Why are you complaining? You only have to wait 00 minutes!
lol I bet they didn't even think to program the timer to handle wait times of more than 99 minutes
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- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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lol I bet they didn't even think to program the timer to handle wait times of more than 99 minutes
OH that whole queuing graphic didn't actually exist in the game originally lol
Basically in beta they had like 12k players a day tops, in early access they were getting uh..... 30000 every 10 minutes.
Man, this is like the opposite of everything I've ever heard about the game. People are always saying how the Witcher 3 has the best, most interesting open worlds ever.
Is that wayfinder? I've been low key interested in it.
Look, I think TW3 is like a soft 6-7/10 at best, so clearly there's something that didn't connect with me, but the praise for the open world aspect is something truly baffling to me. It makes the average assassin creed map feel like theme park full of interesting ride. So maybe I'm missing something that just makes everything works, I dunno. But if you look at the map you'll notice that half the icon are literally just point where you'll fight against a monster, there's not even an activity tied to it, just go there and kill a colour swapped version of a monster you already killed 20 time.
yea, there is a game beyond the queue too lol.
That said I can't currently recommend it, cause even if you get past that (which takes like an hour, on the bright side, I have prepared proper meals today and cleaned my house lol), theres some weird bugs and so on. Which while you can just abort and redo the generally quick missions (no hour long boss fights or anything that I've run into yet) is kind of annoying.
On the other side of annoyances, they did fairly quickly abandon classic microtransaction pricing already. They had started with stuff being priced at like 1050 when the packs were 1000, but reversed that and offered to refund the packs anyone purchased to get the 50.
The gameplay is not really Warframe in anyway (other then having hero/classes with 4 abilities) but the crafting system and how you go about it (if you don't buy things outright is the same). You can use any weapon with any class, though some have perks specific to guns, or shields, or whatever. No mention of trading (Warframes big way to play free) for the premium currency, but there are daily/weekly things to earn it ingame.
I've never heard anyone say this anywhere. I wouldn't say the open world in Witcher 3 could be taken out entirely, but it's definitely more of a connecting tissue between the story beats and sidequests rather than something like Skyrim where you just go and explore. You can occasionally stumble on interesting places by accident or by setting your sights on a landmark, but those are few and far between. To me TW3's open world is unlike anything I've ever experienced in a different way: it actually feels like it could be a real place in how places are scaled, detailed and laid out.
But feeling like a real place =/= interesting. What it is is immersive. I personally recommend turning off the minimap entirely, because once you stop glancing at it, you start to pay a whole lot more attention to the environment and what breathtaking landscapes it has to offer. Navigating the world isn't made more difficult in the slightest, you just follow the roads. In fact I found the absence of a minimap more immersive, because it gave the sense that Geralt was himself stopping and digging out a map instead of being guided by GPS.
As the self-proclaimed resident Witcher 3 forum extreme fanboy, I’ll just say this- the game came out 8 years ago. I don’t know how I’d feel about it if I played it today foe the first time.
I do still love the game and I wouldn’t replay it once a year if I didn’t genuinely enjoy the combat and the open world. I can’t objectively explain why the game is great i can only say that there has not been a game that combines quest design, world-building and gameplay in specifically this way that charms me to no end.
I do still love the game and I wouldn’t replay it once a year if I didn’t genuinely enjoy the combat and the open world. I can’t objectively explain why the game is great i can only say that there has not been a game that combines quest design, world-building and gameplay in specifically this way that charms me to no end.
Did some more No More Heroes III (PS5) - Once you get the rest of Death Glove skills during a boss fight, the game's combat really opens up. Anyone playing should do what ever collectible side quests as those help you get WESN fast. It's the purple currency that allows you to upgrade Travis's stats and gain new combat moves. It does reveal how streamlined and a little more shallow how the combat is, because Travis doesn't have as many combat moves, compared to either of the previous games. His million stab move cost 20,000 WESN, and is expensive as fuck. I like the combat, but it's not as good as NMH2's combat and multiple sword. I am conflicted, because I feel the III is the better overall game and package. 2 has a great story and proper development for Travis, but it's bogged down by padding with levels longer than they should be, and frustrating final boss.
BTW, @Chimpzy how do you feel about NMH franchise, and what's your favorite entry?
BTW, @Chimpzy how do you feel about NMH franchise, and what's your favorite entry?
Been doing a bunch of short burst on multiple game since there's a lot that I want to play coming out soon so I don't want to start anything long.
God of war 2018, replaying on hardest diffculy that I've been doing on and off for awhile. Almost fully done at this point. I wanted to try the hardest diff because I felt like I didn't really get the combat system on lower diff, but honestly I've mostly just been using the the various runic attack and then just running around waiting for CD to refresh. Regular attacks deal too little damage to be really worth using most of the time since they don't stunlock most dangerous enemy so you can't wail on them anyway. Also, I really hope revenant aren't in Ragnarok, what an awful enemy design.
