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newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Once I discovered you can actually generate a full party shortly after the tutorial (just stay at level 1 before you hire mercenaries), I restarted and am now having a blast playing this. What a great game! I made three tanks (fighter, paladin, cleric), a bard, and two mages (sorcerer and wizard). I know absolutely nothing about the Pathfinder system, though I know it's based on D&D3... I also don't know the first thing about about D&D3, but it's close enough to AD&D from the Gold Box games that it's not too difficult to understand.

Right now I'm exploring the world a bit during chapter 1. It's really quite surprising how slow you gain levels in this game. In the Gold Box games, you get most of your XP from finding hidden treasure, but here everything seems to just hand out a couple hundred of XP at the most. On the other hand, your party is FAR more competent at level 1 here than in the Gold Box games; outside of at the inn in the fort, I've only rested once so far in the wilderness but have completed a few quests. You also find magical equipment pretty quick, so even if you don't level up you still gain some appreciable power quickly.

I am really enjoying the overall structure of this game. It's a "hex crawl" where you are given a certain objective that must be completed within a certain number of in-game days, but have the freedom to wander over the map and encounter locations and encounters. It feels a lot like a mixture of Baldur's Gate with Fallout, with a bit of Pool of Radiance mixed in.

I'm playing in turn-based mode, and unlike with Pillars of Eternity II, it feels pretty natural (at this point anyway). D&D3 really seems to up the tactical element of combat, so I feel that turn-based combat really fits well. It honestly just feels like playing a Gold Box game a lot of the time, and that's high praise indeed.

I also like that you'll run into encounters that are clearly too difficult at low levels, and more often than not the game will actually provide you with a warning (or at least make the difficult encounters non-hostile by default). For example, all the difficult encounters in the Sycamore Cave area are either non-hostile (tough wolves and shambling mound) or have a bunch of fireball traps in front of them (bandit camp and Sycamore Tree).

Really enjoying this! The interface also looks great, with sort of a parchment/book theme going. Really great looking game.
 

Melcar

Arcane
Joined
Oct 20, 2008
Messages
35,222
Location
Merida, again
Man, I loathed the interface for PF: Kingmaker. The game and mechanics themselves are rather solid enough that I was able to slog through most of the game.
 

NJClaw

OoOoOoOoOoh
Patron
Joined
Aug 30, 2016
Messages
7,513
Location
Pronouns: rusts/rusty
Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
Melcar
What didn't you like about the interface? Curious to hear your opinion.
To me, every element of the interface looks too cartoonish to create that sense of archaic mystery and immersion that the parchments/book theme is supposed to evoke. But I guess that's coherent with the general art style of Pathfinder, so I suppose I have a problem with the interface only because I dislike that particular style. It also feels amateurish, almost as if it wasn't created by a professional artist, but instead scrambled together adapting generic Unity assets.

But my main gripe with the interface is that most of the icons are just... ugly. The spells' ones look like icons taken straight out of a free mobile game, and they pale in comparison to those of the IE games. When I look at my spellbook in BG and IWD, I see evocative art that makes me fantasize about magic, but when I look at it in Kingmaker I just see cheap generic images bought in bulk online:

pkdwFjK.png
After all these complaints, I feel the need to stress the fact that Kingmaker is the best game I've played since 2018.
 

Morpheus Kitami

Liturgist
Joined
May 14, 2020
Messages
2,476
Bugs Bunny: Lost in Time on Windows
Felt like a nostalgia trip for Looney Tunes games and this was the place to start. This is a 3D platform that's sort of a collect-a-thon and sort of not. Bugs, as you can imagine, finds a time machine and gets himself lost in time. In order to return he has to collect some 120 clocks across 5 hubs, featuring other toons like Elmer Fudd and Marvin the Martian. Each area has several levels that you open up as you collect those clocks. Its very linear despite what it sounds like, only a few levels require you to return to them later, due to requiring magic abilities you get throughout the game. This honestly is more annoying than clever.
Its mostly solid. Its aged better graphically than a lot of N64/PSX era games, probably due to its art-style. A couple of problems though. The camera is not great, constantly jerking around, and the turn function can get stuck on walls which is just...lovely. The keyboard controls make precision platforming an incredible pain to do, which tends to crop up in the Martian hub area. Thankfully, there are infinite lives and plenty of check points to mitigate this, but that doesn't make it not annoying.
Its fairly fun if you enjoy 3D platformers or Looney Tunes, but otherwise its just above average.

