Luzifer's right hand Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 I have reinstalled Pillars of Eternity and started playing another Trial of Iron game. Fun so far but only on the 2nd highest difficulty this time because the extra enemies max. difficulty spawns make the game rather tedious and I want to do a playtrough with the story companions. I don't enjoy abusing AI glitches and mechanics which makes a max. difficulty too hard for me if I use the non-min/maxed story companions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poobah Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 18 hours ago, Werthead said: Horizon: Zero Dawn has been splendid fun so far. An open world game with crafting where neither the open world elements nor the crafting elements suck. Extremely rare. Definitely gonna pick this up when it goes on sale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 19 hours ago, Werthead said: Horizon: Zero Dawn has been splendid fun so far. An open world game with crafting where neither the open world elements nor the crafting elements suck. Extremely rare. Are you playing it on PC? On Steam the reviews are 'mixed' but mainly because the game appears to have some instability issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 8, 2020 Share Posted August 8, 2020 1 hour ago, Poobah said: Definitely gonna pick this up when it goes on sale. It already launched at half-price, so whilst it clearly will be going down at some point, I don't think it will be for a while. Quote Are you playing it on PC? On Steam the reviews are 'mixed' but mainly because the game appears to have some instability issues. The game seems to have been future-proofed somewhat - the game is clearly going on PS5 as well when it launches - so they've effectively created a game that you physically can't max out at 4K even with a 2080 ti, which seems to have gotten some people really annoyed. The idea is you won't be able to max out the game until at least the 30xx series comes out later this year. So that seems to be one part of the problem. The other part of the problem is the way the game hardcoded in area transitions, so no matter what hardware you're running, the game stutters when loading in the next area of the map, which is supposed to happen seamlessly behind the scenes. That's more annoying and they need to fix that ASAP. Apparently it comes down to them updating the game from the second-generation Decima Engine (used in the original H:ZD) to the third-generation (used in Death Stranding), and not everything has locked in place as it should. That should be addressed (hopefully) in another patch. Running with everything but clouds at High Quality on a 2060 at 1080p and it's a pretty much completely fine experience for me, apart from that slight stutter issue when loading new areas. That's only ever a problem if you get into a fight at the edge of one area where the next starts loading, as that's when thing can go haywire. I've only had that happen once so far, and only in mounted combat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 8 hours ago, Corvinus85 said: Are you playing it on PC? On Steam the reviews are 'mixed' but mainly because the game appears to have some instability issues. I had the game crash immediately the first two times I launched it. After that, I haven't had any issues since *knocks wood*. I'm using digital foundry's recommended specs and everything has looked good to me. As for the game itself, I'm liking it a lot so far. I really didn't know much of anything about the game prior to starting it, other than that it was the game with the machine animals. I am a little disappointed at how open world-y the game has gotten since leaving the beginning area (The Embrace). I need to figure out if I can do my usual playstyle for these kinds of games, and just focus on the main quests and the main side quests, or if I need the XP and materials too much to ignore everything else. I'd like to avoid burnout; I'm intrigued by the story and I like seeing each new machine design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 9 minutes ago, Fez said: I had the game crash immediately the first two times I launched it. After that, I haven't had any issues since *knocks wood*. I'm using digital foundry's recommended specs and everything has looked good to me. As for the game itself, I'm liking it a lot so far. I really didn't know much of anything about the game prior to starting it, other than that it was the game with the machine animals. I am a little disappointed at how open world-y the game has gotten since leaving the beginning area (The Embrace). I need to figure out if I can do my usual playstyle for these kinds of games, and just focus on the main quests and the main side quests, or if I need the XP and materials too much to ignore everything else. I'd like to avoid burnout; I'm intrigued by the story and I like seeing each new machine design. As someone that doesn't love massive open world games because of how much there is to do, I found HZD fairly easy to get through. I didn't find it was overwhelming in terms of things to do and I found the main story super compelling and easy to focus on. I think you'll find the balance quickly. To that end, it's an incredible game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhom Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 10 hours ago, Fez said: I had the game crash immediately the first two times I launched it. After that, I haven't had any issues since *knocks wood*. I'm using digital foundry's recommended specs and everything has looked good to me. As for the game itself, I'm liking it a lot so far. I really didn't know much of anything about the game prior to starting it, other than that it was the game with the machine animals. I am a little disappointed at how open world-y the game has gotten since leaving the beginning area (The Embrace). I need to figure out if I can do my usual playstyle for these kinds of games, and just focus on the main quests and the main side quests, or if I need the XP and materials too much to ignore everything else. I'd like to avoid burnout; I'm intrigued by the story and I like seeing each new machine design. 