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deuxhero

Arcane
Joined
Jul 30, 2007
Messages
11,325
Location
Flowery Land
Doing yet another playthrough of Jedi Academy (with OpenJK), and I'm onto the final strech of levels. The gameplay of this game has been discussed and (rightfully) praised a lot already. Instead I'll talk about the level design.

All fifteen selectable missions are all wildly different from eachother, in objective, design, appearance and enemy types making good use of its change from a linear story to chosen missions. One levels has you rushing forward across a train to stop some stuff going on at the front, another retrieving parts on an open map (but sandworms will eat you if you stand outside of a safespot too long), another engaging in a speederbike chase, and more. Gimmicks never really repeat, and the extremely obtuse puzzles and level design of Outcast (which is the primary reason I don't replay Outcast that much) aren't nearly as frequent (there's still a handful, like the door that only opens when an enemy gets close to it in the mutant rancor level and some broken glass in the Hoth level that's immune to all damage but force push). A surprising number of levels can be completed pacifist (Outside of killing a handful of key holding officers, the Rancor level where you have to kill a bunch of guards to protect the hostages and the Dreadnaught level where you kill the entire 16,000+ crew are the main exceptions) and your mobility and defenses mean it actually is more practical that you'd expect to just run past enemies, even if this doesn't quite make sense.

Unfortunately that's about where my praise for the level design ends. Actual mapping rarely wowed me. There's secret areas, but they never really feel rewarding since they just give common items you won't use and lose at the end of the level anyways. I think including the original Jedi Knight's bonus force point for finding all secrets in a level would have greatly helped in this area, as would secrets that make fights easier or bypass parts of the level. Level play time varies wildly, especially if you know what you're doing: Some can last just a few minutes, others are half hour+ and start to outlive their welcome.
 
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DeepOcean

Arcane
Joined
Nov 8, 2012
Messages
7,394
Doing yet another playthrough of Jedi Academy (with OpenJK), and I'm onto the final strech of levels. The gameplay of this game has been discussed and (rightfully) praised a lot already. Instead I'll talk about the level design.

All fifteen selectable missions are all wildly different from eachother, in objective, design, appearance and enemy types making good use of its change from a linear story to chosen missions. One levels has you rushing forward across a train to stop some stuff going on at the front, another retrieving parts on an open map (but sandworms will eat you if you stand outside of a safespot too long), another engaging in a speederbike chase, and more. Gimmicks never really repeat, and the extremely obtuse puzzles and level design of Outcast (which is the primary reason I don't replay Outcast that much) aren't nearly as frequent (there's still a handful, like the door that only opens when an enemy gets close to it in the mutant rancor level and some broken glass in the Hoth level that's immune to all damage but force push). A surprising number of levels can be completed pacifist (Outside of killing a handful of key holding officers, the Rancor level where you have to kill a bunch of guards to protect the hostages and the Dreadnaught level where you kill the entire 16,000+ crew are the main exceptions) and your mobility and defenses mean it actually is more practical that you'd expect to just run past enemies, even if this doesn't quite make sense.

Unfortunately that's about where my praise for the level design ends. Actual mapping rarely wowed me. There's secret areas, but they never really feel rewarding since they just give common items you won't use and lose at the end of the level anyways. I think including the original Jedi Knight's bonus force point for finding all secrets in a level would have greatly helped in this area, as would secrets that make fights easier or bypass parts of the level. Level play time varies wildly, especially if you know what you're doing: Some can last just a few minutes, others are half hour+ and start to outlive their welcome.
JK Academy deserved to be a proper SP game, there is a lot of variety on levels but so little attention on each, some levels end so quick that you barely notice what happened and others are on a really pre alpha buggy state (That bike level is the worst thing I played on a FPS). The gameplay is the same great stuff of Outcast with some great ideas for levels (that "train" level is fucking ace), it is a pity. That game deserved a proper single player campaign.
 

Prime Junta

Guest
So I finished DA:I, at long last. God damn I hate boss battles... of the mountain-of-hit-points variety anyway.

It's tragic really. The moment-to-moment gameplay -- the heart of the whole experience -- is just terrible. Yet almost everything around it is ... rather good, really. The main story is epic fantasy done right. The companions are almost universally excellent. The world looks and feels terrific. The different aspects of the game support each other and the main story well. It speaks to the quality of everything else that I felt compelled to soldier through it, although I can't remember many games I've actually enjoyed playing less.

