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Other Discussion Boards => Arts & Entertainment => Topic started by: rooster on December 01, 2013, 08:29:19 PM

Title: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 01, 2013, 08:29:19 PM
Original post from the old thread:

So yes, I decided I had to make another general thread because I'm tired of sitting there thinking of whether or not I should make an entire thread about a game just because I want to say something about it. Of course, specialized threads for specific games and series are still great if you want to talk about them, but here's a place where you can just comment on something you're playing, something you just played, or whatnot.

I'm resurrecting this one because I had just recently posted that I started playing Baldur's Gate multiplayer with A&A. The game itself is fun, but the damn thing keeps crashing to the point of being impossible to play. It's very upsetting.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 01, 2013, 10:02:50 PM
Pokemon is so damn easy now. The singleplayer used to be a bit of a challenge when you hit a gym leader that countered your lineup or battled your rival in the late game. Now every gym leader has like 3 pokemon that I one shot, and my rival isn't any different. You'd also get stuck on certain puzzles in your journey that you had to figure out, now there's a ridiculous amount of hand holding.

The game looks great and plays well but it's disappointing that I have to go online to get a real challenge.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 01, 2013, 10:05:57 PM
poke 'em, mon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Foxbox on December 01, 2013, 10:07:11 PM
poke 'em, mon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 01, 2013, 10:47:50 PM
Pokemon is so damn easy now. The singleplayer used to be a bit of a challenge when you hit a gym leader that countered your lineup or battled your rival in the late game. Now every gym leader has like 3 pokemon that I one shot, and my rival isn't any different. You'd also get stuck on certain puzzles in your journey that you had to figure out, now there's a ridiculous amount of hand holding.

The game looks great and plays well but it's disappointing that I have to go online to get a real challenge.

Implying the gym leaders were ever actually difficult
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 01, 2013, 10:53:28 PM
Pokemon is so damn easy now. The singleplayer used to be a bit of a challenge when you hit a gym leader that countered your lineup or battled your rival in the late game. Now every gym leader has like 3 pokemon that I one shot, and my rival isn't any different. You'd also get stuck on certain puzzles in your journey that you had to figure out, now there's a ridiculous amount of hand holding.

The game looks great and plays well but it's disappointing that I have to go online to get a real challenge.
It is tons easier. The pokemon level up a lot faster and I didn't once faint during the league battles. Too easy really.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 01, 2013, 10:54:40 PM
Or maybe you got better at selecting the correct option given four
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 01, 2013, 11:02:11 PM
Or maybe you got better at selecting the correct option given four
Nah, I was playing Pokemon Pearl just a few months ago and I was having to grind my pokemon to level up since the Elites' pokemon were stronger than mine when I got to them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 01, 2013, 11:49:19 PM
Pokemon is so damn easy now. The singleplayer used to be a bit of a challenge when you hit a gym leader that countered your lineup or battled your rival in the late game. Now every gym leader has like 3 pokemon that I one shot, and my rival isn't any different. You'd also get stuck on certain puzzles in your journey that you had to figure out, now there's a ridiculous amount of hand holding.

The game looks great and plays well but it's disappointing that I have to go online to get a real challenge.

Implying the gym leaders were ever actually difficult

First gen gym leaders were difficult. At least, when I did them as a kid they were and Pokemon was pretty easy to understand back then. I haven't done the elite 4 yet but I doubt they're any more difficult than anything else in the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Alchemist21 on December 01, 2013, 11:55:01 PM
Video games are generally harder when you're a kid.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 01, 2013, 11:57:58 PM
Video games are generally harder when you're a kid.

Well, yeah, but I don't think that accounts for the difference in difficulty. I remember getting stuck on Snorlax as a kid. It wasn't a terribly hard thing to figure out, but there wasn't any hand holding involved. In Pokemon Y they basically give you the damn flute after introducing the problem.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 02, 2013, 02:51:18 AM
No. I was playing Pokemon Pearl just a couple of months ago and gave up cause I hate grinding, I beat Pokemon Y without fainting once. Definitely not a kid vs. adult situation. The game is just too easy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 02, 2013, 03:23:06 AM
I fainted once when I got into a sky battle with my only flying pokemon, which had low HP.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 02, 2013, 04:08:41 AM
I'm going on a DLC binge on my 360, now that I have a big-ass hard drive that I got for GTA V.  And speaking of GTA, I've completed the two DLCs from GTA IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: DuckDodgers on December 02, 2013, 04:26:18 AM
I picked up the Elder Scrolls Anthology over the weekend.  Started replaying Morrowind and I forgot just how much the humanoid enemies kicked ass at lower levels.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 02, 2013, 06:06:16 AM
Video games are for children.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 02, 2013, 09:07:49 AM
Video games spread paedophilia.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 02, 2013, 08:48:43 PM
(http://oi41.tinypic.com/2z4fxvs.jpg)
I am best seafarer.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 02, 2013, 09:19:08 PM
(http://oi41.tinypic.com/2z4fxvs.jpg)
I am best seafarer.

When pangaea maps go bad.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on December 02, 2013, 09:44:40 PM
Let's have an FES Civ V party at some point or someshit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 03, 2013, 01:59:09 AM
Whelp, the ending to Pokemon Y was somewhat contrived and easy to see coming, but it did get to me. Now to play the real game on multiplayer, I guess. Also I caved and bought a link between worlds.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 03, 2013, 04:02:51 AM
Whelp, the ending to Pokemon Y was somewhat contrived and easy to see coming, but it did get to me. Now to play the real game on multiplayer, I guess. Also I caved and bought a link between worlds.
Yes, well it is a Pokemon game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on December 03, 2013, 06:52:45 AM
I play Madden (PS3) and Dota. Let me know if you want free lessons on either game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 03, 2013, 11:23:53 AM
Let's have an FES Civ V party at some point or someshit.
Yes. Let's.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 03, 2013, 04:05:51 PM
Let's have an FES Civ V party at some point or someshit.
Yes. Let's.
I would be up for that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on December 03, 2013, 09:07:06 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games. That said, I can see how the gameplay would lend itself well to a multiplayer session with a lot of fags, so I would join.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 03, 2013, 09:30:59 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games.

How very strange.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 03, 2013, 09:34:30 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games.

How very strange.

You're a consolefag, you wouldn't understand.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on December 03, 2013, 09:51:08 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games.

How very strange.

It was on sale Sadaam. Also everybody in the room wanted to have a Civ LAN party so there was a lot of peer pressure to contend with Saddam.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 03, 2013, 10:10:49 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games.

How very strange.

It was on sale Sadaam. Also everybody in the room wanted to have a Civ LAN party so there was a lot of peer pressure to contend with Saddam.
You can't have a LAN party unless all players are on the same local network, dummy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 03, 2013, 10:11:38 PM
I just bought Civilization V a few days ago, even though I hate the series and all other turn based strategy games.

How very strange.

It was on sale Sadaam. Also everybody in the room wanted to have a Civ LAN party so there was a lot of peer pressure to contend with Saddam.
You can't have a LAN party unless all players are on the same local network, dummy.

He didn't say anything to suggest otherwise...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 03, 2013, 10:15:41 PM
I thought he was talking about PizzaPlanet's suggestion.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 03, 2013, 10:16:41 PM
I thought he was talking about PizzaPlanet's suggestion.

Dummy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 03, 2013, 10:17:30 PM
Honk Honk
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Excelsior John on December 03, 2013, 10:23:56 PM
Original post from the old thread:

So yes, I decided I had to make another general thread because I'm tired of sitting there thinking of whether or not I should make an entire thread about a game just because I want to say something about it. Of course, specialized threads for specific games and series are still great if you want to talk about them, but here's a place where you can just comment on something you're playing, something you just played, or whatnot.

I'm resurrecting this one because I had just recently posted that I started playing Baldur's Gate multiplayer with A&A. The game itself is fun, but the damn thing keeps crashing to the point of being impossible to play. It's very upsetting.
GTA 5 ALL DAY BABAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 03, 2013, 10:58:32 PM
Let's have an FES Civ V party at some point or someshit.
Yes. Let's.
I would be up for that.

Because this went so well last time. :P
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on December 04, 2013, 01:38:16 AM
Because this went so well last time. :P
Civ V has hot join mode now. It won't let you host a proper dedicated server, but I wouldn't mind running my laptop 24/7 to act as the host. As such, we could play this in a similar fashion to Conquer Club.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 04, 2013, 01:48:12 AM
Played about an hour of A Link Between Worlds, and I'm liking it on the 2DS. The joystick is much better than the dpad was for controls in A Link to the Past and I'm liking the early story more. Besides that it's pretty similar so far.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Adolf Hipster on December 04, 2013, 02:40:12 AM
I've been playing Counter Strike: Source a lot.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 04, 2013, 03:47:58 AM
I've been playing Counter Strike: Source a lot.

I recently bought CS:GO for $3 so I've been playing that. I like it more than CS:S, except that every server seems to have AWPs turned on so I can't escape the damn thing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 07, 2013, 10:00:46 PM
I'm up to Lorule now in ALBW, and it's been very enjoyable so far. It's much easier than ALttP was, but I guess that's to be expected. The puzzles are enjoyable, and the 2D mechanic is really good both as a puzzle tool and a combat tool.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 09, 2013, 03:09:27 AM
I'm playing Okami HD on PS3 right now. It's a game I've always wanted to play but never really got around to it. The annoying gibberish noises that are made when text is being shown is the only complaint I can have so far.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: ﮎingulaЯiτy on December 09, 2013, 07:50:42 AM
Monaco.
It's basically a multiplayer thief version of Pacman.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 09, 2013, 03:33:35 PM
Just got the Gamecube fired up at my new flat and have been dying in Ikaruga again. One of the toughest games ever made. Seriously, 'hardcore' doesn't even begin to describe how insane it actually is.

Bear in mind when you watch this video that it is only level 2 of 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-zSi0xt9fY

Level 5 was, I think, designed by machines for machines. My jaw dropped at the skill of the player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNSdcy-apU
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 09, 2013, 04:50:01 PM
I'm going on a DLC binge on my 360, now that I have a big-ass hard drive that I got for GTA V.  And speaking of GTA, I've completed the two DLCs from GTA IV, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony.

Currently, I am working on Fallout: New Vegas's DLC, like I mentioned back on .org.  I have a lot of mixed opinions on them so far.  Here, I shall refer you to the words of Sir Drainsalot:

http://theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=59322.msg1521668#msg1521668

Quote
Don't get me started on bloody Dead Money. I played all the DLCs in release order (DM>HH>OWB>LR) so that was my first taste of New Vegas DLC. To start with I really enjoyed the change to melee and stealth combat. Then by the time the holograms showed up I was wanting to put a nail through the eye of whoever thought those speaker things were a good idea. In one or two places, to keep you on your toes? That'd be great. Every 10 sodding feet so you can't even explore what is admittedly an excellent location? Yeah thanks guys, that combined with jumping puzzles on your clunky obsolete game engine isn't a recipe for frustration at all. So many games have great combat but meh storylines, Dead Money proved the opposite is even worse.

Honest Hearts was....odd. My first playthrough I ended up shooting Follows Chalk by accident (again great game design there) and basically failed the entire thing instantly and was back in the Mojave within 30 minutes. Reloaded an earlier save and tried again and it wasn't much better doing it correctly. They created this lovely location, such a refreshing change, and couldn't seem to fill it with anything to keep me occupied. Fetch quests galore.

Old World Blues was from start to finish one of the most excellent add ons of all time I think. I'm still having nightmares about the goddamn Y17 harnesses. I won't spoil anymore for those that haven't played it.

I agree with pretty much all of this.  I mean, I didn't kill Follows-Chalk, and I'm not having any nightmares about the Y-17 harnesses (as creepy as they were), but his criticisms are spot-on.  Another issue I had with Honest Hearts was that not only were the quests exceptionally dull, but that the overall story didn't add up to anything more than yet another rehash of the tired "white savior" trope, in all its arrogant, patronizing glory.

Anyway, I haven't played Lonesome Road yet.  I guess that one's next.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 09, 2013, 05:01:28 PM
Honest Hearts was better without the quests, just exploring the lovely, lovely location was fun for me. I remember being attacked by 3 or 4 giant yao guais and hiding in a ranger station with Follows Chalk, waiting for them to go away. When it was clear that they weren't giving up we made a run for it and jumped off a bridge into the river to escape them. I survived with a little bit of HP remaining, Follows Chalk was not so lucky. Terrifying.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 09, 2013, 06:43:12 PM
Hmm, I never played NV DLC. I didn't like that one as much as Fallout 3. Are you going to play FO3 DLC?

I'm asking for a PS2 for Christmas. I really miss that console.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 09, 2013, 08:55:13 PM
Honest Hearts was better without the quests, just exploring the lovely, lovely location was fun for me. I remember being attacked by 3 or 4 giant yao guais and hiding in a ranger station with Follows Chalk, waiting for them to go away. When it was clear that they weren't giving up we made a run for it and jumped off a bridge into the river to escape them. I survived with a little bit of HP remaining, Follows Chalk was not so lucky. Terrifying.

That's odd.  Aren't your followers basically immortal?

Anyway, I agree that the location was the best part of the add-on, but that just makes it all the more frustrating to me that they didn't give you anything good to do there.  So much wasted potential.

Hmm, I never played NV DLC. I didn't like that one as much as Fallout 3. Are you going to play FO3 DLC?

Casualfag!  Scrub!  Noob!  Philistine!

Yes, I am.  Just as soon as I'm finished with NV.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 09, 2013, 09:41:51 PM
All I know is that he followed me out of the ranger station and I didn't hear from him again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 09, 2013, 11:18:16 PM
Just got the Gamecube fired up at my new flat and have been dying in Ikaruga again. One of the toughest games ever made. Seriously, 'hardcore' doesn't even begin to describe how insane it actually is.

Bear in mind when you watch this video that it is only level 2 of 5

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-zSi0xt9fY

Level 5 was, I think, designed by machines for machines. My jaw dropped at the skill of the player.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGNSdcy-apU

Yikes...that looks like my kind of game! I love bullet hell games to death, I must find a copy O:
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 10, 2013, 01:21:18 AM
A modest review by a modest man:

http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=ikaruga
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 10, 2013, 09:00:57 AM
Quote
Yikes...that looks like my kind of game! I love bullet hell games to death, I must find a copy O:

Apparently it's on Steam and the XBox market (whatever you call it)

I've had the game about 10 years and I still haven't beaten the level 4 boss. If you take too long to kill the boss they just leave and give you a terrible level ranking.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 16, 2013, 04:25:46 AM
And now I've beaten Lonesome Road.  To once more quote Sir Drainsalot:

Quote
Lonesome road reminded me a lot of DM - started off well then slowly died. At least the combat wasn't quite to head-bashingly frustrating. But the latter half has all the hallmarks of a ran-out-of-time-and-money job. A sandbox game reduced to a single linear path? Check. Entire plot threads dangled and then forgotten about? Check. Disappointing final boss showdown? Oh yes, without the effort to even animate the guys face, so we'll just stick a mask on there. It says something that the best character in there was an eyebot.

And here's something from Chris:

Quote
I didn't like Lonesome Road, I thought it prescribed too much of your character's back-story. By the time my courier got there he wouldn't have done half the things Ullyses accused him of. I also didn't like the really linear path and the lack of humour.

There was some cool new equipment in this one, like that rocket launcher.  The combat was fairly challenging.  And I really liked the harsh, bleak environment, which seemed like the ideal setting to finally close out the game's story.  That's about all the good things I can say for this one.  I actually feel a little bad for criticizing Honest Hearts after playing this.  I mean, for fuck's sake, this add-on doesn't just feel rushed, it feels unfinished!  Where are the sidequests?  Where are the other characters?  Where are the opportunities for exploration?  Where's the roleplaying?  Where's the opening introduction so we know what the fuck is going on?  Where's the setup for why the Courier is even bothering to do all this shit in the first place?  I'm doing it because I want to play through the DLC, of course, but surely there has to be some kind of in-universe motivation for the character, right?

Speaking of characters and their motivations, Ulysses sucked.  I think Obsidian really wanted to portray him as a super-deep and complex character whose quest to destroy the player is totally understandable, but it didn't work.  At best, he came across as a deranged nut.  And his feud with the Courier had no personal resonance with me at all, because of the simple fact that I had nothing to do with what happened to the Divide.  It was in the past!  Now, if they could have played around with the timeline a bit and tied the destruction of the Divide to something that happened during the main story, something that the Courier did while being controlled by the player, then maybe it could have worked.  But to simply make up an event that predates the main story and expect the player to feel any kind of guilt or responsibility for it?  No.  That's just stupid.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 16, 2013, 06:47:54 AM
100 in speech and I got him to help me instead of trying to kill me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 16, 2013, 07:35:54 AM
And now I've beaten Lonesome Road.  To once more quote Sir Drainsalot:

Quote
Lonesome road reminded me a lot of DM - started off well then slowly died. At least the combat wasn't quite to head-bashingly frustrating. But the latter half has all the hallmarks of a ran-out-of-time-and-money job. A sandbox game reduced to a single linear path? Check. Entire plot threads dangled and then forgotten about? Check. Disappointing final boss showdown? Oh yes, without the effort to even animate the guys face, so we'll just stick a mask on there. It says something that the best character in there was an eyebot.

And here's something from Chris:

Quote
I didn't like Lonesome Road, I thought it prescribed too much of your character's back-story. By the time my courier got there he wouldn't have done half the things Ullyses accused him of. I also didn't like the really linear path and the lack of humour.

There was some cool new equipment in this one, like that rocket launcher.  The combat was fairly challenging.  And I really liked the harsh, bleak environment, which seemed like the ideal setting to finally close out the game's story.  That's about all the good things I can say for this one.  I actually feel a little bad for criticizing Honest Hearts after playing this.  I mean, for fuck's sake, this add-on doesn't just feel rushed, it feels unfinished!  Where are the sidequests?  Where are the other characters?  Where are the opportunities for exploration?  Where's the roleplaying?  Where's the opening introduction so we know what the fuck is going on?  Where's the setup for why the Courier is even bothering to do all this shit in the first place?  I'm doing it because I want to play through the DLC, of course, but surely there has to be some kind of in-universe motivation for the character, right?

Speaking of characters and their motivations, Ulysses sucked.  I think Obsidian really wanted to portray him as a super-deep and complex character whose quest to destroy the player is totally understandable, but it didn't work.  At best, he came across as a deranged nut.  And his feud with the Courier had no personal resonance with me at all, because of the simple fact that I had nothing to do with what happened to the Divide.  It was in the past!  Now, if they could have played around with the timeline a bit and tied the destruction of the Divide to something that happened during the main story, something that the Courier did while being controlled by the player, then maybe it could have worked.  But to simply make up an event that predates the main story and expect the player to feel any kind of guilt or responsibility for it?  No.  That's just stupid.

NV, more than any other game in the series so far, is about the past, nostalgia, resisting change; its namesake a relic of the Old World kept in working order by Mr House, a man who can't let go; the central event the battle at Hoover Dam, people across the Mojave fearing the inevitable change that will come no matter who is victorious. In keeping with this theme, all the DLC is in some way about people like Mr House: Thinktank, Elijah, Dog, Dean Domino, Joshua Graham and so on, they all want to cling to what is lost forever. Ulysses is the most extreme example, his tenuous grip on the Old World is his raison d'être, he is adorned with its symbols and resides in a place that likely resembles the world in 2077 (the closest he can physically come to the pre-war world), taking refuge from the chaos of the Divide inside a nuclear missile silo, the physical cause of the Old World's destruction. The final conflict of Lonesome Road is symbolic of the final death of the Old World, Ulysses being something like a steadfast cell, if you will, resisting the death and rot that has consumed the rest of the body. There are countless other examples of this throughout the game: a man who thinks himself a god (recalling Caligula) trying to unite the tribes in a simulacrum of Ancient Rome; the BoS resisting necessary change in the face of sure death; Enclave remnants trying but ultimately failing to leave behind their militaristic past; a ghoul who remains forever attached to a lost love and a former life; former soldiers of The Master's army seeking his likeness and dominion in Tabitha, Marcus and even Father Elijah in Dog's case—there are many more besides.

In LR we learn that a package The Courier delivered to the Divide a long time ago was in fact a bomb of some sort, sent by whom and for what reason we do not know. Ulysses doesn't know either, so who else has he, in his nostalgic madness, to blame but the one who made the delivery? When he sees that The Courier would be next in line after him for the Platinum Chip delivery, he quits the job so that they will take it, knowing that he is effectively signing their death warrant. When this plan fails, his obsession and desire for revenge grows even stronger, and he decides to do the job himself, calling The Courier out to one of the most inhospitable places in the west, knowing that, if they don't die on their way there, he will do everything in his power to destroy them with his own hands. Ultimately he cannot do this and, one way or another, lets go of the past. This fits with the idea that The Courier is the agent of change and bringer of closure to the inhabitants of the Mojave, with LR as the ultimate act of closure and Hoover Dam as the ultimate act of change.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 16, 2013, 07:47:18 PM
Nah, it was just a shitty add-on.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lemon on December 16, 2013, 10:08:02 PM
Dead Money... motherf-ing Dead Money. Ugh... *curls up into ball*
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 17, 2013, 12:17:05 AM
Playing Super Mario U and Rayman Legends on the Wii U and both are pretty fun. Trying to get a copy of the Metroid Prime trilogy but it's so damn hard to find anywhere. Also, DayZ standalone alpha was just released, so my holidays are probably going to be consumed by that as well.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 17, 2013, 04:22:12 AM
omg i am so defeated
I'm glad we could come to an amiable agreement on the matter.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 17, 2013, 04:37:21 AM
Played about an hour of A Link Between Worlds, and I'm liking it on the 2DS. The joystick is much better than the dpad was for controls in A Link to the Past and I'm liking the early story more. Besides that it's pretty similar so far.

buuuuut you're missing out on the best 3D ever ;o;
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 17, 2013, 04:51:59 AM
Played about an hour of A Link Between Worlds, and I'm liking it on the 2DS. The joystick is much better than the dpad was for controls in A Link to the Past and I'm liking the early story more. Besides that it's pretty similar so far.

buuuuut you're missing out on the best 3D ever ;o;

I played it in 3D on a friend's XL. Wasn't terribly impressed, especially since 3D kills the battery faster. The 2DS feels very cheap and plastic-y, but I'm more than happy with it. ALBW was really fun as well, I'm yet to really delve into hero mode for my second playthrough.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 17, 2013, 12:13:10 PM
ALBW?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 17, 2013, 12:32:34 PM
ALBW?

Yes, the game we're currently talking about

Also, although I have an XL, I play games (ALBW included) on 2D about 95% percent of the time. I can only really enjoy the 3D effect in 30 second bursts until I'm reminded why it's a fucking nuisance.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 17, 2013, 03:58:24 PM
Played about an hour of A Link Between Worlds, and I'm liking it on the 2DS. The joystick is much better than the dpad was for controls in A Link to the Past and I'm liking the early story more. Besides that it's pretty similar so far.

buuuuut you're missing out on the best 3D ever ;o;

Also, the 2DS is among the ugliest consoles I've seen since the Virtual Boy. Why didn't you just get a cheapish 2nd hand 3DS?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 17, 2013, 03:59:31 PM
ALBW?

A Link Between Worlds, do try to keep up.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 17, 2013, 04:37:59 PM
Also, although I have an XL, I play games (ALBW included) on 2D about 95% percent of the time. I can only really enjoy the 3D effect in 30 second bursts until I'm reminded why it's a fucking nuisance.

Really? I don't understand how everyone seems to be so bad with the 3D. I use it 99% of the time with literally no problem. None. Not a single one. It takes me literally no time to find the "sweet spot" and I never end up outside of it unless on purpose. I move the 3DS around, change positions, move around, raise and lower it all with not even the slightest problem. The 3D has literally never been a problem for me and the only time I have it off is if someone wants to see what I'm doing.

Plus I think A Link Between Worlds is gorgeous with it, especially the awesome perspective effects and their dizzying use of the stereoscopy in various dungeons and caves.

Obviously I don't care what anyone plays it on and if you prefer it without 3D that's fine, I just really don't understand how people seem to have such a difficult time with it. With the sheer amount of people I meet who have so much trouble with the 3D I feel like either everyone took literally ten seconds to try to figure it out before going all old and "grarh this newfangled whirr-sprocket gizmo is terrible!" or I'm some kind of god at using it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 17, 2013, 05:03:34 PM
I rarely have the 3D turned all the way up, just because I mostly play it in bedand the sweet spot is harder to maintain holding it above your head.

However, playing games like Mario 3D world and Pilot Wings in 2D just isn't as good.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 17, 2013, 05:55:18 PM
ALBW?

A Link Between Worlds, do try to keep up.
Right. I skipped that one and thought you guys were just talking about A Link to the Past.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 17, 2013, 06:11:30 PM
Also, although I have an XL, I play games (ALBW included) on 2D about 95% percent of the time. I can only really enjoy the 3D effect in 30 second bursts until I'm reminded why it's a fucking nuisance.

Really? I don't understand how everyone seems to be so bad with the 3D. I use it 99% of the time with literally no problem. None. Not a single one. It takes me literally no time to find the "sweet spot" and I never end up outside of it unless on purpose. I move the 3DS around, change positions, move around, raise and lower it all with not even the slightest problem. The 3D has literally never been a problem for me and the only time I have it off is if someone wants to see what I'm doing.

Plus I think A Link Between Worlds is gorgeous with it, especially the awesome perspective effects and their dizzying use of the stereoscopy in various dungeons and caves.

Obviously I don't care what anyone plays it on and if you prefer it without 3D that's fine, I just really don't understand how people seem to have such a difficult time with it. With the sheer amount of people I meet who have so much trouble with the 3D I feel like either everyone took literally ten seconds to try to figure it out before going all old and "grarh this newfangled whirr-sprocket gizmo is terrible!" or I'm some kind of god at using it.
I really don't have too much trouble with it either in regards to finding the sweet spot. But sometimes having the 3D maxed can make me a little queasy after awhile.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 17, 2013, 08:25:29 PM
Obviously I don't care what anyone plays it on and if you prefer it without 3D that's fine, I just really don't understand how people seem to have such a difficult time with it. With the sheer amount of people I meet who have so much trouble with the 3D I feel like either everyone took literally ten seconds to try to figure it out before going all old and "grarh this newfangled whirr-sprocket gizmo is terrible!" or I'm some kind of god at using it.

I've used it for around an hour with both Pokemon and ALBW. I'm more interested in the gameplay, I didn't find the 3D to be much more than a gimmick. There's probably games out there that capitalise on it more than ALBW does, but I'm not really interested in them.

Even with the small screen on the 2DS, ALBW looks very pretty. The only thing I'd get the XL for is the big screen, which is great, but I found it to be a tad dimmer than the 2DS because of the 3D feature.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: DDDDAts all folks on December 17, 2013, 11:02:30 PM
Homeworld 2

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 17, 2013, 11:10:27 PM
Just started Dead Money for the first time. Been really boring so far.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 18, 2013, 12:22:01 AM
Just started Dead Money for the first time. Been really boring so far.

Chronologically, that's the first one you're supposed to do.  The game's going to assume that you haven't already done OWB and LR, so prepare for some confusion on that front.  (You've obviously already done LR, but have you done OWB?  Pretty much everyone agrees that it's the best one.)  But anyway, I really liked DM.  I suppose it is kind of boring at the start, and there are points when it becomes head-bashingly frustrating, but it's worth sticking through to the end.  It definitely has the strongest narrative of all the add-ons, and for me, that was enough to overlook that stupid "beep beep beep BEEP BEEP BEEP (head explodes)."
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2013, 12:39:05 AM
I finished LR and started OWB with a previous character before I figured out I was playing them in the wrong order. Going to play them chronologically this time.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 18, 2013, 02:10:24 AM
It makes no sense that the chronological order doesn't also go in order of difficulty! >o<
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 18, 2013, 04:24:03 AM
I really don't have too much trouble with it either in regards to finding the sweet spot. But sometimes having the 3D maxed can make me a little queasy after awhile.
I've used it for around an hour with both Pokemon and ALBW. I'm more interested in the gameplay, I didn't find the 3D to be much more than a gimmick. There's probably games out there that capitalise on it more than ALBW does, but I'm not really interested in them.

Even with the small screen on the 2DS, ALBW looks very pretty. The only thing I'd get the XL for is the big screen, which is great, but I found it to be a tad dimmer than the 2DS because of the 3D feature.

Yeah, those I can understand (though I'm luckily not someone that any sort of 3D has any negative effect on). It's merely a conflict of opinions, but I wholeheartedly disagree about the 3D being a gimmick...well, except in the case of Pokémon, which uses it horribly and has frequent sub-15 fps drops with it on. In that game I turn 3D off every time I'm in a battle (unless it's an important one, like a gym battle, since those usually run fine). Otherwise, yeah.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 18, 2013, 12:04:38 PM
Really? Pokemon runs fine maxed out for me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 18, 2013, 01:15:29 PM
Homeworld 2

Loved the first HW, even if it was fiendishly difficult.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 18, 2013, 08:17:07 PM
Huh..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvgUWzfCkTo
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 18, 2013, 09:15:25 PM
Oh...oh my...oh my god

im literally bursting with joy, joy is literally pushing outward from inside and tearing me at the hypothetical seams, i got so excited watching the first thirty seconds that i stopped because i'm already sold and i don't want to see a single thing more until i have that game in my hands

i don't even care if it'll be mediocre because dynasty warriors i just want
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 18, 2013, 09:25:57 PM
Oh...oh my...oh my god

im literally bursting with joy, joy is literally pushing outward from inside and tearing me at the hypothetical seams, i got so excited watching the first thirty seconds that i stopped because i'm already sold and i don't want to see a single thing more until i have that game in my hands

i don't even care if it'll be mediocre because dynasty warriors i just want

The loneliness, the isolation from other children, the false friendships made with in-game characters.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 18, 2013, 09:47:48 PM
It's disappointing the Wii U isn't doing better with sales. There's lots of good Nintendo IPs coming out next year, but there's still a huge lack of 3rd party games. I wonder if games like Hyrule Warriors will keep the console alive.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Alchemist21 on December 19, 2013, 04:49:36 AM
Oh...oh my...oh my god

im literally bursting with joy, joy is literally pushing outward from inside and tearing me at the hypothetical seams, i got so excited watching the first thirty seconds that i stopped because i'm already sold and i don't want to see a single thing more until i have that game in my hands

i don't even care if it'll be mediocre because dynasty warriors i just want

The loneliness, the isolation from other children, the false friendships made with in-game characters.

Other children tend to suck.  Lonliness is a lot better than crappy company.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2013, 07:42:18 AM
Solitude is bliss.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2013, 10:51:24 PM
Just finished Honest Hearts. It was a lot better than dead money, and I found the change of environment quite refreshing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 20, 2013, 03:00:34 AM
Fetch quests and a shitty white savior story.  What's not to love?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 20, 2013, 04:46:13 AM
Mostly I'm surprised beardo liked a story in which religious people are portrayed positively.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 20, 2013, 06:37:38 AM
I was just happy the be rid of the bomb collar, I guess. And I liked the environment. Also, dat Desert Ranger armour. It didn't feel too long or too short either, and I was in no hurry to leave the place whereas I just wanted to get the fuck out of Sierra Madre almost immediately.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 20, 2013, 09:14:08 AM
I restarted the game rather than playing through all of Dead Money. The initial concept was a good one - a group of misfits forced to work together to rob a deadly casino - but the execution bordered on unplayable.

First, that damned gas. I wouldn't mind if there were pockets of it you had to avoid but it was everywhere, turning an environment coloured almost entirely in brown into a disorientating mess. I had to rely on the map far too often simply because I couldn't see anything.
This wouldn't be too bad if the map weren't utterly useless, it was far, far too cluttered to the point where it was impossible to tell if what you were looking at was a corridor, a wall, or something else. It would be confusing enough it was all on a single level, but since they decided to display a dilapidated set of buildings with multiple floors overlaid on top of one another, it became far too easy just to get lost in a relatively small villa. Why didn't they follow the Zelda example, which has had some really confusing dungeons over the years but has always been navigable because of a crisp, clear and uncluttered map layout.
Then there were the blasted radios. Again, a good concept ruined. It could have been fun and ominous if they were an occasional threat to make you cautious of running into a room. Every two freaking steps was just overkill.
Finally, those enemies. The ghost people should have been scary, instead the constant need to dismember them after killing them just became an exercise in frustration.

All in all a confusing, frustrating, bland and claustrophobic mess.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 20, 2013, 09:31:46 AM
Yes. And while Honest Hearts didn't have the most exciting quests, it wasn't a confusing, frustrating, bland and claustrophobic mess.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 20, 2013, 04:31:50 PM
If you talk to Dog long enough, you get a perk that automatically dismembers the enemies when their health reaches zero.  It's not much when it comes to relieving the frustration, but it's something.

Also, Chris, what did you mean when you complained that LR prescribed too much of the Courier's backstory?  I didn't like the backstory simply because, like I said, it was a retarded attempt to lay a guilt trip on the player for something that they literally had nothing to do with, but I don't think it really contradicted anything.  Unless I missed something big, the only thing that was established about the Courier's past was that he delivered the detonator.  Oh, and I suppose that he was a Westerner.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 21, 2013, 12:43:58 PM
I didn't actually bring out Dog even once.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 21, 2013, 05:33:13 PM
If you talk to Dog long enough, you get a perk that automatically dismembers the enemies when their health reaches zero.  It's not much when it comes to relieving the frustration, but it's something.

Also, Chris, what did you mean when you complained that LR prescribed too much of the Courier's backstory?  I didn't like the backstory simply because, like I said, it was a retarded attempt to lay a guilt trip on the player for something that they literally had nothing to do with, but I don't think it really contradicted anything.  Unless I missed something big, the only thing that was established about the Courier's past was that he delivered the detonator.  Oh, and I suppose that he was a Westerner.

It's been a while since I played it but: My Courier was a naive Legion-follower who was impressed by the display of justice and authority shown in that town that you find the people crucified in. He was always honest and finds the duplicity of the NCR to be worse than the brutalism of Ceasar. If I remember right, Ullyses accused the courier of betraying the Legion or the people who lived in the divide...

Basically, what you said, I can't feel guilty about something I didn't do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 21, 2013, 08:56:38 PM
Alright, well, a couple of days ago I finally beat The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds. I'd been playing it in chunks since I liked to use my headphones with the 3DS for it because Zelda music, but then the last few days I've had a ton of time and sat there sinking many hours at a time into it.

Needless to say, afjsdkl I loved it. The game was so beautiful, and revisiting the world of A Link to the Past a hundred or so years later is wonderful. Knowing the land enough to navigate but with enough changes to make it new again, simultaneously getting the feeling of nostalgia alongside that of a new experience. It's amazing. Not to mention that I've never played a game that felt so fluid in every way. Having ALttP's controls and top-down view but with infinite axes of movement was a breathtaking moment from me the moment I started.

I liked the story and its few twists (one that actually surprised me considerably), and most of all I like some of the lore implications found within.

While I'm aware it's all speculation and very little Zelda lore is "canon", blahblah, a little easter egg in the game has some possibly huge implications that get me extremely-excited about where a possible future title could go. I'll get into that more later, even though nobody cares, because I am tired right now. In fact I'll talk about the game in general more later.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 23, 2013, 03:09:31 AM
I briefly returned to GTA V, but the multiplayer is just as clunky and slow as it was before.  Sad.  Anyway, now I'm going to complete F3's DLC.  Operation Anchorage is first.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 23, 2013, 03:22:38 AM
I briefly returned to GTA V, but the multiplayer is just as clunky and slow as it was before.  Sad.  Anyway, now I'm going to complete F3's DLC.  Operation Anchorage is first.
Aww yes, Operation Anchorage. That one wasn't too fun. Out of the DLC I only remember the zombie-esque one and that's cause I really loved it. (I had forgotten all about OA.)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 23, 2013, 03:24:58 AM
Just finished Old World Blues. It had great humour, but I found the quests a bit tedious. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't complete it all in one go.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 23, 2013, 03:32:22 AM
Just finished Old World Blues. It had great humour, but I found the quests a bit tedious. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I didn't complete it all in one go.

The sidequests weren't tedious.  Did you do them?  You can't rush these things! >o<
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 23, 2013, 07:45:46 AM
Probably didn't get all of them, but I did every quest I received, and I talked to everyone. Felt like an endless holotape hunt. And infiltrating the school building over and over again got old fast.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Socker on December 23, 2013, 07:48:02 AM
Steam holiday sale, so I got Witcher 2 for 5 bucks and currently waiting for it to download.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 23, 2013, 06:37:20 PM
https://store.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/#!/en-gb/cid=EP9000-NPEK00189_00-DISCONLYPARENT00

It's happening?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 26, 2013, 11:06:36 PM
I have completed Operation Anchorage and The Pitt.  So far, these add-ons are kind of meh.  Perhaps NV has spoiled me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 27, 2013, 12:01:16 AM
I have completed Operation Anchorage and The Pitt.  So far, these add-ons are kind of meh.  Perhaps NV has spoiled me.
I'm waiting for you to play Mothership Zeta and Point Lookout.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 27, 2013, 01:28:59 AM
Are they better?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 27, 2013, 01:46:30 AM
Are they better?
I remember them being more fun. It's been a couple years though. It might have only been fun for the gimmick of aliens and cliche plantation/zombies though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lemon on December 27, 2013, 01:53:43 AM
I was told that Mothership Zeta kinda sucks. I like anchorage because free stuff.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 27, 2013, 02:17:55 AM
I was told that Mothership Zeta kinda sucks. I like anchorage because free stuff.
It was weird and I think I rushed through it. But you're on a UFO. And aliens!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 27, 2013, 07:32:56 PM
I was told that Mothership Zeta kinda sucks. I like anchorage because free stuff.
Mothership Zeta is by far the most fun I had in F3.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lemon on December 27, 2013, 07:36:31 PM
I was told that Mothership Zeta kinda sucks. I like anchorage because free stuff.
Mothership Zeta is by far the most fun I had in F3.

Alright, fair enough. I only heard. I'll take your word for it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 01, 2014, 09:39:10 PM
I've heard that a lot of people hate it for bringing aliens into the Fallout universe, and also because there's some implication that the aliens might have been responsible for the nuclear war.  For example, here are a couple of discussions on the subject:

http://www.nma-fallout.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=987366

http://www.reddit.com/r/Fallout/comments/1erk0w/

Fair warning, they're full of smug hipsters circlejerking.

I have taken advantage of the free games thing with Xbox Live to download Sleeping Dogs.  Cool.  And on the 16th, it looks like I'll be able to download some shitty-looking Tomb Raider spin-off.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 01, 2014, 09:54:03 PM
I have taken advantage of the free games thing with Xbox Live to download Sleeping Dogs.  Cool.  And on the 16th, it looks like I'll be able to download some shitty-looking Tomb Raider spin-off.

Uncharted isn't on the Xbox.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 01, 2014, 10:07:12 PM
I said spin-off, not rip-off.  You need to lrn2English, you Finfag.  Anyway, this is it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lara_Croft_and_the_Guardian_of_Light

See, it's part of the franchise, but it's not the main series, blah blah blah.  Anyway, it looks like garbage.  But it's free, so I guess I'll get it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 01, 2014, 10:15:23 PM
I've heard very good things about it. It's supposedly far more of a puzzle game than a platforming game, which could be good since neither of those aspects were very good in regular Tomb Raider games.

In fact, I appear to have the game in my Steam library. So I might as well give it a go, and then we'll see who's the one who hates everything! grumble grumble

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 02, 2014, 06:10:11 AM
Totec is an ancient Mesoamerican. Why does he speak English?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 02, 2014, 08:07:14 AM
Monster Hunter, yeeeeeeee
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 02, 2014, 01:36:13 PM
I've been playing A Link Between Worlds recently and I'm not sure what I think about it yet. Don't get me wrong, the artwork, the music, the charm and style of the game are all brilliant, as is the return to ALTTP Hyrule but I'm not sure about the 'rent your equipment' aspect. To me one of the joys of Zelda was being faced with puzzles which you can't tackle at first, then finding the item and having an 'ah-hah!' moment when you realise how the puzzle can be solved. With this game I haven't had that, yet. (Still collecting the pendants and haven't even heard of Lorule in-game.)

Most other Zelda games have big parts  of the world locked away from you until you acquire the equipment needed to tackle them, it is great at rceating the illusion of a young adventurer taking his first steps into the world and getting better as he goes. In ALBW the fact that you can be virtually fully equipped after the first dungeon destroys that illusion.

Oh, and so far it's been far, far too easy. It's a problem that has plagued a lot of recent Zelda titles. Time was, puzzles could leave you scratching your head for hours, even the early dungeons threw up a few toughies (If I recall, Jabu Jabu's belly was the second or third dungeon in Ocarina) Hopefully, it becomes something closer to the Zelda I recognise when we enter Lorule, but at the moment it's far off the top of the Zelda charts.

What was the thinking behind adding specific save points to a portable game? The whole point of the handheld games is that you should be able t pick them up when you have a spare ten minutes and put them down without hassle, you shouldn't need to run back to (admittedly generously spaced) save points.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 05, 2014, 03:37:51 AM
Sleeping Dogs has got to be one of the most predictable and uninspired games I've played in a very long time.  It's basically just a GTA clone set in Hong Kong, and the undercover cop element is packed with almost every single obvious cliché that we've all seen so many times before.  The one thing that really stands out about this game is the kung fu, which is so ridiculously over-the-top that it's awesome.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 05, 2014, 03:56:22 AM
The guy and I have been playing Torchlight II. It's a pretty fun and rather addicting loot RPG.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 07, 2014, 03:08:26 PM
ALBW has seriously come into its own now we've entered Lorule and I've bought most of the equipment apart from the rods and the boomerang. There have been some genuinely challenging dungeons (Ice Ruins, thou art a bitch!)and the world-swapping is well-done and intuitive.

Not sure what princess Hilda's game is, yet. I don't trust her.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 07, 2014, 10:37:04 PM
ALBW has seriously come into its own now we've entered Lorule and I've bought most of the equipment apart from the rods and the boomerang. There have been some genuinely challenging dungeons (Ice Ruins, thou art a bitch!)and the world-swapping is well-done and intuitive.

Not sure what princess Hilda's game is, yet. I don't trust her.

Ugh, the ice one was a bitch. Not because it was hard, but because it was so long and had so many places you could fail. I played like a cheapskate too, so when I lost to the final boss I reset the game and went from my last save point because I didn't want to hire everything again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 07, 2014, 10:42:54 PM
ALBW has seriously come into its own now we've entered Lorule and I've bought most of the equipment apart from the rods and the boomerang. There have been some genuinely challenging dungeons (Ice Ruins, thou art a bitch!)and the world-swapping is well-done and intuitive.

Not sure what princess Hilda's game is, yet. I don't trust her.

Ugh, the ice one was a bitch. Not because it was hard, but because it was so long and had so many places you could fail. I played like a cheapskate too, so when I lost to the final boss I reset the game and went from my last save point because I didn't want to hire everything again.

I'd only died once before the Ice Ruins (in the dark temple) so I had a few thousand rupees spare to buy outright most of my equipment before going in. After dying three or four times and tenting the Fire Rod back each time I got frustrated and went scouring the landscape for enough rupees to buy it outright.

Here's a proptip for getting cash quick - When you complete the Dark Palace, the guards in the maze vanish but the rupees they were guarding don't, there's 45 rupees lying right in front of the door so you can get them, go into the temple, walk out and they'll be back.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 08, 2014, 05:48:51 AM
Doing the rupee collecting mini-game in Lorule is extremely fast, I've found. You get like 300-500 rupees every 30 seconds out of it once you get a good feel for it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 08, 2014, 06:24:33 AM
Doing the rupee collecting mini-game in Lorule is extremely fast, I've found. You get like 300-500 rupees every 30 seconds out of it once you get a good feel for it.

I did it twice and failed twice before thinking "screw this".
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 08, 2014, 06:40:51 AM
Doing the rupee collecting mini-game in Lorule is extremely fast, I've found. You get like 300-500 rupees every 30 seconds out of it once you get a good feel for it.

I did it twice and failed twice before thinking "screw this".

At least get the heart piece...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 12, 2014, 02:41:44 AM
Was the Last of Us as good as everyone seems to think it was? I haven't played it, so I can't have an opinion.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 12, 2014, 05:08:59 AM
I thought it was brilliant, particularly as a story and character piece, but I'll wait for people to come tell you otherwise. :]
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 12, 2014, 09:27:02 AM
I thought it was brilliant, particularly as a story and character piece, but I'll wait for people to come tell you otherwise. :]

Blanko does not simply respond to my requests.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 12, 2014, 09:59:23 AM
TLOU is good. Is it a 10/10 GOTY masterpiece? No, but it's a fine game, especially in the storytelling department. The issues you do come across are more in the content department, as you can see in the game that Naughty Dog tried to do something besides "shoot this zombie/guy ten million times", but for some reason the only thing they came up with was "find a ladder/pallet and move it back to where you came from", and just plain walking. Basically anything besides shooting the same three enemy types over and over is pure filler, so you get tired of it pretty quickly. That being said, when it does come to shooting people, the mechanics are very solid (especially for a console game), and all in all the level designs in fight scenarios are great. It's a shame really, I think it legitimately had potential to be a great game. Virtually all they needed to do was hire someone to design puzzles, or something. But as it stands, the game is plagued with what seem like odd design choices, but I think it comes down to just laziness.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 15, 2014, 04:03:38 AM
So guess who's playing the original F-Zero for SNES? I got it for free through Club Nintendo for Wii U's Virtual Console. It took a race to get used to the controls, but it's really really fun! Much better than I expected.

The Big Blue theme brings back so many memories. <3 I remember it from the Gamecube game and Super Smash Bros. Melee. So great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 15, 2014, 04:21:28 AM
So guess who's playing the original F-Zero for SNES? I got it for free through Club Nintendo for Wii U's Virtual Console. It took a race to get used to the controls, but it's really really fun! Much better than I expected.

You love everything.

Anyway, I'm playing something called Spartacus Legends, a free-to-play (but pay-to-win, of course) title available on Xbox Live.  It's awful, but strangely fascinating at the same time.  You could say it's basically the gaming equivalent of gawking at an accident on the highway.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 15, 2014, 09:52:25 AM
If you were ever on IRC, you'd be surprised to find how much stuff I rant about and disparage. :P
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 15, 2014, 10:41:53 AM
sadaam has too much social life to be on IRC with us nerdy no-lifers.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 15, 2014, 04:28:16 PM
sadaam has too much social life to be on IRC with us nerdy no-lifers.

I am important.  I have a schedule.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 15, 2014, 04:39:52 PM
Saddam has a calendar with things written in it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 15, 2014, 05:47:35 PM
Blanko, I demand some kind of mini-review on that Guardian of Light game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 15, 2014, 05:50:59 PM
Uuhh.. sure, lemme just actually play it first...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Alchemist21 on January 16, 2014, 07:56:18 PM
AC IV Easter Egg :  http://www.gamrreview.com/news/90916/depressing-assassins-creed-iv-easter-egg-found?utm_source=zergnet.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=zergnet_127948

Basically the easter egg was a fuck you to the finder. XD
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 16, 2014, 09:21:08 PM
I've been playing Super Mario 3D World with my nephew and a friend who's leaving for the military soon. I was gonna buy Super Mario Bros. 3 but it wasn't on the eShop and I decided, well...what the hell? It's going to be a long, long time before I get to see him again, so $60 for all of us to have a ton of fun for the last few days is nothing. He's usually more a FPS/"hardcore" type of gamer, but as we played through 3D World we were pretty much dying from fun. The insanity and frustration and laughter felt so, so good. There's a level where you have to all control one creature as it goes down a river and dodge and collect tons of things...by coordinating your actions. We were laughing so hard as we were shouting at each other what to do and when. Unfortunately we didn't get to finish the game, so I'm going to have to by myself (or with my nephew), so I don't know how fun it is as a single-player experience.

That said...I am someone who generally detests multiplayer. I do not like playing games with others and it usually is more frustrating than anything, but that was one of the most fun gaming experiences I've had. That is what I love about Nintendo. They are really good at bringing people together to just have ridiculous fun in a room. I can't imagine that would have been nearly as fun if it had online, so I can kinda see why they didn't put it there. That was insane.

Also, I got NES Remix for myself and it's insanely fun too. Seeing Nintendo screw around with their older games and make you do ridiculous stuff is such crazy fun. In particular, there's a "remix" stage of the arcade Super Mario Bros. where all you have to do is clear a stage...but the screen is constantly shrinking and tile-ing so by half a minute in you see hundreds of tiny little screens of the game and it's hard to make out what's going on. You can stop it momentarily by beating an enemy, but only for a moment. Other games are "do x in y game" or sometimes swapping characters into others' games with their own abilities and stuff. It is ridiculous and wonderful.

That aside, my friend brought Diablo III for his 360 and we were playing it. To be honest, it's not great, but I guess it's not bad. Kind of tedious, boring plot, etc. The only real excitement was finding out what skills you were gonna get each level and finding new equipment. How fast-paced it is is probably its saving grace.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 16, 2014, 09:25:14 PM
That said...I am someone who generally detests multiplayer. I do not like playing games with others and it usually is more frustrating than anything
Why and how come?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 16, 2014, 10:01:58 PM
sadaam
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 16, 2014, 11:00:23 PM
That said...I am someone who generally detests multiplayer. I do not like playing games with others and it usually is more frustrating than anything
Why and how come?

Well, you have to both want to play it the same way or else there's going to be a lot of frustration. That's one thing that rubbed us the wrong way about Diablo III: I wanted to explore every nook and cranny and he was getting bored and annoyed, but if we just rushed through the levels I'd be bored. Two, it's almost always competition even if it's co-op, like about getting more gold/kills/items in that game, and I don't like competing with people. Three, I am not very social and like being alone. Four, if the game has a story it almost always ruins it by killing it as a personal experience, which is fine for games that are made for multiplayer but not so much for games that have it as a main-story addition.

I don't know, I've just never really had more than a couple good multiplayer experiences. The only game I consistently want to play multiplayer is Super Smash Bros., and then I like to mostly do it co-op. I feel bad if I keep beating people over and over on it, and I'm more likely to do versus if I get to put crazy handicaps on myself or if we do crazy game settings that make it insane like what we dubbed "Norfair soccer" where you could die at any second if you aren't watching everything at all times. Five, if you're not there in person you have to either type, which takes you out of the game and is annoying, or speak into a headset or something which I find kinda annoying and bothersome because I don't talk a lot. But playing without either means there's no coordination and it's really impersonal and not a whole lot different from just playing with a computer, except for the fact that you can't tell it what to do.

Then, sometimes, co-op makes things too easy, like, again, Diablo III, or even Borderlands, or, to a certain extent, Super Mario 3D World.

So yeah, there are only a couple of games that have ever reached the perfect scales of everything to make me enjoy them with others, but they are few and far between.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on January 16, 2014, 11:58:37 PM
Been playing neverwinter.

I like the gameplay.  It reminds me of Dragon Age 2 with its fast paced combat.

My biggest complaint is lack of armor models.  Each class doesn't change much as you get new armor.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 17, 2014, 12:54:26 AM
Playing Mario games with friends makes me want to murder them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 17, 2014, 02:11:12 AM
Then you are are the person who is no fun to play with >:O

That said, just finished playing the first level of 3D World with the kids, who are 8-10 years old. Yeah...they're playing the rest on their own
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 20, 2014, 07:35:05 PM
So I've played that Guardian of Light spin-off.  It was better than I expected.  It had some enjoyable puzzles, anyway.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 21, 2014, 04:42:51 PM
A few of my favourite multiplayer games in history:

-Super Smash Bros. - Enough items to help out newbies and endless customisation to make matches exactly as you want them (One of our favourites was a fight between DK and Bowser on the Battlefield stage with the only items being giant mushrooms and metal boxes. The ultimate game of sumo.

-Mario kart: Double Dash-  The standard races and battles are classic mario fun (That is to say you'll end up punching best-loved friends in the face for using a blue mushroom on the last corner) but the co-op added a great new dimension to it, especially if you were both pretty skilled and tended to power-slide around every corner.

-Timesplitters 2: A great FPS with a good mix between humour and seriousness, plus well-balanced weapons and endless customisation.

-007: Everything or Nothing: Not a great game overall, but had a hard-as-nails co-op campaign which took place in the background of the 1-player mode.

-Bonanza Bros. (Sega megadrive) - Brilliantly simple, you both work together to sneak into a building, steal some valuables and escape the cartoony traps and clueless security guards. Although you can steal the other's valuables when they lose a life, if there are still treasures inside after one player has escaped, you both fail.

LEGO: Star Wars: - Yes it's very easy and very silly, but there's great cooperation needed to get through, whilst giving you enough slapstick ways to attack your partner to make half of games descend into tit-for-tat fights between R2-D2 and Boba Fett.

Warioware Smooth Moves: Pick the nose! Stroke the Cat! Fly the plane! Shoot the Metroid! The ultimate 'party' game.

Wii Sports: Yeah it's very mainstream and definitely a 'casual game', but for getting people who aren't really into games to play, there's none better.

Dr Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (Sega Megadrive) : A clone of Poyopop, but since I never played it, I'll review the clone. A puzzler in the vein of Tetris or Columns with a combatative element. Every time you link a chain up, you send a block of useless blobs to mess up your opponent's game, the multiplayer is all about building a game-ending chain while keeping your options open to survive your opponent's attacks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 01, 2014, 06:20:30 PM
-Mario kart: Double Dash-  The standard races and battles are classic mario fun (That is to say you'll end up punching best-loved friends in the face for using a blue mushroom on the last corner) but the co-op added a great new dimension to it, especially if you were both pretty skilled and tended to power-slide around every corner.

The hell it did.  All the co-op did was split the job of one person between two people, making it harder to juggle the one racer between them.  The game was a lot of fun, but the co-op was garbage.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Alchemist21 on February 01, 2014, 07:06:03 PM
How many Mario fans does it take to drive a kart?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on February 01, 2014, 08:18:54 PM
Does anyone here play Hearthstone? For those unfamiliar, it's a Blizzard game now in open beta. It's a card game, based loosely on the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. It's quite fun, and if anyone wants to play let me know.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on February 01, 2014, 10:47:51 PM
I play it, although and very casually.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 02, 2014, 08:52:22 AM
I know very little about it, but I'm wary of any modern Blizzard games given their track record with D3 and WoW. Is it worth playing?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on February 02, 2014, 07:19:09 PM
I know very little about it, but I'm wary of any modern Blizzard games given their track record with D3 and WoW. Is it worth playing?
If you like card games (Like Magic the Gathering) you'll probably find it enjoyable. It's very easy to learn, and not too hard to get new cards without paying any money. I mean, it's free, so there's no harm in trying it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 08, 2014, 06:52:48 PM
I'm downloading some mediocre-looking zombie game called Dead Island.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on February 08, 2014, 11:43:33 PM
I'm downloading some mediocre-looking zombie game called Dead Island.

It's fun if you can overlook how poorly-made it is. The graphics, animations, story and dialogue are all absolute crap...but killing zombies with that combat system is actually pretty damn fun as long as you use the "weapon swings the direction you swing it" mechanic rather than the "press x to hit" option. It's probably one of the worst games I actually really enjoyed and played through.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 13, 2014, 05:49:23 PM
Does anyone here play Hearthstone? For those unfamiliar, it's a Blizzard game now in open beta. It's a card game, based loosely on the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. It's quite fun, and if anyone wants to play let me know.
Downloading now.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 13, 2014, 10:03:11 PM
I got Hearthstone too, and finished the opening singleplayer games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on February 14, 2014, 10:33:49 PM
My account name is Boomlil, #1319 on Hearthstone. Feel free to add me if you'd like to play.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 14, 2014, 11:46:57 PM
Rexxar is so annoying. I couldn't beat him with Jaina or Uther.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on February 15, 2014, 08:23:16 PM
Rexxar is so annoying. I couldn't beat him with Jaina or Uther.
I don't really remember the opening quests, but typically mages are your best bet against hunters. Your hero power and spells are very good against their low health beasts.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 16, 2014, 06:08:16 PM
I have not yet played.
I got an e-mail about 5 free days of "The Secret World" and I've been loving that.  Nothing better than a modern style MMO that requires actual thinking (and a web browser) to solve puzzles.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 24, 2014, 12:24:07 AM
I very briefly played the latest free game, some shit called Toy Soldiers.  It's crap, and not even entertaining crap.

I'm downloading some mediocre-looking zombie game called Dead Island.

I have now beaten it.  It's shit.  Of particular note is the story, which is integrated so poorly with the gameplay that it's actually laughable.

I have now taken advantage of a deal on Xbox Live to buy Mass Effect for $3.74.  I don't know if I'll go through the whole trilogy, but I figure that at least the first one is worth a shot.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 12:39:25 AM
Might as well get the trilogy box set. Gives all the DLC and shit for a good price.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 24, 2014, 12:44:25 AM
Quote from: Saddam Hussein link=topic=667.msg18890#msg18890 date=1393201
447
I have now taken advantage of a deal on Xbox Live to buy Mass Effect for $3.74.  I don't know if I'll go through the whole trilogy, but I figure that at least the first one is worth a shot.
I liked the combat in the second one over the first.  The first one just felt slow.  And assault rifles were basically useless.  (Huge cone of fire) 
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 01:04:28 AM
Quote from: Saddam Hussein link=topic=667.msg18890#msg18890 date=1393201
447
I have now taken advantage of a deal on Xbox Live to buy Mass Effect for $3.74.  I don't know if I'll go through the whole trilogy, but I figure that at least the first one is worth a shot.
I liked the combat in the second one over the first.  The first one just felt slow.  And assault rifles were basically useless.  (Huge cone of fire) 

I disagree. The first one takes a bit of getting used to, but after a while (and certainly towards the end of the game) most classes are very fun to play. ME2 was more clunky in comparison and takes longer to enjoy. I always hated how Shepard runs like an arthritic with the stamina of an old lady, whereas in the first and third games he's much more mobile.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 24, 2014, 02:03:02 AM
It's been difficult for an outsider to the franchise to understand all the hubbub about the ending of the last one.  Is the issue that you're given three choices, but you get the same cutscene no matter which one you pick?  And during the course of the cutscene, there's some big explosion or something that kills everyone?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 02:39:13 AM
It's been difficult for an outsider to the franchise to understand all the hubbub about the ending of the last one.  Is the issue that you're given three choices, but you get the same cutscene no matter which one you pick?  And during the course of the cutscene, there's some big explosion or something that kills everyone?

There are multitudes of issues with it. The gameplay on the final mission sucked, it was even worse than the dumb boss fight in ME2. There are a number of contradictions and unanswered questions that result from the whole ordeal. Worst of all, the logic behind the Reapers runs in complete contradiction to themes set up and reinforced throughout all 3 games. The 3 choices offered are arbitrary and obviously lifted straight from Deus Ex. The ending cinematics ignore logic previously set up in the series, and leave even more questions unanswered.

The extended cut did little besides answer some of the unanswered questions. The only way I can enjoy the ending is to heavily modify it using generic 'happy ending' mods, because at least that way I don't get pissed off with the 'God child'.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 24, 2014, 02:41:24 AM
But is what I said right?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 02:48:33 AM
But is what I said right?

Not quite. The reason the ending was awful is because it threw out a bunch of well established themes just to copy Deus Ex. All of the heavy handed God child dialogue is wrong. The endings it forces you to choose are arbitrary and pointless, because they all pretty much result with the same thing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 24, 2014, 02:57:51 AM
But is what I said right?
Yep.

Two themes hinted on are that Element Zero destabilizes stars and that Reapers have been guiding every advanced civilization's technology for a very long time.  (Humans get their tech from Protheans.  Protheans get tech from whoever came before, and so on)

I for one was hoping for more of a Borg type thing where the reapers are unable to advance themselves so they ensure that all species follow their technological path and use whatever they create to better themselves.

And at the end, your actions in the previous games (total paragon/renegade) determine if your "kill all reapers" or "control all reapers" is successful.  Ex. Full Renegade can control but not kill but doing so may doom the galaxy to the same problem again.


Also, for a weapon designed to kill the reapers, shooting it is the only way to make it work properly.  Wtf?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 03:28:34 AM
But is what I said right?
Yep.

Two themes hinted on are that Element Zero destabilizes stars and that Reapers have been guiding every advanced civilization's technology for a very long time.  (Humans get their tech from Protheans.  Protheans get tech from whoever came before, and so on)

I for one was hoping for more of a Borg type thing where the reapers are unable to advance themselves so they ensure that all species follow their technological path and use whatever they create to better themselves.

And at the end, your actions in the previous games (total paragon/renegade) determine if your "kill all reapers" or "control all reapers" is successful.  Ex. Full Renegade can control but not kill but doing so may doom the galaxy to the same problem again.


Also, for a weapon designed to kill the reapers, shooting it is the only way to make it work properly.  Wtf?

Originally the ending was going to be directly related to Mass Effect. It was a bit dumb in the early draft, but at least it made sense. It follows on from the hinting in ME2 that you mentioned. Basically, the widespread use of Mass Effect fields is destroying the galaxy slowly. The choice was along the lines of this: sacrifice all life and be absorbed into the reapers in the hopes of doing so will solve the problem or destroy the reapers in the hope that the species of the galaxy will solve it themselves.

It explains why they wipe everyone out and build reapers out of them, why they guide technological evolution, and why they hibernate for millions of years in dark space. This was the rough plan before the original lead writer left at the end of ME2.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 24, 2014, 04:59:08 AM
This was the rough plan before the original lead writer left at the end of ME2.
Ah, so that's why the game seems different. The story lines are generally weaker and don't continue previous themes as you mentioned. Do you know why he left?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 07:11:53 AM
This was the rough plan before the original lead writer left at the end of ME2.
Ah, so that's why the game seems different. The story lines are generally weaker and don't continue previous themes as you mentioned. Do you know why he left?

