Categoria: blog-910

Each story has its own meaning, has its own idea. Every story must have a hero, an antagonist, a challenge, and a moral message. So where is all this in Baldur’s Gate 3??

You can kill everyone, commit a whole genocide. You can skip entire chunks of the game and it won’t affect you in any way. Yes, even if you kill all the plot characters, everything will be fine. Such freedom makes it seem like the game is just a set of disconnected scenes with some distant goal of getting rid of the parasite and, well, saving/enslaving the world a little.

But that’s not true. The game has its own meaning, it has its own idea. Moreover, this idea lives in every cut-scene, in every character and even in a note. This is the idea of ​​fate and freedom of choice. And yes, SPOILERS.

Fate

Already at the very beginning of the game we are introduced to the idea of ​​fate. We are being abducted by mysterious aliens with tentacles. We soon learn that these are illithids: weak-willed creatures that carry out the will of the Elder Brain. And they kidnapped us in order to plant the head of a parasitic worm and turn us into exactly the same weak-willed creature.

It’s not your fault that you ended up here. It’s not your fault that you received an annoying neighbor as a gift. You’re just out of luck. Perhaps it’s fate or fate.

However there was something else there. Personally, it wasn’t a simple illithid that planted the worm on you. He was very big, in beautiful armor and… he killed other illithids when he walked towards you? Perhaps these illithids are not so simple and weak-willed… perhaps.

But then you fell off the ship and went looking for a cure for the worm. Very soon you will meet tieflings: horned creatures, very similar to medieval demons. In fact, they turn out to be just that, they are the descendants of archdevils. But it’s not that simple. It turns out that they don’t want to boil you in a cauldron, but are simply refugees from the distant city of Elturel.

They were kicked out of there because of prejudices. They thought that the descendants of the archdevils would serve their ancestors and harm ordinary people. But these tieflings are simple defenseless refugees: with their families, values ​​and desire, the squeeze. How deceiving the first glance can be, yeah? But this works with all the characters in the game, they are all much more than their race.

If we go to the Druids, then they will not be the stereotypical good defenders of the forest. They will all have a different take on the closing ritual. Some will support you, some are just part of the hierarchy, and some will send you after Khalsin.

Even goblins aren’t as flat as they seem. Among them there are traders, leaders, poets. But the latter are not particularly accepted there. It’s not a good goblin’s job to scribble.

Kluggy’s love note to Mintara: "Beloved Mintara. I haven’t been to the Underdark. Grikka says that there are such creatures there that the ogre will seem like a baby of the gnomes, but I say, if such a beauty like you grew up among the delicious mushrooms there, then there is no better place.”.

And here we come to the important point of my idea. Baldur’s Gate smashes race stereotypes, but why?? To show how not everything is obvious? Perhaps, but not only. To show how we can all live friendly and inclusive? Closer, but they don’t give us such straightforward morals. And they give us reflections on fate.

We are all children of our nature, but this is not the only thing that defines us. We can be born into an aggressive tribe and practice poetry. We can devote our whole lives to maintaining harmony in the world, but in the end turn the whole idea into a xenophobic policy of isolationism.

To fully cover the topic, we should add a little theory. And since there are so many social components in Baldur’s Gate 3, it’s unlikely that anyone can do a better job here than sociology. For example, the work “On the Division of Social Labor” by the founder of sociology Emile Durkheim.

Emil saw two principles in a person: sensual body And public consciousness. The body lives by sensations and personal needs, strives to satisfy only them, therefore by nature selfishly. Social consciousness lives in concepts, sees itself in relation to other people and is the beginning of any moral activity.

If a person lives without society, then he lives for himself. When he meets other people with similar thoughts, values, understanding of needs, they exchange ideas and gradually become a society. They begin to believe in the value of each other’s lives, they begin to care about each other.

Then their work is divided, and they acquire more and more individuality. It turns out a wild cocktail of nature, values society and individuality. The struggle of all these three components is observed throughout the game.

Proof? Fine. We’ve already named tieflings, druids and goblins. You can also name various bandits, for example the Thieves Guild in Baldur’s Gate. They can hardly be called noble robbers, but they provide safety and protection.

Undead? Okay, so they escaped from the owner and wander around the city in the same third act. A little dumbed down, but at least one of them even remembers their past.

Maybe some evil priests? Easily. Servants of Shar see the ideal in complete oblivion of service, but their notes will tell about difficult destinies. Some came out of desperation, others are being held by force.

Well, my favorite example is the illithid Omeluum from the Underdark. He escaped the control of the Elder Brain and became self-aware. But instead of devouring gnomes and drow, he became a researcher and actively helped our hero with the worm. The most alien of aliens, born to serve, became a peaceful resident of a mushroom colony. Isn’t that cool?!?

But only our companions have the most elaborate stories about individuality and free will. But before moving on to them, it’s worth introducing a few more terms from Durkheim.

The basis of any society is the solidarity of its inhabitants. At the initial stage of society’s life, this solidarity is ensured by common values, rules, traditions. But when it happens individualization, then residents need to find another source of solidarity. They are too different to be united only through values.

It is then that a new solidarity emerges, which is built through interdependence. We are different, but everyone plays their role in society, so we feel unity and solidarity.

This solidarity has two parts: integration And regulation. Integration is responsible for the exchange of ideas between residents. Through integration, a person understands other people: their values, motives, traditions, feelings. But regulation sets the rules for how people should behave with each other. Only with sufficient integration is regulation possible.

A situation where there is integration, but no regulation is when a creature feels close to others, but does not understand/does not want to understand the rules in order to preserve and strengthen this integration. This situation is called anomie. And all the main companions have a problem with either integration or regulation, that is, anomie. In order.

Astarion

Astarion was under the boot https://casino60casino.co.uk/mobile-app/ of Kazador for centuries. He personally seduced victims for the ascension ritual, and in return received only violence and contempt. It’s hard to imagine such a character being anything more than a villain’s servant.

And yet he is more. Even after so much time of violence, deception, and hypocrisy, Astarion still has a bit of sympathy for his “brothers”. He understands that they are the same hostages of Cazador as he is, he integrated with them.

But years of service take their toll and when Astarion falls from the illithid ship and gains freedom, he only wants power, he wants dominance, he wants independence. And the only method that he knows: to maim, deceive and kill others. A slave has no greater dream than to have his own slave.

And this internal conflict between the remnants integration and the thirst for power culminates in the rite of ascension. Should Astarion sacrifice everyone he deceived, loved, sympathized with and become a powerful being? Or should he stop the ritual and abandon the path of lonely greatness?

Regulation implies responsibilities, may be personified in the ancient “thou shalt not kill,” or perhaps in modern humanism. Lacking or violating this regulation, the character will fall into anomie. This sinful feeling of wrongness, as if he is doing something wrong.

There are only two ways to get rid of this feeling: to accept responsibilities towards others or to renounce all and become a supreme being who is so above mere mortals that their feelings and fates will be indifferent to him.

Shadowheart

A somewhat similar conflict haunts Shadowheart. Only here we are not talking about the acceptance of regulation, but about its incorrectness and redundancy.

