Video Games: Wallets Getting Steamed

[JonArryn]

I don't think the interview was that bad. He did say he was excited because the he thought the demo was awesome, which the developer seemed to like. It was more annoying in the beginning but then it turned out to be quite a good intervirew, in my opinion. There's a lot worse youtubers out there, who makes their money out of being as loud and annoying as possible in their videos, this one was okay.

[Gears of the Beast]

Listen floob, I'm sorry I bashed your horrible youtube video and your stupid hair in that video (I'm sure it's you, right? Why else would you defend it), but there ARE rules for interviewing for a good reason. He didn't cut the guy off to save time, he cut the guy off to show all the cool stuff he already knew, while the guy he was interviewing was left just sitting there. Just in case it's not you in that video, I'll continue to refer to you/him as the interviewer. The interviewer was horrible--he was distracting, unable to get out questions and wait for answers, and unable to do the job the developers probably wanted, which was to get their message out. Not his.

Anyway newb, I'm going to let your transgression pass this time. Keep yourself on the straight and narrow.

The Witcher 3 does look awesome, but have an ounce of self control when posting this kind of crap--most people can't watch that grating bullshit.

if you have a stick jammed that far up your ass that you can't simply watch the interview without getting all angry over the most pedantic stuff possible then that's your problem. And please don't have the arrogance to speak for the dev and 'most people' people watching, if you look at the like/dislike ratio I think you'll find the vast majority enjoyed the video. Also, stop being a condescending prick, it really isn't necessary.

edited to remove stuff mods wouldn't like.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Ah well, I likely won't ever play this game but I enjoyed the footage they did show so thanks for the link!

...what????

[Relic]

aaaanyway, really digging Shadowrun Returns.

[Hallyington]

Everybody love everybody.

Ordered Witcher 2, watched witcher 1 on youtube.

Very excited to play Witcher 2, is there any DLC?

[paddington]

Very excited to play Witcher 2, is there any DLC?

I don't think there is. If you are buying now you get the extended edition all rolled in. Which was patched into the original a while back. The makers of the game don't really go into the whole DLC thing

[Hallyington]

I don't think there is. If you are buying now you get the extended edition all rolled in. Which was patched into the original a while back. The makers of the game don't really go into the whole DLC thing

Oh that's grand then, my fellow ington.

[Werthead]

Anyway newb, I'm going to let your transgression pass this time. Keep yourself on the straight and narrow.

Did someone make you a mod when I wasn't looking? No? Then don't act like one and chill out. It wasn't worth getting that worked up over in the first place.

Mass effect 1 was star trek: explore new worlds and meet new civilizations. ME2 and 3 were star wars: shoot stuff up and feel awesome. I didn't.

I have to say I think Mass Effect 2 was easily the best of the trilogy. ME1 was aiming for 'streamlined' but kind of half-arsed it and ended up being fairly clunky. At least ME2 had the guts to not even pretend it was a proper RPG, more like an action game with a skill tree and conversation options, and went hell-for-leather for that approach. It had a better storyline, mostly better characters (though I think they should have had more than just 2 characters carry on from the first game) and the 'mineral scanning' missions were much less tedious than the Mako exploration ones. Also, in its own internal structure ME2 was surprisingly good as a stand-alone game and encapsulating the ME trilogy's choice/consequence thing into a single game (with the results from the companion missions borne out in the final assault).

I liked some of the quests and ideas better in ME1 and ME3's doom-laden sense of scale for its first half or so was great, but for the combination of storyline, gameplay and choice I think ME2 nailed it all. Also, no elevators. And no shittily controversial, theme-betraying ending either.

The only Youtuber I really like is Totalbiscuit. I'm a little worried about the Witcher 3 because it's going to be so open world. I don't find those games all that engaging, like Oblivion and Fallout 3. I like my games a bit more deliberately paced and structured.

I saw a good interview about this. Effectively what they were saying is that you can play Witcher 3 like 1 and 2, but instead of the game being divided into small maps which don't allow you to go off the beaten path, the maps are now all wide open (in one big open world). You can strike off, Skyrim-style, to do some questions for extra loot and EXP, but you don't have to. The main storyline will be as strongly featured as in the previous two games (and they made a big deal about it won't be as weaksauce as Bethesda's main storylines, reading-between-the-lines), it's just that there's also this extra stuff you can do if you really want.

