[Traveller]

I found playing Demon's Souls was like reading Black Company.

Dark's Souls was like Erikson.

Dark Souls 2... Esslemont.

Bloodborne. Is like getting a brand new signed hardback instalment of MbotF from Erikson.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 09 April 2015 - 07:55 PM

[Loki]

Guild Wars 2, because it was cheap on sale recently.

I'm not a MMO player and I pretty much have no idea what I'm doing. Seems to be 'kill shit, level up, kill some more shit' with the occasional personal quest every ten levels.

[Tiste Simeon]

The Witcher II! I'm finding the gameplay a bit hard to get to grips with but I'm getting there and it's a fun game so far.

[Mentalist]

The hardest part of combat is the intro, until you unlock the very basic (and essential) skills of "stop taking first 100% and then 50% extra damage from flanking attacks"

Once you do that, the game is easy until the Act 2 boss fight.

[Traveller]

Witcher 3.

Still getting used to the controls after Bloodborne.. they're far from intuitive at the moment.

Over the last hour I seem to have accumulated a massive amount of seemingly useless items. They can be broken down for crafting, but it's lucky they don't show Geralt weighed down with broken rakes, fishing rods, nets, rowing oars.. basically you end up carrying everything that's not nailed down. Actually, that too. And the nails.

And that's not including the alchemy ingredients. I have an inventory full of stuff I haven't got a clue how to use yet.

[MTS]

 Traveller, on 19 May 2015 - 10:06 PM, said:

Witcher 3.

Still getting used to the controls after Bloodborne.. they're far from intuitive at the moment.

Over the last hour I seem to have accumulated a massive amount of seemingly useless items. They can be broken down for crafting, but it's lucky they don't show Geralt weighed down with broken rakes, fishing rods, nets, rowing oars.. basically you end up carrying everything that's not nailed down. Actually, that too. And the nails.

And that's not including the alchemy ingredients. I have an inventory full of stuff I haven't got a clue how to use yet.

I'm in the exact same boat. Still getting used to the controls, having to be careful around wolves of all things, and rolling around everywhere like I'm playing Dark Souls.

I've gotta say, though, I don't like how the map has all the question marks over it indicating places of power and areas of interest. Kinda takes the exploratory feel out of the game when you know exactly where everything is.

[Morgoth]

I did this exact same mistake with Witcher 2. Back then I went straight from Dark Souls, whereas this time around it's straight from Bloodborne.

The game is beautiful and the combat by no means shabby, but nothing can compare to Bloodborne when it comes to quality of combat controls.

[Traveller]

No, it's not shabby, but the targeting isn't as fluid - I'm used to being able to target the closest in a group even if it's out of shot. I was just fighting some ghouls and the target seemed to stick to one that had run off, while another was attacking my back and I was facing totally the wrong way.

I've been trekking through the countryside taking on groups of ghouls, drowners and bandit camps to get used to it.

[Mentalist]

I'm still making my leisurely way in my replay of the first 2 Witchers before really digging into Wild Hunt.

Yesterday I finished my favourite quest from Act II of the original game ("The Autopsy"), and I want to write about some of the reasons why I think this game is still awesome, and why I keep going back to it on average once every 2 years.

I'll put this stuff in spoiler brackets for now, but unless someone objects, i'll remove them in a few days, since I think story bits for an 8-year old game that's got 2 sequels out should be fair game by now.


-first off, the game does a pretty good job in offering you choices re: economy. Though there's thousands of things to loot, and your inventory is comparatively tiny, there doesn't NEED to be a focus on money. Case in point: in Act I I didn't need to buy a single book to identify monster parts or the half-dozen types of plants that yielded alchemy ingredients-I could find the books, and I could bribe old women in the village with bits of food to tell me about the local plants, untill my glossary was up to date and I had no more "unknown plant" pop-ups.

-this is less true in Act II, as there is some knowledge you can ONLY get from books. Nevertheless, I'm sitting on 6.5 k orens right now, and I've been promised another thousand for completing the big challenge of the Act.
Now, it's fair to say that this isn't advertised by the game. In fact, it takes some looking to figure out, and most players will just buy the books and get it over with. But the option is there, and I appreciate it.

