Videogames - Meanwhile in Poland.

[john]

I have the CP2077 disc for ps4, looks like it might be playable by february.

In the meantime, I have a lot of Christmas downtime suddenly opened up. Any recs for immersive, open world rpg type things to play as a substitute? Like stuff with fighting, but also a lot of content that isn’t fighting.

I’m thinking Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Outer Worlds. Or I might just replay Fallout 4.

[Ghostlydragon]

2 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

It's funny to me how big Codemasters ended up getting, given my memory of them from the early 90s is they were churning out shitty game after shitty game. I stayed well away from anything with their name on it. Did they just manage to coast along on the goodwill Dizzy brought them in the 80s?

Ubisoft are another I remember from the Amiga days as not being especially good, though they had a slightly dodgy tennis game that was at least fun.

 

I'm leaving Cyberpunk alone for a good while yet, but I've been rooting through the sales for bits- played Heavy Rain, which despite the stupid as shit story, dodgy voice acting and having to fight the stupid camera the whole way through, was still kind of fun. Super dark and depressing though, so I decided to go a little brighter for my next game and have started Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which is great; like being in a Studio Ghibli film.

That is a great game.  And the sequel is pretty good even though SG didn't do the cut scenes.

[Plessiez]

3 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

 I decided to go a little brighter for my next game and have started Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, which is great; like being in a Studio Ghibli film.

I really liked Ni No Kuni a lot: it's not particularly ground-breaking in either its gameplay or story, but the whole thing is really well executed and the Studio Ghibli art / aesthetic works really well throughout.  Unlike most of the JRPGs of my childhood, I actually managed to finish it too, so I suspect it's pretty easy, which I think is a point in its favour as well.

(I tried the sequel a couple of years later but found it pretty underwhelming, to be honest.  Felt like it it tried to do a lot more than the first game but it didn't do any of it all that well.)

[Heartofice]

Didn't codemaster also do Cannon Fodder? (Looked it up, that was probably sensible software, and codemasters were involved there too, but sensible were the minds behind it as well as the greatest football game ever invented)

[Soylent Brown]

It seems they were involved to some degree, but I don't recall the Codemasters name popping up at the beginning of the game at all.

[Caligula_K3]

3 hours ago, john said:

I have the CP2077 disc for ps4, looks like it might be playable by february.

In the meantime, I have a lot of Christmas downtime suddenly opened up. Any recs for immersive, open world rpg type things to play as a substitute? Like stuff with fighting, but also a lot of content that isn’t fighting.

I’m thinking Kingdom Come: Deliverance or Outer Worlds. Or I might just replay Fallout 4.

I really enjoyed The Outer Worlds, though keep in mind it's not really open world and is about a 25-30 hour game. It's focused on quests and characters rather than world exploration, more along the lines of Mass Effect 2 than Fallout 4.

Kingdom Come is supposed to be quite good too, though. I should try it sometime.

[Derfel Cadarn]

4 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Didn't codemaster also do Cannon Fodder? (Looked it up, that was probably sensible software, and codemasters were involved there too, but sensible were the minds behind it as well as the greatest football game ever invented)

They may have published it, but it was made by Sensible Software (perhaps better known for Sensible Soccer, and Sensible World of Soccer).

Edit: which you’ve said. Wonder if i got the pre-edit? Don’t think Codemasters had any hands-on involvement.

[Werthead]

4 hours ago, Soylent Brown said:

It seems they were involved to some degree, but I don't recall the Codemasters name popping up at the beginning of the game at all.

Sensible Software published their games through Virgin Interactive. When they decided to fold, they sold the IP to Codemasters, who handled some later ports. They didn't have anything to do with the creative side of Sensible's games at all.

[IlyaP]

9 hours ago, Caligula_K3 said:

Kingdom Come is supposed to be quite good too, though. I should try it sometime.

75 hours in and I still haven't finished everything. It is a deeply entertaining game.

[john]

9 hours ago, Caligula_K3 said:

I really enjoyed The Outer Worlds, though keep in mind it's not really open world and is about a 25-30 hour game. It's focused on quests and characters rather than world exploration, more along the lines of Mass Effect 2 than Fallout 4.

Kingdom Come is supposed to be quite good too, though. I should try it sometime.

I see, thanks. Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great substitute for cyberpunk, although I’ll definitely play it some time.

Actually, since I made that post I bought Dragon Age Inquisition, which was very cheap in the PS store. I don’t think that’s particularly got the open world feel I was after but I’m sure it will amuse for a while. I’ll probably get Kingdom Come later.

[IlyaP]

2 hours ago, john said:

I don’t think that’s particularly got the open world feel I was after but I’m sure it will amuse for a while.

It's similar to Witcher 3 in its use of broken up spaces across a map. Mind you, I find it peculiar that it doesn't feature dynamic day and night systems, but beyond that and the excess amount of fetch quests, it is an entertaining game with some delightful design decisions, excellent sound design, and some terrific voice acting.  

