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  1. - Top - End - #91
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Well, that was the end of Longest Journey. Pretty good, overall. I didn' have to use a walkthrough much, just occasionally (and almost always as usual because I'd missed a tag or something somewhere).

    Wiki tells me there appear to be a couple of sequels follow ups... Anyone know what they're like?
    Their sequels are Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and Dreamfall Chronicles. Bearing in mind that they switched the genre from the first game into something more akin to a Telltale-like, they amp up the story's tension and drama up to 11, and are pretty safe bets if you enjoyed the first game's story. The third game, to nitpick a little, is a bit of a step down from the second's storytelling brilliance, but it still manages to tie the ends together in a plausible way, so I can't complain that much.

  2. - Top - End - #92
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Cespenar View Post
    Their sequels are Dreamfall: The Longest Journey, and Dreamfall Chronicles. Bearing in mind that they switched the genre from the first game into something more akin to a Telltale-like, they amp up the story's tension and drama up to 11, and are pretty safe bets if you enjoyed the first game's story. The third game, to nitpick a little, is a bit of a step down from the second's storytelling brilliance, but it still manages to tie the ends together in a plausible way, so I can't complain that much.
    Which bit of Telltale? (I stopped looking following them after they'd done Tales of Monkey Island and the last Sam & Max games and they never did anything that ever remotely got my interest again, so...)
    Last edited by Aotrs Commander; 2020-12-10 at 09:14 AM.

  3. - Top - End - #93
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Which bit of Telltale? (I stopped looking following them after they'd done Tales of Monkey Island and the last Sam & Max games and they never did anything that ever remotely got my interest again, so...)
    I get it, and I meant more genre-wise, rather than quality-wise. Meaning, no item puzzles, no classic point&click gameplay, but more dialogue choices, branching paths, etc.

    On a sidenote, while any sourness towards Telltale is understandable, I can still suggest Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands from their list, if you want to sample their (arguable) bests. They are pretty good if you don't mind the mostly linear storylines.
    Last edited by Cespenar; 2020-12-10 at 10:55 AM.

  4. - Top - End - #94
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Cespenar View Post
    On a sidenote, while any sourness towards Telltale is understandable, I can still suggest Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands from their list, if you want to sample their (arguable) bests. They are pretty good if you don't mind the mostly linear storylines.
    The subject matter (post Sam & Max season three) simply was nothing I was ever at all interested in.

  5. - Top - End - #95
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Well, that was the end of Longest Journey. Pretty good, overall. I didn' have to use a walkthrough much, just occasionally (and almost always as usual because I'd missed a tag or something somewhere).

    Wiki tells me there appear to be a couple of sequels follow ups... Anyone know what they're like?
    Frustrating and uneven. Dreamfall and Dreamfall Chapters are actually a different story set in the same world(s) that dovetail into a kind of follow-up to the story of the Longest Journey. But it's mostly its own thing, primarily following new characters Zoe Castillo and Kian Alvane. April is present, but relegated to a more minor supporting role.

    Don't think the writing is quite as strong, and the puzzles are much easier. I enjoyed them, but mostly just for experiencing the story. It does give answers to several mysteries from the Longest Journey, just don't go in expecting a full sequel to it.

  6. - Top - End - #96
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    The One-Winged Angel descends upon Smash. Sephiroth will be joining Smash Ultimate sometime this month.

    Did not see that coming (given how little SE let Nintendo use for Cloud in the base game, I assumed anything FF related was surely not going to happen), but after playing FF7R earlier this year, I will take it. He'll be the first character from Fighter Pass 2 that I actually pick up, and I look forward to slicing people up with his oversized-as-hell sword - and apparently blowing them up with some magic, too. Hopefully Square-Enix is less stingy with what they let Nintendo include with him than they were with Cloud. More than two songs this time, please and thank you.
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  7. - Top - End - #97
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Zevox View Post
    The One-Winged Angel descends upon Smash. Sephiroth will be joining Smash Ultimate sometime this month.
    My 10 year old just about blew a gasket when he impaled Mario

    I could think of other FF characters I'd prefer, but seems like a pretty good choice and at least Cloud has some company now. And that will be a tempting Amiibo purchase.

