It sounds like all the things I'd love. And, to be clear, I really really prefer semi-open-world like you're describing to real full open world. Something like KOTOR can hold my interest better than Skyrim, simply because the latter is too open for me and I just lose my sense of direction.
Bring it to Steam already!
Bring it to Steam already!
Agreed, I play RPGs for the story, not to burn out on trying to hunt down every minor tidbit in a giant world. Yes, I know you can skip it, but my brain doesn't like it, so I'd rather not have the option to do that to myself.
Yeah, it need to be stressed, this is not a complete open world game ala older Fallouts and I personally think it's better for it.
NOW FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK the Xbox Beta app. Today I couldn't even get the game to load and I thought, hey, must be some Obsidian bugs rearing their head. Nope. Turns out the Xbox App was in the process of shitting the bed and required an uninstall and reinstall to get working again.
NOW FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK the Xbox Beta app. Today I couldn't even get the game to load and I thought, hey, must be some Obsidian bugs rearing their head. Nope. Turns out the Xbox App was in the process of shitting the bed and required an uninstall and reinstall to get working again.
The Xbox game pass is a great value of a service stapled to the worst goddamn app in the world. And of course it can't just be a normal program, it's got to run in the dumb windows 10 infrastructure, making it even less reliable
Do you like dark souls? Do you like anime? Your answer to these questions tells you pretty much everything you need to know.
Here's my nitpicks about the game, The Outer Worlds and they're mostly technical.
-All visual effects settings are combined into one setting. That means I can't turn off Chromatic Aberration (the literal worst thing in the world) without turning off the bevy of other visual goodies.
-It's apparently very poorly optimized for PC, with a lot of people having FPS issues even with meaty setups. I haven't had <60 FPS myself, but I guess I'm just lucky.
-I can't stress how much I hate that I can't turn off Chromatic Aberration and nothing else.
-The healing system is very awkward and it's hard to keep a handle on the insane variety of healing/buff items. That they're combined into one inhaler is a mistake in my opinion. The buffs should be separate from the healing.
-Chromatic Aberration should be called Chromatic Abomination and stricken from my eyes, WHY CAN'T I JUST TURN YOU OFF?
-All visual effects settings are combined into one setting. That means I can't turn off Chromatic Aberration (the literal worst thing in the world) without turning off the bevy of other visual goodies.
-It's apparently very poorly optimized for PC, with a lot of people having FPS issues even with meaty setups. I haven't had <60 FPS myself, but I guess I'm just lucky.
-I can't stress how much I hate that I can't turn off Chromatic Aberration and nothing else.
-The healing system is very awkward and it's hard to keep a handle on the insane variety of healing/buff items. That they're combined into one inhaler is a mistake in my opinion. The buffs should be separate from the healing.
-Chromatic Aberration should be called Chromatic Abomination and stricken from my eyes, WHY CAN'T I JUST TURN YOU OFF?
FIXT.
All this Outer Worlds talk made me look into it, and now I see this is totally Julie's jam.
Except she spent all her spending money on spray scents and smoothies. But maybe for Christmas.
Except she spent all her spending money on spray scents and smoothies. But maybe for Christmas.
Games that require my computer to function are out the window right now while I wait for my replacement ram, so I've been jamming a ton of Brawl in Magic Arena. It's 100% the most fun I've had playing Arena. I'm going to miss the shit out of it when it's relegated to one day a week for some God awful bullshit reason. As long as I auto-concede if I see someone is playing Oko as their Commander.
Standard right now is the worst it's been since I came back to Magic in Return to Ravnica and bot drafting makes Throne of Eldraine drafts no fun, since all anyone does is draft the mill deck.
Standard right now is the worst it's been since I came back to Magic in Return to Ravnica and bot drafting makes Throne of Eldraine drafts no fun, since all anyone does is draft the mill deck.
Dave
Staff member
Just finished my first playthrough of The Outer Worlds. I was on normal difficulty and things were super duper easy until the last part and then it got hard as fuck. I'm almost scared to ratchet up the difficulty!
But the ending is one of the best and most satisfying endings to a game I've ever seen. It was seriously amazing. I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that your ending will be different than mine (probably) and y next playthrough will be different as well.
Great game with a freaking great ending.
But the ending is one of the best and most satisfying endings to a game I've ever seen. It was seriously amazing. I won't spoil it for you, but suffice it to say that your ending will be different than mine (probably) and y next playthrough will be different as well.
Great game with a freaking great ending.
