What are you Playing Now? Whatever happens, at least we're out of that mudhole, Gilded Vale.

[Wormerine]

On 9/11/2022 at 4:48 AM, Zoraptor said:

Finished Wasteland 3.

I need to get to do it at some point. I can't get into the game. I don't like writing nor the overall vibe of the world, I don't enjoy the combat. I don't dislike the game, but I just don't enjoy my time spent with it.

 

On 9/11/2022 at 4:48 AM, Zoraptor said:

Also finished Dishonoured 2 recently

Some excellent middle levels in that game.

I am doing yet another Dishonored1 run at the moment. I have been playing Dishonored in a non-lethal low chaos playstyle so far, so I have been planning to do a high chaos run for once. I expected it to play better without restrictions, but I am somehow amazed how better it plays. There are far many more cool systemic interactions that just don't happen in a non-lethal run. So many toys and skills to play with. There if a feel of far more consequence to my actions, where for example chopped up bodies with spawn hordes or rats, while non-lethal runs ended up much more empty.

I am also for the first time resisting X-ray vision, which makes the game so much more enjoyable - I am discovering envoromental details that I never noticed in my previous 4 (?) playthroughs and I just find the game much more engaging. Oddly enough I don't feel like I am missing much - my loot gathered percentage seems about the same as they were before. Game is good in pointing players into a right directions anyway.

Edited September 12, 2022 by Wormerine

[Zoraptor]

Wasteland 3's world is certainly very cartoony, for want of a better word, both in terms of most of the environment looking like it was made from plastic and from most of the characters being archetypes. It's not the sort of game I'd recommend pushing through any initial doubts about to find the awesome kernel revealed later on; if you don't particularly like the beginning it's very unlikely the game will suddenly click with you.

[uuuhhii]

sifu 1.11 keep carshing when last boss give speech

now it crash as soon as continue to play

not sure what is the problem

Edited September 12, 2022 by uuuhhii

[bugarup]

17 hours ago, Wormerine said:

I am doing yet another Dishonored1 run at the moment. I have been playing Dishonored in a non-lethal chaos playstyle so far, so I have been planning to do a high chaos run for once. I expected it to play better without restrictions, but I am somehow amazed how better it plays.

High chaos Dishonored is glorious and delightful. Though I liked the sneaky way too, there is something cathartic about summoning rat swarms, tossing oil tanks and tricking people to cross the hacked gates.

Also playing Wasteland 3, though probably less than 1/3 so far, just apprehended Kid No. 1 and doing sidequests to max out selected non-combat skills before hitting the DLC town. Love both aesthetic and combat, also soundtrack is great. I like neat little details like "Sans Luxe" apartments, skills being Sneaky **** and Nerd Stuff  instead of Subterfuge or Science, fits just right with the whole tongue-in-cheek, "It's not really real" atmosphere. While I do like combat, it does not like me so far, probably because I was half-neglecting its skills, but I can open, disarm and talk myself out of everything now which is way more important.

Knew I won't be siding with the Patriarch from the start, because his horrible kids have one thing in common - their dad, and it went only worse, so it's kind of Angie to show up and provide fall back.

 

[Malcador]

Darkside Detective 2 had an amazing puzzle, had to use vinegar on a painting of a crank handle...to get a crank handle.  Been a while since I ran into a puzzle like that, although honestly they do hint at it.  1/3rd of the way done, is a pretty funny game.

[kanisatha]

On 9/11/2022 at 2:21 PM, xzar_monty said:

Hang on... so you've gone over to the dark side and started playing turn-based games?

LOL! Cannot resist the call of D&D.

I even backed this game on Kickstarter. But it is definitely a case of loving it in spite of it being TB. I think that for 5e D&D, TB combat is tolerable because it can work well when done properly, as TA has done with Solasta. It's quite amazing, though, that a tiny developer like TA, using Kickstarter funds, has done a waaaaaaaaay better job of creating a decent combat system than Larian has done with BG3.

[Wormerine]

1 hour ago, kanisatha said:

It's quite amazing, though, that a tiny developer like TA, using Kickstarter funds, has done a waaaaaaaaay better job of creating a decent combat system than Larian has done with BG3.

Eh, a benefit of making a niche product for a narrow audience, rather then AAA product that is meant to appeal to as wide demographic as possible without fully satisfying none.

[Keyrock]

Having played through a decent chunk of Steelrising I can share some impressions:

* The combat feels really good, easily the best of any Spiders game. I've written this before, but this game very much plays like Bloodborne. The controls are maybe not quite as crisp and refined as Bloodborne, but they are still responsive and combat is fun. There are times when an aggressive approach is optimal and times when it pays to play defensively, it's very important to know your enemies' movesets and tells. You can absolutely get killed by regular mooks if you get sloppy.

* The enemy variety is impressive. I've encountered at least a dozen different enemies so far and that's not counting bosses. It's not just reskins either, the enemies have completely different movesets.

