What are you playing now?

[213374U]

- Mild spoiler ahead- 

One thing I did not like was the morale system, and of course I got the ''bad'' ending. Yes, I got it, the whole game was about forgiving and being forgiven in return but some situations called for a less pacifistic solution. Yes, I killed those bandits in the tunnel who executed civilians and were about to rape a woman next to her dead people. According to the morale system that makes me a bad person, more than simply ignoring the whole situation and walking by. And yes, Pavel, after committing so many atrocities deserved no quarter, his fate of becoming a lost soul was fitting. But this decision also made me a bad person.

Some of the moral points made sense, some were a little on the WTF? side.

 

 

I killed the bandits in the train car too, I didn't know that counted as "bad". They attack you unless you sneak up on them, don't they?

 

As for Pavel, he totally deserves a bullet in the skull, and the plot makes a point of painting him as a genuinely dislikeable character. But the point is that executing him sets a bad example for the little dark one. It's not so much about what Artyom thinks is just but about showing the dark ones that there may be some hope for humans yet.

 

(yes, my first impulse was also to finally shoot the ****er dead)

 

 

I dunno, I thought it made sense when I played it.

[BruceVC]

 

- Mild spoiler ahead- 

One thing I did not like was the morale system, and of course I got the ''bad'' ending. Yes, I got it, the whole game was about forgiving and being forgiven in return but some situations called for a less pacifistic solution. Yes, I killed those bandits in the tunnel who executed civilians and were about to rape a woman next to her dead people. According to the morale system that makes me a bad person, more than simply ignoring the whole situation and walking by. And yes, Pavel, after committing so many atrocities deserved no quarter, his fate of becoming a lost soul was fitting. But this decision also made me a bad person.

Some of the moral points made sense, some were a little on the WTF? side.

 

 

I killed the bandits in the train car too, I didn't know that counted as "bad". They attack you unless you sneak up on them, don't they?

 

As for Pavel, he totally deserves a bullet in the skull, and the plot makes a point of painting him as a genuinely dislikeable character. But the point is that executing him sets a bad example for the little dark one. It's not so much about what Artyom thinks is just but about showing the dark ones that there may be some hope for humans yet.

 

(yes, my first impulse was also to finally shoot the ****er dead)

 

 

I dunno, I thought it made sense when I played it.

 

 

Yes this is very accurate insight into the narrative, I had forgotten my choice and reasons for it until you reminded me. I forgave him because the dark one child needed to see that there are always nuances in decisions and forgiveness is a necessary consideration in our decisions, he must see this as he has been asked to forgive 

[Majek]

Sattelite Reign Pre Alpha.  This could turn out to be almost as good as expected. Still quite some way to go.

[Leferd]

 

Whoa, if I'm not mistaken, that's the first Need For Speed.

I believe that is Test Drive. Had fun with it back in the day.

 

Whoa, if I'm not mistaken, that's the first Need For Speed.

I believe that is Test Drive. Had fun with it back in the day.

Yeah. I thought the same thing. That was a long item ago.

[Flouride]

Getting bored with Shadow Warrior... While it was quite fun at the beginning now it's just getting stale and boring and I'm wishing it would just end.

Also trying out Nosgoth. Seems quite fun so far.

[Bendu]

Taking a break from Lords of Xulima. Though the first 40 hours are a lot of fun, it's way to repetitive in the long term.

 

Also playing Dungeon the the Endless. A really nice mix of rogue-like and  tower defence gameplay. Definitely gonna play this once in a while. Also finished a match in Endless Space. I'm missing some extra flavor, but it's a very enjoyable game. Overall, I really like the "Endless" universe. Would be a great setting for a RPG.

 

Finally, more Dark Souls. Invaded other players as a Spirit of Vengeance, but I got a bit rusty in PvP. *cough*

[teknoman2]

i started "castlevania lords of shadow 2". if not for the free camera, it is identical to the first game.

when im done with it, i will go back to wasteland 2 that i had left for later after a few hours because of a bug that is now patched (the bug with AI having sometimes 2x or 3x more AP than it should)

[Hurlshort]

Picked up Dead State, I didn't realize what a gem I was missing.  It's great fun.

[Starwars]

I really, really enjoyed Dead State though I think it would be quite a lot better if it was condensed slightly. I kinda ran out of things to do near the end of it, I think they're gonna look at that in a future patch.

 

But yeah, it's up there among my top 2014 games, it's great despite it getting a bit repetitive.

