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Video Games: Gears of Borderlands


Werthead

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7 hours ago, Fez said:

If the problem was the port, that's now two failed ports on the motherboard and I don't have any more spare ones, which means the next time there's an issue I'm going to have to replace it. If I do need to get a new motherboard, what are the things I should be looking for in one and how do I make sure I get something compatible with all the hardware I currently have?

Definitely get something with at least one M.2 NVMe slot, and a new M.2 SSD for your operating system. How old is your existing hardware? A modern motherboard will almost certainly need DDR4 RAM, not DDR3. Check your power supply is compatible; some motherboards need a second 4+4 12V cable these days. Your current graphics card and anything that plugs in to SATA ports should be fine.

7 hours ago, Fez said:

Also, if I do need to replace board, I figure I should probably just go ahead and replace the CPU as well at that point; I'm still rocking a I5-4690. But, unlike GPUs, I don't know much about CPUs. How far up the Intel product line should I go to make sure I'm future proofed for a while?

That depends on your needs and budget! How are you finding the performance of your current CPU? Do you max it out a lot? Will your existing cooler be adequate for the new CPU?

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On 9/6/2019 at 6:54 PM, Inigima said:

Is no one else playing Control? Third person shooter with paranormal stuff and a Twin Peaks vibe.

I'll check it out. I've been on a real horror game kick lately (not that Control is necessarily horror). I'm slogging through the new Blair Witch game right now, and Control looks like it might be just what I need in response.

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I beat Control, and wow that was a great game. The setting, the lore, the gameplay, the writing, the graphics, it's all top notch. My only real complaint is that the writing is much more focused on establishing the setting than in telling a story. There's tons of backstory, but the actual storyline of the game is extremely straightforward and doesn't get a ton of attention. Also, most of the characters get very little personality; other than Jesse herself, and Ahti to some extent.

However, the setting is just so good and the writing supporting it is so good, and the gameplay and graphics are so engrossing, that it makes up for that issue. And the game's got hella style. There were two moments near the end, both involving music, that are some of the best video game moments I've experienced in a long time.

Spoiler

 

The Ashtray Maze sequence was just perfect. The song kicks in, and you realize that's what Ahti listens to (which is great), the visuals of the Maze are the best kind of trippy, and the game sends weaker enemies against you so you get a real strong power fantasy. I really wish I could replay it.

The other was Dr. Darling's music video. First, it's legit catchy and I wish it was longer. Second, it's a great tension breaker from what had been going on. And third, it's a great coda for Darling after what had been called his "final message," he's not dead or taken by the Hiss; he's up in the Astral Plane having a grand old time. (I know Jesse implies that it's all in her head. But I think she's wrong. First, she's definitely not an expert in all this, and second, I don't think it makes sense that she'd imagine Darling giving her a pump up song; she had no connection to him. Also, we know from the last Hotline call that Darling is still alive. This is him reaching out to help her, just like Ahti was slightly earlier in the sequence).

 

I have four side missions left, but each end with bosses that have kicked my ass numerous times, so I don't think I'll be going back to them (the game's checkpointing system is my one other complaint). But I eagerly await the planned story DLC.

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On 9/12/2019 at 2:34 AM, Corvinus said:

TW: Warhammer II, besides getting another DLC, with a couple more factions, also had a major free update. The Empire has gotten significant, rework, scrapping the Officers system, and getting an Elector Counts system, with mechanics such as Imperial Authority and Fealty, that allows you to unify the Empire peacefully or see it crumble in civil war. Additional settlements were added, too.

There's also a new start position for Balthasar Gelt, which should help keep the Vampire Counts factions in check on the Mortal Empires map.

 

The new Legendary Lords are great as well, giving the player the opportunity for more varied play on both the Vortex and Mortal Empires maps. The Vortex was a nice goal to give you focus when the game came out, but at this point having more variety in goals is really nice.

Also, there's giant freaking dinosaurs on top of what the Lizardmen already had.

 

And last but not least there's the addition of Gotrek & Felix, though to get them before November (I think?), one has to buy the September edition of White Dwarf. I'm tempted to actually do that, particularly since BRIAN BLESSED provides the voice of Gotrek. You can never have too much BRIAN BLESSED.