Because he wanted to, apparently. It's weird that he decided to leave right before ending the series he had a big hand in creating, but I've never seen anything (except speculation) to suggest him leaving for another reason.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on February 24, 2014, 09:31:23 AM
Maybe the marketing department had other plans, and he thought "fuck that" and left.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 24, 2014, 05:13:17 PM
Well screw, Drew. How dare he write the games and books to just leave at the end?! I lost any respect I may have had for him.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 24, 2014, 08:36:45 PM
He was lead writer, and while he wrote big sections of the story and dialogue, it wasn't all him. They usually split up parts of the game and spread them among the writers, then everyone shares their work and it goes through the lead writer before it goes into the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 27, 2014, 04:47:33 AM
The dialogue system is annoying.  I get that the options are meant to be the basic gist of your next line, but sometimes they're a little misleading.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 27, 2014, 05:33:43 AM
The dialogue system is annoying.  I get that the options are meant to be the basic gist of your next line, but sometimes they're a little misleading.
Yup. And sometimes the paragon and renegade option is just the same thing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on February 27, 2014, 01:41:03 PM
The dialogue system is annoying.  I get that the options are meant to be the basic gist of your next line, but sometimes they're a little misleading.
Perhaps you just need to get gud.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on February 27, 2014, 02:43:22 PM
The dialogue system is annoying.  I get that the options are meant to be the basic gist of your next line, but sometimes they're a little misleading.
Perhaps you just need to get gud.

This is always good advice.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on February 27, 2014, 08:52:51 PM
Mass Effect is 3,24 € on steam right now. I'm not actually interested, because it doesn't seem like a game I could become a fan of, but it seems like a price I could buy most games for.
Also, Mass Effect 2 Digital Deluxe Edition for 7,49 €. And both for 9,99 €. Offer ends in 45 hours. What do?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 27, 2014, 10:55:10 PM
Cover based shooter mechanics, in depth sci-fi story that isn't half assed, talkingtalkingtalkingtalking. A watered down Bioware RPG in space. If any of that appeals, then jump on it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on February 28, 2014, 05:27:58 AM
I didn't think 9,99 seemed too bad for two games, so I got them. I'm not going to start playing at once, but I thought just having to click install in steam if I ever wanted to try them out one day seemed handy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 28, 2014, 04:19:10 PM
I know I'm not saying anything new, but holy shit, the Mako sucks giant donkey dick.  My fucking lawn mower handles better than this toilet on wheels.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on February 28, 2014, 04:31:40 PM
The what?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 28, 2014, 06:24:51 PM
I know I'm not saying anything new, but holy shit, the Mako sucks giant donkey dick.  My fucking lawn mower handles better than this toilet on wheels.
At least you don't get roll damage.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 28, 2014, 10:13:55 PM
I know I'm not saying anything new, but holy shit, the Mako sucks giant donkey dick.  My fucking lawn mower handles better than this toilet on wheels.

Bioware, pushing new frontiers in vehicle sections. Remember that you get to explore most planets in the galaxy with it!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 01, 2014, 01:47:54 AM
I know I'm not saying anything new, but holy shit, the Mako sucks giant donkey dick.  My fucking lawn mower handles better than this toilet on wheels.
I never had that much trouble with the Mako. It certainly is bouncy though.

I even missed it and the free world exploration in the second and third games. I preferred it to the scanning.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 01, 2014, 06:22:44 AM
I've been looking forward to playing Remember Me finally after hearing about it and its mechanics, and I finally got to play it for four-ish hours today since I'm sick and it's free on PS+.

Extremely disappointingly, it kind of sucks.

It's mostly dull, uninspired Uncharted-rip-off-style "climbing is fun!!!!" gameplay that serves only to pad levels and the story and to show you the environment, and really boring combat that could have been interesting because of the create-a-combo mechanics they have in place, but fails.

This sucks, because the story, setting and other mechanics set up what could be an amazing game. In particular the memory remix segments, where you take a person's memories and adjust them slightly in different places, rewinding and going forward to see what you can mess with, changing and tweaking things bit by bit and watching how it plays out from there until you manage to get the result you want, is one of the most rewarding, amazing experiences I've played in a game in a very long time. It's like a choose-your-own-adventure novel come to life, except you're manipulating the outcome and deciding what to change, then being able to watch it come to life from there. All within one memory I managed to see a violent, horrible outcome; a really touching, sad one; a happier, more optimistic view; and then finally the one I needed. None were necessary, but all were rewarding as hell.

Yet it seems there are only several of these throughout the game, all of which fall between hours of some of the most boring platforming I've been subject to and the most sterile, finicky, uninspired and disappointing environment of a really interesting world. I might play a chapter at a time every day or so just because I really want to screw with more memories and I'm interested in seeing where the story goes, but this is a great example of what could have been a truly amazing "Game of the Year" material game reduced to one probably not worth playing, even when free, unless only for those particular segments. What a shame. :[

It's also worth noting that the music is pretty great; it dovetails perfectly with the version of Neo-Paris in this game that's 50% old-fashion that's intertwined with the other 50% that's augmented reality and mechanical, in that the music is a orchestrated work mixed seamlessly with glitchy electronic music. It's pretty great.

Also, Nilin suffers from "tough cool female character must wear butt-enhancing pants at all times" syndrome.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on March 01, 2014, 01:23:34 PM
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 01, 2014, 05:06:53 PM
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me

Stop linking to that! >o<
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on March 01, 2014, 08:54:57 PM
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me)

Stop linking to that! >o<
You don't like Zero Punctuation?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on March 01, 2014, 09:32:07 PM
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me)

Stop linking to that! >o<
You don't like Zero Punctuation?

So far it appears only you and Vindictus do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 01, 2014, 09:48:11 PM
www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me (http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation/7542-Remember-Me)

Stop linking to that! >o<
You don't like Zero Punctuation?

So far it appears only you and Vindictus do.
I like him too.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 01, 2014, 09:55:39 PM
Saddam dislikes him because he is popular.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 01, 2014, 10:53:53 PM
Zero Punctuation is objectively terrible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 01, 2014, 11:20:45 PM
Zero Punctuation is the absolute worst. But I'll check it out a bit later to see exactly what we disagree on this time. :]
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on March 01, 2014, 11:21:56 PM
Zero Punctuation is the absolute worst. But I'll check it out a bit later to see exactly what we disagree on this time. :]

Tsundere
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 01, 2014, 11:23:22 PM
Another terrible free game for gold.  Some Civilization title.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 02, 2014, 12:44:39 AM
Agh, I have a feeling he was about to say spoilers so I guess I'm not watching it yet. So far I've found it to be a pretty standard ZP 'review', though, in that it hasn't really said anything useful about the game itself and is just dumb mockery that doesn't really help anyone with anything at all. But I only watched half, so maybe it got better. We'll find out one day!!!!

Tsundere

wat
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 02, 2014, 01:09:06 AM
Agh, I have a feeling he was about to say spoilers so I guess I'm not watching it yet. So far I've found it to be a pretty standard ZP 'review', though, in that it hasn't really said anything useful about the game itself and is just dumb mockery that doesn't really help anyone with anything at all. But I only watched half, so maybe it got better. We'll find out one day!!!!

Tsundere

wat
I don't think he actually spoiled anything. He kept saying something about a twist but never revealed a twist.

He did comment on how he liked that you can make combos and the memory altering. However, he thinks that maybe the game had so many good ideas that none of them had room to grow into a great game, but rather a game with a lot of little great things that didn't work well together. Basically, he pretty much agreed with what you were saying.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 02, 2014, 05:46:11 AM
I don't mind Yahtzee. His reviews aren't entirely dumb mockery, but they aren't entirely good analysis either. For proper analysis, I much prefer Errant Signal (https://www.youtube.com/user/Campster) or SuperBunnyHop (https://www.youtube.com/user/bunnyhopshow) on Youtube.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on March 02, 2014, 08:20:31 AM
I'm fond of Matthewmatosis (http://www.youtube.com/user/Matthewmatosis) myself
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 02, 2014, 12:14:18 PM
>37 minute wonderful 101 review on front page

Yep, I'm gonna enjoy eating meals to that. Looks like his content release schedule is pretty slow though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 02, 2014, 02:34:20 PM
Another terrible free game for gold.  Some Civilization title.

And it is indeed terrible.  It looks like the game was made for five-year-olds.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 07, 2014, 07:07:47 AM
On the notion of video games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 09, 2014, 03:48:23 AM
So now I've beaten Mass Effect.  It was fun.  I kind of wish I had gotten into the series earlier, because now I have absolutely nothing new to add to any discussion of the game.  It's all been said before.  The vehicle sections suck.  The long elevator rides suck.  The combat sucks.  The paragon/renegade choice system is overly simplistic and much too black-and-white.  But the story, characters, universe, etc. are just great, and by far the best part of the game.  I'm thinking I'm going to go ahead with the other two as well.  Not right now, because there's Dark Souls 2 and whatnot, but at some point.

Also, there are funny threads on the old site about the series.  Crusty is Crusty and Blanko is balkno:

http://theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=51743.0

http://theflatearthsociety.org/forum/index.php?topic=53615.0
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 09, 2014, 04:19:32 AM
Those threads are terrible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 09, 2014, 05:08:48 AM
They're funny, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 09, 2014, 06:00:24 AM
Painfully funny.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 09, 2014, 12:17:34 PM
Heh, and I'm only now slowly making my way through ME3. Kaidan and his pompadour. <3
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 14, 2014, 03:00:43 PM
About...10 hours of my day yesterday was spent playing Fire Emblem: Awakening on the 3DS. I got it for Christmas but never really felt like trying it until finally going "may as well" yesterday, thinking "this isn't bad" for an hour or two, and then...wasting...the whole day on it

I'm actually getting excited thinking about playing it in a little bit. This hasn't happened with a game in a long while. This is good
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 14, 2014, 06:14:40 PM
Rune Factory 4.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 18, 2014, 09:28:45 PM
Super Smash bros is coming to the 3DS. I am excite.

http://www.smashbros.com/en-uk/
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 18, 2014, 10:51:15 PM
Only care about it and MK8 on the WiiU.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 19, 2014, 01:42:40 AM
Super Smash bros is coming to the 3DS. I am excite.

http://www.smashbros.com/en-uk/

Uhh you're about a year late on that. :P They made that clear last E3 at the game's announcement. I will be getting both the Wii U and 3DS versions.

In other news, Final Fantasy X|X-2 HD Remaster came today. Spent two hours playing it and adoring the HD-ness of it (a 1080p game on PS3!!!) before I decided I'm actually way too tired for this, so I'm going to sleep and then get up and play it forever and say goodbye to life.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 19, 2014, 01:49:35 PM
I haven't paid attention to E3 in years. In fact, I haven't really been excited by games for about that long.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 19, 2014, 01:54:47 PM
I don't get the hype around handheld consoles and their games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 20, 2014, 02:29:24 AM
I don't get the hype around handheld consoles and their games.

Howcome? They're good time killers when I'm not in the house and have nothing to do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 20, 2014, 05:51:50 AM
They just don't seem worth the money to me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 20, 2014, 06:34:23 AM
In a world with phone emulators and, well, content rich smart phones, I don't think they're worth the money either. But I like Pokemon and Mario Kart so.. Nintendo gets my cash.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 20, 2014, 09:03:37 AM
I don't get the hype around handheld consoles and their games.

Same reason as any other game, I guess? For Link between Worlds, the fact that it was a new Zelda was enough. For Super Smash Bros. It takes me back to the many happy hours I spent playing Melee with my brother and friends.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 01, 2014, 05:17:38 PM
In between bouts of DS2, I have begun playing Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, a game that Blanko - fine, I won't say he recommended it, but he endorsed it, at any rate.  It's a lot of fun so far.  I guess I'll say more about it when I play more of it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 01, 2014, 05:18:59 PM
They just don't seem worth the money to me.

Get a PSP. It will change your life. It's a walking emulator.

Jailbreaking required for maximum fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on April 01, 2014, 07:01:40 PM
No.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 02, 2014, 05:40:57 PM
I beat MGS V: Ground Zeroes last night. It was an interesting experience to say the least.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on April 02, 2014, 05:43:05 PM
Blanko [...] endorsed it
omg it must be shit and poorly designed
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on April 02, 2014, 05:58:37 PM
I beat MGS V: Ground Zeroes last night.

Well that goes without saying, anyone who's had it for fifteen minutes has beaten it. :P
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 02, 2014, 06:33:38 PM
I beat MGS V: Ground Zeroes last night.

Well that goes without saying, anyone who's had it for fifteen minutes has beaten it. :P

That's an exaggeration. There's actually a lot of optional content that pushes the game well beyond the 5 hour mark if you want to 100% it. Still not much, but it's something. Regardless, I really liked it and I don't feel like I wasted $30. Most people who complain about the length did no optional content and skipped cutscenes. Actually, when I bought it from Gamestop (don't make fun of me), the cashier told me not to buy the game because of the length and I pretty much said something along the lines of "fuck you I do what I want". Then he gave me the case without the disc (new my ass) and I couldn't bring it back until the next day to get the actual game. >_<

I'm in the mood now to give Peace Walker another go.

Also, can't get this song out of my head...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4XY26P4z_E
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on April 03, 2014, 08:00:11 AM
I watched my brother complete it, I assumed it was just a demo for Phantom Pain, I didn't realise you had to pay full price for it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on April 04, 2014, 04:40:10 PM
I watched my brother complete it, I assumed it was just a demo for Phantom Pain, I didn't realise you had to pay full price for it.

$30.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on June 19, 2014, 01:45:34 PM
I've played through Saints Row: The Third and now I'm playing Saints Row IV.  They're good.

I'm also playing Far Cry 3 on the side.  It's good, except for the annoying UI and the incredibly generic, borderline-racist story.  Speaking of which, Ubisoft must have paid attention to all that criticism, because the story for Far Cry 4 is apparently going to be the exact opposite:

http://www.joystiq.com/2014/06/16/far-cry-4-is-far-cry-3s-worst-enemy/

http://www.rockstargames.com/newswire/article/52264/The-GTA-Online-I-m-Not-a-Hipster-Update-Is-Now-Available

Quote
We know many fans have been eagerly awaiting the release of the Online Heists that we had planned to release for you this spring, and they are taking more time to create than originally anticipated. We are very sorry for the delay, and are working hard to bring them to you as soon as we can.

::)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on June 23, 2014, 05:55:40 PM
Chrono Trigger

Among the greatest JRPGs ever created along with Final Fantasy VI, praise I know some will scoff at. I haven't played it in a few years and it's fun getting back into the hectic pace of the fully active combat system, the crazy group attacks and often unforgiving enemies. It's also notable that the story manages to do time travel without becoming a convoluted mess. And it has a great soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on June 23, 2014, 05:57:03 PM
Chrono Trigger

Among the greatest JRPGs ever created along with Final Fantasy VI, praise I know some will scoff at. I haven't played it in a few years and it's fun getting back into the hectic pace of the fully active combat system, the crazy group attacks and often unforgiving enemies. It's also notable that the story manages to do time travel without becoming a convoluted mess. And it has a great soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda.

I'd consider Chrono Trigger one of my favorite JRPGs. It changed the genre forever and its still amazingly fun to play after all these years... Chrono Cross is good too, but not nearly as awesome as CT. Of course, this is all coming from someone who prefers Final Fantasy V over both of them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on June 23, 2014, 05:59:31 PM
Chrono Trigger

Among the greatest JRPGs ever created along with Final Fantasy VI, praise I know some will scoff at. I haven't played it in a few years and it's fun getting back into the hectic pace of the fully active combat system, the crazy group attacks and often unforgiving enemies. It's also notable that the story manages to do time travel without becoming a convoluted mess. And it has a great soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda.

I'd consider Chrono Trigger one of my favorite JRPGs. It changed the genre forever and its still amazingly fun to play after all these years... Chrono Cross is good too, but not nearly as awesome as CT. Of course, this is all coming from someone who prefers Final Fantasy V over both of them.

The only thing I remember about Cross is the combat system is really confusing. I'll have to try it again some time.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on June 23, 2014, 06:02:24 PM
Chrono Trigger

Among the greatest JRPGs ever created along with Final Fantasy VI, praise I know some will scoff at. I haven't played it in a few years and it's fun getting back into the hectic pace of the fully active combat system, the crazy group attacks and often unforgiving enemies. It's also notable that the story manages to do time travel without becoming a convoluted mess. And it has a great soundtrack by Yasunori Mitsuda.

I'd consider Chrono Trigger one of my favorite JRPGs. It changed the genre forever and its still amazingly fun to play after all these years... Chrono Cross is good too, but not nearly as awesome as CT. Of course, this is all coming from someone who prefers Final Fantasy V over both of them.

The only thing I remember about Cross is the combat system is really confusing. I'll have to try it again some time.

That's the biggest flaw with Chrono Cross by far. It gets easier the more you play, and the game is especially easy once you figure out how to exploit the system. The best thing about CC is toward the end when it ties into Chrono Trigger (after about 30-40 hours of gameplay).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: spoon on June 23, 2014, 07:36:16 PM
I just played Banjo Kazooie for the first time in probably 9 years. I got more emotional than I have been in probably months.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on June 23, 2014, 09:03:21 PM
JRPGs aren't good.  Don't play them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on June 23, 2014, 09:28:46 PM
I want to love and really give Chrono Trigger a chance since it gets endless praise for being God's gift to gaming, but the various times I've tried to start it I can never really get too into it. I generally get around...I don't know, I know you get the frog guy in that one castle and I beat that area and play for a while after, but I never get pulled in.

I will say, the music is amazing. Probably the thing I liked most each time I played.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on June 23, 2014, 10:28:51 PM
I want to love and really give Chrono Trigger a chance since it gets endless praise for being God's gift to gaming, but the various times I've tried to start it I can never really get too into it. I generally get around...I don't know, I know you get the frog guy in that one castle and I beat that area and play for a while after, but I never get pulled in.

I will say, the music is amazing. Probably the thing I liked most each time I played.
The first few hours are admittedly a slow burn, but once the time travel mechanic opens up, which is not all that far into the game, shit gets real.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on June 24, 2014, 12:16:34 AM
I just got Psychonauts on Steam so it looks great. I'm seeing details I've never noticed before.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on June 29, 2014, 07:56:08 PM
Banished. I suck at it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: fappenhosen on June 29, 2014, 10:15:28 PM
Splinter Cell: Blacklist
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 02, 2014, 05:23:57 AM
Started playing Diablo III again with some friends, the PS3 version. It seems much better than the PC version in almost all aspects.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on July 02, 2014, 05:55:48 AM
Still shit compared to D2 tho
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 02, 2014, 07:22:39 AM
Still shit compared to D2 tho

I agree. Diablo 2 is superior in every regard.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on July 02, 2014, 07:33:45 AM
JRPGs aren't good.  Don't play them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 02, 2014, 06:17:13 PM
I'm also playing Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars for PSP on the side. It's easily my favorite Grand Theft Auto game to date. The visual style is extremely enjoyable and I actually prefer it to full on 3D environments. It feels like I'm causing chaos within SimCity. The music is also surprisingly good for .midi instrumental tracks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 06, 2014, 10:50:37 PM
Beat Chinatown Wars.

I am now playing Breath of Fire III.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: fappenhosen on July 06, 2014, 10:57:31 PM
I'm regretting not buying everything in the Steam Summer Sale. I thought I was being smart and rejecting impulsive consumerism, but I was rejecting life. :'(
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on July 09, 2014, 07:42:38 PM
Does anyone know the name of a game in which you collect musical notes and drive boats while partying with naked midgets? I seem to remember there is a game involving these things but I have no idea what it's called. I think it's fairly recent, from the past couple of years or so.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on July 09, 2014, 07:46:01 PM
Does anyone know the name of a game in which you collect musical notes and drive boats while partying with naked midgets? I seem to remember there is a game involving these things but I have no idea what it's called. I think it's fairly recent, from the past couple of years or so.

http://www.reddit.com/r/tipofmytongue
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 04, 2014, 09:22:41 PM
I'm picturing this discussion as a literal circlejerk, with a semen covered Vauxhall pouting in the middle. Anyway, I'm playing Skyrim again. The Dragonborn expansion, specifically. Isn't it funny that Bethesda's two best expansion packs since Morrowind's release (Shivering Isles and Dragonborn) are both heavily inspired by Morrowind? More supporting evidence for the case that any videogame that isn't Morrowind 2 is a waste of money and time.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on August 04, 2014, 09:36:45 PM
I'm picturing this discussion as a literal circlejerk, with a semen covered Vauxhall pouting in the middle.

This is especially hilarious with the context now missing
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: The Terror on August 04, 2014, 10:31:16 PM
I was reading this list

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/video-games/12032-25-Top-RPGs-of-the-Last-Five-Years?

and Skyrim turned out to be the number 1 pick. But then again, they've also got Dragon Age 2 on there, so...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 04, 2014, 10:35:59 PM
I actually don't have a problem with that. However, I don't think vanilla Skyrim deserves that title, which is a very important and probably controversial caveat.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on August 04, 2014, 10:36:45 PM
However, I don't think vanilla Skyrim deserves that title, which is a very important and probably controversial caveat.

You are edgy and your opinions are provocative
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 04, 2014, 10:55:43 PM
However, I don't think vanilla Skyrim deserves that title, which is a very important and probably controversial caveat.

You are edgy and your opinions are provocative

Says the person who can't bring up Skyrim without stressing that she doesn't like it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 04, 2014, 10:58:36 PM
They actually called me The Edge in elementary school for that very reason. A lot of people (usually people who don't know much about the ES community) seem to think that mods just "don't count" when considering the quality of the game, when they are actually integral. Yes, this means consoles get Diet Elder Scrolls Lite, which is a shame. For every ES game since Morrowind, the process has been this: Bethesda tries to make the game, breaks down when they realize once again that they're terrible developers, and tearfully shoves the incomplete or broken game out the door saying "here, you do it." The modding community then dusts it off and says "there, there, Bethesda. You did your best," and makes it all better. It's a pretty unique development model; I can't think of any other developer that operates in the same way, but it works well.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 04, 2014, 11:49:05 PM
I think it's less that they're incompetent and more that they're lazy skinflints.  From their perspective, they could spend their time and money fixing up the game, or they could just release it unfinished and let the modders handle it for free.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on August 05, 2014, 12:09:17 AM
However, I don't think vanilla Skyrim deserves that title, which is a very important and probably controversial caveat.

You are edgy and your opinions are provocative

Says the person who can't bring up Skyrim without stressing that she doesn't like it.

I was being silly, "controversial" is such a strong word and I just imagined the world stopping and his opinion causing a schism in humanity. Besides, Skyrim (which, to be honest, I really don't like anymore despite having liked it at one time) is irrelevant to this conversations so u gay
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on August 05, 2014, 12:29:42 AM
This thread makes me glad I'm not picky.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 05, 2014, 12:41:19 AM
However, I don't think vanilla Skyrim deserves that title, which is a very important and probably controversial caveat.

You are edgy and your opinions are provocative

Says the person who can't bring up Skyrim without stressing that she doesn't like it.

I was being silly, "controversial" is such a strong word and I just imagined the world stopping and his opinion causing a schism in humanity. Besides, Skyrim (which, to be honest, I really don't like anymore despite having liked it at one time) is irrelevant to this conversations so u gay

Take it to the ES thread. No discussing games here.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 05, 2014, 12:44:39 AM
They actually called me The Edge in elementary school for that very reason. A lot of people (usually people who don't know much about the ES community) seem to think that mods just "don't count" when considering the quality of the game, when they are actually integral. Yes, this means consoles get Diet Elder Scrolls Lite, which is a shame. For every ES game since Morrowind, the process has been this: Bethesda tries to make the game, breaks down when they realize once again that they're terrible developers, and tearfully shoves the incomplete or broken game out the door saying "here, you do it." The modding community then dusts it off and says "there, there, Bethesda. You did your best," and makes it all better. It's a pretty unique development model; I can't think of any other developer that operates in the same way, but it works well.
The vanilla game is the game, the rest is distortion. I like mods as much as anyone, but they didn't come as part of the official release, and any review of Skyrim qua Skyrim should not consider them. "I can make Skyrim a better experience for myself with mods" is fine; "Skyrim is a good game because of optional third party components the original developers had nothing to do with" I just don't buy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Foxbox on August 05, 2014, 12:47:42 AM
They actually called me The Edge in elementary school for that very reason. A lot of people (usually people who don't know much about the ES community) seem to think that mods just "don't count" when considering the quality of the game, when they are actually integral. Yes, this means consoles get Diet Elder Scrolls Lite, which is a shame. For every ES game since Morrowind, the process has been this: Bethesda tries to make the game, breaks down when they realize once again that they're terrible developers, and tearfully shoves the incomplete or broken game out the door saying "here, you do it." The modding community then dusts it off and says "there, there, Bethesda. You did your best," and makes it all better. It's a pretty unique development model; I can't think of any other developer that operates in the same way, but it works well.
The vanilla game is the game, the rest is distortion. I like mods as much as anyone, but they didn't come as part of the official release, and any review of Skyrim qua Skyrim should not consider them. "I can make Skyrim a better experience for myself with mods" is fine; "Skyrim is a good game because of optional third party components the original developers had nothing to do with" I just don't buy.

I strongly agree with this.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 05, 2014, 12:53:27 AM
"I can make Skyrim a better experience for myself with mods" is fine; "Skyrim is a good game because of optional third party components the original developers had nothing to do with" I just don't buy.

You just phrased the same idea in two different ways. One just sounds dumber.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 05, 2014, 02:53:20 AM
They actually called me The Edge in elementary school for that very reason. A lot of people (usually people who don't know much about the ES community) seem to think that mods just "don't count" when considering the quality of the game, when they are actually integral. Yes, this means consoles get Diet Elder Scrolls Lite, which is a shame. For every ES game since Morrowind, the process has been this: Bethesda tries to make the game, breaks down when they realize once again that they're terrible developers, and tearfully shoves the incomplete or broken game out the door saying "here, you do it." The modding community then dusts it off and says "there, there, Bethesda. You did your best," and makes it all better. It's a pretty unique development model; I can't think of any other developer that operates in the same way, but it works well.
Bohemia interactive do it with Arma. In fact, they do it 10x better than Bethesda ever could.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 05, 2014, 03:16:48 AM
"I can make Skyrim a better experience for myself with mods" is fine; "Skyrim is a good game because of optional third party components the original developers had nothing to do with" I just don't buy.

You just phrased the same idea in two different ways. One just sounds dumber.

Not at all, one is concerning the improvement of one's own experience with the game, the other is to say that the game is objectively good because one has artificially altered one's experience of it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 05, 2014, 09:45:53 AM
"I can make Skyrim a better experience for myself with mods" is fine; "Skyrim is a good game because of optional third party components the original developers had nothing to do with" I just don't buy.

You just phrased the same idea in two different ways. One just sounds dumber.

Not at all, one is concerning the improvement of one's own experience with the game, the other is to say that the game is objectively good because one has artificially altered one's experience of it.

I would never claim that a game is objectively good. Nearly everybody agrees that being able to improve the game is an extremely important feature, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on August 05, 2014, 05:07:07 PM
I just finished Bioshock Infinite, which I started this morning. At first it was okay-but-meh, and then it turned okay-okay.

The highlight of the game was when I went to the ladies' bathroom and Elizabeth was disgruntled about it.

(http://cloud-4.steampowered.com/ugc/566644437658864686/24981D746B1D806D5D2D973A0FC5700FFE984C25/)

pic related, it's Elizabeth being upset with my presence in the ladies' restroom.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 24, 2014, 04:19:22 AM
I started drinking then playing DOOM II on PC through Steam. Literally one of the best games ever made. It still holds up even after all this time. The atmosphere is brilliant. The lounge music creates a great juxtaposition to the violent gameplay. You don't even have to aim, that's how fucking good it is. It still makes me jump at times, especially those invisible fuckers.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on August 24, 2014, 08:24:02 AM
DOOM and DOOM II is great. Just great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 24, 2014, 08:31:31 AM
DOOM and DOOM II is great. Just great.

So good that a better shooter does not exist.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on August 24, 2014, 09:30:40 AM
DOOM is the granddaddy of aim assist.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 25, 2014, 10:44:06 PM
Speaking of DOOM, is anyone playing a fun FPS that they'd recommend? I've been really missing Battlefield 2 lately, and the modern versions are just altogether too clunky and gritty (and also expensive). I've always liked CS:S and CS:GO, but they lack the scale and vehicles of BF2. PS2 has gotten fairly boring, and is more similar to modern FPS games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 25, 2014, 11:22:32 PM
Speaking of DOOM, is anyone playing a fun FPS that they'd recommend? I've been really missing Battlefield 2 lately, and the modern versions are just altogether too clunky and gritty (and also expensive). I've always liked CS:S and CS:GO, but they lack the scale and vehicles of BF2. PS2 has gotten fairly boring, and is more similar to modern FPS games.

DOOM II & Final DOOM.

Also, Halo 1 & 2. Great multiplayer games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 29, 2014, 02:45:22 AM
I'm playing a fun FPS, Far Cry 3.  Speaking of which, IRC copypasta time:

<Saddam> An old lady tells me that she just saw a plane crash
<Saddam> I go check it out and a guy there tells me that the plane crashed ten years ago
<Saddam> He also says that there is no old lady where I just was
<Saddam> What a twist?
<Saddam> Seriously, does Ubisoft think that's clever writing or something?
<Saddam> "Wow, guys, we're so deep!  The gamers will totally be scratching their heads wondering what it all means!"

That sidequest is pretty much representative of the quality of the writing in this game, which is bad.  Really, really bad.  The dialogue is stupid, most of the characters (especially the protagonist) are annoying and unlikable, and of course, it's huge on the whole "privileged white guy dominates foreign culture and emerges as their savior" trope.  And what particularly bugs me about that last one is that apparently it was done intentionally, because...reasons:

http://penny-arcade.com/report/article/double-talk-far-cry-3s-lead-writer-explains-the-deceptive-nature-of-th

I can definitely tell that the trope is deliberately exaggerated, but that's really all the game does with it.  There's no parody, no deconstruction, no real criticism, nothing.  It's like they made this huge elaborate setup for a joke and then forgot to deliver the punchline.  And yeah, the writer talks about the twist ending and how that single-handedly manages to totally subvert all the dumb clichés that preceded it, but that's crap.  It's a weird game full of many weird moments, and that ending is just one of them.  Nobody's going to think that it's really some kind of refutation of colonialism.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on August 29, 2014, 04:05:55 AM
Welcome to Ubisoft.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on August 29, 2014, 07:56:02 AM
Speaking of DOOM, is anyone playing a fun FPS that they'd recommend? I've been really missing Battlefield 2 lately, and the modern versions are just altogether too clunky and gritty (and also expensive). I've always liked CS:S and CS:GO, but they lack the scale and vehicles of BF2. PS2 has gotten fairly boring, and is more similar to modern FPS games.

The Metroid Prime series. Half FPS, half RPG
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 29, 2014, 08:03:35 AM
Metroid Prime is Borderlands.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 29, 2014, 08:03:54 AM
As much as I'd love to get my hands on it, the Metroid series is very hard to get copies of.

Metroid Prime is Borderlands.

wut
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 29, 2014, 04:41:02 PM
Was being sarcastic. I don't see how the Prime series is part RPG.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 30, 2014, 09:28:17 AM
You slowly gain more suit abilities?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on August 30, 2014, 12:12:51 PM
You slowly gain more suit abilities?
Super Mario is an RPG because the fireflower gives you a new ability :^)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 30, 2014, 05:05:59 PM
You slowly gain more suit abilities?

Is that your final answer?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on August 30, 2014, 07:15:05 PM
It was a question, not an answer.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 30, 2014, 07:19:17 PM
Actually the two aren't mutually exclusive, and it was both.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 31, 2014, 12:03:27 AM
You slowly gain more suit abilities?
Super Mario is an RPG because the fireflower gives you a new ability :^)

Yeah, but you don't keep it. It's more of a power up than a character upgrade. In Metroid you permanently upgrade your gun, your suit, gain the ball ability, and they're all used in navigating the environment somehow. It's been like 10 years since I played it so I'm probably forgetting a bunch of other elements.

Ah yeah, your role is to play Samus ;)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on August 31, 2014, 12:11:09 AM
Super mario RPG is an RPG
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 31, 2014, 12:13:03 AM
Gran Turismo 4 is an RPG because your role is to play racers.

Super mario RPG is an RPG

No it's not.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 31, 2014, 03:29:09 AM
Gran Turismo 4 is an RPG because your role is to play racers.

Super mario RPG is an RPG

No it's not.

My argument has been crushed, but Metroid remains a shooting/adventure game with RPG elements.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on August 31, 2014, 03:42:05 AM
Pokemon is a JRPG.  Prove me wrong.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on August 31, 2014, 03:55:08 AM
Couldn't every game be considered an RPG?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 31, 2014, 03:56:58 AM
Pokemon is a JRPG.  Prove me wrong.

Are there people who believe otherwise?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on August 31, 2014, 05:00:22 AM
Pokemon is a JRPG.  Prove me wrong.

I had a GameStop employee tell me that Pokemon wasn't an RPG at all, and that "X and Y are great because they add RPG elements for the first time in the series".

That's why your store sucks. Among other things.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on August 31, 2014, 09:38:23 AM
Couldn't every game be considered an RPG?

No. Only games I say are RPGs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on September 01, 2014, 10:50:53 AM
Was being sarcastic. I don't see how the Prime series is part RPG.

Perhaps 'Adventure' game would be more accurate. By 'part-RPG' I mean that you are 'free' within certain boundaries, to explore the world as you see fit, ignore the main quest and spend your time hunting Lore or finding hidden upgrades. Either way, it's a great series.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 01, 2014, 12:08:32 PM
I have fond memories of playing the old-school Pokemon games.  I would usually name my rival something like "Shithead."
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 01, 2014, 04:47:27 PM
Either way, it's a great series.

That it is.

I need to replay all three. I know there's a trilogy steel-case set out there for Wii, but it's a bit expensive.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 02, 2014, 07:30:29 AM
http://youtu.be/p-fOfVsM7jE


Rollercoaster Tycoon 1 & 2 are like fine wine. They just keep getting better with age.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 02, 2014, 02:11:27 PM
On the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend, I've begun playing Borderlands.  So far, the game feels like an MMO, particularly with the world and quest design.  That's not a good thing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: The Terror on September 02, 2014, 03:39:12 PM
I tried Depression Quest. It was boring.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 02, 2014, 04:02:56 PM
On the enthusiastic recommendation of a friend, I've begun playing Borderlands.  So far, the game feels like an MMO, particularly with the world and quest design.  That's not a good thing.
I could never get into Borderlands. I think the gameplay suffers because of the crappy limitations involved because of all the skill trees you have to level. None of the guns feel like they have "oomph" either.  All in all, really bland.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 02, 2014, 04:32:03 PM
<Blanko> Here's my detailed critique
<Blanko> Every enemy is a tedious bullet sponge which is dumb and boring
<Blanko> And the game progression is literally designed like an MMO

The wisdom of Blanko.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 02, 2014, 04:58:23 PM
For a game that attempts to be a standalone RPG/FPS experience, it's pretty bad. The world is barren, you always follow the same linear progression despite what class you pick, every NPC is a quest dispenser with no personality, and any personality the game has is forced meme-fuel that  stinks of bad writing.

If you like MMO quest systems, walking around collecting $2 off the ground, a useless loot system, and shitty gunplay... then Borderlands is great for you. If you're above all that shit then just walk away because this series is pure garbage.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on September 02, 2014, 05:10:06 PM
Borderlands 2 is great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 02, 2014, 05:17:38 PM
lol
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on September 02, 2014, 05:37:04 PM
I never got into Borderlands either. It was kinda fun in a mindless way and I finished the first one. Someone gifted the second one to me and I haven't gotten very far before I lost all interest.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 02, 2014, 05:52:04 PM
Borderlands 2 is great.

but what about Borderlands 1
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on September 02, 2014, 05:55:37 PM
They're literally the same thing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 02, 2014, 05:56:29 PM
Yeah, I was talking about both games. They're both terrible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 02, 2014, 08:14:38 PM
Wow, this sucks.  Some gift it was.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on September 02, 2014, 08:16:43 PM
Yep, Borderland sucks. I bought the first one years ago among all the hype. It goes nuts with the amount of items it throws at you, and the gameplay got extremely boring once I hit level 10 on my brute and just went overpowered mode on every enemy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on September 02, 2014, 09:00:15 PM
Borderlands 2 is great.

but what about Borderlands 1

I never played the first
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 06, 2014, 05:38:16 PM
Giving Bravely Default another chance, again. I'm actually enjoying it a lot more this time around.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 17, 2014, 12:14:48 AM
While I'm certainly not playing it, I have to say that Destiny's mediocre-to-poor reception has pleased me.  Everything I've heard about the game, from its Halo-meets-Borderlands premise and its let's-give-him-horse-tranquilizers use of Peter Dinklage has made it sound absolutely awful, and I'm glad to see that people are finally calling Bungie out on their shit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 12:17:04 AM
What's wrong with Halo meets Borderlands? What shit does Bungie need to be called out on? Their last game was Halo: Reach, which most consider to be an excellent game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 17, 2014, 12:28:49 AM
What's wrong with Halo meets Borderlands? What shit does Bungie need to be called out on? Their last game was Halo: Reach, which most consider to be an excellent game.

I haven't played the game, but anything meets Borderlands is not something I would pay money for.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 12:30:27 AM
What's wrong with Halo meets Borderlands? What shit does Bungie need to be called out on? Their last game was Halo: Reach, which most consider to be an excellent game.

I haven't played the game, but anything meets Borderlands is not something I would pay money for.

I hope you're using Tor, because I'm pretty sure it's illegal to be this edgy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 17, 2014, 12:31:27 AM
What's wrong with Halo meets Borderlands? What shit does Bungie need to be called out on? Their last game was Halo: Reach, which most consider to be an excellent game.

I haven't played the game, but anything meets Borderlands is not something I would pay money for.

I hope you're using Tor, because I'm pretty sure it's illegal to be this edgy.

They used to call me The Edge in elementary school.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 12:32:53 AM
Are you stalking me? Last week I said that same thing, word for word, on Facebook after being accused of excessive edge.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 17, 2014, 12:36:26 AM
Are you stalking me? Last week I said that same thing, word for word, on Facebook after being accused of excessive edge.

They actually called me The Edge in elementary school for that very reason. A lot of people (usually people who don't know much about the ES community) seem to think that mods just "don't count" when considering the quality of the game, when they are actually integral. Yes, this means consoles get Diet Elder Scrolls Lite, which is a shame. For every ES game since Morrowind, the process has been this: Bethesda tries to make the game, breaks down when they realize once again that they're terrible developers, and tearfully shoves the incomplete or broken game out the door saying "here, you do it." The modding community then dusts it off and says "there, there, Bethesda. You did your best," and makes it all better. It's a pretty unique development model; I can't think of any other developer that operates in the same way, but it works well.

How quickly we forget. Lay off the pot.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 12:39:01 AM
tfw I get rekt Saddam quick change the subject with your retarted opinions
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on September 17, 2014, 01:05:09 AM
tfw I get rekt Saddam quick change the subject with your retarted opinions

Morrowind is a great game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 01:06:39 AM
Epic. So tell us what's wrong with Bungie.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on September 17, 2014, 01:22:15 AM
They made Halo.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on September 17, 2014, 01:35:39 AM
Yes, an excellent series.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on September 17, 2014, 01:52:13 AM
lol
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on September 17, 2014, 01:52:18 AM
Bungie supports mass murder. You get a special token for buying the game if you are in the service.

(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/09/16/b058e42bea998c2606312aaa1d489cbe.jpg)

They are murderers by proxy and are downright evil because of it. I will never support them or what they do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on September 17, 2014, 02:53:30 AM
Vauxhall, you better change your opinion fast, before I murder you by proxy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on September 17, 2014, 02:59:15 PM
Vauxhall, you better change your opinion fast, before I murder you by proxy.
Aw, go play some Kingdom Hearts to calm youself down you adorable man, you.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 30, 2014, 10:58:10 PM
(http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/14/10/30/ccbd6bac2457b05e14b2a039ee21eab5.jpg)

Fantasy Life. I've been playing this game since launch. It came out maybe 4 days ago and I already have 25+ hours in it. It was developed by Level 5, with music by Nobuo Uetmatsu, and concept art by Yoshitaka Amano (both of Final Fantasy fame).

It's the closest thing to Jrpg sandbox you can get without feeling like an endless grind. You live in a sandbox world, fight monsters, can buy houses in different cities, get pets and followers, do randomly generated NPC quests, and generally just do whatever the hell you want. There's a main storyline quest, but it can be completed at the player's convenience.

The game actually reminds me of a somewhat simpler Elder Scrolls title, but with admittedly overly cute art style and simpler (but still better) combat.

The basic essence of the game is picking a Life (which is just a Job class,  similar to early Final Fantasy or Dragon Quest) and leveling to make more stuff, get stronger, etc. You can increase your basic stats however you want after each level up. There are 12 different Life classes: Paladin, Mercenary, Hunter, Mage, Woodcutter, Carpenter, Miner, Blacksmith, Tailor, Alchemist, Fisherman, and Cook. You can take on any Life and switch between them at will. Each Life compliments another Life  somehow, so its good to mix and match but the game is so open ended that it can be completed by just playing a single Life the whole time. The world is pretty large and very colorful, and the fast travel system makes exploring it a breeze.

I'd say it's worth the $40 but there is also an $8 expansion pack. The use of already on cartridge DLC is a bit off putting, but it does add a considerably amount of content to the base game as a whole (new items, followers, pets, areas, monsters, quests, skills, etc).

From an already biased standpoint: 9/10.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on October 30, 2014, 11:12:49 PM
I thought JRPG's were categorized by having no choice in how to play them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on October 30, 2014, 11:19:41 PM
I thought JRPG's were categorized by having no choice in how to play them.

Not really. JRPGs are usually categorized by their art style, content, battle systems, and whether they were made in Japan or not. Many are notorious for having linear gameplay, like most of the Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest series, but more recent games, like DQ 8 & 9 for example, break the mold with more open-ended gameplay.

Fantasy Life is a JRPG, but it's a very fresh twist on the formula and has many  similar elements to western RPGs and MMORPGs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 08, 2014, 01:33:32 AM
Just finished Wolfenstein: The New Order. I liked it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on November 08, 2014, 01:42:24 AM
Just finished Wolfenstein: The New Order. I liked it.

I opened Steam after reading this and sure enough, it presented me with a 50% off Wolfenstein: The New Order ad. Now, I'm curious, did you buy it because it was on sale through Steam? Otherwise, I'll have to assume Steam is going a bit too hardcore with their ad targeting.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 08, 2014, 02:43:22 AM
I bought it because it's a Wolfenstein game and I wanted to play it. I don't remember if it was on sale at the time though. It was a while back.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on November 08, 2014, 02:45:40 AM
I bought it because it's a Wolfenstein game and I wanted to play it. I don't remember if it was on sale at the time though. It was a while back.

Okay, whelp, I'll have to assume Steam is watching me a bit too thoroughly. I bought it anyway, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on November 23, 2014, 01:33:39 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AdfFnTt2UT0

EVE has always had excellent trailers, but they've always been very cinematic and lacking in any similarity to actual gameplay. Finally they've produced one that focuses on the best part of EVE: running ops with a good corporation. I think it's the second best EVE trailer yet, second only to this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zMKXTJL35g
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on November 25, 2014, 10:58:51 PM
What's wrong with Halo meets Borderlands? What shit does Bungie need to be called out on? Their last game was Halo: Reach, which most consider to be an excellent game.

Reach was a good return to form for the Halo series, yes.  Prior to that, every game in the franchise had been steadily declining in quality.  They all had the same flaws, which became more and more pronounced with every new game.  I could make a list of them.  In fact, I will make a list of them:


I admit that this is mostly personal and fueled by nostalgic love of the original.  From my perspective, Bungie took a wonderful childhood memory of mine and went George Lucas all over it, so I am very bitter.  Anyway, part of what made Reach so good was that Bungie toned down or averted all of the elements I listed above.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on November 25, 2014, 11:16:01 PM
No, "padding" of game levels did not worsen with each new entry. Campaign levels actually became more concise with each new game. Let's not forget Silent Cartographer (the map which required you to backtrack and circle around an island several times), Assault on the Control Room (which required you to traverse millions of identical hallways and rooms), Halo (which involved about 20 minutes of driving, and if you somehow lost your warthog you were fucked), Two Betrayals (Assault on the Control Room again, but backwards and with flood everywhere, great fucking idea), The Library (even worse than AotCR in terms of repetition and apparent length, because unlike AotCR, it wasn't fun. Also, flood). Halo 2 and 3 had maps like this as well, but not nearly as many. I like most of these maps a lot, because I don't think that what you consider "padding" is necessarily a bad thing.

Regarding the flood, Halo CE had more of them than any other entry in the series. There are five levels dedicated to them, which is half of the campaign. I don't remember how many levels in 2/3 were flood levels, but it was definitely a lesser or equal amount.

Ally AI, while always endearingly dumb, certainly never got any worse. How long has it been since you've played any of these games?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on November 27, 2014, 04:31:37 PM
I will be the first to admit that my claims are entirely subjective and that I'm totally holding the games to different standards, but I still stand by them.  To begin with, the friendly AI didn't get worse itself, no, but as the games progressed and the enemy AI became more advanced, the problem of having incredibly dumb friendly AI became more and more of an issue.  And the Flood did have more of a presence in the first game, but the difference is that their inclusion worked there.  They added stakes, and were unique, menacing, and even a little frightening.  But in the sequels, when you've got the full might of the military backing you up, and you're no longer trapped on an isolated world with only a handful of other soldiers to help you, they're basically just another hostile faction, one that is particularly unenjoyable to fight.  It's no longer a case of, "Run for your lives, the Flood are coming after us!" but instead, "Oh, look, the Flood are here.  Let's cut a path through them so we can get where we're going."  And I'm not even starting with what looked to be the plant from Little Shop of Horrors that they introduced in Halo 2.

As for the padding, that's probably the most subjective criticism of all, and I won't claim that Halo was perfect in that regard.  It's just that it seemed far less annoying to me there.  Like I was saying about the Flood, a lot of it probably has to do with the fact that you're trapped on an unfamiliar world and are still immersing yourself in the setting and mysterious lore.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on November 27, 2014, 04:49:15 PM
I agree. It certainly feels like there are more flood in later games, because they become so tedious. It worked in CE because they were new and mysterious. 343 Guilty Spark, the level where they were introduced, is one of the most unsettling videogame levels I've ever played. I was also extremely disappointed to find that starting with Halo 2, you could no longer make friends out of combat forms by blowing both of their arms off.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 18, 2014, 06:00:12 AM
Is this even legal?

http://duel-revolution.com/index.html
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2014, 06:31:23 AM
Why wouldn't it be?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 18, 2014, 06:47:46 AM
Why wouldn't it be?

Legal was the wrong word, but I see a potential lawsuit at least.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2014, 07:26:09 AM
Did id software sue Apogee for making Rise of the Triad?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 18, 2014, 07:59:20 AM
Did id software sue Apogee for making Rise of the Triad?

No, but Bethesda did sue Mojang because of the word Scrolls as a video game title.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2014, 08:02:20 AM
That's a whole different matter.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 18, 2014, 08:04:09 AM
That's a whole different matter.


Not really. It's all about intellectual property.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2014, 09:03:22 AM
How is a genre intellectual property?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 18, 2014, 09:14:20 AM
How is a genre intellectual property?

Pokemon is intellectual property. Duel Revolution is a blatant copy of Pokemon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 18, 2014, 11:53:12 AM
Saints Row games are blatant copies of GTA games. Have Rockstar ever filed lawsuits against Volition?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 18, 2014, 12:19:05 PM
I'm not sure what makes Duel Revolution any more susceptible to a Pokémon plagiarism suit than Digimon. Certainly the stylistic similarities here are even more obvious, but if the same shit got by with a new lick of paint for so long, what's the difference here?

Also that ZeniMax/Mojang thing is such bullshit, literally the only time I've ever heard anyone call TES "Scrolls" is in that Malcolm McDowell promo interview for TESO. No one else has ever called it by that name, I'm quite certain. What a shit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 18, 2014, 03:52:41 PM
I would argue that Digimon is pretty different than Pokemon. The only similarity is that a child has a fighting monster.

Dual Revolution looks like it's the exact same thing. Even the creatures look the same.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 18, 2014, 04:03:16 PM
I would argue that Digimon is pretty different than Pokemon. The only similarity is that a child has a fighting monster.

Dual Revolution looks like it's the exact same thing. Even the creatures look the same.

Yeah, I thought about it some more and came to roughly the same conclusion.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 05:37:34 AM
I am about to buy the complete Civ 5 edition. How do I play Civ 5?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2014, 05:41:37 AM
by warmongering, apparently..
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 05:43:25 AM
I am about to buy the complete Civ 5 edition. How do I play Civ 5?

I think you have to install it but I may be wrong so don't quote me on that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2014, 05:49:11 AM
I can't imagine that would be a problem though. It pretty much installs itself. You just have to click a button.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 05:53:31 AM
Oh wow, first time I've ever downloaded a Steam game at 11MB/s. This connection is glorious.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 19, 2014, 01:33:54 PM
Kingdom Hearts 2.5 came in. It also had a little limited edition pin that I thought was a keychain. A keychain made sense (KEYS!) a pin does not. What am I going to use a pin for?  >:(

Anyway the game looks pretty good, though the textures themselves don't look right stretched out to 1080p, it seems like they mostly concentrated on ensuring characters don't look like garbage at the high resolution. They also remastered all of the soundtracks. Some are better, some are considerably worse.

 
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 05:52:12 PM
Kingdom Hearts 2.5 came in. It also had a little limited edition pin that I thought was a keychain. A keychain made sense (KEYS!) a pin does not. What am I going to use a pin for?  >:(

My friend pre-ordered the game and was expecting a keychain as well. I think Square Enix just bait and switched you.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 08:04:22 PM
In other news, I got Pokemon Omega Ruby yesterday and have sunk about 5 hours into it. It adds a lot of nice features that improve the overall formula. DexNav, for one, which lets you search for specific Pokemon in grass and get them over and over again.

I really haven't spent that much time with the game yet, but so far it's pretty solid. Although, it's still way too easy. I was hoping that they would at least add a difficulty option like Black/White2, but nope. It also does not allow you to customize your trainer's appearance, which I feel is a big step backwards since I loved that aspect of X/Y. The overworld has way too many load screens between zones, which is a huge stepback from Emerald (which was a GBA gen game). In Emerald the entire overworld was seamless, which made it feel a lot larger than it actually was and added to the sense of exploration. So far, Emerald is still winning in the game-design category and still might be the best Pokemon game in my opinion.

I'm surprised this is even being called a remake. ORAS actually feels like a Pokemon game loosely based on Ruby/Sapphire, as zones look completely different, not just because everything is updated in 3D, but because the layouts of most areas have changed. I don't get that "oooh! that looks just like Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald" nostalgia vibe at all, which is disappointing... but it's still a solid Pokemon game for what it tries to do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2014, 08:07:56 PM
people actually play pokemon games?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 19, 2014, 08:11:09 PM
people actually play pokemon games?

Did you think they just magically sold millions to nobody?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 08:12:20 PM
people actually play pokemon games?

They're actually pretty deep games gameplay wise.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 08:25:33 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 08:31:18 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.

Explain.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 19, 2014, 08:51:09 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.

Explain.
lolololol so trol'd lolol
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 09:03:08 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.

Explain.

(http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111025043341/wowwiki/images/1/1c/Pet_battle_mockup_BlizzCon2011.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 09:03:34 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.

Explain.

(http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111025043341/wowwiki/images/1/1c/Pet_battle_mockup_BlizzCon2011.jpg)

Excuse me? Wtf is this?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 19, 2014, 09:04:45 PM
Pokemon is so good World of Warcraft copied it.

Explain.

(http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20111025043341/wowwiki/images/1/1c/Pet_battle_mockup_BlizzCon2011.jpg)

Excuse me? Wtf is this?

A picture for ants.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 09:08:57 PM
Pet battles, you noobs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 19, 2014, 10:22:08 PM
Pet battles, you noobs.

That sounds pretty cool actually. How many pets can you get?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 19, 2014, 10:27:05 PM
Up to 1,000, but some will be duplicates.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 20, 2014, 07:08:20 AM
I can't play WoW because reasons, but sometimes I want to start up again. Guilty pleasure I guess.

GameFreak really needs to give gym leaders more than 2 trash Pokemon. It's not challenging and it's not fun. It feels like an extended tutorial that is impossible to lose.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 20, 2014, 09:36:07 AM
I don't get it. Aren't trash pokemon easy?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on December 20, 2014, 11:36:31 AM
Yes, too easy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on December 20, 2014, 03:03:09 PM
Pokemon isn't a hardcore, difficult game for people with actual skill? I am shocked.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 20, 2014, 03:29:47 PM
Isn't Pokemon for children? It seems like an adult would always find a Pokemon game rather easy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on December 20, 2014, 03:54:16 PM
It's like any other JRPG, you can just level up until everything is trivial, which is presumably the intended way to play.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 20, 2014, 04:05:54 PM
It's like any other JRPG, you can just level up until everything is trivial, which is presumably the intended way to play.

Unless you're playing the bosses that are tailored for a max level character, which most JRPGs include. I imagine they keep the main story fairly easy to beat because the player might just want to play for story, rather than beating uber max bosses.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 20, 2014, 05:19:51 PM
It's like any other JRPG, you can just level up until everything is trivial, which is presumably the intended way to play.

Unless you're playing the bosses that are tailored for a max level character, which most JRPGs include. I imagine they keep the main story fairly easy to beat because the player might just want to play for story, rather than beating uber max bosses.

There's maybe 1 fight like that in every Pokemon game.

And yes, Pokemon's main game is aimed at children. Its post-game is aimed at an older audience though. Even as a game for children, 2 pokemon per gym leader is absurd. A retarded blind child could beat the game with ease.  Later on, the gym leaders start to get more pokemon but at that point it doesn't matter because most of them are still trashmons and the AI is terrible. If you're playing the game correctly it takes almost no effort to beat them. The only somewhat challenging battles are the Elite 4, and when I say challenging I mean challenging for children.

I'm not sure if many of you played Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald, but some of the changes made in the remake are in really bad taste. Notably, some of the gym leaders have been completely redesigned in the looks department. One of my favorite gym leaders of the series has been turned into a bishonen pretty boy borderline woman.

Old design:
(http://i.imgur.com/myAsZD8.png)


New design:
(http://i.imgur.com/IpdVn4B.png)

WHY?! Who thought this was a good idea? I think this redesign underlines some fundamental problems going on with game design in Japan right now.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 20, 2014, 05:54:46 PM
mmmm look at dem sexy hips.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 20, 2014, 05:59:39 PM
mmmm look at dem sexy hips.


At least give him a bulge or something.

Made a post on /r/pokemon titled "Why did they turn Wallace into a woman?" and I've never seen so many downvotes before.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 20, 2014, 07:26:31 PM
Yes, too easy.

But then why would you want more? :\
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 21, 2014, 02:24:05 AM
In Kingdom Hearts BBS, you get to play as a strapping young man named Terra, who has the IQ of a donut and can't figure out when Disney villains are being blatantly evil. I mean yeah, it isn't very fair that every time he pops into a world, he meets the villain first and thusly lends a helping hand, but these guys aren't cunning masterminds, they're Disney villains who look, sound, and just act ridiculously antagonistic. I'm having trouble identifying with the character if his ultimate flaw is "he was just too stupid to know any better."
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 21, 2014, 02:24:52 AM
I just finished Call of Juarez: Gunslinger. Took 5 hours. Good game, but too short. They should have added at least 6 hours of gameplay to it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 21, 2014, 03:00:08 AM
In Kingdom Hearts BBS, you get to play as a strapping young man named Terra, who has the IQ of a donut and can't figure out when Disney villains are being blatantly evil. I mean yeah, it isn't very fair that every time he pops into a world, he meets the villain first and thusly lends a helping hand, but these guys aren't cunning masterminds, they're Disney villains who look, sound, and just act ridiculously antagonistic. I'm having trouble identifying with the character if his ultimate flaw is "he was just too stupid to know any better."

That reminds me of Crash Bandicoot 2.  Crash is so stupid he spends pretty much the whole game doing what Cortex says.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 21, 2014, 07:35:59 PM
In Kingdom Hearts BBS, you get to play as a strapping young man named Terra, who has the IQ of a donut and can't figure out when Disney villains are being blatantly evil. I mean yeah, it isn't very fair that every time he pops into a world, he meets the villain first and thusly lends a helping hand, but these guys aren't cunning masterminds, they're Disney villains who look, sound, and just act ridiculously antagonistic. I'm having trouble identifying with the character if his ultimate flaw is "he was just too stupid to know any better."

That reminds me of Crash Bandicoot 2.  Crash is so stupid he spends pretty much the whole game doing what Cortex says.

At least the game seems to make fun of Terra along the way. Peter Pan says "grown-ups are really good at telling fibs and you look like you're really easy to trick, be careful." When Peter-fucking-Pan is telling you in a roundabout way that "woah hey buddy, you're sort of a dumbass" then you need to rethink your life.

I'm really annoyed that the story has made both Terra and Riku just plain too dumb to figure things out on their own, especially when the people manipulating them are about as subtle as Emperor Palpatine telling Luke "yes.. yes... let the hate flow through you." Xehanort basically tells Terra "get mad!" and he gets mad.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 26, 2014, 02:47:23 AM
As a Christmas gift, I've received the first Assassin's Creed game.  I haven't beaten it yet, but so far, it's just kind of okay.  To start with, I don't really like the use of this Animus machine as a framing device.  I guess it's an interesting idea insofar as it provides an in-story justification for all the little quirks inherent to video games (loading, dying, etc.), but at the same time, it feels unnecessary.  The historical setting is already great.  They didn't need to make it more complex by turning it into the Matrix or whatever.

A far bigger problem I have is the voice acting of our hero.  The historical one, not the guy hooked up to the Animus.  All hyperbole aside, I can honestly say that this is probably the worst voice acting that I have ever heard in a mainstream video game.  For one thing, he doesn't make the slightest effort to hide his American accent, in stark contrast to everyone else; for another, his voice itself is just bad.  It's the grating, whiny voice of an emo teenager who is trying so hard to sound intimidating and angsty that it's almost laughable.  Almost.  Instead, it's just painful to listen to him.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on December 26, 2014, 02:54:17 AM
The first AC is still my favorite of the series. Altaïr's voice certainly is terrible, though. When he appears again in Revelations he thankfully has a completely different and more appropriate voice.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 26, 2014, 02:55:47 AM
The first AC is still my favorite of the series.

Ew, why?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on December 26, 2014, 02:59:01 AM
The first AC is still my favorite of the series.

Ew, why?

It's my favourite too, simply because it doesn't feel like a themepark ride and it has a thematically fitting and well constructed setting. The other games don't fit either of those criteria.

Sure, it has a ton of flaws, but it's still the least shitty one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on December 26, 2014, 03:19:56 AM
I can honestly say that this is probably the worst voice acting that I have ever heard in a mainstream video game.

Did you never play the original Resident Evil?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 26, 2014, 03:37:37 AM
Wow, for once I agree with the super critics. The first AC was also my favorite.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 26, 2014, 03:41:49 AM
AC is a terrible series. I could elaborate but I won't.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 26, 2014, 09:50:33 PM
I never liked it much myself.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on December 26, 2014, 09:53:04 PM
You've both made some very compelling points.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on December 26, 2014, 09:58:54 PM
If I had to put reasons for my dislike they would be clunky fighting mechanics and a repetitive nature in the missions. I get you're supposed to be an assassin but it does get a bit boring just roaming around assassinating people.

But yeah, I think I played the first one for like 2 hours. Still have the second and third sitting on Steam untouched.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 26, 2014, 10:03:42 PM
I personally don't like the series because the story isn't interesting at all to me. The religious elements mixed with the animus are just bizarre. If those elements were taken out and you simply played as a different assassin in different settings then I think I would like it a lot more. But as it stands, the story is so uninteresting that I don't even pay attention to cut scenes anymore and generally have no idea why I'm killing anyone. But the repetitiveness mixed with bad story just flop. They're beautiful games and I honestly wished I liked them more.

Maybe I only like the first one because I was in my stoner prime and loved nothing more than to get really high and try to find flags. My enjoyment of the game didn't really extend past that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 26, 2014, 10:28:17 PM
I'll elaborate. I agree with both rooster and Vindictus on their points, but will also add some of my own.

The entirety of the gameplay is shallow and boring. The combat is clunky and feels very unnatural. That's my biggest issue with the series other than the really pretentious and unnecessary story elements. Why are we playing as a modern day guy accessing genetic memories? Why can't we just play as the Ezio or whatever his name is? Was this really necessary? It's like they couldn't figure out how to make the story work without adding a little twist to it that feels tacked on and unnecessary when compared to the gameplay. Plus, the story feels like it was written by a mentally handicapped Dan Brown. This is Ubisoft, after all, so I'm not really surprised.

Interrogation is entirely unrealistic, too easy, and predictable. You follow a guy around until there are no guards. Then you knock him around a bit and he tells you everything. This happens every time. No variation. It's not fun. This also applies to things like eavesdropping (sit on a bench and press x, ohhhh so cool). Then there's the retarted flag fetch quest where you have to collect 40 or so flags just to get information from this one guy. What a tedious waste of time.

The game is based on stealthily killing people, yet the game makes it very hard to do that. In theory all you have to do is sneak around your target until the guards are gone, but there are far too many guards and I almost always ended up alerting them which resulted in a street brawl between the guards and if I got lucky the target who, for some stupid reason, thought it was a good idea to join the street brawl with an obvious assassin. Sure, I still kill the target and a bunch of guards, but that's not assassination. It doesn't help that the controls are unintuitive and clunky, making the combat annoying so I just end up doing the same basic moves over and over to dispatch all my enemies.

Plus, if you're trying to find a target, good luck spotting him in the vast clusterfuck that are the various streets in the game. Add the weird cyberpunk-esque lines and data floating about above people and it becomes very confusing very quickly, not to mention out of place and weird for the setting.

The world itself is pretty cool, though. It's large enough and diverse enough to be interesting, but unfortunately the lackluster gameplay kinda ruins that for me.

