League of Legends has been randomly lag-spiking for us recently, to the point where ranked play is now more frustrating than normal (a game mode that was already borderline more frustrating than it was worth).
The real problem is that when a 51% win rate moves you up, and a 49% win rate moves you down, losing even one in ten games to a bad spike or playing slightly worse due to lag makes all the difference, and losing due to technical reasons is a killer for me. ARAMs don’t matter, so the issue isn’t as big a deal there, but ARAMs I can only really do one or two before having enough.
Moving on, I finished Risen 1, and can now fully say it was a really excellent game start to finish. Final boss was odd and a bit underwhelming, but beyond that an excellent RPG. I started Risen 2, but the controls are so bad I don’t think I can stick with it. The game taking such a major step back from the first title to the second is disappointing (new engine, but still), and hopefully Risen 3 doesn’t have this issue. Also, voice acting with constant swearing gets very old, very fast for me, and at least in the first hour or so, Risen 2 had a LOT of it.
Finally, I loaded up Saints Row 3, and must say I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a while since I’ve played a Grand Theft Auto game (PS2 days I think…), and SR is like an 80s action movie version of that. Just crazy over the top most of the time but not pushing things so far that it’s too silly (a fine line that might be in a different spot for everyone). I have all of the DLC for SR3, although most of THAT is too silly so I just ignore it.
I own SR3+DLC for the same reason I own Risen 1+2; a Humble Bundle that also included Dead Island and DI:Riptide (the reason for the bundle purchase). The last games and ones I might not load up unless someone tells me they are worthwhile are Sacred 2 and Sacred: Citadel. Even if those go unplayed, that bundle was the best $10 spent in a long, long time.
You can get musket on first island (tikarigua or smth.) very early and that solves most problem with controls. But game is very inconsistent – first two islands are great, after that a bit meh.
You might like Sacred 2. It’s got the open-ish world European designed “no hand holding” feel of Risen and Two Worlds, but in ARPG form. I enjoyed it.
This really is a fun game! Love the graphical style and the mix of magic/industrial in a fantasy setting (yes that just happened). Took a 2nd play to really understand the system, as it’s a bit complex at first look. Lots of fun though – I thought of it as Titan Quest with actual quests and story to make the actiony gameplay a little less directionless.
I really liked Sacred 2 as well. It’s one of those things where you want to read some very basic guides before you start, though; the skill levelling system is a bit counter-intuitive for some. I had a lot of fun running around poking into corners of its world, and some of the classes are ridiculous. In a good way.