Shadowheart is bound by the rules of Shar, the goddess of darkness and oblivion. The very essence of this god dictates renunciation of love, sympathy, and retreat into oblivion.

But the remnants of Shadowheart’s memory echo about her past life with her parents, about picnics on the shore, about her favorite flowers.

And this memory of loved ones, this sensual need for care comes into conflict with the existing regulation. Durkheim would call this fatalism, because such a life is like a cage that constricts your organs and does not allow you to breathe.

In the end, she will have to accept her past as the daughter of her parents and as a servant of Shar. But what choice Shadowheart makes from this pain may vary. She can reject the Shar, save her parents in life or death, and begin a new life in harmony with herself and others. Or she can go into complete oblivion, cleanse herself of old wounds and live a new life, complete only by serving Shar.

Service often leads to blind adherence to rules, dogmas, ideals. Will’s whole life is devoted to this vice. Will admired his father and wanted to become just like him. Not surprising, since he was raised on stories of ancient heroes who defeated absolute evil. Such education will inevitably lead to a clear division of the world into right and wrong, into “black” and “white”.

It was all the more tragic for Will to accept the Treaty of Mizora in order to save Baldur’s Gate. He himself condescended to serve the devil. A real shame for the Grand Duke.

Of course, his father did not understand anything; he could hardly have thought that his son served Mizore only to save his loved ones. He raised Will in his own image. When the world is “black and white” there are no compromises and exceptions.

And so Will fulfills Mizora’s contracts, for him it’s even quite tolerable. After all, you only have to kill monsters and devils. He didn’t feel any sympathy for them. After all, no one in any way connected with dark forces can be justified.

As you understand, Will will learn an important lesson. A meeting with Karlakh and Ansur will tell him how contradictory this world is, how many great things are accomplished by contradictory personalities. How a variety of creatures, even the descendants of archdevils, may need protection. It is then that he will see how his experience contradicts those rules, regulation, what he adhered to.

Karlach

And here is one of the descendants of the archdevils. The history of Karlach is particularly interesting. She is no stranger to the fates of other creatures. She will gladly help the defenseless and disadvantaged. But she will never let them get close.

All because she was betrayed in the most vile way, Gortash sold her after many years of “friendship”. Now Karlach shuns others and fills the emptiness in his heart with straightforward soldier tasks. It’s hard to find a more heartbreaking scene than Karlach’s feeling of emptiness in her heart after taking revenge on Gortash.

This is the way of accepting intimacy. Integration with others in the most friendly and loving way. Whether Karlach burns in the end, becomes an illithid, or goes to Hell, deep down she would like us to be with her.

Witchcraft and religion have always been at odds. Religion is social, religion talks about right and wrong, religion always puts us in relation to divine law. Witchcraft is selfish, it belongs to the sorcerer and his whims. It seduces and beckons to turn the world created by the gods to your liking.

After all, is there really anything forbidden if you create your own world, if with one movement of your hand you can command the very fabric of the world?? No wonder Gale fell victim to his own pride and ambition.

His principles were flawed from the very beginning. He wanted to earn Mystra’s attention, but indirectly followed the path of acquiring Karsus’s magic. He was experiencing acute anomie.

It is not surprising that when Mystra ordered him to sacrifice himself, he began to seriously doubt his faith. God demanded absolute religious submission and thus exposed Gale’s inner problem.

Gale can either obey the divine law and do as Mystra said or follow in the footsteps of Karsus, becoming a new god.

Laesel

Many players consider Laezelle’s storyline to be weak. This is understandable: we have the plot in the first act, and you will get everything else only in the third, and then it’s quite crumpled.

However, one should not look at her story as an independent one. In fact, she is metaphorically connected to us. In the very first cutscene we look at the world from Laesel’s point of view. We watch how they plant a worm on her, we watch how she escapes through the guts of an illithid ship. And at this moment her thoughts and feelings are the same as ours.

We found ourselves on a ship of disgusting aliens who want to enslave us. We see dragon riders who indirectly save us. And in our head there is a strict system of who is good and who is bad. At the very least, we both really want to finish off the illithids.

But then things get complicated. It turns out that illithids can be social creatures and it turns out that Vlaakith is not as holy as Laezel thought.

Here we have an internal contradiction. And it’s up to us how to resolve it. Follow Prince Orpheus or bend your will to Vlaakith.

In this case, the choice is somewhat different. In all companion stories, they must choose their own path. But here Laezel needs to make a decision about the choice itself. Can a soldier have his own will?? Can he make a conscious choice or must he just obey??

We, as the main character, start with Laezel in an equal situation, but with different points of view. She is in absolute submission, we are in absolute freedom of choice. She follows the rigid Githyanki lifestyle, we as players can handle things differently in each situation.

But as history goes on, we’ll both learn the opposite things. We, like a hero, will encounter other intelligent social beings from time to time and decide whether to bind ourselves into bonds of interdependence with them or not. Will we include our individuality in a society that limits us?.

Laezel will decide whether she should doubt generally accepted ideals, whether she should take steps towards her own individualization. Both roads lead to reflection on freedom of choice in society. Both we and Laezel will decide how important our freedom and the freedom of others around us are.

Antagonists

And there’s no better way to show this idea than by pitting the main characters against the antagonists. Only in confrontation with them will we see the full value and inconsistency of this gift – to choose.

All three gods of the Chosen personify the antisocial nature of any intelligent being. Baal is the embodiment of violence. His servants must kill both strangers and their own, must renounce all sympathy and enjoy the moment of murder. For according to Baal, death is the only worthy moment in the life of any creature. It is not surprising that Orin will perform this task even against his will.

Bane is the god of tyranny. It may seem that he is quite social, because in any society there is a hierarchy. But no, a society cannot exist where there is no personal will of its inhabitants, and Bane wants just such a “society”. Even in Gortash’s notes, free will is just a stupid misunderstanding. And if it is possible to build a good “society”, then everyone in it must completely obey one will. But Bane is also the god of fear. It is out of fear that Gortash will come to Bane. And it is the desire to get rid of fear through complete control that will drive the entire plot.

Myrkul is the god of death and exhaustion. Unlike the god of our friend the Withered, Myrkul embodies the fear of death rather than its acceptance. Every follower of Myrkul fears death in some way. He is so afraid that he is ready to sacrifice everything to avoid it. This is exactly what Ketheric Torm did. He tried to forget himself in Shar’s arms after the death of his daughter, but could not. Myrkul resurrected him and offered to resurrect his daughter. Of course, Ketherick agreed. He doesn’t want to lose her, just as he himself is afraid of death. And for both things he will do anything, destroy the lives of as many as necessary, just so as not to lose himself. Fear that outweighs the lives of others.

Elder Brain

But it’s hard to imagine a greater antithesis of society and free will than the Elder Brain. Its very nature is aimed at submission and control. This is absolute power, absolute deprivation of will.

From the very beginning he planned both his own “captivity” and his release. Like the discovery of stones and the crown, and one’s own metamorphosis, the change in nature as a cold, calculated move. No sympathy, no values, not even any desire to preserve one’s own nature. Only the eternal thirst for power.

Emperor

However, it seems there is a character even worse than the Elder Brain. The Emperor was once a simple adventurer like us, but then became acquainted with the nature of illithids through his own example. And he liked it.