  8. - Top - End - #98
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Funny how even in his reveal video, they still show him getting beaten up by Cloud.

  9. - Top - End - #99
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Sephiroth made me laugh. I was originally expecting Master Chief, but since we got Minecraft Steve previously, I knew that was the Microsoft Rep and he last spot was kind of in the air. I was going to go either Doom Guy, Crash or Monster Hunter, but nothing concrete and open for surprise. Master Cheif in Fortnite though? Out of left field, will admit.

    I've seen a lot of Cyberpunk streams and it looks a solid 7. Effort is there and it's definitely high quality, but it still has that familiar open world jank and none of the characters or basic plot has done anything to draw me in. Visually, I don't particularly care for it, and this is from a huge Deus EX Human Revolution fan. i guess i like DX HR's cleaner looks then the dirty/punk aesthetic of Cyberpunk. Also, you can't make your character look like a squat, homeless gremlin. and that saddens me. I'm sure it'll be modded in by fans though. I won't be buying it as is, but i'm happy it exists for those that like it.

    Finishing up some stuff in MH Iceborne. I've been successful in hunting Silver Rathalos in hope of making the T12 rath hammer and I'm eyeing Gold Rathian for it's armour passives. My success rate VS Furious Rajang has been... middling. Angry Monkey is ANGRY and very mobile. I want it's armour and a few weapons. The Greatsword is just fantastic looking. I've yet to beat Raging Brachy, which is Brachy only bigger and with more explosions (insert Megumin meme here). Beyond these fights, i'm largely done with Kulve Taroth: i've got the armour and many weapons, including a couple of nice Insect Glaives, so i'm good.

    Next up would be fighting Safi'Jiva and Alatreon then eventually: Fatalis.

  10. - Top - End - #100
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by oxybe View Post
    Finishing up some stuff in MH Iceborne. I've been successful in hunting Silver Rathalos in hope of making the T12 rath hammer and I'm eyeing Gold Rathian for it's armour passives. My success rate VS Furious Rajang has been... middling. Angry Monkey is ANGRY and very mobile. I want it's armour and a few weapons. The Greatsword is just fantastic looking. I've yet to beat Raging Brachy, which is Brachy only bigger and with more explosions (insert Megumin meme here). Beyond these fights, i'm largely done with Kulve Taroth: i've got the armour and many weapons, including a couple of nice Insect Glaives, so i'm good.

    Next up would be fighting Safi'Jiva and Alatreon then eventually: Fatalis.
    I keep meaning to get back into Iceborne since it seems really good, and right up my alley (aside from the story which is terrible). It's just such a pain to pair up my controller to the PC that I never end up doing it. It doesn't help that my best friend who I played MHW with originally quit playing.

  11. - Top - End - #101
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Zevox View Post
    The One-Winged Angel descends upon Smash. Sephiroth will be joining Smash Ultimate sometime this month.

    Did not see that coming (given how little SE let Nintendo use for Cloud in the base game, I assumed anything FF related was surely not going to happen), but after playing FF7R earlier this year, I will take it. He'll be the first character from Fighter Pass 2 that I actually pick up, and I look forward to slicing people up with his oversized-as-hell sword - and apparently blowing them up with some magic, too. Hopefully Square-Enix is less stingy with what they let Nintendo include with him than they were with Cloud. More than two songs this time, please and thank you.
    Not Since the Sans costume have I had such motivation to actually purchase Smash DLC. I don't play online so I don't have much motivation to update my smash stuff, so this will be a good excuse to do so on top of getting the original/iconic long haired bishonen edgy katana villain (I assume, I'm probably wrong of course).
    I'm also on discord as "raziere".


