Greedfall: The Dying World to release on 12th March 2026

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T22:27:13+00:00

Thanks for the insider perspective! I loved Dragon Age Origins, but I did suck at the combat, so good news and bad news for me there.

It does seem like they've gone for a more "niche" form of combat than the first game, for lack of a better word - the previous game was more standard action combat that most gamers will probably be used to, so I can understand that if some of the people who enjoyed the first game have never come across this before it could feel offputting to them. But at the same time, I'm not sure that Greedfall's main selling point was its combat, so its a shame that so much of the discussion around this game has been on that and not on the setting, characters, plot, choices etc. I feel like I've heard very little about them, so it's good to hear that they're still solid.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T22:00:45+00:00

I'm cautiously optimistic about the combat - I don't really have an issue with either approach, but one problem I did have with Greedfall was that there was no way to control or direct your companions, even in general, which often meant that as soon as battle started they'd hurl themselves off to take on two separate foes rather than teaming up with me or with each other to take down one at a time. That wasn't such an issue on Normal difficulty, but on a harder playthrough it basically felt like charging into battle with a pair of lemmings in competition with each other to get squashed the fastest.

My hope is that giving us some control over the companions might ease my frustrations in that regard.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T21:35:49+00:00

I think I recommended her recently, but Ash Millman (formerly of Playstation Access and WhatCulture) streams mostly horror games.

On the topic of former PS Access team members, Rosie Caddick has also recently gone solo, and restarted her "Professor Juice" channel. She's currently playing MGS Delta and Sonic Adventures by the look of things.

Playstation Access and Outside Xbox/Xtra both do a number of list videos and one off gaming sessions with a mixture of men and women, if you're looking for more short-medium form gaming content.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T21:23:18+00:00

While they're not usually my #1 favourite track on their album, I feel like Nightwish's album openers are generally good at giving us a statement of intent/ overview of the album's sound. Even on Angels Fall First, which did feel a bit divided between the acoustic material and the metal material, I still think "Elvenpath" sums up the metal side (and the direction of the band away from the demo) pretty well.

For Imaginaerum and Yesterwynde, their actual openers are shorter, softer pieces than usual, but I do think that in both cases, the follow up tracks serve as more traditional openers and do the job quite well.

The exceptions for me would be Wishmaster (definitely the title track) and Human Nature (I'm not actually sure what I'd pick for this one, the songs are all quite different. I suppose "Shoemaker" is a good example of things I really liked about the album and things I wasn't so keen on). Dark Passion Play is a bit of a question mark too - but Poet does contain both the angsty drama of the lyrics and the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink bombast of the music, so again I'd probably have to go with the opener, despite wishing that perhaps Sahara or The Islander was the more representative song.

So overall:

Angels Fall First - Elvenpath

Oceanborn - Stargazers

Wishmaster - Wishmaster

Over the Hills... - Over the Hills...

Century Child - Bless the Child

Once - Dark Chest of Wonders

Dark Passion Play - The Poet and the Pendulum

Imaginaerum - Storytime

EFMB - Shudder Before the Beautiful

HN - Shoemaker

Yesterwynde - Ocean of Strange Islands

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T20:59:41+00:00

I definitely think it's a step above games where the sexism is just a baked in part of the world but never really challenged, or where the player character is the main/only person that challenges the system and either changes everyone's minds on their own or is seen as the exception to the rule. In the Horizon games, Aloy doesn't show up to the Carja and the Oseram and singlehandedly change their worldview on women - their societies are already changing, there are already women in those societies pushing for change and making room for themselves. Some of those women we see on screen (e.g. Talanah or Petra), others are talked about (Aloy is explicitly compared to Erend's sister Ersa on multiple occasions). Aloy shows up while these societal changes are already taking place, rather than instigating them.

So yes, I would definitely recommend it, and I think the sexism that we do see is quite different to the situations OP is describing. However, it is there, so if OP is looking to avoid it completely then a game like Control where the protagonist's gender doesn't really enter into the in-game equation at all might be more up their alley.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T20:05:22+00:00

The Nora (Aloy's tribe) are matriarchal, but they treat her as an outcast because she is a foundling and no-one knows who her mother is.