He manipulated us from the very beginning. He pretended to be a friend, showed only the most human parts of his story. He was even ready to have sex with us just to gain trust. Only when we show our complete distrust of him will he decide to drop the mask.

It turns out that he controlled everyone, even his closest friends. Moreover, he will tell us this only to scare us and force us to obey out of fear. He is a living social being who has thrown away all compassion and values.

If the Elder Brain is the original rather dominant principle of nature, purely intuitive and all-consuming, then the Emperor is something else. The Emperor is what an intelligent individual creature can go to in its pursuit of power. It is not surprising that if he refuses to devour Orpheus, he will instantly go over to the side of the Elder Brain. This is a simple rational calculation. Nothing more.

Freedom of choice

However, we can choose the Emperor, we can join him even knowing his true plans. We can even become an illithid ourselves and take control of the Elder Brain.

This is the feature that is given to a rational being along with freedom – choice. And with the absence of a black and white picture of the world, this choice always exists. Each character’s story can go in different directions. And although some of them have a bitter aftertaste, they are not blamed.

You can ascend Gale, you can force Laezel to blindly serve Vlaakith. You can even bind yourself to Baal.

The irony is that the game wasn’t half as deep without the ability to choose. It’s easy to make a game where you HAVE to be good. A game where you defeat evil people and get a moral lesson. But Baldur’s Gate 3 is about something else. It’s about freedom of choice. About the ability to see the world from multiple perspectives. About understanding the relativity of your thinking. About the magical warmth and prickliness of society. About personal freedom to be anyone, even the worst asshole with a thirst for power.

This is the eternal contradictory nature of rational individuals. It is an eternal choice to bind oneself to others and become completely alienated. From the most primitive tribe to modern society, you will make choices. If your nature allows you to choose at least a little, if your personal experience gives at least something other than black and white, you can choose.

We started with a completely simple picture of clear good and evil. We started with a consistent world where good and evil are destined to take their roles. And then this world broke. Mixed up. And now we have a choice.

So what will you choose?? Raphael once said: “This is the fatal weakness of all mortals.”. Take away their free will – they will call you a tyrant. Let them use this freedom – they will become tyrants themselves.". Prove him wrong? Or just take away the strength of the weaker? One way or another, the choice is yours.

P. S. I originally played the English version, so I translated some names and quotes in my own way.

I also regret that I couldn’t include everything I wanted in the blog. He turned out big anyway. But if you like it, I’ll add about the secondary antagonists, Raphael, maybe a connection between Baldur’s Gate 3 and Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2. And of course Dark Seduction.

At the end of December, many of us are seized by a fever called “summing up the results of the outgoing year.”. It manifests itself differently for everyone – whether we remember the most significant events in our personal lives, the most outstanding gaming achievements, or, in extreme cases, scroll through the list of our most annoying mistakes. The truth is that here – at Stopgame – we are infected with that form of the disease that forces us again and again to choose the best from a varied list of games – according to one or another parameter. And while everyone is waiting with bated breath for a New Year’s gift in the form of timely results on the site, I’m sure that many of you have already chosen your favorites a long time ago, and not all of them were honored to be included in the voting list.

For me, one of the most underrepresented categories has always been and continues to be "Best Soundtrack". Music in the gaming industry is only gaining momentum and increasingly, along with the visual component, it works to reveal both the plot and the world as a whole. At the same time, it is worth thinking about whether we always fairly judge the musical component of the game, calling the soundtrack the best in its entirety. What if the best, top ones in it are only individual compositions, and all the rest… just work well for the game, but are not remembered as such?
Of course, musical preferences are largely subjective. The best compositions for everyone can also be different. Therefore, I warn you at the very beginning that this blog does not pretend to any unambiguous objectivity in terms of tastes, however, he aims to reveal the diversity of objectively high-quality soundtracks. And while everyone has their own tastes (including me), that’s okay—after all, you’re sure to find something you like on this list.

The blog is almost New Year’s, so why not, in addition, cheer yourself up and try to imagine what kind of festive leisure time this or that soundtrack could decorate for us??

RiME (by David Garcia Diaz)

Suitable for a romantic New Year’s date with plush bouquets and fireworks.

Author’s choice:

Spend this New Year with your other half. Just the two of you – like a brave prince and his magical fox. And let the gentle orchestral waves of the soundtrack RiME will take you to the sun-warmed shore, where apple trees grow and guiding lights shine. Put together this long bridge of snowflakes over the abyss, and the path to the unknown will open for you.
RiME is a touching puzzle game whose landscapes are vaguely reminiscent of last year’s The Last Guardian, but what’s different about the lost prince game is that it’s much more colorful, lighter, and has a much smaller and more harmless companion than the giant meat-eating Trico (though they’re both still cute). Matching the world of the game is the music, which at the right moments can both sound like a quiet piano accompaniment and add to the drama with an intensifying crescendo of the entire orchestra. And the main song, which sounds here in two versions – a fragile girl’s and a soulful woman’s – is a lullaby that completes the story and plunges you into pleasant and colorful dreams.

The Evil Within 2 (by Masatoshi Yanagi and Shuichi Kobori)

Suitable for a family trip to a cozy winter town with the residence of Father Frost.

Author’s choice:

New Year’s tales can be different, including gloomy ones. This is especially known to those who are familiar with the holiday stories of Hans Christian Andersen, in which the heroes most often cruelly pay for a moment of happiness – sometimes even illusory. What if everything you now know about the world is just a lie?? Are you ready to cope with such a severe test and save loved ones who are in danger in a quiet town??
Soundtrack The Evil Within 2 can be mentally divided into two unequal parts. The first is ambient for the surrounding world and its exploration, which is very difficult to listen to apart from the game, because it was hardly initially adapted to such a condition. And the second part consists of unusual arrangements of classical music and old songs, which turn out to be the most memorable and significant core of the soundtrack. The artist’s theme is etched into the memory almost immediately, but how many more times will it be heard in the game?? In addition, the logo of the series has not gone away – "Moonlight" by Debussy, only now his tune sometimes frightens with interference and deliberately spoiled sound quality.

Ken Follett’s The Pillars Of The Earth (by Tilo Alpermann)

Suitable for a fantasy board game accompanied by champagne with chocolate dogs.

Author’s choice:

Composer Thilo Alpermann, working on music for studio games Daedalic Entertainment (for example, he wrote the soundtracks for Night of the Rabbit and the second part of the game Whispered World), created a strong cinematic soundtrack for the game adaptation of Ken Follett’s novel “The Pillars of the Earth” about medieval intrigues and the construction of a cathedral. Alpermann’s music was performed by the Prague Symphony Orchestra, and it is impossible not to fall in love with this beauty of sound from the very first notes. The themes of the main characters, as well as certain locations – for example, Kingsbridge or Shiring – are clearly individual and emphatically emotional at the right moments. There is also a male abbey church choir (including one singing the “12th century version”) and an absolutely touching song based on verses from Follett’s book itself (The Lark in the Hunter’s Net).
In my opinion, compared to the soundtrack of the British series of the same name, Alpermann’s work is definitely more expressive and characterful.

Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus (by Mick Gordon & Martin Stig Andersen)

Perfect for holiday shopping on the last evening of December.

Author’s choice:

Universe compositions Wolfenstein, starting with New Order, for objective reasons they are doomed to success and special attention from players and music lovers, be it the soundtrack to a full-fledged part or individual songs to add-ons. The whole secret is in the power of the instrumental, next to which even my beloved brutal one fades Bulletstorm, as well as in unique “Nazi” arrangements of songs by famous groups (the most famous example is Die Kafer like german version The Beatles). In a world dominated by Nazi Germany, everything must be authentic – including good music.
Soundtrack Mick Gordon to Wolfenstein – this is your personal armored exoskeleton in which you can repel any shelling and look irresistible 24 hours a day.

Cuphead (by Kristofer Maddigan)

Suitable for especially energetic dancers for a retro themed party with blackjack and cups.

Author’s choice:

About wonderful music Cuphead – a game https://casinolustcasino.co.uk/bonus/ created with love for the classic popular school of animation – it seems that everything that could be said has already been said. The developers themselves have posted a number of videos dedicated to the creative process, including the work of a real big band on recording the soundtrack. The game is truly entirely made by hand – from the picture to the sound, and this gives it a special shine, even uniqueness in comparison with something else.
The biggest lesson we learned in Cuphead is that any deal with the Devil is indeed fraught with dire consequences and mental suffering, which cannot be eliminated until you have the courage to show up at the owner’s office and cast him back to the underworld. Therefore, friends, be careful when challenging someone to a competition – be it gambling, skiing or speed-cooking New Year’s Olivier.

Finding Paradise (Kan Gao, feat. Laura Shigihara & RIOTxRYKER)

Suitable for intimate toasts and gift giving under the New Year tree.

Author’s choice:

Do you already know what words you will say to your loved ones at the New Year’s table?? Will it be a banal set of wishes that you give them every winter without any success, or this time you want to remember something from your own childhood or even the childhood of one of your family members? Be careful – the fate of the entire festive night can depend on one carelessly dropped word.
In my previous blog (review Finding Paradise) I briefly mentioned how inexpressive in comparison with previous works Kana Gao I thought the new soundtrack was amazing and what a wonderful lifeline the song was Laura Shigihara at the end of the story. But now I still include this playlist in my list of the best of the past year, because it seems to me that despite all the secondary and unmemorable nature of many compositions, the game’s soundtrack is still beautiful, because it contains themes from the same Bird Story And To The Moon, and sometimes they sound a little different, and sometimes just as catchy as they did a few years ago. The themes of the fights also sound rich and reminiscent of musical compositions from some famous fighting games. In addition, in addition to the final song, the Finding Paradise soundtrack contained another great song, which for some reason was never included in the game itself. And how can I forget about the wonderful treatment of the theme from "The Godfather"!

What Remains of Edith Finch (by Jeff Russo)

Suitable for a leisurely walk down the street on the morning of January 1.

Author’s choice:

It’s also unusual for you to hear this silence? The snow creaks so loudly under your feet – it seems that your steps can now be heard all over the street. But you just decided to start a new life and went for a morning jog, or… went to the nearest grocery store to make sparkling jokes about last year’s bread. Wait, why is there no one in the grocery store?? The whole city dies out in the morning at the beginning of the year, or something??
Ringtones What Remains of Edith Finch matches the stories in the game – just as short and piercing. The musical environment in the game maximizes the drama of what is happening and immerses the viewer in a state of hopeless melancholy. Composer, also known as the composer of the television series soundtrack "Fargo", does his job methodically and consistently. As a result, the game’s charming soundtrack still lacks some main spark, and the best melody, which belongs to the missing boy artist, is terribly short and generally repeats the motif of the main theme from the studio’s previous game – The Unfinished Swan.

Pyre (by Darren Korb feat. Ashley Barrett

Suitable for tricks with tangerines and wandering around other people’s houses with Christmas carols.

Author’s choice:

As you know, the feature of music and songs in games Supergiant Games is that they are an integral part of the narrative, and without knowledge of the translations of Zia and Zulf’s songs in Bastion or even more so Red’s songs Transistor the player inevitably loses a piece of the plot. The next trick is that the developers always find the opportunity to integrate most of the musical compositions as an element of the objective world of the game (the gramophone in Bastion and the music player in the “relaxation room” from Transistor). IN Pyre the function of the playlist keeper is taken on by a minstrel in a carriage, which takes us from one location to another – and this is perhaps the most romantic option to date. In addition, the musical range of the game is increased due to additional arrangements with the participation of the so-called White Lute And Black Mandolin, which the developers released in the form of two more albums.
As a result, this iridescent gypsy soundtrack is remarkable for almost everyone; it is again recognizable and memorable from the first seconds (it’s even difficult to find a game composer with an even more recognizable style than Darren Korb), and its only drawback, in my subjective opinion, is that it now has too little vocals Ashley Barrett!

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (by Daughter)

Suitable for youthful hooliganism at a work corporate party.

Author’s choice:

After the release of the first trailer Before the Storm indie band members Daughter woke up famous. The trailer song, taken from their album released in 2015, turned out to be a powerful stimulant that breathed a significant amount of life into the trailer (to be honest, it’s not that outstanding) and made us wait for the release of the game, and at the same time its soundtrack. And we were rewarded in full for our wait.
Daughter’s soundtrack cranked up the tension in the prequel’s key sequences to the maximum possible level and created exactly the mood of teenage rebellion we’ve been waiting for from Chloe Price. This music is freedom-loving and rebellious, perhaps to a much greater extent than the music in the original Life is Strange, and truly reflects the inner world of the heroine, and is not just her ideal playlist for the bus. In my opinion, the authors of the original soundtrack did a solid job. But, besides the music and songs of Daughter, the game contains compositions by other musical groups, and all of them fit into the overall picture in one way or another, especially the song that is heard at the concert in the first episode.
With the soundtrack to Life is Strange: Before the Storm, you really want to do some crazy things and jump on departing trains, but it’s one thing to shout about your impulses to random passers-by, and another thing to actually do it. Don’t be afraid to regain your youth in this way?

Old Man’s Journey (by scntfc)

Suitable for a New Year’s cruise on a motor ship chasing the Northern Lights.

Author’s choice:

A journey that offers the player Old Man’s Journey, lacks teenage impulse and doesn’t encourage us to start fires in public places or jump off cliffs. However, you’ll need a different kind of courage here. For example, the courage to return to loved ones whom you once left for the elusive ghosts of wanderings, and look them in the eyes. Courage to admit your mistakes, but not to despair, but to find the strength to continue living for the sake of your loved ones.
Old Man’s Journey is a short indie game with simple puzzles based on a single mechanic that you will have to use from the beginning to the end of the game, but the beauty is that it doesn’t get boring. The story ends quickly and leaves a bitter aftertaste mixed with thoughts about your own life. This game has a wonderful soundtrack that lasts for an hour, which is a bit long for such a small game. But the environment in this world is indeed constantly replenished with new melodies, and each location sounds different, but sounds equally airy and mixed with nostalgia. The music from Old Man’s Journey somehow reminded me of one of my favorite game soundtracks Sailor’s Dream, and this is great – because I can mix them and enjoy my vacation on a sea vessel twice as long!

