Video Games: Dawn of Waaaaagh!

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I know I haven't (nor won't) finished MEA, but I just had a brilliant idea for MEA: 2. How about we do a Mass Effect 2? In that the Andromeda Initiative brought along some Shepard cells and those Andromeda Citadel (whatever it's called) renegades get ahold of those cells and recreate Shepard just like they did in Mass Effect 2!! It's not jumping the shark because it's already been done, you're working for the "bad guys" who suddenly become good, and the best part? You get to KILL Ryder like in the first 10 minutes. He/she's all like "Hey Shepard, we're all in this together!!!" And Shepard blows his face off with the Carnifex and says, "Have you got a minute to talk?"

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

I know I haven't (nor won't) finished MEA, but I just had a brilliant idea for MEA: 2. How about we do a Mass Effect 2? In that the Andromeda Initiative brought along some Shepard cells and those Andromeda Citadel (whatever it's called) renegades get ahold of those cells and recreate Shepard just like they did in Mass Effect 2!! It's not jumping the shark because it's already been done, you're working for the "bad guys" who suddenly become good, and the best part? You get to KILL Ryder like in the first 10 minutes. He/she's all like "Hey Shepard, we're all in this together!!!" And Shepard blows his face off with the Carnifex and says, "Have you got a minute to talk?"

Lol, no. But I fully expect The Tempest to be attacked Normandy style for the next one. Personally while the crew is asleep, because I would like to see exactly where everybody sleeps on that ship.

[briantw]

12 hours ago, Caligula_K3 said:

Since there's been a lot of talk in this thread about whether the old Bioware is dead due to people leaving, I thought this post was pretty interesting:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/68fmiw/what_the_people_who_made_star_wars_knights_of_the/

 

It tracks the careers of many of the people who worked on KOTOR, including many of the core development team. What's interesting is that the vast majority of the core developers are still at Bioware, though now split on different teams (some in Montreal, some in Edmonton, some in Austin), and a third of the rest are still there as well (which is pretty good considering it's been almost fifteen years). So I'm not sure I can buy the Bioware "brain drain" theory, though of course some big people have left Bioware in recent years, like David Gaider, whose writing I will definitely miss in future Dragon Age games.

Well, Knights of the Old Republic was really all about the story and character interaction, so if the key writers are no longer there, that's basically all that matters.  No one is going back to play KOTOR for its stunning gameplay.  The thing is borderline unplayable on PC by modern standards.

[Caligula_K3]

11 hours ago, briantw said:

Well, Knights of the Old Republic was really all about the story and character interaction, so if the key writers are no longer there, that's basically all that matters.  No one is going back to play KOTOR for its stunning gameplay.  The thing is borderline unplayable on PC by modern standards.

But that's the point- a lot of the key writers are still there (including Drew Karpyshin; Gaider was there until after Inquisition). And even more of the writers who worked on the original Dragon Age and Mass Effect are still at Bioware. The point being that if there has been a decline in quality at Bioware (which I'm not sure I completely agree with), it's hard to blame it on Bioware losing its talent, as many people do.

[KiDisaster]

12 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Lol, no. But I fully expect The Tempest to be attacked Normandy style for the next one. Personally while the crew is asleep, because I would like to see exactly where everybody sleeps on that ship.

Gil, Kallo, Suvi, Lexi - Bunks in crew quarters.

Liam - Couch.

Peebee - Escape pod in zero G. 

Jaal - One of those operating table looking things in the tech lab. 

Cora - Suspended in her own biotic field because that's how the ASARI HUNTRESSES probably do it and did you know she's an ASARI HUNTRESS?

Drack - Krogan probably don't sleep (or can sleep standing up) cause they're 'ard bastards or something. 

Ryder - VIP Suite

Vetra - See above 

[DunderMifflin]

I thought Cora lived in the bio lab.

I would hv guessed Gil lived in the back with Liam to be near the core since he rarely leaves that part of the ship.

Drack probably just passes out wherever he is after guzzling booze all night, usually in the kitchen.

 

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Caligula_K3 said:

But that's the point- a lot of the key writers are still there (including Drew Karpyshin; Gaider was there until after Inquisition). And even more of the writers who worked on the original Dragon Age and Mass Effect are still at Bioware. The point being that if there has been a decline in quality at Bioware (which I'm not sure I completely agree with), it's hard to blame it on Bioware losing its talent, as many people do.

