Videogames: New Year, New Thread

[aceluby]

14 hours ago, Argonath Diver said:

I hope you make it to maps soon, friend. The new Atlas customization atlas makes the game ridiculously fun since you can really focus on mechanics you enjoy and still make great profit/gearing. My favorite league in years. I've crushed the new bosses and most of the old with a really powerful minion build (not my preferred playstyle but I am not good enough with most skills for the really challenging fights). Still think the actual league content (the archnemesis) is stupid, but I have a simple setup for some easy profits here and there. 

As much as I had a blast with Hades game play, Im most comfortable in a more looter based game. Fires the right dopamine. Not too far from a gamblers high, which suits me and my predilections.

Should get there today.  Called it quits last night when I died right before I killed Izaro in his third phase, took him out this morning w/out issue and only have the main quest left in act 10.  I'm kinda dreading finishing acts though because I'm having a real hard time finding decent gear to get my resistances capped.  Might do a few heists to see if I can't get some decent drops to help, but also may just power through so I can get to Harvest. 

[Rhom]

16 hours ago, Durckad said:

I've also been doing a play through of the FF Pixel Remasters over the past... month or so (I think I bought the bundle around New Years). I've played through 1, 2, and 3 and I started 4 over the weekend. I was thinking over Final Fantasy and I realized, while I've played a bunch of the games, I've only ever finished 6. So I had a sudden urge to rectify that issue.

1 I enjoyed more than I thought I would as I found it horribly repetitive and grindy back on the PS1 rerelease. The remaster made it super easy as it essentially stripped out the only strategic element of the game, ie if any of your attacks target a creature that is killed are essentially wasted. Without that, the game pretty much plays itself. All of the bosses are giant bags of hit points, the trash is straightforward and uncomplicated, and only the final end boss was in any way difficult. I'm honestly fine with all of these changes as I found the original FF1 and the rerelease just needlessly and archaically difficult. I do wish the Pixel Remaster included an option to play it in it's classic mode, with none of the quality of life improvements introduced in the remaster, but I likely wouldn't use that option so I'm not sure I care that much. Overall, probably a 5 or 6/10. I likely won't play it ever again but I'm glad I finally finished it. It was also fairly short so that's a win.

The first half of 2 was honestly pretty good. The "level up" is pretty cool and unique, the game actually has a story and characters (unlike 1), and it's a bit more difficult with a bit more strategy. However, after about the halfway point, the problems in the leveling system became really apparent. Any spells that you do not regularly spam to level become insanely useless, any weapon skills that aren't maxed out barely do any damage to monsters, and the skills seemingly level up randomly and without any coherent reason. I will be fighting the same enemies over and over and over again with no change in my weapon skill level and then suddenly, with one battle of the same monsters, it'll tick up. No reason why, it just does. Same with spells, making them even more annoying to skill up. Elder Scrolls this is not. 

The other problem is at about this point in the game, the difficulty really starts to spike. Bosses are stupid easy if you stack a few buffs, but random encounters have about a 50% chance to just fucking kill you without warning. Most of the endgame trash mobs just continually stack status effects with every hit so there is a real chance that your entire party will get stun locked and will take about 3 minutes to die as the monsters slowly whittle down your hp. To add insult to injury, at that point, there is almost no benefit to fighting most of the random encounters as you are not guaranteed weapon or spell skill ups. So most of the final dungeons I spent running away. The last quarter of the game I forced myself to finish (sunk cost fallacy kicking me straight in the teeth) and when I did finish it, I promptly uninstalled it.

After looking at some reviews of this game online, I absolutely cannot imagine how anyone managed to play through this game on the NES. Just the thought of playing through this without the quality of life improvements makes me both respect and question the time commitment abilities of whoever does so. 3/10, the story was the only thing carrying most of the game and even then, it's not that great. Also, I forgot to mention, 2 has the worst designed dungeons in any game. Needlessly circuitous time-wasting bullshit filled with way too many empty rooms. Blech. This game sucks.

3 was alright. The job system is cool, but I don't really like how certain sections force you to take certain jobs. And not all of the jobs are that great or worthwhile. Some are clearly better than others. The story here is more FF1 than FF2. Yeah, it's there and there are characters involved but it clearly takes a backseat. The gameplay is the focus here and it is better than both prior games (much better than FF2), but by the end of the game, I just didn't care all that much and was just forcing myself to finish. Also the final dungeon sucks and I can't imagine having to play through that monstrosity in one go. The final boss is surprisingly the worst of the first three games. It just spams the same AoE attack over and over and over again and you just have to spend all of your time trying to out heal it. Eh, this is probably the best NES FF game, but only by a bit. Maybe a 6/10?

4, so far, is just such a massive jump in quality it's almost unrecognizable. Characters! Story! Good gameplay! And all in one game! Even if it is all a bit simplistic by later game standards. I do miss the added difficulty of the DS Remake but that would make the game far more grindy than I'd really want to deal with, honestly. As an old man, I'm fine playing on easy mode for now.

