Novinari koje najviše volimo

[Meho Krljic]

Šon Bel je duhovit čovek  Trenutno je na medenom mesecu i:

[Meho Krljic]

Džefri Matulef o iskustvu gledanja publike od 500 ljudi koja na PAX primeu zajedno igra TFTB:



Tales from the Borderlands is the closest we have to a great video game movie

[Meho Krljic]

A Kristijan Donlan svedoči o zanosu igranja Super Mario Makera


http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-09-11-super-mario-maker-review

[Meho Krljic]

Ako nije dovoljno što sam ja onoliko pisao o Metal Gear Solid V na drugom topiku i hvalio ga punim ustima i s obe ruke, evo sada detaljnog pojašnjenja jednog od MGSV multiplejer modova (koji ja još nisam ni krenuo da igram) iz pera Riča Stentona. Da se vidi koliko je to dobra igra:


All about that base: Metal Gear Solid 5's FOBs are glorious

[neomedjeni]

Kobet o (izgubljenoj) magiji.


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/14/the-rpg-scrollbars-the-lost-magic-of-magic/

[Meho Krljic]

Odlični GB Burford:

My Quest To Kidnap Every Guard In Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes

[neomedjeni]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/28/chris-avellone-games-he-definitely-wrote/

[Meho Krljic]

Pošto ove nedelje konačno puk može da kupuje i igra Uncharted: Remastered kolekciju, Oli Velš analizira sve tri igre i, iznenađujuće, kritikuje ih prilično oštro za njihove ne tako brojne propuste. Mislim, jeste to kritika iz ljubavi, to je očigledno, ali utisak je da se baš potrudio da za svaku igru pronađe što je više moguće elemenata koje treba kritikovati. Opet, ovo je divan napis o tri vrlo dobre igre.

[Meho Krljic]

Džon Bejn naravno nije novinar i jedan je od onih uspešnih JuTjubera koji insistiraju na razlici između njihove i novinarske profesije. Tako da mu nije mesto na ovom topiku, ali pošto mi je jako žao da vidim da mu se rak proširio na jetru i da se ne očekuje izlečenje, onda, eto, da pomenemo...

[neomedjeni]

I Kobet je posvetio pažnju AoD-u i reklo bi se da mu se sviđa. Naravno, izabrao je talkerski pristup. 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/19/age-of-decadence-impressions/

[Meho Krljic]

The Messy, True Story Behind The Making Of Destiny

[ridiculus]

Kobet o (izgubljenoj) magiji.


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/09/14/the-rpg-scrollbars-the-lost-magic-of-magic/

Tek sad sam video. Kobete, moj davno izgubljeni brate!

Ja, naravno, za sve krivim demokratizaciju uloga u kompjuterskim RPG-ovima... a mage, a wizard, a sorcerer is just like a hobbit, a thief, a bard... 

[neomedjeni]

Kobet ponovo udara!!!


http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/10/26/dungeon-master-pc-games/


Jednom moram naći vremena da iščitam sve što je napisao na TRS-u.

[Meho Krljic]

Kris Spen je, ponukan četvrtom epizodom Life is Strange napisao dirljivo ličan tekst. Naravno, spojleri za LiS su tu, tako da, ko nije igrao, a namerava, nek ne čita:


http://midnightresistance.co.uk/articles/episode-iv

[Meho Krljic]

Preserving the past: why emulation matters

[дејан]

јуче изашао врло интересантан чланак у гардијану који на неки начин разговара са темом топика...да ли је критика видео игара постала немогућа?
зашто су нови ААА наслови добили релативно ниске оцене у гардијану (3од5), шта радити са играма чији ДЛЦ суштински промени квалитет игре, како се односити према играма које су у ствари само платформа за неке будуће ствари(попут 'дестни')....а кад се у то све додају ММОРПГови...а и овај новинар ми је постао омиљен.

Has video game reviewing become an impossible task?

This month we have managed to shock a few readers by giving four of the year's biggest releases – Fallout 4, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Star Wars: Battlefront and Rise of the Tomb Raider – three stars out of five. All are decent in a lot of ways, all have intriguing ideas and look beautiful – but each of them is lacking in fundamental areas, whether that's about original content, the depth of the mechanics, or basic functionality. Three stars, though, means they're fundamentally good games. Three stars does not mean we're haters.


