Videogames : Cyberpunk Samurai edition.

[Kalbear]

Ori is out and is getting pretty absurdly great reviews. Hopefully gonna get to play it tonight. 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

On 3/8/2020 at 5:34 PM, The Anti-Targ said:

I'm not sure that I like the direction Baldur's Gate 3 has taken with going full turn based for combat. I really liked the pause and play style of BG and BG2, which was still totally turn based in the back ground but played out visually like  real time combat if you let it run. Have they gone turn basaed because Pillars of Eternity basically co-opted the "real-time_turn based" mechanic from Baldurs Gate / Icewind Dale? I was very excited for BG3 but now I'm less excited.

I just felt the difficulty in Divinity Original Sin 2 was SO high, even with turn based which I think allows you to be more careful. I know Larian is making BG3, and I'm a bit worried. I wanted to love Divinity 2, but I just couldn't enjoy it's crazy difficulty. Maybe I'll try again.

[Werthead]

8 hours ago, Simon Steele said:

I just felt the difficulty in Divinity Original Sin 2 was SO high, even with turn based which I think allows you to be more careful. I know Larian is making BG3, and I'm a bit worried. I wanted to love Divinity 2, but I just couldn't enjoy it's crazy difficulty. Maybe I'll try again.

D:OS 1 and 2 both have a really bad difficulty curve. Well it's more of a sharp turn, where combat goes from challenging to almost trivially easy the second you find a few good spells or attack tactics that work well against most enemies. Early combat can be tough, but once you overcome the curve it gets quite straightforward.

This appears to be an inherent weakness of turn-based games as well. They seem to find it really hard to keep combat more challenging throughout the whole game. XCOM, Wasteland 2, Mutant Year Zero, Hard West, The Banner Saga etc all have the same problem. The old Baldur's Gate games did much better at keeping combat challenging right through the game.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

4 hours ago, Werthead said:

D:OS 1 and 2 both have a really bad difficulty curve. Well it's more of a sharp turn, where combat goes from challenging to almost trivially easy the second you find a few good spells or attack tactics that work well against most enemies. Early combat can be tough, but once you overcome the curve it gets quite straightforward.

This appears to be an inherent weakness of turn-based games as well. They seem to find it really hard to keep combat more challenging throughout the whole game. XCOM, Wasteland 2, Mutant Year Zero, Hard West, The Banner Saga etc all have the same problem. The old Baldur's Gate games did much better at keeping combat challenging right through the game.

I heard that Original Sin 2 has a sudden drop in difficulty. I need to get to that point because I like the game. I've started it again recently. I just got Pillars 2, and I'm liking it a ton. I actually started on turn-based (because I believe you can switch it to old-fashioned mode), and I'm finding it just right for me. Not too hard, but not mindless. I'll have to see if switching the combat mode when things get easier works well. Pillars 1 is the first game of that style I figured out how to play (I always sucked at these games). You were sneaking through a castle and in the throne room a fight starts, and I was getting my butt handed to me. Then I decided to have one character lure them back to a bottleneck I'd created, and I finally won. It was my lightbulb moment. 

[Werthead]

44 minutes ago, Simon Steele said:

I heard that Original Sin 2 has a sudden drop in difficulty. I need to get to that point because I like the game. I've started it again recently. I just got Pillars 2, and I'm liking it a ton. I actually started on turn-based (because I believe you can switch it to old-fashioned mode), and I'm finding it just right for me. Not too hard, but not mindless. I'll have to see if switching the combat mode when things get easier works well. Pillars 1 is the first game of that style I figured out how to play (I always sucked at these games). You were sneaking through a castle and in the throne room a fight starts, and I was getting my butt handed to me. Then I decided to have one character lure them back to a bottleneck I'd created, and I finally won. It was my lightbulb moment. 

Yup. It's the same for both types of game, but utilising scenery and environmental positioning is hugely important. In D:OS using the environment is a must (there's a tough band of orcs near the starting area of D:OS1 where you can set them on fire, grease the floor or use some kind of nature attack to stop them all rushing you at once and break up the attack).

It's what immensely pissed me off about Dragon Age: Origins is that they made it so enemies could push past you, so you could set up a perfect bottleneck in a tight passageway so your mage can pelt them from behind a solid wall of steel to see darkspawn magically clip through them to attack the mage. Utterly infuriating.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

41 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Yup. It's the same for both types of game, but utilising scenery and environmental positioning is hugely important. In D:OS using the environment is a must (there's a tough band of orcs near the starting area of D:OS1 where you can set them on fire, grease the floor or use some kind of nature attack to stop them all rushing you at once and break up the attack).

