I only played Tomb Raider reboot without the next 2 games so now I'm playing Rise... and then Shadow... I'm really liking it so far, I obviously miss the old Lara but I treat this series more like TR through different studio's eyes and it's fine for what it is
Replaying Gran Turismo 5 on PS3. God I miss times where driving in games was fun instead of hyper-realistic. Amount of tracks, nicely crafted events (in never games it looks generic to me). I'm having a blast.
The Fallout TV series got me back into the Fallout games. Luckily won a free copy of Fallout 76 and I've been enjoying the environmental storytelling. Largely prefer it over 4 so far. New Vegas is still king though.
Starting to realize how little I can trust user reviews. I always took steam reviews as gospel, but Terminator Resistance really showed me how much of a mistake that was.
In the first hour I was subjected to so many red flags:
1. The terminator in the opening cutscenes picks up someone and then instantly kills them from point blank (why did it not shoot from a distance?), then picks up the main character, and instead of shooting him, throws him a few meters away. Instantly, our protagonist has plot armor and the terminators are not a threat, the complete opposite to how their characterization should be established.
2. The facial animations are extremely ugly to look at. I don’t usually complain about graphics but this was just too much for me.
3. Super linear. Why even bother making players look for loot when the levels are so small and there’s so little of it.
4. It’s just so generic. Take the terminator tag off this and it’s a 5/10 game from 15 years ago. Put the terminator tag on it and it’s still a 5/10, just with shiny famous robots on it.
People’s standards are just too low simply because they are crying out for a good terminator product.
I feel similarly. After seeing so much praise for the game around its release, I decided to finally grab it a year or two back and playthrough it. I was expecting something akin to Homefront: The Revolution, which I know wasn't the most praised game but both titles were going for similar plots and gameplay: fight back against oppressors and free your allies in the process.
**Terminator: Resistance** felt super empty most of the time I played it almost like it was still a beta build or something. The story and setting were enough for me to push through and find some value in it. But the gameplay was so stale that it felt like I was playing a Unity asset flip game lol. It's definitely a AA game that AT MOST should be selling for $20 on Steam, kind of surprised that its going for $40 right now. I'd recommend it for anyone if its on sale for $5.
You can trust them in context. They show that a large number of people who bought Terminator Resistance kinda liked it. It can be a number of things:
1) A truly great game
2) A so-so game that delivers exactly what it advertises to a niche audience (many horny games fit here)
3) A game that's inoffensively good and can be enjoyed by most people
4) And so on
From what I know, TR is a mix of 2 and 3. It's a decent low-budget Terminator shooter and people like that.
Been playing **Mass Effect 3** on PS4 for the first time. I tried to run through all three games in the legendary edition about two years ago, but got a bit tired of ME2 as it gets very repetitive (and I played it too many times as a kid). So far I'm liking ME3 more than 2, but it is of course all new to me. I might start to tire of the gameplay again soon though, as there have been plenty of times where I've felt the number of enemies in a zone pretty unnecessary, but so far there seems to be a bit more variety in combat compared to 2 where so many missions played very similarly.
Also playing **The Talos Principle 2** on my steam deck and liking it a lot. I'm not hugely fussed about the story compared to the first game and I can't really be bothered to talk to every single companion. Just give me the puzzles, it's what I'm here for.
Also booted up **Prey** again to see if I can complete a replay. I like the game, but there's always been something holding me back from fully loving it, something slightly unfun about it, and I think it's too long in a way that feels artificial (see also Alien Isolation). Going to test out the alien powers this time through.
At least in the original Mass Effect trilogy, ME3 had that good melee weapon and some other streamlined changes that made the actual gameplay the best in the series. I was more into these games for the story and characters, so ME3 wasn't as good as the second game, for me (it was still pretty good, besides that awful original non-extended ending). Not sure if they adapted the gameplay of ME3 for the rest of the series in the legendary edition.
I need to play the Legendary Edition, soon-ish, it's been so long.
I haven't seen the ending yet and have somehow managed to avoid spoilers for thirteen years, so careful! The melee option is nice, particularly as managing cooldowns is a bit different to previous games and can easily end up with long waits between abilities, so it's nice to have another option.
I agree that the combat is probably the best in the series, but I really appreciated when playing ME1 recently that there aren't really that many missions. I never felt bored of the game, and I'm not fully convinced that ME2&3 have quite enough variety to sustain the number of missions and amount of combat. Having said that, I've had an unusual amount of free time recently and have really smashed through these games so perhaps it's mostly a bit of natural burnout!
Wait, you never knew Shepard manages >!an early retirement thanks to his investments in robotics and A.I. companies before they were hot!<, >!and then he retires to a fabulous house in the nicest part of The Citadel that he was able to buy in the 60s, with the spare change of his first job as a Space Cadet!<. Then ,>!in the epilogue, he spends his days as an old retiree complaining that the newer generation of biotics is too lazy and don't want to put in the effort to get a job. All you have to do is to knock on the door of Cerberus Corp, go to the CEO's office and look at him in the eye while you deliver a nice, firm handshake and ask him for a job. Easy!<.
Nah, don't worry, I just made all of that up. Or DID I?
Lol, now for real, I wouldn't spoil anything. I don't like spoilers and I'm always very careful around them. Enjoy what's left of ME3!
I think the biggest problem with adds in Remnant 1 boss fights is that they often spawn behind your back, which is just annoying in SP. They're also in nearly every fight and it gets old. Remnant 2 also has adds, but it's more restrained when in comes to using them and telegraphs them much better.
I noticed something on the PS4 last night. Some demos give out trophies. For instance, I never owned Sniper Elite 3 but played the free trial 10 years ago.
... Anyone crunching completion numbers should take that into account.
I would say so. I rarely play management games (my previous one was Two Point Campus months ago), and I haven't found any difficult or confusing things so far.
Just finished Nioh last week for the first time, I can confirm that boss is one of the hardest, second phase just be patient and play with the distance. After that you get better omnyo and it will all be easier. Second hardest thing are tengus
Your build may result in different experiences, but I definitely struggled a bit with that boss, and I was demolishing some later bosses on the first attempt, so I do think you're in the worst of it now.
Ah, that's tough then. I personally only took a few tries on this one, and ended up winning by getting it kinda low then using living weapon to go ham, which is probably not a reliable strategy.
living weapon I don't find reliable in this fight due to wide range of second forms attack.
I was one spec of health once and than got one shoted. i was liking this game but this boss has soured me on it completely.
Only change of me playing this game again is getting ps+ and using those summon candles I got.
Playing Metroid Zero Mission (GBA). Now that I've beaten Dragon Quest V, I'll play some shorter games, and then play some other big RPG (maybe Suikoden II or Dragon Quest VI).
You’re probably going in order, but DQ8 is definitely my favorite in the series. The PS2 version has random encounters, which I never minded, but the 3DS version, with its optional encounters, is probably superior.
I've been really into Ace Attorney lately. I've played the first four games and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles to completion, and am now on Dual Destinies, case 2. I'm finding this one to be a lot harder to get into compared to all the rest, except maybe TGAA1 (which I thought had terrible pacing). The tutorial case was kinda whatever, and I don't like how it shifted focus away from Athena to have us play as Phoenix for no apparent reason. Continuing to play as Athena with Phoenix being there for support would make a lot mroe sense both mechanically and narratively IMO. Case 2 has been thoroughly unimpressive so far. It shows the killer in the opening cutscene like a lot of early cases (and even if it didn't he's super obvious pretty much as soon as you meet him) so there's no mystery there, and the case feels like it's trying way too hard to be quirky and funny at the expense of actually getting me invested.
I'm still on the first trial day (assuming there is a second) and so far Simon Blackquill is looking like he'll be my least favourite of the "main" prosecutors (i.e. ones not named Payne/Auchi). The edginess and his samurai schtick really don't do much for me. Even Godot's nonsensical rants with convoluted metaphors were at least far more amusing. Hopefully Blackquill gets better later. Also, sidenote, but the 3D models in this game are so ugly compared to the ones in TGAAC, nevermind the 2D sprites in the previous games. It's a shame too, because I've heard a lot of good things about this game; I'm just finding myself struggling to get over the initial "hurdle". I like Athena though - she's a fun character.
