Status Update: January 2026
RPGs
Sadly, work absorbed most of the RPG group's time and energy, so we've decided to reboot the sessions after Xmas. So many months without playing, we don't even remember where we were anyway...
Videogames - Finished
The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion - Remastered
I finished a 54 hours playthrough, maxing out many of the guilds. Sadly I couldn't finish all of them, nor the Shivering Isles content.
There are many game-breaking bugs, including one that begins to manifest after 30h or so of gametime, and keeps getting worse: Upon changing area (entering a building or cave, fast-travelling, and the like), the game might consistently crash. At first, tweaking some graphics settings fixed it, but something is terribly wrong with the new 3D engine, because now there is no way to progress.
It is a trully amazing game, and the remaster is quite beautiful, but the issues really get in the way.
Videogames - Ongoing
Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom
I haven't advanced too much. I'm still on the new playthrough, with ~45 shrines completed and not yet all the towers, so plenty of game ahead. I'm playing it slowly, enjoying again every bit of the fantastic world.
Starfield
I'm starting to play it more seriously as of late. That's why I recently created a list of my favourite mods for the game. It is giving me vibes of a flawed gem: sometimes it is incredibly immersive, beautiful and vast, like the other day when I discovered that I can spend hours decorating "my home" (not counting the ship building system), or the myriad of optional quests. But other times, it looks like a mess of half-backed features, like the space jump (so many animations to, in the end, a menu-based instant travel system) or the vehicles (such terrible controls...).
Still, I think that the game is better than the critics say. It was simply over-hyped and then did not live up to the promise, but all the systems from previous Elder Scrolls and Fallouts are there: tons of side-quests, hiden details, elaborate mechanics and sub-systems, crafting, a decent skill tree... and gorgeous science fiction visuals, way ahead than No Man's Sky or Mass Effect (the remaster). Not that graphics drive me, but at times, it looks like a modern sci-fi movie.
Crafts
During Christmas holidays, I assembled a few wooden crafts for my partner.
I built another Rowood flower:
And a bonsai:
And even a tree house (no photos yet, so using one from Rolife's website):
The tree house was a decent challenge, with hundreds of pieces, but it looks stunning and it is full of tiny details.
I also forgot to post a picture of something that I've had since a while, and that sadly now is quite hard to get, because it is so cool. Unnofficial Zelda brickheadz figures!
There were two sets, and I only picked Link's. While the pieces are clearly a LEGO copy of lesser quality (e.g. the hand has a less firm grip of items), for displaying the figures and not playing with them, does the job perfectly. I wish LEGO copied the idea and releasd official brickheadz sets...
Tags: Crafts Elder Scrolls: Oblivion LEGO RPG Starfield Videogames Zelda
Starfield Recommended Mods
Introduction
The first time that I play a videogame, I prefer the vanilla experience. However, at times some design decisions might not sit well with the players, or there might be some subtle bugs, or half-baked features. Starfield leans towards the first category: When you are play from a PC, certain aspects feel quite annoying. So, here is my small list of mods and tweaks that I am, at the time of writing this post, using on my first playthrought of the game.
Installation Instructions
Read carefully the instructions for each mod. Also, the ones I use do not disable achievements, but others might do!
There are two main directories files usually go:
Documents\My Games\Starfield- Your Steam game install directory: In Steam, e.g. in your Library, right click on the game ⇾ "Manage" ⇾ "Browse Local Files"
Mod Recommendations
- BetterHUD: A more minimalistic main in-game HUD.
- Cleanfield: De-clutter the main menu.
- EXE - Effect Textures Enhanced: Vastly improved effects, from particles to blood and explosions.
- NaturaLUTs: I use the enhanced preset. This is a must have.
- StarUI Inventory: Another must have, because the default inventory UI was clearly designed for consoles, not PC.
