Recent reviews by lada_ loving life!

At only 62 hours, I have not finished the game yet, so this review will be updated later.
A gamer friend's review inspired me to get in here and add my take on the game too! (Thanks, Chevette.)
And I must admit some of the daft bruhaha over this game also makes me want to review it.
So, here is my current take and experience of Dragon Age: Veilguard:
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As a hardcore Dragon Age fan who has read the Dragon Age books and graphic novels, watched the shows online too, and played DAO, DAA, DA2, and DAI countless times on different platforms.... at least ten times for each game and I am not exaggerating, I admit to feeling trepidatious about how this would go.... NOT because of hate reviews and the typical clickbait negative trash that is so common these days. It's just I love the Dragon Age stories and I wanted the devs to pull this one off! So, you may read that as a caveat, if you choose. But I share it to be honest about how much I wanted this to TRULY be a well crafted RPG. So, for me, that means that it better be! or I would not keep playing it.

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Key specifics on technical aspects of the RPG have to be divided between actual tech and also the feel-good that is personal from gamer to gamer.

-Like the ‘drawing style’ of the characters….excellent animation and graphics! Simply so amazing to watch at times, that I have to remind myself I need to keep my character alive! I too was uncertain about how I felt with this seeming shift from realistic to cartoon… Yet this is not a new style for Dragon Age. If you have watched the animated shows and read the graphic novels, you would already be familiar with, for example, how Varric looks. I didn’t see any distinction, because my mind had merged his imagery in DA2, DAI, and the graphic book series where Varric features heavily. But Realism! the movements, the hair, fabric, even ‘blood and gore’ are seamless in my personal play experience…and the best yet.

-As far as details like gear, weapons and battle gear, and relaxed ‘at home’ gear, there are loads of choices. Plus, a cool feature that I haven’t had the pleasure of in games for awhile is being able to choose appearances despite what gear you are wearing. Know that these clothes move in living colour, style, and action.

-Switching to the experience of combat, I was anxious about the combat style, same as others that complained on this ‘change.’ I’ve played this method in other games and rarely enjoyed it. I worried that this would take away from my enjoyment. So I was super-conscious of what choices I had and absurdly attentive to the changes in each battle situation. However, I found it effortless to learn in action…and safe in the learning curve experience over time. In fact, I now love it, what I can do with my companions, and how I can combine our talents and skills! is all part of the fun. There is even cool, helpful, and sometimes funny banter throughout each situation, which frankly magnifies my fun and enhances learning.

-In case, you haven’t seen a lot of shared screenshots yet, the open worlds are amazing. The sense of the Fade, for example, in those scenes is wildly daunting to my mind’s signals for things like stepping off ledges and similar. The grounded areas like cities, fields, mountains, et cetera, are rich with depth of detail. And here is where I choose to mention— walking, running, jumping, climbing!!! wow! You can climb, leap, use magic! and all kinds of other crazy ways to find a ‘route to loot.’ That is my gamer’s dream…the sense of reality in covering terrain, scouting, chasing, and battling.

-The above reminds me that there are loads of puzzles to get to some quite rewarding loot. Unlike other games’ puzzles that are either too obvious but a pain-in-the-xxxx, these puzzles are clever in design and specific to the scene one is searching within, or the culture of the area, or details like the progressing story. To my surprise, maybe the great loot received? lol but I am actually enjoying solving the puzzle. That is crazy for me to admit… never thought I’d say anything like that about puzzles to loot.
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--A’right for a first go at this review, I should wrap this up for now. There’s much more I could add, which is interesting to recognise too….because the story is rich with detail, and there is about to be a whole LOT more to unwind in the telling of this tale… As Chevette said, ‘this is a good Dragon Age story.’ My wishes and dreams have been given form better than I could have expected given so many disappointments in new games these days.
If you like this type of fantasy game, and you love a good story combined with excellent mechanics of game design, you really ought to try it.
PS: No companion brings up romance unless You Do! For the squeamish among you!

