What are you currently playing?

[Worgen]

Agreed, although some “field” bosses are much easier to tell on horseback (looking at you’s, tree sentinel and trolls). Although at the same time, this is where I’ve also had the only real detrimental performance issues. Tree sentinel is fine on foot, but man does this dood tank frames while riding Torrent. Thankfully enough mostly been when at a distance and lining up another pass at him, so nothing that caused unfair deaths IME. I think it might have something to do with how the engine handles scaling, and also using ashes of war seems to exacerbate this issue. Wondering how much it can be smoothed out with further patches.

I fought a couple of those, didn't have any issues with performance when I was on Torrent, but fighting them on Torrent ended up being a no go since they track really well and hit really hard. Much easier to fight on the ground where you can dodge.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I fought a couple of those, didn't have any issues with performance when I was on Torrent, but fighting them on Torrent ended up being a no go since they track really well and hit really hard. Much easier to fight on the ground where you can dodge.

Usually with them I’d end up more vulnerable on foot, and needing stamina to dodge moreso than attacking. With Torrent I’d just ride up next to tree sentinel after he swings and misses, or ride right between the giant’s legs and take a hack before circling around them. It kinda depends on how easily they can counterattack as sometimes they can just knock me right off or kill Torrent quickly, so it’s situational for sure.

 

[Worgen]

Usually with them I’d end up more vulnerable on foot, and needing stamina to dodge moreso than attacking. With Torrent I’d just ride up next to tree sentinel after he swings and misses, or ride right between the giant’s legs and take a hack before circling around them. It kinda depends on how easily they can counterattack as sometimes they can just knock me right off or kill Torrent quickly, so it’s situational for sure.

Maybe I'm thinking of a different enemy since the tree guys I'm talking about aren't tall enough to ride between their legs and they are really good at turning and hitting you when you are on Torrent.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Maybe I'm thinking of a different enemy since the tree guys I'm talking about aren't tall enough to ride between their legs and they are really good at turning and hitting you when you are on Torrent.

No I just meant the tree sentinel boss on horseback by the church, and the others are the giant trolls roaming around slowly. Only the latter can be rode through between their legs. I might finally make a run at Margit. Only fought him a couple times but I’ve gotten some better stuff to bring with me since.

I’ve also been meaning to level up my flail since it’s one of those weapons I’ve always wanted to try, but might wait until it’s reinforced more. I also saw a really sweet sword with magic infusion on my Google feed but it’s definitely for later due to the high intelligence requirement. Probably best saved for after clearing the sorcery town.

 

[Worgen]

No I just meant the tree sentinel boss on horseback by the church, and the others are the giant trolls roaming around slowly. Only the latter can be rode through between their legs. I might finally make a run at Margit. Only fought him a couple times but I’ve gotten some better stuff to bring with me since.

I’ve also been meaning to level up my flail since it’s one of those weapons I’ve always wanted to try, but might wait until it’s reinforced more. I also saw a really sweet sword with magic infusion on my Google feed but it’s definitely for later due to the high intelligence requirement. Probably best saved for after clearing the sorcery town.

Oh, are those the giants with the glowing ankles? I was talking about a tree looking guy with a big ass mace/staff that you found around the erd trees.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

Oh, are those the giants with the glowing ankles? I was talking about a tree looking guy with a big ass mace/staff that you found around the erd trees.

I’d have to double check in game. It was these guys -

 

[Worgen]

I’d have to double check in game. It was these guys -

Ahh, I kinda had a feeling. Yeah, the horse is the right call against those guys, but its not too hard to beat them on foot either.

 

[Casual Shinji]

So I think I've reached peak indifference concerning anything to do with the tribes in Horizon: Forbidden West. I just don't give too much of a shit anymore. They're just so boring, and they're characterisation is so uninspired. Not that the tribes in Zero Dawn were utterly riveting, but they were atleast distinct enough and their relations toward one another was solid.

The Utaru tribe is okay, they're these tree hugging vegaterians and it's quite easy to get their deal. They're also atleast visually engaging to look at, with pretty much everything they make, from their clothes to their architecture, being made of wicker. The Tenakth though... ugh, I don't think I can remember a more boring tribe in fiction. They just wear a bunch of spikey wood on themselves and live in spikey wood structures, and it all looks like they had a bunch of kids fingerpaint it.

