[Traveller]

I'm really enjoying Subnautica.

I put off getting it because of the similarity in look to nms, but in reality it's totally different.

Exploration is actually a thing as there's no map; and finding your way around and back to explore specific areas relies more on landmarks and memory (at the moment anyway, early days) than blips on minimaps.

I like it, it reminds me of The Martian. I have very little prior knowledge about this game too so each new module or component is a surprise, and the

Spoiler

alien ship

was more fun for it. I lost track of a few hours last night and went to bed stupidly late because I was engrossed in some little project.

Also just finished Little Nightmares. It was only 3.99 on PS and well worth it, just to freak the kids out.

[Aptorian]

What's you guys opinion on playing in freedom mode in subnautica? I started the game up last night but was too tired to start exploring.

I think I'll play in freedom mode so I don't have to bother with finding food and water. Heard it blocks certain forms of research, though if all that research is connected to, is food and water I don't think I'll care.

[Morgoth]

Aptorian, on 28 May 2021 - 06:57 AM, said:

What's you guys opinion on playing in freedom mode in subnautica? I started the game up last night but was too tired to start exploring.

I think I'll play in freedom mode so I don't have to bother with finding food and water. Heard it blocks certain forms of research, though if all that research is connected to, is food and water I don't think I'll care.

Food and water is honestly not an issue. There's plenty of fish in your starting area, one of which is an excellent source of water. You find plenty of salt to preserve your food for long journeys, and you'll quickly reach a point where it's no longer a problem either way. I also considered dropping that part of the survival element. It's not necessary, but you'll lose out on the food production and automation part of the game. And besides, it's fun to hunt the fish.

[Aptorian]

Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Do I want to play the game as intended or do I want to streamline the experience.

I've heard the main gripe is that you're sometimes on a long expedition, deep in some cave or crashed ship, and have to cut your journey short because you run out of food or water. Is that a common issue?

[Traveller]

I initially found it a bit of a chore. But now I tend to go out primarily to catch fish and gather salt clusters - you can then make bleach/sterile water, and cure the fish, otherwise they go bad insanely fast.

Like, you take some cooked fish in a trip out, and by the time you're hungry, it's gone rotten and if you eat it you dehydrate.

I went for it because I wanted it to have that element of real to it - and now it's got me planning ahead, gathering and storing, which adds an extra element.

You could skip it I guess and it would save a lot of time, but it depends what you're playing it for. I like catching/scanning new stuff and eating it to find out its nutritional values.

Found a tree yesterday that refills hunger and water, and I felt like a proper castaway as I went round this tiny island stuffing it down to fill myself up.

I'd still choose Survivor, because they'll be newer and better ways to deal with the food and drink down the line that I want to discover, and not having to do any of that would take something vital away from the experience.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 28 May 2021 - 10:22 AM

[Morgoth]

Aptorian, on 28 May 2021 - 08:00 AM, said:

Hmmm. Decisions, decisions. Do I want to play the game as intended or do I want to streamline the experience.

I've heard the main gripe is that you're sometimes on a long expedition, deep in some cave or crashed ship, and have to cut your journey short because you run out of food or water. Is that a common issue?

Water sometimes can be tricky. Once you get the powered knife though, you just cook fish on the spot as you kill them, so food stops being an issue.

[Mentalist]

Initial impressions on Biomutant: ITS PRETTY.

I'm scampering around with a purple and orange anrthropomprhic hyena with a racoon tail in jeans, a t-shirt and a leather jacket. My default weapons are dual Sai daggers and a big-ass hand-cannon. I'm a rodent Rafael.

The story is.... well, it'ssome wuxia tripe set in a lush, beautiful post-apoc. Basically if HZD happened, but instead of human tribes, you ended up with all kinds of mutated animals forming a society. The protagonist's mother used to be the spiritual leader of the one tribe that existed in this enclave within the Wasteland. But, when you were young, "her dark past caught up with her" when a big, angry evil kung fu master wolf-monster thing attacked and burned down the temple compound killing your family.

