Exactly why I stopped getting a rat's ass by Modern Warfare 2. Activision doesn't try anymore, yet people still eat it up.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
- Start date
Yeah, that's one of my issues with FC3. I honestly checked out of the plot After Vaas died and just remember the Bad ending(obtained by picking the obviously stupid choice at the end).
MGS2 has enough obnoxious difficulty bits don't feel bad if you play on Easy. It was one of my gripes when I played through it that for every brilliant bit there was at least one really annoying bit because Kojima apparently didn't want you to have too much fun playing the damn thing. Especially around the time you reach the other half of the big shell. Like serioisly, that entire section just feels like all the most annoying difficulties spikes one after another.
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From what I remember of the game, the combat was a lot of fun, but the story left a lot to be desired, and the game felt oddly empty, because so many races were absent from the setting.
I've heard that if you just beeline the main story, and ignore most of the side content, the game can be somewhat enjoyable, due to the improved pacing.
Maybe i'll do that, If I can be bothered to play it.
Abzu(PS4)-
More of a replay but I wanted something chill to play with my daughter, who loved playing Journey with me. Abzu is basically Journey but in the ocean. Not the same studio but some of the same people involved in the creative process. Very Pretty, very chill and possibly even more obtuse as far as the "plot". There's a lot of Mesopotamian(Sumerian/Babylonian) influence on the underwater ruins you encounter, which is honestly kinda cool on it's own because that particular civilization doesn't get much love in the Ancient Ruins depiction in popular culture. But there's also a Green Aesop involving ancient ominous cybernetic pyramids with red spooky glowing lights that apparently exist at the expense of the natural world. It's a weird mix and makes it hard to parse exactly what the hell is meant to be going on, especially like since, much like Journey, there's no dialogue, a tiny bit of text for tutorials at the beginning and the occasional artwork on a wall. So my theory about it's a possible metaphor for the Babylonian cosmology(underworld/afterlife) set in the ocean kinda doesn't mix well with the giant pyramidal death drones you start running across.
The big difference between Abzu and Journey is that Abzu doesn't seem to have the anonymous multiplayer but I didn't really notice until after finishing. It was a chill experience through a really pretty 90 min-2 hr underwater voyage and my kid enjoyed it when she wasn't asking "WHAT IS THAT? WHY?" every 30 seconds(She's at that age where every answer begats a "Why?" response).
More of a replay but I wanted something chill to play with my daughter, who loved playing Journey with me. Abzu is basically Journey but in the ocean. Not the same studio but some of the same people involved in the creative process. Very Pretty, very chill and possibly even more obtuse as far as the "plot". There's a lot of Mesopotamian(Sumerian/Babylonian) influence on the underwater ruins you encounter, which is honestly kinda cool on it's own because that particular civilization doesn't get much love in the Ancient Ruins depiction in popular culture. But there's also a Green Aesop involving ancient ominous cybernetic pyramids with red spooky glowing lights that apparently exist at the expense of the natural world. It's a weird mix and makes it hard to parse exactly what the hell is meant to be going on, especially like since, much like Journey, there's no dialogue, a tiny bit of text for tutorials at the beginning and the occasional artwork on a wall. So my theory about it's a possible metaphor for the Babylonian cosmology(underworld/afterlife) set in the ocean kinda doesn't mix well with the giant pyramidal death drones you start running across.
The big difference between Abzu and Journey is that Abzu doesn't seem to have the anonymous multiplayer but I didn't really notice until after finishing. It was a chill experience through a really pretty 90 min-2 hr underwater voyage and my kid enjoyed it when she wasn't asking "WHAT IS THAT? WHY?" every 30 seconds(She's at that age where every answer begats a "Why?" response).
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The game force you to do side content to a certain extent so bee lining is only somewhat possible, but you will be cutting a lot of repetitive side content so if you're really intent on playing it that's the best way.
The combat is fun but it doesn't really evolve over the game, you'll quickly get all the ability you want (cause you're limited to only 3 active) and the mook you mow down never really change (I think the game has only 4 bosses, 2 of those it constantly re use).
It's not the worst game but its not that great.
