Video Games: 'Does Not Open From This Side' Edition

[Slurktan]

1 hour ago, KiDisaster said:

I would go straight to 3 if you're going to play another one. Two is fun but it doesn't recapture the same feeling that DS1 had. At least not for me. DS3 did, in spades. 

Also if you're interested in learning about the story check out EpicNameBro or VaatiVidya's lore videos on YouTube. They do a great job interpreting it and breaking it down. 

I probably would go to 3 first but for a different reason, I think 2 was far better at everything other than fan service.  3 is sadly extremely linear with not much replayability. How they thought it was a good idea to regress significantly in terms of New game + in particular is astonishing.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

4 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Started XCOM2 and getting my ass kicked. In a mission to retrieve a VIP, I lost the entire squad, but got the VIP. This was followed by a highly successful mission to save civilians, which was then followed by another disastrous mission where I could not protect a transmitter, losing 3 squad members in the process. At this rate, none of my soldiers will advance past "squaddie"  Other than playing with the Ironman mode, the difficulty level is only at "veteran". Fun game, but so challenging. And it's not the timer thing that others have complained about. I'm okay with that. It's all the other crap that the game throws at you. From the start, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

X-com games always feel challenging at first, until you figure out the best ways to play it. It also has a reverse difficulty curve , as it tends to get easier as your soldiers tech up. 

Some tips 

- don't make moves without seeing what moves you available for everyone. Every turn go through your squad and weigh up options, don't just shoot with the first guy. 

- don't pull too many mobs at any one time. Don't rush too far ahead because it's much easier to kill 3 aliens than it is 6 at once. 

- use grenades early and a lot. They not only have Aoe damage they destroy cover so it makes hitting aliens with snipers much easier. Destroys armour too.

- use a ranger as a scout for your sniper. Rangers stay concealed so you can use them to spot aliens for your sniper to shoot at.

- use full cover as much as possible.

- more snipers on missions with no time limit, Rangers on ones with limits.

- get your squad up to 6 as soon as possible.

Tech how you want but prioritise weapons or armour quickly. Psi soldiers are overpowered too if you can get them but makes early game harder.

- On the world map be aggressive. You quickly lose ground on the Advent project so aim to hit their bases and also do missions which slow them

Good luck!

[matt b]

10 hours ago, KiDisaster said:

Also if you're interested in learning about the story check out EpicNameBro or VaatiVidya's lore videos on YouTube. They do a great job interpreting it and breaking it down. 

I have to second this. I recently discovered ENB's From the Dark series, a lore focused playthrough of Dark Souls, and found out I completely missed basically the entire story.

[Corvinus85]

4 hours ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

X-com games always feel challenging at first, until you figure out the best ways to play it. It also has a reverse difficulty curve , as it tends to get easier as your soldiers tech up. 

Some tips 

- don't make moves without seeing what moves you available for everyone. Every turn go through your squad and weigh up options, don't just shoot with the first guy. 

- don't pull too many mobs at any one time. Don't rush too far ahead because it's much easier to kill 3 aliens than it is 6 at once. 

- use grenades early and a lot. They not only have Aoe damage they destroy cover so it makes hitting aliens with snipers much easier. Destroys armour too.

- use a ranger as a scout for your sniper. Rangers stay concealed so you can use them to spot aliens for your sniper to shoot at.

- use full cover as much as possible.

- more snipers on missions with no time limit, Rangers on ones with limits.

- get your squad up to 6 as soon as possible.

Tech how you want but prioritise weapons or armour quickly. Psi soldiers are overpowered too if you can get them but makes early game harder.

- On the world map be aggressive. You quickly lose ground on the Advent project so aim to hit their bases and also do missions which slow them

Good luck!

To be able to increase the squad and all the tech stuff, I need supplies, but to get supplies I need to ignore all the interruptions on the world map with the advent missions. It's a lose-lose situation.  

I think I'll start over, and weigh my options better.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

59 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

To be able to increase the squad and all the tech stuff, I need supplies, but to get supplies I need to ignore all the interruptions on the world map with the advent missions. It's a lose-lose situation.  

I think I'll start over, and weigh my options better.

Yeah you have be pretty selective as to what you build at first. I'd prioritise getting guerrilla centre so you can increase squad size, possibly a power relay after that. 

The temptation is to build everything at the beginning, but you run out of supplies pretty quickly. Also the more contacted areas you have the more supplies you get eat month, so expanding aggressively is important.

[Corvinus85]

1 minute ago, Channel4s-JonSnow said:

Yeah you have be pretty selective as to what you build at first. I'd prioritise getting guerrilla centre so you can increase squad size, possibly a power relay after that. 

The temptation is to build everything at the beginning, but you run out of supplies pretty quickly. Also the more contacted areas you have the more supplies you get eat month, so expanding aggressively is important.