That people are surprised by three star reviews for AAA games is indicative of an era in which effectively reviewing a video game on launch is becoming increasingly untenable. Until five years ago, it was a fairly straightforward process. The publisher would send a new game out on disc, several weeks before its release date. This disc would contain everything the final game had to offer. The reviewer would then play it for a few days, often to completion, and then write a definitive impression – complete with a score. There were occasions where reviewers were forced to assess an incomplete version of the game, in which case the publisher would send a list of known bugs and beg that you ignore them, because they'd all be sorted before release. Usually they were. That's how game reviews functioned for about 30 years.

Things are different now. For a start, publishers don't send code out weeks in advance anymore – that would be too risky in an age of bit torrents. Instead, publications determined to get a review out on day one will be asked to attend special events, where access to the review code is strictly controlled and monitored. You get two or three days with the game in a hotel or office, and if there's a multiplayer mode, you'll play it on a local area network. Furthermore, most modern console and PC titles are released in an incomplete state: publishers can rely on the ability to provide post-release patches and updates because our contemporary machines have broadband internet connections. So that's what they generally do. This is why at the Guardian we rarely publish reviews on launch day. Our writers play the games at home, with standard internet access, and on public servers. Or else, what are you actually reviewing?


The product released on day one is now usually only part of the story. There will also be lots of online functionality, which can only really be tested post-release, because it has a tendency to collapse (see Battlefield 4, SimCity and Grand Theft Auto: Online); there may also be free or paid-for downloadable content, which often forms a key part of the experience. For example, The Last of Us was already an amazing game, but a complete appraisal must now also consider Left Behind, the brilliant DLC story sequence that brought considerable extra depth to the character of Ellie.
These days, you're not a consumer when you buy a new game, you're an investor
The major game publishers no longer view their products as games, they see them as platforms. Destiny got mediocre reviews on its release, but the original version of the game was only ever a sort of pilot for the experience to come – yes, it was a pilot that cost gamers £40, but then, all early adopters in the online multiplayer sector are effectively taking a punt; they're gambling on enough other players joining in to make it fun, and to make supporting the online infrastructure financially viable for the developer. These days, you're not a consumer when you buy a new game, you're an investor. That's a weird psychological leap to make.
At the same time we have the rise of the early access model where certain titles, especially in the indie community, remain largely unfinished for years. Should we review them when they reach alpha, or beta, or when they're finally "launched" several years later? Should a review score evolve alongside a game? That is what the game site Polygon now believes, often tweaking the score for individual games at different phases in their release process. In this way, criticism becomes a sort of progress report, a medical examination. The idea of a definitive assessment is fading away in an era where there are no fixed release dates, where everything can be patched.
But there are also more fundamental problems lurking beneath all of this. Since the very beginning, game reviews have operated in a confusing no man's land between arts criticism and product assessment. Games writing emerged from the specialist computer magazines of the late 70s, where they'd be assessed in the same way as new disk drives or dot matrix printers. Reviews would compartmentalise each game into its constituent parts – graphics, sound, playability – with each often separately rated in ever more complex conclusion boxes. This approach reached its logical conclusion with the 1980s magazine ACE, which reviewed games out of 1000, and provided a "predicted interest curve", which attempted to map out the longevity of the game – like the lifecycle of a vacuum cleaner.

Now, however, as games have become more readily accepted into the cultural space alongside movies and music, a new approach has emerged – something much more subjective, but also more informed by wider critical conventions and systems. Games criticism now comes from broader standpoints, for example feminist or queer, just like every other area of the arts. But in the games industry, a once closed community steeped in its own outsider status, this has led to fear, antagonism and suspicion.
Now, what are deemed to be negative game reviews find themselves subject to furious scrutiny. Writers are accused of being "biased" against a genre, or being too subjective, or lacking knowledge. There is a conflict between the idea of a review as a piece of information and as a piece of entertaining criticism, and as our reviews seek to provide the latter, we often receive the ire of fans. No one really wants to read a review full of caveats, exceptions and lengthy genre exposition, yet without those elements reviewers are often accused of not knowing enough about the game they're covering.
Why do people get so angry about game reviews? Partly it's because they are passionate fans and fandom becomes part of identity. In this context, critical reviews can be read as attacks on people's preferences and passions. No one wants to hear that they've invested time and money in something that wasn't worthwhile. We see this in all areas of specialist writing and reportage, from film journalism to football match reports – in a consumer society, people can be savage when their tastes are questioned. We also have the skewing nature of comments sections, subreddits and forums, which only ever represent the most vocal, and often the most caustic, minorities. But essentially there's this whole friction between games as products or hobbies and games as an artform that deserves to be explored and exposed for its failures and foibles.
What is a game worth?
In some ways, though, the most complex area of the modern games review is the concept of value. Games are pretty expensive – around £25-50 depending on the platform. People want a lot from them – indeed, throughout the history of games, developers have taught us to expect just that: a lot of content. Adverts for role-playing adventures will often boast about featuring over 100 hours of gameplay. But exactly how much should we expect for our investment? When I reviewed Star Wars: Battlefront, I felt that the game lacked any sense of longevity – I felt I'd seen everything I wanted to see in about six hours. But is that poor value? What about the intensity of the experience?

