cRPGs – Ms. Bella's World

6–9 minutes

Have you ever had one of those weeks where, despite things moving along in a perfectly normal manner, you just feel like something is off? You can’t put your finger on it, but it’s there. It hovers over everything like a giant rain cloud that won’t go away.

That’s rather how I’ve been feeling lately. Just that little bit off. It certainly doesn’t help that the weather keeps waffling between spring and something more resembling winter. It doesn’t help that I suffer from clinical depression which rears its head every so often. And I’m no doctor but I’ll almost guarantee that I need to start taking vitamin B again.

You’ve probably even noticed in my last few videos that I’m more low-key than usual. Not that I’m ever super bouncy cheery, loud and boisterous. LOL, perhaps I should be. I’m often told I’m too loud and boisterous in real life! There’s a fun fact for you.

My biggest issue with the channel right now, however, stares at me each time I open my weekly planner and look at the schedule. I have entirely too many games to juggle right now! Eleven games I’m juggling, none of which I get to play for much longer than the time I have allotted to record for each of them.

I tried to ignore the fact that I’m feeling stressed. Perhaps even a little overwhelmed. But there is no longer any ignoring it. I don’t know how I’m going to rearrange things. I don’t know what I should keep or get rid of.

I do know that I won’t be dumping LOTRO.

I don’t want to stop playing Grim Dawn.

I’m really enjoying Enshrouded.

And I’m finally having fun in Skyrim, now that I’ve stopped trying to chase the main quests and have just gone off adventuring.

Against the Storm is a Let’s Play and I’ve no problems with that, knowing that in Q3 of 2024 it’ll be replaced by the next game.

Now, for the rest …

Valheim – Gus and I have taken a break to enjoy LOTRO again while we wait for Ashlands to release and the subsequent need for mods to all be updated and fixed. And honestly, I think Gus is a tiny bit bored with the current biomes, considering he’s already beat every boss to date!

On a side note, I’m also thinking Gus would love Enshrouded, and he’s looked at the game and agrees, however we’re not certain he can even run it.

Broken Ranks returned, both because I had an idea for the series and because someone requested it. However, it’s not been well-received and I’ve not gotten any feedback as to why. I’ll finish out the current subscription for the game, playing it and seeing how I fared vs. being F2P, but if people still aren’t responding well I may retire the series completely.

Subnautica has also returned by request and, while I’m enjoying it again, I’m not getting enough time to explore in the game as I’d like. Hence, I’m feeling like I’m not progressing very fast and I’m frustrated.

Guild Wars 2. Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy the game still, even if I only get to play a little each week. I’m especially liking the Asura right now. But I’m not loving the game and, if I were honest, I don’t think I ever will /love/ the game. I like it well enough, certainly enjoy exploring the world and doing the story quests. Not much else to say here.

Last Epoch is one of those games that, while I love it, I’m going to be slow AF playing it. While I don’t mind, I’m not certain it makes for the most exciting videos. Well, maybe watching me die is exciting. I could do that more.

And of course there’s Dragon’s Dogma 2, though I guess in all fairness I don’t do videos for it. I mainly livestream it. However, it is a pretty slow moving RPG and I frequently find myself having to backtrack multiple times to find something. I know I’ve died plenty of times though and I imagine that’s entertainment enough. I know I find them funny, even the deaths caused by me being stupid.

That’s the whole list. It was a lot longer than I thought it’d be. I’ll have to figure out how to rearrange things, what to retire, what to keep.

And of course, games don’t stop getting released and I’ve always got my eye out for new and interesting ones!

With all of that out of the way, there have been little bits and bobs of gaming news that has interested me. Things like –

Stellar Blade released on April 26th, 2024 and was almost immediately patched, censoring some of Eve’s outfits. Who’s to blame for this? Did Shift Up straight up lie about not censoring the game? Did Sony force them to censor it? Whatever the reason, it’s stupid. And it’s even more stupid to see games journalists cheer about censorship. The same journalists, mind you that would cheer about jiggle physics in male characters in Baldur’s Gate 3. I’d love it if they’d stop with the hypocrisy, but I won’t hold my breath for that to happen.
Manor Lords, by Slavic Magic, also released on April 26th 2024 in early access. The medieval strategy simulation is created by a solo developer and, while I’ve not had a chance to delve deeply into the game yet, I’ve tinkered with it a bit. Once I’ve gotten some hours in we’ll look at it. The Steam reviews are mostly positive and the reviews on GOG (yes, it’s on GOG, where I got my copy) it’s holding a respectible 4.3/5 stars. However reviews at both platforms suggest it’s got a lot of room to grow still, so keep that in mind if you’re looking to buy it. It’s not cheap for an EA game, $40 USD, but until May 10th it’ll be on sale for 25% off at both GOG and Steam.
There seem to be some life simulation games on the horizon for people who’ve been long time Sims fans. And yes, I have played The Sims. I’ve owned every version from the original up to Sims 4, and various expansions & DLC for 2, 3 and 4. I love building stuff in the game mainly. However, games like Life by You (Early Access – June 04th, 2024), Vivaland (? 2024), Paralives (? 2025), and InZOI (? 202?) are set to try to dethrone the long running franchise. EA seems to be doing everything in its power to help them along, with lackluster packs and expansions for the Sims 4 that add very little for their price points except game breaking bugs. I, for one, have uninstalled Sim 4 and returned to played Sims 3 because even with the bugs in that version, it’s still a far more open and fun experience. We’ll see how Life by You, the first of the new batch, shapes up.
Little Kitty, Big City, an absolutely adorable looking game by Double Dagger Studio is set to release on May 9th, 2024. In the game, you play a cute little cat who needs to find his way home. It features colorful graphics and a cute protagonist who may just cause a little mayhem as he navigates the world. Definitely on my wishlist!
And speaking of cute games, Tales of the Shire by Wētā Workshop takes the concept of cozy games to Middle Earth. While I enjoy the occassional farming sim or other cozy games, I’ll admit I don’t tend to stick with them for long. Perhaps Tales of the Shire could be that special something to keep me engaged, but with no release date and not a whole lot of information to go on, it’s a wait and see. Still, it’s certainly on my wishlist.

