GhostofAnakin

The timed missions are actually the reason for me giving up on XCOM 2 multiple times. I hate cheapass design of the "Complete the mission in x turns or you'll lose instantly!" sort. Then again, a whole lot of people seemed to have liked the timers after they grew accustomed to them, so ... Eh. Also, no, there was only a single timed mission type in the original, and it was reasonably rare. I don't mind them in certain situations, but it just seems dumb so far when it's been pretty much every mission, even ones that shouldn't seem to have a "timer".

It's been a while since I played the previous XCOM, but did every mission have a "timed" element to it? All missions I've been on so far have involved having to complete the objective within 'X' amount of turns. Maybe it's just poor memory, but I don't remember that being the case all the time before.

It's fairly early on, so I haven't gotten attached enough to any of my soldiers to even bother with the save scumming. It was just kind of a kick in the nuts that the one soldier I lost on that mission was the one with the most experience, and to a fluky shot, to boot.

Gah. My best squadmate just got killed because the alien apparently can hit a target in cover from a million miles away.

I wish I remembered the story of the original XCOM (errr... the latest first one) because this one is already referencing it and I'm drawing a blank.

Started up XCOM2. My poor redshirts from the tutorial, I hardly even knew you.

Before putting away Vampyr for good, I ended up trying a second play through. It ended at the "boss fight" in the cemetery. I found it the most frustrating fight in the entire game, largely because it was as strong as any of the late game bosses, but too early on so your character was still relatively weak. That one boss fight will prevent me from ever finishing a second time.

If there's one game I'd love to see modernized (but with all the same sort of C&C), it's Alpha Protocol. A better combat system plus today's graphics? Move over Splinter Cell.

XCom2 it is.

XCom 2 or Heavy Rain? Which should I play (yes those are the only two options)?

It's a fantastic metroidvania (or Zelda-ish?) kind of thing, basically. You explore a big, interconnected map that slowly unlocks as you find new items or defeat bosses. That, connected with a very unique atmosphere (and storyline if you're willing to delve into that, it's really not shoved in your face) and entirely revolving around extremely well done risk and reward system makes Souls games very compelling - even if you're not into MP, like me (I mostly avoid all MP in Souls games, except for occasional co-op.) Ignore the 'git gud' and 'It's so hard!' crowd - it's not really that difficult if you get into it (the game requires patience more than anything, really) and difficulty's not the main appeal either. Edit: Oh and combat system is really well fleshed out. It's not as unique as some may have you believe, but it's just extremely well done. I think I gave up early because a bunch of random skeletons kept kicking my ass right when I started.

I could never get in to the Dark Souls series. What's the appeal?

Damn ... time flies. Seems like just yesterday I made my pledge.

It's been six years already since PoE1 was first concocted?

Heavy Rain is free on PSN this month, so I decided to download it since I've played it before. I liked Detroit Become Human, but was only meh on Beyond Two Souls. So we'll see how I feel about this one.

The lag is STILL that bad?

I remember that game had the worst lag I've ever seen in gaming history. I'd joint a public event and nothing would happen for half an hour, then suddenly the event would be over and I'd miss out on the rewards.

I'm attempting a second play through of Vampyr. It's a bit tough because, other than trying out new "big moment decisions" like who to embrace and who to feed on, it's a bit of a slog. Story is decent, but not so great to carry me on. And my good memory always hurts my ability to enjoy the dialogue since I remember everything that's been said the first time through. There hasn't been a "aha! I missed that the first time through" moment. I'll probably push through anyway because I don't have any other games on my radar until the fall.

Some hints were only found after you ate someone. But there were also some (according to the spoilers I looked up online) that were triggered through those eavesdropping things. Problem is, they rarely triggered for me. I think I got maybe 2 or 3 hints all game by triggering those.

Finished Vampyr. A little disappointed that some of the NPC hints were never found, largely because a lot of the supposed "triggered" spying on them and eavesdropping hints never materialized for me. Combat tended to be a bit annoying, what with how quickly stamina runs out, and with how switching between multiple foes was tedious. The weapons also always felt underpowered, so I ended up spamming the vampire powers. Story was pretty decent.

Speaking of MGS5, I can't recall a game that went from "OMG this is awesome" to "Uh .. what?" from the first half of the game to the second half. The repeating missions in the second half just dropped it down for me.

I feel like I'm missing something crucial in Vampyr. I'm pretty much near the end-game, and yet a lot of the NPCs have "hints" that I haven't found out about yet, and have no clue where to even go about learning that info (obviously besides Googling it online).

I do? I just don't find enough material to make ammo for my guns. Either that or I just waste too many rounds killing enemies.

It's an underrated gem. My only issue, and it's more a preference than anything wrong with the game, is I always seemed to have too few ammo.

Kind of. There's a blood shield power that enables you to completely shrug off a set number of hits (any hits) regardless of the level difference, and it doesn't cost any blood. The ultimate abilities don't cost any blood either, so if you're patient, you can pop the shield and slowly chip away at your enemies with a hit-and-run approach while you wait for the cooldowns to refresh. That blood shield doesn't work well for me. It seems to absorb like one hit, then I get pummeled relentlessly right after.