Mass Effect 1 (Legendary Edition) - 9/10
Fem!Shep/Adept/Spacer/Sole Survivor/Liara-mancer
The original Mass Effect sees the most benefit of the remaster process because frankly its original self was jank as fuck. While by no means as butter smooth to play as ME3 in combat, the removal of the absurdly stupid weapon penalties for all other classes mean Shepard can, at level 1 on Eden Prime, pull headshots with a sniper rifle so classes like the Adept are not gimped. Gee, almost as if Shepard is an elite military operative or something and not Johnny Fartpeasent who just conscripted the local warlord's army. The visual updates don't make the game look incredible but much more consistent, helped immensely by the availability of the now iconic ME3 Female Shepard and the improved Male Shepard default models being available across all three games. The story is still rich - Sovereign's introductory speech still chills me to my marrow, Garrus, Tali and Wrex are as lovable and adorable as ever and you get real feel for camaraderie. Combined with some of the best new aliens, aesthetics and lore in Sci-Fi in the past decade and change and the nice new mirror shine BioWare gave it and you can't beat the universe of Mass Effect.
However. A remaster cannot fix everything. For example, some lines are very obviously recorded earlier in the process because they feel very, very stilted. Tali's voice is also a little inconsistent compared to ME2 when Liz Sroka found her groove and gave the character her distinctive lilt. Second, the first game is shockingly short on iconography the series is famous for. By the end of the game everyone is likely to look the same because you want the best armours and guns so its all a little homogeneous against Mass Effect 2's very distinct look and silhouette for each character. Which leads me neatly into my next complaint; your ability to do the shooty bang bangs and not die from the enemy's shooty bang bangs are still at the mercy of a random loot drop/merchant system more befitting a medieval fantasy RPG than an epic space opera. The final niggle is that the original Mass Effect still lacks a lot of the iconic powers each class is now known for; I presume this is because powers like Biotic Charge and Nova or Tactical Cloak or Tech Armour would break the combat balance of the first game over its knee like a rice cracker. So not a big deal, but they are conspicuous in their absence.
Anyway, next up, Mass Effect 2.
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The combat's arguably the best part of the game, but that isn't enough to carry it. And this being an RPG, if you grind hard enough, you can blow through anything. This was particuarly true at the end, which is meant to be a climax, and instead, I was just laying waste to everything and anything.
Anyway, I don't really mind the lack of races per se, it's just that everything about Andromeda is, well, average. Characters are average, setting is average, plot is average, exploration is average, everything is one big grey blob of averageness. I've said many times that this would have worked better as a new IP, but as a ME game, well, we've already come across "ancient alien tech that does stuff," and the kett as enemies are just...so...boring. Ascension, blah blah blah, empire, blah blah blah...they try and have a Saren 2.0 as your kett rival and it fails so hard I can't even remember what the twat's name is.
On the other hand, you might be able to beeline through the story, but the ending will depend on certain quests you complete in the game. IIRC, at the very least, you need to find all the pathfinders.
I need to dust off my copy of Andromeda sometime soon. I recall finding the game just fine, as far as games go. I really didn't understand all the vitriol it got but, well as you put it, if it's "average" that's tantamount to a fucking warcrime, or violation of the geneva convention for people on the internet. I know it had bugs at launch, but those seemed to be fairly minor, in that they were usually just graphical, that I recall hearing about. No real game breaking bugs. By the time I played it, they'd patched all that out apparently, as mine ran fine. I don't really know what happened. I just kind of lost focus on it, and started playing something else, and forgot about it. Which is usually a sign I don't like the game but, I really can't find anything I didn't like about it. I think I was just not really in the mood for that game at that time.
To clarify, I didn't experience any real bugs either - my Ryder's head twisted like a corkscrew once or twice (which was a horror more terrifying than anything the Reapers could produce), but your experience of losing focus...yeah, that's the problem. It's average. Hardly a warcrime, and by no means a bad game, but it's a game that's average, and worse, it's a game where you spend a lot of time going from Point A to Point B, and when you arrive at Point B, you do the same thing you did at Point A. Rinse and repeat throughout the entire game - go to planet, save planet, shoot stuff on planet, return to ship, repeat. Which arguably applies to ME1 as well, but that had a stellar plot and characters to carry the game. Andromeda doesn't. They are, again, average. It's this big grey ball of average so that by the time I got to the endgame, I was so bored, I was just lying back on my seat, waiting to finish it.
There's plenty of average games I still enjoy, but Andromeda, being an RPG, and an open world, means that there's more 'volume of average,' if that makes sense. And it's absolutely draining.