Similarly, take a game like Destiny, which may cost players over £100 if they're buying the main game and the DLC – are they being ripped off? Well considering a significant number of players are now putting in three hours a day, that £100 pound investment is looking pretty acceptable – it compares favourably with a massively multiplayer game subscription; and very favourably indeed with a gym membership. Even my first six hours with Battlefront was cheaper than spending those hours watching three movies at the cinema.
Those games scored three out of five because they were good games that nevertheless presented a lot of flaws in their basic foundational experiences. We didn't attend review events, we played the game that everyone else played, and we based our opinions on our days with those games. The moment you try to turn reviews into predictive systems, you lose something of what they are – human reactions to emotional and exciting cultural works.
No contemporary review, then, will ever capture more than a fragment of the whole experience, bent through the prism of personal understanding and expectation. Even the most "objective" review, just like the most impartial news report, brings in a myriad of basic assumptions and preferences about what has been seen and felt. But unlike books or movies, games are now evolving platforms, open to updates and improvements. Today, you could buy an old Nintendo Entertainment System and review Super Mario Bros, it works just as it did 30 years ago. But in 30 years time, will we still be able to review Destiny? Or Witcher 3? Or anything on Steam? Most current titles rely on some sort of connectivity to a server. One day those servers will be switched off. All art forms are subject to erosion, but with games, that impermanence is now built in like a self-destruct mechanism.
As a consequence, reviewing games is like reviewing a relationship: you only know what you have in that moment, and even then, nothing is certain or solid. Both the author and the reader need to understand that now.

[ridiculus]

јуче изашао врло интересантан чланак у гардијану који на неки начин разговара са темом топика...да ли је критика видео игара постала немогућа?

Misliš na temu "Kritika video-igara"? Zato što sam tamo postavio neka od ovih pitanja... 

No, sve u svemu, pitanje je sad: šta ja da mislim o centrima igračke (ne)informisanosti koji su dali najveće ocene nekim od pomenutih igara? Neki od njih* su verovatno dali 80% (ili više) ocene pre igranja.

Ocene za Black Ops III, na primer. IGN je tu uvek crna ovca - iako se u gomili crnih ovaca i ne vidi najbolje - ali evo šta kaže Meristation:

Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops 3 offers the most complete and mature campaign we've seen to date

Stvarno? Mislim, STVARNO?! Nisam igrao, suviše mi je slaba mašina za to, ali na osnovu prilično pouzdanih opisa, mogu reći da je priča iz kampanje debilna. Po rečima Čika, neko u Trejarhu je gledao Inception i pomislio "hej, ajmo i mi nešto slično da ubacimo", iako ni oni sami uopšte ne razumeju to što su ubacili. Plus milion odluka koje nemaju nikakvog uticaja na gejmplej - čak su u raskoraku sa njim. Pogledati razliku zvaničnih ocena u odnosu na korisničke na istom tom metakritičaru i nemojte se pitati zašto je to tako.

Naravno, neko će reći da je Black Ops u suštini za više igrača, ali reč na ulici je da ni tu stvari još nisu najbolje balansirane.

A o Falloutu se još ne usuđujem ni da započnem priču...

*S druge strane, nije ni Guardian potpuno nevin. Da su te igre bile britanske, velike su šanse da bi dobile po četiri zvezdice.

[дејан]

   припрема је предуго трајала, а постављање прекратко...некако ми је звечало у глави да постоји тема резервисана за критику...саћу ово пребацим и тамо, а могао би и овај твој одговор да цитираш иза...извињавам се 


едит...ја цитирао због контекста и могућих даљих коментара

[Meho Krljic]

Majkla Tomsena sam uvek cenio.  I sad:

A Review Of Bloodborne Based On 200 Hours Of Twitch And YouTube Videos

[neomedjeni]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/11/30/game-radio/


Kobet o radiju u RPG igrama.