Disco elysium, did another playtrough but I ended up playing almost exactly the same way I did the first time. Voice acting, added with the final cut, didn't really add much to the game imo.
total war warhammer 3, the forest elf faction is super fun because you have to actually use the whole map and make alliance and such, it kinda make any other faction feel a bit lacking... Also recommend the grimhammer mod, honestly it fix so many problem with the base game that they should just hire the guy and make it official.
Genshin impact got a new area, it's really bueatiful and a joy to explore, but it also mean a bunch of new quests that I have to do and I just can't deal with genshin quest and writing. There's a really lame attempt at copying ace attorney game, except literally nothing you do in it matters and its just a 2 hour long cutscene. The writing seems to have gotten even more overindulgent in this new region, with conversation dragging on like crazy, every time I play I just can't think of anything except "STFU!!!".
Started a new underrail playtrough, its a shame the game seems to be little known cause there's a ton of mechanics and features that I really wish were adopted by more RPG game. I did make a mistake of looking up builds that other peoples made and saw one that look really interesting, but then if I follow it I'll just end up making a copy of it which is no fun. I might steal a bit from it and try to riff it.
God of war 2018, replaying on hardest diffculy that I've been doing on and off for awhile. Almost fully done at this point. I wanted to try the hardest diff because I felt like I didn't really get the combat system on lower diff, but honestly I've mostly just been using the the various runic attack and then just running around waiting for CD to refresh. Regular attacks deal too little damage to be really worth using most of the time since they don't stunlock most dangerous enemy so you can't wail on them anyway. Also, I really hope revenant aren't in Ragnarok, what an awful enemy design.
Disco elysium, did another playtrough but I ended up playing almost exactly the same way I did the first time. Voice acting, added with the final cut, didn't really add much to the game imo.
total war warhammer 3, the forest elf faction is super fun because you have to actually use the whole map and make alliance and such, it kinda make any other faction feel a bit lacking... Also recommend the grimhammer mod, honestly it fix so many problem with the base game that they should just hire the guy and make it official.
Genshin impact got a new area, it's really bueatiful and a joy to explore, but it also mean a bunch of new quests that I have to do and I just can't deal with genshin quest and writing. There's a really lame attempt at copying ace attorney game, except literally nothing you do in it matters and its just a 2 hour long cutscene. The writing seems to have gotten even more overindulgent in this new region, with conversation dragging on like crazy, every time I play I just can't think of anything except "STFU!!!".
Started a new underrail playtrough, its a shame the game seems to be little known cause there's a ton of mechanics and features that I really wish were adopted by more RPG game. I did make a mistake of looking up builds that other peoples made and saw one that look really interesting, but then if I follow it I'll just end up making a copy of it which is no fun. I might steal a bit from it and try to riff it.
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Just finished my first run through of Hi-Fi Rush. It's a delightful game that I highly enjoyed. Will be replaying to do all the locked rooms you can't do in the first run.
I was actually surprised how long the game is. I think I clocked like 12 hours on the first run. I mean, I was going pretty slow and trying to get all the secrets, upgrades, and money, but still it's the length of a normal character action game, if not longer. Like I'm pretty sure it's actually longer than Metal Gear Rising.
Anyway, it was a blast, I highly recommend it, even if I'm terrible at rhythm games and having to fight on the beat broke my brain.
I was actually surprised how long the game is. I think I clocked like 12 hours on the first run. I mean, I was going pretty slow and trying to get all the secrets, upgrades, and money, but still it's the length of a normal character action game, if not longer. Like I'm pretty sure it's actually longer than Metal Gear Rising.
Anyway, it was a blast, I highly recommend it, even if I'm terrible at rhythm games and having to fight on the beat broke my brain.
Been sick, so I had a lot of free time to myself...so I did what I said and powered through the first Force Unleashed (PC).
Thoughts: Surprisingly, total playtime didn't end up being much longer than its sequel, but that time feels a lot busier and more narratively complete. Whereas TFU2's initial mission doesn't end up being completed until the final planet (making it feel like you just finished the introductory mission when the closing credits rolled in), TFU has much more clearly defined stages with intermediary goals in service of the 'grand' strategy giving you a much more comprehensive sense of build up and development. This is aptly laid out by Vader as you approach the end of the first act and he tells the protagonist that while he's beaten Jedi, those Jedi were only 'an old man and an outcast', but the true test of his abilities is the member of the Jedi Council that he was about to be sent to kill. Cue the success of the mission...and things go sideways to usher in the Second Act and the start of our protagonist's personal arc, which again goes swimmingly until things go sideways again to usher in the Finale.
I'd still argue it could have stood to have been more fleshed out, but it still had a reasonably well defined Three Act structure that serves its purpose well enough. And again, fun enough for what it is...until it isn't.
Here's the bad news: In terms of gameplay, the PC version of the game (Pretty much a port of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions) feels janky and underdeveloped. For all that the game seems to want to be Devil May Cry, there's simply too many shots being fired with too much accuracy and you flinch too easily to pull that off, and that's before we get to the capacity later in the game for enemies to keep you stunlocked until you die if you're unlucky because of how slowly you recover from being knocked down.