The parkour elements are also cool, but are boring after about 30 minutes. All you have to do is run up to stuff and press a single button to do every acrobatic feat ever imaginable. There should be more variation with the controls when it comes to free-running.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on December 27, 2014, 02:12:57 AM
I think armored core is a great game with robots and they also made Lost kingdoms which is way better than kingdom hearts
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 27, 2014, 02:18:37 AM
I think armored core is a great game with robots and they also made Lost kingdoms which is way better than kingdom hearts

They made Dark Souls too.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on December 27, 2014, 09:56:36 AM
I think armored core is a great game with robots and they also made Lost kingdoms which is way better than kingdom hearts

They made Dark Souls too.
I know but not saying dark soul would allow me to get to speak again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 28, 2014, 07:29:11 PM
Portal and Portal 2

The bae bought Portal 2 for me for Christmas and we've been playing co-op which is really fun and I have a good knack for it. So I installed the first Portal which my brother bought me forever ago. I don't like the first one as much and I've yet to think Glados is funny at all, but I do like thinking with portals.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 28, 2014, 07:34:07 PM
Portal and Portal 2

The bae bought Portal 2 for me for Christmas and we've been playing co-op which is really fun and I have a good knack for it. So I installed the first Portal which my brother bought me forever ago. I don't like the first one as much and I've yet to think Glados is funny at all, but I do like thinking with portals.

I feel like Portal was an experiment on Valve's part. Maybe they were testing the portal gun before it's implementation in Half-Life 3 (my personal theory as I think Half-Life 3 will reference the Portal series). They gave it away for free with CS: Source and Half-Life 2, and people seemed to like it a lot so they made a more fleshed out version: Portal 2. The story and characters in Portal 2 are better by far, but the original Portal is still great as a puzzle game and the extra missions are surprisingly challenging.

I like both, but Portal is the only one I've beaten. Portal 2 seemed to drag a bit, while Portal has a nice progression to it. It's short and sweet like cake.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 28, 2014, 08:30:09 PM
I only ever played the first Half-Life, I think it was actually the first computer game I played (outside of educational kid games). Portal makes me want to revisit Half-Life with all the sound effects, acid, and being able to look around after you die. Gives me a big case of nostalgia.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 28, 2014, 08:30:47 PM
I only ever played the first Half-Life, I think it was actually the first computer game I played (outside of educational kid games). Portal makes me want to revisit Half-Life with all the sound effects, acid, and being able to look around after you die. Gives me a big case of nostalgia.

Half-Life 2 is great. I recommend it. If you like Portal you'll probably like Half-Life 2 as well. The gravity gun is a lot of fun.  8)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 28, 2014, 08:46:26 PM
I watched my brother play it and I didn't care for the look of it. The elements I loved about the first one seem to be gone in the second. I like the closed-off, secluded, and restrictive feeling of being isolated inside a building not really knowing what's happening. In the second you have Alyx, a whole city, and some weird new alien/human empire crap. Eh.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 12:48:37 AM
I watched my brother play it and I didn't care for the look of it. The elements I loved about the first one seem to be gone in the second. I like the closed-off, secluded, and restrictive feeling of being isolated inside a building not really knowing what's happening. In the second you have Alyx, a whole city, and some weird new alien/human empire crap. Eh.

The environment is different, but the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you found the first one to be fun, the second one will be too, regardless of how you feel about the change in setting.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on December 29, 2014, 12:54:15 AM
I watched my brother play it and I didn't care for the look of it. The elements I loved about the first one seem to be gone in the second. I like the closed-off, secluded, and restrictive feeling of being isolated inside a building not really knowing what's happening. In the second you have Alyx, a whole city, and some weird new alien/human empire crap. Eh.

The environment is different, but the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you found the first one to be fun, the second one will be too, regardless of how you feel about the change in setting.

This. I actually like Half-Life 2 much better than the original. The original feels dated and hard to play, but that might just be because I played Half-Life 2 first.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on December 29, 2014, 01:01:49 AM
Half-Life is literally the best game that ever existed.  Rushy knows what I'm talking about.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 01:39:52 AM
Half-Life is literally the best game that ever existed.  Rushy knows what I'm talking about.

Half-Life and Morrowind are literally the best games in the universe. Nostalgia Nostalgia Nostalgia
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on December 29, 2014, 01:43:30 AM
I'm playing The Long Dark. If you like harsh survival games and thick ambience, I heartily recommend it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 29, 2014, 02:27:08 AM
I watched my brother play it and I didn't care for the look of it. The elements I loved about the first one seem to be gone in the second. I like the closed-off, secluded, and restrictive feeling of being isolated inside a building not really knowing what's happening. In the second you have Alyx, a whole city, and some weird new alien/human empire crap. Eh.

The environment is different, but the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you found the first one to be fun, the second one will be too, regardless of how you feel about the change in setting.
But the environment was why I loved it. sigh

The gameplay was okay, but probably not enough for me to care for the second game. My brother bought me Half-Life 2 along with Portal... maybe one day I'll install and play it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 02:59:23 PM
But the environment was why I loved it. sigh

The gameplay was okay, but probably not enough for me to care for the second game. My brother bought me Half-Life 2 along with Portal... maybe one day I'll install and play it.

I can't say anything. I had the Orange Box for a year before I actually played Half-Life 2. That was back when I was a dirty console peasant and I discovered that Team Fortress was tons better on the computer (until the whole hat shenanigans began).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 29, 2014, 03:06:04 PM
I think it was the first thing I had in my Steam account just because my brother would not stop badgering me about the Orange box. Growing up I loved watching him play computer games, over one summer break it was a huge ritual that every night he played Half-Life while I watched. It's probably one of my favorite memories with him.

Anyway, I made it Glados last night but stopped cause I didn't want to beat the game in one day. Portal is waaaay too easy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 03:07:38 PM
I think it was the first thing I had in my Steam account just because my brother would not stop badgering me about the Orange box. Growing up I loved watching him play computer games, over one summer break it was a huge ritual that every night he played Half-Life while I watched. It's probably one of my favorite memories with him.

Anyway, I made it Glados last night but stopped cause I didn't want to beat the game in one day. Portal is waaaay too easy.

Portal is little more than a tech demo. If it takes you more than 3 hours to complete it, sorry, but you've been diagnosed with mental retardation.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 29, 2014, 03:47:01 PM
I hear good things about the Portal 2 campaign and look forward to that one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on December 29, 2014, 04:33:03 PM
I watched my brother play it and I didn't care for the look of it. The elements I loved about the first one seem to be gone in the second. I like the closed-off, secluded, and restrictive feeling of being isolated inside a building not really knowing what's happening. In the second you have Alyx, a whole city, and some weird new alien/human empire crap. Eh.

The environment is different, but the gameplay is pretty much the same. If you found the first one to be fun, the second one will be too, regardless of how you feel about the change in setting.
But the environment was why I loved it. sigh

The gameplay was okay, but probably not enough for me to care for the second game. My brother bought me Half-Life 2 along with Portal... maybe one day I'll install and play it.
Download Black Mesa source.  Its half-life 1 upgraded graphically.  More, more accurately, totally redone.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 04:59:02 PM
Download Black Mesa source.  Its half-life 1 upgraded graphically.  More, more accurately, totally redone.

It is a really dick move to advertise Black Mesa Source to people without also mentioning the game isn't finished.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on December 29, 2014, 09:51:52 PM
Download Black Mesa source.  Its half-life 1 upgraded graphically.  More, more accurately, totally redone.

It is a really dick move to advertise Black Mesa Source to people without also mentioning the game isn't finished.
Neither is HL2, technically.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on December 29, 2014, 09:52:57 PM
Neither is HL2, technically.

No, not technically. There's a big difference between finishing the game and finishing the story. Black Mesa Source has done neither.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on December 29, 2014, 09:57:16 PM
Neither is HL2, technically.

No, not technically. There's a big difference between finishing the game and finishing the story. Black Mesa Source has done neither.
Fair point but given her preference on environment, I'd guess it has all the parts she likes.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 04, 2015, 03:55:47 PM
I'm playing Far Cry 4.  It's basically FC3 set in Skyrim.  Okay, there are a few new things they've added, like a neat rock-climbing system with grappling hooks, and elephant-riding, but overall, it's pretty disappointing how little they've changed.  I suppose there are worse games to be derivative of than FC3, though.  And at least this time you're not playing as an idiot dudebro who comes to dominate an exotic land with his glorious whiteness.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 04, 2015, 04:09:55 PM
I'm playing Far Cry 4.  It's basically FC3 set in Skyrim.  Okay, there are a few new things they've added, like a neat rock-climbing system with grappling hooks, and elephant-riding, but overall, it's pretty disappointing how little they've changed.  I suppose there are worse games to be derivative of than FC3, though.  And at least this time you're not playing as an idiot dudebro who comes to dominate an exotic land with his glorious whiteness.

but saddam the stereotype is there on purpose to make a point that makes it okay right
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 11, 2015, 09:18:40 PM
I beat Ass's Creed.  It had the worst ending to a video game that I've ever seen.  I'm being generous by even calling it an ending.  It doesn't end so much as it just...stops.  Nothing is resolved.  Nothing is concluded.  There's setting up potential sequels, and then there's not even bothering to wrap up the story you're telling.  What bullshit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 11, 2015, 09:31:02 PM
The series was originally planned to be a trilogy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 11, 2015, 11:54:22 PM
It still ought to have concluded its own story within the greater context of the overall story arc.  Apparently the second game begins with Desmond escaping from Abstergo.  They should have made that the ending to the first game instead.  Or better yet, they should have cut out the stupid modern-day storyline altogether, seeing how it added absolutely nothing of value to the game.

Other complaints: The controls are shit, particularly in how movement is handled.  Having to hold down two buttons to sprint (and repeatedly hit a third to shove people out of your way) is ridiculous.  I don't like how the game handles cutscenes, either.  It's actually kind of difficult to follow what's happening and who's saying what when the camera is focused on Altair and you can only squint at a couple of figures in the distance, the occasional "glitches" aside.  The abrupt transition into fantasy with the final level was kind of weird, but I rolled with it, and the "twist" concerning the final antagonist's identity was so obvious that I can't believe it actually took anyone by surprise.  The lack of subtitles really bugged me, too.

All in all, 6/10 was okay.  Should I get the later titles?  They got better reviews than the first one, it looks like.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 11, 2015, 11:59:48 PM
No, you shouldn't get the other ACs. They're all terrible games mostly for the above reasons you've stated and the reasons I've given in my previous post about AC.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 12, 2015, 01:17:24 PM
Just started playing Alien: Isolation. It's one of the scariest games I've ever played. The first hour or so of gameplay is just atmosphere building, I hadn't even come across an enemy and I was jumping at shadows and swearing when a wire sparked. It has captured the  feeling of dread and paranoia from the first film perfectly.

Unlike most of the dreadful Alien games, the xenomorph isn't a run-of-the-mill mook to be torn apart by pulse rifles. It's a terrifying predator who can appear at any time, anywhere. It can't be fought, killed or ran away from; all you can do is hide.

The graphics are clearly pushing the PS3 to the edge and, stylistically, it slides right into the grimy, lived-in world of Alien. The sounds feel authentic and help to create the horror. The only criticism so far is that the human models seem... off and there isn't particularly a lot of depth or characterisation to the smattering of secondary characters.

I've read in other reviews that it goes downhill in later chapters, but so far it is excruciatingly brilliant. The only horror game to actually scare me since the GameCube remake of Resident Evil.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 13, 2015, 01:13:32 AM
Against literally everyone's advice, I went ahead and bought AssCreeds II and III.  I wonder if skipping over Brotherhood and Revelations will hamper my enjoyment of III.  Probably, but I don't want to be spending ridiculous amounts of money on all this.  Anyway, so far #II seems to be quite an improvement over the first one.  The combat is a little better, jumping and climbing feels a lot more smooth and natural, the story and characters are vastly improved, and in general there's just much more cool stuff to do.  As far as I can tell, this game does what good sequels do - keep true to the core elements of the original while being innovative enough to feel like a fresh new experience.

There's really only one thing that the first game did better, and that's the whole Animus framing device.  Don't get me wrong, I still hate the retarded modern-day storyline, and I don't want to rant too much about that because I'm sure I'd just be preaching to the choir.  But here's the thing, though - at least they were trying to do something with it in the first game.  The overarching goal is to stay synchronized with Altair's memories, and the gameplay reflects that.  Rather than health, you have a certain amount of synchronization. You lose synchronization when you deviate from your memories by doing things that Altair didn't, like falling off buildings, getting your ass kicked in fights, or killing innocent civilians.  And as you spend more and more time with Altair, learning more and more about him, you gain more and more synchronization.  Was it worth including in the game, no, but at least it was interesting, and it kind of made sense within its own dopey context.

Too bad it's not in the sequel!  No, instead of playing as a guy who's trying to stay synchronized with his memories of an ancestor, you're playing as a guy who's playing a video game about his ancestor, regular old bar of health included.  They took away the only kind-of neat thing about the Animus, and now its only function is to emphasize style over substance.  And that might not be so bad, if it were any kind of decent style, but it's not.  All the ugly, distracting cyberpunk elements from the first game are magnified here, from the weird lines crackling through the environment to the painfully-bright flashes of light...and those voiceovers from the two douchebags watching over you are the most annoying of all.  There is nothing that shatters immersion more quickly than hearing one of them randomly chime in.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 13, 2015, 02:11:37 AM
Anyway, so far #II seems to be quite an improvement over the first one. 

Most of the gaming world, as well as myself, totally agree, but be ready for Particle Plaster and Balkno to poo all over you for stating the obvious.

Also, be prepared to be disappointed by the ending again. Pretty much all of them have shit endings.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 13, 2015, 02:16:24 AM
Yeah please stop having popular opinions omgg
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 13, 2015, 02:18:05 AM
Yeah please stop having popular opinions omgg

Ass hipster creed
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 13, 2015, 02:52:36 AM
Anyway, so far #II seems to be quite an improvement over the first one. 

Most of the gaming world, as well as myself, totally agree, but be ready for Particle Plaster and Balkno to poo all over you for stating the obvious.

Also, be prepared to be disappointed by the ending again. Pretty much all of them have shit endings.

Particle Plaster? What the hell is that? At least Balkno makes some sense.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 13, 2015, 03:10:29 AM
I like the first one better than any of the others but Rushy didn't drag my name through the mud because we're in love.  :-*
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 13, 2015, 03:17:55 AM
Particle Plaster? What the hell is that? At least Balkno makes some sense.

ur dum

I like the first one better than any of the others but Rushy didn't drag my name through the mud because we're in love.  :-*

Your words are poison. Look at what they did to Thork. Something must have fucked him up, no way he is just naturally the way he is.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on January 18, 2015, 12:23:10 AM
I'm too lazy to go back and read your shitty posts, but do any of you fucks play Heroes of the Storm (or Hearthstone)?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 18, 2015, 12:48:26 AM
Shitty DotA rip off by Blizzard trying to cash in on the MOBA market
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on January 18, 2015, 12:58:57 AM
Shitty DotA rip off by Blizzard trying to cash in on the MOBA market
Who the fuck said you were allowed to talk?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 18, 2015, 12:59:32 AM
sic bern in here
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on January 18, 2015, 01:00:59 AM
sic bern in here
Am I going to have to cut a bitch?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 18, 2015, 01:39:17 AM
Shitty DotA rip off by Blizzard trying to cash in on the MOBA market
Who the fuck said you were allowed to talk?
Go listen to some BJ
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 18, 2015, 01:46:36 AM
Uhh, how can Blizzard "rip-off" DotA if DotA was originally a custom WarCraft 3 game? I even remember the day it was released, back before the community was full of idiots and raging nerdbros.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 18, 2015, 03:38:40 AM
Uhh, how can Blizzard "rip-off" DotA if DotA was originally a custom WarCraft 3 game? I even remember the day it was released, back before the community was full of idiots and raging nerdbros.

Blizzard didn't make DotA. The original DotA mode was made by modders using WC3 map tools. Blizzard was certainly aware of it, but ignored it right up until LoL achieved popular success.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 18, 2015, 04:29:23 AM
Blizzard didn't make DotA. The original DotA mode was made by modders using WC3 map tools. Blizzard was certainly aware of it, but ignored it right up until LoL achieved popular success.

Irrelevant. Anything made using the WC3 editor is Blizzard's property. It literally says that in the EULA. Thus Blizzard can't "rip-off" themselves, even if their developers didn't personally create the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 18, 2015, 04:52:10 AM
Blizzard didn't make DotA. The original DotA mode was made by modders using WC3 map tools. Blizzard was certainly aware of it, but ignored it right up until LoL achieved popular success.

Irrelevant. Anything made using the WC3 editor is Blizzard's property. It literally says that in the EULA. Thus Blizzard can't "rip-off" themselves, even if their developers didn't personally create the game.

That doesn't make any sense. You don't understand what "rip-off" means.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 18, 2015, 04:55:53 AM
That doesn't make any sense. You don't understand what "rip-off" means.

donut-walnut-yawn
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 18, 2015, 05:13:29 AM
Blizzard didn't make DotA. The original DotA mode was made by modders using WC3 map tools. Blizzard was certainly aware of it, but ignored it right up until LoL achieved popular success.

Irrelevant. Anything made using the WC3 editor is Blizzard's property. It literally says that in the EULA. Thus Blizzard can't "rip-off" themselves, even if their developers didn't personally create the game.


Listen here, you have never played DotA and know nothing about pushing lanes or ganking noobs. You're probably some filthy cyka feeding faggot that can't even pull creep camps properly. I eat 2200 MMR scrubs like you for breakfast. Go pick drow and afk in safe lane you scrub.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 18, 2015, 06:29:17 AM
That doesn't make any sense. You don't understand what "rip-off" means.

donut-walnut-yawn

I invent a tool and somebody else uses that tool to create something. If I create something with the intent to mimic the other thing, I am still ripping off the other person, even though I am using my own tool, because I am using it to execute an idea that is not my own.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 18, 2015, 06:58:58 AM
Blizzard ripped off their own modding community and is now profiting from it.

That seems pretty despicable to me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on January 18, 2015, 03:39:47 PM
Blizzard ripped off their own modding community and is now profiting from it.

That seems pretty despicable to me.
Did they get permission from original creators?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 18, 2015, 03:59:04 PM
I invent a tool and somebody else uses that tool to create something. If I create something with the intent to mimic the other thing, I am still ripping off the other person, even though I am using my own tool, because I am using it to execute an idea that is not my own.

Most tools don't come with a licensing agreement that literally says "anything you make with this tool doesn't belong to you." The WC3 editor was never their tool. Anything you make with it belongs to Blizzard. No way around it. The maps, the gameplay, the heroes, they all belong to Blizzard. The only thing that doesn't is the name, because you can easily make a legal argument that you didn't create the name using the editor.

Did they get permission from original creators?

They don't need permission because it already belonged to them. How many times and to how many people must I explain this to?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 18, 2015, 04:11:57 PM
We aren't talking about the law. It is possible to rip somebody off legally.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 18, 2015, 04:18:24 PM
Uhh, how can Blizzard "rip-off" DotA if DotA was originally a custom WarCraft 3 game? I even remember the day it was released, back before the community was full of idiots and raging nerdbros.

He's saying it's a rip-off of the MOBA format that DotA is largely credited with pioneering.  It's not a question of copyright or intellectual property.

(That was all anyone needed to say. ::))
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 18, 2015, 04:44:56 PM
We aren't talking about the law. It is possible to rip somebody off and for it to still be legal.

In this case, what Blizzard did was both legal and not a rip-off. It's like saying WarCraft 3 is a rip-off of WarCraft 2. It makes no sense at all, both are made by Blizzard. Blizzard made DotA, it can't rip it off.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 18, 2015, 06:13:27 PM
Is music that's made in Cubase owned by Steinberg?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 18, 2015, 06:56:59 PM
We aren't talking about the law. It is possible to rip somebody off and for it to still be legal.

In this case, what Blizzard did was both legal and not a rip-off. It's like saying WarCraft 3 is a rip-off of WarCraft 2. It makes no sense at all, both are made by Blizzard. Blizzard made DotA, it can't rip it off.

Except they didn't make DotA at all. Using your reasoning, you could argue Mass Effect was made by Epic Games just because their engine was used.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on January 18, 2015, 09:47:03 PM
It's a bit silly to call Heroes of the Storm a Dota rip-off. Dota was just a copy of Aeons of Strife, and has since spawned into an entire genre of similar games (LoL, HoN, Smite, Bloodline Champions, Tome, etc etc). I mean, HoN and Dota2 are far close to the original Dota than Heroes of the Storm.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on January 18, 2015, 10:09:18 PM
How does rushy be able to be so consistently wrong about everything in life?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 18, 2015, 10:27:59 PM
What
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 19, 2015, 12:29:51 AM
Except they didn't make DotA at all. Using your reasoning, you could argue Mass Effect was made by Epic Games just because their engine was used.

Epic Games doesn't claim to own anything made using their engine. You pay a licensing fee for it, whereas the WC3 editor is provided as-is with a EULA stating anything you make with it is the sole intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 19, 2015, 12:37:16 AM
Except they didn't make DotA at all. Using your reasoning, you could argue Mass Effect was made by Epic Games just because their engine was used.

Epic Games doesn't claim to own anything made using their engine. You pay a licensing fee for it, whereas the WC3 editor is provided as-is with a EULA stating anything you make with it is the sole intellectual property of Blizzard Entertainment.

You don't have to create something to own it, dumdum.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 19, 2015, 12:40:16 AM
Rushy needs to learn about intellectual property.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 19, 2015, 01:22:57 AM
You don't have to create something to own it, dumdum.

I never said anything to the contrary.

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on January 19, 2015, 01:47:02 AM
Did they get permission from original creators?

They don't need permission because it already belonged to them. How many times and to how many people must I explain this to?
I'm not suggesting they didn't already own it.  I'm asking if they asked anyway.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 19, 2015, 02:04:42 AM
You don't have to create something to own it, dumdum.

I never said anything to the contrary.

I know.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 19, 2015, 02:06:34 AM
I know.

So, you thought you'd just interject the discussion with a random statement that was not relevant? While it's not entire out of character for you, it's still weird.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 19, 2015, 02:15:27 AM
I was trying to subtly correct your misunderstanding of the phrase "rip-off".
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 19, 2015, 02:28:04 AM
I was trying to subtly correct your misunderstanding of the phrase "rip-off".

donut-walnut-yawn
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 19, 2015, 02:38:56 AM
You guys are such fucking idiots.  Rushy outright tells you that he's trolling, and you continue to feed him anyway.  It's not quite as stupid as the people eagerly trying to outsmart EJ with their witty replies, but it's still pretty dumb.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 19, 2015, 02:47:46 AM
In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by Saddan's intelligence.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 19, 2015, 03:00:29 AM
You guys are such fucking idiots.  Rushy outright tells you that he's trolling, and you continue to feed him anyway.  It's not quite as stupid as the people eagerly trying to outsmart EJ with their witty replies, but it's still pretty stupid.

Actually Saddam, I constructed all of this as a clever ruse to make you come in and point out the obvious again. Consider yourself trolleroled.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 19, 2015, 03:05:57 AM
In this moment, I am euphoric. Not because of any phony god's blessing. But because, I am enlightened by Saddan's intelligence.

You can't meme your way out of this one.  You are literally troll fodder and you walk around with a hook in your mouth.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 19, 2015, 03:10:03 AM
The Talos Principle was a great game, especially for the $40 price. The main story was very fun playing through and the ending sequence is just absolutely amazing. This is in addition of the graphics and soundtrack being very well done. It's one of the few games in which I search the landscape just to see what it looks like and listen to the music just to listen.

The gameplay itself was amazingly varied, despite there not actually being many gameplay mechanics involved. You're given only six unique tools throughout the game, yet their use doesn't become stale as the game progresses. The lack of tutorials also adds quite a lot to the gameplay, with each puzzle being designed to help the player discover new things they didn't know that tool could do without directly telling the player the tool could do it. Puzzle difficulty smoothly went from child's play to hellishly difficult. Hints are provided, but only if you choose to use them, as the narrator doesn't engage with you unless you ask for help.

All in all I give this game a solid 10/10 because it is exactly what it wanted to be: a thoughtful puzzle game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 25, 2015, 05:48:16 PM
A Link to the Past on my RetroPie. Literally a timeless classic.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on January 29, 2015, 10:16:24 PM
I beat AssCreed II.  The ending was stupid, but marginally better than the first one.  It at least feels like the end of a chapter in the overall story, rather than abruptly stopping practically mid-sentence.  I've already detailed why the game is superior to the first one - in short, it's bigger and more complex in virtually every way - but more than that, even the Animus stuff isn't bugging me as much now.  For example, I really liked the addition of the glyphs that gave you those creepy-as-hell puzzles.  I will say, though, that I didn't like how the game handled the assassinations themselves.  They were far too scripted.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 29, 2015, 11:03:36 PM
Well actually your stupid and your scripted.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on January 29, 2015, 11:04:25 PM
Oh wait, I agree with what you said.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 29, 2015, 11:16:52 PM
A Link to the Past on my RetroPie. Literally a timeless classic.

I agree. A Link Between Worlds on 3DS is also pretty great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on January 30, 2015, 12:06:27 AM
A Link to the Past on my RetroPie. Literally a timeless classic.

I agree. A Link Between Worlds on 3DS is also pretty great.

Much prefer it to Ocarina of Time 3D.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on January 30, 2015, 12:09:23 AM
A Link to the Past on my RetroPie. Literally a timeless classic.

I agree. A Link Between Worlds on 3DS is also pretty great.

Much prefer it to Ocarina of Time 3D.

I think they're both pretty great though. It's hard to separate Zelda games in terms of quality. OoT is a true masterpiece, the remake is not much worse.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on January 30, 2015, 04:42:38 AM
I played don't starve, but kinda am bored of it already.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 07, 2015, 06:12:34 AM
My marathon of AssCreed games continues with Brotherhood.  I'm not sure if I like this better or worse than the last one.  The new little tweaks with combat and movement are nice, as is having followers to help you out in combat, but this setting is a little stale.  Rome is big, sure, but with the exception of the famous sites they included, it's not all that interesting.  I'd have preferred some variety like the previous games offered.

In between bouts of AssCreeding, I have been playing The Witcher II: Assassin of Kings.  Not going to lie, this isn't really gripping me, and I had heard literally nothing but good things about it prior to playing it.  The gameplay is pretty clunky, especially with how restricted the movement is.  I don't understand why the game will only let you travel through any given area by one specific path, and have you bounce off of invisible walls and knee-high ledges if you try to deviate from that.  Also, the combat is really simplistic, being Bamham-style tap-one-button-to-do-all-the-work, although I've heard that it's an improvement from the previous game, which I haven't played.

The storytelling elements aren't so hot either.  I know that this franchise was based on some books and all, so it's not really fair to level this complaint at the games themselves, but holy shit, I am so sick of the usual generic medieval European fantasy setting by now.  I make jokes about this occasionally on IRC, but I assure you that I'm being quite serious here.  There is no other genre that is this stagnant.  The equivalent of this in sci-fi would be having every sci-fi franchise be centered around a governmental organization called the "Federation," that exists alongside alien races known as "Vulcans," "Klingons," "Romulans," and so on.  Do you think that people would stand for that kind of banal repetition in virtually every sci-fi universe out there?  Of course not.  So why do we tolerate it in fantasy?  I'm not saying that every new IP needs to reinvent the wheel here, but for fuck's sake, they don't need to keep regurgitating Tolkien note for note.  Switch things up a bit.  Dwarves don't have to be angry Scottish beer-drinking miners and smiths.  Elves don't have to be beautiful beings who live in the woods and are attuned to nature.  It's not that hard to tweak these details at least a little bit.

In fairness, I should point out that the dark and gritty tone of the game is probably what the devs were hoping would set it apart from other fantasy titles out there.  I suppose they were somewhat successful there, at least visually.  I don't think a lot of fantasy goes for such a dirty, grungy look.  As far as the writing goes, though, what with most of the characters talking very crudely and frequently swearing, it feels very contrived.  Trying a bit too hard to establish how ruff and tuff the game is.  I'm also rather amused by their use of the word "ploughing" in place of "fucking."
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on February 07, 2015, 11:33:16 PM
tl;dr
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 07, 2015, 11:34:50 PM
Does anyone play the TellTale GoT series? Is it worth playing?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on February 09, 2015, 06:45:49 AM
Does anyone play the TellTale GoT series? Is it worth playing?
You could probably find a lets play of it and save money or see if its worthwhile. Thats what i do but now it smells like bleach
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on February 09, 2015, 09:07:34 AM
The storytelling elements aren't so hot either.  I know that this franchise was based on some books and all, so it's not really fair to level this complaint at the games themselves, but holy shit, I am so sick of the usual generic medieval European fantasy setting by now.  I make jokes about this occasionally on IRC  but I assure you that I'm being quite serious here.  There is no other genre that is this stagnant.  The equivalent of this in sci-fi would be having every sci-fi franchise be centered around a governmental organization called the "Federation," that exists alongside alien races known as "Vulcans," "Klingons," "Romulans," and so on.  Do you think that people would stand for that kind of banal repetition in virtually every sci-fi universe out there?  Of course not.  So why do we tolerate it in fantasy?  I'm not saying that every new IP needs to reinvent the wheel here, but for fuck's sake, they don't need to keep regurgitating Tolkien note for note.  Switch things up a bit.  Dwarves don't have to be angry Scottish beer-drinking miners and smiths.  Elves don't have to be beautiful beings who live in the woods and are attuned to nature.  It's not that hard to tweak these details at least a little bit.

That's one reason I (generally) hate the genre. That and ridiculous place names. It isn't that difficult to provide variety and tweak the tropes whilst still keeping to the High Fantasy subgenre. The obvious examples are the Elder Scrolls series in gaming or the Discworld series where the tropes are played with.

Quote
“Elves are wonderful. They provoke wonder.
Elves are marvellous. They cause marvels.
Elves are fantastic. They create fantasies.
Elves are glamorous. They project glamour.
Elves are enchanting. They weave enchantment.
Elves are terrific. They beget terror.
The thing about words is that meanings can twist just like a snake, and if you want to find snakes look for them behind words that have changed their meaning.
No one ever said elves are nice.
Elves are bad.”
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on February 14, 2015, 06:45:33 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/2sDvEYa.jpg)

Fantastic game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 14, 2015, 07:17:06 PM
Chris is wise.

I've finished AssCreed: Bros.  It wasn't great.  The setting was boring, the plot was inane, and it was pretty short.  Even the conspiracy stuff was a step down from the previous title.  Uncovering Templar ties to Houdini and Gandhi and what-have-you via scanning spooky pictures and deciphering cryptic riddles was really cool.  But in this game, the conspiracies being uncovered are just typical crap I could hear from Alex Jones.  Like, the Citizens United decision, arguably one of the most unpopular rulings that the Supreme Court has ever made, that was the work of the Templars?  Talk about low-hanging fruit.

I don't want to render a judgment on Revelations until I've finished it, but I'll just say that it's good to see Altair back, and thank Allah, his voice actor is a million times better than the old one.

03/15: I remember some time ago on the old site, Singy talked about working on the development of The Order: 1886, a PS4 exclusive.  For some reason, that thread doesn't seem to exist anymore.  Has anyone here played it?  Apparently, it's only about six hours long, with half of that time being taken up by unskippable cutscenes and the rest of it being clunky cover shooting, lots of walking, and quick time events.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 16, 2015, 03:10:22 AM
I remember some time ago on the old site, Singy talked about working on the development of The Order: 1886, a PS4 exclusive.  For some reason, that thread doesn't seem to exist any more.  Has anyone here played it?  Apparently, it's only about six hours long, with half of that time being taken up by unskippable cutscenes and the rest of it being clunky cover shooting, lots of walking, and quick time events.

I told him it was going to be shitty and he argued with me.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-order-1886

Yeah, just another example of my enormous psychic powers. I can predict the color of Rooster's curtains, I can predict video game ratings. Now I just need to concentrate on lottery numbers.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 16, 2015, 03:15:41 AM
I remember some time ago on the old site, Singy talked about working on the development of The Order: 1886, a PS4 exclusive.  For some reason, that thread doesn't seem to exist any more.  Has anyone here played it?  Apparently, it's only about six hours long, with half of that time being taken up by unskippable cutscenes and the rest of it being clunky cover shooting, lots of walking, and quick time events.

I told him it was going to be shitty and he argued with me.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-order-1886

Yeah, just another example of my enormous psychic powers. I can predict the color of Rooster's curtains, I can predict video game ratings. Now I just need to concentrate on lottery numbers.

To be fair, it wasn't a very hard thing to guess.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 16, 2015, 09:27:47 AM
I've recently started playing through the Assassin's Creed series, to see if they're as good as I remember them being.

Starting with AC, being used to the more dynamic parkour of the later games made Altair initially seem stiff and cumbersome. I know others have commented on it to death but I never realised how awkward some of the controls are, I suppose on the first playthrough I was just caught up with the uniqueness of the setting, the style, the story, and the feeling of the game. That said, I enjoyed the less set-piece heavy nature of the first AC.

I got through half of the game until it glitched and I got stuck in the Abstergo office with no way back into the Animus, which takes me into:

AC2. The setting is richer than AC1, each city feels different and alive. The controls are better, but still sometimes ragequittingly frustrating, especially trying to make any jump that isn't directly perpendicular to the takeoff surface. The introduction of the health bar, complete with medicine and armour upgrades feels like a step backwards and wastes the potential created by the animus framing device. Ezio is a far warmer and more relateable character than Altair, but it does feel like he overstays his welcome. Venice is simply too small a city to spend quite so long in. I'm sure I climbed the tower overlooking the Pallazzo half a dozen times over the course of the story.

AC:B Only just started this one and the infamous bugs have already raised their heads, from townsfolk popping into existence, climbing beyond the top of a ladder or Uncle Mario throwing himself off buildings like a lemming. I can tell that this will be fun.

That said, the opening battle of Montefiorte was fairly epic and the re-introduction of Desmond sections are a good way to break up the action. The controls feel a little more fluid, too.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 16, 2015, 04:44:59 PM
I told him it was going to be shitty and he argued with me.

http://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-4/the-order-1886

Yeah, just another example of my enormous psychic powers. I can predict the color of Rooster's curtains, I can predict video game ratings. Now I just need to concentrate on lottery numbers.

If I remember correctly, the only thing you were arguing about was the presence of anachronistic technology.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 16, 2015, 05:11:11 PM
I've recently started playing through the Assassin's Creed series, to see if they're as good as I remember them being.

Are they?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 16, 2015, 05:24:47 PM
If I remember correctly, the only thing you were arguing about was the presence of anachronistic technology.

Ultimately leading to a bad setting leading to a bad game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 16, 2015, 08:34:45 PM
No, it seems to be a bad game because it's very short and linear, has no replay value or multiplayer, is mostly just uninspired cover shooting and walking around, and even the story that the devs were so proud to be focusing on rather than the gameplay isn't very good.  The setting is one of the few things that most reviewers apparently liked.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 16, 2015, 08:36:47 PM


The setting is one of the few things that most reviewers apparently liked.

And that's why Rushy hates it.

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 16, 2015, 08:41:56 PM
The setting is one of the few things that most reviewers apparently liked.

They just feel bad for it and threw it a bone.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 16, 2015, 09:39:52 PM
I've recently started playing through the Assassin's Creed series, to see if they're as good as I remember them being.

Are they?

The lustre has faded slightly. I'm noticing more problems that I glossed over the first time around. That isn't to say they're not good games, just not the masterpieces I remember.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 16, 2015, 09:52:52 PM
I've recently started playing through the Assassin's Creed series, to see if they're as good as I remember them being.

Are they?

The lustre has faded slightly. I'm noticing more problems that I glossed over the first time around. That isn't to say they're not good games, just not the masterpieces I remember.

I think the main problem with AC is the controls. I couldn't enjoy the games mostly because of that reason. They're not intuitive and they are hard to get used to. I have heard good things about Assassin's Creed: Black Flag, though. Have you played that one?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 17, 2015, 07:47:32 AM
Yeah, the biggest problem with AC4 was the story. Instead of playing as Desmond, you play from the first person perspective as an anonymous office worker in Abstergo's video game department making a game about piracy from the genetic memory of Desmond. The character in the animus is thoroughly unlikeable, too. I don't mind playing as a bad guy (the start of AC3 is brilliant in that regard), but AC4 ties itself up in knots trying to make you out to be good.

The game itself is a lot of fun. Exploring the West Indies as the captain of a pirate ship is reminiscent of Wind Waker in creating the illusion of freedom. I enjoyed it much more when I was simply exploring the world, being a pirate and discovering secrets.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 18, 2015, 05:56:21 PM
I've played through Tomb Raider, the 2013 reboot of the series.  It wasn't awful, but it could have been much, much better.  The focus on combat rather than exploration and puzzle-solving feels very out of place for the series, the story is about as generic and predictable as they come, while also being full of plot holes and annoying characters, and the QTEs suck.  Why do games still even have QTEs, anyway?  Nobody likes them, and they're never good.  Well, with the exception of maybe this one:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6uT5Z1JG1lE
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 18, 2015, 05:58:06 PM
Why do games still even have QTEs, anyway?

I'm guessing you're not a big fan of God of War.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 18, 2015, 07:08:15 PM
I liked the newer Tomb Raider's QTEs because if you failed them you got a pretty gruesome death scene... or if you failed the rapey one you apparently get raped. I remember them getting a lot of shit for that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 19, 2015, 02:11:58 AM
The rapey dude strangles you if you mess up that one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 19, 2015, 02:15:41 AM
With so much edge I'm surprised this game didn't get more critical acclaim.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 19, 2015, 02:19:41 AM
The rapey dude strangles you if you mess up that one.

I think that was adjusted to be that way later in order to claim it isn't rapey. "See? He was just goin' for a good ol' fashion stranglin'"
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on March 19, 2015, 02:32:38 AM
Yeah, originally full penetration was depicted.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 19, 2015, 02:40:01 AM
Yeah, originally full penetration was depicted.

All the more incentive not to fail the quicktime event. But no, I meant I thought the original sort of just cut out with more rapey-ness and then the strangling was added on later.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Yaakov ben Avraham on March 19, 2015, 04:42:31 AM
Cool. A thread dedicated to VIDEO GAMES! How awesome is that? I'm trying to stay a lot more diplomatic since I got back. Anyway, that's beside the point. I'm what you might call a techno dinosaur. I still play NDS, because I am blind in one eye and can't see N3DS in 3D. I just see double. So I haven't bought the damned thing yet. I want to, and just play in 2D mode, but its too expensive to justify when one and one's wife are just getting by check-to-check.

So recently I traded in some old games and got four new ones. Star Wars, the Force Unleashed I and II, Call of Duty Black Ops, and Warhammer Squad Command. I haven't gotten to the last three yet. I tend to have a bit of OCD-ness about the way I play games, and that means I play one until I beat it, and I play it obsessively.

I really like the first Star Wars game with one exception. It is so EFFING LINEAR! I think there are only two or three points in which you can make a choice what to do or not do. And the game will end one of two ways. Otherwise, it is rollicking good fun. Anyway, have any of you played this game? I have also managed to acquire the cheat codes for it, which are very helpful as well. Let me know what you think of it. I'm curious as to what all of you think about something that is NOT effing religious or political.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 19, 2015, 09:01:02 AM
Oh good. Yaakov's back. Be still my beating heart...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Yaakov ben Avraham on March 19, 2015, 10:50:19 AM
Oh good. Yaakov's back. Be still my beating heart...

Hey, Ghost. What's going down?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 19, 2015, 11:16:36 AM
Oh good. Yaakov's back. Be still my beating heart...

Hey, Ghost. What's going down?

The quality of posts on this site...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 21, 2015, 06:20:16 AM
Now I've played through BioShock Infinite.  It was okay, but I can't say that I agree with the absurd amount of praise it's gotten.  First of all, there's the story - they clearly put a lot of effort into it, and there are some interesting ideas in there, which just makes it all the more frustrating that they screwed up so many of the more basic elements of storytelling.  A lot's been made of the ending, and while there are some people out there who insist that it does totally make sense and here's a lengthy analysis of the lore that proves it, I think the mere fact that the ending was so controversial in the first place is ample evidence that the writers screwed it up.  The game is a self-contained medium, and it should be able to explain itself in a satisfactory matter, not rely on a bunch of people writing essays on the Internet to justify what it portrayed.

I'm quite surprised that no reviewers seem to have taken issue with how incredibly generic Boring Booker DeWitt was.  You'd think that a story that was this praised would have a protagonist who was at least somewhat interesting, but no, they just decided to go with every single cliché they possibly could.  He has a stock design, a stock voice, a stock personality, a stock tragic backstory, stock alcoholism, stock everything.  I honestly thought that there would be something clever that justified this, like an elaborate deconstruction of the typical homogeneous FPS hero or something, but they just played it painfully straight the entire way through (with the obvious exception of the dumb ending).  He is literally every single FPS hero ever.  I don't understand how such clearly ambitious writers could have been so lazy when it came to the hero.

In fact, the only thing that's more uninspired than Booker is the gameplay itself.  This is a run and gun shooter, nothing more.  Pour bullets into every enemy until they're dead.  Move on to the next zone.  Repeat.  That's it.  That's the game.  There's no strategy.  There's no planning.  There's no using your head.  You just make sure you're loaded up on ammo and fill up the bullet sponges that all come blindly charging at you.  The skylines, the vigors, and the tears are cool, but most of the fighting still has to be done with your boring old guns.  It's so strange.  I almost feel like half of the dev team was trying to make this unique, creative adventure game, but the other half were trying to make a Halo clone, and then they mashed all their work together and came up with this.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 21, 2015, 07:09:29 AM
Now I've played through BioShock Infinite.  It was okay, but I can't say that I agree with the absurd amount of praise it's gotten.  First of all, there's the story - they clearly put a lot of effort into it, and there are some interesting ideas in there, which just makes it all the more frustrating that they screwed up so many of the more basic elements of storytelling.  A lot's been made of the ending, and while there are some people out there who insist that it does totally make sense and here's a lengthy analysis of the lore that proves it, I think the mere fact that the ending was so controversial in the first place is ample evidence that the writers screwed it up.  The game is a self-contained medium, and it should be able to explain itself in a satisfactory matter, not rely on a bunch of people writing essays on the Internet to justify what it portrayed.

How does its ending being controversial equate to them having screwed it up?

I'm quite surprised that no reviewers seem to have taken issue with how incredibly generic Boring Booker DeWitt was.  You'd think that a story that was this praised would have a protagonist who was at least somewhat interesting, but no, they just decided to go with every single cliché they possibly could.  He has a stock design, a stock voice, a stock personality, a stock tragic backstory, stock alcoholism, stock everything.  I honestly thought that there would be something clever that justified this, like an elaborate deconstruction of the typical homogeneous FPS hero or something, but they just played it painfully straight the entire way through (with the obvious exception of the dumb ending).  He is literally every single FPS hero ever.  I don't understand how such clearly ambitious writers could have been so lazy when it came to the hero.

To me it was pretty obvious that Booker was supposed to be a classic hardboiled type, though obviously more action-oriented than a Sam Spade as necessitated by the nature of the game. He fits the mould, and even shares a few biographical notes with Dashiell Hammett, an alcoholic and former Pinkerton agent.

In fact, the only thing that's more uninspired than Booker is the gameplay itself.  This is a run and gun shooter, nothing more.  Pour bullets into every enemy until they're dead.  Move on to the next zone.  Repeat.  That's it.  That's the game.  There's no strategy.  There's no planning.  There's no using your head.  You just make sure you're loaded up on ammo and fill up the bullet sponges that all come blindly charging at you.  The skylines, the vigors, and the tears are cool, but most of the fighting still has to be done with your boring old guns.  It's so strange.  I almost feel like half of the dev team was trying to make this unique, creative adventure game, but the other half were trying to make a Halo clone, and then they mashed all their work together and came up with this.

I essentially agree with this.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 21, 2015, 12:04:49 PM
Ludonarrative dissonance.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 22, 2015, 03:10:15 AM
I started playing Cities: Skylines as it seemed like a decent game for $30. I'm very impressed with the overall gameplay. Although it is lacking in some details, it feels well polished and runs smoothly. The most interesting thing about the game so far is that the water on the map is dynamic. You can build water uptakes, dams, and sewage outtakes that all dynamically affect the flow and location of the water on the map. You can pump lakes dry to provide more land or dam up rivers to give you more water and electricity. Definitely a very interesting addition to the gameplay. Other than that, it is a fairly generic city builder.

Just have to be sure to save before placing a dam. The game doesn't have a geographic altitude map, so it is guesswork as to where the excess water will end up. I inadvertently turned a town of 11,000 into a lake.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 22, 2015, 03:15:40 AM
I heard that it's a worthy successor to SimCity4. Maxis certainly isn't making another city sim worth a damn.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 22, 2015, 03:39:27 AM
I heard that it's a worthy successor to SimCity4. Maxis certainly isn't making another city sim worth a damn.

It isn't perfect, but it is a hell of a lot better than Simcity 2013 and much more organic than Simcity 4.


Maxis screwed themselves because of the way they handled sewage/water/electricity in Simcity 2013. They tried to make literally every aspect of the game an AI agent but couldn't make AI that wasn't shit. The result is even if you mod the game to have larger cities, half of your city has no water or electricity because the AI gets confused by all of the utility intersections. Maxis wasn't joking when they said they couldn't get larger city sizes to work.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 22, 2015, 06:17:22 AM
The boyfriend has been playing that as well. Seems like a fun game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on March 22, 2015, 11:47:34 AM
I don't understand how to build good road systems. Therefore, the game is terrible.

jk it's pretty gud
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on March 22, 2015, 12:42:49 PM
I heard that it's a worthy successor to SimCity4. Maxis certainly isn't making another city sim worth a damn.
Maxis isn't making another Sim game ever.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 22, 2015, 04:45:25 PM
I don't understand how to build good road systems. Therefore, the game is terrible.

jk it's pretty gud

It's funny, though, city sims are a good way to teach people the importance of roundabouts in traffic management. Some form of city sim experience should be required credit for civil engineer graduation. Also, that's what pissed me off the most about Simcity 2013 is it had no one-way roads, therefore roundabouts were impossible and traffic was a nightmare.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on March 22, 2015, 06:32:59 PM
I even have traffic jams on my roundabouts. I literally cannot roads.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 22, 2015, 07:03:31 PM
I even have traffic jams on my roundabouts. I literally cannot roads.

How is that even possible?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 22, 2015, 07:50:21 PM
Because roundabouts are shit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 23, 2015, 12:04:57 PM
I once built a city in SC4 (almost) without traffic. Every building connected to a tiny square of road* encircling an underground station, the little island cities were connected in an underground network, with the industrial pockets at the edge of the map. I think there was one lazy f*cker who drove from his apartment building to the station across the road, but otherwise there were no cars. Until I built the city enough to get the hospitals, police stations and fire stations with air support, I left one square free at the corner of every pocket city to manually drive the emergency vehicles to a disaster.

*As in:

RRR
RUR
RRR
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 23, 2015, 01:13:52 PM
manually drive the emergency vehicles to a disaster.

Wow.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 23, 2015, 05:33:34 PM
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll232/chrissetti/sc4ugcity_zpsolapoww2.png) (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/chrissetti/media/sc4ugcity_zpsolapoww2.png.html)

green - Resi
Blue - Commercial
Yellow - Industry
Orange - Civil
Grey - Road
Black - Metro
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 23, 2015, 07:13:01 PM
You are the dirtiest of the dirty min-maxers.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on March 23, 2015, 07:46:59 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 23, 2015, 07:53:19 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 23, 2015, 07:54:00 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.

lol

It would be much easier to use the homebrew channel on the Wii. Burning those gamecube discs is problematic.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on March 23, 2015, 07:57:37 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.

I've thought about that, but I'd rather have an authentic copy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 23, 2015, 08:09:24 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.

I've thought about that, but I'd rather have an authentic copy.

Have you ever considered Project M? I played it when it was still in beta. It was ok. It felt a bit awkward, but this was back in 2012.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on March 23, 2015, 08:16:39 PM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.

I've thought about that, but I'd rather have an authentic copy.

Have you ever considered Project M? I played it when it was still in beta. It was ok. It felt a bit awkward, but this was back in 2012.

The friend who I play Melee with regularly keeps wanting to try it. But for some reason he always thought you needed a modded Wii to be able to play it. I told him there's a hack free version and he just said "oh" and hasn't mentioned it since. I don't really have much interest in it, but if he decides to make a copy I'll try it. Besides, I think Smash 4 is finally the proper sequel to Melee everyone was hoping for in Brawl. The physics don't reach Melee level hilarity, but it's still insanely fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 24, 2015, 03:54:31 AM
How does its ending being controversial equate to them having screwed it up?

I may have phrased that poorly.  I meant more the controversy about whether or not the ending actually made sense within the context of the story and the universe.  I don't want to start spouting off like I'm some kind of authority on narratology or anything, but good twists shouldn't be leaving players confused and in disbelief.  It's fine to surprise them, or even shock them, but the reveal still needs to be accessible enough to players to work as a satisfactory ending.  You can't just throw something bizarre and convoluted at the players and then say, "Now go try to figure out what the hell it is that you just saw and how it actually makes sense."  Like I said, it's a self-contained medium.

Quote
To me it was pretty obvious that Booker was supposed to be a classic hardboiled type, though obviously more action-oriented than a Sam Spade as necessitated by the nature of the game. He fits the mould, and even shares a few biographical notes with Dashiell Hammett, an alcoholic and former Pinkerton agent.

Plenty of those hardboiled types like Spade or Marlowe were distinctive characters in their own right, even if popular culture has Flanderized them into basic tough guys with a gun in one hand and a drink in the other.  But yeah, this isn't a super-important criticism or anything.  I guess it's just my reaction these days to roll my eyes whenever I see another brooding dark-haired white guy with stubble on the cover of a video game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 24, 2015, 04:42:18 AM
What about the ending confused you to the point where nothing in-game had an answer for you? I feel like people who think the Bioshock: Infinite ending was confusing are the same people who were confused by Inception; they're easily confused.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on March 24, 2015, 04:54:46 AM
quote author=Crudblud link=topic=667.msg63520#msg63520 date=1426921769]
How does its ending being controversial equate to them having screwed it up?

I may have phrased that poorly.  I meant more the controversy about whether or not the ending actually made sense within the context of the story and the universe.  I don't want to start spouting off like I'm some kind of authority on narratology or anything, but good twists shouldn't be leaving players confused and in disbelief.  It's fine to surprise them, or even shock them, but the reveal still needs to be accessible enough to players to work as a satisfactory ending.  You can't just throw something bizarre and convoluted at the players and then say, "Now go try to figure out what the hell it is that you just saw and how it actually makes sense."  Like I said, it's a self-contained medium.

Quote
To me it was pretty obvious that Booker was supposed to be a classic hardboiled type, though obviously more action-oriented than a Sam Spade as necessitated by the nature of the game. He fits the mould, and even shares a few biographical notes with Dashiell Hammett, an alcoholic and former Pinkerton agent.

Plenty of these hardboiled types like Spade or Marlowe were distinctive characters in their own right, even if popular culture has Flanderized them into basic tough guys with a gun in one hand and a drink in the other.  But yeah, this isn't a super-important criticism or anything.  I guess it's just my reaction these days to roll my eyes whenever I see another brooding dark-haired white guy with stubble on the cover of a video game.
[/quote]

With such a limited frame of reference it seems odd that you would imagine yourself to have any grasp on the matter at all.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 24, 2015, 08:26:12 AM
How does its ending being controversial equate to them having screwed it up?

I may have phrased that poorly.  I meant more the controversy about whether or not the ending actually made sense within the context of the story and the universe.  I don't want to start spouting off like I'm some kind of authority on narratology or anything, but good twists shouldn't be leaving players confused and in disbelief.  It's fine to surprise them, or even shock them, but the reveal still needs to be accessible enough to players to work as a satisfactory ending.  You can't just throw something bizarre and convoluted at the players and then say, "Now go try to figure out what the hell it is that you just saw and how it actually makes sense."  Like I said, it's a self-contained medium.

Shit, that's like a perfect description of the Mass Effect 3 ending. I thought you nerds were talking about it for a second there.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 24, 2015, 08:29:13 AM
I may have phrased that poorly.  I meant more the controversy about whether or not the ending actually made sense within the context of the story and the universe.  I don't want to start spouting off like I'm some kind of authority on narratology or anything, but good twists shouldn't be leaving players confused and in disbelief.  It's fine to surprise them, or even shock them, but the reveal still needs to be accessible enough to players to work as a satisfactory ending.  You can't just throw something bizarre and convoluted at the players and then say, "Now go try to figure out what the hell it is that you just saw and how it actually makes sense."  Like I said, it's a self-contained medium.

The work speaks for itself, but you have to extract the information and take it with you and think about it, in my opinion that is the least you owe a work with which you choose to engage. I don't accept "people had to write essays to try and make sense of it, therefore it is bad" as solid reasoning for the dismissal of what we can probably agree is an ambitious but hugely flawed attempt at broad scope storytelling; after all, if your logic held water, many great novels and films and paintings and even pieces of music would be considered trash simply for having people write about them for the sake of trying to understand them. As long as there has been "art" there has been criticism and discussion, and, dancing about architecture or not, these ancillaries have been vital to developments in thinking for both creators and observers, the same is true, if we accept them as art, of video games. I do not consider Infinite to be an artful game, but there is something to be gained from analysis of its plot and gameplay, from thinking about which things work and which things do not, and furthermore why that is.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on March 24, 2015, 08:45:04 AM
(http://i289.photobucket.com/albums/ll232/chrissetti/sc4ugcity_zpsolapoww2.png) (http://s289.photobucket.com/user/chrissetti/media/sc4ugcity_zpsolapoww2.png.html)

green - Resi
Blue - Commercial
Yellow - Industry
Orange - Civil
Grey - Road
Black - Metro
Wow, your citizens must have utterly despised you.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on March 27, 2015, 02:39:15 PM
I just wish that you had a more delicate control over levelling the landscape in SC4, I wanted to make a city which relied on ferries between similar blocks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 29, 2015, 11:49:11 PM
Playing The Witcher for the first time.

It has the perfect amount of lore and action to keep me entertained and addicted even. The dialogue is awkward but that's kind of endearing.

I am also incredibly attracted to myself so I have sex with all the wiminz. Gotta spread the hunky Geralt love.

Good job, Poles.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 30, 2015, 12:24:37 AM
The Witches is great. The pacing of the game is a bit odd though, in my opinion. I enjoyed the combat, lore, and dialogue... but could have gone without the sex scenes.

But Geralt is a total bad ass, so it's excusable.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 30, 2015, 12:27:14 AM
I appreciate that you can collect them like trading cards. The only dialogue I failed was the green chick. Damn you hard to get green chick.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 30, 2015, 12:56:07 AM
It has the perfect amount of lore

But it's literally the exact same Tolkien rehash that almost all modern fantasy franchises use.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 30, 2015, 01:17:29 AM
I didn't say the lore itself was fantastic. I said the balance of lore and action was just right. Not too much lore with long books and not just all about action. Just a perfect mix for my casual RPG tastes.

The sex scenes are fine, I rather enjoy the cards.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: spoon on March 30, 2015, 04:57:21 AM
I'm still playing Super Smash Bros. Melee after 14 years. And I've just realized if anything happens to the disk, it's going to cost a decent amount to get a new one.

Why would you not just download a rom and burn it onto one of the discs yourself? You don't need a special burner to burn those tiny discs, any CD/DVD burner can do it.

I've thought about that, but I'd rather have an authentic copy.

Have you ever considered Project M? I played it when it was still in beta. It was ok. It felt a bit awkward, but this was back in 2012.

The friend who I play Melee with regularly keeps wanting to try it. But for some reason he always thought you needed a modded Wii to be able to play it. I told him there's a hack free version and he just said "oh" and hasn't mentioned it since. I don't really have much interest in it, but if he decides to make a copy I'll try it. Besides, I think Smash 4 is finally the proper sequel to Melee everyone was hoping for in Brawl. The physics don't reach Melee level hilarity, but it's still insanely fun.

PM is opensource and requires a 2gb sd card and a copy of brawl. It is gr8 and I'd smash the shit out of all of you in any smash game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 30, 2015, 06:39:29 AM
I enjoyed the combat
No you didn't. No one did.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on March 30, 2015, 07:11:04 AM
I enjoyed the combat
No you didn't. No one did.

It's been awhile, but I thought it was entertaining and unique compared to some games of a similar genre. I can't remember it very well, but I knew there was click based combos and I kept losing my money to the guy in the first town on some bullshit gambling game with mahjong pieces (maybe?).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 30, 2015, 10:45:27 AM
I've played games with worse combat. It's not that great though, aside from switching between which style you're using you just have to time the combos. There is some magic or "aards" you can use and potions. At least there is some planning involved with the harder bosses so it's not a completely mindless hack and slash combat system.

Watching Geralt in strong style stance is pretty funny.

(http://i61.tinypic.com/r6y0dd.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 30, 2015, 12:48:34 PM
But mindless hack and slash combat system is the best combat system. That and turnbased systems like in Kotor and NWN.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 30, 2015, 01:44:11 PM
But mindless hack and slash combat system is the best combat system. That and turnbased systems like in Kotor and NWN.
Meh, mindless hack and slash is fun for a little bit but then it just gets boring. I'm thinking of games like Conan or Viking.

KOTOR is obviously a lot of fun too, but I think I prefer this style. I've never been big on turnbased combat.

This is the first time I've really been hooked on a game in awhile. I just want to go home and play it. :(
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 30, 2015, 01:49:49 PM
I suggest studying a map of the in-game world. The story gets political and it is confusing considering it never actually tells you where any of the countries it mentions are.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 30, 2015, 01:58:28 PM
I suggest studying a map of the in-game world. The story gets political and it is confusing considering it never actually tells you where any of the countries it mentions are.
Thanks for the tip, boo. Now I can do a game related thing while I'm at work! :D
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on March 30, 2015, 06:42:43 PM
Anyone else played Warframe? Looks like a whole lot of style with little substance.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on April 02, 2015, 08:18:32 AM
My brother plays it. Looks like any other generic hack 'n' slash but with robots.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on April 02, 2015, 08:35:05 AM
Yeah it's basically ninjas in space. Nothing terribly interesting, but the combat is enjoyable and the grind is filling up spare time nicely. It's also nice that it's another f2p title.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on April 03, 2015, 11:24:45 PM
Hey Rushy, I just banged the dryad. You jelly?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on April 04, 2015, 01:26:25 AM
Hey Rushy, I just banged the dryad. You jelly?

 >:(
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on April 04, 2015, 02:13:58 AM
Her card was boring. 5/10 meh
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on April 07, 2015, 11:37:13 AM
Started a new game on Earthbound.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on April 25, 2015, 03:51:42 AM
i'm listening to 2112 and playing hurros ubla de Stormada
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on April 26, 2015, 05:50:28 PM
Started Witcher 2 and so far I don't like it as much. It's definitely more of a console game/casual RPG and relies far too heavily on cinematic sequences. Sometimes it feels like I'm watching a movie rather than playing a game. And it feels more natural to use my xbox controller rather than keyboard and mouse, which sucks. The fighting is much faster and you can't drink potions once in battle. The environments don't feel as open and the music isn't as great.

But this could change, I'm only about 3-4 hours in.
Geralt was shirtless for almost the whole prologue, so it at least has that going for it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on May 05, 2015, 02:19:19 AM
FFX Remaster on PS3. SU had never played it, so we cranked it out in around 50 hours over 5-6 weeks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 05, 2015, 04:57:42 PM
FFX Remaster on PS3. SU had never played it, so we cranked it out in around 50 hours over 5-6 weeks.

Such a great game. Even though Tidus is annoying as hell (HA HA HA!!). I think it might be one of my favorite FF titles, but I'm conflicted between a few of them. I love the scene before battling Yunalesca, and Auron's speech.

I also like Final Fantasy X-2, just for the battle system mostly. It's a fun game if you ignore the story and dialogue.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 06, 2015, 09:31:19 AM
On the notion of Mortal Kombat X. I don't have this game yet, but I'll probably get it eventually. I've watched a couple of gameplay videos of it and such, and I've noticed that many youtubers seems to have strong reactions of shock and disgust over the various fatality moves you can perform, and I think they're being silly.

A few examples.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyc6yfZn0j8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OJaiLvV26bk

Sissynannies.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vindictus on May 06, 2015, 09:39:37 AM
I ended up muting the Youtubers and just watching the fatalities.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 06, 2015, 01:23:36 PM
The new fatalities are hilarious
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on May 06, 2015, 01:29:12 PM
But mindless hack and slash combat system is the best combat system. That and turnbased systems like in Kotor and NWN.

Don't be dissing NWN.  Greatest RPG evah.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 06, 2015, 01:30:57 PM
The new fatalities are hilarious
Yeah, but these people react with shock and horror, screaming WHAT DA FAAACK while covering their faces. I could see how an elderly might find it horrifying, but these aren't exactly old people, so why are they so sensitive?

But mindless hack and slash combat system is the best combat system. That and turnbased systems like in Kotor and NWN.

Don't be dissing NWN.  Greatest RPG evah.
How did you reach the conclusion that I'm dissing NWN?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 06, 2015, 01:35:22 PM
The new fatalities are hilarious
Yeah, but these people react with shock and horror, screaming WHAT DA FAAACK while covering their faces. I could see how an elderly might find it horrifying, but these aren't exactly old people, so why are they so sensitive?
This is why I don't like reaction videos. The people always seem to overreact for no real reason.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 06, 2015, 02:15:11 PM
The new fatalities are hilarious
Yeah, but these people react with shock and horror, screaming WHAT DA FAAACK while covering their faces. I could see how an elderly might find it horrifying, but these aren't exactly old people, so why are they so sensitive?
This is why I don't like reaction videos. The people always seem to overreact for no real reason.
A lot of people will put on an act if they know they're on camera, it's probably a natural response to knowing one is being watched, and either comes out of confidence or nervousness. Given the popularity of stuff like PewDiePie, whose claim to fame I understand to be screaming into a webcam while playing Amnesia, it's obvious that many people love to watch other people getting scared or being grossed out, so it's probably a good way to bring a lot of potential subscribers to their channel.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 06, 2015, 06:03:33 PM
Yeah so, for no real reason. I never trust reaction shots because of this weird "being watched" effect.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 06, 2015, 06:17:15 PM
That's why I post reaction videos of you on the darknet when you don't know I'm watching.  :)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 06, 2015, 10:31:00 PM
That's why I post reaction videos of you on the darknet when you don't know I'm watching.  :)
I guess this would freak me out if I had a webcam.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 07, 2015, 02:59:47 AM
That's why I post reaction videos of you on the darknet when you don't know I'm watching.  :)
I guess this would freak me out if I had a webcam.