  12. - Top - End - #102
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Anteros View Post
    I keep meaning to get back into Iceborne since it seems really good, and right up my alley (aside from the story which is terrible). It's just such a pain to pair up my controller to the PC that I never end up doing it. It doesn't help that my best friend who I played MHW with originally quit playing.
    Oh the story is absolutely terrible. 100% just a vehicle to get you from monster to monster and different set pieces you fight them in.

    And I'm fine with that. The monsters are the stars of the show and watching them be big derpy animals is half the fun of the game. The other is, of course, beating them up and taking their stuffing.

    I do wish I had peeps to play and hunt with, but my odd waking and working hours makes MonHunt pickup groups some of my only viable choices. Thankfully they aren't actually terrible. I'm sure it's possible to get carried through MonHunt and pacifist run the game if you have a group of dedicated friends or lucky with pickup groups, but more then likely if someone is capable of choosing a mission, they're probably around it's skill and gear level.

    I admit I'm of 2 minds when it comes to the Clutch Claw leaving in Rise. I'll be missing the ease of getting slinger ammo, but not so much the impact the loss of it will have on a fight. the high HP of some master rank monsters made the softening of parts almost necessary for a good and quick run (Silver Rathalos has a BASE HP value of ~21k... then you can find it tempered!) and the ability to force a down whenever it was near a wall and not enraged very much changed the dynamic of the hunter V monster dance. The claw is a cool tool I want to see back in a later MonHunt Rise update, but it definitely needs tweaking as I do feel it's a necessary crutch in the current Iceborn environment.

    I'm still amazed it took me this long to find the MonHunt series. It just managed to fly under my radar, while being exactly the kind of game I love.

  13. - Top - End - #103
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Mmm. Wasteland 3 is on sale. But last night I spent, like £165 on BattleMechs (from Germany, since post-January, post into the UK being completed [fracked] will be the least of our problems).

    So. Given that I have Phantom Doctrine and now Pheonix Point queued up, can anyone present a compelling reason why I should get it now or should I just wait for the next sale...?

  14. - Top - End - #104
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    So, I dug out a game I haven't played in a little while to pass the time until Christmas - Infamous: Second Son. The very first game I played on my PS4.

    At first, I'm thinking about how, while the game looked visually great back then, it's clear that visuals have improved a fair bit since. And the controls are looser than I remember, and the combat feels kind of simplistic third-person-shootery at first. And your starting power set, Smoke, is just kind of okay, with a few cool things that you can do, but nothing spectacular.

    And then you get to the point where you meet Fetch and get the Neon powers. And from then on you can basically change the game's name to "The Flash: Laser Tag," and it is awesome. Run around the city, including up the sides of buildings, as a streak of light; shoot people in the leg to instantly incapacitate them and earn good karma points (or the head to instantly vaporize them and earn evil karma); fire a powered-up beam that can knock over enemy watchtowers and bridges, dropping troops that were using them; lob light grenades that levitate enemies helplessly for a while, making them easy targets. Seriously, the Neon powers basically make this game. I know the third power set is cool too, but if it weren't for it basically letting you fly, I don't know that I'd ever want to use even it over Neon.

    Also, story's surprisingly fairly good. I didn't remember much about it, but coming back it, I quickly find myself liking Delsin, Reggie, and Fetch again, and Augustine is a very hateable villain.
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Got Cyberpunk for PS4 on a whim, not really knowing anything about the game. A bit expensive at 70€ at this point, but I am pleasantly surprised by what I found. Graphics are nothing amazing and I was expecting more options for the character customization (I played a woman because all the male haircuts suck) but I quite like the look and feel of the environment. And the animations for characters hanging around and talking are actually quite impressive, and the voice acting is all great so far. I was actually expecting more Bethesda style open world nonsense, but it seems quite story heavy in an open environment, which is also a really nice surprise.
    Doesn't seem like the ultimate bestest game of all time that will cure all cancer and bring world peace, but I really quite like it. I think I got some 12 to 15 hours in by now, and at this stage I think I'd rate it as a 7 based on design and gameplay, but given how much fun I have with it, I think it'd be a solid 8.
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  16. - Top - End - #106
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    So with Seph coming to Smash I was thinking about the big question: Mii costumes.

