This is my first time playing any Fallout game ever. I played with a guns blazing kind of approach, no diplomacy. Character creation seems to be loaded with fun options - I'd like to try many of them, but one stat appears to be all-purpose: Agility, which allows you to perform more actions during combat. Therefore setting Agility high or low seems less a build variation and rather a difficulty slider. Overall gameplay is entertaining with a few caveats. Using items or skills on objects is sometimes confusing and pretty limited. Combat with a lot of enemies gets very slow - and if you want to reload the game during combat you have to wait for your turn - can't pause the game on enemy's turn. Companions are an afterthought and the intended way to access their inventory is the Steal skill. But Fallout truly shines when it comes to worldbuilding and ambience. People are just going about their business in this desolate and harrowing environment, and the game looks like a genuine attempt to imagine how humanity would continue in a post-apocalyptic scenario. The tone of the game is rather serious - I've heard this changed rather quickly in later titles. Music and other sound effects go a long way in Fallout. They generally evoke a sense of danger or of an exotic place, which this future has become. Use of the licensed tracks is both superb and sparing, it completes Fallout artistically and makes the ending emotionally powerful. The main quest is just three tasks to finish, but it is through sidequests and exploration that you would find ways of achieving them. I especially liked the Deathclaw quest in the Hub, it created a sense of mystique around those creatures; unfortunately for Deathclaws, they soon became a common enemy that you can farm for exp. You should definitely play Fallout. If you can't bear its dated design, try harder. It's one of those games you can't afford not to play. As for me, I will definitely come back to the game in the future.
Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain essentially is a 2d Zelda power fantasy in terms of gameplay and a compelling, stylish tragedy in terms of its story. The way the game integrates gameplay and narrative is impressive. Kain, as a resentful anti-hero, has no qualms about killing - even the innocent; the question only is: how? There is a wide arsenal of weapons, spells and items at Kain's disposal. But the game disempowers the player at certain moments, sometimes putting him in adversity to make a point within the narrative. Other times Kain has to call in a powerful ally to move forward, which really paints a compelling landscape of power - Kain is a big fish and we can feel it playing the game; but there are in Nosgoth powers completely beyond him. Although in the story Kain is an immoral actor, their is one moral choice to take, a Miltonian sort of question: whether to serve in heaven or reign in hell. And the whole journey of Kain up to that choice was a meditation on that question. One has to have a taste for the esthetics of Blood Omen. It is edgy, gory, full of magick and demonology. Writing is theatrical and poetic. The visuals, especially the pre-rendered cutscenes, did not age too well. On the other hand voice acting remains stellar. All in all, the game is very unique, an unlikely fusion of top-down action-adventure, B-horror visuals and theatrical narrative.
This review is for the version 1.75 without any additional content, no alternative balance. Gothic 3 is at the same time fun and frustrating to play. There are two viable builds: warrior and mage; other playstyles (ranged, stealth) should only be considered as side activities. Gothic 3 partly consists of grinding for exp and gold (quests, killing mobs, freeing cities) and the part where you do stuff for fun that will never repay the gold/exp investment. Bows in Gothic 3 are terrible: drawing takes a lot of time, there is no support for aiming, damage is laughable. The best bow I've found (115 dmg) with all perks learned can't one-shot a goblin or a wolf unless you aim for the head. The game has lots of small issues which add up: the way enemies block is annoying, animal attack animations and hitboxes, generic quests, generic loot, shallow characters, occasional bugs and the fact that there is no good map for Nordmar. In fact Nordmar is also dull visually: it's just snow everywhere in a way that is almost unrealistic. There's a similar problem with Varant: sand and more sand; there is a nice buffer area between Varant and Myrtana and the habitable desert regions should resemble it in some extent. The music is good and settlements vary in flavor. There is a lot of memorable dialogue lines despite the overall genericity of the narrative. Also I like that the game tells you what's it's all about right off the bat: you arrive at Ardea, kill all Orcs and loot all houses; that's what Gothic 3 is ultimately about.
