What Are You Playing 6: DLCs of Kevin Bacon

[LibraryOgre]

My 7 year old found Fallout Shelter on my phone, so I loaded it up in Steam for him.

[Lord Raziere]

tried Dragon's Dogma Dark arisen for a few hours. its fine. it seems.....kinda Amalur, kinda Fable in how it works? but with teammates called pawns. I don't seem to be dealing very good damage though. I feel like all my attacks hit like a wet noodle, but I might just be facing foes that a bit higher level than I'm supposed to be fighting right now and I should stick to the main quest for a while.

[Rynjin]

tried Dragon's Dogma Dark arisen for a few hours. its fine. it seems.....kinda Amalur, kinda Fable in how it works? but with teammates called pawns. I don't seem to be dealing very good damage though. I feel like all my attacks hit like a wet noodle, but I might just be facing foes that a bit higher level than I'm supposed to be fighting right now and I should stick to the main quest for a while.

It is definitely nothing like Amalur or Fable. The combat is (or can be) much more strategic.

Damage is low to start, in part because none of the starting classes (Strider, Mage, Fighter) gain a ton of attack damage on levelup (every single class prioritizes a different attribute, encouraging you to switch often). But Dark Arisen made it so your gear matters more than anything else anyway. Definitely make sure you play the story enough to get to Granfell before much of anything else. There are sidequests that will time out if you progress too far into the story, but they are best done on New Game+ in my opinion. The game is fairly short and meant to be replayed.

Keep in mind if you're playing Strider SPECIFICALLY you have a hidden 30% damage bonus while climbing on a monster. It's the one huge advantage Strider has over even its more advanced classes (Assassin, Ranger, and Magick Archer).

[Anonymouswizard]

I need to get back to Dragon's Dogma. But I put it down because I ran out of sidequests I could complete and still lacked the gold for Mystick Knight gear.

[Rynjin]

I need to get back to Dragon's Dogma. But I put it down because I ran out of sidequests I could complete and still lacked the gold for Mystick Knight gear.

Sounds like it's time to go to Bitterblack Isle!

[MinimanMidget]

I don't seem to be dealing very good damage though. I feel like all my attacks hit like a wet noodle, but I might just be facing foes that a bit higher level than I'm supposed to be fighting right now and I should stick to the main quest for a while.

That only gets worse if you try to follow the main questline - 16 hours in, every fight was half an hour of "attack for a minute until you can climb on the monster, climb on the monster, attack for a minute until the monster throws you off, repeat". You're never really in danger, but fights take longer and longer.

[Rynjin]

That only gets worse if you try to follow the main questline - 16 hours in, every fight was half an hour of "attack for a minute until you can climb on the monster, climb on the monster, attack for a minute until the monster throws you off, repeat". You're never really in danger, but fights take longer and longer.

This is only the case if your gear falls behind and you also don't take a bit of time (and, unfortunately, research) to bolster your stats.

Every level (main level, not Vocation level) you gain while a Ranger, for example, primarily gives you more Stamina, while Magick Archer gives you mostly Magic Defense (for...some reason). The game...never deigns to tell you this.

The "damage classes" are Assassin (physical attack) and Sorcerer (magic attack) so you'll need to spend a fair few levels as one or the other to boost your damage capability. It's kind of a meme that the best way to play Magick Archer is to play Sorcerer to level 200 and then class swap.

Or use the Hybrid Level Up option in this mod.

[Alcore]

It's also not really that tactical. You can basically set it up "if hurt cast heal and otherwise attack" and put the controller down. Sure, you can fine tune the system more than that if you want, but it's not necessary for the vast majority of the game.

I said strategic not tactical. They are different things that operate at different levels (admittedly they do otherlap at the squad level where both are needed). FF12 has only the most basic tactical while the strategic can be fine tuned so well the battles need no more tactics than basic level stuff.


I started FF12 again out of nestolgia. I noticed battery mimics were weak to blizzard and I am not one to waste mana on black magic.

But I instead decided to mix it up. Sure enough the mimic queenn was weak to blizzard and I turned a 15min fight into 4 or less as the party spammed blizzard. Another strategic move I recently made was making Vaan cast libra on himself freeing his accessory for aything else. Monster, I noticed, kept targeting Penelo due to healing so Ashe now only casts protect and shell on Penelo; that saved me a lot of MP I could use for other things.

[Wookieetank]

FF12 stuff.

If you're playing the Zodiac Age version, they added in a couple of buff/debuff spells that stack a couple of times, makes some of the more absurd fights much more manageable. Granted even with those, max lvl chars and boosted game speed, took me close to 45mins to take out the one superboss with millions of HP. Limit break chains are also great for speeding up bossfights, but require a bit of luck at times.

[Alcore]

If you're playing the Zodiac Age version, they added in a couple of buff/debuff spells that stack a couple of times, makes some of the more absurd fights much more manageable. Granted even with those, max lvl chars and boosted game speed, took me close to 45mins to take out the one superboss with millions of HP. Limit break chains are also great for speeding up bossfights, but require a bit of luck at times.