    I really, REALLY hope they go all in with FF themed villains.

    Gilgamesh Mii Swordfighter WITH Record Keeper's Battle on the Big Band vocal orchestral mix? I will Stan for this.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Yora View Post
    Got Cyberpunk for PS4 on a whim, not really knowing anything about the game. A bit expensive at 70€ at this point, but I am pleasantly surprised by what I found. Graphics are nothing amazing and I was expecting more options for the character customization (I played a woman because all the male haircuts suck) but I quite like the look and feel of the environment. And the animations for characters hanging around and talking are actually quite impressive, and the voice acting is all great so far. I was actually expecting more Bethesda style open world nonsense, but it seems quite story heavy in an open environment, which is also a really nice surprise.
    Doesn't seem like the ultimate bestest game of all time that will cure all cancer and bring world peace, but I really quite like it. I think I got some 12 to 15 hours in by now, and at this stage I think I'd rate it as a 7 based on design and gameplay, but given how much fun I have with it, I think it'd be a solid 8.
    I've finally got Cyberpunk running (58gb download + 33gb patch takes a while) and am a couple hours in. As you said, it's not the be-all end-all game, but I never expected it to be. Probably helps that my ongoing policy of ignoring 100% of prerelease hype and 80% of reviews was in full effect here; I knew I was going to get the game so there wasn't any reason to get worked up about it. It pretty much is what I was expecting though; extremely well written with an excellently realized open world as backdrop and set dressing for the story.

    The combat is pretty good too. I wish it leaned a bit more on the shooter, and a bit less on the RPG, but that's just me. I started on Hard as well, which may contribute to me apparently being of made delicate china swathed in fine tissue paper, while enemies can absorb a magazine of rifle ammunition to the face with only minor inconvenience. Think I might turn it down, this doesn't really feel like a game I play for teh 1337 dud3 sh00tz. That's what all those Halo games I've got are for.
    Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
    When they shot him down on the highway,
    Down like a dog on the highway,
    And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.


    Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.

  18. - Top - End - #108
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by oxybe View Post
    So with Seph coming to Smash I was thinking about the big question: Mii costumes.

    I really, REALLY hope they go all in with FF themed villains.

    Gilgamesh Mii Swordfighter WITH Record Keeper's Battle on the Big Band vocal orchestral mix? I will Stan for this.
    I'd be pretty thrilled with a Gilgamesh or Kefka Mii Costume. I suspect however we'll get a Tifa Mii Costume for the Brawler, maybe a Yuffie or Moogle. I'd actually put good money on Moogle.

    I hope they stick with doing a few big Indie Game characters. We'll never get The Knight from Hollow Knight as an actual playable character on the roster but as a Sword Mii costume? I'd put the money out for it to get it.

    With Seph as the third, and three more to go, really curious as to who they're going to fill in with those slots. Between Seph and Steve it honestly can be anyone at this point. I know people are pulling for Crash, that's still a strong possibility at this point. I'm still pulling for Shantae. A strong trollish desire also still exists in me that they add another Fire Emblem character and another Pokemon to make the community furious.
    Last edited by Razade; 2020-12-13 at 12:03 AM.

  19. - Top - End - #109
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Turned the difficulty in Cyberpunk down to normal. Definitely the way to play. Dudes die when you shoot them now.

    Also, and this is a real joy for an RPG - or a modern game in general - when you kill somebody they actually drop their gun and you can take it. Damn I love that.
    Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
    When they shot him down on the highway,
    Down like a dog on the highway,
    And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.


    Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.