It also really doesn't help that all of these tribesmen act like they're just regular people from the street. There is almost zero commitment from the actors to convey some sort of culture in their speech or mannerisms. Some of the plot related characters might, but everyone in a side quest (which is like 90% of the characters) have no discernible differences in behaviour from one tribe to the next.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

The enemies more or less throw themselves at you and in some places it's very hard to avoid them(like the four side sewers). And the exp and money you goes up quite a bit as you transition areas

It isn't possible all the time, but enemies only stay loaded a certain distance away from you. If you see an enemy or a large group of enemies that you'd rather avoid fighting, it's sometimes possible to back up until they're unloaded, then reload their area until they aren't there.

 

[Dalisclock]

It isn't possible all the time, but enemies only stay loaded a certain distance away from you. If you see an enemy or a large group of enemies that you'd rather avoid fighting, it's sometimes possible to back up until they're unloaded, then reload their area until they aren't there.

Oh, I know that trick. I normally use it when I'm running low on HP/PP or am just done with fighting dudes.

I just stumbled ran into Deep Darkness and had Poo taken from me and.....I realized I'm suck here for the moment. I can't teleport with the one Ness has and Poo won't come back for a while.....and I have no idea how long till I find a shop or something. Being a fucking swamp probably not anytime soon but at least there's a "inn" and a phone so I'm not totally boned.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Oh, I know that trick. I normally use it when I'm running low on HP/PP or am just done with fighting dudes.

I just stumbled ran into Deep Darkness and had Poo taken from me and.....I realized I'm suck here for the moment. I can't teleport with the one Ness has and Poo won't come back for a while.....and I have no idea how long till I find a shop or something. Being a fucking swamp probably not anytime soon but at least there's a "inn" and a phone so I'm not totally boned.

It takes a bit of practice, but the green area where the shop is has a long enough stretch of space to use Teleport Alpha in. I'm also pretty sure you can do it through the deep swamp just below there, too.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

So I think I've reached peak indifference concerning anything to do with the tribes in Horizon: Forbidden West. I just don't give too much of a shit anymore. They're just so boring, and they're characterisation is so uninspired. Not that the tribes in Zero Dawn were utterly riveting, but they were atleast distinct enough and their relations toward one another was solid.

The Utaru tribe is okay, they're these tree hugging vegaterians and it's quite easy to get their deal. They're also atleast visually engaging to look at, with pretty much everything they make, from their clothes to their architecture, being made of wicker. The Tenakth though... ugh, I don't think I can remember a more boring tribe in fiction. They just wear a bunch of spikey wood on themselves and live in spikey wood structures, and it all looks like they had a bunch of kids fingerpaint it.

It also really doesn't help that all of these tribesmen act like they're just regular people from the street. There is almost zero commitment from the actors to convey some sort of culture in their speech or mannerisms. Some of the plot related characters might, but everyone in a side quest (which is like 90% of the characters) have no discernible differences in behaviour from one tribe to the next.

Therein lies the crux of story-driven games; convincing your audience that they should be giving a shit about what you’re showing and telling them in between the actual game parts. The original at least had a really satisfying payoff on the back end that felt pretty neat to uncover, and I did like this lady, but most of the peripheral storyboards just fell flat otherwise. I mostly signed up for the amazingly detailed robots to fight and that awesome feeling of nimbleness to Aloy’s mechanics, so I’m feeling it’s kind of a love/loath relationship for me; perhaps even more-so in the sequel.

 

[Dalisclock]

It takes a bit of practice, but the green area where the shop is has a long enough stretch of space to use Teleport Alpha in. I'm also pretty sure you can do it through the deep swamp just below there, too.

Appreciate it. I managed to get back to... Anywhere else and I'm reprepping. Also, apparently the storage can fill up? So now I have to throw shit away but some things I can't throw out or sell like that bubble gum pak or the tower key so it's taking up an inventory spot forever.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Appreciate it. I managed to get back to... Anywhere else and I'm reprepping. Also, apparently the storage can fill up? So now I have to throw shit away but some things I can't throw out or sell like that bubble gum pak or the tower key so it's taking up an inventory spot forever.

I didn't know that could happen. Mostly because I only use the storage for key items I don't need anymore or Jeff's repaired gear that's outdated, anything that I can sell once it's no longer useful I do.

 

[Asita]

Just finished Horizon: Zero Dawn and just started Hades.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

And that's a wrap on Earthbound. ...No idea what I'm gonna do next. There's a lot of games I've been meaning to get to, but I have no idea how to choose just one to focus on.