It's what immensely pissed me off about Dragon Age: Origins is that they made it so enemies could push past you, so you could set up a perfect bottleneck in a tight passageway so your mage can pelt them from behind a solid wall of steel to see darkspawn magically clip through them to attack the mage. Utterly infuriating.

That's interesting about Origins, I've always struggled more with that game than others in the genre (though when I played it on PC instead of Xbox, I found the battle view much better). I suppose because I played Origins before any other CRPG, I just assumed pushing past your front line tanks was a 'feature' in all of them. Though, now that you mention it, I think I wouldn't mind modding up Origins and giving it a play again.

[Toth]

Given the whole quarantine business (and my likely increased amount of free time due to schools having closed and the lack of clarity how homeschooling is going to be done), I somehow had a rather troubling urge to play something post-apocalyptic last week. For some reason the Bethesda Fallout was my first idea since I somehow had a vivid flashback of clearing a supermarket close to the starting vault in Fallout 3. But unfortunately I don't own any of the Bethesda Fallout games and played through 3 only because it was lended to me back when I was in high school.

Instead I installed something that I wanted to test for the longest time: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Lost Alpha. Yes, I know, it's a pretty dated game and yes, it's a free mod. A standalone mod. Something that leaves me a little confused about the legality of downloading a mod for free that includes the entire base game. For free.
Though admittedly, I can see why nobody intervenes because as it is, it runs like ass. The gameplay itself is fine, but the game crashes when you switch through menus too quickly and the game also freezes when you try to exit it, sometimes making it necessary to restart the computer because I can't reach the task manager. That's why I only played around for the first few missions before growing annoyed.

At the same time I have somehow been thinking about the Warhammer 40k setting recently and for that reason (and the media attention due to the upcoming expansion) reinstalled Stellaris. I made a race based on the Necrontyr (so basically short-lived and feeble, but highly scientifically minded imperialists with lots of backstabbing aristocrats), but found myself a little overwhelmed by the new planet management system, so I immediately left the game without even unpausing it once. I guess I am still too constantly tired to involve myself in something that needs a lot of thinking.

Ironically enough, I also have a craving to continue my writing, which is something I am intend to do. Once I know whether or not I will end up using the entirety of my free time on school preparations anyway because I am insane and constantly overworked.

[Fez]

I also started up Stellaris for the first time in ages and got intimidated by the changes in planet management. I've stuck with it though and have the start of a little empire going. I think I prefer the version of the game I played 2 years ago far more though, in most respects.

[RumHam]

1 hour ago, Fez said:

I also started up Stellaris for the first time in ages and got intimidated by the changes in planet management. I've stuck with it though and have the start of a little empire going. I think I prefer the version of the game I played 2 years ago far more though, in most respects.

I think the new way is much better in terms of like military stuff. I had a hard time defending against enemy invasions with the old way. 

The AI never really recovered from the change though, at least last time I checked. They don't put up much of a fight so playing on higher difficulties is recommended. 

[Red Tiger]

Nioh 2 is great so far. Should take me about 2 weeks. Enough time until RE3 and FF7.

[Werthead]

If anyone does want to play Fallout 3, I strongly recommend checking out this modded version. Maybe not like a 2020 release, but certainly a lot better than the original version. It's worth it just for removing the perma-green hue from everything, putting in much more modern lighting effects and improving the textures in DC, which otherwise make you want to strangle the art designer.

The GoG edition is probably best, as it's usually pretty cheap and it works more nicely with the mod manager than the Steam versions. You can also use both Fallout 3 and New Vegas through the manager.

[aceluby]

9 hours ago, Red Tiger said:

Nioh 2 is great so far. Should take me about 2 weeks. Enough time until RE3 and FF7.

Great to hear! My games are all packed away for the next little bit, but I will definitely be getting this once I’m moved in

[Werthead]

Finished Red Dead Redemption 2. 63 hours, apparently, for all story, side-missions and bounties. I didn't do a lot of the optional content though.