  20. - Top - End - #110
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    I started on Hard as well, but haven't found it to be too difficult. I've died a couple of times, but it's about what I expected. I'm glad the difficulty scaling seems to be sensible/meaningful if there's that much of a difference between Normal and Hard.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by oxybe View Post
    So with Seph coming to Smash I was thinking about the big question: Mii costumes.

    I really, REALLY hope they go all in with FF themed villains.
    Gilgamesh Mii Swordfighter WITH Record Keeper's Battle on the Big Band vocal orchestral mix? I will Stan for this.
    Quote Originally Posted by Razade View Post
    I'd be pretty thrilled with a Gilgamesh or Kefka Mii Costume. I suspect however we'll get a Tifa Mii Costume for the Brawler, maybe a Yuffie or Moogle. I'd actually put good money on Moogle.
    The return of the Chocobo Mii Costume from Smash 4 seems quite likely. Beyond that, I feel like the most obvious picks are Tifa as a Brawler and Barret as a Gunner, but we'll see what they do.

    Another one to watch for: Geno. His costume from Smash 4 is still MIA, and a Square-Enix character is probably the most likely release for them to re-release it with if they're going to. If that happens, it's going to kill a lot of peoples' hopes for him to be a full playable character. If not, it might be (but is not guaranteed to be, of course) because he is on the slate for one of the remaining DLC slots.

    Quote Originally Posted by Razade View Post
    I hope they stick with doing a few big Indie Game characters. We'll never get The Knight from Hollow Knight as an actual playable character on the roster but as a Sword Mii costume? I'd put the money out for it to get it.
    Possible, given they did Cuphead and Sans.

    Quote Originally Posted by Razade View Post
    With Seph as the third, and three more to go, really curious as to who they're going to fill in with those slots. Between Seph and Steve it honestly can be anyone at this point. I know people are pulling for Crash, that's still a strong possibility at this point. I'm still pulling for Shantae. A strong trollish desire also still exists in me that they add another Fire Emblem character and another Pokemon to make the community furious.
    I'm still holding out some hope for Dante, personally. Beyond him, I'm kind of at the point of being okay with whoever - with Joker and Banjo in the first set of DLC I already got my dreams-come-true picks, and just in general at this point it's legitimately getting hard for me to come up with picks that I'd find half as exciting as those. I suppose from there I'd be slightly hoping for Shantae and/or Geno, since I have a friend who would be very excited for either of them, or for Crash, just because he seems to be a big hope for a lot of the online fanbase, and I can definitely understand wanting to get a classic platformer character and one-time mascot of a rival console into the game, having been someone who was thrilled when Sonic was announced for Brawl.

    Also, I would totally take another Fire Emblem character. Throw in Lyn, Edelgard, Claude, or Dimitri, and I would be over the moon, and not care in the slightest about the people it'd upset. It won't happen, but it is fun to contemplate.
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  22. - Top - End - #112
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by warty goblin View Post
    The combat is pretty good too. I wish it leaned a bit more on the shooter, and a bit less on the RPG, but that's just me. I started on Hard as well, which may contribute to me apparently being of made delicate china swathed in fine tissue paper, while enemies can absorb a magazine of rifle ammunition to the face with only minor inconvenience
    Combat is one of the thing I actually dislike, and which I feel really isn't right for this game. I'm playing on Hard (because Normal generally never takes any effort), my character is not set up for combat, and it's still early in the game, so there's some reason why my character is doing pretty poorly. But walking straight up to a random gangsters face and unloading two pistol magazines straight in his face and he's still in good fighting shape just feels really out of place.
    I almost never play present day games, and this one manages to draw me in so well, that the first time I got to drive a car and came to a corner, I was thinking for a second where the indicators are on the controller. I find myself waiting for the light to change at pedestrian crossings and looking both sides when crossing a street without even thinking about it. (You can get hit by cars, so it's not completely pointless. ) In that mindset, I expect enemies to go down after two or three hits. If I were asked how the difficulty levels in a game like this should work early in development, my answer would immediately be "all weapons are more deadly". Giving everyone more health is the opposite of that. It doesn't really make the game harder, only slower. (Mass Effect was guilty of the same thing over a decade ago.)

