Hawke64
-
Posts
1087 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
4
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Posts posted by Hawke64
-
-
Crystal Tales Tactics. Got softlocked in the main story somewhere mid-game (the next chapter did not unlock). While the game is lovely, it is also rather buggy - it was not the first softlock, but I overwrote the nearest save file, so not going to try again until this is fixed. The other bugs included the recruited characters not appearing, a character who was supposed to be dead doing the opposite (there should have been condition for them to survive if they were critical for the story), a lot of black screens during companion dialogues, and these dialogues not triggering correctly.
Well, at least the character designs are interesting.
-
1
-
-
Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen
Postponed the new playthrough indefinitely and went to kill the offline Ur-Dragon with my max level PC and without any preparation or memory how to play.
Posting under the spoiler tag, because the game is being played, and seeing and fighting the Ur-Dragon for the first time is quite exciting. Less so for the 16th, but still fun.
Spoiler
Started with the hind legs, because I could reach easily.
All was going well until I realised that I could not reach the top wing hearts. Then the boss flew away and I reloaded. On another note, the camera did not seem to be possible to adjust while my armour was not exactly visible on the dragon's scales, so was poking with the daggers blindly. If the health bar was dropping and a heart glowed afterwards, I was poking the right place.
The head was an easy and obvious target. Would have been easier with buffs and stamina regenerating consumables.
Then the dragon flew away first to the tower, then away, so I reloaded again. I suppose, the game was checking to know which version of the boss to load.
Looked very impressive, though the damage from the boss was negligible or the boss was missing. A quick detour to the BBI afterwards, demonstrated my defences and skills being rusty.
The full strider party. And yes, all mine.
The offline board.
-
2
-
-
On 4/16/2024 at 6:00 PM, Wormerine said:
I retrieved my heart in Dragon's Dogma. What happened next surprised me, and I don't quite know what to make of it.
I think there is something fundamentally unsatisfying when a game puts you against enemies you defeated before many times, but now with heavily inflated stats. It is especially harsh, as so far DD offered very little resistance. And it is doubly unenjoyable to me because of the numerical power curve that game has - I suspect what I am expected to do is grind, level up, upgrade and get even better equipment to bring the difficulty curve down. And to me it just feels like a waste of time, especially as I already experienced the other side of the curve before. I just had a lengthy and epic fight with a hydra - and it would probably feel more satisfying if I didn't kill one easily within a first hour of my playtime already.
On a flip side, the game became somewhat interesting again. Actually worrying about enemies weaknesses became a non issue after about 10h of playing, so overall it is the best the game has been.
If you have not been there, the DLC island might a good place to explore. It is a long dungeon crawl and the things there are sturdy, but it is somehow more fun than the similarly looking rooms of the end-game dungeon. Also, with a stack of explosive arrows and luck, there is a really good spot to level up.
SpoilerYou can knock down the Death boss while it is levitating above a waterfall shortly after a shortcut from the starting area of the DLC.
Regarding the end-game requirements,
SpoilerKilling the offline Ur-Dragon once should be enough to get the items necessary to access the final Final boss. Though, I do not exactly remember how to access the dragon in NG. In NG+ there is a very convenient teleport on the shore.
---
I've been playing Crystal Tales Tactics. So far so good, though the story has the originality of Fire Emblem, with a significantly lower production value.
---
On the topic of erotic games on Steam. The number of low-quality ones seems to be rather high, while the adoption of the generative AI and accessible 3D models did not improve the quality (did not drop it either, though), but increased the quantity (see the screenshot taken today). I also cannot filter them out, unlike roguelikes/-lites. Though, overall, it is great that the talented writers and designers can create full games by themselves, and there are some interesting erotic games on Steam, such as Ladykiller in a Bind, but few and are hard to find.
Spoiler
Edit. Speaking of random first games on Steam, someone linked Bethesda's EULA to their game. https://store.steampowered.com/eula/2901370_eula_0
Spoiler
-
1
-
-
Quote
Fallout: London, the Fallout 4 mod set in a post-apocalyptic English capital that’s large enough to effectively be its own game, has been hit by an indefinite delay just two weeks from its planned release date. The reason? Fallout 4’s long-in-the-works next-gen update is now due to drop just two days after London’s planned launch date, which its fan devs say will “simply break” the ambitious project.