You theoretically have about 15 of them!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 08, 2015, 07:16:57 PM
This just in: dynamic beard growth confirmed for The Witcher 3.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 09, 2015, 01:32:31 PM
ebic
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 02:14:53 PM
This just in: dynamic beard growth confirmed for The Witcher 3.
YES, BUT DO WE FINALLY SEE GERALT WITHOUT PANTS ON?!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 09, 2015, 02:40:25 PM
What a filthy mind you have, pervert.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 09, 2015, 04:35:10 PM
This just in: dynamic beard growth confirmed for The Witcher 3.
YES, BUT DO WE FINALLY SEE GERALT WITHOUT PANTS ON?!

Gross. His pubes are probably crawling with insects.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 04:56:33 PM
I wasn't even suggesting we see his pubes. But also - that's stupid. If his bush had insects then Triss's would as well.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 09, 2015, 05:02:19 PM
I wasn't even suggesting we see his pubes. But also - that's stupid. If his bush had insects then Triss's would as well.

And? Medieval people were pretty nasty.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 05:43:46 PM
I wasn't even suggesting we see his pubes. But also - that's stupid. If his bush had insects then Triss's would as well.

And? Medieval people were pretty nasty.
And what? Triss's bush didn't have any noticeable bugs. Why would Geralt's?
If video game characters are sexualized (which they are) why the fuck can't they throw some fanservice out for the ladies?

Seriously - WHY IS HE WEARING UNDERWEAR?! The White Wolf would not be modest.

(http://i.imgur.com/LrEPlg4.jpg?1)

And later at the water gardens, Triss magic's herself naked while we get a clumsy Geralt trying to take off his boots...
The only thing that the lusty girl gamers get is some codpiece action.

(http://i.imgur.com/8VvfRr3.jpg?1)

It is an outrage. I am outraged.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 09, 2015, 05:51:15 PM
You can hardly see her bush in that screenshot. Bugs could still be crawling all over it.


And Geralt probably never takes his shorts off because, well, his pubes are crawling with bugs and he's embarrassed.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 09, 2015, 05:51:40 PM
Are we talking about the same bugs? Because the bugs I'm talking about definitely can't be seen at that distance with the naked eye. Also, this game is targeted at male gamers, which is why it is full of naked wiminz and not a naked Geralt. I understand your pain, though. Do you have any idea how many times in Tomb Raider Lara's top should have been torn off, but wasn't? So lame.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 09, 2015, 05:59:55 PM
He probably has a tiny D and he's embarrassed.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 09, 2015, 06:00:45 PM
If video game characters are sexualized (which they are) why the fuck can't they throw some fanservice out for the ladies?

Women don't play video games.  Quit trying to inject your agenda of cultural Marxism into video game criticism.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 06:02:18 PM
You see her bush better at the water gardens, but I am not going to post le video game nudity.

Tomb Raider and Witcher are hardly comparable. Geralt has lots of sex. Lots of half naked sex. It's just stupid. And I'm not even talking about getting to see his dick - just some ass. Just contextual ass. But no, he has to wear pants cause guys are terrified of male nudity even when the story necessitates it. It would be like watching a porn where the guy is banging the chick through his boxer's pee hole.

The truth is, women get fanservice in the way of romance like Kaidan/Carth/Alistair/etc. But we're just as perverted as guys - we want nudity.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on May 09, 2015, 06:12:49 PM
I agree, there seems to be an unnecessary double standard at play there. It would be interesting to see where it comes from.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 09, 2015, 06:29:49 PM
I agree, there seems to be an unnecessary double standard at play there. It would be interesting to see where it comes from.

I think we all know where it comes from. There has been a preconception in the gaming world that "girlz dun pley gems" since the dawn of time itself. This probably stems from the fact that most early games were action-adventure games and probably didn't appeal to many females at the time, although we all know that times have changed since then but I'm sure the preconception still exists in many game developers' minds.  I would also say it has something to do with how females are expected to behave in our society: nice non-sexual creatures for males to play with when we desire, get in the kitchen and make food, and raise my kids, etc. Although that seems to be changing with the advent of Madonna, but now it seems like only pop-stars are allowed to be hyper-sexual... and I think pop-star hyper sexuality is simply to appeal to a male audience to begin with and boost sales. I know most women don't care about Lady Gaga wearing a bacon dress with her ass hanging out, but I'm sure the male fans eat that shit up. I think I'm getting off topic, but the same logic applies to scantily clad female video game characters.

The Witcher is a very male-oriented series to begin with (although I've only played the first one), as are most action-adventure games. I mean, damn, the fighting genre is notorious for this kind of crap. Just look at Ivy or any other female character from the Soul Caliber series, then compare it to the male characters.

I can't tell you exactly why this is happening, or how come this trend hasn't changed (and it's about damn time), but it is interesting to say the least.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 07:53:50 PM
I'm not asking that Geralt wear just a chainmail codpiece or some ridiculous sexualized outfit. But why would they keep him covered before/during/after sex when the women are shown to be butt naked? Do they think sales would suffer if gamers knew that you see a hint of male ass during a sex scene? It doesn't effect porn at all. It's not like men are afraid to watch porn just because the man is also naked.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 09, 2015, 08:00:09 PM
I'm not asking that Geralt wear just a chainmail codpiece or some ridiculous sexualized outfit. But why would they keep him covered before/during/after sex when the women are shown to be butt naked? Do they think sales would suffer if gamers knew that you see a hint of male ass during a sex scene? It doesn't effect porn at all. It's not like men are afraid to watch porn just because the man is also naked.

Well, let's be honest here, most people aren't paying for porn.

For me, the idea of male nudity in games is not such a bad one. I don't care about the content of the game as long as I'm having fun with it, and If I'm disturbed by any scenes I can simply skip them. I don't think sales would suffer. Looking into it a bit, though, a lot of male characters are extremely sexualized... especially overseas with Japanese developers (bishounens, anyone?). Just because they aren't buck-naked doesn't mean they're not unrealistically proportioned or made with female gamers in mind.

Here's (http://widgetau.org/male-sexualization-in-video-games/) an interesting article I found while searching about the topic. It goes into some specifics regarding this discussion.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 09, 2015, 08:03:15 PM
I'm not asking that Geralt wear just a chainmail codpiece or some ridiculous sexualized outfit. But why would they keep him covered before/during/after sex when the women are shown to be butt naked? Do they think sales would suffer if gamers knew that you see a hint of male ass during a sex scene? It doesn't effect porn at all. It's not like men are afraid to watch porn just because the man is also naked.

Probably the same reason that there are infinitely more "naked chick" mods for games than there are "naked men" mods. There are a lot of men who won't watch porn with a man in it. This is what has pretty much led to tons of lesbian porn where the key audience isn't other lesbians.

Also, the devs might play a part in it too, since game development is top heavy with men and they might not want or care to model naked men into the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 08:13:14 PM
I'm not even talking about sexualization. I'm just talking about both participants of sex being naked. There's literally no good excuse.

Also, the boyfriend just came in and said "the devs probably don't want to bother making male ass." This is why I legitimately think I could date Rushy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 09, 2015, 08:15:50 PM
I think you see male butts in Dragon Age sex scenes.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 08:19:18 PM
I think you see male butts in Dragon Age sex scenes.
You don't in Origins if you're a female romancing Alistair.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on May 09, 2015, 10:48:08 PM
And I'm not even talking about getting to see his dick - just some ass. Just contextual ass.

You get to see his ass in The Witcher 3. So celebrate.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 09, 2015, 11:39:50 PM
Yesssss. Swiggity swooty I'm coming for that booty.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 09, 2015, 11:59:44 PM
I'm not even talking about sexualization. I'm just talking about both participants of sex being naked. There's literally no good excuse.

Also, the boyfriend just came in and said "the devs probably don't want to bother making male ass." This is why I legitimately think I could date Rushy.

I feel really bad for A&A.

Anyway, let's talk about how amazing Ori and the Blind Forest is. Because it is.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 10, 2015, 12:00:29 AM
Okay. Now we've solved the mystery. Now can this thread go back to being about playing video games and not Rooster's Top Picks Thread #2?

I'm not even talking about sexualization. I'm just talking about both participants of sex being naked. There's literally no good excuse.

Also, the boyfriend just came in and said "the devs probably don't want to bother making male ass." This is why I legitimately think I could date Rushy.

It just means A&A should start posting again and stop being such a wanker.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 10, 2015, 01:57:45 AM
Shut the fuck up, Andrew. You don't even know what you're saying.

But yes, he should start posting again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 10, 2015, 02:13:26 AM
Shut the fuck up, Andrew. You don't even know what you're saying.

Ori and the Blind Forest is actually a really good platformer. Its art style is beautiful and it's quite challenging.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 11, 2015, 02:48:45 AM
I am playing Wind Waker via the magic of emulators.  I have only partial experience with this game from playing a demo some time ago, so this is largely a new experience for me.  Anyway, when you first meet your boat (I can't say I'm a fan of the fact that your boat talks to you and is a character and everything), he tells you that he has no sail and can't move - and then in the very next line, says that he's brought you to some island or another.  Wow, great fucking writing, Nintendo.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on May 11, 2015, 05:48:51 AM
Couldn't he have brought you there and then lost his sail?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 11, 2015, 06:50:05 AM
I am playing Wind Waker via the magic of emulators.  I have only partial experience with this game from playing a demo some time ago, so this is largely a new experience for me.  Anyway, when you first meet your boat (I can't say I'm a fan of the fact that your boat talks to you and is a character and everything), he tells you that he has no sail and can't move - and then in the very next line, says that he's brought you to some island or another.  Wow, great fucking writing, Nintendo.

Boats can still move without a sail, Saddam.

He's also a sentient sailboat and spoilers. I'm sure he figured out something.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on May 11, 2015, 09:52:40 AM
I am playing Wind Waker via the magic of emulators.  I have only partial experience with this game from playing a demo some time ago, so this is largely a new experience for me.  Anyway, when you first meet your boat (I can't say I'm a fan of the fact that your boat talks to you and is a character and everything), he tells you that he has no sail and can't move - and then in the very next line, says that he's brought you to some island or another.  Wow, great fucking writing, Nintendo.

You can move without the sail, it's just incredibly slow and tedious. Considering time is supposedly a factor in rescuing Aril, you can't afford to spend two weeks slowly cruising from island to island.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on May 11, 2015, 11:55:12 PM
>has a problem with a Zelda thing
>doesn't immediately have me explain why he's wrong about it

This is my life, Saddam, you should know this. The King of Red Lions doesn't need a sail, as said, he just moves at breakneck snail speeds without one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 12, 2015, 06:03:20 PM
I'm sure what you're saying is true, but the dialogue in that scene was still confusing and contradictory.  It struck me as being lazy work on the part of the writers, and it really sticks out in a bad way, because if there's one thing that the rest of this game isn't, it's lazy.  And I still don't like that he talks to you.  Part of the immersion of being this cool, self-sufficient sailor going on whimsical adventures and the like is lost when he does things like interrupt you and say, "Oh, sorry, we're not going to go that way," and all that.  Bah.

In other news, I have finally returned to my AssCreed odyssey.  Revelations was a bit of a disappointment overall.  There were a few neat additions, like the hookblade, the new setting (I'd still have preferred multiple smaller cities to one big city, but I'm guessing that they keep that to the numbered titles), and the more creative missions, but for the most part, I felt like it had strayed too far from the roots of the series without offering enough good innovations of its own.  You do hardly any actual assassinating in it, the "local" story about Constantinople and its princes is convoluted, uninteresting, and ends on a very unsatisfying note, the romantic subplot was kind of icky (come on, Ezio, date women your own age), the den defense minigame was retarded and I made sure never to play it, your notoriety being easier to raise and more difficult to lower is annoying, and the combat is much more frustrating with most of the enemies relying mainly on shooting, which is for some reason tough to interrupt.  You wouldn't think it would be, but these soldiers are somehow easily able to dodge or block your attacks while continuing to aim their gun at you.

Still, I did like how it wrapped up the stories of Ezio and Altair while tying it into Desmond's, and while it does seem like they're relying heavily on the 2012 apocalypse bullshit as a plot device (way to date your game, Ubisoft), I'm excited to see where it's all going from here.

P.S. One thing that I forgot to mention about AssCreed II is that Mario introducing himself to you with "It's a-me, Mario!" made me painfully cringe.  I might have been okay with a Nintendo game doing something like that, but some random other studio putting that line in some random game is just...ugh.  Truly a terrible markjoke.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 12, 2015, 07:09:22 PM
Zelda usually always has a companion character that's there to guide you, whether you like it or not, it will just have to be something you'll have to overlook if you want to explore the entire series. And, there's an explanation for why the boat talks. It's not like it's left unexplained or anything.

As far as your concerns about the dialogue, it could just be a lazy localization. The translation as a whole didn't seem too bad to me, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 12, 2015, 07:57:21 PM
Just finished Wolfenstein: The Old Blood. I liked it, but not as much as Wolfenstein: The New Order.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on May 14, 2015, 01:38:25 PM
Once you get past the first few islands, the game becomes less restrictive and becomes a lot more open-world, with KoRL barely speaking to you apart from in the cutscenes, then you can decide to go exploring the islands on your own, tracking down rare charts and the myriad minigames and side-quests.

In Zelda games, the first three temples are almost always hand-holding exercises.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: spoon on May 14, 2015, 04:53:30 PM
Tried Dark Souls, died a bunch, stopped.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 14, 2015, 05:36:33 PM
inb4git gud
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 14, 2015, 05:58:41 PM
Tried Dark Souls, died a bunch, stopped.

Dark Souls is probably one of the best games of the decade.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 14, 2015, 05:59:14 PM
Dark Souls is a cheap rip off of Demon Souls.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 14, 2015, 06:00:51 PM
The best game of the decade is Chromehounds, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 14, 2015, 06:06:06 PM
No, Big Rigs.

*shit, that was 2003


Anways, I'm currently playing Dragon Quest VI for DS. I'm on topic now.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 14, 2015, 06:11:11 PM
No, Big Rigs.

*shit, that was 2003


Anways, I'm currently playing Dragon Quest VI for DS. I'm on topic now.

We should probably stop shilling for Nintendo until they stop being shitty.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on May 14, 2015, 06:16:19 PM
The best game of the decade is Chromehounds, though.

I disagree, but I did really like that game. It was a pretty le underrated gem.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 14, 2015, 06:55:08 PM
No, Big Rigs.

*shit, that was 2003


Anways, I'm currently playing Dragon Quest VI for DS. I'm on topic now.

We should probably stop shilling for Nintendo until they stop being shitty.

Don't tell me what to do. I'm a professional shill.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on May 16, 2015, 05:49:14 PM
Have you played The Last of Us? Definitely a great PS3 game...

This could not be further from the truth. The game blew, hardcore. Nice visuals, but ridiculously repetitive and incredibly unrewarding. OMG in a zombie apocalypse there really is no hope, woe is me let me replace my daughter.

3/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 16, 2015, 08:59:13 PM
I played Last of Us thinking it was a video game. Sadly, I was wrong.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on May 16, 2015, 09:12:26 PM
I played Last of Us thinking it was a video game. Sadly, I was wrong.

So what is it? A word document?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 16, 2015, 09:37:29 PM
Well, it's a video game, but only in the technical sense. It's more like MGS4 where you press some buttons for 10 minutes to get to the next cutscene. I'd say "interactive movie with feels" is more appropriate. Either way, it's a huge step back for video games, which are supposed to be skill based and completely interactive. When you're sitting there doing nothing but watching a cutscene for longer than 30 minutes, then you're playing a bad video game. Fuck, even pressing "a" to cycle dialogue would have improved it considerably.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 16, 2015, 09:51:52 PM
I borrowed my friends PS3 while he was away because I thought I'd try out The Last of Us. I played it for about 30 minutes and I haven't had the PS3 powered on since then. I think this was over two months ago.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 17, 2015, 12:19:46 AM
Well, it's a video game, but only in the technical sense. It's more like MGS4 where you press some buttons for 10 minutes to get to the next cutscene. I'd say "interactive movie with feels" is more appropriate. Either way, it's a huge step back for video games, which are supposed to be skill based and completely interactive. When you're sitting there doing nothing but watching a cutscene for longer than 30 minutes, then you're playing a bad video game. Fuck, even pressing "a" to cycle dialogue would have improved it considerably.
That's what the beginning of Witcher 2 felt like. It was so boring. Thankfully, the cutscenes got shorter and less frequent.
Title: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on May 17, 2015, 01:07:24 AM
I took the time to read positive and negative reviews after playing the game, because that's what I do. There's no middle ground, it is either the greatest game ever made or a total shitfest.

It's a shitfest.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost of V on May 17, 2015, 01:19:13 AM
I think it comes down to the demographic. Older gamers (most of us) are probably going to dislike it for what it does to the video game genre, the fact that they're trying to make a movie based on it is telling enough. The younger generation, who I will dub "sub humans", are probably going to love it. Especially those who grew up in the ps2 era where the blockbuster video games were becoming more like movies than games.

Final Fantasy X, which Junker mentioned, is one of the big games that made "interactive movie" a thing... then it just got out of hand, as you can see with The Last of Us. I still love FFX regardless, probably because of nostalgia or something, but it's got a lot of problems when you analyze it deeply.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on May 17, 2015, 01:59:07 AM
I think it comes down to the demographic. Older gamers (most of us) are probably going to dislike it for what it does to the video game genre, the fact that they're trying to make a movie based on it is telling enough. The younger generation, who I will dub "sub humans", are probably going to love it. Especially those who grew up in the ps2 era where the blockbuster video games were becoming more like movies than games.

Holy shit what the frick am I reading
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on May 17, 2015, 04:11:39 AM
Why can't people tell stories in der video games?

It has interesting story mechanics that aren't available to most other mediums like fail states and choice.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on May 17, 2015, 06:02:58 AM
which are supposed to be skill based and completely interactive.

Why?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on May 18, 2015, 09:41:00 PM
I bought Windward It is very peaceful and you actually have to sail with the wind and stuff. Its a lot like Skyrates, which as supes will tell you is a furry sex plane simulator, with a live economy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 19, 2015, 07:40:26 AM
I bought Windward It is very peaceful and you actually have to sail with the wind and stuff. Its a lot like Skyrates, which as supes will tell you is a furry sex plane simulator, with a live economy.

I almost bought this game. Is it as fun as it looks in the videos?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on May 20, 2015, 12:14:03 AM
I bought Windward It is very peaceful and you actually have to sail with the wind and stuff. Its a lot like Skyrates, which as supes will tell you is a furry sex plane simulator, with a live economy.

I almost bought this game. Is it as fun as it looks in the videos?
Its very peaceful.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on May 22, 2015, 09:49:37 PM
I have now beaten AssCreed III.  Apparently this game got a fairly mixed reception from fans of the series, but I'm not sure why.  I thought it was great, and a big improvement of the general format of the series.  The controls are simplified, the combat is much improved, with lots of fun animations that take into account details like the environment and the character you're playing as, the optional content fits the setting well and helps with immersion, and the story is fantastic.  That last point stands out to me the most.  It would have been so easy for Ubisoft to go the "rah rah America fuck yeah" route and end the game with the player assassinating George III or something, but thankfully the game largely averts that and keeps the moral focus of these historical events on the conflict between Native American tribes and settlers, regardless of whether they're British, French, or American.  Personality-wise, Connor is a bit low-key, but I was fine with that.  After three games of Ezio's flamboyance, a more dialed-down hero was the right call this time around.  And speaking of our hero, I love that Connor is a Native American himself, rather than a benevolent white man come to rescue the helpless colored folk who can't...sorry.  I've explained my distaste for the "white savior" trope in quite some detail before, no need to give a repeat performance.  I'm just glad it wasn't here.

And then we get to the modern-day subplot.  It wasn't all bad.  Desmond and his friends have grown on me a little by now, the sections that interrupt the main story are very well-timed, and it's neat to try out your assassin skills in modern settings.  But the story, this overarching apocalyptic crap, is just awful.  Who the fuck thought it was a good idea?  These games are about being an assassin in a historical setting.  That's what gets marketed, that's what people like about them, and that's why they play them.  They are not about the Matrix, mythical advanced races, or the end of the world.  Those concepts are about as far away from the core element of being a historical assassin as humanly possible.  I'm not saying they're inherently bad, or that they offer nothing to enhance the core game (I do actually like the idea of these magical MacGuffins linking all these individual stories together), but you can't just tease them for five minutes in every game up to now, then suddenly make it a huge priority five games in and expect everyone to be super-invested.  I don't know who Minerva is, I don't know who Juno is, I don't know what they were arguing about in the final cutscene, and I don't really care.  And I really wish they hadn't used that stupid "December 21st, 2012" crap as the basis for their apocalypse.  That simply dated the game, dated it as surely as if they had made a dumb pop culture reference to Rebecca Black.

I've also been playing Just Cause 2.  It's enjoyable, but I can't say it's deserving of the level of glowing praise that the Internet seems to have bestowed on it.  It's repetitive, full of artificial difficulty (the enemies respawn so quickly they might as well be rising from the dead), and the writing and voice acting are so bad that it's actually pretty distracting.  That Southern guy in particular is just agonizing to listen to.

Thankfully, I'm much more satisfied with The Witcher.  roosroos's enthusiasm for these games has encouraged me to play through the trilogy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on June 13, 2015, 02:02:19 AM
Just Cause 2 isn't fun to play through, it's fun to screw around in. Have a good arsenal and some creativity and it's a blast.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on June 15, 2015, 08:27:46 PM
I don't thinks startcraft is a strategy game. I think its a who can click the fastest game with rock paper scissors elements.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on June 19, 2015, 09:40:38 AM
Finishing up Halo 4 and then I'll probably finish Ori and the Blind Forest.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pongo on June 23, 2015, 12:45:38 PM
Is anyone looking forward to EverQuest Next?  It looks like a carbon copy of WoW.  Like, they sat in a meeting one day and decided to just copy WoW as close as possible.  If the EQ Next logo's weren't on these screens, I would have bet money they were WoW pics.

(http://eqnexus.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/humans-662x374.png)

(http://lagtheory.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/dwarves.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on June 23, 2015, 12:50:55 PM
To be fair, WoW was a carbon copy of EQ, not the other way around.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pongo on June 23, 2015, 01:16:10 PM
To be fair, WoW was a carbon copy of EQ, not the other way around.

I mean in the graphics sense.  Not in the MMO sense.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on June 23, 2015, 06:23:33 PM
On the notion of generic fantasy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on June 27, 2015, 10:43:37 PM
Donkey kong 64
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on July 06, 2015, 08:41:06 PM
Let's change the subject to Fallout 4 and why it's gonna be great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on July 06, 2015, 08:58:08 PM
Let's change the subject to Fallout 4 and why it's gonna be great.
It's gonna be great because Bethesda is making it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on July 07, 2015, 03:56:11 AM
It's going to get rushed out too quickly and be full of bugs, like most Bethesda games.

But it'll be so fun and immersive that no one will care.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on July 07, 2015, 04:14:32 AM
If there is one word in gaming that I despise, it's "immersion".
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Jura-Glenlivet on July 07, 2015, 08:18:00 PM

Going through a box of old stuff and I found the disc for "Total Annihilation Kingdoms" and it works!
Got hooked the first time, about to do the same again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on July 13, 2015, 08:39:03 AM
Bethesda sure as heck tries, I'll give them that much.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on July 30, 2015, 02:50:15 AM
I'll try to keep this fairly brief so as to avoid turning this into another capeshit thread, but I've been playing through the Arkham series in preparation for Rocksteady pulling their heads out of their asses and finally making the PC port of Knight actually playable.  In short, Asylum and City are both solid, enjoyable games, if not quite masterpieces, while Origins is just kind of meh-to-passable due to its lack of adding much new to the series and its absolutely terrible setting.  I don't have much to say in praise of them that everyone else hasn't already said.  Stuff like the hand-to-hand combat, the stealth, the puzzles, etc. are all great.  However, one thing that I feel compelled to complain about are the stories of these games.  They're inane, convoluted messes that don't really make sense and squander the open world settings by guiding you through them on a rigidly-linear path.  Was that really necessary?  The appeal of these games is that you get to play as Batman and face off against his famous enemies.  That's it.  There's no need to attach these epic narratives where you discover that the fate of the entire city is resting on your shoulders because blah blah blah, and especially not if the writers aren't any good at coming up with these epic narratives - which they aren't.  A non-linear, almost episodic story that encouraged player freedom and exploration would have made these games much, much better.

Also, the overuse of the Joker really bugs me.  Three games with him as the main villain is just ridiculous, especially when he was so clumsily shoehorned into the role in the latter two titles.  Batman has an excellent rogues gallery, and they ought to make much better use of it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on August 03, 2015, 12:54:47 PM
Quote
They're inane, convoluted messes that don't really make sense

So basically staying true to the source material...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on August 13, 2015, 05:04:40 AM
I just picked up Pillars of Eternity.  I'll probably write more after I get into it more, but for now I can see why it's been so highly reviewed.  It took me at least 471 hours just to make up my mind on all of the different options in the character creator.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on August 13, 2015, 10:46:22 AM
Waiting for a -75% off for that one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on August 14, 2015, 10:12:30 AM
I tried playing AssCreed because it was free on the Xbone. My character felt like he was stuck in quicksand with the way he moved and the sluggish controls. How is this series so popular? I suppose they made it that way to make it seem like your character has a weightier presence in the game world, but wow, it's just not a very good mesh with the whole "super sneaky and deft assassin" role you're supposed to be playing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on August 14, 2015, 12:52:39 PM
I tried playing AssCreed because it was free on the Xbone. My character felt like he was stuck in quicksand with the way he moved and the sluggish controls. How is this series so popular? I suppose they made it that way to make it seem like your character has a weightier presence in the game world, but wow, it's just not a very good mesh with the whole "super sneaky and deft assassin" role you're supposed to be playing.

You aren't really supposed to be super sneaky. Most of the assassinations are carried out in very public, very visible places.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on October 26, 2015, 12:42:21 AM
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of time.

Feeling all nostalgic, got it on the Wii U Virtual Console (which sucks, overall).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on November 24, 2015, 11:13:28 AM
Today marks the seventh time I've quit playing Fallout 4 because of getting stuck in some dumbass crevice. This time I had the gall to jump up onto a desk to shoot someone and ended up getting permanently stuck between the desk and a stool. Nice.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: mollete on January 05, 2016, 03:00:09 AM
School and shit has been keeping me busy but I've been slowly working through A Wolf Among Us with Trekky. It's like a much, much, much less disappointing and more noir version of Once Upon a Time.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 05, 2016, 01:22:03 PM
It's like a much, much, much less disappointing and more noir version of Once Upon a Time.
Oooh, that sounds delightful. I may have to look into this game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 05, 2016, 02:25:44 PM
Today marks the seventh time I've quit playing Fallout 4 because of getting stuck in some dumbass crevice. This time I had the gall to jump up onto a desk to shoot someone and ended up getting permanently stuck between the desk and a stool. Nice.
That's it. We need to buy Snupes a gaming rig and a PC copy of Fallout 4 so she can noclip away from them damn crevices. Everyone pitch in!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on January 05, 2016, 02:37:21 PM
Or she could just play better games
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 05, 2016, 03:14:22 PM
But she clearly wants to play Fallout 4. Why else would she come back to it again and again after ragequitting so many times?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 05, 2016, 07:45:46 PM
We need to buy her a PC and a second copy of the game so she can use console commands to escape from things that shouldn't even be in the game. This is so bethdrone I can't even.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 05, 2016, 08:24:11 PM
Why would anyone play a game that's so broken the dev console has to be used to make it playable?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 06, 2016, 04:59:07 AM
Yeah, after beating that trash, I'm completely done. I don't have even the slightest urge to ever open it up again.

Thats said, I won't stop you from buying me a gaming PC
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 06, 2016, 11:17:26 AM
I've gotten stuck literally once.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 06, 2016, 12:33:29 PM
That's good 
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on February 14, 2016, 12:55:55 AM
Finally finished AssCreed: Rogue.  Considering it was basically a minor game in the series, playing second fiddle to Unity to lap up the last gen payers, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

The game plays like a smaller AC:4 With the ship-based game taking precedence, but Rogue does what 4 couldn't and actually add variety to its seas, from the river delta, to the iceberg-strewn North Atlantic, to the pack-ice snarled far north. The setting even adds to the strategy of sea battles, giving you the option to hide behind icebergs or shatter them to batter enemies with the waves as the ice crashes into the water.

As in Ac:4 you play in the present as an anonymous Abstergo employee, but the ancillary information you find lying around is nicely self-deprecating to the series, mocking Connor's crap characterisation and suggesting that Washington should have been the main character, and the like.

It isn't perfect and it shares its faults about controls and mission design with most of the later AssCreeds, but it's a solid game well worth looking into if you enjoyed AC:4.

7/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on February 17, 2016, 06:13:51 AM
I have now played BioShock, the first one.  On the whole, I enjoyed it a lot more than Infinite.  The sheer attention to detail and creativity in the setting make for a remarkably immersive and creepy atmosphere, the commentary on Objectivism versus altruism, while heavy-handed, is interesting, and messing around with the different weapons and plasmids in combat is a ton of fun.  Speaking of which, it's odd how the combat was so much worse in Infinite.  Usually, combat is one of the few things you can almost always count on being better in a sequel.  But for some reason, they decided to trade the tense, claustrophobic hunting for enemies that can leap through the air, latch onto the ceiling, and creep up behind you for wide-open areas where you pick off bullet sponges that come charging blindly at you.  Not a good decision.  By contrast, the voice acting is really bad.  It's way too hammy and over-the-top, especially when the actors are trying to put on a foreign accent.  The Asian guy in particular always sounded like he was on the verge of something like this. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wU6NKdthd4U)

And then we get to the story.  For the first two-thirds, three-fourths of the game, the basic plot of the game is to help Atlas, some guy you neither know nor care about, try to protect his family, and then avenge the family of the guy you neither know nor care about.  That's not a good story.  It's as dull and uninteresting as it is tired and clichéd.  Eventually, you discover that Atlas isn't on the level at all, and his sob-story was all a ruse to trick you into helping him.  And he had you programmed to obey his commands when you were a baby.  Wait, he had you programmed?  You have to do whatever he tells you, from murder to silly acrobatics, as long as he mentions the code phrase?  Then what the hell was the point of his tricking you in the first place?  Why bother with the silly accent, the story of a family, the theatrics at the submarine where his family was supposedly hiding - hold on, how could that scene have been some plan of his?  Ryan was the one who attacked the submarine with the splicers and blew it up, not Atlas.  He even taunts you about what he's doing, and refers to Atlas as "your friend."  But Ryan knew who Atlas was.  In fact, he could have told you what was going on at any point.  Why didn't he?  Surely nothing was more important to him than losing control of Rapture.  And speaking of controlling Rapture, why would Atlas be interested in that?  The city is a ramshackle mess full of splicers and only a few human survivors.  If he just wanted to get his hands on all the ADAM, I'd understand, but his dialogue indicates that he expects Rapture to be thriving under his control.

I could go on, but I think I've made my point by now that the story is sloppy and full of holes.  It feels like they just made it up as they went along.  I appreciate the obvious ambition behind it, but just like with Infinite, the devs tried to take on too much and ended up outsmarting themselves.  I liked BioShock, but I don't understand why the games in this series are hailed as storytelling masterpieces, and I don't think I ever will.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on March 05, 2016, 03:21:41 AM
I just finished Realm of Legends in Marvel Contest of Champions.  It was a test of mental endurance as I had to concentrate on tapping and swiping my iPhone screen for about 12 hours, but man was it worth it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on March 12, 2016, 03:59:08 AM
I've beaten Mass Effect 2 on the PC, after beating the first one for a second time, as my first playthrough was on the 360.  All in all, it's a pretty big improvement on the first game.  The most obvious example of this is the combat, which is much, much better.  Regarding the major streamlining of the leveling and item management systems...I'm going to say that I'm okay with it.  I understand the concerns of "This is how it starts!" with dumbing-down and casualizing, but I honestly do think that this is one of those cases where some simplification was called for.  Deciding which assault rifles I was going to equip my squad with and which ones I was going to convert into omni-gel gets dull really, really fast.  And thankfully, they got rid of the tedious, clunky vehicle sections and the ridiculous elevator rides.

My one issue with this game is the main story.  It's not bad, but I wish it had focused on the Collectors a lot more, rather than the far less interesting Cerberus.  I feel like there was so much untapped potential with them - their relation to the Protheans and the Reapers, their creepy plans, how their Harbinger works, etc.  Also, the two-year time skip at the start felt like a really lazy way to sort of undo the high point that Mass Effect ended on and start you off in an underdog position.  It's a shame to make these criticisms, because these writers are very talented, and the effort they put into developing the characters and expanding the lore of the universe clearly shows.  My favorite part of the game was easily the loyalty missions - hell, I'd love a game in which you play as some kind of weird life coach who flies around the galaxy helping everyone work through their problems.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on April 16, 2016, 04:58:04 PM
Dark Souls III (From Software, 2016)

The long-awaited sequel to my favourite game of all time (that's Dark Souls 1, not 2) is here, and after having beaten it and spent a fair share of time on PvP, I thought I'd share my thoughts with the game so far.

The first thing you'll likely notice about the game is how much faster the core gameplay is than in the previous games. Nearly everything about the gameplay is modelled after DS1, but with generally faster animations and recovery times, and lower stamina costs for rolling and sprinting. It also takes some much needed mechanics from DS2, such as the ability to roll and sprint in any direction while locked on, increasing the level of mobility immensely. But while in DS2 locking on essentially meant just removing the necessity of controlling the camera manually, DS3 on the other hand takes the design approach of DS1 by having two separate types of movement between locked-on and unlocked play, making it much more ideal for advanced players and combining the best of both games. DS3 also has the addition of weapon arts, special moves that are consumed by a new resource shared with spellcasting. These moves range from short self-buffs to massive wombo-combos, and they can potentially change the dynamic of combat significantly as well as encourage a higher variety of weapon use.

One thing I'm sad is missing however is the ability to properly dual wield. In DS2 weapons held in the left hand had their full movesets enabled, and dual wielding certain combinations of weapons enabled "powerstancing", unlocking new special moves. Powerstancing was a very hit-or-miss mechanic, with most moves being effectively useless - and that has been replaced in DS3 with special dual-wielding weapons that are much better designed. Still, dual wielding was not limited to powerstancing, and in my mind the best part about it was the ability to mix and match different weapon types, complementing the weaknesses of one weapon with the strengths of another. DS3 goes back to the DS1 approach of only allowing left hand weapons to block and do normal attacks, severely limiting the usefulness dual wielding can have. It still remains to be seen how badly this missing feature will impact the variety of playstyles the game can offer, but even with it missing, DS3 does still have the best gameplay mechanics in the series overall.

Fans of DS1 will be pleased to know that the quality of world design is once again very good. One of the things DS1 was most praised for was how its world evoked a great sense of scale and connectivity by having essentially the entire game world laid out in front of your eyes - structures that you can see from a vast distance that you will in fact access later in the game, and a heavy focus on verticality that makes the world seem multidimensional. One of the things DS2 was most criticized for was how badly it dropped the ball on that - the game was riddled impossible geometry, poor sense of scale, nonsensical area connections and an overall very flat world design. DS3, it seems, has made a very deliberate point of rectifying all the mistakes DS2 made with world design and more. The game's progression essentially has you start off in a city at the top of a valley, venturing downwards to another city at the bottom of the valley. At the beginning, you can look down into the valley and see all the landmarks you'll get to visit, and in many points of the game there are vantage points that let you see just how far you've come down. All the geometry in the game is, as far as I can tell, very accurate and realistic, not pulling any tricks like DS2 did. Nowhere is the consistency of this game world exemplified better as with a recurring interaction with a giant that shoots down massive javelin-like arrows wherever there is a white birch. These birches can be several areas away from where you initially encounter the giant, but sure enough, where there is one, there's also a tower visible in the distance that you visited hours of gameplay ago. DS3 also makes a point of enforcing the rule of "if you can see it, you can visit it", often surprising me with having areas that I thought were mere background decoration be actual visitable areas in the game.

It goes without saying that a next-gen title will have much better graphics than games from the previous generation, and that is certainly true with this game. But From goes above and beyond with the level of environmental design, taking full advantage of the increased memory pools of current range of hardware by filling every nook and cranny with extremely detailed geometry, resulting in a world that looks realistically lived in and worn out over the millennia. Combined with the creativity of Miyazaki, the areas in this game are very visually pleasing - and very cleverly designed, too. Despite having very similar world design to DS1, DS3 takes quite a different approach in terms of level design. In DS1, and to some extent DS2, level design is very Metroidvania-like, having levels be fairly short but interconnected in various ways. DS3 on the other hand is perhaps most similar to Demon's Souls in terms of level design - progression is fairly linear, there's a huge emphasis on sprawling, self-contained levels with multiple shortcuts, splintering paths and hidden secrets, and there's a central hub you do practically all of your character building in. The quality of level design is very solid and doesn't suffer from the same issues DS1 and DS2 had where the quality dropped off noticeably after the second half, leading people to believe the games were rushed to release. The individual levels are generally the best designed in the series, but the more linear progression can be both a good and bad thing - it's very satisfying for a first playthrough, but in subsequent playthroughs it offers very little variety in terms of what paths you can take through the game, whereas in DS1 and DS2 you had very many options. It remains to be seen how much that affects replayability.

There are fewer boss fights overall than in previous games, but none of them are wasted on throwaways or pushovers. DS3 really seems to reserve the fanfare of a boss health bar and musical theme only to enemies that are mechanically and thematically significant enough. There are a couple gimmicky puzzle fights that will likely get tedious very quickly, but the majority that are straight up skill fights are very tightly designed, much more aggressive than in previous games, and often incorporate unique mechanics that separate them from the generic "dudes in armor" archetype that DS2 abused too often. The increased aggression comes with much shorter windows of opportunity, potentially throwing off veteran players that are at this point very used to the dynamic of dodging a combo and responding with a couple attacks. Learning the bosses' patterns and finding their narrow windows of opportunity can be quite a challenge, but the difficulty is never unfair and overcoming the challenge is very satisfying.

Finally, let's talk about PvP and balance - the things that determine the longevity of the game. First of all, the netcode could use some work to sort out glitches and connectivity issues, but it's not too bad and nothing that can't be fixed with patches. Soul Memory from DS2 is thankfully gone, and is replaced with a system that takes both soul level and the highest upgrade level of your weapons into account for matchmaking. On paper, it seems like a much better system for eliminating twinking - Soul Memory used all souls you've ever gained in the game to determine matchmaking brackets, which didn't really solve the issue of twinking, but it introduced many more for organized PvP - essentially matching people who stuck to a meta soul level with people who were max level. DS3's system shouldn't pose any such issues, because anyone doing organized PvP will be using max upgraded weapons anyway, while twinks genuinely have to stick to gear that isn't too powerful for a given area.

The PvP meta is something that's going to evolve over the coming months, but there are a few things you can notice in From's balancing that might help shape it. First of all, damage values have been made very flat across the board, with fast swinging small swords having only marginally smaller damage per hit than massive slow-hitting weapons. For PvE, this means smaller weapons like straight swords, katanas and rapiers have by far the most DPS in the game, but for PvP things aren't for simple - in my limited experience, it seems to me that the ultra-heavy and slow weapons are actually in a pretty good spot, despite the game being much faster paced. This is because with faster pace comes more mobility - it's much easier to swoop in and out of the opponent's range, making the deadly R1 spam of straight swords only a real problem if you get caught by it. Larger weapons have the advantage of higher range, making your effective range potentially much better than your opponent's or vice versa, and more importantly heavy weapons once again have hyper armour, and it hasn't been this significant since Demon's Souls. It means that when you're attacking with a heavy weapon, you're invulnerable to stagger mid-swing, making them much better for trading than small weapons. The real victims of this balance are the weapons in the middle - the medium-sized weapons that have neither the DPS nor the range and hyper armour, making them substantially weaker than their counterparts in nearly all aspects. Magic and faith seem to also be very weak as well, although I haven't confirmed this myself. Let's just hope that From will be attentive with balancing the game and bringing frequent patches, and this game could very easily strike a very good balance.

As a huge fan of the series, Dark Souls III is at the very least the satisfying sequel that I hoped for, but despite having its own share of issues, it could also dethrone the first Dark Souls as my favourite game in the series, and possibly my favourite game in general. That's probably not a judgment I can make until I've played the game for several hundred hours, and with balance patches the game could only get better, but for now my early impressions are that I'm very satisfied with the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 19, 2016, 10:57:32 AM
You didn't talk about the most important element of the game - the story and lore.  Please tell us what you think.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on April 19, 2016, 12:26:22 PM
What lore?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Saddam Hussein on April 19, 2016, 09:34:29 PM
The rich and vibrant lore of the series, of course.  The saga of the Lords of Cinder and the fate of the world draws to a close with this game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on April 19, 2016, 11:38:43 PM
The lore in dark souls is so terrible the game tries to save you the trouble and not actually waste your time talking about it too much.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on April 20, 2016, 07:14:52 AM
"The Dark Lords of Grimloth and the Dark Priests of Darkblood fought a dark war to see who was the darkest because that seems like a dark thing to have happen and now because of the dark war there is a curse of darkness and you are darkly cursed to be undead and cursed and dark and I guess you should darkly go forth into a grim and dark world of darkness and darkly stop the dark curse of darkness because dark curses are bad and dark and stuff. Also you darkly suck and I hope you darkly die a thousand dark times lmdao." - Dark Haggard Old Dark Woman

I should start working for From Software, this is much easier to write than the stuff I'm doing for my friend's game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on April 20, 2016, 09:07:12 AM
"The Dark Lords of Grimloth and the Dark Priests of Darkblood fought a dark war to see who was the darkest because that seems like a dark thing to have happen and now because of the dark war there is a curse of darkness and you are darkly cursed to be undead and cursed and dark and I guess you should darkly go forth into a grim and dark world of darkness and darkly stop the dark curse of darkness because dark curses are bad and dark and stuff. Also you darkly suck and I hope you darkly die a thousand dark times lmdao." - Dark Haggard Old Dark Woman

I should start working for From Software, this is much easier to write than the stuff I'm doing for my friend's game.

Yeah, you're much better than From's writers. Really, it's a grave injustice you don't have millions of fans like they do.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on April 20, 2016, 11:20:55 AM
"The Dark Lords of Grimloth and the Dark Priests of Darkblood fought a dark war to see who was the darkest because that seems like a dark thing to have happen and now because of the dark war there is a curse of darkness and you are darkly cursed to be undead and cursed and dark and I guess you should darkly go forth into a grim and dark world of darkness and darkly stop the dark curse of darkness because dark curses are bad and dark and stuff. Also you darkly suck and I hope you darkly die a thousand dark times lmdao." - Dark Haggard Old Dark Woman

I should start working for From Software, this is much easier to write than the stuff I'm doing for my friend's game.

Yeah, you're much better than From's writers. Really, it's a grave injustice you don't have millions of fans like they do.

Glad you agree, friendo. :^)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on April 20, 2016, 12:53:06 PM
"The Dark Lords of Grimloth and the Dark Priests of Darkblood fought a dark war to see who was the darkest because that seems like a dark thing to have happen and now because of the dark war there is a curse of darkness and you are darkly cursed to be undead and cursed and dark and I guess you should darkly go forth into a grim and dark world of darkness and darkly stop the dark curse of darkness because dark curses are bad and dark and stuff. Also you darkly suck and I hope you darkly die a thousand dark times lmdao." - Dark Haggard Old Dark Woman

I should start working for From Software, this is much easier to write than the stuff I'm doing for my friend's game.

Yeah, you're much better than From's writers. Really, it's a grave injustice you don't have millions of fans like they do.

I have never before agreed so much with something you've said
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 17, 2016, 10:52:55 AM
Just finished DOOM. 10/10. Was gr8.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Bombos on May 18, 2016, 07:56:42 PM
Hearthstone!! :-B
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on June 28, 2016, 02:18:59 PM
South Park: The Stick of Truth

Got it on sale for $12, well worth the investment. Nothing groundbreaking about the gameplay. A very generic and easy battle system. The menus are incredibly slow to navigate which is annoying, but most people probably aren't playing the game for its merits as an RPG. The nostalgia was pretty fantastic and it included most everything a long time South Park fan would want to see in a very R rated way. Story was meh overall, like an extended mid season episode, but the offensive joaks nonstop were great.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on June 28, 2016, 08:22:17 PM
Limbo.  The dark and moody aesthetic is neat, and there are some really clever puzzles here.  What lets the game down, however, is the focus on platforming and dodging deadly traps that all require impeccable timing, which, combined with the awful controls, make the experience far more frustrating than it should be.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on June 28, 2016, 10:03:55 PM
Limbo.  The dark and moody aesthetic is neat, and there are some really clever puzzles here.  What lets the game down, however, is the focus on platforming and dodging deadly traps that all require impeccable timing, which, combined with the awful controls, make the experience far more frustrating than it should be.
Finnish DOOM, you scrub.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on June 28, 2016, 11:36:24 PM
Limbo.  The dark and moody aesthetic is neat, and there are some really clever puzzles here.  What lets the game down, however, is the focus on platforming and dodging deadly traps that all require impeccable timing, which, combined with the awful controls, make the experience far more frustrating than it should be.

I can't empathize with this. I don't recall any traps in the game that require "impeccable" timing. No parts took me more than a couple deaths, and I'm not exactly amazing at games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on June 28, 2016, 11:41:50 PM
I can't empathize with this. I don't recall any traps in the game that require "impeccable" timing. No parts took me more than a couple deaths, and I'm not exactly amazing at games.

Are you new to Saddam?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on June 30, 2016, 07:36:45 AM
20XX.
It's fun, but I'm ultimately too bad at it to even beat two bosses in a row. I always end up being at around 1 or 2 HP when I enter the second boss areana, and get killed. Fuckshit.
also, fuck mighty no. 9
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on July 07, 2016, 02:03:14 PM
What do Steam booster packs do?  Anyone know?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Jura-Glenlivet on July 07, 2016, 04:07:56 PM


Thoroughly clean your carpets??
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on July 07, 2016, 05:23:24 PM
Still playing Overwatch. I've been using Hanzo a lot lately. For some reason the *tink* sound when you kill someone is so much more satisfying with him.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: The Terror on July 07, 2016, 09:50:08 PM
I'm playing Terraria at the minute. I'm going to build a real big ice tower to live in.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on July 07, 2016, 09:57:46 PM
o
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on July 07, 2016, 10:52:37 PM
o

I've never heard of that game before. What is it about? It sounds like a minimalistic indie game or something.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on July 08, 2016, 12:21:52 AM
been playing stellaris when i have the time.  i would recommend it to anyone who likes the 4x genre and/or anyone who likes paradox games.  it's rather barebones right now (although still very fun), but eu4 wasn't built in a day.  they've got a solid platform to do what paradox does best and methodically churn out years of spectacular updates and dlc based on what the community actually asks for.  it's really fun now, and it's only going to get better over time.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on July 08, 2016, 12:45:17 AM
What is the 4x genre and what is a paradox game?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on July 08, 2016, 03:16:30 AM
What is the 4x genre and what is a paradox game?

confusing lack of capitalization.  4x is basically the genre for strategy games like civilization.  expand, explore, something, something else, can't remember.

paradox interactive is my favorite video game developer/publisher.  they made crusader kings and europa universalis, and they've had their hands in some other quality titles like cities: skylines.  but grand strategy games like eu and ck are their bread and butter.  ck2 might be my favorite game ever, mostly because of the exceptionally amazing game of thrones mod.  srsly it's "littlefinger: the video game" set in a completely canonical planetos.  it's awesome.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on July 08, 2016, 03:23:09 AM
Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on July 08, 2016, 03:34:32 AM
Explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate exfoliate.

fixd
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on July 08, 2016, 08:13:33 AM
o

I've never heard of that game before. What is it about? It sounds like a minimalistic indie game or something.
Are you daft? I was responding to The Terror.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on July 08, 2016, 10:50:44 AM
Just finished Mass Effect 2 for the first time. Arrived too late to save most of the crew apart from Doctor Chakwas, the Scottish engineer, and a couple of unnamed crew, but kept all but one of my team alive during the Suicide Mission (I had Samara lead the second fire team - I thought they'd need a powerful biotic to deal with the bug things.)

All in all, ME2 felt like a natural extension to ME, with a much improved weapon and upgrade system. One downside, I felt, was the combat which felt far too restrictive and far too dependant on cover mechanics. Also, the hub areas felt really small and needed the big sprawling areas like the Presidium.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on July 08, 2016, 12:49:11 PM
One downside, I felt, was the combat which felt far too restrictive and far too dependant on cover mechanics. Also, the hub areas felt really small and needed the big sprawling areas like the Presidium.
Agreed. This, and the weaker story, is why my favorite is still the first one.

Also, you have so many companions and have to gain their loyalty. It felt like such a chore.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: The Terror on July 08, 2016, 12:54:41 PM
The nice thing about Mass Effect 2 is that if you don't like any of your companions, you can always try to get them killed in the final mission.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on July 15, 2016, 04:18:56 AM
On beardo's recommendation, I played DOOM.  It's great!  I'm really glad that they kept true to the characteristics of the older games in the series, and didn't try to emulate modern shooters by including recharging health, a two-weapon limit, reloading, and the like.  Or, for that matter, a lengthy intro mission that just has you walking around in a safe area while a bunch of NPCs talk to you.  Seriously, why the fuck has that last one become so common in shooters?  It's not like they can't have a story or anything, but there are other ways to deliver exposition than just putting the action on hold for ten or fifteen minutes at the start of the game so the characters can explain it all to you.

The only (minor) problem that I had with the game is that the villain was completely pointless.  Technically, yeah, she set everything into motion, but as far as the gameplay goes, she's meaningless.  You barely interact with her at all throughout the game, and whenever she appeared in a hologram or was mentioned in dialogue, she might as well have been just randomly popping up to say "oh btw I exist."  There was no need to include her in the game.  If they wanted to give us a villain, then they should have gone all out and given us an awesome villain, not a great big nothing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on July 15, 2016, 11:35:14 AM
Or, for that matter, a lengthy intro mission that just has you walking around in a safe area while a bunch of NPCs talk to you.  Seriously, why the fuck has that last one become so common in shooters?
So that the player can enjoy a
CINEMATIC EXPERIENCE
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on July 15, 2016, 12:35:34 PM
I always understood it to be a way of having a safe space to play with the controls, work out the mechanics, what have you.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on July 15, 2016, 02:30:19 PM
I always understood it to be a way of having a safe space to play with the controls, work out the mechanics, what have you CONSOLE TIER PUSSY SHIT FOR BABIES
If the player is not dropping motherfuckers within five seconds of loading the first level, the game is bad and the developers should be tarred, feathered, and paraded through the main thoroughfares of major cities while being pelted with rotten fruit and vegetables for their shameful behaviour.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on July 15, 2016, 02:44:26 PM
Crudblud gets it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on July 17, 2016, 03:49:49 AM
SU and I are playing through Snatcher (aka literally the best game ever made anywhere ever).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on July 17, 2016, 08:27:20 AM
SU and I are playing through Snatcher (aka literally the best game ever made anywhere ever).

junker knows how to woo the ladies.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on July 31, 2016, 05:55:17 PM
The last time I played Skyrim was on my friend's PS3. I have a hankering to play it through again, but I don't want to pirate it and I don't want to spend $20, so I'll have to wait for Steam's Winter sale.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on August 02, 2016, 04:59:25 AM
I'm playing the early access version of We Happy Few.  I've been interested in this game ever since I saw its awesome trailer last year:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cc67_BrCdPc

People who only saw this trailer and didn't look for any more information beyond that may have gotten the wrong impression on what kind of game this is.  It's not a linear, tightly-written action-adventure in the vein of BioShock, but a survival game where you have to scrounge for supplies, manage your hunger, thirst, fatigue, and health, and generally try to stay under the radar.  That doesn't mean there won't be an engaging story worthy of the trippy premise and setting, but it hasn't been included in the early access.  Actually, what makes it worse is that they did include the prologue - and then awkwardly dropped the whole story and dumped you in the overworld for you to play around in.  They would have been better off skipping everything story-related and simply having you test the gameplay.  Anyway, unless you're incredibly hyped for this game and want to play any version of it as soon as you can, there are too many rough edges for me to really recommend paying for it now.  There's a fun and unique game in there somewhere, but it hasn't quite manifested yet.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on August 02, 2016, 07:26:08 AM
Well, yeah, it's an early access game for a reason. It's a work-in-progress and a way for them to find flaws in the game and refine it. I always liken it to beta testing a game. You're not there to get the full experience of the finished product, you're there to help soften those rough edges and help the dev find issues.

At least, that's how I've always seen it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 02, 2016, 10:05:10 AM
Well, yeah, it's an early access game for a reason. It's a work-in-progress and a way for them to find flaws in the game and refine it. I always liken it to beta testing a game. You're not there to get the full experience of the finished product, you're there to help soften those rough edges and help the dev find issues.

At least, that's how I've always seen it.

Yeah, but at the same time a lot of this "testing" has to be paid for by the tester. Instead of a traditional beta testing programme in which volunteers play the game for free — the lack of financial recompense being intended to disincentivise dishonestly positive feedback — there is what seems to me to be a cynical cashgrab by which people are fobbed off with an incomplete article. Granted, they aren't being asked to pay retail price, but in my opinion, consumers should not be asked to fork over a considerable percentage of retail price in order to "test" an unfinished game. If the deal is that the consumer, in exchange for their money and time, gets a free copy of the finished game, that's more reasonable, but I would still say it's better that no money changes hands before the actual release of the game, not just for the consumer but for the developer. If the whole point of having beta testing involve no monetary impetus is to avoid incentivising testers to gloss over issues (although this doesn't quite match up with video game journalism's long-standing history of payola), I think it stands to reason that having them pay for the privilege of testing could also result in the moderation/manipulation, whether conscious or not, of feedback. I'm not saying this holds true in the case of We Happy Few, because it seems like most people are just disappointed that the game isn't Bioshock with an Orwellian/Huxleyan bent, but I can only imagine that this disappointment has been amplified in quite a few instances by the transaction of money.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on August 02, 2016, 11:02:27 AM
If the deal is that the consumer, in exchange for their money and time, gets a free copy of the finished game[...]

That's what early access releases are, at least on Steam. You pay a discount price for an unfinished product and get the finished product when it comes out. You're not really paying to test the game, in fact in most cases I believe testing isn't the main motivating factor for developers at all - rather, they use early access releasing to fund development without having to rely on investors or compromise vision. It's a pretty effective way to bring independent development to the scope of big studio productions.

The only real risk for the customer is that there's no actual guarantee that the game will ever be finished, but it's still a much better system than Kickstarter where products are sold purely on concept alone. Early access at least is proof of concept.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 02, 2016, 01:49:21 PM
If the deal is that the consumer, in exchange for their money and time, gets a free copy of the finished game[...]

That's what early access releases are, at least on Steam. You pay a discount price for an unfinished product and get the finished product when it comes out. You're not really paying to test the game, in fact in most cases I believe testing isn't the main motivating factor for developers at all - rather, they use early access releasing to fund development without having to rely on investors or compromise vision. It's a pretty effective way to bring independent development to the scope of big studio productions.

That's fair. I should probably adopt a less pessimistic view of the industry.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on August 04, 2016, 01:02:06 PM
If the deal is that the consumer, in exchange for their money and time, gets a free copy of the finished game[...]

That's what early access releases are, at least on Steam. You pay a discount price for an unfinished product and get the finished product when it comes out. You're not really paying to test the game, in fact in most cases I believe testing isn't the main motivating factor for developers at all - rather, they use early access releasing to fund development without having to rely on investors or compromise vision. It's a pretty effective way to bring independent development to the scope of big studio productions.

The only real risk for the customer is that there's no actual guarantee that the game will ever be finished, but it's still a much better system than Kickstarter where products are sold purely on concept alone. Early access at least is proof of concept.

The only game I ever paid for Early Access was Kerbal Space Project. They had quite a nice pricing structure in that the very earliest public access version of the game was left as a free demo, and the price went up with every new iteration until full release, but those who paid the small amounts early got every new version, including the final game for the small cost they paid at the start. I ended up getting the game when only the home planet and the Mun, plus a handful of parts (Supplemented by modded parts) were implemented for something like $10.
KSP had a very active forum with developers who released weekly news updates, kept the community informed of changes, and fixed bugs reported by players. Basically it was a really positive experience and if there was an early-access game which intrigued me (and I had the time to put into a good long game) I'd definitely try it again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on August 24, 2016, 01:20:36 PM
I bought Overwatch (standard), but Battle.net is being a flaming cuntbag so I can't log in and start installing the game. >o<
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on November 24, 2016, 11:24:24 PM
On the notion of Dishonored 2.  Setting aside the fact that the PC port is lousy, it's a lot of fun.  Most of what was there in the first game is improved on, and you once again have wide-open levels with multiple routes through them, an enormous variety of weapons and supernatural powers to experiment with, and of course, the brilliant "chaos" feature that's determined by whether or not you can resist the temptation to wreak havoc with your abilities and leave a trail of ludicrous carnage in your wake.  The biggest problem I have with the game is the story, which is largely just a rehash of the first game, along with the main villain from the DLC giving a repeat performance as the main villain here.  That last part especially bugs me.  Delilah was a genuinely creepy and memorable villain in The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches, but there was absolutely no reason or narrative benefit to bringing her back.  We already know all about her - her backstory, her abilities, what she's willing to do to gain power, etc.  There's almost nothing new to say about her.  Even the non-lethal method of eliminating her is virtually the same as the one from the DLC.

Going back to the story, it feels like a waste to do the exact same thing all over again with the same characters.  The fictional world this series takes place in is a fantastic setting, with countless potential stories to tell.  Instead of being a direct sequel, it should have gone somewhere else and focused on a different situation with different characters.  It would make the game feel fresher, and from a business standpoint, would lend itself more naturally to a long-running franchise.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on November 30, 2016, 01:39:54 PM
Fallout 4

So disappointed. I don't care for any of it. The story is lame, the settlement building is dumb, the dialogue options are fucking awful, and it's just not fun.

Whatever. I guess I'll power through just because.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on December 01, 2016, 12:05:54 AM
(http://i.imgur.com/xxH5ZzL.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on December 01, 2016, 06:18:29 PM
I'm on that Battlefield 1 hype, hit me up if you wanna play.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 02, 2016, 02:12:18 PM
One of the best RPGs, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, is currently free for a limited time on GOG.
Go get it. https://www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition


Edit: The deal has expired.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on December 03, 2016, 09:18:55 PM
One of the best RPGs, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, is currently free for a limited time on GOG.
Go get it. https://www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition


Edit: The deal has expired.

Allow me a few moments to lament this very sad turn of events.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 04, 2016, 01:40:47 AM
3dgy
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on December 05, 2016, 02:42:10 PM
Just finished the Mass Effect trilogy and agree with most people that the ending was pants (In case you're interested, I picked the red Instagram filter over the explosion) but otherwise, I loved the series.

ME1 is the best Star Trek game I've ever played, building up a varied crew and exploring a vast galaxy together. Shame the item management system stinks.

If ME1 was Star Trek, then ME2 feels more Star Wars. The universe feels grittier, seedier, and more lived in, your crew is a roster of rogues, and there's much more of a 'get the job done' feeling to the missions. I especially liked the mission in the Collector Base which saw you properly commanding your whole crew for the first time..

After ME2, ME3 was a bit of a disappointment. The galaxy felt smaller, there wasn't as much focus on exploration, and after the end of ME2, I expected more 'command your crew' missions. The decision to partly base your ending on how well you do in multiplayer was also a dick move. Once I learned that it was impossible to raise your War Readiness without playing it, I just shrugged and waded into the final mission. After all, what was the point of doing endless boring fetch-quests if they didn't affect the outcome.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: George on December 30, 2016, 02:33:59 AM
Deus Ex: Human Revolution.  This was good.  Not amazing or anything, but enjoyable.  The boss fights sucked, and it irritated me that they didn't bother including any non-lethal options to take them down.  It really clashes with the rest of the game if you're trying to go for a non-lethal playthrough.  Also, chronologically setting the DLC right before the final mission was a terrible idea.  Everything is building up to the conclusion, the climax is finally getting underway - and then all of a sudden, you find yourself in a whole new story, only tangentially related to the main plot, and you have to resolve it all before you can play the final mission.  Way to take the wind out of my sails.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 11, 2017, 10:10:38 PM
Stardew Valley

I'm hopelessly addicted. It's like a better Harvest Moon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on January 14, 2017, 12:01:26 AM
Right?? I played it for like a good 20 hours on Steam, and now that's it's on PS4 I'm playing it daily again. ;__;
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Elusive Rabbit on January 20, 2017, 11:41:55 AM
Paint the Town Red.

It's an insane little game that revolves around hilariously violent, excessively bloody, and ridiculously gory brawling and the use of anything-is-a-weapon weaponry.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 20, 2017, 01:18:10 PM
Wick

Now playing it very, very poorly. I've literally never played a horror game before because Half-Life and Bioshock scared me too much.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxVDuGxMoVE
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Elusive Rabbit on January 20, 2017, 09:45:34 PM
I've literally never played a horror game before because Half-Life and Bioshock scared me too much.

As someone who casually plays Amnesia: The Dark Descent and laughs at Dead Space, this boggles my mind.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 20, 2017, 11:05:02 PM
I've literally never played a horror game before because Half-Life and Bioshock scared me too much.