Andromeda, IMO, had one huge flaw. Most of the side quests is tied to the main story of building up colonies. Even the bad guys were really just an impediment to colonies, not an actual bad guy. Exploration was very secondary. In that regard, it was similar to ME2. Which had the same flaw. But you’re not collecting cool squad mates, your building factions. It’s just not as interesting or personal. It even had a suicide missiony feel but this time the factions you sided with was involved. It made you feel like you had an impact on this galaxy.... but it just didn’t have the consequences. At least it didn’t have a reaper terminator
Proviso: I got it cheap (under $20) and didn’t have major bugs. So I can understand that being way more frustrating
Proviso: I got it cheap (under $20) and didn’t have major bugs. So I can understand that being way more frustrating
I got all of the upgraded parts for Tsubaki Mk. I, got more health and strength, and I unlocked 4 new techniques. Upgrading new moves can be tedious in this game (unless you're already familiar), because in order to get a dash attack and certain other techniques, you have collect 7 Lovikov Balls (scattered across the map) each per new technique. Give them to some drunk Russian guy at a bar, and he trows them at Travis off-screen/in pitch-black and you learn the new move. While weird and interesting, the 2nd NMH game did move and technique unlocks so much better and simpler. They either unlocked from start or just complete the gym trials. The other techniques are useless. Enemies displayed on map does nothing and upgrading the Dark Side bar is not worth the trouble since it does not last long and is too random. I payed the entry fee, so I can fight Destroy Man next.
I honestly barely remember the game's little details. I mostly rocked it as an Adept, so guns were...an afterthought usually. I don't mind crafting systems in games, and when the alternative is the metric ton of trash weapons/armor you got in the original ME series, that you just break down for omni-gel, AFTER you've sold so many of them that you max out all possible cash in the game, I frankly find the idea of loot pretty pointless.
OT: I tried out a brawler game that I picked up a long time ago called Aurion: Legacy of the Kori-Odan. It's most notable feature when I heard about it, was that it was a small African game developer team, from Cameroon, and the setting being heavily inspired by the native myths and legends of their area/culture.
I....I really can't say I enjoyed PLAYING it. The controls are not great. It's purely left right, up down (if you jump). The combat maps have no 3rd axis of movement, yet the free roam map clearly does. Also the mechanics of the system were just, not very smooth, in both trying to figure out the system, but also the timing on the button responses. It felt like there was some latency with every attack, and it threw off my attacks all the time. Even when you are just walking around in the free roam mode, it's kind of janky. The number of animated frames per movement were so few, it often felt like stop motion animation when moving around.
The art style however, is fucking sweet as hell. The animations for the combat moves themselves, are slick as fuck. There is a scene, very early on, where a supporting character shows up to help you out, and they let her have this little badass introduction scene, where she just plows through a host of dudes. And the person behind the animation of THAT stuff, really fucking choice *smacks lips like a gourmet chef*. The tumbles, and attack sequences, really highlight the fluidity of the animators vision, and was genuinely awesome to watch.....until I had to try and actually play it, and it went back to be just slightly too clunky for comfort.
It's a shame because I'd honestly love to just WATCH an animated short film of this story, with those combat sequences and stuff. Sadly, as a game I want to actually try and play, I'll pass.
Hitting my stride in Sekiro and beat the True Corrupted Monk last night. Probably the second easiest boss fight in the game. Her attack patterns are slightly reminiscent of the Dancer from DS3, but for me was a bit more aggressive. The first phase was actually the most challenging. I liked having the vertical mobility which negated pretty much any threat from her shadows in the second phase, and third phase I was able to stunlock like 90% of her posture alternating firecrackers and melee.
Further into Fountainhead Palace and we see the return of the signature creepy status-ailment-inflicting enemies FROM loves to troll us with. I’ll call them squidwards. These flute playing baddies appear almost too docile at first until learning what they’re truly capable of, especially when accompanied by the water ninjas. Yikes. That was a bit of an adjustment but at least this area gives a good amount of XP. Finally got the Projected Force skill, which along with Malcontent should be really helpful in finally dispatching that damn headless bastard in the cave.
Further into Fountainhead Palace and we see the return of the signature creepy status-ailment-inflicting enemies FROM loves to troll us with. I’ll call them squidwards. These flute playing baddies appear almost too docile at first until learning what they’re truly capable of, especially when accompanied by the water ninjas. Yikes. That was a bit of an adjustment but at least this area gives a good amount of XP. Finally got the Projected Force skill, which along with Malcontent should be really helpful in finally dispatching that damn headless bastard in the cave.
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I've been roaming around my ship for years now, not knowing what I am supposed to do next on the PS4. No complaints about it myself.
I just have these problems with some open world games. My guy in Red Dead 2 has been shaving for about 2 years too.