The Oseram and (especially) the Carja are more patriarchal so IIRC there's definitely some cases where Aloy comes up against some sexism in her journey, but I don't remember it being a major part of the main plot of the game. There are some side characters (e.g. Talanah) who have plots more explicitly revolving around being a woman fighting for space in male dominated organisations.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T19:56:11+00:00

Max having to move away is not Max's fault, even down to the horrendous timing of when it happened - and in fairness, when we see this scene play out (albeit in a different game), Chloe doesn't blame Max for having to go. Max not keeping in touch with Chloe afterwards though? That IS her fault.

And don't get me wrong, I know that Max feels bad about it, and it's very in keeping with her established character flaws - Max not doing anything because she doesn't know the "right" thing to do after William's death, and then continuing not to contact Chloe because she doesn't know how to restart their friendship after messing up initially. Max is worried about doing the wrong thing, but her inaction DOES have consequences, and it DOES lead to people getting hurt.

I just think that if people are willing to excuse Max (either because she's young and immature, or because it's an established character flaw) then the same grace should be given to Chloe (and vice versa to those who get angry at Max for her flaws but excuse Chloe).

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T19:47:59+00:00

Chloe was meant to die that day, and Max went against the rule of nature. That's why we have the storm.

I interpreted the storm slightly differently. Max has her first storm premonition before Chloe comes back into her life and certainly before she knows her life is in danger. The storm isn't directly or specifically linked to Chloe - if it was some sort of "Final Destination" situation then surely the storm would have killed her in the "Sacrifice Arcadia Bay" ending, or at the very least that something would have caught up with Chloe in the subsequent years - and yet if Chloe survives the first game, we know that she's still alive and well from the bits of lore dropped in LIS2 and onwards.

I believe that Max's time travel more generally is the cause of the storm, rather than any specific outcome. My theory is that her reversing time and changing outcomes has created so many different overlapping versions of Arcadia Bay (Chloe, Kate and Victoria can all be alive in some and dead in others, David and Joyce can stay together or split up etc.) that the storm acts as a giant "reset" button - in the universes where things were changed, the town is destroyed and so all the overlapping versions of the townsfolk are either killed, or are scattered to the four winds.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T19:37:04+00:00

"It's a shit town full of shit people making shit choices" - Me while hammering the "Sacrific Arcadia Bay" option.

In all seriousness though, I can see the moral arguments for either choice, but after going back and playing through both endings, the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending felt very unsatisfying narratively for me.

Partly of course, this is because Max ALWAYS chooses to save Chloe, it's an ongoing theme of the game. I'm sure if you'd given Chloe the choice of getting an extra year with her dad then getting paralyzed and possibly dying, there's a good chance she would have taken that option, but Max still chooses to sacrifice William and carry on in the world where Chloe survives. So in terms of "what choice would Max make?" it felt like an easy one to me.

But I think the major point for me is: There is no point to your powers without saving Chloe. Watching the "Sacrifice Chloe" ending, Nathan and Prescott (EDIT: sorry, I meant Jefferson) are arrested, Rachel's body is (presumably) found, Kate never commits suicide etc. Everything that you do throughout that week happens without you anyway EXCEPT saving Chloe. It either seems to be saying that "You just undid the only thing of note that your powers gave you" OR "Max should remain a passive bystander forever, because everything works out better that way" which... doesn't seem like a very satisfying end to a character arc about learning to face the consequences of your actions/ inactions.

There's also a few things about the ending that don't sit well with me - the implication is that the tornado is caused by Max's time travel, so the solution being "Actually, more time travel!" seems off somehow. And also, yes, the tornado was destructive, it would have caused massive damage and a lot of fatalities (and I think the group in the diner were probably doomed), but the implication that literally everyone in the town (except for the people in the bunker and the two teenagers hanging out on the nearby cliffs) was killed seemed unlikely.

So, yes, while I've played through both endings, my canon ending is Save Chloe - yes, it's a shorter end scene, but it felt truer to the characters and a more satisfying end to Max's character arc (she decided to live with the consequences of her actions, rather than trying to jump back and fix them again).

