[Morgoth]

Mentalist, on 15 May 2012 - 06:05 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 15 May 2012 - 05:18 AM, said:

The Witcher 2 was great. Alas the ending was pretty weak.

Act 3 got much meatier with the Extended Edition.

I own the 360 edition, which should be the extended version, no? The problem I had was that the ending felt like a minor challenge on the road to greater battles. Rather punctured that whole EPIC baloon they had going.

[Lucifer's Heaven]

I spent a decent chunk of the weekend on the Secret World beta.
Was pretty cool. A good game, but to me I'm not sure if it's good enough to pay a subscription and certainly not good enough for their payment model.
Had some good ideas and some really cool stuff in it. Unfortunately a few of the major things felt... half implemented. Like they got half way through going to their goal and just gave up. I realise it was a beta, but they were things like the combat system that are unlikely to change too much. The investigation missions were mostly cool, but it feels like they need to not try so hard to pander to the mindless "average" gamer, and just run much of the stuff they use in investigation missions throughout the whole mission system.
Anyway, was pretty good, and has plenty of potential.

Also, I am now in the Firefall Beta
This should be cool and interesting. I really like the mentality of the group behind this game
Man, I am getting in a lot of betas these days

[Mentalist]

Morgoth, on 15 May 2012 - 07:21 AM, said:

Mentalist, on 15 May 2012 - 06:05 AM, said:

Morgoth, on 15 May 2012 - 05:18 AM, said:

The Witcher 2 was great. Alas the ending was pretty weak.

Act 3 got much meatier with the Extended Edition.

I own the 360 edition, which should be the extended version, no? The problem I had was that the ending felt like a minor challenge on the road to greater battles. Rather punctured that whole EPIC baloon they had going.

Well, the story WAS pretty major. now they've just decided to ramp it up even more.
Finished my Iorveth playthrough yesterday night. Spoilered impressions below:

Spoiler

I get the impression that this is supposed to be the "canon" story, since it seems to fill in a lot more gaps. I found the Act 2 content to be much, much better for Iorveth, though the reverse is true for Act 3--largely because the biggest decision of Roche's path (the continued existance of Temeria) depends on the Act 3 decisions, whereas for Iorveth, the main things are resolved in Act II.

I must commend the writers of the game, since they've made me stop and wander about my choices for a while. in both playthroughs I did not go to rescue Triss. This decision was difficult both times, since, having read all the Witcher books, I knew that "book Geralt" would rescue Triss, and to hell with the rest of the world.
Whereas I, as a player, was way more interested in Saskia's fate, and due to the whole Vipers and lilies story bit I felt compelled to go after Anais.

I'm also not too enamoured with the "characteristics" you can gain. I like the concept of "achievements that affect you, in-game", but I the implementation is not the greatest, imho.
in particular-Arian Lavalette. letting him live gives you "strong back", which menas you can carry an extra 50 units, or 20% of your carrying capacity. but to me, challengin him to a duel always felt a lot more "right"
Also, to gain +10 to magic resistance, I have to say no to sexytimes w/ Triss in the ruins. This made sense the second time I played, but at first, not really.

I will need to do another run to get the best "build", (and to kill Loredo. can't let him be all smug in the ending)

I'm really curious/excited/worried for the next installment. The consequences from chioces we can make vary in such a wide spectrum, i'm very curious to see how thye implement them w/o breaking continuity. And despite all the hints, I really hope the third game doesn't just revolve around Nilfgaard so as to make all the choices in the North mere footnotes.

[rhulad]

Currently playing World of Tanks and Diablo III.

[Macros]

Rock band and some resistance fall of man.
New games are hella expensive in Aus for the ps3, so I'm buying really old preowned

[Morgoth]

Back to Dark Souls for me. I hate this game, but I love it also

[Nocturnal]

Currently hooked on Assassin's Creed. God, Altair is too sexy.

[Aptorian]

Nocturnal, on 20 May 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Currently hooked on Assassin's Creed. God, Altair is too sexy.

The first one?

It has one of the best endings to a game I can remember playing. The gameplay is clunky and repetitive but the story is so rewarding.

[Nocturnal]

Aptorius, on 20 May 2012 - 11:58 AM, said:

Nocturnal, on 20 May 2012 - 11:03 AM, said:

Currently hooked on Assassin's Creed. God, Altair is too sexy.

The first one?

It has one of the best endings to a game I can remember playing. The gameplay is clunky and repetitive but the story is so rewarding.

Yes, the story is what has me going (I just know there's going to be a huge twist after killing the 9 targets). And well, leaps of faith are addictive.
I was a bit skeptical for a while, which is why I decided on buying the game only now after a few years. I'm glad I didn't regret it.

This post has been edited by Nocturnal: 20 May 2012 - 12:11 PM

[Silencer]

What platform?

I still like that game purely for the fun of running around in the later stages with 15 throwing knives to randomly kill guards on rooftops, and setting out to counter-kill entire town's worth of guards with just the hidden blade. The story was decent, but the gameplay was actually one of my favourite parts (absurdly repetitive side-missions aside, of course).