Elite on BBC Micro
The original space trading/pirating/whatever simulation. Its honestly bizarre in how much of this is in every space simulation I've played since then, which says something about the quality in space games, but I don't know what. The problem is what isn't in Elite, namely, the flight controls and the ability to detect whether or not someone is a friend or foe.
Its not that the game doesn't have flight controls, its just that they're awkward. Now, the game is trying to be realistic in its flight model, but your turns are along the Z-axis, more like a barrel roll than a left or right turn. If that's actually realistic or not, I don't really care, but it feels so wrong compared to any other flying game I've played that I couldn't get my head around it. That, combined with being unable to detect whether someone is an enemy or a friendly made the game really difficult to get going. I understand some of the later versions of this fix this, so perhaps one day I'll try those.
 

newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
Pathfinder: Kingmaker
Finally reached level 2 for my mercenary party. I know absolutely nothing about D&D3 and I didn't bother selecting trickery for my bard during character creation, which meant I couldn't disarm traps at all until now—this blocked off a lot of stuff in the sycamore tree area, and also meant that I needed to slowly and annoyingly move each individual character through the hall of traps in the kobold caves. Once I reached level 2, I put as many points into trickery for my bard as I could. Another thing I didn't realize: arcane spellcasters get free level 0 spells that are actually quite useful. I'm slowly getting there. I was worried that all the skills and feats and stuff would make leveling too complicated, but it seems pretty clear which skills you should be taking each level and a little research on feats goes a long way.

Baldur's Gate
I decided to scrap my game in progress and start the game with a full custom party using the multiplayer mode—I just really don't care for the companions in this game, especially the awful banter. I made a six-person party that's basically my Pool of Radiance party recreated in the Infinity Engine: two fighters, a cleric, a thief, and two magic-users. We'll see how it goes.
 

flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,945
Finished deus ex ghost in the shell on the hardest difficulty.
It is a terrible dues ex game and a mediocre cover shooter/stealth game.It is slightly above invisible war.

Deus ex games are about a fusion of fps,stealth,exploration and rpg systems.
-Exploration
You take invisible war and make it larger and add chest high walls everywhere. It doesn't work.
Every single level is manually made for stealth.From the vents to the patrols to the walls,everything is designed around stealth.This shit ain't deus ex where the hubs were mostly neutral in play style.
Lockpiks/multitools are gone and replaced by hacking.Every single thing can be hacked by a minigame. It gets annoying very quickly.
The game also is full of several sollutions being right next door to each other,exactly like invisible war.
Oh a turret,i wonder where the computer to shut it down is? Oh,right next to it.
Gee i see a breakable wall,i wonder wher that leads? Oh,right to the location i accessed by going around a couple of feet.This shit is infuriating.Every single locations is a small condensed zone of multiple solution right next to each other.
And everything else is just a generic location copy pasted a million times.Everything looks and feels the same.
It doesn't help that most levels are full of offices.Hell the montreal level is just offices copy pasted.
The bigger size is also annoying because of side quests that require you to backtrack a lot.
There is also a severe lack of environmental hazards in this game.
Also,there is only two major hubs.The original was a globe trotting adventure and this shit is just china and Detroit with plenty of offices.

-Fps
It is a competent cover shooter.That is the problem.
Jensen dies like a wet paper bag even with full armor upgrade and there is no real way to play this like doom or the originals deus ex fps parts.You can try and prep the arenas but that is just busywork for a style the game wasn't made for.
Mass effect does it better.Charging in with your powers with a shotgun feels awesome compared to this shit.
Weapon kinematics are make weapons feel good to use and that is important.
The weapon variety isn't bad.You even get a laser.But,it is still the missing unique weapon's concept from invisible war.
Weapon mods being back to more then two is certainly a improvement.
The ai is a complete retarded. Imitate a fight and watch them circle around your wall like idiots with the biggest idiot charging you for a easy kill.Sometimes you have salutation where 5+ people are circling your position and shooting at the wall.Their attempts at flanking are legendarily laughable.
Sigh.

