What video game are you playing?

[Whiskeyjack]

Beat Divinity 2 about a week ago. Amazing game, very much deserves its high ratings, but it's a heavy lift. Let me know if you intend to take the plunge so I can make things easier for you.

Inspired by Lion's recent posting, I jumped back into my NG+ run on God of War. Will probably finish that up, write a short treatise on why Lion's load-out is clearly suboptimal, and then pick back up with my 3rd playthrough of TW3 on Death March.

Then I've got to decide whether to buy The Outer Realms, Disco Elysium, or just wait until Cyberpunk drops in April.

 

[IrishLion]

write a short treatise on why Lion's load-out is clearly suboptimal

INFINITY GAUNTLET FTW.

Speaking of gear and proper load-outs, I'm still playing through Horizon Zero Dawn.

I managed to cheese my way into Gaia Prime by climbing the rock wall outside, and got my hands on a power cell way earlier than I was supposed to.

I am now the proud owner of Shield Weaver armor, with most of the story still to play.

 

[koonja]

Days Gone might be my final winter purchase.

Anyone have an opinion on that one? I like the story mode where I don't have to be online.

 

[ulukinatme]

Beat Divinity 2 about a week ago. Amazing game, very much deserves its high ratings, but it's a heavy lift. Let me know if you intend to take the plunge so I can make things easier for you.

Inspired by Lion's recent posting, I jumped back into my NG+ run on God of War. Will probably finish that up, write a short treatise on why Lion's load-out is clearly suboptimal, and then pick back up with my 3rd playthrough of TW3 on Death March.

Then I've got to decide whether to buy The Outer Realms, Disco Elysium, or just wait until Cyberpunk drops in April.

Outer Worlds has been really good. People say it's short, but I've been taking my time with it and exploring all the different options in quests/dialog. I've got probably 40 hours in it and I'm not halfway done. If you can get it on sale, I would say it's worth it. If you liked New Vegas, I think you'll like it.

 

[greyhammer90]

Beat Divinity 2 about a week ago. Amazing game, very much deserves its high ratings, but it's a heavy lift. Let me know if you intend to take the plunge so I can make things easier for you.

Inspired by Lion's recent posting, I jumped back into my NG+ run on God of War. Will probably finish that up, write a short treatise on why Lion's load-out is clearly suboptimal, and then pick back up with my 3rd playthrough of TW3 on Death March.

Then I've got to decide whether to buy The Outer Realms, Disco Elysium, or just wait until Cyberpunk drops in April.

Disco Elysium is quite the trip. It's less of a game and more of a visual novel.

 

[nlroma1o]

I borrowed my brothers copy of Link's Awakening on Switch. I haven't played the gameboy version since probably 1999 when the DX version came out. The remake is stunning. I really like the art style. My only complaint is it very, very easy. I do not remember the original being this easy. But then again I was like 10 years old when I played the DX version.

 

[IrishLion]

Things that are good in Horizon Zero Dawn:

1. Rope-Casting a Thunderjaw or Stormbird, then sticky-bombing them to death.
2. Using Trip-Caster mega-traps to one-hit-KO Thunderjaws and Rockbreakers.
3. The guy that drinks machine blood and tells you all kinds of trippy shit.
4. The story, despite being predictable, is still kind of cool within the setting.
5. The setting itself is beautiful, from green fields to snowy mountains to the bowels of futuristic-post-apocalyptic bunkers.


Things that are bad in Horizon Zero Dawn:

1. Trying to actually play as a stealth character when combating enemy humans... it's not that it's hard, it's that the mechanics simply don't work.
2. Almost every character you interact with.
3. The pacing between exploration and story seems a bit off, even for an open-world game. It's cool that you can buy the best weapons in the game without any dependency on story-based tutorial, but it also creates the potential to way over-level yourself before you've scratched the surface of the story.

 

[vinnymac2402]

Hey lion did you see any of the spoilers for ac Viking game yet. If you don’t check out joraptor on YouTube he has been releasing video on on it and what’s might be in it.

 

[greyhammer90]

Replaying Breath of the Wild with a critical eye and have some thoughts:

Basically I think this game is going to be remembered for creating a new way Zelda can be played, but some of its flaws (the rain stopping climbing, the equipment system that needs retooling, the bad puzzles, the forgettable temples, the copy/paste bosses) make it likely to become obsolete for future players in a way that not many Zelda games are.