Well, before Earthbound came out I was playing Arceus. Guess I'll just go back to that.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Therein lies the crux of story-driven games; convincing your audience that they should be giving a shit about what you’re showing and telling them in between the actual game parts. The original at least had a really satisfying payoff on the back end that felt pretty neat to uncover, and I did like this lady, but most of the peripheral storyboards just fell flat otherwise. I mostly signed up for the amazingly detailed robots to fight and that awesome feeling of nimbleness to Aloy’s mechanics, so I’m feeling it’s kind of a love/loath relationship for me; perhaps even more-so in the sequel.

I liked the history between the Nora, the Carja, the Oseram, and the Shadow Carja, it worked well. I equally like how the Utaru started off as living on what seems to just have been an automated farm, and then began worshipping the farming machines as gods. But the Tenakth just suck, and there's no interconnective tissue between the tribes like there was in Zero Dawn. And... they also just kinda look stupid.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Been playing Noita again recently. Won a game and thought I'd get two in a row because I was playing really carefully and managed to get vampirism and tinker with wands pretty early. I was in the Hiisi base and was getting a pretty good set up going on. I was basically set up enough to have a pretty comfortable run to the final boss, minus a wand big enough to hold all my damage buffs. I was just going to check one last wand and leave. The wand was secured behind some steel beams so I went to pull out my lightsaber to cut my way through... except I scrolled past it by accident, clicked, and blew myself up instantly because there was some sort of explosion spell on that wand. I love this game. Think I'll head back to Eastward again.

Or actually I just learned that there is a new fork of Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead called Cataclysm: Bright Nights that was created to dial back the obsession with 'realism' DDA has and focus more on creating a good and fun gameplay experience, so I might give that a try. It sounds like a great idea, because there's a lot to love about Cataclysm, but the devs are completely out of their minds. I realized that when they changed the default season length from 14 days to 91! I think the longest game I ever played was like 40-50 days, and by that point I was a confirmed survivor with a deathmobile and no shortage of food or water and hordes of zombies turned to pulp just from looking at my razor sharp long sword. With 91 day seasons I would just barely be halfway through the starting season. Absolute madness. Somebody going in with pruning shears is exactly what that game needs the most.

Edit: After playing for 30 minutes I've decided that I don't want to play Cataclysm again in any form. I keep thinking I want to play it again, but after less than an hour of wandering around searching every house for piles and piles and piles of loot and books to spend days reading, I realize that the early game is just far too boring to replay.

 

[laggyteabag]

Im going through the Burial at Sea DLCs for BioShock Infinite, and I am enjoying how they are trying to be more like the original games, like how Part 2 of Burial at Sea reintroduces health kits, but the execution is sometimes a little clumsy.

So in BioShock 1 and 2, you could hold all of the weapons in the game at once. In Infinite, you could only hold 2 weapons at a time. In Burial at Sea, you can once again hold all of the weapons in the game at the same time, but you can only have two selected at a time, and if you want to swap one, you need to go into a radial menu. Its a bit long-winded, but the effort is appreciated.

I also think that the Tear system is more interesting in Burial at Sea, than it is in Infinite. Tears are these things where you can summon in an item from an alternate reality, so you can, for example, summon a turret, or some cover, or some ammo. Its useful, but it barely ever crosses into "cool" territory. I think one issue is that all of the stuff is still themed after the main setting in the game. So you can summon some cover, but it still looks like all of the other cover in the game. In Burial at Sea, it dabbles a bit more with this alternate reality concept, so you can summon a Columbian Mechanised Patriot in the middle of Rapture, or you can summon a Samurai who will run around and stab things with his Katana. It doesn't really push the boat out too far, but again, the effort is appreciated.

Otherwise, im going through Part 2 of the DLC, and this is much more of a stealth game than BioShock has ever been. Your health is low, your ammo is scarce, and there are full-blown stealth systems that have been introduced specifically for this DLC - like quiet/loud surfaces, instant kill back attacks, hacking has been reintroduced, and there is a new invisibility/see through walls plasmid. I appreciate that it is trying to do something different with its gameplay, as you are playing as a different character this time around.

Overall, they're good DLCs.

Just finished Burial at Sea Part 2, and I really enjoyed it. Im such a sucker for seemingly unrelated sequels going back to a previous story and tying everything together.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Playing The Last Door.

It's an episodic point and click adventure game with a Lovecraft/Machen style plot. Never seen it mentioned or referred to by anybody, and only know of it because it's from the same people that made Blasphemous (basically their only other game). It's pretty good so far, good ambience and some decent scares. They don't overdo the written part which is usually mistake number one for these kinds of games. Puzzles are somewhere between low to mid-range in difficulty and mostly boil to combing each room. You can hold down a button that tells you everything you can interact with, which feels like cheating a bit but I'll take it over pixel hunting.