-my absolutely favorite part of Act I- the conversation with Odo. Odo, a local nouveau riche, is one of the three people you need to please in order to "win the villagers' trust". Now, according to the main quest, first you speak with the Reverend, he gives you a signet ring, and you then show it to each of the three to get them to talk to you. I actually got the same signet ring earlier (by helping another old lady), but there's an option even if you encounter Odo before that-when he asks you to prove that you spoke to the Reverend, you can change the topic... by starting a drinking contest. What ensues is a fairly intense drinking session. Once you win, and Odo admits you're on the level, you ask him what he needs help with-he's got 2 cursed plants growing in his garden. What ensues is some intense haggling, accompanied by more copious drinking. When you agree on the price (and have one "for the road"), the game then proceeds to load you outside Odo's house, at 11 o'clock at night (always 11 PM. If you happened to stumble into his home at midnight, assume you and Odo had a 23 hour binge), having to fight the echinopses. With a 50% penalty to accuracy, because you are pissed drunk.
But the absolute best part of the whole thing is, when you come back to ask for your your pay, Odo first tries to stiff you on part of the pay, and THEN berates you for "running off to slay monsters while intoxicated. - told you not to do thisn but nooo, you insisted!". And hearing that line just makes me grin like an idiot every time.

Then there's the big choice in Act I. There really is no good choice there. On the one hand-a witch that's clearly not all she's claiming to be- on the other-villagers who are covering up all kinds of brutal, domestic sins and dramas. And there's circumstantial evidence pointing both ways. It really is a masterstroke. One of the biggest dilemmas in the game.

-Act 2. This is a love-hate story. Love the city mystery drama, hate the swamp.
But the love far outweighs the hate. The premise of trying to find leads to your enemy by uncovering truths about the district's prominent figures-bank owner, alchemist, police chief, crime lord, bank owner, biggest merchant and a fence-this is innovative. And then the Autopsy. An important witness died in questioning. Few people knew about him. You need to perfom an autopsy to identify the killer. Based on your level of preparation (who you talk to, what you've read, what you know about the suspects), you can come up with different suspects. And the plot will oblige, though in the end, that's the true killer will still be revealed. If you learned the identity earlier, you can plan your own trap, and be prepared for him. If you picked incorrectly, you'll alienate potential allies, and have a much tougher fight. But no matter how you go about it, the hunt is enjoyable.

Another general thing I thoroughly enjoy about this series: the Day/Night cycle. Just like in my favourite survial game of all times, S.T.A.L.K.E.R, the day/night cycle predispose you to actually play a role - my Geralt does the hunting/sleuthing thing during the day time when people are afoot, has his social/drunk /R&R time in the evenings, sleeps off the hangovers, and is back to prowling the night during the "witching hours". Though there's no "fatigue" or "hunger" indicators, it just feels "natural" to alternate wilderness and the "social" scene, the way a real mercenary/hunter surely would. And the game's content and quest structure allows for that.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 27 May 2015 - 01:39 PM

[Maark Abbott]

I've been playing through Remember Me. Good fun in spite of a few annoying platforming sections (that damn Gunship). Up to the start of Episode 6 now.

[Mentalist]

Finally made the big choices in Act III of the Witcher (1).
Been messing around doing bunch of side stuff and maximizing teh moneyz. I've actually did about half of the mainline Salamander quests w/o ever being pointed to it (just happened to visit Vaska in the swamp to trade; as for Yuz, I was just bringing him the archespore mucus as part of a contract when he contracted me to clean up the sewers base).
So now I solved the bank roobbery by killing the monsters (this always struck me as a more "neutral" choice), and gave Alvin to T'riss.

To be fair, except for Carmen's request, and somewhat "the Posh Reception", Act III is probably the least well-balanced, as there's just a lot of Salamander-killing. Which is just ridiculously easy with a properly levelled group style steel sword. I feel like a butcher.

[Tiste Simeon]

 Mentalist, on 26 May 2015 - 01:36 PM, said:

Finally made the big choices in Act III of the Witcher (1).
Been messing around doing bunch of side stuff and maximizing teh moneyz. I've actually did about half of the mainline Salamander quests w/o ever being pointed to it (just happened to visit Vaska in the swamp to trade; as for Yuz, I was just bringing him the archespore mucus as part of a contract when he contracted me to clean up the sewers base).
So now I solved the bank roobbery by killing the monsters (this always struck me as a more "neutral" choice), and gave Alvin to T'riss.

To be fair, except for Carmen's request, and somewhat "the Posh Reception", Act III is probably the least well-balanced, as there's just a lot of Salamander-killing. Which is just ridiculously easy with a properly levelled group style steel sword. I feel like a butcher.

Agreed. Those group attacks are great though. I really miss the control system of the 1st game.

