GasBandit
Staff member
Despite the rampant bullshit liberally interspersed within the game, I have to say it is a rather engaging RPG with an interesting turn/action point based combat dynamic. We finished a playthrough in the classic edition, now we're trying another one in the enhanced edition playing as different classes than before and also playing in so-called tactician mode.
So far, what tactician mode seems to mean is that every mook-level enemy carries a selection of scrolls, potions, and grenades that it is eager to use in combat. Also, the environment around boss battles are changed in a way that generally favors some kind of new gimmick that has been given to the boss. For example, last night's boss battle was with a Ghost Pirate King in a hidden Cave Harbor, and the Enhanced Edition put a whole bunch of barrels around the battlefield that weren't there before - barrels full of either explosive oil or toxic sludge. Normally that's no big deal, we can either avoid the barrels or shoot them ourselves. But right off the bat The Ghost Pirate King demonstrates his new gimmick by teleporting a toxic barrel into the air above us, to crash down among us and cause damage over time the longer we stand in the sludge, Plus giving us poison status effect.
My sidekick tried to counter by shooting a water arrow at our feet to wash away some of the toxic sludge , something I wasn't even sure the game would consider a viable tactic, but it worked. Sort of. There wasn't enough water for the entire affected area, so my sidekick and I were stuck inside a doughnut shaped ring of toxic sludge. Which the enemy then proceeded to shoot with a fire arrow causing it to explode.
It's an interesting tactical combat puzzle that occasionally seems to swerve into Calvinball one-upmanship.
GasBandit
Staff member
And to be fair, we only come and tell you guys about the ridiculous shit, not the (admittedly few) times where everything goes according to plan straight out of the gate, because that's boring.
I mean, we run into a pack of fire elementals. I, the party mage, cast a hydrosophy spell to make a localized rainstorm which massively debuffs them, Dei runs in invisible and backstabs while her sidekick tanks and my sidekick fires arrows. 3 turns later, all the elementals are dead and we get some vendor trash loot. Cool story, brah.[DOUBLEPOST=1447866757,1447866698][/DOUBLEPOST]
I mean, we run into a pack of fire elementals. I, the party mage, cast a hydrosophy spell to make a localized rainstorm which massively debuffs them, Dei runs in invisible and backstabs while her sidekick tanks and my sidekick fires arrows. 3 turns later, all the elementals are dead and we get some vendor trash loot. Cool story, brah.[DOUBLEPOST=1447866757,1447866698][/DOUBLEPOST]
When YOU did it, it was because you did it wrong! When I do it, it's because the game is bugged! To borrow a quote from you, "We've discussed this."Plus, I get the satisfaction of watching Gas make every ranged fuck up I made when I was in charge of ranged combat.
Metro 2033 Redux
It's...interesting so far. I can't say it's bad because it's certainly a good looking game and the combat is solid. But I'm not finding it very engaging. I don't find myself pulled into what little of a story there is or the admittedly well-thought out world. The plot is basically, "We're live underground and there's monsters attacking us!" That's...pretty much it. The underground transit system world is very well realized, but there's very little to no depth to the characters. Everyone greets me like they know me, but it's all very plain.
I'll keep playing, but it'll probably be a slow burn.
Batman Arkham Origins (Cold Cold Heart DLC)
I've had this for awhile but meant to finish the New Game Plus before diving into it. It's pretty short (maybe 3 hours, tops), but it's not a bad, short story. It starts off at a New Year's party in Wayne Manor and you actually get to fight as Bruce Wayne briefly. That was kind of cool. And I like the visuals of frost on Batman's suit when you're in very cold temperatures. I think it would've worked better if it was gradual, and not just "Cold? Bam! Frost! Not cold? Bam! No frost!"
For some reason, I thought I heard the boss fight with Mr Freeze was a carbon copy of your fight with him in Arkham City. It has some similarities, but you could pretty much beat him with the same strategy over and over. I liked the Arkham City one because you had to really use everything at your disposal, since you could only hit him once with each move or gadget.
The new uber-Batsuit you use is kind of neat. It's bulky and the heat gadget is basically just the electric gloves, only with fire. It's a little satisfying to free the frozen cops, though.
Still, it was okay. I think I got this DLC dirt cheap during a sale, so I got my money's worth.
Since getting my gaming PC this past Christmas, I've been thinking of selling my PS3 and the few games (about half a dozen). Really, the only reason I even keep it is for Netflix and my small collection of BluRays. Which I suppose I could just get a BluRay player for.
But yeah, been thinking of selling it off to EB Games and use the credit to buy a Steam card.
It's...interesting so far. I can't say it's bad because it's certainly a good looking game and the combat is solid. But I'm not finding it very engaging. I don't find myself pulled into what little of a story there is or the admittedly well-thought out world. The plot is basically, "We're live underground and there's monsters attacking us!" That's...pretty much it. The underground transit system world is very well realized, but there's very little to no depth to the characters. Everyone greets me like they know me, but it's all very plain.
I'll keep playing, but it'll probably be a slow burn.
Batman Arkham Origins (Cold Cold Heart DLC)
I've had this for awhile but meant to finish the New Game Plus before diving into it. It's pretty short (maybe 3 hours, tops), but it's not a bad, short story. It starts off at a New Year's party in Wayne Manor and you actually get to fight as Bruce Wayne briefly. That was kind of cool. And I like the visuals of frost on Batman's suit when you're in very cold temperatures. I think it would've worked better if it was gradual, and not just "Cold? Bam! Frost! Not cold? Bam! No frost!"