Book review: The Lion: Son of the Forest
Book: The Lion: Son of the Forest
As my Space Marines favourite chapter (and most miniatures) are Dark Angels, I picked The Lion: Son of the Forest out of curiosity to learn about the return of their primarch. I also have the miniature pending assembly and painting, but that's another story, let's focus on the novel.
One remark that I want to do is that I haven't read Arks of Omen: The Lion, but as far as I understood, the Son of the Forest novel happens before. The Lion awakes at The Rock, it is transported to the place where Son of the Forest begins, and I'm guessing that where the novel ends is more or less where the Lion "officially" reappears.
I also did not know about the Imperium Nihilus/Dark Imperium, caused by the Great Rift. It is a good trick by Games Workshop to make things advance at a different pace, by having half of the galaxy now blind to the Astronomican light.
With that out of the way, let's go with a small, spoiler-light review.
The Lion is back! I'm happy to see my beloved Dark Angels have their lore finally advance, both regarding having the primarch again, and his attitude towards The Fallen.
The novel is a decent read, with good amounts of action, and entertaining enough that I read it quickly. It didn't felt boring at any point, opens the right amount of plot threads and gracefully closes them (except a main question, as I'll mention), and it mostly feels appropriate of what you would expect from a super-human being that it's still disoriented after so much time "out".
Two points felt unsatisfactory to me. First, we are given zero reasoning as for why the Lion awakes, when it does and where it does - it simply happens, and it is what it is. And the second one is that I feel that the author went too far in giving so distinctive personalities to some of the fallen characters. I'm sorry but I don't buy the image of a Space Marine becoming a peaceful hermit, chasen by Dark Angels or not.
All in all, not a bad return, although neither a grandiose one. And the multiple open questions, like how he'll reintegrate in the Imperium, or what will happen regarding Luther or the mysterious Cypher, leave the door open for multiple future novels, which is always good.
Comic Book review: Resident Evil: Code Veronica books 1 to 4
Books: Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Book 1, Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Book 2, Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Book 3, Resident Evil: Code Veronica - Book 4
This is going to be a very brief review. If you don't know what Resident Evil: Code Veronica is about, I encourage you to stop reading here and instead go to the Wikipedia page, then maybe come back. Still reading? Good!
The comics are very faithful to the videogame, both in characterization, events, and even the dialogues are at times an exact copy of the game transcript. Some scenes have small differences, though, and the general narrative is maybe not converted the best way into a comic. The art and drawing are good, always following the game style.
It's all about the expectations: If you want a thrilling zombie story, there are way better options out there. If you want a Resident Evil videogame adaptation to comic, then you have a decent one.
Book review: Silo - The Wool Trilogy
Book: Silo - The Wool Trilogy
I did not know about this trilogy until I saw the first season of Apple TV's show, Silo, more than a year ago. After watching it, I got interested and picked up the book. I don't want to undervalue the show, as the first season is really good, but as it very often happens, the book is richer, slightly different, and I'd recommend starting with it instead of the series. I also stopped watching it midway through the second season, so I don't know if the divergences from the book become more accused, or stays mostly faithful to the source material.
With that out of the way, here comes the review itself. I really enjoyed this book. The apocalyptic, maybe sci-fi but not unsure if really so, setting; unsettling and cruel at times but not in excess (as could have very easily been the case). With well defined characters, who, for the most part, fit nicely in the story, and at times surprisingly leave it. With a narrative that dares to be different in the second book (I won't say why to avoid spoilers) to then come back with a vengeance in the final book. With sub-stories and variety, but not too much that you get lost on the main one.
If I had to mention something to improve, I have two tiny points: - A few characters feel like they are going to have more weight, and then they fade out into a very secondary role. This is one point that the TV show seemed to want to address differently (again, no spoiling). - The ending felt a bit abrupt: So much happens before, and then it ends a bit suddenly... too quickly without much detail.
In summary, a ~1300 pages great science-fiction tale, apt even for non sci-fi fans.
Tags: Books Science-Fiction