Video Games: Next Stop... Andromeda

[The Anti-Targ]

7 hours ago, RumHam said:

I want to play the new Zelda game. I was just gonna buy a Wii U and wait and see on the Switch, but for some reason both systems are around $300. Weird. 

I've heard some anecdotal claims that Zelda runs quite badly on Wii U, and does not make any decent use of the gamepad. Switch is probably your best bet since you don't already have Wii U.

[KiDisaster]

I am really, really annoyed at the end of Banner Saga 2

 

I upgraded Bolver more than Iver during the course of the game so the final battle is unwinnable. What a crock of shit.

Really soured an otherwise fantastic game. 

ETA: OK, after a few more attempts I guess it is possible to win, it's just going to require a ludicrous amount of patience. 

[briantw]

15 hours ago, mgambino said:

I just picked up Torment for Xbox One. It seems like it would be a good game, but it runs like ass and freezes quite a bit.

Hopefully a patch will be incoming.

 

::edit:: Ok, quick change. It freezes pretty regularly to the point where it is almost unplayable past the first hour. Apparently other people are having this problem on XB1 and PS4. Boo.

Finally a game that runs great on PCs but like dogshit on consoles.

Now you fuckers know our pain.  We've been getting half-assed ports for years now.

[KiDisaster]

Man I'm dumb (Banner Saga 2 spoilers)

So after trying and failing at least 7 or 8 times to just kite Bolverk through the lightning until he died (which because of the way I built him and the item he had was stupid hard because he had like a 40% chance to avoid STR damage entirely and then like a 20% chance to decrease the damage he took from STR attacks by 2 or 3 if he did get hit) because he could kill me in two hits so I thought that was the only way to win, I realized I'm dumb as a bag of rocks. All I had to do was get him hit once or twice by lightning and then make sure I got the first hit on him, ignoring his armor, to just lower his strength to the point where he couldn't one shot me. Then it was over pretty much. The fight was actually incredibly easy, I was just overthinking it and making it way harder than it needed to be >.>

Anyway, Banner Saga 2 was awesome. Good timing, my copy of Horizon: Zero Dawn arrives from Amazon today

[RumHam]

On 3/1/2017 at 6:39 PM, The Anti-Targ said:

I've heard some anecdotal claims that Zelda runs quite badly on Wii U, and does not make any decent use of the gamepad. Switch is probably your best bet since you don't already have Wii U.

Yeah. Part of me just wants to get a Wii U while I still can for completions sake. I don't have a Virtual Boy but otherwise I have all the Nintendo Systems. If I could go back in time and get a Virtual Boy before they stopped making them I would. 

I may try to find a Switch tomorrow. But ideally I'd just stop reading about Zelda and hold off and play the many other games I have queued up. This new trend of video game systems getting revised versions that are actually more powerful makes me a little hesitant to buy a Switch right away for just one game. 

[The Anti-Targ]

13 minutes ago, RumHam said:

Yeah. Part of me just wants to get a Wii U while I still can for completions sake. I don't have a Virtual Boy but otherwise I have all the Nintendo Systems. If I could go back in time and get a Virtual Boy before they stopped making them I would. 

I may try to find a Switch tomorrow. But ideally I'd just stop reading about Zelda and hold off and play the many other games I have queued up. This new trend of video game systems getting revised versions that are actually more powerful makes me a little hesitant to buy a Switch right away for just one game. 

Indeed. Nintendo certainly went there first with the N3DS. But I don't see a NSwitch coming along for at least 2 years. And there's a lot of game to be had on Switch over the next 2 years, which will only turn into a huge backlog if you hold out for NSwitch.

I guess by a new console when you feel ready to get it. I wouldn't wait for hardware revisions if you are ready now. The only reason to wait is if high failure rates get revealed, so then you buy on the first hardware revision, which might not be a power upgrade, just better manufacturing quality.

[AndrewJ]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

I may try to find a Switch tomorrow. But ideally I'd just stop reading about Zelda and hold off and play the many other games I have queued up. 

Impossible. Last I heard, Zelda was at 98 on meta-critic after 50 reviews.

Picked up my Switch this morning - along with a pro controller and Zelda. I've tinkered with it in the office a little, but have to wait until I get home to really try it out.

 

[RumHam]

1 hour ago, AndrewJ said:

Impossible. Last I heard, Zelda was at 98 on meta-critic after 50 reviews.

Picked up my Switch this morning - along with a pro controller and Zelda. I've tinkered with it in the office a little, but have to wait until I get home to really try it out.

 

YOU'RE NOT HELPING.

(Fuck I hope I can find one tomorrow.)

 

[DJDonegal]

The Switch launch, on a purely personal level, was at all kinds of the wrong time for me.  I got married last month and so I've got my honeymoon coming up and that leaves me with nooooo spare change to get it.

This may also explain why I'm playing through the Mass Effect franchise right now.