Now, your mother's disciples have formed their own tribes and they fight amongst themselves. And the Tree of Life that your village raised by imbuing it with local spirits to sustain the land is dying, as it is being devoured by the World-Eater monsters. And you are back from the Wasteland, a "ronin" who can save the world. Or something. Like I said, it's tropey Wuxia tripe, but it's not terrible.

I've only been exploring the starting region still, finished my session by taking the first enemy fort. You have to pick a side early on- either you join the "we need to unite all the tribes" goodies, or the "we need to weed out the Weak" darkies. The goodies are led by a critter in a turban talking about peace and harmony who's called Headkrusha, while the baddies' leader is a chihuahua is a samurai garb. I don't like small dogs, so that decision was a no-brainer. There isn't much to the actual outposts, it's just a set of combat encounters and a mini-boss puzzle (make big dude charge into a load-bearing pole to knock down a sniper nest; use exploding barrel to blast the last gate open)

I can honestly say, I don't care much for this story. The world is full of abandoned settlements, standalone houses and industrial sites (like power stations, bomb shelters or radar dich complexes) full of loot. I'd much rather go explore those, as those will get me extra traversal abilities, such as enviro-suits that let me go into hazardous zones.
Getting a "lush S.T.AL.K.E.R." vibe, especially with the rains- the critters' fur actually sags when they're wet, which is pretty adorable.

Combat isn't great, but I suspect it's because I picked hard difficulty; I'm probably not doing a very good job with my build- I need to work on that.

Overall, I'm enjoying it; but I turned off objective markers and basically minimized the amount of UI elements, so I'm in the map screen a lot, orienteering myself. There's no minimap, so I'm wasting time getting around. I personally find this immersive, but I know a lot of people will just think it's inconvenient.
Overall, it feels like a fun and pretty exploration game; I expect some cool set pieces to come from actually dealing with the big bosses, because they require a special weapon (such as a Mech) to fight; The enemy designs are pretty weird, the wild ones are mostly these savage plushies with very detailed fur; or some elemental skeletal things that lob poison, or rocks at you; the art direction is VERY unique.

I really need to figure out how to respec my guns before I can make any definite conclusions about the combat. But overall, I'm kinda digging this game.

[Mentalist]

Biomutant update: oh hey, it's an RPG. Stuff makes sense once you level up and can, y'know, do stuff.

I hit level 13, just doing a bunch of questing and fighting random mobs. There's a bunch of vendors that need your help to get components for rare upgrades, and I also found the Radiation Biohazard enviro-suit, so now I can go explore the biohazordous zones around old cooling towers; doing random stuff, smashing resource totems for extra crafting bits and activating Altars to gain psi-points, I went from level 7 to level 13. I can't upgrade my starter hand-cannon, which is a shame, so instead I pimped our the nailgun rifle I picked up while storming that one fort. I was also able to unlock some more "wung-fu moves" (combos), so that when I chain'em in combat, I can unlock my "slo-mo ultra-damage mode", which makes combat feel a lot better.

This is totally a "checklist open-world" game, but I'm still digging it. Just scampering from one point of interest to the next is nice, and once you get into a clump of buildings, the game tells you just how many pieces of old tech (puzzles), bio-upgrades or epic loot containers are hidden in the attics and basements, which is actually really nice, since you know you're not gonna miss anything important. It's not an in-your-face "you are 12 m away from a chest" , but it's cool that it encourages you to keep looking for stuff- if you want. Adds to the idea that you are an actual scavenger. Like I said, this post-apoc has a pretty S.T.A.L.K.E.R.-y vibe.

So yeah, I think I'm hooked.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 31 May 2021 - 04:11 PM

[Aptorian]

Finished Gears 5 this morning. Excellent game. The ending felt a bit slapped together but overall a much improved sequel and typically grim middle chapter for a new trilogy.

