Video Games - Sequels of Dread and Anticipation

[Ran]

26 minutes ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

GTA V looks pretty good with maxed settings but it does look like far worse than Cyberpunk imho. 

Yes. Though there are mods that make some substantial difference to how it looks, including some that introduce raytraced global illumination. Still, there's only so far you can go with that.

I do agree that graphical fidelity and so on is often too much of a benchmark for people -- the amount of whining I've seen about CP2077's lack of high-fidelity water "physics" compared to something like RDR2, when you have all of two or three missions that have anything to do with water, is just foolishness -- but at the same time I can understand reluctance to dive back into games that now look visually quite ugly. Art direction is really the most important thing, and old games that were at the cutting edge of graphics but had poor artistic sensibilities are hard to swallow for me these days. 

[Luzifer's right hand]

3 minutes ago, Ran said:

Yes. Though there are mods that make some substantial difference to how it looks, including some that introduce raytraced global illumination. Still, there's only so far you can go with that.

I do agree that graphical fidelity and so on is often too much of a benchmark for people -- the amount of whining I've seen about CP2077's lack of high-fidelity water "physics" compared to something like RDR2, when you have all of two or three missions that have anything to do with water, is just foolishness -- but at the same time I can understand reluctance to dive back into games that now look visually quite ugly. Art direction is really the most important thing, and old games that were at the cutting edge of graphics but had poor artistic sensibilities are hard to swallow for me these days. 

I remember the hype about Unreal. The game magazine I read used a screenshot for a cover with a text that said something like "yes that is a real screenshot!". Or Freespace... Although that one does look good with mods even now because it is only spaceships.

[Werthead]

35 minutes ago, Ran said:

I do agree that graphical fidelity and so on is often too much of a benchmark for people -- the amount of whining I've seen about CP2077's lack of high-fidelity water "physics" compared to something like RDR2, when you have all of two or three missions that have anything to do with water, is just foolishness -- but at the same time I can understand reluctance to dive back into games that now look visually quite ugly. Art direction is really the most important thing, and old games that were at the cutting edge of graphics but had poor artistic sensibilities are hard to swallow for me these days. 

I think that complaint holds more water (cough) because water physics and effects are pretty piss-easy to do by modern standards, with off-the-shelf solutions you should be able to adapt to any engine. I mean, The Witcher 3 had far superior water effects than Cyberpunk 2077 and that's a five-years-older game in the exact same engine and there isn't really any water-based missions in that either (though there is an optional activity that involves swimming, but it's so mind-numbingly boring and utterly unnecessary to the game that almost everyone ignores it), despite about 20% of the game taking place on an island archipelago.

[Ran]

I mean, they made a whole optional track of activity dependent on sailing around, so yeah, makes sense to invest graphics resources in the effects. Not so much for CP2077. People just want "simulation" for the sake of simulation.  I put it in the same category as people who want to sit down and flip through menus to order up a virtual mukbang that they can livestream.

[briantw]

12 minutes ago, Ran said:

I mean, they made a whole optional track of activity dependent on sailing around, so yeah, makes sense to invest graphics resources in the effects. Not so much for CP2077. People just want "simulation" for the sake of simulation.  I put it in the same category as people who want to sit down and flip through menus to order up a virtual mukbang that they can livestream.

It's not even optional to sail is it?  Pretty sure you have to sail at least a little bit to get to key locations and unlock fast travel.

[Ran]

2 hours ago, briantw said:

It's not even optional to sail is it?  Pretty sure you have to sail at least a little bit to get to key locations and unlock fast travel.

I meant the whole Skellige sunken treasure-hunting thing that'll make you spend more time in the water than anyone but a completionist would be willing to spend. But yes, you definitely have to spend some time on there, regardless. Again, not so much CP2077.

 

[Werthead]

17 minutes ago, briantw said:

It's not even optional to sail is it?  Pretty sure you have to sail at least a little bit to get to key locations and unlock fast travel.

You "have" to sail in The Witcher 3 probably about as much as you "have to" in Cyberpunk 2077: there's one mission that takes place on a boat and another few which take place on the waterfront, a few of which encourage you to use swimming to sneak around.

I mean, if you don't want to invest in even halfway decent water effects for the game, perhaps don't set your game in a coastal city with massive rivers running through it?

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

6 hours ago, aceluby said:

Gotta dodge those guys.  I don't think I really needed to do anything except dodge until after the first 1/3rd of the game.  IMO, max out your stance that deals w/ shields and then use the hold triangle and perform multiple slashes on any of the early enemies.  Then go after the multiplier for showdowns so you can get 3 in a row.  After you've done that, max out your parry tree, which will help out with guys w/ spears.  Then focus on your stealth skills.  Also, be sure to do a few of the early main missions first so you get some very important skills.  If you're like me and do a bunch of the early side missions, it shouldn't take you long to amass a ton of skill points.

I just beat the main boss on the first of the three islands so I'm pretty unstoppable now. I'm still awful at switching stances mid-battle though, and I barely use most of the options available in general. TBH I don't need them.

6 hours ago, Rhom said:

My problem is that I got the skill that turns your dodge into a roll... I was doing better before I got that!  I was just stepping out of the way and whacking them.  Now I roll too far out of the way!  

Roll->jump over them->they die fast. Works against every type of guy.

6 hours ago, Werthead said:

Mafia 

The original Mafia might be the hardest open world game I've ever played.

