What videogames are you playing in 2026?

[Ruin Explorer]

I'm kinda tempted to play as Gale, and immediately respec him to Barbarian just for giggles.

In typical BG3 fashion they saw you coming and gave him remarkable Barbarian warcries and so on.

 

[Thomas Shey]

Just started playing Phoenix Point again, which got a major (final) update not long ago.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

Just started playing Phoenix Point again, which got a major (final) update not long ago.

The update definitely streamlines a few things; the game is probably in the best shape it’s ever been. I’m coming to the end of a run now: lots of fun but the mid-game is still a bit of a slog. Curious to see what you think. Have you tried the Terror from the Void mod before?

 

[Thomas Shey]

The update definitely streamlines a few things; the game is probably in the best shape it’s ever been. I’m coming to the end of a run now: lots of fun but the mid-game is still a bit of a slog. Curious to see what you think. Have you tried the Terror from the Void mod before?

I told myself I wasn't going to even do the add-ons, let alone a mod until I'd played all the way through on the basic game, and I'd not succeeded in doing that (the capture-a-queen thing kept defeating me, though I understood in principal how to do it).

 

[Pale Violet Light]

I think Living Weapons and Blood and Titanium are ok for a first run, though vanilla is fine too. The other DLCs add too much complexity. By the way, you do not have to capture a Queen to finish the game; it’s only necessary for one of the endings. The rest can be accessed by becoming buddies with the various factions.

 

[Thomas Shey]

I think Living Weapons and Blood and Titanium are ok for a first run, though vanilla is fine too. The other DLCs add too much complexity. By the way, you do not have to capture a Queen to finish the game; it’s only necessary for one of the endings. The rest can be accessed by becoming buddies with the various factions.

As I recall (and I could be wrong, its been months) I'd already headed down the road to that ending before the queen capture came up.

But yeah, I just figured going vanilla first time out was what i wanted to do. I do the equivelent with most strategy games.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

But yeah, I just figured going vanilla first time out was what i wanted to do. I do the equivelent with most strategy games.

It’s a good move in general. I’m doing an all-bells-and-whistles run of Phoenix Point at the moment and it’s a lot.

 

[Thomas Shey]

It’s a good move in general. I’m doing an all-bells-and-whistles run of Phoenix Point at the moment and it’s a lot.

It looked like it would be, particularly when you got into the last couple DLCs.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I did a run with the updated Phoenix Point it’s a lot better in the early game but it still becomes a chore towards the end. The Festering Skies DLC is actually fun now, but it’s a bit too easy to equip everyone with a Weapon of the Ancients quite early on, making some of the formally cool new weapons from the research tree a let down. Shard shotguns dominate.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

The Festering Skies DLC is actually fun now,

It’s certainly a lot more manageable than previously, though fun might be a stretch.

but it’s a bit too easy to equip everyone with a Weapon of the Ancients quite early on, making some of the formally cool new weapons from the research tree a let down.

I seldom install it for precisely this reason. The missions are tedious and repetitive, and the weapons are so good that they wreck the game balance something fierce.