* Sound design is top notch with wonderful period appropriate music that stays far in the background when you are exploring. During combat the music comes to the forefront, especially during boss battles. Voice acting is well done and I appreciate how Aegis sounds unnatural when she speaks while everyone else speaks like a normal human. The metallic sounding clanging and grinding of gears of the automatons is spot on for that steampunk feel.

* Graphical fidelity does not quite reach AAA, but it's relatively close. In particular, lighting effects are fantastic. Animations look good and appropriately robotic. Little touches like the gears in Aegis' back glowing when stamina drops low (stamina takes the form of Aegis overheating when she's "tired") are appreciated 

* I can't speak for any other platform, but the game runs like a champ on xXxBOxXx. I've encountered one graphical glitch which I've written about previously, and nothing else; no crashes, no frame stuttering, it's been rock solid.

Side note: You can walk through shallow water but deep water is instant death.

[xzar_monty]

7 hours ago, kanisatha said:

I even backed this game on Kickstarter. But it is definitely a case of loving it in spite of it being TB. I think that for 5e D&D, TB combat is tolerable because it can work well when done properly, as TA has done with Solasta. It's quite amazing, though, that a tiny developer like TA, using Kickstarter funds, has done a waaaaaaaaay better job of creating a decent combat system than Larian has done with BG3.

I must say this was a tempting comment, in the sense that maybe I should give it a try. But then, with family, work, and all the rest of it, maybe it's a no.

[Hawke64]

Solasta is not a long game and quite comfortable to play in short sessions. I completed it some time ago without DLCs.
I can't quite point out why, but the game was extremely nice and comfortable to play, unlike DOS1-2 (it could be the lack of "lol, gotha" moments, precise controls, expressive visuals, meaningful loot and crafting?). Though, its main quest line was somehow linear.

Wasteland 3. Replayed the first mission trice while testing the PCs. Ended up with a melee fighter and a sniper. For some reason I have the feeling that the Patriarch's children are going to die.

[Humanoid]

Yeah, I did Solasta as a bunch of ~2 hour co-op sessions, and its length was about right for that. The campaign is utterly perfunctory, but I guess that's the intention, sort of a showcase for the faithful engine they've created. Feels like NWN's relationship with its campaign really.

[Chilloutman]

I must say NWN campaign is top notch as opposed to Solasta

[bugarup]

I Wasteland's 3 Steeltown DLC! Tighter writing, fun new game mechanics, loads and loads of great loot, and last but not least, toilet humor! I think if I didn't have a max speed guy, a hacker and a mechanic the last fight could've felt a bit stretched, but since I had...anyway, there was plenty of XP too and now with maxed out Animal Whisperer I whispered myself a Honey Badger who is proving to be a walking cheat.

[Zoraptor]

I only had one problem with the Steeltown DLC, and that was its start. Which was pretty generic and 'boring' at a time when I wanted something different. Once you get into the facility and down the elevator it picks up a lot and is different, so of course I quit my first run through just before going down there...

I was also a bit tired of 'haha silly corporates!' type stuff after The Outer Worlds. I prefer the 2nd DLC a bit overall, but they're both good and provide what good DLC should provide and what the old 'expansion' term implies- a broader experience.

Animal Whisperer + non party counting companions were interestingly balanced, to say the least. I think my main character with the highest HP only had ~500 and the worst of the others had about 1500. Even the Brahmin you could pick up early had something like 2000HP when attached to someone with high AW and the perks from it.

[bugarup]

2 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

Animal Whisperer + non party counting companions were interestingly balanced, to say the least. I think my main character with the highest HP only had ~500 and the worst of the others had about 1500. Even the Brahmin you could pick up early had something like 2000HP when attached to someone with high AW and the perks from it.

My max STR guy has 440 HP at level 20, Honey Badger, when I whispered him, had over 11K. It dropped to 7K later and then to 5K when I brought him back to HQ so it probably was affected by that Port-A-Potty buff before or something, still - 5K HP and  he did in a clown guy in three bites when we got summoned to fend off a Steeltown gang attack. The only inconvenience is that if he gets set on fire it shears off a percentage of his health instead of fixed points...still, it's just an inconvenience, since pets get a full restore when you're changing zones.

[Bartimaeus]

Gave Steelrising a try, and the game doesn't launch because of the same no "DirectX12 rendering device" that Hawke had. Updated my drivers because they were relatively ancient as well as Visual C++ and DirectX...still no go. Google gives nothing useful. Hmm, well, alrighty. Right, time to finally try Control after having it installed for like a year and a half. ...Half an hour later, I've uninstalled Control: gotta keeping it moving, boys, ain't got no time for these terrible games. Hopefully the issue with Steelrising will be figured out, as it has to be better than whatever that was.

[Keyrock]

Sounds like I really lucked out getting Steelrising on console rather than PC, hopefully they get this issue sorted soon. I wonder if the game can be forced to run on another renderer with -dx11 or -vulkan?