Coalition really upped their game I feel. Gears 4 was okay but not up to par with Sony's products. 5 felt much more competitive in terms of production value, characters, dialogue, etc. This was a really good AAA experience. I don't quite think we're up there in the system selling tier but with what they've built with 4 and 5, Gears 6 might be. I think Gears has become a must play for people who like action games again.

Also played an hour or two of Subnautica. I'm not in love with this game. It's pretty janky. Controls don't feel great and the game is bad at teaching you new stuff. Though I guess having to learn stuff by yourself is a part of the exploration. Bit scared about this big burning ship near my lifeboat. Game says it's warp drive thingamagic is going to explode in a couple hours. And I can barely figure out how to catch a fish - Can I move my shit or am I just going to die in an anti-matter explosion?

Thinking about either starting up Dragon Quest 11 - Echoes of an Elusive Age or Mass Effect Legendary edition. I'm more pumped for Mass Effect but I'm in the mood for something more open world. Could also try out Just Cause 4 but the third game disappointed me - On the other hand it's open world shooty bang bang.

[Aptorian]

Started up Mass Effect. Damn that sound track is good. That synth music is so iconic you get chills.

I'm going to play with Jane Shepperd this time. I heard FemShep has a really good voice actor but I was sort of set on playing through the trilogy originally with the male shepperd I started with.

[Obdigore]

since 'solasta: crown of the magister' hit Gamepass I've been playing it.

Even though they didn't have the license it feels more 5e than Baldurs Gate 3 has. They don't have a couple classes and are missing a bunch of feats, and they've changed other so some feats aren't just obviously the most best choice at all times, so that's pretty cool.

[Mentalist]

Cleaned up the biohazard zone next to the cooling tower, fought a super-fluffy-rad-scorpion there. Took a bunc of tries, b/c it had 3 younglings with it. I've banked enough mutation points to unlock the Mucus bubble, which is both a defensive skill, and also lets me do high-jumps, to reach more cool stuff.

Encountered a few more named critters, and smashed some walls with my shiny upgraded Power Fist. Another critter is supposed to upgrade my Prybar, but he wants me to set up some climbing ropes for him (?) That part is confusing.

Got the location of another satellite dish that'll allow me to find the actual radiation suit. Might make that today's goal, staying on the south side of the valley, still, not crossing the tree itself. It's pretty massive, and overall, the views in the game can be pretty impressive- too bad Galaxy sucks when it comes to taking and managing screenshots.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 31 May 2021 - 04:22 PM

[Aptorian]

Good to hear you're enjoying Biomutant. I'll check it out when it's 20 USD or comes to Gamepass.

[Aptorian]

I played through the prologue of Mass Effect 1 (Poor Jenkins) and now I'm free to go exploring on the Citadel. I love this.

I remember when I first played this and the whole game just opened up, I was floored. There's all this new lore, all these people to talk to. Political intrigue, blackmail, racial tension.

[Aptorian]

Awh Yeah, just picked up Garus and Wrex. We're teaming up to take on a baddie connected to the Reaper conspiracy.

Feels good to be rocking with my old war buddies. I always preferred to play with those two on the team.

I'd forgotten just how much time you spend on the Citadel in the opening hours. So many characters to meet and places to explore. I'm itching to get on the Normandy and boldly go where people have gone before and then shoot them.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 01 June 2021 - 06:03 AM

[Mentalist]

Aptorian, on 31 May 2021 - 04:25 PM, said:

Good to hear you're enjoying Biomutant. I'll check it out when it's 20 USD or comes to Gamepass.