For example, Ocarina of Time created the "3D Zelda/ Action- Adventure genre" as we knew it, so it had a unique playstyle at the time that's now considered formulaic. But OOT's story, level design, characters, puzzles, and bosses are worth revisiting today even if it's technical aspects are rudimentary and it's overall design is rote.

Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, has basically one thing: It's a new playstyle for Zelda that is a ton of fun to screw around in. But as soon as a sequel comes out that presumably keeps that playstyle, but adds dungeons and a story and fixes some of the more annoying system choices, I don't know if there will ever be a reason to pick it up again. The only reason to play it is for the system, but the system will be in the future games as well. I love BOtW, but I think it's weakness in critical areas almost guarantees that it will be viewed as obsolete in the future.

 

[IrishLion]

Hey lion did you see any of the spoilers for ac Viking game yet. If you don’t check out joraptor on YouTube he has been releasing video on on it and what’s might be in it.

I saw some of the way early rumors that had come out on Reddit, but most people seemed to think they were just fan-fiction being passed off as "leaks" once everyone found out it was going to be Vikings.

I'll check out joraptos channel and see what the new info looks like for sure.

I'd bet Ubisoft has their reveal and trailers lined up already, and now they're just waiting until after Sony has their PS5 event, whenever that may be.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Replaying Breath of the Wild with a critical eye and have some thoughts:

Basically I think this game is going to be remembered for creating a new way Zelda can be played, but some of its flaws (the rain stopping climbing, the equipment system that needs retooling, the bad puzzles, the forgettable temples, the copy/paste bosses) make it likely to become obsolete for future players in a way that not many Zelda games are.

For example, Ocarina of Time created the "3D Zelda/ Action- Adventure genre" as we knew it, so it had a unique playstyle at the time that's now considered formulaic. But OOT's story, level design, characters, puzzles, and bosses are worth revisiting today even if it's technical aspects are rudimentary and it's overall design is rote.

Breath of the Wild, on the other hand, has basically one thing: It's a new playstyle for Zelda that is a ton of fun to screw around in. But as soon as a sequel comes out that presumably keeps that playstyle, but adds dungeons and a story and fixes some of the more annoying system choices, I don't know if there will ever be a reason to pick it up again. The only reason to play it is for the system, but the system will be in the future games as well. I love BOtW, but I think it's weakness in critical areas almost guarantees that it will be viewed as obsolete in the future.

Agreed. I started playing BotW when we first got the Switch, and it was competing with a lot of other solid titles (SSB, Hollow Knight, Cuphead, etc.) so I only managed to get through a couple of the Sacred Beast "dungeons" before drifting away from it. I sometimes feel guilty for not having finished it, but the annoying stuff you mentioned keeps preventing me from wanting to pick it up again.

 

[greyhammer90]

Agreed. I started playing BotW when we first got the Switch, and it was competing with a lot of other solid titles (SSB, Hollow Knight, Cuphead, etc.) so I only managed to get through a couple of the Sacred Beast "dungeons" before drifting away from it. I sometimes feel guilty for not having finished it, but the annoying stuff you mentioned keeps preventing me from wanting to pick it up again.

It's basically two games: The exploration/screw-around game, and the Zelda game.

The screw around game it's one of the greatest things I've ever played. It's a near 10/10.

The Zelda game is terrible. Way worse than any mainline Zelda game before it.

I'm incredibly excited about BotW2, because if they keep the exploration system and build an actual Zelda game on top of it... Look out.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

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[ACamp1900]

So,... every game on one disk would be cool....

 

[greyhammer90]

.

 

[ACamp1900]

Crach should have been there... Geralt was too damned slow.

 

[bkess8]

Very addicted to Mario Maker 2 on Switch. Makes me feel like a kid again playing all these different Mario versions!

 

[tussin]

It's basically two games: The exploration/screw-around game, and the Zelda game.

The screw around game it's one of the greatest things I've ever played. It's a near 10/10.

The Zelda game is terrible. Way worse than any mainline Zelda game before it.

I'm incredibly excited about BotW2, because if they keep the exploration system and build an actual Zelda game on top of it... Look out.

I loved traveling around and completing new shrines -- not sure if you consider that part of the first or second part.

The dungeons were a HUGE letdown though - the lack of variety and interesting enemies was uncharacteristic for the series. I suspect that developers didn't have enough time to include a proper set of dungeons in time for the Switch release date.

