[Aptorian]

It's on my list of 500 games I should get around to playing.

[Mentalist]

Went to bed around 3 AM last night after slugging it out with General not-Geralt for many hours.

I think I'm getting the hang of this new RTS system now. It's basically a simplified version of Settlers.

The important part is to prevent the enemy from putting up too many settlements, because not only do those give more access to resources, they also increase the unit cap. So it's all about punching through early, grabbing key defensible chokes and then expanding behind the frontlines to build up an actual economy, while denying the enemy the same ability.

It sure takes some getting used to, after the straightforward brawls of the previous games.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 01 April 2021 - 10:19 PM

[Serenity]

Incredible Aptorian, on 11 November 2020 - 07:46 PM, said:

Finished Persona 5 Royal with a Platinum after 156 hours. Awesome game that is let down by the Royal expansion story that feels utterly unnecessary.

I'd recommend anyone play it and just not play past New Year. It's an extremely cool game.

I think I need to check out Persona 4 Golden on Steam when I find a sweet spot between release windows.

P4G is even better, IMO, but I had the advantage of being able to play it on Vita - I always prefer playing long JRPGs on portable if possible.

[Mentalist]

Briar King, on 11 November 2020 - 11:38 PM, said:

Wonder what Apt would make of Cold Steel.

I should prolly try this series. I have the first Trails in the Sky game somewhere.....


EDIT: also, a lot more SpellForce3. This game does prequel so hard, your companions are all named mage characters who will eventually become The Circle that blows up the world in the intro cinematic to SpellForce the first. Which is super-cool, if you've been following the series since 2003 like I was, haha. (come to think of it, with 10 releases so far, this is actually one of the longest-running Western RPG series... and RTSs, too!)

spent a lot of time dungeon-crawling and collecting cool gear parts. I unlocked the human faction for my RTS fights, but now I got 3 merchants who wanna sell me upgrades for my buildings and units- cost reduction, build time reduction and extra HP, mainly- But I deffo don't have enough cash to buy all this crap. Gonna have to invest in that "bargaining" perk next time I level up.

Now I'm trying to recruit the Orcs, so this'll probably be another RTS slugfest. Hopefully they mix it up a bit.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 14 November 2020 - 07:34 PM

[Mentalist]

Orcs unlocked; I discovered an optional zoom-in map that outlines the borders of different ways sectors, AND includes the count of resources in each sector; made planning and resource management somewhat easier.

It was still touch and go with a lot of save-scumming, since I'm playing on High difficulty; but I'm really getting the hang of the game now, which is satisfying.

Also, in my post-war roam I found an insanely strong Berserker. When my party finally wasted him, he dropped an amazing Epic armour that gives me 75% of inflicted damage as health back. So now my hero can roam maps on his own, and unless he gets swarmed by a bunch of small units, or a pack of ranged enemies, he can survive a lot of encounters.

Orc tech tree is pretty nice, but everything is very squishy against Ranged. Wonder if I can buy some upgrades to alleviate that. Need one more level to max out my Haggle perk, then I can go wild buying stuff.

@ BK: only Fable III is backwards compatible, so yeah, you'd need your 360 for II

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 15 November 2020 - 07:17 PM

[Aptorian]

Fable 1 and 2 aren't backwards compatible? I'm surprised. I'd have thought MS would have made every old exclusive accessible as a high priority.

This post has been edited by Incredible Aptorian: 15 November 2020 - 06:40 PM

[Mentalist]

Incredible Aptorian, on 15 November 2020 - 06:39 PM, said:

Fable 1 and 2 aren't backwards compatible? I'm surprised. I'd have thought MS would have made every old exclusive accessible as a high priority.

They've dropped the ball on a lot of 1st party stuff. Supposedly once the Series X launch kinks are figured out, the BC team will get back to finding more classic games to bring forward.

[Mentalist]

Got the Elves on board now. There was supposed to be an RTS phase there, but I already explored all of the map beforehand, and got a small allied units troop from a side-quest, so when an enemy faction showed up I was able to teleport right outside their base and smash the command building, ending the fight before it could really begin;
Also, received another 2 companions- really getting the RPG choice problem here- every time I wanna go to an area, I'm kinda paralyzed cuz I dunno who'd have the most informative dialogue input.
Oh, and my character has an "extra attack" aura now, on top of all the good life-leech and spell-interrupt bonuses. Should make rolling thru enemies even easier, though I still ended yesterday's session when I rushed into a bunch of undead and my party got wiped; figured it was a good place to stop for the evening.

[Maark Abbott]

The age of exploration has dawned upon the world of Arcadia.

[Mentalist]

Well, it was bound to happen: 2 nights ago I bounced off a level in SpellForce 3 (random Medusae kept wiping my party, largely cuz my new healer is basically shit. Also, I need a new mouse), and so I found myself rebounding straight into the alluring embrace of Age of Kings DE.

Been alternating official campaigns with custom stuff from a few of the top modders I know from my occasional bouts of activity in the Age of Kings Heaven forum and reviews. There's an absolutely fantastic Three Kingdoms scenario where I'm now trying to avenge my illustrious Mafia defeat by uniting all of China as Yuan Shao. There are 6 major warlords to choose from, each one with their own way to gain fame and more power. There's also the remnants of the Yellow Turbans who are the Hard mode, since they can't advance past Feudal age techs. I obviously haven't explored the entire map yet, and I got my ass handed to me when I rushed against Lu Bu's souped-up infantry spam, but this scenario is pretty awesome and I cannot wait to finish work and jump back in.

