What are you currently playing?

[meiam]

I finished Disco Elysium. It really is a fantastic game. The killer's identity was a little disappointed, but it worked well enough. Didn't really have that murder mystery "Aha!" feel, but it did fit well enough with the rest of the game.

The writing and style of the game really clicked with me. I loved every minute of it and found my self laughing out loud frequently while playing. The visuals were passable. Not really memorable or distinctive, but were enough to lead you to more dialogue. There were a number of typos in the dialogue, though, could have used another editing pass.

The world was interesting and unique. I would have loved to learn a little more about the pale, but we do learn quite a lot as it is. It's just such a strange place, it's kind of funny that the actual plot is so mundane.

I love how much side stuff there is in the game too. You can spend hours talking to people and chasing after nonsense, and a surprising amount of it actually comes back to the main plot in a way.

I'm curious what other endings might be and how much they might differ from the one I got. Obviously, finding the Phasmid was optional and could be left out of the ending without too much trouble. I wonder how much can change about the protagonist's identity and backstory as well. Hmm. I'll definitely be replaying this again in the future.

Definitely GOTY 2020. EDIT: Oh no, this actually came out in 2019 and is thus in competition with Outer Wilds. Hmmm, that makes it tough. Well, I think I'll still give it too DE, but by a nose.

Sadly very little change based on the way you play I tried doing the tribunal a bunch of different way and the outcome is always the same, similarly whether or not you arrest the girl makes almost no difference. Still an amazing game and I can't wait to see what else they make. Kim is such a great character, best sidekick in video game along with Agro!

 

[Dalisclock]

Sadly very little change based on the way you play I tried doing the tribunal a bunch of different way and the outcome is always the same, similarly whether or not you arrest the girl makes almost no difference. Still an amazing game and I can't wait to see what else they make. Kim is such a great character, best sidekick in video game along with Agro!

I think the biggest difference is if Kim gets shot or not. In which case you end up working with Cuno for the rest of the game

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Sekiro: Finished Ashina Castle round 2, sided with Kuro and defeated Owl, and now I'm ready for the final act of the game. Fountainhead Palace, Hirata Estate 2 possibly, then the last boss. Don't know if I'll do NG+; probably at some point, but unlikely to be right away with all the other games on my to-do list like Hollow Knight and Metal Wolf Chaos. Anyway, it's still too early to be thinking about that.

 

[meiam]

I think the biggest difference is if Kim gets shot or not. In which case you end up working with Cuno for the rest of the game

Yeah which is pretty cool, but you can't prevent people dying or anything like that, nor can you arrest the corrupt union boss (iirc) or stuff that I kinda wish were possible. But I wasn't expecting those things to be in the game, there's always a point where the dev have to stop.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Finished the remastered ep2 of Brutal Wolfenstein.

When I say "finished", I (with much reloading) got to the final boss fight. 191 health (out of 100, max is 200), full ammo, go confront the smiling Nazi scientist, last 2-3 seconds. Literally, spend about as much time on the cutscene when you see the guy for a second as it takes him to kill me. Reloaded a bunch of times, the same keeps happening. This is the easiest difficulty, takes him 2-3 seconds to kill me.

Bah. God mode it is.

Ep 1 end had to cheat to give myself the key cause I couldn't find it, and never saw the boss. Bah.

 

[Dalisclock]

Sekiro: Finished Ashina Castle round 2, sided with Kuro and defeated Owl, and now I'm ready for the final act of the game. Fountainhead Palace, Hirata Estate 2 possibly, then the last boss. Don't know if I'll do NG+; probably at some point, but unlikely to be right away with all the other games on my to-do list like Hollow Knight and Metal Wolf Chaos. Anyway, it's still too early to be thinking about that.

Congrats on defeating Owl. He's a tough fight, considering he has tricks nobody else doesBecause he pretty much fights like you. Enjoy the Fountainhead palace, because it's perhaps one of the most beautiful locations in a FROM game.