On a more personal note, I also found myself missing the Temple interludes from the PS2 version, and for all that its combat was slower, I did miss the more personal spectacle of its boss fights over the zoomed back arena fights of the PC port. Honestly, the boss fights generally felt like more of a chore than enjoyable, and the less that's said about the controls when bringing down the Star Destroyer, the better.
On the whole, I can't rightly say that I didn't have fun with it, but there were a good number of design elements that make me less favorably inclined towards replaying it than I am towards Fallen Order.
Thoughts: Surprisingly, total playtime didn't end up being much longer than its sequel, but that time feels a lot busier and more narratively complete. Whereas TFU2's initial mission doesn't end up being completed until the final planet (making it feel like you just finished the introductory mission when the closing credits rolled in), TFU has much more clearly defined stages with intermediary goals in service of the 'grand' strategy giving you a much more comprehensive sense of build up and development. This is aptly laid out by Vader as you approach the end of the first act and he tells the protagonist that while he's beaten Jedi, those Jedi were only 'an old man and an outcast', but the true test of his abilities is the member of the Jedi Council that he was about to be sent to kill. Cue the success of the mission...and things go sideways to usher in the Second Act and the start of our protagonist's personal arc, which again goes swimmingly until things go sideways again to usher in the Finale.
I'd still argue it could have stood to have been more fleshed out, but it still had a reasonably well defined Three Act structure that serves its purpose well enough. And again, fun enough for what it is...until it isn't.
Here's the bad news: In terms of gameplay, the PC version of the game (Pretty much a port of the PS3/Xbox 360 versions) feels janky and underdeveloped. For all that the game seems to want to be Devil May Cry, there's simply too many shots being fired with too much accuracy and you flinch too easily to pull that off, and that's before we get to the capacity later in the game for enemies to keep you stunlocked until you die if you're unlucky because of how slowly you recover from being knocked down.
On a more personal note, I also found myself missing the Temple interludes from the PS2 version, and for all that its combat was slower, I did miss the more personal spectacle of its boss fights over the zoomed back arena fights of the PC port. Honestly, the boss fights generally felt like more of a chore than enjoyable, and the less that's said about the controls when bringing down the Star Destroyer, the better.
On the whole, I can't rightly say that I didn't have fun with it, but there were a good number of design elements that make me less favorably inclined towards replaying it than I am towards Fallen Order.
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The good news is that the Revenant's don't show up in Ragnarok.
The bad news...there's an enemy that'll make you wish for the Revenants. You'll know when these new enemies show up.
I appreciate the shout out, but both of the Force Unleashed games take more from Greek Era GoW than Devil May Cry. Especially TFU2.
I'm admittedly less familiar with the gameplay of Greek-era GoW than I am with Devil May Cry. Suffice it to say that what I knew of the game back in the day did not endear me to it, and I never really felt the need to go back and play it. So I'll defer to your judgment on which is the better match for TFU's gameplay.
Yeah, I wasn't that impressed by the final cut voice acting. I think it was a mistake to have all the skills and the narration be voiced by one actor who read everything in a monotone.
NMH3 is the only one I've played. I wouldn't really call it a good game, mechanically. It's just that little too jank for that. But it's still fun, kind of in the same way Deadly Premonition is, because it delivers that specific 'oddball Japanese' flavour that has become pretty rare these days. I mostly enjoyed the minigames and genre switching, as unpolished as they can be. It does the boss bait & switch a little too much tho, where a boss introduced earlier is unceremoniously killed off and replaced by another boss. Something like a third of the boss roster is like that, and it really loses impact after the first time. Also, fuck those enemies that drop mines everywhere and teleport around. So annoying.
Overwatch 2
FIRE EMBLEM HEROES
DIABLO IV
Some various thoughts:
-The new Flashpoint mode is okay, but to me, it's more or less a variant of Control. That being said, it's still fun in a number of key ways. First, the trek between control points can sometimes result in run and gun battles in addition to heroes clustering around the control points in question. Second, in regards to said points, they're far more open (mostly) than the ones in Control. But otherwise, nothing too fancy.
-I played the Underworld mission in PVE (y'know, the thing that people even now are insisting doesn't exist), and it was mostly positive. While it's arguably a rehash of Uprising (the old Archive mission from OW1), for whatever reason(s), I liked this version better. In part because there's slightly more narrative within the mission (Iggy, the lore codex, etc.), though it's nothing to write home about. In part because of Null Sector themselves - this might seem like an unexpected frame of reference, but there's something about the Null Sector bots that reminds me of the Decepticons of all things. In part because of the sound effects (animalistic yet mechanical), in part because of the way they move, or at least some of them (e.g. the Jumpers). There's a kind of inherent menace that's with Null Sector that wasn't present in Uprising (which makes sense from an in-universe standpoint), which is appreciated.