[ridiculus]

Tom Čik o razlici i sličnosti izmedju Fallout 4 i Xenoblade Chronicles X. Tačka po tačka, temeljno, od premise i kvestova do kastomizacije likova.

[Meho Krljic]

http://kotaku.com/you-really-need-to-play-the-yakuza-games-1747406314


A man after my own heart...

[Meho Krljic]

Nije da mi je Pol Tasi među najomiljenijim gejming novinarima, ali čitam ga dosta redovno a ovde je ubo u sridu. Pogotovo što post-festum piše stvari o Wii-ju koje sam ja pričao pre deset godina 

Why I'm Angry At Nintendo

[Meho Krljic]

Rič Stenton prelepo o Yakuza 5:



http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2015-12-17-yakuza-5-review

[Meho Krljic]

Sajmon Parkin ponovo intervjuiše Hidea Kođimu:

Hideo Kojima's Mission Unlocked

[ridiculus]

Na Quarter to 3, Tom Čik je objavio svoju "top 10" listu igara iz 2015. koje su ga najviše razočarale. To ne mora nužno da znači da su sve te igre loše, već samo da neki njihov aspekt ne zadovoljava očekivanja. Recimo, na prvom mestu je Rise of the Tomb Raider, čiji je jedini problem taj što je ograničena samo na Iks-boks. Ua, Majkrosoft!

Takodje, na 4. mestu je Anno 2205, koja mu se u globalu jako svidja, ali nema tradicionalnu otvorenost tog serijala.

Zanimljivo da je na 9. mestu Xenoblade Chronicles X, igra koja mu se takodje svidja, i o kojoj je dosta pisao ovih dana. Ali, XCX potpuno napušta naraciju i zanimljive likove kao stožere koji povezuju sisteme u prethodnoj igri, i koncentriše se samo na te sisteme, što bi bilo poštenije sa igračke strane samo kada ta priča, likovi i mitologija ne bi bili tako dobri kao što jesu. Da se razumemo, prenosim samo Čikovo mišljenje.

Da ne bih rasparčao ovu priču na nekoliko tema, evo ovde i linka ka emisiji u kojoj se priča o XCX. Čik i Mat Pekam sa Tajmovog sajta raspravljaju tokom dva sata o raznim aspektima igre: manama i prednostima (u)brz(an)og putovanja; nedostatku pamtljivih likova; borbenom sistemu nalik na mmo-igre, ali kompleksnijem; skelovima, klasama; mrežnim dodacima i sl.

"XCX je bolja igra od Fallouta 4, ali Fallout pruža bolji worldbuilding."

[ridiculus]

Ako se neko pita, na kraju prethodnog posta, kada sam napisao "skelovi", nisam pogrešio.

A u medjuvremenu je na istom sajtu objavljena i lista video-igara koje su najprijatnije iznenadile u ovoj godini. Victor Vran! Age of Decadence! Metal Gear Solid V! Sve favoriti ovog foruma.

[Berserker]

Na Quarter to 3, Tom Čik je objavio svoju "top 10" listu igara iz 2015. koje su ga najviše razočarale. To ne mora nužno da znači da su sve te igre loše, već samo da neki njihov aspekt ne zadovoljava očekivanja. Recimo, na prvom mestu je Rise of the Tomb Raider, čiji je jedini problem taj što je ograničena samo na Iks-boks. Ua, Majkrosoft!

Takodje, na 4. mestu je Anno 2205, koja mu se u globalu jako svidja, ali nema tradicionalnu otvorenost tog serijala.

Zanimljivo da je na 9. mestu Xenoblade Chronicles X, igra koja mu se takodje svidja, i o kojoj je dosta pisao ovih dana. Ali, XCX potpuno napušta naraciju i zanimljive likove kao stožere koji povezuju sisteme u prethodnoj igri, i koncentriše se samo na te sisteme, što bi bilo poštenije sa igračke strane samo kada ta priča, likovi i mitologija ne bi bili tako dobri kao što jesu. Da se razumemo, prenosim samo Čikovo mišljenje.

