Gaming

I've been progressing through Divided Reigns. Very indie, retro JRPG. The story reminds me of FFIV & FFVI in good ways. Battles are much more involved then the aforementioned classics though: while remaining turn based there are plenty of types, effects and skills involved. A rage meter brings in some form of planning ahead between turns, somewhat like Octopath Travellers or Bravely Default. All around solid game. Only downside is the dialogs being sometimes pretty silly.

Been playing Assassin's Creed: Valhalla as well. So here's my theory: inside Ubisoft there are two wolves. The first wolf is made up of thousands of creative, talented, diverse artisans working hard to make the open world formula fun and beautiful. The second wolf is a handful of suits looking for ways to milk the first wolf's output for money in all sorts of shit ways. I've found out that if you put the Ubisoft launcher in offline mode, you've blocked the second wolf. As for the game itself, it remains faithful to the series. There are some welcome improvements, such as the end of garbage equipment loot. In terms of storyline, I can't say I'm feeling especially involved so far. There is a certain cruelty to the protagonist which I struggle with. On the other hand I must also say that at times the game feels unapologetically woke which I thoroughly enjoy. The side quests are also super goofy.