Stealth
It is a bare bones cover stealth game.
Vents and chest high walls are the all in one solution to everything stealth related.
The only criteria is line of sight.So nice to see that years after the original you still get the same simplistic stealth system.Blacklist is much better in this regard.
The cover is also annoying because it has a lot more stealth frames then if you are just moving in first person.
Add to this random hacks like the radar that gives you enemy positions and is on by default and it gets worse.
Plenty of hacks to upgrade for even more easy gameplay. Tracking,wall hacks,the entire popamoloe stealth package is here.
Dishonored is to easy but does fp stealth miles better.


-Rpg systems
So,what happens when you fuse multiple systems under one experience system?You get gamificiation because you need to ramp up the xp amount significantly in order to compensate. That people haven't figured out why this doesn't work for deus ex is is amazing.
Every single thing in this game gives you xp.It is gamey and broken because specif stuff like hacking and stealth give you a lot more xp.
You will go through vents and hack shit because it is easy and gives you exp.It hinders every singl elements of this game.
Exploration becomes a checklist.
Combat becomes non lethal/stealth oriented.
You don't have to,but the moment you start giving away xp for any meaningless thing,why wouldn't you take that offer.
Weapon skill being removed is stupid.You can use any weapon(minus the heavy rifle) effectively.
This entire skill system lead to a jack of all trades approach while in the original you had builds. Wasn't perfect,but certainly better then this.

-Augs
Complete fuckup.
Ever wonder why there i only 4 active aug slots? Consoles.Gone are the day when you were juggling multiple augs to create your terminator.
Most of the augs are passive or contexual. It is fucking boring.
Takedowns are another wonderful new popamole addition.Why have melee weapons and aiming said weapons when you can just press a awesome button.
Ugh,i despise takedowns.
Also augs weren't binary in the original .You could still take damage unless you upgraded the aug enough.
Here,it is either 0 or a 100 except for armor.
And again dishonored did it better.Much more focus on ACTIVE powers.At the end of this game i just felt like tutorial Jensen with a lil bit more umph and explosive arms.
Edit:
Forgot to mention about strength.It is the only aug they somewhat got right.The ability to move turret sis actually quite brilliant.

There is a great line Spectre said about deus ex before it shipped:
"If people compare our shooting to unreal ,our stealth to thief,and our rpg systems to whatever was popular at the moment,we are screwed."
Back then even if these individual elements weren't at their best they still combined gameplay elements from a era of great games.
Human revolution is combining mass effect,modern splinter cell and modern "rpg" elements.Not something worthy of praising.

Final verdict:


Edit2:
Anybody interested in replaying the game could try this mod:
https://www.nexusmods.com/deusexhumanrevolution/mods/9
It looks somewhat interesting.
 
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samuraigaiden

Arcane
Joined
Dec 28, 2018
Messages
1,954
Location
Harare
RPG Wokedex
Soul Blazer. Gauntlet inspired SNES exclusive action RPG lite.

What's cool about this game is that advancing in the dungeon repopulates it's respective town area. Then you hit a roadblock in the dungeon and have to explore the town where eventually you'll unlock a new path in the dungeon. It builds a nice groove.

Gauntlet like combat is brain dead tough. The story is strange, possibly butchered in localization. Lots of talking animals.

The game is short (10hrs?) and it's easy to do everything there is to do in one playthrough. I had a good time.
 

Keshik

Arcane
Joined
Mar 22, 2012
Messages
2,115
Struggling my way through Lost Horizon 2, nothing about the game's catching me as of yet, even the interface is pissing me off as it's not as subtle as the other Animation Arts games and having QTEs and timed sequences in an adventure game add to the disappointment.

But, I guess I slogged my way through Dreamfall Chapters, can get through this :lol:
 

The Decline

Arcane
Joined
Aug 24, 2009
Messages
7,251
Location
Everywhere
Soul Blazer. Gauntlet inspired SNES exclusive action RPG lite.

What's cool about this game is that advancing in the dungeon repopulates it's respective town area. Then you hit a roadblock in the dungeon and have to explore the town where eventually you'll unlock a new path in the dungeon. It builds a nice groove.

Gauntlet like combat is brain dead tough. The story is strange, possibly butchered in localization. Lots of talking animals.

The game is short (10hrs?) and it's easy to do everything there is to do in one playthrough. I had a good time.

