Yeah I love how they lampshaded that point in ME 3 with a conversation with Conrad Verner. Where Shepherd tries, in vain, to justify the logic of doing it, and Conrad just being like *shrugs* "Seems dumb to me." And considering it was REALLY easy to mod your weapon with attachments, and skills to reduce cooldown, to the point where you can pretty much shoot indefinitely, the "clip" method was really stupid by comparison.
What are you currently playing?
- Thread starter Nick Calandra
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Yeah, I remember being a kid and playing...it was probably the first Ninja Gaiden, and finally getting that victory shot of him standing on that precipice, as the facility shook and rumbled, and collapsed in the background. That was satisfying, no doubt.
The NES Ninja Gaiden games take it even further. It takes almost 2 to 4 minutes for the castle to finally crumble; depending on the game.
Yeah, from a lore perspective, it is bollocks. Why would a galaxy full of basically infinite ammo weapons, suddenly regress to an arsenal of guns that needed to be manually reloaded every 30 or so bullets?
But, from a balance perspective, it really was for the best. In ME1, there really wasn't much need to use anything but the biggest, baddest gun. Especially because you could just use it indefinitely. Who cares if you miss? Its not like you are going to run out of ammo.
The benefit of an ammo system, is that it encourages/forces players to switch weapons constantly, so that they can explore more of the sandbox, and it also encourages players to save their bigger weapons, for the badder enemies.
That and it allows weapons to stand out on merits other than just "this one does the most damage".
Still sad that I can't use my infinite ammo 1-shot-kill Sniper Rifle of doom, though.
Pssh, you use BULLETS?! Luddite!
Biotics is the way to go baby!! Crush your enemies in a biotic field while you hurl the rest of them into orbit and out of the combat zone! Seriously though, the various ways you could be ludicrous on toast as a biotic, made it where I rarely used guns in most playthroughs. And honestly the other tech powers were just as broken, when combined in a proper manner. Guns was a tertiary concern for me most of the time. Loved biotics in that series.
I finished at 429 +34 and that was good enough. I'd play a little further just for the Platinum though which requires you to finish the challenge under the mountain. But right now I've had it with the game.
Apparently in development ME2 weapons used both system, after using all your thermal clip the gun would just default to the ME1 system with cooldown, but apparently the focus group found it confusing and they dropped the CD.
In 32 hours of play I managed to get no further than the last biome gently brushing my hair aside and then exploding me a few times. You can get those combos that let you do crazy damage but if they can harm you back it almost always ends in tears at the end where the world gets extremely tight and everybody has splash damage. I keep looking at the achievement that says 10% of people have won and all I can do is wonder how.
I can't turn down the cool particle interactions though. I was so impressed the first time I suffocated because I was burning some enemies and the smoke pixels rose up grouped around my head. That and how ice can break and crush things or you can drink too much and barf on fire to put it out.
As far as the depth of the mechanics and variety of the dungeon and play from run to run this game is up there in the top tier of roguelikes. There is so much to see and find and different spell combinations to try, it's fantastic. Every run feels different, and they even have a variant biomes to keep things fresh.
But the difficulty is just completely insane. I have no idea how the developers expect me to win. The enemy damage scales up so fast that by the third area enemies can drain my health bar in a couple of shots and I'm lucky if I've found one or two health pickups by then. And it's not like I'm not looking, I'm scouring the mines until I run out of health, but there just isn't a way to become less fragile other than getting lucky with a perk or something. And I can't not take damage. Enemies fire nonstop as soon as they see you and most of the time if you can shoot them they can shoot you, and I don't move fast enough to be able to dodge everything. They even shoot you from offscreen! How am I supposed to deal with that?!
I know roguelikes have a reputation of being hard, but they usually aren't that hard. I mean take Nethack, it's hard yes, but they give you more than enough ways to mitigate the difficulty. You get more HP as you level up, you can find healing potions or heal yourself with nurse meat, you regenerate your health over time, you can get better armor or enchant your armor, you get resistances to certain kinds of damage, you get a freaking guaranteed wand of wishing to fill out anything essential you didn't find along the dungeon, and it's turn based so you can take your time and think things through when something unexpected and dangerous comes up. In Noita the only way to win seems to be to get good RNG and then manage to abuse the heck out of the game systems and then probably die anyway.
Played some MKX last night on Steam with a DualSense. It feels really solid for fighting games and even though I was really rusty having not played the game in nearly three years, it was a blast picking back up some of my favs like Tremor, Mileena, and Triborg. Had to really reconsider certain changes made in MK11 especially for how how meter and meter burns work. Overall though while 11 had some interesting refinements made to specials, defensive options, and the neutral game, I think X is still better designed for pure fighting mechanics. It also feels more like a quality over quantity approach when it comes to the presentation.