They added so much and changed so much more I will not even consider such a purchase until my PS2 CDs die.


Thinking of playing some spyro again…

[Wookieetank]

They added so much and changed so much more I will not even consider such a purchase until my PS2 CDs die.

Fair enough. I was rather against the job limits initially myself, but upon actually using it, they're not so bad. Helps to keep all the characters from feeling so samey as well. My biggest draw to the Zodiac Age was being able to play it on the switch, RPGs on the go are just a delight for me.

[Alcore]

Fair enough. I was rather against the job limits initially myself, but upon actually using it, they're not so bad. Helps to keep all the characters from feeling so samey as well. My biggest draw to the Zodiac Age was being able to play it on the switch, RPGs on the go are just a delight for me.

It worked in X-2 because they were “samey” but being forced to use characters you can’t stand ruins some of the enjoyment. I like that turning Vaan from a fighter to a white mage is as simple as a costume change.

Since it is on Switch I guess that means it is not on the PS2. A shame really. I don’t dare to waste money on more new consoles and the 360s keep dying but my PS1 is still playing Frogger.

[PraetorDragoon]

I need to get back to Dragon's Dogma. But I put it down because I ran out of sidequests I could complete and still lacked the gold for Mystick Knight gear.

Ah, Dragon's Dogma. A game I really wanted to like but somehow it decided to rub me in all the wrong ways.

[Psyren]

Just finished Outriders Worldslayer and the final boss was a joke. But I went in with a full Lava Lich pyro set that I never swapped out for the entire story. Apocalypse Tier 16 difficulty.

Going to run through it again with my main (Technomancer) and see if I can beat my time.

[Cespenar]

Wrapped up both Webbed and Starship Troopers. Webbed ended up really going the distance with the web-slinging physics, surprisingly. Many indies just put their gimmick in the same old "platformer" shell of a game and ship it. This one was really designed head and shoulders above that crowd. Hats off the the handful of developers (2 or so, I think?). Anywho.

Starship Troopers, also, surprisingly good. Easily on par with Company of Heroes/Dawn of War, I think. Starts off so simple with just a handful of shooty guys that really makes you go "is this it?", but on Hard and above (and with later levels) comes so much complexity out of so simple mechanics like lines of fire and moving vs. shooting.

[LibraryOgre]

I have moved slightly forward in Fallout 4!

I am still kind of surprised no one has sent me to Spectacle Island, yet (I generally avoid going places I haven't been sent)

[Triaxx]

I'm not sure it's actually available as a mission target. Worth a visit though.

[Anonymouswizard]

Did the

Spoiler

Show

Collector Ship

and finished the loyalty missions, including Liara's DLC one. Some of them have very annoying encounters, and some were annoyingly easy, especially because I took the Cain into Grunt's mission.

Guess it's time to do the DLC before the endgame. Because it really feels too early to be heading to the endgame.

[PhoenixPhyre]

Finished Mass Effect: Andromeda (again), this time on NG+.

Honestly, the story was...meh...ok. Not great, not horrible, just meh. The thing that annoyed me tremendously? The fake loading screens (aka the fancy animations when moving from one system to another, etc). Oh, and if SAM says "mining zones are available via your mining interface" or other repetitive, tutorial BS again, so help me...

I liked the gunplay. Never was fond of hovering though. Preferred sniper rifles mostly.

Companions: Drak was the best. Liam was annoying. The banter between Drak and Peebee was pretty good. The rest were forgettable, mostly.

Verdict: Not as bad as people made it out to be. But not great. Solidly...meh. Honestly though, I'd rather play it than ME1, just because the controls and shooting were so much better. ME1's story wasn't that much better, although the companions were a bit better. But I wished the rover had a gun in ME:A. Give me back my Mako cannon.

[LibraryOgre]

I'm not sure it's actually available as a mission target. Worth a visit though.

It is, I've gotten it before. It might be a safehouse location from PAM (I usually get the Mirelurk one), or you can get it as a "I know a place that could be great if cleaned out" from the Minutemen.

I am very annoyed with the BoS part. Why cannot I not say "Hey, I am the general of the Commonwealth-wide militia, and a leader in a score of villages, containing more than 400 people. Talk to me like an adult, not a recruit"?

[NRSASD]

Finished Prey: Mooncrash. Very good game! I especially love the panic you have in the final levels, if you play without using the time extensions. That clock fills up so fast that stealth is no longer an option.

[Cespenar]

Finished Prey: Mooncrash. Very good game! I especially love the panic you have in the final levels, if you play without using the time extensions. That clock fills up so fast that stealth is no longer an option.

Hmm, Prey was pretty good but this somehow must have gotten under my radar. Is it a standalone expansion sort of thing?