[Aptorian]

The thing that I found really satisfying towards the end was the combat. Unlike the sequels, in the first game you need to be on your guard constantly and time your attacks and counter attacks or you go down, but when you master it, when you start to face 10 or 15 opponents at one time and you come out of it alive with all those dead guards lying around you, you feel like a real badass. That feeling is completely lacking in the next games.

I also really liked fighting the Templars. They were so overpowered but when you managed to kill one, fairly, with out just knocking him over and keeping him down, it felt so satisfying. There was nothing more fun than running around a corner and accidentally bumping into one and realising you were in trouble.

This post has been edited by Aptorius: 20 May 2012 - 01:36 PM

[Nocturnal]

I absolutely love counter-attacking too, especially when a close-up cinematic is shown. Though I prefer using stealth and avoiding guards as much as I can. Except those bastards on rooftops, pouncing on them is fun.

[Silencer]

Aptorius, on 20 May 2012 - 01:33 PM, said:

The thing that I found really satisfying towards the end was the combat. Unlike the sequels, in the first game you need to be on your guard constantly and time your attacks and counter attacks or you go down, but when you master it, when you start to face 10 or 15 opponents at one time and you come out of it alive with all those dead guards lying around you, you feel like a real badass. That feeling is completely lacking in the next games.

I also really liked fighting the Templars. They were so overpowered but when you managed to kill one, fairly, with out just knocking him over and keeping him down, it felt so satisfying. There was nothing more fun than running around a corner and accidentally bumping into one and realising you were in trouble.

Absolutely. This game really did know how to make you feel like a badass if you took your time a bit and figured out the system. Then come the self-inflicted challenges...XD

Templars were great opponents, too, precisely because they were OP. It actually made it disappointing a couple of times if they went down *too* easily, I found. It was certainly something missing from ACII - though I didn't miss the HUNDREDS of flags to find, lol - and the combat got markedly easier. But that's "mainstream success syndrome", these days.

Nocturnal, on 20 May 2012 - 08:11 PM, said:

I absolutely love counter-attacking too, especially when a close-up cinematic is shown. Though I prefer using stealth and avoiding guards as much as I can. Except those bastards on rooftops, pouncing on them is fun.

Two words. Throwing. Knives.

They were my best friends for dealing with rooftop guards. So satisfying to hear that little "he's getting alert" sound for literally half a second before *thwip* man just got a throwing knife in the throat. Bows and arrows are SO inferior. XD

Though granted, leaping onto them from a slightly higher roof was also remarkably fun. Wasn't there an achievement or something for falling from a suicide-height onto an enemy and killing him instead of dying? That was cool....

[Tapper]

Morgoth, on 20 May 2012 - 08:10 AM, said:

Back to Dark Souls for me. I hate this game, but I love it also

DS is like a traffic light relationship: it sucks you in with promises of sweet, sweet enjoyment and the knowledge that if you succeed, you'll be on top of the world, then smites you down. And as you look over your shoulder, reminiscing on what could have been, you feel your heart sink and know you'll be back for another taste of it.

[Morgoth]

Tapper, on 22 May 2012 - 01:42 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 20 May 2012 - 08:10 AM, said:

Back to Dark Souls for me. I hate this game, but I love it also

DS is like a traffic light relationship: it sucks you in with promises of sweet, sweet enjoyment and the knowledge that if you succeed, you'll be on top of the world, then smites you down. And as you look over your shoulder, reminiscing on what could have been, you feel your heart sink and know you'll be back for another taste of it.

I took a break from my knight -- Hiding behind the shield and poking opponents to death with my Haelbard was getting a little dull.

So I went for the Pyromancer and got Sword of the Black knight from the Black Knight in Undeadburg or whatever it is called. A little level farming and the world is now my oyster. It's ridiculous. The Taurus deamon? Burnt to cinders. The mini bosses in the church? Slashed to pieces. The Red Wyvern on the bridge? Dead dead dead.

I felt on top of the world until I tried the Gargoyles. Fucking gargoyles.

[Traveller]

Pyromancy is great, I took Sif out in no time with fireball and the dragon ring that boosts sorcery. Obviously no good against the fire types though. I left my newgame+ at the end so when I return to it I can pick it up with all the embers again - I also skipped the depths entirely second time round, and I still want to take out the Gaping Dragon again. I'll go back to it, I love that game.

I'm now playing The Witcher 2. I am really impressed with this game so far, it's like the fantasy version of Mass Effect, but way, way better than Dragon Age. I do wish it had the same target lock as Dark Souls though - I keep getting back-stabbed as only the camera locks onto the target.

I haven't played the first game, so i don't know how this game decides which choices I made in the first one to influence the story in this one. Seems to work so far, although I keep meeting people that know me, but I have no idea who they are.
The journal structure is solid though, there's a ton of info in there when I remember to look. I seem to be getting my ass kicked far more than I did in Dark Souls though!