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8 hours ago, Fez said:

I beat Control, and wow that was a great game. The setting, the lore, the gameplay, the writing, the graphics, it's all top notch. My only real complaint is that the writing is much more focused on establishing the setting than in telling a story. There's tons of backstory, but the actual storyline of the game is extremely straightforward and doesn't get a ton of attention. Also, most of the characters get very little personality; other than Jesse herself, and Ahti to some extent.

However, the setting is just so good and the writing supporting it is so good, and the gameplay and graphics are so engrossing, that it makes up for that issue. And the game's got hella style. There were two moments near the end, both involving music, that are some of the best video game moments I've experienced in a long time.

  Reveal hidden contents

 

The Ashtray Maze sequence was just perfect. The song kicks in, and you realize that's what Ahti listens to (which is great), the visuals of the Maze are the best kind of trippy, and the game sends weaker enemies against you so you get a real strong power fantasy. I really wish I could replay it.

The other was Dr. Darling's music video. First, it's legit catchy and I wish it was longer. Second, it's a great tension breaker from what had been going on. And third, it's a great coda for Darling after what had been called his "final message," he's not dead or taken by the Hiss; he's up in the Astral Plane having a grand old time. (I know Jesse implies that it's all in her head. But I think she's wrong. First, she's definitely not an expert in all this, and second, I don't think it makes sense that she'd imagine Darling giving her a pump up song; she had no connection to him. Also, we know from the last Hotline call that Darling is still alive. This is him reaching out to help her, just like Ahti was slightly earlier in the sequence).

 

I have four side missions left, but each end with bosses that have kicked my ass numerous times, so I don't think I'll be going back to them (the game's checkpointing system is my one other complaint). But I eagerly await the planned story DLC.

As I've said before, Remedy are one of the most underrated - if not the most underrated - video game developers in the business. I will buy everything they do sight unseen, because I'm confident they'll always produce something original and interesting (even if it's also a bit janky). Control is polished and I'm surprised - in a good way - to see them make a game that's much less restrictive and linear than their previous games, which have all been fantastic but also a bit on rails. Control's Metroidvania approach is really refreshing.

For the music thing, Remedy basically have Poets of the Fall - a very solid Finnish rock band - on speed dial, so whenever their games need original music, they bringing in this band with twenty years of experience in a few different styles. Their song for Max Payne 2, "Late Goodbye", was even a chart hit in Finland (and I think a couple of other countries).

If you haven't played it, I strongly recommend playing Alan Wake (which probably now makes a bit more sense in the wake of Control). Quantum Break and the Max Payne games (well, the first two) are also fantastic, but they're probably not part of the "Remedyverse" due to rights issues. Quantum Break's IP should revert to Remedy from Microsoft at some point (as it's under the same publishing deal as Alan Wake), but it's nowhere near as closely tied to Control as Alan Wake is.

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On 9/14/2019 at 11:28 AM, Caligula_K3 said:

A Link to the Past, now available through the new Switch SNES online app, has replaced my FF XII playtime. It's been maybe about ten years since I last played this, and goddamn is it a great game. 

It's the best of the series, which is saying a lot. I love that game. I'll have to go get it (we have the Switch app). 

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Replaying Deserts of Kharak. I somehow missed the fact that the game does not automatically collect all resources at the end of a mission, which is why my first two playthroughs were so insanely tough. Now I'm making sure I seize all resources before completing the mission objective, and the game is a lot easier cash-wise.

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2 hours ago, Werthead said:

Replaying Deserts of Kharak. I somehow missed the fact that the game does not automatically collect all resources at the end of a mission, which is why my first two playthroughs were so insanely tough. Now I'm making sure I seize all resources before completing the mission objective, and the game is a lot easier cash-wise.

Isn't that the same as in the space HW games?

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18 hours ago, Corvinus said:

Isn't that the same as in the space HW games?

Homeworld 2 and both games in the Remastered edition auto-collect all resources at the end of every mission. Cataclysm didn't, but you it allowed for up to x8 time acceleration to make resource gathering somewhat faster. Homeworld allowed you to decide to trigger the end of a mission, so you could gather resources at your leisure.

DoK is the first game in the series where it triggers the ending without giving you any way of hanging around and getting the resources you need.

