Video Games: In the Grim Darkness of licensed Games.

[Werthead]

Got my first submarine in Subnautica and now shooting around like a lunatic doing journeys in seconds that used to take me many minutes of scuba diving. Mwahaha. Now the long grinding to get the submarine upgraded enough to do the stuff I need it to do begins.

7 hours ago, PyroclasticFlow said:

I know I'm a little late to the party, but I just picked up Witcher3 Wild Hunt yesterday and would like some input on what to expect. Most recent RPG played was Skyrim when it came out 3 or 4 yrs ago.

It's somewhat similar to Skyrim, with a big medievally open world with Vikings (although they're in the Skellige Islands, which you don't visit until later on). The key differences between The Witcher 3 and Skyrim are that The Witcher 3 has much better writing, combat, quests, quest design, monsters, weapons, characters, side-quests, writing, humour, graphics, technical design (you can go into buildings without loading screens!), art design, writing, music (although that one is close, to be fair), voice acting, the reactivity of the main storyline and writing. Oh, and a much bigger game world, with far more to do. Did I mention that writing?

Skyrim is better in the very narrow sense that it's a true freeform game with a much less detailed (and arguably restrictive) main storyline that allows you to create your character from scratch, whilst The Witcher 3 forces you to play Geralt, whom you can change and adapt a bit, but not too much. Skyrim also does mountains better, The Witcher 3's are weirdly too small, but otherwise The Witcher 3 is the much stronger game.

[Pliskin]

I disagree on combat. The fighting gameplay of The Witcher is terribly boring. Skyrim is much more fun in that regard. For the rest, The Witcher is leagues ahead of course.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, Werthead said:

Got my first submarine in Subnautica and now shooting around like a lunatic doing journeys in seconds that used to take me many minutes of scuba diving. Mwahaha. Now the long grinding to get the submarine upgraded enough to do the stuff I need it to do begins.

It's somewhat similar to Skyrim, with a big medievally open world with Vikings (although they're in the Skellige Islands, which you don't visit until later on). The key differences between The Witcher 3 and Skyrim are that The Witcher 3 has much better writing, combat, quests, quest design, monsters, weapons, characters, side-quests, writing, humour, graphics, technical design (you can go into buildings without loading screens!), art design, writing, music (although that one is close, to be fair), voice acting, the reactivity of the main storyline and writing. Oh, and a much bigger game world, with far more to do. Did I mention that writing?

Skyrim is better in the very narrow sense that it's a true freeform game with a much less detailed (and arguably restrictive) main storyline that allows you to create your character from scratch, whilst The Witcher 3 forces you to play Geralt, whom you can change and adapt a bit, but not too much. Skyrim also does mountains better, The Witcher 3's are weirdly too small, but otherwise The Witcher 3 is the much stronger game.

Wait, you think music is the thing that is close?  I don't remember a single track from Skyrim.  The music in Witcher 3 was amazing.

[l2 0 5 5]

31 minutes ago, briantw said:

Wait, you think music is the thing that is close?  I don't remember a single track from Skyrim.  The music in Witcher 3 was amazing.

I think Skyrim had some great tracks.  Couldn't tell you what they're called but I can hear them perfectly. Was fortunate enough to be a college kid with no big responsibilities when Skyrim came out and wasted the days away playing it when it was released. Sure do miss those days. As for Witcher, I distinctly recall the menu track for Blood and Wine being particularly enchanting and creepy at the same time.

[briantw]

2 minutes ago, l2 0 5 5 said:

I think Skyrim had some great tracks.  Couldn't tell you what they're called but I can hear them perfectly. Was fortunate enough to be a college kid with no big responsibilities when Skyrim came out and wasted the days away playing it when it was released. Sure do miss those days. As for Witcher, I distinctly recall the menu track for Blood and Wine being particularly enchanting and creepy at the same time.

The music when you meet the crones is incredible. 

[Gorn]

On music, I have to declare it a draw. Both Skyrim and The Witcher 3 have amazing music, and I can't really say that one is better than the other.

Skyrim has an advantage in the large number of roles, appearances and backgrounds for your character. You can play as a warrior, mage, ranger, rogue, or any of the countless variations and combinations; you can become a vampire or a werewolf; you can be of either gender or any race; you can fight with swords, shields, hammers, bows, axes, dual-wielding daggers or bare hands. In The Witcher 3, you are always Geralt of Rivia, who fights with a sword and who can use one of four different spells. That's it, take it or leave it.

However, as Werthead mentioned, in every other aspect (especially in writing), The Witcher 3 wins easily.

[Inkdaub]

12 hours ago, briantw said:

The music when you meet the crones is incredible. 

This is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about Witcher 3 music. 

I'm still playing Horizon Zero Dawn.  Also has good music.  This game started out good and keeps getting better. 

[GallowKnight]

17 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

So I just finished chapter 6. Ace, don't open this:

  Reveal hidden contents

Swear words. ALL THE SWEAR WORDS. I hated that guy the entire time, and he's the one to literally put the knife in me? I knew Arthur was doomed from a combination of his failing health and that the game had an epilogue, but damn that sucked. Hopefully my new character will claim revenge.