Great stuff so far.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 26 May 2012 - 06:54 PM

[Aptorian]

I've been playing Binary Domain. I really like this game. Like Vanquish, it's a third person action game from Japan trying to appeal to a Western audience, which makes it really odd but also really fun. The game isn't particularly brilliant, the shooting mechanics are average, the characters are a mix of cultural stereotypes and Japanese silliness but the story is actually very interesting. What really sells the game though is the combat, more particularly the enemies you are faced with. The enemy is sending endless waves of humanoid robots at you that you then get to shoot, blow up or pummel in the most satisfying way. When you shoot the robots bits and pieces of their armor plating go flying away exposing their vulnerable innards. You can shoot off their legs and they come crawling for you and grab you. You can shoot off their arms and they attack you "Monthy Python Black Knight" style or blow their heads off which makes them shoot at random at everything around them. And that's just the vanilla mobs in this game. There's monkey robots that attack in packs, crab robots that scuttle at you, giant robot knights, chain gun baddies, skyscraper sized spider robots, etc.

Buy this game if you like third person shooters and Japanese action/sci-fi.

[Mentalist]

Traveller, on 26 May 2012 - 06:52 PM, said:

Pyromancy is great, I took Sif out in no time with fireball and the dragon ring that boosts sorcery. Obviously no good against the fire types though. I left my newgame+ at the end so when I return to it I can pick it up with all the embers again - I also skipped the depths entirely second time round, and I still want to take out the Gaping Dragon again. I'll go back to it, I love that game.

I'm now playing The Witcher 2. I am really impressed with this game so far, it's like the fantasy version of Mass Effect, but way, way better than Dragon Age. I do wish it had the same target lock as Dark Souls though - I keep getting back-stabbed as only the camera locks onto the target.

I haven't played the first game, so i don't know how this game decides which choices I made in the first one to influence the story in this one. Seems to work so far, although I keep meeting people that know me, but I have no idea who they are.
The journal structure is solid though, there's a ton of info in there when I remember to look. I seem to be getting my ass kicked far more than I did in Dark Souls though!

Great stuff so far.

The stuff wrt to Game 1 is largely cosmetic--it gives you a warm feeling if you know what people mean, but it doesn't play into a story in a major way. Though if you do import a char, you get to start with weapons that are good, up till about a quarter of Act 1 (these are best weapons of TW1, severely nerfed). oh, and TW1 is a great game in its own right, pretty much dirt cheap, and plays on even low-spec modern PCs.

On top of this, the game series is based on 2 books of short stories and 5 full-fledged novels, all of which set up the background (though it's a totally separate plot, that takes place years after) There are LOTS of people who've at least heard about you. Dandelion (have you met him yet?) loves writing about your char, and he's kind of a big deal in the Northern Kingdoms (people know him).

my summer's gotten so hectic I haven't gamed in a while. I have my first Bioshock 2 playthrough about halfway done, and I do intend to finish that.
Once i'm done with it, i'll need to find something cerebral that's a bit easier on the action brain bits--maybe some Deus Ex mods ( I still need to finish 2017, and I've never tried the Nameless mod), or maybe finally get around to playing Fallout 3.

wrt to combat--you start out taking double damage on backstabs. so, the key thing for the first 7 levels (untill you can unlock The path of the Swordsman in your char menu). is dodging--everyone and everything. reducing backstab damage is one of the first 3 choice "skills" on the Swordsman tree, and it helps big time. Also, riposte is great.

[Traveller]

Mentalist, on 08 May 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

Still Playing through Witcher 2...
Second playthorugh just got to Act II from the other side. Combat no longer feels like a chore on normal, and lowering the resolution a bit gave me a 10-frames boost, so that now I can actually dodge and deliver flank and rear hits, which makes the game glorious. My only remaining complaint is that sometimes there's too much cluter on the screen--and if the camera get lost in the lush foliage, I may die because I can't see that my attempts to roll away form an enraged Endrega queen are all failing, because i'm rolling into a tree root, had some clipping bugs, too.

but, those things aside, the game is simply GLORIOUS

This ^. I'm still in Flotsam, but I'm really impressed with it so far. I'm just learning how to use traps effectively, and have just made a bunch of different bombs. I've made a few potions too, and I like how these elements seem to have really useful applications in the game, rather than just being superfluous aspects that aren't actually as effective as just chopping away with a sword.

The attention to detail is also impressive - walking back into the village at dawn, after killing a load of nasties in the forest, you can see people opening doors and coming out of their houses... you don't often see this in other games, as people 'dematerialise' to go in or out of buildings. The sound of birds and insects really make it come alive too, and I like the way you can talk to anyone, even if they don't have much to say - like in FF or Zelda, they are not just moving scenery.

So far it's a bit like a grown-up, gritty version of Fable 2. Except it's way better.

[Trull's son]

Traveller, on 29 May 2012 - 09:00 AM, said:

I'm just learning how to use traps effectively

For me, in Witcher 2, this means shielding, rolling into a group of monsters, and dropping an explosive trap. It was hilarious, risky, and the only way I could deal with that without getting destroyed. Bombs are really useful and fun as well.

I'm playing Baldur's Gate 2 at the moment. I've had it for a couple years, and could never get past the intro. I managed to get a buddy to multiplayer, now I feel like a fool. To have such a gem sitting around. One of the best games I've played in a long time.