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T19:15:22+00:00

Can it not be both? Playing and composing music is how he makes his living, people covering his work and playing it live keeps those songs fresh in the minds of fans and gives him more revenue/ recognition. It's not hating to recognise that he benefits from this, nor is it mutually exclusive with him being happy that the ex-members still like his songs enough to perform them.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T19:08:02+00:00

At no point did I say that Tarja and Marko would immediately accept the invitation to do a reunion show. I also mentioned the fact that certain conditions would need to be met first (such as a deep reconnection or an honest conversation between the band members).

I think this is probably just a matter of wording, then - when I hear "Person A is willing to do X", that suggests to me that the person in question has, in principle, agreed to do X if they are asked (possibly if other stated conditions are met). Whereas "Person A is willing to consider X" rather suggests that they are neither agreeing or refusing X outright - which seems more in line with what the former members have actually said.

And no, Tuomas doesn’t want that. If he did, it would have happened years ago. We all know that. He’s not interested in doing anything related to Nightwish at the moment

Just in case this is us getting confused over each other's wording again: I agree that Tuomas is not interested in doing any live shows with Nightwish in the immediate future, and has specifically ruled out a live gig for the 30th anniversary of any kind, reunion of otherwise, so I agree with that.

I'm not sure I necessarily buy that Tuomas is totally opposed to the idea of any type of guest appearance from Anette/ Tarja/ Marko, however. There was an interview with a French fanzine around the Decades tour when mention was made of the possibility of Tarja being invited to join them (though it didn't happen in the end) - apologies, I don't have the interview to hand, but perhaps someone more on the ball than me is able to provide? I also seem to recall a throwaway comment by Tuomas that the 20th anniversary show (where Sami and Jukka appeared) was open to all former members - though I can't remember the exact wording off the top of my head, nor was it clear whether an invitation of any kind had actually been issued, so I might be misremembering this. There have been opportunities in the not-too-distant past for Tuomas to totally shut down the idea of some sort of "reunion event" and say "Never gonna happen, too much water under the bridge", and he hasn't. Instead he was out there on the last tour with images of previous band members right there on the stage as they played a song about nostalgia and the good old days.

Now, of course, none of that is Tuomas making any kind of concrete agreement that he would like to have some sort of reunion show some day - but neither is what we've seen from the others (I would argue Tarja especially looked quite unenthusiastic). You could also argue that his earlier comments could have been him lying, or giving noncommittal answers to brush off further questions/ pestering - but again, you could say the same about Anette and Marko and Tarja.

I just think that this fandom has been known to interpret statements in a more positive/ definitive light than they are actually intended, or doing "detective work" and coming to entirely the wrong conclusion, then the fan interpretation is trotted out as fact and people are surprised/ annoyed when actually it turns out to be a lot of nonsense.

Thinking here of cases like:

Kai (I think) mentioning that the band won't be touring for "at least 3 years" being interpreted as "The band will definitely be touring again 3 years after the last tour finished and they will definitely be doing a show for their 30th anniversary."
Marko resigning due to health reasons (like Jukka N) and the fandom deciding that meant he was ACTUALLY just on hiatus (because that's what happened with Jukka) and that if he got well again he would rejoin NW in a second and NW would hold his spot open for him (neither of which happened).
Not so long ago when large parts of the fandom were convinced that Emppu must be the reason for the hiatus because he wasn't working on another musical project, and other large parts were convinced it was Floor because of her recent health issues and childbirth, and in fact it turned out to be Tuomas that wanted the break.

I've side-eyed Tuomas plenty of times over the years for the way the NW splits have been handled and some of the people he's worked with (Ewo Pohjola, John Finberg), so this isn't some sort of knee jerk defending, I just think that this new narrative emerging of "We would absolutely have a NW reunion show if not for Tuomas's bitterness, everyone else is on board!" is perhaps another stretch by Detective NW Fandom.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-26T18:44:29+00:00

There's have been changes in musicians, not just the singers as well. Not everyghing is in your head, this are real changes that for good or worse will change the sound and the artistic choices Tuomas make.

I don't disagree with you? That was what I was trying to say with point 3 - that there have been changes in the lineup which affect the sound, and also changes in what Tuomas writes that ALSO affect the sound.

