Some of you may have heard that the bright minds behind Risk of Rain have made their next effort with the help of an added dimension. Risk of Rain 2 released on Early Access lately, to many peoples' surprise and joy. I played a decent bit of the original, but never managed to get into it. Something about 2D scrollers like that puts me off hard, but I respected the hell out of the awesome art, fantastic music, and neat synergies/shenanigans throughout the game.

Risk of Rain 2, so far, has been an absolute blast and I'm super happy for the devs. They received way more support than they initially expected upon launch, and the buy 1 get 1 gift key strategy did wonders for them. I've been steadily playing this game with friends and after the initial Diablo 2 loot stealing shenanigans, we've all managed to memorize items, learn builds, and work out what survivalists we like. This game is a killer time-killer; I've spent what I thought was 10 minutes in one match only to glance at the timer and read that 70 minutes have passed. This game almost feels like it's a finished product, and the devs aren't even done yet. I'm super psyched for all the new stuff we'll get to see and experiment with.

I'm also curious as to what anyone else thinks. Has anyone played enough to share their opinions? Did anyone not enjoy their time with the game? Please share!

Official trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYvWfDxhm_s

Website: https://www.bloodlines2.com

Up until the announcement an hour ago, Paradox Interactive were doing a fake "Tender" app teaser/promo thing. There was some kind of countdown involved which ended with this announcement, entertaining to watch: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/399100804?t=03h52m54s

(Still don't know if Tilders is a thing, but I'm rolling with it.)

Red Dead Redemption 2 has hooked me like no other game has in years, and that's saying something. My collection is massive between my Steam library, PS4 library, and all the older titles I hoard. But ever since RDR2 came out a few months ago, it's almost all I have played on a daily basis.

Aside from the fact that the graphics and animations are objectively jaw-drop gorgeous, there is something about this game's pacing, writing, thematic story telling, game-play, and characters that has absolutely captured my imagination, and has become my go-to way to unwind after a long day. Most of this applies to the story mode.

But I also dove completely head first in the Online Beta for a few months straight. I'm now rank 101, have all I want really for online as it stands, and I loved every minute of my crazy solo-hunting/fishing/griefer oblitherating grind. Taking a break for new content coming on the 26th of this month, and also really need to get some friends to play with... (I have a perma-posse on PS4 named "The Pariah" as well if anyone decides they may be interested)

I'm a lifelong vegetarian, and somehow, RD2 MADE ME FALL IN LOVE WITH HUNTING IN IT. I could go on, but I'm hoping to get some discussion out of this and not just blabber on and on like I do in real life about it.

So... please tell me I'm not the only freak on here that loves this game. The Reddit communities for this game are a toxic dumpster fire, and I really want to discuss it with some people who actually like to... discuss.

I just got Xenoblade Chronicles 2 and am wondering if it makes sense to get the Expension Pass already from the start or rather wait before I finish the game.

What I am concerned about is that it makes the game too easy or that it adds some unneeded items that stick out of the original story/feeling too much.

Is that the case, or is it rather just ironing out some small nit-picks and the DLCs make it better?

My vote is for bounties god damn near everywhere. The Rider adventure is cool and I really enjoy Gambit so far.

Not a huge fan of the weapon mod perk reworking, the grind feels longer than ever before.

Here's the tweet the release date info came from: https://twitter.com/wykrhm/status/1024704897218883584

And an article from March that had some of the first actual gameplay info: https://www.pcgamer.com/artifact-guide/

On reddit I post the occasional AAR (after action report) for Victoria 2 on the ParadoxPlaza sub. I was just wondering if there was any interest in me posting those here as well, since vic2 is a little obscure and it's entirely possible I'm the only player here out of our active users.

Kickstarter

Demo (via GOG)

Xenonauts 2 is a sequel to 2014's Xenonauts, a turn-based tactics game inspired by the original Xcom games.

I've never played the older games but I'm in love with the Xcom reboots, so I'm definitely keeping a close eye on his one. Any other Xcom fans here?