Just beat Outer Worlds myself. I love how open ended the game is, and how not everyone is "good" or "evil". Even the people on the Board, at least some of them, are trying to find a solution to a problem in their own way. The last battle was actually the easiest for me, as I didn't even have to fight. I basically tricked a guard into giving me his ID badge, which let me use my shroud to just walk past all the enemies on the final mission. I then told the boss to fuck off with my maxed dialog skills, and they ran away. I love a game that allows you to talk / trick your way through a mission with zero combat.
I will mention that I saw the two big twists only a few minutes after starting up the game, haha.
Just a very satisfying story.
I will mention that I saw the two big twists only a few minutes after starting up the game, haha.
Literally when I got to Edgewater and was dealing with the plague, I realized that the people were basically dying from malnutrition caused by trying to eat a bunch of the local fish and fauna, which don't have compatible nutrients. This was confirmed when I found out Adelaide was growing her "plague curing" vegetables using human corpses, as they have compatible nutrients. I deduced that something was cutting off other supply lines to more compatible food sources and thus likely something happened to Earth.
Later on, while on Monarch, after the Board ship crashed and you read the logs about repair negligence, it seemed obvious they were making it out as the Board just being cheap, but I took it as the Board not even having the parts to make the repairs. Each little hint pretty much nailed down that Earth was "dark" long before the final mission confirmed it. Still, just because I have a knack for catching narrative twists does not mean it wasn't super well written.
Later on, while on Monarch, after the Board ship crashed and you read the logs about repair negligence, it seemed obvious they were making it out as the Board just being cheap, but I took it as the Board not even having the parts to make the repairs. Each little hint pretty much nailed down that Earth was "dark" long before the final mission confirmed it. Still, just because I have a knack for catching narrative twists does not mean it wasn't super well written.
Really enjoyed it, though it can change a lot depending on what you do and who you work for, including if you did the quests for your companions. It's very much like New Vegas in how it plays out every little choice you made earlier and what that meant for the bigger picture.
P.S One thing that has me curious.
P.S One thing that has me curious.
After sending the corrupted signal to Akande it still lets you go visit her and work for her if you want. I decided to go there and hear her out, but when she told me to purge Edgewater I told her no. She quickly attacked me and was that a hell of a fight due to her many guards, but I won and she was dead. I ended up restarting though, and never went to visit her because I was trying a more dialog heavy, peaceful play-through. It was only later I learned she was the "last boss" so to speak, so now I am very curious how the last mission plays out if I do kill her at that moment before moving on to the rest.
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Nope. Didn't fire a single bullet the whole mission.
When I approached Tartarus a guard messaged me on the intercom basically saying I was in a secure area and would be executed. With a persuade check you can ask him to "prove" he is an actual officer for the Board, at which point he sent me his ID badge data so I could see a "real officer". I then used the badge to power my holographic shroud to just walk through every area of the level, with only a few dialog checks. When I got to Rockwell I used persuade again to convince him that the Hope colonists were a better choice, to which he stands down and says he will help me.
When I went up the elevator to the final area, Akande contacted me on a monitor. The first persuade check I make her question if she can actually defeat me, then use a lie check to convince her that Rockwell was now on my side (technically true but... okay). During the last section you are given the ability to do a lie + hack check (thank god I had Max with me for that hack check) to convince her that you took over her security systems while she was talking, which makes her admit defeat and flee. She opens the right side doors and you just walk through the hallway and find the keycard to Welle's cell sitting on the table. The warden is never activated.
When I went up the elevator to the final area, Akande contacted me on a monitor. The first persuade check I make her question if she can actually defeat me, then use a lie check to convince her that Rockwell was now on my side (technically true but... okay). During the last section you are given the ability to do a lie + hack check (thank god I had Max with me for that hack check) to convince her that you took over her security systems while she was talking, which makes her admit defeat and flee. She opens the right side doors and you just walk through the hallway and find the keycard to Welle's cell sitting on the table. The warden is never activated.
Haha well that is the choice you make. The game can play very differently depending on your skills, and even your stats. There were a few times I wish I had higher perception since it gave another branching path in dialogue. Same for Intelligence. Lucky for me I had max charisma so I always hit those checks.
Well I don't have windows 10, so the xbox thing is out? And fuck EGS. So hoist the Jolly Roger?