-Still, it isn't perfect, and the letdown is the story elements, or rather, lack of them. I knew going in that explicitly, Event Missions weren't going to have as much story as, well, Story Missions, and it's certainly got more narrative than Uprising (at least within the scope of the mission itself), but it still falls short. In part because while Iggy does a good voiceover job, she's never actually seen. Lizzy is referenced as hacking the terminal at the end, but doesn't even get a voiceover. That Null Sector is attacking the Underworld at all arguably fits in with Rammattra's approach of "no not resist, I am liberating you," but no-one, not even Iggy, really draws attention to this. FFS, Null Sector launched the Uprising here close to a decade ago, history is repeating itself, it arguably shows how ruthless Ramattra really is, or that the Uprising was arguably the moral/tactical breaking point for him (not to mention the death of Lanet), but none of this is even mentioned. I know that there's a place for understatement in fiction, but this isn't understatement, it's no statement. And again, yes, I knew that this was to be expected going in, but the codex entries for Underworld arguably have more lore than the mission itself.
But of course, all of this might be a moot point, because remember, PVE DOESN'T EXIST (or something).
-I haven't started the Story Missions yet, in part because $23 AUD is a steep price, in part because it's SOP for me to not play through more than one game at a time (in terms of singleplayer), so I can't comment on them yet. Still, the codex system is nice, from what I've seen.
-The new Flashpoint mode is okay, but to me, it's more or less a variant of Control. That being said, it's still fun in a number of key ways. First, the trek between control points can sometimes result in run and gun battles in addition to heroes clustering around the control points in question. Second, in regards to said points, they're far more open (mostly) than the ones in Control. But otherwise, nothing too fancy.
-I played the Underworld mission in PVE (y'know, the thing that people even now are insisting doesn't exist), and it was mostly positive. While it's arguably a rehash of Uprising (the old Archive mission from OW1), for whatever reason(s), I liked this version better. In part because there's slightly more narrative within the mission (Iggy, the lore codex, etc.), though it's nothing to write home about. In part because of Null Sector themselves - this might seem like an unexpected frame of reference, but there's something about the Null Sector bots that reminds me of the Decepticons of all things. In part because of the sound effects (animalistic yet mechanical), in part because of the way they move, or at least some of them (e.g. the Jumpers). There's a kind of inherent menace that's with Null Sector that wasn't present in Uprising (which makes sense from an in-universe standpoint), which is appreciated.
-Still, it isn't perfect, and the letdown is the story elements, or rather, lack of them. I knew going in that explicitly, Event Missions weren't going to have as much story as, well, Story Missions, and it's certainly got more narrative than Uprising (at least within the scope of the mission itself), but it still falls short. In part because while Iggy does a good voiceover job, she's never actually seen. Lizzy is referenced as hacking the terminal at the end, but doesn't even get a voiceover. That Null Sector is attacking the Underworld at all arguably fits in with Rammattra's approach of "no not resist, I am liberating you," but no-one, not even Iggy, really draws attention to this. FFS, Null Sector launched the Uprising here close to a decade ago, history is repeating itself, it arguably shows how ruthless Ramattra really is, or that the Uprising was arguably the moral/tactical breaking point for him (not to mention the death of Lanet), but none of this is even mentioned. I know that there's a place for understatement in fiction, but this isn't understatement, it's no statement. And again, yes, I knew that this was to be expected going in, but the codex entries for Underworld arguably have more lore than the mission itself.
But of course, all of this might be a moot point, because remember, PVE DOESN'T EXIST (or something).
-I haven't started the Story Missions yet, in part because $23 AUD is a steep price, in part because it's SOP for me to not play through more than one game at a time (in terms of singleplayer), so I can't comment on them yet. Still, the codex system is nice, from what I've seen.
Don't have much to say here, but random thoughts:
-So, Feh is an adorable little cinnamon bun, I'll even forgive her (for now) for trying to sell me microtransactions (referring to Feh Channel, specifically).
-Think I've mentioned this before, but with the game's paralogues (and to a lesser extent, xenologues), there's not really anything I can discuss in terms of story, and what story there is isn't really connected to anything at all. The only thing of note, silly as it is, is...sigh, the swimsuit paralogues. Heroes go to the beach in some other realm, the Anna of the Order of Heroes wants to make cash off it (e.g. a swimsuit calendar), but the Anna of the realm they go to always thwarts it (e.g. using images of heroes from the realm will cost X gold per image, which means that Anna can't pay the licencing fees). The most recent one is where Anna and co. go to the beach under the proviso that they draw images, since there's no way they could be charged for that. However, Shareena's drawing is a kid's drawing (with a smiling sun to boot), Alphonse is a terrible artist, so the last hope is the player character. Anna's exclamation is "oh Kiran*, it's...it's..." (Fade to black) Credit where it's due, despite how insipid the premise is, these interactions are actually quite funny. It's just a shame that they're pretty much on the level of everything else in the paralogue, and continue an unfortunate trend that's existed since Awakening to do fan service, regardless as to how well it fits the setting.
*Kiran, as in, the summoner's de facto name.