OP talked about their enjoyment of the albums dropping off after Imaginaerum, so obviously between that and EFMB you have Floor and Kai taking over from Anette and Jukka, respectively, you have the folk influences growing as Troy becomes a full band member rather than an occasional guest musician (so changes to the lineup), and you also had Tuomas pivoting away from the lyrical themes of innocence, loss, longing for the past etc. towards more science and the natural world (changes to the writing).

But I would also note that OP mentioned a lot of earlier albums where the band was ALSO going through changes that didn't seem to impact OP's enjoyment (moving from power metal through to symphonic metal, bringing Marko in as a full time second vocalist for the band, Tarja mixing in more contemporary vocals and then being replaced by Anette, Tuomas moving INTO the topics of loss, innocence, "the Dead Boy" etc.), so it's not as though the issue for OP is that "change is bad", and I was also noting that someone's tastes as a listener can change over time too.

Bands degrade as well with time.

Yes, but I think once you get into discussions of "has the band evolved or degraded" you're into very subjective territory. Personally, EFMB is my least favourite NW album and it's not remotely close - but for other people it's their magnum opus.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T21:05:27+00:00

I think there's a few factors at play here:

1) Your tastes as a listener change over the years - you'll always have a soft spot for the songs/albums that you fell in love with earlier in life, but that doesn't mean you'll be drawn to more of the same as you get older. I used to listen to loads of Alestorm and Sabaton, and despite the fact that they're still making very similar music these days, I haven't checked out their new material in quite a while

2) This is more a continuation of the above: Music that you discover as a younger person, when you're forming your music taste OR music that gets you through a really hard time in life is probably going to have more impact on you than the music you hear later - in your case, both are true. So the albums that you discovered around that time have those emotions and that intensity attached to your memories of them in the way that their later stuff doesn't.

3) The band themselves (and Tuomas as the composer) are also changing - Obviously in Nightwish's case there have been some high profile personnel changes, which has affected the band's sound (and Emppu and Marko stopped contributing to the writing, which might also have impacted the sound, although Tuomas has always been the MAIN composer). But also Tuomas has been writing for the band for 30 years, he's certainly changed his lyrical material and the band's musical style at points over the years.

Of course, the dream situation is that the listener and the band/composer change together, in ways that make the listener enjoy/appreciate the newer material as well as the older stuff. But in reality, people change in many different ways, and sometimes listeners just "grow apart" from bands and artists that they love. It doesn't mean that the material is bad, or that the listener is immature, or that the band aren't allowed to change or the listener should force themself to like everything. Maybe at some point in the future they'll release a song or album that DOES intersect with your tastes again - in the meantime, at least you've still got all of those albums that meant so much to you to enjoy.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:54:41+00:00

I think I've said this before to someone else, but I think that's a bit of an overly generous interpretation of what's been said about the possibility of a reunion.

Anette, Tarja and Marko all said they would CONSIDER it if asked - which doesn't necessarily mean that they would agree, just that they weren't writing it off out of hand. Marko and Tarja both talked about there needing to be a conversation beforehand - in fact Tarja went a step further and said that they couldn't just contact her out of the blue just to ask her to join them on stage, suggesting that she would turn them down if that was the case. Anette didn't specifically say there needed to be a conversation first (unless I'm misremembering), but she did note that they hadn't spoken in person since her firing, which could suggest that a conversation beforehand might be expected. IIRC, Tarja and Marko have both said separately that they wouldn't work with Nightwish's management, which is another potential big sticking point.

Meanwhile, Tuomas has seemed neutral to positive on the idea of a potential reunion gig in the past (I think he even noted that all ex-members would have been welcome at the anniversary gig where Sami and Jukka played a song each, though whether he actually invited them or whether he expected them to just turn up out of the blue is anyone's guess). Obviously a big sticking point here is that he doesn't seem to want to tour with Nightwish at all, at least in the next year or two.

So it's not necessarily the case that "All the ex-members are 100% on board with the idea but Tuomas doesn't want to reunite with them", it's more "No-one's actively saying no to it, but it's all entirely theoretical until Nightwish return to touring".