St. George and the Dragon, A Story, by BioWare

St. George saw a dragon. He attacked. He hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked and he hacked. The dragon died. The End
 
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80Maxwell08

Arcane
Joined
Nov 14, 2012
Messages
1,154
Just finished Vampire the Masquerade Bloodlines for the first time. Man what a game that was. All the praise for the Ocean House level was not understated at all. A pity the game is so janky, I can't count the number of times I got stuck trying to go through a door or how my jump got messes up by a 2 inch step. Still, absolutely was worth my time. I'll probably do a Malkavian run soon, but I might give it a few days to not burn out. I'll also probably install the full unofficial patch next time.

All that being said, the hardest laugh I had the whole game was when the credits music kicked in. God I forgot what year this game came out in. Can't believe I played a game with a Lacuna Coil song in it.
 

BLOBERT

FUCKING SLAYINGN IT BROS
Patron
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
4,235
Location
BRO
Codex 2012
BROS PLAYED TONSA OF KERBAL LOLOLLLOL EASY TO GET OBSESSED AND LOSE HOURDC

PLAYED FAGS OF WAR TRWE AND IT WAS GOOD ENOUDH FOR WHAT IT WAS DEFINITELY WAS READY FOR IT TI BE DONE
 

flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,944
Turok remastered.

Oh look a shotgun,how nice.
Oh my,it is barely a upgrade to a normal pistol.This should be a sin to do in fps games.
 

the_shadow

Arcane
Joined
Dec 30, 2011
Messages
1,179
Finally finished Xenonauts with 70,796 civvie casualities (most from a failed terror mission where I was bum rushed by reapers and sebs with grenades) and 105 dead soldiers. My first thought is... what a long game. If you choose to engage in ground combat with every crashed Cruiser/Battleship, you're in for at least a 30 minute battle each time if you play cautiously, which is the only way not to get steamrolled.

Overall I found it an enjoyable game with solid tactical combat, and it felt great slowly advancing in tech to the point where you can go toe to toe with the alien menace, although an unlucky shot from them (or you!) can ruin your day. Every time I fired a rocket or heavy machine gun from behind my other PCs I was biting my nails, because the scatter mechanics do my head in. I lost count of the number of times a rocket veered off course and hit an obstacle that wasn't counted as being in the way in the original path, and gibbed team members next to it. This is especially bad in cluttered UFOs, a common problem was trying to fire a rocket through an open door, only for it to clip the side and blow up in my face. And don't get me started on the path finding if you shoot up and over obstacles. Another annoying thing was late game psionics, where a character can go berserk or get mind controlled. Yeah, you can drop your weapons at the end of every turn, but that just further lengthens an already long combat scenario.

So yeah, my only big complaint would be that the late game is a bit bogged down. Oh well, on to Open X-com, which about half a dozen Codexers have recommended to me every time I mentioned I was playing Xenonauts.
 

Prime Junta

Guest
So I wasted more time on Dragon Age. Specifically, Dragon Age II, the one that everybody agrees is irredeemable garbage.

...

And... I liked it. I think on balance I liked it best of the three. Fight me.

First off the gameplay is still garbage and the encounters where you're continuously fighting identical enemies that keep parachuting in isn't exactly an improvement. But then I didn't have any expectations about the gameplay. Best I can say about that is that moment to moment it wasn't materially worse than the others.

What I liked about it was that it was different. Yes, still a high-fantasy power trip, but with a different angle to it. Having it take place over several years was an excellent idea. The story was exciting and had just sufficient nuance to it to put it past the go-slay-a-dragon shit we mostly see, like in DA:O for example. Some of the companions were pretty damn good too -- I liked Varric, Isabela, Anders, and Fenris, even if it was a bit derp that everyone wants to jump on my dick all the time.

I think the big reason for the really shitty rep this game has is that it's clearly a low-budget job. DA:O and DA:I are big massive sprawling AAA RPGs, this is clearly a tier or two below that. If you're expecting the kind of epic sprawl that these games have, then ... well, this doesn't meet those expectations.

All in all I rate it as "good for what it is." If you're a storyfag it's well worth soldiering through; not worth playing at higher difficulties IMO as it just gets more tedious rather than more fun. Well worth the couple of bucks it's going for these days.