-I've started the next installment of Ch. 8, but don't have anything to talk about at this point. Really not a fan of the bite-sized content drops. I get why, there's an argument to be made for releasing things as they go along, but so much time passes between drops, it's hard to recall what happened up to that point.
-So, Feh is an adorable little cinnamon bun, I'll even forgive her (for now) for trying to sell me microtransactions (referring to Feh Channel, specifically).
-Think I've mentioned this before, but with the game's paralogues (and to a lesser extent, xenologues), there's not really anything I can discuss in terms of story, and what story there is isn't really connected to anything at all. The only thing of note, silly as it is, is...sigh, the swimsuit paralogues. Heroes go to the beach in some other realm, the Anna of the Order of Heroes wants to make cash off it (e.g. a swimsuit calendar), but the Anna of the realm they go to always thwarts it (e.g. using images of heroes from the realm will cost X gold per image, which means that Anna can't pay the licencing fees). The most recent one is where Anna and co. go to the beach under the proviso that they draw images, since there's no way they could be charged for that. However, Shareena's drawing is a kid's drawing (with a smiling sun to boot), Alphonse is a terrible artist, so the last hope is the player character. Anna's exclamation is "oh Kiran*, it's...it's..." (Fade to black) Credit where it's due, despite how insipid the premise is, these interactions are actually quite funny. It's just a shame that they're pretty much on the level of everything else in the paralogue, and continue an unfortunate trend that's existed since Awakening to do fan service, regardless as to how well it fits the setting.
*Kiran, as in, the summoner's de facto name.
-I've started the next installment of Ch. 8, but don't have anything to talk about at this point. Really not a fan of the bite-sized content drops. I get why, there's an argument to be made for releasing things as they go along, but so much time passes between drops, it's hard to recall what happened up to that point.
Still getting disonnects, but they don't seem to be as bad as before. Anyway, played some more of Act III, random thoughts:
-The atmosphere and design of Mount Cievo is gorgeous. Like, really, really, gorgeous. Gorgeous, as in, "why yes, that IS lava everywhere, and skulls carved into cliffaces, and basically every nasty thing you can think of," but yes, gorgeous.
-Lorath: "Baal is behind every war in human history."
Me: Bullfucking shit.
Yeah, the writers had a derp moment there - Lorath even contradicts that line in Book of Lorath. I get that the Primes are responsible for a lot of shit on Sanctuary, but not by that much, there's clearly been wars that have stemmed entirely from human hands.
-So, go through Mount Cievo, where you have to get a blessing from one statue of each Prime Evil. First, it's nice (in a horrific way) to see the Triune back, to have the mask removed (so to speak) from their Sin War incarnation. Second, I've commented on the details of Mount Cievo, it's a clever aesthetic reversal from places like the Cathedral of Light and Alabaster cathedral. It's kind of let down by the isometric perspective, given how your character reacts adversely to each blessing, but take what you can get I guess.
-So, the Bloodied Wolf turns out to be Mephisto. Granted, that was a twist that was spoiled for me ages ago, and even before release, many were guessing (myself included) that he was Mephy, or at least, related to him. The reveal is actually low key, since the Wanderer identifies the wolf as Mephy, and Mephy doesn't deny it. Since we've met the wolf in Act I, but the acts can be played in any order, I'm assuming the dialogue would change in both cases, but can't comment if this is true or not. That being said, treating it as a reveal...I don't think the reveal itself is actually impressive, but it's what comes after that makes it work from a character, if not plot perspective. Mephisto doesn't deny, points out (correctly) that he's never harmed the Wanderer, that Lilith is the more immediate threat, that he's already saved them (twice, if you're keeping count). I know that the Prime Evils are, by their nature, relatively simple figures in terms of character, but as best as you could categorize Mephisto, this absolutely fits him. Calm, collected, willing to play all sides. The Wanderer has no reason to trust him, but they're forced to play Mephisto's game.
-Getting into the vision sequence here, where the player has to fight through a dreamscape of Sescheron, again, this is really well done. Considering what happened in Sescheron in Diablo II, considering how we play through its ruins in Immortal and III, this could have worn out its welcome, but here, it works. Partly because it's deeply uneasy (for me) to kill Barbarians, even if they're just dream simulacrums. Partly because of Mephisto's explanation - that this is Baal's memory, but because things are out of whack at Cievo because of Elias, Mephisto is living Baal's memories instead, and loving them. Because, y'know, there's nothing a demon likes more than setting slaughter. And like the Tristram dreamscape, look into the background, the entire landscape twisted by Hell...yeah. In the scope of this game, when it comes to Mephy's dreamscales, Tristram did it first, Sescheron did it better.
-Fought my way through Mount Cievo, then we get to a cutscene that makes me wish I had the graphics pack installed, because the blood of Elias's intended sacrifice is terribly rendered. That Elias is effectively immortal didn't surprise me (again, spoiled for me), but it plays out so awkwardly, it's like he has teleporation given how Lorath looks away from his body for one second, and the next, he's gone. Also, the Brol boss fight is...okay, but nothing special, nor is Brol as a character.