[Keyrock]

Playing more Raven's Cry.  In true white man fashion, I just slaughtered an island's entire native population, their males anyway.  I didn't see any women, which makes me wonder how the natives reproduce.  I'll make a bit of a logical leap and assume they hid their women away somewhere deep.  Probably a good call on their part.  Now the natives did attack me on sight (can't say I blame them), so I could say I was defending myself, but considering the ***hole murderer I'm playing as, I'm going to assume I was going in with a mind for killing all of them regardless.  That's how I roll.  I like how the game has a "Fear Meter" that fills up as you damage enemies (pretty quickly too), and once it's full you can unleash an special insta-kill attack (at higher levels it can supposedly insta-kill multiple enemies).  What's cool is that it's not always the same animation.  Sometimes you go behind them, grab them, and slice their belly open, then stomp their head when they fall down, sometimes you grab them and run your blade through their stomach, and sometimes you simply stab them in the face.  You can also attack with your hook, but I haven't unlocked that yet.  A nice touch is that your pistol more often than not doesn't fire when it's raining.  Also, you can sick your pet raven on enemies.  It doesn't do much damage (yet, maybe it will with upgrades), but just the thought of it is awesome.

 

I'm mostly avoiding sea battles right now because all I got is a dinky schooner, so I'm pretty much always outgunned.  Luckily, with my upgraded sails, I can generally outrun enemies.  With all the valuables I looted off the natives (hopefully all those gold idols are worth a pretty penny) I should be able to afford a larger vessel.  I'd like to get a frigate.  Galleons are super powerful but slow and cumbersome, a frigate seems like a good compromise of power and maneuverability.

Edited February 1, 2015 by Keyrock

[teknoman2]

come to think of it, i noticed a really annoying thing that was present in arkham asylum/city/origins and in lords of shadow 1 and 2 and is probably in many other games like them.

the forced backtracking disguised as exploration!

what i mean is: in all these games there were locations within maps (with something to collect in them) that were simply unreachable with the current power ups you had when you got there the first time. so you had to remember them, keep playing and once you had unlocked that little extra move that you needed, you could go back to that map and re-explore it to get to these areas and find the hidden stuff.

i find it a very unimaginative and lazy way to increase the longevity of a game.

[Tale]

Back to Mass Effect 2.

 

The morality system is probably the biggest flaw in the game. I don't think the weak main plot even comes close. You're stuck picking choices based on expectations of points so you can solve problems later, instead of playing a character or even picking based on situational demands.

 

Anyone who's played it has probably figured the same thing out, but it annoys me enough to harp on it still. Just did the Thane loyalty and I wanted to punch Kelham for the interrogation. But since I've been Paragon so far, well, if I do that, I fear that I'll fail the Tali/Legion check later.

[ManifestedISO]

Try hunting endlessly for element zero and see how rewarding the morality system is, idk.  

[Tale]

There's enough guides telling you where to find that out there. I just looked one up earlier today for that exact purpose.

 

Also, fun with bugs!

The missing background texture from Garrus' loyalty mission is not present on PS3. I miss that one.

The bug where you get ahead in Thane's is. You go to a cutscene dialogue too early and Thane starts bugging you about progress, well, this causes the dialogue to drop and you're stuck looking at a wall with no control.

Bug I never noticed before, in the same mission, in the area with the walking Keeper, his shadow clips through the floor. If you have the Keeper off screen, the shadow fails to animate. Presumably the Keeper doesn't animate at all in this case to save memory or processing, but it's neat.

[LadyCrimson]

"Stranded Deep" - early access survival-type title, week old on Steam. Will have bugs.

 

Gameplay so far...crash into the sea, paddle raft to nearest island. Craft a basic shelter (foundation, leaf-hut wall/roof), campfire, basic tools etc. by dumping stuff on the ground and if you have enough a build menu comes up when you r-click on piles. Hunger/thirst isn't too hard to deal with, but building/tool/fire material (palm trees, rocks) is finite per island and tool durability is lowish so you always need more. Rains a lot which can cause health issues eventually so you do need a shelter at some point.

 

Islands in the ocean is infinite, so you paddle to other islands for more resources and special gear, or try diving for shipwrecks (you can find parts to build a boat motor). Lots of sharks in water but you can avoid them for a long time if you want. Or you can try to kill one (ha) and drag it to shore for meat.

 

Biggest PITA is the islands are often far apart, so you're paddling 3-5 minutes one-way, going back and forth repeatedly since inventory space is severely limited (8 spaces, stack limit of 4). Easy to lose direction until you randomly find a compass, too. Anyway...like Cast Away + Giligan's Island of One. I rather like it - it's not high-stress unless purposely going after sharks all the time - but I'd advise most to wait and see if it adds more to do. If nothing else, it could use more crafting options.