It is always unpleasant when developers try to add more bugs into their 9 year old games, but even more so when you have been working on a mod for a specific presumably-stable version for years. I somehow doubt that Bethesda would just fork the new version into a separate branch on Steam and GOG. Granted, on GOG, Bethesda cannot mess up your games anymore.
-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
Stray Blade
Lore:
Spoiler
Bosses (including the final one):
Spoiler
The arena was quite lovely.
The boss, with almost all attacks sending me flying, was not.
Attempt #1.
Several tries after I noticed that I needed to hit her once again after this, which was not used anywhere else in the game and was not obvious.
The sword had the best hyper armour - I could just stand and swing without being interrupted.
In terms of navigation, the companion and the wall marks proved to be more reliable for the main quest. The map and the compass were less helpful.
The end-game and the ending:
SpoilerThis one was actually funny. Primarily due to its irrelevance to the MC's objective. If we had to slaughter every last descendant of the local population in order to save the valley from these invading descendants, so be it.
I have not explored the previously-visited areas after this point, but the locations might have changed.
The half-transparent figures hurt.
I expected him to be the final boss, but was not sure about the context.
The health bar was huge. Which meant that trading hits was not a good option.
Fortunately, the difficulty settings ensured that even if I was inclined to be done with the game one way or the other, I got to see the ending (decreased the HP of all foes by 50%, their damage output or poise were unchanged).
Well, at least the warning was clear.
-
2
-
-
Hi all,
I have started studying Godot (doing the 3D tutorial project from the official documentation), and would like to know if there are accessible (free and understandable for a beginner) tutorials for isometric RTwP CRPGs or action-RPGs for the Godot game engine?
Also, if I am aiming for a RTwP CRPG, like PoE or Pathfinder, would 3D with fixed camera or 2D be more appropriate?
Thank you.
-
16 hours ago, majestic said:
I thought it an appropriate reply to the question of having a hopeful story set in the Warhammer 40000 universe. One might as well ask for warm ice cream or dry water.
Edit: For clarification, I am aware that it is possible to create hot "ice", i.e. solid water at room temperatures or well above that.
While I might occasionally enjoy seeing things burn, in CRPGs the feeling that the party's actions were not in vain and led to the results desired by the player is somewhat important. Not necessarily hugging the xenos and singing kumbaya together, but leaving the world less ****, than it was at the start of the game. That, and the combat system, which I am ambivalent about - a bit too many encounters for a turn-based one. I suppose, I would not mind a Souls-like in the WH40K universe, though.
-
1
-
-
23 hours ago, bugarup said:
Now when I think there's quite a number of games with great worlds made by solo devs. Fear and Hunger, Kenshi, RImworld, Stardew Valley...I probably should pay more attention to indie scene. If only itch.io weren't an embodiment of Sturgeon's law.
At the moment, the same ratio is true for Steam and GOG is getting there as well. I suppose, one could check the most popular paid titles on Itch.io occasionally.
---
Stray Blade. After reaching the second area and unlocking all normal weapons, the game became somewhat jollier - I am using the halberd and only the halberd without having to switch to worse weapons. Ironically, the dual daggers turned out to be less fitting for combat than I had hoped - the damage per strike is low, while the time window is the same, so I might as well hit with the strongest weapon. Dodging or parrying attacks is mostly useless, because everything has too much stamina to do so fast, while 2-3 hits from the halberd kill everything except bosses. The hitboxes still feel somewhat odd, while the combat in general is not exactly engaging - the MC's attack animations are too long and impossible to cancel, while the foes have very long wind-ups and can turn 180 degrees mid-swing. Also, the red faction of the forest + ruins area changed to the blue faction of the mountains + volcano area. And I saw 1 green faction mini-boss (had a skull on the health bar)
I also pretty much stopped exploring - all normal weapon blueprints have dropped, the armour blueprints seem to be dependant on the level (the first chest you open after leveling up will have an armour piece blueprint). On a funny note, the customisation colour schemes transfer poorly between armour or weapon sets - each colour point refers to different materials across sets. For example, I had my sword's blade grey with the cloth on the handle blue, while the halberd with the same setting has its blade blue.