ITMT: not really a game. Kids gave me the Oculus Quest 2 for Father's day and last night, I watched some Netflix on them. It was like sitting in a living room with a 200" TV in front of you. Not the clearest picture but it was really fun. Next to try out RUSH which was only $14 yesterday.
Reminds me of a VR take on N64 Pilot Wings
Started playing some PSO2 NGS. I've played PSO2 a long time ago on the Japanese servers. I think I preferred the older game's mission based structure where you just party up and do a level.
NGS has this open world thing going on and I'm not a fan since it just adds things I don't care about. Yay, I can shoot ores and pick fruits.... and I better do them if I want to upgrade my shit. Also a bit annoyed how I have to do the story solo, so all I can with my friends is roam about farming mobs and just exploring the map. Also the skill point challenge things I guess.
Pretty much... done with the game as it is? There's nothing left to do but minmax, and there's really no point doing that when the next content drop will just raise the equipment tiers and level caps anyway.
Though it does do the obnoxious Destiny thing of needing a requisite power level. It's 'Battle Power' instead of 'Light'. So it might force me to minmax anyway, but hopefully there will be discarded gear selling for cheap on player stores I can pick up. Assuming I haven't uninstalled the game by then.
Been playing EDF 5 with friends. It's janky, it's terrible, it's fucking hilarious and the script is making my brain smoother by just listening to it. But I'm having a lot of fun. Been mostly playing Air Raider, but I'm warming up to the Fencer now that I've unlocked double dash and double jump boost accessories.
Also picked up Tricky Towers. Thought it was an interesting looking game after watching some VTubers play it. It's highly infuriating but also hilarious, a great party game for four.
NGS has this open world thing going on and I'm not a fan since it just adds things I don't care about. Yay, I can shoot ores and pick fruits.... and I better do them if I want to upgrade my shit. Also a bit annoyed how I have to do the story solo, so all I can with my friends is roam about farming mobs and just exploring the map. Also the skill point challenge things I guess.
Pretty much... done with the game as it is? There's nothing left to do but minmax, and there's really no point doing that when the next content drop will just raise the equipment tiers and level caps anyway.
Though it does do the obnoxious Destiny thing of needing a requisite power level. It's 'Battle Power' instead of 'Light'. So it might force me to minmax anyway, but hopefully there will be discarded gear selling for cheap on player stores I can pick up. Assuming I haven't uninstalled the game by then.
Been playing EDF 5 with friends. It's janky, it's terrible, it's fucking hilarious and the script is making my brain smoother by just listening to it. But I'm having a lot of fun. Been mostly playing Air Raider, but I'm warming up to the Fencer now that I've unlocked double dash and double jump boost accessories.
Also picked up Tricky Towers. Thought it was an interesting looking game after watching some VTubers play it. It's highly infuriating but also hilarious, a great party game for four.
Been playing Farcry Primal. I honestly think this is probably the best game of the franchise, as far as having the mechanics of the core gameplay loop, matching the theme of the game. It always felt really weird, and stupid, for some modern day dude to just suddenly start crawling around the jungle, skinning animals and turning their parts into bags.
All I can really think of these days, with the ones like FC 3/4, is the following
At least with Primal, seeing as it's based in 10,000 BC, it makes fucking SENSE for me to be running around, skinning animals, eating their meat, and wearing their skins. Plus, the plot is something I can actually enjoy, as it's not "everyone is an asshole, and you just get to decide which asshole you back."
No, this one is much more my style. You're tribe has almost been wiped out, by rival tribes, that are just all types of crazy. One is a cannibal tribe, who have been driven mad from the fact that they eat their own flesh (biologically this WILL drive you insane after enough time doing it, but to them it's just a madness cursed upon them by their goddess), and a fire cult that are your typical "we have the power, we should rule, and burn anyone in our way" mindset. Your tribe mostly just wants to not die, and you go out, and gather the scattered members of the tribe, bring them back to your village, and provide them with skins and wood and other supplies, so they can build your village. As you get more people, they start to fill up the village, with kids running around playing, people playing instruments, and basically just living. Then you go do missions for your various lieutenants, and that's how the story progresses.
A motivation I can get behind! You get to tame cute and deadly aminals as pets, and use them in combat, which is just super fun. The various weapons make more sense for the setting, and are actually far more useful overall. Like I usually don't use grenades in other FC's, because they are loud. Plus it's pretty easy to sniper rifle an entire camp without any hassle, if you are patient enough. But in Primal, using the bee bomb is really damn handy, as the enemy tribes are super perceptive, way more than other games. So being stealthy is a lot harder. Odds are really good you will be going loud, and they hit HARD. So having some AOE weapons, and traps to harass and soften them up is incredibly useful.
