Video Games: Thread Simulator 2016

[Werthead]

Obsidian's news CRPG, Tyranny, is out on 10 November.

Shame it wasn't two days earlier, because then they could have had the marketing campaign "TYRANNY COMES TO AMERICA ON 8 NOVEMBER" and rode those election coattails.

[Fez]

59 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Obsidian's news CRPG, Tyranny, is out on 10 November.

Shame it wasn't two days earlier, because then they could have had the marketing campaign "TYRANNY COMES TO AMERICA ON 8 NOVEMBER" and rode those election coattails.

Whoa, that's way sooner than I expected. I was thinking it'd be a Fall 2017 type release.

I had thought Obsidian and inXile were similarly sized at this point, based on how similar in scope and development schedule Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 were. But somehow Tyranny is out next month and Torment: ToN still doesn't have a release date; even though its been in development for almost 4 years now.

[Argonath Diver]

I never played Pillars of Eternity, but always heard great things. I generally gravitate toward online-focused gaming. Nearly every top-rated single player RPG in the last fifteen years, I have started, thought was great, then gave up after ten or thirty hours, going back to never-ending timesink style games that I love. I play the crap out of Path of Exile, while one of my buddies who has always been more pen-and-paper, traditional RPG types has championed Pillars of Eternity since its release. Our little facebook gaming community gets confusing, as over the past few years, my PoE and his PoE are totally different games. We've been benevolently arguing about it since Diablo 1 vs Baldurs Gate 1, and won't change until we're old codgers in whatever gaming evolves into thirty years from now.

[Jace, Extat]

I done bought all the DA dlc. I hope you nerds were right about the enjoyability or I'LL FIND YOU!!!!!!

[l2 0 5 5]

On October 11, 2016 at 8:32 PM, KiDisaster said:

I eventually got it, I appreciate it though. Some Microsoft/Coalition techs are already all over it on the Gears sub-reddit, it's a pretty wide spread problem apparently.

In order to make it work you have to make sure the game is not running (so if you try to install the update through the in game prompt it won't work), go to the store page for the game and click update there. Then you have to have at least 80GB free on your drive or it won't allow the update even though the update itself is only ~450MB because it thinks it has to install the entire game again or something. Thankfully I have the extra space, some people who can't free it up are shit out of luck for right now it seems. 

Anyway, I've got it running now and the good things I've heard about the PC port are holding up so far. Very solid performance. 

 

On October 11, 2016 at 8:56 PM, Kalbear said:

Oh wow, Windows has that stupid size counting problem too? Bah. Glad it's working. It's really quite fun.

How're you guys liking it so far?  I'm digging the MP.  Movement feels a lot more like Gears 3. It feels quite smooth and quick.  I've been playing a good bit of TDM in core mode with a couple friends.  Dodgeball is an exciting new mode as well.  Still fun to play execution like the good ole Gears 1 days. 

[Clueless Northman]

6 hours ago, Werthead said:

Obsidian's news CRPG, Tyranny, is out on 10 November.

Shame it wasn't two days earlier, because then they could have had the marketing campaign "TYRANNY COMES TO AMERICA ON 8 NOVEMBER" and rode those election coattails.

And they could even have referenced the 99th anniversary of the October Revolution.

I too am surprised to see it released so early. Was it in development for a long time before it became publicized, or were they fast? (and does it imply it's quite a short game or is it due to the engine being established and quite polished already?)

[A True Kaniggit]

Heinlein for Stellaris is supposed to come out next week. I'm kind of weary about the new combat mechanics they're implementing, but it is Paradox, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt until I've tried it. 

[briantw]

10 hours ago, Werthead said:

Obsidian's news CRPG, Tyranny, is out on 10 November.

Shame it wasn't two days earlier, because then they could have had the marketing campaign "TYRANNY COMES TO AMERICA ON 8 NOVEMBER" and rode those election coattails.

Really looking forward to this one.  Seems like a nice twist on the standard RPG "hero of ages" formula.

[Red Hermit]

7 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

Nearly every top-rated single player RPG in the last fifteen years, I have started, thought was great, then gave up after ten or thirty hours, going back to never-ending timesink style games that I love. I play the crap out of Path of Exile, while one of my buddies who has always been more pen-and-paper, traditional RPG types has championed Pillars of Eternity since its release. 

I feel like as I've gotten older I've drifted away from games with long campaigns in favor of shorter games that are highly replayable.  As time passes the amount of games I need to get around to playing and the amount of games I want to replay only keeps increasing.  It's convenient when they require less of a time commitment to see what they have to offer.

[Argonath Diver]

I'm honestly a bit embarrassed to talk about it to other gamers, because my stubborn clinging to certain games has caused me to miss so much great content that others know about. That community of some random geeks that generally attended school together has long chats about Witcher 3 vs Skyrim, two superb games that I purchased, played, loved, and then shelved. Fallout 4? I always say Fallout 1 and 2 are my all time favorite RPGs, but I never beat any of the 3D Fallouts. Only ever beat one of the GTA games, never beat Mass Effect 1, Divinity, KOTOR, Baldur's Gate 2, the list just keeps going on. I never seem to think "Eh that game kind of sucks." Generally, I create a character, decide that the game is absolutely bad-ass and awesome, get through maybe a third, and eventually find myself playing time-sink focused games like the Diablo series or whatever MMO I might be currently infatuated with instead.