 

Spoiler

The knife in the back is actually a by-product of your low honor. If you finish with high honor that does not happen.

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 minutes ago, GallowKnight said:

  Reveal hidden contents

The knife in the back is actually a by-product of your low honor. If you finish with high honor that does not happen.

 

WHAT?!?!?!?!?

I asked before if that mattered and you guys said it didn’t.

Liars!!!!

[Werthead]

 

Quote

 

Wait, you think music is the thing that is close?  I don't remember a single track from Skyrim.  The music in Witcher 3 was amazing.

 

 

Skyrim's main theme is brilliant, although it is basically a Viking cover version of the tracks originally created for Morrowind (and later revised for Oblivion).

 

Quote

 

I disagree on combat. The fighting gameplay of The Witcher is terribly boring. Skyrim is much more fun in that regard. For the rest, The Witcher is leagues ahead of course.

 

Combat in Skyrim is legitimately terrible. You wave your sword back and forth, you can do a strong attack or a weak attack and, er, that's it. This is why huge numbers of people play as magic builds or stealth archer builds, because melee combat is beyond tedious.

The Witcher 3's combat can be a bit meh (roll! Roll! Hit!) but you can also scale the combat difficulty to your playing choice. On the easiest difficulty level, The Witcher 3 is basically in story mode and you can almost ignore combat. On the hardest, it's a much more complex, strategic game where you have to carefully identify your opponent's weaknesses and craft potions and oils to deal with them appropriately.

 

Quote

 

Both expansion packs are terrific too.

 

This is a good point. Skyrim's DLC are...okay, at best? The Witcher 3's expansions are fantastic (Hearts of Stone's "horny ghost" stuff is excellent), and Blood and Wine is genuinely amazing and gives the entire game a fantastic ending. Not to mention that Toussaint might be a better place to just wander around than the original game areas.

[Slurktan]

On 1/7/2019 at 6:38 PM, Tywin et al. said:

So I just finished chapter 6. Ace, don't open this:

  Hide contents

Swear words. ALL THE SWEAR WORDS. I hated that guy the entire time, and he's the one to literally put the knife in me? I knew Arthur was doomed from a combination of his failing health and that the game had an epilogue, but damn that sucked. Hopefully my new character will claim revenge.

 

Yeah as above dont open this if you haven't played through yet.

 

I take it it you never really turned into a good guy?  There are 3 different endings I think based on your honor and the choice you make at the end of the chapter. Also if you have high honor there are a few stranger quests that are only available to that.  One of which alters the end of the mission where the soldier gets on the train as well.  The ending is great ending though.  I don't think you've played RD1 so I hope the rumours are right and they will put RDR1 in this game so you can play it because I'm replaying it now and 2 makes 1 even better.

[aceluby]

It's taking all my will power to not open those.

I've started to do some hunting for perfect pelts.  Get 3 perfect deer pelts and a buck pelt so far.  Working to get all the satchels since I hear you can carry 99 of everything after you do.  Seems worth it.

[Derfel Cadarn]

On ‎1‎/‎7‎/‎2019 at 2:48 PM, Gorn said:

I recently started playing Assassin's Creed: Rogue (the one where you play as a Templar) as part of my slow-but-ongoing playthrough of the AC series. So far, it has been a disappointment - all the areas are copy-pasted from the previous two games, either entirely (NYC) or with minor variations (wilderness and sailing sections). The open-world icon-hoovering, which is usually mindless relaxation for me, just feels tiring here.

The story is also underwhelming, since Ubisoft didn't have courage to make the protagonist an actual bad guy (unless something major changes later on) - it is simply the Assassins who are the mustache-twirling villains this time, and Templars who are the lighter shade of gray. It also seems fairly short - I've only played the main story for several hours, and I'm already 60% finished with it.

I'm tempted to skip Unity and Syndicate and start playing Origins or Odyssey instead, but the French Revolution-era Paris and 19th century London are simply too attractive settings for me to pass.

I spent a couple of years slowly playing through Assassins Creed, so far still to finish the Jack the Ripper DLC for Syndicate, and then play Origins and Odyssey.  I played them in historical chronological order, so I went from Revelations to Black Flag to the Haytham missions in 3, to Rogue, and then the Connor missions in 3.

Rogue does suffer in that like Revelations is mostly a reskin of Brotherhood, it's a mix of 3 and Black Flag.  But it's still worth going through the story.

I liked Unity, the PS4 bugs having been patched out. Paris is breathtaking, and I enjoyed the game, sticking mostly to the story. Syndicate is of my favourites; London is stunning, it's good switching between Evie and Jacob.  

I'm currently sort-of playing Elite Dangerous, though they've just changed the exploration system which I need to get to grips with. I recently made it to Colonia, and made a cool 34 million credits from selling my exploration data, and am on my way to the centre of the galaxy.

Really limited time-wise due to baby, but also been playing:

Batman Arkham City, Horizons Zero Dawn, Final Fantasy XIV.  Just started GTA Online and Bloodborne.  

I've been playing a bit of Elite Valkyrie. As it started off VR-only, it flopped, but it's pretty immersive with the VR and fun for a while.  I've got Skyrim VR which looks pretty cool, and I need to find time to play it, too.