But the story is going at a reasonable pace and generally fine. It is delivered almost exclusively through the MC and the companion standing and talking. There are also lore entries in the Bestiary describing the societies of the people killed. The information is not useful, but adds some immersion. The entries for the animals are rather depressing, though.
-
The new Momodora looks gorgeous. I really like the colour design.
(If there are no posts made here in the next few hours, I will add my Stray Blade screenshots to this post).
Lore entries:
Spoiler
Well, this was actually sad.
Bosses:
Spoiler
The 2D art looks very nice.
Not quite "Ring two bells, gather four Lord Souls", but close.
That's exactly what we have been doing.
Got the full assassin-like armour and dual daggers. The daggers did not quite work with the combat system.
The halberd, though, was a marvel.
Found one Green faction mini-boss in the Blue faction area.
Ironically, these regular foes felt more challenging than the bosses. Too few too short openings.
Here my FPS dropped to 20. Which is odd, considering the number of polygons I was seeing.
This can be said about pretty much any old ruins.
-
3
-
1
-
-
On 4/11/2024 at 9:41 PM, majestic said:
Sorry, could you please share it as a link? YouTube videos tend not to display for me.
-
https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/broken-roads-review
QuoteIn the moment, Broken Roads offers up creativity in spades, but the bigger picture story - combined with weak combat and a dry take on moral choice - never coalesces into anything especially entertaining.
https://www.gog.com/en/game/broken_roads
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1403440/Broken_Roads/
Not yet available on GOG. The game looks interesting enough, but I assume that waiting for at least 6 months would be a reasonable course of action. I do not like the setting that much to purchase right now and let the game sit in the backlog.
-
2
-
1
-
1
-
-
Stray Blade. Defeated the first major main boss on the first try, while repeatedly getting killed by a random halberd warrior and low FPS (there was a lot of clutter in the area) before that. The boss had a reasonably interesting story background (the companion had been talking about him for the past 8 hours), some specific battle mechanics (required to break 4 glowing things in the arena), and visually distinct design (a lightning sword and deer-like facial features). So, it was fine, but the combat encounters with the regular foes are rather uninspired, even before taking into account the occasional FPS drops.
2 more areas and 4 bosses to go. The skill tree is filled for about 75%, and I am curious if the character development system is going to change.
-
Stray Blade. Defeated the first main boss by face-tanking and hitting it with a halberd. Spent 2 hours running in circles before that - the goal of the past 7 hours was to find a way around several locked gates and collapsed bridges to the boss, so I suppose it is on point. Encountered 1 rather unpleasant bug - a weapon blueprint, thus, a skill upgrade, was not dropping. It was resolved by switching to the beta branch, then back.
Story-wise, it is funny that the NPC companion wants the invaders out of the Valley, because they kill and destroy everything there, including each other, and this is exactly what the MC and the companion have been doing throughout the game. Except destroying buildings - the buildings are invulnerable. So, it is either some meta commentary or a ludonarrative dissonance.
So, overall, the game is not terrible, but I would have felt bad if I didn't get in a bundle. Granted, another game from the same bundle tried to fry my CPU, so this is definitely an improvement. And the story might get better.-
2
-
-
8 hours ago, Keyrock said:
I've been working my charms on Wilhelmina and, judging by how she's blushing, it certainly seems to be paying off:
She's perhaps the only character you can romance in the game, the only one I know of for sure. You can befriend just about anybody and get them to really like you and they will act differently toward you, greet you differently, instead of a neutral generic greeting they may say something like "Hey, great seeing you again, I hope you're doing well." It's not a huge deal but I love that kind of reactivity in games. They'll even sometimes give you gifts and if they're shopkeepers they'll give you a discount. You can also go to the brothel and hook up with one of the ladies or gentlemen of the night there and get a really short sexy time cutscene. It will cost you 20K gold, though, so that better be some incredible sex for that kind of money. With Wilhelmina you can have a full-fledged romance, though. There's an entire quest chain for it. I don't know what the quest chain involves I only read up on it as far as knowing when to start the quest chain because there is a narrow window of "time" (in between a couple of specific main story missions) in the game when you can initiate the romance, so once I got that information I stopped reading to avoid spoilers. I haven't quite reached that point yet because I've been doing a lot of side content, but I'm close and in the meantime I worked my charms on her to get her affinity up to maximum. The blushing is this game's indicator of maximum affinity. At the end of the quest chain is presumably some hot steamy sex, eat your heart out @BruceVC
If it is anything like DDDA, you can actually "romance" anyone. Though, as you said, random NPCs have less story content than the main ones. Curious if the issue with the duchess (forgot her name) and the lack of dialogue options was solved.