[warty goblin]

Reinstalled Oblivion last night. There's a lot of things I don't like about Oblivion, the flailing combat, the inventory system, the bizarre way leveling up works, the way everyone looks like a potato, in detail I can complain about like 80% of the game.

But for all that, it gets one thing right; it feels like a fantasy adventure. There's enough effort put into the world building that it feels like a living place, which after years of moving away from simulationist or representationalist concerns towards the theme parks of hard gamist designs is a huge relief. And you don't play as anyone special, which I love. If my character is touched by fate, it's a very soft touch, a nudge, nobody is granting me powers from on high. All of which means I can just be immersed in running around, concerned with the usual concerns of being a fantasy adventurer.

Skyrim never really gave me the same sense of world, and just being a person in it. Too much chosen one nonsense. Elden Ring gave me some Oblivion vibes, but never felt like a place so much as a bunch of Gothic concept art tossed into a map and seasoned with vague Gothicness to vaguely imply some vague sort of story or background. And while Oblivion's combat is kinda bad, I don't hate it's core design the way I do Elden Ring's.

[kyoryu]

I finally got around to playing Dark Souls. Almost done with it. Wish I hadn't bounced off of it so many times. Soooooo gooooooood.

[Psyren]

Did the

Spoiler

Show

Collector Ship

and finished the loyalty missions, including Liara's DLC one. Some of them have very annoying encounters, and some were annoyingly easy, especially because I took the Cain into Grunt's mission.

Guess it's time to do the DLC before the endgame. Because it really feels too early to be heading to the endgame.

This is a good idea - several of the random DLC missions have heavy weapon ammo which you can use to refill the Cain before the final boss. (The boss drops Cain ammo too but going in full is a good idea.)

A couple of them even have upgrades for Shepard that you'll want. I recommend doing Arrival AFTER the Collector Base though.

Finished Mass Effect: Andromeda (again), this time on NG+.

Honestly, the story was...meh...ok. Not great, not horrible, just meh. The thing that annoyed me tremendously? The fake loading screens (aka the fancy animations when moving from one system to another, etc). Oh, and if SAM says "mining zones are available via your mining interface" or other repetitive, tutorial BS again, so help me...

I liked the gunplay. Never was fond of hovering though. Preferred sniper rifles mostly.

Companions: Drak was the best. Liam was annoying. The banter between Drak and Peebee was pretty good. The rest were forgettable, mostly.

Verdict: Not as bad as people made it out to be. But not great. Solidly...meh. Honestly though, I'd rather play it than ME1, just because the controls and shooting were so much better. ME1's story wasn't that much better, although the companions were a bit better. But I wished the rover had a gun in ME:A. Give me back my Mako cannon.

Blandromeda had so much potential. And at the time I consoled myself with the idea that at least Anthem was going to benefit from the resources that MEA had been denied. And... well...

[SerTabris]

Blandromeda had so much potential. And at the time I consoled myself with the idea that at least Anthem was going to benefit from the resources that MEA had been denied. And... well...

I feel like the whole idea of Anthem was doomed from the start. To me, the biggest strength of Bioware is characterization and character interaction, and that's not really a thing that applies to a design like it had. Whereas the gameplay has never felt like a primary draw to any Bioware game for me.

[NRSASD]

Hmm, Prey was pretty good but this somehow must have gotten under my radar. Is it a standalone expansion sort of thing?

Yeah! Prey Mooncrash is a standalone expansion, set in an entirely new area with a new story. The Typhon are still loose though, so it's very much "Prey but more so". One thing that is very interesting is their decision to give it roguelike elements, multiple protagonists, and a (very gentle) doom clock. I think it worked well but I can see how others would disagree. Definitely a very fun game though!

[Anonymouswizard]

This is a good idea - several of the random DLC missions have heavy weapon ammo which you can use to refill the Cain before the final boss. (The boss drops Cain ammo too but going in full is a good idea.)

A couple of them even have upgrades for Shepard that you'll want. I recommend doing Arrival AFTER the Collector Base though.

Considering I've fired heavy weapons about five times total so far I'm fairly certain I'll be full by then. While the game expects me to use them a lot more than I do I just can't find them worth it for most fights.

And yeah, Arrival will be the last bit of the game I do. I've done Zaeed, Kasumi, Lair of the Shadow Broker, and now Firewalker, so it's just Overlord left before the Shadow Broker. I've noticed that the Hammerhead is even worse than the mako with it's only saving grace being it's missions taking it into account.

Really the best thing I got out of the DLC so far was the Stasis power and the ability to wear a dress. So here's me hoping that Overlord is slightly more substantial than LotSB.

[MCerberus]

Hey now, the Mako is the ultimate space mountain goat and did nothing wrong. The only problem are the Halo-style controls, which were the style at the time.

[PhoenixPhyre]

The only problem are the Halo-style controls, which were the style at the time.

Please! Don't give me PTSD by mentioning Halo and vehicle controls in the same sentence. Darn Warthog in the final mission...