I first played LOTR when it was brand new. I returned a couple of years ago when I learned that Standing Stones was still working on the game! not only improving it but adding more dlc!! The graphics were a delight back in the day.... Over the years, one's definition of quality changes. But what a lot of people may not know is that LOTR is steadily improving the graphics quality too. There is still a solid gaming community playing it... You can team up with people fairly easily. Join a Guild and you can pretty much have peeps to play alongside as much as you desire. Corsairs is the latest gameplay add, so come on over. You can get into crafting; you can get into role playing,; you can get into lore; you can explore what is now a more and more expansive world... And hey! as I write this... the LOTR store has crazy good discounts and sales going on! too.
So, I just nominated LOTR for the 'Labor of Love' award. Because , still going after all these years!! And still making the game even better...that is thoroughly a labour of love.

Are you a Skyrim lover? You might be of two minds regarding trying the Special Edition...as I was.
One was, wait! What about all my mods?!?!?! The other is: What's to improve?
I understand there has been a bit of fallout (pun heh) over the special edition, especially regarding mods. The Special Edition, subtly yet profoundly, has sweetened the experience of a very time-tested game. What is it about Skyrim? I ask myself 100 times as I am back in here...again! To be emotionally honest, I cannot say. I can tell you though, if you have never played Skyrim at all, that this game captures the past and present of gaming, epecially role playing and the imaginative force of an immersive and BIG world to get lost in.
Some, but hardly all, of the best mods have been automatically added to the base game. Other favourite mods are made easily available via Bethesda's website. And I do mean EASILY available. Instead of all the labourious ...download this app et cetera ...and constantly check for issues and incpompatibilities et al, now Bethesda rather instantly adds them in for you as you choose them. Yep. It is sorta like dlc. Granted, this is still a small number at the current time... but, the small number, I have read on Bethesda and other community players' pages, is about 1/4 available instantly so far. [If you don't know, that means quite a large number because Skyrim is famous for modding.]
So, I have only played 75 hours so far. o.O yes, I did just say "only" played 75 hours lol! I think I logged over 300 hours in the previous version? So I have barely scratched the surface. Having a great time playing mods available that I never tried; quests I never finished or never even got to...
Special Edition adds an enhanced visual/environmental view and also includes some of the classic mods to boot!
If you are an old Skyrim fan, come in... it's got all the latest vintages, the best armour in Skyrim ;) and you can explore via some very favourited mods including additional worlds.
Have a blast! Get lost in the dream of it... and say hello online.

The Witcher Wild Hunt is CD Projekt's "out of the ball park" finish of their Witcher series of games. The art is jaw dropping magnificent.... just wander aimlessly in the massive world, the scenery is ever changing and simply spectacular. The character expressions as they speak, even NPCs, are real and add to the immersion. The story and spoken lines stay pretty close to the original characters' personalities (from Sapkowski's books) even if the game changes things up a bit (by providing alternate choices and many other stories/quests to pursue). Action is vivid and distinct, especially in combat. Once I readjusted my sense of the game mechanics that CD Projekt uses, I remembered how perfect CD Projekt's conception of how to manifest Geralt's particular style in combat, healing, play/rest and travel. So, do I recommend this game? Ohhhh yeah! If you enjoy endless world exploration; if you enjoy story rich gaming; if you enjoy original creativity in art/graphics/design; if you enjoy loads of animal and monster interactions (it is automatic to have a horse to ride); and if you enjoy diverse cultural storytelling; you will want to add this one to your library. The Witcher Wild Hunt .... forever a Classic.

The best way to get a sort of pic of the life simulator, sims 3, that I have watched is Lazy Game Reviews' ratings of each dlc and the stuff packs. In his entertaining review of the whole game, you will be able to get a sense of what the game is about plus get a springboard to look at the individual choices/options for how you might choose to play it.
The review is on Steam and on YouTube.... http://youtu.be/puMYeBRTsHs
Have fun!

Seriously, this is a fun game.

I cannot say enough about this story game ... If ever there was a game that pulled one in with a sense of glory, desire, intensity, and reaching for meaning, this would be the game. At least of the many games I have played by this time in my gaming life. To be able to play the developing hero is like being the myth, actually BEING the Myth.

crisp graphics... loads of story well beyond the main story, as Elder Scrolls has a reputation for....and so many options for how to "grow" a character..