I suppose it's a reflection of my personality, the challenge and thrill of a new game sounds appealing, but I more naturally ease back into the comfort of something I can reliably zone out to for an hour (or 6). There have been dozens of exciting real-life activities I've honestly been interested in doing, but never have, and find myself having beers with friends watching a game at the pub instead. I'm simply a creature of habit. C'est le jeu.

[Werthead]

18 hours ago, Fez said:

Whoa, that's way sooner than I expected. I was thinking it'd be a Fall 2017 type release.

I had thought Obsidian and inXile were similarly sized at this point, based on how similar in scope and development schedule Pillars of Eternity and Wasteland 2 were. But somehow Tyranny is out next month and Torment: ToN still doesn't have a release date; even though its been in development for almost 4 years now.

Obsidian are much bigger and they have a bigger budget I believe, as this is a game directly commissioned for and by Paradox Entertainment. Also, this game uses the PoE Engine with fairly minor upgrades so they could focus on the content and writing.

Quote

I too am surprised to see it released so early. Was it in development for a long time before it became publicized, or were they fast? (and does it imply it's quite a short game or is it due to the engine being established and quite polished already?)

The game was in development from the tech and content teams before PoE came out, and there was a strong overlap with PoE's development.

It's also a shorter, more focused game than PoE. PoE was 50 hours+, this is apparently more likely like 25-30 hours.
 

[KiDisaster]

15 hours ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

How're you guys liking it so far?  I'm digging the MP.  Movement feels a lot more like Gears 3. It feels quite smooth and quick.  I've been playing a good bit of TDM in core mode with a couple friends.  Dodgeball is an exciting new mode as well.  Still fun to play execution like the good ole Gears 1 days. 

I've just been playing the campaign, probably won't touch the multi-player but I might try Horde mode. 

It's fun. I haven't played a Gears game since 2 back when it came out and it doesn't feel like anything much has changed. I am still a ludicrously buff man in American-football pads chainsawing baddies to death because they want to destroy us for reasons. The gameplay is still solid & satisfying in a 'I've done this many times before though' kinda way. Basically the same way I felt about Quantum Break's combat since it's the same thing minus the powers and plus crazier weapons. 

The story is pretty stock but the dialogue between the characters is actually very well written (found myself laughing at some of the banter between JD & Del especially) and the voice acting is top notch. 

Had I paid $60 for it I'd probably be less happy with it but as it stands I'm enjoying it. 

[Jace, Extat]

Reminded of one of my biggest gripes with DA:I as I ran into Hawke (completely forgot was gonna happen) and she proceeded to disparage the wardens for using blood magic. 

Hello! Irene Hawke, you're a fucking BLOOD MAGE!!!

[Clueless Northman]

3 hours ago, Werthead said:

It's also a shorter, more focused game than PoE. PoE was 50 hours+, this is apparently more likely like 25-30 hours.
 

Considering the kind of games it is - gameplay and plotwise -, it should provide a good degree of replayability.
But then I haven't touched PoE yet, nor Wasteland II or Divinity Original Sin. So a lot of nice recent RPGs to look forward to.

[KiDisaster]

Whelp, GoW4 is now borked. I got to the end of Act 3 and the game freezes right as the final cutscene triggers every single time. I can still hear the audio for the scene but no video, and after it's over it just hangs there. Even going into chapter select and trying to start Act 4 manually it freezes at the loading screen. Can't seem to find any solutions online, just other people having similar problems with no responses. 

Doing a full reinstall which will likely take all day because of how slowly things download from the Windows Store, hopefully that'll fix it. 

[Jasta11]

3 hours ago, Pony Queen Jace said:

Reminded of one of my biggest gripes with DA:I as I ran into Hawke (completely forgot was gonna happen) and she proceeded to disparage the wardens for using blood magic. 

Hello! Irene Hawke, you're a fucking BLOOD MAGE!!!

Yeah s/he does that no matter what Hawke you import. I mean, you could excuse it as Hawke swearing off blood magic after the events of Act 3, but even then it's a pretty sore spot for people who played a blood mage in DA2. Not that being a blood mage in DA2 made much sense to begin with, since you went around opening your veins and impaling yourself on your staff in broad daylight, even in the Gallows themselves. But still, continuity is nice.

Also, as others I'm very much looking forward to Tyranny. Obsidian has never disappointed me, so I'm probaly going to make an exception and pre-order.

Total War: Warhammer is also getting a new DLC on the 20th of October, featuring Belegar, Skarsnik and a bunch of new units for dwarfs and greenskins, including Squigs, and new content which includes another Greenskin Lord and new Chaos unit. I'm pleased that the game keeps getting fairly steady support from CA, including all the free content. I still boot it up from time to time, which I could not say of any previous Total War game save Medieval II.

