[Maark Abbott]

A gaming pal wants to play the entire Borderlands series before Tiny Tina's D&D comes out. Here we go again...

[Malankazooie]

Made some more progress in Hollow Knight. I started getting the wall slide > jump around thorns deal down and so was able to make progress. It's one of those "10,000 hours" deals that Malcolm Gladwell hammers on in one of his books. Yeah, though it didn't take me 10,000 hours (obvi). Anyway, I've opened up City of Tears and Crystal Peak. The creatures I've confronted keep getting more and more devious. And hooboy, the bosses, damn the bosses. Gonna have to figure them out. I've been acquiring quite a few charms now, so methinks one of the aspects of this game is to figure out the best build out to confront the boss that is impeding your progress. I wish you could change your charms at anytime instead of having to find a bench. I'm really digging the dark faerie tale vibe of the game, it's really cool. I have some thoughts about where the game is going. The whole saving the grubs in the glass jars deal and what will ultimately result from that. If it pans out the way I think it will, it plays perfectly into the dark faerie tale motif.

[Traveller]

Kena is continuing to deliver.

Spent way longer than was reasonable on the first major boss - honestly, from the look of it I wasn't expecting to have a Souls-like battle, but there are definite similarities.

The whole rampaging angry lost-souls thing is good too, and the fight intro is just so dammed pretty and creepy that I didn't want to skip it on every attempt.

I'm really enjoying this, mainly because the devs have left out all the superfluous stuff like inventory management and needless collecting, it's just story + fighting which is just fine with me.

This post has been edited by Traveller: 03 October 2021 - 08:12 AM

[Mentalist]

Been checking out some Steam demos. Nothing earth-shattering, though "Hunt the Night" was, indeed, a solid one.

Also, made it up to Dark Eden in my Blood Omen replay. Any other game I'd be annoyed, since I'm spending 30% of my time in menus, switching weapons- especially since I now got the Fire sword which wrecks anything undead with finality. Alternating that with the mace that stuns humanoids so that I can feed is a proper PITA, but I love the game anyway.

Blood Omen just has those nostalgia hooks. I hear that music, and I can't help but get goose bumps. So incredibly happy GOG got this game out of legal hell

[Maark Abbott]

Malankazooie, on 02 October 2021 - 07:41 PM, said:

Made some more progress in Hollow Knight. I started getting the wall slide > jump around thorns deal down and so was able to make progress. It's one of those "10,000 hours" deals that Malcolm Gladwell hammers on in one of his books. Yeah, though it didn't take me 10,000 hours (obvi). Anyway, I've opened up City of Tears and Crystal Peak. The creatures I've confronted keep getting more and more devious. And hooboy, the bosses, damn the bosses. Gonna have to figure them out. I've been acquiring quite a few charms now, so methinks one of the aspects of this game is to figure out the best build out to confront the boss that is impeding your progress. I wish you could change your charms at anytime instead of having to find a bench. I'm really digging the dark faerie tale vibe of the game, it's really cool. I have some thoughts about where the game is going. The whole saving the grubs in the glass jars deal and what will ultimately result from that. If it pans out the way I think it will, it plays perfectly into the dark faerie tale motif.

I can never see the words Hollow Knight again without hearing the noise 'gwak'.

[Malankazooie]

Finally finished Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I've played this game over nine months (with huge gaps of not playing it). It's basically a viking conquest simulator to control all of the "whatthefuckareaisthis-scires/shires" of England. Some of the story arcs for the areas you pledge to are interesting and fun, some of them are not. The overall story that brings you to the conclusion was kind of lost on me (probably because of how long it took me to finish it), so the Sigurd stuff I had to revisit by searching the internet. I got the less optimal ending. There are some decisions, that impact what ending you get, that are pretty silly, and you would never anticipate they are what determines the ending. Also, a particular sequence in the ending was confusing as well. Lets just say it occurs in current time outside of the animus. I guess not so confusing as, ugh, what the hell, why did they go that route. I maxed the ex points (466 I believe), after which you get mastery points that you can apply to Wolf, Bear or Raven (which increases melee, assassination dmg, health etc in small increments). I think I ended with like 30 mastery points. Not sure if there is a cap on those.