10 hours ago, Mexal said: As someone that doesn't love massive open world games because of how much there is to do, I found HZD fairly easy to get through. I didn't find it was overwhelming in terms of things to do and I found the main story super compelling and easy to focus on. I think you'll find the balance quickly. To that end, it's an incredible game. Agreed. I have become wary of open world games due to a lack of gaming time in my life, but HZD hit a good balance. If you do all the extra stuff as you go I found myself a tad over leveled; but it wasn’t excessive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raja Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 Sounds like similar issues to RDR2 when it came out on PC, it didn't help that Rockstar has one of the worst PC launchers around. Will defo pick up HZD, but might wait a month just so the initial issues are ironed out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 9, 2020 Share Posted August 9, 2020 19 hours ago, Fez said: I am a little disappointed at how open world-y the game has gotten since leaving the beginning area (The Embrace). I need to figure out if I can do my usual playstyle for these kinds of games, and just focus on the main quests and the main side quests, or if I need the XP and materials too much to ignore everything else. I'd like to avoid burnout; I'm intrigued by the story and I like seeing each new machine design. Looking around, the game seems designed that if you focus on the main story and immediately adjacent side quests you can finish it in 30 hours, if you 100% the side-quests and some of the optional activities (hunting grounds, particularly) it can take about 40 hours. If you explore every single nook and cranny and try to do all of the activities, unlock all of the weapons, armour etc, you can go 80-100 hours. None of that is including the expansion, which I gather adds 15-20 hours to the main game. So not quite as short as a classic BioWare game, not quite as long as a Bethesda or CDPR game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A True Kaniggit Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Waaaaay late to the party. But started FF7 remake for the first time tonight. I fell oddly proud I recognized Wedges voice. He’s Badger from Breaking Bad! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fez Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 On 8/8/2020 at 9:50 PM, Mexal said: As someone that doesn't love massive open world games because of how much there is to do, I found HZD fairly easy to get through. I didn't find it was overwhelming in terms of things to do and I found the main story super compelling and easy to focus on. I think you'll find the balance quickly. To that end, it's an incredible game. 17 hours ago, Werthead said: Looking around, the game seems designed that if you focus on the main story and immediately adjacent side quests you can finish it in 30 hours, if you 100% the side-quests and some of the optional activities (hunting grounds, particularly) it can take about 40 hours. If you explore every single nook and cranny and try to do all of the activities, unlock all of the weapons, armour etc, you can go 80-100 hours. None of that is including the expansion, which I gather adds 15-20 hours to the main game. So not quite as short as a classic BioWare game, not quite as long as a Bethesda or CDPR game. Interesting. I'm a bit over 9 hours in, and I don't feel anywhere close to 25% done; in terms the amount of the map I've seen, the amount of the skill tree I've unlocked, or the amount of story content I've gone through. Maybe I'm playing particularly slowly though. I wish I could turn off more of the map icon gore too. I bought some special items that reveal the general locations of various collectables and I can't figure out how to disable them; they aren't part of the map filter list and they clutter up the map terribly. I am enjoying the game quite a lot still, but I know how I am with these games. Other than AC: Odyssey, I can't even remember the last time I got through an open world game like this to the end. I guess it was The Witcher 3, which I did replay earlier this year, so I guess it goes to show that if the writing is strong enough I can stick around. And I am liking the HZD writing a lot (though the worldbuilding does feel a bit inconsistent in places). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 16 minutes ago, Fez said: Interesting. I'm a bit over 9 hours in, and I don't feel anywhere close to 25% done; in terms the amount of the map I've seen, the amount of the skill tree I've unlocked, or the amount of story content I've gone through. Maybe I'm playing particularly slowly though. I wish I could turn off more of the map icon gore too. I bought some special items that reveal the general locations of various collectables and I can't figure out how to disable them; they aren't part of the map filter list and they clutter up the map terribly. I am enjoying the game quite a lot still, but I know how I am with these games. Other than AC: Odyssey, I can't even remember the last time I got through an open world game like this to the end. I guess it was The Witcher 3, which I did replay earlier this year, so I guess it goes to show that if the writing is strong enough I can stick around. And I am liking the HZD writing a lot (though the worldbuilding does feel a bit inconsistent in places). The writing is so cool once you start really getting into the bunkers. Love the world that was created and the backstory behind everything. I don't remember the map, though I do know what you're talking about in terms of being inundated with so much stuff. I think what happened to me (and it tends to happen to me in most of these