Generally an excellent game. It's Rockstar revisiting their standard tropes, themes, characterisations and ideas yet again, to the point where almost every story beat can be seen coming a mile off (and it's amazing that, under the much prettier hood, this is still effectively the same paradigm and story that Grand Theft Auto III used nineteen years ago), but this time it feels like they actually nailed it. Arthur is a much more relatable protagonist with a genuine personality, the writing is much better than in their previous games (helped by a much more consistent tone and the decision not to try to be satirical) and I think they were helped by The Witcher 3 coming out early in development, which allowed them to take some inspiration from it (I don't know if Tracking Mode was in RDR1, which I haven't played, but it certainly feels like they just stole it from The Witcher 3). The period setting I think also made them reign in their worst excesses. I was also surprised to see that Rockstar somehow had created their best female characters for any game to date, though it is a shame we never get to play as Sadie Adler.

The biggest problems remain Rockstar's adamant refusal to allow any kind of flexibility in how you play missions. You still have to play missions exactly how they want you to or insta-fail them, which is infuriating. Why have an elaborate stealth mode if it's almost completely useless outside of the few missions which force you to use it? Why give you a vast arsenal of weapons if numerous missions pointblank refuse to let you select your weapons loadout before undertaking them? I took a top-of-the-line sniper rifle and automatic shotgun with me as my preferred loadout but quite a lot of the time these would vanish because an NPC had given me a specific weapon for some reason (often an inferior one). This is something that Rockstar do in all their games which completely upsets the open world nature of their games and in the aftermath of CDPR and Bethesda (well, more or less) doing a better job of allowing you to complete tasks any way you see fit, it feels retrograde for Rockstar to insist on forcing you down such narrow, scripted paths.

There is one mission in the epilogue (where you and Charles have to save Uncle from the Skinners) which actually lets you do it how you want, with you being able to use stealth for quite a while before the open shooting starts and not failing if you're detected early and you can switch to more direct combat. That was pretty good and I don't think allowing more missions to be completed like that would have been too complex.

I'm also a bit puzzled why they built such a gargantuan area of the game world in the south-west corner that is incredibly pretty to look at but completely devoid of anything to do down there. I understand they wanted Blackwater and the surrounding region as a nod to RDR1, but they didn't need to go beyond that and build Armadillo and the region beyond. It makes me wonder if they had DLC plans or even plans to completely remaster RDR1 in that RDR2 engine and that allowed them to get ahead of the curve, and these haven't panned out (which may be related to Dan Houser unexpectedly quitting the company). It's nice it's all down there, but weird because there's nothing to do.

Overall, a great game but it does have a lot of standard Rockstar flaws.

[Kalbear]

Not surprising, but Ori so far is just a marvel and a delight, better than the predecessor and a great metroidvania game. 

[Rhom]

8 hours ago, Kalbear said:

Not surprising, but Ori so far is just a marvel and a delight, better than the predecessor and a great metroidvania game. 

I wasn't familiar with the game.  Looks quite a bit like Hollow Knight.

[Kalbear]

1 hour ago, Rhom said:

I wasn't familiar with the game.  Looks quite a bit like Hollow Knight.

I've not played hollow night but apparently that's a common comparison. If you havent played it the first game should be cheap to get and is worth it- it's a gorgeous fun game. But the second one is just better in every way. 

[Red Tiger]

Ori and Hollow Knight are both metroidvania games with crisp aesthetics, a cutesy protagonist and they're both made by very small studios. That is why people keep comparing them.

Ori is much shorter and less punishing in comparison, but both got immensely high marks.

[Inigima]

I beat Ori 1 and liked it a lot, then tried to replay it and decided it was terrible. The combat is absolutely awful and the platforming is pretty punishing. Hollow Knight has a rep for difficulty, but I thought in many ways it was more approachable than Ori, and the combat is much better. I'm told the combat has improved greatly in Ori 2. Unfortunately it requires Windows 10; I've seen and had too many bad experiences with Win 10 and will have to sit this one out.

Kalbear, you should definitely try Hollow Knight. One of my favorite games, ever. (EDIT: Marked down to $7.50 on GOG currently.)

[Werthead]

Valve wanting to make more Half-Life after Alyx, which is unsurprising, but the comments that they want to keep up the pipeline after Alyx and not lose the experience they've built up is interesting.

[Red Tiger]

Welp, after getting more into Nioh 2, the old flaws have come back. The enemy variety is still meh, the levels are still repetitive and the yokai mode gets old pretty quickly. I'll finish it, but im not impressed with the improvements.