[Traveller]

Yeah I think it's just that first stretch without a save.

[Serenity]

I've been dabbling a bit with Dragon Age: Inquisition. I put off buying it for all this time but the GOTY edition was on sale for £6.99 so it was hard to resist. Started a game as a Human Mage, so we'll see. Since buying it I've seen some stuff around t'net about the Denuvo DRM being bad for SSD drives, but from what I can see I think this has since been shown to be untrue - is that correct?

[Traveller]

Nier Auto. Had another go, found some areas I hadn't seen previously, one of which opened up a shortcut to the boss DS style, picked up a lot more stuff along the way too.

Beat first boss and got into intro camp where all is explained and saves become available, so don't be put off BK, this game is really worth checking out.

The pod thing reminds me of the box shaped module from an Ian Banks book (I forget which one) - hovering around like an assistant but also bristling with concealed weaponry. Also realised that you can pet it if you swipe the touch pad!

My only problem is... after last night's play my hands/wrists are feeling it. A couple of fingers and my thumb are a bit tingly - smashing out so many combos and shooting/dodging is responsible I guess.

[WinterPhoenix]

Really want to get NieR, but then again I still want to get Nioh and Persona 5 as well, not sure what to go for first. Got a fair few games I already own that I need to play/finish still in all honesty.

To be fair BK, the game has been out here in Europe since the 10th March and the US since the 7th, no idea when Morgoth got the game of course, but near enough 2 months is plenty of time to sink 100+ hours into a game even taking into account work and life stuff - especially if sleep is a low priority lol. As for NieR itself, I've been avoiding gratuitous spoilers but I've heard that it has many different ways to complete the game, such that multiple playthroughs can feel markedly different apparently, thus even if 1 playthrough isn't the time sink you're looking for, for value or whatever, then multiple playthroughs to see everything the game has to offer would hopefully suffice. The actual length of the in-game story is something I've not looked to hard at, in case of spoilers, though the average gameplay time on the homepage for Gamefaqs is like 53 hours, so there's that. The amount of time spent on a game often has alot more to do with individual playstyle and how it gels with a game than actual in-game content though - up to a point of course. For example, I have platinum saves for FFXV and HZD, FF took me about 120-130 hours and HZD not far off of half that (about 65-70 hours, I left both games running doing nothing a bit, hence the estimates). I would argue that both are games you could sink 100+ hours into though for sure.

I had to keep asking about the GB on games as well, in the end I just deleted everything I wasn't actually playing, decided to stick at one, finish it, delete it, then move on to the next one. But it's far from satisfactory way to do things, going to get myself an external harddrive soon I think, 500GB's is nowhere near enough, even the 1TB console wouldn't be enough. Thinking about a 2TB external or something like that.

This post has been edited by WinterPhoenix: 04 May 2017 - 03:52 AM

[Mentalist]

via experimenting I discovered that Steam forums lied to me. Earlier custom/campaigns scenarios for the original Age of Kings ARE in fact, compatible with the HD version.

I've plundered Age of Kings Heaven for another 45 or so campaigns.

I can easily see my "hours played" triple by the end of the year (currently at 777, oddly enough), unless I burn out hard.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 04 May 2017 - 04:25 AM

[Aptorian]

Serenity, on 03 May 2017 - 06:51 PM, said:

I've been dabbling a bit with Dragon Age: Inquisition. I put off buying it for all this time but the GOTY edition was on sale for £6.99 so it was hard to resist. Started a game as a Human Mage, so we'll see. Since buying it I've seen some stuff around t'net about the Denuvo DRM being bad for SSD drives, but from what I can see I think this has since been shown to be untrue - is that correct?

Purely anecdotal but I've had an SSD for ages, never had any problems with SSD corruption.

[WinterPhoenix]

Briar King, on 04 May 2017 - 04:04 AM, said:

Can PS4 do an external? How does it work? Just plug into the 2nd USB?

Yeah, though it hasn't been the case for long, it's one of the recent PS4 system updates that allows for the use of external harddrives, like 1 or 2 updates ago I think. As far as I am aware it should work just as you say, plug into the second USB slot, formatting should be automatic, and once done you can also move over any games you currently have on the system memory as well I believe. I would be hesitant to say any of that 100% certain, except that a recent update made the use of external harddrives (like Seagate or Toshiba etc) possible, that bit at least I do know for sure

[WinterPhoenix]

Briar King, on 04 May 2017 - 06:31 PM, said:

That would be great. I feel dirty deleting these games. Let me know what you do. I'm not techy so I ll probably copy what you get.