As someone who casually plays Amnesia: The Dark Descent and laughs at Dead Space, this boggles my mind.
Amnesia really isn't that scary. It just kinda stumbles after you slowly and I don't know, you don't see it that much anyway. Slow things don't scare me that much, it's the jump scares that get me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Elusive Rabbit on January 21, 2017, 01:05:49 AM
I've literally never played a horror game before because Half-Life and Bioshock scared me too much.

As someone who casually plays Amnesia: The Dark Descent and laughs at Dead Space, this boggles my mind.
Amnesia really isn't that scary. It just kinda stumbles after you slowly and I don't know, you don't see it that much anyway. Slow things don't scare me that much, it's the jump scares that get me.

Gotcha. I've seen enough jump scares over the years that I've become pretty desensitized to them. The first one or two in a game might get me, but after that I won't have a reaction to the later ones.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on January 21, 2017, 03:41:50 AM
The jump scare shows how poor an artistic director is at making horror. Silence of the Lambs, the restaurant scene in The Godfather, the "funny" scene in Goodfellas etc... are example of masterful directing, and how to truly make your audience shit their pants. Alien is also another example. While Alien does use some jump scares, they're necessary for the scenes where Scott makes you think there is going to be one and there never is.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Elusive Rabbit on January 21, 2017, 04:04:29 PM
The jump scare shows how poor an artistic director is at making horror. Silence of the Lambs, the restaurant scene in The Godfather, the "funny" scene in Goodfellas etc... are example of masterful directing, and how to truly make your audience shit their pants. Alien is also another example. While Alien does use some jump scares, they're necessary for the scenes where Scott makes you think there is going to be one and there never is.

Don't forget the opening sequence of When a Stranger Calls.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 21, 2017, 05:12:26 PM
The jump scare shows how poor an artistic director is at making horror. Silence of the Lambs, the restaurant scene in The Godfather, the "funny" scene in Goodfellas etc... are example of masterful directing, and how to truly make your audience shit their pants. Alien is also another example. While Alien does use some jump scares, they're necessary for the scenes where Scott makes you think there is going to be one and there never is.
Jump scares in movies have no effect on me, but for video games it's completely different. You don't have to react with a movie, you have to react in video games.

Yes, the sound and environment should also factor in - which Amnesia does do a good job with. But unless I'm forced to make a reaction with a jump scare, then it's not a deal breaker for me. But when I know something is waiting to chase me down, it stresses me out and I don't want it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: mollete on January 22, 2017, 06:45:46 PM
Stardew Valley

I'm hopelessly addicted. It's like a better Harvest Moon.

Just started playing this yesterday. I did not expect to get sucked in so quickly, it's surprisingly good. I'm about halfway through my first summer at the moment.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 22, 2017, 08:31:38 PM
Playing The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on PS4.

Built on the Unreal Engine, the graphics are beautiful. The game play is simple in terms of how to interact, and the story so far is legit creepy. It bills itself as a narrative that doesn't hold your hand, and it stays true to that. No real intro, no tutorial or context, just go and figure it out.  Very fun so far, especially for only $20.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on January 22, 2017, 10:56:44 PM
Playing The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on PS4.

Built on the Unreal Engine, the graphics are beautiful. The game play is simple in terms of how to interact, and the story so far is legit creepy. It bills itself as a narrative that doesn't hold your hand, and it stays true to that. No real intro, no tutorial or context, just go and figure it out.  Very fun so far, especially for only $20.

lol walking simulator

play a real game scrub
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 23, 2017, 02:31:08 AM
Playing The Vanishing of Ethan Carter on PS4.

Built on the Unreal Engine, the graphics are beautiful. The game play is simple in terms of how to interact, and the story so far is legit creepy. It bills itself as a narrative that doesn't hold your hand, and it stays true to that. No real intro, no tutorial or context, just go and figure it out.  Very fun so far, especially for only $20.

lol walking simulator

play a real game scrub

says the guy who plays games that are literally endless pizza delivery missions

I also picked up I am Setsuna. A more classic, sprite JRPG. A bit of a change of pace after the massive epic game that was FFXV.

I still need to play Doom, which I picked up on sale over the holidays. I tried to get into Call of Duty:IW; beat the campaign but didn't enjoy multiplayer. Might even jump back into Overwatch.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 24, 2017, 04:47:24 PM
Railroad Tycoon 2

I found it cheap on Steam and am now enjoying playing a 20-year old game that has stood up relatively well.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on January 26, 2017, 10:03:00 PM
Doom (2016) - Demo

Downloaded, played, had fun.

It lives up to the hype, giving you the original doom feel of exploration and just killing demons.  Mechanically it works well with "glory kills" giving you health and ammo at the expense of slowing you down, giving you secrets to find, weapon mods to kill more and faster...

And yeah, it's fun.  Also, it has permadeath mode.  So fun!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Elusive Rabbit on January 27, 2017, 11:51:35 AM
POSTAL 2.

I've been playing this one on and off for a while now. I'm going back to beat it again, but this time on some crazy difficulty mode like Impossible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 03, 2017, 11:23:29 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxVDuGxMoVE

By the way, this Rooster Plays thing is going to be (hopefully) a pretty consistent project. I have three videos now so if anyone is interested you should subscribe to The SoBros Network.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on February 28, 2017, 05:11:23 AM
On the notion of The Age of Decadence, a game I've been shilling for in IRC for some time now. It's a hardcore RPG with isometric gameplay, turn-based combat, choices and consequences, plenty of dialogue trees to navigate, and tons of skill/stat checks. It has a lot in common with the old-school Fallout titles and other RPGs from the nineties, particularly the fact that it's very, very difficult. The setting is really cool. It's a gritty, cynical, post-apocalyptic world that's superficially akin to the Roman Empire - and it's low fantasy, as opposed to Generic Fantasy,TM which typically equates to high fantasy. So there aren't any gnomes or elves or dwarves or whatever, you can't play as a wizard, and so on. In fact, if you keep exploring the setting, you'll find it turning into something like soft sci-fi, and eventually cosmic horror.

It's also extremely well-balanced in terms of gameplay styles, letting you specialize in combat, stealth, or diplomacy/negotiation (those are just my rough estimations; there are other skills in the game). For example, there's one quest where you're tasked with infiltrating an outpost run by a rival faction to see what they're up to. You can show up and slaughter everyone, but that's very difficult. You can also convince the merchant who provides the outpost's supplies to poison their food and drink, making your fight easier, but you need to convince an alchemist to sell you a strong poison first. There's a local gang of bandits (whom you meet in a concurrent quest where you have to rescue someone they've kidnapped; taking this option kills two birds with one stone) you can persuade to attack the outpost for you. Or you can slip into the outpost via stealth or impersonating a scholar they've sent for; once you've done that, you can overload the machines to destroy the facility, or you can betray your employer by getting the machines up and running, essentially declaring your new allegiance to that faction. Admittedly, that's one of the more complex quests in the game, but I think it demonstrates the viability of different playstyles fairly well.

One more point I want to discuss is the beginning of the game, just because it's really creative, and the kind of thing I'd like to see more RPGs do. The event that kicks off the plot is a merchant arriving in town with a mysterious map, and your involvement is different depending on which class you chose when you created your character. If you're an assassin, you're sent to kill the merchant. If you're a mercenary, you're assigned to guard the merchant. If you're a loremaster, the merchant hires you to examine the map. If you're a thief, you're sent to rob the merchant. You get the idea. Every class has its own unique intro quest, and all of them end up with you gaining possession of the map by perfectly logical means, with no mention whatsoever of fate, destiny, or "Chosen One" bullshit. (Incidentally, this is the only time you can expect a lenient response to failing the stat/skill checks, as there wouldn't be much of a game if you never got the map.) I mean, there are a few characters you meet later on who talk about fate and destiny, and it is possible to convince a local religion that you're the "Chosen One," but you shouldn't take any of that at face value. This is a very cynical game.

In the interests of tl;dr, I should wrap this up. This is obviously not a game for everyone. However, if you're at all interested in anything that I've said here, then I strongly encourage you to try it out. It's awesome.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on March 05, 2017, 09:25:26 PM
One of the best RPGs, Neverwinter Nights Diamond Edition, is currently free for a limited time on GOG.
Go get it. https://www.gog.com/game/neverwinter_nights_diamond_edition


Edit: The deal has expired.

Do you still play? I'm on a still running server. Awesome game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on March 06, 2017, 02:34:14 PM
implying video games are good
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 15, 2017, 09:04:59 AM
This may blow your mind, but I've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild since March 3rd. Just beat it. This also may shock you, but I am crying and sniffly and my brain is full of love and sadness. This is also why I've been gone from IRC because I've just been dedicating every moment to playing it.

I don't know how to review this game, since I'm overtly blinded by fangirlism to an extreme degree. This might be the closest thing to a 'perfect' game I've played. Can't think of any flaws other than it's kind of annoying when your shield is near breaking and the game tells you it a little more often than would be desired. This feels like the perfection of the "open-world" game. The environment and world isn't an obstacle or just something to travel past, it's an integral part of the game.

I almost had to rethink and relearn how to play a video game, because most of the things you'd take for granted in other games as "this won't happen because game design" don't apply anymore. If something should happen when you do something, it more than likely will. If you're in a thunderstorm, you better not have any metal weapons or apparel on you. If someone's pelting you with lightning arrows, stay out of puddles. Fire creates an updraft, use it to your advantage. Physics does not wait for you nor will it be kind to you. Similarly, it won't be kind to enemies, so use it to your advantage. Don't use bomb arrows in a volcano (they'll burst into flame and explode). If you throw something at an enemy, you've just given them a weapon. Don't go into an arctic region lightly-dressed.

Not to mention all the ways you can solve puzzles are limited mostly by your imagination. Literally four other coworkers and I were discussing a particularly annoying one...only to find out every single one of us completed it in entirely different manners. We started asking each other about other puzzles (while being careful of spoilers) and, again, a large number of them we pulled off in completely different ways. There was one puzzle I was stuck on where I had to use metal objects in the room (metal crates, metal spheres) to conduct electricity to complete several circuits. I was having trouble with it and threw one of my halberds at a crate out of anger and—to my shock (haha)—the metal parts of the halberd conducted electricity. I proceeded to use the several metal weapons I had to cheese the puzzle and complete it. This isn't at all what you were supposed to do (my friend gave me the correct solution the next day), but it worked. Again, I didn't even consider it because that's something that virtually any other game would've just ignored.

I've had countless "holy shit" moments like that in this game. Every single time I thought I was done being surprised, there were more surprises waiting. You get a few simple powers, but you can use them together in an absurd amount of ways. My favourite is the "freeze time" rune you can use on objects. You freeze an object in place, but it stores all the kinetic energy gathered while it's frozen and uses it all at once when it unfreezes. Sounds almost useless in a game like this, but I've solved more puzzles and general issues than I can count with it, and you can combine it with other powers (magnetism and bombs, mainly) to accomplish ridiculous things.

There are an absurd amount of things to do in this game—the world is packed, but none of it feels like a Ubisoft collectathon, mainly because every reward is tangible. With the closest to a "collectable" there is, you do these things and you're rewarded in-game, but the game never pushes you toward them or really encourages you beyond "hey, there are things out there," and each of them requires a little puzzle-solving so it's not just climbing somewhere and touching a thing. Beyond that, there are tons of quests, all given by characters with motivations and personality, so (if you're like me and get attached to video game characters) you actually feel like helping them. The environment design is fucking fantastic; not only is it utterly beautiful, but the terrain is purely creative for an open-world game. The use of verticality inside of villages and out is a breath of (the wild) fresh air, scaling mountains feels more like actually scaling mountains than any other game I've played, the world feels like an actual world rather than some random bumps and hills tossed into a blender and distributed about so you can walk over them... I honestly believe this is the peak of open-world games.

And hey speaking of characters, can't say I'm shocked at all since Zelda is great at characters, but it's fantastic to be able to play an open-world adventure RPG where the characters aren't a bunch of interchangeable information-and-quest-distributing kiosks. While you'll run into people that only have one or two things to say, they're unique. Villages and towns are full of people with distinct personalities and designs, so much that I could remember people just after a couple visits to their town.

Combat is fantastic as well, clearly influenced by games that center around it like—most notably—Dark Souls. That's probably the most apt comparison, really, because this game is hard. I honestly haven't seen this many game over screens in a Zelda game in the entirety of my life, and I don't think I've ever died 20 minutes into a Zelda game before. It's not unforgiving, though, which is the best part. If you're patient, perceptive, and prudent, combat can be a breeze. There's little more satisfying than nailing down an enemy's attack patterns, their little tells, and suddenly taking down a formerly-difficult beast without a single scratch because they weren't able to lay a finger on you. And that's not even mention the fucking plethora of ways to defeat any given enemy. I was completely out of weapons and ended up literally beating a giant hinox (cyclops) to death with a metal box because I had no other option. I've started wildfires to smoke out foes and lead them right to me while they were too busy putting the fire on themselves out to fight back. I've knocked lanterns into explosives to light up a room, hammered boulders off mountains to disperse a crowd, led enemies into the paths of larger ones to cause collateral damage, froze enemies and used them as literal weapons against others...I could go on and on and on and on, but my point is that I've had far too many unique encounters to even dream of keeping track.

On top of all that, the soundtrack is the best Zelda soundtrack we've had since Wind Waker. Little anecdote, I was wandering around one of the game's villages, wondering why I was feeling so nostalgic and emotional (well, moreso than the rest of the game), when a few notes struck and I realized the theme is a gorgeous, slowed and rearranged rendition of the Dragon Roost Island theme, not only one of my absolute favourite Zelda songs, but one of my favourite pieces of music, period (which goes for a few other Zelda songs as well). My eyes got all misty and I just stood a few minutes, gazing out of the city and really taking in the music--already my favourite piece in this game--and revisiting memories both old and new. This is the perfect fusion of pushing gaming forward while fondly and tastefully looking back on where it's been. There are a few throwback songs (and they're all great), but the majority are completely original while feeling like they completely belong in the Zelda series.

I don't think I've ever felt so satisfied with a game before. I don't feel like I want to convince anyone it's amazing, I don't feel like debating with anyone who thinks it isn't, I just feel happy that I played it and that I get to experience such a wonder. The best part is that, even though I've beaten the main story and been playing for at least 70+ hours, I'm not even close to being done with this. Once I complete every quest, collect everything I can, and upgrade everything, I still don't think I'll be finished, just because combat and general gameplay is so fun that I don't need a pointed objective to want to keep playing. This game is magical.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 15, 2017, 12:20:15 PM
The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild [...] is also why I've been gone from IRC because I've just been dedicating every moment to playing it.

Told you, Saddam.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: trekky0623 on March 21, 2017, 06:20:45 PM
Train Simulator. Is quite calming. I like trains.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on March 21, 2017, 06:51:46 PM
I don't think I've ever felt so satisfied with a game before. I don't feel like I want to convince anyone it's amazing, I don't feel like debating with anyone who thinks it isn't, I just feel happy that I played it and that I get to experience such a wonder.

I does currently have a 97% rating on metacritic too.  I dont really play Zelda games, but this sounds phenomenal.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Blanko on March 21, 2017, 07:43:02 PM
I don't think I've ever felt so satisfied with a game before. I don't feel like I want to convince anyone it's amazing, I don't feel like debating with anyone who thinks it isn't, I just feel happy that I played it and that I get to experience such a wonder.

I does currently have a 97% rating on metacritic too.  I dont really play Zelda games, but this sounds phenomenal.

I mean every Zelda game gets a 90+ so that in itself doesn't mean much
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 24, 2017, 05:58:56 AM
Playing The Last Guardian since, from what I've heard, it really shouldn't take me more than a day or two to beat. So far it's really, really good. I don't totally get the graphical complaints since it looks really nice so far, and Trico's AI and animation is fantastic. Only problem I've had so far is that the controls are absolutely awful and I don't think I've seen the game run over 20fps yet. That's not hyperbole.

The only other flaw, actually, is that I feel the compulsive need to stop and pet Trico every ten seconds because he's so adorable, so this game will probably take way longer to complete than it should
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 25, 2017, 08:08:18 AM
So I decided to play again today, but this time on my friend's PS4 Pro and 4K TV, and with that I take back anything negative related to visuals. It is fucking beautiful like that. Good framerate, I didn't notice any aliasing at all, everything is super detailed and gorgeous.

Also the game has a massive rise in quality correlating with how well you and Trico learn to communicate with each other. We're an amazing team now and it's fluid af and everything feels much less clunky. Part of the latter is surely to do with the fact that Team Ico's games just have bizarre controls in general, so they take getting used to. For example, there's a button to jump, and there's a separate button to jump forward. Weird.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 29, 2017, 02:56:21 AM
Got Kingdom Hearts HD I.5 & II.5 ReMix and am currently playing through the remastered Kingdom Hearts I.

None of has aged well. At all. The gameplay got the worst of it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on March 29, 2017, 01:33:01 PM
I tried playing Kingdom Hearts last year on my PS2. And yeah. That one will just have to live fondly in my memory.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on April 03, 2017, 10:43:19 PM
Beat The Last Guardian last night. I creyed. Also almost had a heart attack, I wasn't expecting it to get so intense. The game really only gets better as you go on, though it also gets more stressful.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on April 30, 2017, 01:29:29 AM
What Remains of Edith Finch is probably the best "walking simulator" (this term is a bit of a disservice in this case, since there are some actual fun game mechanics) I've ever played.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on May 21, 2017, 03:06:08 PM
Well after a lot of unfortunate events and waiting, I finally beat the Witcher 3.
I got the good ending. Went with Yennefer (duh). Finished in full mastercrafted Wolven gear.

Now to play the expansions.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on May 29, 2017, 04:39:46 AM
I read a bunch of this thread looking for suggestions but its mostly about man ass. Sphere 3D Rg suggesstions on what to play on my computer?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on June 29, 2017, 05:40:16 AM
The Surge is my first experience with a Dark Souls clone (unless you count Bloodborne, but that at least came from the same dev), a genre that I hadn't realized until recently even existed. I bought it because I liked the idea of a sci-fi Souls-esque game, but all it's really done is show me that it was never the basic formula or the difficulty that I loved about the Souls series or Bloodborne. It's things like the intricate level design, the beautiful visuals, the broad variety of enemies in terms of both their designs and movesets, the thrilling boss battles, and even the intriguing, minimalist stories and lore. If you don't have a dev as creative and talented as From working on the game, what are you left with?

Spoiler warning, you're left with The Surge. It's a shallow, superficial ripoff of the Souls formula with none of the depth or imagination that made From's games such rich experiences. The levels (of which there aren't many) are all dull, ugly, and gray in very similar ways, and rely on nonsensically convoluted maze-like designs to disorient the player and pad out the game. 90% of the enemies you fight are just generic mechs like the player character, only varying in their armor and weapons. The difficulty is overwhelmingly of the artificial variety, and the only way the dev could seem to think to provide more challenging experiences later in the game is just to jack up the existing enemies' attack and defense. The story is obvious right from the start - seriously, in the very first scene, the first thought that'll pop into your head is correct. It's a standard robots-go-bad plot, with zero surprises. Add to that mediocre voice acting and yet another generic dark-haired white guy hero*, and blah. I'm probably being a bit too harsh on the game. It's not the worst thing ever. It's really just mediocre, maybe even passable when I try not to compare it to From's games. It just feels like such a wasted opportunity.

*I am so fucking sick of the generic dark-haired white guy being the standard hero of video games nowadays. Why? Why the fuck do devs keep going back to this same shallow archetype again and again and again and again and again and fucking again? Is it the result of market research or something? And no, I'm not saying it has to be a black trans woman in the name of social justice or whatever, but surely deviating from this standard just a little wouldn't get gamers REEEEEEEEEing, would it? Like, nobody complained that Geralt wasn't dark-haired. Same with BJ Blazkowicz, a character I'm convinced is essentially a parody of the kind of man every male gamer wishes they were. We aren't all snarky, somewhat rebellious, dark-haired white guys in our twenties or thirties. That archetype doesn't fucking "represent" us.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Dither on June 29, 2017, 07:01:11 AM
I am so sick of the generic dark-haired white guy being the standard hero of video games nowadays.

Remember Michael LeRoi from Shadowman, now that was a cool game.

On a different note, how do I get past Rom the Vacuous Spider, my wife and I have almost given up.
Congrats to Rooster on getting through W3, I'm watching a mate of mine work through that one.
Most of my friends are in their forties now and it seems the older you get, the longer these games take to play.

If we ever kill Rom then its on to Dark Souls Three.

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on June 29, 2017, 07:20:59 PM
Well someone is triggered by dark haired men.

Congrats to Rooster on getting through W3, I'm watching a mate of mine work through that one.
Most of my friends are in their forties now and it seems the older you get, the longer these games take to play.

Thanks!
And I'll agree with that. I just don't have the patience to sit and play a game for more than a few hours on the weekends. I sit at a computer all day for work and so never feel like sitting at my home computer during the week.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on July 02, 2017, 03:05:41 AM
Just started Tales of Berseria. It started out dreadfully dull, but it had a John Wick moment where the catalyst of anger sparked and now I just really, really want this fucker dead so I'm gonna keep playing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on July 02, 2017, 05:16:34 AM
Most of my friends are in their forties now and it seems the older you get, the longer these games take to play.

Not to minimize your own experience, but it's worth pointing out that TW3 is legitimately an enormous game, with far more content packed into it than virtually all of its contemporaries. They could probably have split the whole thing in half to sell as two separate games, and they both would have earned overwhelming praise from both critics and gamers.

Well someone is triggered by dark haired men.

I'm triggered by the endless deluge of them. It's so dull and lazy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on July 02, 2017, 05:33:24 AM
It is.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on July 02, 2017, 04:01:10 PM
Maybe it's because I tend to play more games where you can pick the character then cause I don't notice that trend. Or at least don't notice it to a point where it annoys me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on July 02, 2017, 04:48:34 PM
Well someone is triggered by dark haired men.

I'm triggered by the endless deluge of them. It's so dull and lazy.

sadman's fave protag

(http://crudblud.sjm.so/roseisbeingheldintheholds.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on July 02, 2017, 10:54:19 PM
Maybe it's because I tend to play more games where you can pick the character then cause I don't notice that trend. Or at least don't notice it to a point where it annoys me.

That's certainly possible. I tend to not play tons of stuff, but I follow gaming news religiously so I notice the flood. It's not painful, it's just incredibly boring, annoying, and uninspired.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on July 03, 2017, 04:45:06 AM
It's most common in shooters, action/adventure, and sci-fi games, and more the product of Western devs than anyone else. It feels like they're catering to a very juvenile sensibility of "this is what a real man looks and sounds like!" That's nothing new for video games, of course, but the sheer arbitrariness of this one - especially the ubiquitous dark hair - really bugs me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on July 03, 2017, 12:45:03 PM
It's most common in shooters, action/adventure, and sci-fi games, and more the product of Western devs than anyone else. It feels like they're catering to a very juvenile sensibility of "this is what a real man looks and sounds like!" That's nothing new for video games, of course, but the sheer arbitrariness of this one - especially the ubiquitous dark hair - really bugs me.

Dark hair is the more dominant and common trait though. I doubt it has anything to do with "this is what a real man looks like" and more to do with - huh, most of our audience has dark hair so might as well.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on July 05, 2017, 05:21:51 PM
PlayersUnknown Battleground. Good shit, hit me up if anyone wants to do some murdering together.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on July 06, 2017, 09:50:28 PM
PlayersUnknown Battleground. Good shit, hit me up if anyone wants to do some murdering together.

I think I'll buy this soon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 05, 2017, 04:00:56 AM
Doom (2016; PS4 Pro)

Pros:
1) It is a goddamn beautiful game.
2) Gameplay and mechanics are nearly flawless.
3) Gore. Lots of glorious gore.


Cons:
1) It's repetitive.
2) It's repetitive.
3) Did I mention it's repetitive?
4) Generic Story.
5) The Ending (It sucks balls).


It really is a gorgeous game in terms of graphics and gameplay. It is arguably a continuation of previous Doom games/stories from previous games. This isn't necessarily a good thing. While the plot is interesting, it is about an inch deep. And after dozens of scenes of fighting literally the exact same demons, it begins to wear on you. I would suggest playing the game in 2-3 bursts, unless you like doing the exact same shit over and over and over (collecting keycards and skulls...). And the ending... It just sucks. It leaves you hanging with zero satisfaction for all you went through. It isn't surprising, but I think at this point the writers of all the Doom games have no idea where it is supposed to end so they keep cliffhanging. Oh well... .

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on September 05, 2017, 05:11:54 AM
You just hate fun.
PS4 Pro
lol
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 20, 2017, 03:43:43 AM
This may blow your mind, but I've been playing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild since March 3rd. Just beat it. This also may shock you, but I am crying and sniffly and my brain is full of love and sadness. This is also why I've been gone from IRC because I've just been dedicating every moment to playing it.

Not reading any further to avoid any potential spoilers, but I finally bought myself a Switch and also BotW. Will report back once I have beat it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on September 29, 2017, 03:22:29 AM
I was going to review Sonic mania until I found out Austin gave the exact review I would've, just better.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aDU2aYEWRw
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on September 29, 2017, 12:41:57 PM
I like this guy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on September 30, 2017, 02:47:56 AM
Austin is one of like two or three people I keep up with on YouTube. He's like me or my nephew if we had any drive to do things.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Hmmm on September 30, 2017, 08:10:22 PM
I know the joke is overused, but i currently play in "LIFE".
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 28, 2017, 01:24:42 PM
Middle-earth: Shadow of War

The ending of this game is awful. It's a cowardly, last-minute attempt to bring this series in line with the continuity of the LotR movies, and not only is this effort laughably unsuccessful, it cheats the player out of an awesome climax they're going to feel they deserve after playing through the story. The devs didn't have the balls to follow through with what the series had been steadily building up to and fully divorce themselves from the official canon. I know that nobody in the world is going to be playing this game for the story, and rightfully so, but the lame toothlessness of the ending really is that frustrating. I was genuinely onboard with the loopy fanfic feel of the game up to that point, and enjoyed the blatant disregard of the moral philosophy of LotR for its sheer audacity.

That's far from the game's only flaw. The combat is a good deal harder than it was in Shadow of Mordor, but it doesn't quite play fair in how it increases the difficulty. Battles now seem to be a lot more chaotic, with enemies that require different keystrokes to dodge or counter all attacking at the same time, attacks are harder to dodge or counter, last chances and executions are trickier to pull off, captains have a lot more defenses and immunities in general, and the beasts you can dominate and ride have been nerfed to the point of near-ineffectiveness. If you have fond memories from Mordor of riding a caragor or graug around and slaughtering orcs with gleeful abandon, be warned that your mount will be very, very quickly killed if you try that here. The drakes - yes, they're drakes, not dragons - are no better. You are not going to be soaring triumphantly over Mordor as you consume the armies of Sauron in flame. You are going be turned into a pincushion by the orcs below as you awkwardly do your best to maybe blast a few of them with your short-ranged breath before you die. Also, there's an unfortunate MMO-like feel to the game, as indicated by the general structure (short and repetitive) of the missions from the main quest, the focus on collecting and upgrading gear (the microtransactions are annoying, but can be ignored fairly easily), and excessive grinding being essentially required.

The good news is that the grinding is a ton of fun. The return of the Nemesis System from Mordor, now even bigger and better, is this game's saving grace. There are dozens of orc captains, all with their own colorful, distinctive personalities and plenty of unique situational dialogue. Once I poisoned a barrel of grog and was promptly tackled by an assassin who specialized in poisoning, who then yelled at me that I was an amateur and using too high a dose. There's another captain who confronts you if you gather intel on him. Another is draped in spider's webs and claims that he has become "one with the spiders." Some of them will cheat death and return to you markedly different, sometimes even with a new name and fighting style, like an orc who now has a claw in place of a lost limb, or an orc previously beaten by poison who now is a shambling, diseased wreck. My personal favorite was a bard who plays (and fights with) a spiked lute, and sings every line of dialogue. It's a blast to meet all these wacky characters and then decide whether to kill or recruit them.

So, if you liked the previous game, you'll almost certainly like Shadow of War as well. I don't regret buying it, and I'm sure I have a lot more playing to do before I'm through with it. But it's incredibly messy and inconsistent, and I am a little disappointed on the whole that it's not as good as it ought to be.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on October 28, 2017, 10:35:56 PM
Finished Nazi Killing Simulator 2 last night. 10/10. GOTY 2017.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on October 28, 2017, 10:59:49 PM
What is the moral philosophy of the LOTR?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on October 29, 2017, 12:43:30 AM
Finished Nazi Killing Simulator 2 last night. 10/10. GOTY 2017.

Oh hey another FPS, how innovative.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on October 30, 2017, 11:38:41 PM
It's the best genre when done right.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on October 31, 2017, 12:08:34 AM
It's the best genre when done right.

lol
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 01, 2017, 02:22:10 PM
It's the best genre when done right.

lol
There's nothing more fun than high-speed first-person gory run&gun combat.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on November 09, 2017, 03:52:50 AM
Just beat Mario Odyssey.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7Z2I9x4Pd0

Yeah, basically how I feel.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on November 14, 2017, 05:34:45 PM
What is the moral philosophy of the LOTR?

The short answer is simply that power corrupts. More broadly, Tolkien presented qualities like hope, perseverance, and inner strength as being how good triumphs over evil rather than through martial prowess and ambition. It's not a badass action hero or a mighty king who takes down Sauron; it's a small hobbit. Now, Shadow of War flips this idea on its head by suggesting an ends-justify-the-means approach to defeating Sauron, where the hero fashions a new ring of power and uses it to dominate, enslave, and slaughter thousands of orcs across Mordor, all in the name of finally defeating Sauron. Such an interesting idea deserved to be followed up on. They should have let us overthrow Sauron and have the player end up as the ruler of Mordor, leaving it to the imagination just how similar to Sauron they've become. Instead, the story and its momentum are utterly derailed at the last second for an extremely weak reason, you're given a boss battle with Sauron in which there are no stakes because you're not playing as the main character anymore, and even after you're victorious, Sauron still manages to win in a cutscene (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeadsIWinTailsYouLose) - which is exactly what happened in the DLC of the last game. If they were never willing to let us beat Sauron, they should never have been presenting "beat Sauron" as the main goal. And then we're finally given some bullshit about how we need to keep fighting on to ensure that one day Frodo can succeed in his quest and I furiously told the game to go fuck itself.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on November 15, 2017, 01:42:43 AM
What is the moral philosophy of the LOTR?

The short answer is simply that power corrupts. More broadly, Tolkien presented qualities like hope, perseverance, and inner strength as being how good triumphs over evil rather than through martial prowess and ambition. It's not a badass action hero or a mighty king who takes down Sauron; it's a small hobbit.

I am not sure I agree with this.  Tolkien presents other characters who dwarf Sauron in power but are not corrupt, like Tom Bombadil.  What Tolkien presents is a classic myth about the overthrow of the old order and replacing it with new knowledge.  In this way, there is little morality to find; not only does  the dominion of Sauron end in the LotR, but the more importantly, the dominion of elves also ends.  Elves are portrayed as greater paragons of good, wisdom and virtue in Middle Earth but with the coming of age of men (and hobbits), they must cede their dominion.  I find it to be this lack of an ultimate good triumphing over ulitmate evil that makes the LotR so timeless. 

Quote
Now, Shadow of War flips this idea on its head by suggesting an ends-justify-the-means approach to defeating Sauron, where the hero fashions a new ring of power and uses it to dominate, enslave, and slaughter thousands of orcs across Mordor, all in the name of finally defeating Sauron. Such an interesting idea deserved to be followed up on. They should have let us overthrow Sauron and have the player end up as the ruler of Mordor, leaving it to the imagination just how similar to Sauron they've become. Instead, the story and its momentum are utterly derailed at the last second for an extremely weak reason, you're given a boss battle with Sauron in which there are no stakes because you're not playing as the main character anymore, and even after you're victorious, Sauron still manages to win in a cutscene (http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeadsIWinTailsYouLose) - which is exactly what happened in the DLC of the last game. If they were never willing to let us beat Sauron, they should never have been presenting "beat Sauron" as the main goal. And then we're finally given some bullshit about how we need to keep fighting on to ensure that one day Frodo can succeed in his quest and I furiously told the game to go fuck itself.

This does sound like they copped out on their idea, which always sucks.  It would be interesting to play out the ending that Gandalf feared so much.  I also hate it when canon is treated so preciously(see what I did there?) that they can't allow other stories to unfold in the world.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on November 15, 2017, 03:02:53 PM
I always thought the theme was that industrialization was evil. Greed and domination, etc.

New order overthrowing old order is more accurate and more vague than industrialization.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on November 18, 2017, 02:17:26 PM
I feel like the industrialization theme was emphasized more by the films than the books. Either that or I missed it in the books....
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on December 28, 2017, 05:00:33 AM
I am not sure I agree with this.  Tolkien presents other characters who dwarf Sauron in power but are not corrupt, like Tom Bombadil.

Hardly. Bombadil's power is strictly limited to his own tiny domain, and the general consensus at the Council of Elrond is that if it came down to just the two of them, Sauron would triumph.

Quote
What Tolkien presents is a classic myth about the overthrow of the old order and replacing it with new knowledge.  In this way, there is little morality to find; not only does  the dominion of Sauron end in the LotR, but the more importantly, the dominion of elves also ends.  Elves are portrayed as greater paragons of good, wisdom and virtue in Middle Earth but with the coming of age of men (and hobbits), they must cede their dominion.  I find it to be this lack of an ultimate good triumphing over ulitmate evil that makes the LotR so timeless.

What? The moral themes of LotR are enormously prominent. There's certainly room to dispute my brief interpretation of them, but to deny that they're even there is insane. And to say that it's really about the dominion of the elves coming to an end? That's just background lore, not the story itself. It's like saying that TES is really about CHIM and zero-summing.

***

The Sexy Brutale

In this colorful adventure game, you find yourself trapped in a luxurious casino/mansion where a series of murders take place over a twelve-hour time loop. It's up to you to stop them, but the catch is that you can't directly interact with anybody else in the casino, or even be in the same room as them for more than a few seconds. You have to carefully observe the people around you to discover how the murders happen, and then secretly manipulate the environment to thwart them. Sounds great, right? And this is all complemented by a bouncy jazz soundtrack, a charming art style, and a healthy amount of black comedy livening up the dire situation.

My main problem lies with the final third, maybe quarter, of the game. Once the murders have all been foiled, the game inexplicably adopts a dull, pretentious, and self-serious tone and transforms into a boring walking simulator. It clumsily tries to provide a BioShock-esque (that comparison is not intended to be flattering) "twist" that explains everything that just happened, and not only is that explanation lazy and unsatisfying, it's impossible to take seriously with these goofy characters and their silly animations. They waddle when they walk, for fuck's sake! Why did there need to be an explanation, anyway? Why couldn't this just be a game where you're setting everyone free from the time loop by stopping their murders? No hidden story, no shocking twist, no "well actually..." Would Groundhog Day have been a better movie if it ended with a shot of Bill Murray hallucinating in a mental hospital?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 29, 2017, 05:20:53 PM
Replaying Okami

This game is just lovely.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on December 29, 2017, 05:49:16 PM
Doki Doki Literature Club.

So I was persuaded to download and play this free "horror" game from steam that disguises itself as a Japanese anime romance story game because the horror was sooo good, they said.

You'll have to try it yourself but... yeah, it's not.  At least not to me.  To me it was boring, predictable, and not in the least bit scary.  I'm not even sure why anyone thought it was scary.

The 'horror' is supposed to be 4th wall breaking where one of the characters is 'aware' and modifies the game in various ways: deleting saved games, corrupting graphics, restarting the game after 'deleting' a character, etc... before talking to you and essentially locking the game so anytime you load it, you just see this room with the aware character.  The idea being you have to delete her just like she deleted everyone else.  She even *gasp* reads the %currentuser% variable and speaks your login name!

Again, this is supposed to be horror.  But I just saw it as a giant script that was running with glitches everywhere.  Hell, at one point I actually though the game was broken or glitched.  Turns out you just gotta go through about 100 pages of random ascii text while staring at a slightly changing image.  "Oh, I didn't realize the script was that broken.  You've been staring at the dead body as time progressed for two days." -says the aware character after you literally spend from Friday afternoon to Monday morning staring at a dead body while clicking (or auto moving) through unreadable dialog.

I think it's shit but hey, maybe you'll feel differently?  It takes about 2 hours to get going and lasts about 6-7 to get through.  Most of it is reading dialog you've already read 3 times.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 30, 2017, 02:04:25 AM
I finished Assassin's Creed yesterday. It was shit. 3/10. Started playing AC2 and it seems much better.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on January 03, 2018, 06:44:16 PM
Pillars of Eternity

I love this game, and I don't know where to even begin talking about it. The character creation is awesome, and it's so cool the way your later dialogue will then form part of your backstory. And it's not even just your own backstory, but your past life. You get to decide what your relationship with Iovara was, and your relationship with Thaos. One moment that really stood out for me was when Thaos asks you if you know Iovara, there's an option to say you don't, and an option to say you don't with the knowledge that it's a lie. Aside from that, it nicely averts the generic fantasy setting with its own original twists, the characters are distinctive and memorable, and on the whole it's just a great, original story with wonderful lore lore lore.

My two main issues with the game are the combat and the level progression. It's a very limited selection of skills you can choose to level up in, and the lack of any auto-leveling system for the companions is ridiculous. I'm not fucking keeping track of which of my five companions could stand to see some improvement in this area, which of them might benefit from having this ability or that, and so on. Same goes for the combat - I'll be damned if I'm going to be pausing each fight a hundred times so I can issue unique instructions to each companion on which ability I want them to use and on whom. This shit should be automated, with an option to turn it manual for the few people who actually want to do it all themselves.

Tyranny

Obsidian learned from their mistakes and fixed all of the above. Having three companions at a time instead of five also helps the combat feel like less of a clusterfuck. Moving on, this is another original fantasy game, with good writing, good characters, and a truly unique setting. Unlike with Pillars, it seems as though none of my Steam friends here on FES have tried this one yet, and I strongly encourage you to reconsider.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 03, 2018, 06:57:51 PM
Pillars of Eternity

I love this game, and I don't know where to even begin talking about it.
But muh non-generic fantasy races
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 18, 2018, 06:42:10 PM
Finally got around to playing Dark Souls. I played a little last night, but I had a bit of a time trying to get it to play nicely with my PS2 pad. Today I got it working properly, took care of the Asylum Demon and am around the beginning of Undead Burg. It's been fun so far. I like the emphasis on caution, it's a different pace from what I'm used to in ARPGs and similar.

I also checked out the 2013 version of Shadow Warrior, which was amusing for the excessive violence but seems like it would get boring pretty fast.

Lastly, Unreal Tournament pre-alpha is rough around the edges but has all the makings of a great comeback for the series. Too bad Epic seems to have left it to rot.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on January 18, 2018, 07:39:27 PM
Unreal Tournament

holy shit for real?  the nostalgia i'm having for the original right now is overwhelming.  fuck i loved that game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 18, 2018, 08:21:03 PM
Unreal Tournament

holy shit for real?  the nostalgia i'm having for the original right now is overwhelming.  fuck i loved that game.

Yeah, there's been a public pre-alpha in the works for years, but it looks like they haven't updated it since last Summer. What they have so far is really promising, but it's definitely not up to '99 or 2k4 standards in terms of feel, and there still aren't many finished maps, character models and skins are kind of generic as well. Nonetheless I think it could be great if only Epic would give it the attention it needs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on January 19, 2018, 05:37:45 PM
I bought a copy of No Man's Sky yesterday...... I immediately regretted that decision
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 19, 2018, 06:05:20 PM
I bought a copy of No Man's Sky yesterday...... I immediately regretted that decision

It could be worse, you could have wasted money on Star Citizen.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on January 19, 2018, 06:27:36 PM
I bought a copy of No Man's Sky yesterday...... I immediately regretted that decision

It could be worse, you could have wasted money on Star Citizen.

Personally, I'm not a fan of paying for virtual ships in a game that, lets face it, is just Chris Roberts extorting money from people. There is no way that he is ever going to release Star Citizen, why would he when he can charge people hundreds of dollars for ships/land that he is never going to give? And after the 38 million dollar kickstarter? i'm a bit skeptical
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 19, 2018, 06:36:22 PM
...why would he when he can charge people hundreds of dollars for ships...

Or in the case of at least one of our forum members here, thousands of dollars...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 21, 2018, 06:49:30 PM
I played South Park: The Stick of Truth

It was fun
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on January 22, 2018, 01:01:10 AM
I played South Park: The Stick of Truth

It was fun

i never completed it, but i really loved stick of truth.  they did such a good job of making it feel like you were playing out an episode of the show.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on January 22, 2018, 10:59:28 AM
I've recently been playing Sonic Mania

In many respects, it's a great game; the physics and action feel as tight as they ever have in a Sonic game, the new zones are inventive and maintain the feel of exploring an environment - as opposed to the linear roller-coaster rides more recent Sonic titles have adoped - and the reimagined old zones shake up the formula to offer something new to old players.
Some of the new features and the clever boss designs (Studiopolis' weather-report boss and the Mean Bean Machine-inspired boss to Chemical Plant are particular standouts)

That said, I do have problems with it:
-The blue spheres Special Zones are too big to come up every time you hit a checkpoint. They massively interrupt the pace of the game and are far too easy to access - maybe if you needed 50 rings to enter instead of 25 it would have been an improvement.
-The visual styles from the old games sometimes feel wildly at odds with each other - especially Lava Reef with its more subdued colour palette and the messy graphics of the Sonic CD zones (I always thought that S:CD was overrated and felt more like a good Sonic 1 ROM hack than an actual sequel like S2 or S3)
-The 10 minute timer on levels is a frustration, especially when you can sometimes get complicated bosses which have multiple stages.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on January 22, 2018, 06:18:29 PM
...why would he when he can charge people hundreds of dollars for ships...

Or in the case of at least one of our forum members here, thousands of dollars...

Seriously? Who is it?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 22, 2018, 07:17:28 PM
Seriously? Who is it?

Quite serious. I won't out the person, but it can figured out without much trouble...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on January 22, 2018, 07:22:47 PM
...why would he when he can charge people hundreds of dollars for ships...

Or in the case of at least one of our forum members here, thousands of dollars...

Seriously? Who is it?
Lurk Moar.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on January 23, 2018, 12:13:07 PM
Pillars of Eternity

[...] the lack of any auto-leveling system for the companions is ridiculous. I'm not fucking keeping track of which of my six companions could stand to see some improvement in this area, which of them might benefit from having this ability or that, and so on. Same goes for the combat - I'll be damned if I'm going to be pausing each fight a hundred times so I can issue unique instructions to each companion on which ability I want them to use and on whom. This shit should be automated, with an option to turn it manual for the few people who actually want to do it all themselves.
I'm currently playing through PoE. I've gone through a fair bit of the main campaign previously before I gave up on my sucky laptop. Replaying the early bits certainly helped me get my characters right.

That said, I strongly disagree with regard to game mechanics. The game was Kickstarter'd as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and the people who actually threw money at it to let it happen wanted things that way. Tyranny didn't "fix" anything, it simply wasn't trying to target a very specific (and, I appreciate, peculiar) niche.

Besides, if you're not treating your party as a cohesive unit, you'd really struggle with any of the more challenging battles. If you *really* hate issuing commands, set up your party AI, allow them to use per-rest abilities, and enjoy burning a village's worth of camping supplies. Alternatively, hit that "Story Mode" button and auto-attack away - if you hate the game mechanically but love the story and characters, why would you not just make use of that?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on January 23, 2018, 04:06:26 PM
Seriously? Who is it?

Quite serious. I won't out the person, but it can figured out without much trouble...

After preforming an extensive examination, I have concluded that the member in question is Rushy.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 23, 2018, 05:13:32 PM
Seriously? Who is it?

Quite serious. I won't out the person, but it can figured out without much trouble...

After preforming an extensive examination, I have concluded that the member in question is Rushy.
>member
>singular
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: xasop on January 23, 2018, 05:43:04 PM
>member
>singular

Well, there is only one. That is the context in which it is conventional to use the singular, if I am not mistaken.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on January 25, 2018, 03:03:44 PM
I got the platinum trophy for Fallout New Vegas last night. This is probably the best moment of my young life
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 29, 2018, 10:34:01 PM
Finally got around to playing Dark Souls.
I've been playing a little bit every day. Managed to beat Capra Demon on my third try, and I only used the stairs to take care of the dogs. Feels good man.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on January 30, 2018, 01:15:47 PM
L.A. Noire

(I'll preface this review by saying that I've come into the game pretty much completely blind. All I knew was that it's a Rockstar game, that you're a cop, and that it's set in Los Angeles in the time period where everyone wore a hat. Most of my observations here will be obvious to anyone who has at least heard about the game before.)

I wanted to like this game, but it simply wouldn't let me. It started off pretty good, firmly establishing a general vibe to expect of the rest of the story. You mostly play as Cole Phelps, a cop and a cliché of a hero who doesn't view himself as a hero, but if someone tells him to do something that's not heroic, he tells them to shut up (politely, of course) and rushes in to be a hero. A couple hours into the game, literally all of L.A. knows you and random passers-by start saying things like "Wow, I know this guy, I read in the newspapers that he's an honest cop!" That, by itself, is completely fine. There's nothing wrong with stories like that, and the general feel is quite satisfying as long as you suspend your disbelief.

Gameplay-wise, the game can be broadly broken down into two categories: figuring out dank conspiracies, and shitty minigames that come up just a little bit too often to be forgettable.

The latter really got under my skin:
"Oh no, this person started running away when we told him we're policemen. Quickly, protagonist, chase him by running very slightly faster than he does while everyone else does nothing of use!"
"Oh no, this person is driving away from us because we told him we're policemen. Quickly, protagonist, drive the car slightly faster than they do!"
"Uh oh, this man is engaging you in a fist fight. Quickly, mash the left mouse button until the game tells you you can press Q or R at which point you win and he loses!"
"Shh, this woman is going to a place and we want to follow her. Awkwardly follow her closely, but be careful, she'll be turning around and checking if anyone is following her!"

It's kinda fun the first time around, but by the time you see the fifth instalment of the "LAPD, we need to ask some ques- OH NO HE'S RUNNING WHO WOULD HAVE THOUGHT!" cutscene, there just isn't enough suspension of disbelief to go with. Some of the minigames are pretty difficult, but in a bad way. Luckily, after you've fucked up 3 times, you can just skip the "action sequence" and get back to the action. So that's good.

Figuring out crimes is the fun part, but that, too, loses its novelty quickly. You mostly figure out who dun it by looking at things and interviewing people.

Looking at things is easy: you go to a place, you walk around until you hear an ominous chime, then you click the left mouse button for Phelps to pick a thing up. Then you rotate the item until the camera zooms in on a pertinent detail and voila, you've learned a thing!

Interviewing people boils down to asking them questions and then deciding how to respond. Your options are named "Truth," "Doubt," and "Lie." The third option is pretty clear - you reckon what they just said contradicts the evidence, and you're about to slam the evidence in their motherfucking face, Phoenix Wright-style. "Doubt" and "Truth" are a bit more difficult. Especially "Doubt," which can mean anything between "uhhh I dunno buddy can I maybe have some more info?" to Phelps losing his shit and threatening to jail an unborn baby, which is clearly an accomplice. You can't really know what will happen if you hit "Doubt." Now, you're not always privy to enough information to immediately know whether or not your interviewee is lying, but have no fear! You can read the dumb oafs' facial expressions, which always give them away. Just stare them down for 5 seconds, and if they do something like this

(http://i.omgomg.eu/trumpfaces.gif)

they're lying, or at least not telling the whole truth. It's never more subtle than that. Seriously. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2YitSqkvJo)

Eventually, the game forgets its original vibe of Mr Happy-Go-Lucky being a virtuous hero working for good. Without any explanation at all, seemingly for no reason at all, he does something bad (he puts his peepee in a woman who's not his wife, or at least it's heavily implied), and people find out and now everyone hates him. Some people won't even shake his hand, the city riff-raff now says a mix of good and bad things about him when they see him, and radio receivers across the entire metropolis talk about how he did a bad thing. On repeat. He gets demoted, but it's okay, because he's still very good at his job, so he does what he does best - his job. Despite being assigned to a shitty department, he still successfully uncovers 400 dank conspiracies, then things get intense, and just when it looks like we might get some closure, he dies. The end.

7/10 would play. It had just enough great moments to push me through the teeth-grinding stupidity of the whole thing. Go play it, enjoy it, and then come to hate it with me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 30, 2018, 02:03:21 PM
L.A. Noire

Good take. At the time it came out a lot of what was pretty obviously bad or repetitive or vaguely defined about its various modes of play seemed to pale in comparison to the astounding fidelity of the performance capture. It took what Heavy Rain had tried to do the previous year and wrapped it around a competently designed narrative played out by good actors, and with controls that didn't feel like trying to fix plumbing with a spork while blindfolded. I feel like it would still have been fairly superficial and inconsequential without the emphasis on the capture tech, but today that is probably what dates it and elevates its major flaws the most.

As an aside, I found the homages to film noir kind of grating. You know, your story already isn't that great, don't go out of your way to remind me of great films like The Third Man and Chinatown while you're telling it. As is so often the case with games that pretend towards a more "prestige" medium (or "mature" subject matter), the novelty of the entire thing preceded sense and good taste.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on February 02, 2018, 07:09:27 PM
I feel a little cheap talking about this based on what little of it (around 80 minutes by Steam's count, and by my count only around ten or fifteen of which consisted of me doing what I wanted rather than being ferried between plot points with little say in the matter) I was able to play before I ran into a brick wall of inexplicable CTDs while trying to level up via the pipboy, but last night I took advantage of the Fallout 4 free weekend on Steam. I was adamant from the time the game originally came out a few years back that under no circumstance would I give Bethesda any of my money, so this is about as close as I'll ever come to owning the game.

As Bethesda is wont to do, the game begins with an introductory sequence which straight up tells you who your character is. From the very beginning you feel like you have to pick certain dialogues because otherwise it makes no sense (unless the protagonist is a schizophrenic, which he might be given how many times he says "no" and apparently means "sure, why not"); that is, when you can actually see what that dialogue is going to be. We start off with a couple of robots looking in a mirror, and you get to choose what the robots will look like. Every time you change something about one robot's face, both it and its fellow robot will comment on the change. After a few hundred "there's the handsome man I married"s and "I clean up pretty good"s I realised that, short of picking an entirely different preset to start with, there was very little I could do to make the man-robot not look like Jon Bernthal's derpy brother, and gave up. I didn't even bother with the woman-robot, and it would have been more than a small waste of time* given that she is shot by some dudes about five minutes later. Even if she hadn't been, everyone except the protagonist is killed by Totally Not Hal 9000 during cryosleep. Yeah, the vaults have cryopods for no apparent reason, other than they really wanted to have the opening sequence be the day the bombs fell, and yet have you play the same guy in 2288 or whatever.

But before that, before the robots shape-shifting and making the same three comments about it over and over in the bathroom, we of course have war. And you know what they say, war never changes. Oh my god. Three times this monotonous goon spouts the catchphrase in the first couple of minutes, and whoever directed the voice over clearly did not learn the Pinter pause lesson—if you tell the actor to pause, they will do it for too long. The space between "war" and "war never changes" must be something like five full seconds, the longest comma there ever was. And it's not like you don't know what he's about to say. There's nothing deep about it at this stage, if ever there was. It beggars belief. Not even Ron Perlman could have saved this pile.

Eventually getting to play the game, which in my experience consisted mostly of punching cockroaches and looking for secrets that weren't there (Dark Souls really has spoiled me with the amount of shortcuts and hidden items it places about the map to reward exploration—I scoured every inch of Vault 111 looking for stuff, and even in the most clearly-a-secret kind of nooks and crannies there was nothing. At the same time, item placement retains the seemingly random feel of its predecessor. I found grenades in a fucking trash can.), it didn't seem too bad. Immediately combat felt much smoother and more intuitive than in Fallout 3. VATS now operates more like a crowd control tool than the primary mode of combat, which in an FPS/action shooter type presentation it absolutely should be. The default mouse and keyboard controls felt a little counterintuitive; V, which used to be the VATS button, now switches out to over-the-shoulder perspective, which is basically useless for anything other than watching your man-robot awkwardly jerk his way around the all too familiar scenery. Also, I don't know if this was because of my stats or what, but whenever I jumped I got air time like I was on the Moon.

The dog companion, a staple of the series from its inception, is back. Working with it was somewhat uncomfortable. At first I took it for a mob and tried to pick it off from a distance, but when it didn't aggro I realised what it really was. The control interface for the dog is a little confusing. Telling it to "follow", which I took to mean "follow me", caused it to run towards the centre of the screen like a cursor tracking animation from one of those crappy "make your own super cool website for free!!!" services from back in the day. Given that "stay" works much as you'd expect, I thought I must have been hitting some other button by mistake to get it to do the weird things it was doing, but no, it just isn't very well explained. The dog can open doors and fetch items, but it seems like kind of a waste of time given that the dog gets there no quicker than you do, and the means of navigating the dog to the desired item is so clunky that you might as well just go and get it yourself.

I touched a little on the way the game handles dialogue earlier, and it does definitely seem like what was annoying to look at in the pre-release gameplay footage is just as bad if not worse to actually play with. Each conversation point consists of you clicking on one of four preset options, none of which actually indicates what you're going to say. I thought the "yes" "no" "sarcastic" thing was a joke, but it really is that unclear. Like, it's nowhere near as wildly misleading as the "truth" "doubt" "lie" mechanic could be in L.A. Noire, but I don't feel like this "role-playing game" is actually allowing me to role-play in any real sense, because all the information I would need in order to be able to do it is hidden. During your side of the conversation, the camera inexplicably jumps out of first person perspective so that you can see the man-robot trying and failing to activate its expression module. It's a minor annoyance sitting like icing on top of a cake made of shit, but why on earth they decided to have the camera do that is beyond me.

When at last I had shot and killed enough random bugs and reached the impasse of a core mechanic not wanting to work, I gave up and uninstalled the game files. What little I experienced did not make me feel particularly sore about this, and I had no desire to see where the story would lead. You're a man-robot and you go to the vault with your wife-robot and baby Shaun (who I'm pretty sure is a changeling because he looks Hispanic while his "parents" are the two most lilywhite robot folks you've ever seen), the vault people put you in cryosleep and then some time later a bald man opens wife-robot's cryopod, shoots her with a gun that leaves no wound or bleeding (clearly owing to the synthetic self-repairing skin in which "her" cold metal interior is clad!) and steals the baby. Some time later still you are thawed and let out, you steal your dead wife-robot's jewellery and head outside, punching cockroaches and being near-blinded repeatedly by a series of progressively brighter lights, determined to find your baby. Yes, that's right, the tables have turned (in a wroooooong way, ya got me... mad now), in a clever twist on Bethesda's previous narrative impetus it is now the father that must find the son! And so you return to your home, literally down the street from the vault, find your trusty robot servant, who kills all the enemies in the area while you stuff your pockets with random garbage, and then you go off to the next place, find the dog and and presumably do more of the same. Alas, on the outskirts of Concord was my time in post-nuclear Massachusetts unceremoniously foreshortened.

I can't help but feel like I would have been more interested in a Fallout experience where I was one part of a family learning how to survive in the post-apocalyptic future as a team. That way, if the wife had been killed and the son abducted during the course of my playthrough, I might actually have felt something. Todd Howard or whoever wrote this (Emil Pagliarulo?) really wanted me to feel something, but all he did was prevent me from talking to someone who stared at me in a bathroom one time a few minutes ago, and took away a strange baby-thing which I have no connection to and literally had to be forced to interact with previously. In a toss-up between baby-thing being taken and Liam Neeson being taken (ha), I'll take (ha ha) Neeson—at the very least I had time to form some kind of connection to his character, however tenuous. So it's a mixed bag compared to the previous offering. I definitely prefer the feel of combat in this game to Fallout 3, and obviously it is a better looking game, but this second attempt at a dramatic Heart-Wrenching Personal Story™ is even worse than the first. Maybe it gets better and more compelling the further you go, but I'm pretty confident that isn't the case.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 02, 2018, 07:39:45 PM
Yeah...
You didn't see the musket laser rifle.  Imagine a laser rifle that does shit damage and you have to take 5 seconds to reload after every shot.

That's your first gun.  Oh and you gotta kill a museum filled with gang members with it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on February 02, 2018, 09:44:26 PM
Yeah...
You didn't see the musket laser rifle.  Imagine a laser rifle that does shit damage and you have to take 5 seconds to reload after every shot.

That's your first gun.  Oh and you gotta kill a museum filled with gang members with it.

Are you sure about that? There's a 10mm pistol and a bunch of ammo in the vault. I found three other pistols not long after exiting the vault as well. I don't know if they patched it since you played it but it seemed to be pretty generous with weapons, at least on normal difficulty.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on February 02, 2018, 09:52:30 PM
Yeah...
You didn't see the musket laser rifle.  Imagine a laser rifle that does shit damage and you have to take 5 seconds to reload after every shot.

That's your first gun.  Oh and you gotta kill a museum filled with gang members with it.

Are you sure about that? There's a 10mm pistol and a bunch of ammo in the vault. I found three other pistols not long after exiting the vault as well. I don't know if they patched it since you played it but it seemed to be pretty generous with weapons, at least on normal difficulty.
Oh right, I had forgotten about the pistol.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on February 03, 2018, 04:36:17 PM
Unless you go straight to Concord, you can find a revolver not far from the Sanctuary settlement, and the raiders you kill in Concord right before you reach the museum will drop various pipe guns. On top of that, you can find a power armor, a fusion core and a minigun too in various locations just north-east of Sanctuary, so you can get all this stuff right from the get-go even if you don't stick to the main quest.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Ghost Spaghetti on February 05, 2018, 12:37:31 PM
I role-played a distraught mother who returns to her house, mind mangled by grief and places a fire extinguisher in the crib because it's at least as animate as her potato-baby she lost.

There she sits, mad and alone with her fire extinguisher baby.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on February 06, 2018, 05:38:16 PM
Personally, I really enjoyed Fallout 4. The main story fell on its face a little near the end, but it was still pretty fun. Bethesda really fucked up with the Creation Club, though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on February 09, 2018, 04:28:38 AM
Finally got around to playing Dark Souls.
I've been playing a little bit every day. Managed to beat Capra Demon on my third try, and I only used the stairs to take care of the dogs. Feels good man.
Since then I've beaten Gaping Dragon (1st try), Moonlight Butterfly (1st try), and Havel (2nd try). Blighttown gave me a few problems, but I got down pretty much by falling accidentally onto the right platforms. I found the second bonfire and the Great Hollow (I got to the bonfire but I haven't actually done anything there), and am currently fighting Quelaag, who is giving me a bit of a time. I equipped Wanderer gear for fire resist but I haven't gotten her patterns down yet.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on February 17, 2018, 06:07:46 PM
Finally got around to playing Dark Souls.
I've been playing a little bit every day. Managed to beat Capra Demon on my third try, and I only used the stairs to take care of the dogs. Feels good man.
Since then I've beaten Gaping Dragon (1st try), Moonlight Butterfly (1st try), and Havel (2nd try). Blighttown gave me a few problems, but I got down pretty much by falling accidentally onto the right platforms. I found the second bonfire and the Great Hollow (I got to the bonfire but I haven't actually done anything there), and am currently fighting Quelaag, who is giving me a bit of a time. I equipped Wanderer gear for fire resist but I haven't gotten her patterns down yet.

After some trouble I finally defeated Ornstein and Smough. Have since defeated Sif and all the Demon Ruins bosses—I think I may have been overlevelled for all of them. I also went to Ariamis, but the dragon knocked me off the bridge and I somehow fell with great luck onto the underpass, meaning I was able to return to Anor Londo without having to do any boss fights. I'm not entirely sure what to do next, once you get the Lordvessel the whole thing seems to become a bit aimless. There's a bunch of places I could go but I'm not sure which are optional and which will progress the main quest.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on February 24, 2018, 04:34:45 PM
I've been playing a lot of Rollercoaster Tycoon Classic, apart from Diamond Heights' ramped up difficulty almost to the point of impossibility, it's quite nice. Brings me back to the days of dial-up internet and playing it on our ancient family computer.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on February 24, 2018, 05:25:41 PM
played ~6 hours of the new stellaris update.  i like it a lot so far.

my least favorite change is that hyperlanes are now the only ftl drive.  i totally get why they did it; and, i have to admit that it's a net improvement to the gameplay.  i think i just hate that my ships have to traverse the whole system to get to a new hyperlane gate.  what i mean is: you ftl to a system, and then you have to fly across that whole system to get to another gate to jump to a new system.  it's slow.

my favorite change is the starbases.  tall empires are now viable.  and defense platforms are now actually useful.  it kicks ass.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on March 01, 2018, 05:56:32 PM
I've gotten back into Dark Souls with the Return to Drangleic event. Right now i'm looking for a fellow Sunbro to help the noobs with bosses and the like. Calling all Sunbros!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on March 15, 2018, 02:43:07 AM
I strongly disagree with regard to game mechanics. The game was Kickstarter'd as a spiritual successor to Baldur's Gate, and the people who actually threw money at it to let it happen wanted things that way. Tyranny didn't "fix" anything, it simply wasn't trying to target a very specific (and, I appreciate, peculiar) niche.

Besides, if you're not treating your party as a cohesive unit, you'd really struggle with any of the more challenging battles. If you *really* hate issuing commands, set up your party AI, allow them to use per-rest abilities, and enjoy burning a village's worth of camping supplies. Alternatively, hit that "Story Mode" button and auto-attack away - if you hate the game mechanically but love the story and characters, why would you not just make use of that?

I don't hate the game mechanics; I just feel that the level of micromanagement expected of you is a little crazy, as was the decision to not give you options to even somewhat mitigate the burden. You're essentially controlling six player characters at once. Even for a niche game inspired by the CRPGs of the late 90s/early 2000s, that's a lot to be laying on the player. It's great that you like it, and I'm sure plenty of other people did too, but a couple of options to tone it down just a bit wouldn't have been unwarranted.

I largely agree with you and Crudblud on L.A. Noire. One thing that I felt really hurt its story was the out-of-nowhere protagonist switch for the final act. It's not like Phelps had died or was no longer involved in the story. You just had to...play as somebody else from then on.

