sorophx

apparently Xsolla has to refund now, because BSG broke ToS with that release. people have been asking for refunds for ages, and now they just might get what they wanted

I vaguely remember a Bayonetta discussion here fairly recently, and I was watching a review of B3, and this part just killed me https://youtube.com/clip/Ugkx_aM6egJfZfOjEJ1-IH_pHtN3Jntchd-2?si=nDkXjsXOmyJ_Zol0

it's made by Massive, so just like The Division and Avatar, it will be technically superb but mediocre in all other aspects.

isn't really news, since this game has been out for some time now, but it's really good, and all the Stellar Blade talk reminds me of it, so check it out, it's basically "John Wick the video game". Here's one of my fav clips from it: https://youtube.com/clip/UgkxgVK-QnATXesUdsfOm3CZLP1e9guZulr6?si=EEH3dlRvUMySx9dE

I'd argue, that the real problem with Alpha Protocol wasn't bugs as much as the friggin' minigames, the underwhelming shooting mechanics and the ease with which you could cheese a lot of missions/bosses. I am certain that if a game with that kind of reactivity and better puzzles (something similar to The Witness or something) were to come out on, say, MW3's engine, it would be a masterpiece

the issue with RPGs is they're not chess, which was my original point exactly.

you're way too excited about Obsidian games, the perfect Obsidian fan that's not a bad thing

hot take: well done RTWP is miles above the best turn-based system, because it's happening on a computer, and we don't need every game to be a "tabletop-like". the computer can calculate everything very fast and just show me how the state changed, and it can do it continuously. I don't need to wait for the "enemy" to take its turn. it's a user experience issue rather than a fundamental combat design issue.

I think it has more to do with "density. an example: I was trying to read a book that's 380 pages. I had about 50 pages left when some stuff came up, and I had to put the book down for a month. 1 month later I come back to it, open the book at the page I left off and realize I don't remember who all the characters are except for the main character. so I just put the book back on the shelf. maybe I'll come back to it in a couple of years and start over. this is exactly what happened when I tried beating PoE, and PoE II for the first time. I would make a pause, not play them for a month or so, try to come back and realize I couldn't remember any of my builds, spells, what quests I still had to finish, couldn't recognize any of the NPCs etc. there's just too much stuff to memorize. and yeah, if I were to try and continue my latest playthrough of BG2, I'd have to start over because I don't remember what I was doing in the game. BG2 is huge, very hard to get through in one big session, if you want to 100% it. I restarted my BG2 playthrough at least 4 times back when it first came out, but then I had more patience, more free time and more focus. nowadays I wouldn't even bother and just watch a YouTube playthrough.

I want to say KOTOR II is the best game by Obsidian, but the state of that game makes that assumption very dubious. KOTOR II is the one I've enjoyed the most (so much so I finished it twice, which never happened with any other Obsidian game). would love to play a remaster with all the cut content properly restored. but yeah, objectively, I think, the label of "THE BEST" should be reserved for New Vegas. would love to play a remaster using the latest Bethesda tech. would love to play some D&D on the Pillars of Eternity engine (yeah, I know it's Unity, I mean the isometric backgrounds, optional TB combat etc.), maybe NWN3 could happen? a man can dream. as an aside, I don't know what it is about PoE II, but I tried going through it twice and dropped it in the middle both times. that game is too big for its own good. Tyranny is pretty cool, but I can't beat it, too hard in the later stages, I just don't get the progression system. honestly, I crossed out Obsidian after learning that they were developing Outer Worlds, Grounded, and Avowed, with no hint at isometric games in between. expected a lot more from Pentiment. that game just makes it too easy to miss stuff and accidentally finish the game early. I just didn't understand why stuff happened to my character, what actions led to it, so I was frustrated all the way through. but maybe that's because I played it shortly after getting into Persona 5. anyway, in my ideal world Obsidian would be hard at work making Dungeon Siege 4 with full-party combat (mules included!), isometric NWN 3, and KOTOR 3.

kind of crazy that Arma 3 is still going, while Reforger barely makes any progress. we stopped playing Arma 3 because no matter what upgrades to our hardware we made, the game would still run rather poorly, showing its age. honestly, I expected BIS to go all-in on DayZ as a platform as soon as they released 1.0, but I guess that doesn't make sense to them, which is unfortunate.

not to derail the thread but while you owned "nothing" in the USSR, you didn't pay for it either. I don't think that's the model Ubi execs have in mind

probably because they don't get to make Bioware games in Bioware anymore.

This drove me insane in both Original Sin games, so much so, that I actually gave up on BG3 as soon as I saw it had exactly the same combat. for a game that is touted as having "the best turn-based combat" it feels extremely sloppy and imprecise. not sure what the problem with making combat have a grid was, for example.

love the FF discussion, but guys... is someone forcing you to use Roman numerals when discussing these games? I spend half the time deciphering what part exactly you're talking about anyway, the best FF game is obviously 9, as it should be since it's the last FF game with heavy involvement from Sakaguchi AFAIK. but I am kind of sad to see FF 12 (my personal favorite) not getting any love from you guys. as for FF 16, "played" it on YouTube, and my very short review follows: voice acting is great; CGI cutscenes are amazing; story is unbearably bad, writing in general is just weak (too many coincidences convenient for the plot, if you know what I mean), main character is written as an idiot for some reason, very unlikable; visual design is strong; combat is generic as hell, Eikon battles are unnecessarily long. reminds me a lot of FF 13 for all the wrong reasons.