 

[ACamp1900]

Very addicted to Mario Maker 2 on Switch. Makes me feel like a kid again playing all these different Mario versions!

I made a killer Mario 3 bowser castle... you climb different teirs to come to a row of pipes... one pipe on the other side of the wall separating you and bowser. One random pipe drops you on the correct side, all others drop you back to the beginning of the level. Felt like an actual diabolical NES boss stage without being stupid hard (which some of these fan made levels are).

 

[koonja]

Downloaded "A Way Out".

Apparently an extremely well done local co op game that my wife is going to try to play.

Anyone ever been?

 

[ACamp1900]

Paging Wiz:

https://comicbook.com/gaming/2020/0...Dbar15cgSmnEQDrzm-R9N0kehwNio0hefhOcQQdLCMHSA

 

[koonja]

Downloaded "A Way Out".

Apparently an extremely well done local co op game that my wife is going to try to play.

Anyone ever been?

2 hours in. Very slow, very boring.

 

[DONTH8]

I missed the discussion earlier which is unfortunate, but I actually just beat The Witcher 3 for the first time today. I started it back during Christmas Break, and after 100 hours, I beat it, along with it’s expansions.

Honestly, at first I didn’t get all the hype behind it. But after the two hour mark, I really started to dial it in. I never thought that I would like Geralt—he is just my polar opposite in a lot of ways—but you learn to respect the man as he lives his life, i mean pretty obvious that happens since I tell him what to do.

Speaking of which, probably the best true “RPG” I’ve ever played. I felt like my decisions mattered and the game has so many endings and quests have so many different outcomes, it’s just insane. Add in the fact that the quests (both main AND side quests) were engaging. Like I felt they had a purpose, rather than just go to x place and get y and return.

Combat was fun, not too difficult, but not too easy either. Loved looking at the bestiary and developing a strategy.

The weapons deteriorating is one of my least very mechanics in all of games. It’s what made Breath of the Wild one of my least favorite games I’ve beaten. So I could do without that, but hey, I get it.

Visually, stunning. And the music is enjoyable, never remember getting tired of it.

Honestly, from being a game that at the onset thought for sure would fall short of expectations, it actually turned out to be one fo my 3 favorite games of all time.

Again, sorry I didn’t bring this up earlier, I just looked through and noticed that Koon had played it and Whiskey was helping him out. I would recommend the game to anyone that enjoys open world RPG’s. It would actually be my first suggestion (if they can handle the adult content of course.)

Very complete game.

 

[ACamp1900]

Witcher is fantastic,... glad everyone took my advice and played it, especially Whiskey.........

 

[greyhammer90]

Am I the only guy who prefers the Rouge Squadron series over every other Star Wars game? Dealing with Jedi/Sith stuff and prophesies is exhausting. I'm a fan of playing as Wedge Antillies and getting into dogfights in space.

 

[ACamp1900]

Am I the only guy who prefers the Rouge Squadron series over every other Star Wars game? Dealing with Jedi/Sith stuff and prophesies is exhausting. I'm a fan of playing as Wedge Antillies and getting into dogfights in space.

Not the only one. I honestly haven’t played a ton of SW games but the ones I’ve enjoyed the most have been star fighter based.

 

[ulukinatme]

Am I the only guy who prefers the Rouge Squadron series over every other Star Wars game? Dealing with Jedi/Sith stuff and prophesies is exhausting. I'm a fan of playing as Wedge Antillies and getting into dogfights in space.

TIE Fighter/X-Wing games > Rogue Squadron. I prefer to fly with a Flight Stick though, trying to fly with a controller is tedious and not as immersive. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed Rogue Squadron quite a bit, but TIE Fighter got me into Star Wars all together. X-Wing Alliance was pretty good too, and Jump to Lightspeed in SWG let you find parts off destroyed ships and then reverse engineer them to make better gear. It was a whole meta game within the game and it keeps you invested as you try and build better and better loadouts. It's like Gran Turismo for your spaceship.

I agree with the overall assessment though. Star Wars dogfighting has always been more enjoyable for me than swinging a glow stick. It's a shame we don't get more flight sims, but at least in recent years there's been a number of 3rd party titles that help scratch the itch...even if they're not in the Star Wars universe. Most space sims seem to be mouse and keyboard based though, not enough true twitch based flight sims that incorporate a Flight Stick.