Yeah I hate deleting games as well, even temporarily as it is, but I had to in the end - if it deleted the save data as well then I don't know what I would have done tbh. Especially seeing as an external wasn't even an option until recently.


Anyways, sure thing, I'll let you know when I've got one and hooked it up. Should be soon hopefully, depends on money mostly. Planning on getting 1 or 2TB Seagate external harddrive on Amazon, already looked it all up a couple of weeks ago and they weren't overly expensive, obviously price increases the higher you go storage wise. I'm guessing the same model will be available across the pond in the States, but obviously that'll be something you can just check to make sure

[Traveller]

I just had to make room for Nier - first time I've had to since I got ps4.

Just deleted DA Inquisition; next time I'll have a tougher decision.

Seagate externals are good,I have two I use for photography back up, haven't tried then with games though.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 04 May 2017 - 09:58 PM

[JPK]

I just polished off the first Witcher 3 dlc: Hearts of Stone. I really enjoyed this one. Both Olgierd and O'Dimm are very well thought out and written characters.

Spoiler

I did the research and saved Olgierd instead of letting him die, of course. I think I saved him mostly because I couldn't bear to see the owner of that mustache die. What can I say, the guys got style.

I think I'm going to wait a little longer before I hop into Blood and Wine and throw on something else for a bit. Now I just need to figure out what I'm in the mood for. Maybe the Titanfall 2 campaign.

[Serenity]

JPK, on 05 May 2017 - 08:16 AM, said:

I just polished off the first Witcher 3 dlc: Hearts of Stone. I really enjoyed this one. Both Olgierd and O'Dimm are very well thought out and written characters.

Spoiler

I did the research and saved Olgierd instead of letting him die, of course. I think I saved him mostly because I couldn't bear to see the owner of that mustache die. What can I say, the guys got style.

I think I'm going to wait a little longer before I hop into Blood and Wine and throw on something else for a bit.

I did the same with Olgierd. And I'm holding off on B&W, too - that'll be a treat for myself later in the year, I expect.

Currently playing Dragon Age: Inquisition. It's better than I thought it would be, although I'm not quite sure what that says about it (I'm not usually a Bioware fan)

[JPK]

Yeah, I'm pretty much trying to ration out what's left of Witcher 3 at this point. It's just so damn good, and I'm not one to replay huge games like these anymore. There are just too many other games on my rack that I haven't played yet.

Speaking of something I hadn't played yet, I decided against Titanfall 2 and threw on Life is Strange instead. I got to play about an hour of it this morning. I can already tell I'm either going to love or hate this game.

Spoiler

First impression. Ooh, tornado! Well that place is fucked. Wait, now I'm back in high school? Shit. No. Nononononono. Heh, this teacher seems ok. I suspect I'll be seeing more of him. Oh great, not only am I stuck in a high school right now, but I'm the awkward kid that just wants to be left alone. Oh now I'm running to hide in the bathroom. No rich kid, don't shoot the punk gal trying to blackmail you!!! Timey-wimey rewind powers... ooooooook. Ha rich snob girl! Now the teacher likes ME better. Yeah, ratting the rich kid out to the principle can't POSSIBLY backfire all over me. Oh, I'm sorry rich girl, did you like that sweater? Here let me drench you and then get paint all over it. And now try to pretend to be your friend.

And that's when I shut it off.

So yeah, either love or hate.

[Mentalist]

"Blood and Wine" story made me drop the game, because I reached a point where I feel both choices are gonna end up terrible, and I care for the characters too much to see the consequences.

Now, you tel me, is that sign of good game, or bad game? Because I'm honestly not sure.

[Aptorian]

Blood and Wine gave my Geralt the happy ending he didn't get when I finished the main game.

[Serenity]

Mentalist, on 05 May 2017 - 04:57 PM, said:

"Blood and Wine" story made me drop the game, because I reached a point where I feel both choices are gonna end up terrible, and I care for the characters too much to see the consequences.

Now, you tel me, is that sign of good game, or bad game? Because I'm honestly not sure.

That's the sign of a great game, I'd say. The only other game I can think of where I've cared about the characters as much is The Last of Us.

I got the bittersweet ending to the main game, so I'm hopeful.