Last Day of June (by Steven Wilson)

Suitable for moving to a new location on the eve of life changes.

Author’s choice:

At first there was only a video for the rocker’s song Steve Wilson Drive Home, directed in 2013 Jessica Cope. The game, released last year, became a direct successor to this clip and told the full story of what was happening, with the addition of new characters. IN Last Day of June Wilson’s compositions from various years were collected: from the early 2000s until 2015. This is a special case when the concept of the entire game was built around the personality of the musician and his creativity. But the positive side of this fable is that the game did not focus on just songs. On the contrary, words were removed from them as much as possible, and Wilson’s music even sounded somehow different.
The Last Day of June soundtrack is an example of friendship between professional musicians and the gaming industry, and this image offers very tempting prospects for the development of game soundtracks.

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice (by Andy LaPlegua, David Garcia Diaz)

Suitable for daily battle with sleep demons in the name of a productive New Year’s holiday.

Author’s choice:

Soundtrack in Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is as good as the overall concept of the game, the image and acting of the main character, and most importantly, it really gives you goosebumps. Music in combination with those same inner voices “that should only be listened to with headphones” has an even stronger effect. The world of sounds guides the player through the Scandinavian world of the dead on an equal basis with the visual environment, and sometimes even more so than it. And the crowning glory of the soundtrack is an amazing song from the final battle, which will certainly remain in your memory, and you will not find peace until you find it on the Internet together with the performer.
But if we still talk about most of the soundtrack, excluding the brightest compositions, then they, of course, again primarily work for the game and outside of it they become difficult to perceive. But we are talking about game soundtracks, where, of course, they have the main function first, and then the rest. Therefore, without personal corrections, the soundtrack to Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice is objectively gorgeous.

Sometimes my absentee love for a particular game begins with its soundtrack. In past years, this has happened with Bastion, Skyrim, Pillars of Eternity, and even the simple mobile game Sailor’s Dream. Therefore, it would be right to admit that the last three playlists captivated me apart from the games and took their place on this list not entirely honestly, but this once again proves that many excellent game soundtracks can work outside the environment as full-fledged musical works.

Nier: Automata (by Okabe Keiichi)

Suitable for a festive battle with your home PC, hugging yesterday’s jellied meat.

Author’s choice:

Of course, the best holiday leisure has the most worthy soundtrack!
Musical accompaniment Nier: Automata was appreciated by the gaming community and critics, as a result of which the game received the Game Awards 2017 for “Best Soundtrack”. And this is a more than deserved reward. Japanese Okabe Keiichi did an impressive job – the Nier: Automata soundtrack features strong choral parts, divinely epic orchestral themes – all combined with electronic elements and traditional Japanese motifs. This music makes your head spin as soon as you get close to it. It’s hard for me to even imagine how much stronger the soundtrack is perceived in the context of the game itself. But I can assume that it creates the lion’s share of the entire fantastic atmosphere. By the way, the full sound list contains 6 hours of music, and I won’t risk inserting it here, making do with one of the excellent selections, which is quite enough for a first impression.
According to the composer, he himself and the game developers, including the development manager and producer, took part in the recording of one of the choral parts. By the way, I still haven’t found this composition and I would be very grateful to anyone who can help me with this.
Upd. Found

Syberia 3 (by Inon Zur)

Suitable for hiking in the mountains for snow ostriches and frosty kebabs.

Author’s choice:

The old “Siberia” has long since disappeared without a trace, and the new Kate Walker seems to us like a stranger who came out of nowhere and for some reason took someone else’s name for herself. And I feel sorry for this crooked world, and it’s a shame for the story, which for many players was one of the main things in their childhood or youth, and now it negates itself.
But, no matter how everyone around scolded the third part Syberia, no one has the guts to throw in a soundtrack created by an Israeli composer Inon Zur. Thanks to his work it became a little better and Fallout 4, where the music sometimes tries to knock out a stingy tear from you. In the melodies of Syberia 3, tangible ethnic motifs fuel the spirit of adventure and adventurism, and also give a feeling of extraordinary lightness. And who will stop you from leaving the house right now and going towards the main adventure of your life, as Kate once did??

Ruiner (by Sidewalks and Skeletons, Zamilska)

Suitable for finding your motivation from Monday January 1st to start a new life in this damn incomprehensible world.

I have the least to say about this soundtrack, because I discovered it later than all the others. This is definitely a very cool collaboration and an unusually revealed theme of cyberpunk electronic music, promising a harsh game world and battles for survival in it. At certain moments it relaxes, and at other times it tenses your muscles and colors the space even outside the monitor. With this soundtrack, it seems to me that it is very easy to look into the future and try to guess your place in it.

Of course, this list is inevitably limited by the author’s horizons, and therefore nothing prevents you (yes, you!) supplement the proposed music library with your favorite soundtracks. And please share your leisure experience according to one of the schemes proposed above.

I wish all of us that the next year will be no less rich in great games and great game soundtracks!

Upd. I would like to express my gratitude to the user Umakiro for his help in eliminating the technical collapse of this blog.

Music.
Movies.
Dialogs.
The sound hungs and pursues us everywhere. And even in such a seemingly unpretentious business, like the voice acting of the characters loved by our heart, there is a lot of pitfalls. Most of the community endlessly argues about the quality of experience when using the original sound, or its adaptive localization.
I propose to figure out what factors affect the final result, which we later discuss on the Internet.
I categorically welcome you!
It’s time to start!

Which so strongly saturates the picture and involves the atmosphere of the film or the same game in the atmosphere? Of course the presence of external sounds that transmit the breathing of locations or create tension in their silence.

In the film "Old Men is not a place" from the directors of Itan and Joel Cohen is completely absent to the soundtrack. This idea allows you not to be distracted from the current events of the picture and in separate scenes gives a tip to reveal the feelings and emotions of the characters.

We hear their sighs more clearly.

In this episode, the protagonist joined the armed conflict with the antagonist. The scene shows how much sound affects the general background of the picture and how it complements the physical states of the heroes.

We notice their intonations.

This scene reveals the entire charm of the antagonist due to the original language.

And we can even determine
fatigue
on the shuffles of the soles about the floor.

An interesting moment with the sound takes place in this fragment. The whole film is haunted by an absolute maniac, an ideal weapon, but the sound lowers it to our feet making it absolutely helpless, wounded hunter.

But everything works far from quite correct when we are talking about localization. In this context, the sound of original voice acting is much better, since none of the actors will be able to convey speech turnover as the actor will do in the language of which the script was written.
It is worth noting that the original language has its own nuances.

Returning to the legendary interactive western "Red Dead Redemption 2"

I would like to recall the worldwide complaint of the players:
– Why should I read tons of text while I jump on a horse?

In our opinion, there are no problems with this.

But with regard to sound … It is definitely not enough here.
RDR 2 is famous for its voice acting:
– multinational accents;
– curses;
– interesting voices of the main characters;
But at the moment of moving on a horse, all this charm fades, because we hear around the non -fading wild West, and the pulsation of the studio in which our characters were recorded.
We do not know how the game would look if it is completely localized, probably, how “Ivan Vasilievich changes the profession” is too fresh and absurd.