    Fortunately for me, I quickly found out in the food factory that the game actually lets you play a great deal of it as a stealth game. Other than a story related shotout at the very start, and a boss fight at the very end, I got through the entire thing without using a weapon. I think I did the Heist without being spotted once. And I love Thief and Metal Gear Solid. (Though I think this game is more like Deus Ex, which I never played.)
    Combat also played very different during the first Interlude. Unless the enemies were deliberately made very weak to make this a cinematic power trip, I expect weapons to pack a much bigger punch later on. Hopefully that's the case.

    I think what's actually the worst design decision of the game is the loot. I find so much equipment that crafting in this game seems pointless. (Though I think crafting in every game is pointless, except for potions in Witcher games,) And there's so much useless junk you can turn into crafting material everywhere. And when you're a little bit compulsive about these things like I am, this turns most dramatic gun fights into me spending one half to one third searching for garbage while bullets are still flying. I don't know if I'll drop from a ledge or a door closes behind me, so I have to pick every room spot clean before moving on. Is that how the game is supposed to be played? Otherwise, why would they put so much stuff anywhere.
    (The dumbest part about this is that I never use money or craft equipment in RPGs anyway. I only use weapons and armor that I find, and only ever use healing potions and grenades. Everything always gets hoarded until the end of the game and never used. And I believe I am not the only player who does that.)
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  23. - Top - End - #113
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Remember everyone you fight is auged out the ass. There's a reason sparks fly off when you shoot them in addition to blood. Any verisimilitude issues should dissipate when you keep that in mind.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by warty goblin View Post
    The combat is pretty good too. I wish it leaned a bit more on the shooter, and a bit less on the RPG, but that's just me. I started on Hard as well, which may contribute to me apparently being of made delicate china swathed in fine tissue paper, while enemies can absorb a magazine of rifle ammunition to the face with only minor inconvenience. Think I might turn it down, this doesn't really feel like a game I play for teh 1337 dud3 sh00tz. That's what all those Halo games I've got are for.
    Definitely a good reason to drop the difficulty then. Little else turns me away from shooters faster than the old get-shot-in-the-face-and-walk-away syndrome.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Yora View Post
    I think what's actually the worst design decision of the game is the loot. I find so much equipment that crafting in this game seems pointless. (Though I think crafting in every game is pointless, except for potions in Witcher games,) And there's so much useless junk you can turn into crafting material everywhere. And when you're a little bit compulsive about these things like I am, this turns most dramatic gun fights into me spending one half to one third searching for garbage while bullets are still flying. I don't know if I'll drop from a ledge or a door closes behind me, so I have to pick every room spot clean before moving on. Is that how the game is supposed to be played? Otherwise, why would they put so much stuff anywhere.
    (The dumbest part about this is that I never use money or craft equipment in RPGs anyway. I only use weapons and armor that I find, and only ever use healing potions and grenades. Everything always gets hoarded until the end of the game and never used. And I believe I am not the only player who does that.)
    This is definitely a bad habit in every CDPR game since Witcher 2; everything is stuffed full of useless crap to hoover up. I've just stopped; it doesn't matter and it's dull.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
    Remember everyone you fight is auged out the ass. There's a reason sparks fly off when you shoot them in addition to blood. Any verisimilitude issues should dissipate when you keep that in mind.
    It's not just a verisimilitude problem, it's that it makes the shooting-dudes part of the game unfun and uninteresting. You absolutely can do tough enemies in a shooter, but good shooters make tough enemies more dynamic than a giant slab of meat. Halo is a masterclass in this, since the Covenent enemies are basically a progression of ways to make durable enemies challenging and interesting to fight. At the bottom you've got grunts who are super easy to kill. Jackels are relatively easy to kill, but their shields require either two accurate shots in sequence, or positioning yourself behind them. Elites pull you into a risk/reward loop, since if you break off to regen your shields, their shields can regen as well; this shared mechanic also I think does a lot to ground the MC in the game's fiction, since you fight lots of dudes with the same abilities you have. At the top you've got Hunters, who (except for the walking apocalypse versions in Reach) are very vulnerable to well placed shots, but are utterly immune to everything else, and since they come in pairs and have very powerful if highly telegraphed attacks require a lot of defensive skill on the player's part. Their behavior also changes after you kill the first of the pair. Point being that most enemies have defenses that require specific player skills and strategies to overcome; which in turn requires understanding your weapons, the physical environment, and so on. They might be tough, but they aren't just giant HB bars.

