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?

Hello! I'm an avid fan of the board game Scythe and I've played quite a few games now. While everything seems very well balanced and thought out, no one in my group has ever managed a win using the Saxony faction. Some have come close, but never enough to beat Rusivet and Crimea (the usual victors). If there are some other Scythe fans here, what are your tips and tricks besides focusing on combat?

Some info on our general playstyle:

• Most people go for all their enlist actions
• Factions always have a star or two from combat in the end
• Everyone wants their factory card, all the time

Thanks!

EDIT: I'm going to play a game this evening, will report back on what went on.
EDIT #2: It turns out Saxony wasn't played becuase we used the expansion factions. Coupled with airships, I don't think I can explain it all!

I really like the "idea" of fighting games, as I like playing against others and outplaying them, guessing their moves and the mind games etc. But the only fighting game ive legitimately enjoyed was Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and id like to play something more recent.

It had alot of personality, each character felt different enough despite the size of the roster, and it was easy enough for a casual like me to get into while still not feeling too easy. Out of the new fighting games ive tried Fighterz, but it doesnt have enough character variety (not a dbz fan), the new MvC has a bad roster, Street fighter was too technical and idk boring? MK is very clunky, ive tried tekken but it didnt really grab me, and skullgirls hasn't either.
I want a game I can stick with and get good at, but the mainstream titles don't really appeal to me, does anyone have a suggestion?

The games are masterpieces in their own right. DQ11 probably the best jrpg I've played in a very long time (dq8 ps2) . Spiderman is just a very fun game. It's light hearted enough and has some intense moments. I'm level 41 I think right now and I have a lot of my abilities unlocked and I just destroy the dudes even if I'm out matched 11 to 1. Very satisfying.

Back to dragon quest. They made huge strides in quality of life with book shelves that actually show you that yes, you can read a book from it. The visible enemies is something that is sort of a relief for me because by my second playthrough of DQ8 I was so sick of random battles I almost just threw in the towel. I can explore and fight if I want. I would neglect exploring in DQ8 because of the random battles. Anyway what are your guys' thoughts on the games?

edit: emulating DQ8 on pcsx2 is very very cool. You can make the graphics look almost exactly like DQ11. The textures work wonderfully with interneral resolution increase. Plus you can trigger "fast mode" when runs the game at like 3x speed, which makes the random battles not so monotonous

Everybody's talking about Fallout 76, Smash, Mario Party, Spider-man... What are some games out there that you're excited about and haven't gotten a whole lot of spotlight that you think others should really know about?

I'm personally really excited about Dreams (which is made by the same team that created Little Big Planet) and this weird indie farming/exploration game I found on kickstarter called Garden Paws.

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.

I started prioritizing GOG a couple of years ago, buying most of my games there because I love their DRM-free stance. I have an entire backup of my GOG gaming library on my hard drive, so even if something happened to my account I'd still have everything I've bought from them over the years. On the other hand, their Linux support isn't great. For example, GOG Galaxy, their all-in-one frontend, is still not available on Linux despite being out for other platforms for years.

Steam, on the other hand, is DRM-agnostic, and there isn't an easy way to separate my games from the service. I worry about what would happen if I somehow lost access to my account. When a game is available on Steam and GOG, I opt for GOG each time because I'd rather have a DRM-free copy that I can control. Nevertheless, Valve has done a lot to support Linux gaming, especially with their recent debut of SteamPlay and Proton. Right now, Steam gives a much better user experience to Linux users and supporting Valve helps move Linux gaming forward. It also helps that their selection is much greater than GOG's, (though that's less of a pull for me as I do appreciate GOG's heavier-handed curation).

I'm torn because I want a little of column A and a little of column B. I keep hoping that GOG will eventually catch up with Steam with regards to Linux support, but that's already been the dream for a while (and a lot of people are done holding their breath). At this point I'm wondering whether I should just hop on the SteamPlay train and start putting my eggs back in that basket. Anyone have any thoughts? Who do you choose to buy from, and why?