Edit: moreover

BioWare back then knew how to manage a franchise. You don't need to have the same character in every game, with all the continuity problems that brings. Instead, write compelling companions and side characters and have them tie things together. I really wish Obsidian had taken note when plotting out Pillars 2, as most of the really big problems with the story were from that stupid idea of having the same MC. They could just as well have had Pallegina, Maneha, and Kana Rua return as companions and dealt with the continuity that way.
 

BLOBERT

FUCKING SLAYINGN IT BROS
Patron
Joined
Jun 12, 2007
Messages
4,235
Location
BRO
Codex 2012
BROS I STILL HAVE XBOX GOLD SHIT LOLLOLLLOL SO I HAVE TONS OF POPAMOLE TO CHOSE FROM CAUSE IN BETWEEN KERBAL SESSIONS I WANT LO ECFORT SHIT

I ALSO FINISHED JUST CAUSE TREE IT WAS FUN ENOUGH BUT TIRING BEFORE THE END

MAYVE METAL GEAR REVENGANCE NEXT
 

Silentstorm

Learned
Joined
Apr 29, 2019
Messages
885
Ion Fury, after so long, the game has finally come and makes me feel like such a massive asshole for not loving it, it's not a bad game, but aside from the levels that i do enjoy, there's just something lacking about this game that i can't figure out.

Maybe it's that Shelly needs a few more lines, there should be one or two more weapons or that the combat isn't that fun alongside a large quantity of generic but easy to deal with enemies.

I will say this though, the Bowling Bomb is completely awesome and by far my favorite weapon in the game, just wish the rest of the game had as much charm or personality as those bombs.

Seriously, a few levels in and i am thinking that i would rather be playing something else which is never a good sign.
 

Zep Zepo

Titties and Beer
Dumbfuck Repressed Homosexual
Joined
Mar 23, 2013
Messages
5,233
Finished my first run thru Sniper Elite 4. One of the few games I will NG+.

It's a better Hitman than NuHitMan. No complete the Level Wearing Clown Shoes and Killing the Target with a Fart because we DIDN'T START YOU WITH A SNIPER RIFLE, nonsense.

I'm back into a new world with Minecraft for now while I wait for Resident Evil 7 to arrive next week.

Zep--
 

Zibniyat

Arcane
Joined
Jun 22, 2014
Messages
6,536
Finished Trine Enchanted Edition (took me 6 h) and Trine 2 Complete Story (12 h). For some reason I love these games, and I even replayed certain levels to get some Steam Achievements. Might even play it some more for extra achievements too. :oops:

Trine 2's expansion, named Goblin Menace, is a wonderful example of ingeniously crafted and diverse levels, pretty to look at and quite challenging if you want to obtain all the experience and uncover all the secrets it offers. The soundtrack is nice and mostly doesn't distract from the whole experience; for someone wanting an extra challenge there's always the hardcore mode. It's a game that's simple to get into but difficult to master so to say, i.e. to obtain some experience one has to really make a pause and think how to do that.

I've already obtained Trine 3, and I'm hearing it's not as good, so I'm looking forward to Trine 4 which is due this October.
 

Abu Antar

Turn-based Poster
Patron
Joined
Jan 19, 2014
Messages
13,512
Enjoy the Revolution! Another revolution around the sun that is. Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
I don't think that I would enjoy Trine 1 and 2 in SP. However, they were really fun in 3 player co-op. There was utter chaos and mayhem. Lots of laughing and so many swear words.
 

Dayyālu

Arcane
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Messages
4,465
Location
Shaper Crypt
riOtk4f.jpg

Hi, Korenchkin. It's a pity "mobility" isn't a trait the Many left to ye

Once every few years I get hit by the mood to replay System Shock 2. This time for variety I went with all the graphic mods I could find, and honestly the vast majority of them isn't even bad (I weirdly enjoy seeing hands on my weapons for a change!). Went for the laziest build possible, Normal difficulty Navy focusing on Standard Weapons, that pretty much demolishes everything with zero effort. Compare it to the pain of playing as OSA is wonderful.