Da ne bih rasparčao ovu priču na nekoliko tema, evo ovde i linka ka emisiji u kojoj se priča o XCX. Čik i Mat Pekam sa Tajmovog sajta raspravljaju tokom dva sata o raznim aspektima igre: manama i prednostima (u)brz(an)og putovanja; nedostatku pamtljivih likova; borbenom sistemu nalik na mmo-igre, ali kompleksnijem; skelovima, klasama; mrežnim dodacima i sl.

"XCX je bolja igra od Fallouta 4, ali Fallout pruža bolji worldbuilding."

ne radi link

[ridiculus]

Ovo bi trebalo da radi.

I ovo.

Prvo je za razočarenja, drugo za iznenadjenja.

Obično proverim linkove, a sada nisam siguran da li sam to uradio i ovaj put. Verovatno me je mrzelo, pošto kucam preko mobilnog.

Hvala na ukazivanju.

[Meho Krljic]

Dan Whitehead prestaje da piše za Eurogamer i, zapravo, svoju četvrtvekovnu karijeru gejm-rivjuera okončava da bi imao vremena za druge (prezjumabli bolje plaćene) projekte kao što je pisanje za televiziju. Veoma volim Whiteheada, što se sigurno i primetilo ovde po broju njegovih tekstova koje sam linkovao tako da... Evo kako se od njega opraštaju na Eurogameru.

[neomedjeni]

http://youtu.be/5hfA2Km7sLk

[neomedjeni]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/04/rpg-2016-preview/


Kobet o RPG godini pred nama. Priznajem da sam veoma zainteresovan da vidim FF IX. Kao i Torment i D:OS 2, to bi bila tri meni najzanimljivija naslova.

[milan]

Jutros kada sam otisao na IGN, otvorio mi se IGN Adria, na hrvatskom. Vecina textova su prevodi, osim recenzija, kako mi se cini. Hajde sada lepo da svi nekako namolimo naseg dragog & amazing Mehu da iskoristi svoje mutantske sposobnosti pa da se nekako tamo ubaci i pise svoje prikaze...

[Meho Krljic]

Pazi stvarno Adria...  Znači sad ću morati da koristim proksi i da čitam IGN? Pa jel' ovaj svet poludeo?

[milan]

Dovoljno je samo da ukucas opet ign.com kada ti se adria otvori, pa te vrati na pravu stranicu.

[Meho Krljic]

[neomedjeni]

Kobet ponovo ima svašta pametno da kaže o RPG-u. Ovaj put se bavio proticanjem vremena u igrama.


https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/01/18/fallout-4-dragon-age-seasons/

[Meho Krljic]

Ti sem Kobeta i nemaš novinare koje najviše voliš    Mislim, jeste on najbolji, pa sve to ima smila.

[neomedjeni]

Pa, i ne volim ga. Samo mi se sviđa seks kolumna koju piše.

[Meho Krljic]

Džon Bejn, setimo se, ima još malo vremena do kraja života:

TotalBiscuit Quits Social Media With Emotional Goodbye

[neomedjeni]

Tužno.


Imam utisak da sam u poslednjih godinu dve pročitao hrpu objava o javnim ličnostima koje boluju od raka.

[Meho Krljic]

To je zato što se nekada za takvu informaciju valjalo oslanjati na infrastrukturu profesionalnih medija od kojih su neki smatrali da su ovo ipak privatne stvari i da ne treba od njih praviti zabavu, kao i zato što se definicija "javne ličnosti" dramatično menja. Danas imamo socijalne medije pa si "javna ličnost" ako imaš 25000 JuTjub pretplatnika ili ako si, jelte, "uticajni tviteraš" plus ljudi pišu i pričaju sami o sebi. Što je sve normalno, naravno, tvoj proizvod si najčešće ti sam pa moraš o njemu da ponajviše pričaš. Na to još valja dodati da su crowdfunding mreže danas prilično uobičajen alat pomoću kojeg javna ličnost ovog tipa pokušava da sebi obezbedi sredstva za bolju zdravstvenu negu - što je do pre svega 4-5 godina bilo nezamislivo - pa onda to proizvodi još više šerovanja vesti o nečijem zdravstvenom stanju i rezultat jeste da zaista čujemo sve više vesti o ljudima za koje smo čuli a koji boluju od opasnih i smrtonosnih bolesti.