On my end, Finished RDR2(notably the epilogue chapters). Overall, I did really like the game but have mixed feelings about the epilogue. My biggest issue is that it feels like it drags a bit and I realize that's intentional, Contrasting John's new life as a rancher/day worker/part time bounty hunter with Arthur's life in the Van Der Linde gang. It still doesn't change the fact that it feels very dry and kinda boring. It picks up a bit once John buys and starts building his ranch(the house building music video is actually kinda cool) but the first part of the epilogue is basically doing chores and getting nagged by Abigale a lot(reading the journal sheds light on why though).

The last two missions feel kinda weird because the one where John and Abigail spend the day in Blackwater having fun felt a lot more satisfying then American Venom, mostly because it feels obvious Micah stopped being part of the plot quite a while ago and tying up that lose end does make it feel iike John really hasn't learned much and inadvertently doomed himself(by getting the pinkertons/government's attention) and his family a few years down the road. It also introduces a notable plot hole of why John is broke in RDR1 when he ends the game with A fairly large chunk of the Blackwater money

Honestly, it feels like RDR2 effectively ends when Arthur dies and the epilogue is effectively an intequal designed to bridge the gap between this game and the first one. It's not bad and it's much better executed then a lot of end games are(which tend to feel incomplete and rushed a majority of the time). I'm still working on the side quests and just randomly exploring but I'm definitely done.

I do miss playing as Arthur though. I like John but I'd gotten really attached to Arthur and his story and his development in this game makes John come across as a bit more flawed and jerkish then he was in the first game. Notably, his constant belittling of Jack's reading, his hotheadedness and the the fact he does tend to just disappear. I do find it amusing that after the credits, you get this whole "Surely, John, you'll hang around the farm and spend time with your family and do chores from now on". Meanwhile, I immediately run off to St. Denis to comb over back alley's in search of a vampire, where Abigale and Jack are no doubt wondering where the hell John disappeared to. Then again, John and his family's fate is set and in 4 years hence the first game will see them torn apart.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Congrats on defeating Owl. He's a tough fight, considering he has tricks nobody else doesBecause he pretty much fights like you. Enjoy the Fountainhead palace, because it's perhaps one of the most beautiful locations in a FROM game.

On my end, Finished RDR2(notably the epilogue chapters). Overall, I did really like the game but have mixed feelings about the epilogue. My biggest issue is that it feels like it drags a bit and I realize that's intentional, Contrasting John's new life as a rancher/day worker/part time bounty hunter with Arthur's life in the Van Der Linde gang. It still doesn't change the fact that it feels very dry and kinda boring. It picks up a bit once John buys and starts building his ranch(the house building music video is actually kinda cool) but the first part of the epilogue is basically doing chores and getting nagged by Abigale a lot(reading the journal sheds light on why though).

The last two missions feel kinda weird because the one where John and Abigail spend the day in Blackwater having fun felt a lot more satisfying then American Venom, mostly because it feels obvious Micah stopped being part of the plot quite a while ago and tying up that lose end does make it feel iike John really hasn't learned much and inadvertently doomed himself(by getting the pinkertons/government's attention) and his family a few years down the road. It also introduces a notable plot hole of why John is broke in RDR1 when he ends the game with A fairly large chunk of the Blackwater money

Honestly, it feels like RDR2 effectively ends when Arthur dies and the epilogue is effectively an intequal designed to bridge the gap between this game and the first one. It's not bad and it's much better executed then a lot of end games are(which tend to feel incomplete and rushed a majority of the time). I'm still working on the side quests and just randomly exploring but I'm definitely done.

I do miss playing as Arthur though. I like John but I'd gotten really attached to Arthur and his story and his development in this game makes John come across as a bit more flawed and jerkish then he was in the first game. Notably, his constant belittling of Jack's reading, his hotheadedness and the the fact he does tend to just disappear. I do find it amusing that after the credits, you get this whole "Surely, John, you'll hang around the farm and spend time with your family and do chores from now on". Meanwhile, I immediately run off to St. Denis to comb over back alley's in search of a vampire, where Abigale and Jack are no doubt wondering where the hell John disappeared to. Then again, John and his family's fate is set and in 4 years hence the first game will see them torn apart.