    At least when I was playing on Hard, the goons in Cyberpunk were just basically unreactive health bricks. Shooting them was unsatisfying.

    (This sort of thing being Exhibit B in my ongoing argument that adding RPG to Shooter is a fundamentally flawed concept. But that ship has, alas, definitely sailed at this point.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Cespenar View Post
    Definitely a good reason to drop the difficulty then. Little else turns me away from shooters faster than the old get-shot-in-the-face-and-walk-away syndrome.
    Good news is that on Normal, the enemy HP feels pretty well balanced against player damage. It's not a 1 shot 1 kill tactical shooter, but if you dump a mag into a dude, he's going to be either dead or mostly dead, which is just fine for this sort of thing. I kinda wish that I could tweak things so enemies did the high damage they seemed to be doing on Hard, but had the HP pool they did on Normal. That would be a pretty good balance of vulnerable enemies, and demanding a reasonable amount of player skill in positioning and smart play. Once I get a few more levels and upgrade my guns a bit, I might push it back to Hard.
    Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
    When they shot him down on the highway,
    Down like a dog on the highway,
    And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.


    Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Maybe it's that I haven't experienced the same issue. The cyclic only enemy I've faced so far that took a mag or more to kill were the big mechs in All Foods.

    Everything else drops in 3-5 melees, about 2-4 shotgun blasts, and 7-10 shots from an assault rifle or SMG; less if I hit all headshots.

    Maybe I've just consistently found better gear?

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    The more I play, the more I like the game.

    It certainly is not an instant legend like Halo 3, Half-Life 2, or Skyrim.
    But I feel pretty confident that it will become a classic in the same league as KotOR2 and Vampire Bloodlines.

    I think about the end of the first chapter, I really started to see the shared origin of this game with the Witcher games. It gets very mature in a way that you really rarely see in videogames. There are extensive sections taking place in the city's sex industry, and the game does it in a way that feels neither childish, nor forced and edgy. It's not for cheap thrills, but comes across as appropriate for the story. Reminds me a lot of Family Matters and Carnal Sins from The Witcher 3. It's grim and disturbing, but not too much. I think I'm rather squamish about such things, but while it was disturbing, it didn't make me uncomfortable. I also really appreciated some scenes with Misty. I think her whole ideas are nonsensical, but it's really nice that the game doesn't treat her as a joke, but players her serious and genuine. No smirking or eye winking at the player.

    And again, I really love the work they've done in the voice acting and character animation departments for the dialog scenes. Even with the slightly creaky and dusty game engine, those aspects are really to league.
    Last edited by Yora; 2020-12-13 at 07:43 PM.
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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Given the rousing endoursement of the thread, coupled with the reports that the game is still fairly buggy, gonna pass on Wasteland 3 for the moment.



    Maybe in the inevitable January sales.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Aotrs Commander View Post
    Given the rousing endoursement of the thread, coupled with the reports that the game is still fairly buggy, gonna pass on Wasteland 3 for the moment.

    Maybe in the inevitable January sales.
    I'd say that's the right call. I'm playing it right now: it's... okay. Some weird bugs and crashes aside, the tactical combat and the skills/items/whatever bits are good, but the writing has somehow fallen half a level under the usual Bioware-Obsidian line, and the voice acting goes even beyond that, to something like an amateur '00s Newgrounds animation level.