That basically echoes all my same feelings.  Two really was an interesting and ambitious game for its time.  As you say, the leveling bit was odd and really trailed off; but looking at the story they were trying to tell using the limitations of late 1980's technology was admirable.  Compare that with DQ 1-3 and its readily apparent.  I've now finished 1-4 and started 5 yesterday.  I played it mostly through on PS1 but never actually finished it.

[aceluby]

Decided to power through on my POE character and finished the main game last night, moving on to maps.  As expected, I immediately started getting destroyed in there.  Figured I had to try something, so took my end-game armor and got it to a 6 gem, then used about 30 links before getting a 4 link, then another 30 to get the right colors so I could get multiple totems support.  The difference has been huge and it's just wrecking bosses.  I also started playing around with the league mechanic and have actually had some fun with it, though it's pretty easy to create guys that can just one-shot you once you're on the 4th one in a level - but the good drops are hard to ignore.  Should be able to make my way to the yellows by the weekend, then the real fun begins Really hoping I can take this build through all the content.

[Werthead]

Disco Elysium, Life is Strange and BioShock now all in development as movies/TV shows. Interesting times.

[Rhom]

Thought about staying up late last night to play Horizon when it unlocked, but I don't have the ability in my mid 40's that I had in my 20's.   

[Werthead]

Defeated my first horde in Days Gone, which I have to say is one hell of an achievement. Slightly cheesed it: I used a distraction bomb in the back of a lorry, which packed the horde into the tightest space possible, right next to a building with a ladder. I got up there with molotovs and pipe bombs and had a field day.

This game does tend towards the generic, but I have to say it is maintaining a tight sense of challenge right through its length, much more successfully than almost any other open-world game I've played. Unlocking new skills is rare and really makes you ponder your choices, low-level enemies remain a viable threat even once you've started really levelling up and it drip-feeds new enemies and locations, as well as complicating previously simple tasks, in a really solid way. The bandit traps (sniping or using rope strung across the road to knock you off your bike) happen enough for you to keep your vigilance up but not so often as to be annoying. The game is threading the needle of maintaining a sense of danger through the game rather than the standard open world thing where you get so powerful that everything might as well just drop dead the second you appear.

[psynetik123]

New Elden Ring overview trailer:

 

[RumHam]

This is random but I just learned there are three Fallout 3 characters in Fallout 4!

Spoiler

The mayor of Little Lamplight is a follower in 4! The head Brotherhood guy in 4 a kid in the citadel in 3, and Dr. Li who worked with Liam Neeson to save the world joined the institute later on.

I'd encountered the first two but never made the connection. I should play more of that game. I really need to try the Acadia national park DLC. 

[Ramsay B.]

Regarding Days Gone. I definitely had more fun in the beginning. When you’re riding around and legitimately nervous about being swarmed when you run into a bunch of zombies. Beating the hordes is probably the best part, and they do get much easier as you progress obviously. The first one I beat was definitely satisfying.

Filling the gas can get really annoying. I like that they have it in the game but it got exhausting at times. I upgraded my gas tanks as fast as I could.

Overall a fun game. Sucks that a sequel isn’t on the way. Or at least last time I checked it wasn’t.

I played like 4 hours of Horizon Forbidden West. The tutorial part isn’t that much of a slog but happy for it to be behind me. Graphics are amazing and gameplay seems to be the same. There’s basically no loading times(on PS5) after you die which is a relief. HZD had long ones. 

I did come upon a glitch early on where the option to investigate a machine didn’t come up, but reloading from my last save worked. The climbing can be annoying too. Love that we have more freedom to explore but sometimes I just can’t get over a ledge or fall instead of jumping to my desired location. I probably just have to get used to it. 

Excited I have a game to play and a few on deck after I finish. With Elden Ring coming out and Cyberpunk finally getting the upgrade. 

[Werthead]

8 hours ago, RumHam said:

This is random but I just learned there are three Fallout 3 characters in Fallout 4!

  Hide contents

The mayor of Little Lamplight is a follower in 4! The head Brotherhood guy in 4 a kid in the citadel in 3, and Dr. Li who worked with Liam Neeson to save the world joined the institute later on.

I'd encountered the first two but never made the connection. I should play more of that game. I really need to try the Acadia national park DLC. 

Far Harbor? Yeah, it's great, easily the best of the Fallout 4 expansions and one of the best Fallout 4 storylines overall. Protip: take Nick Valentine with you as your companion, as his presence unlocks a ton more story and dialogue choices.

[sifth]

Started Horizon Forbidden West last night. It's a fun game, but very similar to the first one so far. I hope at least some of that changes I progress deeper into the story. Not that I'm complaining, because I'm not, I'm was just expecting a little more. I'm still in the early hours of the game though, so who knows. I love all of the new machines I've encounter.

[IlyaP]

Read about this last night, which I will now be testing after work today.

