I'll likely never look at again. I've just run out of time. 😅
Not sure how intentional this was but at least on the switch store, Alba is currently 85% off!
Have the Besties just skipped over KCD:II? Avowed was not good at all IMO. I can see where people like it but KCD is something massive taking the gaming community by storm where as avowed is just meh.
To Justin’s point about it feeling like it could’ve been stuffed with micro-transactions a few years ago, it did start out as a multiplayer/ live service/ MMO game so maybe that’s why it feels that way? Sucks it started out like that in the first place, but good to see they went another direction with it. I just want Obsidian to make the games they want to make without Microsoft swaying them every which way.
Hey Justin, if you’re looking for a fun raspberry pi project that is very easy to talk at people about, check out HyperBian. I was in the market for those TV backlights that react to what’s on screen a few years ago and decided to do this instead of buying the Phillips Hue version. All the materials cost ~100-150 bucks, but i learned a ton by following this DIY youtuber’s guide. When it started working I felt like a caveman discovering fire.
https://youtu.be/hpBRKZ_2aYo?si=DBGxRUmL1LzljLsF Steve Does Stuff! DIY Hyperion Ambient…
Thought I'd throw out a game recommendation in case anyone is looking for something in between big releases this season. Kingsvein is a 10-20 hr tactical rpg on Steam. It uses a Final fantasy tactics style class/xp system. The unique selling point is that the game structure is pretty open and the combat abilities/spells function as exploration abilities(kind of like a search action game). For example, one of the classes you can unlock is an ice mage. In battle, their spells turn the ground to ice, which slows enemies and extends pushes/pulls. Out of battle, these abilities can be used to freeze water to get across large gaps. Exploration is always rewarded with equipment(some of which enables more exploration) or encounters/battles. The music, spritework and overall presentation just oozes charm.
I played it back when it came out in 2024 and again in January. It really feels like something special. Apologies if it has been recommended before.
Hey Besties, turns out that there may be a reason you had different experiences when it comes to loot. It sounds like the quality of unique items you find may be based, at least partially, on the quality of your current items. So if you don’t upgrade your weapons early, the gear you find is of less quality, leading to a poor-get-poorer and a rich-get-richer situation.
There’s still some investigation to be done, and I think the system isn’t as bad as that might seem if it is the case, but it might be the reason you had such different experiences with loot.
https://www.reddit.com/r/avowed/comments/1irbc8r/why_youre_having_problems_with_upgradesmaterials/