Also, DE looks astoundingly pretty and runs like a dream after a year of patching. The new Anniversary update sure made the main menu ugly, though. I'm guessing they'll roll that back soon-ish.

[Serenity]

Nearing the end of Trails of Cold Steel. God I love this game, and it's only the start

My limited edition of Cold Steel IV is being delivered today, apparently. Only three weeks late.

[Mentalist]

China has been unified by the most serene Dragon of the North, conqueror of the Xianbei barbarians, Yuan Shao!

Decent fun, I really need to shake the rust off and try this on Hard. it was a pretty basic set-up, as my warlord's personal goal (what nets him power and respect) was to eliminate the nomadic barbarians, which is the easiest goal to achieve even in Castle age. it also helps that Yuan Shao is pretty isolated from all the in-fighting. After snatching a few relics to prevent my staunchest ally, Liu Biao from achieving his objectives first, the only thing I really had to worry about was picking the right moment to turn on the other northern predender, Kong Rong, the merchant prince whose goal was to amass 7000 gold from trade. After taking on the centrally positioned Lu Bu, I was in prime position to cut off the trade with some well-placed castles. Then it was just a matter of picking the next eligible target for the esteemed Doomstack Bulldozer.

After that I tried another campaign, Ottokar, about the exploits of the last great Czech monarch, before Bohemia was portioned off to a German prince (the Luxemburg line). Frankly, I expected something more complex from this modder judging by his prior works, but it's a multi-scen campaign, so I guess it makes sense it's not as detailed as some of his prior maps.

in parallel I'm continuing to crush the Visigoths in the Berber campaign. The enemy AI feels like it got more aggressive, not that it's able to actually convert that aggression into anything- it's more of a a lot of petty annoynaces, rather than a real threat at this point. Sieging multiple cities feels almost workman-like, compared to the free-flow, open mapped custom stuff I'm alternating these with. It's a good mix. Over the holidays I think I might dabble with the scenario editor and see if I can import some of my AoK and HD favourites into DE.

[Aptorian]

I played some Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney yesterday on my Switch. Just the introduction. That's a strange game and I see why it captured the internet's attention. It's very meme-tastic.

Not sure I actually want to play much more of it. It's s bit too clunky and weird.

[Aptorian]

Finished Paper Mario Origami King. Think I started this in the summer but it's not a game you feel like powering through. It's an okay game. Not fantastic but not bad at all. Just very long, simple and tedious at times. Also funny, heartwarming and creative.

Started Part Time UFO on the Switch. Now this is a cool little video game. It's a claw game/physics puzzle. Perfect for small play sessions. Reminds me of a Game Boy game.

This post has been edited by Incredible Aptorian: 22 November 2020 - 04:30 PM

[Malankazooie]

After pouring so many hours into Ghosts of Tsushima (got all achievements *brushes-dust-off-left-shoulder), I wasn't ready to get back into it when the Ghost of Tsushima: Legends DLC came out. Sure, I jumped in and played a few interations of 'Survival Quickplay' and got some easy/early unlockables, but that is pretty much where I left it. I maybe played Surviaval Quickplay for a few hours, tops.

But, Saturday evening I was feeling like a GoT bizzzoss-sawce-bawse and decided to throw max effort into the Story 2-player co-op, and let me tell you, it doesn't disappoint. I finished all of the 10 story arcs (3 chapters per) and they are fantastic. The game play really capitalizes on working together and there are many awesome moments where you and your partner do the crouch-sneak-assassinate murder dance together. I recommend giving it a try if you haven't already. There are three medal (bronze-silver-gold) levels of difficulty and the starting (bronze) levels are very accessible/ease of entry for casual players to play.

[Aptorian]

I started up GOT: Legends last week but I wasn't feeling it. Is there an actual story or us it just run-based levels?

[Malankazooie]

Story option in the Legends menu. Yes, it is a cohesive story with a finale. And very atmospheric in sections. As you and your co-op partner traverse through the chapter gates, there's some really cool environments. Take a look around if you can. Your co-op partner may just run through the next chapter gate which will take you with them.

[Serenity]

Finished Trails of Cold Steel. Holy fuck, that ending. Not quite as devastating as the end of Trails in the Sky but still! Having a couple of days break from gaming to let that finale sink in, then it's straight into Cold Steel II.

Cold Steel IV limited edition arrived, finally.

[Malankazooie]

Played a little bit of Borderlands 3 - Arms Race. Ugh, it's not much fun. I'm not a fan of the attempt to chase trends and roll out these game modes. I preferred the Y1 DLC of story oriented/campaign offerings. I hope this isn't the approach inn Y2, where they abandon story for an attempt at doing trendy game modes - like battle royale-like milquetoast experience Arms Race.

I did like the addition of the skill tree though. Got a loader bot as a pet and he pew pew pews the shit out of stuff.

[Serenity]

Finally, finally, FINALLY! Western releases for the Crossbell Arc of the Trails series! This must surely mean a PS4 and Switch release as well. So happy!

https://store.steamp..._no_Kiseki_KAI/


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1461920/The_Legend_of_Heroes_Ao_no_Kiseki_KAI/