Also, and I haven't heard much about this side of the game, it sounds like there won't be as much optional shit as in Skyrim, like blacksmithing or logging. The focus is more on quests and side-missions rather than just throwing tons of fetch quests at you.

[Sci-2]

...what????

Oh I haven't gamed in years but I love the graphical/narrative enhancements in the industry. I got Torchlight for free during a GoG promo Wert mentioned, then I bought the discount version of System Shock 2 because I'd read FPS games increase the chances of having a lucid dream.

[Oh, and I backed Torment 2]

The more I explore the Indie scene the more I find myself interested in smaller games. I might buy W3 a few years from now, but it's more likely I'll go back to being a non-gamer [who watches the industry from the sidelines].

[Ser Rodrigo Belmonte]

Guys any idea when SW battlefront will be out? 2014?? Also will i need origin to play it on pc??

Btw i got ME2 DELUX edition on steam..does it have the DLC with liara in it? Cause i romanced her in ME1. If not can i buy said dlc on steam?

[Alcibiades]

Speaking of internet blowhards, apparently Fez 2 is canceled:

http://kotaku.com/tw...ez-ii-934548588

I don't know who this Beer guy is, but he sounds pretty annoying and Phil Fish needs to learn how to let this shit wash over him. You can't be a semi public figure and have such thin skin.

I saw a good interview about this. Effectively what they were saying is that you can play Witcher 3 like 1 and 2, but instead of the game being divided into small maps which don't allow you to go off the beaten path, the maps are now all wide open (in one big open world). You can strike off, Skyrim-style, to do some questions for extra loot and EXP, but you don't have to. The main storyline will be as strongly featured as in the previous two games (and they made a big deal about it won't be as weaksauce as Bethesda's main storylines, reading-between-the-lines), it's just that there's also this extra stuff you can do if you really want.

I hope this is true, but I worry about development effort getting split off onto all the extra side content that you have to make to fill a world that big. Even in Bethesda games, you can mostly ignore the side shit if you want and just mainline the quest, but if you do that you're doing it wrong and missing most of the point of the game. Hopefully they can craft a great experience despite having to waste resources on all the filler content.

[KiDisaster]

Phil Fish has always come off as such a prick to me, can't say that I'm really surprised or disappointed here. Not wanting to give him money is a major reason that I've never played Fez.

I got Shadowrun Returns last night, played a couple hours (Elf Mage). It's pretty fun, the combat is very easy so far and there isn't that much variety to it. Hopefully once I get some more interesting spells there will be. I like the amount of dialogue options, although so far nothing you choose seems to have any impact on the story at all, it seems very linear up to where I am. Hopefully it branches out eventually, otherwise I can't see myself playing it again until the community has got some custom campaigns made.

[Centrist Simon Steele]

Did someone make you a mod when I wasn't looking? No? Then don't act like one and chill out. It wasn't worth getting that worked up over in the first place.

Chill bro. I didn't know I had to be a mod to respond to a dickhead post. P.S. clean out your inbox so I can tell you how I really feel.

And to an earlier point you made--yes, the Fade in Dragon Age Origins is among the worst gameplay ever crapped out by a developer. I loathe the 2-3 hours of the fade, it is awful, so yes, therefor a mod removing it from the game completely made the game better. Of course Dragon Age is mostly filler, but that filler is the absolute worst.

[Sad King Billy]

I have to say I think Mass Effect 2 was easily the best of the trilogy. ME1 was aiming for 'streamlined' but kind of half-arsed it and ended up being fairly clunky. At least ME2 had the guts to not even pretend it was a proper RPG, more like an action game with a skill tree and conversation options, and went hell-for-leather for that approach. It had a better storyline, mostly better characters (though I think they should have had more than just 2 characters carry on from the first game) and the 'mineral scanning' missions were much less tedious than the Mako exploration ones. Also, in its own internal structure ME2 was surprisingly good as a stand-alone game and encapsulating the ME trilogy's choice/consequence thing into a single game (with the results from the companion missions borne out in the final assault).