Dialogs in RDR 2 do not prevail any fantastic descriptions. These are the same everyday speeches that we are doing with you every day. Therefore, absolute realism should dominate in this system. Arthur Morgan does not need the actor of voice acting, on the contrary, his entire charm is spinning around his facial expressions and the tongue of the original project.

In this video, you can see the actors of the voice actors of the key characters RDR 2 and once again make sure that Arthur Morgan is incomparable with the voice of its actor.

In turn, Geralt from Rivia could hardly have a pleasantly surprise you with a British accent, since the game is initially saturated with the wrong spirit.

We are in dark fantasy, where Slavic folklore prevails and to be honest, this is clearly visible in contrast with a popular series from Netflix.

Geralt in a series of games based on Sapkovsky’s books is rich in exquisite curses and various kinds of descriptions. Which, due to the complex design of the Russian language, play new colors. We hear:
– pleasant nomenclature of monsters pleasant to children’s memories;
– warm dialogs near bonfires and taverns.
Although the game is not trying to supplement the facial expressions with the facial expressions of his characters by virtue of his relatively elderly, but to feel like hired hunters for monsters for glory.

And for sure only here you can hear: “Here is the cholera!»So that it is really.

But the recently released remaster of the Mass Effect trilogy upset his voice acting in the first part.

The syndrome of heroic speech can be traced here, when every statement of the main characters in the dialogs sounds, as before a jump into a bottomless abyss.

You thought that trailers usually convey the most fierce epic from the game?
No. The whole game consists of such intonations and this bothers almost in the first scene.

This distracts and does not allow https://percysattheislandgamecasino.co.uk/games/ focus on the narrative. Breaks the characters’ characters and quickly bored. Their emotions and attitude to the situation cannot be caught behind the screen of epic statements. As if in front of us are not people and representatives of an alien race, but just Bolvana models.
The concentration of dynamism falls when interacting with the environment, since the transmitted drama is not responded to the main characters within our consciousness. We cannot reflect, because in all dialogs the emphasis of the narrative is initially lost.

What cannot be said about Cyberpunk 2077, which has no choice but to use language tools.

In my opinion, the game was to go out clearly at the same time at which it showed herself to the world, but based on the study of dialogs, the following conclusion can be drawn:
The Russian language of voice acting ideally complemented the Lawlaife aesthetics of the game. Curses and random discussions sound fresh and there are even no complaints here. The famous actors of voice actors are heard, which in most cases is only beneficial for the final work, but here, something went wrong. Players outraged the voices of bloggers and other public personalities, t. To. They do not look harmonious in the frame, are not an object of professional development of characters.
It is obvious that marketers were going to attract a large audience at the expense of familiar heroes of our time, and one of them coped with a decent level and approached the issue with the entire degree of seriousness, as it later became known from an interview with voice actors working on Cyberpunk 2077 including.

The soundtrack is an important aspect of sound engineering of any content media. Take for example Hans Zimmer, whose music is in almost every playlist of fans of cinema.

There is a truly interesting story with his participation.
The fact is that the creation of the Interstellar film was quite painstaking and consisted of many difficulties.

To collect such a filly and present to people is still a feat, but here we will not affect the scientific aspect of creating a picture. Kip Thorne made the impossible, for which he was a separate gratitude, but today I would like to pay attention to the composer.

Kip Thorne and Christopher Nolan.
Thorne led the whole scientific question in the production of the film. He wanted the picture to be a scientific property for any layman of strings that are completely non -versed in theories and so.

During the writing of the soundtrack, Christopher Nolan wanted to implant a peculiar idea in Zimmer’s head. Based on the fact that the composer was also a father, Nolan invited him to create music, personifying the relationship between his father and son, not previously reporting the sexual belonging of Cooper’s offspring – the main character of the picture.
Nolan proposed absolute freedom in writing the compositions, to which Hans determined the main tool – the organ, explaining this by the fact that even at the instrumental level – this is the most lively tool. The soundtrack was recorded right in the church, where the local walls hugged the sounds with the corresponding native acoustics. Subsequently, we get the most recognizable soundtrack that accompanied the heroes throughout the story.

Cosmic splendor.
Total infinity.

This feature implants in the process of creating a picture creates a special charm. Gives her peculiar mental prints.

Emphasizing all of the above, I would like to pay attention to the instruments of the narrative again. Often, something non-obvious can completely destroy the overall picture, or reveal the figured brackets of the gaming formula and supplement visual images.

I am very glad that you
Read it
to the end!

Leave comments. Let’s communicate!

Also, a link to the video dedicated to this topic:

The best comments

As a fan of speculating about sound – categorically did not understand what it was generally about. On a piece with RDR2, my brain generally broke “Arthur Morgan does not need the actor of voice acting”, “We hear around the non -fading wild West, and the pulsation of the studio in which our characters were recorded”. Shshshshshshshshshshhto, sorry?

Arthur Morgan is a living person, not mime, waving his hands. He needs a voice to communicate with people around (and he does this O_O), including when he jumps on a horse. And given how carefully RDR2 works out the surrounding space, how well or bad we hear the people with whom we go, as for each riding dialogue it was written as much as two versions – when you can just speak (if the characters are close), and when you need to scream (when the player decided to second ahead or, on the contrary, lag behind), then, well, I don’t understand which cabin is generally talking about.

Although there is further-generally zero conversations about the sound and its directing, and some difficulties in finding the necessary intonnations. And they are not complete, because to present the heroic epic of the masses for the fact that it sounds like a Heroid epic-well, it’s like to blame Schwartz and Stallone that they poured vanliners in their famous militants and 90s.

And in the end, suddenly, we returned to the sound, but already through music.

In short, excuse me, I probably are the main blog grunter today, but I didn’t understand at all what the author wanted to say and what does the specific term “sound engineering” have to do with it, because only the very first piece is dedicated to it.

After categorically I greeted it immediately, it became clear that this is not an example of a minor moron.

Nuuuu and, firstly, the localization there is not even a “exemplary” level, it at best is not bad. I had a lot of questions to her on the move. So how much did CDPR really follow and patronized everything – hell knows. The normal work of the game on PS4 was also promised from the start. And Chota somehow not Alee.

Secondly, the quality of texts and voice acting in cyberpanca (in my opinion) is tangibly worse than RDR2. There are heroes much more clicked psychotypic, and the events exaggerated (though there is an exaggerated world there, so this is quite suitable for him, but this is another separate conversation.

I knew! I knew.
I categorically welcome you individually!

We talk about different things with you, buddy) Sorry that I did not live up to your expectations and spent your time

Yes, the essence is not in sounds, you simply give very random observations, uniting them with the word “sound”, which in specifically this situation gives an extremely weak understanding of what we will talk about and what you want to talk about (talking – well and useful, and “unsuccessful” experience is also important, because in fact the experience is not charged. Experience is experience, we give it emotional coloring ourselves. And it is important to receive not only a positive feedback, but also negative, to understand what can be improved, in which direction to develop, and t.D.)