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At one point I was ready to say fuck it to my GoW completion run, but finally after a couple hours or so I closed the second realm tear in Niflheim. I have two things to say:
Fuck Revenants
and
Fuck them up their stupid laughing pie holes
You probably thought I was going to say Nightmares on the second one, but no. While annoying, especially in this case where they are backed up by the biggest assholes in the game (sorry Dark Elf Lords, you’ve been undeniably unseated), they at least are easily dispatchable.
Revenants? Bloody hell; nothing in the game has made me curse the combat system more. I can handle getting one shot by a Drauger because at least they will eat my attacks and ask for seconds. Revenants just vanish and laugh about it. The lightning arrows and Murder of Crows perk were little help, at least on the Challenge difficulty. Stun states were hard to come by and even when they happened I’d only get one hit before they say, “Yeah, fuck you I’m going over here now!” Hyperion Grapple after a stun was apparently a go-to for dealing with them, but I only got two out of maybe a half dozen to actually connect even with lock-on. It literally made the combat system feel rather broken and sloppy.
Speaking of broken, why is it that the game keeps auto-saving in the middle of a battle that you have to start completely over at a fail state? Why wouldn’t it just keep the checkpoint upon entering the center mound and restart there upon death? I’m glad I made a manual save before starting, because even killing one the three revenants would reset my original checkpoint status with a full rage bar, or a berserker stone if I’d used one and later died. Maybe it’s a random bug that never got squashed, but still kinda frustrating.
Anyways, I’m hoping the final round isn’t another unpleasant surprise, but at least it’s the last. Then I’ll be heading back to Muspelheim to complete the second round of trials. No wait, there’s still the last valkyrie hiding out in Niflheim mist before I can go see the queen. But I’ll probably still do the trials before facing her.
Fuck Revenants
and
Fuck them up their stupid laughing pie holes
You probably thought I was going to say Nightmares on the second one, but no. While annoying, especially in this case where they are backed up by the biggest assholes in the game (sorry Dark Elf Lords, you’ve been undeniably unseated), they at least are easily dispatchable.
Revenants? Bloody hell; nothing in the game has made me curse the combat system more. I can handle getting one shot by a Drauger because at least they will eat my attacks and ask for seconds. Revenants just vanish and laugh about it. The lightning arrows and Murder of Crows perk were little help, at least on the Challenge difficulty. Stun states were hard to come by and even when they happened I’d only get one hit before they say, “Yeah, fuck you I’m going over here now!” Hyperion Grapple after a stun was apparently a go-to for dealing with them, but I only got two out of maybe a half dozen to actually connect even with lock-on. It literally made the combat system feel rather broken and sloppy.
Speaking of broken, why is it that the game keeps auto-saving in the middle of a battle that you have to start completely over at a fail state? Why wouldn’t it just keep the checkpoint upon entering the center mound and restart there upon death? I’m glad I made a manual save before starting, because even killing one the three revenants would reset my original checkpoint status with a full rage bar, or a berserker stone if I’d used one and later died. Maybe it’s a random bug that never got squashed, but still kinda frustrating.
Anyways, I’m hoping the final round isn’t another unpleasant surprise, but at least it’s the last. Then I’ll be heading back to Muspelheim to complete the second round of trials. No wait, there’s still the last valkyrie hiding out in Niflheim mist before I can go see the queen. But I’ll probably still do the trials before facing her.
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Playing through Star Wars Fallen Jedi. Great game. Playing on the 1X on a 75" 4K Samsung and it is very immersive.
So a friend of mine has been helping me figure out Genshin Impact, and so far... I'm actually liking it. I have trouble with the mobile RPG mechanics like spending items to upgrade everything, but the characters I got for free feel reasonably capable, and now that I've got some weapons with decent stats I'm handling monsters pretty well. The story is cute but not particularly deep, but the world is very pretty and vibrant, and there's plenty of stuff to do. And it has the same feeling as Breath of the Wild of 'if you see something interesting, go check it out because it probably is'.
Definitely going to keep playing for a while yet.
Definitely going to keep playing for a while yet.
It's a fun game. I personally am not a fan of the Souls-like combat system, but it's not enough of a detriment to my enjoyment of the Star Wars story.
BD-1 is great in that game. Hands down, he's my favorite droid persona in the entire franchise. I think because he's way more central in the narrative. You basically always have him with you, so it's not like the films, where R2 and 3PO are off-screen somewhere for long stretches, that we cut back to for comic relief. He sees everything you do, he fights every fight you do. His design is adorable, he's instantly sympathetic for me, and he's got some really awesome moments to shine during the course of the game. I love how Cal will just randomly chat with him, and their banter is great.