As the AC games go, this doesn't disappoint in many respects, if the AC games are your cup of tea, but this game is bloated and I probably spent waaaaay too many play sessions just running down wealth, mysteries and events instead of moving the story ahead. As is normal when I finish an AC game, I don't even want to entertain the idea of playing another one anytime soon. I played Origins, but I didn't play Odyssey, and I think I should have, as I think there are some nuances I missed in Valhalla that would have made more sense if I played Odyssey. I understand that AC Valhalla wraps up the ancient trilogy. So the precursors to the Assassins/Templars story is shelved for the time being? I'm interested to see where Assassin's Creed Infinity takes it. Live service where a "season" model puts you in different time periods?

[Mentalist]

Got the "burn all Roman castles in under 30 min" achievement on my 2nd run. Took me 29 and a half minutes, but I got it done.

Now, all that's left is the only hard scenario in that campaign.

[Aptorian]

Malankazooie, on 05 October 2021 - 10:26 PM, said:

Finally finished Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I've played this game over nine months (with huge gaps of not playing it). It's basically a viking conquest simulator to control all of the "whatthefuckareaisthis-scires/shires" of England. Some of the story arcs for the areas you pledge to are interesting and fun, some of them are not. The overall story that brings you to the conclusion was kind of lost on me (probably because of how long it took me to finish it), so the Sigurd stuff I had to revisit by searching the internet. I got the less optimal ending. There are some decisions, that impact what ending you get, that are pretty silly, and you would never anticipate they are what determines the ending. Also, a particular sequence in the ending was confusing as well. Lets just say it occurs in current time outside of the animus. I guess not so confusing as, ugh, what the hell, why did they go that route. I maxed the ex points (466 I believe), after which you get mastery points that you can apply to Wolf, Bear or Raven (which increases melee, assassination dmg, health etc in small increments). I think I ended with like 30 mastery points. Not sure if there is a cap on those.

As the AC games go, this doesn't disappoint in many respects, if the AC games are your cup of tea, but this game is bloated and I probably spent waaaaay too many play sessions just running down wealth, mysteries and events instead of moving the story ahead. As is normal when I finish an AC game, I don't even want to entertain the idea of playing another one anytime soon. I played Origins, but I didn't play Odyssey, and I think I should have, as I think there are some nuances I missed in Valhalla that would have made more sense if I played Odyssey. I understand that AC Valhalla wraps up the ancient trilogy. So the precursors to the Assassins/Templars story is shelved for the time being? I'm interested to see where Assassin's Creed Infinity takes it. Live service where a "season" model puts you in different time periods?

I'd say that the bloat is the main reason why I haven't tried out AC Vikings yet. It just gets old eventually.

Speaking of old, I bought Farcry 6 and boy is this an example of old wine in a new bottle. Nothing about this games introduction and early missions seems next gen. Everything looks and feels like Farcry 3-5, even with the HD pack you can download.

Still, it's a open world first person shooter where you can sick a crocodile at your enemies, so it's okay in my book so far.

[Malankazooie]

Aptorian, on 08 October 2021 - 01:43 PM, said:

Malankazooie, on 05 October 2021 - 10:26 PM, said:

Finally finished Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I've played this game over nine months (with huge gaps of not playing it). It's basically a viking conquest simulator to control all of the "whatthefuckareaisthis-scires/shires" of England. Some of the story arcs for the areas you pledge to are interesting and fun, some of them are not. The overall story that brings you to the conclusion was kind of lost on me (probably because of how long it took me to finish it), so the Sigurd stuff I had to revisit by searching the internet. I got the less optimal ending. There are some decisions, that impact what ending you get, that are pretty silly, and you would never anticipate they are what determines the ending. Also, a particular sequence in the ending was confusing as well. Lets just say it occurs in current time outside of the animus. I guess not so confusing as, ugh, what the hell, why did they go that route. I maxed the ex points (466 I believe), after which you get mastery points that you can apply to Wolf, Bear or Raven (which increases melee, assassination dmg, health etc in small increments). I think I ended with like 30 mastery points. Not sure if there is a cap on those.