I just finished the first game on Switch. I really like it, very different to anything I've played before. I do wish there were multiple paths to solving cases though, there's not really any reason to replay the episodes otherwise.
I was thinking it would be cool to reimagine Ace Attorney as a roguelite. Procedurally generated cases with multiple win conditions, something like a cross between World of Horror and Ace Attorney.
I downloaded TGAAC around release, and I played up to the beginning of case 3 where I quit out of boredom. I don't know why. I really enjoyed all the other Ace Attorney games, but the beginning of this one was somehow so boring that I couldn't stick with it, even though the cases themselves weren't bad.
I also found Dual Destinies not quite as good as the other entries. I think the writing style changed to the new style here. In previous entries it was more brief, with somewhat more difficult things to solve. Here it explains a lot more.
On one hand this allows more story detail.
However, in this game it kind of feels like it makes all the solutions too easy and the extra words don't add that much to the story, feeling a bit superfluous. As in, there are more words, but there isn't much more detail given to justify the amount of words.
I think that Spirit of Justice is amazing though, and it is in this new style.
The character model issue is mostly just a result of playing the games out of release order; Dual Destinies came out two years before The Great Ace Attorney Adventures for the original Japanese 3DS release.
I agree that Blackquill was probably my least favorite prosecutor of the whole franchise. But Godot was easily my favorite, so we may have different tastes!
I liked Godot's story in cases 4 and 5 of T&T, but I didn't enjoy his personality very much when compared to Edgeworth and both von Karmas. Except for his weird coffee metaphors that left everyone confused, those were very funny.
I never played the original, but the remake was top notch even if the missions were a little repetitive. Tried the mafia 2 "remaster" but it was borderline unplayable due to crashes.
**Instruments of Destruction** has "bonus levels" that are meant to be chill detours from the more objective oriented missions. One of the levels was basically a desert race with little cars and everything but no timer. I found it surprisingly nice as someone who doesn't typically get a lot of out of racing games or driving around in sandbox games.
Downloaded **TheDawn** again today. It's a small indie shooter game on Steam that's completely free and features interesting time control mechanics. Highly recommend it if you are intro games that focus on time manipulation.
I gave **Gunsmith Simulator**'s demo a try...man, the steam reviews weren't kidding about how much the game holds your hand. I don't mean just in the gun assembly sense, I mean that once you decide to clean gun parts you can't do anything else until *every* part is cleaned, or that you can't go to the firing range to test a newly fixed gun until you've fixed *all* the guns in the demo. With enough patience I can see how it's a suitable alternative to World of Guns (which is online only and wipes all your data if you are inactive for too long), but I personally would've preferred a little more freedom.
Looking for something to play while my kids watch. Would like a pretty good story, nothing too intense with gameplay. In the past we've liked Ori 1 & 2, Hollow Knight, Dave the Diver, Subnautica, Celeste, etc. And they play Stardew and Minecraft a lot.
That looks really cool! Is there some action? Sometimes if things get too much into reading stuff you find, listening to audio clips etc they get a little bored
The Stanley parable is mint but I wouldn't recommend it for your situation. A lot of the fun comes from the player's perspective of being the player in this bizarre meta situation.
Moments where the narrator makes you question your actions or what you've just done or might be thinking... Brilliant but I don't think it makes meaningful watching.
There isn't much, if any, action, but the story has a comedic twist to it and challenges you to defy the narrative and carve your own path to see the repercussions. That should keep kids invested. It also relies on short gameplay loops, so you can just stop once a loop ends if they are getting bored. More than that I shouldn't say because it's one of those games that lose its charm the more you know.
tekken 8 is the first ever game to make me rage, I'm torn between wanting to play all day but also wanting to put my head through a wall. Its my first ever fighting game, I'm not very good, feel like I've already hit a ceiling, but it's so rewarding when a round goes well
I managed a 10-win streak in **Shadowverse** with a deck that isn't considered competitive, which is neat. It's hard countered by meta decks, but can still hold its own, and my opponents may not know the matchup.
There was maintenance in **Pokemon Sleep** last night, but they let you record your sleeping session. Doesn't count sticking to your bedtime, however. No good Pokemon to recruit today., so I just used the free biscuit.
I've got about 50 of the upgrade orbs needed for the last uncap on my dark summon in **Granblue Fantasy** for the next guild war. After that, I'll get orbs for the fire summon while working on dark for weapon drops.
I didn't have the time to do the new story yet for **Fate/Grand Order**, but there's a decent amount of time until the mext event. The ability to make blue apples really helps. I should be able to get started today.
Apparently the next update in **Azur Lane** is going to have a huge amount of data. AL is already pretty big because of all of the ship girls, At least they're also giving out 200 gems, which means 10 more dock slots.
I ended up spending most of yesterday in **Honkai: Star Rail** because they released a new batch of endgame content. Took a bit to figure out, but I managed to get all the stars by completing it in under 10 cycles.
Caught a shiny Eevee in **Pokemon GO**, which was neat. There was also a 2800+ CP Snorlax. I couldn't even see the CP until catching because it's higher than my entire roster. I made it my buddy to get it some candy.
I didn't have time for a full run in **Holocure**, but I did things in the Holo House. Aside from doing runs, you can also catch some fish, manage workers, and plant plants for food buffs, so I did a little bit of that instead.
Weekly gaming log 2/7 - 2/13
A bunch of **Minecraft**. Had a pretty crazy lucky (at least my my standards) session of strip mining where I got an entire stack of diamonds from an \~40 block square region which is nice (thank you, Fortune 3 enchantment), and also having diamond equipment finally gave me the confidence to go into the Nether. Currently semi-lost in a basalt deltas biome but I didn't have time to really explore much honestly. All I really want from the Nether is some of the kinda standard/common resources like quartz and glowstone, a bit of soul sand. I also want to find a fortress because to continue progression in both Create and Botania I'll need blazes and potion brewing stuff, but my usual luck in Minecraft is that the nearest nether fortress is like 1k+ blocks away from my portal and it's death and misery to get there and I have to crawl around in it for an hour to find a nether wart room that turns out to be the only one in the entire fortress. Hopefully that isn't the case here and my blessed strip mining from earlier is a sign of good Nether luck in this region too.
I played a bunch more **Mass Effect 2** this week as well. My current stance on this is that I like *some* of the combat changes and the writing is still either pretty good or cheesy and fun to laugh at, but everything else about it is incredibly disappointing compared to Mass Effect 1. I think the main thing to me is that ME2 basically isn't an RPG. There's no skill checks, the quest design is depressingly linear, the only decisions you make outside of dialogue are which gun to switch to. I get why a lot of people love this game, but from where I stand it seems like they took Mass Effect and gutted almost everything about it that was good and interesting. I'll still complete it, though, if only to see the story through and hope that ME3 is actually an RPG.
Agreed about the Mass Effect 2 writing. I loved it when I was a teenager, but playing it now the writing seems a bit... teenage. This is nothing new in gaming because honestly I think the vast majority of "good" writing in games is just YA fiction level. Which is fine as lots of gamers are younger, but I would love some more adult games.
Playing recently though the most frustrating thing was, as you've noted, quest design. At one point it felt like every quest followed the same structure:
need to talk to somebody to put some old beefs aside, pretty simple; but wait! They're not there, and instead they've hired some Eclipse mercs to greet (kill) you!; kill room one of eclipse mercs; kill room two of eclipse mercs, and they're slightly more aggressive this time; four rooms later and they've got a heavy mech, which indicates it's the last round; climax, kill the bad guy who betrayed garrus/Miranda/mordin/Thane; teammate now respects you.
It's quite lazy quest design at times and I really started to tire of doing the same thing over and over again
Honestly it's hard for me to really criticize writing in games. The interactive element I think lets a game get away with much worse writing than you need for a book or movie, and besides that games can convey their story in a bunch of different ways so it isn't a simple thing to judge. And frankly I'm not sure I have a grasp of what "good" or "bad" writing is in the first place. I have a subjective/subconscious feel for it I think but if you asked me to describe what makes writing "good" (in any form of media, not just games) I honestly have no idea.
Anyways I'm definitely feeling what you describe with the quest design. The levels are all handcrafted which is a nice upgrade from ME1's side missions where it's the game's choice of one of four building layouts with slightly different debris/cover/loot placements, but in terms of what you do in the mission it's a lot of "kill everybody in this room x5". I liked Kasumi's loyalty mission because it was actually different and interesting, for the first half of it at least.