    Quote Originally Posted by warty goblin View Post
    Good news is that on Normal, the enemy HP feels pretty well balanced against player damage. It's not a 1 shot 1 kill tactical shooter, but if you dump a mag into a dude, he's going to be either dead or mostly dead, which is just fine for this sort of thing. I kinda wish that I could tweak things so enemies did the high damage they seemed to be doing on Hard, but had the HP pool they did on Normal. That would be a pretty good balance of vulnerable enemies, and demanding a reasonable amount of player skill in positioning and smart play. Once I get a few more levels and upgrade my guns a bit, I might push it back to Hard.
    Yeah, that sounds better, but really, it's a wonder that customizable difficulty still hasn't become the industry standard by 2020.

    Quote Originally Posted by Rynjin View Post
    Maybe it's that I haven't experienced the same issue. The cyclic only enemy I've faced so far that took a mag or more to kill were the big mechs in All Foods.

    Everything else drops in 3-5 melees, about 2-4 shotgun blasts, and 7-10 shots from an assault rifle or SMG; less if I hit all headshots.

    Maybe I've just consistently found better gear?
    That sounds somewhat better, but still not my preferred FPS balance. Though that might be my personal thing. Guns really become enjoyable in a game, IMHO, when you can oneshot a mook with a shotgun on the body, or with a pistol on the head.

    Not that I would turn away something like Cyberpunk because of this, but still.
    Last edited by Cespenar; 2020-12-14 at 09:03 AM.

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    Default Re: What are you playing 4: HD Remaster Gold Collector's Edition Thread of the Year

    Quote Originally Posted by Cespenar View Post
    I'd say that's the right call. I'm playing it right now: it's... okay. Some weird bugs and crashes aside, the tactical combat and the skills/items/whatever bits are good, but the writing has somehow fallen half a level under the usual Bioware-Obsidian line, and the voice acting goes even beyond that, to something like an amateur '00s Newgrounds animation level.
    I'd rate it higher than that, particularly in the writing department, although this might be just because I don't generally like Bioware's or Obsidian's writing styles. Something about Bioware always feels very self-consciously YA to me, in the sense that everybody seems to have an emotional age of about 17. Which is fine for the 17 year olds and in small doses, but wears me out pretty quick. Obsidian just need an editor who wields the power of the delete key with unflagging determination.


    Yeah, that sounds better, but really, it's a wonder that customizable difficulty still hasn't become the industry standard by 2020
    I find it best to think of Cyberpunk as a circa 2017 game that just got hung up due to it's crazy huge scope.

    That sounds somewhat better, but still not my preferred FPS balance. Though that might be my personal thing. Guns really become enjoyable in a game, IMHO, when you can oneshot a mook with a shotgun on the body, or with a pistol on the head.

    Not that I would turn away something like Cyberpunk because of this, but still.
    Normal gets relatively close to this, I've got a tech shotgun that can often one shot a general dude with a charged shot. Sometimes it doesn't, due to random pellets missing, but that's what the second barrel is for. Don't think it's quite possible with pistols, but I really haven't been using handguns all that much.

    I have to say I'm really, really liking the game so far. The writing is extremely good, the story treats me like an adult with a functioning brain, and everything is so grounded in the messed up world the game inhabits. So many games make me feel apart from their world, like there are people who have lives and houses and friends, and then there are Heroes who have Quest Logs and Bases and Companions. I quite like just being a person for a change. It helps that Night City just feels right as a place. I mean it's a miserable den of corruption and I'd hate to live there, but it feels like people actually live there.
    Blood-red were his spurs i' the golden noon; wine-red was his velvet coat,
    When they shot him down on the highway,
    Down like a dog on the highway,
    And he lay in his blood on the highway, with the bunch of lace at his throat.


    Alfred Noyes, The Highwayman, 1906.

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