BALANCE

But again, it's a game that has been examined and quartered to the death a shitton of times, and I kinda feel there's nothing left to say. Yes, the basic plot does not make sense. Yes, the end cinematics are outright puzzling and low quality (who cares for the plot anyway, it's all ambience and dubbing). Yes, there is a noticeable quality fall when you hit the Rickenbacker (you go from sprawling levels that can be approached as you wish to.... messy corridors. Seriously, the Rickenbacker is so cramped that respawns are confined to a couple of areas. Plus the Black Egg nonsense reeks of designer desperation for padding time). Yes, the balance is completely out of whack (half of the weaponry is essentially useless or requires a huge waste of resources for little gain, the OSA path is clearly subpar, some items don't fit any playstyle I can think of). The end bosses are laughable, but I do wonder if something else could be managed within the limits of the engine. Or maybe they are for me because I know by rote how to kill 'em.

But even in the shittiest Body of the Many sections I was never bored, despite already knowing what was coming. There's something always unnerving in hiding in a corridor with little health and precious few shotgun shells with the creepy clack-clack-clack of a Midwife approaching.

Bah. Maybe I should try Bioshock 2 and see if they improved on the shitty Bioshock 1 formula.
 

Puukko

Arcane
Joined
Jul 23, 2015
Messages
3,862
Location
The Khanate
Bioshock 2 is tied with 1 for me, it improves on the gameplay while having a weaker story. Depending on what you refer to as being shitty about the formula, it might not impress you if you didn't like 1.
 
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oldbonebrown

Arcane
Joined
Jun 2, 2017
Messages
841
Location
TELAH
I started playing quite a few games recently. BallisticNG and Starsector being the two I get the most joy out of, however, I have become too addicted to Slay the Spire to act in accordance with what is best for me.
I know that spending the time playing Starsector would be more rewarding, but I can't put down Slay the Spire - despite the life running out of that game for me 40 hours ago.
The problem with Slay the Spire for me is that there just isn't enough content in it, it doesn't feel like a full game. You fairly quickly unlock most of what there is to unlock, and after that you are left with two and a half viable strategies for each character and not a whole lot of variation. The base gameplay is so smooth though that I find myself drooling away my time in front of it anyways - no worthwhile goal in sight.
 

Skdursh

Savant
Joined
Nov 27, 2018
Messages
734
Location
Slavlandia
Ion Fury, after so long, the game has finally come and makes me feel like such a massive asshole for not loving it, it's not a bad game, but aside from the levels that i do enjoy, there's just something lacking about this game that i can't figure out.

Maybe it's that Shelly needs a few more lines, there should be one or two more weapons or that the combat isn't that fun alongside a large quantity of generic but easy to deal with enemies.

I will say this though, the Bowling Bomb is completely awesome and by far my favorite weapon in the game, just wish the rest of the game had as much charm or personality as those bombs.

Seriously, a few levels in and i am thinking that i would rather be playing something else which is never a good sign.

I think it's an excellent game and in tradition of the Codex I must now call you a fucking retard and tell you to eat shit for not liking the thing that I like.
 

HansDampf

Arcane
Joined
Dec 15, 2015
Messages
1,471
Metroid Prime 2 and 3.
I've always rated the games like this: Prime > Corruption > Echoes. But it's complicated.

Echoes isn't as bad as I remembered. I'd just been disappointed that it's basically a worse version of the first game. Everything is slower, and control is taken away in tiny bits here and there. Cooldowns for Boost Ball and Missiles are longer. Elevator rides also take slightly longer (not the load times, but the animations before and after the loading screen). And the design feels a bit uninspired. Light World vs. Dark World? Dark Samus? That's the laziest villain I could have come up with. The Dark World starts out promising at first. You take constant damage and have to sprint from light bubble to light bubble for protection. That is until you've accumulated a few energy tanks and the Dark Suit after about a quarter of the game, which reduces damage taken in the Dark World. From then on you barely even notice the damage. The one exception is the fight against the Boost Guardian that doesn't provide any light bubbles for safety. Even with the Dark Suit, it's a race against time. New weapons are mostly re-skins of Prime 1's weapons, and the new Seeker Launcher is useless in combat. What saves Echoes are the unique and amazing looking Sanctuary Fortress, the oppressive atmosphere, and the boss battles. Hard mode provides an actual challenge compared to the first game, but enemies also tend to get spongy.
But that's all nitpicking, tbh. The biggest issue is the formulaic structure of the game. The world feels artificial, as if designed by and for robots. The overworld map is shaped like a triangle with a central temple that leads to the 3 different sub-areas. You go to the first area, get all the key items and defeat the boss. Then you clear the second area, then the third. You could go back to a previous area for a few optional items but are hardly encouraged to do so until the end. There are only two items that require you to leave the current area (Seeker Launcher and Power Bomb), and at those points it's even annoying, because it's a long detour away from your actual goal. In Prime 1 you are sent to the ruins, lava and ice world and back relatively quickly, and then you will have to revisit every area multiple times and go deeper each time. The world is also more organically interconnected. When you get a new item you remember like 3 or 4 locations where you could use it and are naturally led to explore. But in Echoes you don't care, because you are effectively stuck in one area until you defeat the boss.