[Toth]

So I guess it all went full circle: Yesterday I pulled out The Settlers 3 again, somewhat inspired by the disheartening news about the Settlers reboot being absolute garbage. The game is still absolutely fantastic, but so far I feel like... I'm not sure, but the AI seems broken. In the second Roman mission my second outpost was attacked 20 minutes into the game while it only had three defenders, but instead of wiping me out early, all the attackers did was knock in the door of one tower... and then just walk back and forth through my village while my three dudes whittled them down. I don't remember that ever happening back in the days...

[GallowKnight]

I recently played Guardians of the Galaxy and had great time with it. Solid and fun gameplay coupled with a good story and great interplay between the characters from both a gameplay and characterization standpoint. The game manages to find a nice sweetspot in-between the MCU and the comic book versions of the characters and the setting. The bits where you have to control the spaceship were a pain in the ass though and I have really not missed quick-time events in games, lucky they're not that bad when they show up.

Currently I'm playing through the remastered Mass Effect trilogy. I am currently on Mass Effect 2.

[aceluby]

On 2/19/2022 at 4:24 PM, psynetik123 said:

New Elden Ring overview trailer:

 

This makes me so pumped for this game.  I really hope my pre-order comes in on Friday.

In the meantime, still making my way through Path of Exile and having an absolute blast with my character.  Map sustain is good, archnemesis adds some good drops, and the reworked atlas is just awesome.  Did run into an issue where I got a T16 red map WAY before I was supposed to (T6), did it on a whim and am actually completing them w/out much issue.  So now I'm progressing upwards with my low level yellows, and downward with my stupidly high red maps.  I'm now trying to get levels, currency for the next round of gear, and get lucky with harvest so I can at least solidly 5-link my chest - all before I inevitably sink my life into Elden Ring (as much as toddlers and a wife will allow)

[mcbigski]

Finally got back around to Chimera Squad.  Got turned off the first time I played it because I really didn't like the opening mission.  Could probably get over the Verge and Cherub post war shift and we're all willing to unite against the elders but Terminal was super annoying.  Attempt at snarky without enough wit.  Though after a play through she's probably the most essential agent.  In the second playthrough, I went added Patchwork, and she seems fantastic. 4pts direct damage every turn is surprisingly nasty.

Really both Patchwork and Terminal seem like they both could be first level on the last missions and useful.  Not over powered, but holding their own.

A very solid shorter game, if you've already played XCom2.  Not sure that a totally new player would get the lore.  I mean you're supposed to brown your trousers when the top tier enemies show up.

[Whiskeyjack]

Have only had time to play the first mission of Horizon Forbidden West so far.  But really enjoying it.  Happy to be back in this world.

[Rhom]

5 hours ago, Whiskeyjack said:

Have only had time to play the first mission of Horizon Forbidden West so far.  But really enjoying it.  Happy to be back in this world.

That’s where I am.  I figured I needed to finish up my Iki Island on Ghost of Tsushima so I don’t get my controls confused too badly!  Will knock that out and then get back into Horizon full bore.

[Argonath Diver]

On 2/21/2022 at 1:12 PM, aceluby said:

This makes me so pumped for this game.  I really hope my pre-order comes in on Friday.

In the meantime, still making my way through Path of Exile and having an absolute blast with my character.  Map sustain is good, archnemesis adds some good drops, and the reworked atlas is just awesome.  Did run into an issue where I got a T16 red map WAY before I was supposed to (T6), did it on a whim and am actually completing them w/out much issue.  So now I'm progressing upwards with my low level yellows, and downward with my stupidly high red maps.  I'm now trying to get levels, currency for the next round of gear, and get lucky with harvest so I can at least solidly 5-link my chest - all before I inevitably sink my life into Elden Ring (as much as toddlers and a wife will allow)

Good show! Hope you've found yourself a basic 6 link by now, at least a Tabula Rasa. The game is basically balanced around the assumption that your main damage is six linked for endgame content. (though a Tab isn't exactly optimal with all the dangerous stuff shooting around in juiced t16 maps). The atlas tree makes it so damn fun to pick and choose content you like, though I wish it were somewhat cheaper to respec for Solo Self Found types. I'm on trade league so my character is by now absurdly OP. I haven't been able to defeat the two hardest encounters despite a meta character class that most consider nearly cheat mode. Mostly due to the ridiculous screen clutter that is my obnoxious skeleton mage build. Can't wait to go back to a simpler caster build where I can actually see what's happening sometimes.

Been taking a bit of a break this week, back to working on my long-term Valheim citadel. Big plans but first so, so much farming on one screen while I binge watch Netflix. What a perfect game for that.

[Derfel Cadarn]

Mostly done woth the ps4 remastered Assassins Creed Brotherhood. Probbaly my favourite of the AC games apart from Black Sails and Syndicate (and excluding Origins onwards as completely different games).

In Elite Dangerous, docked my Alliance Chieftain (set up for combat) and taken my Asp Explorer back out in a bid to get my exploration rabk up to Elite. I need to gather 300mill credits worth of exploration data. 
That will also give me the money needed to buy and refit a cruise liner to do passenger missions, and buy/outfit the big ships I’m after.