As the AC games go, this doesn't disappoint in many respects, if the AC games are your cup of tea, but this game is bloated and I probably spent waaaaay too many play sessions just running down wealth, mysteries and events instead of moving the story ahead. As is normal when I finish an AC game, I don't even want to entertain the idea of playing another one anytime soon. I played Origins, but I didn't play Odyssey, and I think I should have, as I think there are some nuances I missed in Valhalla that would have made more sense if I played Odyssey. I understand that AC Valhalla wraps up the ancient trilogy. So the precursors to the Assassins/Templars story is shelved for the time being? I'm interested to see where Assassin's Creed Infinity takes it. Live service where a "season" model puts you in different time periods?

I'd say that the bloat is the main reason why I haven't tried out AC Vikings yet. It just gets old eventually.

Speaking of old, I bought Farcry 6 and boy is this an example of old wine in a new bottle. Nothing about this games introduction and early missions seems next gen. Everything looks and feels like Farcry 3-5, even with the HD pack you can download.

Still, it's a open world first person shooter where you can sick a crocodile at your enemies, so it's okay in my book so far.

It was such a huge contrast when jumping into and playing the Ghost of Tsushima - Iki Island DLC from the experience with AC Valhalla. Going from an open world game (Valhalla) where if you're a completionist you can spend each play session, hours and hours worth, just doing stuff that has no connection to the story, to an open world game (Ghost of Tsushima) where it gets to the core and essence of an open world game with the story (with ancillary activities and things to collect that for the most part support the main story). That being said, I did enjoy Valhalla. I haven't played quite a few of the AC games, but Valhalla is up there with Black Flag and Origins.

[Tiste Simeon]

I've played almost every AC game that's existed and I was burned out by the end of Odyssey. I'm not sure I have the time for Valhalla and even if I did I'm not sure I'd have the energy for it. Even though I love Vikings!

[Malankazooie]

Tiste Simeon, on 08 October 2021 - 03:56 PM, said:

I've played almost every AC game that's existed and I was burned out by the end of Odyssey. I'm not sure I have the time for Valhalla and even if I did I'm not sure I'd have the energy for it. Even though I love Vikings!

I definetly give Valhalla a recommendation, but with a few caveats.

(1) If you've recently played an AC game that is massive (like Odyssey) then I recommend taking a break and waiting until you feel the AC interest bubble up again. You can get it at a nice discount from release price and hopefully by then they will have fixed all of the bugs. One of the frustrations with these massive Ubisoft games is the number of bugs. Most of them are inconsequential or not bad, but I was having an issue with my saved games crashing when loading.

(2) I definitely recommend waiting to play on the latest consoles (PS5 or Series X) or a PC gaming rig. I played on basic PS4 (from 2014!) and the load times were almost to the point of being unbearable. I almost gave up playing just on that alone, but have powered through the main game. The added end game activities and content they've tacked on (e.g. river raids and mastery challenges) I've pretty much bailed on because of the load time when you jump into those activities.

<><><><><><><>
On a super cool game related note: I've attained all of Thor's armor and hammer (Mjollnir), Odin's spear (Gungnir), and Excalibur. And you can duel wield them. I was rocking with hammer in right hand and spear in left for awhile. Then I switched it up and swapped out spear for Excalibur. Thor's hammer is just too cool not to make a mainstay, primary go to weapon. That chain lighting is fantastic.

[Mentalist]

Took a bit of a detour with replaying Attila. Did scen 1 on Moderate, cuz I wanted the achievement for wrecking the Scythians instead of allying with them; did 2 and 3 on Hard, because Huns are just that much faster to get in gear that it doesn't matter;

And then busted it down to Standard for the Battle of Catalaunian Fields, cuz it's another timed achievement scen. Wrecking 3 bases in under 30 min took most of my night, b/c the Byzantines tend to refuse to die and try rebuilding all the time.

1 more achievement to grab in Scen 6; then might replay 1, 5 and 6 to get the Gold medals, haha

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 15 October 2021 - 07:49 PM

[Serenity]

Metroid Dread. Fantastic in every aspect. Unfortunately, though, my reactions are no longer as good as they were 20 years ago when I was playing the Prime and GBA games lol.