SpoilerThe thing was that there was an unavoidable fade-to-black sex scene with the duchess which was both poorly timed (you needed to get the unwise teenager out of the castle before she was executed) and pretty much out-of-character, unless you were aiming for the duchess, who was incredibly, ridiculously unwise and looked a bit too young.
Unironically, the best beloved from the gameplay standpoint was
SpoilerFournival. Him being at the starting village, right next to the BBI boat and the Ur-Dragon portal, was very convenient. And he had a lot of Conqueror's Periapts.
From the story perspective, there were several options with some quest lines, including the best friend, the travelling merchants, the knights, and the witch.
---
Stray Blade
The companion drags the MC's body to the checkpoints for revival. I have not noticed any negative consequences for dying - only unfinished groups of enemies recover, which is very convenient for upgrading weapons.
The "Enemies Cleared" message means that the foes will remain dead.
-
2
-
1
-
-
15 hours ago, melkathi said:
Fable... I played one of those games. It may have been 2. I finished it, but I played it the same way I played Skyrim - set up homes and adopt as many orphans as I could.
Like Skyrim, I found the game had nothing else to offer.
Fable: Lost Chapters, III, Anniversary (haven't played Fable II ) are stylistically consistent heroic (villainous) adventures in the more or less classic magical folklore setting. While they might lack complexity in combat and story, they are generally nice. Also, setting up homes (and optionally adopting orphans) was the best way to play Fable III - the story was built around fulfilling your promises after becoming the kingdom's ruler, while also trying to have enough resources to mitigate an upcoming calamity. Having a steady stream of income from the property helped greatly.
Another relatively immersive action-RPG I can think of is Outward, but I have not played it much - going to do a full co-op playthrough at some point. There is also Hardland, but it was a rather unusual action-adventure game and it could be annoying at times.
---
Stray Blade. The character upgrades are locked behind the weapons, which blueprints first must be obtained (seems like random drops so far), then the crafted weapons must be used, and only then the level up points can be spent on the upgrades. On one hand, it is probably good that there is a reason to try various weapons, on the other, I want those dual daggers from the store page and nothing else.
-
These AC spin-offs look great. I played AC Chronicles: India, but didn't finish.
-
1
-
-
8 hours ago, Mamoulian War said:
Actually, that's what I call a good in-game shop. No need to buy anything from it to not spoil my game, but if there is anyone who for whatever reason wants to throw his money out of the window, who am I to judge, if it does not impair my experience from the game. Bamco has such microtransactions in som of their games as well. You could buy XP and money, but I have never ever felt in any of their Tales of games, that the balance of the game was skewed to force people to buy this ****
Unless it does not affect the game itself completely (e.g. artbooks, soundtracks, clearly labelled donations), it should not be included - any in-game benefits screw if not the balance, then the immersion.
---
QuoteFulqrum Publishing have just released a story trailer for New Arc Line.
Added the link to the article in case the video does not work.
I would prefer RTwP, but the game looks interesting and somehow reminds of Arcanum (which I have not finished). The PC seems to be customisable.-
1
-
1
-
1
-
-
On 4/3/2024 at 7:31 PM, melkathi said:
I would like to play Hogwarts Legacy, but my PC can't really run it
I would suggest to avoid the game - the IP owner is a piece of ****.
On 4/3/2024 at 9:46 PM, melkathi said:But I like the idea of an immersive magical world. It looks like great escapism.
If you haven't played them, the Fable games are quite decent - might be a bit too light on dialogues, but they are immersive and the last one has a dog companion.
---
Thought of starting another playthrough in Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen as Frodo and Sam (someone already had the same idea). My old saves from the Steam version are compatible with the GOG one, so while I could just start a new NG+ cycle, I went with a completely new character, because the challenge does not scale with levels.