-So Taissa and Lorath head to Kehjistan on the other side of the map. One of those weird game contrivances where a cutscene ends, and NPCs have effectively teleported to where the story demands that they be.
-Deciding to take a detour, headed to the west coast of the Dry Steppes. One of the side quests involved what's effectively a scavenger hunt, finding one relic after another, to find the place where the Crusaders sailed across the Twin Seas to the western continent. Okay, and? First, the Crusaders' departure wasn't exactly advertised in the lore, so I'm not sure who was farewelling them. Second, it doesn't really provide enough rewards (from a story/lore perspective) to really justify it. Which is a shame, because there's another side quest where you need to follow the ghosts of those caught up in the Zakarum Crusade centuries ago, that works much better on a narrative level.
-Also, not sure why an entire section of beach is just burnt. There's a demon that you can kill here that turns into a man (who's apparently unhappy about the whole demon-slaying thing) that respawns, but no context is given. Maybe there's a side quest there, dunno.
-Heading back east from the beach, I got to Alzuurda. Now, I don't know if this was intentional or a gimp, but you can meet a friendly guard at the town entrance who wants you to kill undead because he wants a quiet shift. By itself, this side quest isn't worth mentioning, apart from his comments that the Zakarum Crusade probably created more undead than removed them (the implication being that while they were killing undead, they were also killing so many innocent people that the undead grew in number as a net increase). However, the reason I bring this up is that as perky as the guard is, Alzuurda itself is fucked up.
-First, there's nothing explicit about it, but there's the sense that something's just plain wrong in this town. The soil itself seems stained with blood, but not overtly - if you're not looking carefully, you might write it off as the soil's natural colour. Second, it's right by the Fields of Hatred, so a priest who gives the lowdown says "hey, hatred is bad, dontcha know?" Third, I don't think the people do know, or if they do, they have to live with it. For instance, there's a pile of corpses just sitting in the town attracting flies (the implication being that they're those who fell in the Hatred fields), and the description reads that while any items of value have been stripped, people still need to pay coin to retrieve the corpses of their loved ones. Yeah...
That's where I had to stop playing. I don't have much interest in the Fields since I'm not really into PvP modes in this genre, but overall, game is still mostly solid.
-The atmosphere and design of Mount Cievo is gorgeous. Like, really, really, gorgeous. Gorgeous, as in, "why yes, that IS lava everywhere, and skulls carved into cliffaces, and basically every nasty thing you can think of," but yes, gorgeous.
-Lorath: "Baal is behind every war in human history."
Me: Bullfucking shit.
Yeah, the writers had a derp moment there - Lorath even contradicts that line in Book of Lorath. I get that the Primes are responsible for a lot of shit on Sanctuary, but not by that much, there's clearly been wars that have stemmed entirely from human hands.
-So, go through Mount Cievo, where you have to get a blessing from one statue of each Prime Evil. First, it's nice (in a horrific way) to see the Triune back, to have the mask removed (so to speak) from their Sin War incarnation. Second, I've commented on the details of Mount Cievo, it's a clever aesthetic reversal from places like the Cathedral of Light and Alabaster cathedral. It's kind of let down by the isometric perspective, given how your character reacts adversely to each blessing, but take what you can get I guess.
-So, the Bloodied Wolf turns out to be Mephisto. Granted, that was a twist that was spoiled for me ages ago, and even before release, many were guessing (myself included) that he was Mephy, or at least, related to him. The reveal is actually low key, since the Wanderer identifies the wolf as Mephy, and Mephy doesn't deny it. Since we've met the wolf in Act I, but the acts can be played in any order, I'm assuming the dialogue would change in both cases, but can't comment if this is true or not. That being said, treating it as a reveal...I don't think the reveal itself is actually impressive, but it's what comes after that makes it work from a character, if not plot perspective. Mephisto doesn't deny, points out (correctly) that he's never harmed the Wanderer, that Lilith is the more immediate threat, that he's already saved them (twice, if you're keeping count). I know that the Prime Evils are, by their nature, relatively simple figures in terms of character, but as best as you could categorize Mephisto, this absolutely fits him. Calm, collected, willing to play all sides. The Wanderer has no reason to trust him, but they're forced to play Mephisto's game.
-Getting into the vision sequence here, where the player has to fight through a dreamscape of Sescheron, again, this is really well done. Considering what happened in Sescheron in Diablo II, considering how we play through its ruins in Immortal and III, this could have worn out its welcome, but here, it works. Partly because it's deeply uneasy (for me) to kill Barbarians, even if they're just dream simulacrums. Partly because of Mephisto's explanation - that this is Baal's memory, but because things are out of whack at Cievo because of Elias, Mephisto is living Baal's memories instead, and loving them. Because, y'know, there's nothing a demon likes more than setting slaughter. And like the Tristram dreamscape, look into the background, the entire landscape twisted by Hell...yeah. In the scope of this game, when it comes to Mephy's dreamscales, Tristram did it first, Sescheron did it better.