[Rhom]

Got Shadowrun Returns cheap a couple weeks back.  Have started a game and enjoying it quite a bit.

Cant tell if running a Decker for a first time player is a good idea or not.

[Caligula_K3]

3 hours ago, john said:

I see, thanks. Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a great substitute for cyberpunk, although I’ll definitely play it some time.

Actually, since I made that post I bought Dragon Age Inquisition, which was very cheap in the PS store. I don’t think that’s particularly got the open world feel I was after but I’m sure it will amuse for a while. I’ll probably get Kingdom Come later.

Listen to what @IlyaP says and also just leave the first big zone (The Hinterlands) sooner rather than later. Inquisition has a ton of great content, but I recommend being choosy about what quests you do. Companion quests? Yes. Major zone quests? Yes. Dragon hunting? Yes. Random fetch quests? No need.

[IlyaP]

23 minutes ago, Caligula_K3 said:

Random fetch quests? No need.

"Collect ten sheep skins for soldiers!" 

"Go and find my son!" 

"Hey look at the constellations!" 

"Find all the shards!" 

/snooze

As developer Mike Laidlaw himself has said, the game world was a bit hollow. But it also offers lots of fun side quests, and item quests, and chances to explore different relationships between different party members. It's just that most of them are not in the Hinterlands. (Just leave the goddamn hinterlands, as @Caligula_K3 recommended.)

[Corvinus85]

Welp, Star Wars Squadrons is unplayable with mouse & keyboard. Anyone use a joystick?

[The Winged Shadow]

6 hours ago, Corvinus85 said:

Welp, Star Wars Squadrons is unplayable with mouse & keyboard. Anyone use a joystick?

C'mon mate, get that HOTAS. You know you want to!

[Ran]

1 hour ago, The Winged Shadow said:

C'mon mate, get that HOTAS. You know you want to!

As far as I can recall, the game was designed primarily with controllers in mind. HOTAS would be most "authentic" but controller probably cheaper.

[Werthead]

16 hours ago, john said:

Actually, since I made that post I bought Dragon Age Inquisition, which was very cheap in the PS store. I don’t think that’s particularly got the open world feel I was after but I’m sure it will amuse for a while. I’ll probably get Kingdom Come later.

DA:I is comfortably one of the worst - if not the worst - AAA release of the decade. It's a just a big, empty, hollow MMO but with one player in it, which completely defeats the point of it.

Whatever reason it had for existing is completely negated by Skyrim - which does the open-world stuff far better - and The Witcher 3 - which does story and character far better.

I quite enjoyed DA:O, DA:A and even DA2, but DA:I was a complete mess.

Quote

C'mon mate, get that HOTAS. You know you want to!

I wouldn't get a HOTAS just for Squadrons, but for Ace Combat 7, Freespace 2, X-Wing, TIE Fighter, X-Wing vs. TIE Fighter, X-Wing Alliance, Elite: Dangerous and Star Citizen (if it's ever finished, and not as flaky as the alpha builds have been so far) as well, it's a very solid investment. Maybe Project Wingman as well if they tighten up the first release.

[Caligula_K3]

Just now, Werthead said:

DA:I is comfortably one of the worst - if not the worst - AAA release of the decade. It's a just a big, empty, hollow MMO but with one player in it, which completely defeats the point of it.

Whatever reason it had for existing is completely negated by Skyrim - which does the open-world stuff far better - and The Witcher 3 - which does story and character far better.

I quite enjoyed DA:O, DA:A and even DA2, but DA:I was a complete mess.

Hard disagree. I understand frustrations with it and I get it has its flaws, especially if you try to be a completionist, in which case it will feel like a single player MMO. It didn't help that the Witcher 3 came out so soon after and did much better sidequests. But if you focus on the good stuff... it's really good. And it has one of Bioware's best cast of companions. Either way, even if you didn't enjoy it, I have a hard time seeing it as being anywhere close to the worst AAA games of the decade; that's pretty ridiculous, considering how many awards it won and its good reviews.

Speaking of Dragon Age, I'm getting close to the end of my Origins replaythrough- just have to find the Urn of Sacred Ashes and then it's on to the kingsmoot and the big climax. I have definitely enjoyed it and I'm glad I could replay it, but I'm grateful for the mod that lets me turn big chunks of the game into super-easy-story-mode, because there is just way too much combat and dungeon crawling. It's interesting to compare it to Inquisition in this respect, because in Inquisition, the most tedious stuff is optional and can be ignored, whereas in Origins, no matter what, you're slogging through seven levels of darkspawn infested Deep Roads.

[Werthead]

The Epic Store is giving away one free game a day for the next 15 days.

First up is Cities: Skylines, which is a huge game to give away for free.

Rumour is that The Witcher 3, Horizon: Zero Dawn and Hitman 2 (the new one) are all in the rotation.