If that's the case, you could probably just attribute it to the shitty EA culture infecting yet another company they purchased. 

[Corvinus85]

2 hours ago, KiDisaster said:

Gil, Kallo, Suvi, Lexi - Bunks in crew quarters.

Liam - Couch.

Peebee - Escape pod in zero G. 

Jaal - One of those operating table looking things in the tech lab. 

Cora - Suspended in her own biotic field because that's how the ASARI HUNTRESSES probably do it and did you know she's an ASARI HUNTRESS?

Drack - Krogan probably don't sleep (or can sleep standing up) cause they're 'ard bastards or something. 

Ryder - VIP Suite

Vetra - See above 

But if it's Cora who shares the VIP bed, where does Vetra sleep? Passed out on the meeting room table? That's more likely Drack's place. 

I think Drack occasionally sleeps in one of the top bunks in the crew quarters, leaving the others to draw lots for the bunk below him. 

[aceluby]

15 hours ago, briantw said:

Well, Knights of the Old Republic was really all about the story and character interaction, so if the key writers are no longer there, that's basically all that matters.  No one is going back to play KOTOR for its stunning gameplay.  The thing is borderline unplayable on PC by modern standards.

The gameplay was great on consoles.  The story was good, but I didn't replay each one a dozen times because I wanted to hear the story over and over.

[briantw]

3 minutes ago, aceluby said:

The gameplay was great on consoles.  The story was good, but I didn't replay each one a dozen times because I wanted to hear the story over and over.

I wouldn't say the gameplay was great even on consoles, and I originally played it on the Xbox.  It wasn't awful or anything, but it was basically the same as the first Mass Effect, another game I don't remember fondly because of its stellar gameplay.  Both games were much more about the conversation trees and character decisions than the actual gameplay.

[The Anti-Targ]

So a bit of controversy over CoD: WWII multiplayer including female options. Seems like some people might believe there were no female fighters because the Western regular armies didn't have female combat soldiers. Arguably, depending on the actual story, the single player could have included female combatants and it should be uncontroversial. But no, any time women are included it has to be unacceptable PC SJW interference.

[briantw]

Finally finished Darksiders 2.  Originally I was going to try to 100% it, but holy shit there is just so much busy work collecting involved in doing so that I just said fuck it and went and killed the last boss.  I just couldn't bring myself to finish the three optional campaigns, or two massive sidequests that were all just a shitload of combat, which was my least favorite part of the game.

Overall, I liked the game, but it didn't know when to say enough was enough.  I'd have preferred a shorter, tighter, more linear game over the open world collectathon.  The dungeons are a lot of fun most of the time, although they occasionally just throw waves of enemies at you until you get annoyed.  By far the best part of the game are the various puzzles.  They aren't all that difficult, really, but they are fun, as is the platforming the majority of the time.  I don't even mind the combat when it's short and to the point, but the game has a God of War complex going on where it rarely feels like enough is enough, only the combat isn't as fun or as tight as in God of War.  

The story was fine, much like the first game.  They're not exactly trying to rewrite Shakespeare here.  It's tends to meander about and doesn't really make a whole lot of sense logically, although it's easy enough to follow.  The voice acting, much like in the first game, is above average.  I liked Death's sarcastic asshole character more than War's stoic boring asshole character.  

Worth playing if you've got the time and want a Zelda and God of War hybrid that isn't quite as good as either but decent enough at both.  Plus, they just announced the third game today!

[The Mance]

9 hours ago, The Anti-Targ said:

Seems like some people might believe there were no female fighters because the Western regular armies didn't have female combat soldiers

I know this is just anecdotal, but according to my grandfather there was no instant respawning when you died either.  Seems crazy, I know, because of course video games are always just so true to life.

[Rhom]

11 minutes ago, The Mance said:

I know this is just anecdotal, but according to my grandfather there was no instant respawning when you died either.  Seems crazy, I know, because of course video games are always just so true to life.

Sounds like the ultimate Hardcore Mode...

[MerenthaClone]

Prey came out of nowhere for me, and goddamn is this game good.  Its, essentially, System Shock 3 and is phenomenal.  The atmosphere, the gameplay freedom, the environmental interactions, the...everything.  Its a shame it wasn't advertised anywhere that I saw, but goddamn, if you ever liked SS2, or its inferior offspring Bioshock, you owe it to yourself to check it out.  