And about Arthur – well, Rockstar, therefore, prohibits the reappeeling of his games, because it spends a phenomenal amount of time and effort on the selection of actors, on their compliance, on their play. Therefore, if you do localization with a similar amount of forces spent forces and resources, it will be good (even still debatable whether the original will come out). But no one will obviously do this.

Yes, I saw the post, but it is so big. But I have nothing to say on the topic – I played Cyberpank on the release, so I just remember that I had the feeling “I look at the book – I see the figure” from the translation and I quickly switched to the original.

Yes, the work was done simply colossal, well done guys, if only because with this amount of work, the final result is not “the train made a boom” and “so and well-well”. Of course, there were rustling, but it was very naive (especially on my part) to believe that they are so easy to avoid.

the locations do not have motivation to “do your work amazingly”. They just have a task – to do their work.

I actually, as it seems to me after the dialogue with you, is a very one -sided idea of ​​the work of the localizer. They are letters in Africa letters, and I poorly imagine that it can force a person to translate a fairly unambiguous phrase with a completely different subtext, which is why I am more categorical in such judgments. Ultimately, it was these people who received a denyuzhka for this localization, and I only pour out the bile on the Internet, even if I try to do it justified and not be a dugr.

This, of course, is entertaining to read, but where does the sound engineering?

Tried to reflect part of the same sound engineering with examples from films and famous games. The topic is immense, and it cannot be described even in a dozen such texts)

Of course, I could be mistaken, but I always thought that sound engineering is more technical work directly with the sound: sound recording, effecting effects, work with volume levels, etc.D. The article has more about the work of films directors, dubbing directors, composers.

I partly agree with you. I initially do not claim to be some professional and detailed analysis of the topic. But for example in music – this is a little different. For example, the conceptual album of Oximiron "Gorgorod" is not an example of the sound of sound, as a tool cell. But the whole album is built on a whole story, which indicates the symbiosis of these two concepts – the sound ~> directing. But this is all only my understanding. I just wanted to share his observations)

Just opening an article about sound engineering, I expect to read, in fact, about sound engineering) in the music of sound engineering – the same as everywhere everywhere. In the case of Oxy, there is rather an analogy with the director of the film.

Regarding Arthur Morgan, he described a little, he does not need an actor of Russian voice acting, I talked about this.
After the first experience of writing here – I realized that there are many outstanding sounds and signed that there are no technical features on the blog. As I wrote above, I just decided to share my observations.

Experience and experience. Thank you so much for the constructive criticism.

I completely agree with you. I have no negative reaction). I am glad that in the first block they gave me feedback. I will try and do better. For this I came here!

Wait, Van, but what about the unfortunate Cyberpunk?

There, all localizations were generally sawn at the same time and everything under the auspices of CDPR.

Sorry for the self -promotion (and the author of the blog is also sorry), but just the other day I had a blog on this topic, it would be great to hear your opinion. You obviously have something to say to that.

Well, so, I sawed more than six months 🙂 Big blogs are bad now?

There are actually a bunch of small and dubious moments and solutions that you did not find, playing in the original. I just raised the topic that localization seems to tell the same story, and in fact we have a retelling from memory, because the localizers were too indulgent with synonyms and formulations.

And on the release, everyone was not at all up to localizations. Unless from each iron there was a “many mat”, and only.

No, large blogs are not bad, but I personally have no time for them almost never. And, frankly, the format of “difficulties of translation” for me has always been about jokes from Denis, because I perfectly imagine that the games are by no means in the mode of “you have access to everything everywhere and always, a million years of reserve and any resources for localization”, so even missing the difficulties that are directly related to the translation of the phrase from English into Russian, and the localizers have to overcome the difficulties that are of difficulties that are difficult. inevitably pour into small jambs, large jambs, etc.D. And this is not due to the fact that they put the fifth grader to translate, but with the technical process itself. Because of what “difficulties” these are often not “translation”, but precisely its “production”-management, maneuvering in conditions of limited resources, understanding the context of a work, etc.D., What I can only guess about.

Of course, from the perspective of the end consumer-I should do not care, I paid for the product, I have the right to expect, demand, knock on the table (blah blah blah). In the right is right, only to anyone easier? Well, perhaps to me, because I thus released the negative. But I prefer not to save it initially and is ready in advance that the translation is an inevitably rubbed source. Therefore, I just prefer to consume everything in the language of the original and not steam about the losses. Sometimes – they do not care about them, for example, in Left 4 Dead, where one thing is important to me – so that the heroes are delighted and expressively yelling.

Therefore, to sit down and meticulously show that translations are far from always good-it is useful for users and spectators in order to clearly show the benefits from knowledge of the language, something like that.

Open world survival simulators are a genre that has been very popular for many years. But since the beginning of this year, developers of such projects have been particularly active: over the past five months, many games on this topic have been released, of which we can recall several worthy ones: for example, we have already written about Enshrouded, Abiotic Factor and Nightingale .

Today I’ll tell you about Soulmask – another survival game, which, unlike most of its peers in the genre, already at the early access stage can boast of good optimization and a large amount of content.

The jungle is calling!

First distinguishing feature Soulmask, which catches your eye is, of course, the setting. For survivalists, it’s normal to start with primitive technologies of the Neolithic level: crafting the first objects from sticks and stones has long become a standard and is found even in science fiction games – take the same Icarus . But, as a rule, developers prefer a medieval setting interspersed with fantasy. Here we have the very Stone Age, and even in the rarely seen style of America of the pre-Columbian era: the most suitable example in spirit, not from among the games, would be a film Mel Gibson (Mel Gibson) "Apocalypto". However, I will hint that not everything is so simple.

A short introductory video reveals a simple backstory: our character is miraculously saved from the sacrificial altar and finds himself in the wild jungle, left to his own devices. Those familiar with survivalists will immediately understand what to do: we break branches, collect stones, craft primitive tools, catch game harmlessly wandering around the area, light a fire… Then the action moves along a typical rut for the genre: technologies become more and more complex, the number of available equipment and building elements grows with each unlocked technology, the first house appears, which gradually grows into an entire village. For those who don’t know what to do with themselves, there is a training mode: advice and tasks of the level “Collect such and such an object” that are constantly on the screen will tell you in which direction to continue development.

And there is room for development here. The map is not small and opens gradually, which further emphasizes its scale. There are several biomes – from sultry jungles to snow-capped mountain peaks. Each location has its own dangers, including a variety of predators, aggressive NPCs and other players (if you are on a PvP server). The developers advise beginners to try their hand at PvE mode or even solo. Good advice, considering the rather hardcore PvP settings on the official servers: the loss of equipment and loot when killed and the ability to rob any base while raid time is running creates a rather hostile atmosphere. However, this is in the spirit of the same "Apocalypto": the film tells about the captivity of an entire Mayan tribe by more advanced Indians for the sake of sacrifice.

There is something to do without confronting people. For example, a separate leveling branch is dedicated to hunting – thanks to a huge bestiary, you can immerse yourself in this activity in order to unlock bonuses for each hunter level or simply stroke your ego. Hints unobtrusively encourage you to study the map, which has plenty of other opponents. There are many places where you can find both treasures and their guards: ancient ruins, barbarian camps, fortresses, mines, animal dens await you… And if everything is clear with animals – killed, butchered for meat, collected the loot that they guarded – then with NPC people everything is much more interesting.