In a way it feels like TLoU2, where Ellie is out but is urged back into the revenge fold by Tommy, but here it’s Sadie doing the urging. In either case it’s ultimately the protagonist that is using that mostly as justification to close those tabs though. Obviously there are different circumstances and in TLoU2’s case Ellie has more unresolved personal feelings leading her down that route, but the similarities were enough to draw the comparison.


Now that I think of it, the absentee father thing ties into John’s character in those years before RDR1. It’s known that he abandoned his family (and the gang) at least once before and has ongoing difficulty wrestling with the two halves of his life; something not entirely rectified until the epilogue of the first game. There’s an interesting conversation John has with Arthur that touches on this in one of the earlier missions.

In any case game wise I rationalize it by figuring Uncle needs to make up for all his earlier slacking and keep the ranch running, and Jack is old enough to pitch in with whatever Abigail needs help with.

In a way the game acts as compensation to the fact that IRL you can’t - or at least shouldn’t - just say, Dammit woman not now, I got other shit to do!

 

[Dalisclock]

In a way it feels like TLoU2, where Ellie is out but is urged back into the revenge fold by Tommy, but here it’s Sadie doing the urging. In either case it’s ultimately the protagonist that is using that mostly as justification to close those tabs though. Obviously there are different circumstances and in TLoU2’s case Ellie has more unresolved personal feelings leading her down that route, but the similarities were enough to draw the comparison.

It is interesting considering Sadie is clearly very damaged by what she's been through and it's made her disturbingly unstable and violent. Arthur helps her get her revenge in chapter 6 and it doesn't seemed to have done much to improve her stability. It comes to a head at the end of the eplogue where John has pretty much commited to being a good father and husband, and in walks Sadie "Hey, I found Micah" and John immediatly ignores the "I'll be there for you guys from now on" because revenge is clearly more important.

It does kind of shine a spotlight on the fact the only way he could really get his redemption in the first game was to allow himself to be killed so his family could escape, but even then it didn't really do much to help in the long run.

There is one quick exchange in that mission that I feel does a lot to sum up Johns Parenting issues.

John: I'm not the one taking Jack Fishing!
Arthur: No, you aren't!

Later Jack gives Arthur a hand drawing of himself, Abigail and Arthur(not John). Which really goes a long way in showing just who he sees as father figure.

 

[deleted20220709]

DELETED

 

[CaitSeith]

I decided to replay Talos Principle...

Spoiler: ...and I forgot that the setting was...

...and I forgot that the setting was a post-apocalyptic world where a pandemy wiped out every single human in the planet since long beforehand.

It's funny how this is the 3rd game in a row (the other two being Danganronpa 2 and Danganronpa V3) that I chose to play these past months without thinking the plot was related to quarantines or pandemies...

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

It is interesting considering Sadie is clearly very damaged by what she's been through and it's made her disturbingly unstable and violent. Arthur helps her get her revenge in chapter 6 and it doesn't seemed to have done much to improve her stability. It comes to a head at the end of the eplogue where John has pretty much commited to being a good father and husband, and in walks Sadie "Hey, I found Micah" and John immediatly ignores the "I'll be there for you guys from now on" because revenge is clearly more important.

It does kind of shine a spotlight on the fact the only way he could really get his redemption in the first game was to allow himself to be killed so his family could escape, but even then it didn't really do much to help in the long run.

There is one quick exchange in that mission that I feel does a lot to sum up Johns Parenting issues.

John: I'm not the one taking Jack Fishing!
Arthur: No, you aren't!

Later Jack gives Arthur a hand drawing of himself, Abigail and Arthur(not John). Which really goes a long way in showing just who he sees as father figure.