I'm stuck on the first major baddy I've come across on the Witcher 2 as I still can't get to grips with the controls. It's the big tentacle monster in the swamp and I know which sign to use to freeze the tentacles in place but I'm not good enough to escape from its other attacks.

[Mentalist]

 Tiste Simeon, on 26 May 2015 - 03:11 PM, said:

 Mentalist, on 26 May 2015 - 01:36 PM, said:

Finally made the big choices in Act III of the Witcher (1).
Been messing around doing bunch of side stuff and maximizing teh moneyz. I've actually did about half of the mainline Salamander quests w/o ever being pointed to it (just happened to visit Vaska in the swamp to trade; as for Yuz, I was just bringing him the archespore mucus as part of a contract when he contracted me to clean up the sewers base).
So now I solved the bank roobbery by killing the monsters (this always struck me as a more "neutral" choice), and gave Alvin to T'riss.

To be fair, except for Carmen's request, and somewhat "the Posh Reception", Act III is probably the least well-balanced, as there's just a lot of Salamander-killing. Which is just ridiculously easy with a properly levelled group style steel sword. I feel like a butcher.

Agreed. Those group attacks are great though. I really miss the control system of the 1st game.

I'm stuck on the first major baddy I've come across on the Witcher 2 as I still can't get to grips with the controls. It's the big tentacle monster in the swamp and I know which sign to use to freeze the tentacles in place but I'm not good enough to escape from its other attacks.

Kayran fight sucks. Make sure to turn off the QTEs in the settings menu.

It's all about staying on the periphery and dodging. Basically, keep rolling (alternatively, you may want to see if using Quen works).

Keep rolling until he's trapped. If you made the Kayran trap, it makes it easier, cuz there like a third of its HP gone at once.

[Tiste Simeon]

Thanks Ment, I'll try that.

In other news I have started playing Shadow of Mordor. It'sbrilliant, intense and I have absolutely no idea what the dickens I'm doing! Seriously I'm basically running around and getting into fights! Is there an end to the captains? I've killed a few - more by fluke than anything else - but I can't seem to interrogate anyone for some reason so u just charge in there hacking and slashing... Looking forward to getting into it properly!

[Mentalist]

Following up on my earlier comment about how by Act III, killing mobs of humans/other humanoid races gets boring. I'm discovering that I actually like the swamp somewhat. Heresy, I know. But unlike Act 2, where you just have to deal with endless hordes of drowners, drowned dead, and those giant leeches that explode in a poison cloud when they die, Swamp in Act III is actually a challenge, since there's some real variety with what you can run into-a kikimore rush, with 1 or 2 Warriors, and a random Archespore, and maybe some form of necrophages- it's still essentially same old, but due to the variety factor, it makes things genuinely challenging, especially if you feel like hoarding potions and oils.

Last night I killed Moa. Used the potion that boosts silver damage and lured her pack off the island one by one. And I just remembered I still have the "blue-eyed girl" quest to do, which is also pretty cool.

Also playing a mini-game of "avoid Shani and Zigfried for the rest of the act". The teleports and sewers help.

[Maark Abbott]

 Tiste Simeon, on 26 May 2015 - 03:11 PM, said:

 Mentalist, on 26 May 2015 - 01:36 PM, said:

Finally made the big choices in Act III of the Witcher (1).
Been messing around doing bunch of side stuff and maximizing teh moneyz. I've actually did about half of the mainline Salamander quests w/o ever being pointed to it (just happened to visit Vaska in the swamp to trade; as for Yuz, I was just bringing him the archespore mucus as part of a contract when he contracted me to clean up the sewers base).
So now I solved the bank roobbery by killing the monsters (this always struck me as a more "neutral" choice), and gave Alvin to T'riss.

To be fair, except for Carmen's request, and somewhat "the Posh Reception", Act III is probably the least well-balanced, as there's just a lot of Salamander-killing. Which is just ridiculously easy with a properly levelled group style steel sword. I feel like a butcher.

Agreed. Those group attacks are great though. I really miss the control system of the 1st game.

I'm stuck on the first major baddy I've come across on the Witcher 2 as I still can't get to grips with the controls. It's the big tentacle monster in the swamp and I know which sign to use to freeze the tentacles in place but I'm not good enough to escape from its other attacks.

For that fight, I had Quen levelled and made sure to pop health & stamina regen potions beforehand. Level 2 Quen will absorb most of a tentacle swipe's damage. It's a lot of it down to timing.

[Mentalist]

Finished Act IV of the Witcher (1)

Lots of people complain that it was padding an already too-long game--Geralt is suddenly whisked away from the conspiracies and intrigues of Vyzima and the court and dropped into a pleasant village of Murky Waters. that has little to do with anything he was doing before.

