(for context on what this series is, please see my Day 1 post here: Redundancy Review: Day 1, “A New Beginning” – Rosalia Rambles)
Good morning multiroles and jammers, welcome to Day 477 of Rosalia Rambles Redundancy Review.
I am writing earlier today at least, it being 9:06pm in the UK currently as I set out to write today, but the situation is still much the same as yesterday, though with less hours played today than yesterday – which is entirely down to one mission being the spawn of Satan itself taking me almost a solid two hours worth of attempts. This included trialling out different strategies, doing a downright precarious search on Youtube to see if I was missing any tricks, sorting out dinner entirely to calm my nerves, beating the boss enemies only to have discovered I glitched the game cause I killed it at the checkpoint mark, and finally, finishing the mission.
After that utter slog fest, I played for a couple more missions which involved me reaching some insane twists in the story before stopping for the night, and whilst every part of me is screaming at me to play more, I know I should do some writing work for the day so as to not be completely unproductive during this period.
It will mainly be a ramble about looking ahead to the future today, not sure how long it will be, but it ties into the “review” segment of the day nicely.
The nights are getting darker, which comes as a double-edged sword for myself because I love the fact it gets darker earlier in winter even as the lack of sunlight plays havoc with my Seasonal Affective Disorder, and whilst it does not really apply this year, I do hold an appreciation for the slow down on activities as the year draws closer to an end.
Things will not really slow down for me though, as I will still be shooting off applications even as hiring teams go on Christmas parties and breaks. The end of the year can be a gamble on what will be posted, either stopping completely as no one wants to hire in the November/December months, or scrambling for new staff as budget needs to be spent before a certain point. I will keep myself as optimistic as can be, but I know there will likely be difficulties ahead.
I still hold out hope for a better future though, and whilst I remain actively aware of a time limit on my current savings, I know that keeping myself on the right path will yield fruit.
And I do this all because even in my darkest moments, when the way ahead looks bleak, I try to think about the future I will have with my partner, and all the things we still want to experience. Be it video games, in-person events, or simply being able to continue spending time together, I want to have a future with him no matter what.
I… ran out of steam much faster than I anticipated for this one, but I think I have said what I wanted to say in a concise manner for once, so, I am going to move on to the Warhammer Wednesday review segment, which because I still have not had the drive to do anything with my models yet, will be talking once more about Space Marine 2, my main way of engaging with the medium as a whole.
Specifically, their roadmap for their third year of free content drops and paid cosmetic DLC.
In an age where meaningful new content is gated behind paywalls, it is appreciated seeing Saber Interaction (for all their faults) put effort into making Space Marine 2 a fleshed-out product that has kept me surprisingly engaged, especially now that I have a regular full group of people to play with.
Coming tomorrow is a patch adding in a twist on the regular siege mode, instead focusing on playing Chaos Space Marines against Tyranids and the forces of the Imperium. I am a little annoyed that the cosmetics for this mode continue to be locked behind progression in the PvP area of the game, though that is more of a personal gripe than anything else because I really do not want to commit the time into getting good at PvP when I have so much else to play and do.
There is also the “Crucible System”, which to quote the Community Update itself:
“Challenge yourself with the new Crucible mode to earn Crucible XP and unlock the Lamenters armour set. Talk to the Chapter Chaplain in the Battle Barge to pick your Penances. Penances are personal debuffs that are designed to offer a tougher challenge to end game players.”
Admittedly, this is not really something that interests me. My group has not even managed to reliably tackle missions on the higher end of difficulty, with one mission in particular being a struggle even on lower difficulties, so adding in even more challenge is probably not the direction we will be going. That said, having more options for end-game players to challenge themselves is always something I will celebrate being included – even if I am not really fond of them myself.
We also have the rework of the Tactical Marine class, alongside a bevy of reworks coming throughout the next year to other classes and systems in the game… none of which affect my preferred class of Assault Marine, meaning I am perfect in every way and can continue to be death from above with a variety of pistols and axes.
The main headline from the upcoming roadmap is the addition of the Apothecary class, traditionally a more medically inclined marine that will wield the signature weapon of the “Absolver Bolt Pistol”, presumably alongside the “Narthecium” for healing, buffs, and anything else the class may entail. This was quite a surprise, as a lot of the mutterings in the community at large were anticipating this class to be the Judiciar instead, being the precursor to a Chaplain in the updated lore. I will not complain about extra support options though.
In terms of the cosmetic DLC packs, whilst the Space Wolves Champion Pack for the Bulwark class looks interesting as someone who absolutely loves the aesthetic of the Wolves, not much is catching my eye to actually invest my limited funds into the next season pass. I know I saw a fair bit of chatter about the Crimson Fists actually getting represented in game, albeit after several successor chapters had the spotlight before them.
Y’know it is kind of weird in hindsight to talk about the roadmap and have most of my thoughts be “this is nice but a lot of it is not really for me”, though I guess my appreciation is still in having this much new content being available freely. New missions, classes, and equipment that can be bought with earnable in-game currency shows how serious the studio is taking this, and with Space Marine 3 still being another two or three years away, I doubt they will drop support for a while yet.
My group and I will continue to play all the same, as the loop of the Operations and Siege modes scratch an itch inside my brain that craves violence in the form of heavily armoured super soldiers…
…that and it is really easy to cop out on Warhammer Wednesday content by writing about the game, though I really should return to my models soon, especially if the job search does not yield fruit soon.
My brain really has been broken by playing so much Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve (the bit of spelling out the game title will continue until I get my review out there), which has put a damper on my writing work. Still, I appreciate you reading today’s edition of the Redundancy Review. Wherever you are, I hope you are able to engage in your own hobbies, whatever they may be. The state of the world right now makes it hard for people to find the time or the funds, but I sincerely wish you are able to find either for whatever makes you happy.
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