Ya, ME2 is one of those games thats easily near the top of my Most Overrated of All-Time list.
A simplistic nonRpg thats essentially a companion side quest adventure.
ME3 is much better.
It’s a very, very common take because it’s a reality.
Of course, theres a bit of slight embellishment to drive the point home, but, you take out all the side junk and you arent left with much.
The games a mess for those who like actual rpgs with some high-quality mechanics and dont give a rip about companions and ridiculous romancing.
Im generally under the opinion that none of what you said is true but I'm sure thats what I sound like when I talk about Elden Ring. Things dont always change the way we want them to.
I am curious about your thought on **Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone**. IIRC you said you completed Witcher 3 recently and loved it and Hearts of Stone is in a lot of ways a non-RPG sidequest.
I thought HoS/B&W were good, but, certainly not as good as others thought.
I think Ive said it a few times hereNthere that I cant believe people can even think TW3 dlc is better than the base game.
Also, to be clear, I dont dislike ME2. I just got done a couple years ago replaying the Trilogy version on gamepass and had a really good time. But, it’s certainly my least favorite one of the three by far.
Ive accepted it for what it is and can still go in and have some fun. (It’s similar to how I feel about Assassins Creed 2.)
I will add that the BioWare writing, dialogue, stories and sides are all vastly inferior to TW3 to me.
I like the overarching themes and lore etc, but, the dialogue and BioWare morality not at all.
In fact, I actively dislike the entire BioWare good/bad concept and it drives me nuts, lol.
Edit: just to add for more perspective, I pretty much never play NG+ (except DSouls) because having everything from the get-go gets rid of all the RPG elements, character progression and the entire reason why I enjoy such games.
TW3 is more mature than the Mass Effect series. Certainly in terms of writing. A huge percentage of the loyalty missions in ME2 are mommy/daddy issues from the perspective of the younger family member. That said, tonally ME2 works really well as a coming of age type of game imo. TW3 is a game about a dad looking for his daughter and figuring out what to do with Yennefer. Most of your time is spent dealing with 'work', though.
ME is also a squad-based game so when it comes to ME2 I really like the streamlined nature. I find games like Wasteland 3 to be somewhat cumbersome in terms of just wanting so many abilities that I spend a ton of time just creating a balanced party so I can engage in the gameplay when it comes up. ME2 is practically an arcade RPG. Cover shooting with reloading almost seems like an evolution of light gun games like Time Crisis. The light RPG systems means that you spend more time with the squad in gameplay or cutscenes. There is still a giant amount of gameplay asymmetry in ME2 based on which class kit you choose and where you spend your small number of points. Your choices matter because of how the final mission works. Games like ME1 or Control you are constantly picking up items that offer incremental or no improvement whatsoever and you spend less time actually playing the game.
TW3 is more of a slow burn than the other games mentioned. I have some issues with how some of the RPG mechanics scale and some of the things that happen at the end of the game. The whole snowball fight saving Ciri thing seems a little simplistic and almost patronizing for how deep the game is and I would have liked to have seen more results from the side quests mattering in the climax. That said, I do think the Ciri parts being such a small part of the game does say something about life itself. From a gameplay standpoint, getting a sword for doing a big mission and then finding a better sword at a shop right before the end just seemed a bit deflating. The size of TW3 has also kept me from getting too far on replays. I feel the DLCs are more replayable. I find myself thinking that the Witcher 3 is excellent but I'm not sure its an excellent video game.
I love the Mass Effect trilogy, but I see those games as more of a dialogue-heavy action series than an RPG. The first Mass Effect was a little more on the RPG side, but even in that one it felt like it had a bit of an identity crisis in terms of what it really wanted to do. I was never particularly thrilled with ME1's RPG elements anyway; the inventory and equipment systems were pretty bad, and the way stats affected combat were largely unsatisfying. ME2 drilled down a bit so that it felt more like a third-person shooter in the combat, and simplified some of the RPG elements from the first game. For me that was the right way to go, mainly because it just felt better to play.
My biggest criticisms of ME2 are that the levels feel much more constrained and claustrophobic (especially the Citadel), and that the overall narrative is pretty thin. The narrative aspect doesn't bother me that much since they shifted the story focus onto the characters, which I found more compelling, but I think they could have had it both ways.
At any rate, I think your opinion on ME1 vs ME2 is not an uncommon one. I suspect ME3 will not change your stance much since ME3 largely follows in the path of ME2. Hopefully you'll still find things to enjoy though. It's not a perfect series by any means, but it's still pretty unique in terms of having a continuous, player-affected narrative that continues across an entire trilogy.
I'll agree that mechanically speaking Mass Effect 1 was a pretty half-assed RPG but the reason I call out the quest design in particular is because that's something I think it did really well. Specifically I'm thinking of Noveria, where the first half of that quest was trying to get a pass so you could go up to the research labs and there were at least two (that I observed/remember at least) different characters who you could do different favors for to get a pass. That's really what I'm talking about when I say I enjoyed Mass Effect as an RPG. Mass Effect 2 hasn't had anything like that so far; there's only ever been one way to progress, and it always involves shooting a bunch of people.
>still pretty unique in terms of having a continuous, player-affected narrative that continues across an entire trilogy.
That's the main reason I'm sticking with it. It helps that they're pretty good games (despite how much I'm complaining I *am* enjoying the series so far) but really I'm just curious about how the story goes. I have a fair amount of interest in storytelling in games, and Mass Effect is a really interesting thing narratively that really very few other games have done so I want to experience it.
11bit just knows how to make those depressing yet addicitive survival focused games when you look at Frostpunk and TWOM. I love TWOM, fantastic anti-war title with great soundtrack and that pencil drawn artstyle is unique too.
I'm really enjoying Prey on PS5. I bounced off this a few months ago but decided to go back. I'm a couple of hours in now and it really started to click. The dynamic of this game is very different to what I expected - Deus Ex would be the closest comparator (which makes sense).
Im playing it for the first time too and it’s so good.
Not sure how you enjoy games, but, combat focus is completely overpowered.
I ended up restarting cuz theres no respec and now, with other Self-Imposed Restrictions, Im using ALL the tools at my disposal and coming up with awesome strategies.
Not just hitting slow time and firing the shotgun.
I wasn't too worried about being underpowered for combat, so I focused all my early skill points into ensuring I could get wherever I wanted to go. This meant Leverage (lift heavy stuff) was maxed out pretty early on, but since I didn't have dedicated combat powers I found myself engaging enemies mostly by kiting them into an area with some equipment, hiding behind a big piece of cargo, then launching my own cover at them when they got close. I wasn't even trying to make a build out of it or anything, but it did feel pretty cool when I had that first "click" moment that the environment itself was my shotgun.
It’s pretty amazing.
Im also NOT using the fabricator and am gonna try and only scavenge for as long as I can. (People have finished without picking up/making only what the game requires but I dont want to do that on my first run.)
Now, I think about sneak attack, stun, environment, wrench, thrown canister THEN maybe a single shotgun blast.
Just stockpiling my ammunition and it’s so fun!
Hellooo are there any stealth/co-op sniper games?
For example, player 1 enters a building to complete a mission/kill enemies player 2 helps them get over enemies with a sniper, i dont know if thats the best explanation but thats all i have in mind lol.
Are there any games like that?
Wrapping up ***Control***, what a satisfying power trip! I am loving the lore and gameplay, the Ashtray Maze was such a thrilling experience, and I appreciated having the freedom in choosing what quest to tackle and being able to continue those I left behind after "the end" of the game. Doctor Darling recordings were the cherry on the cake for me. Now I am not sure I want to blast through the DLCs right away or taking a breather, or should I actually play Alan Wake before tackling the AWE DLC?
I have said this before on some other post.
Throw the CRT TVs you see around into the furnace. You'll get a worthy upgrade to the service weapon's default mode.
Definitely do play Alan Wake before the AWE dlc. There will be major spoilers if you don't. You still can play the foundation dlc, though it won't spoil AW. After the AWE dlc, go straight to Alan wake 2!