[Meho Krljic]

Liz Ryerson piše esej o igri The Beginner's Guide i videoigračkoj kritici. A mast rid:


The Beginner's Guide and Videogame Criticism's Awkward Baby Steps

[Meho Krljic]

Oli Velš:

  In Play: Why getting stuck in The Witness is good for you

[Meho Krljic]

Kobet!!!!!!!!

  Remembering Dragon Age: Origins

[neomedjeni]

Mislim da je sve skapirao kako treba.


Kad je već da na tapetu Dragon Age serijal, neka Ketrin Kros je pisala o DA2 ovih dana, pa da mi to združimo:


http://gamasutra.com/view/news/264322/Opinion_Why_did_Dragon_Age_II_leave_some_fans_so_cold.php

[Meho Krljic]

Što sad "neka" Ketrin Kros??? Citirana je već više puta na ovom forumu, žena je akademski autor koji se pritom po internetu bavi rodnom politikom, sociološkim efektima razvoja tehnologije, plus igra igre i dobro se razume u njih. Samo zato što je rođena sa ćunom a ne sa vaginom nije red da se ovako omalovažava.

[neomedjeni]

Avaj, ništa ja od toga nisam znao pre nego što sam u prethodnom postu sa nedostatkom dužnog poštovanja otkucao njeno ime na tastaturi.


Budite uvereni da se iskreno kajem. 

[Meho Krljic]

Ma, druže Neomeđeni, vi znate da vam niko dobronameran ništa ne prebacuje.    Samo sam iskoristio priliku da podsetim na Krosovu koju cenim kao autorku jer ima dosta dobar odnos akademske discipline i dubinskog poznavanja materije u slučaju pisanja o igrama.

[neomedjeni]

U međuvremenu, Ričard Kobet nastavlja da briljira (i nervira Codex, ili bar tako misli ):


https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/02/01/what-hearthstone-gets-right-about-roleplay/


It doesn't help that most RPGs, rightly or wrongly, don't have much in the way of balls when it comes to restricting the player character in any way. Compare, say, Baldur's Gate 2 with Dragon Age 2 – partly because it's a good comparison, partly because it wouldn't be a good week if I didn't annoy someone on the Codex. I'm thinking in terms of magic specifically. Baldur's Gate 2 largely takes place in the city of Amn, and one of the cardinal rules there is 'no magic without a license'. Dragon Age 2 takes place in a city controlled by Templars, whose job it is to keep mages under control, and not without some reason. Magic isn't just whizzy-whizzy-bang-bang, but linked to demonic possession and all kinds of other health hazards.



Despite this, being a mage – an illegal, 'apostate' mage at that – doesn't mean a damn thing. The guards will completely overlook fireballs in the street, you solving your problems with lightning bolts and all kinds of other stuff like that, even before you get to a point where you're important enough to turn a blind eye. It's a continuation of one of Dragon Age's fundamental lore issues, that magic is meant to be rare and special and dangerous, but fuck that because players want to be/fight mages.


The trouble is that in not giving magic users at least some sense of threat or actual sense of being under the thumb, who cares? Baldur's Gate 2 meanwhile made being a spellcaster a problem. Break out the elements and some very tough wizards would show up to impolitely request you not do that, with your three options being a) apologise and stop, b) buy a damn license, or c) prove yourself too powerful for them to stop. The latter especially is one of the most satisfying things you can do in that game. Even before that though, that tiny mechanical demand to keep the metaphorical magic wand holstered made a big difference to both mages and the setting.


One of the games I'm really looking forward to at the moment is Divinity: Original Sin 2: Not Quite Such An Original Sin, and one of the big reasons is that it wants to nail this sense of character through both restriction and opportunity. The demo town I played a few months ago is quite a fun place for humans, not so much for dwarves. If you've got a dwarf in your party, they're barred at the front gate and have to find their own way in even if it means actively splitting the party. Especially, in fact, with each character having their own opportunities to find information, characters who won't talk to anyone else, clever scope for sabotage, and reinforcements of their differences. It's not that difficult to get the Dwarf into town for instance, but soon enough they'll find an encounter like a banquet taking place in the middle of town. Most characters can just walk on through and eat, but they trigger the guards if they try to stick their beard into human business. It's more restrictive an experience than the average RPG, yes, but in a way that boosts it rather than detracting. Each character then has their own contacts, their own histories, their own specialities – a wise elf for instance might be able to help heal the witness to a crime, the dwarf might have reason to cut their throat.