@WormerineThe thing with pawns is that their AI should handle encounters on their own (I could not find the video, but the pawns absolutely can solo drakes) or assist you (e.g. a Fighter can launch you to reach hydra's heads). The intended way is for your pawn to learn from your application of the available commands (e.g. "Attack", "To me", etc.) and witnessing monsters' weaknesses. Though, the former goes better when the pawn's AI is occasionally reset with the Inclination elixirs.
---
There is no Light. The game looks quite good visually and the controls are rebindable. The story is a bit weird - the MC's wife gets kidnapped by 2 soldiers while he's just standing and watching, then he picks up a sword and kills a few squads of them.
Crystal Tales Tactics demo. Looks very similar to Fire Emblem but with much lower production costs. The controls are rebindable, I could not get the combat yet (2 battles in) - there is some synergy, but I am unsure how to apply it.
Stray Blade. I had thought it to be an RPG, but it feels like an action-adventure. I like the design decision to have full armour, so the MC's face is never shown (so no facial animations; the armour is customisable). The controls are rebindable, though the combat is not exactly comfortable - there is no attack cancellation and it seems like the system is build around parries, but the enemy attacks are delayed, thus, it is hard to time the parries correctly. The exploration feels good enough - there are some paths that I should be able to take after unlocking the required abilities, the environment is readable, the loot is fine. The system requirements and the visuals do not align - 4GB VRAM and 30GB storage should not look like TESIV.
-
2
-
-
Does the story remain grimdark throughout the game or gets anyhow more optimistic? The options for the first chapter (and their outcomes from the wiki) were not particularly inspiring.
-
Thanks to the bank holidays (and to ShadySands for the key), finished Citizen Sleeper. It is a visual novel with management elements in a cyberpunk setting (the MC is a runaway cyborg on a falling apart space station). I did not notice much branching in the dialogues - quite often the options were "yes" with different levels of enthusiasm, but the ability to fail or not to complete quest lines somehow alleviated it (there were timers and the MC needed to consume resources to avoid dying and/or death spiralling). The game used only the mouse (including the scroll) and Esc, and they could not be rebound. The most frequent action was dragging something across the screen - dice, items, cash, etc. So, while I did not find the dystopian narrative too compelling or the gameplay too engaging, it was generally fine.
-
Finished Death of a Wish. In short, it is a good action game with good controls and a variety of builds.
Review:SpoilerDeath of a Wish is a stylish action game with light roll-playing elements. The story follows Christian (name) who is on his quest to avenge himself and destroy a vaguely Christian-esque religious institution. The protagonist is predefined and talkative, which seems like a step down when compared to the first game, but it fits the context and watching the train wreck unfold can be entertaining.
SpoilerThe developers have confirmed that there is only one ending not counting filling the Corruption bar.
The combat is engaging and satisfying. The available actions include light and heavy attacks with various weapons (2 sets can be equipped simultaneously and switched freely mid-combat), dodging/parrying (same key), and magical abilities with familiars (pets). The customisation options are limited to combat and consist of various modifiers (e.g. restoring own health on hitting an opponent), while the character development system allows to improve the main character's base stats, such as health or physical damage. Unlike Lucah and other Souls-likes, there is no stamina. For some of the boss battles, an AI ally can be summoned. Though, it can be hard to read the environment and attack hitboxes when there are several allies and/or foes.
There is an optional Corruption system (can be disabled from the Inventory screen > Tech), where the protagonist gains Corruption during combat encounters and especially upon taking damage, and it can result in having to start from the beginning of the current chapter after a short bad-end sequence (the level and equipment carry over), but it is very manageable - each well-performed battle reduces the build-up and the early-game battles can be replayed easily.
The map unlocks as the story progresses and the new abilities allow to access more of it, though there are no story consequences for going to one of the areas early, as the main story part is blocked by a barrier.
The keyboard and mouse controls are comfortable and rebindable, though 5-button mice are not supported. Among the difficulty settings, there are options to set the damage dealt and received, and also the speed of the game.
The visual style is strikingly unique and fitting. It also maintains a high readability of the foes' actions and locations. The sound design is as fitting and helpful as the visuals - the attacks have clear audio cues, and the VA is absent. The game saves the progress on checkpoints, and there are few save slots. A certain story event unlocks the ability to revert to the previous chapters, with the equipment and levels carrying over, but the event depends on the player's actions and can be missed easily. Thus, unfortunately, for manual saving one must use Windows Explorer.