I liked some of the quests and ideas better in ME1 and ME3's doom-laden sense of scale for its first half or so was great, but for the combination of storyline, gameplay and choice I think ME2 nailed it all. Also, no elevators. And no shittily controversial, theme-betraying ending either.

WARNING: WALL OF TEXT BELOW

Okay. My main problem with ME 2 is in the writing and where it fits in the trilogy; gameplay wise you are right: it is a solid improvement over ME1. (though I miss the mako).

Mass effect 2 has some incredibly well written characters (legion, mordin), some decently written characters (tali, jack, samara, garrus), some boring characters (grunt, thane). And then it has trice-cursed miranda-pain-in-my-arse-lawson. (the ilusive man will follow soon). Now whether or not you agree with this categorization, fact is that for the most part, me 2's characters are well written. It also has some great sidequests: mordin's loyalty mission, Samara's loyalty quest, several others. Its plot (by which i mean main quest) is off the rails stupid though. And that is what I think you mean: me2 has some great sidequests while the main quest sucks. For me, that the main quest sucked ruined the entire game for me. Here's why:

*****spoilers below *****

Opening: Mass Effect 2 opens with the death of Commander Shepard. This is an inept way to begin a story. Shepard dies, there's a cutscene, and he's alive again. Begin tutorial. Effect: death has no meaning in this universe. If you do kill a character in the opening scene, then you'd expect the game to be that character working through the experience and growing as a human being. But Shepard is up and capping robots in seconds, and the whole "I was dead" thing has no impact on him as a character.

Cerberus: In the previous Mass Effect, Cerberus was a clueless, fumbling terrorist organization. At one point they fed colonists to the thresher maw in order to test the effects of feeding colonists to a thresher maw. Supposedly pro-human, they murdered, stole, and destroyed without benefiting humanity in any way. Their victims were all human., Their plans made no sense and they were basically clueless mooks to be killed for XP.

In the second game, Cerberus is supposedly an all-powerful organization of super-brains. They bring you back from the dead. They build a ship better than the previous Normandy, which was the most advanced ship in the galaxy. They know more about the Collectors than all other races combined. They claim that all of the Cerberus agents you encountered in the previous game were "rogue elements," but that doesn't make any sense because this Cerberus is too focused to have countless rogue cells wasting resources and working counter to Cerberus goals.

The alliance: The Alliance refuses to help you, because you're working for Cerberus. And you have to work for Cerberus because the Alliance won't help you. Even your own dialog tree works against you. If you select the, "I'm not working for Cerberus" dialog option, Shepard says, "I'm working for Cerberus because [excuse]." It's a ham-fisted mess of circular logic and railroading.

The "trap": The Collectors set aside their important collecting work to set an obvious trap for one guy. Their trap depends on Shepard being an idiot and personally boarding their vessel, instead of blasting the ship at a distance or sending in a team of redshirts. Then Shepard does fall for it, and their plan fails anyway. They have the drop on him, the home field advantage, superior numbers, a more advanced ship, the guidance of a Reaper, and they still can't kill him, thus establishing themselves as bumbling fools. Worse, they didn't even need to beat him in a gunfight. They could just have flown off with him and left the Normandy behind.

The Illusive Man knows ahead of time that the Collector ship is a trap, but he can't trust Shepard to not give away that he knows he's walking into a trap. His plan requires that Shepard blindly walk into a trap and escape anyway, which means his plan hinges on the gross incompetence of the enemy. Remember that in the mind of The Illusive Man, Shepard is the only hope for the galaxy. He'd rather risk the entire galaxy than suffer the chance that Shepard might ... do what? What was he afraid of that he was willing to risk everything? And if Shepard is too stupid to not give away that he knows this is a trap, then is he smart enough to get the job done at all? Well ...

Commander Shepard is an idiot for falling for this trap. The game never really gave you a goal except "Go on the ship. Okay, now fight your way back out." Why didn't he blow up the supposedly helpless ship? Why didn't he look for the bridge / engineering and try to take control of it? Why didn't he have explosives for wrecking the ship once he was inside? What was his goal? What was he planning on doing if there hadn't been a trap?

the derelict Later, The Illusive Man finds a derelict Reaper. (And in ME1 Cerberus style, he sent a bunch of scientists on board without ever checking up on them, leaving them to die hilariously in the name of Idiot Science.) He sends you on board to get the IFF. Remember that one of the great challenges that Shepard is facing is that nobody believes in the Reapers. So here we have one, all of a sudden. Then Shepard boards it and ... blows it up? How about taking a video and putting it up on YouTube, Shepard? How about offering tours? At least send a postcard to Udina. "wish you were here, here's your proof, you prick".

