1 hour ago, kanisatha said:

Thanks!

Could you provide a rundown on the difficulty settings of the game? Does it have anything along the lines of an easy or story mode? And if so, how does that actually impact the game?

There is an easy mode and I am currently playing it. Combat is complicated, with a bunch of different directions to block and attack. I don't love it. Easy mode seems to simplify it a bit. I can just block and attack. I'm only about 5 hours in though, so I don't know if it will get harder or boring. So far it hasn't been combat heavy. Lots of exploring and investigating.

18 minutes ago, Hurlshort said:

There is an easy mode and I am currently playing it. Combat is complicated, with a bunch of different directions to block and attack. I don't love it. Easy mode seems to simplify it a bit. I can just block and attack. I'm only about 5 hours in though, so I don't know if it will get harder or boring. So far it hasn't been combat heavy. Lots of exploring and investigating.

Thanks!

I added it to my wishlist, and have been reading through some of the discussion on the Steam forum and watching some youtube videos. Alongside the timer issue, the combat seems to be the other major concern for people. But if I can make it meaningfully easier on me through the game's difficulty settings, then that will make a difference in whether I buy the game or not.

Btw, the boss I was talking about is named Xanthe. Apparently, you don't necessarily need to fight her, and can instead befriend her. So, there is that. But if you end up fighting her, please share details on that encounter.

16 hours ago, kanisatha said:

Thanks!

I added it to my wishlist, and have been reading through some of the discussion on the Steam forum and watching some youtube videos. Alongside the timer issue, the combat seems to be the other major concern for people. But if I can make it meaningfully easier on me through the game's difficulty settings, then that will make a difference in whether I buy the game or not.

Btw, the boss I was talking about is named Xanthe. Apparently, you don't necessarily need to fight her, and can instead befriend her. So, there is that. But if you end up fighting her, please share details on that encounter.

On Codex there is lots of criticism around the level scaling mechanics , I hate level scaling because of how it undermines immersion and risk vs reward exploration

Mods will remove that when they released

10 hours ago, BruceVC said:

Mods will remove that when they released

Yes, apparently the game is very mod friendly, as people have already created mods to increase/eliminate the various time limits.

They really need to patch the soft locking in Zero Company... Kills the will to play the game. FFS it locks up in the main menu...

Edited Wednesday at 07:52 AM2 days by Sarex

Re: Blood Of Dawnwalker (and that supposedly "timer"..)

I sympathize with people disliking elements of a game (be glad if you're not as allergic to markers for everything as I am btw ^^). But this still highlights why I'm barely playing triple-A blockbusters anymore. Numerous mainstream outlets have already highlighted how they've had all the time to explore almost everything (GameStar ran articles and a video, PC Gamer argued they were near invincible after 20 days of 30... calling it a bit tame.)

But more importantly: The moment there's even a tiny bit of friction teased, people panic (or mod it out). Let this sink in: It isn't a game over, as the game carries on. Or a real-time clock ticking. It's just trying to represent the consequences of your (in-)actions. In a way that only a game could do. A book may describe a tragedy. A movie may show a hurry. But only a game could make you find a pile of corpses and realize: "Oh my GOD, if I hadn't wasted the prior 1000 hours on brainlessly farming every question mark on the map, that Ciri girl, er, my family may still be alive!" Hollywood is laughing, with gaming throwing its core advantage away, one formulaic triple-A blockbuster at a time. :D And yeah, rather hesistant to pay premium for ideas that sound grand on paper ("Narrative Sandboxes!") -- but then get nerfed in playtesting to barely matter anyway.


The good thing is that studios that go with the friction can be winning (Warhorse being the most recent example). Whilst those that are desperate to please everyone in the room and heavily compromise, they may suffer (Bioware). After all, these aren't the mid 2000s anymore, where the entire market was gatekept closely by major publishers (and even retail). Similar to music, this is now a heavily fragmented digital one. Where playing it bland now can run the risk of being ignored (in particular if your product isn't a part of an established franchise or studio still riding high). Prior, lawnmower product makers worldwide only had to upload a glitzy trailer -- and hit the launch button.

No more.

Edited Wednesday at 12:20 AM2 days by Sven_

Anything with a timer is a hard pass for me. Spirit eater, timer to respond in Alpha Protocal, etc... I want to brainlessly farm every question mark on the map and be ridiculously overpowered by chapter end.

3 hours ago, Gfted1 said:

Anything with a timer is a hard pass for me. Spirit eater, timer to respond in Alpha Protocal, etc... I want to brainlessly farm every question mark on the map and be ridiculously overpowered by chapter end.

Preach!

I can live with action timers, but everything else just makes my brain hurt trying to come up with the best way to cram as much into the game as possible. So, yeah, no. Thanks, but no thanks. Keep your nasty timers. I'll go do every sidequest in Amn and then go looking for Imoen. Bye!

20 hours ago, majestic said:

I can live with action timers, but everything else just makes my brain hurt trying to come up with the best way to cram as much into the game as possible. So, yeah, no. Thanks, but no thanks. Keep your nasty timers. I'll go do every sidequest in Amn and then go looking for Imoen. Bye!

I actually really prefer this over the way Bethesda RPG's give you what seems like an urgent quest, and then expect you to do a bunch of silly sidequests instead. Your kid has been kidnapped! But first you should clean some radroaches out of a basement. No rush.

Dawnwalker is very clear about how much time you have, but also why you can't just rush off and save your family. So far all of the quests have been somewhat tied to the main story. Your spending your 30 days trying to weaken the bad guys, gain allies, and get strong enough to not get murdered right away. But yeah, there is some choice and consequences to how you use your time. We are used to C&C through conversations in RPG's, but this is just a different system. Sure, I wanted to help that lady rebury her kid, but I also needed to get some medicine to my mom before it got dark. It's an interesting system.