Corruption is similar in that way, but now it's divided into 3 planets (+ a tutorial planet), with your ship functioning as a universal elevator. A very slow elevator. It gets tedious after a while. Enter ship, watch animation, hit the map button, animation, select a planet and landing zone, animation (skipping animations takes a few seconds too btw), loading screen, and more animations. That's a lot of time spent not playing the game. Not very conducive to exploration.
The developers also thought it would be a great idea to add other characters, hunters, shitty dialogue, and anime-like cutscenes. You can speak with people... in a Metroid game! What were they thinking?! It's mostly restricted to the tutorial, but even when you are exploring the planets alone, there is always a voice in your head informing you of your next objective. Echoes has dialogue too, btw, but only a few unvoiced lines.
Combat is a mixed bag. Bossfights are fun. Boost Ball got improved. The Grapple Beam can now be used to rip off armor and shields. You can even call airstrikes from your ship. And it's like a console FPS suddenly discovered the advantages of mouselook. I actually did play it with a mouse now, but I remember the Wiimote controls were surprisingly good. So there is a lot of improvement on one hand. On the other hand some basic mechanics are missing like multiple beam combos - ironically due to the Wiimote's limitations. Hypermode is also poorly balanced. You spend 100 HP (1 E-tank) for a temporary increase in firepower and virtual invincibility. Many enemies can only be killed in Hypermode. Problem is, there are those weird moments in combat where you'll want to wait for 5-10 seconds in Hypermode until it overloads and your Phazon level rises, giving you more shots for your E-tank. You just stand there while enemies can't hurt you. You can also exploit this. If you exit Hypermode before it overloads, any unspent Phazon will return to your HP. Trouble avoiding certain attacks? Just enter Hypermode and exit it before it overloads. Some boss battle can still be tough because you have to spend lots of HP to hurt them. You also can't abuse it during the final boss rush. But still, it feel cheap.
For me, Corruption still has the edge over Echoes mainly thanks to the controls (which weren't a factor this time) and the more creative world design. It is the best looking game in the series with very diverse locations, Skytown being particularly memorable. There is also the spooky Valhalla ship wreck.

The trilogy is now 12 years old, and there hasn't been another 3D Metroid game since then. MP4 has also been delayed indefinitely because the developers weren't happy with what they had so far. Sounds reasonable. I hope they'll go back to the roots, with no dialogue, no current-year-gimmicks, and just Samus alone on a planet.
 

Mustawd

Guest
Dragon Quest 9. It’s a mediocre single player game that is apparently very fun played mp with friends. That’s what I keep hearing anyways.

In practice it’s brain dead combat that never challenges you or requires you to change tactics. The story, which I normally don’t care about, is nothing more than a multi part fetch quest.

The most fun I’ve had are with some of the side fetch quests. Although you’d think they’d be boring, some of them have requirements on HOW you must kill an enemy. It presents a nice little challenge that forces you to think about how combat works in order to time everything right. Unfortunately, these are too few.

I think I’m 5-7 hrs till Inbeat this game and maybe move on to some emulated SNES and Genesis games for a bit. Donkey Kong Country is next on my list.

Well, I beat DQ9 after something like 60 hours. What a huge slog. After that I picked up Bravely Default on the 3DS, and my brain just hit a “Braindead Combat JRPG” wall after 20 hrs or so.

So I played some Mario Kart DS and that was pretty fun, although I still enjoy the SNES version better. Also, the battling mechanics in that game are just awful. They punish you for building a lead by making it easier to hit you with cheap ass abilities.

