Video Games: In the Grim Darkness of licensed Games.

[Werthead]

On 2/1/2019 at 4:22 PM, Tywin et al. said:

I have to be nearing the end of GTA V. I’ve sunk at least 30 hours into the game, have most of the map revealed and the missions I’m currently doing require me to bounce between all of the characters. I’ve really enjoyed this game, and Trevor is a blast to play with. Beating people to death while just wearing a diaper is hilarious.

Since I’m still fairly new to the current gaming world, can anyone suggest other open world games worth checking out? The aforementioned and RDR2 have both been huge treats.

I can't remember if you said you'd checked out The Witcher 3 yet? That should definitely be right up there on the list. Open world, great story and characters, absolutely fantastic side-quests.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

1 hour ago, Tywin et al. said:

As downloadable content? 

What's it even about? I read a vague description that was fairly open to interpretation. 

Yes, the expansion is DLC and the bundle is still on sale as of right now on the PS4 store.

It's an open world game set in the far distant future of earth, at a time when humans exist in a semi-primitive, tribalist society. Unraveling the mystery of how things ended up that way is a real joy and one of my favorite aspects of the game. Exploration and combat are a blast as well. 

[Corvinus85]

Steam is having another sale, celebrating the new lunar year, but there isn't anything I'm interested in getting.

I have the Flashpoint DLC for BattleTech on my wishlisht, but its reviews continue to be mixed, and it's only 10% off.

[Reny of Storms End]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

As downloadable content? 

What's it even about? I read a vague description that was fairly open to interpretation. 

Ferrum just gave a good description of it a couple posts above this one. Also the graphics are amazing. 

As Wert mentioned The Witcher 3 is also amazing. 

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

7 hours ago, Rhom said:

Yes!  I have been wandering the world and doing too many sidequests.  It really is a beautifully rendered world.  I wasn't sure how I felt about updating the series to climbing and jumping, but it has stayed very true to form for the DQ series.

Same. I don't want to spoil anything, but there was also a point in the story I got really hooked too. I think this is one of the best DQ games ever, and I remember when DWarrior 3 came out. That one held the top spot for me, well, forever. But this one is really good.

[Inkdaub]

I started God of War and it's just not holding my interest.  The combat is pretty fun, though, and that axe is a cool weapon.  It was nominated for a Writer's Guild award.  Huh.  I'll go back to it at some point.

I am installing Assassin's Creed Odyssey as I type this.  Looks good so here's hoping...

Tywin was asking about games so here's a few I like.

Tomb Raider...Rise...Shadow

Horizon Zero Dawn...which I lost my progress for when I replaced my PS4 and it almost made me cry.

Last of Us

Witcher 3 Wild Hunt

Final Fantasy XV...which I loved more than most I think.

Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen

[Fez]

12 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Steam is having another sale, celebrating the new lunar year, but there isn't anything I'm interested in getting.

I have the Flashpoint DLC for BattleTech on my wishlisht, but its reviews continue to be mixed, and it's only 10% off.

It's not as a big sale as the usual Steam sales though and there's this whole coin-reward thing going on to get further discounts (or dumb temporary cosmetic stuff). You start with a certain amount of coins based on your purchase history, and gain more based on how much you buy during the sale. I was a bit chagrined to discover I was given the maximum starting amount of coins, 5k. But you need 15k to even get a $5 discount on any purchase of your choosing.

 

I did pick up Donut County while it was on sale though. That was a really fun, charming two hours and totally worth the $8 I spent.

[Mexal]

The Witcher 3 is that good? Do you need to have played the others to understand the story? Is there a narrative drive to it is or is it mostly open world stuff where the narrative is there every once in awhile?

I'm also going to look at Horizon Zero Dawn. I've been eyeing it for awhile now. I've just heard it can get quite repetitive.

[Mark Antony]

13 minutes ago, Mexal said:

The Witcher 3 is that good? Do you need to have played the others to understand the story? Is there a narrative drive to it is or is it mostly open world stuff where the narrative is there every once in awhile?.

It’s heavily open world but you don’t have to play it that way? I feel like you could just knock out the main story without doing side quests but it’s been a while since I beat it. 

Nahh you don’t have to play the others and yeah it’s really fucking good imo with some of the best story DLCs I’ve ever played. 