Nighttime is genuinely dangerous as hell, it's super dark, and creepy, as your Hunter Vision, doesn't let you see predators, only prey. And at night...that's when all the big nasties come out. You will hear wolves howling, and you seriously have to be careful, as a pack of them might just run you down and eat you. You can only barely make out the reflection in their eyes in the foilage, if even that. It's genuinely tense if you happen to turn, and see 4 sets of glowing eyes...all pointed at you. And that's the EASIEST of the predators, as they will actually howl and growl to indicate where they are. Shit like the big cats (fuck you Sabretooth, seriously) often don't give you any warning, and just jump on your back, nearly insta-killing you. It's an incredibly effective...well I don't want to say jumpscare, as that is what these aminals would do IRL to get a kill. But holy shit does it freak me out. Because if I get jumped by a big cat, it's basically game over. By the time I get up from the ambush, I'm 1 scratch away from death, and don't have enough time to eat before they usually bite my face off. So yeah, night is a risky time to try and move around the map.
Overall, yeah I'm just liking this game way more than the others. I'm not having any ludonarrative dissonance at all, as it all just clicks for me, much more smoothly. I still like the other FC games, on average at least, I consider them some solid stealth/combat open world games, with varying degrees of quality per game. But Primal, yeah I just super enjoy it.
All I can really think of these days, with the ones like FC 3/4, is the following
At least with Primal, seeing as it's based in 10,000 BC, it makes fucking SENSE for me to be running around, skinning animals, eating their meat, and wearing their skins. Plus, the plot is something I can actually enjoy, as it's not "everyone is an asshole, and you just get to decide which asshole you back."
No, this one is much more my style. You're tribe has almost been wiped out, by rival tribes, that are just all types of crazy. One is a cannibal tribe, who have been driven mad from the fact that they eat their own flesh (biologically this WILL drive you insane after enough time doing it, but to them it's just a madness cursed upon them by their goddess), and a fire cult that are your typical "we have the power, we should rule, and burn anyone in our way" mindset. Your tribe mostly just wants to not die, and you go out, and gather the scattered members of the tribe, bring them back to your village, and provide them with skins and wood and other supplies, so they can build your village. As you get more people, they start to fill up the village, with kids running around playing, people playing instruments, and basically just living. Then you go do missions for your various lieutenants, and that's how the story progresses.
A motivation I can get behind! You get to tame cute and deadly aminals as pets, and use them in combat, which is just super fun. The various weapons make more sense for the setting, and are actually far more useful overall. Like I usually don't use grenades in other FC's, because they are loud. Plus it's pretty easy to sniper rifle an entire camp without any hassle, if you are patient enough. But in Primal, using the bee bomb is really damn handy, as the enemy tribes are super perceptive, way more than other games. So being stealthy is a lot harder. Odds are really good you will be going loud, and they hit HARD. So having some AOE weapons, and traps to harass and soften them up is incredibly useful.
Nighttime is genuinely dangerous as hell, it's super dark, and creepy, as your Hunter Vision, doesn't let you see predators, only prey. And at night...that's when all the big nasties come out. You will hear wolves howling, and you seriously have to be careful, as a pack of them might just run you down and eat you. You can only barely make out the reflection in their eyes in the foilage, if even that. It's genuinely tense if you happen to turn, and see 4 sets of glowing eyes...all pointed at you. And that's the EASIEST of the predators, as they will actually howl and growl to indicate where they are. Shit like the big cats (fuck you Sabretooth, seriously) often don't give you any warning, and just jump on your back, nearly insta-killing you. It's an incredibly effective...well I don't want to say jumpscare, as that is what these aminals would do IRL to get a kill. But holy shit does it freak me out. Because if I get jumped by a big cat, it's basically game over. By the time I get up from the ambush, I'm 1 scratch away from death, and don't have enough time to eat before they usually bite my face off. So yeah, night is a risky time to try and move around the map.
Overall, yeah I'm just liking this game way more than the others. I'm not having any ludonarrative dissonance at all, as it all just clicks for me, much more smoothly. I still like the other FC games, on average at least, I consider them some solid stealth/combat open world games, with varying degrees of quality per game. But Primal, yeah I just super enjoy it.
I loved Puppeteer, its cute, funny but just a little bit too easy. I was hoping that it would get a second life on the PS4, but it never happened which is strange when Sony tend to give second chances to games that don't sell well (Gravity Rush). Maybe in a couple of years they'll give it another look.