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Troy: A Total War Saga is the next TW in the Saga series, like Thrones of Britannia. Based on the videos below, I'm not entirely sure what this is building on, though it seems to have some fantasy elements, so Three Kingdoms may be the closest to it. The map does look beautiful. I was hoping for them to do a Bronze Age game, though my hope was for a more encompassing ancient Middle East with all the cultures that existed then, prior to the collapse of said age.

 

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53 minutes ago, Werthead said:

All three Rocksteady Batman Arkham games are free on the Epic Games store for a week. Well worth it.

The three Lego Batman games too.

A shame I already own all the Arkham games.  Still added them to my Epic library though. 

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You guys!!!!!! I got my settlement check in the mail for that PS3 operating system class action!!!!

Ive now got a cool $3.02 burning a hole in my pocket.  I hope I don’t fall victim to all the same tragedies as others that come into sudden wealth!

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2 hours ago, Rhom said:

You guys!!!!!! I got my settlement check in the mail for that PS3 operating system class action!!!!

Ive now got a cool $3.02 burning a hole in my pocket.  I hope I don’t fall victim to all the same tragedies as others that come into sudden wealth!

I got an email the other day about the lawsuit against Yahoo for that big security breach they had a couple of years ago. I'm not even going to bother. I terminated my yahoo account as soon as that happened and haven't looked back.

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More than halfway through the Shadowbringers expansion of FFXIV. It's good, but the game is always good, and I don't quite get the people who were claiming it was the best JRPG in years or making other, similar statements. It's completely solid though. No complaints.

I also picked up Gears 5. I didn't play Judgment or 4, so it's been a while for me. I think it's a fun game though. I'm still pretty early in the campaign, but it seems like a surprisingly good one and the game is simply gorgeous, both in graphics and art design. Horde Mode is fun too, though I wish it were shorter. Mass Effect 3 remains the pinnacle of co-op shooter multiplayer and that's an old game now.

And I picked up Greedfall. I'm about 6 hours in, and I think its a pretty decent RPG. It reminds me of the Larian Studios' games before they stumbled upon success with DO:S, and is a huge step up from Spiders' earlier games. There's a fair amount of jank, but nothing unplayable and all the systems seem to be working. The main thing to know about the game though is that it's a fantasy world inspired by 17th century colonial Europe. And, after the starter area, you are at a colony in the new world (and the new world is 95% of the world map, so I assume the rest of the game is there), complete with rival colonial powers and an oppressed native population. 

I've heard conflicting stories about whether the game properly engages with the legacy of real world colonialism, but that's not why I'm bringing up the setting. The thing to know is that Spiders' made a relatively realistic world and this is an RPG in the true sense of the word. You are an extremely privileged member of a colonial society and spend your time in the game playing that role accordingly. In my 6 hours, I've spent maybe 15 minutes in combat, the rest has been talking to people and solving relatively mundane quests. At least 4 hours have been spent trying to root out corruption in the mercenary army that serves your country (you're the nephew or niece of the ruler). Which isn't hard to do from a mechanical perspective, it's mostly just a matter of going to various people with yellow exclamations and clicking through all their dialog options.

I've seen a lot of people describe the game as dull, but I think of it more as a slow burn. And at least some quests give you multiple options in how to resolve them (maybe most do, I'm still in the middle of three big side quests that started the moment I reached the colony). The writing is solid and there clearly is a grander plot to uncover, there's been way too much foreshadowing and Chekov's items for there not to be. Also, the voice acting is really quite good, which a big plus for me. Shame that the lip syncing is terrible.

It maybe isn't worth $50, but RPGs are so rare these days that I feel justified in supporting developers still making them. And I'm hoping this is a sign of better things to come from Spiders. It's their biggest and best game so far, and, judging from Steam at least, their biggest hit too. I'm hoping this is their Witcher II and that their next game will be something special. It's not as good as Witcher II, but its a similar leap in quality from their previous games as Witcher II was from Witcher I.

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Overland came out today. Terrific art style and it seems to be aiming for an FTL-meets-The-Oregon-Trail-meets-XCOM vibe with a really vivid art style. Reviews are all over the place though, with reviewers reacting to the game's punishing difficulty very differently.

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