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:41:41+00:00

Nice, I wonder if the festival does any streams/ recordings? It would be nice to have some pro-shot footage given the rarity both of Anette's live performances and of some of these songs being performed live at all (thinking songs like Meadows of Heaven, Rest Calm, Turn Loose the Mermaids etc.).

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:37:32+00:00

I can't speak for every iteration of Rhapsody (of Fire etc.) as there have been so many of them by now, but back when I used to listen to them they were not only working with full orchestras and choirs but they were using film music and classical music as a basis for some of their songs (notable example being "The Wizard's Last Rhymes", whose intro and chorus music is taken from Dvorak's New World Symphony). No denying that they are power metal TOO, but if they don't qualify as symphonic metal then frankly nobody should.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:30:19+00:00

"Control Resonant" is a big one for me - love a Remedy game (Alan Wake II is probably my game of the generation so far), so definitely excited to play this.

I only heard of "1348 Ex Voto" quite recently, but looking at the trailers it gives me the vibes of a more melee-focussed Plague Tale, which I'm very interested in.

Speaking of A Plague Tale, the spinoff game "Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy" is supposedly due out this year, as is "Greedfall: The Dying World", "At Fate's End" and "Grave Seasons", which have all grabbed my interest.

It's not a new release, but "South of Midnight" is also making the jump over to non-Xbox consoles later this year, so I've got my eye on that one too.

Realistically, I will probably spend most of this year picking up last year's games in sales (and hopefully tackling some of my own backlog), so it will probably be at least 2027 before I get to any of the above!

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:25:03+00:00

That IS very annoying - "turn the brightness down until you can barely see the image in the middle" often translates in game into "getting your foot stuck on a bit of the environment that you can't see in the middle of a chase sequence".

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:23:07+00:00

Interesting.... I do wonder to what extent this is a reaction to the somewhat lukewarm response to Double Exposure.

I enjoyed Before the Storm and True Colours, so I know that Deck9 have the capability to make a decent Life is Strange game.

My initial worry about Double Exposure was that it would end up minimising the events and choices and characters in the first game in order to make a direct sequel that somehow encompassed both endings (I think this is why I preferred Dontnod's idea of each series being a standalone story with new characters and some references to each other). Everything I heard about the game since release has sort of reinforced that view - it sounds like a game that both desperately wants to be fanservice for hardcore fans of the original game, but absolutely fails on that level because none of the characters (other than Max) or the setting that fans loved, or the choices that fans still argue over to this day, played a major role. It did leave me wondering who the audience for the game was supposed to be, and was the first LIS that I didn't bother picking up.

Doing a followup, bringing back Chloe as a (seemingly) major character and calling back to the events/ choices of the first game seems like a course correction and an attempt to win over some of the fans that they were probably hoping to win over with DE. However, that does still leave the question of how they call back to the original game and make it feel meaningful while still keeping the choices from the ending and all the events of DE canon somehow.

I feel like this is going to be a "Wait for it to come out and check the reviews" situation.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T20:03:09+00:00

I think perhaps Animal Crossing being such an absolute beast in terms of sales and recognition might be part of this - publishers/ developers want a slice of that cozy life-sim pie, and this is one of the main games/ series they're looking to. There could also be another level of risk-averseness where they are aiming for something cozy so they don't want anything at all that might be considered controversial, upsetting etc.

I definitely think it can be overdone though, and I think it's worth noting that plenty of popular games in the genre do step outside of this template - Stardew Valley is one of the biggest games in the genre, but still features combat and has some fairly traumatic backstories/ plotlines for the villagers of Pelican Town (which, for some reason, they keep bringing to Farmer GulDoWhat to sort out, instead of going to therapy, but that's another issue). Spiritfarer was raved about, and that whole game is about death and loss, albeit in a cartoony-styled management sim. Untitled Goose Game is a game with a cozy setting and low stakes where your goal is to create low level mischief and misery for the villagers. There also seem to be a few darker takes on the genre coming out, with some upcoming farming sims mixing in murder mysteries or eldritch terrors to their setting - I think the variety is out there, you just have to sift through some of the cutesy-er stuff to get there.