games), is that I did a lot of stuff early on, ran all over the first part of the map and when I got to a certain section where it was time to move on (and was a little high on level for it), I quit a lot of the side quests and just burned through the main storyline. I did it with Witcher 3, did it with HZD, did it with RDR2 and about to do it with Ghost of Tsushima. I'm all for things to do early on but there comes a point where I'm just done and want to see how the story wraps up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 1 minute ago, Mexal said: The writing is so cool once you start really getting into the bunkers. Love the world that was created and the backstory behind everything. I don't remember the map, though I do know what you're talking about in terms of being inundated with so much stuff. I think what happened to me (and it tends to happen to me in most of these games), is that I did a lot of stuff early on, ran all over the first part of the map and when I got to a certain section where it was time to move on (and was a little high on level for it), I quit a lot of the side quests and just burned through the main storyline. I did it with Witcher 3, did it with HZD, did it with RDR2 and about to do it with Ghost of Tsushima. I'm all for things to do early on but there comes a point where I'm just done and want to see how the story wraps up. It's quite good fun when you do tons of optional stuff and are then so over-levelled for the main quest it's just trivial to get through it. That happened on my Fallout 4 replay, where I'm comfortably about 20-25 levels higher for the main story quest than they were anticipating, so it's just one-shotting everything in the head and breezing through stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jace, Extat Posted August 10, 2020 Author Share Posted August 10, 2020 45 minutes ago, Mexal said: The writing is so cool once you start really getting into the bunkers. Love the world that was created and the backstory behind everything. I don't remember the map, though I do know what you're talking about in terms of being inundated with so much stuff. I think what happened to me (and it tends to happen to me in most of these games), is that I did a lot of stuff early on, ran all over the first part of the map and when I got to a certain section where it was time to move on (and was a little high on level for it), I quit a lot of the side quests and just burned through the main storyline. I did it with Witcher 3, did it with HZD, did it with RDR2 and about to do it with Ghost of Tsushima. I'm all for things to do early on but there comes a point where I'm just done and want to see how the story wraps up. 43 minutes ago, Werthead said: It's quite good fun when you do tons of optional stuff and are then so over-levelled for the main quest it's just trivial to get through it. That happened on my Fallout 4 replay, where I'm comfortably about 20-25 levels higher for the main story quest than they were anticipating, so it's just one-shotting everything in the head and breezing through stuff. I end up having similar experiences, but I don't like one-shotting bosses. It's, uh, not fun. Also, I will not run from an enemy guard just because he's arbitrarily fifteen levels above me. Goddammit, I'll kill him if it kills me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Yeah, you need some level of challenge. Because The Witcher 1 and 2 had absolutely awful combat and poor difficulty balancing, I played The Witcher 3 on easy and that was a mistake, it was basically Story Mode. I constantly ended up fighting things 20 levels above me as it was the only way to have a real degree of challenge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 For those wanting another peek at Cyberpunk 2077, the second episode of the Night City Wire streamed earlier today: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted August 10, 2020 Share Posted August 10, 2020 Outstanding. The three lifepaths thing looks exceptional. Kind of what Dragon Age: Origins did but put on an absolutely massive scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorn Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 All three lifepaths look interesting to me, although I don't think I'll have enough free time to play the game three times to experience them all. Nomad, as an outsider to Night City, seems to be the natural choice for a first-time playthrough, and I liked their Mad Max / Fallout / Borderlands vibe from the trailer. Interestingly, most of the developers picked Corpo as their favorite lifepath when asked. Seems to have a lot of potential for intrigues and double-crossing, and I'm confident the writing will be stellar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ran Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 3 hours ago, Gorn said: Interestingly, most of the developers picked Corpo as their favorite lifepath when asked. Seems to have a lot of potential for intrigues and double-crossing, and I'm confident the writing will be stellar. I plan to play Corpo, though one aspect of it confuses me slightly. Nomad and street kids both suggest that you've been in this social stratum all of your life. Is the idea that in the Corpo lifepath the same? I guess this means your parents were corpos, oralternatively you were raised by the corporation as an orphan or some such. I don't know the lore well enough to know what the intent is with this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inkdaub Posted August 11, 2020 Share Posted August 11, 2020 Taking a break from LoU2 to play some more Arkham. Good choice because these Arkham games are near perfect. I actually felt better about life while playing the game is so good. As of right now my favorite games are... Tomb Raider current reboot HZD of course Arkham claims a spot in the top three. Playing City now. Control Some other game I have forgotten...time for bed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.