I'm level 15 and I think I'm close to challenging the first minor boss guy. I prefer the daylight and witchcraft system, so I tend to use all my skill points at night, which shortens that part of the game. We will see if that bites me in the rear down the road. Witchcraft is pretty awesome. Blood boiling is terrifying.

After deadlines at work, deal with deadlines in game

Drova

Primeval Forest

So, I have reached the Primeval Forest. After accidentally getting there early on the way to Nemeton, I spent some time trying to find a way inside again. After dodging the very agile wolves and kiting them into the glowing boars, I got stuck on the flame wall for quite some time.

The fun parts - there is a trader who does not accept coins, because the settlement is in the middle of the forest, so no point in having the currency. The trader had an axe with a ridiculously high price but it would be hitting 2 times as hard as my current one. So, I bartered with my old equipment and now the trader has a little armoury. No clue what he can do with 10 swords in a forest with only 5 people. Everyone starts dual-wielding?

One of the quests in the same forest involves tracking down and killing a bear. On the way to the bear, there were several wolves who decided to tag along (i.e. aggroed easily). In the bear's arena, the wolves chose to attack the bear rather than me and after several attempts, the bear was dead (and I had to deal with the wolves). I still was hitting the bear when it was close, so the axe helped. The "fun" part is that very close to the bear's clearing was a corpse with a slightly better axe than the one I bought. And the difference between the buying and the selling prices was about 8 times.

I have also progressed the Ruin Raiders quest line as far as I could without joining any of the main factions. There are 2 shrines left that I believe (looked up) I need to visit.

Speaking of, for the Remnants, the options to join are somewhat uninspiring.

Somehow, my favoured weapon type is axe now and I usually go with swords or daggers.

---

Tried Blackshard and Hypnos demos. They ran poorly.

4 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

I actually really prefer this over the way Bethesda RPG's give you what seems like an urgent quest, and then expect you to do a bunch of silly sidequests instead. Your kid has been kidnapped! But first you should clean some radroaches out of a basement. No rush.

Dawnwalker is very clear about how much time you have, but also why you can't just rush off and save your family. So far all of the quests have been somewhat tied to the main story. Your spending your 30 days trying to weaken the bad guys, gain allies, and get strong enough to not get murdered right away. But yeah, there is some choice and consequences to how you use your time. We are used to C&C through conversations in RPG's, but this is just a different system. Sure, I wanted to help that lady rebury her kid, but I also needed to get some medicine to my mom before it got dark. It's an interesting system.

I'm level 15 and I think I'm close to challenging the first minor boss guy. I prefer the daylight and witchcraft system, so I tend to use all my skill points at night, which shortens that part of the game. We will see if that bites me in the rear down the road. Witchcraft is pretty awesome. Blood boiling is terrifying.

That's great, really. I mean, like totally.

I deal with deadlines at work, with prioritizing workloads, deciding what gets done and what doesn't, what's denied, what's put in the backlog, and so on, and so forth. Hoonding has it right. Not doing that for "fun" at home. Just like I'm never going to finish Opus Magnum in spite of having completist OCD.

Well, maybe once I'm retired.

16 hours ago, HoonDing said:

After deadlines at work, deal with deadlines in game

More like:

After dealing with boring quest checklists to be completed at work...
... dealing with boring quest checklists to be completed at home...

All question marks on the map unlocked, all side quests and fetch activity cleared, completion rate at 100% -- boss says you're all done now, god job! 😁

By the way: My above take wasn't an argument for time mechanics in every game. GODDAMN PLEASE NO! :) (The path of the spreadsheet design is beset on all sides by the lack of imagination of the CEOs -- and the tyranny of the shareholder value. See Ubisoft et all, and Witcher 3 REALLY wasn't that far off in its world design). It thus all depends on the game. The mood and emotions it targets. And the stories it tries to tell.


As such I'm still waiting for the mod that:

..adds more combat to Disco Elysium? (I’m narcoleptic and always fall asleep when there’s that much text)

...swaps the Brütal Legend soundtrack for country music? (I hate metal and need something I actually like)

...gives Death Stranding infinite carrying capacity? (I work in logistics and want to be able to switch off when I’m home)

...adds a pacifist mode with tranquilizer darts to Doom: The Dark Ages? (I'm a hippie at heart and full of BFG remorse)

...caps the speed in Autobahnraser at 130 km/h? (I’m a Green Party supporter and want to see that implemented—at least in the game)

...unlocks a rocket launcher in Thief 2? (I’m a speedrunner and learned to like the rocket-jump)

...removes the puzzles from Portal 2? (I hate it when a plan doesn’t come together)

...gets rid of the choices in The Walking Dead? (You should see me frozen in the super market, eternally facing those 100 different frozen pizzas to pick from...)

Wait, why MODS? Unlike movies, books and music, games will hit so much more if they're truly made for everyone, straight outta the box. 100% convenience. 100% retention and completion rates unlocked! Just like a lawnmower! Come on triple-A studios, CEOs and shareholders! You can make it if only you truly try!

^^

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by Sven_

On-topic:

Replaying a game definitely made by someone for someone. And taking its ideas (sandbox slapstick) and inspirations (Dark Messiah) and RUNNING with them. And KICKING with them. And BANANA SLIPPING with them.

Unlike those bloated open worlds full of side activity to farm that people insist on 100% completing anyway: This one can be finished in 7-8ish hours or so.

Sorry in case you're allergic to bananas tho. You've got to pick your lane somehow. 😁

Sir Kicksalot is the Perfect Dark Messiah Parody

Edited 4 hours ago4 hr by Sven_

I would totally dig a pacifist DOOM game, btw.

3 hours ago, Hurlshort said:

I would totally dig a pacifist DOOM game, btw.