I also think the actor for Cal did a really good job. Everyone kept saying "urmagurd all I see is the Joker from Gotham!" but I just didn't see it. He felt like a different character to me, just fine. I thought he did the mocap work really well, I liked him, I felt he conveyed a scared Padawan on the run really well. Just, solid work all around by him.
I also really enjoyed the story. That's always been the main draw for me with SW, and I liked the direction the narrative took, on pretty much every level.
Just a really solid game. I'd have preferred if they had used the Force Unleashed engine, as I just love that system so much, but, the Souls shit was manageable that I didn't just quit playing it.
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Cameron Monaghan lends terrific voice acting to the game. And yeah, I said to myself, "that's the guy from Gotham"! I quickly got over it and saw him as sort of an Obi Wan from the Phantom Menace period, skill level wise.
EDIT: @13 in "Click"
Yeah, I mean he's straight up a Padawan. But, Padawan is a really LOOOONG rank, going from like, what, 8 years old to apparently mid 20s? And it's the rank you would have right before you pass your trials and become a full Knight. So, a Padawan can be a pretty skilled mofo. I would say that he's definitely behind the curve, as he went on the run at around 9 years old, and intentionally kept from doing Force stuff, so I'd say he was behind Ben in TPM. But hey, that's what the trials of the game were for.
Been playing for awhile, but Phantasy Star. As in, the original. Or rather, the Sega Ages original. And thank God for that, because I don't know if I could have managed without the map screen in dungeons.
Even then, this is a bare bones RPG. Story is practically non-existent, characterization is practically non-existent, worldbuilding is practically non-existent, and the actual mechanics are, well, bare bones. It's kind of impressive that they were able to do all this on an 8 bit system originally, but even so, old school isn't necessarily better.
Also started playing some WoW on the side, since on FFN, current writing focus is on a Warcraft fic, so it helps to be in the areas I'm describing. Yes, I know that's a pretty obtuse reason to play WoW, but a) don't like WoW much, b) don't like MMOs much apart from LOTRO, and c) even if I did, MMOs by their nature don't have a set end point, so it makes committing to them very difficult for me. Least Phantasy Star has some endgame, even if I'm still chugging along.
Even then, this is a bare bones RPG. Story is practically non-existent, characterization is practically non-existent, worldbuilding is practically non-existent, and the actual mechanics are, well, bare bones. It's kind of impressive that they were able to do all this on an 8 bit system originally, but even so, old school isn't necessarily better.
Also started playing some WoW on the side, since on FFN, current writing focus is on a Warcraft fic, so it helps to be in the areas I'm describing. Yes, I know that's a pretty obtuse reason to play WoW, but a) don't like WoW much, b) don't like MMOs much apart from LOTRO, and c) even if I did, MMOs by their nature don't have a set end point, so it makes committing to them very difficult for me. Least Phantasy Star has some endgame, even if I'm still chugging along.
Did a lot of dabbling in new games this weekend, because fuck if I don't have enough to play right now.
Capcom Arcade Stadium(Switch)-So I had my eye on this from the moment it was announced because it reminds me of my misspent youth at the arcade(remember those?) and a lot of the games were ones I enjoyed or wanted to play. And it's an interesting experience because you have a lot of flexibility how you want the games to look(a screen vs. a 3d representation of an arcade cabinet and a display with CRT scanlines) but also because you can change the controls around and other QoL features.
Among these is a save/reload ability, a rewind button and the ability to just feed more coins into the machine by just pressing a button(and there's no limit to the number).
It also has a fair number of games so far, though the manner it's sold has raised people hackles because you have 3 bundles you can buy(or all 3 for a lower overall price then buying separately) but you can't buy the games individually. How you feel about this likely depends a lot on how many games in the bundles are of interest to you and if you're getting this for like 3 games across all 3 bundles you're probably gonna be pissed, but if you're generally interested in many of the games you'll probably feel that 32 games for $40 bucks(in the full 3 bundle package) is probably worth it. If you've already MAME emulated all of these or gotten them in other collections, probably also not gonna be worth much to you.
Of the games themselves I've only tried a couple so far, notably Ghosts and Goblins, Carrier Airwing and Mercs and honestly they're much the same way I remember. Except I'd forgotten how fucking short Mercs was. Like you can beat each stage in 10 minutes or less, but the fact it's almost impossible not to get hit due to the bullet hell nature means you gonna keep pumping in (digital) quarters to actually make it through the game because I'd forgotten you get 1 life per credit and that's it. I'd totally forgotten that's how these games worked because I haven't played a legit arcade game(in the arcade) in decades. Carrier Airwing is much the same way and Ghost and Goblins lives up to it's reputation of feeling like a repeated punch to the dick because literally everything is trying to kill you.
