What Are You Playing Now: The meaning of life

[ComradeYellow]

6 minutes ago, bugarup said:

I'm eyeing "Prey". Things happen in the space station of sorts and I love space sci-fi, lots of raving reviews, by the same guys who made "Dishonored" which I loved, but trailers show you wielding BFGs and going RATATATATAT!!!!! at huge monstrosities, and I'm easily bored with pure shooters even in great settings, so getting mixed signals here. Anyone here played it? Please help me out.

Prey is a great game and is absolutely not a war game.  Firearm usage is limited to skill specialization and ammo is not plentiful.

Definitely pick it up if you got the funding.

My only gripes were the ending and the somewhat unbalanced Skill Tree (at least at the beginning, towards the end it's not a problem).

[Mamoulian War]

3 hours ago, melkathi said:

They changed the roundabout thing over here in Greece as well. In theory it simplifies things because this way the car coming from the right always has priority, a rule roundabouts were the exception of until then.

 

Edit:

In Germany any roundabout that has roundabout priority rules has to be marked as such when you enter it. If there is no sign saying the roundabout has priority, then it doesn't function as a roundabout but a normal crossroad in regards to priority.

Same in Slovakia

[melkathi]

I thought it was an EU thing.

[melkathi]

Phoenix Point writing:

"The Pure are planning to attack a Synedrion research facility! We have to stop the attack!"

"OK, we are here. What's the plan to defend this place?"

"Kill all the attacking Pure. And to be sure they can't attack Synedrion in the future, also kill all Synedrion defenders. Can't attack someone if they are already dead."

"God, Boss! Your logic is infallible as always!"

[Hawke64]

On 12/6/2020 at 3:10 AM, bugarup said:

I'm eyeing "Prey". Things happen in the space station of sorts and I love space sci-fi, lots of raving reviews, by the same guys who made "Dishonored" which I loved, but trailers show you wielding BFGs and going RATATATATAT!!!!! at huge monstrosities, and I'm easily bored with pure shooters even in great settings, so getting mixed signals here. Anyone here played it? Please help me out.

I've played it. While it was technically possible to murder everything (I haven't tried), combat was not necessary to progress*. The game was really similar to Dishonored.

*

Spoiler

though, I am unsure, if it was possible to avoid combat during the "Collect voice samples" part, where you had to stay in the room, while phantoms were coming.

 

[BruceVC]

Still loving and deep into Divinity 2, I am on the Nameless Isle and its going well 

[marelooke]

On 12/5/2020 at 8:10 PM, bugarup said:

I'm eyeing "Prey". Things happen in the space station of sorts and I love space sci-fi, lots of raving reviews, by the same guys who made "Dishonored" which I loved, but trailers show you wielding BFGs and going RATATATATAT!!!!! at huge monstrosities, and I'm easily bored with pure shooters even in great settings, so getting mixed signals here. Anyone here played it? Please help me out.

Prey is fantastic. One thing I would recommend though it not going for a powerhouse/jack-of-all-trades build. I'd strongly recommend sticking to one "side" (you'll know what I mean when you get there, and yes, there is a third option, would not recommend, certainly not for a first playthrough). Having to make compromises to get around makes replaying the game quite a bit more interesting and really shines a light on how nice some of the level design is.

Combat is perfectly viable, though you're not exactly a powerhouse. Each enemy does have specific weaknesses, not exploiting those is going to make combat hard, or a slog, or a hard slog, and ammo most likely a problem. First time through I did "remove" most obstacles in my way where it made sense.

 

The DLC are not at all like the base game though, so I'd recommend doing some reading before getting either of those. Probably *after* playing the base game though, as researching either is likely to lead to spoilers of some sort. Neither of them adds to the base game (in fact, they both launch as standalone games), so there's nothing you'll miss out on. But an attempt at a quick, spoiler-free summary:

• Mooncrash is a rogue lite-ish dungeon crawl thing where you just keep on going through the same map with semi-randomized item placements, and obstacles, with different characters (with different abilities), and everything resets when your last available character dies, or the timer runs out. There's some exposition here (but nothing you can't infer from the base game, from what I understand), but I didn't care for the gameplay at all, which is nothing like the base game, so I never finished it.
• Typhon Hunter is a multiplayer only PvP thing that I imagine is pretty much dead, and, well, "Mostly negative" reviews on Steam probably sums that up.

I don't think either of them is worth it, but that's just my opinion, of course.