Oh, well, finishing download starts on the 5th, so I have that going for me. *twirls pistols*
Oh, well, finishing download starts on the 5th, so I have that going for me. *twirls pistols*
I have such a disconnect with pirating anything anymore. I used to pretty heavily 15 years back but now if I can't get these things in ways I agree with, be that legally or alternatives if the way they are providing that legally comes wrapped in a morally ambiguous store front, I just don't bother. I got so much other stuff to play with or watch.
figmentPez
Staff member
I've got such a backlog of games to play, by the time I feel like I'm ready for The Outer Worlds it will probably be on Steam, or even GOG.com
figmentPez
Staff member
As to what I have been playing:
Frost
This is a deck building game about... a primitive tribe trying to travel ahead of a frozen storm/winter in order to get to safety? I'm not sure if there are fantasy or post-apocalyptic elements, if there are I haven't found them yet. I'm not really digging it, though nothing stands out as bad. I got this for free from Chrono.gg, but if I had been looking to buy a deck building game, I think the Guild of Dungeoneering would definitely have been higher on my list.
Glass Masquerade
This is a mediocre to bad jigsaw puzzle game. I guess it's pretty, but I think the color palette is too limited, and the design of the puzzles and shape of the pieces doesn't really lend itself to much more than trial and error in placing the next piece. Maybe I'm just too picky about what I think makes a good jigsaw puzzle game, because this has good reviews on Steam, but I'm just not into it.
Frost
This is a deck building game about... a primitive tribe trying to travel ahead of a frozen storm/winter in order to get to safety? I'm not sure if there are fantasy or post-apocalyptic elements, if there are I haven't found them yet. I'm not really digging it, though nothing stands out as bad. I got this for free from Chrono.gg, but if I had been looking to buy a deck building game, I think the Guild of Dungeoneering would definitely have been higher on my list.
Glass Masquerade
This is a mediocre to bad jigsaw puzzle game. I guess it's pretty, but I think the color palette is too limited, and the design of the puzzles and shape of the pieces doesn't really lend itself to much more than trial and error in placing the next piece. Maybe I'm just too picky about what I think makes a good jigsaw puzzle game, because this has good reviews on Steam, but I'm just not into it.
Going through a weird thing where I can't get into anything.
Dishonored 2: Played for ten minutes before I got fed up trying to sneak around everyone. What was fun in Dishonored was completely annoying here.
Skyrim: My daughter picked this up for the Switch. I made a dark elf. Every character I've run into has made a comment about my appearance, and I can't make myself care about any of their problems. I just want to burn it all to the ground.
I might have finally reached a place stress-wise where I just can't enjoy games for a while.
Dishonored 2: Played for ten minutes before I got fed up trying to sneak around everyone. What was fun in Dishonored was completely annoying here.
Skyrim: My daughter picked this up for the Switch. I made a dark elf. Every character I've run into has made a comment about my appearance, and I can't make myself care about any of their problems. I just want to burn it all to the ground.
I might have finally reached a place stress-wise where I just can't enjoy games for a while.
I've been playing Stardew Valley lately, it's pretty chill and relaxing, especially after a stressful day at work.
Dave
Staff member
I got the XBox Game Pass to play The Outer Worlds and was poking through the available games yesterday and came to one called "Operencia: The Stolen Sun". It's a very old school RPG game like Legend of Grimrock but there is a better story and actual interactions between the characters. I'm a little annoyed that you make only one character and the rest are NPCs even though you control them in combat. But it is what it is.
So far I like it a lot.
So far I like it a lot.
Started RDR2 today *yay free time bent over with one eye* It's fairly buggy *shock!*, one of the things recommended is to turn on advanced grafix and swap from vulcan to dx12 graphics. This CAN break your game in as much it won't launch. Go to your documents RDR2 folder and delete the Profiles and Settings folders. Viola.
Only took me 2-3 hours to find a solution. Yeesh.
Only took me 2-3 hours to find a solution. Yeesh.
Update: This game is still kicking my ass in a good way. I don't play it every day because I keep finding new muscles to make sore and I need to take days off, but what I like about this game vs. WiiFit besides the obvious "giving you a carrot to chase," it that it encourages you to take days off if you feel sore (unlike WiiFit that gave you shit for missing days), and it treats weighing yourself as a choice instead of a necessity. It also ramps up difficulty at your pace so you can make your life harder on your own terms.
A tropical storm fried my PS3 and I lost my save of Skyrim. Sad times. I loved that game.
I’d like to play again. It’s on both PS4 and Switch. It’s $80 on the Switch and roughly half that used on the PS4.
Is there any benefit to the Switch? Has either version had graphics updates?
I’d like to play again. It’s on both PS4 and Switch. It’s $80 on the Switch and roughly half that used on the PS4.
Is there any benefit to the Switch? Has either version had graphics updates?