I never got a Wii-U so once I heard Zelda was coming to the Switch I only wanted to get the new console with that game. Impressive critic scores so far make me even more despondent that I don't have one in my hands but realistically it's probably going to have to wait until after the summer.  The good thing about that is it means I can get BotW as well as Mario: Odyssey and who knows what else. It also means that if there are any obvious hardware quirks they could possibly be ironed out by then.

[KiDisaster]

I wish those of you who are hunting for Switches today the best of luck, I'm sure it'll be madness out there. I might pick one up around the holidays when the new Mario game is out. Looks kinda like Mario 64 and that was my favorite one. 

[Rhom]

1 hour ago, KiDisaster said:

I wish those of you who are hunting for Switches today the best of luck, I'm sure it'll be madness out there. I might pick one up around the holidays when the new Mario game is out. Looks kinda like Mario 64 and that was my favorite one. 

I gave one of my staff the day off today so she could go get a Switch (without pay naturally  ).  She was successful.  I told her to hook it up and home and bring it in this afternoon.   

[Ded As Ned]

I really would like to play Zelda, but I'm not gonna buy a Switch just to play it.  Hopefully one of the neighbors will end up getting one so I can go over there to play it.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

15 minutes ago, Ded As Ned said:

I really would like to play Zelda, but I'm not gonna buy a Switch just to play it.  Hopefully one of the neighbors will end up getting one so I can go over there to play it.

This is exactly where I am.  I understand the marketing basis for platform exclusives, and I would REALLY love to play that Zelda game, but I'll be damned if I'm going to pay $350-400 or whatever for the privilege.

[Fez]

More new Mass Effect footage dropped.

The third gameplay series video and the first 13 minutes of the game

The gameplay video shows a lot more of what the non-combat parts of the game are than anything before. It looks like there are a lot of different progression systems in the game, more than I was expecting. Hopefully they feel properly tied together. Also, I found it interesting that it says there are over a hundred worlds to explore, with a "handful" that you can land on. I'm hopeful that means the worlds we'll be on feel as hand-crafted and interesting as the planets in the past; and that nothing feels as optional and unnecessary as some of the later areas in DA:I.

The first 13 minutes look good. Its not the literal first 13 minutes because male Ryder had already been selected at the start of the video, but I don't know if there's any intro scene before the character selection that we also aren't seeing. Its certainly a better start than the beginning of ME3, which was pretty dire. I did notice some not great animations, especially around the mouths of the seemingly non-major characters, but I expect that'll fade into the background for me after an hour or two of playing.

I'm excited.

[DunderMifflin]

I like that you can look through the windows of the Tempest and see the planets in real time. Thats a nice touch.

[Rhom]

That does look awesome.  Excitement growing day by day.

In ME3, I just rescued Eve.  I had forgotten just how many damn fetch quests there are in and around the Citadel.

[Rhom]

46 minutes ago, Soylent Brown said:

The new Zelda is absolutely wonderful. I've not played that much so far - I've still not done everything I want to in the Plateau, but it is so much fun. Exploring, fighting, cooking; all great!

My employee brought it in this morning for me to check out.  It is absolutely a gorgeous game.  The Switch in its mobile form reminds me of an oversized PSP.  It did feel a bit awkward in my hands at first. The sound on the system was fantastic too, really felt like some solid stereo sound even though I had it turned down.

[Jasta11]

On 28/02/2017 at 3:49 AM, MerenthaClone said:

Foot Squires come from your peasant reserves, which actually makes them harder to field in campaign since you're capped by territory for them.  Also, they're slightly more aggressive, less sturdy Greatswords.  Given that Bretonnia's infantry exists solely to give their enemies something to beat up on while their Knights move to the flank/rear charge, I'm okay with that.  Rebalance their cost and they'll be fine and have a role in a Bretonnian army without being overpowered.  They're also t4 to the greatswords' t3. 

And I've played a bit through the campaign and they are actually a pain in the ass to get rolling.  The peasant army cap means you can't fill your roster with t1/t2 units without suffering significant economy penalties and I found myself hurting for cash pretty badly even without those penalties.  Sacking, raiding, and ransoming all hurt your chivalry pretty badly and those are all key campaign mechanics for pretty much any faction as far as money-making goes.  Ambushing does too, which was the easiest/best way to get open-field battles from a garrisoned army. Plus, you're up against a decent faction almost immediately, since Marienburg's walls and economy shut you down hard and Orion's a monster early on.  Well, unless you start with Alberic who seems like he's got the weakest start bonus/units but also the "easiest" enemy in Mousillon.  Terror does a huge number on Bretonnia's starting units and I've only been able to take on the Red Duke when the Green Knight is available to me, so even though Mousillon starts off with only a minor province the'yre absurdly hard to dislodge.  