Tribal Chief

The fact is that thanks https://lasvegasenvivocasino.co.uk/games/ to the magic mask that our hero wears, you can capture any non-player character – to do this, just lower his health to the minimum values, and then press the capture ritual button. The exhausted victim will collapse to the ground, and all you have to do is feed him and carry him to a secluded place (for example, to your base). A few minutes of waiting – and you become not a lone survivor, but the head of a small settlement; Soulmask turns from an ordinary survival game into a strategy game with a third-person view.

Independently acting units are the norm for strategies. But changing the camera from isometric to an immersive third-person view changes things radically.

Using NPCs as residents of a settlement controlled by the player is not a new idea for the genre: many similar projects use bot allies in one way or another. But usually such mechanics only work for the surroundings – the residents create the crowd, and the player does the main work.

Here everything is “real”: subordinates work at machines, carry things from one storage facility to another, cut down trees and collect resources, guard other residents and buildings, keep the camp fire burning (the main building of your village, which prevents buildings from collapsing). Moreover, your presence is not required for their activity: it is enough to assign tasks to your subordinates and go about your business – go hunting or study the map. You can even leave the server altogether – they will work as long as the conditions necessary to complete the task are met.

The order designer could use some additional conveniences, but overall it copes with its function. Although it would be much simpler if the developers copied the system from strategies a la RimWorld – with the ability to prioritize work and create a schedule.

The simplest example of a work schedule for a tribesman: he must maintain the camp fire and carry boards from the storage room to the construction workshop.

And in general, the interface is annoying at times, especially during crafting: given the huge number of items and buildings available for creation, you have to constantly scroll through long lists, remembering the ingredients. But if you spend time and understand tribe management, you can completely shift all routine tasks onto the shoulders of the NPC.

From stone to iron

Your subordinates are not only labor force. You can take them with you or even move your soul into someone else’s body, completely taking control of the bot. If you get carried away with creating a tribe, then the process of selecting new slaves resembles the same hunt. Finding a victim with the necessary parameters is not an easy task, which is also constantly repeated: losing residents is a piece of cake. When you log into the server after a long absence, don’t be surprised if you find a “shortage” – wild animals and equally wild players (on PvP servers) will not fail to kill the bot that comes their way.

Thanks to the modular construction system, you can create a unique village for the entire tribe. However, for security reasons, on PvP servers it is better to make monotonous boxes, closed on all sides, until the tribe is pumped up to the fortress wall.

I don’t think it will be possible to do without the help of enslaved NPCs: it’s unlikely that such gameplay will allow you to feel comfortable even in PvE mode. Boss battles require allies, and the crafting process takes as long as possible.

But the craft itself pleases. If you look into the research window, your eyes will widen from the abundance of objects and buildings: the line of technologies begins with stone tools and ends with steel tools. However, it won’t be possible to get to the hardware right away – to develop you need to fight bosses and study the map.

The pumping system is no less diverse. In addition to the hunter level, there is a standard RPG system with improvement of basic skills, an extensive branch for the character’s craft and combat parameters, levels for each type of weapon and a separate mask development menu – an analogue of the class system, thanks to which your hero receives certain passive and active skills.

If we analyze the elements of the game separately, then Soulmask It’s unlikely to be praised for originality. But the developers didn’t just copy successful features spotted from competitors, they also made sure that the player would be comfortable and interesting, despite early access. I encountered almost no serious bugs, the graphics do not require top-end hardware, but adequately convey the beauty of the ancient world (the only let down was the rendering of objects at a distance), and the network code is stable. Perhaps the only significant drawback that I was able to notice is the sad implementation of melee combat, especially in PvP: jerky animations and not very responsive controls turn the fight into a chaotic fuss.

If you miss the original survivalists, but are afraid to taste all the “delights” of the beta versions, then Soulmask is definitely for you: in CampFire Studio We made such early access that we’re not ashamed of it.

What confused me most in the podcast was the moment during the Viking discussion, when Kostya refused to accept the existence of the concept of “personal insult”. It’s one thing to say to a random person “you are the son of a slave” and quite another thing to say to a prince who has a complex about this and who will be affected much more by it. Well, or what exactly it was. In any case, this is an insult, but in the second case it also puts pressure on a sore spot, it hurts many times more. If I’m not mistaken, this is exactly what Denis was trying to convey.

In any case, thanks for the podcast, I’m glad that it included a discussion of topics from several areas, and not just more than an hour of one movie + 15 minutes of something about games, like in the past.

P.S. It seems to me, or Kostya began to swear a lot more compared to the first issues?

So there are no questions here, it is clear that he should have reacted to any insult, but not any should have pissed him off. It’s one thing to calmly order a girl to be flogged after insulting her, and another thing to start throwing things/spears out of anger/start yelling like a hysteric. Well, I think so at least.
I remember very well what “prince” is from history lessons, it was even only a military title for some time.

For the Prince, any insult https://rysebetcasino.co.uk/games/ is personal. Because if he doesn’t answer it, he will be a rag and no one will follow him. Although in the film he is already a wuss..
Prince is a title, including a military one, and leading a crowd of frostbitten, armed men obliges you to behave accordingly. Otherwise the boys won’t understand.

MSI is shit, my hard drive, RAM, monitor mounts, north bridge broke down and for some reason the drivers for the video card were not updated, when I installed the ones I downloaded from the site they simply did not work and in 4 years I have never been able to update them)
Under warranty, only the disk was replaced.

I bought an HP Envy 15, in three years nothing has broken yet, which is ironic, it looks like a macbook.

Mass Effect: Andromeda’s animation looks poor for three reasons:
1) Facial animation and voice acting are still done separately from body animation. The MOCAP actor is told: “move as lively as possible, constantly doing antics and creating excessive animation (if the characters are just standing, then they stagger more than people in reality, if they start walking, then be sure to move their arms as often as possible, wagging their hips as much as possible, if they speak, then first set their body (like robots) in the most unnatural poses, etc.d.)", and the voice actor is simply not told what to act out in the scenes and what movements the characters will make.
2) Apparently, in order to save on facial animation, Bioware uses technology for automatically generating facial movements, which works poorly. In particular, the big problem is that the mouth moves quite actively, but the lower jaw practically does not drop.
3) Unlike the previous part, here people look like caricatures; with large heads, short legs and unnatural facial contours.

Agree. The main problem of the film, in my opinion, is precisely the unclear characters. Which behave, to put it mildly, strangely. And this dalkeo is not his only problem..

Kostya, I’ll tell you who they make “gaming devices” for. And for children. Light bulbs, fake whistles. So that flashing devices cause them to have epileptic seizures more often.

You asked to share your opinion about Mass Effect (you need to read it with Kostya’s fagot accent), and we share it.
You shouldn’t expect anything good from Andromeda (and read this in Gleb’s accent), then the game will be perceived differently after release.

The podcast, as always, is out sincere, except that I don’t agree with the criticism of Rogue One, because I love the Star Wars universe and the film, on the whole, “has appealed to me”)))
Opinion is a subjective thing)