For some reason, I thought I heard the boss fight with Mr Freeze was a carbon copy of your fight with him in Arkham City. It has some similarities, but you could pretty much beat him with the same strategy over and over. I liked the Arkham City one because you had to really use everything at your disposal, since you could only hit him once with each move or gadget.
The new uber-Batsuit you use is kind of neat. It's bulky and the heat gadget is basically just the electric gloves, only with fire. It's a little satisfying to free the frozen cops, though.
Still, it was okay. I think I got this DLC dirt cheap during a sale, so I got my money's worth.
Since getting my gaming PC this past Christmas, I've been thinking of selling my PS3 and the few games (about half a dozen). Really, the only reason I even keep it is for Netflix and my small collection of BluRays. Which I suppose I could just get a BluRay player for.
But yeah, been thinking of selling it off to EB Games and use the credit to buy a Steam card.
Whatever helps you sleep at night. I'll just be over here burning to death!
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I didn't get into the gameplay that much, but the sequel has a strong story, so you might like that one more if you're already good on the combat side.
What you need to consider is that the game basically dumps you into Artyem's shoes the first time he's left the station in years... he's not a Ranger. He hasn't walked the Metro or know it's dangers... so he has to meet others who do know what is going on. Eventually you'll meet others that expand on the world, but until then, the clips between levels are all you get because that is all Artyem has to give you: his own brief, wild take on it. But yes, you WILL become more familiar with the world of the Metro as it proceeds. It's that slow Eastern European writing style that gives the game it's strength but it's also it's weakness. I will say this though: you should have already picked up on what the actual central theme of the game is about already.
In any case, Metro: Last Light is much more straight forward: You have more interactions and are driven much harder than in 2033. The plot is much more obvious about what is going on. Give that a try after 2033 if you want a more traditional experience. And hey, you get a free copy of the original Metro 2033 book!
I've been playing Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, which I highly recommend to anyone who is nostalgic for SNES JRPGs.
Plus, it is actually an EXCELLENT PC port, which uses keyboard/mouse without feeling weird.
Plus, it is actually an EXCELLENT PC port, which uses keyboard/mouse without feeling weird.
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Apparently that new Tomb Raider game does this incredibly well. When you get covered in snow, it'll melt slowly off you when you're near a fire.
Looking forward to playing it early next year.
Getting to nighttime in Yokai Watch goes from friendly, not difficult spirit hunting to the fucking Nemesis. Don't you dare over-use your stamina and become exhausted; this thing catches you and it's instant game over.
I've only had to deal with that once so far and it has been my biggest annoyance with the game. Had to restart it like 5 times.
I never play at night, so I'm not sure how much I'll have to deal with either outside of scripted events, but yeah, I probably died that many times too. Whisper's like "all you lose is the potential to get stronger." Uh, no, you lose your fucking time and peace of mind having to try getting away from this thing over and over.
GasBandit
Staff member
If only you knew somebody who had a minor claim to Space Engineers fame by making a series of youtube tutorials for Space Engineers.[DOUBLEPOST=1448033953,1448033779][/DOUBLEPOST]Hey Fade, just to let you know, last night in Divinity we totally rocked Braccus Rex, which was a boss encounter we had huge amounts of trouble with our first time playing through. We had to load our save 4 times or so last playthrough, but this time we did it on our first try, even with his new invulnerability totem gimmicks. Of course, it did take a few rez scrolls, but no total party wipe, so I'd call that a hell yeah.
GasBandit
Staff member
Rez scrolls taking 10ap was always pretty BS, if you ask me. That's one thing the Enhanced Edition definitely improved. And it's the least they could do, seeing as how they eliminated half the healing spells of the Hydrosophistry line.Rez scrolls not taking 10ap was a big part of that though.
Yeah, but I mainly just wanted to try it out and see how it feels. I'm guessing the recent update's caused some wonkiness. It's ok, I'll just play it some other time. There's plenty more in my Steam list to occupy my spare time right now.
For example, I got started in Shadows of Mordors. Interesting game so far, though it does sort of toss me right into the deep end of the storyline, so I'm a bit confused. Biggest question, who the hell is this wraith guy?
GasBandit
Staff member
Oh, and even though I made those tutorials, and spent over 500 hours with this game, I don't recommend buying it. At least not yet. It's still alpha as fuck, broke as hell, especially multiplayer.[DOUBLEPOST=1448035461,1448035404][/DOUBLEPOST]
Ha ha ha ha ha....
Oh my sweet summer child, what do you know of wonkiness...
If you can't tell the moment he hits a spectral anvil with his forging hammer, then you must not be a Tolkien nerd.
They've actually talked about the multiplayer... the current multiplayer system was cranked out in a month to appease a loud part of the fan base that demanded it (and to drive early sales), but it's not getting fixed because they know the code is shit. Instead, we're getting a revamped, proper multiplayer system as the next big "project" in the pipeline once planets are stable. It's just going to take awhile because they are LITERALLY rebuilding it from the ground up so it will work correctly this time. But it IS coming.
GasBandit
Staff member
If you ask me, it should have been a much higher priority. This game gets stale as hell real quick without multiplayer. Though, I guess it's a little less so now that there are AI space pirates to worry about.
I can see why they wanted to wait until after planets though: the playable environment and rules are a bit different, so they wanted to get all their ducks in a row before committing to multi. They basically had to wait until AT LEAST after planets or they'd have issues adding them to the code.
GasBandit
Staff member
Frankly, I kinda think "planets" was a mistake.