When you get rookies, is there a way to anticipate what class they'll become? My one ranger got wounded, and would like to get another as quick as possible.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

You can assign an engineer I think ( might not need one) to the guerilla centre and from there train your rookies to whatever class you need. Takes 5 days.

[Rhom]

On ‎4‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 11:17 PM, Pony Queen Jace said:

Oohh! That sounds fun!

Not a relevant quote... just throwing it in here to call your attention to this next thing.

You can tide over your anticipation for ME: Andromeda with a new Theme Park ride!!!!  Mass Effect:  New Earth is a 4D ride featuring a gigantic LED screen.  Now... if only I can find time to go to California...

https://youtu.be/pv69fkraIl8

ETA:  Story link.

 

 

[Jace, Extat]

That certainly is a something.

I'm not really in a hurry to play ME: Andromeda though, I'm looking at it as a final farewell to BioWare.

[Jasta11]

12 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Started XCOM2 and getting my ass kicked. In a mission to retrieve a VIP, I lost the entire squad, but got the VIP. This was followed by a highly successful mission to save civilians, which was then followed by another disastrous mission where I could not protect a transmitter, losing 3 squad members in the process. At this rate, none of my soldiers will advance past "squaddie"  Other than playing with the Ironman mode, the difficulty level is only at "veteran". Fun game, but so challenging. And it's not the timer thing that others have complained about. I'm okay with that. It's all the other crap that the game throws at you. From the start, I feel like I'm fighting a losing battle.

 

It's challenging at first, but once you get the hang of it you should be fine. Don't be afraid to restart a campaign if you have to. The midgame is the easiest portion, once you get there you have a bit of a free ride until the scary late-game stuff shows up.

Few tips;

-Grab Magnetic Weapons ASAP, and follow up with Predator Armor as soon as you can afford it. Both of those upgrades provide a massive boost to your offence and defense respectively, but the weapons are more important. They can't kill you if you kill them first. Also, in your first game, don't rush for Psionics. It can be quite expensive, and investment in that branch could delay more vital upgrades.

-Don't panic! The timers and odds look overwhelming sometimes, but I managed to complete the game on Legend while never letting a timer run out and losing 5 soldiers in total. It's better to fail a mission and have everyone be home safely than rush ahead for no real reason and get half your squad sent to XCOM Heaven, even if you succeed. The penalties for failing missions are much lesser in XCOM 2 than in the first game, unless it's a Retribution mission (the ones where you save civilians).

-Prioritize targets. ADVENT Lancers are way more dangerous than troopers or officiers. Vipers are way more dangerous than Sectoids in an unmodded game. Focus fire on the more deadly enemy troops.

-Managing your loadout well saves you lots of frustration. Use flashbangs early game; they have a huge radius, apply a massive -20% aim penalty, and cancels the Psi powers of Sectoids, so if they have raised a zombie or mind controlled a squadmate, the Flashbang dispels it instantly if it hits the Sectoid. Once you get 3 Faceless corpses, autopsy them so you can grab Mimic Beacons; even after being nerfed, those things are very powerful and draw fire away from your soldiers. Once you face Mutons, autopsy them as well so you can research Plasma Grenades in the Proving Grounds, which turn your grenadiers into gods in the mid-game.

-Don't be afraid to take calculated risks. A bold flank by one of your rangers can serve you better than trading potshots from cover with ADVENT, in which the RNG can royaly screw you over. And don't skimp on grenade use; even if it takes out the cover of one important enemy, that grenade paid for itself.

-Don't do the Blacksite mission early, as it triggers the appearance of more powerful enemies. In general, delay plot-important mission and tasks until you're comfortable with the challenges you face.

[briantw]

Decided to finally get around to playing Banner Saga since the second game just released to rave reviews.  I started the game back when I first bought it, but I think I got annoyed at the relative early difficulty compared to other turn-based games and gave up on it.  Going back to it, I think I was just a little too impatient.  The game definitely has a learning curve, and characters die easily so it can be a little unforgiving given the permadeath.  I've had to restart about a dozen battles at this point just to get everyone through unscathed.

Fun game, though, once you get the hang of it.  I remember thinking that Ludin was useless initially because his character is such a bitch in dialogue interactions, but he's really one of the more useful characters in the game given his ability to attack diagonally and his solid damage.  Good archers make a world of difference too.

[Caligula_K3]

Thanks for the Dark Souls 2 and 3 tips, and the lore videos. Still not sure which of the sequels I'll play next, but that's something I'll figure out at the next Steam sale.

Can I ask why everyone's so down on Bioware these days? I know some people were disappointed with the sprawl and sidequests of Dragon Age: Inquisition, but I still think it's a fantastic game with great writing and some of Bioware's best companions; and if you focus on the parts of the game you find fun (party member quests, main quest, exploration and dragon fights for me) you can just ignore all the fetch quests and still be over-leveled for the end game. I think it's in many ways a better game than Dragon Age: Origins. Mass Effect 3 I think was more of a disappointment for me, not just because of the ending but also because of the decreasing lack of player choice, aside from a few great missions, but even so it's a good game with the best gameplay in the series. I'm looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age IV (especially after Trespasser), and whatever else Bioware is working on.