So far, I've found their start harder than most factions', including ones labeled "hard" like Skarsnik and, probably, Vlad/Isabella's.  (Also, here's hoping they move Kemmler to Mousillon and make it a playable Vampire start too, since that'd give you three VC factions in essentially two start locations with two LLs each).  Once the patch settles down a bit, I should probably re-try the Beastmen, WE, and Empire campaigns just because their starts have gotten considerably harder as the factions fill out.  CA's support of this game is nothing short of incredible.  

e:  My issues with Bretonnia might just stem from my inability to leverage my advantages, to be fair.  Grail Guardians are some incredible beastly fuckers and the Green Knight has basically let me win fights I have no right winning like 600 men, mostly peasants, barely losing against 3k+ undead, including some high-tier units (and then my remnants utterly crushing theirs').  The main reason I lost that campaign is that as soon as I suffered that defeat, Orion came rampaging from the woods and razed Carcassone, leaving me with no real base of power whatsoever.  I'll see if I can salvage it tomorrow, but I doubt it. 

Basically, Brets start with a good army and incredibly shit campaign location, which is fun.  

Yeah, I mostly meant in multiplayer. Faction balance doesn't matter that much in SP since campaign mechanics often prevent both you and the AI from fielding ideal army.

But a solid Bretonnian frontline of cost-effective infantry backed up by a Grail Reliquae that gives them insane leadership, supported by the new king of 1v1 fights (Louen), the Lore of Life and the best cavalry AND air force in the game is pretty damn fearsome. I've found that the best faction to go up against them is the Greenskins, since you can spam Big'uns and Boar Boys which basically counter all of their army. Smash their infantry, then take down the knights piecemeal. Empire can also win thanks to Flagellants and Halberd Demis. But poor Chaos and Dwarves get massacred.

Still, I've been enjoying the campaign as Louen. I was annoyed at the constant revolts, until I realized it's a way to have something to fight and level Louen. The AI just cannot deal with Grail Knights effectively, mine pick up at least 200 kills per battle if not more. The Wood Elves pretty much always stay in their forests in my game, so even if we're at war they don't bother me. 

I'm probably going to get Marienburg soon, which foolishly declared war on both me and Karl Franz. Nothing like grabbing a massively profitable port and making friends outta the Empire at the same time.

[Corvinus85]

31 minutes ago, Jasta11 said:

Yeah, I mostly meant in multiplayer. Faction balance doesn't matter that much in SP since campaign mechanics often prevent both you and the AI from fielding ideal army.

But a solid Bretonnian frontline of cost-effective infantry backed up by a Grail Reliquae that gives them insane leadership, supported by the new king of 1v1 fights (Louen), the Lore of Life and the best cavalry AND air force in the game is pretty damn fearsome. I've found that the best faction to go up against them is the Greenskins, since you can spam Big'uns and Boar Boys which basically counter all of their army. Smash their infantry, then take down the knights piecemeal. Empire can also win thanks to Flagellants and Halberd Demis. But poor Chaos and Dwarves get massacred.

Still, I've been enjoying the campaign as Louen. I was annoyed at the constant revolts, until I realized it's a way to have something to fight and level Louen. The AI just cannot deal with Grail Knights effectively, mine pick up at least 200 kills per battle if not more. The Wood Elves pretty much always stay in their forests in my game, so even if we're at war they don't bother me. 

I'm probably going to get Marienburg soon, which foolishly declared war on both me and Karl Franz. Nothing like grabbing a massively profitable port and making friends outta the Empire at the same time.

I'm playing as Alberic. Right now the entire territory of Bretonnia is split between me and Louen, all through confederating.

I've learned that with the Bretonnians you don't have to follow the same tactics of flanking with the cavalry. Straight up charges work, too, since more than likely half your army will be heavy cav due to the peasant cap. The more powerful infantry units like the polemen-at-arms can be used on the flanks to hold off enemy flanking you, and while the various specialized peasant bowmen units are good, right now I find that having yeomen archers in the army has its own advantages, keeping things more mobile.

I am disappointed though with my war against the Wood Elves. The AI still sucks. First, the elves let me raid my way into their territory, all of those pointy-eared cowards sat in their tree homes, and then I razed the Oak of Ages, but the elf factions are still going. So that's how you lose the campaign if you play with the Wood Elves, but now how the AI loses. FFS

Now despite the location, I do like playing with the Bretonnians, because if you ally with your neighboring duchies, sooner or later they draw you into a war with pretty much anybody, and winning decisive battles is the best way to rack up chivalry. I, too, both developed Alberic, and gained chivalry in the beginning by allowing rebellions to happen. Pretty soon I'll get to 400 chivalry, and I guess that starts an Errantry War. I don't know what that is, but I stayed away from watching youtube videos that go too much into the Bretonnian gameplay.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

The chivalry mechanic is cool, I realised I tended to role play that when playing the Empire anyway so tended to not sack and raze so often, so it wasn't such a huge step away.

But ambushing taking away chivalry is harsh, because at times its very difficult to catch a lot of armies as they race around through your territories. Setting an ambush and letting them rush at you is pretty much the only way to counter it. 

Overall I quite like the Bretonnian campaign so far, although money is very hard to come by in the early game. Its a bigger struggle than most of the other factions I've played with.