Edited December 8, 2020 by marelooke

[bugarup]

Started "Prey". So far so good, looks intriguing, gives me vibes of Bioshock, new Deus Ex and SOMA. Met a lone monstrosity whom I stun-and-gunned to see what stuff he was guarding, left his two friends sharing the room alone for now, they probably won't go anywhere. Funny how there's a separate skill tree for the wrench alone, I wonder if it is going to be the only friend you will ever need, like in Bioshock?

[ComradeYellow]

Hitman: Blood Money.

Love it.  My standards are so high that I refuse to beat any mission w/o receiving a "professional" or "Silent Assassin" rating (only kill the targets on the contract and do not get positively identified during the run -no Rambo shootouts-.  Hell, I more often than not go into a mission w/o any firearms at all and just use the basic loadout (fiberwire, bombs, sedative poison) so I'm basically aiming for greatness for nothing because all that money you receive goes into weapon upgrades and I haven't even upgraded anything besides the Silverballers and that's just with the low projectile ammunition which is quieter but less powerful, which assassins love.

That money should carry over should I decide to go for the higher difficulties so perhaps I'll be glad for upgrades should I decide to replay on insane difficulties. 

[Raithe]

11 minutes ago, ComradeMaster said:

Hitman: Blood Money.

Love it.  My standards are so high that I refuse to beat any mission w/o receiving a "professional" or "Silent Assassin" rating (only kill the targets on the contract and do not get positively identified during the run -no Rambo shootouts-.  Hell, I more often than not go into a mission w/o any firearms at all and just use the basic loadout (fiberwire, bombs, sedative poison) so I'm basically aiming for greatness for nothing because all that money you receive goes into weapon upgrades and I haven't even upgraded anything besides the Silverballers and that's just with the low projectile ammunition which is quieter but less powerful, which assassins love.

That money should carry over should I decide to go for the higher difficulties so perhaps I'll be glad for upgrades should I decide to replay on insane difficulties. 

The fun is figuring out just how many "accidental" methods of execution there are to find.

Once you get your mind around those, going in without weapons and ramping up the difficulty isn't quite as severe as it might sound.

[melkathi]

Phoenix Point mind control:

The AI will not attack AI creatures/soldiers you have mind controlled. In this it is very different to many other games, where you can mind control an opponent and use them as a meat shield.

Mind control can be broken by disabling/panicking/killing the controller.

Mind control is not broken if the controller evacuates the map.

This I found out today, will lead to situations where all Phoenix Project soldiers have left the map, and a solitary mind controlled crab man hangs around. The mission does not end, because not all soldiers have evacuated. The crab man can't evacuate, because it is affected by a status effect (mind control) which prevents it from performing the action - the button is there, but grayed out with a warning that it can't be used.

For the mission to end, the mind control has to wear off. This can take a few turns, during which the mind controlled crab man is free to do whatever. The other creatures will ignore it and move randomly. Free kills if you can get them in time...

[Keyrock]

I'm into the late stages of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. I somewhat have my final party composition figured out. I'll roll with Kasuga as Hero (all around), Saeko as Hostess (DPS caster), Nanba as either Musician or Fortuneteller (healer/support), and Eri as Matriarch (DPS fighter). In reserve Adachi as Detective (tank), Zhao as Chef (support), and Joon-gi Han as Hitman (DPS fighter). You can tag in a reserve any time(costs you a turn) so it pays to keep them sharp. I think I'm already slightly overleveled for the end game so I won't be grinding much more. I'll save getting to lev 99 for NG+.

Edited December 12, 2020 by Keyrock

[LadyCrimson]

I think games like Cyberpunk I'd have more fun with and be more motivated, in a way, if my (very funny, to me) husband was watching and doing commentary as I went. Maybe I can tie him to a chair this weekend...

[Raithe]

Well I had the Friday off work, and now I've managed to sink 34 hours into Cyberpunk since it was released.

I still haven't progressed too far beyond Silverhand in my head. I keep getting lost in Gigs, Side Missions, and generally exploring around Night City.

[ComradeYellow]

Ok the moment of truth has arrived, after beating Hitman: Blood Money on 'Pro' I eagerly bought the 2016 reboot....

...and just like that, the magic is gone!  My growing superfandom is destroyed now.  All the magic from the older games has gone poof!