I think it is to RDR2's credit that it dared make John more troubled and flawed then he was in RDR. In the first game he comes off as a pretty sensible guy who made a few mistakes that cost him too much, but RDR2 shows us that John was never very sensible and he made a ton of mistakes. He's not a good father and husband and his loyalties are constantly conflicted and at odds with his desire for solitude and the freedom to do and go as he pleases. His loyalty to Arthur is ultimately redeeming, but it doesn't take away who he is and his personality and how it is at odds with the life he wants to live is what ultimately dooms him. Just as it did Arthur. I think it is a clever bit of writing to parallel John's trajectory with Arthur's, in that they both had different flaws but it was their inability to face them in time that eventually doomed them and their desire for redemption and change came too late for it to change their fate.

Speak of the devil -

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

On topic, finally got that elusive perfect Oriole carcass recently

Spoiler

That one bird started giving me Pure Bladestone flashbacks. The following hunting request took far less time thankfully. I just received the last one which calls for a bat, beaver, bluejay, cedar waxwing and crow.

Oh and this random guy (or girl) turned out to be pretty photogenic -

(3 image limit, argh)

Good thing there are no requests to hunt this beauty, although still required for the compendium.

Also found Otis Miller’s personalized revolver in northern New Austin. He also must’ve been a bit of a perv because he had some...interesting photos stashed along with it.

Furthermore I made a detour from Read Dead 2 to the MK11 Aftermath story.

It piqued my interest in playing Sheeva at first, but the more I play her the less I like how she moves, and her range is stubby. I think what attracted her to me was how hard she hits with those four arms, but you really have to pretty much be standing right next to someone to open them up. Some of her command grabs also have a strong tendency to whiff. Idk, I’ll try a bit more with her but not completely convinced she’ll be my new main.

 

[SilentPony]

Im trying Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen. I tried the original one last generation. Maybe my memory is hazed, but DA seems markedly harder. Experience is more stingy, leveling up takes longer, enemies are harder, weapons aren't as good, and it seems the larger monsters have a much MUCH higher roaming capacity. I know there's like a small dragon in South Gransys, but I thought he just stayed in the woods. Not anymore, the fucker will follow you almost around the entire region trying to troll you.

Also I will say the new DLC, the Dark Arisen part, is kinda a beginners trap. From the very start before you're even on Quest 1, its all 'A New area is open you to Arisen, check back tonight and give it a try.' and so you do. And what level is the new area, literally just outside the starting town, opened up for free before you've even chosen a class? 70+. That was a fun little kick to the teeth.
It'd be like if there was a portal in the graves of Dark Souls 3 you unlock instantly that just teleports you to the Dark Eater.

 

[Dalisclock]

Im trying Dragon's Dogma Dark Arisen. I tried the original one last generation. Maybe my memory is hazed, but DA seems markedly harder. Experience is more stingy, leveling up takes longer, enemies are harder, weapons aren't as good, and it seems the larger monsters have a much MUCH higher roaming capacity. I know there's like a small dragon in South Gransys, but I thought he just stayed in the woods. Not anymore, the fucker will follow you almost around the entire region trying to troll you.

Also I will say the new DLC, the Dark Arisen part, is kinda a beginners trap. From the very start before you're even on Quest 1, its all 'A New area is open you to Arisen, check back tonight and give it a try.' and so you do. And what level is the new area, literally just outside the starting town, opened up for free before you've even chosen a class? 70+. That was a fun little kick to the teeth.
It'd be like if there was a portal in the graves of Dark Souls 3 you unlock instantly that just teleports you to the Dark Eater.

Well, the original Dark Souls did give you access to the Graveyard/Catacombs with neary unkillable skeletons(at that level) and New Londo(with unkillable ghosts) almost right from the start. So it's not like Dragons Dogma is acting without precedent here.

 

[SilentPony]

Well, the original Dark Souls did give you access to the Graveyard/Catacombs with neary unkillable skeletons(at that level) and New Londo(with unkillable ghosts) almost right from the state.

Oh I remember. One of my many many complaints about the first Dark Souls game is its absolute shit level design, and its distinct and indeed deliberate lack of even the most basic of hints/story prompts in the first play through.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Oh I remember. One of my many many complaints about the first Dark Souls game is its absolute shit level design, and its distinct and indeed deliberate lack of even the most basic of hints/story prompts in the first play through.

