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Videogames Killed the TV Star


IlyaP

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Resuming from where we left off in the last thread, it looks like we've got people playing Dishonored, Mass Effect, Horizon Dawn, and more. 

So, tell us what you're playing. 

Or, y'know, don't...if you really don't...want to. 

In the meantime, I'll be resuming playing Diablo 3, which has become the go-to game for several of us over here in Kangaroostan, to deal with 2020: The Revenge. When not working and not playing Diablo 3, Cyberpunk 2077 completely consumes my time - mostly on the weekends. It's an absolute wonder of a game, and I am continually gobsmacked by how engrossing and wild and crazy and ambitious it is. It's absolutely wonderful. 

And lest I forget, there's a wonderful little ARPG from the European game studio Redeev, called Anima. Let me quickly clarify. On Steam, it's called Anima: The Reign of Darkness, but on the Android, it's simply Anima. And both versions are wonderful. So if you enjoy Diablo-style action RPGS full of ambience and fun, easy to grasp gameplay, give Anima a try. 

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Really looking forward to the new Pathfinder game coming out next month, Wrath of the Righteous. Hopefully it's less buggy than Kingmaker was at release. I'm also looking forward to trying out Amazon's new MMO, New World, when it releases at the end of the month. Reception to the closed beta last year was pretty negative, but it sounds like the devs took the criticisms to heart and made some big changes. I've heard nothing but positive responses to the more recent beta.

Other August releases that look good to me Humankind, the 4X game from the "Endless" studio, but aiming to be more like Civ; Kings Bounty II, though I'm more cautiously optimistic than anything else; Psychonauts 2, I never got super into the first one, but it'll be on Gamepass so I'll check it out; and Road 96, that procedural/rogue-like hitch-hiking game that showed up at E3.

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Somehow felt a bit creative recently. Made my xth try to build something in Cities: Skylines and since my biggest hurdle so far had always been realizing there is some game mechanic I hadn't factored into my construction and then rather abandoning my safe instead of the hassle of fixing it, I just started a fresh game with unlimited money where this wouldn't have as devastating consequences in a game where I'm barely scrounging enough pennies together for a new firehouse.

This is the result by now:

https://s20.directupload.net/images/210802/7d57vcoz.jpg

https://s20.directupload.net/images/210802/e8smdme6.jpg

I'm fairly proud of my city being virtually one big circle, even though the entry roundabout got extremely clogged up down the line because of my big north-eastern industrial area. I'm trying to spread out more with tiny pockets of industry hidden in bigger pockets of commercial areas, but it's tricky as I start to run out of space. Probably also the reason why my commercial districts have a habit of randomly shutting down due to not having enough products on the shelves. Probably have to build a shipping harbor at one point to fix that. Still proud that the city makes 50.000$ per week in peak times, so even without the money cheat I wouldn't be in much trouble in this one.


And then I have also come back to Fallout 4 for a bit. Now reached Vault 88, the one that you can build for yourself, basically encompassing every megalomaniac idea that the regular settlements can't deliver because of their shitty space restrictions. Here I went apeshit trying to make central Atrium tower containing the cafeteria at the bottom and the Overseer's office, Security Chief's office and doctor's office above, surounded by a three stories tall living complex. I got the common room done and the living spaces on the ground level when I ran out of steel and grumblingly admitted I'm too stingy to go sink my 80.000 caps into steel shipments. So I guess I'm back to murderhoboring the wasteland while my five vault dwellers enjoy their half done vault with no lights, no ceiling and two of the walls missing:

https://s20.directupload.net/images/210802/d67bsgyw.jpg

https://s20.directupload.net/images/210802/vbc8rujq.jpg

https://s20.directupload.net/images/210802/qhhai8e7.jpg

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I noticed there's a new Rimworld DLC so I started that up again. It's kind of annoying though because now in addition to everything else I have to manage people's ideologies as well. Like four of my people apparently require de-aging treatment every sixty days, but they didn't mention it until five days before the deadline, so I had to frantically research and build chambers to do that to stave off a revolt. I didn't have time to build enough for all four people so I sawed the fourth guy's legs off so he couldn't leave until I had it ready. Now I've got to research robot legs. But at least he looks ten years younger! 