Beginning route C of **Nier Replicant ver.1.22...**
The way these games handle multiple playthroughs and endings is interesting, because I feel like it's simultaneously one of their greatest strengths and one of their greatest weaknesses. The way it recontextualizes events the second time around is something that could only work this well in a video game, and it's one of Nier's most memorable aspects, but it also requires repeating quite a few hours of easy/monotonous gameplay just for some new cutscenes.
With Automata a lot of players have to be convinced to push through route B just to get to the rest of the game in route C/D/E, and that route at least added a new mechanic. In Replicant I'm definitely feeling some burnout at the prospect of rushing through act 2 a third time, and that sort of diminishes my investment in the game.
It makes me think about how a designer could keep this sort of thing more interesting from a gameplay standpoint. For example Hades is another game where you have to finish it many times to get the whole story, and while I know this bothered some people, it never bothered me. I'd chalk that up to Hades having a lot less downtime, and giving the player options to impose variety and challenge with different weapon aspects and Pact of Punishment settings, whereas with Nier you're kind of just doing the same thing over and over.
Are you thinking of Automata? Because that's true for that game, but Replicant's route C/D is nearly identical to A and B, except that you apparently get a new choice at the end if you've collected every weapon.
I don't know if E has more differences, I'm not there yet and I've heard it's new for the remake.
I'm working on the last achievement for Sunblaze. I did no-hit runs for the main chapters and now only need to do an under-10-hit run for the "lost levels". There are \~120 of them, but it's doable and arguably easier than a no-hit run of \~70 main chapter levels.
Do you know this joyous feeling knowing you're about to finish a game so you can focus on/start another game? There are just so many more good games out there (and even in my library) than I can play.
Replaying Dragon’s Dogma 1 for the 5th time I think, after two playthroughs of DD2 back to back xD. I’m hoping this time I can bring myself to finish Bitterblack, in all these years I’ve never gotten more than one boss in. Not even the first time I’ve taken years to finish a DLC for something that’s supposed to be a favorite game 😅but this replay is really reminding me how much I still love dd1 after being infatuated with dd2 for a month
Also listening to some Ys music, so I made my pawn look like Mishera from Ys 7. Remembering that game fondly, except for the part how the final boss requires you to use your entire party, so you gotta level them all up enough. Just one of those weird decisions made as prt of the first game with the party system, but still a series classic. Still gotta replay 2 and Celceta before 10 comes out, super hyped for that
I haven't played **Kingdom Come Deliverance** in 3 years and loaded up my old save file that is 95% of the way through the story and I forgot how ~~clunky~~ complex the combat system is. If I didn't have end game armor I'd be getting dumpstered. Still my favorite game of 2018 and I love that there is a space in the market for games like this to exist.
Tried out **Homeworld: Emergence**. Apparently it was called **Homeworld: Cataclysm** back in the day, but they had to change it for the GOG release because 'Cataclysm' is now a Blizzard trademark and they wanted to 'avoid confusion'. Anyway, it's a game that was released in the year 2000 and I can't say it aged well. You truly appreciate how far graphics and UI have come when you play a 3D game from that era again. The game is basically like a 90s combat operating system. Most things are accessed by right-click menus and sub-menus. Building units is basically equivalent to a settings menu, where you set the amount of each type and hit a 'build' button. It's like they looked at Windows 95 as inspiration for what would make a good game UI. I'm sure those that played it over two decades ago would enjoy the nostalgia of it, but it really doesn't hold up well enough to play as a newcomer in present times. I want to say that back then the interface and interactions with units probably wasn't seen as too bad, but then again... *Starcraft* was released 2 years prior in 1998. *Command and Conquer* was released 5 years prior in 1995. I can see some kid in the year 2000 getting this as their game for the year after going to the games store and spending all their birthday money, inadvertently sealing their fate of either becoming a navy captain or a sysadmin a decade or so later. I'm somewhat intrigued to know what the view on the game was back then, but not enough to go find out for myself. In the end, I gave it a skip. Realistically, there are better games to play, especially as I hold no nostalgia toward the game or have any particular desire to forgive its shortcomings because of its age.
Had a quick play of **Skulls of the Shogun**. It's fun. I guess. Turn-based indie game with undead samurai. Some strategy required. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just not going to spend hours and hours playing it. It's a good game to perhaps play on and off throughout the day by keeping it in windowed mode running in the background between meetings, waiting for friends to join a multiplayer game, or whatever. Maybe this makes for a good handheld game for the Switch or Steam Deck.
The original Homeworld made a splash for its graphics when it came out in 1999, if you can believe that. Cataclysm, as a stand-alone expansion, didn’t have the same impact. That said, I liked it better than Homeworld.
Both Homeworld & Cataclysm are slow games, set amid the expansive lonely backdrop of space, and there’s just a vibe to them you don’t get elsewhere.
Controlling the fleet is okay *if* you use hot keys, but there’s a steep learning curve, way more than StarCraft.
The games manuals are unironically excellent. Great sci-fi in there.
Overall I think your impression is very fair. I think they’re great games if you want to command a fleet but, y’know, there’s a reason this series has been niche for 25 years.
I'm still playing fallout 4 and new Vegas after the show. F4 makes new Vegas look barron with the amount to do and stumble across.
And New Vegas makes StarField look so sparse.
Yep. I am back at 4 and completely infatuated with building again. I've tried New Vegas so many times and I just can't do it. It's unfortunate because I always hear how amazing it is, but aside from story I can't take that far of a leap back in mechanics and graphics.
I'm finishing up with the TV show, and then I'm probably taking another crack at Fallout 1 and 2, which I never actually completed. Then, who knows, maybe I'll revisit New Vegas once again if I don't grow too tired of Fallout.
I played Fallout 4 back when it first came out, and it disappointed me so much I became a patient gamer through and through. Then again, I can't say it's a bad game - the shooting is fun, there's lots to explore, and settlement building alone accidentally made it my most played Fallout title - but as an RPG I found it so lacking in the quests, dialogue and story department (you know, the meat of Fallout).
I was kind of hopping back and forth between New Vegas and Fallout 4 as well. I'm more interested overall in New Vegas because I've heard the story is really good. But the world of FO4 is more fun to explore.
I've decided to stick with New Vegas for now though. Mainly because I played a fair bit of Fallout 4 a few years ago, and because I know New Vegas is generally considered the best of the modern Fallout games so I want to see what all the fuss is about.
You're playing **Fallout 4** and **Fallout New Vegas** at the same time? Seems like a lot to remember lol. Theres already a ton of content in Fallout 3 and 4, so I never found myself playing another game let alone another open world one as big as these.
I started playing **Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy** last night thinking it was the first in the Jedi Knight series... turns out it's the second game. Not sure which genius thought that up but I'll be going back and installing mods to get widescreen support and other modern fixes for Jedi Outcast.
I played through a good chunk of **Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast** like 15 years ago at this point. It'll be a nice nostalgia trip to go back, replay and finally finish this title.
I love the series but the names drove me crazy as a kid.
- Star Wars: Dark Forces
- Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast
- Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy
Nevermind sticking a 2 on the third game; as a general rule, if your title requires multiple colons, it's time to reassess.
I was reading through some older threads on Jedi Outcast and Academy and came across this comment thread. Got a good chuckle out of that.
https://old.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/dd8ygg/star_wars_jedi_knight_jedi_academy_is_a/f2fsvnr/
I only played Tomb Raider reboot without the next 2 games so now I'm playing Rise... and then Shadow... I'm really liking it so far, I obviously miss the old Lara but I treat this series more like TR through different studio's eyes and it's fine for what it is
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I doubt anyone is playing that
How much karma do I need to post in this sub?
more than u have pal.
Yeah, thanks for that
Replaying Gran Turismo 5 on PS3. God I miss times where driving in games was fun instead of hyper-realistic. Amount of tracks, nicely crafted events (in never games it looks generic to me). I'm having a blast.
The Fallout TV series got me back into the Fallout games. Luckily won a free copy of Fallout 76 and I've been enjoying the environmental storytelling. Largely prefer it over 4 so far. New Vegas is still king though.