How are you defining good level design here though...something that tells you where to go?

 

[SilentPony]

How are you defining good level design here though...something that tells you where to go?

That wouldn't go amiss. My experience with the beginning of Dark Souls was categorized by 2 facts: 1. Its a very open sprawling game and 2. You're supposed to die alot.
And each path at the beginning takes to a place with basics undead monsters, zombies or skeletons. Fantasy adventure first enemies. But only one is the right way and the only way to tell is the wrong way kills you alot. Except the right way also kills you alot, but you're supposed to be able to tell the difference.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

That wouldn't go amiss. My experience with the beginning of Dark Souls was categorized by 2 facts: 1. Its a very open sprawling game and 2. You're supposed to die alot.
And each path at the beginning takes to a place with basics undead monsters, zombies or skeletons. Fantasy adventure first enemies. But only one is the right way and the only way to tell is the wrong way kills you alot. Except the right way also kills you alot, but you're supposed to be able to tell the difference.

Let's break it down, shall we?

One path has skeletons that inflict Bleed on your very small HP pool and are extremely difficult to kill even one of. One path has ghosts that you literally can't even damage at all at that point. One path has basic Hollows that, while they can potentially kill you if you rush into the groups of them, can be dealt with if you draw them out in ones and twos and cut them down. Also, since the Crestfallen Knight tells you to go up the stairs to get to the Undead Parish if you talk to him a second time (which you should, because most NPCs have more than one line of dialogue), before he tells you about Blighttown, that should give a pretty strong hint that you want to be going up.

The game gives you plenty of information, but you have to ask for it and pay attention to it.

 

[SilentPony]

Let's break it down, shall we?

One path has skeletons that inflict Bleed on your very small HP pool and are extremely difficult to kill even one of. One path has ghosts that you literally can't even damage at all at that point. One path has basic Hollows that, while they can potentially kill you if you rush into the groups of them, can be dealt with if you draw them out in ones and twos and cut them down. Also, since the Crestfallen Knight tells you to go up the stairs to get to the Undead Parish if you talk to him a second time (which you should, because most NPCs have more than one line of dialogue), before he tells you about Blighttown, that should give a pretty strong hint that you want to be going up.

The game gives you plenty of information, but you have to ask for it and pay attention to it.

But you're forgetting what the intro level in the asylum taught us - run past monsters you can't hurt, you'll find a way later on in the level. If a monster with high health or high damage is indication of the wrong way, no one would have ever gotten past the asylum demon 'cause clearly we're too underlevel for this.
The game outright rewards you for ignoring monsters until you find a way to beat them. Why would we not assume the exact same thing when we find ghosts we can't hurt, or skeletons, that personally I never had trouble killing, they just kept coming back. My point being everything the intro level taught you about the game's progression and difficulty was at best not applicable, and maybe even misleading.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

But you're forgetting what the intro level in the asylum taught us - run past monsters you can't hurt, you'll find a way later on in the level. If a monster with high health or high damage is indication of the wrong way, no one would have ever gotten past the asylum demon 'cause clearly we're too underlevel for this.
The game outright rewards you for ignoring monsters until you find a way to beat them. Why would we not assume the exact same thing when we find ghosts we can't hurt, or skeletons, that personally I never had trouble killing, they just kept coming back. My point being everything the intro level taught you about the game's progression and difficulty was at best not applicable, and maybe even misleading.

True, but the Asylum tutorial level is basically like a microcosm of the game proper. It only goes so far as to suggest that there might sometimes be an easier way and to be on the lookout, not that there will always be one. The enemies in the Asylum were also very similar to the ones in Undead Burg and Parish, hinting at those areas being more approachable early on.

That said, if you’re fool-hardy and determined enough to go through the Catacombs early on, the game will also reward you with a great weapon. That Pinwheel is such a pushover makes this a curious case. Perhaps they originally intended that area to be accessed earlier, but changed it just enough to discourage it over the others.

Also the early game Taurus Demon being basically the same strategy as Asylum Demon supports that they intended one route more than another until other things develop.