1) There's no weapon customization

2) Game is riddled with useless filler

3) Way too much hand holding features

4) Graphics are abysmal for a 2016 game

5) Poorly optimized engine

6) Lacks that dark sinister atmosphere and music in favor of useless online features and a heavy interface

This is madness, I hoped for the same but more of it and got badly burned here.

[Keyrock]

6 hours ago, ComradeMaster said:

 

3) Way too much hand holding features

You can turn those off in the options menu.

[uuuhhii]

failed to pass amendment again in suzerain

still not sure how it work

most engaging game about a bunch of nonsense speech ever played

[ComradeYellow]

7 hours ago, Keyrock said:

You can turn those off in the options menu.

I did, but still...

Ahhhg I guess I'm getting too old for this.  I joined a 'Hitman' Discord server and they seemed to love it and I'm just like meh.

Never develop a cult status towards a particular game kiddos, you're just setting yourself up for disappointment.

[melkathi]

That moment when you see a character with a backer name in the game and they are called Catherine Jones, call sign "Zeta"...

 

And it is one of the better names.

Edited December 14, 2020 by melkathi

[Keyrock]

I finished Yakuza: Like a Dragon, fantastic game. It's essentially Dragon Quest in the Yakuza universe and as weird as that may sound it works really well. The ending... *deep breath* You want to talk about emotional, holy **** it was intense. Ryu Ga Gotoku sure know how to end a game.

[BruceVC]

I finished Divinity 2 on Sunday and all I can say is what a brilliant and engaging  RPG, I was reminded how my true gaming genre love is fantasy RPG. The game gets an impressive 81/100 on the highly  respected and globally recognized " BruceVC gaming rating " system

I have to admit I nearly stopped playing it after about 6 hours, I am very glad I persevered as quitting the game would have been denying myself an excellent experience of a new type of party based RPG. If I think back it was the combat and my lack of understanding the combat mechanics that led to me always losing certain battles. But you must understand the combat mechanics and rules because they great fun and complex but rewarding once you do this

So the overall combat is a big part of the enjoyment but the quests were interesting and had alternative solutions. I enjoyed the narrative and often laughed at some of the cynical character dialogue choices, I generally say nice things but you could be rude

I thought the way Larian addressed enemy levels as overall the best way any game can implement and address this factor. In Divinity there was no auto-leveling of enemies and it worked out fine because you learnt to avoid certain battles until later and that made battles and decisions more relevant

I also enjoyed the way items made such a difference to defense and character skills so it made finding looting exciting

And then they even implemented forms of Romance which was limited but convincing and that made it realistic and fun to pursue

So in summary, excellent game and it bodes very well for Baldurs Gate 3, after playing Divinity I am very confident Larian will deliver on this much loved franchise 

 

[Keyrock]

I started Yakuza: Like a Dragon NG+ Legend difficulty. The regular battles should be no problem, but some of the boss fights may be brutal.

[ComradeYellow]

Ok, despite my initial (probably childish) kneejerk hate stamp towards Hitman 2016, I finished the game and it was actually not so bad, albeit short and not nearly as fulfilling as Blood Money was.  Most of the missions are well designed and have lots of crafty ways of taking out your targets.  Also, it's the small things in a game that truly determine whether you're playing the right game, just standing around listening to the NPC dialogue really made me chuckle, and it was tongue and cheek humor that I can connect with.  8/10  Will move on to Hitman 2 (2018) as soon as I feel like dishing out the cash and then Hitman 3 right after it.

[Malcador]

Cyberpunk is down, I still feel drawn to knock off the side jobs. My friend is still playing, so that keeps it in my mind.

Should go finish Secret Files, am in Ireland now, trying to get some dude out of a well.  Odd puzzles here

[Zoraptor]

Finished Dishonored. Pretty good for a Thief like, and has some decent departures from the direct Thief formula like dialogue. Ran into quite a few bugs for a GOTY type release though and it had similar weaknesses to Prey despite the 5 years of separation in release date. Plot was kind of meh, and pretty derivative structurally- not exactly a surprise that you got double crossed, and unlike System Shock 2 it wasn't by a classic villain either nor was it like Thief (1) where the double cross was just about perfectly executed. None of the antagonists had anywhere near the personality and impact of Viktoria/ Trickster or SHODAN, albeit that is a very high bar to cross. Haven't finished Knife of Dunwall yet, but the first mission was a definite step up. It would be nice if the levels were a bit more continuous/ bigger, but at least they're not Thief 3 sized bijou/ toy sized morsels. Overall, not quite as good as it was made out to be but still more than merely worthwhile.