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I got myself a few indie games on the Switch. Eldest Souls, an incredibly cheekily-titled top-down Souls-like (I never play 3D Souls-inspired games coz dyspraxia life means 3D action is tough for me, but I thought I'd give this a go and it's reviewing great), Dandara, a weird Metroidvania where you move about by firing yourself about the stages, and Moonlighter, a rougelite dungeon crawler mixed with shopsim, which is fun but my immediate impression is might be a bit shallow on the shopkeeping front to really be a favourite and if I want a Zeldalike/lifesim mashup I should have gone for Rogues: Ruins of Talos.

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Picked up Griftlands on Steam.  If you've ever found yourself playing Slay the Spire and thinking, I wish this had an actual story but shittier deck-building, that's Griftlands.  Although to be fair I've only played it for about two hours, so maybe you get some cooler cards later.  I'm enjoying the art style and overall package the game provides.  The card play is a pretty shameless rip off of Slay the Spire with some added wrinkles, but hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best I guess.

I'm still on my first run.  Well, second, as my actual first ended swiftly after GeForce Now crashed, I reloaded, and then had to replay an early battle I had just breezed through, and the enemies apparently decided that the first time was just a practice run and proceeded to absolutely violate me in round two.

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The level design in Dishonored 2 is an absolute work of art. I just did the Addemire Institute and am really in awe of how they put the levels together and made the geography of the place really work and be distinct. In the best tradition of the original game, it's also not huge but you can easily spend a couple of hours slowly exploring it and teasing out every last secret from every single room and finding fun ways of taking down or avoiding the guards.

Reportedly that's not even close to being the best level of the game (I have the Clockwork Mansion next, which I've seen in some articles being reported as one of the greatest video game levels ever made).

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The clockwork mansion is brilliant, and also another example of their level design where if you want to completely skip the entire thing you basically can.

ETA: this one's even better

 

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29 minutes ago, Werthead said:

Reportedly that's not even close to being the best level of the game (I have the Clockwork Mansion next, which I've seen in some articles being reported as one of the greatest video game levels ever made).

A Crack in the Slab is *amazing*. No Clip have an entire documentary on Dishonored where they cover it, which you should not watch until after you've played the game through fully. Dishonored 2 is a masterpiece of design. I think the art is a bit more polished than the first game, and the loading times are a hair longer than in the first, but it's still one heck of a terrific game. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ultimate thesis the game presents, about the power structures that Delilah wants to destroy, I'm still ruminating over that weeks after I finished Dishonored 2 (and the kick in the teeth that was Death of the Outsider, which I strongly disliked.)

As I don't have enough time to play games of late due to a demanding [new] job, I've mainly been testing out some demos and recent purchases that I'll likely explore this weeken, including the 2012 Game of Thrones game, which is...okay? It's not got the best of UIs, but it's got a hell of a lot of ambience. And presumably less rape and cheap titillation than the TV show.

I've picked up Walden, a Game, which is an awesome game from what I've tried thus far (I specialised in Walden and Neitzsche in my undergrad days, and grew up near Walden Pond, so hits all kinds of happy buttons for me). It really hit the spot after a hectic day at work. I've also discovered that there's a Final Cut edition of The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing - which is a delightful little ARPG. I'm not entirely sure how it differs from the original version, but I was happy to pick it up, as it's a delightful game with a good sense of humour. 

Also on the radar is a quiet little game called The Station, which I tested out a bit. It has some questionable puzzle elements, but it's got style for miles and is full of ambience and ambition and personality. And it's set (of course) on a space station where Something Has Happened. I swear to Jad, if it turns into some Event Horizon horror bullshit, I'll be extremely disappointed.

Anyway, that's me for the day. 

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3 minutes ago, Kaligator said:

The clockwork mansion is brilliant, and also another example of their level design where if you want to completely skip the entire thing you basically can.