[GhostofAnakin]

Yeah, I officially hate the new combat mechanics in AC Unity.  The block button doesn't really work well, and if you get into a fight with a group of enemies at once and one of them has a gun, you're done.

 

The main story is pretty cool and how you can customize your character is an interesting feature, plus the quests where you're solving crimes is an interesting twist.  But some stuff just drags it down, IMO.  Largely the new control scheme.

[SadExchange]

Yeah, I officially hate the new combat mechanics in AC Unity. The block button doesn't really work well, and if you get into a fight with a group of enemies at once and one of them has a gun, you're done.

 

The main story is pretty cool and how you can customize your character is an interesting feature, plus the quests where you're solving crimes is an interesting twist. But some stuff just drags it down, IMO. Largely the new control scheme.

I completely agree with the combat. Not that I wanted the "win" button from the previous games but whenever there was 3 or Morris around me, I would run. It was either that or die and spend 2-3 minutes waiting to load from the last save point. The worst combat in an AC game yet.

[Rosbjerg]

Completed the Mass Effect trilogy, with a Vanguard Renegade Shep (most fun class to play in 2 and 3) and destruction ending.. Liked the extended cut actually, made more sense and also the Leviathan DLC and Citadel DLC. It was nice to connect a bit more to the crew, as it felt a bit rushed (albeit logically so) in the original game.

 

Good series overall.

 

My skeptical ME1 Shephard.

[Malcador]

Grey Goo, pretty fun so far. The AI is pleasantly challenging enough though a bit predictable in its pressure (so once you take good positions you are gold). I do like how the game handles elevation as well as cover in dense woods.

[Nonek]

Hah, found new content in Torment, in the evening in the Dead Nations the Skeletons hold a prayer meeting with Hargrim preaching from the pulpit. Never seen this before, reminds me of the Fellowship meetings in Britain, great stuff.

 

 

 

What the devil is that Asari doing to your Shepard, by the looks of it she's not embracing eternity but something else!

[GhostofAnakin]

Completed the Mass Effect trilogy, with a Vanguard Renegade Shep (most fun class to play in 2 and 3) and destruction ending.. Liked the extended cut actually, made more sense and also the Leviathan DLC and Citadel DLC. It was nice to connect a bit more to the crew, as it felt a bit rushed (albeit logically so) in the original game.

 

Good series overall.

 

My skeptical ME1 Shephard.

 

Tali's photoboming Shepard's drunk selfie.

[Keyrock]

Well, I finally got a new ship in Raven's Cry, a man o' war.  It took almost all my money and it's pretty beat up and I can't afford to fully fix it, since I need to keep some cash for trading, so I'll need to be careful and avoid battles until I make enough to fix it up fully, but once I do, I will be the scourge of the seas, since I now own a proper war vessel. 

 

[GhostofAnakin]

Well, I finally got a new ship in Raven's Cry, a man o' war.  It took almost all my money and it's pretty beat up and I can't afford to fully fix it, since I need to keep some cash for trading, so I'll need to be careful and avoid battles until I make enough to fix it up fully, but once I do, I will be the scourge of the seas, since I now own a proper war vessel. 

 

 

Speaking of Man O Wars, i found they really sucked in AC Black Flag.  They had the most powerful shot (did most damage), but they were soooooooooo slooooooooooowwwww to fire that by the time their turn to shoot came around, either the battle was already over or they'd taken so much damage that I spent a fortune repairing them.  The only thing they were good for was their high cargo capacity.

[LadyCrimson]

Tried another early access called Besiege. At the moment it's just levels where you design a vehicle/thingie to destroy a new hut/castle/whatever. Not that I've gotten far. I like the building/design part (it's kind of a whimsical, do-anything style) but I don't see much other point yet.

 

...I think that's the 3rd or 5th early access I've tried recently. Guess that's what's happens when one doesn't like the AAA games much anymore. So far, I haven't picked a true clunker/didn't even get my $15 worth, yet...just the usual "it's early alpha, needs more content" routine.

[teknoman2]

im downloading BF hardline beta. let's see if it's any good

i was thinking though, that EA wastes a good opportunity for almost free publicity in the BF series.

you see, the single player part of BF3 and 4 were less than 5% of what the game had to offer. if they made the single player of these games free, it would double both as a benchmark for their engine, so people would know if and how well their pc runs the game and it would attract a crowd of potential customers

Edited February 3, 2015 by teknoman2