I’m not a fan of Steam or any launcher really but they have some useful features like friends lists and multiplayer updates. I don’t miss the times of downloading individual patches and having to insert a disc but nowadays has its own problems like “online” requirements for singleplayer and being forced to update. Thankfully GOG exists and some devs still offer DRM free versions and that’s my priority now.
I’ve come close to getting all the capsule toys in Shenmue but in the end it was a lot if reloading saves and eventually I gave up. I barley finish any games so doing extra challenges is even rarer for me :/
I know exactly the trailer you’re talking about. Obviously the game didn’t turn out that way but in my opinion The Division is an under-appreciated gem. It was absolutely awful at launch though and I think it took over a year to fix and adjust the gameplay.
I don’t think it’s as amazing as people make it out to be but, like you mention, turning off crossplay significantly improves matchmaking and supposedly giving feedback helps balance it even more. Its also a lot more fun with friends but the amount of PVP increases with groups and especially much more with 3 man.
I haven’t played TF2 in a long time. I’ve been following a mod called TF2 Classified which sounds interesting though so might jump on that when it’s released
I don’t pre-order but I do buy early access games. Unless it’s something genuinely limited edition and unique there is not reason to risk buying before release.
I have mixed opinions on physical media but. I’m starting to agree with you on this point. In the past I’m all for having the option to buy it on disc/cartridge but when you have to install the game anyway and download a day one patch it kinda defeats the purpose of it. Also offline mode on consoles if just a joke at this point.
If I didn’t already have a Miyoo Flip v2 I would buy this version in a heartbeat. The love the clamshell design and portability of these things is a huge upside and I take it everywhere with me. I have been using MinUI on mine and it works great (especially quick save state and resume on open) but after reading your article I decided to change it up and move over to Knulli which has a lot more options.