After that I played a bit of Worms on the DS before abandoning it due to a poorly implemented interface. I finally settled on GTA Chinatown Wars. I’m about 2/3 through it and having lots of fun. Super funny dialogue with interesting characters. Great addition to the series.

I hacked my 3DS so I have something like 105 games on the original DS alone I can play. After GTA Chinatown I might try Contra 4. Anything before going back to JRPGs after two meh experiences back to back.

Also, been playing a bit of OpenX-com when I’m up for something more complex (which is rarely with my work schedule and personal life).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that I played through Diablo 1 with the rogue. Having beaten it with the Warrior back in 2017, I purchased it from GoG recently and gave it another whirl. Unsurprisingly, it was more challenging for me than the Warrior (although I always heard the rogue was easy mode) due to the hard hitting enemy types being able to one or two shot me if they cornered me. Beating Diablo was tough and it actually came down to the very last bit of health I had. I hit him before he could start his next swing and finally beat him after
many tries.

Almost immediately, I started another run with the sorcerer but burnt out a bit after I reached level 5. I might give it a bit more time before returning.
 
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Self-Ejected

Harry Easter

Self-Ejected
Joined
Jul 27, 2016
Messages
819
After two years (pauses included) and 75 hours of gameplay I finally finished Dragon Quest VIII right now. Wasn't planned, but today one thing came to another. And I have to say: one thing annoyed me, but the rest was fun and phantastic. This game is so simple in its mechanics and its story, but that just works. Even after fifteen years, this is so playable and it looks so good, wow.

I would consider the story as one of the best I've ever played: its simple, like I said, but everything comes together and the developers put little details everywhere so you can understand the plot in-depth, but you don't have to to enjoy the game. The best kind of storytelling.

Now I need a rest and then I will get the extra ending.

Also: this was the first classical JRPG I've ever finished, if I don't count all the Ys-titles. Took me only twenty-one years, since I started gaming :D.

Edit: Did the Golden Ending today (didn't take that much more time).

To be honest, I like the first ending more, because it fits the theme of the game better, but this was cute too. Oh well. Great game, took me 85 hours to finish (plus one and fifty-one minutes letting the game run, because I had to make dinner) :D.

One of my new favorite games, but boy, don't I need another 80 hours epic RPG for quite a while :D.
 
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samuraigaiden

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
1,954
Location
Harare
RPG Wokedex
OK, final thoughts on Zombi, the Ubisoft zombie survival horror game that was originally called ZombiU. I just beat it. It's not horrible, but there are better ways to spend your time. If you love survival horror and George Romero-style zombies, it's worth getting on sale. 11-ish hours of a relatively enjoyable playthrough with no reason to replay despite the rogue-lite elements.
 

Kabas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,258
Very slowly going through the nice Fantasy/Panzer general clone Fantasy Wars mission by mission, also trying it's addon-sequel Elven Legacy Collection at the same time. So far the Elven legacy missions are more fun compared the original ones.
A timer that forces you to rush your main objectives for the maximum reward is a bit annoying though.

Edit: a short timer does encourage you to be as efficient with your turns as possible though.
Like, instead of slowly cleaning the map from the horde of goblins you opt to send your ranger hero on the alternative path through the river with the aid of the waterwalking artefact, bypassing all the goblin trash. The ranger then proceds to snipe the target orc hexer with the aid of spellcaster hero, skyship nukes and the freshly joined dragon, grabbing the gold reward.
So, i dunno.
 
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Jack Of Owls

Arcane
Joined
May 23, 2014
Messages
4,270
Location
Massachusettes
Hitman 2 (the new version). Enjoying it somewhat. Appreciate its more hardcore nature when compared to most stealth games these days. Many different ways to accomplish your murder-goals. Lots of things to do, places to go. I remember playing the original Hitman many years ago and was very intrigued by it and how you had to meticulously plan your weapon/gear loadout, and survey the areas to determine how you were going to hit your mark, but gave up on the game when I realized I spent more time fighting the interface than fighting enemies or fulfilling contracts. This is the NUMBER ONE DEADLY SIN IN GAMING DEVELOPMENT - when you're fighting the terrible interface rather than foes in the game. Tip: don't pirate this because the game, while not multiplayer, is severely gimped when playing offline.
 

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