But damn if I wasn't having fun with some sweet nostalgia vibes.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection(Switch)-So having recently finished the Castlevania series on Netflix I really wanted to go back and play the classic games again. I'd played the first 2 when I was a kid and sucked at them pretty hard and starting as a battle hardened adult with decades of gaming experience.....I still suck at it. I've made it maybe halfway through the very first game and apparently me not doing well at it wasn't me being a stupid kid, but because the game does not fuck around(well, aside to fuck you). Fall down a hole? Dead. Take more then a few hits from enemies? Dead. Get knocked down a hole by a medusa head? DEAD. The fact Simon can only attack left and right and controls mostly like a brick with legs is probably half the reason this game is so hard but also that restorative items are few and far between(and hidden in the walls because dracula keeps chicken in his walls) but also you lose your weapon upgrades when you die also sucks. Then again, I managed to traverse half the game in like an hour or so, so the fact the castle is murder happy to an extent that Souls games would be telling their famous ancestor to cool it just a bit is no doubt to disguise the fact the game aint' that big.
I think at this point I just want the experience of playing the classics to better appreciate the games that came further down the line even if the games are somewhat painful to play through at times.
Capcom Arcade Stadium(Switch)-So I had my eye on this from the moment it was announced because it reminds me of my misspent youth at the arcade(remember those?) and a lot of the games were ones I enjoyed or wanted to play. And it's an interesting experience because you have a lot of flexibility how you want the games to look(a screen vs. a 3d representation of an arcade cabinet and a display with CRT scanlines) but also because you can change the controls around and other QoL features.
Among these is a save/reload ability, a rewind button and the ability to just feed more coins into the machine by just pressing a button(and there's no limit to the number).
It also has a fair number of games so far, though the manner it's sold has raised people hackles because you have 3 bundles you can buy(or all 3 for a lower overall price then buying separately) but you can't buy the games individually. How you feel about this likely depends a lot on how many games in the bundles are of interest to you and if you're getting this for like 3 games across all 3 bundles you're probably gonna be pissed, but if you're generally interested in many of the games you'll probably feel that 32 games for $40 bucks(in the full 3 bundle package) is probably worth it. If you've already MAME emulated all of these or gotten them in other collections, probably also not gonna be worth much to you.
Of the games themselves I've only tried a couple so far, notably Ghosts and Goblins, Carrier Airwing and Mercs and honestly they're much the same way I remember. Except I'd forgotten how fucking short Mercs was. Like you can beat each stage in 10 minutes or less, but the fact it's almost impossible not to get hit due to the bullet hell nature means you gonna keep pumping in (digital) quarters to actually make it through the game because I'd forgotten you get 1 life per credit and that's it. I'd totally forgotten that's how these games worked because I haven't played a legit arcade game(in the arcade) in decades. Carrier Airwing is much the same way and Ghost and Goblins lives up to it's reputation of feeling like a repeated punch to the dick because literally everything is trying to kill you.
But damn if I wasn't having fun with some sweet nostalgia vibes.
Castlevania Anniversary Collection(Switch)-So having recently finished the Castlevania series on Netflix I really wanted to go back and play the classic games again. I'd played the first 2 when I was a kid and sucked at them pretty hard and starting as a battle hardened adult with decades of gaming experience.....I still suck at it. I've made it maybe halfway through the very first game and apparently me not doing well at it wasn't me being a stupid kid, but because the game does not fuck around(well, aside to fuck you). Fall down a hole? Dead. Take more then a few hits from enemies? Dead. Get knocked down a hole by a medusa head? DEAD. The fact Simon can only attack left and right and controls mostly like a brick with legs is probably half the reason this game is so hard but also that restorative items are few and far between(and hidden in the walls because dracula keeps chicken in his walls) but also you lose your weapon upgrades when you die also sucks. Then again, I managed to traverse half the game in like an hour or so, so the fact the castle is murder happy to an extent that Souls games would be telling their famous ancestor to cool it just a bit is no doubt to disguise the fact the game aint' that big.
I think at this point I just want the experience of playing the classics to better appreciate the games that came further down the line even if the games are somewhat painful to play through at times.
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Interesting. I might get Capcom Stadium, but not at the moment because I already got two of the Capcom Arcade Collection on PS2. There is the beat'em up collection too. It's been a while since I plugged in my PS2, but I might get this on a sale.
Were you playing the American or Japanese version? Still tough as balls either way, but the US version goes further. I highly reccomend you play the Japanese version of most of these games, since there are no achievements tied to any games in the Switch version. My favorite of the Classicvania is Bloodlines.