Finally, new World of Warcraft patch on October 25th, featuring a giant Karazhan dungeon, new quests, and a new mini raid. So many games to play, so little time. Albeit I'm still playing WoW and making my way through Heroic Emerald Nightmare with my guild. Good thing it's a pretty easy raid, too.

[KiDisaster]

Disabling SLI has fixed the GoW4 issue. I don't know how it got re-enabled in the first place though...that's weird as hell. 

[MerenthaClone]

11 hours ago, Jasta11 said:

Total War: Warhammer is also getting a new DLC on the 20th of October, featuring Belegar, Skarsnik and a bunch of new units for dwarfs and greenskins, including Squigs, and new content which includes another Greenskin Lord and new Chaos unit. I'm pleased that the game keeps getting fairly steady support from CA, including all the free content. I still boot it up from time to time, which I could not say of any previous Total War game save Medieval II.

And, for those curious, at least on the Greenskin side they're essentially getting new factions.  Skarsnik gets a tun of goblin-related bonuses, starts over further towards Bretonnia, is his own faction, and can only recruit orcs in a specific province (I think).  Wurrzag (the free DLC character) has something somewhat similar with Savage Orcs, though I don't think has the restriction on orc recruitment.  That means a Skarsnik campaign is going to be very different from a Greenskin (Grimgor/Azhag) one, since not only do you have a very different start position, you're heavily incentivized to use gobbos instead of orcs which changes not only your grand campaign strategy, but your battlefield ones too.  Belegar has a new start position and also isn't a member of the Dwarfs faction, but I don't think he is quite as unique as Skarsnik, either.  He does start with buildings that make it easier to use the new units and has a different win condition, I know that much. 

Basically, one of my problems with Grim and the Grave, as much as I liked it, is that a Ghorst VC campaign isn't fundamentally too different from a Mannfred VC campaign.  The new toys are nice, sure, but its still a lot of the same map structure, and what works for Mannfred probably works as well for Ghorst too.  I held off on starting both a Dwarf and Greenskin campaign until this DLC came out, and I'm regretting it now because they pre-emptively addressed my complaint and created heroes that seem like they'll drastically alter the playstyle of their base factions.  I'm excited for this because it means CA looks like they're going in the right direction with their DLC.  

edited because Vlad was actually a free lord instead of part of G&G.  Changed to Ghorst.  

[Werthead]

The Endless franchise is currently 75% off on Steam. That gives you the Emperor Edition of Endless Space with all the DLC (because Endless Space 2 is about to come out, so presumably they're not seeing any point in selling the first one without the expansions) and Endless Legend without any of its DLC for £10, along with Dungeon of the Endless for an extra £2 if you want. That's a pretty sweet deal so I'm going to give them a go.

[Jasta11]

8 hours ago, MerenthaClone said:

And, for those curious, at least on the Greenskin side they're essentially getting new factions.  Skarsnik gets a tun of goblin-related bonuses, starts over further towards Bretonnia, is his own faction, and can only recruit orcs in a specific province (I think).  Wurrzag (the free DLC character) has something somewhat similar with Savage Orcs, though I don't think has the restriction on orc recruitment.  That means a Skarsnik campaign is going to be very different from a Greenskin (Grimgor/Azhag) one, since not only do you have a very different start position, you're heavily incentivized to use gobbos instead of orcs which changes not only your grand campaign strategy, but your battlefield ones too.  Belegar has a new start position and also isn't a member of the Dwarfs faction, but I don't think he is quite as unique as Skarsnik, either.  He does start with buildings that make it easier to use the new units and has a different win condition, I know that much. 

Basically, one of my problems with Grim and the Grave, as much as I liked it, is that a Ghorst VC campaign isn't fundamentally too different from a Mannfred VC campaign.  The new toys are nice, sure, but its still a lot of the same map structure, and what works for Mannfred probably works as well for Ghorst too.  I held off on starting both a Dwarf and Greenskin campaign until this DLC came out, and I'm regretting it now because they pre-emptively addressed my complaint and created heroes that seem like they'll drastically alter the playstyle of their base factions.  I'm excited for this because it means CA looks like they're going in the right direction with their DLC.  

edited because Vlad was actually a free lord instead of part of G&G.  Changed to Ghorst.  

Yeah, it's a much better idea to have different LLs have different bonuses, traits and starting positions. I wanted to play a Volkmar campaign, but in the end, you're still kinda doing the same thing you did with Karl Franz at the helm. Whereas I plan to do a Belegar campaign which will be much different from Thorgrim's.

It does seem like Belegar is OP, however, since he has no less than 4 Ethereal heroes supporting him right at the start; 2 Thanes, a Runesmith and a Master Engineer. I assume their stats and health are tweaked to accomodate their Ethereal status (which grants massive physical damage reduction), otherwise Ethereal Thanes (already amongst the strongest melee heroes) supported by a Runesmith are going to be damn near invincible to anything short of a stack of Giants. Belegar and his ghosts will definitely be able to defeat most early and mid game armies by themselves.

I mean, it's single player so balance isn't a primary concern. But I wouldn't want the game to be brokenly easy either.