[Mexal]

12 minutes ago, Mark Antony said:

It’s heavily open world but you don’t have to play it that way? I feel like you could just knock out the main story without doing side quests but it’s been a while since I beat it. 

Nahh you don’t have to play the others and yeah it’s really fucking good imo with some of the best story DLCs I’ve ever played. 

Cool. I don't mind open world as long as I feel there is enough narrative drive to push me through the areas, something similar to the way Zelda was and even RDR2. It was things like Fallout IV and GTA V that was just way too much for me to the point where I got bored.

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Mexal said:

The Witcher 3 is that good? Do you need to have played the others to understand the story? Is there a narrative drive to it is or is it mostly open world stuff where the narrative is there every once in awhile?

I'm also going to look at Horizon Zero Dawn. I've been eyeing it for awhile now. I've just heard it can get quite repetitive.

There's a massive in-game encyclopedia in Witcher 3 that has profiles on pretty much every character and how they know Geralt, so you don't really need to play the previous games.  Might be smart to watch a YouTube summary of their general plot points, though, just to get caught up to speed.  For the most part, though, it tells a stand-alone story and the bulk of the callbacks are when you occasionally do quests with characters from previous games (or from the books).

[Rhom]

16 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

Same. I don't want to spoil anything, but there was also a point in the story I got really hooked too. I think this is one of the best DQ games ever, and I remember when DWarrior 3 came out. That one held the top spot for me, well, forever. But this one is really good.

Last night I fought the Gloomnivore (that fight sucked... I have basically facerolled everything up to now and that one jumped the difficulty significantly.  Had to go out and level Rab about a level and a half to 40 so I could get Insulatle for the whole party.)  Anyways, I played some more this morning and after hitting Octogonia, I am now saved outside the gates of Snifleheim.  

I really liked the story beats that lead up to the Gloomnivore, was your moment beyond that?

I really liked DQ3 as well.  DQ4 was also a big favorite of mine.  I liked the changed structure with the different chapters leading up to getting the hero later in the game.  Just turned things on their head just a bit and the first DQ game to give your party members an actual story (other than Prince of Cannock and Princess of Moonbrooke I guess.)  

I have DQ1-6 on my phone now and sometimes enjoy firing them up while sitting around waiting places.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

23 hours ago, briantw said:

Have you played the Batman Arkham games?  Because I'd say that, quality and gameplay-wise, Spider-Man is closest to that.  Obviously you get around the city very differently (Spidey swings and flips around with ease, whereas Batman was all grappling and gliding), but the combat is similar and there are similar stealth elements.  I think the combat in Batman is a little better overall, but Spider-Man's is more versatile and crazy, which makes sense.  

I have not. Remember I wasn't exaggerating when I said I basically played nothing between 2010 and the end of 2018 when I bought my PS4 like six weeks ago.

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But if Spidey is one of your favorite characters, I'd say this is required playing.  It's a really good game.  Swinging around the city is a blast.  Combat is really fun once it clicks.  The story gets pretty wild, and I think sometimes they kind of skip over little details (for example, at one point you control another character who sees something, but then Spider-Man somehow knows it when you go back to controlling him even though there's no way he could have found it out), but overall it works a lot more than it doesn't.  

It feels like a comic book come to life at its best.

Yeah I'd be down for this. It probably won't be my next purchase, but I'll keep it in mind.

23 hours ago, Werthead said:

I can't remember if you said you'd checked out The Witcher 3 yet? That should definitely be right up there on the list. Open world, great story and characters, absolutely fantastic side-quests.

Yeah I've seen this one mentioned a lot after doing some Google searches. I'll have to check it out at some point.

23 hours ago, Ferrum Aeternum said:

Yes, the expansion is DLC and the bundle is still on sale as of right now on the PS4 store.

It's an open world game set in the far distant future of earth, at a time when humans exist in a semi-primitive, tribalist society. Unraveling the mystery of how things ended up that way is a real joy and one of my favorite aspects of the game. Exploration and combat are a blast as well. 

Okay, here's where my noobness will really show. DLC, do you have to pay for that or is that the automatic updates I keep getting? I figure it's more like an expansion pack you have to buy, but one can hold out hope.

4 hours ago, Mexal said:

Cool. I don't mind open world as long as I feel there is enough narrative drive to push me through the areas, something similar to the way Zelda was and even RDR2. It was things like Fallout IV and GTA V that was just way too much for me to the point where I got bored.