[Werthead]

Yup, Banner Saga is definitely better now than when it was released. I think the patches helped. Also, don't be afraid to turn down the difficulty, especially for the final battle against Bellower. The game seems to really nerf you on Renown on higher difficulty levels, which makes balancing feeding the convoy with levelling up so you can fight tougher enemies almost impossible.

The sequel is better in every respect apart from length. And that's not too bad given how much stronger the gameplay is.

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Caligula_K3 said:

Thanks for the Dark Souls 2 and 3 tips, and the lore videos. Still not sure which of the sequels I'll play next, but that's something I'll figure out at the next Steam sale.

Can I ask why everyone's so down on Bioware these days? I know some people were disappointed with the sprawl and sidequests of Dragon Age: Inquisition, but I still think it's a fantastic game with great writing and some of Bioware's best companions; and if you focus on the parts of the game you find fun (party member quests, main quest, exploration and dragon fights for me) you can just ignore all the fetch quests and still be over-leveled for the end game. I think it's in many ways a better game than Dragon Age: Origins. Mass Effect 3 I think was more of a disappointment for me, not just because of the ending but also because of the decreasing lack of player choice, aside from a few great missions, but even so it's a good game with the best gameplay in the series. I'm looking forward to Mass Effect: Andromeda and Dragon Age IV (especially after Trespasser), and whatever else Bioware is working on.

I just found Inquisition to be boring and bland after the masterpiece that was Witcher 3.  I mean, the game basically played itself combat-wise.  You basically just sit around and wait for your abilities to recharge and then spam them.  Witcher 3's combat, on the other hand, actually requires a fair bit of skill, and you have to move around constantly to avoid getting murdered, especially in fights where you're wildly outnumbered.  The story was just kind of bland, generic fantasy too.  There's not really anything wrong with that, but it feels like Inquisition is a game from five years ago.  The genre is moving forward, but Inquisition felt like a step backward even from previous Dragon Age games.

[Kalbear]

Also, on XCom: blow everything up. Grenades are your friend. Your very powerful, noisy, friend. Everyone should have grenades, and you should get heavies early to blow more things up. 

[Jasta11]

5 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Also, on XCom: blow everything up. Grenades are your friend. Your very powerful, noisy, friend. Everyone should have grenades, and you should get heavies early to blow more things up. 

This. I do not count a mission properly executed unless half a city block/ADVENT facility is leveled.

Lategame in XCOM 2 also gives the Proximity Mine. Which has a ludicrously huge radius, does 8 damage, and can be used as part of an Overwatch ambush since it triggers on the enemy's turn. Very abusable, very fun.

Then again, lategame enemies in that title are so powerful you pretty much need to use your most powerful tools if you don't want a Sectopod to stride up to a soldier and gib them in one turn with their 14 damage lasers.

[Corvinus85]

I seldom use grenades. Did the same in Enemy Uknown. Anyways, I had plans for this Saturday and then I started playing XCOM2, and I forgot about my life.  

But in order to have some fun, I started over without the Ironman mode so I could save at will. Took me about 7 tries to get through that first Blacksite mission without losing a squad member, and they all finished wounded. I'm also having fun with customizing the squad members (all but the rookies, they need to prove their worth first )

[Corvinus85]

9 hours ago, Werthead said:

Yup, Banner Saga is definitely better now than when it was released. I think the patches helped. Also, don't be afraid to turn down the difficulty, especially for the final battle against Bellower. The game seems to really nerf you on Renown on higher difficulty levels, which makes balancing feeding the convoy with levelling up so you can fight tougher enemies almost impossible.

The sequel is better in every respect apart from length. And that's not too bad given how much stronger the gameplay is.

Bought it and returned it after the first battle I had with a bunch of thugs in a tavern, I think. I lost both giants, but somehow manage to win with the two humans. I find the combat quite difficult to master, patches or no patches. 

[briantw]

3 minutes ago, Corvinus said:

Bought it and returned it after the first battle I had with a bunch of thugs in a tavern, I think. I lost both giants, but somehow manage to win with the two humans. I find the combat quite difficult to master, patches or no patches. 

The battles can be pretty unforgiving throughout.  I have to restart a lot of them at least once because I lost someone I didn't want to lose.  I feel like in some of the "boss" battles it's damn near impossible to get through them without losing someone unless you're a fucking master at the game.

[Jack Bauer 24]

http://www.ign.com/videos/2016/04/27/how-the-dark-souls-series-grew-from-underdog-to-best-seller

How the Dark Souls series went from underdog to best seller and became one of the greatest franchises of all time.