 

[DONTH8]

Started the new Dragon Ball Z Kakarot yesterday. So far it’s been fun. Combat is super repetitive and the story is obviously predictable. But man I love dragon ball too much to not like it. Visually, it’s beautiful. And the gameplay is like a refined/modern legend of Goku for the GBA. Definitely not worth 60 bucks for most people though. I got my copy from a buddy who didn’t like it so I bought it at half off. But fun none the less. Just needed something light to play on the side while I wait for the FFVII remake in April.

 

[Whiskeyjack]

Finished up my 3rd God of War (NG+ GMGoW difficulty) play-through last night. Was great fun, definitely my favorite way to play this game, but it's a serious challenge. Some pointers if anyone else (most likely Lion) is inclined to try it:

• Santa Monica gives you access to bunch of powerful upgrades pretty quickly, but they're expensive. There's a new resource called Skap Slag that you get from every chest, and you'll still need tons of hacksilver. You can farm the former by doing a quick reload at certain points (first entry to Niflheim or Muspelheim, opening the final Hidden Chamber, etc.) and the latter by quickloading after completing an easy Labor (like Reaper - use Executioner's Cleave on 100 enemies).
• Priority for upgrades: (1) You can immediately buy the Tunic of the Champion, which gives you the perks of all three Legendary armors for Atreus; (2) once you obtain and fully upgrade the Amulet of Kvasir+ and the Golden Amulet of Protection+, you can turn them into enchantments and slot them into your armor to enjoy their powerful defensive effects without having to give up your Talisman slot; (3) all Talismans on NG+ have three enchantment slots, so you're no longer forced to use the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages and can pick your favorite active effect instead (I'd recommend the Talisman of Unbound Potential since it allows you open each fight with 8 runic attacks); (4) if you can craft and fully upgrade the Ancient, Tyr's and Traveler's sets, they can also be traded in for amazing enchantments, but it's incredibly expensive.
• Wish I'd known more about stats during my first two play-throughs. Strength, Runic and Defense are all great, and you can't really have too much of any of them. Vitality is garbage (2 points = 1 hp, and slightly reduced duration on negative status effects). Luck is OK if you've got powerful proc effects from your armor and enchantments, but its otherwise pretty weak in NG+. And Cooldown is also OK, but it's overkill with Talisman of Unbound Potential and quickly reaches diminishing returns.
• The difficulty of NG+ on GMGoW really restricts the # of workable builds. Enemies are much more durable, they'll heal themselves and buff their damage if you don't dispatch them quickly, and most of the bosses will 2-3 shot you regardless of your gear, so tanky builds that sacrifice offense for defense are pointless. Your physical attacks also won't reliably stagger enemies anymore either, and it's not possible to boost your physical damage enough pre-Zeus Armor to effectively be a glass cannon, so you pretty much have to focus on Runic and Runic Attacks until the late game.
• During my first two play-throughs, I favored Strength and physical damage, which worked well because once Kratos starts attacking, most non-boss enemies are staggered until they're dead. Because of that, I didn't dodge (single tap of x) much, instead blocking and parrying most attacks, and only rolling (double tap of x) when I had to. But much like the Witcher III, few attacks actually require a roll to avoid, and if you work on timing your dodges well, the realm shift you get from Amulet of Kvasir procs constantly, thereby giving you a lot of openings you wouldn't otherwise have.
• I started out wearing the full Valkyrie set with the Shattered Gauntlet of Ages, and replaced that with the Talisman of Unbound Potential very quickly. But my next major upgrade didn't come until I replaced the Cuirass with Sindri's Royal Breastplate (probably 70% through the storyline) for a big boost to Runic and an amazing proc. That's what finally bumped me up to level 10 (don't try Niflheim or Muspelheim before that!), though I probably could have gotten there sooner via the Cod of War Tunic.
• The Valkyries are next level difficult on this game mode. Very rewarding to beat them, though. I used the Cuirass of the Valkyrie+, Gauntlets of Zeus, Warbelt of Zeus and Talisman of the Realms+ to beat Sigrun. Virtually all of her attacks one-shot you anyway, so there's really no downside to using the Zeus pieces. And it's fun to run around in the full Zeus set afterward, since Kratos should be one-shotting trash mobs (even if he's fragile).

 

[NDdomer2]

i feel like im pretty deep into the game to not really understand much of that.

maybe sometime tonight ill give a quick game status and get some pointers from ya.