[Zoraptor]

I've started Pathfinder: WotR. Not posting in the main thread because, well, just started and lots of spoilers there (no complaints about that, the game isn't exactly new).

I'm not sure whether that is the best or worst start to a 'D&D' game ever. It's certainly the most stereotypical in pretty much every way. Stilted cutscenes, immediate great disaster, Chosen One Has Been Chosen etc. Then an hour later go fight 5 guys with your 4 member party where the lowest level of them is 2, the same as you, the highest is at level 5. And he's a raging barbarian immune to a bunch of statuses and with extra HP from the rage.

OK, so core rules rather than wimpy 1st timer rules, but that's harsher than the Nashkel Mines. Prologue end fight was easier, since winning that only relied on making a single saving throw vs Bane. OTOH, after the prologue in most games I'd be hauling around loads and loads of potions, scrolls etc having used basically none. Not the case here, probably used almost all the useful ones I found (and I guess 20x inflict light wounds at least --> some cash to buy useful items).

[majestic]

9 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

OK, so core rules rather than wimpy 1st timer rules, but that's harsher than the Nashkel Mines.

"Balance? There has never been balance! If anything, we shall remove all balance."
                           -- Ulyaoth, "Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem", lord and master of Owlcat.

[InsaneCommander]

22 minutes ago, Zoraptor said:

I've started Pathfinder: WotR. Not posting in the main thread because, well, just started and lots of spoilers there (no complaints about that, the game isn't exactly new).

I'm not sure whether that is the best or worst start to a 'D&D' game ever. It's certainly the most stereotypical in pretty much every way. Stilted cutscenes, immediate great disaster, Chosen One Has Been Chosen etc. Then an hour later go fight 5 guys with your 4 member party where the lowest level of them is 2, the same as you, the highest is at level 5. And he's a raging barbarian immune to a bunch of statuses and with extra HP from the rage.

OK, so core rules rather than wimpy 1st timer rules, but that's harsher than the Nashkel Mines. Prologue end fight was easier, since winning that only relied on making a single saving throw vs Bane. OTOH, after the prologue in most games I'd be hauling around loads and loads of potions, scrolls etc having used basically none. Not the case here, probably used almost all the useful ones I found (and I guess 20x inflict light wounds at least --> some cash to buy useful items).

What difficulty are you playing on?

I'm on my first playthrough, on normal. I used a lot of potions in the early game, but now there are loads of them. And scrolls of inflict wounds. I have dozens of them and they don't even sell for a decent price.

[Zoraptor]

Playing on Core rules so 3rd hardest setting. Which does have a warning, to be fair, but then I'm not exactly a novice and have completed Kingmaker on Core rules (without, iirc, a single party wipe either).

I rather like having used almost all the consumables, that's the part which makes me wonder if it's actually the best start to a 'D&D' game. It's kind of silly finding you have 30 odd potions of barkskin/ bears endurance/ bulls strength you've never used and you certainly had to use them to realistically stand a chance in some fights. I also didn't run out but came close, so the balance is probably near perfect, objectively, it just feels really difficult*. I didn't even fight the elementals though I bet the water one is cheesable somehow, I just couldn't be bothered finding out how.

*it's also early level D&D syndrome of course. You've only ever one crit or a failed save away from disaster when you have so few HP.

[uuuhhii]

pathfinder 1e are such shaky foundation to build game upon already

there is also no way to figure out what part work as written what is bugged in owlcat game without testing

[Gorth]

3 hours ago, Zoraptor said:

I've started Pathfinder: WotR. Not posting in the main thread because, well, just started and lots of spoilers there (no complaints about that, the game isn't exactly new).

I'm not sure whether that is the best or worst start to a 'D&D' game ever. It's certainly the most stereotypical in pretty much every way. Stilted cutscenes, immediate great disaster, Chosen One Has Been Chosen etc. Then an hour later go fight 5 guys with your 4 member party where the lowest level of them is 2, the same as you, the highest is at level 5. And he's a raging barbarian immune to a bunch of statuses and with extra HP from the rage.

OK, so core rules rather than wimpy 1st timer rules, but that's harsher than the Nashkel Mines. Prologue end fight was easier, since winning that only relied on making a single saving throw vs Bane. OTOH, after the prologue in most games I'd be hauling around loads and loads of potions, scrolls etc having used basically none. Not the case here, probably used almost all the useful ones I found (and I guess 20x inflict light wounds at least --> some cash to buy useful items).

Don't worry. The instant party wipes comes later. Following by gnashing of teeth, head scratching, guide reading and listening to advice in the pathfinder thread

[uuuhhii]

or lower the difficulty

like anyone doesn't want to waste 100 hours read awful small text in layer after layer of ability description

[Gorth]

Yeah. I decided to play my very first game on the default/normal difficulty. Feel no need to show off my non existing d&d skills in an orgy of self inflicted pain… I leave that to the Slaanesh worshippers