[KiDisaster]

Huge news today, Bungie are splitting from Activision (2 years shy of their original 10 year contract) and will retain the rights to publish Destiny independently. 

https://kotaku.com/bungie-splits-with-activision-1831651740

I love Destiny 2 to bits, despite its many, many flaws and some seemingly boneheaded decisions. I'm hopeful that a lot of the issues it's had over the last year and a bit since launch will turn out to be a result of Activision being Activision, and that the game and any potential sequels can improve without their influence. If Schreier's reporting is anything to go by, Bungie themselves are very happy about this and I think that bodes well. 

Hopefully good things on the horizon for their team and this game. 

 

[briantw]

5 minutes ago, KiDisaster said:

Huge news today, Bungie are splitting from Activision (2 years shy of their original 10 year contract) and will retain the rights to publish Destiny independently. 

https://kotaku.com/bungie-splits-with-activision-1831651740

I love Destiny 2 to bits, despite its many, many flaws and some seemingly boneheaded decisions. I'm hopeful that a lot of the issues it's had over the last year and a bit since launch will turn out to be a result of Activision being Activision, and that the game and any potential sequels can improve without their influence. If Schreier's reporting is anything to go by, Bungie themselves are very happy about this and I think that bodes well. 

Hopefully good things on the horizon for their team and this game. 

 

Love the bit about how the Bungie employees popped champagne to celebrate.

These companies need to stop selling their souls and then getting pissed at the devil for offering the deal.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 1/9/2019 at 12:27 AM, Slurktan said:

Yeah as above dont open this if you haven't played through yet.

  Reveal hidden contents

I take it it you never really turned into a good guy?  There are 3 different endings I think based on your honor and the choice you make at the end of the chapter. Also if you have high honor there are a few stranger quests that are only available to that.  One of which alters the end of the mission where the soldier gets on the train as well.  The ending is great ending though.  I don't think you've played RD1 so I hope the rumours are right and they will put RDR1 in this game so you can play it because I'm replaying it now and 2 makes 1 even better.

 

Spoiler

Yeah it looks like there are three. Low honor gets you the same result basically and high honor has two different paths to the same spot. I did try to change my wicked ways at the end, but too much honor was lost during the first few days when I rode around killing everyone.

I haven't played the original, or any games really outside of D3 since like 2010, so it's all new to me. How good was the original?

 

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

On 1/9/2019 at 7:16 AM, aceluby said:

It's taking all my will power to not open those.

I've started to do some hunting for perfect pelts.  Get 3 perfect deer pelts and a buck pelt so far.  Working to get all the satchels since I hear you can carry 99 of everything after you do.  Seems worth it.

Ace, all I'll tell you is that there are different endings to the game.

[Guy Kilmore]

On 1/9/2019 at 7:16 AM, aceluby said:

It's taking all my will power to not open those.

I've started to do some hunting for perfect pelts.  Get 3 perfect deer pelts and a buck pelt so far.  Working to get all the satchels since I hear you can carry 99 of everything after you do.  Seems worth it.

I got most of the legendary animals and working on that too.  I'm still back in chapter 3.

[Slurktan]

24 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

 

  Hide contents

Yeah it looks like there are three. Low honor gets you the same result basically and high honor has two different paths to the same spot. I did try to change my wicked ways at the end, but too much honor was lost during the first few days when I rode around killing everyone.

I haven't played the original, or any games really outside of D3 since like 2010, so it's all new to me. How good was the original?

 

 

There are significant issues with it storywise looking back on it if you take the game by itself.  Agent Ross (Miltons lackey in RDR2) has abducted Abagail and Jack and forces John to hunt down the remaining members of the Van Der Linde gang,  The problem is that there isn't really too much meat on the bone in that sense.  You actually have very little interaction with the three remaining members.  So without RDR2 to give context a lot of their dialogue and such that aspect kind of falls flat.  With RDR2 that stuff works really well and so the game's lack of focus on that works excellently.  The gameplay is pretty much RDR 2 but just like slightly worse at everything.  No train robberies or bank robberies either but a whole tone more stuff like random lynchings and hangings you can get involved in.  And while there are some bounties to go hunt in RDR 2 there are significantly more in RDR 1.

Edit: Also RDR1 has one of the best expansions ever in Undead Nightmare.  Set about 9/10s of the way through the story of RDR1 it is a standalone game that now has you deal with a Zombie Outbreak across West Elizabeth, New Austin, and Mexico.

EDIT2:  Also amusingly cougars are pretty dangerous in RDR 2.  They are a lot more dangerous in RDR1.  You pretty much don't know they are there till they jump you on your horse which generally insta kills the horse and unless you are quick you too.  Thankfully the horse system doesn't work the same as in RDR2 so it's  much easier to handle when your horse gets killed.  Yes that happened to me twice today.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

WTF! I was super close to completing the game, then it froze, I got a blue loading screen and then the disc popped out. When I put it back in and restarted the PS4, it said there’s no data and the game wants to start up like I had just loaded it up. Again, WTF?!?!?!?