My take on GTA V is that you have to really get invested in one of the three main characters to truly immerse yourself in the game. Since one of the characters is boring and another is underused, I think you basically have to really dig Trevor to complete the game.

[briantw]

3 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

, here's where my noobness will really show. DLC, do you have to pay for that or is that the automatic updates I keep getting? I figure it's more like an expansion pack you have to buy, but one can hold out hope.

If you buy the Horizon Complete Edition (which is the one for like sixteen bucks on the store right now), yes, it includes the DLC.  I assume it automatically downloads if you have the game installed.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

2 hours ago, Rhom said:

Last night I fought the Gloomnivore (that fight sucked... I have basically facerolled everything up to now and that one jumped the difficulty significantly.  Had to go out and level Rab about a level and a half to 40 so I could get Insulatle for the whole party.)  Anyways, I played some more this morning and after hitting Octogonia, I am now saved outside the gates of Snifleheim.  

I really liked the story beats that lead up to the Gloomnivore, was your moment beyond that?

I really liked DQ3 as well.  DQ4 was also a big favorite of mine.  I liked the changed structure with the different chapters leading up to getting the hero later in the game.  Just turned things on their head just a bit and the first DQ game to give your party members an actual story (other than Prince of Cannock and Princess of Moonbrooke I guess.)  

I have DQ1-6 on my phone now and sometimes enjoy firing them up while sitting around waiting places.

I think it was after that. I'm going to spoiler tag it to be safe, but it is in relation to your party members. Matter of fact, I think I stopped right due to the Gloomnivore!

Spoiler

I loved the addition of Hendrik. I felt like his story was so different than DQ heroes generally have. His broken sense of honor, his realization of his errors, and just that early part after the World Tree (also awesome!). I like the fun characters you get in DQ games, a lot of them are silly--or even if they are like Hendrik they are super old like Melvin!--but it was just kind of cool to get this serious character who kind of wore the tragic state of the world on his shoulders.

These games are just so good though. They hit a real nostalgic part of my life.

[mcbigski]

Been playing through the new Stellaris update.

I'm starting to like the new planet management screens.  First game through i somehow couldn't get enough food or minerals and got super sick of trying to micro the jobs.  But the second game for whatever reason the food is fine and researched motes early so unlocked the production bonus buildings.  (There s a bug in the prereqs for the first level building apparently.)

Once you realize its Ok to only build when theres a capital upgrade, unemployment, or a housing shortage, the economy seems to work better.  Underwhelmed by the new version of habitats but about to finish my first ring world section.  Size 50!

Im basically playing as fanatical pacifiers.  Got about 2/3 of the galaxy assimilated by around 2440.  Probably shouldnt have insulted the holy guardians before my fleets got consolidated but I managed a white peace after getting about 45% of my fleet destroyed.  You should see the other guy...

A bit trickier now that you have to manage consumer goods and alloys in addition to base minerals and really wish i didnt lose control of my Dyson sphere.  The offenders got their home system pacified but prior to that they got a fleet through a wormhole nowhere near their home....

[Rhom]

13 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

I think it was after that. I'm going to spoiler tag it to be safe, but it is in relation to your party members. Matter of fact, I think I stopped right due to the Gloomnivore!

  Reveal hidden contents

I loved the addition of Hendrik. I felt like his story was so different than DQ heroes generally have. His broken sense of honor, his realization of his errors, and just that early part after the World Tree (also awesome!). I like the fun characters you get in DQ games, a lot of them are silly--or even if they are like Hendrik they are super old like Melvin!--but it was just kind of cool to get this serious character who kind of wore the tragic state of the world on his shoulders.

These games are just so good though. They hit a real nostalgic part of my life.

If you haven't finished that part with the Gloomnivore, I would definitely recommend picking it back up.  The story beats from there leading up to where I am have been very good.  Gloomnivore and then the next boss battle both require a bit of planning and benefit heavily from crafting of some anti-status effect accessories.  I got lucky on that next boss battle and wound up winning with all four characters alive, but with zero MP and no way to have healed myself further if I hadn't finished it in the next round or so. 