Yeah, it's not an earth-shattering game, and it's clearly trying to do too much. I'm getting SO. MANY. clipping bugs doing the "slo-mo mode lift them up in the air and deliver a beatdown" combo, where the camera can't pick a good angle, so I end up staring at the texture of the wall that i'm beating someone up against;

but, dammit, the loop is awesome. Move about the world; come up to a ruin; face a bunch of enemies in a janky, but fun, combat encounter; activate some gadget by doing simple rotation puzzles; collect some new crafting piece that makes your frankensword look even weirder and do 30% more damage; then find a door you can't open, because you need to upgrade your prybar; trek to a weirdo who can do that, do some quests for him; all the while the world is gorgeous, and the enemies look like plushies with rabies, which just makes everything feel surreal, but in a good way.

Gonna try to find some of the screenshots I took once I'm on my gaming PC.

EDIT:

Here's a general panoramic shot
 2021-05-31_2157_1.jpg (967.68K)
Number of downloads: 0


Here's one I took of a cool-looking glacier from the beach area where everyone was stronger than me, : )
 2021-05-31_2341_1.jpg (637.16K)
Number of downloads: 0

And these 2 are the tree of life, during the evening, and a few seconds later, once night kicked in
 2021-06-01_0140_1.jpg (601.74K)
Number of downloads: 0
 2021-06-01_0140_2.jpg (348.31K)
Number of downloads: 0

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 02 June 2021 - 03:12 AM

[Aptorian]

Made it off the Citadel. I'm a spectre and I'm on the hunt for baddies - So naturally I went for the most remote star cluster and started surveying planets and getting into gun fights with space mercenaries.

I've always defended the Mako vehicle in Mass Effect 1. After playing the remaster I can no longer stand by this position. OH GOD is this thing frustrating to drive. The boost does nothing and the jump function sends you cartwheeling around the place in any direction but where you want to go. I got stuck in a valley at one point and couldn't get out. Had to return to the ship.

Thank god for SSD loading times.

[Obdigore]

Aptorian, on 02 June 2021 - 11:29 AM, said:

Made it off the Citadel. I'm a spectre and I'm on the hunt for baddies - So naturally I went for the most remote star cluster and started surveying planets and getting into gun fights with space mercenaries.

I've always defended the Mako vehicle in Mass Effect 1. After playing the remaster I can no longer stand by this position. OH GOD is this thing frustrating to drive. The boost does nothing and the jump function sends you cartwheeling around the place in any direction but where you want to go. I got stuck in a valley at one point and couldn't get out. Had to return to the ship.

Thank god for SSD loading times.

The jump jets are hilarious. Hilariously bad but its still hilarious and using them at any point is entertaining to see what random direction they fling you.

[Mentalist]

Gotta say, I'm not a fan of automatic rifle's combos. And the reload time sucks compared to the bolt-action gun I had as my default. Good damage output against bigger enemies, but then you're stuck dodging and weaving while reloading. If i'm in a 1 v 1 situation, I just go back to the weaker rifle, because I can stack combos and Super Wushu beatdowns a LOT easier with that.

I picked up the insulation suit for going into cold zones; wanted to grab the oxygen suit, but it's in the middle of a place on fire; so gotta backtrack and find the fireproof suit first,

I did activate the 4 altars, so now the Tree of Life has a pretty vortex on top of it, very TotalWarhammer-y

Need to hand in that pry-bar quest, because all these doors I can't open are getting annoying; but that's all the way across the map! might need to finally use fast travel.

I really like the crafting systems, except for the fact that the actual materials you use to craft can only be found in "totems" across the map, or from breaking down other items; so my ambitious gun-smithing is usually gated by not having enough Metal Scrap; Not terrible, since I'm mostly comfortable with my weapons and look and doing decent damage despite progressively stronger enemies; Since I'm sticking with the same weapon types, not really using up my skill points, so they're just kind of sitting there.

Nevertheless, still having fun, and some of the named characters are pretty fun, despite everyone being voiced by the Narrator.

[Morgoth]

Subnautica is great and weird still. I haven't had that much time to play, but I have built a massive submarine that seems very unpractical to actually use.