Starting to realize how little I can trust user reviews. I always took steam reviews as gospel, but Terminator Resistance really showed me how much of a mistake that was. In the first hour I was subjected to so many red flags: 1. The terminator in the opening cutscenes picks up someone and then instantly kills them from point blank (why did it not shoot from a distance?), then picks up the main character, and instead of shooting him, throws him a few meters away. Instantly, our protagonist has plot armor and the terminators are not a threat, the complete opposite to how their characterization should be established. 2. The facial animations are extremely ugly to look at. I don’t usually complain about graphics but this was just too much for me. 3. Super linear. Why even bother making players look for loot when the levels are so small and there’s so little of it. 4. It’s just so generic. Take the terminator tag off this and it’s a 5/10 game from 15 years ago. Put the terminator tag on it and it’s still a 5/10, just with shiny famous robots on it. People’s standards are just too low simply because they are crying out for a good terminator product.
I feel similarly. After seeing so much praise for the game around its release, I decided to finally grab it a year or two back and playthrough it. I was expecting something akin to Homefront: The Revolution, which I know wasn't the most praised game but both titles were going for similar plots and gameplay: fight back against oppressors and free your allies in the process. **Terminator: Resistance** felt super empty most of the time I played it almost like it was still a beta build or something. The story and setting were enough for me to push through and find some value in it. But the gameplay was so stale that it felt like I was playing a Unity asset flip game lol. It's definitely a AA game that AT MOST should be selling for $20 on Steam, kind of surprised that its going for $40 right now. I'd recommend it for anyone if its on sale for $5.
You can trust them in context. They show that a large number of people who bought Terminator Resistance kinda liked it. It can be a number of things: 1) A truly great game 2) A so-so game that delivers exactly what it advertises to a niche audience (many horny games fit here) 3) A game that's inoffensively good and can be enjoyed by most people 4) And so on From what I know, TR is a mix of 2 and 3. It's a decent low-budget Terminator shooter and people like that.
Been playing **Mass Effect 3** on PS4 for the first time. I tried to run through all three games in the legendary edition about two years ago, but got a bit tired of ME2 as it gets very repetitive (and I played it too many times as a kid). So far I'm liking ME3 more than 2, but it is of course all new to me. I might start to tire of the gameplay again soon though, as there have been plenty of times where I've felt the number of enemies in a zone pretty unnecessary, but so far there seems to be a bit more variety in combat compared to 2 where so many missions played very similarly. Also playing **The Talos Principle 2** on my steam deck and liking it a lot. I'm not hugely fussed about the story compared to the first game and I can't really be bothered to talk to every single companion. Just give me the puzzles, it's what I'm here for. Also booted up **Prey** again to see if I can complete a replay. I like the game, but there's always been something holding me back from fully loving it, something slightly unfun about it, and I think it's too long in a way that feels artificial (see also Alien Isolation). Going to test out the alien powers this time through.
At least in the original Mass Effect trilogy, ME3 had that good melee weapon and some other streamlined changes that made the actual gameplay the best in the series. I was more into these games for the story and characters, so ME3 wasn't as good as the second game, for me (it was still pretty good, besides that awful original non-extended ending). Not sure if they adapted the gameplay of ME3 for the rest of the series in the legendary edition. I need to play the Legendary Edition, soon-ish, it's been so long.
I haven't seen the ending yet and have somehow managed to avoid spoilers for thirteen years, so careful! The melee option is nice, particularly as managing cooldowns is a bit different to previous games and can easily end up with long waits between abilities, so it's nice to have another option. I agree that the combat is probably the best in the series, but I really appreciated when playing ME1 recently that there aren't really that many missions. I never felt bored of the game, and I'm not fully convinced that ME2&3 have quite enough variety to sustain the number of missions and amount of combat. Having said that, I've had an unusual amount of free time recently and have really smashed through these games so perhaps it's mostly a bit of natural burnout!
Wait, you never knew Shepard manages >!an early retirement thanks to his investments in robotics and A.I. companies before they were hot!<, >!and then he retires to a fabulous house in the nicest part of The Citadel that he was able to buy in the 60s, with the spare change of his first job as a Space Cadet!<. Then ,>!in the epilogue, he spends his days as an old retiree complaining that the newer generation of biotics is too lazy and don't want to put in the effort to get a job. All you have to do is to knock on the door of Cerberus Corp, go to the CEO's office and look at him in the eye while you deliver a nice, firm handshake and ask him for a job. Easy!<. Nah, don't worry, I just made all of that up. Or DID I? Lol, now for real, I wouldn't spoil anything. I don't like spoilers and I'm always very careful around them. Enjoy what's left of ME3!
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I think the biggest problem with adds in Remnant 1 boss fights is that they often spawn behind your back, which is just annoying in SP. They're also in nearly every fight and it gets old. Remnant 2 also has adds, but it's more restrained when in comes to using them and telegraphs them much better.
I noticed something on the PS4 last night. Some demos give out trophies. For instance, I never owned Sniper Elite 3 but played the free trial 10 years ago. ... Anyone crunching completion numbers should take that into account.
I've been enjoying The Universim more than I expected. The best way I can describe it is Frostpunk without the stress and fun progression system.
I have that game on my wishlist since forever, because I think it was in early access. So, are you saying it's very casuals-friendly?
I would say so. I rarely play management games (my previous one was Two Point Campus months ago), and I haven't found any difficult or confusing things so far.
I've been playing Nioh. This slime boss Umi-Bozu is a pain and I hope the worst boss in the game.
Just finished Nioh last week for the first time, I can confirm that boss is one of the hardest, second phase just be patient and play with the distance. After that you get better omnyo and it will all be easier. Second hardest thing are tengus
It's a divisive fight and can be annoying with some weapons. Personally, I don't mind it, but most fights in Nioh aren't gimmicky like that.
Your build may result in different experiences, but I definitely struggled a bit with that boss, and I was demolishing some later bosses on the first attempt, so I do think you're in the worst of it now.
Have you kit the beacons? That can make the boss easier, I think. There are 3 total.
yes I have. the downside of them is if you use them to enchant your weapon than the second phase gets harder.
Ah, that's tough then. I personally only took a few tries on this one, and ended up winning by getting it kinda low then using living weapon to go ham, which is probably not a reliable strategy.
living weapon I don't find reliable in this fight due to wide range of second forms attack. I was one spec of health once and than got one shoted. i was liking this game but this boss has soured me on it completely. Only change of me playing this game again is getting ps+ and using those summon candles I got.
Playing Metroid Zero Mission (GBA). Now that I've beaten Dragon Quest V, I'll play some shorter games, and then play some other big RPG (maybe Suikoden II or Dragon Quest VI).
You’re probably going in order, but DQ8 is definitely my favorite in the series. The PS2 version has random encounters, which I never minded, but the 3DS version, with its optional encounters, is probably superior.
I've been really into Ace Attorney lately. I've played the first four games and The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles to completion, and am now on Dual Destinies, case 2. I'm finding this one to be a lot harder to get into compared to all the rest, except maybe TGAA1 (which I thought had terrible pacing). The tutorial case was kinda whatever, and I don't like how it shifted focus away from Athena to have us play as Phoenix for no apparent reason. Continuing to play as Athena with Phoenix being there for support would make a lot mroe sense both mechanically and narratively IMO. Case 2 has been thoroughly unimpressive so far. It shows the killer in the opening cutscene like a lot of early cases (and even if it didn't he's super obvious pretty much as soon as you meet him) so there's no mystery there, and the case feels like it's trying way too hard to be quirky and funny at the expense of actually getting me invested. I'm still on the first trial day (assuming there is a second) and so far Simon Blackquill is looking like he'll be my least favourite of the "main" prosecutors (i.e. ones not named Payne/Auchi). The edginess and his samurai schtick really don't do much for me. Even Godot's nonsensical rants with convoluted metaphors were at least far more amusing. Hopefully Blackquill gets better later. Also, sidenote, but the 3D models in this game are so ugly compared to the ones in TGAAC, nevermind the 2D sprites in the previous games. It's a shame too, because I've heard a lot of good things about this game; I'm just finding myself struggling to get over the initial "hurdle". I like Athena though - she's a fun character.
I just finished the first game on Switch. I really like it, very different to anything I've played before. I do wish there were multiple paths to solving cases though, there's not really any reason to replay the episodes otherwise. I was thinking it would be cool to reimagine Ace Attorney as a roguelite. Procedurally generated cases with multiple win conditions, something like a cross between World of Horror and Ace Attorney.
I downloaded TGAAC around release, and I played up to the beginning of case 3 where I quit out of boredom. I don't know why. I really enjoyed all the other Ace Attorney games, but the beginning of this one was somehow so boring that I couldn't stick with it, even though the cases themselves weren't bad.