FYI this is the first game of an unofficial trilogy made by Quintet. It was followed by Illusion of Gaia and Terranigma.
 

Vlajdermen

Arcane
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Messages
2,039
Location
Catholic Serbia
I downloaded Link to the Past out of pure curiosity, and enjoyed it a lot more than I thought I would. The only two zelda games I played prior are Link between Worlds, which I blazed through in a few days and never thought of again, and Ocarina of Time which I didn't feel like finishing because it was overly streamlined. They both showed lots of potential, which is why I still think about this series from time to time, and Link to the Past is everything I was looking for.

Like its sequel Link Between Worlds, its open world is tightly packed and encourages you to look into every nook and cranny. Unlike that game, though, the rewards you get from exploration are essential for beating the game, so speeding mindlessly from dungeon to dungeon is not an option. The world switching mechanic was better in the sequel, but the ome thing LttP has over it is that it's sufficiently hard. I remember the sequel being piss-easy.

My favourite thing about the game, like my biggest gripe with Ocarina of Time, is how it uses items. In the latter they were used for the one dungeon you got them in, and never touched again. In the former, they're used in combat, almost every dungeon from that point on, and for exploring the overworld, kind of like in metroidvania games. They're spoils for you to enjoy, not one-off level gimmicks.

I don't know why but beating it left me burnt out like no video game has for a long time. I'm not playing it again, but I do recommend it.
 
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Vlajdermen

Arcane
Joined
Nov 19, 2017
Messages
2,039
Location
Catholic Serbia
I'm interested in what the best ps3 exclusive is. I've played almost every one besides Puppeteer, The Last of Us and the Ratchet & Clank games. Are any of those worthwhile?
 
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flyingjohn

Arcane
Joined
May 14, 2012
Messages
2,945
I've played almost every ps3 exclusive besides Puppeteer, The Last of Us and the Ratchet & Clank games. Are any of those worthwhile?
Puppeteer is a solid platformer.
Ratchet and clank games are awesome tps shooters/platformers.
The last of us is a boring popamole with a good to decent story.
 

Jack Of Owls

Arcane
Joined
May 23, 2014
Messages
4,279
Location
Massachusettes
Zelda: A Link to the Past on original SNES hardware was the source of one of my greatest joys in my early gaming... and the source of my greatest shame since I got stumped with the torch chamber puzzle and had to buy the guide book. But to put a positive spin on this embarrassment, it was the last guide book I ever bought. The internet became my guide after that.
 

curds

Magister
Joined
Nov 24, 2019
Messages
1,098
Finished Dragon's Dogma, or at least I thought I did. WTF is going on?

Seems like the game has almost a "fake ending".

Random thoughts:

- Sort of plays like a game developed by people who had read about RPGs, but never played one. I don't mean that as a criticism, it's absolutely part of the game's charm.
- Combat mechanics are awesome, but the combat itself is way too easy, and there's so much of it, a lot of fights feel trash-mobby.
- Crafting system is weird; tonnes of different crafting components, but most of them make the same things. So having all these different herbs, for example, feels kinda redundant.
- Great exploration, hampered by the fact that most chests you find in the wilderness have seemingly random trinkets as loot. It's rewarding going off the beaten path and finding a chest, but less so when the chest contains yet another potion or firebomb and not some unique armour or weapon.
- Good art direction.
- Story is kinda strange, not necessarily bad. Few WTF moments throughout.
- Equipment system is really fun with armour layering and upgrades.
- World design is great. Not too big, not too small. Seems like it could be a real place.
- I'm indifferent to the pawn system. Nothing I dislike about it, but I don't find it particularly compelling either.

Overall pretty great entry in its subgenre, though not as great as I initially thought. But it is up there.
 
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newtmonkey

Arcane
Joined
Aug 22, 2013
Messages
1,725
Location
Goblin Lair
Baldur's Gate
Still playing a fake multiplayer game with a full custom party. Really enjoying this now! I played this for like 5 hours today, mostly spent doing random quests all over the place and then completing chapters 1 and 2. I was a bit concerned at first about having to split all XP six ways, but it hasn't been a problem yet.
 

Kabas

Arcane
Patron
Joined
Feb 10, 2018
Messages
1,258
Most of the stronghold missions in Dawn of war: soulstorm are an absolute slog i must say. Still can't stop playing though.
 

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