[Aptorian]

Played some more Farcry 6 and I'm beginning to warm up to the game.

There's way too many systems and activities on your map compared to 3 and 4 but once you sort of get a good load out ready and you ignore all the distractions, this is some good Farcry 6 gameplay. Just carving a path along the map, from village, to military outpost and AA guns, through fuel depots and bunkers, etc. it's all good. If you just shoot people a lot it doesn't really matter what ammo you're equipped with. Helicopters are scary though. If you haven't got you back pack super weapon primed, you better high tail it inside or behind hard cover or those birds will fuck you up.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Aptorian, on 15 October 2021 - 09:56 AM, said:

Played some more Farcry 6 and I'm beginning to warm up to the game.

There's way too many systems and activities on your map compared to 3 and 4 but once you sort of get a good load out ready and you ignore all the distractions, this is some good Farcry 6 gameplay. Just carving a path along the map, from village, to military outpost and AA guns, through fuel depots and bunkers, etc. it's all good. If you just shoot people a lot it doesn't really matter what ammo you're equipped with. Helicopters are scary though. If you haven't got you back pack super weapon primed, you better high tail it inside or behind hard cover or those birds will fuck you up.

Is the setting back to somewhere remote where it’s at least minimally feasible that this stuff is happening? I couldn’t get past the idea in 5 that it was happening in Montana, which I have driven through on freeways that the protagonist could have used to go get help at any time.

[Aptorian]

It's set on an alternate earth Cuba, called Yara. Supposedly after a socialist revolution fifty years before or so, Yara is put under a blockade and sort of forgotten by the world. But then in recent years a new dictator has been installed, who's doing all kinds of crazy shit with human experiments and slave labor.

The game has a lot more story and characters than previous Farcrys. It's a lot more complex. For good and for bad.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 18 October 2021 - 02:56 AM

[Mentalist]

Got back to Blood Omen. Cleared Dark Eden and Avernus last night. The streets of Avernus are an annoying level, never was a fan of those demon enemies.

Need at least 2 more full moons to work out most of the game's secrets, so gonna have to time my progress along Willendorf and the Dollmaker's dungeon a bit.

[Malankazooie]

Well after I said didn't want to entertain the idea of playing an AC game anytime soon after finishing Valhalla, I jumped back in to check out the game expansion called "Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Discovery Tour." It's free, and I wanted to see what it is about.

Here's a primer - https://www.youtube....h?v=2A8vES0EwOY

I didn't get very far, and not sure how much I'll continue on but I think it's a pretty cool experience. I'm burned out on Assassin's Creed, but I can see myself jumping in, doing the next "tour" casually over time. I think Origins and Odyssey have done something similar, but I don't think to this extent.

[Mentalist]

Malankazooie, on 24 October 2021 - 04:01 PM, said:

Well after I said didn't want to entertain the idea of playing an AC game anytime soon after finishing Valhalla, I jumped back in to check out the game expansion called "Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Discovery Tour." It's free, and I wanted to see what it is about.

Here's a primer - https://www.youtube....h?v=2A8vES0EwOY

I didn't get very far, and not sure how much I'll continue on but I think it's a pretty cool experience. I'm burned out on Assassin's Creed, but I can see myself jumping in, doing the next "tour" casually over time. I think Origins and Odyssey have done something similar, but I don't think to this extent.

They started with Unity, I think. There was even a thing when Ubi was giving out free copies of Unity's Discovery tour so that people could still experience the Notre Dame after it was damaged by fire.

[Malankazooie]

OK, makes sense. I played Black Flag > Rogue and then missed Unity and Syndicate. I remember at the time Unity was on next gen systems only (PS4/XBone! wow!) and Syndicate getting criticism for being buggy at that time were barriers or put me off wanting play them. I played Origins > Valhalla (missed Odyssey between Ori&Val, just too burnt out to go into Odyssey after Origins). I remember the announcement of the Discovery DLC and free download for Origins at the time, but never thought to give it a try. I may have to reinstall to check it out, although that probably is too much of a hassle.