[WinterPhoenix]

I bought The Witcher 3 not long after it came out, but I didn't actually get round to playing it properly until after all the DLC was released, so when it actually came to it I did both Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine before I ever did the main ending - the final boss was ludicrously easy at level 50+ lol

I saved Olgierd because I simply could not stand to let O'Dimm 'win', such a colossal dick that guy! But I agree to some extent that both options at the end of Blood and Wine have drawbacks that really make you think twice, the characters are amazing, you really care and it makes it a very tough decision at the end of Blood and Wine. Frankly I think that's a sign of a truly great game though tbh. In the end I made my choice, but I always make backup saves so I can see all the outcomes at my leisure at a later date tbh.

I got a happyish ending for Geralt in the main game, I think if I were to redo it I would plump for a different route for Ciri in the end.

[Silencer]

So, I've just recently purchased Pokemon X because I felt like doing a run with a Froakie instead of Fennekin. After playing it for a couple of hours, I am happy that my initial back-of-the-brain thought that X/Y are better Pokemon games than Sun/Moon has been confirmed.

Now, don't get me wrong. X/Y are waaaaay too easy. And they're missing some of the nice, 'quality of life' features that Sun/Moon brought - notably the quick access to Pokeballs, and the game remembering what moves will be effective if you've already fought a certain type of Pokemon, and giving you the option to enter Pokemon Refresh immediately after battle (which, honestly, I thought was silly at first but it makes sense to take care of your Pokemon after a fight and it also means you get to remove status effects for free, so...). The scenery is a nice change, and having some traditional Pokemon with different looks and types is a nice change. Honestly, it feels like a great vacation from the regular Pokemon experience and, given its modeled on Hawaii, I'd say that's what they were going for.
Overall, though, X/Y are better. Gyms are better than Trials, and the rollerskates are better than Ride Pokemon, and the experience of being on a journey for the sake of completing the Pokedex/figuring out Mega Evolution/beating the Elite Four is somehow more compelling than going on a trip round some islands to take on the Trials and learn about Z-moves. (Though, incidentally, while they are vastly more annoying with their little poses than Mega Evolution, Z-moves are a much better system because they can be busted out randomly without any warning - it's more dynamic.)

The long and the short of it is that they really nailed the feel of Alola being a side trip, a holiday, a change of pace - but in doing so they also highlighted what makes a Pokemon game. I'm not saying I'd be disappointed if they did something similar for the next run, but a return to the tradition would be better. Even if the one after that does another holiday-feeling game.

[WinterPhoenix]

I pre-ordered Sun and Moon and had them from day 1, my Moon save is still only at the end of the very first Island, I got distracted by 1 PS4 game after another and then when I finally felt like going back to Pokemon I just couldn't get into Moon and decided to go at finishing the Pokedex on my Alpha Sapphire save again. A task that I had previously given up in frustration when my copy of Y (which was the game I was using for the task at the time) got a corrupted save file and I lost a bunch of legendaries and event Pokemon going back as far as Platinum.

I've still not manged to rectify all the damage that the corruption caused, the 20th anniversary event giveaways helped immensely, but I still haven't gotten a new Hoopa or Diancie yet. And annoyingly I'm missing Groudon as well because I don't own a game in which you can catch it, and everyone on the GTS just wants event pokemon for it I swear! Or a legendary I only have 1 of, so annoying because I'd have doubles and even triples of some of the legendaries if it werent for the corrupted file, genuinely my saddest gaming moment when I realised they were all gone!

No idea when I'll get round to actually finishing Sun/Moon though, serious backlog of games right now, nowhere near enough free time.

[Traveller]

What are you playing these on... DS?

This post has been edited by Traveller: 06 May 2017 - 05:49 AM

[Silencer]

3DS for me.

@WP - ouch, that does sound genuinely depressing. That is a lot of time and effort to lose all at once.
As a semi-related note, I feel like if there was one feature I could add to Pokemon games, it would be the ability to have multiple save files - just for the sake of being able to replay without losing progress. I wouldn't even have purchased X if it wasn't for the single save game limitation, as I'm not normally put out by being unable to get all the Pokemon from a specific generation, but I'll be damned if I'm deleting my Y save just to start over with a different starter Pokemon. Blegh.

And yeah, I've started X without actually finishing Sun. I'm most of the way through, I think, on the last island at least, but I couldn't hold off on it any longer and now I can't bring myself to put Sun back in. I'll have to finish it at some point, though. It's still a good game, after all.