And yet, to me, this is arguably the best part of the game. it's relatively short (3 in-game days are plenty enough to get through it all), and yet it's the essence of what Witcher is- solving problems, lifting curses, fighting a major monster in the end, and layered into it in a fairly unobtrusive fashion is the main questline- all 3 of them come to the fore in the end- Order v Squirrels, Alvin's own story, and Witchers v Salamanders. It's all dealt with swiftly, and you're dropped head-first into the finale with serious decisions to make. Just like Outskirts (ACT I), really-but at that time, you're still weak and the endless fights can be tedious, whereas by Act IV, you've regained most of your skills and are a veritable killing machine (Ortho/Insectoid oils, or the one that boosts your silver sword, againt the Vodyanoi)

From what I understand, that's what Wild Hunt is doing, too--lots of small, "mundane" stories, but they are all layered into the "big picture" in small, often barely perceptible ways.

and, of course, there's the last chance to either pick a faction or stay neutral. I still to this day don't know which is the right choice. The White Rayla convo paints a very grim picture if the order wins. And yet, this isn't my fight.

Breaking into Vyzima with both sides treating me as collateral damage is hard. But then there's an incredibly powerful scene where both sides try to demolish Shani's hospital. The writing there is simple, yet astoundingly good in justifying MY choice- my decision that both sides deserve each other in their mutual hatred.

ramping up to the finish, just gotta quickly slog through the cemetery swamp to collect Raven's Armour, then it's off to the murderfest.

Still haven't bought a single book since Act 2, sitting pretty at over 20k of orens. Only entries my bestiary is missing are the giant centipedes and Fleders (also, regular Wyvern, though I have the entry for a Royal Wyvern. Note that none of the 3 have any unique ingredient drops). Not missing a single plant.

fighting-wise, I maxed out Strong silver skill that does extra damage to foes on fire. That's a super-win against most monsters. Against humans-group steel. It doesn't work as well against Knights (I learned this during "Blue-eyed Girl", but Aard does wonders- stun + insta-kill. Took down A LOT of supposedly tough fights like that- Bruxa in Act 3, Mutant in Act V...- Stun + Instakill = profit. also, really feels badass when regular soldiers talk up the enemy, and you just do that and, boom.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 31 May 2015 - 07:37 PM

[Mentalist]

Finished the original Witcher, moving on to 2. Last act was pretty cursory. Once I got the top equipment, only had one semi-challenging fight-top swords + killer oils do their stuff. Also the almighty Blizzard potion.

Gonna be importing a save with Gvalchir Sihil, D'tyabel, Aerondite, Raven's armor and 25k orens.

Edit: spent like 15 minutes in the tutorial, trying to master Axii sign. Eventually gave up, went online. Turns out once you charm the enemy, you then have to SWITCH signs to trigger it. Sigh.

I'm still rubbish @ positioning combat, as the game recommended I play on Easy. I wanna try Dark Mode though, we'll see how disastrous that decision will turn out to be. I did most of the prologue, the most challenging fight took me only 15 tries or so, lol. I'm slowly getting used to the "hit", roll away, wait for an attack, repeat" rhythm again. Also, following my TW1 playthrough, I'm all about spamming Aard to knock opponents off balance and then hit them.

We'll see how this goes. Funny note: so far, TW2 makes my CPU work a lot less than TW1. I took a bunch of graphic settings down, naturally, but so far i'm yet to hit single digits on thermal margin. Whereas with TW1, my 8-core actually overheated on one occasion. Go figure.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 05 June 2015 - 01:37 PM

[Keysi]

I played the Witcher 2 some months ago, just done an easy, mainly story play through going with Roche's path.

Will do a more in depth playthorugh goin with the scoia'tael before getting the wild hunt, if i can ever justify buying the console. I aso love how you cannot say scoia'tael without using an Irish accent
Also I'll probably read the Witcher series of books efore the Wild Hunt too, I've heard they are good. Any of you lot read them?


Currently playing Reckoning kingdoms of Amalur and coonstantly getting beaten up by the Maid of Windemere. Those Fae have Irish accents too funnily enough...

This post has been edited by Keysi: 05 June 2015 - 09:02 PM

[Macros]

Anyone else playing TW Arena?

Its fun, but Jesus people are stupid, the amount of battles lost because idiots cant stop shooting into melees from behind their allies and massscring them. Shoot the enemie ranged troops, let me deal with the fucking melee!