HITMAN

I've bothered Rushy enough about this on IRC; time to write a review. This game is great. It's broken down into six "episodes," with each one being set in a different area where you go in, kill your targets, and get out. These levels are the best part of the game. They're all visually distinctive, physically large, and complex enough to provide fun for several playthroughs. I especially love how there are always some places within them that have nothing, or almost nothing to do with the main objective. They're not useless, as you can find crazy weapons and goofy disguises in them, but you'd never visit them if you were just trying to kill your targets in the most direct way possible. The second level, set in the town of Sapienza, Italy, is the best example of this. Your targets are in a villa in the center of town, but there's also a nearby restaurant, the city hall, a beach full of tourists, a church, and a labyrinth of tunnels running under it all.

As great as these levels are, and as many different opportunities they provide for you to infiltrate your targets' inner circles and kill them in creative ways, there are only six of them. That's not enough for a full-sized game. I think I'd have been satisfied with two more. The game tries to provide a bit more content by giving you bonus missions set in slightly-altered versions of the existing levels, and they're fun, but the problem with trying to reuse the levels like that is that they were obviously designed with the main target's housing and protection first and foremost in mind. Infiltrating Sapienza's church simply can't compare with infiltrating its villa, just like infiltrating Marrakesh's shisha cafe is nothing next to infiltrating its embassy. Two other issues that I had were the main story, which was really dumb and added nothing to the game, and the fact that all the extras are voiced by a small handful of American and British voice actors.

I also have to mention that I love the enormous variety of skills and vocations that Agent 47 can demonstrate his proficiency in over the course of the game. This dude is an expert mechanic, sushi chef, model, masseur, yogi, rock musician, music producer, and therapist - and that's not even getting into the number of exotic weapons he can competently wield. It's so ridiculous that it quickly becomes hilarious, and I'm eagerly awaiting what insights the next "season" of this game will give us into 47's skillset. Will he sing an opera? Deliver a lecture on quantum physics? Rushy suggested he be at the UN and give a moving speech on world peace. My hope is that we see him impersonate a famous dancer and tear up the dance floor with his sweet moves.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance

This game is racist because it has no black people. 0/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Dither on March 27, 2018, 09:09:48 PM
Anyone hit the high Sea of Thieves yet?
Watched some gameplay last night, looks fantastic, almost got seasick.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2B0117Bw-6w
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on March 27, 2018, 11:17:10 PM
Anyone hit the high Sea of Thieves yet?
Watched some gameplay last night, looks fantastic, almost got seasick.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2B0117Bw-6w
Looks fun. There doesn't seem to be a meaningful progression system, however.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 27, 2018, 11:44:16 PM
Looks fun. There doesn't seem to be a meaningful progression system, however.
From what I've seen, stuff you can "progress" is almost entirely cosmetic until the "endgame" (legend status or something) which can only be reached through grinding extremely repetitive quests which are made up of a handful of categories by faction. The fun mostly seems to be in co-op navigation and exploration, but with a limited map space it looks to be sustainable only for a fairly limited time, especially given the speed with which you can get around if you apply a little common sense in angling the sails. Aside from its apparent network issues, it seems at present to be a bit sparse on things to do, hopefully Rare will patch in more content to go with the lovely presentation.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on March 30, 2018, 03:23:37 AM
Pinstripe

I don't believe that slapping a clunky, sappy Heart-Wrenching Personal Story™ onto a mediocre puzzle-platformer makes it any better of a game. Most reviewers apparently disagree. The nicest thing I can say about this is that the artstyle is pretty unique.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: xasop on March 30, 2018, 05:21:42 PM
L.A. Noire

Played it, actually liked it, sue me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on May 09, 2018, 10:59:13 PM
Hunt Down The Freeman

Absolute shit. Some jackass forgot to remove an invisible wall, so I had to no-clip to continue. If you have to cheat to finish your game, your game is garbage.
Also, in the trailers you get your ass handed to you by Gordon Freeman. In the actual game, it's just some random dude in a H.E.V suit.
But they have vehicles, so 10/10 would not recommend.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on May 09, 2018, 11:42:08 PM
That game has the best example of a generic, tryhard "badass" hero that I've ever seen:

(https://i.imgur.com/bYR6cDz.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/zCDUgE9.jpg)

I can't decide if the scars or the hair is worse. To paraphrase Cr1TiKaL, this is a middle-schooler's idea of what a cool guy who gets all the girls looks like.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on May 10, 2018, 10:59:52 PM
That game has the best example of a generic, tryhard "badass" hero that I've ever seen:

(https://i.imgur.com/bYR6cDz.jpg)

(https://i.imgur.com/zCDUgE9.jpg)

I can't decide if the scars or the hair is worse. To paraphrase Cr1TiKaL, this is a middle-schooler's idea of what a cool guy who gets all the girls looks like.
Don't forget how the characters are voiced by shitty youtubers. And I vaguely remember the G-Man saying Black Mesa wrong.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on May 15, 2018, 12:05:21 AM
i recently started playing factorio autism simulator at rushy's suggestion.  it is fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on May 15, 2018, 12:17:46 AM
i recently started playing factorio autism simulator
hmmm
is fun.
HMMMM
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on May 15, 2018, 05:04:20 PM
Finally playing Persona 5. I'm like seven hours in so I think I'm almost past the intro.

I'm having fun for the most part but goddang the writing in this game is...not great, to put it lightly.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on May 17, 2018, 07:07:38 PM
i recently started playing factorio autism simulator at rushy's suggestion.  it is fun.


(https://i.imgur.com/o5LEuTy.jpg)

In case anyone was wondering why it's an autism simulator.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on May 17, 2018, 07:59:20 PM
Looks like Sim City 2000.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on May 20, 2018, 04:39:58 AM
Far Cry 5

This game has an even worse ending than Shadow of War. It's barely even an ending at all. It's an anti-ending, a nihilistic fart, a giant "Fuck you" from Ubisoft to the player. If another dev, like Rockstar, had made this, I might have considered it a deliberate troll, but I'm sure that in reality the assholes at Ubisoft who wrote this are patting themselves on the back about how deep and subversive and clever they are. It's enormously stupid and unsatisfying.

Rushy has asked me why I care about the story so much. I care about as much as Ubisoft does, which is to say that it's fair to criticize the story heavily when it's so prominent in the game. Make no mistake, there's no escaping this story. To a degree, the game allows you to choose which missions you want to complete to earn the "resistance points" you need to progress, but at set intervals within each region, you're scripted to be captured by your enemies and delivered to the local underboss so that they can monologue at you and give you a mission to escape from them. Even if you're in the middle of a different story mission. Even if there are no enemies within a mile of your current location. I don't necessarily hate these intervals. All four of the cult's leaders are pretty decent video game villains with excellent voice acting, and I like how determined they are to actually win you over to their side, but there must have been a better way to incorporate these missions into the game than having you instantly being captured by invisible enemies at seemingly-random times.

Speaking of your interactions with the villains, I hate that you're a nameless mute in this game. What a bizarre step backwards with no discernible benefit for the series. The story, such as it is, would be improved so, so much if the main character was, you know, an actual character. These villains needed someone to actually bounce off of and interact with to be properly realized. And there was an easy solution if they wanted to include the villainous monologues - gag the player character. It also bothers me a little that you're constantly being addressed as "rookie" throughout the game. Even after slaughtering hundreds of cult members and being far and away the best fighter in the entire county, you're still the rookie, the new guy, the low man on the totem pole. It feels very condescending. What sense does it even make for you to be a sheriff's deputy when you're clearly a stranger who knows almost nobody there, anyway? You're new to the department, but I hardly think you'd be new to the county. Wouldn't it be a much better fit for the player character to be the US Marshal determined to bring down the cult? It would explain how nobody knows you, indicate that you probably already have some experience already, and even lend some resonance to the idea the game keeps pushing about how maybe this is all your fault and you're the real villain here.

Aside from all that, there is a lot of fun to be had in this game. I like the nonlinear structure, the perk system of leveling yourself up is a welcome simplification of the animal leathers gimmick from previous games, and the setting is wonderful - although I will say that I'm not a fan of the frequent animal attacks. These animals are far too aggressive and overpowered, and what really irritates me is that I strongly suspect Ubisoft deliberately amped that element up in the hopes of provoking memes and Internet jokes. What a terrible detail to focus on. Another thing that I dislike is the heavy reliance on surrealistic setpieces. In previous games, they'd have just a handful of trippy scenes, and that would be fine, but here, they're a crutch for a dev that was clearly too lazy to properly arrange the geography and mechanics of grounded setpieces. In a hallucination, they can do anything they want! Have enemies respawn on the spot. Give the boss a huge bar of health. Have the boss disappear when shot and appear somewhere else. Let the player run around a large area without worrying about where in the overworld it is. Spawn crates of ammo for them between rounds. It's so easy when you don't have to worry about rules and logic!

I know that this is all over the place, but it's how I feel. tl;dr: not interested in discussing how realistic things are in an alternate universe post-apoc game w/ talking mutants and ghouls
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on June 11, 2018, 05:49:13 PM
Oh boy new Elder Scrolls announcement and it's not Elseweyr or Black Marsh just  M O R E G E N E R I C H I G H F A N T A S Y
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on June 12, 2018, 03:22:03 PM
I'd be very surprised if that tiny clip was actually part of the game and not just a generic background to flash "Elder Scrolls VI" against. I mean, I'm sure the game will end up being generic as all hell, but I'm basing that on Bethesda's record, not on what they showed.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on June 13, 2018, 04:49:33 PM
Can't get more generic than High Rock.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on June 13, 2018, 11:39:51 PM
Sure, but I'd be surprised if they were planning on using a desert for the game but used greenery for the announcement. Unless they literally don't know where they're placing it yet.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on June 14, 2018, 08:40:10 AM
Maybe it'll be an example of CHIMP in action.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on June 14, 2018, 03:57:25 PM
They probably just wanted to show off scenery that they thought would look impressive, and so they settled on mountains. Showing off a desert or swamp or whatever wouldn't have the same impact.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on June 24, 2018, 12:38:22 PM
my roommate bought some mario tennis game for the switch. it's dope af imo imo imho tbqh.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on June 24, 2018, 01:36:11 PM
my roommate bought some mario tennis game for the switch. it's dope af imo imo imho tbqh.
Yeah Tennis Aces looks really fun. I like the gimmicks and special moves.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on June 25, 2018, 07:16:57 PM
my roommate bought some mario tennis game for the switch. it's dope af imo imo imho tbqh.
Yeah Tennis Aces looks really fun. I like the gimmicks and special moves.

lol so i like it less after having played it online a little.  i mean ffs i couldn't even get into a rally.  apparently i am terrible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on July 11, 2018, 04:50:59 PM
I bought a PS4 and have been playing a ton of Monster Hunter: World

Fun game. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get into it, especially knowing it's an online game. But I've been playing solo which works fine and have gotten increasingly more addicted as it goes along.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 19, 2018, 10:37:42 PM
Been playing Witcher 3, I'm not having much fun with it yet. The combat is taking some getting used to, I can't quite put my finger on what it is that's bothering me exactly, it just feels "floaty". And the story, setting etc. are not drawing me in. The setting seems to be the same bland Mediaeval fantasy I've seen a few hundred times already. I don't have any history with these characters, and while the writing does a good enough job of establishing relationships and so forth, I don't find them particularly compelling. I understand that one of the big draws of the game is the sheer amount of content packed into it, and I'm definitely not giving up on it already, but so far... ehhhhh...

Also what the fuck is up with people saying the same thing every time you go past them? If I hear the recording of the kid singing about Emhyr pissing himself one more time...! On the plus side, it's nice to look at and it runs very smoothly, for an open-world-ish game it's quite refreshing in my experience to see time and care put into optimisation. Oh, also the sudden outbursts of extreme violence in some of the cutscenes is hilariously slapstick-y, which is a definite plus.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on August 24, 2018, 03:21:37 AM
Kingdom Come: Deliverance

This game is racist because it has no black people. 0/10

https://www.nexusmods.com/kingdomcomedeliverance/mods/134

(https://i.imgur.com/XsbpIR6.png)

Much better.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on August 30, 2018, 02:49:27 PM
Beat Saber looked a little okay and I wasn't sure it was worth the $20 price tag, but it's actually a blast and definitely difficult once you put it on hard or expert. It didn't look like very much fun watching someone else play, but once you get going and start slicing the little cubes to the beat of the song, it's worth every penny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1sw4lfwFw
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on August 30, 2018, 02:57:10 PM
Beat Saber looked a little okay and I wasn't sure it was worth the $20 price tag, but it's actually a blast and definitely difficult once you put it on hard or expert. It didn't look like very much fun watching someone else play, but once you get going and start slicing the little cubes to the beat of the song, it's worth every penny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gV1sw4lfwFw

Get a nice shoulder workout and practice to be a jedi? Yes please.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 28, 2018, 04:14:08 AM
Mass Effect 3

We'll skip to the most obvious point first - yes, the ending sucks. It could be worse, of course. I looked up the original ending, and couldn't help but laugh at how nonsensical and bleak it was. Did BioWare even think through the implications of all the mass relays being destroyed? It's emphasized again and again in the games just how important they are to intergalactic travel. Destroying them dooms millions of sapient beings to die of starvation, and billions more to live the rest of their lives essentially stranded from their homes. And ending with the Normandy having crash-landed on some random-ass planet...did they think that was a deep or profound closing shot of the series? It's just as well that I wasn't there when this game first came out. If I had experienced this piping-hot, fresh-from-the-asshole ratshit first-hand, the butthurt would never have faded.

Naturally, the extended ending that they patched the game with after a few months is a major improvement. I don't even really have a problem with the ending cutscene itself. Hey, the relays are damaged, but we can fix them. Everybody's cooperating now, we'll help those who need to find their homes, we'll rebuild our galactic civilization, the crew of the Normandy are mourning Shepard, etc. It doesn't quite fix how weird and unsatisfying the scene before the conclusion is. The ultimate purpose of the Reapers being to resolve conflict between organic and synthetic life doesn't ring true to me, and the controlling intelligence of the Reapers taking the form of a spectral godchild is really, really annoying. It feels like bad philosophical musings, like it was written by a guy who failed philosophy in college. Why couldn't there just be a neutral VI explaining your options?

Unfortunately, the ending is largely representative of the game itself. To put it bluntly, it's a rush job, and we can no doubt thank EA for putting the whips to BioWare so they could shit this out as quickly as possible. Almost all of the optional content that the previous two games included was omitted. There's no more planetary exploration, very few side quests (the majority of which are just scanning a planet to fetch something, or picking up a random item along the way during a story mission), and precious little time given to character development and relationship-building. Characters in the previous games that would give you an elaborate dialogue tree when spoken to now mostly speak in one-liners, or very brief "conversations" where you exchange one or two lines. The Citadel is fucking tiny, too. This franchise was always at its best when it slowed down and showed off more of the way this universe worked and let you get to know the characters you were working with in episodic interludes. Focusing on the apocalyptic main plot like this just isn't playing to its strengths, although it probably was inevitable for the final game in the series.

The main story does have a few bright spots in it. I like the idea of uniting as much of the galaxy as you can, the resolution of issues like the krogan genophage and the quarian-geth struggle were a long time coming, and there were a handful of genuinely poignant moments with some of the returning characters. But the missions themselves, in gameplay terms, usually aren't very interesting. They're awfully long and padded, and there's nothing to break up the monotony of combat, combat, and more combat. Previous games would give you a respite during the mission in the form of you making an important moral choice or exploring a dialogue tree, but here you keep getting told to just sit tight in one area so the game can sling wave after wave of bullet-sponge enemies at you. The previous games did that occasionally, but there's no restraint here. It's too much of an emphasis on action. And the brutes are an obvious rip-off of the Hunters from Halo.

In short, this was a disappointment. It's not a disaster from start to finish, but it's nowhere near as good as the first two games, and makes for a very weak ending to the series.

Incidentally, while I avoided the multiplayer completely, I discovered that you can raise your galactic readiness through this dumb feature (http://n7hq.masseffect.com/galaxy_at_war/). It's better than winding up with the shitty ending, but tying the multiplayer to the game's ending like that was a ridiculous idea to begin with.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 30, 2018, 03:29:48 AM
Vampyr

Reasonably competent hack-and-slash set in early twentieth-century London. You play as a vampire doctor, who must balance his need for blood with his interest in fighting a plague that threatens to overrun the entire city. This is represented in the gameplay as having the option to murder characters for huge amounts of experience, which comes at the price of declining the city's condition even further. It's an interesting dilemma, and I really like how you can maximize your experience by finding all the "clues" about a character that tell you more about who they are. The combat is a blatant ripoff of TW3, down to even having a rough equivalent to Quen, but I guess there are worse games to emulate. Anyway, the game's biggest flaw is the setting. It's dull and gloomy, repetitive, much too small, and most annoyingly of all, presented as a very confusing labyrinth where most passages are gated off. In retrospect it's okay.

Superhot

Superhot is the most innovative shooter I've played in years. The gimmick is that time slows almost to a standstill while you aren't moving, allowing you all the time you need to take in your surroundings, anticipate your enemies' moves, and plan your attack. At the end of every level, you're shown a replay of what just happened in real time, which inevitably makes you feel like the world's greatest badass as you watch yourself dodging bullets, disarming enemies and snatching their weapons from midair, and dispatching foes with maximum efficiency.

The Talos Principle

A fine puzzle game with an interesting level of philosophical depth behind it. As I've mentioned on IRC before, I do dislike one minor feature where a quasi-antagonist engages you in a series of debates on ethics, consciousness, and other heavy subjects. It's not a bad idea, but the problem is that your opponent frequently asks you loaded questions, strawmans any position you put forward, moves the goalposts mid-discussion, and so on - and not only are the dialogue options in these debates very limited, there's also no option to call him out for his blatant logical fallacies. Rushy has argued with me on this point before that the character's fallacious logic is deliberate, and his purpose is to annoy the player rather than challenge their beliefs, but I simply don't believe that was the intention, nor that such an interpretation really fits with the setting. It makes sense in a world where you're grappling with issues of free will and identity that a character like this would be there to have you critically examine your own beliefs and either defend or change them. What doesn't make all that much sense is having a character that's just there to piss you off. I really do hate to be this nitpicky, because I don't think I've ever seen a game that managed to be this thoughtful without also having its head rammed up its ass. It's just a tiny little detail that bothered me.

Katamari Damacy/We Love Katamari

How had I never played this series until now? These games are whimsical, humorous, creative, family-friendly, reasonably challenging without being frustrating, and in general just a wonderfully pleasant and wholesome breath of fresh air. We need more games like this. Stop making games about grim and gritty dark-haired white guys fighting in a grim and gritty world and make more games that are this unique and charming.

Super Mario Sunshine

Not as good as I had hoped or expected. In fact, it's not very good at all. The controls, and in a broader sense, the overall gameplay mechanics, are just too finicky and unintuitive. They've taken a format that was clearly designed for 3D platforming and slapped some light shooter elements on it. The result is a game that feels like you're constantly switching between two modes, so to speak, one for exploring the world and one for properly interacting with it. It's like you have to completely switch focus and get yourself in a different frame of mind whenever you have to spray something, as the smooth controls for platforming go out the window and you have to clumsily manipulate the slow and sluggish FLUDD. Spray the ground beneath you if there's slime there. Respawning enemies are coming at you, better spray them quickly! Now you can focus on your main target - no, wait, you were too slow, now you have to spray the ground again. Here come more enemies! And now you're out of water and have to refill your tank. This is all on top of contending with the awful camera. How did they manage to make it so much worse than it was in 64? And while it's far from the game's biggest problem, I don't think they could have given us worse voice acting if they had tried. Every voiced character sounds like nails on a chalkboard. FLUDD's obnoxious whine is the worst of all. "Mario. Mario. Mario." Did they learn nothing from the reaction to Navi from Ocarina of Time?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Yes, I hadn't played anything after Melee in this cherished series. Shut up. This was a good next installment, with a great new selection of characters, stages, and items.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on October 30, 2018, 03:42:14 AM
Super Mario Sunshine
Not as good as I had hoped or expected. In fact, it's not very good at all.

And this is how we know not to take your review(s) seriously at all...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on October 30, 2018, 04:10:03 AM
Super Mario Sunshine
Not as good as I had hoped or expected. In fact, it's not very good at all.

And this is how we know not to take your review(s) seriously at all...

Word on this. Here's more evidence:

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
This was a good next installment, with a great new selection of characters, stages, and items.

As a Smash Bros. aficionado, Brawl is easily the worst in the series with its floaty moon gravity and RNG tripping mechanics.

Also, I've been playing Red Dead Redemption 2. It's pretty amazing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on October 30, 2018, 01:39:44 PM
Saddam: Did you play Sunshine with analog triggers? It doesn't matter that much or change how awful and terrible your review is regardless, but it makes a big difference in smoothness since you can use FLUDD without locking down into FPS mode with them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 30, 2018, 03:56:49 PM
You guys are all blinded by your nostalgia. Go back and play the game. It's not as good as you remember.

Saddam: Did you play Sunshine with analog triggers? It doesn't matter that much or change how awful and terrible your review is regardless, but it makes a big difference in smoothness since you can use FLUDD without locking down into FPS mode with them.

That's helpful for chasing down Shadow Mario, but not much else. You need to precisely aim for most of the things you spray.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on October 30, 2018, 04:25:17 PM
inb4 saddam finally plays mario odyssey in 15 years and then tells everyone how bad it is and they are just being nostalgic...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on October 30, 2018, 04:26:27 PM
inb4 saddam finally plays mario odyssey in 15 years and then tells everyone how bad it is and they are just being nostalgic...

I'm pretty sure at this point he could play Mario Odyssey right now and say it's terrible; assuming he manages to read someone else's satirical review about it being terrible first.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 31, 2018, 02:50:52 AM
I've already played some of Odyssey. It's great, and the cap gimmick feels like a fluid and organic part of the core gameplay, far more so than FLUDD did for Sunshine.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on October 31, 2018, 08:25:40 AM
Recently played through Dark Souls again on NG+. Still awesome. Bed of Chaos is still some bullshit. Also I never beat the DLC, Artorias is hard enough on NG, NG+ is a nightmare.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on October 31, 2018, 11:54:22 PM
Madden on PC if anyone wants to get dominated.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on November 01, 2018, 03:23:37 AM
You guys are all blinded by your nostalgia. Go back and play the game. It's not as good as you remember.

Saddam: Did you play Sunshine with analog triggers? It doesn't matter that much or change how awful and terrible your review is regardless, but it makes a big difference in smoothness since you can use FLUDD without locking down into FPS mode with them.

That's helpful for chasing down Shadow Mario, but not much else. You need to precisely aim for most of the things you spray.

As is the case with a lot of our disagreements in video games, I feel like we played different games. You're quick to whip out "just ur nostalgia" but the last time I played Sunshine, and also beat it, was maybe a year and a half ago. Still think it's a good game. And, no, you definitely don't need to precisely aim for most things. Generally running and spraying or spray explosions or spray hovers or spray spins are more than enough, except for a few of the boss battles. Like, I hate the excuse of "git gud", but...it kind of sounds like you're just not good at the game. Does the camera suck? Sure. Are the controls clunky and unintuitive? I mean, I wouldn't say so, but if your reviews of games are in line with most people's experiences I'm starting to wonder if I might just be preternaturally gifted at video games. Which is scary because a lot of people are way better than me.

Like, it honestly feels a lot of the time like you make your decision on a game in the first ten minutes and then don't even bother trying to adapt or learn how to play on its terms. I'm not saying that's what you do, but how it feels, since you often make odd (to me) complaints that have never been issues for me once I learn the game's controls or mechanics. Sunshine is shockingly graceful (for a GameCube game) once you've got the controls down, and it's a game I always used to love booting up just to get around the levels and find quicker ways to get to areas because of its wonderfully open and lenient mechanics.

But the voice acting is ass, I'll give you that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on November 01, 2018, 05:53:18 PM
I have to admit I hadn't given the running and spraying method a fair shake. It does help a lot more than I gave it credit for. I'll give the game another chance.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on November 16, 2018, 05:08:10 AM
red dead 2

so far my only beef with this game is the honor system.  wtf is the point of offering me choices in how i play the game if you're just going to punish me for making the "wrong" choices.  not to mention that this game's delineation between honorable and not-honorable is...odd.

other than that, i like everything about it.  it's really fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on November 16, 2018, 02:31:53 PM
read dead 2 has shrinking horse balls.
This is the final form of the gaming industry.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on November 17, 2018, 12:14:52 AM
red dead 2

so far my only beef with this game is the honor system.  wtf is the point of offering me choices in how i play the game if you're just going to punish me for making the "wrong" choices.  not to mention that this game's delineation between honorable and not-honorable is...odd.

other than that, i like everything about it.  it's really fun.

>mfw downloaded but havent played
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on November 17, 2018, 02:57:13 AM
I don't care about shrinking horse balls, or lengthy skinning animations, or having to brush your horse regularly, or almost all of the super-detailed minutiae that Rockstar apparently poured so much time and effort into. I'm sure it's a fantastic game that I probably won't get to ever play because Rockstar inexplicably doesn't want my money, but so much of what I've heard about the sheer attention to detail just seems like it would be a pain in the ass to have to deal with.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on November 17, 2018, 03:59:15 AM
so much of what I've heard about the sheer attention to detail just seems like it would be a pain in the ass to have to deal with.

i sympathize with that sentiment.  some of it is.

also i absolutely refuse to craft anything unless the game forces me to.  i'm a fucking gunslinger, ifiots; i'm not trying to open a flower shop.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on November 17, 2018, 10:46:03 AM
I've been playing a lot of Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain. So far the only thing I kind of don't like about it is having to call a chopper when I'm on Mother Base. Like, surely it should just be waiting for me out on the helipad. Everything else is great. I love all the gadgets and development stuff, and the stealth is the best it's ever been. Everything feels really open ended and aside from the wild plants none of the mat gathering feels like a chore. I am shit at the game, I keep getting spotted by some guy I didn't tag and end up having to kill everyone—Snake is usually covered in blood at the end of every mission—but god damn I am having a blast with it. Also, and maybe this is a thing that happens later in the game (I am only at 8% completion), it would be cool if you could install your own troops at a captured outpost.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 19, 2018, 05:56:00 AM
Since Destiny 2 was free recently, I played that and finished it tonight. I'm not going to pay for DLCs though.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on November 19, 2018, 09:36:05 AM
Since Destiny 2 was free recently, I played that and finished it tonight. I'm not going to pay for DLCs though.

Really? The slot machine gameplay is pretty addicting at first.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 19, 2018, 01:25:59 PM
I do want to play the DLCs, just not enough to justify spending 40 bux on them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 06, 2018, 08:37:43 PM
RDR2 is great.

Arthur Morgan is best boah.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on December 07, 2018, 06:18:12 AM
If anyone wants to get crushed in Smash, here's my friend code:

SW-1892-8594-7203
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 12, 2018, 07:55:04 PM
I don't care about shrinking horse balls, or lengthy skinning animations, or having to brush your horse regularly, or almost all of the super-detailed minutiae that Rockstar apparently poured so much time and effort into. I'm sure it's a fantastic game that I probably won't get to ever play because Rockstar inexplicably doesn't want my money, but so much of what I've heard about the sheer attention to detail just seems like it would be a pain in the ass to have to deal with.
It's really not that much of a pain. Skinning doesn't take super long and it's not like you even have to hunt/skin animals. You have to brush your horse about once every 2 in game days depending on how well you ride.. or you can just run through a river and clean it. There are odd little moments, like having to pour shots, that you'll only do once, but I think it makes it feel more immersive than just watching a cut-scene.

The story is absolutely fantastic. I don't think a game has ever made me cry like RDR2. And Roger Clark 100% earned his win for best performance as Arthur Morgan. Arthur is way more endearing and complex than John Marston in RDR1.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 19, 2019, 01:39:30 AM
Apex Legends is lit. Playing it on PS4. Hit me up if you want to beat up on 12 year olds together.

As far as the game, it's the best Battle Royale made so far by a pretty big margin imo. Well made, minimal bugs, relatively stable. Considering every other game in this genre is ass it's a lot of fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on March 19, 2019, 11:07:22 AM
I'm conflicted about Apex. Sure, it's a good game. But I wanted Titanfall 3 instead.  :'(
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 20, 2019, 02:18:21 AM
I'd try it, but I refuse to install Origin. Fuck EA.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on March 20, 2019, 03:54:26 AM
Hitman: Absolution

This was my introduction to the Hitman series a few years ago. It's not particularly representative of the series, being more of a modern, linear action game full of scripted setpieces, lengthy cutscenes, and the like, with an emphasis on infiltration rather than assassination. This shift in priorities seems to be accounted for by a number of the devs having previously worked on the shitty Kane & Lynch series. There are occasional moments in the game where you're required to assassinate certain people, but these targets are usually random-ass extras with only the barest hint of personality or motivation to them. It's better than nothing, I guess, but having proper context for your targets is half the fun in a Hitman game. In the latest two games, by contrast, every target has a fleshed-out personality, a certain motivation, and a distinct role in the "story" of the mission they appear in. You never get the feeling that they're just cannon fodder, someone you have to kill for the sake of it. They all exist as a seamless part of the world they inhabit.

The story gets a lot of focus here, which is remarkable, given how shitty it is. I mean, yes, a lot of video games have terrible stories, but I don't think I've seen one this bad be taken so seriously by the game since I played through the AssCreed series. There are so many long cutscenes, so much dialogue, a narrative that constantly twists and turns as justification for driving you all over the map - and it's all done in favor of what amounts to a pastiche of awful exploitation movies. Okay, so taking 47 out of the fancy suits and exotic locales and putting him in a grittier setting isn't a bad idea. It could have been a nice change of pace for the series. But doing it like this? Dumping him in a world of S&M dungeons, latex nuns, and corrupt backwater towns full of hick stereotypes? I don't think that could ever have resulted in a good story. Also, the girl who drives the plot has no real agency and is treated as an object rather than a character most of the time, and this familiar "protect the special young girl" trope has been handled far better by plenty of games both before and since.

In many other regards, the game is immature and mean-spirited, with an unmistakable edgelord streak. The profanity from almost every character is excessive and contrived, putting two unconscious NPCs in a closet together will have one of them slump forwards so it looks like he's taking it in the ass (somewhere a thirteen-year-old is in hysterics), and there's a truly weird emphasis on sex (strip clubs, lurid ads for porn, NPCs watching porn, the latex nuns, the focus on the sex life of one character who's into S&M, etc.) in the environments, despite the fact that nothing about the story is directly related to sex at all. The harder Absolution tries to insist that this is an edgy, mature game, the more childish and desperate it looks. The constant hick jokes during the middle act of the game grate as well. They're not funny, and they go on for so long that they eventually just end up seeming far too nasty.

On the notion of game mechanics. The disguise system sucks. They won't fool people you're dressed as - which is usually everyone in the room you're trying to get through - unless you burn through your "Instinct" meter (which is very tricky to refill), so you usually end up cowering at the other side of the room ducking in and out of cover to get past everyone. It doesn't feel like you're really in disguise at all. There should be some limits on a disguise system, but doing it like this was a terrible idea. I feel like this should have been brought to their attention during testing. I also don't like that it counts as SPOTTED!!! and you receive a hefty penalty to your score if an NPC gets suspicious of your disguise or if you poke one toe into a trespassing zone for half a second. The biggest issue of all is the lack of manual saving. That is bullshit, designed to waste your time and add artificial difficulty to a game that would otherwise be pretty easy to get through quickly. Maybe as far as the infiltration sections of the game go it makes a little bit of sense, but when you're given an open area to roam and targets to assassinate, it becomes a fucking pain. You're trying to explore, to experiment, to play around, and the game keeps smacking you down while yelling "No! Wrong! Now start everything over again, and play the game properly this time!" It's like it's going out of its way to stop you from playing the game in your own way.

Despite everything I've just said, Absolution is still an enjoyable game, and much too competently put together for me to really call it bad. Some of the assassinations are pretty nifty in the classic Hitman way, and a few levels are genuinely great. I also appreciate that crowds of people look and feel realistic and weighty, which is something that the later games haven't really been able to nail down. Besides, at least IO came to their senses and returned the series to form for the next installment, which is more than I can say for the Splinter Cell series, which took a similar detour into heavy action, watered-down stealth, and stupid edgelord writing with Conviction, and sadly never came back.

Nioh

This is easily the best non-From Soulslike I've played, which isn't really saying much when its main competition seems to be Deck13's mediocre ripoffs Lords of the Fallen and The Surge. Unlike those games, Nioh clearly had a vision behind it, and it feels like its own unique game despite the heavy Souls influence. The combat emphasizes rhythm and speed over brute force, with a feature that lets you regain spent stamina by tapping a button at the right moment - it's not uncommon in any given encounter to spend a lot more time dancing around the enemy than attacking or blocking. There's also a ton of loot to collect, and frequently switching out your weapons and armor for higher-leveled gear is all but required, as the option to upgrade your current equipment is available, but prohibitively expensive to use too often. And instead of making your way through an enormous, interconnected world, the game is split up into a few dozen fairly brief levels.

The fatal flaw in Nioh, the one thing that almost kills this game for me, are the boss fights. These bosses are bullshit. They are the very definition of fake difficulty. They can change attacks mid-attack, attack while retreating in almost the same movement, hit you with attacks that are all but unavoidable unless you turn around and sprint in the other direction, knock you to the ground and hit you while you're lying there motionless, freeze you in place and continue to pound you for another few seconds, and so on. They all have absurd amounts of health, and most of them can easily one- or two-shot you with certain attacks, even if you've leveled up your vitality extensively. It's ridiculous. Now, I know that there are ways to take out these bosses quickly, as shown by numerous speedruns, largely through delicate combinations of the right equipment and the right spells and all that, but even if I knew how it was achieved with every boss, I can't imagine anything less fun than suiting myself up in an ultra-precise manner for one quick moment of gameplay and then dropping the build completely. I shouldn't have to do that for boss fights, and there's no way that it was the intended playstyle. If you play this game the normal way like a normal person, you're going to find that the bosses are insanely overpowered, and it feels like a very cheap way to pump up the game's difficulty.

I really miss Blanko. He would probably argue with me about the bosses and say that I was a scrub who needed to git gud, but more than that, I'd have been interested in his thoughts on the mechanics, particularly the combat system. May he find peace, wherever he is. :'(
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 20, 2019, 08:00:23 AM
knock you to the ground
I WHUPPED YOKAI'S ASS

Also, I was interested in Nioh until I saw how much it seemed to rely on damage sponges. Maybe the footage I saw was not well played but it gave me Devil May Cry flashbacks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on April 01, 2019, 04:05:54 PM
Episode Ardyn.

It wasn't worth $10 but I got it anyway since that is the last thing ever being released for FFXV.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on April 01, 2019, 04:56:10 PM
Vermintide 2. Come here, wazzoks!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on April 01, 2019, 06:16:49 PM
Titanfall 2

I'm timetraveling and shooting grunts with a shotgun that has a horizontal spread.
I just smashed a giant robot that shoots balls of fire by dropping my giant robot that's practically a samurai on it, then I proceeded to destroy another giant robot that was wielding a minigun by going apeshit with the aformentioned sword.

Shitty description aside, it's honestly an amazing game. The playerbase is abysmally low, though.
10/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on April 01, 2019, 06:32:08 PM
Doesn't sound as fun as slapping skaven and chaos warriors with a shield and then, with great prejudice, cleaving their heads with an axe in brutal fashion.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on April 01, 2019, 08:22:16 PM
Doesn't sound as fun as slapping skaven and chaos warriors with a shield and then, with great prejudice, cleaving their heads with an axe in brutal fashion.
It doesn't sound as fun, correct. It is though. ;)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on April 01, 2019, 11:24:17 PM
I wanted to enjoy Titanfall 2 more than I actually did, but I just can't get myself to enjoy shooters. I couldn't help but think "this is good...for a shooter" the entire time. It just felt monotonous after an hour or so. And I didn't find the story interesting at all so there wasn't even that to pull me through it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Cain on April 02, 2019, 10:41:03 AM
I wanted to enjoy Titanfall 2 more than I actually did, but I just can't get myself to enjoy shooters. I couldn't help but think "this is good...for a shooter" the entire time. It just felt monotonous after an hour or so. And I didn't find the story interesting at all so there wasn't even that to pull me through it.
Yeah, the story isn't red dead 2 or the last of us material. But the level design makes up for its shortcomings and then some.

Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on April 03, 2019, 12:33:57 AM
I 100% agree on that point. It's incredible how clear they made it how you are to progress without being in your face. I never struggled to get places. And that time jumping level was phenomenal start to finish. I went through the whole thing only punching and kicking.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: model 29 on April 14, 2019, 09:13:03 PM
I bounce around between several games and systems.  Experimenting with this setup on a few driving games on the PS4.  Rather fun with the VR system on Gran Tourismo.
(https://i.postimg.cc/pVcs3tBc/DSCN3745.jpg)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on May 02, 2019, 04:11:29 PM
Risk of Rain 2. If you want a fun $20 game with up to 4 person co-op, check it out. It's on Steam, and still in EA but completely worth the price tag as is imo.

And as always, hit me up if you want to play.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 02, 2019, 07:33:39 PM
Still playing Overwatch competitive because I'm a masochist.

Also been playing Grid 2, the perfectly enjoyable but kind of cheesy and lacklustre sequel to Race Driver: Grid, which is still one of Codemasters' best racing games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on May 04, 2019, 09:58:44 AM
Still playing Overwatch
Why aren't you on my buttlenet friends list already? PM'ing my tag.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 24, 2019, 07:02:49 PM
Tried Splitgate: Arena Warfare. This is an arena shooter billed as Unreal Tournament meets Portal. In terms of feel it lacks the precision of the former and the experimental fun of the latter. Movement feels rather slow, and aiming is really whacky, especially thanks to the overwrought crosshair design. It does feature several options for customising mouse movement, but no matter what sens and smoothing combination I tried, it felt like I was either stuck in molasses or spinning nauseatingly on an oil slick. It's an interesting idea, but in practice it feels flimsy and unsatisfying. As far as free arena shooters go the abandoned UT alpha is better, but if you really want to play an arena shooter in 2019 it might be best just to drop a few quid (or "bucks") on the old Unreal games instead.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 29, 2019, 05:57:07 PM
Rime is free on the Epic Store so I decided to check it out. The game was much shorter than I was expecting, and I think the story got kind of silly at the end. I know I'm not supposed to go into a game expecting a subtle story but hoo boy that got brain-numbingly obvious towards the end. And it was in fact disappointing to go from the mysterious time/space warping tower puzzle to... that. Not that you can't talk about that in a game or whatever, but I think you could probably talk about it in a more interesting, less silly way. When you unlock stage select at the end of the main story there's a definite sense of "oh come on".

The basic premise is you play a kid washed up on a mysterious island with an even more mysterious tower on it. You complete puzzles in and around the tower, mostly by climbing up white things, shouting at glowing green things, picking up glowing blue things, and aligning glowing yellow things. Most of the puzzles are pretty simple, but it's really the things that you make happen by accomplishing them that are cool. It's a low risk high reward type deal, and that isn't really a bad thing, I don't think games have to be super challenging to be good, and just watching stuff happen in this game is pretty cool even if it is all predetermined.

While it was an enjoyable experience, I think the controls could have been tightened up a little bit. The use button and the jump button are both mapped to X/A and I lost count of the number of times I should have been using something but ended up jumping in the air to no purpose, since the "you can use this" indicator shows up a little bit before you can actually use it. The climbing mechanics, particularly where you are jumping between ledges on opposing walls, could also have been tightened up. The avatar in those situations would often flit his arm in and out in rapid succession and then suddenly decide to start moving back the way he'd come from.

The game is at its best in its visual level design. Pretty much everything in the game looks nice, really nice. And aside from the wonky mechanics I mentioned above, the different areas are very interesting to explore, each having its own unique aesthetic with usually quite a few secrets to discover. The way areas loop around on themselves and the "oh that's why I had to go all the way over there" sort of thing is really cool, and I think generally it does a good job of putting you in the protagonist's shoes as he gasps in amazement at shit getting done when you solve a puzzle. The areas are actually quite small and self-contained, but they feel large thanks to the chunky aesthetic. There is some back-tracking and it can become tedious at times but none of the levels is really big enough to make it a chore unless you get lost, which you could in some of the infrequent slightly more obtuse sections.

I did not like the soundtrack. It is not poorly done, but let's just say there's only so much syrup a stack of pancakes can handle, and this isn't a particularly big stack. Something more restrained would have benefited the atmosphere immensely, but trying really hard to emotionally manipulate the player is kind of what this game is all about on a presentational level so whatever I guess. The sound design is a little wonky, some things sound really good, some things sound kind of grating. Throughout the game you have a sort of Navi type helper in the form of a fox that leads you through certain sequences, its barking sound is way more annoying than "Hey! Listen!" ever was. It is super shrill and it doesn't stop until you do the thing the fox wants you to do—one section in the fourth area is particularly bad for this.

Rime is a short, nice looking, fairly low effort puzzle game in which you are rewarded with cool stuff happening, but it has a story that gets treated really badly towards the end, and the cheap emotional manipulation that goes along with that was, for me at least, a sour note on the end of an otherwise generally enjoyable experience. It's free on the Epic Store until the 30th of May, so if you don't mind deigning to sort of but not actually support the most evil company in gaming ever and you haven't already played it, why not grab it?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 30, 2019, 07:11:27 AM
I loved Rime. Yeah, it was kind of light for $30 (I played it when it came out), but the art style and alien looking buildings really appeal to me.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: WellRoundedIndividual on May 30, 2019, 07:41:38 PM
Anyone play Marvel Strike Force? I am addicted to this game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on May 31, 2019, 02:22:20 AM
I tried Strike Force and played for a month or two before I got sick of it. Glad you can find enjoyment in it, but there's such relentless and unforgivingly awful grinding and RNG that tries to push you to pay, pay, pay that I just couldn't take it. I like the combat system, but the rest of the game nullified any enjoyment I got from that.

Marvel Future Fight, though, I play daily. There's definitely a pay-to-win element but it's friendly to f2p players, and I find the gameplay a lot more challenging and the overall game mechanics much more friendly to active play rather than the grind.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: WellRoundedIndividual on May 31, 2019, 11:17:15 AM
The grind does suck the life out of my soul. Ha. I just get sick enjoyment of destroying other people's squads.

Never heard of Future Fight. Might have to check it out.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on May 31, 2019, 04:32:50 PM
On the notion of free puzzle games, Cyan's most recent obtuse Mystlike Obduction is free on GOG for the next 20 hours. And on the notion of free x-likes, procedural first person melee roguelike City of Brass is free on Epic Store this week. Haven't played either of them yet but they look pretty good.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on June 15, 2019, 04:07:44 AM
I acquired Dauntless back when it was released for free on the Epic store (hi sadaam), but I started playing it just a few days ago. I find it to be a decent alternative to Monster Hunter World which runs at 25-40 FPS on my potato even on all the lowest settings, which is utterly unacceptable. It's fun for the most part and runs well, but some of the beasties has got some really dumb gimmicks which can be annoying, but 7/10, p. good for being Monster Hunter with Fortnite graphics...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on June 17, 2019, 06:53:26 AM
Final Fantasy VII

it's p. good
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on July 06, 2019, 03:30:37 AM
Outer Wilds

Yes, this is exclusive to Epic on PC for the next year or so, because life isn't fair, but the game itself is good. You play as an astronaut trapped in a time loop - every 22 minutes the sun explodes in a supernova and wipes out the solar system, with the player character waking up where the game begins with their memories intact, but nothing else. There's no quest log, no set objectives, only the ship's log where all your observations and discoveries are automatically recorded. With every 22-minute cycle, you have a chance to find out something new on your explorations, whether about the solar system at large, your present circumstances, or the obligatory mysterious precursor race that lived in the system centuries ago. Despite how bleak it all sounds, there's something very optimistic and wholesome about the game and its attitude towards exploration and scientific discovery. I will say that the game does lose some of its charm in its later stages, when you need to start hunting down specific pieces of data and struggling against the time constraints and rapidly-shifting terrains of certain planets, rather than just taking off in any random direction and seeing what you can find, but there isn't much they could have done to avoid that. I still wholeheartedly recommend this charming game.

The Sinking City

Another Epic exclusive, and a major letdown. Based on the works (but not all of them, due to legal tomfoolery) of H.P. Lovecraft, you play as a generic dark-haired white guy who's also a generic private detective investigating a strange city that's heavily flooded, overrun with monsters, and seems to be hiding more than one dark secret. I haven't played a ton of this game yet, but it doesn't take long to discover that its general format is fatally flawed. In between cases, you run from one point on the big, empty map to another, and interact with precisely nothing along the way. You can't go into most buildings. You can't talk to anyone. You can't do anything but travel from one point to another. There is some combat, and it sucks. There's no real combat system, just you producing a gun and firing from the hip at monsters that can either nimbly dodge your bullets or absorb a huge number of them before dying, and for some inexplicable reason you can carry barely any ammo, or even materials for crafting ammo. Both of which are pretty rare, or would be if not for a glitch that lets supply closets constantly replenish themselves. You get into one fight, and that's it, you're cleaned out. Time to waste a few minutes scrounging up more ammo. There isn't even any currency with which to buy more, because this setting uses a bullshit barter system in which people hand out bullets to each other. What the hell were they thinking?

The cases you have to investigate are pretty neat. It's kind of like L.A. Noire with a supernatural twist, and very refreshingly, the game does not hold your hand with quest markers or even spelling out what your next step needs to be most of the time. You're given the information you need, and you have the tools - usually just looking up a few keywords in one of the city's databases - to find what you're looking for. It's genuinely cool, and turns out to be the game's saving grace. It'll be enough to pull me through the game, but I'd caution anyone to be sure they really want this before spending money on a game that, frankly, is this shitty. Oh, and I didn't even mention the fucked-up animations, wonky physics, and hideous screen tearing. On a technical level, this game is almost (but not quite) as shoddily put together as a Bethesda title. Huge disappointment.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: ChrisTP on August 22, 2019, 07:53:04 PM
I bounce around between several games and systems.  Experimenting with this setup on a few driving games on the PS4.  Rather fun with the VR system on Gran Tourismo.
(https://i.postimg.cc/pVcs3tBc/DSCN3745.jpg)
Nice, I just got myself a wheel and chair recently to go with my Vive. Playing Project Cars 2 at the moment but I havent found time yet to try it with GT Sport. I really suck at driving powerful rear wheel drive vehicles.  :'(

(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/387675660396527627/611620599609163797/image0.jpg)

EDIT: strange that the image is sideways on this forum. o_O
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 10, 2019, 04:03:56 AM
Batman: Arkham Knight

After numerous false starts due to an inferior PC build and a faulty PS4, I have finally managed to play through this game. It's good overall, with the same solid combat, stealth, and exploration that the series is known for. As I discussed back in the capeshit thread, Gotham in its entirety is a fantastic setting, and definitely the best depiction of it I've ever seen. It's basically the perfect balance between Tim Burton's industrial dystopia and Joel Schumacher's neon-lit amusement park. Navigating the city by zipping and gliding across the rooftops or racing around on ground level with the Batmobile are both fun, viable options, something that couldn't have been easy to design.

But then then they had to go and make the Batmobile a tank, so you can have tank battles. Lots and lots of tank battles. Who the fuck thought that a Batman game needed tank battles? They're so boring, and they keep going on. The game will not stop sending tanks at you. It's all part of the plot wherein the titular Arkham Knight occupies Gotham with a huge paramilitary force and it's up to you to take out his army. That might sound cool, but it's really not. The Knight is a dull villain, and the game prematurely makes his true identity incredibly obvious, even if you know nothing about Batman lore. Fighting the army isn't much better. Defuse a landmine here. Fight a squad of tanks there. Take over a militia outpost here. It's tedious busy work, and gives the game a very unfortunate Ubisoft-like feel. Why would they do this? It's not like they ran out of classic villains for Batman to fight or anything, far from it. They did include some pretty obscure figures here, which I like, but there was plenty of room for more, and that would have been entirely preferable to a greater quantity of cheap filler missions against an anonymous army.

The lack of proper boss fights was also really disappointing. Yes, Asylum's bosses were kind of lame, but City and Origins had terrific boss fights. Why get rid of them now?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on October 11, 2019, 08:57:16 AM
Why get rid of them now?
Maybe they blew the budget on tank battles.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on October 25, 2019, 02:17:21 PM
The RANDOM LOUD NOISES ARE SCARY approach to horror was already wearing kind of thin for me by the time Observer decided to reveal its spoopy monster. I'm not sure I'm going to finish this one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on November 09, 2019, 02:54:09 AM
The Outer Worlds

This had been one of my most anticipated upcoming games for months, and for the first week after its release I excitedly played through it, taking only brief breaks to shill for it on IRC. And now that I've beaten it...I have to say that it's really not a great game, and its shortcomings become all the more clear as I continue to think about it. There just isn't that much to it. The main story is very short. There aren't a lot of sidequests, and most of them are fetch quests or dungeon crawls. The planets are all visually distinctive and look great, but there are only a few of them, and what you can explore on each is limited to a very small area. There's one or two small towns on a planet, and the rest of it is wild terrain with enemy creatures (of which there are only a few different types), abandoned buildings to explore (almost all of which are just boring generic offices) and enormous numbers of raiders that dwarf the number of law-abiding citizens in any given area with no plausible context for their presence and no visible means of even surviving. Sounds familiar. The FPS combat that takes up the bulk of the game is dull and uninspired, with the exception of an ability to slow time that feels like a much better version of VATS from Fallout, and it feels like monotonous busy work to spend so much time traipsing around shooting the same enemies and looting the same buildings.

Of course, what most people were expecting Obsidian to really deliver on was the story and writing, not necessarily the gameplay. They're all right. The dialogue is light and quippy, packed full of bathos and corporate satire. The best comparison I can think of would be to the work of Joss Whedon (multiple characters seem to be largely based on characters from Firefly), so your mileage may vary. I got a few chuckles out of it and don't recall cringing at anything, for what it's worth. But again, there just isn't very much of it. Obsidian very heavily leaned on the idea that this was a spiritual successor to New Vegas, but what's the point of doing that with a game that's so much smaller in every way? NV has more characters, more dialogue, more factions, more quests, better-designed quests, longer companion quests, a longer main story, a bigger and more responsive world, and four separate questlines leading to four different endings. Incidentally, that last point was also shared by Obsidian's two most recent games before this one, Tyranny and Pillars of Eternity 2 (PoE2 actually had five). So how does The Outer Worlds top those games? By waiting until almost the very end of the story and letting you choose one of two options: The unambiguously good side or the unambiguously evil side. Yeah, I didn't put that in spoiler text. It doesn't deserve to be in spoiler text. What a joke.

The game is probably better than I'm giving it credit for. I'm just very disappointed. That's what I said about the last Epic exclusive I tried, isn't it? Hmm. Anyway, you might as well just play NV again instead of this.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 09, 2019, 03:06:53 AM
Okay but you failed to mention the biggest problem with the game.

(https://i.redd.it/w2bu1gobb1w31.png)
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 08, 2019, 02:33:44 AM
I don't really enjoy that you have to say exactly the right thing in exactly the right order to achieve the right outcome. I've had to re-load my game a couple of times to get it right.

But it does have a lot of feeling to it. For example, I missed out on a side quest to gain someone's trust so I wasn't able to get two factions to compromise because of it. So I ended up having to kill off the other faction which.. really fucking sucked. I don't often feel like I made a really shitty choice in a game so it does have weight to it. So I hated that I messed it up by missing something, but appreciated that it made me at least feel a way.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on December 24, 2019, 05:22:56 AM
My new thing is Western vidya, inspired by RDR2's recent PC release.

Red Dead Redemption 2

I feel like most people here who would have cared to play this game have probably already done so by now, but I'm still going to share my thoughts on it. RDR2 is largely carried by its two biggest strengths. One is the enormous, beautiful world, packed full of people to meet, animals to hunt, secrets to find, crimes to commit, and all of that other open world shite Rockstar gives us. I really like that the animals behave like actual animals, and that even the predators will usually try to flee rather than attack you. It's a pleasant break from franchises like Far Cry that deliberately make their animals insanely aggressive because they think it's funny. I didn't think I'd like the heavy focus on realism when I first heard about it, but it grew on me, and managing the more realistic needs of your character soon became an interesting new detail to complement my explorations. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I like that you have to eat and sleep, care for your horse, store most of your equipment on your horse, etc.

The other key strength of the game is its writing. It's wonderfully sincere and tragic from start to finish, and it's incredible for me to think that these same writers were just a few years ago churning out shallow, dated, cynical pop culture references with the GTA series when they were capable of this kind of strong dramatic work the whole time. The basic setup is of course that it's a prequel to RDR, focusing on a gang of twenty or so outlaws led by eventual RDR villain Dutch van der Linde. Every one of these characters is distinctive and interesting in their own way, and it's a joy to hang around in the camp to watch them chat, play games, sing songs, party, and plan robberies - and take part in any of these activities yourself. The player character, Arthur Morgan, is the best of them all and the worst of them all. He more than anyone else seems to recognize that no matter what wild promises Dutch makes about their future, the gang's activities just aren't sustainable in the modern world, and yet his life of crime and violence has left him unprepared to do anything other than continue down the same destructive path. If not for a very ill-advised decision to break up the gang in the fifth chapter and put the story on hold for a few action-heavy, plot-light missions, and maybe a couple of nitpicks like the fact that I didn't find Dutch to be even remotely charismatic or compelling, and an unnecessary late-game twist about a traitor in the gang that I felt weakened the thematic clash between Arthur and the game's main antagonist, I'd call RDR2 a narrative masterpiece.

I just wish the rest of the game could have lived up to the strength of the writing and the open world. The biggest flaw for me are the controls. Yes, I know that Rockstar games have never had great controls, but this game feels like a major step backwards from the first RDR and GTA V. The controls aren't just bad, they are buck wild. They feel like they were designed by aliens. Like, the aim button is also the button you have to hold down to non-violently interact with people. That's led to me accidentally threatening innocent people I only wanted to chat with more than a few times. And the fire button can also just be the aim button, depending on the context. How do you do that? Seriously, what is the thought process that leads to such a batshit design scheme? And there's more! What the hell is up with those shitty radial menus for your equipment, where you have to highlight your wanted gear (but don't hit a button), wait as the game does absolutely nothing, and then pull up the menu again to highlight the gear so you can use it? I don't even know if it's just a glitch that the first time you use the menu you can almost never actually activate your equipment. That's how bad it is! Continuing on, why do you have to hold a button for a couple of seconds instead of just tapping it for so many mundane actions? Why do you have to keep tapping a button to sprint or gallop? Why is the reload button the same button you use for melee attacks?

Speaking of the combat, it's not good. It doesn't seem to be any more sophisticated than the first RDR's combat. The cover system still feels very rudimentary and awkward, with your character seemingly confused on a regular basis about what he's supposed to be crouching behind and how to emerge from it, and the aiming is so slow and sluggish that you're pretty much forced to rely on the auto-aim system. "Slow and sluggish" could be applied to the game as a whole, really. Like I mentioned earlier with the inventory, there are a lot of issues with responsiveness, where the game simply does not do what you're telling it do via the controls, and then doesn't bother telling you why either. I'm not the first person to have suggested this, but I honestly think that Rockstar prioritizes its animations remaining smooth and consistent on screen over promptly responding to player input. For example, if you're sprinting past a shopkeeper and you hit the button to interact with them, pretty much any other game made by any other dev would have you stop mid-sprint and begin your transaction, whereas Rockstar will ignore your input and have your character continue their sprint and not let you interact with the shopkeeper until you stop sprinting and stand still in front of him. That sort of design philosophy is frustrating. Yes, there should be a balance between having things make sense on screen and allowing the player a certain level of convenience, but Rockstar leans far too heavily towards the former. The lengthy, elaborate animations for everything, requiring even more precise positioning, don't help on this matter. It's neat the first few times you see your character carefully skinning an animal, looting a corpse, or searching a cupboard. It's not so interesting after you've seen them a hundred times.

Despite its flaws, this is still a terrific game, and one that I would recommend pretty much everyone play. The things it does well, it does arguably better than any other game out there.

Call of Juarez: Gunslinger

I haven't played the other Call of Juarez games yet, although they're coming up. This one's good, though. It's a fun, stylish Western FPS that encourages you to rack up points by killing enemies in quick succession and in unique ways, and maximizing your score is a lot harder than it seems when you first start playing. The main story is essentially a retired gunslinger entertaining a few people at a bar with a series of tall tales in which he claims to have fought alongside and against pretty much every one of the Wild West's most famous outlaws, with the details of every level changing whenever he remembers new facts or his listeners interject with objections or corrections. It's not a very long game, but it's reasonably-priced to compensate, and I had a blast playing it. This is another one I wholeheartedly recommend.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on December 25, 2019, 12:26:29 AM
I can't play Gunslinger after Destiny 2 made me get used to toggle aim.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on January 09, 2020, 02:13:37 AM
A few more thoughts on RDR2: If the abysmal control scheme is its biggest flaw, then the general mission structure is a close second. The story and side missions are all rigidly linear and scripted to a painful degree. You're almost always partnered up with an NPC who's always telling you exactly what to do and when to do it. Switch to your bow. Take out your spyglass. Search that room. And if you want to stop and do something, like loot some bodies, he will continue to nag you until you finally do what you're "supposed" to. I could be wrong, but again, I feel like there wasn't this much scripting in the first RDR and GTA V. It really makes me question how much I'm going to want to play through this game again in the future.

I don't want to end my musings on a negative note, so I'll just return to a subject I touched on above - Arthur is great. Unlike John Marston, who comes across as a decent guy who's put his life of crime behind him from the very beginning of the first RDR, Arthur is seen at some of his lowest, darkest points. His villainy is openly and frankly presented as what it is, and while Arthur is superficially a likable and endearing character (examples of this include his loyalty to the gang, his affection towards his horse, his dorky habit of writing and sketching in a journal, and even how he pronounces the word "sure"), that's never used as an excuse to simply brush off his behavior like it would be for a GTA protagonist. It's only over the course of the story, as Arthur examines his dark life and the legacy he'll leave behind, that he manages to achieve the "redemption" of the title and make it feel truly earned.

GUN

When life robs Colton White of all that matters, the only thing he can trust is his GUN.

I'd probably have liked this game a lot more if I had played it when it came out in 2005. It's an open-world third-person Western shooter, and there is absolutely nothing in it that both RDR titles don't do considerably better. At least the Call of Juarez series is distinguished by being first-person. To look at it more objectively for what it was for its time, it's okay. The run-and-gun action is okay, the story is okay, the voice cast is solid, the soundtrack is actually pretty good, and I enjoyed it well enough. The open world is really lackluster, though. It's very small, with just two tiny towns, and despite the nominal presence of NPCs on the streets, the world feels eerily dead. There's no chatter, no bustle, no energy, no sense that there's a real world you're interacting with. A number of games that came out around that time or even earlier had much better open worlds, like Morrowind, Spider-Man 2, and the three latest GTAs. I guess this game does bear the distinction of being the first open world Western game, but that's not worth much if the world isn't any good.

GUN is an interesting game more for its role in the history of Western vidya than its own qualities. I'm glad I played through it, but I can't really recommend it to anyone when you could just be playing either RDR instead.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 14, 2020, 08:13:34 AM
Some disorganised thoughts on Darksiders: Warmastered Edition.

Competent but incredibly boring mindless grindfest in which various voice actors attempt to out-gruff each other in a post-apocalyptic setting. Maybe I'm misremembering the state of gaming in the good old days of 2010 but this is just a bunch of nice-looking but empty areas stuffed in which you fight the same five enemies over and over and clear occasional barrages of arena time trials and I'm kind of surprised it got a sequel, let alone being revived more recently with a third instalment. Mark Hamill voices your Navi-type character, which I guess is neat, but his script is just kind of "I'm sassy and I have a slightly dark sense of humour". I only played a couple of hours so I don't know if the game somehow opens up later, but those two hours were quite a snore/chore to get through.

Also, at least Darksiders II: Deathinitive Edition makes use of a pun that kind of works, even if it is terrible.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 21, 2020, 09:25:08 PM
Well, today I bought Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice on Steam and I am already hooked. Currently getting my arse kicked repeatedly by the boss past the third bonfire (sorry, old habits die twice hard) but it's the kind of Souls-y arse kicking that encourages you to keep on coming back for more. There's even a resurrection mechanic so you can just stand back up and get your arse kicked again immediately instead of running back from the bonfire. It's a winner!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on January 22, 2020, 01:52:38 AM
Sekiro is brutal, but you've inspired me to give it another shot. Despite being superficially a Soulslike, you don't have nearly the same number of options to building a character and fighting that you would in those games. You really have to master the system of split-second parries and counterattacks. You can't level yourself up, you can't switch out your equipment, you can only git gud.

The Punisher

GUN wasn't the only third-person shooter released in 2005 with Thomas Jane voicing the main character. This game is dated and janky, with some pretty crappy boss fights and Z-grade writing, but I still enjoyed it. For all its faults, it is entirely unapologetic about what kind of a character the Punisher is, and lets you gruesomely gun down, torture, and creatively execute hundreds of criminals with gleeful abandon. Hilariously, some of the more grisly deaths are crudely censored by quick cutaways or the screen abruptly turning black after the ESRB wet themselves and threatened the game with an AO rating once they saw them. What I'd really love is a modern game as a sort of spiritual successor to this one, one that can do for the Punisher what the Arkham series did for Batman and that PS4 exclusive did for Spidey. But that seems incredibly unlikely now, as such a game would of course become a firestorm of controversy of the kind that Marvel and Disney would be desperate to avoid. Stupid puritans ruining our fun. Anyway, I loved the game, and I'm sure that most Punisher fans would too.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: model 29 on January 22, 2020, 04:40:27 AM
Nice, I just got myself a wheel and chair recently to go with my Vive. Playing Project Cars 2 at the moment but I havent found time yet to try it with GT Sport. I really suck at driving powerful rear wheel drive vehicles.  :'(

https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/387675660396527627/611620599609163797/image0.jpg[

EDIT: strange that the image is sideways on this forum. o_O
That looks like a decent controller.  I need to get myself a better steering wheel controller (Haven't been on here in some time so this is the first I saw this reply).  It's tempting to get one with that clutch pedal plus a shifter add-on that I could mount down next to the seat like a real manual trans.  Over the last several months, I got Ace Combat 7 (which has VR) and set up a flight controller with the throttle and joystick positioned as they would be in an actual fighter jet.  I built it as a unit that mounts on two studs and is secured with two wingnuts for easy removal/installation.  The steering wheel also quickly attaches, but the pedals are more permanent.  I'll post up a pic in the next few days.  It's ugly, but functional.  The seat is the original driver seat out of my 89 Pontiac Firebird.

