Hurry Up and Wait: April Edition
Once again, I was already looking stuff up, so why not just share it?
April 23rd – Bellwright [Early Access]
This one is seems to be billed as an open-world Kingdom Come: Deliverance, but it also has some Medieval Dynasty vibes. Hard to say whether it will be worth anyone’s time yet. I originally thought it was going to be a survival-crafting game, but the store page makes it very clear that there is a sort of linear plot going on heading towards a rebellion against the Crown. If they can channel the general feel of Kingdom Come: Deliverance without some of the design jank, this could be good. We shall see.
April 26th – Manor Lords [Early Access]
Banished meets Total War in this medieval city-building tactical battler. Supposedly. All I know is that the game looks gorgeous, like an insane level of detail, and the city-building aspects are the most organic-looking I have ever seen in this space. Also, important detail: Game Pass Day 1.
May 8th – V Rising [1.0]
I snagged a copy of V Rising on sale before its recent pre-1.0 price increase, so I’m looking forward to… I guess playing it a month from now? That’s kind of fucked up, now that I think about it. Why increase the price like a full month before release? Anyway, it seems a combination of survival-crafting + Action RPG and I’ve heard some good things, so I hope it’s worth the wait.
May 14th – Diablo 4 [Season 4]
Diablo 4 landed on Game Pass a few weeks ago, but I didn’t dive in due to other priorities (read: farming virtual crops). Then, when I was actually starting to get ready to play, I hear about a “transformational” update coming in May. This is the summary from the IGN interview with the devs:
When Diablo 3 got its pre-Reaper of Souls expansion patch dubbed ‘loot 2.0’ in 2014, it was credited with turning Blizzard’s action role-playing game around. Critics and players called loot 2.0 a big improvement on Diablo 3, with changes that sparked renewed interest from a community that had dropped off following the base game’s 2012 release. Now, 10 years later, Blizzard is aiming to repeat the trick with Diablo 4 Season 4.
I mean, I guess that’s a good thing. Eventually. Although it’s a bit odd how they keep leading with “loot 1.0” when they know loot 2.0 is better. Rod Fergusson mentions it’s more due to “overshooting the mark” in a quest for depth and complexity in the looting system. Which I am unqualified to talk much about, considering I haven’t played the game. But it all kinda sorta maybe sounds like Quality of Life shit that was sorted out a decade ago already, and probably should have been in the game from the start. I could be wrong.
May 16th – Ghost of Tsushima [PC]
The once PlayStation exclusive is finally making its way to PC. And while I am liable to wait for ages more before it drops to a “reasonable” price, I am excited that it is coming to PC at all. If I did ever buy a PlayStation 5, this would have been one of the games I would have bought it for.
Posted on April 15, 2024, in Commentary and tagged Bellwright, Diablo 4, Hurry Up and Wait, Manor Lords, V Rising, Xbox Game Pass. Bookmark the permalink. 3 Comments.
In An Age 
Not on your list but the new Rimworld expansion that just came out is pretty great. Adds a lot of fun stuff that impacts the core game more than some of the other expansions (all of which I think are at least decent themselves).
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Yep, definitely been reading up on the developer blogs and some of the Reddit threads up to this point. Only reason it wasn’t on the list was because it had already released.
Well, that, and I’m not 100% certain I want more game-ending shenanigans introduced. I already give my starting pawns immunity to food poisoning (via Genes) because I’m tired of everyone always getting incapacitated on Day 2. Not sure I want giant chasms, evil twins, and other horrors. Although I will say that I haven’t ever tried a Mechanitor run before, and it seems especially suited to counter some of the known threats.
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There is a new start that gives you two colonists and a ghoul, with a monolith structure right where they land. If you go with that, you get right into the expansion content (dealing with and containing horrors, which so far has been really fun).
The ghoul is also awesome in that they can only fight, but the auto-heal, including regrowing limbs, and are tough enough to throw at all early game threats solo. They just need raw meat to eat, and since you can draft them you can have them be your hunter, able to solo fight all but the biggest animals.
Really enjoying that start and the whole early-mid game with it (have yet to get into late-game)
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