-Fought my way through Mount Cievo, then we get to a cutscene that makes me wish I had the graphics pack installed, because the blood of Elias's intended sacrifice is terribly rendered. That Elias is effectively immortal didn't surprise me (again, spoiled for me), but it plays out so awkwardly, it's like he has teleporation given how Lorath looks away from his body for one second, and the next, he's gone. Also, the Brol boss fight is...okay, but nothing special, nor is Brol as a character.
-So Taissa and Lorath head to Kehjistan on the other side of the map. One of those weird game contrivances where a cutscene ends, and NPCs have effectively teleported to where the story demands that they be.
-Deciding to take a detour, headed to the west coast of the Dry Steppes. One of the side quests involved what's effectively a scavenger hunt, finding one relic after another, to find the place where the Crusaders sailed across the Twin Seas to the western continent. Okay, and? First, the Crusaders' departure wasn't exactly advertised in the lore, so I'm not sure who was farewelling them. Second, it doesn't really provide enough rewards (from a story/lore perspective) to really justify it. Which is a shame, because there's another side quest where you need to follow the ghosts of those caught up in the Zakarum Crusade centuries ago, that works much better on a narrative level.
-Also, not sure why an entire section of beach is just burnt. There's a demon that you can kill here that turns into a man (who's apparently unhappy about the whole demon-slaying thing) that respawns, but no context is given. Maybe there's a side quest there, dunno.
-Heading back east from the beach, I got to Alzuurda. Now, I don't know if this was intentional or a gimp, but you can meet a friendly guard at the town entrance who wants you to kill undead because he wants a quiet shift. By itself, this side quest isn't worth mentioning, apart from his comments that the Zakarum Crusade probably created more undead than removed them (the implication being that while they were killing undead, they were also killing so many innocent people that the undead grew in number as a net increase). However, the reason I bring this up is that as perky as the guard is, Alzuurda itself is fucked up.
-First, there's nothing explicit about it, but there's the sense that something's just plain wrong in this town. The soil itself seems stained with blood, but not overtly - if you're not looking carefully, you might write it off as the soil's natural colour. Second, it's right by the Fields of Hatred, so a priest who gives the lowdown says "hey, hatred is bad, dontcha know?" Third, I don't think the people do know, or if they do, they have to live with it. For instance, there's a pile of corpses just sitting in the town attracting flies (the implication being that they're those who fell in the Hatred fields), and the description reads that while any items of value have been stripped, people still need to pay coin to retrieve the corpses of their loved ones. Yeah...
That's where I had to stop playing. I don't have much interest in the Fields since I'm not really into PvP modes in this genre, but overall, game is still mostly solid.
I wasn't going to reply to you again, but you've left out some context from the dedicated Overwatch 2 thread and the discussion we had there, and I'm concerned that I'm being cast in an unfair light. For the people who don't use that thread, I'd like to make my position completely clear for the record. Hopefully you'll finally grasp the core of what I tried to say as well, instead of twisting my surface-level words into readings that make me out as unreasonable.
When Blizzard announced that Hero Mode was being cancelled, and reworked into something else I forgot the name of, I said 'the PVE mode was cancelled'. A few months later, you replied to that post, saying that it wasn't. I explained that the rework made it no longer the 'Hero Mode' that was advertised with the announcement of Overwatch 2, and therefore I was no longer interested in playing the game. Rather than accept this and move on, you continued to insist that I was saying that PVE was cancelled outright, and now you're saying that I'm denying its existence in the game itself.
There is PVE in Overwatch 2. There, I said it. But just because it's there doesn't mean that I'm going to reinstall the game to play it.
My reason for disliking the announcement and the updates is not about 'PVE' in general. It is about the announced Hero Mode with the upgrade trees, the RPG elements, and the whole long story of the setting in particular. Paying $15 to get three missions with no upgrade trees or character levels, with the value of the bundle being (from my POV) artificially inflated by the inclusion of cosmetics that I don't want, is not a sufficient replacement for what I believe was originally advertised.
You are correct that Overwatch's PVE was not outright cancelled, removed, or memory-holed. But that has little to do with my actual point, which is that the PVE that the game has now is not the PVE that I wanted to play. Rather than insisting on definitions, can you at least accept that I have a genuine reason to dislike the current state of the game, just as I accept that you're enjoying it despite all the reasons I don't, and let us move on with our respective lives?
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So, a week ago i got my new graphics-card an a new vertical-style mouse (My arm just hurts all the time). So to both getting myself familiar with the weird input and see what the new machine can put out on a screen i tried a "modestly" modern shooter.
I played Metro 2033: Exodus (which i think i got in a package a a while back... maybe something support-Ukraine related? No idea)
Played on normal, took two full days to play through. The game's storytelling is weird is my main takeaway; I haven't played Metro 2033 or Last Light.