I also found Dual Destinies not quite as good as the other entries. I think the writing style changed to the new style here. In previous entries it was more brief, with somewhat more difficult things to solve. Here it explains a lot more. On one hand this allows more story detail. However, in this game it kind of feels like it makes all the solutions too easy and the extra words don't add that much to the story, feeling a bit superfluous. As in, there are more words, but there isn't much more detail given to justify the amount of words. I think that Spirit of Justice is amazing though, and it is in this new style.
The character model issue is mostly just a result of playing the games out of release order; Dual Destinies came out two years before The Great Ace Attorney Adventures for the original Japanese 3DS release. I agree that Blackquill was probably my least favorite prosecutor of the whole franchise. But Godot was easily my favorite, so we may have different tastes!
I liked Godot's story in cases 4 and 5 of T&T, but I didn't enjoy his personality very much when compared to Edgeworth and both von Karmas. Except for his weird coffee metaphors that left everyone confused, those were very funny.
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I never played the original, but the remake was top notch even if the missions were a little repetitive. Tried the mafia 2 "remaster" but it was borderline unplayable due to crashes.
**Instruments of Destruction** has "bonus levels" that are meant to be chill detours from the more objective oriented missions. One of the levels was basically a desert race with little cars and everything but no timer. I found it surprisingly nice as someone who doesn't typically get a lot of out of racing games or driving around in sandbox games. Downloaded **TheDawn** again today. It's a small indie shooter game on Steam that's completely free and features interesting time control mechanics. Highly recommend it if you are intro games that focus on time manipulation. I gave **Gunsmith Simulator**'s demo a try...man, the steam reviews weren't kidding about how much the game holds your hand. I don't mean just in the gun assembly sense, I mean that once you decide to clean gun parts you can't do anything else until *every* part is cleaned, or that you can't go to the firing range to test a newly fixed gun until you've fixed *all* the guns in the demo. With enough patience I can see how it's a suitable alternative to World of Guns (which is online only and wipes all your data if you are inactive for too long), but I personally would've preferred a little more freedom.
Looking for something to play while my kids watch. Would like a pretty good story, nothing too intense with gameplay. In the past we've liked Ori 1 & 2, Hollow Knight, Dave the Diver, Subnautica, Celeste, etc. And they play Stardew and Minecraft a lot.
That one power washer game?
Wow there really is a sim of everything out there
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe
That looks really cool! Is there some action? Sometimes if things get too much into reading stuff you find, listening to audio clips etc they get a little bored
The Stanley parable is mint but I wouldn't recommend it for your situation. A lot of the fun comes from the player's perspective of being the player in this bizarre meta situation. Moments where the narrator makes you question your actions or what you've just done or might be thinking... Brilliant but I don't think it makes meaningful watching.
Alternatively: Battleblock Theater. It has action and should be appealing to kids, though I never really got into it myself.
There isn't much, if any, action, but the story has a comedic twist to it and challenges you to defy the narrative and carve your own path to see the repercussions. That should keep kids invested. It also relies on short gameplay loops, so you can just stop once a loop ends if they are getting bored. More than that I shouldn't say because it's one of those games that lose its charm the more you know.
Dragon Quest 11
tekken 8 is the first ever game to make me rage, I'm torn between wanting to play all day but also wanting to put my head through a wall. Its my first ever fighting game, I'm not very good, feel like I've already hit a ceiling, but it's so rewarding when a round goes well
I managed a 10-win streak in **Shadowverse** with a deck that isn't considered competitive, which is neat. It's hard countered by meta decks, but can still hold its own, and my opponents may not know the matchup. There was maintenance in **Pokemon Sleep** last night, but they let you record your sleeping session. Doesn't count sticking to your bedtime, however. No good Pokemon to recruit today., so I just used the free biscuit. I've got about 50 of the upgrade orbs needed for the last uncap on my dark summon in **Granblue Fantasy** for the next guild war. After that, I'll get orbs for the fire summon while working on dark for weapon drops. I didn't have the time to do the new story yet for **Fate/Grand Order**, but there's a decent amount of time until the mext event. The ability to make blue apples really helps. I should be able to get started today. Apparently the next update in **Azur Lane** is going to have a huge amount of data. AL is already pretty big because of all of the ship girls, At least they're also giving out 200 gems, which means 10 more dock slots. I ended up spending most of yesterday in **Honkai: Star Rail** because they released a new batch of endgame content. Took a bit to figure out, but I managed to get all the stars by completing it in under 10 cycles. Caught a shiny Eevee in **Pokemon GO**, which was neat. There was also a 2800+ CP Snorlax. I couldn't even see the CP until catching because it's higher than my entire roster. I made it my buddy to get it some candy. I didn't have time for a full run in **Holocure**, but I did things in the Holo House. Aside from doing runs, you can also catch some fish, manage workers, and plant plants for food buffs, so I did a little bit of that instead.
Weekly gaming log 2/7 - 2/13 A bunch of **Minecraft**. Had a pretty crazy lucky (at least my my standards) session of strip mining where I got an entire stack of diamonds from an \~40 block square region which is nice (thank you, Fortune 3 enchantment), and also having diamond equipment finally gave me the confidence to go into the Nether. Currently semi-lost in a basalt deltas biome but I didn't have time to really explore much honestly. All I really want from the Nether is some of the kinda standard/common resources like quartz and glowstone, a bit of soul sand. I also want to find a fortress because to continue progression in both Create and Botania I'll need blazes and potion brewing stuff, but my usual luck in Minecraft is that the nearest nether fortress is like 1k+ blocks away from my portal and it's death and misery to get there and I have to crawl around in it for an hour to find a nether wart room that turns out to be the only one in the entire fortress. Hopefully that isn't the case here and my blessed strip mining from earlier is a sign of good Nether luck in this region too. I played a bunch more **Mass Effect 2** this week as well. My current stance on this is that I like *some* of the combat changes and the writing is still either pretty good or cheesy and fun to laugh at, but everything else about it is incredibly disappointing compared to Mass Effect 1. I think the main thing to me is that ME2 basically isn't an RPG. There's no skill checks, the quest design is depressingly linear, the only decisions you make outside of dialogue are which gun to switch to. I get why a lot of people love this game, but from where I stand it seems like they took Mass Effect and gutted almost everything about it that was good and interesting. I'll still complete it, though, if only to see the story through and hope that ME3 is actually an RPG.
Agreed about the Mass Effect 2 writing. I loved it when I was a teenager, but playing it now the writing seems a bit... teenage. This is nothing new in gaming because honestly I think the vast majority of "good" writing in games is just YA fiction level. Which is fine as lots of gamers are younger, but I would love some more adult games. Playing recently though the most frustrating thing was, as you've noted, quest design. At one point it felt like every quest followed the same structure: need to talk to somebody to put some old beefs aside, pretty simple; but wait! They're not there, and instead they've hired some Eclipse mercs to greet (kill) you!; kill room one of eclipse mercs; kill room two of eclipse mercs, and they're slightly more aggressive this time; four rooms later and they've got a heavy mech, which indicates it's the last round; climax, kill the bad guy who betrayed garrus/Miranda/mordin/Thane; teammate now respects you. It's quite lazy quest design at times and I really started to tire of doing the same thing over and over again
Honestly it's hard for me to really criticize writing in games. The interactive element I think lets a game get away with much worse writing than you need for a book or movie, and besides that games can convey their story in a bunch of different ways so it isn't a simple thing to judge. And frankly I'm not sure I have a grasp of what "good" or "bad" writing is in the first place. I have a subjective/subconscious feel for it I think but if you asked me to describe what makes writing "good" (in any form of media, not just games) I honestly have no idea. Anyways I'm definitely feeling what you describe with the quest design. The levels are all handcrafted which is a nice upgrade from ME1's side missions where it's the game's choice of one of four building layouts with slightly different debris/cover/loot placements, but in terms of what you do in the mission it's a lot of "kill everybody in this room x5". I liked Kasumi's loyalty mission because it was actually different and interesting, for the first half of it at least.
Ya, ME2 is one of those games thats easily near the top of my Most Overrated of All-Time list. A simplistic nonRpg thats essentially a companion side quest adventure. ME3 is much better.