[Werthead]

3 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

The original Mafia might be the hardest open world game I've ever played.

The original Mafia isn't open-world, though, it's a linear mission-based game

It is hard though, especially the race which, for some reason, they chose to make much harder in the remastered version, which went down well.

[IlyaP]

6 hours ago, Poobah said:

100% this. The ongoing AAA circlejerk over graphical fidelity and extremely hardware intensive graphical effects and shaders is just such a waste of time and money.

Seems like a lot of us are hitting that fine line between graphics and design. It might go a ways towards explaining the recent surge in "retro" 90s-style FPS games like Ion Fury, Dusk, Daemonic Runner, and Hrot, and retro RPGs, like Ocean's Heart, Ikenfell, Horizon's Gate, Vagrus, etc.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

17 minutes ago, Werthead said:

The original Mafia isn't open-world, though, it's a linear mission-based game

It is hard though, especially the race which, for some reason, they chose to make much harder in the remastered version, which went down well.

Huh, I recall being able to have some freedom to move about and some side things. I'll take your word for it.

The mission I recall being insanely hard is one in which you had to fight your way out of church. There were just endless waves of gangsters attacking you.

[Argonath Diver]

My viking fort in Valheim is becoming pretty damn impressive. I've spend a wholly unnecessary amount of time building and tinkering with it. My brother and his pals are into it, and we're going to set up a dedicated server - my hosting worked fine with 3 on at once but i'd rather it be up all the time so those guys can drop in for some farming runs. Tomorrow we're going to cast off on a big boat to kill the 2nd boss, who is way the feck far away from our massive starter island.

[Toth]

The bosses in this Valheim thing don't seem too hard:

 

[Ghostlydragon]

I just got the platinum trophy in Final Fantasy 12 last night. That felt so good. Time to play Hollow Knight. I only own it until my ps plus membership ends in May so I have to get to work on it. It's such a tough game but I enjoy that. It's nice to play such a retro feeling game although I doubt I'll get the plat but I'll just be happy to beat it.

[Mexal]

4 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

My viking fort in Valheim is becoming pretty damn impressive. I've spend a wholly unnecessary amount of time building and tinkering with it. My brother and his pals are into it, and we're going to set up a dedicated server - my hosting worked fine with 3 on at once but i'd rather it be up all the time so those guys can drop in for some farming runs. Tomorrow we're going to cast off on a big boat to kill the 2nd boss, who is way the feck far away from our massive starter island.

We just killed Bonemass yesterday, the third boss. Not so bad once we had the proper weapons (blunt). We set up a dedicated server as well which has been a blessing for my very small group of friends, especially when it comes to farming materials. So far, we've set up a main base with a stone portal hub (I'm particularly proud), blacksmith, longhouse, brewery/kitchen and farm. Can't wait to build a castle in the mountains, just trying to find the biggest one we can find.

[Werthead]

16 hours ago, Tywin et al. said:

Huh, I recall being able to have some freedom to move about and some side things. I'll take your word for it.

There was a "Free Ride" mode where you could explore the city and the surrounding countryside (and the fact that that game had a lot of surrounding countryside as well as the city was pretty cool) and after you completed the game there was "Free Ride Extra" where you could do optional missions, which I think were almost entirely taxi rides and being able to re-do the race. That was about it.

Mafia II I don't think was that open world either, although you had the freedom to drive from your apartment to the mission start marker and I think you could buy different clothes but that was about it. It wasn't until Mafia III that the series provided a real, proper open-world GTA-style gaming experience (which it didn't do very well with either).

Quote

The mission I recall being insanely hard is one in which you had to fight your way out of church. There were just endless waves of gangsters attacking you.

That wasn't too bad and at least was partially explained (they were all there for the funeral of a guy you'd killed previously, who was high up in a rival mafia family), although the numbers did go a bit exteme.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

I never got around to trying the other Mafia games. Is Mafia 3 even worth trying?

33 minutes ago, Werthead said:

That wasn't too bad and at least was partially explained (they were all there for the funeral of a guy you'd killed previously, who was high up in a rival mafia family), although the numbers did go a bit exteme.

This is why I previously brought up how you play the game. I don't think it would be that bad on a PC, but it was a nightmare on my Xbox.

[Werthead]

9 minutes ago, Tywin et al. said:

I never got around to trying the other Mafia games. Is Mafia 3 even worth trying?

This is why I previously brought up how you play the game. I don't think it would be that bad on a PC, but it was a nightmare on my Xbox.

Mafia III is okay but it's structurally very repetitive. You have to do the same task 18 times to complete the game. There's some good individual missions, some solid side-activities, some very good combat and pretty good (if under-used) stealth.

It's basically a solid, mid-ranking Ubisoft-style open world game. Better than Watch Dogs, not as good as Watch Dogs 2.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

36 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Mafia III is okay but it's structurally very repetitive. You have to do the same task 18 times to complete the game. There's some good individual missions, some solid side-activities, some very good combat and pretty good (if under-used) stealth.

It's basically a solid, mid-ranking Ubisoft-style open world game. Better than Watch Dogs, not as good as Watch Dogs 2.

Yeah that's going to be a pass on my end then. Thanks for the info though.

[Ran]

This fires up some real nostalgia. Remember playing the first game in the series in the arcade with my brother and friends.

And yes, this sort of retro-ish, cartoony 2d graphics is perfectly fine because it looks good!