So, you play Artyom who does narrate the story by his journal entries. You are part of a closely-knitted military group, including your wife and father-in law. You are regarded as the best scout and assault guy in your group, doing loads of solo missions and quite a few team-ups, in the post-apocalypse Russia while driving around the country in a cramped train for a year. In this time people get rescued, die, grief, get sick, get desperate, have heated arguments and plan about what to do, fall in love, marry, celebrate. Also you are an integral part of the camaraderie in this unit and plan your future and share your hopes and dreams with your wife.
You are also a silent protagonist. Absolutely wild decision. It was weird when Half-life did it, But there at least it was just a few hours "Storytime". Here you have it based on a bookseries, apparently - loads of material. People exposit their stories and backgrounds at you for MINUTES at end, act out arguments, tell you about plans and what to do and you just stare at them... unblinking, silent. Sometimes you can at least have a cigarette or a drink ingame while people just talk. It is joked at least twice that you are a real good listener though. (In fact i have gotten an Steam-Achievement that only 6.5% of players got (about ~20% made it that far in the game, i think) for sitting down and listening to a crazy, radiated, poisoned guy and his two dead crewmates (which he killed by poisoning them when they wanted to leave) and drinking his tea, smoking some, playing the guitar for a while until he gets sleepy.
The voice-acting (I had it on english) is inconsistent. Some really good, some not. Also it feels like there is cut content (The DLC concerns some of the missions/activities the other members of your team are up to) and more materiel than they covered here. Hard to lay my finger on it, but the writing seems off somehow. Some storypoints were telegraphed WAY too hard and way too early, some traps were too obvious (Making me as the player just wanting to scream at the characters)
Gameplaywise: It's a nice mix of planning your approach and route and small but meaningful action. Any problem or failure can end you life quickly, but the sight-ranges and hearing (at least on medium) of the enemies is REALLY generous for the player (And sadly the AI is also not too bright) and healing items are cheap. So usually no problem to stealth-kill (or knockout, many friendly or neutral people around too) all the way. Then there are some intense action-pieces (One Chapter i really enjoyed when it was clear: Everybody in front is irredeemable evil, your wife is in danger; Here have a rotary cannon and go nuts).
Upgrades are weird (I found better upgrades earlier in the game sometimes, and usually of the ~4-6 types of upgrades only two seem viable.
Overall i enjoyed it, but i think there was potential for it being REALLY great i think and that makes me always a bit sad.
I played Metro 2033: Exodus (which i think i got in a package a a while back... maybe something support-Ukraine related? No idea)
Played on normal, took two full days to play through. The game's storytelling is weird is my main takeaway; I haven't played Metro 2033 or Last Light.
So, you play Artyom who does narrate the story by his journal entries. You are part of a closely-knitted military group, including your wife and father-in law. You are regarded as the best scout and assault guy in your group, doing loads of solo missions and quite a few team-ups, in the post-apocalypse Russia while driving around the country in a cramped train for a year. In this time people get rescued, die, grief, get sick, get desperate, have heated arguments and plan about what to do, fall in love, marry, celebrate. Also you are an integral part of the camaraderie in this unit and plan your future and share your hopes and dreams with your wife.
You are also a silent protagonist. Absolutely wild decision. It was weird when Half-life did it, But there at least it was just a few hours "Storytime". Here you have it based on a bookseries, apparently - loads of material. People exposit their stories and backgrounds at you for MINUTES at end, act out arguments, tell you about plans and what to do and you just stare at them... unblinking, silent. Sometimes you can at least have a cigarette or a drink ingame while people just talk. It is joked at least twice that you are a real good listener though. (In fact i have gotten an Steam-Achievement that only 6.5% of players got (about ~20% made it that far in the game, i think) for sitting down and listening to a crazy, radiated, poisoned guy and his two dead crewmates (which he killed by poisoning them when they wanted to leave) and drinking his tea, smoking some, playing the guitar for a while until he gets sleepy.
The voice-acting (I had it on english) is inconsistent. Some really good, some not. Also it feels like there is cut content (The DLC concerns some of the missions/activities the other members of your team are up to) and more materiel than they covered here. Hard to lay my finger on it, but the writing seems off somehow. Some storypoints were telegraphed WAY too hard and way too early, some traps were too obvious (Making me as the player just wanting to scream at the characters)
Gameplaywise: It's a nice mix of planning your approach and route and small but meaningful action. Any problem or failure can end you life quickly, but the sight-ranges and hearing (at least on medium) of the enemies is REALLY generous for the player (And sadly the AI is also not too bright) and healing items are cheap. So usually no problem to stealth-kill (or knockout, many friendly or neutral people around too) all the way. Then there are some intense action-pieces (One Chapter i really enjoyed when it was clear: Everybody in front is irredeemable evil, your wife is in danger; Here have a rotary cannon and go nuts).
Upgrades are weird (I found better upgrades earlier in the game sometimes, and usually of the ~4-6 types of upgrades only two seem viable.
Overall i enjoyed it, but i think there was potential for it being REALLY great i think and that makes me always a bit sad.
You might want to link to where I mentioned you by name, made reference to you, or linked to the Overwatch thread on this site, or did anything along those lines. Because I wasn't referring to you, heck, you weren't even in my mind.