Flying in VR is a blast, I can look down at the in-game hands on the controls and it matches my physical positioning nearly exact, but the motion sickness can build up after a while.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 22, 2020, 04:55:26 AM
Star Wars: Fallen Order

Very fun overall but has about the most linear plot and worlds ever. Who cares because lightsabers amirite?  Fantastic story until the absolute garbage ending. I think I now understand how Saddam felt about Rogue One...
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 22, 2020, 07:56:47 AM
Sekiro is brutal, but you've inspired me to give it another shot. Despite being superficially a Soulslike, you don't have nearly the same number of options to building a character and fighting that you would in those games. You really have to master the system of split-second parries and counterattacks. You can't level yourself up, you can't switch out your equipment, you can only git gud.

I mean, coming to this one in the middle of my second playthrough of Dark Souls, it's a very different kind of challenge. I've been playing a relatively "naked" dex build for that playthrough, not once levelling vitality, and pretty much only putting points into endurance and dexterity, but in Sekiro I already feel way more exposed even in the Ashina Outskirts area. Also the deflection mechanic is way harder than parrying ever was.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on January 22, 2020, 04:23:12 PM
The Punisher
Someone should make a Punisher FPS in idTech.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on January 25, 2020, 01:25:29 AM
Finally playing God of War 4. It's great. I'm doing great and almost have total completion (heh). Story wise, I don't think it's better than RDR2 but it's a lot more fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on January 25, 2020, 05:42:37 AM
Star Wars: Fallen Order

Like junker said, the ending of this game is dogshit. It's not quite as bad as, say, Shadow of War or Far Cry 5, but it's up there. There are two main reasons for this.

The first is a gratuitous and entirely random appearance from Darth Vader after the final boss is defeated, resulting in a very brief and not at all challenging sequence where you attack him futilely and then run away. The scene serves absolutely no purpose other than to apparently demonstrate what a badass Vader is and how he's so much tougher and more awesome than the hero and any other character in the game. It's shallow pandering to the Vader fanboys, in other words, and I wouldn't be so concerned if not for the fact that this is the second time this has happened recently - the other example being, of course, the ending to Rogue One. Is this going to continue to be a thing in the future? Pointless Vader cameos where he swoops in and shows everybody up as an ending, all to earn the adulation of idiot dudebros on the Internet screaming, "OMG IT'S VADER HE'S SO BADASS I CAME LOL!" These are supposed to be professionals who write these things, and yet Vader keeps entering stories with all the grace and finesse of a fanfic written by a teenager starring his favorite character as a Mary Sue.

The second problem with the ending, and it's a far more substantive one, concerns the MacGuffin the plot centers around. It's basically an encrypted list of all the Force-sensitive children in the galaxy, and after spending the whole game being motivated by the thought of rebuilding the Jedi Order, and so many solemn conversations about the importance of rebuilding the Jedi Order, the main character ends up nonchalantly smashing the device after a premonition shows him that they could be putting those children in danger from the Empire. And then the game just ends abruptly. Now, I can see where they're coming from, and it's perfectly reasonable for the characters to simply have a change of heart and realize that the best thing to do sometimes is just leave everything alone, but they never really treat the idea of what to do with the list as a dilemma at all, and only vocalize concerns about the danger to the children once or twice before the ending. The way the scene plays out, it looks like it was supposed to be a twist that we didn't see coming, and that just leaves you feeling like everything you did in the game was for nothing. Incidentally, I wonder if concerns about making sure the story stayed faithful to the films' canon played a role in ensuring that nothing really big or galaxy-changing (like, say, founding a new Jedi Order during the reign of the Empire) could happen as a result of the story.


All that aside, the game is pretty good. It's an odd blend of genres, on the one hand being a Soulslike, but on the other being a cinematic, scripted action game in the vein of something like Uncharted, with a heavy emphasis on platforming. There's a lot of cool lightsaber and Force action, where you can throw enemies into each other, toss them off platforms, deflect lasers back at them, hold them in place in front of you and pound them, and so on. The parrying system, and more broadly close combat with enemies you're expected to fence with, doesn't fare so well. It's not broken, far from it, but there's a distinct lack of polish there, especially in comparison with, say, Sekiro. Blows that don't visually connect with your character still do damage, weapons on the other side of the enemy's body to where your blow is landing still somehow manage to block you, along with a few other little quirks of that sort. It gets the job done, though, and you can usually just back up and push them off a ledge anyway.

The story and characters are about what you'd expect from a fairly average Star Wars movie. It's a tired MacGuffin hunt, with all the typical clichés, like villains popping up to predictably reveal that, oh no, you led them to their goal! The main character is bland, but at least he's an endearing kind of bland, and I really do appreciate that he looks nothing like a typical video game hero. There's a mentor character who inevitably reveals her dark origins, because of course that would be a part of her story. There's an adorable droid who steals the show entirely, because I guess creating cute droids is something that all SW creators have prioritized lately. Not complaining. There's one great character who ends up joining your ship's crew - but this is at pretty much the end of the game, so there isn't much point to it. In short, I guess you could say that the game really does feel like the SW experience, for better and for worse. It's hokey as hell, but that's not always a bad thing.

My biggest problem with the game is how cumbersome it is to traverse the levels. Why, oh why, couldn't they have given us some warp/fast-travel points? Just having them in a few key spots in each level would have made exploration so much more bearable. Yes, there are shortcuts you unlock, but they're not usually very convenient ones, and there's still a ton of running and jumping and climbing you have to do to get from one end of a level to another. The game encourages you to return to previous levels to find things that are now available to you because of your new abilities/equipment, but then I'd glance at the map and think, "Oh hell no, I'm not going to go through all that again just to get these new items." A mini-map and compass in the HUD would have been nice to include, too. It's tiresome to always be having to pull out the map in order to get a bearing on where you are and where you're going.

All in all, good game. It killed a couple of days for me, anyway.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: mariopepper on March 18, 2020, 02:08:38 PM
I play skyrim vr during last time. Anyone plays vr or ar game editions? After I started playing such games (virtual and augmented reality video games) I noticed that vr app development companies (https://servreality.com/virtual-reality-apps-vr/) provide very interesting products and this type of games will be very successful I guess. That's why I am playing skyrim vr and some other similar games.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 22, 2020, 12:39:10 AM
DOOM Eternal 10/10 GOTY 2020
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on March 22, 2020, 03:42:36 PM
DOOM Eternal 10/10 GOTY 2020

tbh it probably isn't even the best game released on 20 March, 2020...

I haven't completed it yet but so far there isn't anything that is an improvement on the previous game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 24, 2020, 04:54:39 AM
DOOM Eternal 10/10 GOTY 2020

tbh it probably isn't even the best game released on 20 March, 2020...

I haven't completed it yet but so far there isn't anything that is an improvement on the previous game.
nice onion
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on March 24, 2020, 07:39:48 AM
Playing Animal Crossing. It's relaxing af.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Snupes on March 25, 2020, 10:59:49 PM
Also playing Animal Crossing. Got stung by wasps six days in a row, a bear called my house swole, I'm a shitton of money in debt, and my official title is "Freshly-Delivered Lawn Clippings". 10/10 GOTY 2020/2021/2022/2023/2024
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on March 27, 2020, 02:57:10 AM
I play Dota and World of Warcraft Classic because no one has made a good game in 15 years.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on March 27, 2020, 04:01:36 AM
DOOM Eternal 10/10 GOTY 2020

tbh it probably isn't even the best game released on 20 March, 2020...

I haven't completed it yet but so far there isn't anything that is an improvement on the previous game.

I beat D O O M last night. Opinion the same as above.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on March 27, 2020, 10:25:58 PM
Literally my least favorite thing about DOOM Eternal is the reveal that the Doom Slayer is actually Doomguy from the previous games in the series. It makes the universe feel so much smaller. And what makes it worse is that Doomguy is portrayed as a nut ranting at strangers about how he needs to kill all the demons. I actually really liked the character of the Doom Slayer in the previous game. It's easy enough to make the joke that he represents the typical FPS gamer who ignores the story and just wants to kill enemies - and it is a pretty funny joke - but there's a simple in-universe explanation for why he behaves the way he does. He's a holy warrior of an ancient race that have long stood in opposition to Hell, and he knows that nothing justifies bargaining with demons or tampering with Hell. It's his duty to destroy the demons and sever their connection to other worlds, and he's not interested in excuses for their presence. Making him Doomguy, and as raving and unhinged as ever, undermines all of that. He's not really a solemn holy warrior, he's just dressing up as one while deep down being a babbling lunatic motivated by his own bloodlust.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 29, 2020, 06:05:55 PM
Literally my least favorite thing about DOOM Eternal is the reveal that the Doom Slayer is actually Doomguy from the previous games in the series. It makes the universe feel so much smaller. And what makes it worse is that Doomguy is portrayed as a nut ranting at strangers about how he needs to kill all the demons.
Maybe you just hate fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on March 30, 2020, 05:37:26 PM
The first new Doom was boring, so I won’t be playing Eternal. Whoa, kill monsters with metal music playing. So cool.

I’ve been addicted to Risk of Rain 2 the past couple of days. I got to level 13 with the engineer before being curb stomped by one of those giant loot monsters.

Also still playing Animal Town and just started Earth Defense Force 5, which is the most ridiculous game ever.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on March 30, 2020, 08:27:37 PM
The first new Doom was boring, so I won’t be playing Eternal. Whoa, kill monsters with metal music playing. So cool.
Maybe you just hate fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on April 03, 2020, 02:46:31 AM
I'm actually going to retract what I just said about that being my least favorite part of the game. My real issue is the gameplay. I don't like what they've done here to differentiate it from the last game. This feels a lot like what Shadow of War felt like in comparison to Shadow of Mordor - the combat is in every way harder, wilder, and more chaotic, with more enemies, more waves of enemies, more enemies with particular weaknesses you need to remember to exploit, and so on. The ammunition you can carry is extremely limited, too, and it feels like a cheap handicap to pump up the game's difficulty. There's more to expanding on gameplay in a sequel than providing essentially the same old stuff, but making everything much harder. I can think of a few ideas. Like, maybe you could launch surprise attacks on demon nests? You decide where on the platform you want to land, and also which demon to target and automatically destroy during your descent. Or they could incorporate the new platforming system, which I actually really liked for how satisfying and quick it was, with the combat a bit more, like having demons appear on the walls you're climbing on, or have you be able to keep shooting while clinging to a wall.

Maybe you just hate fun.

My love of fun is the exact reason I object to this sort of lazy, reductive universe-shrinking. This is the same kind of thinking that gives us Lex Luthor apparently designing the logos of various capeshitters in BvS, Blofeld apparently being responsible for the villains of previous Bond movies in Spectre, Palpatine somehow being behind Snoke and the First Order in TRoS, the Netflix corner of the MCU awkwardly connecting every character or faction to the Hand or K'un Lun, along with the MCU at large doing everything it can to downplay or deny the existence of magic. It's dumb. Not everything needs to be connected to everything else, not everything that appears on screen needs to be "accounted for" immediately, and there are more important things than continuity for its own sake. Creatives in big franchises need to learn to let their universes be big places where lots of different things happen and lots of different people are going about their own business, and if you don't already know when and where these characters will appear again, that's fine. This game is admittedly a minor example of that mindset, but this was a good opportunity for a tangent.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on April 03, 2020, 03:46:01 AM
My real issue is the gameplay. I don't like what they've done here to differentiate it from the last game. ...the combat is in every way harder, wilder, and more chaotic, with more enemies, more waves of enemies, more enemies with particular weaknesses you need to remember to exploit, and so on. The ammunition you can carry is extremely limited, too, and it feels like a cheap handicap to pump up the game's difficulty.

It is nearly the same game as before... You have levels with bad guys who spawn in the same place. Memorize the pattern and advance. Bad guys get progressively harder. The only wrench in that is the inferno baddie that keeps spawning other enemies until you off him. Ammo is easily upgraded (definitely not """extremely""" limited) and stocked through literally one different game mechanic. Your ideas on how the game could have been better would have made the whole thing a dumpster fire. Even if the game had some of those absolutely terrible and rudimentary mechanics you would complain that it deviates too far from its predecessor.

You also keep trying to tie this into to your other rants about different capeshit issues, and it makes absolutely no sense no matter how many times you repeat it. We get it, you want creative control over Batman. It just isn't going to happen. The rest of your rant is internet critic amateur hour, but it is the same type of thing found in the majority of your reviews so nothing new there.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on April 03, 2020, 04:59:48 AM
I don't agree. I wish I could make a better argument for my position than it being my own experience with the game. The limited ammo feels like a deliberate handicap from last time, and it also feels like a huge step up in difficulty and general chaos. This game fatigues me in a way that its predecessor never did. I might just suck and need to git gud. And one day I will have creative control over Batman, and the world will be a better place for it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on April 04, 2020, 10:50:23 AM
the combat is in every way harder
Good.
wilder
Good.
and more chaotic
Good.
with more enemies
Good.
more waves of enemies
Good.
more enemies with particular weaknesses you need to remember to exploit, and so on.
Good.
The ammunition you can carry is extremely limited, too, and it feels like a cheap handicap to pump up the game's difficulty.
A non-issue. There's almost always a weak enemy around you can gut-fuck with the chainsaw for ammo.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rama Set on April 05, 2020, 12:58:42 AM
Say gut fuck again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Pete Svarrior on April 05, 2020, 09:42:00 AM
Saddam, how do you feel about Cuphead's tutorial level?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on April 29, 2020, 07:17:46 PM
Saddam, how do you feel about Cuphead's tutorial level?

I'll let you know as soon as I figure out how to get past the tall pillar.

Final Fantasy XV

I've never liked the Final Fantasy series. Their turn-based combat is dull and mindless, their stories are ludicrously dense and complicated seemingly for the sake of it, their characters are obnoxious, their protagonists are more often than not bland cardboard cut-outs while also being sullen, self-pitying emos, and most importantly of all, their general style and aesthetic always rubs me the wrong way. They're full of the worst kind of camp and melodrama, and feel heavily inspired by really bad, really cheesy anime. But FF XV looked to be very different from the rest of the series, and I had heard from numerous reviews, as well as from trusted weeb junker, that this game was almost a reinvention of the format, with a far more simple story and a refreshing emphasis on non-linear, open-world gameplay. So I thought I'd finally try one of these games for myself.

How is it? Well, pretty good, for the most part. You play as the gay prince from the land of homos driving around with his boy band in the royal pimpmobile, the Regalia. Actually, I really do love the Regalia. It's an awesome car, being endlessly customizable, somewhere between a Rolls Royce and a Cadillac in design, and exactly the kind of car I would expect a king from this kind of setting to drive. You can also upgrade it into a kind of monster truck for off-roading, and later on into the Batmobile, which can also fly. Granted, the mechanics and controls for flying are completely fucked up, but they get points for trying. And again, that upgrade pretty much turns it into the Batmobile, and that's awesome. There's no way the resemblance was unintentional.

I mentioned the setting earlier, which is great. It's very modern for the most part, with everyone having cars and cell phones, and telephone wires and gas stations dotting the landscape. The real-life basis looks to be the southwestern United States, with a desert-like terrain, characters with silly southern accents, and twangy country tunes playing whenever you're within civilization. At the same time, though, it's still clearly fantasy, and the demons that appear at night give the proceedings a splash of color, making for an interesting contrast. Also on the creative side of things, while the main character is exactly the kind of bland emo I strongly dislike and seems to be ubiquitous in the series, I do like his three companions, and the foursome mostly have a great dynamic and a genuine bond you can sense. They feel a lot more like real people than the typical party you'd see in this kind of RPG. And the villain is pretty charismatic and memorable too.

What else is there to say...the open world is kind of repetitive and has a lot of empty space, but I still liked it. There are a ton of sidequests, but almost all of them are fetch quests or simple assignments to kill a monster, which kind of sucks. I love the mechanics of the combat, especially the warp move, and in particular just how dynamic it all is - you're constantly moving, constantly rushing back and forth across the battlefield making passes at your target. Unfortunately, with too many enemies on the field, everything becomes a jumbled clusterfuck of flailing limbs and blurry pixels. It's not helped by the game's bizarre system of "random" enemy spawns, as depending on where you are, enemies can sometimes respawn not even thirty seconds after you've killed them. The endless Imperial dropoffs are the worst. There should definitely have been a cooldown of at least a few minutes in between Imperial waves, and this really should have come up during testing. The camera can be an even worse problem. God help you if you get into a fight under a canopy or anywhere near a large tree, because the camera will inevitably zoom in on those branches until you have memorized every fucking twig on them before it'll let you actually see how the battle is going.

But that's not the worst thing about this game. That dishonor goes to the last third of it. It's like a whole different game. The car is gone. The open world is gone. The camaraderie between the main characters is gone. The fairly restrained story (by FF standards, at least) about the crown prince collecting ancestral weapons and fighting off an invading empire is gone too, replaced with a new apocalyptic plot that feels entirely tangential to the old one. Characters that were introduced and teased meaningful roles in the upcoming story are never brought up again or awkwardly handwaved away. I guess they didn't have room for them, because this last third of the game has about an entire game's worth of story details crammed into it. The villain has a whole new role only vaguely related to his role in the first part of the game, the stakes introduced are very different to what's going on in the first part of the game...it's so strange. And the penultimate chapter absolutely blows chimp. Stripped of your usual weapons, stripped of your party, stripped of your warp move, you're traipsing through this confusing, ugly labyrinth, hitting switches, fighting enemies, backtracking endlessly, etc. It goes on and on and on for at least two hours. It's the worst.

And yes, I know that a number of the unexplained plot details and vanished characters are resolved in the game's DLC. Fuck that. That's not how DLC is supposed to work. You tell a full, complete story with the main game, and then DLC provides supplemental details. Not critical parts of the main plot that the game is incomplete without; extra stuff. A bonus. It reminds me eerily of JJ Abrams.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: ChrisTP on April 29, 2020, 08:09:30 PM
Quote
their stories are ludicrously dense and complicated seemingly for the sake of it, their characters are obnoxious
Thought you were describing metal gear for a moment there
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on May 15, 2020, 08:09:29 PM
Planescape: Torment

This is another game that begins well, and then just kind of drops the ball near the end. For the first two thirds or so of this game, I was hooked. It feels in many ways like a deliberate aversion of most of the common tropes of fantasy and CRPGs of the time. Instead of a sprawling world map you're meant to traverse, the action is mostly kept confined to a single city. Instead of elves and hobbits and other generic fantasy nonsense, almost everyone you meet is human, undead, or some variation of demon. Instead of drowning you in random enemy encounters and intricate party management, the game emphasizes exploration and dialogue. The story is intriguing and compelling, the characters are memorable, the dialogue is smart and even funny at times, and what I especially love is the setting. The city of Sigil is this weird, beautiful, disturbing metropolis that's part industrial, part Gothic, and all insanity. It's brimming with color and personality, and everywhere you turn there are unique characters with dialogue trees to be exhausted and quests to be completed.

And then you get to the final act, where you have to leave Sigil, and all of a sudden the game becomes linear and focuses mostly on combat. I don't want to exaggerate the drop in quality too much, as it's certainly nowhere near as drastic as it was for, say, RDR 2 or FF XV, but some of the magic is definitely gone. The combat is very simplistic, and not a lot of fun when it's all you're doing. With precious few weapons and no real armor, there's very little you can do to properly outfit yourself and your party, and more importantly, the mechanics are all off. Every action is mapped to the left mouse button, leaving the game constantly confused about whether you're moving to a spot or attacking an enemy there. Characters will spend several seconds scrambling to get into position to attack, only to find that the enemy has moved. Characters will stand around doing nothing while their party members come under attack. It's a mess, but it wouldn't really be a problem if not for the fact that, like I said, the final act is mostly about combat and getting past enemies. It's annoying, but it's not enough to stop this game from being well worth it for CRPG fans.

Disco Elysium

Without wasting words, this game is terrific, and easily one of the best RPGs I've ever played. Its influences include the aforementioned Planescape: Torment, The Wire, and the art of Francis Bacon and Hieronymous Bosch, and yet the finished product feels entirely original. You play as a washed-up detective who awakens after a lengthy bender with no memory of who he is or what he's doing, only to discover that there's a murder he needs to solve and a struggle between local factions that's threatening to turn violent at any moment. What sets this game apart from most amnesiac-hero setups is that the emphasis is less on remembering the biographical details of your life, and more on shaping your personality and general approach to police work. And what a personality you'll end up with! The option to play things entirely straight and try to be as boring as possible is there for you, but you're cheating yourself if you don't take advantage of the wacky dialogue choices. This game wants you to be eccentric, and it's a far more effective playstyle. It's also funnier. This game has some very dark, tragic moments, but for the most part it's hilarious.

With no real combat system, gameplay is mainly you running around the neighborhood talking to people and examining objects. Even more so than Planescape, the setting is densely packed with possible interactions at every corner, all of them with numerous passive and active skill checks. Speaking of which, the skill system is great. Some of the skills are pretty standard for an RPG, like perception or endurance, but others are a little more unusual. For example, Visual Calculus lets you mentally reconstruct crime scenes like you're Batman, helpful for tracking bullet trajectories or finding missing evidence. Inland Empire, on the other hand, is a borderline supernatural ability to sense danger and talk to dead bodies and inanimate objects. Amusingly, the observations you make with these skills are communicated to you in the form of dialogue, so the skills are all basically characters in their own right - ones that will chime in during interactions to offer their opinions and advice, and even argue with each other if they disagree on anything.

There's also a perk system in the form of "thoughts," where you either try to remember details of your life (how old you are, where you live, etc.) or think about a political or social belief that you hold, such as communism, fascism, racism, or feminism. After a few in-game hours, the thought will be "internalized," and you'll receive the effects of the thought. As much as I love the writing for these thoughts, I have to admit that it doesn't quite work as well as the skill system. There's no way to predict what effects any given thought will have, many of the thoughts are either useless or overall detrimental to you, while a select few are incredibly beneficial to the point of being overpowered, and it costs skill points to add and remove thoughts, so you can't be doing it all the time. I'd honestly advise new players to consult this handy guide (https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1894736429), and personally recommend Jamais Vu (Derealization) and The Fifteenth Indotribe to maximize your experience and money, respectively.

That's really the closest thing this game has to a flaw. I can't recommend it enough.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on May 19, 2020, 03:19:07 PM
I recently finished the FF VII Remake. Saddam forced me to watch the review by Dunkey, who aside from a nails-on-chalkboard kind of voice is mostly accurate in his review so I won't bother rehashing it. Except the combat system is garbage and anyone who disagrees is wrong.

I am playing through the original FF VII again. In reflection on the remake, I mostly enjoy all of the extra exposition and backstories, I just hate how tedious is it to progress through the game to get to those moments.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I guess I'll release it in two additional installments over the next five years.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on May 20, 2020, 02:46:26 AM
I recently finished the FF VII Remake. Saddam forced me to watch the review by Dunkey, who aside from a nails-on-chalkboard kind of voice is mostly accurate in his review so I won't bother rehashing it. Except the combat system is garbage and anyone who disagrees is wrong.

I am playing through the original FF VII again. In reflection on the remake, I mostly enjoy all of the extra exposition and backstories, I just hate how tedious is it to progress through the game to get to those moments.

I'm sure I have more to say, but I guess I'll release it in two additional installments over the next five years.

Anyone who doesn’t like dunkey is wrong.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on May 29, 2020, 03:31:05 AM
Dark Messiah of Might and Magic

At first glance, this game looks to be generic fantasy bullshit. And it is. But under the bland surface, there's one of the best first-person combat systems I've ever experienced. The core hack-and-slash mechanics are fluid and responsive, and the emphasis is less on smacking enemies aside through brute force and more on slipping past their defenses while making sure they can't get past yours. Direct confrontations demand your full attention. The bulk of the enemies you'll face are competent enough to fend off most blows unless they've first been staggered or thrown off guard, and they can take quite a beating before they go down for good. There are a number of different weapons you can switch between to give you the edge in any given scenario - swords for more power, daggers for more speed, staves for crowd control, etc. - and offensive magic in the form of fire, ice, and lightning spells, but taking on enemies in direct, fair fights remains very challenging.

So what you really should do instead is take advantage of the ludicrous physics and your overpowered kick. Dark Messiah makes terrific use of Valve's Source engine and ensures that every enemy encounter takes place in a sandbox for you to slaughter your foes in a number of different hilarious and very satisfying ways. You can use your ice magic on the ground and watch your enemies slip on them like a cartoon and tumble either into a chasm or onto the ground where you can quickly finish them off. You can pick up objects and throw them at enemies to stagger them, or use telekinesis to do it from across the room. You can cut the supports to ledges and watch them collapse and dump everything on them onto your unsuspecting enemies' heads. You can cut the ropes holding up chandeliers or other pendulums and send them swinging into enemies. You can destroy weak floors as enemies walk on them and watch them crash to the floor before. And most importantly of all, you can kick. By itself, the kick briefly staggers enemies, but whenever there's anything of interest behind them, it suddenly becomes far more powerful and launches them backwards. You can kick enemies into spike racks and watch them instantly be impaled. You can kick them into campfires and watch them burst into flame. Kick them into chasms, into deep water, into each other, down stairs, off ledges, you name it. Really, this whole fucking game is about you using your rocket-powered kicks to kill everyone in the most ridiculous ways possible.

Unfortunately, there really isn't anything else in this game to recommend it beyond the wonderful combat and physics. The story is bland and dumb, the voice acting is hammy and annoying, and I especially don't like the level design, which is repetitive and frustrating, and many times left me wondering exactly what I was supposed to be doing to advance. This is one game that would have benefited from adding quest markers, as more often than not the key to advancing turns out to be activating a needle-in-a-haystack lever or switch that you had no idea you were even meant to be looking for in the first place. Dark Messiah isn't a particularly great game, but for me it was saved by the combat. If you're willing to slog through some dull dungeon crawls to get to the good stuff, I'd recommend giving this a try.

Spec Ops: The Line

A passable cover shooter with a remarkably ambitious story that's largely a riff on Apocalypse Now - and yes, it is Apocalypse Now that's clearly the inspiration, not fucking Heart of Darkness. Maybe they thought they could get in legal trouble if they admitted their source wasn't public domain, but whatever. I give the story an A for effort, but large sections of the plot don't really make sense, the tone can get preachy and pretentious at times, and the scripting of the terrible deeds that occur at your hands is so obvious that it was impossible for me to feel any real guilt or responsibility for them. It's like the game gives you a gun, tells you to shoot a specific person, and then when you shoot them it tells you that actually that person was innocent and so you should feel bad. It's a little more nuanced than that, but it's the same general idea. There needs to be some player agency if these consequences are going to resonate. Some RPGs have managed to guilt-trip me in the past, particularly the Fallout games (the good ones) and the Witcher series, but it doesn't work for a game this heavily scripted.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on June 24, 2020, 02:15:16 AM
now playing rimworld. my crew slings space drugs to neighboring space cities.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on June 26, 2020, 06:47:53 PM
I just finished L.A. Noire

What a dogshit ending that ruins most of the time spent on the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on July 18, 2020, 12:10:51 AM
Death Stranding

Hideo Kojima is a brilliant auteur who is finally able to give us his pure vision, free from any corporate oversight and restraint. 4/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: ChrisTP on July 30, 2020, 10:01:43 PM
Microsofts new Flight Sim coming up and will have VR support. I'll have my yoke and pedals ready (preordered). Nothing too special, a foldable playseat and the logitech flight sim yoke;

https://www.logitechg.com/en-gb/products/flight/flight-yoke-system-rudder-pedals-bundle.LOG-FLIGEU.html

The selling point about this game for me was the fact that it's using Bing maps to let you fly anywhere in the world with live feed of data from the real world, but VR has just topped it as a reason to play. It's on gamepass day one too... Win Win Win
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on August 02, 2020, 01:19:35 AM
Tyranny

Along with Pillars of Eternity, as spiritual successors to the classic Black Isle Studios/Bioware CRPG's, Tyranny imo deviates too far from the classics in regards to game mechanics and RPG rule system, even more so than Pillars, but I've nevertheless been playing it almost non stop the past 2-3 days. It's p. fun so far but I have my problems with it. I haven't finished it yet so I won't give a rating.

Edit: I just beat it. It's pretty short. 7/10. Time to start over and join a different faction. Also the DLCs are on sale rn so picked those up too.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 02, 2020, 08:32:45 PM
Borderlands 2

Braindead loot grind with the most *holds up spork* humour imaginable. Lost interest pretty quickly. I guess it's more fun in co-op but I don't know anyone who has it or would want to play through a game that old.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on August 03, 2020, 01:59:50 AM
Deadly Premonition

The most important thing to note about this game is that under no circumstances should you play it on PC. This is literally the worst PC port I have ever played in my life. It's fucking broken. It's not simply that the frame rate is choppy sometimes, that there are numerous visual and audio glitches, or that cutscenes often freeze for a few seconds at a time - although there are all of those things - it's the constant crashes. This game's shoddy technical quality is often cited as part of its appeal, and to a degree I can see where that's coming from, but there is nothing endearing or charming about the game regularly crashing. Bear in mind that saving can only be done at certain points, so you're often going to lose large chunks of progress when it crashes. It was a nightmare constantly having to restart the game, reset my computer, and even once or twice reinstall the entire game to get past the glitchy parts, and I wouldn't wish that experience on my worst enemy.

Setting that aside, is the game good? Well...no, not really. It's earned something of a cult following since its release in 2010, but that seems to be more ironic than anything else. It's janky and stilted, the combat is some very, very dull and repetitive shooting of the exact same enemy type a million times over, it all takes place in a far too large open world of which only about one percent can be interacted with, and the story is ludicrous. However, as nonsensical as it is, there's definitely some goofy appeal to the story - a bizarre pastiche of Twin Peaks wherein an eccentric FBI agent investigates a series of murders in a small town - and I'll admit it had me hooked all the way through. I'd have liked there to have been some actual detective work in solving the mystery, as the main character seems to rely on apophenia and psychic visions to put the clues together, and the reveal of the culprit in particular doesn't make any sense at all, but it was all so delightfully funny and weird that I couldn't help seeing it all through to the end.

That being said, I'm not sure I can really recommend buying a game where a demented story and cast of characters are its only redeeming qualities. There is something to enjoy with this game, but you could probably get the same experience by watching a playthrough on YouTube instead.

Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen

Blanko recommended this game a few years ago, and I wish I could talk to him about it now. It's good for the most part. It's an open-world fantasy RPG where you play as a chosen one who alone has the power to defeat this mysterious ancient dragon that's suddenly appeared and begun wreaking havoc on the world. The obvious comparison is to Skyrim, and I really like that this dragon is a far more memorable and intimidating villain than Alduin ever was. But the story isn't really the focus here; the combat is, and it's great. There are no skills or attributes, just you selecting one of many vocations (a fighter uses a one-handed weapon and shield, a warrior uses a two-handed weapon, mages specialize in defensive and restorative magic, sorcerers in offensive magic, etc.) You also select up to three pawns - AI characters who'll help you out - to accompany you, and naturally you'll want to pick vocations for them that complement yours. The action is incredibly fun, especially when you're fighting large monsters with several bars of health. A lot of the time what you have to do is jump onto these big enemies and clamber over them until you reach a weak spot and hit them there, although this cool feature is frequently undercut by the camera wildly spinning the moment you cling to one so that you can't see what you're doing or in what direction you're climbing.

Sadly, it almost feels like the rest of the game is trying to ruin what really works. For example, exploration in the overworld is a drag. The world of Gransys, the setting, feels very small in comparison to the worlds of Skyrim or TW3, with large stretches of the world map being inaccessible ocean and mountains, but the game seemingly "compensates" for this by making you as slow as molasses. Well, you move quickly enough when you're sprinting, but your stamina depletes very quickly and replenishes very slowly, and when you're not sprinting, you're going about as fast as a crawling baby. Exploring is also tough because you can't really go cross-country and cut through the wilderness, because if you do, you'll more often than not hit a dead fucking end in the form of a strategically-placed impassable ravine, cliff, or river and have to backtrack to the road. You're not really supposed to leave the road at all. So you have to keep following the road and just hope it takes you where you're headed, and blindly guess which way you're supposed to go at a junction. Maybe the road heading south will eventually turn around and lead you to your destination in the east. Maybe it'll take you in the wrong direction entirely, and you'll have to spend more time backtracking when you finally realize your mistake.

There is a fast-travel system that can alleviate this, but even that's not especially convenient. It could have been worse, though. In the original Dragon's Dogma (Dark Arisen is essentially an expanded re-release), you could find a finite number of crystals you could drop on the ground all over the world map, and then use a disposable "ferrystone" to warp yourself to any one of the dropped crystals. The ferrystones weren't exactly finite, but they were rare and expensive, so you were meant to use them very sparingly. In Dark Arisen, you're at least given a special ferrystone that you can use repeatedly, but you're still hampered by only being able to warp to wherever you've dropped a crystal. It wouldn't really be a problem if not for how slow and laborious traversing the world is.

There are a number of side quests you can take on, but many of them are scripted to automatically fail or become unavailable at almost any given point in the main quest. There's no logic to this and no predictability. I ended up having to look up which quests would fail and when because it got so frustrating, and you can take a look (https://dragonsdogma.fandom.com/wiki/Quests) for yourself if you don't believe me. There are a lot of quests that will automatically fail, and of course the game gives you absolutely no warning whenever it's about to happen. You can't quickly load a previous save once it does happen, either, because for some reason you can only have one save file, and the game very helpfully automatically saves whenever you finish a quest, setting your failure in stone.

And then there are the pawns. They're so fucking stupid! They can't sit still for a moment. They're always running in circles, always sticking their noses in everything, always slipping off ledges to their deaths, always running into obvious traps and into the range of AoE attacks, and you don't have the options to properly order them around. You can tell them to run ahead (which isn't very useful, because they're always running ahead), to come to where you are now, and to help you out (which usually means healing you). That's it. You can't order them to regroup, to spread out, to ignore enemies until you engage them, to be more aggressive or more defensive, to stay in a particular spot for a moment, or any other useful thing you can think of. It's especially annoying when you're facing a tough fight and you want to handle things delicately, but your pawns won't let you. They will always charge blindly into battle, whether you want them to or not.

Finally, and this is not at all a big problem with the game, just something that's very weirdly handled, there's the romance. You'll have a love interest by the end of the main story, who ends up playing a role in the climax. You don't exactly get to choose who it is, though. The game has a weird system where the character who likes you the most automatically becomes your love interest, because if they like you, you must like them back, right? And no, the game is not trying to critique heteronormativity or anything like that by presenting you with a love interest you didn't ask for who could easily be a member of the same gender. You can clearly tell that the female love interests were a priority for the devs - there are more of them, they're all conventionally attractive, and the cutscenes they share with you are full of tender dialogue and declarations of love, whereas the male love interests never treat you as anything other than a platonic bro. Again, this isn't a big deal or a huge issue, but it stands out because of how bizarre it is. Why not just let you choose whom you want your love interest to be? Why be so weird about it? Why not be normal instead?

Despite all my bitching, I loved this game, and I strongly recommend it to fans of action RPGs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on August 03, 2020, 05:58:30 AM
Borderlands 2

Braindead loot grind with the most *holds up spork* humour imaginable. Lost interest pretty quickly. I guess it's more fun in co-op but I don't know anyone who has it or would want to play through a game that old.
Borderlands 3 is even more in the same direction. They are games that are really only enjoyable in a group that makes fun of the game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 05, 2020, 12:27:33 AM
Some preliminary thoughts on a couple of recent PC ports, neither of which I've beaten yet, and may not do so for some time:

Horizon Zero Dawn

I want to like this game a lot more than I do. It's undeniably beautiful, and I really like the premise of exploring the wilderness of a post-apocalyptic world. But what holds this game back is how painfully derivative everything feels. If there's a single original idea in the game mechanics, I must have missed it. It might not have been such a problem if there were a broad range of influences and a decent balance between them, but there aren't. It's mostly based on Far Cry. And because Far Cry shares so much DNA with some of Ubisoft's other popular series, particularly AssCreed, and has been pretty influential in its own right, it leaves the game feeling tired and worn-out. Almost everything I do in this game, I feel like I've already done to death. Climbing towers to unlock parts of the map, clearing out bandit camps which then become friendly settlements, using specific animal skins to upgrade your equipment pouches, skill trees where you can improve your stealth, combat, and resource-gathering, and even visually, the inventory/journal screens as well as the buying/selling screens look very similar to Far Cry. This is the first open-world game from dev Guerrilla Games, and I understand that making a whole new kind of game is a big challenge, but I would have thought that them being new to the genre might have led to some originality in their game design, a way for the new guys to make their own stamp on this crowded genre. To do what they've done - look to Ubisoft, the undisputed king of churning out competent but repetitive open-world games every year and say, "Let's do what they do almost exactly!" - is very disappointing.

Also, the melee combat outside of stealth is terrible. You're supposed to rely on your ranged weapons primarily, and treat melee combat as more of a last resort than anything else, but if the option is there, they ought to do it right. There's no lock-on option, and swinging your spear feels like random flailing. It looks bad on screen, and it feels bad to play. Oh, and when you're fighting human enemies up close, their blocking shields them from all angles, even though their blocking is literally just them sticking their weapon out in front of them. My jaw dropped the first time I saw my attack bounce harmlessly off an enemy's seemingly unprotected back simply because they were blocking in a completely different direction. Like, holy shit, even Bethesda games understand that a block only works if it's situated between the incoming attack and the defender! Speaking of Bethesda, this game also struggles with some very hokey dialogue and a relatively small cast of mediocre voice actors.
 
Death Stranding

There are some good things about this game. Navigating your way across a challenging terrain using the environment and your tools can be fun. I like the social elements too, like the way you can take advantage of the ladders, ropes, and other "paths" left behind by other players, and if they do so with yours, you get a nice little thrill when the game tells you that other people are using the paths you laid down and "liking" them. It goes hand in hand with the main theme of the story, connection and cooperation with others. As our heroes struggle to bring America together, players are also being brought together through shared pathfinding and the signs, warnings, and bonuses that can be thrown down for others. It's goofy and sentimental, but in these uncertain times, it's not a bad message to be taking away from a video game. And there's a great soundtrack of pleasant folk-rock tunes, which can be a nice distraction when you're on long treks.

It's just too bad that all that good stuff is buried under a barrage of irritating elements that mainly seem to have been added to the game for the hell of it. For example, there are all the meters and gauges you have to keep track of. There's a health meter, a stamina meter, a stress meter for the baby you carry around, a meter for the condition of your cargo, a meter for the condition of your cargo containers, a meter for your boot degradation, and an energy meter for your exoskeleton or vehicle if you're using one. You have to be mindful of the weight of the cargo you're carrying and how it's arranged on your body. You have to be mindful of the terrain you're walking on and how likely it is that you'll slip or stumble on it. The rain that ages everything can fall at any time and damage both your cargo and cargo containers. You can be attacked by enemies looking to steal your cargo and have to be ready to fight or flee. You can be attacked by mysterious ghost-like enemies that force you into survival-horror scenarios where you have to very slowly sneak past them while your baby warns you where the nearest enemy is. The game doesn't let up, in other words. It's at its strongest when you can just relax and enjoy your backpacking in peace, but it very seldom lets you do that.

What really kills me about the combat and stealth sections is that they'd be okay if the game treated them as their own separate things, and gave you missions that "specialized" in them, like having to sneak into a hostile area and retrieve some cargo. The game does occasionally give you missions like that, and they're not bad. The combat and stealth are pretty solid mechanically, and you have some very interesting weapons. But most of the time, you'll encounter enemies when you're in the middle of a long delivery, and they're just in the way. Whenever that happened to me, I just wasn't in the mood for a fight, and I certainly wasn't prepared for one either. I just wanted to get the delivery done. I think this is pretty normal. People generally like compartmentalization. It's fine to have peaceful hiking, stealth that can turn to action at any moment, and tense survival horror all in one game, but we don't want all three elements at the same time.

The story is ludicrous nonsense. Everything from the characters to the background lore is presented as vague and incomprehensible. The all-star cast do about as well in their roles as anyone could (with the exception of Troy Baker, who doesn't seem to be acting so much as he is doing a really hammy impression of John Travolta), but it's hard for me to see them as their characters rather than their actors. Why a French actress like Léa Seydoux was given distinctly American-sounding dialogue is beyond me, but it's pretty awkward whenever she stumbles over her lines. Also, the main character very seldom talks outside of cutscenes, which wouldn't be a problem if not for the fact that NPCs are always seemingly trying to engage him in conversation. And they didn't need to be! Whenever you deliver a package to a settlement, the person in charge will appear to talk to you, and they always feel the need to have a one-sided conversation with you. They typically say something like, "Hi, Sam, nice to finally meet you. Did you have a good trip? And what did you bring us? Let me take a look at this. Wow, it's in great shape. Thanks for making this trip. By the way, what's your boss planning next? Okay, see you around." It's like they're drawing attention to how awkward the silence from the main character is. I get that they can't be paying someone like Norman Reedus to record a million lines of dialogue, but then they shouldn't be having NPCs trying to chat with him!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 09, 2020, 04:50:29 AM
Hotline Miami/Hotline Miami 2

I have some very mixed feelings on these games. The basic format is a good one. It's a frantic top-down shooter where you travel from room to room and floor to floor, clearing them of enemies as you go. A number of different weapons are available, all with their own advantages and disadvantages - guns can kill from a distance, but they're noisy and will eventually run out of ammunition, knives are quick to swing, but don't have the reach of longer weapons like golf clubs, etc. You can run into doors to slam them into enemies, shoot through windows, attract enemies with the sound of gunshots, and a few other little elements. It's a simple system, but they manage to wring a lot of variety and challenging gameplay out of it. Similarly, the visual design makes full use of the games' limited graphics to evocatively bring both the overall setting of Miami and each individual setpiece to life. Seeing simple resources being used imaginatively and efficiently is a refreshing break from titles that pump tons of money into pretty cutscenes while neglecting the actual gameplay.

The one element of the visual design I don't care for are the talking heads that represent the characters during dialogue scenes. I understand that these games are going for a sleazy, grimy vibe, and it wouldn't fit for the characters to be attractive, but I honestly found it distracting just how grotesque (https://i.imgur.com/2Y0GOgR.png) and inhuman (https://i.imgur.com/GKnuvrq.png) everyone looks. There's a difference between art depicting ugliness and art that is itself ugly, and the Hotline Miami games skew too heavily towards the latter. To compare it to another indie game (albeit one with a much larger development team and a lot more money to work with), the recent Disco Elysium vividly depicts a ton of ugly people, places, and abstract images, but everything is brought to life through a beautiful art style reminiscent of a watercolor painting. There was never a point in the game where I just didn't want to see a certain image anymore because of how off-putting it was. I'll admit this is an unfair comparison, but it makes the point that something can be ugly without being repellent.

I don't like either game's story. This may be an opinion I'm alone in, given the amount of praise I've seen poured on the narratives from critics and fans alike, but I seriously - no sadaam intended - just don't see what's so great about them. The dialogue is cringy and sounds like it was written by a couple of sheltered suburban teenagers trying to sound tough, the bursts of surrealism feel like a pretentious stab at seeming "artsy," and the metacommentary on video games is both very superficial and not particularly intelligent or insightful. Just like the protagonist in this game, you, as a gamer, have no real agency! You're just doing what the developers allow you to do! Mindblowing! ::) Speaking of agency, the notion that the main character is coerced into repeatedly committing mass murder because of a vague, anonymous threat from a random voice on his phone is ridiculous and very lazy writing.

My criticisms thus far are minor stuff compared to the main problem with these games - the difficulty. And when I say "these games," I really just mean the sequel. There were some elements of the first one that grated on me as I played, like how the physics of the doors are kind of messed up and can interfere with your playing, or how sometimes you have to rely on random placement giving you a decent weapon, but looking back on it, the only thing that really stands out as a major flaw are a few very ill-advised "boss battles," where the game strips you of your freedom and marches you into the center of a room, entirely exposed, to fight an enemy or a few enemies in a very specific way. There was no need for this, and they're easily the worst part of the game.

And then there's the sequel, which is from start to finish absolute bullshit. I've complained before about video game sequels that dramatically escalate the difficulty rather than offering innovations to the gameplay, but Hotline Miami 2 is perhaps the apotheosis of this trend. There is no restraint, no hint of sensible level design, no sense of fair play. Every element of the original that added a dimension to the gameplay has been abused to crank up the difficulty as cheaply as possible. Every level has dozens of enemies. Every level is wide open so you can be shot by enemies on the other side. Every level is many times larger than the area you can view at any given time so you can be shot by enemies off-screen. Every "floor"/clearable portion of each level is considerably longer than the ones in the first game, meaning that you lose a lot more progress every time you die. It got to the point where in some levels I'd start out by grabbing a shotgun and firing a few blasts in a random direction to immediately rack up six or seven kills. And in stark contrast to the freedom offered by the original, it's clear that many of these levels have set paths you're expected to follow, with deviations being deterred by unmoving armed enemies watching possible alternate paths. It's bullshit game design, and it's a huge disappointment after I enjoyed the first game so much.

Hue

A pleasant puzzle-platformer where you change the colors of the world around you, allowing you to create platforms, remove obstacles and threats, and so on. It's a lot brighter and more colorful than games of this kind usually are, which I appreciate.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on October 13, 2020, 07:07:11 PM
I had similar problems with Horizon Zero Dawn.

It's beautiful, but I ended up hating the gameplay so never finished it. :/
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: aradii on October 23, 2020, 03:53:36 PM
Playing Total War: Warhammer 2 as high elves, One of the greatest strategy games ever, this game is absolutely amazing so it has extremely addicting gameplay and It's unbelievably well balanced considered the number of different races.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on November 03, 2020, 11:30:12 PM
I'm currently doing my first run of Sekiro without Kuro's Charm. The game got an update with some new content including boss refights and rushes, and a Souls style message/phantom system, so I decided to pick it back up again. I'm doing a regular new game so I don't have any upgrades or skills carrying over from a previous playthrough. The Charm protects you from taking chip damage if your deflect timings are off, and this game's idea of chip damage is pretty unforgiving, and on top of that, you take more damage and do less damage without the charm, meaning that you have to play consistently well for longer in each encounter, but you get extra rewards for winning fights. The Charm is present at the start of every new game/ng+ cycle, but after you beat the game once you have the choice of giving it back to Kuro during the prologue on subsequent playthroughs. It makes the game a lot harder, and I've been struggling with many early game areas that normally wouldn't present much of a challenge. Having said that, I've been playing Dark Souls lately so my feel for the combat is way off, and I did beat the first real boss on my first try, so I feel pretty good about that.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Benjamin Franklin on November 05, 2020, 04:25:24 PM
I play Dota and World of Warcraft Classic because no one has made a good game in 15 years.
Update: Still true, no one knows how to make good games.

But there's a new studio of former Warcraft 3 / Starcraft 2 / Command & Conquer devs making an RTS. Pretty excited to see what they come out with. https://www.frostgiant.com/
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on November 06, 2020, 06:39:55 PM
DOOM Eternal: The Ancient Gods - Part One 10/10 still GOTY 2020
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on November 27, 2020, 04:54:38 AM
On the notion of cyberpunk vidya:

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

A mediocre, half-assed sequel to Human Revolution - which itself wasn't a terrific game, but at least had some interesting ideas and a unique feel to it. MD brings relatively little new to the table, and overall feels like a tiresome, uninspired retread. The one major improvement I'll give it credit for is the FPS combat, which does feel a lot more fluid and satisfying. Otherwise, Square still doesn't seem to have a grasp of good level design for a stealth game (there's a bit more to it than just putting convenient vents everywhere), everything about the setting looks dull, lifeless, and miserable, and the story doesn't meaningfully conclude so much as just stop. Also, I like how Square made a point of insisting that they'd improve on HR's shitty boss fights and even give you an option to beat them non-lethally, and kept their promise by simply not having boss fights at all, except for one sort-of boss fight at the end. I guess that's one way of doing it, right? You can't have shitty boss fights if there aren't any boss fights to begin with. Oh, and the "Breach" mode is dumb, not fun, and should have been left out of the game.

Ghostrunner

An intense first-person hack-and-slash/platformer where you make your way through a dystopian cyberpunk society while fighting off an army that of course wants you dead. This game is hard as balls. Just one shot from an enemy kills you, and one slip-up while platforming will send you tumbling to your death. Fortunately, at least as far as the combat goes, you're given a ton of freedom in almost every "arena" you fight enemies in to approach them how you want. You can run, jump, crouch, slide, run on walls, dash both while on the ground and in the air, slow down time while jumping and drift to either side, and grapple to certain points. Almost all of your fighting is done with your sword, but you are given a few special abilities that let you attack from a distance, albeit with such a lengthy cooldown that they can only be used very sparingly. The trick to getting through most combat encounters is to keep moving and keep trying new strategies. If a given approach seems impossible, it's a good sign that you might want to be trying something else instead.

The platforming sections don't fare as well as the combat. They're very linear, there's only one way to advance through each one, and the frantic process of quickly bouncing from action to action in midair was a bit too much for me to enjoy. Jump, slide, duck, grapple, wallrun, jump, wallrun...you messed up, start over. Jump, slide, duck...it's like that. Also, there's a weird thing where sometimes landing on a wall will just have you slide off it instead of automatically beginning to wallrun on it. It doesn't happen all the time, or even a lot of the time, but it happens often enough to be very, very annoying. I think it's do with the angles, like you have to hit the wall at the right angle to start wallrunning, but they could have stood to make it a lot more forgiving.

That irritation aside, this game is a lot of fun. Fans of tough action games should definitely check it out.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on November 27, 2020, 12:02:46 PM
I'm currently doing my first run of Sekiro without Kuro's Charm. The game got an update with some new content including boss refights and rushes, and a Souls style message/phantom system, so I decided to pick it back up again. I'm doing a regular new game so I don't have any upgrades or skills carrying over from a previous playthrough. The Charm protects you from taking chip damage if your deflect timings are off, and this game's idea of chip damage is pretty unforgiving, and on top of that, you take more damage and do less damage without the charm, meaning that you have to play consistently well for longer in each encounter, but you get extra rewards for winning fights. The Charm is present at the start of every new game/ng+ cycle, but after you beat the game once you have the choice of giving it back to Kuro during the prologue on subsequent playthroughs. It makes the game a lot harder, and I've been struggling with many early game areas that normally wouldn't present much of a challenge. Having said that, I've been playing Dark Souls lately so my feel for the combat is way off, and I did beat the first real boss on my first try, so I feel pretty good about that.
It's done! I beat the final boss last night. Oddly enough I had less trouble with the endgame bosses than I did with most of the midgame ones.

Edit: Holy shit! The boss gauntlets have some really hard "remixed" bosses. I can see why it took From so long to add this to the game now, Genichiro is basically a whole new fight now.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Clyde Frog on November 30, 2020, 03:49:45 PM
I'm in my first playthrough of Witcher 3. Go ahead, laugh, that's fine. It's pretty awesome though. I have the GOTY edition, haven't touched the DLC expansions yet, but I am almost to the point where I can complete the main story line. Just gathering a few friends before I head to the Isle of Mists.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Particle Person on November 30, 2020, 05:46:38 PM
now playing rimworld. my crew slings space drugs to neighboring space cities.

Also been playing a lot of this lately. Do you use any mods? The Vanilla Expanded series is excellent if you don't want to change the feel of the game, just, well, expand it
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: garygreen on November 30, 2020, 09:01:00 PM
now playing rimworld. my crew slings space drugs to neighboring space cities.

Also been playing a lot of this lately. Do you use any mods? The Vanilla Expanded series is excellent if you don't want to change the feel of the game, just, well, expand it

i use the vanilla plants expanded mod, but i haven't tried the other expanded series mods. i also use prepare carefully, wall lights, home mover, and advanced synthetics manufacturing (for that sweet, sweet hyperweave).
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on December 24, 2020, 12:11:56 AM
I have been playing Death Stranding. I'm usually not an "omg the graphics!!!" kind of guy but omg the graphics!!! I'm only a few hours in but it's been weird and hilarious so far, which is exactly what I expect from Kojima, although not necessarily in this way. Unfortunately I encountered some system-breaking crashes early on, but it seems like redownloading drivers and verifying the game files has fixed the underlying issues, whatever they are/were.

Big shout out to junker, the kindest man in human history, who made my playing this game possible!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on January 13, 2021, 04:49:46 PM
Just finished DOOM. Pretty good throwback to the arena shooters of yore. I'm not sure that what story there is needed to be there. You are the Doomguy, you must rip and tear, you don't need to know shit about fuck to do that. Still, I guess the story is appropriately B-movie in its shallowness. I don't really have many complaints. As repetitive as the action is it's very satisfying, though the glory kills do get old after a while, and the single healthbar final boss was a bit of a disappointment compared to the bosses with multiple distinct phases earlier in the game. Also I wasn't too fond of the industrial metal soundtrack, it sounded kind of tacky to me. All told, a solid FPS.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on January 13, 2021, 04:59:06 PM
Also I wasn't too fond of the industrial metal soundtrack, it sounded kind of tacky to me.

Rushy in shambles...

I think I liked DOOM 2016 more than Eternal. But you should also play Eternal.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on January 16, 2021, 04:24:32 AM
Also I wasn't too fond of the industrial metal soundtrack, it sounded kind of tacky to me.

Illegal opinion. Report to the nearest education center.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Fortuna on January 17, 2021, 09:06:33 PM
Playing Sea of Thieves of course. My friends and I spent almost 3 hours locked in battle to the death with a larger ship last night. We sunk them twice before they finally caught up with us as we ran aground on a little sandbar and they executed us with pistols from the deck of their ship. We'd have sunk them a third time probably, but we ran out of wood and cannonballs. 
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: JSS on February 05, 2021, 09:31:01 PM
Dyson Sphere Program

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1366540/Dyson_Sphere_Program/

It's Factorio in space, on tiny planets!  Adorable!  The graphics are just gorgeous.  Still in EA, but very playable.  Lots of fun.

Factorio+Satisfactory+No Mans Sky. 

I really can't say enough about the graphics, watching the sun rise over your buildings on a moon orbiting a gas giant whith your partially completed dyson sphere glittering in the sky is just stunning.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Clyde Frog on March 19, 2021, 10:59:37 PM
Just finished the main story line in Immortals Fenyx Rising. It was pretty fun. Very much a blend of BotW and AC:Odyssey. If open world single-player RPGs are a thing you play for fun, it should be on your short list of games to consider playing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on April 23, 2021, 11:46:21 PM
Batman: Arkham VR

An hour-long tech demo you could just watch on YouTube for pretty much the same experience. It's kind of cool to do standard investigative Batman stuff with your own hands, and there's an impressive level of detail and interactable objects in each level, but most of the game is spent fumbling with your gadgets and listening to dialogue. The story sucks, too. It's a relentlessly grimdark, miserable prelude to Arkham Knight that doesn't cover any new ground and just feels like brooding for brooding's sake.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on April 24, 2021, 07:39:24 PM
Fantasian

GotY 2021
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on August 21, 2021, 04:37:39 AM
Alan Wake

This is a very bad game, and one that almost perfectly exemplifies one of the worst trends I've noticed in story-driven games - completely divorcing the story from the gameplay. Look, if you want to make a game that's more about the story than the actual gameplay, that's fine. There's more than one way to make a good game, and just as great gameplay can be enough to overlook a weak story, a great story can also be enough to overlook weak gameplay. But you have to do it right, and by that I mean that the gameplay must tell the story. That doesn't mean that the gameplay necessarily has to be particularly unusual or profound, just that it's reflective of the story. It can be as simple as killing lots of enemies, provided that the story is reflective of you needing to kill lots of enemies, like if it's set in wartime and the main character is a soldier.

Alan Wake does not do that. The story of the game is at first the main character searching for his vanished wife in a mysterious small town, which later turns into something more complex when he realizes that an ancient cosmic power is making him write a book that's magically destined to come true. The gameplay, however, is mostly just you trekking from one end of a dark forest to another while fighting off zombie-like enemies the whole time. None of it advances the story in the slightest, because the story is not about traveling through the woods or fighting zombies. The story is a relationship drama and a metatextual rumination on the power of fiction, and 100% of this story is communicated through the cutscenes. If the way the hero traveled to each plot-critical location was by climbing into a spaceship and blowing up an alien armada before landing at his destination, the story would be unaffected. If he tunneled under the earth and fought an army of mole-men with mystical martial arts before emerging at his destination, the story would be unaffected. I don't think I've ever seen a ludonarrative disconnect this pronounced in any game before.

The above would be a fatal flaw in the game even if the story, taken as its own separate thing, was truly great. But it's not. There's an interesting central conceit to the story, but the execution is bungled by clunky prose, awkward, inhuman dialogue, and the characters all being either bland and forgettable or too obnoxious to take seriously. Alan Wake himself comes across as aloof and thoroughly unlikable, his design is of course that of another generic dark-haired white guy, and the game's efforts at demonstrating what a great writer he supposedly is by filling the game with samples of his florid, overblown prose and endless narration are just laughable. Seeing untalented writers try and write like how they think a talented writer would write reminds me of the morons at Bethesda trying to write dialogue options for supposedly intelligent or persuasive characters. The gameplay is similarly lacking. You point a flashlight at the enemies, all of which are very similar, and then shoot them with your guns, all of which are very basic video game weapons. You do this about a million times over the course of eight or so hours. Most levels take place in the same dark woods and look almost identical, and your objective is very rarely anything more interesting than "reach the next point on the map." To call it dull and repetitive would be an understatement.

To reiterate, this game blows chimp, and I have no idea why it got so much praise from reviewers, even after reading the reviews in question. Like, I don't believe that anyone who's played more than a handful of video games in their life could find this gameplay tense or frightening at all. Because it's not, and I would know. I'm scared shitless of horror games, and I didn't so much as raise an eyebrow out of fear at anything in Alan Wake. It's simply not a scary game. Likewise, I'm a little puzzled by how many reviewers praised the "episodic" nature of the game, meaning that the game would occasionally just flash the title screen and say that it was the end of episode whatever. Why is that so laudable? Seriously, how does splitting the game up into episodes actually make the game any better or more enjoyable in any kind of substantive way? I would argue that it doesn't, and to single it out as an especially praiseworthy detail rings a little false. I can't help but feel that something was a little fishy with this game's reception.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on September 01, 2021, 06:06:40 PM
Psychonauts 2

I'm so happy the sequel is finally here. It's just as quirky, comical, and fun as the first although this one deals with some heavier issues but also very wholesome themes on healing. It can be a bit laggy, but that's 100% forgivable since it's such a wonderful game.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 02, 2021, 03:04:48 AM
Twelve Minutes

A great premise very poorly executed. You play as a man trapped in a twelve-minute time loop in which a murderous cop barges into your apartment while you and your wife are trying to spend a quiet evening together, with tragic results. With every new time loop, you have a chance to learn something new about the situation - who this cop is, why he's doing this, how to stop him, what your wife knows about it, and hopefully, how to break the loop. The main problem for me - and make no mistake, this game has plenty of problems, but I don't feel the need to discuss them simply because this one by itself kills the whole experience for me - is that while this is a premise that cries out for player freedom and experimentation, the game refuses to oblige you. The number of interactable objects and environments in this setting is surprisingly quite low, and it soon becomes clear that there is only ever one way to achieve any given objective. There's only one way to incapacitate the cop. There's only one way to find out where an important item is hidden in the apartment. There's only one way to convince your wife you're in a time loop. Being forced to hunt for each arbitrary, highly-specific solution to each obstacle is no fun at all.

Also, the big twist ending of the game is a lazy cop-out and a thoroughly unnecessary attempt at "explaining" the existence of the time loop. It was all in the main character's head. None of the game's events actually happened, they were a manifestation of his guilty conscience. Interestingly enough, that's almost exactly the same stupid "explanation" that The Sexy Brutale had for its own time-loop premise, and it came across as really lame in that game too. Some time-loop games have pretty cool in-game explanations of their premises, but other games have no need of an explanation, and I wish that more writers would have the courage to just not bother trying to explain it all. Lots of weird things happen in video games that don't have in-game explanations.

Anyway, yeah, bad game, do not buy.

The Forgotten City

And here's a time-loop game that's actually quite good. You're trapped thousands of years in the past in an isolated Roman city where if anyone commits a crime, everyone in the city is turned to gold. Your only hope is to take advantage of how the day constantly repeats itself to find out what's going on, escape the city, and save its residents from their golden doom. To say much more about this game would be to ruin the mystery and overall sense of discovery. It's enough to say that this is a clever blend of dungeon-delving, political machinations, and thoughtful philosophy, all at a modest price. It's definitely worth your time and money.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 17, 2021, 02:17:43 AM
Recently finished Bloodborne and Sekiro.

The angriest, most tedious fun I have had in a long time.

Playing Cuphead rn, although I am nearly 50% done after several hours.

Got Demon's Souls today, looking forward to more angry fun.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on September 17, 2021, 02:01:28 PM
Recently finished Bloodborne and Sekiro.

The angriest, most tedious fun I have had in a long time.

Playing Cuphead rn, although I am nearly 50% done after several hours.

Got Demon's Souls today, looking forward to more angry fun.
My blood pressure spiked just from reading this.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 21, 2021, 03:26:31 AM
Deathloop

Arkane's latest game is pretty good. I just wish it had more than four levels. They're great levels, and just like in the Dishonored series, there are a ton of hidden paths over, under, around, and through the terrain and enemy outposts. They're a lot of fun to explore. But there's no getting around the fact that there are only four of them. That's not enough for a full-sized game. You can visit each level at different times of day, and they do change a bit, but only a little bit, like with more snow falling, different enemy placement, certain buildings being unlocked, and so on. The levels never stop being fundamentally the same old levels that you'll quickly grow very, very familiar with. I remember criticizing the latest Hitman games for having only six levels. Wasn't that cute.