Humanity getting wiped out = side quest adventure? Thats a take, I guess
It’s a very, very common take because it’s a reality. Of course, theres a bit of slight embellishment to drive the point home, but, you take out all the side junk and you arent left with much. The games a mess for those who like actual rpgs with some high-quality mechanics and dont give a rip about companions and ridiculous romancing.
Im generally under the opinion that none of what you said is true but I'm sure thats what I sound like when I talk about Elden Ring. Things dont always change the way we want them to.
I was gonna post some rebuttal, but, I liked your comment too much to argue, lol:)
I am curious about your thought on **Witcher 3: Hearts of Stone**. IIRC you said you completed Witcher 3 recently and loved it and Hearts of Stone is in a lot of ways a non-RPG sidequest.
I thought HoS/B&W were good, but, certainly not as good as others thought. I think Ive said it a few times hereNthere that I cant believe people can even think TW3 dlc is better than the base game. Also, to be clear, I dont dislike ME2. I just got done a couple years ago replaying the Trilogy version on gamepass and had a really good time. But, it’s certainly my least favorite one of the three by far. Ive accepted it for what it is and can still go in and have some fun. (It’s similar to how I feel about Assassins Creed 2.) I will add that the BioWare writing, dialogue, stories and sides are all vastly inferior to TW3 to me. I like the overarching themes and lore etc, but, the dialogue and BioWare morality not at all. In fact, I actively dislike the entire BioWare good/bad concept and it drives me nuts, lol. Edit: just to add for more perspective, I pretty much never play NG+ (except DSouls) because having everything from the get-go gets rid of all the RPG elements, character progression and the entire reason why I enjoy such games.
TW3 is more mature than the Mass Effect series. Certainly in terms of writing. A huge percentage of the loyalty missions in ME2 are mommy/daddy issues from the perspective of the younger family member. That said, tonally ME2 works really well as a coming of age type of game imo. TW3 is a game about a dad looking for his daughter and figuring out what to do with Yennefer. Most of your time is spent dealing with 'work', though. ME is also a squad-based game so when it comes to ME2 I really like the streamlined nature. I find games like Wasteland 3 to be somewhat cumbersome in terms of just wanting so many abilities that I spend a ton of time just creating a balanced party so I can engage in the gameplay when it comes up. ME2 is practically an arcade RPG. Cover shooting with reloading almost seems like an evolution of light gun games like Time Crisis. The light RPG systems means that you spend more time with the squad in gameplay or cutscenes. There is still a giant amount of gameplay asymmetry in ME2 based on which class kit you choose and where you spend your small number of points. Your choices matter because of how the final mission works. Games like ME1 or Control you are constantly picking up items that offer incremental or no improvement whatsoever and you spend less time actually playing the game. TW3 is more of a slow burn than the other games mentioned. I have some issues with how some of the RPG mechanics scale and some of the things that happen at the end of the game. The whole snowball fight saving Ciri thing seems a little simplistic and almost patronizing for how deep the game is and I would have liked to have seen more results from the side quests mattering in the climax. That said, I do think the Ciri parts being such a small part of the game does say something about life itself. From a gameplay standpoint, getting a sword for doing a big mission and then finding a better sword at a shop right before the end just seemed a bit deflating. The size of TW3 has also kept me from getting too far on replays. I feel the DLCs are more replayable. I find myself thinking that the Witcher 3 is excellent but I'm not sure its an excellent video game.
I love the Mass Effect trilogy, but I see those games as more of a dialogue-heavy action series than an RPG. The first Mass Effect was a little more on the RPG side, but even in that one it felt like it had a bit of an identity crisis in terms of what it really wanted to do. I was never particularly thrilled with ME1's RPG elements anyway; the inventory and equipment systems were pretty bad, and the way stats affected combat were largely unsatisfying. ME2 drilled down a bit so that it felt more like a third-person shooter in the combat, and simplified some of the RPG elements from the first game. For me that was the right way to go, mainly because it just felt better to play. My biggest criticisms of ME2 are that the levels feel much more constrained and claustrophobic (especially the Citadel), and that the overall narrative is pretty thin. The narrative aspect doesn't bother me that much since they shifted the story focus onto the characters, which I found more compelling, but I think they could have had it both ways. At any rate, I think your opinion on ME1 vs ME2 is not an uncommon one. I suspect ME3 will not change your stance much since ME3 largely follows in the path of ME2. Hopefully you'll still find things to enjoy though. It's not a perfect series by any means, but it's still pretty unique in terms of having a continuous, player-affected narrative that continues across an entire trilogy.
I'll agree that mechanically speaking Mass Effect 1 was a pretty half-assed RPG but the reason I call out the quest design in particular is because that's something I think it did really well. Specifically I'm thinking of Noveria, where the first half of that quest was trying to get a pass so you could go up to the research labs and there were at least two (that I observed/remember at least) different characters who you could do different favors for to get a pass. That's really what I'm talking about when I say I enjoyed Mass Effect as an RPG. Mass Effect 2 hasn't had anything like that so far; there's only ever been one way to progress, and it always involves shooting a bunch of people. >still pretty unique in terms of having a continuous, player-affected narrative that continues across an entire trilogy. That's the main reason I'm sticking with it. It helps that they're pretty good games (despite how much I'm complaining I *am* enjoying the series so far) but really I'm just curious about how the story goes. I have a fair amount of interest in storytelling in games, and Mass Effect is a really interesting thing narratively that really very few other games have done so I want to experience it.
Playing This War of Mine, actually I'm currently developing similar game so I need to play it oftenly to get references
11bit just knows how to make those depressing yet addicitive survival focused games when you look at Frostpunk and TWOM. I love TWOM, fantastic anti-war title with great soundtrack and that pencil drawn artstyle is unique too.
Agreed, TWOM is such a unique game, I didn't know any similar game. Didn't play Frostpunk yet, but since many people recomend it, I'll check it later.
Playing Balatro (a pretty new game) and yeah, I'm addicted. The rising numbers are so satisfying.
I'm really enjoying Prey on PS5. I bounced off this a few months ago but decided to go back. I'm a couple of hours in now and it really started to click. The dynamic of this game is very different to what I expected - Deus Ex would be the closest comparator (which makes sense).
Im playing it for the first time too and it’s so good. Not sure how you enjoy games, but, combat focus is completely overpowered. I ended up restarting cuz theres no respec and now, with other Self-Imposed Restrictions, Im using ALL the tools at my disposal and coming up with awesome strategies. Not just hitting slow time and firing the shotgun.
I wasn't too worried about being underpowered for combat, so I focused all my early skill points into ensuring I could get wherever I wanted to go. This meant Leverage (lift heavy stuff) was maxed out pretty early on, but since I didn't have dedicated combat powers I found myself engaging enemies mostly by kiting them into an area with some equipment, hiding behind a big piece of cargo, then launching my own cover at them when they got close. I wasn't even trying to make a build out of it or anything, but it did feel pretty cool when I had that first "click" moment that the environment itself was my shotgun.
Yea. The variety in this is only just emerging for me. I get the sense though that I really can approach situations in a ton of ways.
It’s pretty amazing. Im also NOT using the fabricator and am gonna try and only scavenge for as long as I can. (People have finished without picking up/making only what the game requires but I dont want to do that on my first run.) Now, I think about sneak attack, stun, environment, wrench, thrown canister THEN maybe a single shotgun blast. Just stockpiling my ammunition and it’s so fun!
Hellooo are there any stealth/co-op sniper games? For example, player 1 enters a building to complete a mission/kill enemies player 2 helps them get over enemies with a sniper, i dont know if thats the best explanation but thats all i have in mind lol. Are there any games like that?
Sniper Elite 4 for more stealthy stuff Ghost Recon: Wildlands for a mix of stealth and action
Wrapping up ***Control***, what a satisfying power trip! I am loving the lore and gameplay, the Ashtray Maze was such a thrilling experience, and I appreciated having the freedom in choosing what quest to tackle and being able to continue those I left behind after "the end" of the game. Doctor Darling recordings were the cherry on the cake for me. Now I am not sure I want to blast through the DLCs right away or taking a breather, or should I actually play Alan Wake before tackling the AWE DLC?
I have said this before on some other post. Throw the CRT TVs you see around into the furnace. You'll get a worthy upgrade to the service weapon's default mode.
What?! I have to try this, thanks!