Remember the whole point of getting the IFF is to go through the Omega-4 relay (Which no-on has ever survived!) and kill the Collectors. But, if our only goal is to kill them, then why go to all this trouble to pass through the dangerous relay and fight them on their home turf? Why not just sit on this side of the relay and spawn-camp them? Maybe put down some mines.

In fact, why not just blow up the relay? When the game came out, people suggested that Mass Relays were perhaps invincible. But then the Mass Effect 2 DLC came out and gave us a mission where you have to blow up a relay, retroactively making the entire plot of Mass Effect 2 a needless risk and a pointless waste of time.

At the end you're given a false binary choice: Blow up the collector base, or give it to Cerberus. If you blow up the base, then you really did come here for nothing. You're standing on a pile of technology, intel, and proof that the Reapers exist, but apparently it's "too dangerous", because ... I guess everyone else in the galaxy is too stupid to be trusted with it? But being forced to give it to Cerberus makes even less sense. The idea is that Cerberus is so strong they can take the base from you. But if they're powerful enough to overcome Shepard, who captains the most advanced ship in the galaxy, then they didn't need him in the first place. Why did they waste time bringing him back from the dead? This forms a nonsense Rock, Paper Scissors: Shepard Beats Collectors. Collectors beat Cerberus. Cerberus beats Shepard.

[Merentha]

The more I explore the Indie scene the more I find myself interested in smaller games. I might buy W3 a few years from now, but it's more likely I'll go back to being a non-gamer [who watches the industry from the sidelines].

Depending on why you like indie games, its worth mentioning that the publishers of Witcher3 are also the owners of GOG.com, which is pretty much god's gift to classic games on modern computers.

[Fiddler]

I love Total biscuit's videos. Yes he can be a cynical ass most of the time, but I find him to be entertaining as hell and due him and Sips I have bought and enjoyed so many games. Angry Joe is also a good veiwing, but he can be grating and some of his videos are unwatchable, IMO.

Just bought Mass Effect 3. Haven't started it up yet, but 1 and 2 are two of my favorite games, so I am looking forward to it.

Still playing Divinity 2 and I will say, pardon my language, but FUCK platforming in this game. I suck so bad at it that I gave up on the one platforming section, bunch of floating platforms that raise as you jump on the previous ones. It was just for some treasure and I tried for over an hour and kept falling. then I get to one with sinking platforms that I have to do that is over an instant death pool of lava. Did that, but god I hate platforming.

[Poobah]

Speaking of internet blowhards, apparently Fez 2 is canceled:

http://kotaku.com/tw...ez-ii-934548588

I don't know who this Beer guy is, but he sounds pretty annoying and Phil Fish needs to learn how to let this shit wash over him. You can't be a semi public figure and have such thin skin.

Wow this Fish guy sounds like a total fucking asshole. "Compare your life to mine and then go kill yourself" as a response to a critic? That's so horrible on so many levels I don't even know where to begin except to say that the level of bastardly arrogance means that I'm glad he's not making another game and I hope he never sees further success.

[Alcibiades]

Wow this Fish guy sounds like a total fucking asshole.

Yeah, I think a lot of people started disliking him after indie game the movie. I've been meaning to check that movie out since its in my steam acct.

[Inigima]

I beat Super House of Dead Ninjas on Normal. What. WHAT.

[Sci-2]

Wow this Fish guy sounds like a total fucking asshole. "Compare your life to mine and then go kill yourself" as a response to a critic? That's so horrible on so many levels I don't even know where to begin except to say that the level of bastardly arrogance means that I'm glad he's not making another game and I hope he never sees further success.

Apparently it's a Futurama quote.

I can see reasons for criticizing Fish but really I dislike "critics" making a name for themselves being assholes, and this seems to prevalent in the geek world. Beer - or whatever his name is - doesn't seem blameless in his altercation with Fish.