Spoiler

I agree about Henrik joining.  I have not been online much for the game and managed to remain unspoiled about it.  When I first woke up as a fish and first saw the glimpses of the Hero of Heliodor, I'll be honest that I got kind of angry and jealous.    "Who the #@$% is Henrik to be a hero?!!!?"  He has been a great addition to the party and I can't imagine taking him out of my active battle party at this point.  He's got a depth you don't typically see in DQ games and I think it adds to the game well.  

I was surprised to see Gemma and everyone alive and well.  It did seem surprisingly dark to kill them off in the early game and I thought maybe there would be some time shenanigans to bring them back at the end, but to see that Henrik had saved them early on was a pleasant surprise.

I also love some of the backstory that I have been getting from the books.  The Psuedo-Nym story of his travels seemed at first just to be color, but then when the last story revealed it to be your adoptive grandfather Chalky; I really liked the tie in.

This is the first game in the series that I have played where I really feel like the silent protagonist is a detriment to the game.  Maybe DQ8.  That game would have been well served to just say that the hero was cursed and couldn't talk.  Would have been a good compliment to King Trode and the Princess.  But the fact that the Luminary has all this crap heaped on him and never has anything to say about it feels like it is missing something.

[Fez]

On 2/5/2019 at 9:24 AM, Fez said:

I did pick up Donut County while it was on sale though. That was a really fun, charming two hours and totally worth the $8 I spent.

As a follow-up, I looked into games similar to Donut County and was suggested I try Night in the Woods. I picked that up last night, and I'm really enjoying it too. Neither are much like a lot of the other games I usually play, and they've been a refreshing change of pace. I've enjoyed plenty of story-based games that have little-to-no traditional gameplay, but they were almost always serious narratives.

Donut County and Night in the Woods have some serious themes underneath, but there's a lightheartedness I haven't seen much in games. The closest comparison I can think of may be parts of Saints Row III & IV; which are extremely different games, but also have this well-written, character-driven goofiness to them that I really like (and all these games are in the rarified company of "video games that have gotten me to laugh out-loud"). Of course, in those games it's in service to a fun action romp, whereas in Donut and Night it's in service of stories about millennials dealing with how fucked up the modern world has gotten.

My own issues with the modern world are not quite the same as these characters', but I can still heavily relate to what they're going through.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

14 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Okay, here's where my noobness will really show. DLC, do you have to pay for that or is that the automatic updates I keep getting? I figure it's more like an expansion pack you have to buy, but one can hold out hope.

 

14 hours ago, briantw said:

If you buy the Horizon Complete Edition (which is the one for like sixteen bucks on the store right now), yes, it includes the DLC.  I assume it automatically downloads if you have the game installed.

Right. Once you purchase and install the Complete Edition bundle, your game will include the expansion content.

[Werthead]

 

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I have the Flashpoint DLC for BattleTech on my wishlisht, but its reviews continue to be mixed, and it's only 10% off.

 

 

I was disappointed by Flashpoint. I think the missions are too easy for your end-of-game Assault lance (especially if you still have the LosTech still going strong), apart from the speed ones that require you to field a Medium or Light Lance. I thought that was going to be fun, but it ended up being a bit tedious.

I think Flashpoint works better on a full replay of the campaign with the flashpoints popping up as new mission options, but given that BattleTech is pushing it in terms of length anyway, I'm not sure making it significantly longer is a really good idea.

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The Witcher 3 is that good? Do you need to have played the others to understand the story? Is there a narrative drive to it is or is it mostly open world stuff where the narrative is there every once in awhile?

 

The Witcher 3 is comfortably the best CRPG released this century, so yes. You don't need to have played Witcher 1 or 2 (which is good, because they are both inferior to W3), although they help a little with context. The Witcher 3 is a sequel more to the books, but you don't really need to have read them either. The game does a good job of setting up context for everything.

The Witcher 3 has a genuinely open-world narrative, so the story shifts based on your decisions. The main story has a strong narrative drive to it, much, much stronger than say anything Bethesda has ever put out. You can ignore the main story and just do side-quests or optional activities (horse racing, monster hunting etc), but that's kind of ignoring the point of the game, which is the extremely well-written and acted main storyline and the fantastic (and seemingly infinite) side-quests. It should be noted that even the smallest side-quest in The Witcher 3 is many times longer and vastly better-written than a typical side-quest in, say, Skyrim.

In summary, The Witcher 3 is epic and well worth playing.