Overall, Death of a Wish is an excellent action game and I recommend it.
It was somehow funny to play DoaW alongside Saints Row - both MCs are very good at combat and prone to start it, but where the Boss is laid-back and has a social support circle, Chris spends most of the story being angry and causing unhappy accidents to his immediate environment.
-
Finished Saints Row. Shared the late-game thoughts here. After finishing the post-game, I would add that I would love if the side activities were more tightly bound to the main story and less numerous and repetitive, while the main rivals and companions had more dedicated missions. I liked the Eurekabator quest line - there were 3 missions, they directly referenced Marshall, and each rewarded with a cool gadget. The Food Truck ones, on the other hand, were very similar, not related to anything, and there were 5 of them. So, to unlock the final final mission I spammed the Lottery Ticket in-game cheat to get the funds required to build the final Criminal Ventures. I probably could go and finish all side quests, while the funds built up through the passive income, but I did not want to.
About DDDA. I liked that the nights were dark and the random areas were not FOMO-inducing - there was nothing of note there and nothing to miss by not exploring them meter by meter, while they still provided the sense of travel and adventure, thus, being the opposite of Ubisoft's approach.
-
1
-
-
22 minutes ago, uuuhhii said:
what happened gog did they finally allow drm
There have been small levels of DRM in some of the released games, e.g., Twitch drops, online functionality/multiplayer, one (?) game "can be started but can't be played without creating a player profile and save game online. It is fully DRM-ed!".
https://www.gog.com/forum/general/drm_on_gog_list_of_singleplayer_games_with_drm/page1
-
1
-
-
Saints Row
Sergio defeated. The context of the battle was fine, though I would not mind to have 2-3 missions dedicated to Los Panteros' lore.
Spoiler
The Necromancer contract.
And so the party decided to rescue this work of art.
The nature in the game is beautiful.
Unlocked the VTOL, which made the Threat side missions significantly easier. The aircraft was unlocked from the start in the previous SR.
There was a hover craft and I discovered it only post-game.
Randomly found several good cars and saved in the garage. The ones available by default were somehow harder to drive.
These are loading screens with, I assume, the max settings.
As I understand, the house was added in a free DLC.
Probably the longest side mission chain I did not finish.
Late-game spoilers (Marshall).
Spoiler
So, the party took a family business from an old man.
The only choice in the game. I do not think that there are any consequences.
The restored HQ.
SpoilerMixed feelings about the beanie and the hair colour, but looks nice.
Was trying to recreate the mural in the character creator, though did not have the right clothes (or the desire to modify each facial slider much). So, not quite, but close. Messed up the eye brows.
The final mission(s).
Spoiler
The final missions were about the personal connection, trust, and support the MC and the party shared, and that this was irreplaceable.
This is one of the best lines and it expressed exactly what I always wanted to say.
I am quite certain that the boss is not recognisable from this distance. The red outline, by the way, revealed the plot twist several seconds before it happened.
-
4
-
What are you Playing Now? - Right Now at the moment edition
in Computer and Console
Posted
The developers' previous game, The Count Lucanor, is quite similar, though smaller in scope. I would say that Doki Doki Literature Club is close enough to being cute and horror as well, though it is visual novel.
I have also played (have not finished) Kraken Academy!!, which was visually similar, but somehow less engaging. There is also Yomawari: Night Alone (have not played the sequel), which is technically both cute and horror, but felt rather shallow and underwhelming.
And a dog dies in the intro sequence. I am perfectly fine with piles of dead children, Dead Space 2-style, but not dogs or other "regular" animals. Those are unnecessary sad.
---
Speaking of, the Immortal Cats mod for Fallout 4 (pre-"next gen" update) did not work for me. So, the only mod I am using is Full Dialogue.
Got Fallout 4 on GOG shortly before Bethesda messed up the mods yet again (the sale was really convenient) and decided to try the expansions. Died in the first combat encounter at the Far Harbor 4 times so far.
---
I think, I have finished Yuppie Psycho once with the best ending, though, I did look up the elevator code at the end.