There are actually a lot more problems with the game than just that. When you're not slipping past your targets' defenses and assassinating them, the missions usually have you revisiting each level many times to do something dull like discover a code or password. In fact, it's almost always to discover a code or password, which unlocks a door or safe where you find something that indicates you need another code or password. It's so tedious and repetitive. I respect Arkane's obvious desire to not just rehash Dishonored and do something new, but at the same time, it's the holdovers from Dishonored - exploring and navigating these great levels, playing around with your powers and weapons to cause havoc among your enemies in fun and creative ways, balancing stealth and firepower as you infiltrate your targets' bases, and taking out the colorful villains you encounter in whatever way you find most fitting - that make this game as good as it is. It's the new elements, and especially the time-loop mechanics, that don't add much of value.

So as not to be too negative, I will say that I like the story. While the excessive swearing is a bit overly edgy, it soon becomes clear that the main character is not another stock gritty dark-haired white guy FPS hero, but a goofy guy who stumbles over the lame jokes he makes, sings to himself, and comedically yelps in response to setbacks. He's genuinely funny and endearing. The main antagonist is similarly likable, and the two characters have a fun rapport as they regularly exchange banter and insults. The supporting cast are fleshed-out and have distinctive personalities, and the voice acting for everyone is on point. I also really enjoy the pseudo-1960s style and setting. It gives the game such a unique and memorable look.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 23, 2021, 05:02:49 PM
Finished Cuphead, it was a good change of pace and enough of a challenge.

Probably start Demon's Souls this weekend.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Lord Dave on October 10, 2021, 06:25:11 AM
New World:

Its ok.  Pretty standard MMO.  Combat is smooth with each weapon giving a different play style.  There are no classes or restrictions aside from level restrictions.  So someone with magic could use all heavy armor with magic stat boosts.  The downside is that you can't dodge as well and you lose the 20% bonus to damage by wearing light armor. (10% for medium)

Crafting is enjoyable enough.  Slow, as one would expect an mmo.  But you can apply different material tiers to give you a boost in the potential gear score.  Reminds me a little of Star Wars Galaxies.  You can also add other boosts and items to improve it on craft.

Quests:
Boring.  Bare mininum.  Some even seem just... Badly written or lack impact.
In one quest chain, you're doing favors for a blacksmith and a survivalist expert.  The survivalist wants to date the blacksmith but she keeps rebuffing him.  After doing a few quests for each, some of which is meant to impress the blacksmith for the survivalist, it ends with her saying she'll give him a shot because you, the player, did all the extra work. (?) And his end line is "I guess I'll give her space."

So yeah, clearly not great writing.

PVP:
Haven't done it yet but the wars and open world pvp, from what I've read, is alot of fun.  Defending or assaukting a fort is a blast.  Tho wars tend to be far more formal and rigid on who can join.  But assaukting forts?  Open world.


Overall its enjoyable but it'll get stale fast if you don't enjou pvp.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on December 04, 2021, 04:03:54 AM
Gamedec

In a gritty cyberpunk future where advanced VR gaming is the biggest industry in the world, you are a game detective, or "gamedec" who investigates and infiltrates virtual worlds at the behest of your clients. Gameplay-wise, this is an isometric CRPG where you interact with the environment by examining objects, talking to NPCs, and in general gathering information to solve the mysteries you're presented with. The clues you gather are listed in a "deduction" feature of the menu where you can then make conclusions about the evidence so far, which then leads you to the next part of the mystery. It's a great setup, but I will say that from what I've seen, it doesn't really matter if the deductions you make are right or wrong. You're guided on to the next stage of the case and given all the same information you would have been regardless. That's pretty disappointing, and I think that this is exactly the kind of game (as opposed to a big mainstream AAA title) that could afford to have real consequences for messing up investigations and coming to the wrong conclusions. Still, the mysteries are still pretty fun to think through and solve, even if it's for only the first time you play through them.

There's also a major twist near the end of the game that dramatically changes everything about the story so far, and I didn't care for it. To the game's credit, it's not a complete ass-pull. There are some clues hidden in the story and the background lore that foreshadow it, and it's nowhere near as bad as the shitty "It was all just a dream/hallucination" cop-out, but it still felt like the rug was being pulled out from under me. The twist also means that this is yet another video game where the final act is radically different to the rest of the game, and also far weaker. In this case, it drops the investigative elements entirely and just becomes a regular point-and-click adventure. I don't understand why some devs pull this kind of stunt. If I'm playing a game and I'm nearing the end, it's a pretty safe bet that I'm enjoying the game for what it is. Why change key elements of the gameplay so late in the game? Why fix what isn't broken?

Setting that aside, solving cases as a cyberpunk video game detective is fun, I like the pulpy overarching story everything builds up to (at least until the unnecessary twist), and there's some clever satire of current trends in modern games in the portrayal of these fictional game worlds, or even in just the lore text files you can read. There's an aggressively monetized freemium farming sim, a Star Citizen parody that mocks that game's relentless selling of digital spaceships coupled with its never-ending development, an edgelord adult game where you rack up points by killing people or having sex with them, and still others. There's a lot to like in this game, and while it's not for everyone, I'm glad I experienced it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on February 24, 2022, 04:55:17 AM
God of War

More like Dad of War. But this is actually really good. I think the key to this game's quality is just how well they integrate Atreus, the kid hanging out with you, into the gameplay. This stands out especially when you compare it to how most other games would handle the player always being accompanied by an allied NPC. Put simply, Atreus is never a problem. You don't need to worry about waiting for him to catch up if you're leaving the area, because he always appears right next to you, just offscreen so it isn't too jarring. You don't need to worry about babysitting or protecting him during combat, as he can usually dodge attacks just fine by himself, and while he can be incapacitated, it just takes a quick tap of a button to get him back on his feet. And most importantly of all, he's incredibly helpful in battle, especially once you level him up a bit and unlock the special arrows he can use. It really feels as though Santa Monica Studio went above and beyond in systematically removing every element of escort gameplay that tends to drag the experience down while retaining the parts that keep everything fast and fun, like video games are supposed to be.

The other gameplay elements are largely serviceable, if not spectacular. There's some fairly decent exploration and platforming, along with the occasional environmental puzzle. In stark contrast to the button-mashing combo-scoring of previous titles, combat is now a slower, more methodical hack-and-slash affair - nothing about it is particularly groundbreaking, but there's a nice and crunchy feel to it. Being able to switch between your weapons and your fists is a nice touch. I will say that the enemy variety isn't great, as about 90% of the enemies you fight are the same four or five basic monster types, and the minibosses in particular all feel like the same generic troll/ogre you fight right at the beginning of the game. The full bosses are great, but there are only a few of them. Don't let the padded bestiary fool you, either - enemies having slightly different names or categorization doesn't stop them from being pretty much the same old enemies. The puzzles are kind of lame, too, and particularly when it comes to the collectibles. You're almost always just hunting for hidden runes to smash to open a lock, or hitting a few chimes within a short timespan to open a lock.

Despite all the good things God of War has going for it, it would simply be an above-average hack-and-slash game if not for the story. The hokey B-movie dialogue and juvenile sex scenes of the previous games are replaced with a fairly simple story of Kratos and Atreus climbing a mountain to scatter the ashes of Atreus's late mother, while Kratos does his best all the while to teach his son wisdom and maturity, despite the fact that he barely knows him at all and is only too aware of the fact that his own violent nature and dark history make him a less than ideal role model. There are some things going on behind the scenes and some powerful enemies they eventually have to face, but for the most part, they remain focused on their task. This simplicity allows the game to put the focus on character rather than plot, and it's a genuine pleasure to watch Kratos and Atreus slowly grow to appreciate one another and help each other grow as people. There is one little detail at the end of the game I didn't like - the reveal of whom Atreus "really" is in the mythology. There are a couple of real-life mythological details that back it up, to be fair, but I still don't think it's a particularly good fit for him, and I suspect it was decided on more for audience recognition of the name than anything else. But that's a tiny quibble.

This game is great, basically. Can't wait to spend another few years waiting for its sequel to get a PC port.

HITMAN III

A tiny, tiny game in comparison to the two previous titles in this series. The levels are all significantly smaller, the number of unique challenges you can complete in each level have been dramatically reduced, only a small handful of scripted "mission stories" to help you infiltrate a location or get close to a target are available, when the previous games would usually offer seven or eight per level, and so on. It's just smaller in every possible way, and the fact that this game comes bundled with the previous two - something that I really appreciate, to be clear - only makes the comparative lack of content all the more noticeable. Almost all of my time spent with this game has just been playing the content from the two previous games. What a shame.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on February 24, 2022, 04:22:49 PM
The full bosses are great, but there are only  Don't let the padded bestiary fool you, either

Nice copy editing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on February 24, 2022, 06:45:48 PM
I am a dad of war. I have no patience for things like copy editing.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on February 25, 2022, 05:13:42 PM
Elden Ring is kicking my arse. I wondered if it was because the game is hard or because I'm a naked dude with a club. So I started another playthrough as a dude with armour and a sword, and I still got my arse kicked. The bosses in this game are serious. So far I have only beaten the Beastman of Farum Azula, an optional miniboss. Anyway, I'm really enjoying it so far. It's a very successful expansion of the Souls formula, with a bit of Sekiro thrown in for good measure. The horseback combat is oddly reminiscent of Dynasty Warriors and I can imagine Miyazaki getting a kick out of colleague reactions to the idea when he described how he wanted to implement it.

Of course, it's not all good. As is typical with From games, the technical side is lagging behind the incredible design. There are definitely some performance issues on PC, I've been getting stutters and frame drops despite my rig meeting the recommended specs. Hopefully it's fixed soon.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on February 26, 2022, 03:52:13 AM
Elden Ring is kicking my arse.

i am also getting my shit kicked in, it is great
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Clyde Frog on February 27, 2022, 06:57:33 PM
Loving the Elden Ring ass whooping as well
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on February 28, 2022, 05:49:07 AM
ELDEN RING WHUPPED MY ASS

From have achieved what I wasn't sure was even possible and successfully transplanted the Souls formula into an open world. My biggest worry when I started playing was that exploration would be technically possible, while 99.9% of players would be promptly killed by overpowered enemies the moment they strayed from the path the story prescribed, but no. You really are free to wander even in the early stages of the game, and that's really the smart option so you can both toughen yourself up and hunt for useful equipment and items for when you tackle the main story. A lot of games struggle with horseback riding and go overboard in trying to limit how useful it is the player, but this game notably does not. You're certainly not invincible on horseback, but your horse is fast, can jump high, has plenty of health and stamina to work with, and in general just feels really good to ride. I'll probably have a few criticisms once I've completed more of the game, but so far pretty much everything is terrific.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 03, 2022, 05:25:05 PM
Well, I just discovered a new bug. If you quit out after respawning at the Stake of Marika before Royal Knight Loretta, when you load the save you will appear in a void and instantly die. Not sure if this is just for this Stake or a problem in general but I found it pretty funny so I don't mind so much, even though the run back from the bonfire is kind of annoying.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on March 03, 2022, 08:57:27 PM
Well, I just discovered a new bug. If you quit out after respawning at the Stake of Marika before Royal Knight Loretta, when you load the save you will appear in a void and instantly die. Not sure if this is just for this Stake or a problem in general but I found it pretty funny so I don't mind so much, even though the run back from the bonfire is kind of annoying.

it doesn't happen on ps5 at least
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Clyde Frog on March 21, 2022, 01:14:03 PM
It's taken me a while, I haven't been able to play it quite as much as I really want to, but I finally made it through Stormveil Castle. That place is no joke. I have a really major portion of Limgrave and Weeping Peninsula explored at this point - I'm sure there are things that remain to be found, and I know I still need to go back to the Minor Erdtree in Weeping Peninsula to kill the Erdtree avatar. I definitely need to do more wandering around Caelid too, but Liurnia is really fun to explore and just looks more inviting that Caelid.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on March 25, 2022, 09:37:16 PM
I have become Elden Lord.

Excellent game, would play again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Clyde Frog on May 10, 2022, 12:59:32 PM
I have ascended to Elden Lord finally. The final run of bosses at the end is not for the faint of heart. And there's a bad bitch that I have yet to slay and continues to have never known defeat. Which is to say, I'm not nearly done with this game yet.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 03, 2022, 03:53:33 AM
Marvel's Spider-Man

This game is an absolute blast. Controlling spoderman as you swing, zip, and dash around Manhattan just feels fantastic, and might even be the highlight of the game. The combat obviously owes a lot to the Arkham series, as many modern brawlers do, but there a few tweaks to make it feel a bit more unique, like how you dodge instead of countering attacks. I rolled my eyes when I first saw that there were going to be stealth sections, because it felt even more derivative of Arkham than the combat (stealth isn't exactly something spoder is typically known for, after all), but it really grew on me, and I soon started looking forward to every chance I had to take down a group of enemies entirely undetected.

The story is decent for the most part. This is a very likable Peter, even if his quips are sometimes terrible, and I really liked how they played up Norman Osborn's Trumpiness, but I will say that I think Octavius becoming Doc Ock would have been better left to the inevitable sequel. The relationship between him and Peter is great, but his turn as a villain is too rushed to resonate as much as it should. It also leads to story beats that feel a little forced, like how literally the first thing he does as Doc Ock is arrange a large-scale breakout at Ryker's and the Raft and form the Sinister Six. Kind of a wild first move for a brand-new supervillain, right? Octavius's similarities to Martin Li, particularly regarding his understandable animosity towards Osborn, also leave him feeling a little redundant in the overall story, and it's kind of annoying that at the last second the game apparently loses interest in Li and doesn't bother giving his character a proper conclusion, instead focusing entirely on Doc Ock.

The worst parts of the game are the fucking stealth missions where you play as MJ and Miles. They're disastrously bad. For one thing, they make very little sense in the story, especially for MJ. Her constantly sneaking into locations full of armed men hostile to her is stupid bordering on suicidal, and there is absolutely nothing she accomplishes that spoder couldn't and wouldn't have done a hundred times more quickly, more easily, and more safely. I might almost forgive their inclusion if they led to MJ growing as a character and realizing that there are other ways to help both her community and spoder than needlessly risking her life doing things she simply isn't equipped for, but no! When spoder finally confronts her, she argues that she's a Strong Independent WomanTM who can handle herself, the game frames her as being totally right, and spoder ends up apologizing for it! Even though she's clearly, objectively fucking wrong!

And even just looking at the actual gameplay, the missions are garbage. They're very simplistic, they're always on a set path you pretty much have to follow strictly, the mechanics are too shallow to experiment with, the AI is too braindead to enjoy trying to outsmart, the automatic fail once you're discovered is frustrating, and above all, they're dull and monotonous. Look, I have no doubt that at some point, there was a good idea at the core of what putting these missions in the game was meant to accomplish, but precisely none of that comes through in the final product. These missions should have been cut from the game, and the fact that they weren't suggests to me that they were probably a "pet" feature of someone too high up the corporate ladder to overrule who was determined to keep them in the game no matter how bad they were. I sincerely hope that these missions won't end up being in the sequel. Find something, anything else to do with MJ.

I wasn't sure if I really wanted to mention this, but the more I think about it, the more I feel that I have to - I have never seen a version of spoder this closely aligned with the police in any medium. Occasionally he'll comment on how he doesn't get along too well with the police, and sometimes a cop will throw a canned line at him about how he's not wanted, but for the most part, spoder seems to work with them pretty closely. He directly participates with and fights alongside them in multiple missions in the main story and the DLC, many, if not most of the side-missions and optional crimes he can complete involve him fighting alongside the police and helping them defeat criminals, and he "unlocks" each chunk of the world map by climbing a tower and hacking into their expansive surveillance systems (Ubisoft called, they want their dated game mechanics back) for the police. This wasn't a neutral or objective choice to present the game to the player. It was a narrative decision, and something that they could have very easily avoided, seeing how no other video game has featured spoder working this closely and directly with the police.

And there's no use dismissing this subject with a line like, "Oh, it's just capeshit, of course they're not going to go much deeper than the police being good guys," because this game does explore the ramifications of New York being oppressed by an authoritarian organization abusing its power - it's just the private military company Sable International that does it, not the NYPD. In the latter part of the game, these mercenaries begin using excessive force, trampling civil liberties, and imprisoning innocent protesters. spoder naturally finds this behavior unacceptable and soon becomes their enemy, even as he reasserts his allegiance with the NYPD, whom the game explicitly portrays as the "good" version of law enforcement, the organization that by contrast apparently doesn't infringe on civil liberties or hurt and imprison innocent people. But the game can't even keep this anti-authoritarian message consistent, because by the end of the game, the head of the company inexplicably joins your side, and in the DLC, spoder discovers that she's actually a wonderful person and a true hero deep down, just like him. I'm sure Insomniac meant no harm, but this simplistic portrayal of the police as unquestioned "good guys" and regular allies of spoder was tone-deaf back in 2018, and comes across as even worse now. Again, I'm really hoping that the sequel will do better on this subject.

Oh, and the DLC are pretty mediocre. They're not the absolute worst, but they're very short, don't have an especially interesting central conflict, end on very abrupt, unsatisfying notes, and in general have a very rushed, half-assed feel to them.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on October 29, 2022, 08:47:43 PM
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

I played a few hours of this and couldn't take any more. I'm sorry to have to sadaam all over a game that has earned nothing short of universal acclaim, but I just wasn't having any fun with it. It's too scripted. The combat sections are scripted. The exploration sections are scripted. The stealth sections are scripted. The climbing sections, which seem to make up the bulk of the game, are scripted. I played this until I reached what looked like something of a boss fight, and even that turned out to be scripted. The game has virtually every step you need to take to complete it precisely calculated, and if you deviate from the set path, the game won't progress until you go back and return to the script. The story seems intriguing, the dialogue is crisp and witty, and the game certainly looks great, but I simply can't enjoy a game that only grudgingly allows me to participate in it.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on April 23, 2023, 04:13:07 AM
The Last of Us Part I

This is what gamers have been raving about for the last ten years? This mediocre walking simulator crossed with a mediocre third-person shooter? Boring level design, overwrought "emotional" dialogue, uninspired combat, and a thoroughly unlikable main character, all wrapped together in yet another zombie game, because that genre hasn't already been oversaturated for years now. This one goes in the trash for me.

Just kidding, this game is terrific. The characters and story really are as great as everyone has said they are. For all the terrible things Joel says and does, he has a weird sort of menacing charisma to him that makes him compelling, and Ellie is portrayed as a realistic and likable teenager rather than the impossibly pure and innocent waif that so many games with a similar premise show us instead. It feels kind of silly to weigh in on this debate ten years later, but I loved the ambiguity of the ending and how far from black-and-white the awful dilemma that Joel is ultimately faced with is. I wasn't expecting to be wowed by the gameplay, but it's almost as good as the story. The combat is weighty and visceral, the scarcity of ammo and resources really makes you feel like you're desperately scrounging in a post-apocalyptic world, and even the quiet exploration scenes that let you soak in the beauty and bleakness of the world are gripping. It's done so much better than, say, Bethesda's Fallout titles, where virtually every location you can visit feels untouched since the collapse of society, and the "environmental storytelling" is limited to arranging skeletons in silly positions because the devs think it's funny (it's not).

There are a few flaws with the game, but nothing major. The shotgun feels underpowered, as you have to be at practically point-blank range for one shot to take down an enemy. It's so jarring to see an enemy stagger to their feet as if you've only winged them after you've blasted them from just six feet away. The idea was presumably to stop the player from dominating the game entirely with just the shotgun, but they would have been better off just making its ammo more scarce than so obviously nerfing it. There are also a number of times during the non-combat sections where you're presented with an obstacle, typically a high wall or a body of water, but rather than solve an environmental puzzle or anything, all you do is grab the nearby ladder, pallet, or raft and bring it back to where you are. It's that simple. I'm not exaggerating; the item you need is always right there. No puzzles, no platforming, just grabbing the item that's always literally right there. It feels like a placeholder for an environmental puzzle, and it's little more than busy work. If they didn't want to take the time to create puzzles, then I honestly think they would have been better off just removing these weird sections entirely.

I'm also puzzled by the role of the military in the story. The game quickly establishes that the military are needlessly cruel and oppressive, but never really takes the time to explain how or why they came to be that way. I don't know, I feel like the U.S. military being petty tyrants is kind of a big deal and something that's worth exploring in a bit more detail. It's not helped by the fact that after the opening chapters, the military vanish from the game and are never encountered again. Why even bother having the military as antagonists when the Fireflies are there to play the role of a (supposedly) reasonable authority figure? The story would have been a lot simpler if they had dropped the idea of a military junta and a plucky rebel alliance opposing them and instead just had Joel be delivering Ellie to the remnants of the U.S. government/military who are looking for a cure.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on April 24, 2023, 06:08:23 PM
the gameplay is more repetitive than doom, and that is saying something
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on May 14, 2023, 02:53:05 AM
Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales

For better or worse, this is more of the same of the previous PS4 spoder game, only it's not all that much more. I don't usually like to try to quantify the value of a game by how many hours it takes to complete, as I think that's a very flawed perspective, but when you release a game that's this much shorter and smaller than the one it's a direct sequel/spin-off to, you're inviting negative comparisons. The 2018 spoder game has 44 missions in its main story and 26 in its DLC. Miles only has 17 missions in its main story, no DLC, and an open world with considerably fewer things to do in it. If the first spoder was "worth" $60, then Miles simply isn't worth the $50 it's going for. I think $30 would have been a far more reasonable starting price.

The good news is that the core gameplay, spodering about New York and beating up criminals, is still a lot of fun. Miles has a few different abilities to Peter that are fun to play around with, and I like the little touch of his animations of swinging and fighting being a bit different to Peter's, presumably to emphasize the exaggerated swagger of a black teen his inexperience at spodering. Miles is a likable character, and proof that you can have a spoder who's a believable teenager while also not being aggressively infantilized like he is in the MCU. The story itself isn't fantastic, but it's largely carried by the characters and their relationships - Miles and Peter, Miles and Ganke, Miles and his mother, Miles and his uncle, and so on. Speaking of that last one, it would have been very easy for the subplot involving Aaron to feel derivative of how it was handled by the excellent Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, which came out only a couple of years before this game, but they managed to tell the same basic story in a different but still effective way, and I really respect that.

The one element of the story that I feel just doesn't work is the main antagonist and her relationship with Miles. For a character that we're repeatedly assured is an altruistic genius, her overall plan is remarkably stupid and short-sighted, and her interactions with Miles reek of hypocrisy. She's secretly working with a terrorist group as part of her extensive plan for revenge against an evil corporation that's wronged her, but how dare Miles not trust her enough to tell her that he's spoder! She takes part in a terrorist attack that almost kills hundreds of people, among them Miles's mother, but Miles is the one who betrayed her by infiltrating her group to try and stop her insane scheme! And just like with MJ and Peter in the previous game, spoder actually seems to concede that he's to blame, and the game frames her as being right, even though she's very obviously wrong. To top it off, she has a last-minute redemption and heroic death at the very end of the story, so she never gets any meaningful comeuppance for her actions. I really wish that these franchises would stop this awful sort of unsympathetic-girlboss writing for their female characters. Whatever progressive message they think they're sending - they're not. It's bad representation as well as bad writing.

This is still a good game, though. It just can't really be called a proper sequel to the last one.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on June 21, 2023, 08:23:40 PM
smrpg is getting rebooted and it will literally be the best game ever made

also neverending fantasy part 16 tomorrow
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on August 25, 2023, 01:51:04 PM
I would just like to say that Armored Core VI: Fires of Rubicon is a good game and I am enjoying it very much.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 08, 2023, 09:20:05 PM
While I agree that it's a fun and entertaining game, it's definitely From's weakest game in years. It simply doesn't meet their usual standards. To me, the biggest issue is the frankly enormous difference in difficulty between the missions and the boss battles. The missions are mostly fairly easy, while the boss battles are generally pretty tough and intense. It's jarring and dissonant whenever a leisurely mission suddenly gives way to a demanding boss fight, and I can't see how it works in the game's favor. Speaking of which, I honestly think that the tutorial boss battle is kind of bullshit. A key element of this game is the ability to design your mech how you want and thereby choose how best to tackle missions. But in the tutorial, you're stuck with a shitty loadout and you're stuck with having to fight the boss in one specific and very awkward way. It's more frustrating than it is properly challenging, and it doesn't help that this boss regularly flies outside of the area limits while continuing to shoot at you (and melee attacks are essentially required to defeat it). From's tutorial bosses work well in the Souls series and their similar games (apparently the accepted term for From's Soulslike games is Soulsborne? I thought that was just a dumb synonym that arbitrarily singled out Bloodborne as apparently being the only other game similar to Dark Souls in the world, but whatever), but it doesn't translate well into this game.

The level of customization available for your mech is incredible, every weapon and mech part looks awesome, and theoretically this game should support a number of playstyles that rely on mobility and firepower to different degrees. In reality, however, going with a heavy, high-firepower build is strongly incentivized, especially when it comes to the bosses. Battles tend to be visually chaotic, reliably dodging the constant hail of enemy attacks is extremely difficult, and light builds have severe weight restrictions on the weapons they can carry, limiting their ability to use the heaviest and most powerful ones. I'm not saying that it can't be done, only that dancing around the bosses and slowly chipping away at their health is significantly more difficult than smashing through them with a powerful tank, and I have no doubt that most people playing this game are going with the latter option. I don't know if this dichotomy was intentional on From's part, but it stands in stark contrast to their other games that support a number of very different but all entirely viable playstyles. Still, I appreciate the wide variety of possible builds, even if most of them simply aren't practical.

Another holdover from From's other games that doesn't work well in this one is how it handles its story and lore. It's fine when you're in a desolate, ruined world and there's a mystery of what this place is and how it came to be this way in the background as you fight to survive. This game, however, rather than taking place "after the end," is set in the middle of a war involving several different characters and factions, the events of which the player character soon gets caught up in. In other words, there's no reason why this game should be vague and cryptic about what should essentially be "common knowledge" among everyone in this setting (undoubtedly including the player character), but it is. What is Coral? What is the Fires of Iblis? Who are Balam Industries and Arquebus Corp? Who are the Rubicon Liberation Front and the Planetary Closure Administration? From should have just put a codex into the menu option for the player to fill themselves in on what's going on. Being vague and cryptic with the lore works for the Souls series. It doesn't work for a game like this one with a more straightforward narrative. It's a minor issue overall, though.

Still, the game is a lot of fun. Even a lesser game from From is a lot better than the games from most other devs.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 09, 2023, 04:12:57 PM
ITT: sadaam needs to git gud
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Dual1ty on September 09, 2023, 05:01:22 PM
Don't mind me, just dropping this TRUTH BOMB over here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wluIfnJAZYc
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 09, 2023, 07:30:19 PM
I apologise in advance because this is not a very well organised post. I am extremely tired because the humidity has been oppressive this week and the lack of sleep has finally caught up with me. I am more scatterbrained than usual and I don’t know if this is actually coherent, but I have to respond autistically to Saddam because it’s what we do. Also, Saddam beat the game fair and square as far as I’m aware, so I’m not going to be rude. Well, maybe a little.

I actually disagree with him quite strongly. I think Armored Core VI is easily From Soft's best game since Sekiro (which is their best game btw).

Missions vary in difficulty, and yes bosses are considerably harder across the board, which they should be, but I think a key element you're missing is the power fantasy. No one wants to pilot a giant mech that can't do shit. The opening hours of the game up to Balteus are a careful balancing act of showing the harsh, amoral nature of the central conflict and your role within it, while also allowing you to revel in the haha big gun go brrrrrrrr that you want when you're piloting a giant battle robot. Nonetheless, the build up to Balteus is very well handled and gives you a good grounding in combat and build variety while ultimately leaving you to develop your skills for yourself in order to progress. It is probably the most user-friendly game From Soft has made in that respect, while still being upfront about the level of challenge. The tutorial boss is a crash course in the game’s design philosophy, which is basically: adapt or die.

From the start you are in the dirt, a nameless dog scavenging the wrecks of other mechs for a licence to operate on Rubicon. The boss at the end of the first mission shows how precarious your situation is, you aren't special and you can be wiped out at any moment by any of several powerful forces for whom you aren't even yet a means to an end. That is the nature of the setting, and the game constantly reminds you of that. Friendships and alliances are fleeting, you follow the money, and your next job might be to kill the people who gave you your previous job. The impersonal nature of the job is partly why the story is told the way it's told. Most of your contact with the rest of the world is mediated by Walter, you never see anyone face to face, you only hear their voice. Everything is at a slight remove, even "close" acquaintances can never reach out and touch you, emphasising the dehumanisation of the setting. It is only after encountering Ayre that you begin to gain another perspective, but even so you don't have your freedom, you aren’t a person, which is what Walter ultimately wants for you, the freedom to choose for yourself, even if it means that you have to kill him to do it. I found the story very engaging as the central mystery began to deepen, and I was moved by the ending I chose, which I felt had a well earned sense of pathos.

I don't think the game demands you to run a heavy build at all, but sure you can tank your way through encounters if that's your preference. I played through the game with a light, highly mobile build mostly using various types of shoulder missiles and shotguns, and usually a melee weapon. I found that it was better to try to evade (and I do mean evade, there's no i-frame dodge rolling here) incoming damage than tank it because the repair packs are extremely limited per try. Unlike the Souls games you can't add extra charges to your healing, adding to the sense of danger in each encounter. The level of customisation incentivises experimentation in a way that no previous From Soft game has, especially given that you can change your entire build mid-mission if you die after hitting a checkpoint. I think the devs did an excellent job making sure that each part has its trade-offs, though shotguns are a little bit overpowered. I'm wondering if there will be a balance patch around the end of the month, although From Soft already said that the PvP is a simple extra feature, not a core focus of development, so maybe they’ll just leave it as is.

In conclusion, 9/10 game, git gud, and Saddam is being Reddit.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 11, 2023, 02:15:11 PM
I'm wondering if there will be a balance patch around the end of the month
As it turns out there is a balance patch today! Some of the lighter weapons have had their attack power increased, and three bosses have been nerfed.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 12, 2023, 04:02:50 AM
The tutorial boss is a crash course in the game’s design philosophy, which is basically: adapt or die.

That design philosophy is so vague as to be bordering on useless. Like, I could say the same thing about Super Mario 64. The abrupt transition from the wide-open Bob-omb's Battlefield to the largely vertical Whomp's Fortress, a level full of narrow spaces and moving platforms, provides a severe early lesson to the player: adapt or die! Seriously, though, the tutorial boss is nothing like the rest of the game. There's only one feasible way to beat it, and the player has no other option if they're having trouble than to git gud. That's objectively just not how the rest of the bosses play out. It's not until several levels after the tutorial that you're presented with another boss, and by then, you have plenty of options to switch out parts and weapons or even try a new strategy. I won't claim to know exactly what this game's design philosophy is, but it certainly isn't "just keep doing the exact same thing until you get it right."

Quote
From the start you are in the dirt, a nameless dog scavenging the wrecks of other mechs for a licence to operate on Rubicon. The boss at the end of the first mission shows how precarious your situation is, you aren't special and you can be wiped out at any moment by any of several powerful forces for whom you aren't even yet a means to an end. That is the nature of the setting, and the game constantly reminds you of that. Friendships and alliances are fleeting, you follow the money, and your next job might be to kill the people who gave you your previous job.

The impersonal nature of the job is partly why the story is told the way it's told. Most of your contact with the rest of the world is mediated by Walter, you never see anyone face to face, you only hear their voice. Everything is at a slight remove, even "close" acquaintances can never reach out and touch you, emphasising the dehumanisation of the setting. It is only after encountering Ayre that you begin to gain another perspective, but even so you don't have your freedom, you aren’t a person, which is what Walter ultimately wants for you, the freedom to choose for yourself, even if it means that you have to kill him to do it. I found the story very engaging as the central mystery began to deepen, and I was moved by the ending I chose, which I felt had a well earned sense of pathos.

I should have been clearer about this in my previous post, but I think the story itself is fine. It's really just the lore and background details I take issue with. The biggest example of this is Coral. The game's plot revolves around Coral, literally every faction in the game is primarily motivated by Coral, and every character in this setting knows all about Coral and how important it is. And yet the game never actually explains any of this to the player. Sure, you'll eventually piece it together as the missions go by, but that doesn't retroactively mean that the game's exposition was effective all along. The same thing applies to the Fires of Iblis. And the PCA is especially galling, because it's never made clear who exactly these guys are - before, during, or after the entirety of the game. There is no narrative benefit to this game being vague and uncommunicative on basic details regarding the setting that every character knows and the player should also know. They could have begun the game with a cutscene giving the relevant information, they could have given the player a codex to peruse, or they could have worked the details into the game's early dialogue. Again, this is a minor point overall, but it's still a misstep on From's part, and I'm convinced that it came about because they just figured that what worked well for the Souls series and its related games would also work well for this game - much like the tutorial boss.

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I don't think the game demands you to run a heavy build at all, but sure you can tank your way through encounters if that's your preference. I played through the game with a light, highly mobile build mostly using various types of shoulder missiles and shotguns, and usually a melee weapon. I found that it was better to try to evade (and I do mean evade, there's no i-frame dodge rolling here) incoming damage than tank it because the repair packs are extremely limited per try. Unlike the Souls games you can't add extra charges to your healing, adding to the sense of danger in each encounter. The level of customisation incentivises experimentation in a way that no previous From Soft game has, especially given that you can change your entire build mid-mission if you die after hitting a checkpoint. I think the devs did an excellent job making sure that each part has its trade-offs, though shotguns are a little bit overpowered. I'm wondering if there will be a balance patch around the end of the month, although From Soft already said that the PvP is a simple extra feature, not a core focus of development, so maybe they’ll just leave it as is.

Looking back on my post now, I was definitely generalizing. It was because of Balteus that I joined Team Tank and never looked back. I lost to that boss at least twenty times with a light build because I couldn't avoid enough of its constant barrages of attacks to stay alive for very long. I then switched to a heavy tank build and took the boss down on my second or third try. It was like flipping on a light switch. It may be my lack of skill with a light build that led to me dying so much at first, but it certainly wasn't my incredible skill with a heavy build that led to me then beating the boss with relative ease - it was the fact that using a heavy build was simply a far easier and more effective way of handling that fight. So I will maintain that boss incentivizes a heavy build, but I never really took the time to try experimenting with other builds for the rest of the game, with the one exception being the Ibis battle. You cannot tank its attacks no matter how much of a beast you've created, so I had to slim my build down and use the wheelchair treads to give me the speed to evade its attacks.

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Sekiro (which is their best game btw)

This is Metal Wolf Chaos erasure and I will not stand for it!

(https://i.ibb.co/qr7HvgG/mwc.webp)

Sekiro doesn't even have a version of the Moonlight Sword! How hard could it have been to work that in to a game about a swordsman?
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 12, 2023, 02:35:19 PM
That design philosophy is so vague as to be bordering on useless. Like, I could say the same thing about Super Mario 64. The abrupt transition from the wide-open Bob-omb's Battlefield to the largely vertical Whomp's Fortress, a level full of narrow spaces and moving platforms, provides a severe early lesson to the player: adapt or die! Seriously, though, the tutorial boss is nothing like the rest of the game. There's only one feasible way to beat it, and the player has no other option if they're having trouble than to git gud. That's objectively just not how the rest of the bosses play out. It's not until several levels after the tutorial that you're presented with another boss, and by then, you have plenty of options to switch out parts and weapons or even try a new strategy. I won't claim to know exactly what this game's design philosophy is, but it certainly isn't "just keep doing the exact same thing until you get it right."
I didn't say "just keep doing the exact same thing until you get it right" so I'm not sure why you brought that up. In any case, the boss isn't about "git gud", it's literally just "apply the techniques we have shown you already". It's like teaching a child about basic shapes and then, as a test, handing them a square peg and making sure they understand that it doesn't fit into a round hole. The "adapt or die" part is that Souls players have to learn that they can't i-frame dodge through attacks, the game doesn't work that way. I should have worded it better, so that's my fault. But essentially my point is that From is aware of its core player base, and that AC6 is something quite different from what that audience is used to, so they must indeed "adapt or die".

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I should have been clearer about this in my previous post, but I think the story itself is fine. It's really just the lore and background details I take issue with. The biggest example of this is Coral. The game's plot revolves around Coral, literally every faction in the game is primarily motivated by Coral, and every character in this setting knows all about Coral and how important it is. And yet the game never actually explains any of this to the player. Sure, you'll eventually piece it together as the missions go by, but that doesn't retroactively mean that the game's exposition was effective all along. The same thing applies to the Fires of Iblis. And the Planetary Control Alliance is especially galling, because it's never made clear who exactly these guys are - before, during, or after the entirety of the game. There is no narrative benefit to this game being vague and uncommunicative on basic details regarding the setting that every character knows and the player should also know. They could have begun the game with a cutscene giving the relevant information, they could have given the player a codex to peruse, or they could have worked the details into the game's early dialogue. Again, this is a minor point overall, but it's still a misstep on From's part, and I'm convinced that it came about because they just figured that what worked well for the Souls series and its related games would also work well for this game - much like the tutorial boss.
It’s quite simple. Most characters and factions you encounter don’t know really anything about coral besides its capacity for weaponisation. The characters that do know about it have their reasons for concealing that knowledge, but more broadly you aren’t really told much of anything because of how the world sees you. You aren’t seen as a person, they call you a dog or a hound and they mean precisely that. You exist to follow orders as far as they’re concerned, and the less you know about what you’re doing or why, the better. As Walter says, “it’s just a job 621. All of it.” There is no conceivable in-universe reason for anyone—besides Ayre, who sees you as something more than just a tool, and who does actually tell you quite a lot about the nature of the coral—to give you information beyond what is strictly required for you to do the job.

Also, while it’s true that even less detail than usual is given regarding the PCA (Planetary Closure Authority), it’s pretty unambiguously Space NATO. They established a hold on Rubicon some time after the cataclysm to keep the coral-hungry corporations and other groups from gaining access to Institute City and the coral convergence.

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Looking back on my post now, I was definitely generalizing. It was because of Balteus that I joined Team Tank and never looked back. I lost to that boss at least twenty times with a light build because I couldn't avoid enough of its constant barrages of attacks to stay alive for very long. I then switched to a heavy tank build and took the boss down on my second or third try. It was like flipping on a light switch. It may be my lack of skill with a light build that led to me dying so much at first, but it certainly wasn't my incredible skill with a heavy build that led to me then beating the boss with relative ease - it was the fact that using a heavy build was simply a far easier and more effective way of handling that fight. So I will maintain that boss incentivizes a heavy build, but I never really took the time to try experimenting with other builds for the rest of the game, with the one exception being the Ibis battle. You cannot tank its attacks no matter how much of a beast you've created, so I had to slim my build down and use the wheelchair treads to give me the speed to evade its attacks.
I think one of the great strengths of the game is that the amount of gear available lets you tailor your mech almost perfectly to a design that suits how you feel comfortable playing. If a tank with heavy weapons is what suits you, go for it. I personally found the tank leg parts difficult to control, so I went with reverse-jointed legs for high evasive capability.

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Sekiro doesn't even have a version of the Moonlight Sword! How hard could it have been to work that in to a game about a swordsman?
It isn't named in-game but the Divine Dragon uses it, complete with projectile attacks.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 15, 2023, 01:56:07 PM
I've now completed Armored Core VI with a few days left before intro week starts at uni. The unique/alt NG+ and NG++ missions are fantastic, and the final ending is beautiful. 10/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 15, 2023, 04:28:06 PM
more like armored core 69
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Dual1ty on September 15, 2023, 04:58:28 PM
Old basketball player vs. young NBA 2K player:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t1PBTAmsz8
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 16, 2023, 07:27:50 PM
I didn't say "just keep doing the exact same thing until you get it right" so I'm not sure why you brought that up. In any case, the boss isn't about "git gud", it's literally just "apply the techniques we have shown you already". It's like teaching a child about basic shapes and then, as a test, handing them a square peg and making sure they understand that it doesn't fit into a round hole.

But this is so broad and generic that it tells us nothing useful. You could use it to describe - or defend - any game's tutorial elements, no matter how dubious they are. Let's be more specific here. There's basically only one way to beat the tutorial boss, right? You have to close the distance and use your melee attacks to stun it, leaving it vulnerable for you to do some real damage to it. This is far from an ideal strategy, as the boss is fairly mobile, can "outrun" your assault boosts by flying away from you, and regularly travels out of bounds where you can't follow it, but nevertheless, that's really the only thing you can do. And this never happens again. You are never forced to fight a boss one specific way and with one specific build again in the game. In every other boss fight, and in fact in every other mission save for one (mercifully free of a boss fight), you're entirely free to modify your mech how you want with the equipment available to you. So this boss fight is a bizarre, entirely unique experience as far as boss fights go, not at all representative of the experience or in any way preparing players for what comes next.

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It’s quite simple. Most characters and factions you encounter don’t know really anything about coral besides its capacity for weaponisation. The characters that do know about it have their reasons for concealing that knowledge, but more broadly you aren’t really told much of anything because of how the world sees you. You aren’t seen as a person, they call you a dog or a hound and they mean precisely that. You exist to follow orders as far as they’re concerned, and the less you know about what you’re doing or why, the better. As Walter says, “it’s just a job 621. All of it.” There is no conceivable in-universe reason for anyone—besides Ayre, who sees you as something more than just a tool, and who does actually tell you quite a lot about the nature of the coral—to give you information beyond what is strictly required for you to do the job.

I'm not saying that either 621 or the player should right off the bat know all the arcane secrets of Coral or Rubicon, but they should know the basics. 621 should already know them - not have to be briefed on them by the other characters, but already know them (which the other characters seem to assume they do, anyway) - and the player should be told them via exposition. The game never tells you what Coral is, which is about as basic a detail about this setting as you can get. When I say "the game," I mean the game in its entirety, not simply the other characters in the game, and when I say "you," I mean you, the player, not simply 621, the player character. Can you piece it together after a few missions, sure, just like if you miss the first twenty minutes of a movie you'll probably still be able to figure out who the main character is and what the conflict of the movie is about. That's not the same thing as timely, effective exposition.

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Also, while it’s true that even less detail than usual is given regarding the PCA (Planetary Closure Authority), it’s pretty unambiguously Space NATO. They established a hold on Rubicon some time after the cataclysm to keep the coral-hungry corporations and other groups from gaining access to Institute City and the coral convergence.

I somehow messed up the name in my second post, despite getting it right in the first one. It's Planetary Closure Administration. Derp. Anyway, there's nothing unambiguous about them being Space NATO. That's just a guess on your part. A sensible one that I'd agree with, but still just a guess. It wouldn't have been difficult to include a quick explanation in the game of who they were to save us the trouble of having to guess. Incidentally, you know which faction isn't a complete mystery? RaD. Because with them, the game actually took the time to explain who they were. Instead of just saying, "Oh, look, here comes RaD, doing RaD things," they included a few lines of dialogue introducing us to them. That's all they needed to do. Ideally, I'd prefer a codex full of information that the player can peruse at their leisure, because I like lore lore lore, but they didn't really need to include that to do their job as far as exposition goes. They just needed one or two lines at the right moment to give us context for what's going on.

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I think one of the great strengths of the game is that the amount of gear available lets you tailor your mech almost perfectly to a design that suits how you feel comfortable playing. If a tank with heavy weapons is what suits you, go for it. I personally found the tank leg parts difficult to control, so I went with reverse-jointed legs for high evasive capability.

My AC is better than yours, though! I'll kick your ass in PvP! What weapons did you use? I used dual gatling guns (DF-GA-08 Hu-Ben) and dual stun needle launchers (VE-60SNA).

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It isn't named in-game but the Divine Dragon uses it, complete with projectile attacks.

That's not good enough! It should have been a proper usable sword for the player. Even Ninja Blade had that, and that's the game you'd get if you asked David Cage to make Devil May Cry. I have heard that Déraciné also doesn't have that sword, but as far as I can tell, nobody has ever actually played Déraciné, so there's really no way to confirm.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 16, 2023, 11:22:32 PM
But this is so broad and generic that it tells us nothing useful. You could use it to describe - or defend - any game's tutorial elements, no matter how dubious they are. Let's be more specific here. There's basically only one way to beat the tutorial boss, right? You have to close the distance and use your melee attacks to stun it, leaving it vulnerable for you to do some real damage to it. This is far from an ideal strategy, as the boss is fairly mobile, can "outrun" your assault boosts by flying away from you, and regularly travels out of bounds where you can't follow it, but nevertheless, that's really the only thing you can do. And this never happens again. You are never forced to fight a boss one specific way and with one specific build again in the game. In every other boss fight, and in fact in every other mission save for one (mercifully free of a boss fight), you're entirely free to modify your mech how you want with the equipment available to you. So this boss fight is a bizarre, entirely unique experience as far as boss fights go, not at all representative of the experience or in any way preparing players for what comes next.
I used the missiles and the gun to wear down the helicopter's ACS bar and then boosted in to do heavy melee damage once the helicopter was locked out of moving. Most bosses are highly mobile and capable of outrunning or outpacing you, the helicopter is hardly unique in that respect. Not being able to customise the AC you're given also makes sense in that you're literally crash landing on the planet, Walter seemingly having had just enough resources to get you there, where your first job is to steal a licence from a dead pilot. This is not a well-funded operation, and until you start earning credits what little you have is all you have. In this way, the game puts you in 621's shoes from the very beginning.

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I'm not saying that either 621 or the player should right off the bat know all the arcane secrets of Coral or Rubicon, but they should know the basics. 621 should already know them - not have to be briefed on them by the other characters, but already know them (which the other characters seem to assume they do, anyway) - and the player should be told them via exposition. The game never tells you what Coral is, which is about as basic a detail about this setting as you can get. When I say "the game," I mean the game in its entirety, not simply the other characters in the game, and when I say "you," I mean you, the player, not simply 621, the player character. Can you piece it together after a few missions, sure, just like if you miss the first twenty minutes of a movie you'll probably still be able to figure out who the main character is and what the conflict of the movie is about. That's not the same thing as timely, effective exposition.
The game makes it pretty clear that Coral is a resource that exists on Rubicon, and that various factions make or want to make use of it for different things. Since the story is almost exclusively told through your interactions with those factions, you learn what Coral is to them, not what it is in itself, and really only the NG++ endgame delves into the true nature of Coral. Other characters don't assume you already know what it is, and again most of them either don't care if you know anything, don't want you to know anything, or hardly know anything about it themselves. Like I said, the game puts you in the place of 621, that's precisely why the character is just a number with an extremely vague history. Nonetheless you are given plenty of information as you progress through the game, just like most other games, though in this case the information and depth of understanding builds over two NG+ cycles. Maybe I'm misunderstanding exactly what it is you wanted the game to give you right off the bat, but I have a feeling we've just about hit a brick wall here.

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I somehow messed up the name in my second post, despite getting it right in the first one. It's Planetary Closure Administration. Derp. Anyway, there's nothing unambiguous about them being Space NATO. That's just a guess on your part. A sensible one that I'd agree with, but still just a guess. It wouldn't have been difficult to include a quick explanation in the game of who they were to save us the trouble of having to guess. Incidentally, you know which faction isn't a complete mystery? RaD. Because with them, the game actually took the time to explain who they were. Instead of just saying, "Oh, look, here comes RaD, doing RaD things," they included a few lines of dialogue introducing us to them. That's all they needed to do. Ideally, I'd prefer a codex full of information that the player can peruse at their leisure, because I like lore lore lore, but they didn't really need to include that to do their job as far as exposition goes. They just needed one or two lines at the right moment to give us context for what's going on.
It's technically a guess in that the game doesn't say "hey look it's Space NATO lol" but it's essentially spelled out for you. As for RaD, first consider who briefs us on that mission, and then consider why that character might be forthcoming with kinds of information that others like Walter wouldn't. It all fits together with what I've been saying about how, when, why, and by whom information is given to the player.

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My AC is better than yours, though! I'll kick your ass in PvP! What weapons did you use? I used dual gatling guns (DF-GA-08 Hu-Ben) and dual stun needle launchers (VE-60SNA).
I've experimented quite a bit with builds of varying complexity. The most extreme one used a left hand weapon bay to alternate between two melee weapons (Pulse Blade and Pile Bunker iirc), while the right arm had a Zimmerman shotgun and a ten cell shoulder missile launcher. Right now I'm using a very simple set-up of two RF-025 Scudders and two four cell missile launchers with a fast lock-on FCS. I still haven't tried the PvP, mainly because From's PvP is usually absolute trash, but sure that might be fun.

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That's not good enough! It should have been a proper usable sword for the player. Even Ninja Blade had that, and that's the game you'd get if you asked David Cage to make Devil May Cry. I have heard that Déraciné also doesn't have that sword, but as far as I can tell, nobody has ever actually played Déraciné, so there's really no way to confirm.
I guess that would give games journalists the easy mode they wanted, though I can't imagine From would just let players grab it in the Ashina Outskirts. As for Déraciné, yeah I've never really heard anything about it either. It was a very small project and I think VR was still more or less in its infancy at the time, so I don't doubt very few people played it. Apparently it debuted with around 3000 sales in Japan, which is very small for an exclusive from a well known studio on a popular console in an extremely console dominated market. Also it would appear that it has no combat, so your hopes are dashed once again.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 19, 2023, 08:22:06 PM
Okay, we'll just agree to disagree on the tutorial boss. I had never heard of anyone not using melee attacks to stagger the boss, but I probably just suck at the game. I'm more concerned about the lore stuff, because you're saying a lot of things that just aren't backed up by the game:

The game makes it pretty clear that Coral is a resource that exists on Rubicon, and that various factions make or want to make use of it for different things.

No, it doesn't. You can piece together the basics of what Coral is after a few missions, but that's not the same thing as having been told from the beginning. Your knowledge does not apply retroactively.

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Other characters don't assume you already know what it is, and again most of them either don't care if you know anything, don't want you to know anything, or hardly know anything about it themselves.

This flies in the sense of common sense. Characters regularly say things to you like "Intercept this corporation excavating the Coral in this region," "This place has been untouched since the Fires of Iblis," or "The PCA have shown up, get rid of them." These lines would make no sense or be outright confusing to anyone who doesn't know what Coral, the Fires of Ibis, or the PCA are, respectively, and nobody would talk like that to anyone they think doesn't know about them, because again, why would they want to confuse you in your orders?

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In this way, the game puts you in 621's shoes from the very beginning...Since the story is almost exclusively told through your interactions with those factions

This whole total-immersion idea is simply wrong. Throughout the game, we see a number of conversations that Walter has with other characters (particularly Carla) that 621 clearly isn't present for, which are in fact our first indication that Walter is keeping something secret. We also get a few cutscenes that do give us some very straightforward exposition about what's going on in a broad sense with the corporations and their struggle for Rubicon, and it would have been entirely consistent with those to also include a cutscene at the start of the game telling us a few basic details about Rubicon, Coral, the Fires of Ibis, and the current war. Finally, there's the very structure of the game itself, and how the NG+ system shows you how both the story and specific missions change based on the decisions that you make. The game absolutely puts some distance between the player and 621, and it's definitely done on purpose to help the player understand the story to a degree that 621 never could over the course of any one given playthrough.

Incidentally, I think your assessment of Walter is pretty harsh. Yes, he has his own agenda that he isn't telling 621 about, and yes, he would sacrifice 621 just like the other augmented humans he's worked with, but he doesn't view them as a "hound" or a mindless tool to be kept ignorant at all. His secrets are very specific ones - namely, the true nature of the Coral and his ultimate plan for it. Otherwise, he's free with his information and quick to brief you about whom you're fighting with, whom you're fighting against, etc., and he lets you choose rather than give you orders whenever you have your choice of missions or face an important decision in the middle of a mission. It wouldn't at all have been out of character for him to tell you a little bit about the basics of Rubicon and Coral at the start of the game, although, like I said, From had other options for providing exposition than just dialogue.

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As for Déraciné, yeah I've never really heard anything about it either. It was a very small project and I think VR was still more or less in its infancy at the time, so I don't doubt very few people played it. Apparently it debuted with around 3000 sales in Japan, which is very small for an exclusive from a well known studio on a popular console in an extremely console dominated market.

VR is a dying fad. Sad!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 20, 2023, 08:03:43 PM
No, it doesn't. You can piece together the basics of what Coral is after a few missions, but that's not the same thing as having been told from the beginning. Your knowledge does not apply retroactively.
I'm failing to see what the difference is between "the beginning" and "after a few missions", given that the game has quite a lot of missions. Furthermore, how does one "piece together" information one has not received?

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Characters regularly say things to you like "Intercept this corporation excavating the Coral in this region," "This place has been untouched since the Fires of Iblis," or "The PCA have shown up, get rid of them."
Two of those are telling you what the objective is, and the one that isn't is again coming from the character who most views 621 as a human and an equal, and who is forthcoming with information in many notable instances.

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This whole total-immersion idea is simply wrong. Throughout the game, we see a number of conversations that Walter has with other characters (particularly Carla) that 621 clearly isn't present for
I never said "total-immersion", I said that it puts you in the position (or "shoes") of 621. This is not the same thing as being 621, but is a fairly simple device through which empathy with a non-speaking cipher character can be built.

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Incidentally, I think your assessment of Walter is pretty harsh. Yes, he has his own agenda that he isn't telling 621 about, and yes, he would sacrifice 621 just like the other augmented humans he's worked with, but he doesn't  view them as a "hound" or a mindless tool to be kept ignorant at all. His secrets are very specific ones - namely, the true nature of the Coral and his ultimate plan for it. Otherwise, he's free with his information and quick to brief you about whom you're fighting with, whom you're fighting against, etc., and he lets you choose rather than give you orders whenever you have your choice of missions or face an important decision in the middle of a mission.
Walter's respect for 621 as a human being only begins to show near the end of the first playthrough. The options you refer to start turning up around the same time, maybe a little earlier. In any case most of them are not available until NG+/++ anyway, and the same goes for the mid-mission choices you can make (I'm pretty sure the stealth mission features the only one in NG, and Walter is not present for that one).

Somewhat related: It's possible to speculate regarding the extent to which the differences in the NG+/++ cycles' opening dialogues, the additional choices etc. are indicative of Walter and 621 having already built a solid professional relationship, and whether those subsequent cycles are alternate timelines or simply cheeky nods to being in a video game—of the sort we tended to see in games of a prior era, to which AC6 can be considered a kind of throwback.

Somewhat less related but cool: It seems that Walter is the son of the Institute researcher who first experimented with Coral and human augmentation, and at some point this research was directly responsible for the death of Walter's mother. Walter doesn't really understand the true nature of Coral, he has never made contact*, he sees Coral as a purely destructive force which will wipe out humanity if it is allowed to continue existing.

*in the final mission for the Liberator ending, Walter appears to have made contact of a sort through Coral augmentation (which he was subjected to while a prisoner of Arquebus, and which enables him to pilot the manned Ibis model) and is thus able to "see" the voices standing alongside 621


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Okay, we'll just agree to disagree on the tutorial boss. I had never heard of anyone not using melee attacks to stagger the boss, but I probably just suck at the game.
You beat the game and got all the endings, I don't think anyone can claim you suck at the game. But I think we pretty much all sucked when we first faced that damned helicopter.

As for agreeing to disagree, the academic year technically hasn't even started yet and my reading is already piling up. So I'm afraid this will be my last contribution for the time being. It's been fun, and I look forward to butting heads once more when Shadow of the Erdtree comes out.

P.S.: Rejoice! There are (cosmetic) mods that turn Kusabimaru into the Moonlight Katana. I looked it up just for you!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 21, 2023, 12:06:46 AM
i watched the dunkey review for ac69 and realized i probably dont need to play this game and that sadaam is really and truly terrible at video games
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: beardo on September 21, 2023, 12:12:19 AM
Haha Toddfield 7/10
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 21, 2023, 08:23:11 AM
i watched the dunkey review for ac69 and realized i probably dont need to play this game and that sadaam is really and truly terrible at video games
dunkey is a retard who optimises the fun out of the game, if you liked Sekiro you'll like AC6
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on September 23, 2023, 04:36:57 PM
I still don't agree with Crudblud, and I think he's being a bit pedantic in his last response to me, but I'm willing to let it lie rather than seem like I'm swooping in just to get the last word or whatever. Maybe one day I'll corner him on IRC and get a better chance to explain to him how objectively correct I am. Anyway, I was wondering how long it would take for someone to bring up Dunkey's review of the game. He's being awfully harsh on it. It's one thing to compare it to From's other titles as a starting point, but he returns to that point again and again seemingly as evidence of how bad the game is. Most games are far easier than Soulsbornes. Most games can be played with a minimum of focus once you have enough experience with the gameplay and familiarity with the levels. That doesn't make them bad. I guarantee you that the next Mario game that Dunkey raves about will be a lot easier than AC6. Anyway, if you just don't like what you see of the gameplay, that's fine, but if you'd otherwise be interested, don't let yourself be put off simply because Dunkey said that the game wasn't very good.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on September 23, 2023, 05:12:22 PM
i dont actually listen to youtube nerds. ill play ac69 after i play neverending fantasy 16 and possibly neverending fantasy 7 remake part 2.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on September 25, 2023, 10:13:01 PM
I still don't agree with Crudblud, and I think he's being a bit pedantic in his last response to me, but I'm willing to let it lie rather than seem like I'm swooping in just to get the last word or whatever.
I was secretly hoping you'd bait me by posting something to which I'd have to spend entirely too much time thinking about how to respond, thereby dashing my dreams of academic success. Alas, sadaam'd once again!
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on December 11, 2023, 04:41:48 AM
Xbox game pass has cloud gaming so I'm playing Viva pinata but I'm mostly just clicking my second monitor and accidentally quiting my games
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 11, 2023, 06:49:51 PM
oh hey, it's vongeo
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Vongeo on December 24, 2023, 06:09:46 AM
oh hey, it's vongeo
https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxWu1iNoylrmdrFRRWnpJGSI9xpxaT8N7C?si=IL9pUg7hg7p9ESas
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: rooster on December 26, 2023, 02:22:48 PM
oh hey, it's vongeo
*this video is unavailable*
cool
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 05, 2024, 01:24:35 PM
Hot take since I finally got around to it. The only good thing about Dragon's Dogma is being able to pick up and throw people. That provided about ten minutes of solid entertainment.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 17, 2024, 07:36:58 PM
Playing Arkham Knight really makes me feel like I'm batman
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: juner on March 18, 2024, 07:27:42 AM
Playing Arkham Knight really makes me feel like I'm batman
>okay sadaam
>video games are for children
>imagine unironically not playing neverending fantasy seven remake part deux
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Rushy on March 18, 2024, 02:34:00 PM
Playing Arkham Knight really makes me feel like I'm batman
>okay sadaam
>video games are for children
>imagine unironically not playing neverending fantasy seven remake part deux

I'm batman
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: Crudblud on March 18, 2024, 03:38:35 PM
I've been playing Insomniac's Spider-Man game and it's mostly quite good, please enjoy some fragmented and poorly organised complaints. My excuse is I have a really bad cold and my head feels like it's stuck in a vice.

They really nailed the fluidity of the movement, though sometimes combat feels a bit unwieldy compared especially to the two major Arkham sequels, which have a more intuitive combat flow, especially with the quick gadgets button combos. Spidey will often target random other enemies during a combo without any directional input for no apparent reason, so instead of taking out the enemy I just knocked to the floor, he will suddenly turn around and target someone completely different with the rapid web shots. Being able to take some enemies out immediately by webbing them to a wall or floor is cool though, and not having a head-on fight with gun-wielding enemies be an automatic death sentence does give it something that the Arkham games always lacked.

Speaking of stealth, the MJ/Miles sections suck ass. Yeah I really want to have the character who can run up walls and cover all of Manhattan in a matter of minutes by swinging from skyscrapers taken away from me so that I can slowly fumble around as an ordinary person while armed guards with extremely selective cones of vision and radii of hearing fart about in silly obstacle courses like a bunch of potatoes with legs.

The movement is the best part of the game, and the size of the map complements it really well, although some of the collectathon stuff gets incredibly silly very quickly. You'll be on your way to a main objective and Spidey will just blurt out "hey look a pigeon lol" as if he doesn't have something more urgent to take care of. Some stuff can again be a little awkward, particularly interacting with walls in any way other than freerunning. Not jumping against a wall and immediately sticking to it is just weird, as is having to manually aim to shoot up to the ceiling. Ceiling and wall geometries can also be extremely fucky to negotiate; I don't care if it's more realistic, the environment should be built around accommodating Spider-Man as much as possible. The Tony Hawk games have always had ridiculous nonsense geometry because it's fun to have fun things even if they aren't faithful to the real world locations the levels are modelled on.

One final complaint is that for an open world game it feels super on-rails a lot of the time. Sometimes you finish an objective and then have nothing to do, but then literally one minute or less later someone will call you and tell you where to go next. I'm not sure what a good solution to this is, since there's nothing worse than having to complete minigames and sidequests to get the next piece of the main story, but it feels as though Insomniac didn't quite know which direction they wanted to go in with some of this stuff.

Again, overall I think the game is pretty good so far and it does a good job of living up to the fantasy of being your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man, but a solid chunk of it is comprised of really fucking annoying shit put in seemingly at random.
Title: Re: Now Playing (the Video Game Version)
Post by: honk on March 19, 2024, 01:44:26 AM
Speaking of stealth, the MJ/Miles sections suck ass. Yeah I really want to have the character who can run up walls and cover all of Manhattan in a matter of minutes by swinging from skyscrapers taken away from me so that I can slowly fumble around as an ordinary person while armed guards with extremely selective cones of vision and radii of hearing fart about in silly obstacle courses like a bunch of potatoes with legs.

You just don't understand the vision.

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One final complaint is that for an open world game it feels super on-rails a lot of the time. Sometimes you finish an objective and then have nothing to do, but then literally one minute or less later someone will call you and tell you where to go next. I'm not sure what a good solution to this is, since there's nothing worse than having to complete minigames and sidequests to get the next piece of the main story, but it feels as though Insomniac didn't quite know which direction they wanted to go in with some of this stuff.

I have a solution - put a marker on the map with each new story mission, and whenever the player arrives at that marker, then they get a phone call from whatever character wants them to do something next.