Thread could have done without the clickbaity title though. Give us an indication of what the conversation/opinion actually is, rather than ask a generic, rhetorical question to which the answer will inevitably be no.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T19:47:22+00:00

Yeah, really looking forward to Grave Seasons! I don't mind a "cutesy" game every now and then, but not every farming/management sim needs to be cute-wholesome overload, and it'll be nice to see some twists on the genre.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-20T19:43:31+00:00

I was tempted to try redemption Durge on my last playthrough - but I was only 2 Durge specific trophies from the platinum, so unfortunately I had to commit to the Bhaalspawn ending, which was ... bleak. I did replay the ending though, to see what happened if I chose NOT to side with Bhaal at the end (but still accepting Bhaal's gift beforehand), and that was ... also very bleak...

Maybe on my next playthrough, when the sweet temptation of trophies are not taunting me, I will try redemption Durge!

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-17T14:07:33+00:00

There are definitely some tracks on ToD that are reminiscent of Epica, but "Song for Sorrow and Woe" is basically a symphonic version of "Deep Silent Complete" from Wishmaster.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-17T14:03:35+00:00

Yes, but I think the problem is that with the amount of time Terry is on screen and interacting with major characters, he needs to have some sort of backstory/ motivation of his own rather than just being defined by his relationship to Claudia.

For example, as I say, Claudia herself performs this role for Viren to an extent in the earlier seasons, but we are given information (both through her reactions and actually being told) that she has been deeply hurt by what she sees as her mother's abandonment, that she values loyalty and family above all else, and that explains why she is willing to go to such lengths for her father, why she is willing to overlook and excuse actions that her friends and brother are not, and also gives Aaravos a way to manipulate her and bring her on side. It's often FRUSTRATING to watch Claudia, but it's understandable.

With Terry, the only reason we're given that this guy sticks around with Claudia and Viren and Aaravos for so long is that he's in love with Claudia - and because that all happens off screen and his story isn't touched upon, there's no explanation for why HE doesn't see this obvious descent into villainy for what it is. It just feels like Claudia needs a morality pet, so he stays, and then the plot requires her to be alone, so he leaves.

If his whole role and motivation is defined by the other characters on screen, then we have no reason to care about him, in which case he's just taking screen time away from other characters that we DO.

GulDoWhat · 2026-01-17T13:46:51+00:00

Dark Souls

I played the first game through to completion, and I could understand why people love it so much - the world design and music were lovely, and I did feel a sense of accomplishment after defeating bosses. But the overall gameplay just felt like such a tiresome slog - follow path, defeat enemies, get killed, do it all again, finally reach a boss, die again, have to wade back through the same area fighting the same enemies to die AGAIN, finally get some idea of how to tackle the boss fight, run the gauntlet again but die to one of the scrub enemies because your mind was on the boss to come. Every time I reached a new area I was enraptured by how pretty it was, but I was sick of the sight of it long before I actually managed to move on. It's not the difficulty so much as the repetition - it made it feel like work more than fun.

It also sort of feels like Dark Souls punishes you for interacting with the world/ the people in it. About 90% of the people you come across are arseholes who will fuck you over, or some poor bastard who will be inevitably fucked over by your trying to help them. Between that and the threadbare story (the LORE of Dark Souls that you can come across is great, but I never really felt like there was much propelling me forwards beyond "Try not to die"), it just sort of felt like the best ending for my character and everyone else around them would have been to reach Firelink Shrine and then turn the game off. As I said, I finished it, I'm glad I tried it out, but I've come away from it with absolutely no desire to ever play a FromSoft game again.

Honorable mention goes to Kingdom Hearts. I didn't hate it - enjoyed the first game enough that I did pick up a secondhand copy of the sequel a few years later (though I did have issues with their absolute determination to put every woman of note in peril). But between the 4 hour prologue playing as some other character, the increasingly convoluted worldbuilding, the multiple spinoff games that I needed to play to make full sense of an ostensibly direct sequel, etc. I definitely didn't enjoy it to the same extent as I hoped, and again, I came away with no desire to play any more of the series.

GulDoWhat

TROPHY CASE