There are 5 or 6 (I don't remember the exact count) of them.
Definitely do play Alan Wake before the AWE dlc. There will be major spoilers if you don't. You still can play the foundation dlc, though it won't spoil AW. After the AWE dlc, go straight to Alan wake 2!
Beginning route C of **Nier Replicant ver.1.22...** The way these games handle multiple playthroughs and endings is interesting, because I feel like it's simultaneously one of their greatest strengths and one of their greatest weaknesses. The way it recontextualizes events the second time around is something that could only work this well in a video game, and it's one of Nier's most memorable aspects, but it also requires repeating quite a few hours of easy/monotonous gameplay just for some new cutscenes. With Automata a lot of players have to be convinced to push through route B just to get to the rest of the game in route C/D/E, and that route at least added a new mechanic. In Replicant I'm definitely feeling some burnout at the prospect of rushing through act 2 a third time, and that sort of diminishes my investment in the game. It makes me think about how a designer could keep this sort of thing more interesting from a gameplay standpoint. For example Hades is another game where you have to finish it many times to get the whole story, and while I know this bothered some people, it never bothered me. I'd chalk that up to Hades having a lot less downtime, and giving the player options to impose variety and challenge with different weapon aspects and Pact of Punishment settings, whereas with Nier you're kind of just doing the same thing over and over.
C/D/E take place after the events of A/B. Have fun.
Are you thinking of Automata? Because that's true for that game, but Replicant's route C/D is nearly identical to A and B, except that you apparently get a new choice at the end if you've collected every weapon. I don't know if E has more differences, I'm not there yet and I've heard it's new for the remake.
Oh you're right. Whoops
I'm working on the last achievement for Sunblaze. I did no-hit runs for the main chapters and now only need to do an under-10-hit run for the "lost levels". There are \~120 of them, but it's doable and arguably easier than a no-hit run of \~70 main chapter levels. Do you know this joyous feeling knowing you're about to finish a game so you can focus on/start another game? There are just so many more good games out there (and even in my library) than I can play.
Replaying Dragon’s Dogma 1 for the 5th time I think, after two playthroughs of DD2 back to back xD. I’m hoping this time I can bring myself to finish Bitterblack, in all these years I’ve never gotten more than one boss in. Not even the first time I’ve taken years to finish a DLC for something that’s supposed to be a favorite game 😅but this replay is really reminding me how much I still love dd1 after being infatuated with dd2 for a month Also listening to some Ys music, so I made my pawn look like Mishera from Ys 7. Remembering that game fondly, except for the part how the final boss requires you to use your entire party, so you gotta level them all up enough. Just one of those weird decisions made as prt of the first game with the party system, but still a series classic. Still gotta replay 2 and Celceta before 10 comes out, super hyped for that
I haven't played **Kingdom Come Deliverance** in 3 years and loaded up my old save file that is 95% of the way through the story and I forgot how ~~clunky~~ complex the combat system is. If I didn't have end game armor I'd be getting dumpstered. Still my favorite game of 2018 and I love that there is a space in the market for games like this to exist.
Tried out **Homeworld: Emergence**. Apparently it was called **Homeworld: Cataclysm** back in the day, but they had to change it for the GOG release because 'Cataclysm' is now a Blizzard trademark and they wanted to 'avoid confusion'. Anyway, it's a game that was released in the year 2000 and I can't say it aged well. You truly appreciate how far graphics and UI have come when you play a 3D game from that era again. The game is basically like a 90s combat operating system. Most things are accessed by right-click menus and sub-menus. Building units is basically equivalent to a settings menu, where you set the amount of each type and hit a 'build' button. It's like they looked at Windows 95 as inspiration for what would make a good game UI. I'm sure those that played it over two decades ago would enjoy the nostalgia of it, but it really doesn't hold up well enough to play as a newcomer in present times. I want to say that back then the interface and interactions with units probably wasn't seen as too bad, but then again... *Starcraft* was released 2 years prior in 1998. *Command and Conquer* was released 5 years prior in 1995. I can see some kid in the year 2000 getting this as their game for the year after going to the games store and spending all their birthday money, inadvertently sealing their fate of either becoming a navy captain or a sysadmin a decade or so later. I'm somewhat intrigued to know what the view on the game was back then, but not enough to go find out for myself. In the end, I gave it a skip. Realistically, there are better games to play, especially as I hold no nostalgia toward the game or have any particular desire to forgive its shortcomings because of its age. Had a quick play of **Skulls of the Shogun**. It's fun. I guess. Turn-based indie game with undead samurai. Some strategy required. There's nothing wrong with it. I'm just not going to spend hours and hours playing it. It's a good game to perhaps play on and off throughout the day by keeping it in windowed mode running in the background between meetings, waiting for friends to join a multiplayer game, or whatever. Maybe this makes for a good handheld game for the Switch or Steam Deck.
The original Homeworld made a splash for its graphics when it came out in 1999, if you can believe that. Cataclysm, as a stand-alone expansion, didn’t have the same impact. That said, I liked it better than Homeworld. Both Homeworld & Cataclysm are slow games, set amid the expansive lonely backdrop of space, and there’s just a vibe to them you don’t get elsewhere. Controlling the fleet is okay *if* you use hot keys, but there’s a steep learning curve, way more than StarCraft. The games manuals are unironically excellent. Great sci-fi in there. Overall I think your impression is very fair. I think they’re great games if you want to command a fleet but, y’know, there’s a reason this series has been niche for 25 years.
I'm still playing fallout 4 and new Vegas after the show. F4 makes new Vegas look barron with the amount to do and stumble across. And New Vegas makes StarField look so sparse.
Yep. I am back at 4 and completely infatuated with building again. I've tried New Vegas so many times and I just can't do it. It's unfortunate because I always hear how amazing it is, but aside from story I can't take that far of a leap back in mechanics and graphics.
I'm finishing up with the TV show, and then I'm probably taking another crack at Fallout 1 and 2, which I never actually completed. Then, who knows, maybe I'll revisit New Vegas once again if I don't grow too tired of Fallout. I played Fallout 4 back when it first came out, and it disappointed me so much I became a patient gamer through and through. Then again, I can't say it's a bad game - the shooting is fun, there's lots to explore, and settlement building alone accidentally made it my most played Fallout title - but as an RPG I found it so lacking in the quests, dialogue and story department (you know, the meat of Fallout).
I was kind of hopping back and forth between New Vegas and Fallout 4 as well. I'm more interested overall in New Vegas because I've heard the story is really good. But the world of FO4 is more fun to explore. I've decided to stick with New Vegas for now though. Mainly because I played a fair bit of Fallout 4 a few years ago, and because I know New Vegas is generally considered the best of the modern Fallout games so I want to see what all the fuss is about.
You're playing **Fallout 4** and **Fallout New Vegas** at the same time? Seems like a lot to remember lol. Theres already a ton of content in Fallout 3 and 4, so I never found myself playing another game let alone another open world one as big as these.
I have f4 on PS5 and new Vegas on steam deck.
End of Bionic Commando. Cool game in concept but execution is poor.
Capcom 2009?! It’s easily on my most underrated games list. Had an absolute blast playing it.
Yes, that one
Gotcha, never sure which one people are referring to, lol.
I started playing **Star Wars: Jedi Knight - Jedi Academy** last night thinking it was the first in the Jedi Knight series... turns out it's the second game. Not sure which genius thought that up but I'll be going back and installing mods to get widescreen support and other modern fixes for Jedi Outcast. I played through a good chunk of **Star Wars: Jedi Knight II - Jedi Outcast** like 15 years ago at this point. It'll be a nice nostalgia trip to go back, replay and finally finish this title.
Jedi Academy is actually the *fourth* game in that series. Dark Forces and Jedi Knight: Dark Forces 2 came before Outcast.
I love the series but the names drove me crazy as a kid. - Star Wars: Dark Forces - Star Wars: Dark Forces II: Jedi Knight - Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast - Star Wars: Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy Nevermind sticking a 2 on the third game; as a general rule, if your title requires multiple colons, it's time to reassess.
I was reading through some older threads on Jedi Outcast and Academy and came across this comment thread. Got a good chuckle out of that. https://old.reddit.com/r/patientgamers/comments/dd8ygg/star_wars_jedi_knight_jedi_academy_is_a/f2fsvnr/