That’s it. Well, except for one more thing. I’d like to shout out Kabrutus and his new website – DEI Detected. I look forward to seeing where he takes it in the future as people push back against the DEI that’s caused such a divide in various communities.

Like many gamers, I believe there’s a difference between organic diversity in games and the forced diversity and inclusion that is the hallmark of much of this DEI push.

Done organically and with thought and care, diversity can enhance a game’s world, its characters, and the story. But shoehorned in, with established characters race or gender bent, hyperfocus on immutable traits or preferences to the exclusion of everything else, creates unlikable characters, stale worlds, and boring stories.

And that, for the moment, shall conclude my rant.

Until next time, bye for now.

3–5 minutes

Last week we established the fact that for me, a cRPG player, the idea of TTRPGs is fascinating. But what are the core differences between the two game formats that makes the analog version so appealing? Let’s take a look at some key differences between the two formats.

In a cRPG, the games’ environments are crafted through coding and graphics. While many wonderful computer games can boast of stellar settings, your exploration is limited within the constructs of what was created by others. Once you’ve explored everything, there is no more unless the developers come up with new content in the form of expansions.

With a tabletop game the environment is controlled by the gamemaster, or dungeon master depending on what system you use. This flexibility in the world’s settings can be added to from modules or the GM’s imagination. With this type of flexibility, the game world becomes nearly infinite, provided the party stays alive to witness it all!

Another core difference between the two styles is how the players interact with the game and each other. In cRPGs, you interact via a keyboard and mouse, where the graphics dictate to you the story, how it looks, etc. The people you play with, should the game be multiplayer, are beyond a screen and often people you’ve just met and don’t know. Conversations tend to be more surface level and rarely do you develop deep, meaningful bonds with other players this way. That’s not to say that it’s impossible to do, but highly unlikely.

Just as often, however, a cRPG is a solo player experiences and your only interactions are those with the NPCs (or non-playable characters) that are coded with set lines and dialogues. While some NPCs can be very well thought out and verbose, such as in Baldur’s Gate 3, they’re extremely lacking in other games.

Compare this with the TTRPG style of gaming. Pen, paper, physical books (or ebooks on a tablet) provide a tactile feel and a sense of weight and ‘realness’. Frequently, the people you play with are people you know in real life. You meet at someone’s house, around the dining room table. Or you meet up at a diner somewhere and grab a table. Perhaps you all meet at the local library. Regardless of the setting, being among others creates a sense of a friend group as you get to know each other, talk about the game, life … whatever’s on your mind. Rarely do you ever play a TTRPG alone, though solo adventures exist too, and can be quite fun.

Then there’s the matter of the game itself and the rules. In a computer game, your actions, attacks, skills, armor and weapons are predetermined by the game. The rules are inflexible. You don’t get to step outside the bounds or decide that X rule doesn’t fit your playstyle and you prefer Y. You get what you get and you either like it, accept it, or don’t like it and stop playing.

A game run by a DM, on the other hand, has a lot of flexibility. The story, much like the environment is created from their imagination or by using one of a multitude of game modules available for use in various game systems. He can follow the rules as set forth, mix and match rules for different versions of a system, or create rules on the fly to suit the campaign and situation. This flexibility creates an ever changing gaming landscape that can be beneficial for everyone at the table.

And, as a final nod to story itself — While in a cRPG the story has been written out and rarely ever changes from playthrough to playthrough, it is far different for a tabletop setting. There, not only does the DM control the story, but so too do the players with their characters and the choices they make. The same campaign could be run multiple times, yet each have completely different outcome. Flexibility indeed!

While computer games will always be my go to for enjoying a great RPG story and world, I can see myself easily enjoying the perks of playing a tabletop game too. But what do you think? Do you have experience playing TTRPGs and what are some of the benefits you would point out to a new player?

Until next time, bye for now!

Category: cRPGs

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