This was a fantastic AP write up! The switch in perspective to the NPC was really well written - a noticeable difference in perspective on their viewpoints of the setting. I am not familiar with the Stalker games, the story Roadside Picnic or the movie Stalker and I think I will keep it that way for the time being. I want to do my own session with only reading the rules and your actual play. So far, I have read this actual play and a once over of the Niv Lova rules and am very intrigued. The Kal-Arath ruleset is my favorite right now, so I will have something familiar to work with when I roll up a scavenger and set forth into the zone.
I've had some saving issues (I play the Gamepass version through Gamepass). Lost almost 15 hours til now. Still, can't think of dropping the game. GOTY!
Thanks for your post, Stalker. Keep playing, keep writing!
did you lose saves or had you not saved in awhile? I haven't seen many bugs. It's so atmospheric. I did get annoyed by being unable to do any platforming successfully to pick up a stash, only to have bandits walk in every 30 seconds while I'm attempting...
Lost saves. It was an known issue in GeForceNOW + Gamepass, solved now. Yeah, the game has some bugs, spawn's messed up, vaulting is bad in some places, but I'm really enjoying it. The game's pretty good and it's gonna be better in some time. Let's go.
I fell hard for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games long ago and have watched some of the movie adaptation of Roadside Picnic in the last six to eight months or so… this really felt of a part with the source material! No mean feat given the amount of more gonzo, OSR-adjacent material out there that is seeking to emulate the post-apocalyptic style/genre.
Really looking forward to more of this but also to getting to play Niv Lova!
This was a fantastic AP write up! The switch in perspective to the NPC was really well written - a noticeable difference in perspective on their viewpoints of the setting. I am not familiar with the Stalker games, the story Roadside Picnic or the movie Stalker and I think I will keep it that way for the time being. I want to do my own session with only reading the rules and your actual play. So far, I have read this actual play and a once over of the Niv Lova rules and am very intrigued. The Kal-Arath ruleset is my favorite right now, so I will have something familiar to work with when I roll up a scavenger and set forth into the zone.
Thanks so much! I'd be happy to hear about your experience.
I've started playing Stalker 2 last night and this post was just in very good timing. Can't wait for more!
Me too! I died to the very first Mutant twice! I loved it!
I've had some saving issues (I play the Gamepass version through Gamepass). Lost almost 15 hours til now. Still, can't think of dropping the game. GOTY!
Thanks for your post, Stalker. Keep playing, keep writing!
did you lose saves or had you not saved in awhile? I haven't seen many bugs. It's so atmospheric. I did get annoyed by being unable to do any platforming successfully to pick up a stash, only to have bandits walk in every 30 seconds while I'm attempting...
Lost saves. It was an known issue in GeForceNOW + Gamepass, solved now. Yeah, the game has some bugs, spawn's messed up, vaulting is bad in some places, but I'm really enjoying it. The game's pretty good and it's gonna be better in some time. Let's go.
Unsurprisingly, this is fantastic!
I fell hard for the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games long ago and have watched some of the movie adaptation of Roadside Picnic in the last six to eight months or so… this really felt of a part with the source material! No mean feat given the amount of more gonzo, OSR-adjacent material out there that is seeking to emulate the post-apocalyptic style/genre.
Really looking forward to more of this but also to getting to play Niv Lova!
This was great, thank you for writing this up and sharing with us. Appreciate it!