[Rhom]

2 hours ago, MerenthaClone said:

Prey came out of nowhere for me, and goddamn is this game good.  Its, essentially, System Shock 3 and is phenomenal.  The atmosphere, the gameplay freedom, the environmental interactions, the...everything.  Its a shame it wasn't advertised anywhere that I saw, but goddamn, if you ever liked SS2, or its inferior offspring Bioshock, you owe it to yourself to check it out.  

Wasn't advertised anywhere?!!!?

You don't watch much TV do you?   

Its been all over the NBA playoffs.  Every commercial break hits Prey pretty hard.

[MerenthaClone]

43 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Wasn't advertised anywhere?!!!?

You don't watch much TV do you?   

Its been all over the NBA playoffs.  Every commercial break hits Prey pretty hard.

The closest I've seen to seeing the NBA playoffs is watching bartenders yell at Cavs fans who ask for their game to be shown while there's a Penguins game happening, so, no.  

[briantw]

46 minutes ago, Rhom said:

Wasn't advertised anywhere?!!!?

You don't watch much TV do you?   

Its been all over the NBA playoffs.  Every commercial break hits Prey pretty hard.

I thought they were just referring to how LeBron views the Raptors.

Too soon?

[Rhom]

I'm still working my way through Andromeda.  Fully cleared out Kadara and then spent lots of time running around the Nexus clearing out those quests that crop up that just require a lot of talking.  Finally went over and did the Archon's ship last night. 

I will say, the more I play the game; the more I think that the only real "mistake" made with the game was the decision to go entirely open world. As I mentioned earlier, the game still has some great set pieces.  I thought the decision I had to make at the end of the Archon's ship was up there with any of the decisions from the first trilogy like letting the Rachni queen live/die and others along that line.  How much will it matter to the story?  I don't know... but lets be honest, in the end none of the decisions I made in the first trilogy mattered much either. 

I really do think that Andromeda would compare favorably if the planets were each contained in the same way they were in ME.  With everything spread out on the planets the way they are, the game feels very bloated and loses focus on the strong parts and that really hurts everything else.

When I think back on some of the bigger games I've played in the last year or two, I really see a trend for me.  My most enjoyable experiences were The Last of Us and the Uncharted games.  I also loved my replay of the ME trilogy.  Games I have not enjoyed as much even though I like parts of it were Metal Gear Solid, DA:I, and FFXV (which I dropped and didn't even finish).  So I think its obvious at this point in my life, I need a more focused gaming experience.  I don't have much time to play, and therefore I value games that keep me moving from one story beat to the next with solid gameplay in between.

I really do think the game underneath all that bloat is actually pretty fun though.

12 hours ago, briantw said:

I thought they were just referring to how LeBron views the Raptors.

Too soon?

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I haven't been able to play Andromeda in over a week--every time I start it up, I'm bored by the time it loads. The characters just don't engage me. I was playing Witcher 3 last night, progressing through the main quest again until I'm at a high enough level to try out the additional content (realized I never played those! So excited). I was playing through a side quest that a lot of people thought was weak that involving Dandelion and Priscilla:

Spoiler

But even for a "weak" sidequest, I was in awe, again, of the characterization in this game after the lifelessness of MEA. The interactions with Joachim early on reveal a depth about him far greater than many characters in other games, and he's really not in the quest that much, though my memory of my first playthrough from last year made it feel like he was around a lot. Hubert is fairly complex too, and I was shocked to realize he duped me on my first playthrough--that he was the killer. I mean it's so obvious looking back that he was a vampire--he hinted at it, the game hinted at it, and a good mystery always has the obvious Nathaniel red herring. But the devs of Witcher 3, I think, used our expectations of sloppy game design (much like MEA), and gambled that a lot of us would look right past the evidence. Hubert looks younger than Joachim, for example, yet was his mentor? I figured--oh sloppy art design or something. Then Geralt even mentions the age, and Hubert talks about it a bit, and I still rationalize the issues with his story in mind as design flaws. No, you dolt! He's a vampire!

When you're chasing the killer later and he's outrunning you and knocking over guards--Nathaniel is a scrawny little piss--how could he do that? Games are just designed bad, I thought. How could he get into that big estate unnoticed? Bad writing--even in a game known for its great writing!

So when I chose a different response when facing Nathaniel and he began explaining himself--I was like...wow, I killed the wrong guy last time and never even knew it. The game tricked me! A Witcher!