 

Don't know if this has blipped your radar? If not, it's worth watching. 

 

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The main problem I had with Dishonored 2 was that the PS4 version had the most absurdly awful FOV setting and, as far as I could tell, no way to change it.  I swear it must be 60.

Wish it were on Geforce Now, as I have the PC version but my PC crapped out while I was midway through the game and I just don't have enough time to dedicate to video games these days to justify spending another fifteen hundred on a new gaming rig.  But I remember everything up the Clockwork Mansion (right were my PC died) being awesome. 

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I finished up the fan translated Trails to Azure and have moved onto Trails of Cold Steel.

I’m now into the PS3 era/bonding points for every interaction part of the series.  Enjoying it so far

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19 hours ago, briantw said:

Picked up Griftlands on Steam.  If you've ever found yourself playing Slay the Spire and thinking, I wish this had an actual story but shittier deck-building, that's Griftlands.  Although to be fair I've only played it for about two hours, so maybe you get some cooler cards later.  I'm enjoying the art style and overall package the game provides.  The card play is a pretty shameless rip off of Slay the Spire with some added wrinkles, but hey, if you're going to steal, steal from the best I guess.

I'm still on my first run.  Well, second, as my actual first ended swiftly after GeForce Now crashed, I reloaded, and then had to replay an early battle I had just breezed through, and the enemies apparently decided that the first time was just a practice run and proceeded to absolutely violate me in round two.

I actually quite like Griftlands.  Is it as good as Slay the Spire? Probably not but it's pretty close.  I really like how you build two different decks and how each of the characters has a different way of utilizing them.

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2 hours ago, Luzifer's right hand said:

I'm trying to get a PS5 as a gift for my SO but it us still really difficult to get around here. I'm not willing to pay 800 € for the digital edition at this point.

I’m wondering what the long term effect of this chip/console shortage will be on this generation.  Will developers even really embrace this generation for games?  Someone told me today that they now plan to also release Horizon Forbidden West on the PS4 as well due to the low install base of PS5 so far.

Im sure in retrospect, Sony and MS would prefer to have just spent the year in more development.

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Just now, Rhom said:

I’m wondering what the long term effect of this chip/console shortage will be on this generation.  Will developers even really embrace this generation for games?  Someone told me today that they now plan to also release Horizon Forbidden West on the PS4 as well due to the low install base of PS5 so far.

Im sure in retrospect, Sony and MS would prefer to have just spent the year in more development.

The prices for graphic cards are coming down slowly. A positive trends is there.

Although I'm not sure because the mining cards flooding the market have been used pretty heavily. 

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40 minutes ago, Rhom said:

I’m wondering what the long term effect of this chip/console shortage will be on this generation.  Will developers even really embrace this generation for games?  Someone told me today that they now plan to also release Horizon Forbidden West on the PS4 as well due to the low install base of PS5 so far.

Im sure in retrospect, Sony and MS would prefer to have just spent the year in more development.

It might mean the generation goes on longer than originally planned. It'll be easier to get more milage out of it since most players will have had the consoles for less time (and the ones who do have one already haven't exactly had many games for them yet). There may also be less pressure from PCs tech advances since so many PC players have also hit upgrade difficulties.

But between the chip shortage and the COVID-related game delays it sure is shaping up to be an odd cycle.

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1 hour ago, Rhom said:

I’m wondering what the long term effect of this chip/console shortage will be on this generation.  Will developers even really embrace this generation for games?  Someone told me today that they now plan to also release Horizon Forbidden West on the PS4 as well due to the low install base of PS5 so far.

Im sure in retrospect, Sony and MS would prefer to have just spent the year in more development.

I can very much say that MS is pretty happy with the console launch and how it went, at least so far, and the big win of playing games you already own but at way faster speeds and better graphics is still a massive change over prior consoles and how they worked previously. 

Maybe Sony isn't so happy with it, but as far as I can tell Microsoft is pretty giddy with how things are working, especially with Game Pass.

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